Tuesday 24th March 2020 "...Will these hands ne'er be clean?" I have never incited any one to murder knowingly or otherwise but for the last three or four weeks  I have assumed the persona of Lady Macbeth, as I wash and wring my hands until they are red raw. This is my diligent attempt to … Continue reading Pandemic in Trimley St. Martin: Week 1 →

   Sue Biddle in 2009 A fortnight ago, before the world became something unfamiliar to us all, Sue Biddle cycled round to see me with the aim of discussing one of her longstanding projects. Some years back I met Sue in the Ipswich Branch of Suffolk Record Office, one dull Saturday morning when she was … Continue reading Sue Biddle… Headstone Hunter →

“Bound for Van Diemen's land, brave boys, Far, far across the sea”  (The story of Lydia Rackham and her family was originally published in three separate parts in 2018 and 2019. I have decided to put all three together as one long narrative for ease of access.) Part 1 If you have lived in the … Continue reading The true story of Lydia Rackham… →

…and all about the new 2020 season at Two Sisters. “Not just an Arts venue for Trimley but for the whole Felixstowe Peninsula.” This was how Suzanne Hawkes described the Two Sisters Arts Centre, when it opened last year in Trimley St. Mary’s Church. The first year’s programme brimmed over with plays, gigs, music and … Continue reading All that Jazz. Suzanne Hawkes talks Jazz … →

   Nineteen year old Daffodil amongst the Broad Beans. When I last spoke to Susan in 2018, she was a new resident of Trimley St. Martin and employed full-time in Felixstowe Library. When we met again this month, I found that time and Susan have moved on to something new and exciting. Susan is now … Continue reading The Cat’s Companion: Susan Hughes, bespoke Cat sitter →

Pearl Blythe, Club Member ‘A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside.”           Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne In the middle of last month, I visited a newly re-formed organisation, Christine’s Club, in the meeting hall of the Methodist Church. The Club has nothing … Continue reading Christine’s Club →

    Gerry Bremner About thirty years ago, at an Art exhibition in Christchurch Mansion, I fell into conversation with a former Opera singer. We discussed the images in front of us with the casual informality of strangers and before we moved in opposite directions, he informed me our five minute interlude would not have … Continue reading Gerry Bremner – ‘Il Tenore’ →

      Part of the Poppy Cascade, St. Martin’s Church October – November 2018 Last year the annual Remembrance Day commemorations focused upon the centenary of the cessation of First World War’s hostilities.  Trimley St. Martin chose to recall the men who were called upon to respond to their country either through choice or … Continue reading Ernest William Packard 1897 – 1920: A Trimley St. Martin soldier of the First World War →