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  • Norwich – Barrett’s Fish and Chips

    Norwich – Barrett’s Fish and Chips

    Whilst meandering near to the Reepham Road on a random walk, I thought that I’d pop in here as the chip shop was well reviewed. It takes its name from Noel Barrett who owned and operated these premises for some decades, but there’s a new family now managing the shop. Incidentally, I’m not entirely taken by that signage, feels a bit generic to me.

    Anyway, the service here was marvellous, and that’s evident in the reviews I read as well. One reviewer wrote, and wasn’t being sarcastic, that he refers to the owners as “Mr and Mrs Smiler”, which seems a suitable name given the friendly welcome that I received. It’s always nice to get a bit of welcoming enthusiasm, especially on a drab day.

    The chips costs £1.80, which is a little higher than the average, but hardly anything to become overly irate about. And another of my complaints about not accepting cards is true here, although I was pre-prepared on this occasion so as not to be deprived of chips. Anyway, the packaging was rather thrifty, but the chips were suitably hot, firm on the exterior and cooked appropriately, just what I was hoping for. So, all rather lovely.

  • GeoGuessr (Norwich Version) – Walk 1

    GeoGuessr (Norwich Version) – Walk 1

    I already have a better explanation (well, longer explanation anyway) for this plan. In essence, whilst lockdown is on, I need to find ways of walking nearby to Norwich in quiet areas for my LDWA 100 training. So, I’m using GeoGuessr to pick out five random locations within a certain area which I’ve defined and then walking to them, to see what kind of story I can uncover.

    Pointless? Well, yes, it is a bit. But it’s good exercise and I’m hoping to always see something new or uncover a different part of Norwich. And I’ve got Liam, Nathan and Jonathan signed up to do these walks with me as well (separately as the maximum group size is two), so I won’t have any shortage of opportunities to meander around Norwich.

    Anyway, the five locations randomly selected using GeoGuessr are in the map above. I used Komoot to draw a line between them, although I didn’t always follow it if something else looked interesting nearby. And, I accept this isn’t the most exciting walking adventure possible, but it’s about all that’s safe to do at the moment, so it’ll have to do.

    So, the start of the walk in Barrack Street, which take its name from the Cavalry Barracks which were located here between 1792 and 1963. It’s now the Heathgate estate, which doesn’t seem to get a very good press in the local media.

    The route goes up the big hill of Mousehold, by the entrance to Dragoon Way, a former cavalry way.

    I realised at this point that I hadn’t bothered putting on walking boots, just normal shoes, which wasn’t entirely in keeping with meandering through the mud of Mousehold Heath. This route wasn’t too bad, although there were numerous options that looked quite moist.

    I had a minor problem here, as I needed to get down to the road. And there were some slightly steep elements where I could have fallen down the slope. There’s a road at the back of this photo and people walking along it, so I didn’t wish them to have their walk distracted by the sound of someone falling down a hole. So I found a more manageable route back down to the safety of the pavement and I don’t think anyone noticed. I didn’t go too far into Mousehold Heath based on this experience, sticking to firmer ground.

    This is a quite wonderful building and one of the oldest in the city, at over 900 years old. It’s the city’s lazar house, or leper hospital, founded by the first Bishop of Norwich, Herbert de Losinga. After centuries of helping the ill and poor, it was closed following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and used as a barn. The city was fortunate to have had people who managed to save it from destruction in the early twentieth century and it was restored and turned into a branch library. As yet another appalling decision from the local council, they decided in 2003 to scrap this library and stop free public access to the building. It is now used by a charity to help those with learning difficulties and they no doubt do an admirable job, but it’s a great shame that the usage as a library had to stop.

    This is St. George’s Catholic Church on Sprowston Road. Simon Knott, who writes in detail on Norfolk churches, has an appalling tale about the unfriendliness of this church. I’ve never been turned away from a church and I’d be equally disappointed to be turned away in such a manner. If it was me, I’d be so annoyed that I’d stomp off whilst writing in my mind the letter that I was going to send to the Pope.

