Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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Norwich – Rosary Cemetery (Victor Lambert Anscombe)

Back to my much neglected little series about burials at the Rosary Cemetery in Norwich. During lockdown I looked up quite a few CWGC graves and also found some errors in the official record, which they kindly always corrected for me, which I accept was quite an odd little hobby.

This is the war grave of Private Victor Lambert Anscombe. There’s a photo of Victor at https://norfolk.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?SETLVL=&BRN=721081&FMT=IMG. Norfolk County Council stomp their feet very loudly about not allowing use of these images directly on third party sites, which I think is a shame, particularly when it’s someone who died in the First World War whose image deserves to be shared widely.

Victor was born in Wicklewood, near Wymondham, in 1899. Victor’s father was Frederick Anscombe who had been born in 1871 and worked as a shopkeeper, but he had died a few years before the outbreak of the First World War. Victor’s mother was Emma Sophia Anscombe, nee Tuttle, and he also had a little brother, Alan Frederick Anscombe, who was born in 1902.

At the 1901 census, the family had lived at Rattle Row in Wymondham, but by 1911 and following the death of Frederick, they had moved to Damgate Street in Wymondham. They lived there with Emma’s parents, Frederick J and Sophia Tuttle. Just before the advent of the First World War, they had moved to 37, St Julian Street in Norwich. Sadly, this street was destroyed during some badly planned slum clearance, although the line of the street is similar to that of Rouen Road today. I’ve moaned about this damage in another blog post. There’s something additionally sad when so little trace of the life of a young person remains, with the old properties in Rattle Row having also been pulled down, although the street remains.

Victor went along to the Drill Hall (I think the Chapel Field one, rather than the Bethel Street one, a gothic style building constructed in the Victorian period which incorporated part of the city wall but which was demolished to build the ring road in 1963) in Norwich on 8 July 1915 to sign up and he was given service number 185075. His records have survived, so avoided the fate of many others which were destroyed during an air raid fire during the Second World War, showing that he was 5’3″ tall, he had a 33 inch waist and green eyes. He was working at a cycle engineer at the time of his signing up and he joined the 4th Norfolk Regiment. He was then moved to the Machine Gun Corps, B Training Battalion, although it’s not clear to me where he served after that. Victor was injured on 18 October 1918, moved to the military hospital at Cannock Chase, where he died of pneumonia on 2 November 1918.

When Victor was away, his mother married James Gasson (born in 1886) in the second quarter of 1917, who worked as a carpenter. Victor’s estate went to probate and it was valued at £127 19s. The years after Victor’s death must have been difficult for his mother, as she had already lost her first husband, her son in the war and then her other son, Alan, died in 1951. Emma died on 28 December 1967.

The memorial on Victor’s grave reads “may the grace of God surround him”.

July 28, 2022
Sunday : Canterbury to Prague via London Victoria

The weekend in Canterbury had gone quickly and the four of us in Carena House waved goodbye to the landlady. It was a clean B&B (actually, it was more of a B as there was no breakfast included), although quite quirky, but the welcome was friendly enough, even when Richard changed rooms for reasons unknown. But, I don’t get involved in these matters.

We walked to Tannery Field and had a little look at the bull, designed by local artist Steven Portchmouth. There’s a double purpose to that sculpture, it marks that this was a tanning site, but also that there was a tannery rail track, so they’ve replicated the rails in the artwork.

And there’s some more information about the bull for those who want to know even more.

It was a similar walk to the previous day, with West Gate in the background. It was still too hot.

Back in Wetherspoons, which I accept shows a complete lack of originality, but I didn’t have long and there was a power point here which was handy for ensuring my devices were fully charged for the day ahead. The poached egg was only just runny, they keep getting these wrong now, but that’s my fault, I probably should have gone to a local cafe.

Back again also to Canterbury West railway station, where we set off from the day before.

And the sizeable waiting room, with an absence of power points. I had another little debacle at this railway station, as I had stupidly used my Chase card to buy my rail ticket. The collection machine was having none of it, but this is a known fault with Chase cards on the network, as confirmed both by them and also by Great Western Railways. Chase had said the workaround was for the ticket desk to print the ticket (which isn’t really a solution to their dodgy arrangements in this area), but the man on the desk said he couldn’t do that. I wasn’t going to argue, although I’ve noted that other ticket desks have managed to, but he was helpful enough to wave me through the barriers so I could get to the platform.

My plan was to go and speak immediately to the train guard to tell him of my little predicament, which was a good strategy. The guard said he couldn’t print the ticket either as his machine didn’t have that functionality (there’s a lot of little issues in terms of consistency within the rail network), but that it didn’t matter, he’d wave me through the barriers at London Victoria.

Another routine complaint of mine, there isn’t space in a rail carriage for five seats across, and I am unanimous in that…. Anyway, we got about 100 metres down the track before the Southern ticket inspectors came to interrogate passengers, but fortunately, the train guard noted this and told the inspectors I had a ticket but the machine was broken at the railway station. The inspectors looked confused, as the machine wasn’t broken, just it wouldn’t print my ticket, but they didn’t pursue the matter. They came back through the train twice, with one of them forgetting they had spoken to me already, but the other was more alert.

That meant at London Victoria station I had to get through the barrier as I still didn’t have a ticket printed out. The customer in front of me told the gate guard that “the guard had forgotten to print my ticket” which was not an excuse that was accepted. For about two minutes there was an argument about this, with the gate guard saying that he didn’t believe the guard on-board had forgotten, and even if he had, the customer should have reminded him. Voices were raised and it was bloody clear that the customer didn’t have a ticket, but he was let through anyway. This is a fault with the rail network, what’s the point of this expensive set-up if people are just let through anyway? I was slightly worried that the gate guard would instead have an argument with me, but I showed him my booking reference for the ticket that I couldn’t print and I was let through without dispute. I think it’s fair to say, it’s not hard to get through those barriers without a ticket.

