#bury st edmunds

[agelessphotography]

Old Curiosity Shop - Bury St. Edmunds, John Dixon Piper, circa 1860

[livesunique]

Ickworth House, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, United Kingdom,

Ickworth House was built between 1795 and 1829 in the neoclassical style by Italian architect Antonio Asprucci.

[specialwheels]

[contremineur]

The Bury St Edmunds witch trials were conducted intermittently between the years 1599 and 1694 in the town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, England. The 1645 trial, 'facilitated' by the Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, saw eighteen people executed in one day. The judgment in the 1662 trial by the future Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Sir Matthew Hale, acted as a powerful influence on the continuing persecution of witches in England and similar persecutions in the American Colonies.

image and abridged text from here

[onemanandhismustang-com-blog]

West And Loud 2024

The first car show of the weekend was held at West Suffolk College in Bury St Edmunds, about ten miles away from me. The weather was going to be perfect for me, temperature was low to mid twenties with light cloud cover, according to my app of course. I was looking forward to a car show on a Saturday as well as on a Sunday. The added bonus that I got out of doing some gardening that my wife had…

[jgrimtravels]

(Photo by: @jgrimtravels )

[hungry-little-owl]

13 May: birthday dinner at 1921 Angel Hill, Bury St Edmunds

this was a special dining experience, as Loverboy took me to a Michelin-starred restaurant for my birthday dinner. it was of course exquisite, and still a very comfortable atmosphere. I tried frogs legs, foie gras, and duck, liked everything except the texture of foie gras, and also enjoyed two delightfully strong cocktails.

more thoughts on each course below, but for now 11/10, definitely recommend, and ideally will make our special spot for future celebratory dinners.

we chose to do the 5 course tasting menu, which began with an assortment of canapés, which are extra-fancy hors d'oeuvres. the selection included smoked tuna on an anchovy cracker, tikka frog leg, mushroom croquette & quail's egg, something with beef tartare, something in caviar, and other things I forget what they were but they were delicious little morsels.

1st course: asparagus soup

this was so delectable it made me tear up a little bit. genuinely. I love asparagus to begin with but this "velouté" was next level. the truffels and quail egg were served in the bowl, and then the creamy velouté was poured at the table. I could have licked the bowl clean if it wouldn't have embarrassed my husband.

2nd course: wasabi mooli salad

the restaurant was able to accommodate my shellfish allergy, and made this dish without the mersea crab for me. the substitute was simply more pickled mooli (white radish), which was very good but had a very strong flavour on its own. I know I am not one to critique a Michelin star restaurant, but I do wish that they had actually substituted another more mellow-flavoured element in place of the crab. something like grilled chicken or even tofu, but... what do I know! all that to say, this was good but it was the only dish I did not finish as the pickled flavour of the mooli was just too strong to be enjoyed on its own for me.

3rd course: surf n turf but make it fancy ;)

this was another originally-shellfish dish, but they substituted the scallops for seared sea bass on my plate. chicken wings and chicken gravy complimented the fish unexpectedly well, and I could have eaten a whole basket of the morels alone to be honest. If I could order a full dinner sized plate from the tasting menu selection, it would be this dish.

4th course: duck and white bean cassoulet

the seared duck breast was served with rhubarb, and while I loved the duck I was not a fan of the rhubarb. i ate some of it but not all. I also cut the duck meat away from the strip of fat, which my partner said was meant to be eaten together. I cannot stand the texture of animal fat, so I may have committed a faux pas by cutting it off but I wanted to enjoy the duck meat in the way I knew I would.

the little sauce pan served as a side dish contained a white bean cassoulet (beans and shredded beef, but fancy), and foie gras. I imagine the foie gras was imported or produced ethically, as foie gras production is illegal in the UK. I loved the bean and beef cassoulet, but the texture of the foie gras was not very palatable to me.

in order to not make it sound like I didn't enjoy this course, because I very much did, I want to state in no uncertain terms that the duck was i n c r e d i b l e and also I want the white bean cassoulet served with everything else I eat from now on. just without foie gras ;)

5th course: dessert!

the pastry crumbles, the sorbet, the yuzu curd, the pudding-esque caramel-y strip of delicious goop winding beneath it all was *literally chef's kiss* I could kiss the chef for this. my massive sweet tooth wished for more but my rational, polite side knew it was the perfect little bite of sweetness after the savory dishes that preceded it.

again, 11/10 dining experience. I do not know exactly how Michelin stars are earned and maintained, but I dare say this restaurant is certainly deserving. and I want more asparagus velouté soup.

