The back field is already cut
A Postcard From: Needham Market, Suffolk - 31st July 2026
Fred's in Spain with the county wind orchestra and Harry's out at a friend's house for a film night, so we decide to visit Needham Market for something to do and because - despite having been through it about 1,700 times by train - it's actually the first proper visit, despite once having been to county-council Trev's parents' house just outside the town to play snooker in the late 90s, and again to pick Isobel up from the station after her train was terminated there. We start with a walk around Needham Lake and follow that with a stooping walk under the railway line via the Cattle Tunnel, built in 1846, to have a look round the town itself, including the interesting architectural mash-up that is the church of St. John the Baptist - including its impressive mediaeval hammerbeam roof, of which the often-scathing Nikolaus Pevsner was moved to quote Henry Cautley, who called it "the culminating achievement of the English carpenter".
previous album: A July Miscellany: Scole and a Ride To Pulham, Norfolk - 30th July 2026
We watch the auto-bale-pick-up thing
Needham Lake
A goose stands on one leg
Another waterway has turned to astroturf
Isobel walks around the Needham Lake path
A Class 66 'shed' rumbles through Needham
The Greater Anglia train from London
A view from the other side of Needham Lake
A pair of fluffy baby moorhens pootle after mum
Isobel heads under the very low cattle bridge
Isobel in the cattle bridge under the railway
The impressive Needham Market railway station
The Rampant Horse Inn, Needham Market
Needham's grand Christchurch United Reform Church
A tall but distressed door
A classic Victorian shop porch
A closed-down shop has some interesting stuff
Needham Market's high street
A grand house on the high street
A former pub with Tolly Cobbold signs on it
The bizarrely-modified St. John the Baptist
The wide, bright nave of St. John the Baptist
Buildings seen through squares of old glass
The impressive mediaeval hammer-beam roof
A colourful font
All that remains of original mediaeval glass
Victorian poppy heads on benches
Another view of the architectural mash-up
An original carved mediaeval door
Another impressive building on the high street
Isobel walks through Needham Market
Impressive pargetting on a building
Bins in a back yard
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The back field is already cut
The back field is already cut
We watch the auto-bale-pick-up thing
Needham Lake
A goose stands on one leg
Another waterway has turned to astroturf
Isobel walks around the Needham Lake path
A Class 66 'shed' rumbles through Needham
The Greater Anglia train from London
A view from the other side of Needham Lake
A pair of fluffy baby moorhens pootle after mum
Isobel heads under the very low cattle bridge
Isobel in the cattle bridge under the railway
The impressive Needham Market railway station
The Rampant Horse Inn, Needham Market
Needham's grand Christchurch United Reform Church
A tall but distressed door
A classic Victorian shop porch
A closed-down shop has some interesting stuff
Needham Market's high street
A grand house on the high street
A former pub with Tolly Cobbold signs on it
The bizarrely-modified St. John the Baptist
The wide, bright nave of St. John the Baptist
Buildings seen through squares of old glass
The impressive mediaeval hammer-beam roof
A colourful font
All that remains of original mediaeval glass
Victorian poppy heads on benches
Another view of the architectural mash-up
An original carved mediaeval door
Another impressive building on the high street
Isobel walks through Needham Market
Impressive pargetting on a building
Bins in a back yard