The Blythburgh Society laid on a fascinating day starting unusually with three short lectures. We started on fairly recent history, within most members lifetimes, with a talk on the Weapons Research Establishment at Orford Ness, which looked at all sorts of explosive problems that did not actually involve atomic matter itself.

Did you realise that a bomb is roughly wing shaped and one of the results is that an atom bomb will hardly detach itself from a V bomber flying fast, and even then it tends to fly nearly horizontally to begin with rather than drop vertically? Perhaps in another 50 years time V bombers will warrant no more than a trifling note on the ephemera of 20th century history?

This was followed by details of Becker’s life as an artist in Blythburgh and some excellent slides of his work, showing in particular the ordinary worker, the ‘ag lab’ beloved of 19th century census takers, in his everyday scene and we concluded the morning with details of Blythburgh’s history from our host’s Chairman.

In the afternoon we walked along the track bed of the Mid Suffolk Railway; saw where the medieval harbour had been, perhaps not as big as some would have us believe; wondered what possible use could be made of the totally overgrown chapel; and were totally surprised at the minute hut which housed an aeroplane between the wars before being moved to serve as a garage on the other side of the village.