Since I’m now obsessed with this new archive, something that I hadn’t given much thought about is how in 1837 they were starting to wonder how they were going to connect England and Scotland by rail.
The businesses in Scotland were quite exercised by this, the opportunity for new trading opportunities started to become available and the initial thought was that this was all so complex and expensive that there would only be one line needed.
The very first comprehensive rail link between the English and Scottish networks wasn’t created until 1846 by the North British Railway, which opened its line from Edinburgh down to Berwick-upon-Tweed. This route connected the Scottish capital to the burgeoning English railway system, although it was not a continuous track journey into London initially, as it involved two “water breaks” which were crossings of the River Tweed at Berwick and the River Tyne at Newcastle, which necessitated road or ferry transfers. Only later, when bridges were built, did passengers finally get to stay comfortably aboard without the indignity of a ferry detour. It also transpired that the North British Railway made more of their money from transporting minerals around the place than they did from their passenger services.
A fully continuous, uninterrupted railway line between the two capitals for the first time came shortly after with the opening of the Caledonian Railway’s (and they were the big rivals of North British Railway with absolutely no love lost there at all) main line between Glasgow and Carlisle on 15 February 1848, which then linked to the English London and North Western Railway, finally establishing a complete, high-speed rail route between Glasgow and London.
I accept that this might not be very interesting to either of my two loyal readers, but I am very excited to discover that the British Newspaper Archive have just put on 3,295 issues of the Railway Times starting from 1837. The aim of their new journal was to focus on many railway related stories, but they also took a view that they should comment and report on wider news matters.
Expect a wave of quite ‘riveting’ posts of things that I find that are interesting….
This is primarily a large winged altarpiece which is on display in the museum, although the actual large winged altarpiece bit is being restored and so only the base is on show. Formerly housed in Leipzig Lausen church, it dates to around 1500 and the full arrangement looks really quite impressive in photos.
But, I like what’s left, clearly unrestored (unless it has been restored very badly) so it feels like it retains its authenticity. There’s a photo of the whole altarpiece at https://www.stadtmuseum.leipzig.de/DE-MUS-853418/objekt=PS000136 and I’ve learned that the base (so, the bit that’s actually still on display in the museum) is called a predella.
The museum also notes that the predella has half-length portraits of the holy virgins Dorothea, Catherine, Ursula and Margaret. These seem to be along the lines of the Capital Virgin Martyrs who are usually Dorothea, Catherine, Barbara and Margaret, but this line-up seems to change a bit depending on the whims of the medieval painter. Might as well mix it up with popping Ursula in though.
I digress though. Because the main altarpiece isn’t there, it does draw more attention to this section which is rather beautiful in its own right.
I neglected to write this Good Beer Guide listed pub up when Richard and I visited in August.
The exterior is lovely. The pub seems proud of its history and notes on its website:
“The Golden Cross is the oldest pub in Coventry (One of the oldest in The Midlands). Built circa 1583, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st and established as a public house circa 1661, during the reign of Charles II (The year of his coronation). The Golden Cross boasts traditional Tudor features which include: jettied upper floors with exposed beams, the pub also features a Dragon Beam which makes it possible for the jettied floors to go around the corners.”
It was fortunate to survive the Blitz which damaged so many other nearby buildings and it was extensively refurbished in 2017.
I’m less engaged about the music, but a warm welcome is always positive.
And we did receive a warm welcome from the friendly team member, although I didn’t get a chance to take a photo at the bar. I didn’t ask for a CAMRA discount but the team member pro-actively asked if we were members of CAMRA, which I suspect tied in with the Great British Beer Festival that was about to take place in the area. I realised that I had left my CAMRA card in the hotel room, but I was kindly offered the CAMRA discount anyway. Perhaps I look like a CAMRA drinker, although I’m not sure what I think about that.
I went for a pint of Titanic Plum Porter which is always a delight, it’s smooth, fruity and luxurious. This is the period from when Richard was his new slim self and looking very healthy for it. There are usually around five real ales available and the Plum Porter tasted well kept and was at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.
