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SUDBURY
RAMBLERS
AUGUST
Wednesday 21st August, Tendring Hall Estate, 5.5 miles, meet
at The Recreation Ground Car Park, Stoke by Nayland, CO64QY, 10am start.
Steve 01787279325
Saturday 24th August, Stoke by Clare Circular, 5.5 miles,
meet at The Street, Stoke by Clare, CO108HP, 10am start. Viv 01787375047
SEPTEMBER
Wednesday 4th September, Thaxted Hills & Dales, 6.5 miles,
meet at Margaret St CP Thaxted , CM62QN, 10:15am start. Philip 07854179779
Wednesday 18th September, Iken & Tunstall Forest, 7.5 miles,
meet at Snape Maltings CP, IP171SP, 10:30am start. Margaret 01787247814
Sunday 22nd September, Denham Castle & Hall, 7 miles,
meet at Dalham village hall CB88TF, 10am start. Bridget 01787280547
Details of all our walks can
be found by searching www.sudburyramblers.org.uk
Sudbury’s First Silk
Festival in September 2019 Will Celebrate The Town’s Rich History As
The UK’s Silk Capital
Sudbury, a small market town in Suffolk, has a little known
but rich history of textile weaving and has recently been coined the
’UK Capital of Silk’. Weaving there dates back to the 14th century where
many people in the town and outlying villages including Lavenham were
employed to spin, dye and weave woollen broadcloth. Silk weaving didn’t
arrive until the 1770’s when master weavers moved out of Spitalfields
to this area. Today there are still five working silk weaving companies
in the town, the Gainsborough Weaving Company, Humphries Weaving Company,
David Walters Fabrics, Stephen Walters & Sons and Vanners Silk Weavers,
currently together they produce 95% of silk manufactured in the UK.
This year for the first time, Sudbury is celebrating the amazing work
of its silk weaving companies by staging its first Silk Festival on
Saturday 7th September. There will be an exhibition-fair in St Peter’s
Church with displays by the silk mills, the Warner Textile Archive,
May Berkouwer, a textile conservator, Sudbury Ephemera Archive, Colchester
Institute Department of Textiles will explore education pathways and
student textile designers’ will show their work. Lavenham Guild of Weavers
Spinners and Dyers will also be there and Sudbury Heritage Centre and
Museum will open.
As part of the festival an exhibition of 18th Century inspired costumes
by Vivienne Westwood at Gainsborough’s House will also open on 7 September
with free entry the house on the day. Silk Walks around the town and
an Architectural Heritage Walk looking at Sudbury’s silk history will
also be taking place
There is a series of specialist talks running alongside in the Assembly
Room at the Town Hall. These include Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company
revealing their processes of silk production, Liz Trenow speaking about
her books The Silk Weaver and The Dressmaker of Drapers Lane and the
history of her family Stephen Walters & Son that has been enveloped
in silk since they first wove it in Spitalfields in 1720. Silk experts
Mary Schoeser and Kate Wigley will give a silk handling talk, Silks
from Spitalfields to East Anglia and finally there will be a talk about
the work of Vivienne Westwood.
Over this year there have been some film projects that will also be
on show demonstrating other aspects of silk. Stories of Silk has involved
local silk workers interviewed about their work in the industry by schoolchildren
in Sudbury and Great Cornard. Another highlights the specialist work
of the Humphries Weaving Company who have recently worked on a major
textile restoration project for the Royal Brighton Pavilion and a further
film by painter Ruth Philo and sound artist Stuart Bowditch that documents
their project Fabric: Silk Road, building silk connections between Sudbury
and China.
The town is looking forward to sharing its rich history and welcoming
visitors from both near and far. There will be something for everyone,
from children to adults, local workers, textiles specialists, crafters
and people who would simply like an interesting day out and to learn
about the hidden gem that is the silk weaving industry of Sudbury.
Permanent and Seasonal Attractions
Permanent and Seasonal Attractions in the District include: Flatford
(NT), Lavenham Guildhall (NT), Melford Hall (NT), Kentwell Hall. Please
see contact details for these below.
Gainsborough’s House - Mon to Sat: 10am – 5pm Adults £6.50
Long Melford Heritage Centre - Sat 10am-4pm, Sun Noon-4pm, Weds 2pm-4pm.
