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  • Strumpshaw – The Huntsman Pub (Goat)

    Strumpshaw – The Huntsman Pub (Goat)

    This was the first of ten pubs that Roy, Jen and I visited yesterday as part of our little expedition of Norfolk hospitality venues. There’s a reason for the pub selection which relates to them being in a past Woodforde’s Ale Trail book, but it’s all a bit too complex to explain here.

    The venue first opened in around the 1770s, so this is another of those Norfolk country pubs which has some considerable heritage. It was known as the Goat for over 200 years, but then the name was changed to the Huntsman in 1984. As with many pubs, it went through a number of brewery ownerships, going from Youngs & Co to Youngs, Crawshay & Youngs, then Bullards and then Watney Mann. It was then taken over by Eastern Hotels and then Enterprise Inns bought it and ruined it, leaving it closed for several years. It’s now one of the growing number of pubs in Norfolk which is owned by Marcus Pearcy. The former skittle alley that was here, noted many times in newspapers, has though long gone.

    There was some excitement, although not for the then landlord John Newton, when in August 1905 a local lad called Frank Reeley wanted a beer. As he was already very drunk, the request for a beer was refused. Reeley was thrown out and then he sat outside for a while contemplating life. After some contemplation, he smashed the windows of the pub and caused 5 shillings of damage. His sister went to court to defend Frank, noting that he had now joined the army and so couldn’t attend. The court was obviously not entirely pleased with him as he was fined £1 and had to pay a similar amount in damages.

    Back in March 1918, when people were perhaps a little more focused on other things, a case was brought against the pub by the police for serving at 11:52 in the morning on one day and 11:55 on another day. I’m assuming that their licenseable hours were from 12:00, as the bench just rejected the complaints of the police and there was a conversation about the timing of clocks. I’d suggest that this showed some considerable pettiness from the local police, although the landlord Walter Samuel Read had only taken over in the previous year and maybe there were other issues.

    I’m genuinely not sure how Marcus Pearcy makes venues such as this work financially given that there was a substantial sum spent on the refurbishment and it felt very well staffed for relatively few customers when we were there. But, whatever he’s doing is obviously working and it’s a huge contribution that he’s made to the community by ensuring that the pub has been able to reopen. This one must have been very close to permanent closure, especially as there’s an excellent nearby Good Beer Guide listed pub, the Shoulder of Mutton.

    There were four real ales, all of them visible are Greene King and so I have no interest in those. There was a fourth from Lacons which Roy ordered, but they went to check if there was a problem with the cask. When they returned to pour my half it was murky with a fair amount of sediment going on, with my best guess being that they knocked the cask whilst checking it. Either way, it was both under-poured and not really going to be pleasant to drink, but they didn’t query the return of it.

    I switched instead to a Guinness and this was the most expensive of the ten pubs that we visited in the day, so the pricing is generally towards the higher end of the scale. I’m not sure that there was a two part pour and the choice of glassware is sub-optimal, but it tasted fine.

    On the beer availability, I’m not sure why a free house is so closely linked with Greene King and they’re replicating the offer that a tied house would have. The keg range was a bit generic as well with the Hawkstone beer arrangement, but if that’s what the customers want, who am I to argue?

    We weren’t ordering food, but here’s the menu and the dishes going out looked good and well presented. The pricing here isn’t pushing a bit towards the higher end, but not by much given the current cost base that they must have.

    The staff in the pub were all keen and enthusiastic, so there was a friendly welcome and they were always helpful even when I was quibbling about the beer. I’m pleased to note that there were no further quibbles during the next nine pubs that we visited. The venue was also clean, tidy and well presented, there’s clearly been a lot of money invested here.

    This is a photo I took in May 2020 when Nathan and I were meandering around the area. It all looks a little forlorn back then, so credit is definitely deserved for the reopening of this pub in what are trying times for country pubs. There must have been some challenges to that, but the pub felt like a real community venue and it’s employing several people locally which must be a real bonus to the area.

  • Gothenburg – Maritime Museum (Crucifixion in a Bottle)

    Gothenburg – Maritime Museum (Crucifixion in a Bottle)

    This quirky little thing is a crucifixion in a bottle, but with some dice added to the whole arrangement. The museum notes that it was made in around 1860 by the sailor Edvind Johansson who came from Skepplanda, a little to the north of Gothenburg.

