[Stamford House, Chipping Campden]
MarianEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister);d5 was very pleased by getting your card. TheEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister)1939 summer in England with Dodo;d3Southwold holiday with;b1 sun shone beautifully all day yesterday for them, and I hired a car for the day. WeEnglandSuffolk;j3TSE visits with family;a1 droveEnglandHadsleigh, Suffolk;f7visited;a1 toEnglandLavenham, Suffolk;g4visited;a1 HadsleighEnglandLong Melford, Suffolk;h2;a1, LavenhamEnglandNeedham Market, Suffolk;h6;a1, Long Melford, and back by Needham Market and Framlingham Castle: getting a good conspectus of Suffolk scenery at its best, and seeing some beautiful things. Lavenham village is one of the most beautiful in England, andSt. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Lavenham;a1 as for the church, there is nothing to surpass it.1 I was quite unprepared for its loveliness and its state of preservation. CampdenHoly Trinity, Long Melford;a1 tower is more majestic, but the church as well as the church at Long Melford, surpasses anything that I have seen in the west.2 The wood carving of the roofs of the Suffolk churches are very fine and very well preserved; in the Lady Chapel, of peculiar design, at Long Melford, there are more than traces of very jolly colouring. I more than ever regretted that you were not with us; I hope that I may some day take you to these same places, or alternatively (a poor alternative) that you may see them even without me. The inland country of the county is undulating, less spoilt by bungalows, cabins, caravans and litter than the flat seacoast, and to my mind more pleasing. To-dayEnglandLowestoft, Suffolk;h3;a1 is dull, and after lunch we go for the afternoon to Lowestoft.
Bothertravels, trips and plansEH's 1939 England visit;d5EH again London;b1 and more bother. Dodo is coming up to town with me on Monday to go to the dentist, and stopping the night for a final visit to him on Tuesday. I shall tell her that I am engaged for Monday evening. But on Monday also my other niece, whom I hardly know and don’t so much care about, is arriving with her husband, and I shall have to ask them to tea at the office one day, and to dinner one evening. What a complicated summer this is. But I shall count upon seeing you either at lunch or tea every day. It is a nuisance having to go to Cambridge for the bank holiday weekend; IGwynne, M. Brookehosts her again;b2 hope that you have been able to arrange to visit Maura Gwynne then. I try not to be impatient, and to make the best of the situation. I hope for another letter or note from you tomorrow.
1.St Peter and St Paul’s Church, Lavenham: a fifteenth/sixteenth-century church in Perpendicular Gothic style.
2.Holy Trinity, Long Melford: late fifteenth-century church in Perpendicular Gothic.
1.Marian/MarionEliot, Marion Cushing (TSE's sister) Cushing Eliot (1877–1964), fourth child of Henry Ware Eliot and Charlotte Eliot: see Biographical Register.
4.M. BrookeGwynne, M. Brooke Gwynne, University of London Institute of Education – ‘a Training College for Graduate students’ – invited TSE on 19 Jan. to participate in their Weds.-morning seminar: ‘Emily Hale suggested that you might possibly consent to come to the Institute to talk to our students; otherwise I should have not felt justified in asking you … The teaching of poetry is the subject most hotly discussed & the subject we should like you to choose if possible.’
2.TheodoraSmith, Theodora ('Dodo') Eliot (TSE's niece) Eliot Smith (1904–92) – ‘Dodo’ – daughter of George Lawrence and Charlotte E. Smith: see Biographical Register. Theodora’sSmith, Charlotte ('Chardy') Stearns (TSE's niece) sister was Charlotte Stearns Smith (b. 1911), known as ‘Chardy’.