Rotary Club of Stowmarket

On Monday, April 6th I spoke at an evening meeting of the Rotary Club of Stowmarket. Mike and Hilary Haydon drove all the way to Cambridge (an hour's drive) to pick me up. Before the meeting, they took me to their beautiful home in Bury St Edmunds. They live in an old pub that is now a wonderful, modern home. We had some tea and cake and then went for a tour of the town. In the centre of Bury St Edmunds lies the remains of an enormous abbey, surrounded by the Abbey Gardens, a park. The abbey was destroyed during the 16th century with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Next to the gardens is Bury St Edmunds Cathedral. A new Gothic revival tower was added to the cathedral as part of a millennium project. The tower makes Bury St Edmunds Cathedral the only recently completed Anglican cathedral in the UK. The town centre also has St. Mary's Church, the civic church of Bury St. Edmunds, which is the third largest parish church in England. It was part of the abbey complex and originally was one of three large churches in the town.

They then drove me to Stowmarket to speak. As usual, the speech went well, the dinner was great, and the company was even better. After, I went to stay with Malcolm and Pam Cook in their refurbished barn. It was also another beautiful home. They fed me a large English breakfast in the morning and then drove me back to Cambridge.