    I don’t often see the word ‘Loke’ used in Norwich, another word to describe a road which come to a dead end or a narrow path.

    I don’t have any interest in live music, so this is a pub that holds little relevance to me, but it has a formidable reputation for its work. There was a petition last year to keep this place going and I hope that it can continue, live music is important in pubs (albeit not the ones I visit) and it would be a shame to lose it.

    Now starting to enter Old Catton, this is School Lane and appropriately this is the large former school building. It’s now the Sprowston Diamond Centre, but it was originally built as a school in 1860, soon being extended in 1873.

    The Woodman pub, which I can’t say that I’ve ever been to. it was opened as a pub in the early nineteenth century and there were rumours of its closure a couple of years ago, but it’s still here.

    GEOGUESSR 1 – I haven’t taken a huge amount of care in finding the exact spot of the five GeoGuessr locations in terms of matching up photos. This was the first one in Old Catton, on George Hill.

    One of the things that I wanted to do on these walks was to identify some listed buildings that I’ve never noticed before. This is one, which is The Firs in Old Catton, and it was first constructed in around 1750. It has since been split into four buildings, although apparently the historic eighteenth century interior is intact.

    This is the best non-pub pub sign that I’ve seen.

    Taken over by Enterprise Inns in 2009, so it’s fortunate that it’s still here, this is the Maid’s Head which has been trading since around 1830. Now a Stonegate pub, I’ve never been to it, although perhaps I’ll get back here again to try the real ale (which judging from Whatpub looks a bit generic to be honest).

    This is Catton Park, which wasn’t exactly the busiest today. This land was originally part of Catton Hall, which was built in the 1770s by Charles Buckle. That property is still standing, now owned by Norfolk County Council, but the land can be used by the public. The paths here were quite wet and muddy, but it’s a nice piece of open space.

    Some World War Two history in Old Catton.

    The Old Catton village sign and St. Margaret’s Church.

    Mary Sewell is perhaps better known for being the mother of Anna Sewell, the author of Black Beauty.

    Another listed building, this is the Manor House in Old Catton, built in the sixteenth century and extended in the following century.

    Moving away from Old Catton, I had forgotten about this Greggs on Fifers Lane, although I’ve visited a few times before. It mainly serves the industrial units in the area, and, today it had the delight of my custom.

    And a quick sausage roll, which was entirely delicious.

    Norse Groups is owned by Norfolk County Council and it’s a trading company providing services to local Governments across the country. Their company sign seems to have included random bits of material that they use and I couldn’t work out whether it looked really smart or really tacky.

    The sad end to the Firs pub in Norwich, which closed down in 2009 and was turned into a Tesco. At least the building is still there, but I’d rather that it was in use as a pub selling decadent craft beer.

    GEOGUESSR 2 – OK, I’ve cheated here (and I can hear Nathan tutting). The actual route that got selected for me was on the NDR, which isn’t accessible to pedestrians as they annoy Norfolk County Council. So, I was going to just get a photo of it from the nearest point, but that would have involved a huge detour. So, I thought I’d get a photo of it from Norwich Airport, but it was all a bit misty. So, this is the memorial at Norwich Airport to RAF Horsham St Faith, and that’s doing me as the second point.

    Well, it was open, so I went in, as if I’m traipsing out to these places I might as well take advantage of the situation.

    I’ll write about this elsewhere in more detail, but the service here was welcoming, the prices were OK (although not particularly cheap) and the chips were delicious.

    Sad to see the Whiffler, a JD Wetherspoon pub, all closed up. This was, until last year, their car park, but to encourage social distancing and to give them more space, they opened it up as an external seating area. I hope that change of use continues in the future.

    I noticed on the side of this sign it has printed on it “Do Not Display on Drive-Thru Lane”. I suspect this is because it mentions their cheap products on the Saver Menu (the ones I keep buying) and they don’t actually want customers to be reminded of them at the point of ordering.

