Mendham
Mike Bardell tells us about an important 'gateway' bridge on the
edge of the village of Mendham. It carries The Street
over the River Waveney, which also marks the county boundary, from
Suffolk to Norfolk.
'There are Norfolk and Suffolk plates at Mendham... Mendham
bridge is overlooked by a WWII pillbox.'
'E.S.C.C
1914'
[note the lack of a final full stop]
'N.C.C.
1914'
The initials stand, of course, for 'East Suffolk County Council' (so
date to a period pre-1974, when East and West Suffolk and Ipswich
County Borough merged) and 'Norfolk County Council'. See also the ESCC
plates on bridges at Needham Market
and Southwold. The headquarters of ESCC
was County Hall in Ipswich.
Mendham's most famous son, born to a local miller, went on to
become Sir Alfred James Munnings KCVO, PRA (1878-1959). He became known
as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken
enemy of Modernism. He lived at Dedham in Essex and the gallery of his
work is open to the public. An extract of one of his paintings,
featuring gypsy Charlotte Gray leading a pony, has been incorporated
into the Mendham village sign. Her husband Frederick or 'Nobby' Gray
was one of Alfred's closest friends and a model in some of his
paintings. Both Nobby and Charlotte are buried in All Saints churchyard
in Mendham.
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