This wasn’t really a venue for me though at the time that we visited, it was quite quiet in terms of the number of customers and also very loud from the live music. It was hard to have a conversation and the lack of customers gave it a slightly odd atmosphere. However, what I didn’t realise was this:
“We have live music every Saturday downstairs from 9pm – 11pm, so those who prefer a quiet drink in Coventry’s oldest pub can enjoy a relaxing evening in comfort in the bar upstairs.”
If I had realised, I would have gone upstairs. Anyway, we decided to leave soon afterwards in the hunt for a pub where we could have a conversation and gossip about the world. Nonetheless, this is a lovely pub and I think we just visited at the wrong time as there was a friendly welcome and I enjoyed the heritage of the venue itself. They also do what appears to be a good value food offering at lunchtime and in the early evenings. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to visit again at one of those rather quieter times as I did like the building, the friendliness of the team members and the beer.
I appear to have forgotten to write about this Good Beer Guide listed pub in Coventry. It’s operated by JD Wetherspoon and is nearby to their sister pub the Flying Standard. As usual, I’ll use their history of their venue:
“This is named after Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who founded St Mary’s Priory, Coventry’s first cathedral. A larger-than-life statue of Leofric and his wife (Countess Godiva) can be seen above the main entrance to the council house, opposite this pub.”
The building on High Street opened in June 1896 as the London and Midland Bank, later becoming the Midland Bank. It was turned into a public house in the early 1990s, initially being Cassidy’s until 1994, then the Phoenix Bar until 1996 and then it became part of Lloyds which was bought out by JD Wetherspoon as their more youth focused brand. The pub was renamed its current name of the Earl and Mercia in 2001.
I haven’t taken many useful photos of the pub, but as Julian (wise) says, I’m sure we’ll all cope.
This is from my visit with Richard a few months ago, I went for the Tesseract from Black Hole Brewery which was only £1.64 for a pint after the CAMRA discount. It was better than I had expected, it was rich, smooth with lots of plums to the whole arrangement.
And this is the Key Lime Pale from Hogs Back Brewery which I had this weekend as part of the JD Wetherspoon October beer festival. This was just 98p for a half and it was certainly full of lime flavour, being light, soft and hoppy.
As usual, best I have a little look at the reviews for my own amusement. It’s rated very highly for a JD Wetherspoon venue and that fits in with my experiences here, which have been positive.
“First of all, the staff discriminated against Chinese people. If you’re a local, the servers will bring the drinks to your table, but we had to go downstairs to get our drinks and bring them to our table on the second floor. The entire time, they watched us through the surveillance cameras. I told them I don’t drink alcohol, and they said I didn’t need to show my ID in that case. When we brought the drinks back to our table, I smelled the dark beer out of curiosity because I had never had it before. Then, a server came up and asked us to leave, claiming that I had drunk the beer. However, I’m allergic to alcohol, so I couldn’t have drunk it in the first place. The manager insisted that I drank it, not just smelled it. This is clear discrimination against Chinese people.”
Hmmm, they bring everyone their drinks but this reminds me though of a woman in one of the London pubs in their chain that was getting frustrated that no-one was serving her at her table, but she saw others getting their drinks delivered. She stomped out in the end after the team member refused to take her order himself and insisted she use the app.
“I feel violated, we ordered two pitchers exactly the same price, mango monster mash or something
This is the difference in ice/drink
The guy who served us was rude all night, insisted they were all the same even though I showed him the difference.
Don’t order here, wetherspoons please sack the only guy working here on 28/01/20″
Please sack a team member as he served cocktails in two different shaped jugs? Yeah, that sounds reasonable…
“We were just having lunch and the guy came up to us saying that we need to leave. We politely said that wr will leave after finishing our dinner but the guy was so rude and racist that he came back again and argued with us, forcing us to leave the place which is totally not accepted. He was the shift manager for the day 20/11/2023. I never expected this kind of behaviour as we have already paid for the food and atleast accept a decent service from the employees. Please have a look at your team and recruit people who are not racist.”
I wish reviewers would give a bit more information about why a team member actually came up and asked them to leave.
