NEWSJOURNAL December 2019 [email protected]
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NEWSJOURNAL December 2019 www.sudburysociety.org [email protected]. charity no 265228 PROTECTING OUR HERITAGE—WE NEED TO DO MORE! Since the last edition of the Notre Dame will struggle to leads to failure, although too emerging among its caretakers News Journal we have seen replace many features of the frequently that is not recog- to work harder to protect the the loss of Notre Dame Ca- original and, as such, this nised by those making the asset for which they are ulti- thedral in Paris. tragedy was, in hindsight, flawed decisions at the time. mately responsible. inexcusably careless. It seems to me that this tragic Why is this relevant to Sud- John French loss of a historic building is This is not about attributing bury? We entrust the protec- symptomatic of the age that blame, although that is a com- tion of our heritage and we live in. Is this the case or mon reaction; it is about buildings to governance bod- Inside this issue: does it simply join the long learning from errors of such ies that have statutory pow- list of tragic fires destroying magnitude if our present gen- ers. In some instances, past An Edwardian childhood 2 an irreplaceable heritage? eration to be trusted again generations have gifted prop- in Sudbury Simply the unlucky hand of with such a magnificent leg- erties such as Belle Vue probability, or is there some- acy. House that now rest in the thing more significant going care of a local Council,. Town It will be evident to the Zero-Carbon Transport 3 on here? Having taken many councillors, having previously in Sudbury? hundreds of years to build reader that it is not entirely sought to demolish the 19th and many millions of hours of clear where responsibility century building to make way ultimately rests. I have seen My Family and other 4 toiling labour and skilled for a hotel under proposals Cameras craftsmanship it was lost in many examples where fires by Babergh District Council,, destroy buildings when con- just a matter of hours. will now be consulting in the Sudbury’s Unlisted List 5 tractors are on site, and usu- New Year on a range of new This was a disaster on many ally the insurance is deemed levels. The fire itself released adequate protection. Two options. hundreds of tonnes of carbon arguments prevail i) you don’t The Council has a responsi- Taste of Sudbury Food 6 dioxide, when globally we are need to worry it’s insured, or bility to ensure a plan for the and Drink Festival trying to reduce emissions; ii) you mustn’t interfere with building that preserves its large quantities of heavy met- the contractors responsibili- heritage value and the amen- Access Study 7 als were oxidised polluting ties or you will share liability. ity value of the park. Other- the atmosphere in a vast Both of these arguments wise itt would be a failure of Is Sudbury a Sustainable 8 plume of gases; and the larg- need to be challenged if we governance and of the com- Town? est spans of oak that were in are to protect or built envi- mitment made to past donors the roof were lost. Aside ronment heritage, as they and, in hindsight, the loss of Fiction in Sudbury 10 from the heritage loss the deflect responsibility from this asset will be seen as a environmental damage was those who hold it. Insurance, tragic and poor reflection of significant and avoidable. is not a reason to apply poor the times. We must avoid Shop girls and sex work- 12 ers Is the oak replaceable? It is oversight, to not ask the right Belle Vue which means debateable whether any sus- questions and to not govern ‘beautiful view’ becoming our effectively, especially to avoid very own Notre Dame. Brit- By Royal Appointment 14 tainable oak forests still exist ain, despite its travails, is a mod- that can provide that length the responsibility of mistakes made by others in our name. ern prosperous country with the of roof timbers, such has means to deliver a solution to Visit to Ely Cathedral and 15 been the depletion of oak And, it is always right to chal- lenge decisions of those who Belle Vue without resorting the Fitzwilliam over many generations. to demolition, and it is posi- Those seeking to reinstate govern and make decisions in our name. Poor oversight tive to see the political will Architecture Award 16 Page 2 AN EDWARDIAN CHILDHOOD IN SUDBURY “Life was much slower and the only traffic we met when we went out black- berrying or gleaning for Harvest or primrosing in the lanes and woods, com- prised bicycles