Iron Heart IH-634S - World Tour 2010 - 2013
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Mme B is working her butt off sorting orders etc out, so the task of posting has been delegated too me because apparently, I am doing "Feck all"…..
We are on the East Coast of England in a county called Suffolk in a village called Orford for the week end...The castle next door. It is more of a keep house but impressive nonetheless
The village is full of houses and cottages like this. We love it…..
In fact, I have decided I want this one
And that is the view from "our new home"
The Orford Harley
This place is run by a lovely couple, he fishes, she sells the catch. We'll hit here before we leave on Sunday and stock up…
You can never bee too prepared for that rogue high tide…
Absolutely nothing in Orford is fast…
Looks old, but was built in the late 19th century
On the site of a 12th century church. Note how the flying buttresses go straight through the old church walls. I can imagine the Victorian builder going "Oh feck it, it's only old shit anyway"
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Great genteel British countryside, the kind that I associate with the crime stories of Agatha Christie or Francis Durbridge, big fascinations of my teenage years, and responsible for making me an incurable Anglophile. Love it!
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We had a fascinating day today. We spent this morning on Orford Ness. It is the largest shingle spit in Europe and has a long history of weapons testing. Load of Nuke testing in the 50's. Pretty spooky but stunningly evocative place. More pics will follow.
And there is still a lot of unexploded ordnance lying around…Oh and it was feckin windy....
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Lovely Suffolk views….
I want Nellie, she is only about 10' long…
In the background you will see what are locally known as Pagodas. Used to stress test Nuclear bombs (imitating the shake rattle and roll and G forces of the bomber that was delivering the bomb), if one went off, the uprights holding the roof in place would break and the roof would fall, thus sealing the building - at least that was the theory…
More nuke test facilities…
Paula trying t get out of one…
Radar testing stuff…
The lighthouse. Been there for 250 years or so, but will be swallowed up by the north sea within the nexy 5 years as the shore erodes at 15' per year…
On the way back to the hotel, we found the local smokery…Will be going back later today to stock up with stuff to take home...
And then it was back to the hotel…
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Awesome photos G'..That photo with Nellie in it is a pretty amazing shot, Well done!
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P that blue 04 looks brilliant
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P that blue 04 looks brilliant
Well, thank you - I’m a little embarrassed that I have the jacket in all three colours but I wear them all the time!
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Safely home from Suffolk, and my WT posting beatch is watching a recording of the Bahrain grand prix, so I have to do my own dirty work.
This morning, after buying some locally caught fish from the beach shack, plus smoked gammon, chicken and cheese from the smokehouse, we bid farewell to Orford. Our next stop was nearby Woodbridge.
Some bikers had stopped for a coffee at the quayside - proper Brit bikes:
After a wander round Woodbridge, next stop a beautiful town called Lavenham, this is the Guildhall built around 1530:
Another timber-framed house. Interestingly, the practice of painting the timber frames in black was something the Victorians started - originally the whole building including timbers would have been lime washed in the same colour, allowing the timbers to breathe and helping to eradicate pest infestation, so now they have reverted to this practice which actually looks very lovely as well as helping conserve the structure:
Lavenham was once a very prosperous town, its wealth coming from the production of woollen cloth, here’s a loom in the museum in the Guildhall - they have no idea how old it is because the looms effectively didn’t change for around 300 years (so built somewhere between 1530 and mid-1800s):
Garden at the back of the Guildhall.
Giles fell in love with this simple oak structure which divides the garden:
A few minutes to relax and contemplate in the April afternoon sunshine:
The garden includes various plants that would have been used to dye the wool:
And then we had to come home. Lovely weekend, we’re both so delighted to have discovered what a lovely county Suffolk is, we learnt a lot of interesting stuff about the local history, and we ate and drank so much I’m surprised I can still get these fab WT jeans buttoned up!