It was time then to get on the Victoria Line for a couple of stops, to then board the Piccadilly Line to get to Heathrow, a moment of excitement as that meant a few days overseas, the last I’d get for several weeks. No delays here, all was going well.

Back at Heathrow T5, which wasn’t particularly busy despite all the fears of overwhelmed airports. The flights that have been trimmed seemed to have helped operations though, with the wait at security being relatively minimal.

The BA lounge has gone from self-service to order via app, back now to order at a counter. Here’s the menu for the lounge, a choice of meatballs, pie, vegetable curry or vegan balls.

I opted for two steak pies with a can of Brewdog Jet Stream, living the dream…. These pies aren’t world class, but they’re moreish (as are many things with me) and sufficiently tasty for my needs, especially when I get chance to ask for extra gravy.

These raw juices were rather delicious, although I suspect I overdosed on fruit with them. There was no fruit health warning in the area which I felt that there could have been.

There’s the green sludge of the raw juice in the background. And another highlight, crisps have finally returned to the lounge, so what a time to be alive!

And even more excitingly (I don’t get out much), the ice cream has returned to the freezers.

The flight was departing from Gate A1 but I wasn’t entirely sure this was well managed, as there weren’t enough seats and there was a paucity of announcements. Standing there for thirty minutes was fine in terms of time, although the terminal in this area was quite hot.

None of these dispensers were functioning at the airport, another one of Heathrow’s little short cuts I imagine.

Ready to board the BA0858 flight to Prague on aircraft G-EUYT, which I’ve travelled on before when going from Heathrow T5 to Warsaw.

The interior of the aircraft and I had an exit row seat by the window. The flight was very busy and at near capacity, so there was the usual faffing around trying to fit ridiculous numbers of arguably oversized bags into the overhead lockers.

We took off over 30 minutes late, which is always slightly frustrating on a night flight, especially when I had plans to catch the last bus of the day in Prague. Fortunately, we landed on time as the pilots were able to make up the time during the flight. There was nothing much notable about the flight, which is always a positive as far as I’m concerned.

The standard in-flight snack of crisps and a small bottle of water.

At Prague airport and there was more queueing as UK travellers now need a stamp in their passport. Fortunately my fast walking had meant the queue wasn’t too long when I arrived, I think I was through border control in under ten minutes.

Rather random, but I liked the little aircraft shaped holes they had made in the benches. I had visited Prague a few months ago and remembered where the ticket machines were to buy bus tickets, something which saved a few minutes of uncertainty.

I caught the last 191 bus of the day, with just a couple of minutes to spare. It wouldn’t have mattered as a night service then kicked in, but this saved me over thirty minutes, so I pleased to be able to catch it.

The bus journey takes around 40 minutes and I was fortunate with my hotel choice, as there was a bus stop just a one minute walk away. It goes direct from the airport to the city centre, or at least the west bank of the river so that people can take another bus or tram to get elsewhere in Prague.

Off the bus and ready for my big one minute walk to the hotel. It’s rare that they’re such short treks at this time of night and I had already alerted the hotel that I’d be late. I’m not sure they care to be honest as they have 24 hour reception desks, but I like to let the hotel know of my plans in case they flog off my room to someone else and they replied promptly and politely telling me all was fine with arriving late.

And here it is, the Ibis Praha Mala Strana, a well reviewed Accor hotel on the west side of the river which isn’t an area that I’ve much explored before in my previous visits to the city. The entrance, for reasons unknown, is tucked away on the far side of the building, but the signage was sufficiently clear for me not to get muddled up.

Typically, someone had just checked in despite it being after midnight, so I had a little bit of a wait, but that gave me enough time to take photos of their shop area. The staff here were always friendly and welcoming, this transpired to be one of my favourite Accor hotels.

My welcome gift was doughnuts and I was very pleased indeed with that. I just knew that this was my sort of hotel.

And the room, the standard Ibis layout, all clean and comfortable. I’m still quite content with this sort of room layout, it’s functional, it has a desk, working wi-fi and space for storage. Given that I had such a late arrival into Prague, I was surprised that I was able to make such timely progress to be in the hotel just after midnight. That gave me enough sleep before breakfast, but more on that in the next riveting instalment of this blog as it transpired to be relatively memorable (or as memorable as a hotel breakfast can realistically be).

July 27, 2022
Saturday : Hike Norfolk Walk St. Augustine’s Way and a Night at Bills

Our longer walk for the weekend was the 17 mile expedition along the St. Augustine’s Way, although we only did the Minster to Canterbury section. Dave, Steve, Richard and I enjoyed a little pre-walk walk, along the Great Stour river.

My pre-walk meal of Avocado muffins at the West Gate Inn, one of two JD Wetherspoon outlets in Canterbury.

After some arranging of people into little groups to buy Group Saver tickets for the railway journey to Minster, we cluttered up the platform. Gordon questioned what he was doing in terms of the walk, but we were confident that he could complete the expedition, he’s a very brave man. But, despite that, he thought that he’d better have a little sit down before the main event started.

And off we go, 21 of us on the train. I should mention of course that the LDWA have a page about this walk, at https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Way+of+St+Augustine.

Safely in Minster and I liked how the train guard came out to check that’s actually where we wanted to get off, as I think he had been expecting us to get off at Ramsgate. That is where the St. Augustine’s Way actually starts (or ends) but that distance would have been a bit much for the group to have got done in the time that we had. Note Steve’s awareness that a photo was being taken, whilst others were rather less prepared.

