Reading List
We've been asked to collect citations from this site into one list...
Anderson, R.C. : 'Tramways of East Anglia'. Light Railway Transport League, 1969.
Burnett, David: 'Sudbury, Suffolk - the unlisted heritage'. Sudbury Society, 2002.
Clegg, Muriel: 'The Way We Went: Streets in 19th Century Ipswich'. Salient Press, Ipswich, 1989 (ISBN 0 86055 197 0). The story of the making and naming of streets in Ipswich.
Cobb, Stephen: 'Ipswich to Felixstowe: 125 years on the line'. Ipswich Transport Musem, 2002. Information on the history of this circuitous railway line.
Headley, Gwynn: 'Follies - National Trust guide'. National Trust, 1987.
Malster, Robert: 'The Wharncliffe companion to Ipswich: an A to Z of local history'. Wharncliffe Books, 2005. The doyen of Ipswich local history produces a wonderful treasure trove of arcana about the historic town (even though most people who live there and run the town don't know or acknowledge it, as he points out).
Malster, Robert & Bob Jones: 'A Victorian Vision: The building of Ipswich Wet Dock'. Ipswich Port Authority, 1992.
Markham, R.A.D.: 'A Rhino in the High Street'. Ipswich Borough Council, 1990. The history of Ipswich Museum.
'People & Places: A pictorial history'. Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Society Limited, 2000 (ISBN 0953966305). The Co-op history, obviously.
Webb, John: 'Great Tooley of Ipswich'. Boydell Press, first published 1970 (Suffolk Records Society).
We no longer operate a Guestbook due to endless spamming. Comments are welcome via our Contact page.
[Earliest first]
Margaret
Comment : This site is right up my street, so to speak. It
looks excellent already, and yet its still under construction. Keep up
the good work Borin.
Ed
Comment : Thanks for giving me a different perspective on
my home town. I seen a majority of those of these signs & never
even gave a second thought before. Many thanks
Ed
Comment : Stumbled across this site from Google - mightily
impressed, Borin. Minor gripe: background images dont help readability
one jot. Chock full of interesting info. Keep it up!
Comment : Could it be Edward
Fison Ltd on the end of that
building?
Andrew S
Comment : Great work; just shows what treasures there are
just above the modern shop fronts; interesting to speculate about the
people whose job it was to paint these signs.
carol
Comment : there are strange things done in the midnight sun
by the men who moil for gold.... actually its just nice to see someone
taking an interest in things like this. capital.
Mike
Comment : Its great to see a minority interest in
action.Your record will be invaluable to future historians. Im engaged
on another minority interest myself,viz church monuments.I take photos
around Suffolk and add notes from various sources Best Wishes Mike
dennis
Comment : Just come across your site from the Ipswich
Society site. Fascinating!!
Simon
Comment : Found your website when I Googled my families old
company name, J Pooley and Co (Ipswich) Limited in Ranelagh Road,
Ipswich. Sadly the business closed in 1999 and the land sold to Western
Homes who built those awful flats on the site! Still it was nice to see
a picture of the old site, if you want any information to add to the
page, the company started in 1869 and was originally based in Tanners
Lane (where Civic Drive and the AXA building now stands). The old
newsagents was built in the early 1960s and originally called
“Rogers”, the shop used to stand on the entrance of Pooleys
before the company moved there in 1963. There were also a row of
terrace houses from there the offices stood up to the newsagents, but
these were lost when the council widen Ranelagh Road. The lettering on
the company office was originally white wooden letters nailed to the
front, but these used to keep getting stolen, so my dad removed the
rest of the letters and painted the name on by hand! Didn’t do a
bad job I reckon!!
Martin
Comment : Absolutely fascinating! Bits of Ipswich I didnt
know were there, and bits that I shall make a point of looking out for
too. Thank you :o)
Trevor
Comment : As an ex-Ipswichian exiled in Norfolk ( left in
1957 )what a fascinating insight to the history of old trades I missed
whilst a resident. N.B. possibly the building opposite to the Walk was
Woottons
the hairdresser - keep up the good work.
Rob Hudson
Comment: Amazed to see the pictures of 184
Bramford Road. I lived there
when it was a shop from the 60s to the 80s. On the other wall facing
towards Ipswich my father put the letters ROOKES vertically. This was
what the locals called the shop which was founded by my grandparents,
the Rookes. After setting up a greengorocery handbarrow after the First
World War, my Grandfather opened a shop near the bottom of what
was then Sallows Lane at 176 Bramford Road. The shop passed on to
my parents after his death in the Sixties. My parents were forced
to move out in the early 60's when the Council made a compulsory
purchase. They moved the few yards up the road to 184 buying the
business from Mr. Bowman where they stayed till the 80's.
The shop was well known for its friut and veg display on the
forecourt. Though my parents were called Hudson, the shop was
always Rooke's Stores to the local customers, or Rookies.
After my parents retired from what was a successful business,
the shop went downhill under the new owners. Shortly afterwards
it was converted into a residential property only.
That sign on the wall, obscured by the new building always fascinated
me and I was amazed to see it on your site. I had completely
forgotten about ity till then.
Thanks! Rob Hudson
I find your photos of the various signs around
Ipswich of very great interest. I love local history and many of of
your pictures were fascinating. I attach two which I took recently in
Carr Street which you may find of interest.
The first one shows two
decorations and under them is a metal sign which I have enlarged in the
second one. Hope you find them of interest.
Best regards.
Mike O'Donovan