[papapastoral]

I got fresh ink today from Martha @ tattooartbse

[elite-clearance]

What we stand for

[kentengland]

Martyrs Memorial ~ Bury St Edmunds #burystedmunds #martyrsmemorial #cat...

[cd1984]

Pubs in Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds

Pub 92 - Alexandra Arms

This Greene King pub had a good range of beers and a nice atmosphere.

Pub 93 - Maypole

The Maypole is a super pub with nice Italian food and a great range of beers. Unfortunately I had the wrong dark beer and should have had the stronger Moongazer beer.

Pub 94 - Haymakers

A Milton pub where I had the 7.5% Marcus Aurelius and a Lasagne to soak up the beer.

Pub 95 - Live and Let Live

This is a nice pub which was bustling on a Monday night.

Pub 96 - Elm Tree

I went here with my friend and had a very nice beer.

Pub 97 - Cambridge Blue

The Blue Moon wasn't in the guide (nor was the Kingston Arms) but this classic was as good as always.

Pub 98 - Oakes Yard

Bury St Edmunds is well stocked for pubs and I found the Oakes Yard great for both food and drinks

Pub 99 - Old Cannon Brewery

This is an excellent venue that does its own beer, the Black Pig was particularly nice.

Pub 100 - The Nutshell

The famous pub is supposedly one of the smallest in the country. It has a limited beer range but is a fascinating place to visit.

Pub 101 - Royal William

The pub is near Stowmarket station and had an excellent beer selection when I visited. A lovely atmosphere and great beer.

[maypoleman1]

20th November

St Edmund’s Day

The Martyrdom of Edmund from the Passio Sancto Eadmundi. Source: Wikipedia

Today is St Edmund’s Day. Also known as Edmund the Martyr, he was king of East Anglia when the Anglo-Saxon kingdom was attacked by the Viking Great Heathen Army in 869. Edmund led his soldiers out to oppose the invaders but the East Anglians were defeated. Whether Edmund was killed in the battle of Hoxne in Suffolk or taken prisoner by the Danes and murdered thereafter is a matter of dispute. Tradition has it that the Vikings offered to spare Edmund his life and return him to the throne of East Anglia if he would embrace the Norse pagan religion and rule as a Scandinavian puppet. Edmund supposedly piously refused and paid a grisly price: the Viking warriors tied the king to a tree and shot him full of arrows. Sainthood and martyrdom were then mere formalities. Other traditions make Edmund less heroic. It is said that he fled the field of Hoxne and hid under Goldbrook Bridge, but that the glint of his royal golden spurs was spotted by a newly wed couple who immediately gave him away. As the king was hustled away by the Danes, Edmund cursed all married couples crossing the bridge and to this day, newlyweds in Hoxne take an alternative route home.

Edmund was buried in a Suffolk town which appropriately became named Bury St Edmunds thereafter. His feast day remained popular in the county with a special bun being baked and issued to schoolchildren every November 20th. Unsurprisingly it was called St Edmund’s Bun.

[medievalaquabunny]

Sarah Biffin’s visit to Bury Fair, Bury St Edmunds, 1810, watercolour

[windcarvedlyre]

Two different constituencies that have apparently voted conservative since the 1880s have flipped. Jesus christ.

[whats-in-a-sentence]

The wording of English marriage services from the tenth century speaks of a 'wife' and a 'bride' and blesses future children of the marriage but does not define the marriage as heterosexual. The wedding service used in the twelfth century, the Bury St Edmunds Missal, refers to a bride and bridegroom, but not specifically to a man and woman. It was not until the sixteenth century that the Sarum Manual wedding service specifically referred to a man and a woman in the marriage vows.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory