Local Books and CD's

Bungay Through Time

by Chris Reeve

£12.99

'The jewel in Waveney's crown'. Bungay, a small market town in Suffolk, owes its sparkling title both to its rich heritage of historic buildings, and its superb setting poised above the lovely water meadows of the river Waveney. Chosen by Roman and then Saxon invaders as an ideal strategic centre, it was dominated after the Norman Conquest by Earl Hugh Bigod who firmly established its importance by building one of the most powerful castles in the kingdom. The town continued to prosper throughout the mediaeval period with its extensive river trade, agriculture, and cloth and leather industries. Despite suffering the Black Death, an attack by the notorious Black Dog, and the 'Great Fire' of 1688, Bungay bounced back, and became such a popular and fashionable resort in the Georgian period that it was nicknamed 'Little London'.

Bungay Through Time features images depicting some of the glories of its architectural heritage - its Castle, Benedictine Priory, mediaeval churches and elegant domed Butter Cross - together with bustling street scenes, market trade, and celebrations. Although affected by a changing economic climate, it continues to thrive with a variety of new shops and businesses. But 'it's the people who make the place', and this book illustrates how the townsfolk have always contributed to the popularity of 'Bootiful Bungay'.

Bungay - Our Town in Sound

by Nicholas Jenkins ~ £5

Nestling within a curve of the River Waveney in Suffolk, Bungay is an archetypal East Anglian market town where life used to have its own regular rhythm.

“If I was to go back in time, I think I could tell what day of the week it was immediately. Monday mornings the town was deserted because, traditionally, that was when the women did their weekly washing. Wednesday was half-day closing, Thursday was market day and on Saturdays, the town was packed with families,” says Christopher Reeve, curator of Bungay Museum and one of ten local people who share their memories of the town with us.

This documentary programme contrasts the recorded sounds of modern Bungay with insightful, touching and humorous recollections of a bygone era as told by some great town characters. One of these is Gordon Knowles who takes us on a dawn journey to feed his friends on the famous “Chicken Roundabout,” and treats us to his immensely entertaining memories of the last seven decades.

The CD also includes interviews with Chris Reeve, Dinky Payne, Frank Honeywood, Malcolm Bedingfield, Martin Evans, Victor and Grace Moyse, Burton Nursey and Peggy Pietrzak.

The Ballad of Bewilderwood

by Tom Blofield ~ £8.95

Magical illustrated rhyming short storybook for younger children, written by Tom Blofeld the creator of BeWILDerwood Treehouse Adventure Park in Hoveton near Wroxham (www.bewilderwood.co.uk), read the book first to appreciate the park even more.  Approximately 210mm x 210mm x 5mm hardback 28 pages beautifully illustrated by Steve Pearce.

The land of BeWILDerwood is beautiful and wild,
A place for lots of creatures and every single child,
Read the story of the Scaaaaaary Lake and of the Crocklebog,
Or of the fun that can be had, by sliding down a log,
Here are games and lovely pictures, and silly verse and more,
For the younger sort of Boggle, You’ll love it I am sure,
You could read it in the morning, or in the afternoon,
But especially at bedtime, lit by a smiling moon.

A Boggle at BeWILDerwood

by Tom Blofield ~ £7.95

The first BeWILDerwood book written by the Treehouse Adventure’s Creator Tom Blofeld.  Read the book first to appreciate the park even more.  Beautiful line illustrations by Steve Pearce.  This hardback book contains 73 pages and measures approximately 205mm x 130mm x 10mm.

Swampy is a young marsh Boggle, who loves eating sweetsludge pie and going boating in the pongy swamps of BeWILDerwood.  Boggles in general don’t go far from the safety of their quite reed village and Swampy is not really the bravest of Boggles.  So when he does try out a bit of exploring in the Scary Lake hes soon finds that it is called Scary for a reason.  Something huge is lurking in the water, but what is it?

Embark on a wild adventure with Swampy and his friends.  Travel through the magical world of BeWILDerwood.  Meet the dancing Wood Twiggles, encounter Witches, Thornyclod Spiders and much, much worse.  Will they be eaten up by a great shoal of Muddleteeth?  Can they somehow get across the broken bridge?  Do they fall out of a lot of trees? ……………. Well, yes they do, actually!

The Spirit of the Fen

by Terry Reeve ~ £6.99

When a planning application is in to develop a town’s picturesque ancient Fen with housing and leisure facilities it brings dismay and anger to the Suffolk community of Bungay.  Building on the 400 acres of heath and grazing meadows seems a ridiculous suggestion that cannot possibly succeed – or can it?

This novel traces the anger, aggression, greed and tragedy that follow in the wake of the application as the town mounts it’s opposition in it’s bid to protect it’s most beautiful amenity from the bulldozer, against the background of the Government’s growing house-building targets for rural counties.

Those targets are reality – and though this story is set in Suffolk, communities throughout the country will identify strongly with the topical and emotive theme of this novel, which also has a strong spiritual thread running through it.

Terry Reeve is working part-time as a newspaper editor after spending his entire working life as a journalist.  He has written a number of local history books and was keen that his first novel should be set in Bungay, the town where he was born, where he grew up and where he is heavily involved in the community – though it could easily be set in any rural community in the United Kingdom.

This paperback novel has 190 pages and is approximately 218mm x 148mm x 10mm.

The Town Reeves of Bungay

1725 to 2007

by John Harris ~ £6.95

This paperback book took years of research by John Harris Esq. and details the Bungay Town Reeves’ biographies and with photos where possible of those who have held this unique office from 1725 to 2007. 

This book measures approximately 209mm x 147mm x 5mm with 104 pages