Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

  • King’s Lynn – War Memorial

    King’s Lynn – War Memorial

    King’s Lynn war memorial was unveiled on 26 January 1921 by HRH Princess Mary and was dedicated by Bishop Suffragan of Thetford. The memorial was designed by Oswald Partridge-Milne (1881-1968) who was an architect that had a broad portfolio of work, he also designed the interior of Claridge’s Hotel and Sprowston Court in Norwich.

    There are 563 names on the memorial commemorating those who lost their lives during the First World War, and the monument was later amended to mark those who died during the Second World War.

    There was a little issue though discovered after HRH Princess Mary had unveiled the memorial, which was that Herbert Doy was surprised to find his name listed amongst the dead. His name was been reported as missing during the First World War and his safe return was overlooked when the memorial was being prepared. The town said that it would remove his name from the war memorial, although there’s no gap and so I’m unsure how they did this unless they prepared another bronze section.

    Here’s a full list of the names on the memorial.

  • King’s Lynn – Tower Gardens (War Memorial Bench)

    King’s Lynn – Tower Gardens (War Memorial Bench)

    This beautiful bench is one of a pair located at Tower Gardens in King’s Lynn, in front of the town’s war memorial. They were funded by the Rotary Club and the Borough Council, certainly the most eye-catching bench that I can recall seeing.

  • King’s Lynn – Greyfriars

    King’s Lynn – Greyfriars

    Work started on Greyfriars friary in the late 1240s and it remained open until the Dissolution of the Monasteries saw its demise in 1538. This photo is taken from the nave end of the friary, which is where members of the local population would be allowed to visit, with the sections at the rear being reserved for the friars.

    The grassed area is where the cloisters once stood.

    A model of how the friary once looked.

    Under usual circumstances, it’s likely that the stone would have been carted away and used in other construction projects following the closure of the friary. However, the lantern tower was useful for shipping given its 28-metre height and so it survived and was maintained to perform that function. The tower was at risk for a while recently as it had started to lean, but thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, funding was secured in 2006 to restore the structure.

    The inside of the tower, which is the best-preserved example of such a Franciscan structure left standing in the UK.

    Another view of the tower, with the stone at the front of the photo marking where the altar was formerly located. When the friary was closed, the site was never really built on and so it was decided in 1911 to tidy the area up and to turn the land into a public park known as Tower Gardens.

    The site of the former infirmary. This is a really well-managed site, they’ve made it clear to see the layout of the friary and there are numerous information boards to give further details about the site’s history.

  • King’s Lynn – Tower Gardens (NHS)

    King’s Lynn – Tower Gardens (NHS)

    This is a really nice floral display in Tower Gardens, I’m not sure how long these things take to create, but it’s a lovely gesture.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 111

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 111

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Dutch Concert

    This is another charming little phrase, defined as “where every one plays or signs a different tune”. I’m not sure if the dictionary meant signed as a conductor or meant to say ‘I, but the effect is still the same. The phrase is probably from the late seventeenth century, as worsening relations between Britain and the Netherlands led to some new derogatory language about the country. So, it likely started as an insult about the ability of Dutch musicians, but the phrase is still used today about a performance that goes a bit wrong and isn’t in harmony. There seems to be more harmony, if I can be excused for using that word again, between the British and the Dutch today though, such is progress,

  • King’s Lynn – Re-Opening the Globe

    King’s Lynn – Re-Opening the Globe

    I’m conscious that there are many smaller independent pubs that are in need of support now, but my favourite ones were still closed and I wanted to pop in to see how JD Wetherspoons were managing with the re-opening of their outlets.

    There’s a little welcome station with hand sanitiser and paper menus, along with a large sign telling customers what to do. I must admit I read the sign and forgot that I was meant to write down my name, which they didn’t make very clear and I’m easily confused at the best of times. It didn’t much matter as they took that information via the App when I ordered, but otherwise, it all looked organised.

    There are protective barriers in the pub now and the self-service coffee machine has distance markers to keep people suitably distanced. I must admit, this is probably as much as they could have done, although some of the barriers weren’t ideally placed and people snuck between them and then brushed past other customers at tables. The best-laid plans of any pub are usually circumvented by some customers though….

    I hadn’t expected the unlimited coffee to be back, but it’s all working as usual. I ordered via the app, which is the preferred method, and it was brought over soon enough. There’s a new policy where customers can’t re-use a mug and they have to get another one, and I never worked out the most efficient way of doing this and where to stand. The pub was well-staffed though, so my standing awkwardly seemed to work sufficiently well.

    The pub was relatively busy in the afternoon and I suspect they’d have been better having someone at the door to explain what was going on, but it’s good that there is some vague notion of normality returning now to the pub sector.

  • Norwich – Deliveroo and Gonzo’s Tea Room

    Norwich – Deliveroo and Gonzo’s Tea Room

    I’ve wondered about Deliveroo for a while, I was nearly knocked over by one of their bikes during the lockdown period and I put that down to the rush to get food delivered. These things happen and it was so quiet in Norwich at the time that it wasn’t unreasonable for a cyclist not to expect many pedestrians.

    But, I’ve noticed some strange things, such as a delivery driver collecting food from Five Guys and then standing outside for nearly ten minutes last year. I wondered why that was (and just assumed the customer had cancelled), but a post from Gonzo’s Tea Room today on Facebook has perhaps made that obvious, the driver might have been waiting for another order. I’m not sure that I blame the driver/cyclist for this, it’s not an easy job and in some inner cities it’s downright dangerous.