Minster Abbey which came to an end following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and after being taken over by the Crown, it became a residential property. That might have been the end of the religious connection to the site, but in 1937 a group of Benedictine nuns took it over and it has remained a nunnery since then.

The Grade I listed St. Mary’s Church in Minster where there has been a Christian building since 670. That’s certainly some hallowed ground there.

The obvious Norman features aren’t later copies or inserted by the Victorians, the nave dates to the middle of the twelfth century.

The chancel, which dates to the thirteenth century.

The church’s muniment chest and as the sign notes, it’s from the medieval period, although the oak lid is older than the elm chest itself.

The font and the cover behind it are both from the fifteenth century. If any member of the congregation from that time had somehow walked in over 500 years later, they’d find very little had changed, I’m sure that they would be most reassured.

With that we were off on the main part of the walk, led by Steve as he had completed the entire route the previous year. He pointed out the little Camino stickers we needed to look out for.

Richard got his bag stuck in a tree, but I helpfully assisted him out of his predicament. Richard blamed poor Liam for the situation who wasn’t even on the weekend, but I didn’t get involved.

A slightly rickety bridge, but it was sufficient for our group to get across.

It was too hot, so having a pub open just after 11.00 was particularly useful, this is the Dog and Duck in the beautifully named village of Plucks Gutter. Wikipedia give the etymology of the village’s name, although I have no idea whether this is true or not:

“The hamlet is named after a Dutch Drainage Engineer called Ploeg, whose grave is in All Saints Church, West Stourmouth. Ploeg, being the Dutch for a plough, the hamlet takes its origins from the Dutch Protestant tradition of draining marshland by creating a ploughed ditch”.

A quick half, this was the Master Brew from Shepherd Neame which was well kept although unexceptional, but given the heat, it was sufficiently refreshing. I haven’t seen American Express hand sanitiser before, which seemed a little odd in terms of branding. Someone from American Express pondered what they could brand in a pub and they went for the hand sanitiser….

Relaxing in the beer garden, I tried to get in the shade.

The next stage of the adventure, after walking through the beer garden, involved walking along the river which was ideal with some tree cover and breeze from the water. Although it was still too hot, but I didn’t moan about that and just got on with it of course.

Some more information about St. Augustine’s Way, or the trail as this sign refers to it. Woodland areas were a real boon during the walk, the open sweeping Kent plains were rather less delightful when there was no shade. Susan had decided to take an umbrella around with her, which was one of the most sensible decisions of the day as far as I was concerned, she was entirely in the shade all day and I was quite jealous. I suggested to Richard that he carry around one of the pub’s parasols to keep us shady, but he refused for reasons unknown.

The Red Lion in Stodmarsh, a pub which offered a very friendly welcome and which as a food based pub I had expected to be full on a Saturday afternoon. The reverse seemed to be the case and they could have served food to our entire group if we would have had time, but some decadent crisps did instead. They’re from the Taste of Game range and the options at the pub were:

Grouse and Whinberry

Smoked Pheasant and Wild Mushroom

Wild Duck and Plum Sauce

Wild Boar and Apple

The aim of the crisps is to encourage people to try game, which hasn’t worked for me as I’m not exotic enough to start ordering grouse and the like, it’s not something that Greggs specialises in. Anyway, I seem to have now got myself distracted writing about crisps. The pub has quite an exotic and adventurous menu, something a little different and they deserve to do well.

St. Mary’s Church in Stodmarsh, not a church that we went in, but it dates from the twelfth century with a major restoration having taken place at the end of the nineteenth century.

St Andrews Church in Wickhambreaux, a Saxon name for the village, from ‘wic’ which is a fortified town and ‘ham’ meaning homestead, which was its Domesday name, Wicheham. The ‘breaux’ bit is later, named after a local family and to avoid confusion with two other locations with similar names.

The interior of the Grade I listed church and it’s notable because of the glass, with the listed building record noting:

“The east window has Art stained glass of the Annunciation dated 1896 and signed Arild Rosenrrantz. The New York Times of 1896 reported that this was the first commission in Europe to be given to American glassmakers.”

The nave with its coloured roof, with much of this interior being from the late Victorian period.

Back in Canterbury and this, St Martin’s, is the oldest parish church in the English speaking world, having first been used for prayer in 597. It was relevant to our walk as it was the site where St. Augustine had his mission headquarters and King Æthelberht was baptised here.

The church’s tower and there’s bits of Roman brick that were used in the construction.

Inevitably there have been many structural changes over the centuries, although some of the early core of the building from the pre-conquest days does still remain. The tower is much later and it’s evident how bits have been added on to the building, fortunately without the Victorians trying to unify the whole arrangement by standardising windows and the like. Along with Canterbury Cathedral and St. Augustine’s Abbey, this church is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Hike Norfolk group having a little rest at the entrance to the church. Everyone had done very well, especially given the heat that we had all endured. Gordon had been very brave, and although Richard was limping around a bit, he had also done marvellously. Indeed, he has been inspired to take part in an LDWA challenge event, so very exciting! Jonathan and Richard had got separated from the group towards the end of the walk, but with a little bit of me shouting and Jonathan using his exploration skills, we met up again soon enough.

All that’s left of the St George the Martyr church in the city, notable for being where the playwright Christopher Marlowe was baptised. Unfortunately, it was hit by a bomb on 1 June 1942 which destroyed most of the building and also the nearby house where Marlowe was born. The remains of the structure remained standing until 1955, but rather than keep them, it was decided to pull them down and only save the tower.

And the end of the walk and our little pilgrimage, we had reached the locked doors of the gateway into Canterbury Cathedral. Richard tried to get a taxi back to the B&B, but couldn’t find one, so he came back with a small group of us, where we enjoyed a couple of hours peace and quiet following our brave adventure. If you complete the pilgrimage route you can visit the cathedral for free, but since we had only done part of the route and the cathedral was shut, it was fairly evident we wouldn’t be getting in for free.

