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Colchester – Colchester Castle and Cellar/Rooftop Tour

I’ve been to Colchester many times before, but I’ve never quite managed to visit the castle. I’ve had a trial National Art Pass which gave free entry, meaning this was a perfect time to visit before it expired. The usual adult entry cost for the castle is £12.50 and being honest, this felt a little too steep given that the tour is an extra charge.

The Norman doorway. As a brief history of the castle, it is built on the site of a Roman temple which had fallen into a state of disrepair during the Dark Ages. King William I ordered the construction of the castle in 1074 to help protect his new kingdom and it lasted in that state until it was purchased by John Wheely in 1683 who had a plan to pull it down. He took down the top floor, but felt that the whole project was too much and he abandoned it, so the castle was saved. It then became used as prison but was purchased by the town in 1920 and then turned into a museum. There’s plenty of evidence in the structure of its Roman foundations as much of the material was reused in the castle’s construction.

The well and I was fortunate to have a child demanding coins from his parents to throw into it which meant that I could see how deep the water was. Behind the well are the steps down the cellars which I went down later on during a tour.

When I entered the staff member offered a comprehensive introduction to the castle which all seemed suitably welcoming. She mentioned that I could indeed have free entry with my National Art Pass but asked if I would like to go on a paid tour of the cellars and the rooftop. As this was £3.85 I thought I’d go for that. The museum itself took around 50 minutes to look around, which worked perfectly for my tour which started an hour after I entered.

A model of how it is thought that the castle looked in May 1157, when King Henry II stayed for a week.

Different types of stone that were used in the castle’s construction.

The Sheepen Cauldron which was buried as a religious act at Sheepen, near to Colchester, in around 1275-1140BC. The sign at the museum notes that this is the earliest known bronze cauldron in England and is also the first known example of sheet metal being used to create a working object as opposed to a decorative item.

These are coin moulds from Cunobelin’s mint at Sheepen.

This is the tombstone of Longinus who was born in what is now Bulgaria and at the age of 25 he joined the First Thracian Cavalry regiment. He was sent to fight in Colchester and he died at the age of around 40 in the town in 55AD. As was the Roman tradition, he was buried by the side of the road leading to London and this tombstone was established by his family.

A 2010 Colchester Beer Festival glass was on display as it had imagery of Boudicca on, the woman who ransacked Colchester.

I’m fascinated by exhibits such as this as their survival always feels slightly remarkable. It’s a representation of a Green Man, ancient symbols of growth and fertility. This is from a building which stood on the site of the current Town Hall.

The exhibitions at the castle contained plenty about the local history. This is a decorated floor tile of the town’s Borough Arms dating to the fifteenth century and found at St. Gile’s Church.

I then meandered down to the former cells which felt slightly eerie as I was the only person down there.

Some of the former cells.

After walking around the museum, it was then time for the tour, which consisted of the guide, myself and a family of three. The guide warned us that tall people would have to bend quite a lot as the passages were quite low. Often guides say this and there really isn’t any issue, but at 6’0″ I have to say it was quite stretch to get down there with a backpack. Now I’m no longer 23 and as supple as I was. The guide was engaging and knowledgeable, she seemed to really enjoy taking visitors around and was keen to answer questions.

As some background, these cellars were once filled with sand. This was removed and it later caused structural issues. The white wall is newer and from the 1930s, these are ensuring that the castle doesn’t fall down as that would be seen as sub-optimal.

The castle is built on a former Roman temple and the difference is visible in the cellars where the castle boundaries were slightly different.

The crack is visible which is why the engineers in the 1930s were worried about the whole thing falling down.

Some medieval graffiti.

We then went up a different set of steps to visit the castle’s roof.

Views of Colchester and also what they think is the only tree growing on top of a castle. This isn’t random foliage, they’ve repotted it to ensure that it doesn’t damage the structure of the building.

Views of the roof. There was once another floor, but it was taken down to sell the stone as building materials.

Looking back along the walkway.

And with that, we made our way back down after the end of the 45 minute tour. I very much enjoyed my just under two hour visit to the castle, there was plenty of information about the history and I was pleased how cheap the tour was. It’s not a cheap castle to visit, so I was pleased to have my National Art Pass, but I’m not sure I would have felt I received value for the £12.50 admission charge if I hadn’t got free entry. For those who do visit, I’d positively recommend going on the tour as it gave much more context to the history of the building.

