OLD GIRLS

Sue was awarded the MBE for Services to the Heritage in Suffolk in the Queen's New Year Honours. This photograph is reproduced by kind permission of the East Anglian Daily Times. The background shows the houses built into the West Front of the Abbey over 400 years. It was one of the more successful campaigns over 40 years to preserve them; finally all renovation was completed 2 years ago.

For the past 45 years Sue has been involved with the Suffolk Preservation Society and has been Chairman for 3 years and Vice President for 11 years. She has also served on the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Executive Committee for three years and holds other offices, including Chairmanship of the Suffolk Building Preservation Trust for 11 years - the Trust which owns Little Hall Museum at Lavenham http://www.littlehall.org.uk/ and Pakenham Water Mill near Bury St Edmunds – http://www.pakenhamwatermill.org.uk/ .

Sue graduated with a BA (Hons Econ) from Manchester and later received a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from Cambridge. When she moved to Bury St Edmunds, she worked for a firm of Town Planners which had been commissioned by Ipswich Borough Council to advise on the location for London overspill. Sue writes, ‘Having interviewed the bosses of the 50 biggest employers in the area on their expansion plans and been involved in the final recommendations, I found myself fascinated by Town Planning and embarked on a TP Diploma at Chelmsford Tech. However my inability to draw was a MAJOR drawback and I had to find activity elsewhere!' She was invited to teach Economics locally and became Head of the 200/300 strong 6th Form at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds and taught A level Politics (British and American) and Economics and GCSE Statistics and Accounts. Following her retirement from teaching in 1994 as well as continuing her Heritage work, she trained as an Adviser at her local Citizens Advice Bureau and continues in that role which she still finds ‘unceasingly interesting'.

Little Hall Museum, Lavenham

Pakenham Water Mill