tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75501569335567101602024-03-14T03:28:35.777+00:00Hidden Riverside NorwichIn your local bookshop from April 12th 2016Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.comBlogger94125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-31810030705814117602016-04-16T08:00:00.000+01:002016-04-16T09:24:06.456+01:00BOOK EXTRACT - Chapter 10 Thorpe Hamlet <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pUcsC9oF2pRLv4b34ZLRfKlSzTIRta0zDQzR9HhUtmeZbpktWLOA2aWWfq1hNkTjyLzv-TZGFgU58YtWEddeMjUbrJ-7IZGbWcrwKKSgdP7n-EPfiqSTQina6zFqjoeHAdizg2tGO6M2/s1600/DSCF1576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0pUcsC9oF2pRLv4b34ZLRfKlSzTIRta0zDQzR9HhUtmeZbpktWLOA2aWWfq1hNkTjyLzv-TZGFgU58YtWEddeMjUbrJ-7IZGbWcrwKKSgdP7n-EPfiqSTQina6zFqjoeHAdizg2tGO6M2/s400/DSCF1576.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nest veteran Neville Porter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">NORWI</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">CH </span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>City
prepare for a crucial home game at Carrow Road today.</b> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But how many people can
remember the days when the Canaries played at their previous home ground - The
Nest, off Rosary Road. The last game there was on May 6</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">, 1935, so we’re
going back a bit. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">For the
Thorpe Hamlet chapter of my book I tracked down a gentleman </span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">called Neville Porter who has just celebrated his
93</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">rd</sup><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> birthday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I first
went to see City I suppose when I was eight or nine so we’re probably talking
about 1932 or 1933,” he told me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> “It was sixpence for an adult and three pence
for children. I can remember standing on the concrete terracing where you could
look directly down on the goalkeeper. It was all most precarious; safety
considerations just didn’t come into it. It was no surprise when the FA told
them they’d had to move.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“I can
remember seeing Willie Warnes who they’d signed from Arsenal. He was a good
little winger, but when he ran he was a bit bow-legged. So all of us kids when
we played football in Eaton Park, we’d all be running round with legs like
that, trying to imitate him. Bernard Robinson was another one. He was one of
the generation who lost out on half his career because of the Second World
War.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Mr Porter was a season-ticket holder in the City Stand at Carrow
Road until 2013. How many others can say they kept the turnstiles turning for
80 years? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">* There's mu</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">ch more on history of The Nest as well as the early days of </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">Carrow Road in "Hidden Riverside Norwi</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 21.4667px;">ch" available at Jarrold's, £16.99</span></b></div>
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Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-19255875624076100462016-04-15T11:00:00.000+01:002016-04-15T21:16:06.262+01:00Literary Lunch with Hemsley + Hemsley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vQml1DhG70lJtaiRyTTOHIqjq9Py7w9UTXq-sSTPolFg82GVX6j5ZUpE98MWCqb7aedQda_fI5kJUSKLzVNocMudLrgEcQlbWedSJQyy1nEwh5NzxKcmtpA_5P2YshzP89pfW9IZCXGM/s1600/Hemsley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vQml1DhG70lJtaiRyTTOHIqjq9Py7w9UTXq-sSTPolFg82GVX6j5ZUpE98MWCqb7aedQda_fI5kJUSKLzVNocMudLrgEcQlbWedSJQyy1nEwh5NzxKcmtpA_5P2YshzP89pfW9IZCXGM/s200/Hemsley.jpg" width="153" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b>THIS elegant cookery book by Jasmine and Melissa
Hemsley has little to do with Hidden Riverside Norwich - except that I'm their
warm-up act when the sisters visit Norwich next month.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;">To be precise, I’m one of two other writers at the
latest Jarrold Literary Lunch which is being held at </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Carrow Road on May 10<sup>th</sup>.
The third is the novelist Peter Hanington whose thriller A Dying Breed
is set in Afghanistan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">So the latest cooking sensations, a much-heralded
debut novelist and me chatting about the wonderful Wensum. What’s not to like?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b>*Tickets cost £29.50 and include a two-course lunch
(recipes from H&H of course…) plus coffee. More details <a href="http://www.jarrold.co.uk/events-diary/events-list/literary-lunch-summer-2016">here</a>.</b></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-89920071941915241092016-04-15T09:00:00.000+01:002016-04-15T09:00:06.501+01:00In Jarrold's now...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaVbNeV15khtIoeeYYNOIU-vjtxzGrEWfDg139At0hxrFXk_Lh4N40FgvuF0fzyHMSfLA3Z_xOlzLv9uype9-BqiRQtiR5skYO-f-W6YnQTgDC9cRyFB42xYIDgxPYGResftjgxp8F6J9/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaVbNeV15khtIoeeYYNOIU-vjtxzGrEWfDg139At0hxrFXk_Lh4N40FgvuF0fzyHMSfLA3Z_xOlzLv9uype9-BqiRQtiR5skYO-f-W6YnQTgDC9cRyFB42xYIDgxPYGResftjgxp8F6J9/s320/FullSizeRender.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A REMINDER that Hidden Riverside Norwich
is now in the shops – or at least it’s in both branches of Jarrold’s in
the city. Price? A very reasonable £16.99. </span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-84926257368977175922016-03-05T21:14:00.001+00:002016-03-05T21:17:03.115+00:00Thanks Jarrolds...<br />
<b>JUST</b> over a month to go now till Hidden Riverside Norwich hits the shelves and thanks to Jarrolds for getting organised. They can't review the book, because they haven't seen it yet. But nonetheless they've been very helpful with a bit of positive pre-publication blurb. You can read it <a href="http://www.jarrold.co.uk/departments/books/local-books/hidden-riverside-norwich-by-steve-silk-(hardback)">here.</a><br />
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<br />Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-58176563517409582322016-02-02T14:11:00.000+00:002016-02-02T14:11:50.555+00:00It's going to be April<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBasXb2LK1FhrFKQIDmhYj22p975q394_JVEWTyynMJHCG9TEdFZgCLiAYmSsxYISqz8h-24GBnMCdWHoxONV6FQXgAxctBRUzDX66_xYz6qH1i5SOSHYF6RsayH6I_vILZahFjATVZT-6/s1600/117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBasXb2LK1FhrFKQIDmhYj22p975q394_JVEWTyynMJHCG9TEdFZgCLiAYmSsxYISqz8h-24GBnMCdWHoxONV6FQXgAxctBRUzDX66_xYz6qH1i5SOSHYF6RsayH6I_vILZahFjATVZT-6/s400/117.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<b>GOOD news.</b> The launch date for Hidden Riverside Norwich has been set for April of this year. ...By which time I hope to be back on the water with the canoe. This pic from last summer shows my Dagger Axis heading upstream on the Wensum just below Hellesdon Mill.<br />
