The curse of Bury St Edmunds
October 13, 2015 2:20 AM Subscribe
Bury St Edmunds is a small, polite market town in rural eastern England. Better known for its ruined abbey, beer, sugar beet, and being the sort of place Margaret Thatcher ought to keep a tea shop, in 2002 local resident John Peel declared its music scene "the new Seattle". Yeah. How did THAT turn out?
My favourite of the Bury St Edmunds artists Peel used to champion was Cowcube. You can hear one of his Peel session shows here.
posted by Paul Slade at 3:08 AM on October 13, 2015
posted by Paul Slade at 3:08 AM on October 13, 2015
Probably relevant?
That's a different Bury.
posted by dng at 3:08 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's a different Bury.
posted by dng at 3:08 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
"That same year Rolling Stone named Bury St. Edmunds the number two “Culture Capital” in the world."
I seem to have fallen through to some parallel universe...
posted by Devonian at 3:50 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
I seem to have fallen through to some parallel universe...
posted by Devonian at 3:50 AM on October 13, 2015 [4 favorites]
"in 2002 local resident John Peel declared its music scene "the new Seattle"
That's not how the Wiki quotes Peel:
"Well I don't think that Bury St Edmunds is the new Seattle as somebody suggested to me during the course of last Sunday night's [Miss Black America] gig, but obviously there are some good bands there."
posted by three blind mice at 3:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's not how the Wiki quotes Peel:
"Well I don't think that Bury St Edmunds is the new Seattle as somebody suggested to me during the course of last Sunday night's [Miss Black America] gig, but obviously there are some good bands there."
posted by three blind mice at 3:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Funny, I mostly think of Bury St. Edmonds as a major exporter of explosives to Germany on behalf of the British and American governments in the 1940s.
(My grandfather co-piloted a B-17 from the airbase there)
posted by firechicago at 4:21 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
(My grandfather co-piloted a B-17 from the airbase there)
posted by firechicago at 4:21 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
I think of Bury St. Edmunds as the ancient home of the Cloisters Cross.
posted by octobersurprise at 5:52 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 5:52 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
Citizens of Seattle: the opportunity to become the Bury St Edmunds of Washington state is just waiting to be grasped ! But you will need to up your game when it comes to sugar refining - and you may need to consider a bus link the Stanstead airport.
posted by rongorongo at 6:17 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by rongorongo at 6:17 AM on October 13, 2015 [3 favorites]
Citizens of Seattle: the opportunity to become the Bury St Edmunds of Washington state is just waiting to be grasped !
Given that Maryhill has Stonehenge, I think we have long been out-England'd and out-misery'd.
posted by dw at 7:47 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Given that Maryhill has Stonehenge, I think we have long been out-England'd and out-misery'd.
posted by dw at 7:47 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've just checked the average annual rainfall in each place, and Seattle has Bury St Edmunds beat there: 37.49 inches in Seattle against a paltry 24.87 inches in Bury St Edmunds. And there's nothing more English than rain...
posted by Paul Slade at 8:10 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 8:10 AM on October 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's also home to the smallest pub in Britain, The Nutshell.
And erstwhile home to various of my great-aunts and -uncles (but there's no website dedicated to the late Margaret, Maude, Eddie and Frank, sadly).
I was once visiting friends there when I was woken very early on a Sunday morning by a brass band in the street outside, which belonged to a chapel across the road. They disappeared, and we dropped off to sleep again, just in time to be reawoken by them coming back again, having walked right around the block, no doubt waking up every single one of their neighbours. It wasn't what we expected from a sleepy Suffolk market town.
Thus ends my collection of facts and anecdotes about Bury St Edmunds.
posted by penguin pie at 8:19 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
And erstwhile home to various of my great-aunts and -uncles (but there's no website dedicated to the late Margaret, Maude, Eddie and Frank, sadly).
I was once visiting friends there when I was woken very early on a Sunday morning by a brass band in the street outside, which belonged to a chapel across the road. They disappeared, and we dropped off to sleep again, just in time to be reawoken by them coming back again, having walked right around the block, no doubt waking up every single one of their neighbours. It wasn't what we expected from a sleepy Suffolk market town.
Thus ends my collection of facts and anecdotes about Bury St Edmunds.
posted by penguin pie at 8:19 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I spend a lot of time in Bury St Edmunds; my mother lives there. It is a typical attractive quiet English town: it has a weekly market, a small cathedral, and depending on which way the wind is blowing a pervading smell of either fermenting sugar beet or brewing yeast. It may be the least rock'n'roll place I have ever been.
posted by Hogshead at 8:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Hogshead at 8:59 AM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
On my first trip to my company's home office in Cambridge, my British co-workers took us to Bury St. Edmunds where we had a lovely afternoon touring the old Green King brewery, sampling their many beers, and then walking around until we had been to practically every pub they could think of (including the aforementioned Nutshell). Seemed like a great place to drink beer. Didn't hear any music at all.
posted by briank at 1:03 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by briank at 1:03 PM on October 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
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posted by acb at 2:39 AM on October 13, 2015 [25 favorites]