October 3, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Four) – Crewe to London Euston

With no disrespect to Crewe, but I couldn’t find much to excite and delight me on the Monday afternoon that I was there. There were no museums, Good Beer Guide pubs or craft beer bars open, although there was a micropub which looked marvellous if it had been open. There wasn’t even a JD Wetherspoon pub in the town, it’s shut. It meant the limit of my expedition, and it’s over a mile to the centre from the railway station, was a sub-optimal Poundbakery visit. Also, apologies for the slightly blurry photos, that’s partly a result of the greasy bakes from the aforementioned location.

As an aside, and it was rebuilt in 1880, but the Crewe Arms Hotel was built in 1838 and is the first specially built railway hotel. Queen Victoria stayed there on numerous occasions and it’s still in use as a hotel today.

There’s a pleasant waiting room at Crewe railway station. There was no town at Crewe until the railway boom built a junction here and the railway station was first constructed in 1837. It was rebuilt in 1867 and then extensively remodelled in 1984.

The interior of the railway station and this was nearly all shut down around fifteen years ago when there were plans to move to a new building which would be nearer to Crewe. There were meant to be HS2 services from Crewe, but the whole project is currently up in the air.

As a fun fact, there are seven rail operators which operate services to Crewe, which is the joint highest in the country.

The West Midlands Train service that I was booked onto arrives.

Seats were shoved in, it wasn’t overly clean and there were no power points. However, the journey was on time and only cost £10.20 which all felt quite reasonable. I moan quite a lot about this trying to five seats in across, not least on this blog, and I’m sure my two loyal readers are tired of hearing about it. But it all feels sub-optimal, it makes the aisle quite narrow and the seats are hopeless for anyone who is slightly larger.

Happy memories of Rugeley from a previous GeoGuessr expedition with Nathan.

And safely into London Euston with its shiny new boards. I still liked the old ones as I could read them more easily, but maybe I’m just old fashioned now I’ve reached 24.

I’m going to bring the Liverpool weekend story to an end here. I had a marvellous evening in London with a visit to the Craft Beer Co at Holborn, before getting the train back to Norwich. All tired at the end of it, but it had been a really quite marvellous weekend. Thanks to Steve, Susan and Bev for their company and I’m already looking forward to the next set of adventures. The trip to Bucharest with Bev and Steve, amongst others, is already booked and I hope that Bev in particular will be well behaved.

October 3, 2023
200 Years Ago : Norwich Ecclesiastical Court and Moral Outrage

For my latest news from 200 years ago, I was intrigued by this quite long article in the Norwich Mercury in October 1823. It feels interesting because it brings into play the evolution of the ecclesiastical courts and how their power has ebbed away over time and been replaced by the civil courts. Back in 1823, the ecclesiastical courts still had jurisdiction over matrimonial questions and probate, amongst many other things, although they were soon to go. The rules were already archaic at this point and this case showed just how problematic and dated they had become. It’s also an impressive piece of local journalism to bring a case such as this to the attention of their readership, especially on something so controversial.

“JURISDICTION OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS

It is one of the facts attending the progress of society, that power conferred in the earlier and darker ages remains where and as it was bestowed, until some strange example of its pernicious exercise shews the possible effect of such a misappropriation of authority, and thus works its destruction. Such we hope and trust will be event of a case which has recently occurred in Norfolk, and which we are now about to narrate.

It will certainly, we understand, be brought under the consideration of the legislature in the next session, as is sufficient ground for the revision of that part of our code, which respects such offences. Is this district from the benevolent disposition of the prelate who presides, from the character of the officers, down to the very lowest, we have the best assurance such disposition and such character can give, that every process coming under the cognizance of the Ecclesiastical Court would be prosecuted with the most scrupulous integrity and with the utmost lenity.