<br />
Not long now...Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-77486230095489483812015-11-22T13:31:00.002+00:002015-11-22T13:31:32.333+00:00The lowdown from Hellesdon<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIruTYsSw9WOEka8QEMrciLriSz2OJoRmrS02de3m5Xofw9em9DOhj88_dA1IcWQKDAWcEU2ea8YLpuuIy2EX8QPB9Ntv0CVG4YqczJ8lngwhrSMeqfTD1kXe4TFUgNio9Bcu0bsEMy5L/s1600/Helles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKIruTYsSw9WOEka8QEMrciLriSz2OJoRmrS02de3m5Xofw9em9DOhj88_dA1IcWQKDAWcEU2ea8YLpuuIy2EX8QPB9Ntv0CVG4YqczJ8lngwhrSMeqfTD1kXe4TFUgNio9Bcu0bsEMy5L/s320/Helles.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Wensum<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
This is a typical page from Hidden Riverside Norwich. The whole point of being in a canoe of course is that you can capture images and angles that are impossible from the bank.</div>
<br />
This bridge is a real survivor. It's one of the Midland and Great Northern line originals - in other words it used to carry trains, now it has a lighter load of pedestrians and cyclists.<br />
<br />
You'll find it on Marriotts Way just south of Hellesdon Road. As a canoeist I float my boat just upstream from here and head in to Norwich city centre. The variety of views and landscapes in that 2 or 3 odd-miles is amazing.Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-86927940376693334722015-11-08T21:35:00.001+00:002015-11-08T21:35:54.341+00:00Hidden Riverside Norwich - revealed at last <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS80iyZjzt9oIZihULNfXkBdmdYUa0yGSYACu8jKH3rza4O9MppLTw4fp6TNuokVxhrhdheWU8_MDjE5xlWLp0ugxVXJ_ebzn0wZiKPJKj5keLzyO567Gna0ETTfVpmO-L-lfmWLHXdX-Q/s1600/RN+front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS80iyZjzt9oIZihULNfXkBdmdYUa0yGSYACu8jKH3rza4O9MppLTw4fp6TNuokVxhrhdheWU8_MDjE5xlWLp0ugxVXJ_ebzn0wZiKPJKj5keLzyO567Gna0ETTfVpmO-L-lfmWLHXdX-Q/s320/RN+front.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I'VE been going through page proofs this weekend - all 144 pages of Hidden Riverside Norwich. I'm not likely to see a hard copy until next Spring, but nevertheless it's a big moment. As ever Halsgrove have done a super job with the design and layout. Roll on 2016...<br />
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<b>* Hidden Riverside Norwich, £14.99 and likely to be in Norfolk's book shops from May 2016</b>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-23533076213790476942015-08-15T21:55:00.002+01:002015-08-18T15:05:35.549+01:00Saying goodbye to Window Coffee <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwFREhbpqsmcfu02VaB5gpkaVmBEE_f581XuMgxxzRctspLQ80agVCHyNPh3iI7D6fRFkmflKyydDtKhpfsrCWINMuCxTGCqkwTaVFJWbEN93acpsDSEAKwtkPk96DBWslyGY3Glzw-oO/s1600/RN9-21.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdwFREhbpqsmcfu02VaB5gpkaVmBEE_f581XuMgxxzRctspLQ80agVCHyNPh3iI7D6fRFkmflKyydDtKhpfsrCWINMuCxTGCqkwTaVFJWbEN93acpsDSEAKwtkPk96DBWslyGY3Glzw-oO/s320/RN9-21.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hayley Draper at <span style="text-align: start;">The Window Coffee </span> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">I WAS very sorry to hear that Window </span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Coffee in Wensum Street shut down at the end of July. It was undoubtedly the best </span>coffee shop in Norwich. I<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"> had interviewed Hayley Draper for my next book. Here's what you would have read: </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
"Somehow squeezed in between a
kebab joint and an estate agent, you could easily overlook Hayley Draper’s
cafe.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a start The Window Coffee
is tiny. Really tiny. Something like 12ft by 10ft. That means there’s only room
for about half a dozen people around the coffee table. But sheer proximity does
funny things to you. It’s virtually
impossible to ignore your neighbour here – and Hayley is adept at finding the
right thread to draw two strangers together.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the sense of instant
community is just a nice side effect. Really, it’s all about the coffee and
Hayley knows her stuff. Above the adverts for “flavoursome house blends” are
certificates from a recent UK Barista of the Year awards ceremony. She’s come a long way since she made her
first coffee in a café in Diss aged 14. She did try other jobs, but nothing
else gave her the same buzz.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“This is what makes me
happy,” she says with a simple shrug.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Window Coffee at 25
Wensum Street was born in February 2009 and it’s gone from strength to strength.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I don’t have to do any
marketing now,” she says. “People come to me. If you put ‘best coffee in
Norwich’ into Google I pop up. Google, Trip Advisor, the internet is very
important.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hang around for a while and
you start to see the secrets of her success. There’s a constant flow of chatter
with the mocha and the lattes. There are no “Have a Nice Day” platitudes, just
the thrill of proper conversation. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The grinder grinds, the steam
wand froths and you notice that the small Mona Lisa in the window carries a
flat white in her hand. No wonder her smile is enigmatic. The ipod is on
“shuffle”. Something Adele-ish follows something Chopin-ish. Another double
decker roars past. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Good things happen after good coffee” runs
