Get Connected

If you missed the post about Week One, go read it now. We expected to update you on the journeys of our modern-day pilgrim last week, but they were just having too much fun to bother sending us pictures. Now that they're home, there is a lot to share.

Day 5 -- Saturday, June 23rd

With the London portion of their tour complete, the group headed northeast to spend the next several days in and around Ipswich. Their first day was spent among the nearby medieval churches, including stops at High Laver to see the church where Roger Williams and John Norton preached, and where the philospher John Locke is buried; and the historic Walpole Old Chapel.

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A talk by Rev Bill Mahood at the chapel at Walpole,
an early place of worship for dissenters and puritans.

Day 6 -- Sunday, June 24th

Sunday morning began with a service at the Congregational church in Ipswich, followed by a drive westward to Hadleigh, Kersey, and Groton. While the group was in Groton, they took the opportunity to visit the church once owned and attended by John Winthrop.

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Our latterday Puritans at John Winthrop's church.

They then turned north to visit Lavenham for lunch and a guided walking tour.

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The Guild Hall at Lavenham. This was a center of the wool
trade which was the source of East Anglia's wealth.
It was also the home of John Winthrop's grandfather.

Day 7 -- Monday, June 25th

The next day took the travelers north to Norwich where they toured the Cathedral and attended a lecture on early separatist theology in the area. The trip back to Ipswich was a scenic drive along the North Sea coast through the towns of Blytheburgh, Aldeburgh, and Snape.

Day 8 -- Tuesday, June 26th

To the southwest of Ipswich lies Colchester, site of the earliest Roman settlement in Britain and the 11th-century castle commissioned by William the Conquerer.

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Colchester Castle, at the site of the oldest Roman settlement in England.

In the afternoon, the travelers took a stroll along the river where landscape painter John Constable lived and worked, and then arrived at Dedham Church where "Roaring" John Rogers was minister.

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Our group at the Stour River, Flatford, at John Constable's
home and the inspiration for many of his paintings.

Day 9 -- Wednesday, June 27th

On their final day in Ipswich, the group stayed in town to see the Ipswich Charter Hangings, a series of modern tapestries commissioned to commemorate the turn of the millennium and the 800th anniversary of the official founding of the city.

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Isabel Clover, the creator, lecturing on the Ipswich Hangings,
celebrating 800 years of East Anglian history.

The panels are on display at St. Peter's by the Waterfront.

Day 10 -- Thursday, June 28th

Leaving Ipswich behind, the group moved west to spend their last few days in Cambridge. They took a bit of a detour along the way to visit the ancient ruins adjacent to the Cathedral in Bury St. Edmunds.

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The gardens in the Monastery ruins

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The lovely market town of Bury St Edmunds, the town
at which the nobles met to decide how to confront
King John and to force him to sign the Magna Carta.

Once they arrived in Cambridge, they traded their motor coach for a nice relaxing boat ride on the river Cam from which the city takes its name.

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Punting on the Cam!!!

Day 11 -- Friday, June 29th

The next day was devoted to the University itself. The travelers were taken through Emmanuel, St. John's, and King's Colleges, as well as the Fitzwilliam Museum.

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The Wren Chapel at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where many of
our Puritan forefathers studied divinity and were influenced to
confront King James the First and King Charles the First
over the worship of idolatry and other "Popery" practices.

After lunch, they fed their minds with a talk on C. S. Lewis and his Christian themes by Prof. David Goss, then continued their tour of "The Backs" (a stretch of campus along the river) and Trinity College.

Day 12 -- Saturday, June 30th

The last day took the group north to Ely, where they were guided through Ely Cathedral and visited Oliver Cromwell's home.

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The hexagonal dome at Ely Cathedral

They then took in the fresh air with a tour and lunch at the Stow Hall Gardens.

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The Elizabethan wall at the private Stow Hall Gardens.

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Our farewell dinner in Cambridge at the
end of a very, very, very successful tour.

All that remained was for our travelers to return to London and wing their way back home.

Once again, we extend our thanks to Roger Burke for sending back his photographs, and to Olde Ipswich Tours for arranging this pilgrimage for our friends. We're glad they enjoyed their travels and allowed us to experience a small measure of it.