I write this from my new office in my new house in Bury St Edmunds. I'm so happy to finally be settled... again! This is our 7th PCS during Matt's career and it has been by far the most difficult one! I think COVID just makes everything harder. We had a few problems leaving Germany and got delayed by one week. We spend a total of 6 and a half weeks in TLF. The first 2 and a half on Ramstein and the last part we finished off on Mildenhall here in England. The problems we experienced with our TLF accommodations would require an entire blog post all to themselves and I'm just not doing that. I am moving on from all that and looking to the future with positivity in mind!!
So, I am focusing on the beautiful little town we've moved to and some of what we've experienced so far!
Bury St Edmunds is located in Suffolk County in the district of East Anglia in England. We are about an hour's drive away from Cambridge and two hours north of London.
We are about 25 minutes south of Lakenheath and Mildenhall. The drive from our house to the bases is a beautiful winding journey through the English countryside that takes you through several small villages.
We took some time last weekend to go and see what Bury had to offer on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. We drove Matt's new Mustang - which is a huge hit with the Brits, I mean they can't get enough of it. They stare at it, they compliment it, they ask him to look inside. Their reaction is really amazing and it's doing nothing to diminish Matt's pride in his ride. Anyway, after spending far too much time trying to find parking, we finally got a spot and took a little stroll through the shopping district. It's a cute little area with tons of restaurants, live music, and shopping venues. It leads to the farmers market in the center of downtown and from there it's only a short walk to The Arc, Bury's big shopping mall.
We strolled all through this area looking for a place to grab lunch, but all the outdoor seating was full, so we wound up at the Arc and ate at Byron Burger. I wasn't expecting to have the best burger I've ever had in my life here, but that's what happened!
I was blown away by how delicious the bacon was and the fries were perfect!
After eating way too much we strolled back down to St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the Abbey gardens. This is a beautiful little oasis on the Eastern edge of town where you can take a quiet walk, have a picnic, or explore the ruins of what was once known as the most famous pilgrimage site in all of England.
The Abbey ruins are what used to be St Edmunds Abbey. It was founded in the year 1020 and named for the patron saint of England during the middle ages. This Abbey was once the fourth wealthiest monastery in England, but thanks to Henry VIII and his wish to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, the dissolution of the monasteries began and the Abbey was destroyed.
The remains of the rock walls can be found all around the gardens and since I am absolutely obsessed with texture, I took the time to photograph quite a few of them. I love that you can see the seashells that were used to construct the walls.
The gardens around the Abbey are really beautiful. They are spread out over 14 acres and include a pretty wide variety of flowers and other vegetation. The entire garden is enclosed by the abbey wall that runs from the 13th century Abbot's Bridge via the Abbey Gate to St Edmundsbury Cathedral.
We also ventured up to the cemetery of St Mary's Cathedral, which sits just adjacent to St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Mary Tudor, once Queen of England's tomb is located in this cathedral. This architecturally magnificent structure was built beginning in 1290 and was completed in 1490. Unfortunately we had just missed the times to go inside the church to explore the interior, but we will go back soon!
Most of the headstones outside are very worn down, so much so that it was impossible to make out dates or names on most of them. I love cemeteries. They are just so peaceful and quiet, and there is an air of reverence that surrounds them that I find very appealing.
This cemetery was completely overgrown with Queen Anne's Lace which gave it an even more wistful atmosphere.
What I loved the most about our little weekend adventure was that it was a 6 min trip from our front door to the heart of this beautiful and historically rich little town. We chose to live in this area specifically because of all Bury has to offer. They host a variety of festivals including the East Anglian Beer Festival in August and a large Christmas Market beginning in late November. We have our fingers crossed that the vaccines continue to work and that these planned festivities can go on as planned this year!
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