the slogan on another wall. Hayley Draper was clearly in her element."<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-31695622677538439692014-06-08T18:47:00.001+01:002014-06-08T18:52:21.839+01:00Ringland to Taverham by canoe<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-anUjpNn_xto/U5ShfRKuwBI/AAAAAAAACCs/Stns6JSGBOc/s1600-h/Taverham%252520Intro%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Taverham Intro" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Taverham Intro" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-aOOM2uQQGDQ/U5Shg0HI-yI/AAAAAAAACC0/1F3x8eeOHbQ/Taverham%252520Intro_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="498" height="355"></a></p> <p><strong>ON A summer’s day River Green at Ringland quickly fills up with picnickers and paddlers.</strong> But within a hundred yards the canoeist leaves civilisation behind. The river winds left and a long row of elegant poplars demand to have their pictures taken, their trunks reflecting in the crystal clear water. <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-kLMq6dPRZAU/U5ShiuE_IeI/AAAAAAAACC8/44mkRV_WZv8/s1600-h/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520085%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Canoe Ring to Tav 085" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Canoe Ring to Tav 085" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-EOl-338X0sE/U5ShjmUMEzI/AAAAAAAACDE/QiVXFN4WKpQ/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520085_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="461" height="374"></a> <p>Then the Wensum begins a long lazy meander. Cattle graze the meadows to the left while horses are stabled on the right bank. Today, an early June day that felt like hot July, I heard one solitary cuckoo and caught a glimpse of a retreating kingfisher. Banded demoiselle damselflies flitted from leaf to leaf by the dozen, the blue-black band across their wings making the males instantly recognisable. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-29KRqMJA1CE/U5Shkwwx8JI/AAAAAAAACDM/AqNopLfNS2Y/s1600-h/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520082%25255B14%25255D.jpg"><img title="Canoe Ring to Tav 082" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 9px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Canoe Ring to Tav 082" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-jfDy3UoytA4/U5ShllM6NjI/AAAAAAAACDU/_tCsc5-MHwM/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520082_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="180" align="left" height="260"></a> <p>Swans too were on patrol. Give them a wide berth and you’ll be fine. They are very territorial, especially when protecting a nest. If they curve their neck back and half raise their wings, watch out. It’s called “busking” and it’s a warning to keep away. I’ve yet to use my paddle, but I’ve felt safer with it on a couple of occasions. <p>Nature has provided a new bridge on this stretch. A poplar has fallen clean across the river, creating a dam to be by-passed. Was it the wet winter of 2013/14 that did the damage? Then the river gets more claustrophobic. Dodge and weave around low-lying branches of alder and white willow. <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-DoEFfY3XKWs/U5Shoho2iCI/AAAAAAAACDc/7cxhOqR0EzY/s1600-h/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520020%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Canoe Ring to Tav 020" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Canoe Ring to Tav 020" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-WZPsxQPgX6o/U5Shp4g3NUI/AAAAAAAACDk/D-QU5Ujm0oU/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520020_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="478" height="388"></a> <p>Costessey Lane gets closer in time to catch a view of the white-washed Beehive Lodge, originally one of the lodges for the long-demolished Costessey Hall. Then road and river diverge, leaving longer and longer gardens for the selection of static caravans and houses which lie undetected by all but us river-users. Almost every one has its own home-made staithe, even if it’s just scaffold poles and aluminium ladders. <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-vkRZoDAdOwg/U5ShsMh5U7I/AAAAAAAACDs/KG5_Sl81P5s/s1600-h/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520031%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="Canoe Ring to Tav 031" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 3px 7px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Canoe Ring to Tav 031" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-X9YEAtaTST0/U5ShtLDSB6I/AAAAAAAACD0/UIa1Gdq_Hxw/Canoe%252520Ring%252520to%252520Tav%252520031_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="260" align="left" height="180"></a>And then the country becomes more open again. To the left, the grounds of Taverham Hall prep school, to the right, the Taverham Mill nature reserve. After three miles on the river, the sluices here mean our journey’s at an end. </p> <p>Turn around in the slower water dominated by yellow water-lilies and head for home. </p> <p>*<strong> Non-natives to Ringland need a £5 annual licence to launch from River Green in Ringland. See the Ringland Parish Council website for details. </strong></p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-56387138447706122312014-06-02T20:11:00.001+01:002014-06-02T20:11:14.865+01:00Ringland: where was the Union Jack?<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-hGv-lDjcWis/U4zMTFLuT9I/AAAAAAAACCU/t8adf6FEN04/s1600-h/KingOfPrussia%252520pub%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="KingOfPrussia pub" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="KingOfPrussia pub" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-27e3Bvz3mag/U4zMTxZiXfI/AAAAAAAACCc/N1PG_liz1vg/KingOfPrussia%252520pub_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="473" height="348"></a></p> <p><strong>RINGLAND has just the one pub now,</strong> <strong>The Swan with its idyllic position at the end of The Street, overlooking the Wensum.</strong></p> <p>But in the old days there was another. It gloried in the name of the King of Prussia until 1915 when some local soldiers ripped the sign down. Clearly the landlord then decided that a name-change to The Union Jack might do wonders for trade in the context of the First World War. </p> <p>The same boozer with its different name apparently flourished right through until the mid-1960s, but where was it? Looking at this photo my money would be on The Street up towards the church? Can anyone tell me for sure? Please email me at <a href="mailto:sanddsilk@btinternet.com">sanddsilk@btinternet.com</a> if you can help. </p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-55488963527660668172014-01-08T10:50:00.001+00:002014-01-13T20:45:35.282+00:00Drayton Old Lodge: 1914 and all that<p><strong><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ZuLLhvvOt6g/Us0tYez6NnI/AAAAAAAACBk/oEEepFo5T-4/s1600-h/DOL%252520026%252520sq%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="DOL 026 sq" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 7px 11px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="DOL 026 sq" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-ZzdzVpk6m6g/Us0tZROBhWI/AAAAAAAACBs/emzBZMIaldY/DOL%252520026%252520sq_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="228" align="left" height="260"></a></strong></p> <p><strong>REMEMBER “EBR” inscribed into the wall at <a href="http://riversidenorwich.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/drayton-who-was-ebr-at-dol.html">Drayton Old Lodge</a>?