The evening meal was at Bills in Canterbury and I’m glad that they could cater for a group of 21 people with what seemed complete ease. We had to wait ten minutes after our booking time whilst they cleared down the previous table, but all else was efficient.

The beer choice wasn’t exceptional, but there were a least a few options so I can’t overly complain and it was certainly reasonable for a chain restaurant. The restaurant didn’t seem surprised and delighted with my announcement that I didn’t want put drinks putting on the tab, which is a common policy with Hike Norfolk to ensure that nothing is left over at the end as someone has forgotten it. The restaurant wanted what would likely be 50 drinks placed on a bill which we would later identify who had ordered what, but they in the end let us order from the bar as we went along. That little issue aside, the service was friendly and engaging for the rest of the evening and the staff were always personable.

The starter of spiced crab cakes and that green chilli dip was rather delicious. I was impressed that they got all 21 dishes out on time and at the appropriate temperature with no issues. We had pre-ordered, although I had managed to forget someone’s main course, although the restaurant coped admirably with adding that. I like to think they get even more demanding customers than me…..

The main course of half a roasted chicken, which was slightly unusually served with fried potatoes, instead of the usual chips, which seemed a rather good idea. The garlic aioli added some extra taste to the whole arrangement, which was more filling than the photos suggested.

I probably didn’t need a dessert, but as I had pre-ordered one, I forced myself to eat it. I’m unsure why they’re using the same plates as Wetherspoons, but that’s a different matter. This is the Eton Colada with fresh pineapple, coconut, cream, meringue and ice cream and a cherry on top, served in a 1970s type pineapple thing.

It had been a long day and it was nearing 23.00 by the time we left the restaurant, so we meandered back off to our various accommodation options. It was still slightly too warm in Canterbury and it was clear that I had managed to get a sunburnt neck, but fortunately we were distracted by all of Richard’s ailments to think of our own.

Some of the classy design arrangements at the B&B.

And it looks like I’ve done the handiwork in the bathroom, although Richard, Steve and Dave commented that they had similar grouting which looked like it had been laid out with a trowel.

Thanks to Steve for organising the walk and thanks to me for organising the trip, I thought it was a very enjoyable day and there were no fights, so that’s a win.

July 26, 2022
Friday : Off to Canterbury for Hike Norfolk Weekend

After a little milling around central London, including around St. Paul’s where it was too hot, I shuffled in the intense heat to get the Central Line to the delights of Wanstead. Richard and Dave were picking me up from Redbridge and since I wanted to get there early, I thought I’d wait in the nearby Wetherspoons, around a fifteen minute walk away.

I’m not sure what interesting things I can say about Wanstead Underground Station. Work started on it in the 1930s, but the Second World War got in the way, so it didn’t open until 1947. It was designed by Charles Holden (1875-1960) who had been heavily involved in designing War Graves Commission cemeteries after the end of the First World War.

More a photo for Untappd than for entering in any photography competitions, but this is the Tropical Crush from Portobello Brewing. I found a table with a power point nearby and got myself fully charged for the big journey, as it’s best to be prepared with Richard driving. He’ll read this, but he only reads the post that gets emailed to him when I publish it, I don’t think he’s worked out I change posts afterwards if I find that additional gossip is needed.

The Wetherspoons is the George, a rather grand former hotel and it’s relatively well reviewed, and I found everything to be in order. I quite liked this review though:

“I went to the George pub and the service was very bad as the food took so long to arrive and I did not get served until 8.45pm when I did order at 7pm, so I was very angry with the people who served me so I will not be going there ever again.”

There’s something about the very angry that intrigues me. It’s quite an early JD Wetherspoon outlet, they took it over in 1992 and dropped the Hotel from the pub’s name, although I do wonder what they’re doing with all that space. The hotel had been built in 1903, replacing an earlier pub which was called the George and the Dragon.

Anyway, with that drink enjoyed and my devices fully charged, I walked along the side of a busy road (on a pavement, but nonetheless, the walk isn’t ideal) to meet Richard and Dave at Redbridge. A quick phone call to the restaurant to confirm the evening’s meal arrangements were as I expected, and we were off. Now, Richard told us some funny stories about his trip to France, but, unfortunately, he has imposed a DSMA-Notice on this blog so I can’t post about those details. Dave or I can recount them on request though.

After checking into the B&B, which was an experience I’ll return to, we then rushed off to the pub, as Richard is pub obsessed. This is the Tribute from St Austell Brewery at the Three Tuns pub, which I choose as a quick stop despite it being Greene King. It was well kept, although it’s never going to be a beer to write home about. The pub dates from the fifteenth century and apparently there are remains of a Roman theatre underneath the building. And today, it’s a Greene King pub which isn’t quite as exciting.

Next it was a stop at the Foundry Brew pub, which is Untappd listed and Good Beer Guide pub listed. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure this location for the group meal, but I did need to have a little examination of their beers as they’re the brewpub of Canterbury Brewers. I won’t drone on for too long here, the beers were all well kept and tasted of a reasonable quality, but nothing particularly stood out other than the Itzamna, their imperial porter. Decadent with tastes of vanilla and chocolate, all very lovely. I liked the care they took with noting which beer was which on the laminated sheet, that was much appreciated and rather professional.

Gordon in front of Patisserie Valerie, as it’s a location he likes telling a funny story about.

I had struggled to book a table for the Friday night, but this was the location of choice, the Millers Arms. Steve kindly gave an excellent little talk about the Camino that he’s just walked, several weeks of 22 miles a day on average, all very courageous. I think it’s fair to say that he inspired a fair few people around the table. He also gave details of the walk that we were undertaking on the following day, which was part of St. Augustine’s Way.

