Planets align for Ipswich website

LOCATED: Steve Pestle of Ipswich has made a website about the Ipswich’s of the world.

EVERYONE knows there’s an Ipswich in England, after which our city is named.

But how many people know there are 10 Ipswiches around the world, and how those places came to be named Ipswich?

Well Stephen Pestle – a resident of the original English Ipswich – has a fair idea after he recently started the Planet Ipswich website.

Designed to be “a bridge between all the Ipswiches of the world”, Mr Pestle said he started the website after an internet search he did on the topic yielded no results.

“I did an informal survey of friends and work colleagues to see if anyone knew how many Ipswiches there were around the world,” he said.

“I got answers between one and seven, with the most common answer being three. When asked to say where they were, however, very few people knew.

“At the beginning I thought there were just seven Ipswiches. Then I discovered the one in Canada, the second one in Jamaica and the Islas Ipswich in Chile.”

Aside from the well-known English and Aussie varieties, there are four Ipswiches in America, the biggest being a city 30 miles north-east of Boston in Massachusetts. That particular Ipswich was first settled by Europeans as a Puritan colony in 1633 and is famous for its clams and for being the birthplace of the American Independence Movement.

A million miles away from Massachusetts is the Islas Ipswich in Chile – a group of tiny uninhabited islands in the Magallanes y de la Antarctica Chilena.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale said that while our city shared a strong relationship with its English counterpart, he wouldn’t mind visiting one of the Jamaican namesakes.

“You never know; it could make for an interesting holiday to visit as many Ipswiches as you can,” he said.

While all 10 Ipswiches are markedly different, Mr Pestle shares a common bond with the people of our Queensland version of Ipswich – a love for rugby league. Mr Pestle said he was more than keen to adopt the Ipswich Jets as his international league team of choice.

For more information, or to share your Ipswich-related stories and photos, visit Mr Pestle’s website at www.planetipswich.com.

Have you visited any of the Ipswiches around the world? If so, send your pictures to zane.jackson@qt.com.au.