    I thought that the dice were some nod towards life being something of a game of chance, but this has shown my lack of knowledge of the Bible. Instead, Roman soldiers threw dice for the clothes of Jesus after crucifying him. These are also known as a ‘God in a bottle’ and were created by sailors, soldiers, prisoners and indeed anyone else who likely had quite a lot of spare time available.

    Inside are also hammer and tongs, representing when the Romans nailed Jesus to the cross, and when he was taken back down again. I’m not sure that I’m inspired enough to go and build my own shrine in a bottle, nor indeed are my DIY skills sufficiently good enough to do so (and nor do I have the patience of a saint to fit this arrangement together), but it’s a rather lovely little survival.

  • Gothenburg – Good Morning Gothenburg City Ship Hotel

    Gothenburg – Good Morning Gothenburg City Ship Hotel

    I thought that it would be a marvellous idea to stay on a boat when Richard and I went to Gothenburg. I wasn’t sure if he’d like the idea, but it transpired that he did, which is handy as I had already booked my room. This is the centrally located Good Morning hotel which is moored up on the river Göta, which is what the city is named after.

    The room was sufficiently spacious and I had a view over the water. The window stayed open via some complex mechanism and that allowed the river air to get in which was rather pleasant. There were no noise issues either internally or externally, so that was suitably peaceful. One thing that I had expected was at least a little movement of the boat in the water, but there was none. If I hadn’t actually walked over a little gangway to get on board, I wouldn’t have realised that this was a hotel on a boat.

    I did meander down the corridor to check that Richard’s room wasn’t any better than mine and I’m pleased to say that it wasn’t. Not that I’m petty or anything.

    I think I should mention breakfast. I liked breakfast. Here’s the bread selection and Richard was very excited that they had some caramel bread or something niche.

    I wasn’t really listening to Richard’s bread story as there was bacon. Now, I don’t normally bother with the hot food at breakfast as I like bread, cheeses, deli meats, tomatoes and all that stuff. I don’t usually have bacon as I like it burnt with no fatty bits and that’s not being picky, I just like things done well. Literally.

    On the first morning I had a little bacon with my healthy green beans and tomatoes.

    And then I got the same again, before dispensing with the tomatoes and green beans and just getting bacon. Look at that, cooked perfectly. I thought Richard’s “I think you’ve consumed a pig over the weekend” on the third morning was a little excessive, but the bacon was delicious.

    The view out of the window at breakfast which was all rather pleasant.

    And we popped to the bar for an evening drink and if you look closely you can see Richard and I eagerly awaiting the appearance of a staff member. There were a few beers here, nothing overly exciting, but credible for a bar on a boat.

    Anyway, I very much liked this hotel and it came to around £45 a night including breakfast, which I thought was very reasonable to be in the centre of a city such as Gothenburg. The staff members were friendly and one even moved here car so that Richard could park, which was very kind. The breakfast was delicious, the rooms were clean and I’d stay here again when I get around to visiting Gothenburg again.

  • 200 Years Ago in Norwich : Clark Horn Sentenced to Death

    200 Years Ago in Norwich : Clark Horn Sentenced to Death

    Back to my series of articles from the Norwich Mercury 200 years ago, with this being the report of the sentence of death recorded against Clark Horn. Clark had been born in 1802, the son of John Horn and Mary Horn of Methwold.

    There’s something of a brutality about all of this. However, views were changing in 1826 and the death sentence was clearly not working as a deterrent. It was reported in the Norfolk Chronicle of 6 May 1826 that Clark Horn had been removed from Norwich Castle and sent to the Leviathan prison ship.

    Then on 7 October 1826, Clark was put on a ship, the Midas, to New South Wales and he arrived there on 15 February 1827. There were 148 prisoners on that ship and 61 of them had life sentences, although Clark’s punishment had by then been reduced to 16 years imprisonment.