Free Entry
Various Dates
Stepping Out in Suffolk- Health Walks, See web site www.walkingforhealth.org.uk
Guided Countryside Walks – See www.getting-out.co.uk
SAVE FREE PARKING IN SUDBURY
Sudbury’s businesses are proud to be able to offer their customers 3
hours free parking in their District Council Car Parks. However,
there is currently a review by Babergh District Council who are considering
starting charging for the currently free period and businesses are very
concerned by how this will affect their trade. There has been a lot
of publicity about how High Streets all over the country are struggling,
initially it was the competition from out of town shopping, who not
only benefit from being able to offer free parking but also have lower
business rates, now it is the growth in online shopping, which again
does not have the same high levels of business rates. Reports can be
found to show evidence that shopkeepers overestimate the proportion
of customers that travel by car. However, these reports relate to metropolitan
areas rather than small rural towns where many people have no option
but to drive to the shops.
Keeping three hours free parking in Sudbury is important to both businesses,
visitors and residents as demonstrated in two recent surveys carried
out by the Sudbury Town Team. In a survey of businesses in Sudbury Town
Centre in January 2014, free car parking was the main issued which was
raised as the most important factor to the success of their business
in the future. Stephane Chapotot co-owner of The Secret Garden in Friars
Street said "business rates are a large proportion of our costs
and on top of that as a business we also have to pay for our bins to
be emptied, what are these business rates going towards if we are also
going to lose free parking for our customers?"
Another survey carried out by the Sudbury Town Team and Gainsborough's
House of visitors and residents who visited the town centre which come
out in June 2015 showed that 31.7% came into Sudbury because of the
free parking and 27.3% would like more free parking available.
Jane Hatton from the Sudbury Town Team said " Local authorities
should see free parking as a service for local people not a short term
method to raise money and more importantly as a way of supporting their
market towns. It has been proven in other towns that when they lose
free parking it discourages people from using the town centre, towns
where parking charges have been introduced have then had to offer hours
when parking is free to increase footfall but the damage to their town
centres has already been done".
Chris Storey from Sudbury Chamber of Commerce added "A careful
scrutiny of the details surrounding the location of Sudbury, access
to the town and other retail centres and the particular challenges of
the town centre should make it absolutely clear that three hours free
parking is essential if the town centre is not to decline significantly.
From a purely economic perspective the council should not have any grounds
for bringing in charges. The town is dependent on this for its future
prosperity and a more retrograde step is hard to envisage. Reducing
the long term rateable value of the town centre – which is likely to
result from such an act – together with the reduced employment and wellbeing
derived from the town centre would reduce long term local government
income and be far more costly than the small income car parking charges
would produce. The Chamber in conjunction with the Town Team remain
resolved to fight these proposals and ensure that the town centre can
have a long term viable and successful future for the benefit of all,
including Babergh District Council.”
If you have any comments or thoughts on Sudbury losing free parking
please leave your comments at http://seeanddosudbury.co.uk/community-news/10154/
or email info@seeanddosudbury.co.uk
CONTACTS
Assington Mill, Assington Ln,Sudbury, CO10 5LZ. 01787 229955
www.assingtonmill.com
Flatford: Bridge Cottage – NT Flatford,East Bergholt
CO7 6UL 01206 297201 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/flatford- bridge-cottage/
Kentwell, Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, CO10 9BA, 01787
310 207, http://www.kentwell.co.uk
Lavenham Guildhall – NT, Market Place, Lavenham CO10
9QZ. 01787 247646 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lavenham-guildhall/
Lavenham Tourist, Information Centre, Lady Street,
Lavenham CO10 9RA. 01787 248207 www.southandheartofsuffolk.org.uk
Melford Hall, Long Melford, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10
9AA. 01787 379228. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/melfor
d-hall/
Mander Auctioneers, Glemsford, near Sudbury CO10 7QU.
01787 282261 www.manderauctions.co.uk
The Quay Theatre, The Quay Theatre, Quay Lane, Sudbury.
CO10 2AN. 01787 374745. www.quaytheatre.org.uk
Contemporary East Anglian Artists and Tudor Life Exhibition.
Gainsboroughs House, 46 Gainsborough St. Sudbury CO10 2EU Normal
entry prices. Contact 01787 372958 www.gainsborough.org |
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