Bury St Edmunds is in Suffolk. It is characterised by tiny villages filled with little pink houses with gardens filled with hollyhocks. We recently visited two such villages – Lavenham and Long Melford.

Some of the houses are old and very crooked. They remind me of that nursery rhyme:

“There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile
He found a crooked sixpence upon a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked cat
and they all lived together in a little crooked house.”

Would you believe that the origin of these words is from early English Stuart history of King Charles 1. The crooked man is the general Sir Alexander Leslie who signed a covenant securing political and religious freedom for Scotland. The crooked stile refers to the border between England and Scotland. The reference to a little crooked house refers to the fact that at last England and Scotland have reached an agreement. Fancy that, and I was just thinking about cute crooked pink houses. I have decided that all things lead back to this time in England’s history.

I am enjoying looking at these houses and stopping to take copious photos. I have a very patient husband.