East Anglia

STAGE 1 - EAST ANGLIA

Cambridge - 17th May

 

While she was on the train to Cambridge to start her Grand Tour Lucy spent the time reading about Denmark and Viking settlements in East Anglia. She discovered that Cambridge became an important trading centre under Viking rule. She also read that  Denmark's first female Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, is Neil Kinnock's daughter in law.

Bury St Edmunds  - 14th & 15th May

 

After a relaxing evening in Cambridge I followed cycle route 51 to Bury St Edmunds. This took me out of Cambridge along the banks of the Cam and then on off- road cycle paths and quiet country lanes. I stopped for lunch in New Market which, as the town sign said, is the historic centre of British horse racing. When I arrived in Bury, Lucy spotted the Greene King brewery, she knows that I drink Abbott so she leapt out of the pannier for a photograph. 

 

As I am taking it fairly easy while I cycle my way back to cycling fitness, I decided to stay another night in Bury and Lucy learned about Viking  activity in the area. The Vikings who settled in East Anglia were mainly from Denmark and in 869/70 they defeated and beheaded King Edmund at the battle of Hoxne. The legend goes that while his followers were looking for his head  they heard it cry "Here!, Here!" Guided by the voice, they found it nestling between the paws of a wolf. Edmund became a Saint, he was the patron Saint of England before St George, the abbey was built around his shrine and he gave his name to the town.

 

In the afternoon I went on a tour of the Greene King Brewey, the largest independent brewer of cask ales in the country. They brew 4 of the top selling cask ales and also a lot of speciality ales. The latter are brewed in the original Georgian and Victorian vats. There was a tasting session after the tour with 7 different beers to sample. I stayed chatting to a couple of Canadians and the guide. He found out that I was an Abbott drinker and during the conversation poured me 4 or 5 free glasses. (not pints, but big enough). It was a good session. 

On to the ferry - Tuesday & Wednesday 16th & 17th May

 

I continued on towards the ferry via Lavenham, Colchester and Manningtree. The ancient buildings in Lavenham, pictured above, have been extensively restored since I was there in the 1960s and 70s and it was like walking around a film set. The town prospered from the wool trade and in the late 1500s it was one of the wealthiest towns in Britain, and from the look of it, it might be again.

 

I followed the Stour estuary from Manningtree, a route that I had previously cycled in 2015 when cycling around the coast. While having lunch in Manningtree . I realised that most places seem to include at least one superlative in their description. So far I have visited the town with the first internally illuminated street sign (Bury St Edmunds), Britain's first City with the oldest surviving Roman gateway (Colchester) one of the richest towns (Lavenham) and  the  smallest town in England with the oldest Methodist church in Essex (Colchester). 

 

Lucy sat for a while and looked at the sea in Harwich, but she was anxious to get to the ferry port so I had a meal and cycled the last two or three miles to the boat. By this time it was raining hard, the first of the trip  and I was cold and wet when I got on board. Luckily I had a cabin upgrade as part of my ticket deal so I was able to shower and get warm before we sailed. Lucy loved it and sat up all night looking out of the very large port hole.