This is so well known that it will acknowledged instantly and spontaneously by all our readers. What then must be the nature and principle of those laws under which an injustice so fragrant, and perpetuated by such agents as we shall describe, can be committed, and when men so amiable and so upright as the good Bishop of our diocese and the officers of this court can be made the unwilling instruments of such a legal injury. What evil, what misery might be brought upon individuals by such powers if exercised by men of an opposite temper and precipitate in their judgements? But to the facts.

The religious society of methodists to divide into certain classes of different denominations, and to each a class-leader is appointed. He solemnly takes upon himself the care of his class, and engages to admonish any of them concerning their mural aberrations. A person in a village in Norfolk this situated, heard that the daughter of one of his class was cohabiting with a married man, the father of a large family. The class-leader privately urged upon his friend the duty of endeavouring to put an end to such a connection. The man exhorted his daughter to quit a course to grossly immoral, who it is presumed, communicated the fact to her adorer. Inflamed by the representation, he one Sunday awaited the return of the class-leader from meeting, and assailed him in the bitterest language. The daughter of the class-leader, a girl of most excellent character, in service in the neighbourhood, interposed in her father’s behalf; the anger of the aggressor was turned against her, and he abused her in terms alike indecent and undeserved.

The next morning, this girl whilst at work before the dour of her master’s house, perceived the woman who was the cause of the previous dispute, in the road, accompanied by another; an altercation ensued, and it is probably much ill language passed on both sides. This woman (the accused) shortly after entered the house of a man in the neighbourhood, a relation of the class-leader, whom she supposed to have some share in promoting the admonition she had received, and reviled him in the presence of his wife and family so violently, that he was compelled to turn her out, but he positively denies having used any abusive language towards her.

Soon after, the daughter of the class-leader and the man last mentioned, were summoned to appear before the Ecclesiastical Court on a charge of defamation. All these circumstances occurred in the middle of the year 1821. She attended the court many times at a distance of twelve miles from her home, for examination. This examination, it seems, was conducted by her Judges. The accusers and the accused were never confronted. Such is the practice of the court. In this way she was convicted of defamation, and order to pay court fees to the amount of fifteen pounds. For these fees she was arrested about the middle of 1843 and carried to Norwich Castle for the debt. The man (her relation) was convicted and ordered to pay a sum of twenty three pounds, for which he also was arrested and thrown into prison.

The evidence upon which these persons were convicted, is understood to have been the woman accused, a woman who had an illegitimate child by the brother of the accused, and a third female who had been imprisoned for disorderly conduct. The case was made known to persons who undertook to enquire into the circumstances, and, who finding it to be exactly as we have stated, but nevertheless conducted according to the strictest forms of law, paid the debt, liberated the prisoners, and intend to bring the revision of law under the consideration of Parliament. We ought perhaps to add, that the proctor employed by the accusers offered to compromise for a small sum, but this compromise the parties from a sense of the injustice (and perhaps not anticipating the result) refused to accept.

In such a case it appears for us to be highly desirable, that there should be some public, some general expression of abhorrent feeling: and we venture to suggest that a subscription, not to exceed one shilling (or five at most) from each contributor, which has been already begun for payment of the sum, he opened to the country, in order to mark the detestation in which such powers can but be held by every upright mind. Several gentlemen, who have been made acquainted with the proceedings, coincide in this opinion, and the printers of this paper will willingly register the names and receive the contributions of all persons who may be disposed to aid the repeat of a law so obviously liable to abuse and perversion. Indeed we hope to see the whole law relative to defamation and personal abuse revised and put upon a footing that such assaults (which are often very grievous to the individual) may be punished without the admission of power now existing – a power which, as it appears in this instance, may be exercised to crush its victims, even fair claim to the redress it was originally designed to administer. There is no question of party, not advanced for party purposes, but for general right and for general good. We therefore hope to see the Gentlemen of the County stand forward and join in the reprobation of a transaction upon which there can be but one opinion.”

October 3, 2023
Streets of Norwich – Swan Lane

Part of my Streets of Norwich project…. [updated in October 2023]

Swan Lane is located in central Norwich and was originally called Rakeytheslane, or Rackey Lane, as Robert de Rakheythe had a house along the street. It changed its name in the nineteenth century because this was the location of the Swan Tavern, and I think it’s a rather lovely idea to name streets after pubs.