or carts. Cars had only just ‘reached Sudbury ‘ and when an aeroplane passed overhead, everyone stopped and gazed in awe. Sudbury was a lovely little place in which to be brought up. The country was all around us... and I am sure we had longer, sunnier and warmer summers. We used to set out for the Bathing Place, part of the river, about 10 a.m. armed with sandwiches (Mum poverty was indescribable. ONLY’ or ‘WOMEN ARE Above: The Old Bathing Place, made us delicious tomato NOW BATHNG’!!!! The Croft, Sudbury c1900. sandwiches) and cake and After swimming, first in the Below: The Bathing Place then an apple and a penny for a shallow end, then came the Then having sat in the sun and now. box at the Bathing Place all great day when Mr Fenton and eaten a biscuit (must to ourselves, whereas the said, ‘Now Miss Hawkey, or have something after and ‘Council School kiddies’ Miss Whorlow, you are not any account before a shared a communal box, ready to go across the river’ swim!!) we went out onto about 20 of them. Oh there and, while we swam, he the meadows. We played was terrible snobbishness in came along with us in his and talked and we sat with those days, though going to boat and then pronounced our legs in a stream and From the memories of Joy Sunday School I mixed hap- us fit to swim outside the we ate our lunch and it Whorlow 1901-1982 pily with children where bar and, ultimately, allowed never entered our heads in (The Whorlows lived in Kent- us to swim outside in the those days that some harm ish Lodge in Stour Street and “Oh it seemed all river if we wished. I don’t could come to us. Oh it owned a local removal busi- know what happened if a seemed all sunshine and ness) male came along the river- sunshine and peace peace and laughter.” David Burnett path, for always outside in and laughter” large letters were, ‘MEN Page 3 TOWARDS ZERO CARBON TRANSPORT IN SUDBURY? The nature of transportation cles are supposed to stay on going on apace at Imperial BDC who are now holed up in the UK is changing. About the road and not go on the College and Cambridge in their Ipswich castle where 10 years ago the government pavement. Where one is University Engineering De- they will have even greater ruled that, to reduce the pro- faced with a short length of partment. The improve- problems to confront. gressive increase in global one way street, using the ments will allow faster The easy solution is to adopt a temperature, carbon emis- pavement to bypass it and charging and energy yielding 20 mph zone throughout the sions would the reduced by avoid a perilous intersection more power for less town but this probably needs 80% from 1990 levels by it seems a reasonable route, weight, driving improve- another 10 or 20 years to get 2050. More recently Mrs and if one goes at close to ments in the range of elec- there. May, driven by the impact of walking pace and says “excuse tric vehicles. Since 1950 Sudbury has air pollution in cities, an- me and thank you” to get The map of recharging moved steadily to being a car nounced that emissions past pedestrians no one points indicates that there accessed town. It has a con- should be reduced to net seems to mind. are two sites in Sudbury siderable amount of car park- zero; a level that is probably readily avail- ing space and has had a policy unachievable. Regardless of able for the of free parking. Whether this that it is certain that large public. Al- has saved the shopping provi- reductions will be made and ternatively, sions in the town is question- this will apply to all forms of recharging a able but it has ensured a lot of transportation. The new plug-in hy- traffic at peak times. The power source is most likely brid can be population continues to grow to be electrical energy, done at and judging by the number of chemically stored in batteries home via a cars parking on double yellows carried in the vehicles. The 1 3 a m p and quiet residential roads change to all electric vehicles socket and near the centre parking is is currently delayed in the UK takes about 4 nearing its capacity limit. by the need to develop a net- Other modes are also gaining hours. This is very simple The roads in and around Sud- work of charging sites along popularity in cities namely to arrange if one has off bury are mostly narrow with major routes, but electric folding scooters. These are street parking adjacent to similarly restricted pavements. hybrid vehicles are spreading carried discretely on the tube the house, but difficult with- They were probably widened at a steady pace.