Onto the food, which exceeded my expectations to be honest. Tender fish, a rich batter which remained crispy and had a depth of taste, with skin on fries which had a suitable fluffy interior. Nicely garnished, well presented and with sufficient tartare sauce, although that’s hidden at the back of the photo. It complemented the Double Stout from Shepherd Neame, who operate this pub, really rather well. Although, to be fair, I think stout complements nearly anything, I’m not that fussy.

The Millers Arms was a decent pub, I liked it, and it’s a hotel as well for those who want somewhere to stay. Everything felt professionally managed, they certainly didn’t let me down.

And with that, it was time for a few of us to visit the pub. Gordon ran off, which was really not ideal, but sufficient numbers stayed out as there was a Good Beer Guide pub that I hadn’t been to still left to visit.

The Thomas Tallis Alehouse was where I took everyone, a quirky arrangement as the pub doesn’t even have a bar. I liked pubs that are different and the Good Beer Guide didn’t let me down here.

There’s a nice little beer selection there, I think young Nathan would have been happy with that.

I had thought that it would be busier on a Friday evening, but unfortunately, not, although a couple of tables were taken later on. It was rather lovely to see Sarah and Andy come along at this point, they’re hard core drinkers though, so it wasn’t an entire surprise.

As for the drinks, I went for thirds of a number of different beers, including the Bone Machine from Whiplash, the Double Juice Punch and the Wake Up Call from Brouwerij Frontaal as well as the It’s Me or the Solar Farm from Turning Point. An attractive range of beers, with the Double Juice Punch being particularly notable.

A very decorative toilet.

Richard and I were the last two standing, or, technically, sitting. He’s reliable like that is Richard. That just meant we had to get back to the B&B which was a twenty minute walk.

All very atmospheric and I’d add it’s very difficult to take a photo of the cathedral. Despite its size, it remains hidden behind these narrow streets.

It was all rather quiet, although it was nearly midnight. There was a big party going on at the venue underneath the Hilton by Hampton though, which we realised by walking in front of it, and also from Gordon who was staying there and who couldn’t sleep until 3am despite spending £220 per night. How the other half live….

And the castle, which was constructed by William the Conqueror shortly after his invasion of the country in 1066. It was used by a gas company in the nineteenth century who took the top floor down, which isn’t entirely ideal, although there were plans to entirely demolish it, so the outcome is better than it could have been. I’m pleased to report that we got back to the B&B unharmed and in good shape, with Richard really excited for the walking the following day. I was busy to complain all day that it was too hot.

July 20, 2022
Thursday : London to Luton by Train

Starting the day at the Linton hotel in Luton, I was moderately perplexed why they installed all the power points the wrong way up. Not that I suppose it matters much in the grand scale of things, but I like having things to be perplexed about. It’s a slightly strange set-up throughout the room, they seem to put the beds up against the wall when they’re not in use.

Breakfast was included in the room rate and it was all a bit odd. I got just about the last table, even though I was there at 07:00 when they started serving. There were juices and bread to toast, which took about four minutes in the toaster (not the juices), whilst the rest of the meal was cooked to order. There was no choice, the overwhelmed staff member went from table to table saying “what would you like for breakfast?”. He was polite, but just about everyone replied they hadn’t seen the menu. He replied “there’s a full English breakfast or toast” which a couple of people declined so I assumed they expected something else.

It’s not my favoured choice of breakfast as it’s all a bit stodgy, and it was a little barren on the plate, although the quality was OK, but it was nothing particularly exciting.

The hotel is keenly priced though, I would stay there again if I was in Luton and it was the cheapest option.

It’s about a twenty minute walk from the hotel into the town centre of Luton and it goes under this really rather well designed underpass. Numerous images representing the history and culture of the town, it was impressively free from vandalism. What is more impressive is that it has been there since November 1998.

Luton 2040 and the mission statement for the future is apparently:

“In 2040, our vision is for Luton to be a vibrant, fair, and prosperous town where people can live their lives to the fullest. We will all achieve our potential and reduce inequality. A town where no one lives in poverty.”

Very noble.

Luton town hall and war memorial. This town hall was completed in 1936, built on the site of the previous building, which had been raided and set on fire during rioting in July 1919. What was annoying for the authorities wasn’t just the huge loss of an asset, but the disruption to the provision of services to locals and also it took place on Peace Day.

There was a week-long court trial and a debate about whether it was technically a riot, but it was decided that it was. 28 men were sent to trial, 9 were found not guilty, 2 were bound over, 16 received prison sentences of between two months and eighteen months and 1 man was sent to prison for three years. The longest sentence, and for one of the most violent of the men involved, was Frederick Plater, a 27 year old labourer who was not only found guilty of destroying property, but also assaulting a fireman. He sounds nice… What is perhaps worse about Plater is that his child had been born the month before. He remained living in Luton until his death in 1943, so he saw the new building constructed. He lived at 69 Chase Street, so his route into the town centre was the same one that I took from the hotel.

Anyway, I had a train to catch. It’s not the most glamorous of railway stations. The railway station has been on this site since Midland Railway built it in 1868, although it was rebuilt in the 1930s. There was once another railway station (operated by GNR) located almost opposite, Bute Street which remained in usage until the 1960s when it was pulled down.

At least the waiting room had power points.

The East Midlands Railway (EMR) service from Luton to London St. Pancras, which only cost £5 as I booked in advance, which I thought was rather excellent value for money. The train also had plenty of space, although the interiors of these trains need ripping out, although EMR do note that “by 2024, we will operate our new fleet – which includes our state of the art Aurora InterCity trains”.

