They Gave Their Lives for Ipswich
Shot down over France, captured twice and forced to flee across occupied Europe, Ipswich pilot Ronald Hawkins survived one of the most extraordinary escapes of the Second World War. He returned home a decorated hero, but his determination to fly again would ultimately cost him his life.
They Gave Their Lives for Ipswich
An Ipswich father of two, killed in the trenches in 1915, is finally to receive a military funeral after his remains were identified through DNA. But behind the remarkable discovery lies the story of a family that suffered more than its share of heartbreak.
Long Reads
Christchurch Park is one of Ipswich's most treasured places, but in the 1890s, as the estate was being sold off for housing, the Tudor mansion faced an uncertain future. Read about Daniel Defoe, 200 ships in harbour at once, and a referendum where folk from Ipswich voted against saving the site.
Long Reads
In 1909, Ipswich Museum acquired a giraffe standing nearly 17 feet tall. There was just one small problem. The railway bridges weren't high enough. What followed was a feat of Edwardian ingenuity, an inspector who wisely refused to become a jockey, and a rather secretive team of glaziers.
Long Reads
Suffolk's two-tier system is almost certainly finished, and a single county-wide authority is the likeliest replacement. But the county council's leader is not ready to accept that the choice is limited to the two business cases already sitting on ministers' desks.
Long Reads
He wrote some of Britain’s best-loved songs, entertained troops during the Second World War and died in Ipswich. Decades later came the extraordinary discovery that he had secretly won two Olympic gold medals – except he had not.
Long Reads
A £100 energy payment, a bigger break on business rates and another rise in the minimum wage – John Healey's first Budget reaches into almost every household and high street business in Ipswich. Here is who gains, who pays, and what people in the town make of it.
Long Reads
One of Ipswich's largest town centre shops is being offered for sale or rent, raising questions about its future. But the former C&A building on Upper Brook Street has a story that stretches far beyond its current occupant, Poundstretcher. From childhood shopping trips to a much-loved rocking horse.
Long Reads
Plans for 1,200 homes at Foxhall Road have revealed an extraordinary quantity of potentially valuable minerals beneath the site. But the developer's own consultants say extracting them first would be impractical. Ipswich.co.uk examines what lies below the surface and why it matters.
Long Reads
As plans to demolish the 92-year-old Suffolk landmark come under scrutiny, other redundant water towers have found remarkable new lives. And East Suffolk Council has confirmed it possesses a legal power that could give Trimley’s tower a fighting chance.
Long Reads
Ipswich.co.uk can exclusively reveal that Ipswich has not made the shortlist for UK City of Culture 2029. The town that was the first in the country to declare its ambition is out, and the questions start now.
Long Reads
In 2021, inspectors found that Ipswich Hospital's maternity tower failed national design standards and that maternity services "required improvement". Five years on, midwives say almost nothing has changed, and a £98m plan to replace the building rests on a decision due within days.
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