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Springfield Road, BURY ST. EDMUNDS, IP33 3AR

G R Postbox Springfield Road Bury St.Edmunds Suffolk.

On the western side of Springfield Road. The neighbouring houses are Nelson Villa and Trafalgar Villa, which may be a clue to their age. But the terraces further down the road are dated 1896 to 1900.

The appliances have been moved outside while the building has a thorough cleaning, using the 'cherry picker' vehicle on the right.

Built 1987. 9 flats in this block, but there are 5 other blocks.

Off Parkway. While this road provides good road access in most directions, the position at the bottom of a long hill seems odd, when sites could have been found at the top. This is at least the third Fire Station in Bury St. Edmunds - a town centre building still carries the carved stone marking. A later one in Fornham Road was demolished for housing. Note the decorative flower baskets - Bury is a repeat winner in the Britain In Bloom contest.

Last week the digital TV switch-over started in this area, with BBC2 switched off. The aerial used to be mounted in the roof and receive just 4 analogue channels from a repeater transmitter on the sugar factory. We were advised that we needed new equipment for digital transmissions, and it would be better to add a tall mast and get the signals from the main transmitter at Tacolneston, providing all the Freeview channels right away. Here the shiny new aerial glints in the sun.

This modern building in Parkway is a fire and ambulance station opened in 1987. Much of the centre of the town has suffered from redevelopment and most buildings are later than the mid 19th century. There are some uninspiring modern buildings along Parkway and the Arc shopping centre is particularly ugly, especially the building occupied by Debenhams. Bury St Edmunds is a market town which is the cultural and retail centre for West Suffolk and is known for brewing (Greene King) and sugar (British Sugar). There is scattered evidence of earlier activity but essentially Bury St Edmunds began as one of the royal boroughs of the Saxons and a monastery was founded which became the burial place of King Edmund. A new Benedictine abbey was built in 1020 which became rich and powerful and the town was laid out on a grid pattern by Abbot Baldwin. After the dissolution the abbey became ruinous. A new church, later the cathedral, was begun in the early 16th century.

This sign is actually flanked by a couple of hooks for hanging baskets, but sadly none are fitted. The sign was erected in the 1980s when an area of allotments was converted to be a temporary wildlife area pending the construction of housing. The area attracted lots of 'green' people, hippies and tree huggers, then when the houses were finally planned they said 'You can't destroy our wild area'. So far they have their way. It provides an interesting contrast to an adjacent slightly more managed park area, and then the Tayfen Meadows estate.