It had been a relatively busy service, the train I arrived on is on the right hand side of the photo. Those two trains on the left are the Meridians which will likely be withdrawn next year and replaced by the Aurora Class 810 trains. I’d add that I didn’t know that, I looked it up.

There was quite a wait to get through the barriers, and I’ve wondered before why we can’t be more like the European mainland where they rarely have barriers. They don’t really deter fare evaders, it’s easy to get through the barriers without a ticket.

I had a free Greggs coffee with my O2 app, which meant watching the world go by in St. Pancras for ten minutes.

A quick stop at the Euston Tap.

They had some rather decadent options, but they don’t serve in thirds, so I didn’t get the Fatal Deviation from Whiplash. Without wanting to sound like someone who is too easily annoyed, I must admit to thinking slightly less of them for not serving in thirds, it limits people from trying more beers, so I will probably find another favourite pub in the area. The staff are friendly and engaging though, there’s a nice atmosphere at this pub.

The Dennis Hopp’r from Mondo, a decent enough IPA.

Then off to North London on the delights of the 253 bus.

The bus interior, I noted quietly that the driver went through two red lights which didn’t seem ideal.

The Coronet pub, operated by JD Wetherspoon, in Holloway.

The grand interior of what was the Savoy when it opened in 1940, then later an ABC cinema which remained open until 1983. JD Wetherspoon have done what appears to me to be a excellent job here, very sensitive to the heritage of the building.

The Orange Zeus from Twickenham Fine Ales, not exceptionally reviewed, but I rather liked the orange marmalade type taste. It was well-kept and at the appropriate temperature, with the usual low JD Wetherspoon prices.

And this is where the post ends, I’ll pick up on the story of the following day when it was time for the big Hike Norfolk trip to Canterbury that I had sort of organised. How exciting!

July 18, 2022
British Airways : Minimum Connection Time Between Flights at Heathrow Update

I excited the nation with my fascinating post a couple of weeks ago about my flight being shifted from Heathrow T5 to T3 which then meant it failed to meet the minimum connection time between terminals at the airport. I was interested to see how long it would take BA to notice from when they shifted the flights on 4 July 2022.

It’s 18 July today, so exactly two weeks, and I’ve got an email saying they’ve agreed to the changes I’ve requested. I haven’t requested any such thing, which makes me slightly pre-annoyed. They’ve shunted my entire journey forwards a few hours, so I would leave Dublin at 06:30, arrive into London at 08:00 at T2 (they’ve switched me to an Aer Lingus flight), then depart T5 at 09:40.

I’m going to phone BA as that’s a very tight connection at the moment for Heathrow and changing terminals, and because they’ve shunted my Dublin to Heathrow flight forwards, they could have left the Heathrow to New York flight in place. Not least because it leaves from T3 which gives me more time at the Qantas lounge and I would prefer to fly on American Airlines rather than BA. I shall call them up and will report back on how I get on….

July 18, 2022
Wednesday : Poznan to Luton with Wizz Air

And all good things must come to an end, including my near one month stay in Poland (with a few days in the UK in the middle) which has been, as ever, a delight. My Schengen days are though nearly at their maximum, so I couldn’t have remained in the EU for much longer. The journey ended with the 159 bus from Poznan’s main railway station to the airport, a journey that takes around 30 minutes or so.

As an aside, one thing I did notice is how many Ukrainian women there were around the city, it’s noticeable as you can see on screens at ticket machines, ordering machines and the like when they’ve switched the language to Ukrainian. And they’ve been welcomed with such kindness by the Polish, who seem to have coped admirably with a 10% increase in their population. There are lots of places in Poznan where those fleeing their country can get help and support, such a lovely gesture from an entire nation. There’s no shortage of Ukrainian flags flying around the place either, all really rather lovely.

Back at Poznan airport, although I can’t say that I much wanted to leave Poland. They were going to name this airport after Ignacy Jan Paderewski, but then the Polish city of Bydgoszcz did that, so instead it’s named after Henryk Wieniawski, a Polish composer and violinist. British Airways did fly to Poznan in the summer of 2008, which is an idea I think that they should repeat as they don’t have enough Polish cities as destinations. The big three operators here though appear to be Wizz Air, Ryanair and LOT Polish Airlines. It took me precisely one minute to get through security, the Poles have their airports running with great efficiency.

I got to the non-Schengen gate early, but that worked as I got a power supply and a table, so I was sorted for the duration. I was interested to hear the announcement for the Lufthansa flight saying that all passengers must wear masks. This seems unusual as mask wearing in Poland is near zero and I didn’t see anyone in the airport wearing masks, so it felt odd to see an airline still compelling this.

I like having a lot of space to myself. It’s not a great use of resources having this non-Schengen bit of the terminal separated off with border control staff and separate food and drink facilities, but such is politics. I treated myself to a bottle of Fanta which at just over £2.50 was scandalous by Polish prices, but a bargain given the power, free wi-fi and table that were available. Who needs a lounge?

The boarding process humoured me, with a priority and non-priority line that were opened at the same time. As there were far more priority customers than not, I was able to get through and get a seat before most of the priority customers. It’s true they boarded the aircraft slightly earlier than me, but I’d rather have a little sit down than have to stand in a queue for what transpired to be 25 minutes. I had the advantage though of not needing to stow my bag in the overhead lockers, I could get away with dithering.

Firmly at the back of the line, but the random seat Gods had been good to me, I had been given an aisle seat, which is my favourite. All was well with the world. OK, all was well with my flight at least.

Because this is a reminder that all is not well with the world. I’m not sure what the national airline of Ukraine is doing with this aircraft, which had been sent to Spain in February for storage. It returned to Poznan recently and has just flown to Azerbaijan and back, aircraft registration UR-PSF.

