When planning my trip from Ipswich in Suffolk to Marton in Yorkshire, I thought it would be good to call in somewhere associated with Captain Cook.  I’d been to many along the way on previous trips, and couldn’t think of any more. 

Then I received an article about Alexander Hogg, who sailed as an as an AB in Resolution during the Third Voyage.  It said he died at Boxford in Suffolk, and there is a memorial to him at nearby Groton.  At the time of his death, Boxford and Groton were in a different county to Ipswich.  They were in West Suffolk, whereas Ipswich was in East Suffolk.  They came together in the local government reorganisation of 1974, when my birthplace moved from Buckinghamshire to Berkshire due to the redrawing of these counties’ boundaries! 

So, on the Friday of the CCS weekend, I drove west to Boxford, where my great great great grandfather, William Butcher, was minister at the Congregational Church from 1875 to 1881.  The Manse, where he lived, is still in the village, and I passed it on my way to the nearby village of Groton. 

St. Bartholomew’s is a lovely church, and I enjoyed wandering around outside and inside taking photos to accompany the Hogg article.¹ 

Suffolk doesn’t have many major roads, and no motorways, so it was a slow drive north to Bury St Edmunds, where I could join the road from Ipswich.  I’d spent 90 minutes longer getting to Bury than when I go direct.  However, the diversion had been worthwhile. 

The journey north was slower than usual, and I arrived in Great Ayton just after 4pm, so missed being able to go inside the Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum, by a few minutes.  However, the statue of Cook as a boy was still on the green, along with a friend.² 

And so, to the Blue Bell Hotel, where I checked in, and then spent a pleasant 20 minutes chatting to the several members milling around Alwyn Peel in the corridor from Reception to the bedrooms.  A great way to be welcomed to the hotel. 

That evening we had an informal meal and the opportunity to show each other books, stamps, and other things we’d brought along of interest.  And chat.  And chat.  And chat.

On Saturday we travelled in our cars (with lifts for those that needed them) to the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum at Marton.  Our arrival was slightly delayed due to an overrunning fun run, but we all sat patiently until we could park our cars near the museum and go in.

It was an amazing day of great talks by Phil Philo, Hugh Boscawen, Paul Covell and Cliff Thornton.  At lunch time we could see around the exhibitions on the ground floor, the special exhibition on the first floor, and have lunch in the café.  We were also able to look through the book of tapa cloth,³ which is was loaned to the museum through the efforts of Susan Elliott, Richard Hindle’s sister.  It was a pleasure to meet her, and thank her for arranging such a beautiful book to be made available to so many people. 

Back at the hotel Robin Stenhouse and his men conducted a fine auction,⁴ which would have been better if I’d managed to get the lots I wanted.  Then we had a formal dinner, with the opportunity to talk to more people about many things, including Captain Cook.  I was particularly taken with Chris North’s ideas on how to display Banks’s Florilegium material: cards and stamps.

Some people went home straightaway on Sunday, but the rest of us made our ways in various cars around Cook country, bumping into each other as we went.  I got to see Reg Firth at the Captain Cook and Staithes Heritage Centre, have lunch at Trencher’s in Whitby, and see the year’s special exhibition at the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, with extra information provided by Sophie Forgan. 

I finished the trip with a cup of coffee at a café overlooking the Captain Cook statue.  My thanks to Alwyn Peel and Michael Spiekien for many of the photos shown above.

Ian Boreham

References

1. See page 38 in this issue.
2. See page 43 in this issue.
3. Cook’s Log, page 48, vol. 37, no. 3 (2014). 
4. See page 42 in this issue.

Originally published in Cook's Log, page 34, volume 38, number 1 (2015).