Exploring Historic English Towns

Ely and Freckenham on Friday

One of the bits of wisdom we like to impart to Europeans talking about visiting the United States is to get out of New York City. It may be an amazing city but there’s so much more to the country than just that one metropolitan location. Today we took the United Kingdom version of our own advice and got out of London. A Great Northern train zoomed us from St Pancras Station to Ely, England in just two and a half hours where we were scheduled to meet up with some family members. Having had the good fortune to arrive half an hour earlier than expected we made the short trek from the station to Riverside Bar & Kitchen along the River Great Ouse enjoying a gloriously beautiful day and admiring the narrowboats moored along this legendary waterway. Once we were joined by Karen’s sister and her daughter’s family we established ourselves at a picnic table on the lawn with a view of the river for lunch. Then with happy tummies we embarked on leisurely walking tour of the heart of Ely which has a rich history dating back to before 685 AD when Princess Ethelreda established what was to become the second richest monastery in the land. As we wandered we popped in into the Babylon Arts Gallery to visit the East Anglian Stitch Textiles group exhibit Bridging the Gap but before long we were drawn to a visit to Ely Cathedral, an imposing edifice. The building itself dates back a thousand years and has been a cathedral since 1109 AD. Although the monastery founded by Ethelreda was dissolved by King Henry VIII and the church and its contents suffered at the hands of Protestant zealots in the 16th Century it has been lovingly restored repeatedly and is today still a place of worship as well as a beautiful place to visit. On our trek back to the car park we stopped off for an ice cream treat to tide us over for the ride to Freckenham where Jenny, Oliver, and Molly hosted us for a Garden Tea and an opportunity to visit with Jane and Carol, who we were delighted to meet. It was fun enjoying a Pimm’s Cup (a spiked fruit cup in a glass) and getting a tour of their lovely garden before settling in at home for a visit with family.

Lavenham – Medieval Wool Town on Friday

Click here to watch a video about Lavenham

Already a well established estate by the time of the Norman Conquest, Lavenham had come into its own in by the 14th Century as a wool town. Not content to excel in just one or two aspects of the wool industry, the people of Lavenham did it all. After the Plague of 1348 farmers in the area turned to sheep farming and then to cloth production. In time the community of Lavenham began importing huge quantities of fleece, grew Woad to produce a blue dye, spun the dyed wool into yarn, then wove the yarn into a woolen broadcloth known as Lavenham Blue which was equivalent to the denim of their time. At one point Lavenham was one of the wealthiest communities in Tudor England. Then fashion changed and they didn’t adapt. Business dried up and the town remained as it was. Today it’s a delightful collection of 14th and 15th Century buildings that welcomes visitors and cherishes its history. We six started our visit with Tea Upstairs at the Lavenham Blue Vintage Tea Rooms with fare such as Crumpets, Sandwiches, Pork Pie, and even an Afternoon Tea tower accompanied by some fabulous tea blends. Well sated we then headed on to the the Lavenham Guildhall. Now under the stewardship of National Trust, the Guildhall of Corpus Christi has been at the center of Lavenham and has served many purposes through the centuries. Today it tells the story of Lavenham not only of its textile trade but of medieval life through to modern times. Then before we left town we walked around admiring the architecture. Many of the medieval timber frames houses are crooked to some degree but one in particular stands out. Built in 1395 The Crooked House is suspected to have been the inspiration for the nursery rhyme, “There Was a Crooked Man”. It’s also appeared in Harry Potter films and most recently it is the setting for sumptuous dinner parties! We finished with a Cream Tea upstairs in the Guildhall before heading back to Freckenham. What an amazing adventure this is. And there’s still one more day this weekend!