Genevieve Rudd

Wednesday 17 May  12.30 – 2.30pm
Cost: £12 /£10 W&BA members

Come along for a sociable light lunch and discover what the new look Diss Corn Hall arts and heritage centre has to offer following its refurbishment as part of the town’s £3.2 million Heritage Triangle project.

David Case, the trustee leading the heritage project, will provide the background to the project Jess Johnston, arts & heritage outreach manager, will cover the history of the building and the Heritage Triangle and explain what heritage research facilities and events will be on offer. And director Angela Sykes will outline the daytime additions to the programme and some upcoming highlights. They will also lead groups around the building so you get to see all those hidden areas.

And let’s not forget the lunch! Fredrick’s Fine Food has taken over the catering franchise and will be providing Coq au Vin (made with chicken breast, mushrooms, button onions and bacon) served with a Ciabatta Roll, Butternut Squash and Chickpea Tagine or Pea & Mint Soup served with a Sourdough Roll, followed by Walnut & Chocolate Brownie or Carrot & Pineapple Cake.  Special dietary needs catered for.

Venue: Diss Corn Hall, St Nicholas Street, Diss IP22 4LB

Sunday 20 August
Cost: £6/£5 W&BA members

Not so much a walk as a listen and look – in fact the only walking involved will be around the fascinating Museum at Thorpe Abbotts, a small complex of restored wartime buildings which were home to the 100th Bomb Group of the 8th US Army Air Force. The Museum is a treasure trove of military and personal artefacts, stories and mementoes. It is the setting for presentations about two extraordinary women photo-journalists who visited this area and documented these tumultuous years. Margaret Bourke-White was America’s first accredited woman war photographer and Lee Miller documented activities on the home front and then became a correspondent for the American Army in Europe. There will be time to look around the collection and share reflections at the end. Keen cyclists can meet in Harleston and cycle the 5 miles to Thorpe Abbots, as so many servicemen did when cars were rare.

Meet at 100th Bomb Group Memorial Museum , Common Road, Thorpe Abbotts, Dickleburgh IP21 4PH (or Budgens car park, Harleston at 2pm if on bike)
Refreshments available in the cafe

Tuesday 1 August 2pm – 4.30 pm + return bus journey on the Anglia 88a.
Cost £6/£5 W&BA members (under-12s free) + bus fare

A guided walk through one of the most picturesque landscapes in England in the company of a local expert on the Southwold Railway. Rediscover what remains of this famous narrow gauge line.  Is it true the train was so slow you could gather flowers while it was still moving?  Where was Blythburgh Station?  How were building challenges overcome?  What remains of Walberswick Station?  Where did the line cross the Blyth?  What remains of the railway in Southwold?  What is the China connection?  And what plans are there for the railway’s future preservation?  All will be revealed, and as a bonus along the way, we’ll hear original anecdotes and poems from local poets (courtesy of the Suffolk Poetry Society) in celebration of the railway.

Meet at Holy Trinity Church car park, Blythburgh IP19 9LP
Total distance 3.5 miles. No refreshments but cafes in Southwold at the end of the walk

Saturday 29 July 10.30am – 12.30pm
Cost: £6/£5 W&BA member

At the Suffolk Wildlife Trust Hen Reedbeds Reserve on the Blyth estuary, citizen scientist and artist Meg Amsden will lead the walk in the footsteps of otters. We will wander from the car park along the sea wall via Les Tarver’s hide and then on to the John Minihane hide. Stopping at places where otters may have left their tracks and traces, we will immerse ourselves in otter country. With views over the estuary, flowers in profusion and birds to watch from the hides, we will feel our way into another realm. Writer Melinda Appleby will read otter poems and Meg will tell otter stories, talk otter science, and ask for stories from the participants.
2 – 2 ½ hours with lots of stops.

Meet at Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Hen Reedbeds Reserve car park, off A1095 Halesworth Road, Southwold, IP18 6SH
Total distance 3 miles

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