Fortunately, given its width, this is a pedestrianised street. At one end is London Street, which was the first street to be pedestrianised in the country, but motor vehicles had already long since been banned from going down Swan Lane.

The city in 1830, and not much has changed with the street layout of Swan Lane in the last two hundred years. The Swan pub was at number 8 from around 1750 until the early 1860s, although there are no pubs at all along the street by 1870. And that, in Norwich, is a fairly rare state of affairs….

This sign about Jem Mace is on the side of Turtle Bay.

Changing street numbers can be a curse to trying to understand building history, but this might fit in, as in around 1870 the property at number 8 had been rebuilt. The new structure was a grand building, with 4 bays facing onto Bedford Street and 5 bays onto Swan Lane. This was used as a shop until only a few years ago, when it was converted from being the Fabric Warehouse into the Turtle Bay restaurant, which is the building on the right in the above photo.

The entrance to Swan Lane from London Street, with something I missed (hence why it’s not very clear in the photo either), which is the entrance to a courtyard at 2 Swan Lane, on the far left of the Dipples building. I only noticed it from the listed building record, as Dipples is a Grade II listed property, originally constructed in the early nineteenth century and the frontage of the shop is original (apparently not the right-hand side window).

The swan in the front of Dipple and Son. The history of this company is interesting in itself, their web-site mentions:

“Dipples itself is nearly 140 years old. The jewellery business was originally founded in 1878 in Woodford, Essex, by George Henry Dipple. George did not stay in Woodford for very long as by 1890 he is no longer registered as living in Woodford. Between 1888 and 1890 the business was relocated to Ipswich. The jewellery store made a final move to Norwich around 1894 and has been located in Swan Lane every since.”

October 2, 2023

Crewe – Poundbakery

When I visited Liverpool a few years ago, I was surprised, delighted and excited to discover the Poundbakery chain with their tasty baked goods. They were never quite the quality of Greggs, but their pricing was low and I quite liked the whole arrangement.

Nearly nothing is now a pound, such is rampant inflation.

The pastries are pretty much all 2 for £2.50. The service was on point, friendly and welcoming. I ordered a steak bake and a chicken bake and when the team member put my chicken bake into a bag it promptly fell through the bottom onto the floor. It’s clear they’ve done everything they could to cut costs, including the quality of the paper bags. The team member quickly swept up the pastry into the bin, which felt a real waste, before giving me another.

This is the state of the chicken bake around one minute after I left. I don’t really demand high quality from pastries if I’m being honest, but this was bloody dreadful. There was nearly no chicken, the sauce was sweet and lacking in flavour and the pastry was overly greasy. The steak bake managed to get to the standard of below average at best, I found one minor piece of steak and the sauce was lacking in any depth of flavour. They’ve clearly cut the product quality to the lowest possible level in order to keep prices down, but the end result is a mess. I looked at the reviews of a number of their shops and they’re all generally poor, routinely mentioning friendly service and low quality products.

I’m not suggesting that I expected high quality from the Poundbakery, but I was a little disappointed given just how good they were routinely were a few years ago. The service was friendly and I liked the clarity of the pricing, but there has to come a point where the product quality can’t be cut any further. Anyway, I was glad to try it again as I live too far south to be able to visit their establishments.

And just for the record, this is the price list as of October 2023 (this blog can be so informative at times).

Breakfast – until 11:30am

Bacon Breakfast Roll / Sub / Toast	£1.85 / £2 / £2
Sausage Breakfast Roll / Sub / Toast	£1.85 / £2 / £2
Bacon & Egg Roll / Sub / Toast	£2.35 / £2.50 / £2.50
Bacon & Sausage Roll / Sub / Toast	£2.35 / £2.50 / £2.50
Sausage & Egg Roll / Sub / Toast	£2.35 / £2.50 / £2.50
Bacon, Sausage & Egg Roll / Sub / Toast	£2.85 / £3 / £3
Extra Breakfast Items (Bacon, Sausage, Egg)	50p
Cheese On Toast	£1.50
Slice of Toast	50p
Hash Browns	2 for 50p
Bacon & Cheese Turnover	£1.60 / 2 for £2.50
Sausage & Egg Muffin	£2
Double Sausage & Egg Muffin	£2.50