    I’ve checked Gonzo’s are happy for my quote their entire piece, and they were which is much appreciated. I’m also pleased that Deliveroo sent me an explanation within 15 minutes of my asking and so that’s enormously efficient and appreciated (as this blog is hardly the mainstream media), so at least they seem to be taking it seriously now. But, I still wonder about this model of delivery, it’s taking a lot of money from small outlets. Perhaps more importantly, I don’t like the idea that someone saves up for a meal as a special treat and then they’re treated like this, it’s hugely unfair on them and the restaurant.

    Hopefully, it was a one-off and standards in Norwich will now return to normal….

    “Today we will 100% be leaving Deliveroo. We apologize to any customers who have had to deal with their shit service.

    However this statement also comes with a story..

    Yesterday, two occurrences,

    A rider arrived to pick up an order, he was handed the food and we presumed he’d left. TEN MINUTES LATER we found him hanging around outside still, when we asked him what he was doing he said he was waiting for the next order to deliver as well!!! THIS IS WHY YOU GET YOUR FOOD LATE AND COLD NORWICH!! They’re doubling or tripling up deliveries to increase their pay per trip!

    Second occurrence…

    The rider arrived and collected his order, on the way out the door he dropped the order on the ground. He then began to pick it up and put it back in the bag when he dropped it for the SECOND time!! The boxes popped open and we think the food might have touched the ground outside so we presumed it did for health reasons.

    We immediately confronted him and told him to come inside, we couldn’t dare let that food get to a customer if it was spilled on the ground. However the driver ignored us and literally took off.

    Deliveroo does not give us customer details, we literally have no idea where the food went or how to contact the customer.

    We next called their head office to complain, luckily we immediately got through to a service agent who contacted the customer and confirmed the food had arrived “cold”.

    Us “What about the fact that it was dropped on the ground? “

    Deliveroo “Well the customer didn’t complain about that.”

    Us “Wait…You didn’t tell them, they’re going to eat meals that were dropped on the ground!”

    Deliveroo ” Well, no, not if they haven’t complained”

    Us “How would they possibly know it’s been dropped? That’s literally insane!”

    Deliveroo ” Well they said it was cold and they were happy.”

    Us ” Who’s happy with cold food!? You NEED to tell them it was dropped. They shouldn’t be eating it.”

    Deliveroo ” We won’t do anything else, unless they complain”

    THAT POLICY IS STRAIGHT UP EVIL

    Every time you order from a restaurant Deliveroo takes more than 1/3rd of the money to deliver it. Almost the entire profit margin is gone into their pocket and this is how much they care about your business and health standards.

    During the last few months the world has changed and they have profiteered massively. We know some of you may not be ready to go back out, but please stop ordering from these takeaway giants and if you do feel the need to use their platform, please only use those that use their own drivers.

    In saying that, we know companies aren’t all terrible, we know some of their drivers are great people who’ve worked incredibly hard during the pandemic and that controlling every facet of a company like Deliveroo is nearly impossible.

    We’d like to invite Deliveroo to make contact we us and we can help them regulate their riders. We want to make sure restaurants can communicate hazards and complaints quickly and effectively. Our goal is to make sure bad food, cold food, tossed food (especially pizzas) NEVER reach a customers doorstep and that the clients that work with Deliveroo are never left with social media outrage as their only avenue to resolving a situation for diners.

    Demand better.

    ( If you think this was your order, please contact Deliveroo and demand answers, we have no way of knowing where it went as Deliveroo refuses to let us contact customers)”

    Deliveroo said to me:

    “As soon as we became aware of this situation, we took immediate action to rectify it. We are also speaking to Gonzo and have apologised for their experience. We will do everything possible to ensure it does not happen again. Deliveroo takes any complaints we receive extremely seriously. We have taken immediate action to rectify this situation.”

    They also sent some explanatory material which is reassuring and so I am impressed that they’ve dealt with the issue now.

  • Norwich – Pret Chapelfield

    Norwich – Pret Chapelfield

    And another closure, Pret at Chapelfield in Norwich is closing permanently. The Haymarket one is staying open, but I imagine the rents here were just too high at the moment. I can’t help thinking that they never really rewarded their customers, they ignored the loyalty schemes that most of their rivals offered and I did think that was quite brave of them. There was always the danger that they desperately needed customers and that eventuality came to pass, although perhaps that wouldn’t have made much difference in the scale of things. But, a sad loss for Norwich (although maybe some independent operators might disagree), the staff here were always friendly and helpful, with the food being of a decent quality as well.

  • Stalham – St. Mary’s Church

    Stalham – St. Mary’s Church

    St. Mary’s Church in Stalham dates to the fourteenth century.

    The chancel in the south side is rather devoid of windows, but there are at least some on the north side. The chancel was entirely reconstructed in 1827 (and the rood screen was removed), with the nave and aisles also restored in the 1850s. The west porch was reconstructed in 1872 and the chancel was once again amended in 1886 when the roof was raised.

    The 70-foot high west tower once had a belfry on top, but that fell down. Which isn’t ideal.

    The tower, impressive in height as it already is, was never finished to its originally intended height thanks to the Reformation and the upheaval in the church. The window was amended and patched up, with the remains of that handiwork still being clearly visible, and perhaps there were once dreams that it would one day be completed.

    This is probably one of the few churches which had a fire engine unit in its churchyard, but more on this in another post. Also rather interesting, or to me anyway, is that the Maid’s Head pub was built in the town in 1380 so that the builders of the church had someone to go for a drink. I look forwards to going back to see the church when the interior is open, for numerous reasons, but partly to see the font which was hidden in the floor to prevent it being destroyed during the Reformation and was only rediscovered in 1964.

  • JD Wetherspoon – 50p off CAMRA Vouchers

    JD Wetherspoon – 50p off CAMRA Vouchers

    I’m glad I didn’t throw my 50p off CAMRA vouchers away now. Very lovely.