Planning a Ringing Outing

Last spring, our "Ring and Walk" Pettistree outing between Fressingfield and Wingfield was a big success, so Mike and I are planning another for April. The formula is a bit demanding - there have to be two towers with bells - linked by a short but picturesque walk -suitable parking for the cars- with a pub at either end, one of which is suitable for lunch for 20 to 30 people.

On Saturday, we tried to walk from Yaxley to Eye. The footpath was overgrown and a bit of a scramble - worse, there was no pub in Eye! The Queens Head was closed for repairs.....and the bells at Eye seemed too heavy for our ringers.

On Sunday, our walk met with more success...


We started at Stoke Ash, a small village next to the Ipswich to Norwich Road (an old Roman Road). It seems that excavations in 2004 have shown that there was a Roman staging post here, and it was much larger then...there was a very pleasant 30 minute walk to...

Thornham church. The paths were broad and well maintained and passed some lovely old cottages.

This is the Waterhouses area, with its ford - imagine driving through this every morning on your way to work...

The ford was too deep for our boots, so to get over the footbridge we had to "run the gauntlet " past loud geese -

And there are two good pubs at either end, the White Horse and the popular Four Horseshoes at Thornham (above). The next stage will be to make the bookings - entry to the churches and arranging the food - if only we could order up the good weather.

This week, I have done something I thought I would never do again - some dressmaking. It brings back unpleasant memories of "home ec" at jr. high school...however, I have found it difficult to buy cotton trousers with nice fabric - so frustrating when there is great fabric in the quilt stores. So I bought this pattern - have modified it to match a favorite pair of trousers -I bought 2 metres of fabric from Quilters Haven - it is Habitat by Michele D'Amore - hope it turns out well....it is does, I'll make some more - I want a pair of red paisley trousers...LOL..

Ringing Outing to the Brandon Area

On Saturday, Kate the Southeast District Ringing Master arranged an outing to the Brandon area. This is an area near Thetford Forest and Lakenheath Airbase - just at the Suffolk/Norfolk border. A good turnout and some good sunny weather. We rang at Brandon, Mundford, Northwold, Hilgay and Hockwold.Of course we had the customary lunch at a pub - the Crown at Northwold.This pub had a giant - and very friendly - pub cat. It was lovely to sit outside in the sun - good food too.

My favorite tower was Hilgay, where the bells are not often rung these days - approached along a long avenue of lime trees. Much hilarity here. Ringing chambers are often a repository for various items from cleaning, flowerarranging etc. - here there was a nude store manikin (female)with a beard and "Joseph" written on the chest - very surreal.Perhaps part of the nativity scene at Christmas?? Anyway, it suddenly broke in half as it was being returned to its storage space, giving rise to some very odd photos....The ringing chamber was very old fashioned and hadn't been touched in years - a real sense of history here. Afterwards, Mike and I went for a walk along the Great Ouse, where there were swarms of dragonflies or darters. I looked on the internet and identified them as damselflies, the banded demoiselle, common where there are slow, muddy bottomed rivers. Another nice day in the English countryside - at the best time of year when the weather is kind and the days very long.