</strong> Well, after a bit of help, I’ve found the man those initials belong to. The details confirm that the Old Lodge was indeed built as private house rather than the Nurses Home which it later became. </p> <p>The timing is quite poignant. Here was a successful man returning to Britain to build a mansion complete with grand hall, billiards room and drawing room. But as the first bricks were being laid, the First World War was erupting in Flanders. The house – with its sculleries and servants’ quarters - was being built for a world which would no longer exist by 1918. Just look at nearby <a href="http://riversidenorwich.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/costesseys-lost-fairy-tale-castle.html">Costessey Hall</a> – demolished in 1920 - to see what happened to several old estates in this era.</p> <p>Clearly Drayton Old Lodge did survive, though I haven’t yet been able to establish exactly when it became a Nurses Home. The late 1920s or early 1930s is my best guess at the moment.</p> <p>Finally who was EBR? Well, you’ll have to wait till the book gets published for the full details.</p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-7834463190481396102013-12-19T21:28:00.001+00:002013-12-27T11:57:45.755+00:00Drayton: the ghost of a great poet<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-cs_NWHHj490/UrNk7MXDGdI/AAAAAAAACAE/puVLhagyMdI/s1600-h/Sunrise%252520054%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Sunrise 054" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Sunrise 054" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tJBnUfAZDbw/UrNk8bEnbbI/AAAAAAAACAM/Uc7n-qV6CFU/Sunrise%252520054_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="504" height="359"></a></p> <p><strong>IN the middle of a heath, an incongruous clump of pampas grass.</strong> Look closer and you might be able to see that the land is suspiciously flat between the pampas and the copse. It’s the site, the exact footprint, of the old David Rice Psychiatric Hospital. It was built in the late 30s of the last century and demolished in the mid-noughties of this one. Who would have thought that an ornamental plant would outlive the buildings it was designed to grace?</p> <p>Now owned by The Lind Trust, this 33 acre site was going to be home to a massive new church. Plans fell through after an acrimonious row with many neighbours. Its future is still uncertain but in the meantime the Trust is more than happy for us walkers to explore its gentle contours. Locals can probably see it returning to nature almost month by month.</p> <p>It’s been much in my mind this week after discovering a little bit more about the David Rice’s most famous patient. According to the experts, Francis Webb (1925-1973) was one of the best poets Australia has ever produced. But he suffered from terrible mental health problems, so much so that he spent many months here, accidentally getting to know the Wensum valley in the process.</p> <p>Thanks to the good old Millennium Library I’ve now borrowed a 1969 collection of his poems (It’s an inter-library loan all the way from Bucks, smelling beautifully of second-hand book shops and complete with loan dates stretching back decades. Excellent.) </p> <p>I thought it would be his poems on named Norfolk places which would get me, instead this vision of a lonely night inside the David Rice knocks you sideways with its raw, melancholic power:</p> <blockquote> <p>“The side-room has sweated years and patience, rolls its one eye </p></blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Skyward, nightward; hours beyond sleep I lie; </p> <p>And the fists of some ardent Plimsoll have laboured this wall</p> <p>Clear of its plaster beside my chosen head. </p> <p>Someone murmurs a little, dithers in bed, </p> <p>Against that frail call</p></blockquote> <blockquote> <p>Are imminent the siege-works of a huge nightfall.”</p></blockquote> <p>There’s much more, but you get the idea and I better be careful of copyright. His great champion in this country is Cameron Self of <a href="http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/index.htm">Literary Norfolk</a> fame. Cameron knows his stuff. Read his <a href="http://www.literarynorfolk.co.uk/drayton.htm">summary</a> to get a proper idea of what a big name Webb is in Australia, but also how Norfolk should claim him as one of our own.</p> <p>I found it slightly eerie walking across this site even before Bucks came up trumps. The demo guys have done such a thorough job that there is very little evidence left of the hospital. But nevertheless the odd drain cover – and pampas grass - means that you somehow feel the absence of a building. </p> <p>Throw in the “siege-works of a huge nightfall” and it’s safe to say you probably won’t find me up here after dark.</p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-77663576801000359642013-12-15T21:01:00.001+00:002014-01-08T10:26:46.256+00:00Picture Post: Sunrise on the Wensum<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-NdKj4BCmHsI/Uq4YjUmUh5I/AAAAAAAAB9U/M8mXCBSM7Ik/s1600-h/Sunrise%252520043%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Sunrise 043" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Sunrise 043" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-OE-3gA_fJ2Q/Uq4YkR29c9I/AAAAAAAAB9c/kg2hd99xxZc/Sunrise%252520043_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="487" height="347"></a></p> <p><strong>TOP tip for lazy photographers: don’t get up at 4am in the summer when you can get a good sunrise at just gone 8am during the winter.</strong> This is the Wensum at Drayton yesterday, looking south-east from the old railway bridge over Marriotts Way. <a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-L9j05E6ddpo/Uq4ZXUoXexI/AAAAAAAAB9k/4ONHVFzG2b8/s1600-h/Sunrise%252520051%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Sunrise 051" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 12px 3px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Sunrise 051" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-V3AEO8c1T6w/Uq4ZYPkkc5I/AAAAAAAAB9s/HRONjRPlfro/Sunrise%252520051_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="489" align="left" height="372"></a></p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-57443137933597810842013-12-07T22:02:00.001+00:002013-12-15T21:12:59.759+00:00Drayton: Who was EBR at the DOL?<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wWUryaQh-Iw/UqOa_89B_II/AAAAAAAAB8s/1lAFoVV1HAo/s1600-h/Drayton-Old-Lodge5.jpg"><img title="Drayton Old Lodge" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Drayton Old Lodge" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tBsP8EWN_sA/UqObA9f7zmI/AAAAAAAAB80/foZ1iIVGu1g/Drayton-Old-Lodge_thumb2.jpg?imgmax=800" width="485" height="346"></a></p> <p><strong>THIS is Drayton Old Lodge, a lovely wedding venue overlooking the Wensum Valley in the village of Drayton.</strong> It was a nurses’ home until roughly the early 1990s and then spent a decade or so as a conference centre. Today I would call it a hotel, but the <a href="http://www.draytonoldlodge.co.uk/">website</a> fights shy of that term. So “venue” it is.