Dear Ipswich, How are things with you?
I love you!
You were the exciting big town a bus or train ride away from Felixstowe when I was a kid in the 1970s. Hatchards bookshop felt like a world of possibility. Woolworths, BHS and the Coop Department Store always had better Lego.
You were a daily drive to school with my dad in the 1980s and later my teenage playground for all those formative experiences until I was 18 in 1991 – happy days.
And you’ve been my work HQ for the last 6 years since 2017 and it’s great to see how you’ve changed for the better. A diverse and often vibrant town with a wonderful old bone structure, you’ve got your own University now, lots of great arts venues and more the one mean cups of coffee. These days when I’m not working I’m most likely to be in one of your brilliant Kurdish, Indian, Portuguese or Polish specialist food shops than anywhere else.
I wish you all the very best as you try your best to be a fantastic place in the 21st century, and I hope those people of Ipswich and Suffolk who have your best interests at heart do even more to support your success, and those who don’t really know you, get to know you.
