Locked down with my Ukulele 48

These are strange times and I think it’s time talk about the Abbey Gardens.

We moved to Bury St Edmunds when I was about six or seven. Dad got a job with the council and we moved from a near by town where we’d lived since I was born.

Bury was a busy market town with a deep history. Market day was and still is Wednesday. The town centre was filled with stalls selling everything from soap to suits, pots to potatoes. The hum of life was everywhere. The market would return on Saturdays with just as much life. I lived within walking distance of the town and the Saturdays of my youth were “doing the market on Saturday”. The market will be another blog.

From a kid the highlight of a school holiday was to be able to go to the Abbey Gardens to play. There were areas of grass to chase my brother and other children on. Playing tag! There was, and still is, a playground that was always well equipped with swings, roundabout’s, springy things and slides.

It had the Abbey ruins, which I seem to remember we were allowed to climb over. The bits that were a lot more unstable, were cordoned off by a very robust nylon rope. Sometimes a warning sign would be posted to notify passers by of the dangers. Now climbing on such an ancient monument would be frowned on but, hey, they used to let people all over Stonehenge.

My brother was once asked what paradise was like. His reply “the Abbey Gardens”.

The council parks and gardens have looked after the gardens well in the past and still do. The rose garden has been the site of many a marriage proposal and the ruins the site of many a wedding day photograph. The local registry office being a two or three minute walk away the public gardens in bloom make it the ideal location for that special image.

To add to the magic of the gardens the river Lark follows through it. The monks diverted the river through the Monastery to keep a ready supply of fish and fresh water to the abbey. I believe it used to run across the front of what is now the abbey gate. Rebuilt after the towns rebellion in 1727.

I was pleased when I returned to the gardens that a favourite feature of my childhood still remained.

The aviary! As a child there were a variety of parrots, budgerigars, canaries

and doves. My favourite was the Golden Pheasant. If you don’t know this bird you’ll need to look it up on the world wide web, however this birds plumage is truly magnificent. I have quite an active imagination and I imagined that this bird wandered the sands of Egypt and around Pharaoh’s palace. I’d loose myself in my imaginings as the sun glinted off the birds headdress.

Another inhabitant of the aviary we’re a family of monkey’s. I texted social media to see what species the monkeys were and I suspect there were Tamarin monkey’s and Green monkey’s. I remember monkeys but cannot picture them clearly. I do know (I say know I was told) that the leader of the monkey troop hated his keeper. He was quite aggressive with it. I don’t know if it was him but one of the monkeys escaped. Opposite the impressive gate of the gardens is a prestigious hotel. The monkey decided it would be a nice place to inhabit. I have not been able to establish the full facts of the story or the conclusion to it but I can’t believe the patrons of the hotel were any too happy with a monkey moving in. We are after all not India.

The kiosk that used to sell ice creams and coffee, I remember selling seeds and peanuts so as kids we could feed the birds. Is still there. Whenever we went we would take stale bread to feed the ducks and a pair of swans. Another thing that is bad for the environment because the yeast in the water can effect the fish and too much food in the environment can effect the male to female ratio in the ducks. You can still feed the birds there but there’s a designated spot. A little research before you go would be advised. Stale bread wouldn’t be good anymore.

Rivers of Babylon. (Boney M)

I remember the Boney M version of this song as a big disco hit. There had been versions before but this one is a classic disco hit.

I would have bet money that the hanging gardens of Babylon were mentioned in this song. To my surprise not a mention! Not once.

This contains the Biblical lyrics of Psalm 137” By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.” (King James Version).

Instead the song is about the captivity of the Israilites in Babylon. Lamenting their plight. Quite an up beat tune considering it’s about holding a nation in exile.

There’s a version of this on a well known entertainment sight where Boney M performed the song in gold suits. It’s “loco” but that was D.I.S.C.O.

Stay safe