    I’ve been meaning to visit this, hence my detour along the Boundary Road, it’s the boundary cross which was erected in the fifteenth century to mark where the King’s Way crossed the Norwich City boundary.

    I was slightly annoyed at this. I saw a sign to “new cemetery” and I’m intrigued by cemeteries, so went to have a look. It transpired that this was the back of St. Mary’s Church in Hellesdon, which I hadn’t initially realised. And, the sign was a lie, as there’s a bloody great big gate which stops pedestrians getting in. Looking at old maps, there were footpaths here which allowed people to access the rear of the church, but they never made it through to the Definitive Map and the church has taken the opportunity to restrict access. Or, at least, I couldn’t find access, hence the above photo. It’s also clear that people have been trying to gain access and the fence there has been added to stop them. Personally, if I had a church (which I don’t, and I don’t intend to acquire one), I’d quite like people to go in it.

    Back on the route that Nathan and I undertook a few weeks ago.

    GEOGUESSR 3 – this is the reason that I went out this far, to get to Gunton Lane.

    This is the Marlpit Community Garden, a seven acre plot of land that was once part of Lower Earlham Farm. Individuals now use the land for communal growing and there’s a bee area, footpaths, orchards and wild flowers.

    To get back to the city centre, I ignored the Komoot suggested route and just went along Marriott’s Way, which was much quieter than I had expected.

    One of the sculptures along Marriott’s Way, a former railway line. There’s a sculpture every mile along the route, this is the second one along which was installed in 2009, designed by John Behm and Nigel Barnett.

    The former inspection platforms at the engine shed at the now closed Norwich City Station.

    I’m always sad to see railway lines closed, this is the site of Norwich City Station which closed to passengers in 1959.

    This is a listed structure, a urinal which was designed by AE Collins, the city engineer, in 1919. It’s the oldest surviving concrete urinal in Britain and the city council now use it for people to graffiti on.

    The walk back into Norwich covers areas that I’ve written about already, but I hadn’t noticed these flood level markers at New Mills Yard before.

    Some information about St Giles’s Street that I hadn’t noticed before.

    GEOGUESSR 4 – the fourth location was Norwich City Hall, a building that destroyed much local heritage when it was constructed in 1938. I quickly popped into Tesco on Westlegate at this point to buy their reduced sandwiches…..

    Walking past St. Julian’s Church, which I wrote about the other day.

    Going onto King Street, this is Dragon’s Hall, sadly no longer open to the public, but this was a museum that wasn’t allowed to continue. It’s a Grade I listed building, with much of the current structure dating to the fifteenth century, although there is evidence of a ninth century structure having been here before. I hope that this building can in future be repurposed and brought back into public use, as it’s currently been taken over by the National Centre for Writing.

    Work has started this week on the development of the former Ferry Boat Inn site by the River Wensum. I don’t see why the developers couldn’t have restored the pub element in their project, but apparently the building was too damaged (although not too damaged to allow its conversion into two residential properties). It’s positive to see this area being brought back into usage though, it’s been derelict for over a decade now.

    GEOGUESSR 5 – and the final point of the day, Norwich City Football Club. The club was founded in 1902 and they’ve played at this Carrow Road site since 1935.

    And that was the end of the walk. It was fourteen miles and took me just under five hours, although I did keep getting distracted along the way, hence the slow pace. I’m not sure that there’s any great unifying story for me to tell here, but I discovered some things that I didn’t know existed in Norwich. And I like this element of random, it gives a purpose to an expedition, as otherwise there’s no way I’d have been bothered to have walked so far.

  • Norwich – Ron’s Fish and Chips

    Norwich – Ron’s Fish and Chips

    I haven’t been to Ron’s Fish and Chips on the market before, not least because I have been rather obsessed with Grosvenor for two decades. I visited a different chip shop on Norwich Market a few months ago and it was, to be honest, a really unimpressive effort from Norwich City Council who operate the market. There was near zero Covid-19 compliance and the chip shop (not Ron’s) in question was failing to operate with any care.

