Bury Free Press: Review of 2024 with Peter Prinsley elected, Greene King moving and West Suffolk Hospital confirmed among highlights

Some may remember 2024 as a year of the changing of the guards. The Conservative Government made way for Labour, Greene King announced plans to move away from its long-time Westgate Street home, and Ipswich Town fans were able to once again (after 22 years) say they supported a top flight team. Here are some of our highlights from a whirlwind year.

This review could simply not start without perhaps the biggest, and some may say most startling, change our area experienced for nearly two centuries.

Since 1865, Bury St Edmunds’ parliamentary seat had been occupied by a Conservative. And even then, when you factor in the Peelites being a Tory breakaway group, you could take it back 30 years further.

So, when a man wearing a red rosette was announced as the MP for the newly created Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket constituency, he heralded a new political dawn. Yes, on July 4, Dr Peter Prinsley became our new member of parliament.

Incumbent MP Jo Churchill announced she was stepping down beforehand, with Will Tanner standing in her place, but Dr Prinsley rode the red wave right into Westminster and delivered us our first ever Labour MP.

On his win, he said: “It’s genuinely a historic moment and it seems like the voters have chosen to join the great change, which is coming in this country. I feel very privileged to be elected.”

To take a different tone, 2024 marked a return for one of Bury’s most significant landmarks. The former Debenhams, built as the centrepiece of the arc Shopping Centre but vacant since May 2021, reopened as Primark on March 6.

It was the day legions of shoppers had been looking forward to after more than a year’s worth of renovation works and a social media campaign calling on the retailer to open a branch in the town.

Inaugural customer Jodi Healey was cheered as she stepped through the newly-opened doors, serenaded by a live DJ. She said: “Bury needs it. I grew up here at it needs somewhere affordable for everyone to get their essentials, that’s what it is good for.”

Preceding Primark, in February, was the new Everyman cinema, which opened in what was formerly the basement of the old Debenhams. The Bury venue marked the chain’s 45th outlet, and it features three screens.

Michael Box was the general manager of Everyman when it opened, although somewhat reflective of the year of new business in Bury, he himself opened his own coffee and wine bar, Blend, in Abbeygate Street in December alongside good friend Kristina Tutt.

And in something of a nod to the future, while Everyman now occupies some of the old basement, there is still some space left for another retail unit. So, keep your eyes peeled to the Free Press to find out what will be opening there.

And while we’ve seen 2024 mark the start line for several business, it also waved the chequered flag on others. Sneezums, on Cornhill, shut for the final time at the end of September after 150 years of trading.

Fourth-generation owners Elizabeth Sneezum and Yvonne Scotford-Sneezum decided to retire, and with no one in their family to continue its legacy, it was the end of an era for the jeweller and photographic retailer.

Just around the corner from Cornhill, St Andrew’s Street South art supplies and stationery shop Denny Bros Supplies Ltd closed its doors after nearly 80 years in business at the start of April. The independent, family-owned store cited the pandemic, Brexit, the cost-of-living crisis and the energy crisis as reasons for the store closure, while it was also targeted by shoplifters on several occasions.

Residents and the Our Bury St Edmunds BID reacted with shock and sadness at the closure. The Denny Bros group was unaffected by the shop shutting and continues to operate.

Aside from the welcomes and farewells, one major town business announced it would undergo something of a changing of the guard in May.

Brewing giant Greene King revealed plans to build a £40 million new state-of-the art facility at Suffolk Park, next to Moreton Hall, to replace its 200-year-old Westgate Street brewery.

Bosses at the business expressed hope the new facility would be complete by 2027 and said it would boost sustainability, efficiency and reduce its impact on the environment by halving its greenhouse gas emissions.

Bury was rocked by several high profile accidents in 2024. On March 8, a Renault Captur crashed through the front doors of the Premier Inn in Etna Road, leaving a man in his 20s seriously injured. The driver was unharmed.

Meanwhile, on July 27, a huge emergency service response gripped the Moreton Hall estate after a BMW crashed into Moreton Hall Fish and Kebab, in Tallou Court.

Paramedics assessed six people at the scene, with four then taken to hospital. The venue has not reopened since.

The town was also abuzz by the presence of wizarding royalty. Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in all eight Harry Potter films stopped by The Fox Inn, in Eastgate Street, on April 6.