    He didn’t turn up again in the records until 1843 when it appears that he died in the area of Bathurst, New South Wales. His father, John Horn, missed all of this as he had died in 1808, but his mother, Mary Horn, would have known of the transportation as she died in 1830. It must have been a strange world for Clark Horn and I wonder if he lived an isolated life in one of the work camps. I can’t see that he had any descendants and that makes me wonder about just how many people might have thought about the life of Clark Horn since his crime….

  • Norwich – Missing Parish Boundary Marker

    Norwich – Missing Parish Boundary Marker

    There’s good news about the missing parish boundary marker which was located on Princes House and it seems that the building, and indeed the marker, is now in very good hands. Further information about this parish is at https://www.julianwhite.uk/norwich-history-by-parish-st-george-tombland/.

    Andy from Princes House messaged me to say:

    “The original design for Princes House from the early seventies was not the moribund architecture which you see now. The hard economic times saw the design diluted and we have played our part to add some interest and curiosity to our side of Princes Street.

    You will be pleased to know that we are creating some art which will feature the Hungate St. Peter parish boundary marker which we have had professionally cleaned to remove the paint and cement splatter from it, while retaining its patina. We will describe the relevance of 1834 and the Poor Law Amendment Act and the historical boundaries referenced by the parish boundary marker. Along with this we plan on celebrating pictorially the local churches, those that are still with us and those that are not. It is our intention to have this up and displayed this spring.”

    I think I might lead another walk when the work is completed.

  • London – Courtauld Gallery (Former Council Room of the Society of Antiquaries)

    London – Courtauld Gallery (Former Council Room of the Society of Antiquaries)

    One thing that I really rather liked about the Courtauld is that they’ve got information in each room about how the space was once used. Today, this is Room 6 which is used to display the gallery’s collection of works by Peter Paul Rubens. The plasterwork on the ceiling is by Thomas Collins, who also completed work in other rooms at Somerset House.

    However, it was once the Council Room of the Society of Antiquaries, which was created in 1707 to study ancient monuments. Their first meeting was at the Bear Tavern nearby on the Strand and they moved into Somerset House in 1780 and remained there until 1874. They moved at that point to Burlington House on Piccadilly and they’re still there today.

  • London – Courtauld Gallery (Antibes by Claude Monet)

    London – Courtauld Gallery (Antibes by Claude Monet)

    When Claude Monet (1840-1926) arrived in Antibes, on the Mediterranean coast of France, in January 1888, he was not just looking for fresh subject matter he was in pursuit of something far more elusive, namely, light. I don’t know very much about artwork, but every guide to this painting talks about the importance of light. Lovely as it is, it was the history of the painting’s ownership that particularly interested me, but more of that in a moment.

    Monet himself said “one must repaint a single subject three times, four times, even twenty times”, which I would say is the amount of effort that I put into this blog, although that might not be entirely true. Anyway, there’s one maritime pine in the painting and we’re supposed to look at that and then dwell on the beauty of the light from the water, the sky and from the mountains.

    One thing I like from gallery websites, which I think is all too rare, is seeing the provenance of an artwork. This one is listed by the Courtauld, namely:

    “Bought from the artist by Boussod & Valadon, June 1888; (?) with Georges Petit, 1888; Mme Vve Barbedienne, Paris, 1894; sold Hôtel Druout, Paris, 24 February 1894 (lot 39); bought Paul Durand-Ruel; Decap, Paris, 1894; Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1907; Baron Caccamisi, Paris, 1907; Mrs Blanche Marchesci, London, c.1910; Paul Rosenberg, Paris; M. Knoedler & Co., London; purchased by Samuel Courtauld, August 1923; Courtauld Bequest, 1948”.

    I wondered why a hotel, namely the Hôtel Drouot, had purchased a painting like this, but then I checked and have realised that it’s actually a large auction house in Paris which is still trading. This auction house was implicated in the sale of looted Jewish artworks and Paul Rosenberg, who was a Jewish art collector who owned this artwork for a while, later had some of his collection stolen. It was then purchased by Samuel Courtauld, who ultimately gave it to the gallery which bears his name. Although, if Rosenberg hadn’t of sold it, then it might well have later been part of the collections that were stolen by the Nazis. And on that theme, the son of Blanche Marchesi, namely Leopold Popper-Podhragy, was sentenced to death by the Nazis although he managed to avoid that and lived until 1986, but his artwork collection was also taken.