    The picture today was really very different, and everything feels very safe and well managed. The one-way system is in operation, individual units no longer have customers standing and eating there and everything seems clean and organised. A polite member of security staff was explaining that there is no eating anywhere near the stalls, customers need to take food just a short walk away. All very professional, I’m suitably impressed.

    Back to Ron’s. I’ve muttered and moaned (but not in a very grumpy manner….) about chip shops not taking cards, it’s just a faff to be forced to use cash. Ron’s isn’t one of those, they have a card machine (although I had come armed with coins just in case). They also have a very friendly member of staff serving, a clean operation and rather cheap prices. My battered sausage and chips came to £1.80, which I thought was really quite acceptable. The chips were hot and tasted sufficiently chip like for my needs (nice and firm on the exterior, fluffy inside and with plenty of smaller chips), with the batter on the sausage having some depth of flavour, I was again impressed.

    So, all told, this is now one of my favourite chip shop locations in Norwich. Which will mean I’ll have to pop back a few times, but I think I can manage that.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 281, 282 and 283

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 281, 282 and 283

    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…. And to catch up after getting behind with these posts, and because I’m getting towards the end of the book, I’m doing three days at once now. How lovely….

     

    Ralph Spooner

    Annoyingly, I can’t find out anything more about this, simply defined by Grose as “a fool”. I’m not convinced that this phrase was much in usage, and he likely just took it from Nathan Bailey’s 1736 canting dictionary. The word ‘spoon’ was used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to describe someone as a fool, although I’m not sure what they had against Ralph….

     

    Rank

    This is defined by Grose as “stinking, rammish, ill-flavoured; also strong, great. A rank knave; a rank coward: perhaps the latter may allude to an ill savour caused by fear”. On the second part of that definition, the phrase “rank coward” is still in usage, but its original meaning of being a stinking coward is perhaps forgotten.

    Back to the main part of the definition, what might be the most interesting element of this is that the word remains in use today. I suspect that at least a few people hearing a younger person use the phrase “that’s rank” might query their use of English, but it has had this meaning of something disgusting since around the late seventeenth century.

    It’s derived from the old English word ‘ranc’, meaning something strong or powerful. That changed over time to something that was strong and unpleasant, with the alternate spelling ‘ranck’ being more common for a period.

     

    Reader Merchants

    And here we perhaps verge into some slight anti-semitism, this being defined as “pickpockets, chiefly young Jews, who play about the Bank to steal the pocket-books of persons who have just received their dividends there”. A pocket-book is a wallet, and a reader was also another word for a wallet, hence the origin of the phrase. There was another similar phrase at the time, ‘reader hunter’, which meant the same thing.

  • Attlebridge – St. Andrew’s Church

    Attlebridge – St. Andrew’s Church

    I quite like the Attlebridge village sign, it seems to suggest that the church is something similar to St Michael’s Mount, towering above the local countryside.

    And here it is, on top of its own hill. But, it’s Norfolk, so I suppose that is quite high. Anyway, Attlebridge was a very different place fifty years ago, the main road to Fakenham thundered by in front of the church and it was a short walk to the nearby railway station. Sadly, that’s gone, with the Marriott’s Way railway line swept away, although the village is likely pleased that a bypass has meant that cars no longer flood through the village.

    The church was first built here in what was likely the end of the eleventh century, but the nave was reconstructed in the thirteenth century. The porch is sixteenth century, but perhaps from before the Reformation. George Plunkett has a photo of how the church looked in 1939, taken just a couple of weeks before the outbreak of the Second World War.

    The north aisle visible above is fourteenth century. There is a stair turret on the side of the tower, although it only reaches the second stage. Some documentation provided in the church mentions that this was inaccessible by the early twentieth century and it was only reopened in 1984.

