Suffolk: Interesting Facts

Suffolk: Literary Facts

• Ipswich was where Enid Blyton trained as a Kindergarten teacher.



• David Copperfield was "born" in north Suffolk.



• The finding of the Mildenhall treasure inspired Roald Dahl to write a novel.



• It is said that 'Little Boy Blue' and 'Humpty Dumpty' nursery rhymes were based on the life of Cardinal Wolsey from Ipswich.



• Robert Louis Stephenson is said to have thought of the idea for "Treasure Island" whilst visiting his uncle at Cockfield.



• Sir Henry Rider Haggard, who wrote 'King Solomon's Mines', was educated in Ipswich.



• Daniel Defoe - author of "Robinson Crusoe" - once said that Suffolk butter was "the best in England".

Suffolk: Historical Facts

• Mrs Wallis Simpson was divorced in Ipswich before marrying Edward VIII.



• Henry I gave the Honour of Eye to the future King Stephen.



• Sir Francis Drake sailed in a Woodbridge-built ship.



• Two Suffolk places - the Shotley peninsula and Trimley St Mary - claim to have the last recorded outbreak of bubonic plague.



• John Gosnold III, MP for Ipswich, had to advise on the legality of Lady Jane Grey's succession.



• King Harold of 1066 fame was Earl of East Anglia.



• Ian Smith, who later became Prime Minister of Rhodesia, once flew from RAF Martlesham.



• Cardinal Wolsey - he who was charged with arranging the divorce of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon - was the son of an Ipswich butcher.

Suffolk: Work and Industry Facts

• The Ipswich based company Ransomes and Rapier built the first railway in China.



• The British Sugar distribution plant at Bury St Edmunds is its largest in the country.



• The inhabitants of Trimley St Mary and Trimley St Martin were called treacle miners because of the coprolite that was dug there.



• HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship, was designed by Thomas Slade, who is buried in Ipswich.

Suffolk: Arts and Entertainment

• John Simpson, the BBC foreign correspondent, spent much of his childhood in Ipswich and Dunwich.



• Southwold was used to film an episode of both "Grange Hill" and also "Kavanagh QC".



• Bill Nighy, who starred in films such as "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and "Love Actually", lives near Aldeburgh.



• When a young Cary Grant ran away to join an acrobatic troupe, his father found him in Ipswich.



• Scenes for "The Chief" were filmed throughout Suffolk.



• Libby Purves, who lives in Suffolk, was the youngest presenter of the "Today" programme and the first person to broadcast live from Beijing.



• June Brown, (Dot Cotton in 'EastEnders') was educated in Ipswich.

Suffolk: Architectural Facts

• Parts of the organ of Nayland church come from Canterbury Cathedral.



• When it opened in 1942, the Ipswich Wet Dock was the largest area of enclosed water of its kind in England.

Suffolk: Sporting Facts

• In 1989, Ipswich FC signed Sergei Baltacha - the first Russian player signed to play in the English football league.



• Oswald Gayford of Hadleigh, Suffolk, set a world record for long distance flying in 1927, 1933 and 1938.



• In 1997, Dean Gould of Felixstowe was awarded The Guinness World Record for the fastest winkle picker.
  
  
• Former England captain, Mick Mills, once played for Ipswich FC; Alf Ramsey and Bobbie Robson both once managed Ipswich FC.

Suffolk: Other Facts

• Suffolk means land of the Southern People.



• On a clear day, it is said that 30 churches are visible fromt he top of St Andrew's church, Weybread.



• Suffolk and Cheshire have the highest densities of ponds in the UK.



• There are more pigs than people in Suffolk.



• The oft repeated phrase, "Silly Suffolk", is actually a corruption of Selig Suffolk meaning "holy Suffolk".



• The 1000 ft high Mendlesham mast was the tallest TV mast in Europe at the time of construction.

Suffolk beach huts

Suffolk stately home: Kentwell Hall

The Shell

 

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