Sausage Rolls, 4 for £2.50

Sausage Roll	90p / 2 for £1.60
Vegetarian Sausage Roll (Vegan Friendly)	90p / 2 for £1.60
Veg Curry Roll (Vegan Friendly)	90p / 2 for £1.60

Jumbo Pasties & Pies, 2 for £2.50

Jumbo Cheese & Onion Pasty	£1.60
Jumbo Chicken Pasty	£1.60
Jumbo Meat & Potato	£1.60
Jumbo Minced Beef & Onion Pasty	£1.60
Jumbo Sausage, Bean & Cheese Pasty	£1.60
Jumbo Steak Slice	£1.60
Potato & Meat Pie	£1.60
Traditional Pasty	£1.60
Salmon & Spinach Slice	£1.60
Jumbo Chilli Beef	£1.60

Savoury Counter Extras

Chicken Nuggets (Box of 7)	£2.25
Margherita Pizza Slice*	£1.60
Pepperoni Pizza Slice	£1.60
Cheese & Ham Panini	£2.50
Potato Wedges	£1
Cheesy Wedges	£1.50

Morning Goods

Brown Jumbo Barms 4 pack	£1
White Jumbo Barms 4 pack	£1
Panini Rolls 2 pack	£1
Teacakes 4 pack	£1.30

Fresh Loaves

Black Sheep Tiger Bloomer 800g	£1.50
Black Sheep White Bloomer 800g	£1.50

Family Size Cakes

Farmhouse Cake	£2.25
Madeira Cake	£1.60
Lemon Drizzle Cake	£2
Double Choc Family Cake	£2
Lemon Sugar Nip Family Cake	£2
Fruit & Cherry Family Cake	£2

Sandwiches

Chicken Mayo Sandwich	£1.25
Egg Mayo Sandwich*	£1.25
Tuna Mayo Sandwich	£1.25
Ham Sandwich	£1.25

Baguettes

NEW Tandoori Chicken Baguette	£2
Cheese & Ham Baguette	£2
Cheese Salad Baguette	£2
Chicken Mayo & Lettuce Baguette	£2
Egg Mayo Baguette *	£2
Ham Salad Baguette	£2
Sweet Chilli Chicken Baguette	£2
Tuna Mayo Baguette	£2
Cheese & Onion Baguette*	£2

Brown Rolls

Chicken Mayo Brown Roll	£1.50
Tuna & Cucumber Brown Roll*	£1.75
Ham Salad Brown Roll	£1.50

White Rolls

Cheese & Onion White Roll £1.50

Salad Bowls

Sliced Chicken Salad Bowl £2

Cakes

Apple Tart	2 for £1.50
Bakewell Tart	2 for £2
Blackcurrant Tart	2 for £1.50
Cornflake Nest	4 for £1.75
Deep Filled Apple Pie	£2
Eccles Cake	2 for £1.50
Iced Fairy Cakes	4 for £2
Fruit Flapjacks	3 for £1
Gingerbread Man	2 for £1.35
Jammy Heart	2 for £1.25
Mince Pies ‘Award Winning’	4 for £1.25
Scones	2 for £1.25
Caramel Doughnut with Custard Filling	2 for £1.35
Pink Doughnut with Jam Filling	2 for £1.35
Triple Choc Doughnut with Chocolate Filling	2 for £1.35
Jam Doughnut	2 for £1.35
Ring Doughnut	2 for £1.35

Cookies

Milk Chocolate	3 for £1
Double Chocolate	3 for £1
White Chocolate	3 for £1

Muffins

Choc Chip Muffin	£1
Caramel Muffin	£1
Mixed Berry Muffin	50p
Lemon Muffin	£1
Blueberry Muffin	£1

Seasonal

Treacle Toffee	£1
Parkin	£2
Spider Man	£1
Halloween Fairy Cakes	4 for £2

Fresh Cream Cakes

Apple Charlotte	2 for £2
Bavarian Slice	2 for £2
Chocolate Eclair	2 for £2
Strawberry Tart	2 for £2
Custard Slice	2 for £2