  • Norwich – Bar Billiards Update

    Norwich – Bar Billiards Update

    In a move that serves as a definitive warning against leaving the room during a committee meeting, I have somehow managed to get myself appointed as the captain of the Artichoke Hearts bar billiards team. I am still not entirely sure how the transition from “vaguely reliable middle-order player” to “fearless leader” occurred, but yet here we are.

    It is quite a step for someone who honestly thought they had successfully navigated their way into a quiet retirement from the competitive green baize of bar billiards, indeed, I’ve written about that before. But it seems that the league has a way of pulling you back in just when you think you have escaped the pressure of a tricky final shot.

    The fixtures have just landed with some promptness and the grace of a lead balloon, and they have not exactly eased me into the role. Our opening gambit is against one of the absolute titans of the division, the Black Stars, and, to add a layer of personal drama to the proceedings, our subsequent match is against the quite wonderful Serengeti led by Roy, who is perhaps the most gentlemanly person I’ve ever met. Having spent a couple of seasons playing for them, I now find myself in the awkward position of trying to outmanoeuvre my old teammates while pretending I don’t know all their tactical weaknesses. Although they know my many weaknesses, so all of this might not be useful.

    Despite my own questionable leadership credentials, the Artichoke Hearts are actually really quite good by all accounts. I won’t go overboard here as we’re likely to come last in the league, so no point being overly optimistic. There is a genuine sense of fun that (generally) permeates this league, which is probably why I couldn’t stay away. The social side is of course inevitably compelling, especially with the news that the Red Lion in Coltishall has joined the league this year and we’re playing there in May. I am genuinely excited about the prospect of heading out there, but I don’t get out much.

    Home games at the Artichoke are fairly straightforward affairs involving decent beer and a steady supply of Tayto crisps, which remain the undisputed king of the bar snack hierarchy I’ve recently decided, although I can be fickle with these things. It is going to be a long, unpredictable season, but at least the crisps and beer are likely to be good. What could possibly go wrong?

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Bunhill Fields (Grave of Joseph Swain)

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Bunhill Fields (Grave of Joseph Swain)

    This is the main section of Bunhill Fields graveyard, but there was another section that was bombed during the Second World War that they cleared. Many graves were destroyed and locations lost, but the gravestone of Joseph Swain (1761-1796) was salvaged and kept.

    Swain was chiefly remembered for his work as a Baptist minister and hymn-writer, becoming one of the notable nonconformist religious voices of the late eighteenth century. After his conversion he was baptised in 1783 and soon devoted himself to preaching, eventually serving as pastor of the Baptist chapel in East Street, Walworth, where his ministry attracted such large congregations that the chapel had to be enlarged on several occasions. Alongside his preaching, Swain wrote a substantial body of devotional hymns and religious verse.

    Looking at an old newspaper report, Swain was a difficult act to follow and that task fell to Dr Joseph Jenkins who the reporter noted:

    “Jenkins was far superior to his predecessor in literary acquirement and elaborate preparation for the pulpit, but he was by no means his equal in energy and admiration.”

    The church at Walworth had some troubled years, 36 of the members went their own way and created a new church, which all proved something of a challenge for all concerned. The result of this part of the graveyard being landscaped is that Swain’s gravestone now stands out in the paving, located near to the graves of William Blake and Daniel Defoe.

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Bunhill Fields (Grave of William Blake)

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Bunhill Fields (Grave of William Blake)

    I’ve walked through the graveyard at Bunhill Fields on numerous occasions, but I don’t think that I’ve ever really explored it. One of the most important burials that they have is William Blake (1757-1827), a poet and painter who was rather unrecognised during his lifetime.

    In the photo above is the older memorial stone which states that Blake and his wife Catherine lie “near by” which was deliberately vague, because by the twentieth century the exact location had been lost and later landscaping moved the memorial away from the burial place.

    But all was not lost as research by Blake enthusiasts and the Blake Society helped identify the original plot, and in 2018 a new stone was unveiled on the exact site of Blake’s grave in Bunhill Fields.

    This grave stone now stands alone as the area had been landscaped as a garden following damage during the Second World War.