EDitorial ± 14-Dec-2019

Woodbridge Lunches: Farmers' Market

Left home 9am, arrived station 9:10am. Bought ticket from machine and lugged bike up & over bridge to far-off platform 4B. Time on overhead clock: 9:15am. Ideal. Perfect, in fact, apart from there being no actual train. Cancelled, said the fine print on the display. No 09:17 to Woodbridge for you. Welcome to the new Boris Britain. So, lugged bike back over same bridge to consider my options. Texted Andy to say on my way, ETA 10:10. Pedal pedal.

Locked up my Raleigh outside the "state of the art leisure facility" that is Deben Leisure Centre at 10:01, an anagram of my expected time, and into the community hall for the final Farmers' Market of 2019. Plenty of fine local produce here including, according to the blurb:

  • Bosun's Gifts
  • Bee Cause (bee boxes)
  • Newbourne Farm
  • High House Fruit Farm
  • Sutton Hoo Chicken
  • Pinewood Catering
  • Not Just Tarts
  • Leaping Hare
  • Quince Tree
  • and more

Which is all very hoopla but where's Andy? Waiting outside, apparently, so he says, appearing like the mysterious owner of a fancy-dress establishment. Yonder's the breakfast bar: let's EAT. Thankfully few items to choose from on the handwritten list. Bacon and egg sandwiches times two, ta muchly. Granary, if you're asking. Oh, and a cuppa too, please.

Shared a table with an elderly lady flicking through the EADT waiting for a friend who still hadn't arrived when we left an hour later. Not sure why the rear door was fully open, brrr, making a hot sandwich even more welcome. Sat and chewed and chatted and watched Mayor Gillard work the room. Previous mayor, I read, was arrested earlier this year at an Extinction Rebellion protest. Nice one, Mr O'Nolan.

Keen to work our way through the limited menu, my turn to hit the hatch to order two waffles. Hey, I'd biked ten miles that morning. And Andy had driven a similar distance. Five minutes later, our freshly made batter goods were brought to us, ready to take our dollops of cream and some rather fine rose preserve. Yum. Shortly after 11am, having checked ahead on the railways app, zipped up my lumo jacket to catch the 11:18 back to Ipswich. Locos at 12:18, 13:18, 14:18 all cancelled. Blinkin' freezin' standing at the station. Very glad of my Woodbridge waffle.

If it was a car -- Fillmore the VW minibus from Cars.
If they were passing by -- Geetie Singh-Watson.