Chilled Cakes

Carrot Cake	2 for £2
Manchester Tart*	2 for £2
Custard Tart	2 for £2

Cold Drinks – 2 for £1.50

Barrs Bubblegum*	80p / 2 for £1.50
Barrs Cherryade	80p / 2 for £1.50
Barrs Cream Soda	80p / 2 for £1.50
Barrs D&B	80p / 2 for £1.50
Radnor Juice Drink, Forest Fruits	80p / 2 for £1.50
Radnor Juice Drink, Orange	80p / 2 for £1.50
Harrogate Spa Spring Water 500ml	80p / 2 for £1.50
Simply Fruity, Blackcurrant	80p / 2 for £1.50
Simply Fruity, Orange	80p / 2 for £1.50

Premium Cold Drinks

Harrogate Spa Spring Water 750ml *	£1
Rubicon Blueberry & Raspberry*	£1
Rubicon Orange & Mango*	£1
Perfectly Clear, Summer Fruits	£1
Diet Pepsi	£1.70
IRN BRU	£1.70
Lucozade Original	£1.85
Oasis Summer Fruits	£1.85
Pepsi	£1.85
Pepsi Max	£1.70
Tango Orange	£1.70
Semi Skimmed Milk 2pt	£1.75

Hot Drinks

Tea	£1
Coffee*	£1
Hot Chocolate*	£1

Lavazza Hot Drinks*

Espresso*	£1.25
Americano* (White / Black)	£1.25
Cappuccino*	£1.25
Latte*	£1.25
Flat White*	£1.25
Hot Chocolate*	£1.25

Crisps

Walkers Quavers	£1
Walkers Ready Salted	£1
Walkers Cheese & Onion	£1
Walkers Salt & Vinegar	£1

Meal Deals

Snack Deal (Small Sausage Roll, Fairy Cake and Juice Drink)	£1.50
Add Crisps & Drink** to any Sandwich, Pasty, Pie, Pizza, Panini, Chicken Nuggets or Sausage Roll	£1.50
Add Wedges & Drink** to any Sandwich, Pasty, Pie, Pizza, Panini, Chicken Nuggets or Sausage Roll	£1.50

** Any Hot Drink or 80p Drink

*Selected shops

October 2, 2023

Liverpool Weekend (Day Four) – Liverpool Lime Street to Crewe

After a marvellous weekend, it was time for me to meander back to Norwich and I was doing this in a number of stages. Firstly, it was getting a London Northwestern Railway service from Liverpool Lime Street to Crewe. The reasoning for this relates to split ticketing and making my train journey back as cheap as possible.

My morning started with a debacle, which at least gives me something else to write about. I use my Chase debit card to buy nearly everything, as I get 1% back and that’s entirely optimal as far as I’m concerned. However, there’s a glitch with Chase that for security reasons they garble the card number and so it’s not possible to pick up the tickets at the station as the machine doesn’t recognise the card. Recently this hasn’t been a problem, I just get e-tickets and so there’s no need for a pick-up, but it seems that London Northwestern Railway don’t have that facility.

After the machine failed, as I expected, I went to the ticket office with some moderate concern that my train was leaving in 25 minutes. That sounds a lot of time, but these things often take a while to resolve and I was sensing a problem. Fortunately the ticket office was entirely empty and the staff member there was very polite, but said that she couldn’t do anything about it. Now, when this has happened before, the ticket office has been able to print the ticket, but she said that wasn’t possible now. Her suggestion was to contact GWR who issued the ticket.

Now, I was mightily impressed at GWR. They have a WhatsApp contact where you can just message them and my problem was resolved by them within two minutes of my sending it to them. They changed the ticket so that it could be picked up by any card and that meant I could collect my ticket. They queried why the ticket office hadn’t done this or tried to contact them directly and it feels sub-optimal that there’s confusion between the rail company and the ticket office. I don’t know who is right, but I was fortunate to have booked with GWR as their customer service seems on point.

The train pulled into the station on time.

I wouldn’t say that it was spotlessly clean, but it was comfortable and there were plenty of seats.