Staff member Imogen grabbed a picture with the Slytherin star, which was then uploaded to the pub’s social media. Afterwards, another team member Claire Beswick said it was a ‘real surprise’ to see him come through the venue’s doors, and added after his visit the pub was much busier than usual.

In September, the Government confirmed plans for the new West Suffolk Hospital in Bury would still go ahead and be unaffected by a national review of the 40 hospitals project. There was uncertainty over the proposals as, in July, new Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting announced the New Hospital Programme would go under consideration.

He described previous proposals to build 40 new hospitals by 2030 as ‘unfunded and set to a fictional timeline’. However, on September 20, West Suffolk was confirmed as one of the 21 out of 46 hospitals that would not be in the scope of the review.

Works will continue as planned, pending any outstanding funding approvals. The new-build is needed as the current hospital was built in the 1970s and has defects associated with RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete). MP Dr Peter Prinsley said the confirmation was ‘good news’ for the town.

A recurring topic throughout the year was Bury’s archives office. In January, the Free Press launched a petition to save it alongside the Bury society, as at the turn of the year Suffolk County Council announced plans to centralise the service, in Raingate Street, and move it to The Hold, in Ipswich, in a bid to save £140,000.

The decision sparked fury from local historians and service users, who said our heritage should stay in the town. A paper petition by The Bury Society attracted thousands of signatures. According to the county council, retaining the Raingate Street site would have required a £5 million investment to keep the building fit for purpose. It added it was forced into the decision by West Suffolk Council’s move to shelve the Western Way Hub.

In September, after the county council began the process of shutting the branch, The Bury Society announced it was looking into the possibility of setting up a charitable body with a view to raising money to create a new archives facility at West Suffolk House. Martyn Taylor, chair of the group, said it understood more than 20 organisations had notified SCC they would like to retain their records in the town.

Then, in November, a working party led by the society decided to seek registration of the building as an Asset of Community Value (ACV). This would mean, if it was put up for sale, the community would have the right to try and purchase it.

In October, tributes were paid to former British champion and well-known member of the boxing community in Bury George Bayliss, who died on October 20 at North Court Care Home. Mr Bayliss, a former amateur light-middleweight champion, died a few days before his 85th birthday.

His son, Ben Bayliss, said his dad was the first person to set up a boxing gym in Bury St Edmunds. As well as making the news for his boxing endeavours, he also hit the headlines for seeing off three muggers in his hometown in 2006, aged 67.

George had a number of gyms, including Bury ABC (Amateur Boxing Club) from 1961 to 1969 – which he formed as a boxer and a coach – based at Gibraltar Barracks gym. Phoenix gym followed in 1987, which was at the Tollgate Cricket Pavilion. In 1990 the gym moved to Eastgate Street, and in 1993 it incorporated the former Royal British Legion ABC, where Danny Lacey was chief coach. George launched Phoenix ‘95 in 1995, which used the basement of Bury’s Merry-Go-Round pub, on the Howard estate, before moving to County Upper School.

Ben said he was also known for his charity work, mentioning an annual skipping marathon with boxers in the Cornhill shopping centre in aid of the special baby care unit at West Suffolk Hospital.

Into the Christmas period, the town was thrust into the spotlight for two different reasons. The Christmas Spectacular that wasn’t, which was on land behind the town’s rugby club, drew comparisons to the much-ridiculed Wonka experience in Glasgow.

The event, which promised to transform part of the town into a winter wonderland, was then cancelled, purportedly due to weather conditions. The announcement followed numerous social media complaints about the event.

Craig Germeney, chairman of Bury Rugby Club, said the team was as disappointed as everyone about the event’s failure. The Christmas Spectacular was not a direct Bury Rugby Club event.

Then, in the days before Christmas, Bury’s high street was named the fourth best in the UK by the Daily Telegraph. It described Bury as a ‘fantasy market town of Georgian squares, wonky medieval walls and prettily lit shop fronts that entice you like well-wrapped gifts’.

In particular, the Telegraph highlighted St Edmundsbury Cathedral, the Theatre Royal, Abbey Gardens and St John’s Street. Bury was bested only by Shrewsbury, Belper and Norfolk neigbours Norwich.

Meanwhile, nearby Lavenham placed 17th on the list, with its ‘high street parade of wonky, half-timbered, pastel-painted Tudor houses, is ridiculously lovely at any time of year’ seeing it singled-out for praise.