The aircraft I was on, G-WUKC, which arrived 70 minutes late, apparently due to ATC difficulties in London. Wizz Air certainly get value for money from their aircraft, this did six sectors during the day, returns to Kaunas, Poznan and Wroclaw. Like much of their fleet, it’s quite a new aircraft, having been used by Wizz Air since it was new in 2018.

Back at Luton airport. There wasn’t much of excitement during the journey, although the aircraft wasn’t as busy as I had thought when boarding, so I switched across the aisle to the other seat so that I had no-one sitting next to me, which meant I had enough space to use my laptop. Ten minutes into the flight the “if there is a medical professional on-board please come to the rear cabin” with a lady getting up and rushing to the back, so I assume she was medically qualified, or just wanted to see what was happening I suppose. I didn’t hear anything more and we didn’t divert, so it couldn’t have been too dramatic. Or, at least, I hope it wasn’t.

The crew were friendly enough, mostly male which is a little unusual for budget airlines. One passenger seemed scared of the barking sound in the aircraft, which is the power transfer unit (I learned that long ago from British Airways) and called one of the crew over to express his concerns. The crew member said “oh, that’s usual, it’s probably the brakes” and wandered off which actually didn’t calm the passenger who didn’t seem to like the “probably” bit of the answer.

The disembarkation process was as chaotic as ever, people rushing to the aisle, trampling on each other and then standing there for ten minutes. A case fell on someone’s head, someone stood on someone’s foot and tensions were rising. The guy in the window seat on my row just kept reading his book, I sat and stared at my phone (I do that a lot) and didn’t move, it’s much less stressful. I find it all odd, as then the same people very often walk slowly to the terminal, so I can overtake them. It took probably eight minutes to get through border control, nothing too bad.

I then had a forty minute to the hotel that I was staying in at Luton, walking past this bastion of journalism. Well, something like that anyway….

It’s been delayed a couple of times, but they’re getting there with this, which is Luton DART. It’ll connect Luton Airport Parkway railway station with the airport, which will involve scrapping the shuttle bus arrangement that currently exists. I’ll probably just still walk between the two rather than pay for this, but it’s a more efficient solution for those who can’t or don’t want to walk the fifteen minutes between the two.

Luton Hoo Memorial Park, which was presented to the town in 1920 by Lady Ludlow, in honour of her son, Alex Piggott Werner, who had died during the First World War.

Bailey Hill Water Tower in the background.

And the park’s war memorial. It’s a really nice space, there’s a playground for children that was well used, with a few people walking dogs, all very calm and sedate.

The final destination was the Linton Hotel, which was cheaper than all of the other chain hotels that I had to walk by to get here. I went for the cheapest compact room, which was indeed compact, but it was clean and functional and everything worked as it should. I was exhausted when I got here as it’s too bloody hot in Luton, certainly compared to Poland at the moment, and I had to climb a hill which was higher than the little diddy ones that Dave Morgan is currently climbing in mainland Europe. I was very brave, but also quite tired at the end of that, but I don’t complain.

July 14, 2022
Tuesday : Meander along the River Warta

Another short post today, I was occupied with work related things for much of the day, before going on a little meander along the River Warta.

This is Park Tadeusza Mazowieckiego which was opened in 2014, named after Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927-2013) who was the first non-communist Prime Minister of the Third Polish Republic between 1989 and 1991. The Polish authorities rarely celebrate any of the communist leaders and the timing was deliberate to mark 25 years of political freedom.

The city doesn’t have much development by the River Warta, although that’s primarily as this stretch of land floods which wouldn’t be ideal.

Unlike in the UK, where there’s apparently a heatwave at the moment, it’s quite cool in Poland, although the tree cover made it even more tolerable.

Most Świętego Rocha and although this bridge was constructed between 2002 and 2004, there’s been a crossing here since the fourteenth century. The wooden structure fell down in 1771 and it took longer than anticipated for them to build a new one, instead a ferry ran between the two sides of the river. After much dithering about and numerous failed attempts, a replacement bridge opened in 1913. It didn’t last as long as they might have wanted, as the Polish army blew it up in September 1939 to try and slow the advance of the German military. A temporary bridge was slung up (I’m not sure if that’s an engineering term, my friend Liam will know) in 1945 and a steel bridge stood here between 1949 and 2002.

It’s a pleasant walk along the river, the left-hand side is for pedestrians and the right-hand side is for cyclists.

The river, with Poznan Cathedral visible in the background.

The firm track runs out half-way along, so I diverted up along the bank.

Park Stare Koryto Warty, which is on a stretch of land which was water until they dumped soil on it in the 1960s. It was turned into a park in 2015 and there’s quite a large playground for children as well as an amphitheatre arrangement. There has been some manipulation of the river around here in recent decades and apparently there are plans to make some further changes in the future.

I’m always intrigued by old buildings, especially one where bits have been knocked off it. I have no idea what the building was used for, but it’s got a prominent riverside location, I can imagine it’ll be flats in twenty years.

In the background is Poznan Cathedral which is located on Ostrów Tumski, or Cathedral Island. It doesn’t look it, but it is still an island and it’s where the city grew up from.

A view from the bridge, lovely and cool with all that cloud cover.

The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in front of the cathedral, which was built during the 1430s and 1440s and served as a collegiate church. It had started to fall apart by the middle of the nineteenth century, but a reconstruction of the building took place between 1859 and 1862.

This column with a statue of Our Lady Immaculate dates from 1886.

And then the main event, Poznan Cathedral, of national importance not just as one of the earliest Christian churches in Poland, but because numerous early Poland leaders, such as Mieszko I, the founder of the Polish state, are buried here. I’ve visited the cathedral a few times before, but I think they were mainly pre-blog (it’s hard to imagine such a time, I know).