There weren’t any power outlets though which was a little disappointing. The young lady sitting in this seat later on in the journey had the wrong ticket, she was travelling to Birmingham and had a ticket for later on in the day. The conductor was polite, but firm, telling her that he wouldn’t issue a penalty fare notice but saying that she would have to get off at the next station. The lady explained that she couldn’t afford to buy another ticket, but the conductor said if she disembarked than she could board a later train with the ticket that she had. The lady’s story was true as when the conductor had gone she phoned her mother to ask her to transfer money onto her card so she could buy the £30 or so ticket that she needed to stay on the train. She went off to find the conductor, asking me to look after her bags (which is something I don’t like doing really as if someone comes to steal them then I’m hardly going to fight them) and she merrily returned with a ticket which let her stay on the train.

And safely into Crewe with the journey running on time. The fare was £13.80 from Liverpool to Crewe, which felt entirely reasonable.

October 2, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Three) – Pump House

As our final pub of the weekend, we decided to visit the Pump House on the Albert Dock. I’ve visited before and clearly shut it out of my mind because I wasn’t delighted to see that it was operated by Greene King.

There were four real ales available, with at least the Hinkypunk from Big Bog Brewery being an interesting option. The service was prompt and friendly, with the pricing being a little above the average for the area.

This was served at almost super-chilled temperatures and it suffered from that because any taste the beer might have had was entirely lost. Real ale isn’t supposed to be served at temperatures more suitable for keg beers and I have to admit to be disappointed that the pub was doing this, it’s a high turnover venue which is well financed and so basic cellar issues shouldn’t really be happening.

This was one of those pubs where it was a struggle to find a table which wasn’t wet, uncleared or had food debris on. I found a clean table for us to spend an hour gossiping about various people we know in my usual style, and the ambience was inviting enough but I can’t say the venue felt comfortable.

Ignoring the grammatical errors, I liked the effort made to explain the history of the building. There are some venues which ignore the marvellous heritage of their building, but this is a really useful effort to given information about the former use of the structure.

The reviews for the venue are broadly negative, but not horrendously so, but it’s a shame they’re so low given the wonderful location of the pub and its heritage. The reviews of the staff are generally very positive, with the primary issue being cleanliness and the quality of the food. If I might be entirely honest, and since it’s my blog I can do what I want as long as my two loyal readers persist, but I can’t help think that matters would be improved if this was run by an operator other than Greene King.

Anyway, moving back on to the Liverpool weekend. It’s now a few weeks after the weekend and I need to wrap this up as otherwise I’ll still be writing about it on the next weekend away (woooo, Hereford in a couple of weeks!). After another little walk into the centre of Liverpool, it was time for Bev and Susan to go back to their slightly odd hotel whilst I went to get a free burger (long story). It was all a marvellous weekend with great company, organised to perfection I thought with no shortage of chat about the meaning of life and all that.

October 2, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 24 and Italian Street Food

I’m getting towards the end of my attempt to eat at every food stall at Norwich Market and this week it was the Italian Street Food outlet. They sell quite a range of different food given the size of the stall, including pizzas, burgers and calzones (or calzoni, I’m never sure). I wasn’t sure how hungry I’d be as it was Nathan’s big 30th birthday party the night before, but as soon as I arrived at the stall I was confident that I could manage a pizza.

The stall was busy when we arrived and although the team members were occupied with preparing food, the service was prompt and efficient. James and I both went for the pepperoni pizza which I thought was reasonably priced at £9. We were pro-actively told that there was a delay on food service of around fifteen minutes because it was busy, but that didn’t seem excessive and I was grateful to be told in advance. The stall accepts cards and cash, with the ordering process all feeling well managed. It also was evidently a popular stall judging by the number of customers, they’ve built up something of a reputation over the last couple of years.

They kept us informed about the order’s progress and we then meandered over to Castle Gardens as there’s no seating at the stall. This was a very good pizza, leopard spotting as I like and it looked authentic. The tomato sauce was rich and the pepperoni was suitably tasty. There were no real negatives, although as a matter of personal taste the cheese wasn’t quite as I’d like as it seemed just slightly rubbery, but it was still of a good quality and the pizza was enjoyable. The base of the pizza was thin, as I like it, and it tasted authentically Italian.