“Discrimination on a young adult with SEN needs. We come to this pub as young person finds atmosphere friendly and welcoming. Not today. Bully tactics by staff. 1 day we forgot passport she is 18. We have been served lots of time by staff at wetherspoons without ID. 1 staff member followed me to the table. Hassled me about her drinking alcohol beverage. Very abrupt, unfriendly and aggressive. He watched us for 5 minute’s and came over and said she had taken another sip for a drink. He snatched all the drinks from the table. They would not accept a photo on my phone, which I’ve used previously. Young person was upset and distrraught. Went to the toilet and was physically sick. We went onto have our food dropped on the table by the disgruntled staff member. Duty Manager was unsympathetic and crude. No training given how to deal with people with disabilities. All disabilities are not visible. Shame on wetherspoons we will not be going there again. Wasted £20.00. The food was cold and disgusting. Refused a refund.”
If this story is as it’s told, it’s not clear to me what the team member could have done other than been more polite and engaged better. Someone without valid ID has seemingly been drinking alcohol, the pub’s licence is at risk if they don’t check ID.
“I came here on Saturday, had one drink with my friend and decided to go outside in the seating area as it was too hot inside. There were empty glasses on our table which we just moved to the side, and while me and my friend were talking one of the staff (man with long hair) came over and asked if the glasses were finished with, I said they weren’t ours. About 5 minutes later we realised he had put 4 shot on our table, so we were confused and asked the people next to us if they were their shots, which they weren’t. So I assumed someone had bought them for us on the Wetherspoons app, and had 1 shot out of the 4, then the man came back over shouting at me for having a shot and demanding that I pay for it. I told him that he put them on our table so we assumed they have been bought for us, which he then said I said they were mine when he took them over to us (I didn’t, I didn’t even realise he bought them over as I was having a conversation with my friend). This staff member then started arguing with me and was SO rude to me over £2.50, which I did pay. I will not be coming back, as he was so rude to me and was shouting at me.”
It might have been easier not to take one of the drinks that they hadn’t ordered.
“I didn’t go there!!”
Another helpful review.
“Another wetherspoon which is more expensive than the Gosford Arms for a pint of Stella. No good for sight seeing as all you can see are bill boards of things that won’t necessarily come true in the eye of the public.”
Probably best to go to the Gosford Arms.
“I mean as most know they dont have music so that’s one sad thing.”
At least that makes me happy 🙂
Anyway, this seemed like a a well-run and organised JD Wetherspoon venue, although it does get very busy and although it’s over two floors it’s not the largest. Keenly priced, popular with students and a decent selection of real ales.
Time capsule probably isn’t the best terminology here as I’m not sure that this is what was originally intended, but it has transpired to be something like that.
These lead plates are written in Latin and they were walled into the foundation stone of St. Nicholas Church (Nikolai) during the Gothic reconstruction which started in 1513 and finished in 1535. At the time, this was a Catholic church, but in 1539 it became a Protestant church as part of the Reformation sweeping Europe and it remains that today.
I’ve had to go to AI to try and give me any indication of what it says on the lead plates and it came up with:
“…in nomine … patris et filii…” (“In the name of the Father and the Son…”) and a section below that seems to mention something like: “…dominus … in … ecclesia…” (“…lord … in the church…”)
And:
“…memoriam … perpetuam…” (“…perpetual memory…”) and “…requiescat in pace…” (“…may he rest in peace…”)
Whatever it said was likely really planned to be known only to God…..
Being slightly odd, I find medieval religious artworks to be intriguing and interesting because of how important they would have likely been to their owners or the congregations of the time. These two polychrome statues, made of linden wood, are in the museum and they think that they date to around 1410.
This is St. Peter with his keys and book with some effort made here to show his dignified drapery and a kindly, albeit now slightly weathered, face.
And here’s St. James the Greater with his scallop shell and walking staff, inspiring countless generations to go on pilgrimages and come back home with a shell. I’m not sure quite what look the sculptor was going for here, James looks like he’s just walked 90 miles of an LDWA 100, but there we go.
Bearing in mind that they’re over 600 years old, they’re still in rather good condition and retain a fair chunk of their original colour. There’s a warmth to these characters, I wouldn’t go quite as far to say that they’re almost cartoony, but they do have a warm and fluffy feel to them. They would have once been part of an altarpiece, but that element has been lost to history.
