A REPLICA of a ship that carried Ipswich people to America in 1607 is set to sail in to town to commemorate links with the New World. Discovery will be berthed outside the Old Custom House from August 6 to August 13 and will be open to the public.
A REPLICA of a ship that carried Ipswich people to America in 1607 is set to sail in to town to commemorate links with the New World.
Discovery will be berthed outside the Old Custom House from August 6 to August 13 and will be open to the public.
The visit coincides with a special day of activities - New World Day - which has been arranged for Sunday August 12 as part of the commemoration of Ipswich's connections with Jamestown, Virginia, USA.
Ipswich's tourist information centre manager, David Stainer, said: “We hope to bring to life a little bit of what those local people, 400 years ago, would have experienced as they prepared to start a new life in America.”
The day will begin with a tour of Christchurch Mansion - a house of the period.
This will be followed by a guided walk from the Mansion to the Waterfront.
Central Ipswich's street pattern has changed little since the 1600s and there are buildings surviving today that would have been familiar to the local settlers.
On the Waterfront there will be a tour of Discovery, a life-size, seaworthy, replica of the smallest of the three Jamestown ships.
After lunch the group will board the Orwell Lady for a cruise on the Orwell.
The day, which will be fully accompanied by a tour guide, Margaret Hancock, will also include a voucher towards lunch at either of the Waterfront cafés Colours or Coffee Link.
Tickets for the day, which must be booked in advance, are available from Ipswich Borough Council's tourist information centre at St Stephen's Church.
Full details of the day and of all the local Jamestown 400th anniversary events are available from the tourist information centre in a commemorative booklet. Phone 01473 258070 or e-mail tourist@ipswich.gov.uk for more information.
Did you have any relatives on the original Discovery? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
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