James added to the whole excitement by getting pizza stuck in his throat, just a week after he managed to nearly choke on bubble tea. I appreciate the risks to his personal safety to ensure that this market visit process can be concluded. I’d add that James was also satisfied with the pizza and speaking positively about the whole arrangement. He did mention black pepper would have been a useful addition and I agreed with him, remembering that I had a little sachet in my bag and that met my needs. It didn’t meet his as I only had one sachet, but he should come prepared.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this visit and I’ll likely be back to try the other options, not least the chicken burger which I saw someone else have and it looked tempting and appetising. The team members were friendly, the service was efficient, the prices were reasonable and the pizza was of a good quality.

September 29, 2023
Liverpool Weekend (Day Three) – Baltic Fleet Pub

The next pub on the schedule was the Good Beer Guide listed Baltic Fleet pub, a location that I visited a few years ago. The pub dates to the nineteenth century and has recently undergone something of a renovation to give it a more modern interior. It was once a dockers’ pub and was at one stage actually two different venues before they were merged together in 1901. There were formerly tunnels under the road to the Albert Dock, but they’ve now been closed off for safety reasons.

All was quiet and settled at the bar during our visit, but it had been much busier when we arrived. There was a quite a wait and I was served out of turn, but there was no hurry and it gave me longer to ponder which beers to treat myself to. I was aware that the female member of bar staff didn’t want to be at work and hated her job as she told her colleague and other customers this, it was somewhat sub-optimal but there we go. Her colleague was rather more professional and just got on with the matter of serving customers which helped clear the backlog quite quickly.

I went for half of a Marble Mild from Marble Beers which had notes of chocolate about it.

The Peat Bog Porter from the Big Bog Brewing Company reminded me of when Richard fell into a bog a few weeks ago on an LDWA challenge event. It was also rich with strong liquorice flavours and more subtle chocolate ones, meaning that I felt a hint of decadence to proceedings.

As there was no-one else in the male toilets, I took this photo of their rather innovative design.

The pub is moderately well reviewed, although they don’t respond to reviews and I do wonder what went on here:

“Visited this pub last night and ordered 3 pints of a nice cherry flavoured beer. Enjoyed everything about the pub until I left. When I got home I checked my bank account to discover I was charged £20 exactly for those three pints. This left a sour taste in my mouth when I realised how expensive the drinks were but also that the figure must of just been made up by the member of staff as £20 doesnt even divide by three.”

I rather liked the venue although the service was a little awkward for customers listening to how a team member didn’t want to be there. However, everything was clean, the beer choices were interesting and there was a quirky feel to it. The venue is card only which has annoyed a few customers, although I can understand why they’ve made that decision. There are a few negative reviews about that, including one person who has demanded the pub accepts “legal tender” which is hardly relevant as they’ve not collecting a debt. With the pub visited, it was just then an evening walk along the former docks.

September 26, 2023
Streets of Norwich – Jolly Butchers Yard

Part of my Streets of Norwich project…. [updated in September 2023]

Jolly Butchers Yard is located off of Oak Street and is named after the pub which stands to the left of the yard and which traded until 1989 when it was converted into offices the following year.

The yard is still there and there are residential properties within it, so this is one of the yards which retains some of its former character. It’s a shame that the pub is no longer trading as it had been a licensed premises since the beginning of the nineteenth century and was clearly packed with intrigue and adventure.

There’s a plaque which notes that Black Anna (her real name was Antoinette Hannent), the jazz and blues singer, lived here between 1935 and 1976 and she got the name as she only wore black clothing. She said about this habit (please note the clever wordplay there given what she said….), “I’ve had people ask what order I belong to, a bad one I tell them” and the below video clip features her saying this. The video was filmed in the Jolly Butchers in what was probably the early 1970s and it’s entirely evident what an amazing and inspirational landlady she must have been.

There was a news story published in the Yarmouth Independent in May 1936 which had the title “GREAT BIG ROW” which sounds very Archant…… It noted that Walter Douglas from 7 Jolly Butchers Yard had an argument with his wife Gertrude Douglas and they used foul language within the yard during this big row. Elizabeth Carrara was watching the dispute from her window on the rear of Ber Street and it was actually her who made a statement about the “great big row” as she called it. I rather fear that this was a matter of domestic abuse, but the court decided to fine them each five shillings for their abusive language.

September 26, 2023