The first church here, likely from the early tenth century, was expanded into a cathedral in 968 and St. Peter is the patron. A new cathedral was constructed in the mid eleventh century, of which fragments remain, before it was mostly reconstructed in the fifteenth century in the Gothic style.

There were numerous rebuilds over the centuries, but a major one took place following the Second World War, when substantial damage was done to the cathedral. One minor advantage in rebuilding a cathedral after a disaster is that some archaeological features can be uncovered, and partly based on these it was decided to return the building to its Gothic style.

The grand pulpit is from the eighteenth century, although it’s not from here, it was brought from the church in Milicz. There’s a crypt under the cathedral which I’ve been in before, I’ll put photos up of that at some point.

Walking back to the city centre, a view of the river from the other side of the bridge.

This memorial commemorates Action Bollwerk, an attack on 21 February 1942 by the Polish Home Army against the German occupiers. The Poles set fire to numerous German warehouses, causing substantial damage to them with their contents including food and military uniforms. The Germans executed many of those involved and there’s a square in the city named after the bravery of those involved.

Duzy Ben are an alcohol retailer, who I assume sponsored this rather glorious piece of street art showing what Poznan used to look like.

And that’s the end of the Poznan expedition, I returned to the hotel as there was an LDWA meeting of group representatives (by Zoom, they hadn’t flown 30 people over to Poland, although that would have been a marvellous idea) and picked up my welcome drink (albeit belatedly) of a dunkel from Paulaner. I’ve been really rather impressed by the Ibis Poznan Centrum, I’m sure they’ve just rebranded half the hotel as Ibis, because the rooms are sizeable and feel more Novotel than Ibis.

July 13, 2022
Random Post – European Word Translator on Map

As another of my random and pointless posts, I’ve found this handy web-site which shows the translation of an English word across Europe. Hours of fun typing in words, although, for example purposes only, I went for beer.

July 11, 2022
Monday : Thai Meal and Beer in Poznan

This should be a quick blog post as I’ve spent most of the day being productive with my laptop whilst it pours down outside. I am very pleased though to be sheltering from the hot weather in the UK with a rather more moderate climate in Poznan.

I’ve never noticed these at Stary Browar despite walking by them numerous times, but I like when these are collected up. Unlike a certain pub in Norwich, the Ten Bells, who acquired their signs (which I think have now been refurbished out) in a rather, well, unofficial manner.

A different branch of Cukiernia Sowa and the staff member was having none of my Polish, despite ordering exactly the same as I have in the last ten of their outlets in the same way. Perhaps she didn’t speak Polish is my only conclusion, it can’t be my beautiful pronunciation of the language. The hot chocolate with cream was as decadent and delicious as usual.

I have to confess to not always being thrilled by Polish food, so I went for a Thai meal at Why Thai. This three course lunch meal deal came to £5, which is impressive by any accounts. There’s no choice, other than between a meat or vegetarian main, with the menu changing daily.

Starting with free prawn crackers and the Singha beer I felt would complement the meal.

The starter of Thai broth with mushrooms and coriander, which was rather lovely with a depth of taste. I don’t much like mushrooms normally, they seem a heap of pointlessness on a plate, but these were cut into small pieces and actually had some flavour whilst adding texture to the broth.

Pad Kha Pao, which is chopped chicken leg with chilli, green beans, a fried egg served alongside jasmine rice. This wasn’t quite what I expected, as the chicken was finely cut, but it tasted better than I had anticipated, the sauce was packed with flavour. I’m not sure that it needed the egg, but it didn’t hurt the arrangement, with probably more rice than I needed. There were chopsticks available, but I ignored those and went for the knife and fork. One day I’ll learn to use them maybe… (the chopsticks I mean, I’ve sort of sussed the knife and fork situation).

The mango mousse with chocolate crumble and lemon cream, which was a little drier than I expected, but still a decent way to end the meal. The service was perfectly polite throughout, it was a welcoming environment and I’d merrily recommend the venue to others. It’s centrally located, just one street away from the main square, with the standard meals looking reasonably priced, although the lunch deal really is excellent value.

I mentioned the remains of St. Mary Magdalene on Saturday’s post, but I noticed today some information boards about the archaeological investigations. This is what the church looked like, before the Swedes damaged it, before the earthquake and before it fell down. During the excavations they found thousands of coins under the floor, including some gold ones and it’s though that they were offerings. They discovered several thousand burials (they decided to exhume 4,500 people, and they didn’t try and find everyone), including some with amulets to guard against the plague, although I suspect the family of those who died were likely disappointed with how efficient they’d been.

Looking back over the square.

This is what it looked like in 1795 and I can see why they decided to just knock it down a few years later. During the excavations they discovered numerous vaults that had been built under the church, including some rather haphazard arrangements that had threatened the building with collapse. Well, it did collapse, so maybe it did more than threaten it.

And that’s how it fits into the local environment. This could have been one of the great churches of Poland if it had survived, instead, just some images on boards remain.

And then onto the craft beer bar Lot Chmiela.

A nice little selection of beers behind the bar and there were eight options on tap.

I ordered the Baltic Porter from Browar Bialy and the staff member merrily set about pouring it, but also said he’d try. I got what he meant when it ran out as he was pouring, but I think he’d actually poured enough for the size that I’d ordered. He decided though to just give me the beer for free, which I though was really rather lovely. This happened in Katowice a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised and delighted then as well to get it without a charge.

I didn’t want to just walk away without giving the bar anything, so I ordered the not entirely delicately named Brian Smasher from Moczbroda who are a brewer from Poznan. A decent beer, suitably tropical and citrusy.

And the walk back to the hotel whilst the sun was still shining. Not the busiest day perhaps, but at least productive and the food was delightful for lunch.

July 11, 2022