<a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-wQTd26ZsfxM/UqObCdvDiCI/AAAAAAAAB88/jR1x60y_3v8/s1600-h/DOL%252520026%252520sq%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="DOL 026 sq" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 10px 15px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="DOL 026 sq" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-7PKqcQ5B6cQ/UqObDHoqo7I/AAAAAAAAB9A/jYo-P8DRSkY/DOL%252520026%252520sq_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="228" align="left" height="260"></a> I thought it had been built in 1914 as a purpose-built nurses’ home, but now I’m not so sure – and that’s where I need your help. Take a look at this crest. it doesn’t feel “corporate” to me. There’s some suggestion that the building didn’t become a Home till 1917. So I’m wondering if this was a posh old pile where perhaps the owner perished during the First World War. But that’s complete speculation at the moment.</p> <p>It’s a great spot, one of many along the Wensum where I have the sacrilegious desire to chop down dozens of trees. Without the woods on the hillside, you would have a gorgeous view down onto the river valley below. But I digress. Who can EBR have been in Drayton in 1914? And how was he (she?) related to HR. If you can help, please email me at <a href="mailto:sanddsilk@btinternet.com">sanddsilk@btinternet.com</a></p> <p><strong>December 15th update</strong>: </p> <p>It probably closed as a nurses home in the 1970s rather than the 1990s. Documents at the Norfolk Record Office talk of it being the home of the Norwich Health Authority between 1975 and 1993. The NRO also has some great black and white photos of nurses at the home taken in the late 1930s. The photos of Sister Parr, Nurse Fincham and Nellie Burton were handed in anonymously in 2009. If that was you, do get in touch. Sadly though, the NRO had nothing to help me work out how the building started life.</p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-81382465552271941322013-11-25T22:05:00.001+00:002013-11-25T22:06:20.133+00:00The bloody legend of Bloods Dale<p><strong><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-3M_6fn2Xj4g/UpPJstb4DuI/AAAAAAAAB8U/pgtsJq1oRew/s1600-h/Bloods%252520Dale%252520002%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Bloods Dale 002" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Bloods Dale 002" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-fP5jLkaabxE/UpPJtquXw5I/AAAAAAAAB8Y/bAE3qrEWYWo/Bloods%252520Dale%252520002_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="532" height="378"></a></strong></p> <p><strong>I GET the impression that many people who live in Drayton don’t really see much of the River Wensum. Busy commuters could be forgiven for not even realising it’s there, hidden beyond the Low Road while they take the High Road to Norwich. Perhaps the legend of the bloody battle of Bloods Dale can tempt them. Here’s my first draft: </strong></p> <p>The land climbs steadily from the Wensum between the Low Road and the High Road in Drayton. A footpath bisects the two roads and just to the north lies an idyllic spot at the centre of a grisly legend. <p>It’s a field, trapezoidal in shape, with the unlikely name of Bloods Dale. And local tradition maintains that this was the site of an epic battle between the Danes and the Saxons in the Dark Ages. <p>“In a plantation near the road are traces of an entrenchment; and at a short distance is Bloods dale, said to be the scene of a battle in the Saxon era,” wrote one Victorian chronicler. <p>Notice how we all say “said to be”. No-one has the remotest bit of evidence, but tantalisingly 13 skeletons were dug up a short distance from here by navvies digging the Midland & Great Northern railway line in the 19<sup>th</sup> century. <p>All that we can be sure of is that the “Bloods Dale” name has a long lineage. A 15<sup>th</sup> century document talks of land called “Blodeshille” and “Blodisdale” owned by a Walter Nich of nearby Taverham. The first edition of the OS map from 1884 shows it as a large field running from Low Road to the brow of the hill, while a 1913 edition adds the wood we still see today. <p>And look again at your current OS Explorer. Bloods Dale is picked out from among all the other dozens of field names the cartographers could have chosen in the area. Well done Ordnance Survey for helping to keep this faint historical whisper alive down the centuries.</p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-39945586300186638632013-11-20T21:51:00.001+00:002013-11-20T21:51:30.741+00:00Remembering Drayton Station<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-E4muX7CNRPM/Uo0u2-PhbFI/AAAAAAAAB78/bmdF7zqF5iY/s1600-h/Drayton%252520Station%252520Archive%2525201%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Drayton Station Archive 1" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Drayton Station Archive 1" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-QG2eTRubTS8/Uo0u32344VI/AAAAAAAAB8A/mH4VHESm7yo/Drayton%252520Station%252520Archive%2525201_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="523" height="336"></a></p> <p><strong>WHO’S old and lives in Drayton?</strong> I’m writing up Drayton Station and I could do with a bit of local knowledge. The station closed in the late 60s so I need someone with more than a few grey hairs, </p> <p>If I’ve got things right, Station Road is to the immediate right of this photo, making the building to the right of the footbridge the station itself. It’s the left hand side of the tracks which I need help with. Were there sidings over there? And what are those white gates all about? Was this perhaps an area where cattle were kept before getting on cattle trucks? If you remember Drayton Station in its heyday please email me at <a href="mailto:sanddsilk@btinternet.com">sanddsilk@btinternet.com</a> or leave a comment below. Many thanks. </p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-51593489341240099742013-10-26T09:58:00.001+01:002013-10-26T10:00:04.205+01:00The Low Down at Hellesdon<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-XCsW5MV07ig/UmuEKzU6AyI/AAAAAAAAB7M/UZNqbD9nN8o/s1600-h/Low%252520Road%252520Hellesdon%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Low Road Hellesdon" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="Low Road Hellesdon" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-BxL507wIys0/UmuEMFDRLCI/AAAAAAAAB7U/RQmbuSGmTtM/Low%252520Road%252520Hellesdon_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="519" height="339"></a></p> <p><strong>ANOTHER conundrum courtesy of ebay.</strong> This is Low Road at Hellesdon, but where exactly? We’re looking north, but I can’t place this combination of gradient and curve of the river. Do email me at <a href="mailto:sanddsilk@btinternet.com">sanddsilk@btinternet.com</a> if you can help.