    The tower is thirteenth or fourteenth century, likely replacing a round tower from the eleventh century. The Victorians spent some money here as the church had become a little derelict by the middle of the nineteenth century, although the Norfolk Chronicle reports in 1903 that funds had been raised to deal with the “tower which has for some time been in a precarious position”.

    There’s a niche at the base of the tower that was perhaps previously a window.

    The Priest’s Door has been filled in, with some rather big lumps of flint, at some stage in the early nineteenth century.

    There some character here, with the old door and the niche on the left hand side.

    Located in that niche, this stone figure was found dumped in the river in the 1960s and it was thought that it might be from some form of religious structure, especially as it was nearby to a hermitage side. It is though likely from Attle Bridge, from which the village takes its name, which was reconstructed in 1913. Chances are a workman just thought the stone looked a bit old and dumped it in the river, so a rather less mystical history than might have been hoped for.

    The rather old door, I’m unsure of its age, although the arch of the door is likely from the fourteenth century rebuild. I’m still intrigued with the concept of just how many people have crossed the threshold of this door over the centuries, for all manner of weddings, funerals, baptisms and sermons.

    Ignoring the restorations of the Victorians, this still feels like a medieval church. Peaceful, slightly damp, and calm, time hasn’t much moved on here. Thanks to Campbell Wodehouse, the vicar here in the late 1850s, there were numerous talks relating to the RNLI, which at that stage was in its relative infancy. The Norfolk News reported in 1860 that the organisation wasn’t that well heard of inland, but Wodehouse had encouraged numerous churches to become involved with their good work.

    The chancel. I put my name in the visitor book, the first in a few months.

    The north aisle.

    The church tower which is blocked off, likely to prevent people meandering up the stairs.

    The church’s font, dating to 1866.

    I’m not entirely sure why the church has two fonts, this one is located at the entrance to the chancel.

    There would have been some rood stair arrangement in the wall here, but that’s a bit complex for me to work out….

    An archaeological dig took place in 1989 in the field just to the north of the church, which found evidence of Romano-British settlement. Since the church is on raised ground that would have surely been used, there must have been something located on the site of where the church is now getting on for perhaps not far off two millennia. That’s not a bad heritage to have.

  • GeoGuessr – The Joy of the Random…..

    GeoGuessr – The Joy of the Random…..

    A couple of years ago, Nathan and myself set ourselves a plan to use GeoGuessr to pick a random location in the UK and then just go to it. The plan was that everywhere had a story and that the journey there would be part of that. We completed two of these and were pleased at how they turned out, with our third location already planned. Unfortunately, the situation meant in 2020 that we never got to go to that location, that’s been postponed for a future date when we can get there. It’s an awkward place to get, so it’s not one that can be quickly reached in a day.

    But, undeterred, we’ve formulated a plan to do a version using a Norfolk specific map on GeoGuessr, visiting five random locations in Norfolk in one day using only public transport. Again, as of early February 2021, we can’t do this either as random trips on public transport aren’t allowed, but hopefully lockdown will lighten and we can get going with this plan soon enough. Not least because these challenges involve a fair chunk of walking, primarily because public transport in Norfolk is pretty dreadful. And that walking is useful (well, essential), we’re walking the LDWA 100 in May….

    So, I need a new interim plan until lockdown is loosened, one which ensures I am getting enough exercise for that LDWA 100, but without going on public transport or needlessly walking where others are likely to be. So, I’m switching this plan down to just a Norwich specific map on GeoGuessr. Users can create their own area, so I’ve created an area which is something like within what I would call the outer ring road (I don’t think that’s what it’s actually called).

    This is my area, with a potential 1,400 locations. Some will be easy to reach, others a bloody nightmare, although that’s half the excitement and way of getting my walk mileage up a bit. I shall be trying to rope other people into this plan (so far Nathan, Jonathan and Liam have been dragged into this), I mean it’ll be a lovely day out (well, maybe). Five random locations in the area selected in advance, which can be walked in any order and there’s my own mini challenge. Not exactly riveting I accept, but it’ll do…..

