The Ipswich Flyer IpswichFlyer_Sep2018_For_Web | Page 5

Witches in The Suffolk Flyer Witches in and around Suffolk The talk will be held at the United Church, High Street, Leiston, IP16 4EL, and will start at 7.30 p.m. Everyone is welcome; admission costs £1 for members and £3 for non-members, including coffee/tea and biscuits. Parking is available in the adjacent Co-op car park, but you will need to register your car number in-store or face the risk of a £100 fi ne. After a pause for the peak summer holiday period in August, the next meeting of the Alde Valley Suffolk Family History Group will be on Monday, 17th September, when Pip Wright will give a talk entitled ‘Witches in and around Suffolk’. For as long as history itself, we’ve been a superstitious lot in East Anglia. It is nearly 300 years since our elected representatives told us to stop persecuting witches, but old habits die hard. After all, if the Bible and Shakespeare recognised witches, who are we to disagree? The trouble is, in a confusing world, it is comforting in a way to have an explanation for the inexplicable. Be it sickness or infestation, storm, blight or sudden death, then sorcery could just be the answer. A whole folk-lore has grown up around the ‘wise ones’ of Suffolk, so that in most of our towns and villages, you can still fi nd someone who will tell you tales of their local ‘witch’. But truth to tell, the history of witchcraft in and around Suffolk is an altogether darker story, about suffering, persecution and death. It reached into the hearts of families and communities and created a fear and a hysteria that lasted until recent times. Pip is a retired primary school teacher, living in Stowmarket, who writes local history books and gives talks to groups of all kinds and all ages across East Anglia. Together with his late wife Joy, who died in July 2005, he has spent a number of years gathering information on Suffolk’s social history. Equity Release can be a life-changer Many readers will be all too familiar with the TV and internet showing happy, attractive, retired couples surrounded by their loving families whilst they participate in Tracey Lucas a range of exciting activities from paragliding to sailing round the Greek Islands. You know the sort of adverts I’m talking about….. As we all know however, life is not always quite as idyllic; here at Premier Equity Release in Needham Market, we are more used to seeing a range of clients facing diffi cult situations which are far-removed from the romantic images we see. One example is clients known as the ‘silver separators’. This is a new expression which describes the growing number of couples over the age of 55 seeking a divorce, even after long marriages. The reasons for this are easy to understand; increased longevity causes people to question why they would want to stay in an unhappy relationship for another 30 to 35 years. Previously of course, there was often nothing to be done, usually for fi nancial reasons. An Equity Release mortgage can provide a solution by allowing one of the spouses to buy out the other’s share of a property, which although it will do nothing to make an failed relationship better, it will offer an couple a way out of their unhappy situation. At Premier Equity Release, we pride ourselves on taking time to understand a client’s situation; we offer a personal, face to face service and we promise not to bombard you with phone calls or letters asking for your business. We’re happy to be able to help customers fulfi l various aspirations which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. If you would like to have a free no-obligation meeting to discuss your options, please telephone us on 01449 708479 or email us on [email protected]. Tracey Lucas P le a s e m e n t i o n ‘ T h e F l yer ’ wh en r esp o n d in g t o ad ver t isements T H E FLY E R | S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8 5