Bacton Green, Suffolk

Bacton is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) north of Stowmarket. The village appeared as 'Bachetuna' in the Domesday Book and the area appears to have been settled at least since Roman times, with many interesting finds on the locally-organised annual metal-detecting days. At the centre of the village is the Twelfth Century church of St Mary the Virgin, featuring a medieval wall painting. Nearby is a doctors' surgery, a primary school Bacton Primary, and an under-fives preschool, but Bacton Middle School closed in 2015 as the local authority abandoned the three-tier education system and the site is now cleared and awaiting future redevelopment. In the original centre of the village is a small village green including a pond which till 2022 was fished for goldfish, roach, koi and mirror carp. At the start of that year the fish were removed and the pond was drained and restored, but due to the dry summer it did not refill until December and now awaits the recovery of the fish stocks. Housing in the village is a mixture of many well-preserved centuries-old listed buildings including the 18th century Grade II* listed Bacton Manor, alongside newer individual and estate-type properties with a large proportion of bungalows. During the last thirty years there was little new development other than occasional infill construction, but five large housing developments have now been approved and construction has begun on up to 350 new houses, nearly doubling the size of the village and potentially with a devastating effect on village life. Community facilities include a village hall with limited parking but a well-equipped kitchen, a bowls club playing in four local leagues, and Bacton United football club, with two adult sized floodlit pitches, a junior pitch and a clubhouse. The adult teams play in the Suffolk and Ipswich Football League while there are several junior teams of all age groups. The clubhouse is available for hire for social occasions, with a well-equipped bar. The church also has a community room for hire. There are several community groups such as a branch of the Women's Institute, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows, a History Society, Gardening Club, Ladies' Circle and various other clubs and societies. Unfortunately the cub and scout groups in the village closed some years ago due to lack of volunteers to run them, but the Scout HQ building remains in occasional use. There's also a 16th century thatched public house, the Bull at Bacton with a restaurant area and regular live music. For a village of only around 1200 people (though now growing), Bacton is surprisingly well served by businesses. In the heart of the village is Shop Green with a Londis general store and post office, and a petrol and service station for car sales, servicing and repairs. On the Northern outskirts of the village is a new-car dealership (Jeffries), and within its showroom a shop selling country clothing and Steiff collectable teddybears; also on the site is the outlet shop of the Humber Doucy Brewing Company brewery, located elsewhere in the village. Further along the B1113 and still in Bacton is Finbow's Yard, a small trading estate which is home to a range of businesses including car sales, mobility shop, furniture store, white goods dealer and repairer, the Heart of Suffolk Distillery (home of Betty's Gin) and a large hardware store and builders merchants, with its builders yard across the road in Cotton, alongside Emzo's gift shop & coffee shop and a hairdressers. At the western end of the village is a flourishing business park with various units including one offering local pizza deliveries and a 'Men's Shed' community workshop. Like most rural areas, better public transport provision is badly needed. The Great Eastern Main Line railway between London and Norwich runs through the east end of the village, but Finningham railway station and its goods yard, which was situated in Bacton, was closed in the Beeching cuts of the sixties and only the station building remains, now a private house. However if you have a car, there is rail access to London via the nearby town of Stowmarket in 80 minutes, which has encouraged an influx of 'townie' commuters into what was previously a very rural community. Bus services are almost non-existent, with only once-a-week return shopping trips to two nearby towns. Perhaps it's hardly surprising Bacton has three different car sales businesses and a petrol station! The parish of Bacton includes the village itself, the adjoining hamlet of Earl's Green and the outlying settlements of Bacton Green, Canham's Green, Cow Green and Ford's Green. Cow Green, and Tailor's Green and Shop Green within Bacton village, are registered village greens under the care of the Parish Council.

Hillcroft Preparatory School was an independent private co-educational school, located at Walnutree Manor, Haughley Green. Established in 1911, it was the oldest co-educational preparatory day school in Suffolk. The school closed down in December 2006, after the Rapsey family (the owners) completed a deal with the nearby Finborough School which involved many staff and pupils, and much of the equipment, moving to the Finborough School site, and Walnutree Manor was sold. At the time of closure, there were fewer than 100 pupils at the school.

Wyverstone is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around five miles north of Stowmarket, in 2005 its population was 370. The parish also includes the hamlets of Wyverstone Street, 1 km to the west and Earl's Green, 1.5 km south-west. It was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wiuert(h)estuna" and on John Speed’s 1610 map as "Wiuerston". The village sign as shown in the photograph was made by Brian Brookes from Wyverstone.

Haughley Road railway station was the original station serving Haughley, Suffolk. It closed in 1849 and was replaced by Haughley railway station which was positioned to serve both branches to the north of the newly constructed Haughley Junction. As in 2017 some or part of the station buildings still survive adjacent to Bacton Road bridge.

Haughley railway station was located in Haughley, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line between Liverpool Street Station and Norwich. It opened on 7 July 1849 named Haughley Junction and was a replacement for a station named Haughley Road which had been in service from 1846 to 1849 at location TM 02981 63319 on the line to Elmswell.Haughley railway station also served two other lines, the line to Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge and Ely and the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway. Originally the Mid-Suffolk Light Railway's operation was confined to an adjacent but separate terminus but it was closed in 1925 when all services were diverted to the main line station. Haughley closed with effect from 2 January 1967 as part of the Beeching Axe and most of the station building was demolished as well as the three platforms and the two signalboxes, the turntable filled in and the sidings removed. By 2016 only the stationmaster's house remains.

Old Newton is a village in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located within the civil parish of Old Newton with Dagworth, the village is situated around two miles north of Stowmarket, to the east of the junction of the Great Eastern Main Line and the Ipswich to Ely Line. Until the Beeching Axe it was served by Haughley railway station. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 809.

Haughley is a village and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk, in the Mid Suffolk District. The village is located 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of the town of Stowmarket, overlooking the Gipping valley, next to the A14 corridor. The population recorded in 2011 was 1,638. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, it was the site of a castle, a church on the pilgrim's route to Bury St Edmunds Abbey, and a market. Adjacent farms on the north side of the village were also home to one of the first studies of organic farming and the first headquarters of the Soil Association.

Old Newton with Dagworth is a civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. The parish contains the village of Old Newton, as well as the hamlets of Brown Street, Dagworth and Ward Green. In 2005 its population was 1,050. The parish shares a parish council with neighbouring Gipping.

Haughley Castle was a medieval castle situated in the village of Haughley, some 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-west of the town of Stowmarket, Suffolk. Prominent historians such as J. Wall consider it "the most perfect earthwork of this type in the county," whilst R. Allen Brown has described it as "one of the most important" castle sites in East Anglia.

Royal Air Force Great Ashfield or more simply RAF Great Ashfield is a former Royal Air Force station located 10 miles (16 km) east of Bury St. Edmunds and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Great Ashfield, Suffolk, England. Great Ashfield Airfield is still in private use for agriculture, with no aviation activities remaining. It was originally a Royal Flying Corps grass landing strip on this site in World War I, and before the USAAF arrived the RAF had been using it for training, during that period it was known as RAF Elmswell.

Finningham railway station was a station physically located in the neighbouring parish of Bacton, Suffolk on the Great Eastern Main Line between London and Norwich. It was located 86 miles and 54 chains from Liverpool Street and was opened to passenger in 1849. It was closed in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe with other smaller stations on the line although the line remains open.

Badwell Green is a village in Suffolk, England.