Rtn Francis Whitbread: Suffolk tour

Today our member Francis Whitbread took us on a cycling tour of his new home county of Suffolk. To be more accurate he showed us various photographs he had taken on his cycling tours of the county while we just sat, watched and listened.

The cycling tours Francis did were away from the tourist areas His photographs depicted open roads, village signs, village churches, local buildings, hay fields and much more. He told us a little bit about each photograph and something about place it depicted.

One photograph was of a highly-decorated church ceiling, painted by a vicar’s wife over several years in Victorian times.

Among the stories he told us were a couple about a well-known Suffolk lady, Peggy Coles. She made her own wine, which for many years she sold at village fêtes and the like. She had to stop when it was discovered that she did not have a licence to sell alcohol. Her two sons, both officers in the Suffolk Constabulary, were rather embarrassed.

When Akenfield was filmed in Suffolk the cast were all drawn from local people, including Peggy. It is reported that the continual supply of her homemade wine was much appreciated by the film crew!