This will all seem incredibly self-indulgent (so, what's new) but it's hot and I thought you'd all like to see where I went yesterday. Eagle-eyed UE followers will probably recognise this fishing boat, because it's just about the only one left on the beach at Aldeburgh in Suffolk. I've been coming here since 1968 when I got both Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears to write their names on a postcard of Aldeburgh, and at the same time managed to get Mr.Britten to bang his head so violently on the boot of his white Alvis drophead that a load of crotchets and quavers fell to the ground outside the White Lion Hotel. The great thing about this little coastal town is that it hasn't really changed all that much in the intervening forty two years. Quite apart from the excellent fish 'n' chips down at the Slaughden end, cool pints of Adnams in the Cross Keys and music snobs swatting flies with the Telegraph, you can still buy fish straight out of a tarred hut on the shingle. This boat, Silver Harvest, caught a hundred lobsters at the weekend, and I took one of them home with me, together with some delicious green samphire. And I want to go back for more NOW.
Oh Suffolk, how I miss you! These sort of posts make me hanker for those vast, arching skies and the Lord Nelson at Southwold, probably the finest pub outside of that Lundun.
All very odd, my Suffolk visit. I had a phone call this morning from a lady who tells me her husband (my sponsor on Built for Britain) thinks he saw me on the beach. Obviously took fright and drove off as quickly as he could, thinking he'd seen Peter Grimes.
I am a designer, writer and photographer who spends all his time looking at England, particularly buildings and the countryside. But I have a leaning towards the slightly odd and neglected, the unsung elements that make England such an interesting place to live in. I am the author and photographer of over 25 books, in particular Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2006), More from Unmitigated England (Adelphi 2007), Cross Country (Wiley 2011), The Cigarette Papers (Frances Lincoln 2012), Preposterous Erections (Frances Lincoln 2012) and English Allsorts (Adelphi 2015)
"Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England". Clive Aslet
Preposterous Erections
"Enchanting...delightful". The Bookseller "Cheekily named" We Love This Book
The Cigarette Papers
"Unexpectedly pleasing and engrossing...beautifully illustrated". The Bookseller
Cross Country
"Until the happy advent of Peter Ashley's Cross Country it has, ironically, been foreigners who have been best at celebrating Englishness". Christina Hardyment / The Independent
More from Unmitigated England
"Give this book to someone you know- if not everyone you know." Simon Heffer, Country Life. "When it comes to spotting the small but telling details of Englishness, Peter Ashley has no equal." Michael Prodger, Sunday Telegraph
4 comments:
Oh Suffolk, how I miss you! These sort of posts make me hanker for those vast, arching skies and the Lord Nelson at Southwold, probably the finest pub outside of that Lundun.
All very odd, my Suffolk visit. I had a phone call this morning from a lady who tells me her husband (my sponsor on Built for Britain) thinks he saw me on the beach. Obviously took fright and drove off as quickly as he could, thinking he'd seen Peter Grimes.
Have I been there with you Pete? It looks very familiar from many years ago...
You have indeed Lou Lou. Being used to palm-fringed idylls you turned to me on the shingle and said "Ok. But where's the beach?".
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