    I’ve added in my own extra challenges to this whole arrangement to liven it up. If one of the five locations is within 150 metres of a chip shop or a church, then I’m going to it. And if it’s within 150 metres of a pub, then I’ll go to it (or, more realistically it’ll be shut so I’ll have to take some delicious craft beer to have instead, as it’s important to support the brewing industry in some form). I’ll also be diverting slightly to ensure I see five listed buildings that I haven’t visited before as well as finding routes which aren’t likely to be busy.

    So, I still think that any adventure such as this will enable me to find out something new about the local area and there’s always a story to be told of some sort. I’ll use Komoot to plot the route between the five points, it seems to do a nice job of finding interesting walking routes and not just putting me on main roads. How lovely   🙂

    WALK 1 (just me)

    WALK 2 (with Nathan, using a smaller map area)

    WALK 3 (with Nathan, using a smaller map area)

    WALK 4 (with Liam)

  • London – Greenwich (Borough of) – National Maritime Museum (Nelson’s Death Coat)

    London – Greenwich (Borough of) – National Maritime Museum (Nelson’s Death Coat)

    This is “one of the most iconic items in our collections” the National Maritime Museum note, the uniform which Admiral Horatio Nelson was wearing when he died. Vice Admiral Nelson was killed on 21 October 1805 during the Battle of Trafalgar, when a bullet fired from the French ship Redoutable hit his left shoulder. The damage done was fatal and Nelson was aware of this immediately and he’s quoted as saying “Hardy, I do believe they have done it at last, my backbone is shot through”. He was carried off to get medical help, stopping en route whilst he gave advice to others whilst the battle continued, dying around three hours after he was injured.

    It was suggested to Nelson that he perhaps shouldn’t wear medals on board the ship as it made him stand out to the opposing forces, who could target him. However, removing them was a slight faff as they were sewn on and such was the inaccuracy of weaponry at this time, Nelson didn’t seem to fear much. The ones on display here are those which were on the coat when he died, but they themselves were replicas.

    It’s possible to see on the coat a hole where the bullet hit Nelson on the shoulder, making this a slightly grim exhibit, albeit one of national importance. There are also blood marks on the sleeve, which aren’t particularly visible, although it’s thought that these are likely that of Nelson’s secretary, John Scott, who had died about an hour before. Scott’s body’s had been thrown into the sea but blood remained on the deck and Nelson fell onto that spot when he was hit.

    The coat was given to Lady Emma Hamilton, who was Nelson’s mistress, but she was in a slight predicament that the Government excluded her from events, and her own husband wasn’t best pleased at this entire situation. She sold the coat in 1814 to help pay off some of her debts and it was later repurchased by Prince Albert, who gave it to Greenwich Hospital.

    Copyright of the Royal Collection Trust

    One of the joys of history is that most things entwine with each other, although that’s sort of literally the case here. The bullet which killed Nelson, along with bits of his coat that got caught up with it, are exhibited at the Queen’s Guard Chamber at Windsor Castle. It was taken from Nelson’s body by William Beatty, the doctor of HMS Victory, who decided that he quite fancied having a souvenir of the whole incident. He wore this locket for the rest of his life, but when he died his family donated it (probably with some relief) to Queen Victoria.

    As an aside, Nelson didn’t want his body chucking overboard as the usual way of getting rid of dead bodies. So, it was Beatty was put Nelson’s body in a barrel of brandy to preserve it whilst the ship set sail back for England. During this period of transportation the gases from the body forced the lid of the barrel off. It’s said that the sailors guarding the barrel were rather surprised by this occurrence….

  • London – Islington (Borough of) – Edward Johnston Memorial at Farringdon Station

    London – Islington (Borough of) – Edward Johnston Memorial at Farringdon Station

    Just in case anyone thinks I’ve started travelling again, these are photos from a very quiet Farringdon underground station last month. And this is the sort of slightly niche memorial that I like, a quite glorious addition to what would otherwise be a sterile corridor area. It’s also perhaps not really apparent what it is at first, I like a bit of depth to things such as this.