Another article in the Norwich Mercury of 200 years ago this week. Now, I accept this has little to do with Norwich, but it’s some early form of royal gossip of which there has been plenty more over the last 200 years. The story is likely true, as King George IV made only one more visit to Brighton following this story and he had made huge efforts to make the Brighton Pavilion a decadent and suitable home.
Its future as a residence for the Monarch was already reaching its end. King William IV did use it, but Queen Victoria wasn’t that surprised and delighted with it, so she sold it to the City of Brighton in 1850.
And another in my series of articles in the Norwich Mercury of 200 years ago this week. Back in 1825, if a man abandoned his wife and children without paying any support then he would face consequences from the local parish. Under the Poor Laws and Vagrancy Acts, if his deserted family became chargeable to the parish, local overseers could apply for his arrest and he could be punished as a rogue and vagabond, facing imprisonment or hard labour. The law’s primary concern was protecting the parish purse, not enforcing domestic responsibility, so prosecution generally occurred only when abandonment led to public expense as was the case here.
The £5 reward was a generous one, that’s worth over £250 in today’s money. The village of Beddingham is around ten miles south of Norwich and it’s clear that they were displeased that they were left funding William’s wife and children. It’s an interesting snapshot of the benefits system of the time, which did ensure at least that women and children were looked after.
And in my continuing series of posts from the Norwich Mercury of 200 years ago this week, there was an announcement about the extension of Rosary Cemetery. The cemetery was the first non-denominational one to have opened in the UK, with the first burial taking place in 1821.
The shareholders had met at the Old Library Room at St. Andrew’s (now demolished) and they were pleased at the progress made in the first few years of the cemetery’s operation. The first few years hadn’t really stressed the gravediggers (although it made it easier to guard against body-snatchers), as there was one burial in 1821, two burials in 1822 and three burials in 1824 (goodness knows what happened in 1823).
The decision made 200 years ago was very sensible as although their priority was actually keeping the church out of their affairs, there was to be a cholera epidemic in 1831 and the land at Rosary Cemetery was a useful overflow to church graveyards. And, in 1855, after a major national cholera epidemic, all new burials in churchyards were banned. The original five acres were filled by the end of the nineteenth century, so the additional land they had already acquired proved to be very useful.
“ROSARY BURIAL GROUND, NEAR THE FOUNDRY BRIDGE ROAD.
At a MEETING of the Shareholders, held at the Old Library Room, St. Andrew’s, Norwich, on the 22nd of September, 1825:
MR. THOMAS MARTINEAU in the Chair, Statements of the number of Interments since the appropriation of the Ground as a Public Burial Ground, and of the number of Shares engaged by individuals, having been read by the Registrar,
IT WAS RESOLVED, That the Rosary, from its situation and the extent of ground belonging to it, is admitted to be well calculated for a permanent Cemetery, for persons of all denominations, and will be found of great benefit and utility.
That from the number of Interments which have already taken place, and the number of Shares engaged, it is expedient the proper measures should be adopted for permanently establishing and securing the whole of the ground originally proposed for a Cemetery, without further delay.
That the Solicitors be instructed to prepare forthwith the requisite deed or deeds, to be enrolled in Chancery, for vesting the Rosary Burial Ground in Trustees, to be held as a Public Place of Interment for ever, subject to the management of Directors, to be chosen from among the Shareholders.
That notice be given, that applications for Shares remaining undisposed of must be made on or before the 27th day of October instant, on which day the list shall be closed.
That applications for Shares be made to the undermentioned Shareholders: to Mr. Drummond, at the Rosary; or to the Solicitors, Messrs. Parkinson and Staff, St. Andrew’s, Norwich, of whom prospectuses of the plan may be obtained gratis.
Mr. Thomas Martineau John Taylor Joseph Geldart Wm. Davey Thomas Hitchen John Athow Robert Blake, jun. Wm. Wilde J. Darken R. Miller Samuel Wiseman J. Mottram, sen. E. Cotman J. H. Balls G. Sothern Wm. Newson Thomas Hawkins Henry Bolingbroke George Kitton
Mr. Isaac Wiseman J. Mottram, jun. Wm. Busley Manning E. Martin Hewett Rev. F. Tagart Mr. Wm Chapman W. Stark G. Grout C. Geldart Wigham E. Brown Carter Bluth R. Morgan Joseph Geldart, jun. N. Rue”
