For us, Bury St Edmunds is about 52 miles away - just about an hour's drive up the M11, A11, and A14. We enter Bury St Edmunds along the A1302, past a Shell petrol station with good prices. The road becomes Risbygate Street as you near the town centre. We usually have no difficulty in finding free street parking off to the left on or near Challice Road.
The picture is of the top of Risbygate street just after we have walked past Lloyds bank on the right of the street - I usually use it's cash point to print out a mini cash statement. There is also a new Wilkinsons store on the left, and a good Salvation Army charity shop further up where I look for some book in a series I am reading.
We have just passed St Andrws Street North on the left - down which on left is the bus station, next to which is St Andrews cafe where we usually go for a fairly priced lunch time snack / light meal. If we have guests we usually go to the Angel Hotel - see later.
At the end of the road in the picture is St John's street off to the left, and the market square (with an excellent market on Wednesdays and Saturdays) off to the right.
Usually we get to the town about 10:30 am on a Wednesday , walk up Risbygate street, turn right towards the market and head down to get a newspaper from WH Smiths on the right. There is a post office next door. We need to get a paper first before getting a cup of tea.
The picture is of part of the town market. There are about 3 rows of stalls on the town square, and further stalls along the roads that come off to the right. There are all sorts of stalls - vegetables, fabric, fish, cheese, coffee, tools, garden plants, animal foods, books, etc, etc. Quality is usually very good, and prices are very fair. It's a competitive market which keeps the prices low.
Having got a paper (The Daily Telegraph) we usually head back the way we have come, and head down St John's Street to get a cup of tea at the Just Traid, Fair Trade Cafe which is one of my recommended tearooms - qv for details.
The picture is of St John's street in summer when the bunting is out. There are lots of good charity shops here - we usually walk down the left hand side of the street, cross to the St John's Centre and the Fair Trade Cafe for our tea, and then walk back up the right hand side of the street. This way we don't miss any of the charity shops - there are other shops too, of course. In 2011 with difficult trading conditions, there are also too many empty shops with their leases up for sale.
Having had a cup of tea in St John's street we then head back to look round the market - usually just looking at this stage as we will return later to buy anything heavy rather than carrying it around all day. We then head off to the right off the market place along the Traverse heading towards Abbeygate Street, passing the Nutshell pub as we go - see picture. This is allegedly the smallest pub in Britain, and it is also beleived to be haunted.
At the end of the Traverse, we turn left down Abbeygate Street towards Abbey park gardens and the abbey ruins. Abbeygate Street is a nice broad walkway with lots of shops, and yes some more charity shops for us to visit. If we are feeling lucky (or not), we might invest in a Lottery ticket from Abbeygate newsagents at the bottom right of Abbeygate Street. We like to support small businesses where we can.
The picture is of Abbey Gate itself - now the entrance to a park and some nice gardens. From where we are standing the local Tourist Office is off to the left - always a good source of local and UK holiday brochures, and a good place to find out what is on locally. The Angel hotel is just off to the right.
This picture is of the Angel Hotel which faces the Abbey Gate of the previous picture. This is a nice place to take guests for a posher lunch than our usual snack at St Andrews Cafe. It is a lovely looking place, and well appointed inside. You can opt for a 2 course set lunch for a reasonable £12.95 approx. with linen table cloth and silver service. Its a good setting opposite the Cathedral.
In this picture we have entered the Abbey park gardens, and have paused to look at one of the excellent floral displays. There is nearly always a good display here - Bury St Edmunds is a well known contestant in the Britain in Bloom annual competitions. But they cheat slightly, and get the good displays by planting out almost mature pot plants that they have raised elsewhere. That said, the end result is usually stunning, so why complain.
We usually head down through the park to see the ducks in the river - there a lots and lots of them, usually fighting for the bread thrown to them. There is a good children's playground just before the river which was extended and updated in 2011.
If you look back to where you have come from, you will see the old abbey ruins in front of you. There are lots of signs to advise on what you are looking at.
Here we see only part of the extensive old abbey ruins. There are lots of very interesting and informative plaques advising of the history of the place, and depicting what the place would have looked like hundreds of years ago. This is a country full of history - sadly a history of which lots of its inhabitants are completely ignorant. If we don't study history we are complelled to repeat our mistakes. Our politicians, who have mismanaged education just as they have mismanaged so much else they touch, have a lot to answer for !
This is the final picture of our mini tour / day out in Bury St Edmunds. It is of the rear of St Edmundsbury Cathedral taken from amongst the old abbey ruins in the Abbey gardens. If you visit, there is a lot more of the town for you to explore. Enjoy !
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