</p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-57973510177797794732013-10-22T21:51:00.001+01:002013-10-23T21:36:57.644+01:00King Street’s forgotten church<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-wdd2K1npxaw/UmblO724quI/AAAAAAAAB6k/V7V65f0zTlo/s1600-h/southgate2%252520003%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="southgate2 003" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="southgate2 003" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-lwVwdMvUmUo/UmblP-9Le5I/AAAAAAAAB6s/Nl5yLYQNVYY/southgate2%252520003_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="530" height="377"></a></p> <p><strong>HERE’S the last piece of my King Street jigsaw.</strong> The long shadows of early morning at the remains of St Peter Southgate just off King Street. The 12<sup>th</sup> century church was all but demolished in 1887. But these sturdy remains of a 15<sup>th</sup> century tower survive to look kindly over a children’s park. </p> <p>It’s not easy to find. Southgate Lane is a tiny alley at the King Street end and not much broader up on Bracondale. It’s also the local park for Argyle Street residents - although it was a surprise to me to see that many houses there look set for <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/8283768.stm">demolition.</a> </p> <p>So King Street finished. Next stop Drayton. </p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-56039450079711219152013-10-19T15:42:00.001+01:002013-10-23T21:42:39.264+01:00King Street: reflections of the past<p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-5LDnXR-PpvI/UmKaYRC6dLI/AAAAAAAAB58/sWN2fjKqTNU/s1600-h/King%252520St%252520062%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="King St 062" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="King St 062" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-U2wRsJfZ18M/UmKaZXJqywI/AAAAAAAAB6E/qaHPodbVLSw/King%252520St%252520062_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="501" height="357"></a>I</p> <p><strong>I’VE collected a shelf-full of local books over the last ten years or so.</strong> And a dark green hardback with a ripped dust jacket and a 16 shilling price tag is proving very useful for the King Street chapter. </p> <p><em><strong>If Stones Could Speak</strong></em> was written by R H Mottram. Mottram was a novelist and a First World War poet who loved the city of Norwich. He was its Lord Mayor in 1953 and was also a staunch defender of Mousehold Heath. <strong><em>If Stones…</em></strong> is a romp through the history of Norwich, but done geographically rather than historically. So Chapter VI, for example, is dedicated to King Street:</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-m1VVE5i-S_M/UmKabPtpawI/AAAAAAAAB6M/8L6DKXYz4S8/s1600-h/Hamlet3%252520076%25255B8%25255D.jpg"><img title="Hamlet3 076" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 24px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Hamlet3 076" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-IwQTJEnZYPE/UmKabqrOzpI/AAAAAAAAB6U/6Swsi35V5dY/Hamlet3%252520076_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="166" height="246"></a></p> <blockquote> <p>“There is no doubt as to which of the Norwich streets is most connected with the sea. In King Street you find the signs of the Ship and the Old Barge, the Ferry Inn and the Keel and Wherry. One of its by-streets, descending the deep slope to the west of it, is Mariners Lane. Here is Waterman’s Yard and Swan Yard. </p> <p>“For half its length, the long, straight, street leading due south from the old market-place on Tombland, into South Norfolk, runs parallel with the River Wensum.</p> <p>“Here, at the continuous line of “staithes”, as they call a quay or landing place in Norfolk, are tied up the craft, mainly registered in London or north-west Europe, that bring to Norwich all varieties of bulky, non-perishable goods. Mills and breweries, engineering and constructional works line the banks, which, like so many things in Norwich, have never become entirely sacrificed to ruthless commerce”.</p></blockquote> <p>I’m going to quote at least that last paragraph in my book. It seems to sum up a 1950s King Street very nicely. A non-conformist, Mottram was buried in a beautiful spot within the Rosary Road cemetery. Forty two years after his death, all hail Ralph Hale Mottram. Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-31428057320509933082013-10-12T21:45:00.001+01:002013-10-19T21:33:33.209+01:00A viaduct across the Wensum<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-x9KrzqWRfpc/Ulm00wC8inI/AAAAAAAAB5k/CiAKeyHWxj4/s1600-h/Wensum%252520Viaduct3%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="Wensum Viaduct3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: left; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Wensum Viaduct3" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-G-1K-eOAeDg/Ulm013LD5UI/AAAAAAAAB5s/oXAMO14YAww/Wensum%252520Viaduct3_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="334" height="413"></a></p> <p><strong>THIS wonderful vision of an alternative future for the King Street riverside comes from possibly the most famous document the city council has ever produced.</strong> <p><em>City of Norwich Plan 1945</em> mapped out a 50-year blueprint across 135 pages of elegant prose. (When did council officials stop writing in plain English?) <p>An inner ring road and an outer ring road would converge on this tall viaduct “carrying a high-level road from Bracondale to the railway bridge at the junction of Carrow Road and Clarence Road.” It would be, they claimed, “a light and elegant structure of great beauty, and would command a wonderful view of the old city from which it would be seen as a terminating feature and a break between it and the commercial and industrial zone further down the river valley”. <p>The conventional 21<sup>st</sup> century wisdom is to say thank goodness it was never built – to be fair it was controversial from the start. But I’m not so sure. In fact I can’t argue with a word of the authors’ comments. And even if you do, remember that the inner ring road is still not complete some 70 years later. To this day traffic still crawls down King Street and across Carrow Bridge to get to Thorpe St Andrew. <p>The 1945 masterplan is worth quoting elsewhere – particularly with regard to the river: <blockquote> <p><strong>“While Norwich has turned her back to the Wensum, industry has helped herself. At present the river is looked upon chiefly as a commercial utility providing a cheap form of transport; but unfortunately whilst rendering this old established service, it has encouraged the evil of an ugly spread of unsightly buildings and ramshackle sheds along its banks as well as the defilement of its waters by effluent from various factories…</strong> <p><strong>“Except for short stretches of its course, the Wensum is at present overshadowed by grim walls, hidden by ugly barriers and inaccessible to the public as an amenity within the city: the potential attractions of the river are almost lost. We propose that its banks should be cleaned wherever possible and opened up for the public to enjoy the pleasures of the river which is one of the largest open spaces in the city.”</strong></p></blockquote> <p>We’ve come a long way haven’t we? Nice work messrs C H Jones FRIBA, S Rowland Pierce FRIBA and H C Rowley, City Engineer.</p> <p><strong>* More on the viaduct from Nick J Stone </strong><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/osborne_villas/6050787030/"><strong>here.</strong></a></p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-4727861169682106842013-10-09T20:21:00.001+01:002013-10-11T14:46:42.362+01:00Welcome to the Wensum Way<p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-yBnZqYEzHyA/UlWslVri4vI/AAAAAAAAB5M/c36zdavb8-Q/s1600-h/Wensum%252520way3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Wensum way3" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Wensum way3" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-S-63Ed1bflI/UlWsm0JVHFI/AAAAAAAAB5U/wU05gq2wZ9s/Wensum%252520way3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="485" height="384"></a> <p><strong>NORFOLK gets a new footpath tomorrow – or at least it’s officially unveiled tomorrow</strong>. Twelve miles of decent track close to the River Wensum sounds good enough to me, but the council is keen to let us know that it completes a missing link as well. <p>The Wensum Way runs from Gressenhall to Lenwade. And in doing so it creates a mammoth 96 mile walk by linking the Nar Valley Way to Marriotts Way. Now it’s possible to walk from King’s Lynn right across to Great Yarmouth without those pesky internal combustion engines getting in the way. <p>What follows comes direct from the council: <blockquote> <p>“The Wensum Way passes close to 26 county wildlife sites and four Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Even the River Wensum itself is a<br>designated European Special Area of Conservation. Over 270 species have been recorded in the river valley, from plants, butterflies and moths, 18 recorded species of dragonfly and damselfly to otters, water voles and eight types of bat.</p> <p>“Keen-eyed birdwatchers can glimpse over 200 species of birds including bitterns and marsh harriers. Surfaces, signposting and furniture on the Wensum Way is the same standard as the UK's prestigious National Trails. Work to upgrade 1200 miles-worth of designated countryside paths to this high standard has been systematically carried out by the County Council across the network to create the portfolio of footpaths known as the Norfolk Trails.”</p></blockquote> <p>A portfolio of footpaths? Please no. But how many Norfolk trails are there? And how many Norfolk pub quiz teams would get a full house? Here goes: </p> <p><strong>Angles Way, Boudicca Way, Cross-Norfolk Trail, Marriotts Way, Nar Valley Way, Norfolk Coast Path, Paston Way, Peddars Way, Weavers Way and the Wherryman’s Way. </strong></p> <p>More details <a href="http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/Leisure_and_culture/Norfolk_Trails/index.htm">here:</a></p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-14500271078210598322013-10-08T20:58:00.001+01:002013-10-13T17:02:25.009+01:00Dragon Hall’s mysterious neighbour<p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-LUb64ayPptY/UlRjvspcPLI/AAAAAAAAB4k/-BBvyAv2L4Y/s1600-h/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520003%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="King Street 1013 003" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="King Street 1013 003" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-_z_Of4JUmOk/UlRjweKsNSI/AAAAAAAAB4s/O1xk_b7jbYo/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520003_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="477" height="336"></a></p> <p><strong>I SHOULD be writing up Dragon Hall, but I’ve been diverted by its mysterious neighbour.</strong> Dragon Hall is to the left of this picture. It’s a 15th century trading hall, built by the wealthy merchant Robert Toppes and now open to the public as a <a href="http://www.dragonhall.org/">museum.</a> </p> <p>But what’s next door? A medieval first floor along quite a stretch of King Street, curiously suspended on 20th century pillars. Everything is boarded up at all levels and no-one seems to know who owns it or what their plans might be. I vaguely remember it being home to the electrical retailers Bennetts, but that was years ago wasn’t it?</p> <p>So what next for 125-127 King Street? Do get in touch if you’ve got any info about this remarkable survivor.</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-g82iMEZK8Ok/UlRjyZGL6DI/AAAAAAAAB40/6EtiITaJnI0/s1600-h/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520019%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="King Street 1013 019" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="King Street 1013 019" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-9eNfAHwEMx8/UlRjzDUTtlI/AAAAAAAAB48/MPQdjtC4-A0/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520019_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="493" height="356"></a></p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-86962962673509875932013-10-07T22:24:00.001+01:002013-10-11T14:47:21.693+01:00King Street: the new and the old<p> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-MVZR7NtXCZc/UlMmmKx1ApI/AAAAAAAAB38/IMglUc-VMqk/s1600-h/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520030%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img title="King Street 1013 030" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="King Street 1013 030" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-sL95iXqHGmM/UlMmm8VlPDI/AAAAAAAAB4E/Mu31OMx0DMY/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520030_thumb%25255B4%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="480" height="349"></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-8VaPB1CVOdM/UlMmoo5HCMI/AAAAAAAAB4M/6A-yFIlhKWo/s1600-h/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520040%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="King Street 1013 040" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="King Street 1013 040" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-eF5O7yX1yxE/UlMmpXdwD3I/AAAAAAAAB4U/kndEQ5GTykY/King%252520Street%2525201013%252520040_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="471" height="341"></a></p> <p><strong>I DON’T think I’ve walked down King Street at any time in the last 20-odd years and not seen signs of life in some quarters and old-fashioned decay in others.</strong> The road vies with Colegate for the tag of most interesting street in Norwich, but blimey, the promised gentrification is slow coming. </p> <p>So while there are trendy designers at Nether Conesford in the top picture, the lower one shows the old <a href="http://commercialsearch.savills.co.uk/property-detail/2628">Utting’s garage supplies shop</a> now in urgent need of some TLC. The writing scrawled over the gaffer tape on the red front door reads “no mail please, house subject to court order”. Enough said. Elsewhere on King Street the combination of scaffolding and boarded up <a href="http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/for_sale_norwich_eyesore_st_anne_s_wharf_1_2233760">wasteland</a> must make it harder for Dragon Hall to pull in the punters.</p> <p>The new developments on the site of the old Morgans Brewery (Polypin Yard, Fuggles Yard etc) were meant to be the trigger for regeneration, so too the new bridges across the Wensum. Both have played a part, together with the lively Kings Community Church where the Lads Club once flourished. But we’re not there yet. Will it be another 20 years before it’s job done?</p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-62300947423354324522013-10-02T17:55:00.001+01:002013-10-04T22:50:09.723+01:00Eaton: What no Waitrose?<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-_hIIFH3iFuM/UkxP-MXKcQI/AAAAAAAAB3U/ZtcjPG0eQWA/s1600-h/Yare%252520from%252520Cringleford%252520Bridge%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><img alt="Yare from Cringleford Bridge" border="0" height="328" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-h2q_e0IZkaI/UkxP-8yBe3I/AAAAAAAAB3c/ZQFhKPt-2-k/Yare%252520from%252520Cringleford%252520Bridge_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Yare from Cringleford Bridge" width="485" /></a><br />
<strong>THIS picture gets better the more you look at it.</strong> It’s taken from Cringleford Bridge with Eaton church in the background. It slowly dawns on you (thanks Pete and Jon) that we must be looking roughly across the current Waitrose car park. <br />
<br />
Closer inspection from Katy W and Google Maps reveals that there is still marshland between the bridge and the church. So the Waitrose land would only cover the extreme left of the picture. <br />
<br />
The huge increase in the number of trees makes it very difficult to get a modern day shot which bears any relation to this one. Unless anyone knows different?<br />
<br />
This canoe-view shot taken a few years ago is the nearest I've got, but I was downstream looking north on to the other side of the church. It's a beautiful spot for a paddle.<br />
<a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-tq95M2CscYA/UkxQAD9uhdI/AAAAAAAAB3k/uDEdOrfrmvc/s1600-h/057%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img alt="057" border="0" height="278" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-gYxTWnTCmYw/UkxQBE5rrYI/AAAAAAAAB3s/jj0Q6TwuQck/057_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border: 0px currentColor; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="057" width="492" /></a>Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7550156933556710160.post-49703832079913757522013-10-02T14:44:00.001+01:002013-10-02T19:27:51.157+01:00Masterpieces: our art, right here<p><strong><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Tn4h6PtxyU4/UkwjNfe9WPI/AAAAAAAAB28/CQps6YwNSwk/s1600-h/Munnings%252520lavenham%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Copyright The Munnings Collection at The Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum / Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; display: inline; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="Copyright The Munnings Collection at The Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum / Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-Lq6HEafLqcU/UkwjOe1RcQI/AAAAAAAAB3E/hYneAV4eOCw/Munnings%252520lavenham_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="480" height="319"></a></strong></p> <p><strong>THE University of East Anglia is celebrating its 50th birthday this year.</strong> And a new exhibition at The Sainsbury Centre is doing its bit to put the EA into UEA. Some 270 exhibits from 65 collections have been brought together to celebrate the varied art produced and inspired by Norfolk and Suffolk over the centuries. And they do cover every inch from Sizewell to Holbrook to King’s Lynn. From the Halesworth heiress on her deathbed to a John Piper painting of tiny Hales Church near Loddon. If nothing else <em>Masterpieces</em> gives the lie to any notion that Big Art is about Big Cities. </p> <p>We’re lured in by “Faces of East Anglia”, with exhibits ranging from a copper alloy head of the Emperor Claudius found in the River Alde, to a bronze bust of Albert Einstein. Immediately it’s clear that we’re not just dealing with paintings. The Team Lotus Formula One car might be a bit of a gimmick, but throughout the exhibition curator Ian Collins gives books, clothing and maps equal billing with more traditional artwork</p> <p>Broads fans will be glad to see the 19th century classic “On English Lagoons” artfully left open at the beginning of a chapter.</p> <blockquote> <p>“A miserable day. Of all the melancholy joys of life, perhaps a wet day afloat is the worst,” writes PH Emerson. </p></blockquote> <p>We skip lightly through both centuries and themes. Collins delights in unusual juxtapositions. A flint handaxe from 700,000 years ago found on Happisburgh beach, sits next to the similarly-sized “Reclining Figure” by the sculptor Henry Moore. Constable paintings hang next to those of John Crome, a landscape painter of the Norwich School. A storm scene on Yarmouth beach by Crome’s colleague John Sell Cotman is the neighbour of a more famous storm painted off the same coast by JMW Turner. </p> <p>The 20th century is well-represented. I love John Piper’s dark paintings of churches, but Edward Burra was a new name to me. Look out for <em>Sugar Beet</em> with its ghostly, transparent figures. Why so? “Don’t you find as you get older, you start seeing through everything?” he’s quoted as saying in the accompanying blurb. </p> <p>Good blurbs are important for us rank amateurs. These ones are good. I particularly enjoyed the guest writers. We have the former Norwich MP Charles Clarke on an 18th century “Prospect of Norwich”, while the thoughts of the Dean of St Edmundsbury sit well next to a modern crucifixion piece by Elizabeth Frink. </p> <p>I could go on. but you’ll find your own favourites. A Suffolk Horse Fair, Lavenham <strong>(pictured)</strong> by Mendham-born Alfred Munnings perhaps, or a portrayal of the Battle of Sole Bay by the Dutchman Willem van de Velde.</p> <p>But just finally, remember “A History of the World in 100 objects” at the British Museum and on Radio 4? Well <em>Masterpieces</em> takes 270 exhibits just for our small corner. But nevertheless it has a similar breadth, depth and sheer ambition. Get along while you can.</p> <p><strong>* <em>Masterpieces</em>, The Sainsbury Centre at the UEA until February 24th, 2014. Adults £8, family ticket £20.</strong></p> Steve Silkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07046721785588040775noreply@blogger.com0