    The memorial was unveiled in 2019 and was designed by Fraser Muggeridge and it honours the work of Edward Johnston (1872-1944). Johnston was commissioned by Frank Pick to design a new typeface for the London Underground and it started to appear across the network in 1916. The London Underground roundel concept wasn’t designed by Johnston, but he was responsible for its design evolution and how it appears today. The London Transport Museum has more information about the roundel and Johnston’s influence on it.

    The typeface was initially planned to just be used on London Underground posters, but it was seen to be clean and tidy, so its use was extended to nearly all signage. This memorial has been designed to look like the printing blocks that were once used, hence why it looks back to front.

    As an aside, this memorial was unveiled by Sir Peter Hendy, someone who has a long interest in the fabric and heritage of transport in London. I remember when I was at an underground station in 2013 (I’ve forgotten which) where there was an issue where everyone needed to leave. I sought help from a staff member, and by chance I managed to get assistance from Hendy who was there offering customer service help. He knew exactly what buses I needed to get and had a formidable knowledge of the network, although I suppose that’s inevitable given that his career was spent in buses and he was heading TFL. Anyway, because I like to report excellent customer service to companies, I filled in the TFL customer service feedback form and I got an template e-mail back the next day that my positive comments had been forwarded onto the staff member……

  • Norwich – Rosary Cemetery (James Light)

    Norwich – Rosary Cemetery (James Light)

    Located at Rosary Cemetery in Norwich, this is the grave of James Light, who was born in Southampton in 1849, the son of Isaac Light and Lucy Light. Isaac and Lucy (nee Sillince) had married on 4 July 1847 in Southampton.

    At the 1851 census, James lived at St Faith’s Lane in Norwich with his parents, and they were lodging with another family. Isaac Light was an engine driver on the railways and he would have been one of the first to have that role in Norfolk, as the first line in the county was Yarmouth & Norwich Railway which opened in 1842. I’m not sure why the family made a move from Southampton, but perhaps it was so that Isaac could secure employment in this new industry.

    By the time of the 1861 census, James and his parents were living at Garden Street in the city, along with their other children, Emma, Richard and George. They had moved to Wilderness Place by 1871, with Isaac, Lucy, James, Richard and George living there. Isaac, James and Richard were all working for the railways and although I’m guessing here, I suspect they would have found this a more exciting job to have than some others which were available at the time (mostly shoe manufacture in Norwich). The railways were still relatively new and exciting, there must have been something of an element of adventure and a knowledge that the railway network was expanding.

    However, bad things were to take place. Whilst working as a fireman on the train, James died on 10 September 1874 at the age of 25 in what is known as the Thorpe rail accident. This incident, which took place near what is now known as the Rushcutters pub, caused the death of 25 people and over 75 others were injured. It occured when a mail train and a passenger train hit each other head on due to some confusion and poor communications. When the crash took place it was the second worst rail incident that had taken place in the country in terms of fatalities, with more people having died only at the Abergele rail crash of 1868. One of the legacies of this major incident at Thorpe was the introduction of the tablet system, to try and prevent head-on crashes.

    I’ve marked the scene of the crash on the above map from the 1920s, which was very close to the Rushcutters, although the pub was known as Thorpe Gardens at the time. The coroner at the time insisted during the trial that the phrase “railway accident” wasn’t to be used, it was to be referred to as “a railway collision”. Shortly after, he said “it is due to the public to know how this collision did happen, whether it was through carelessness or accident; though I am afraid we cannot bring it to the latter, for everything at present appears to contradict that”. It’s clear that the coroner didn’t intend to oversee a whitewash with his inquest.

    The saddest element was the identification of the dead. For James, this was done by his brother Richard, who said:

    “I live in Wilderness Place, King Street and I am a fireman. The deceased James Light was my brother. I have identified his body lying here. My brother was a fireman in the employ of the Great Eastern Railway Company. He was twenty-five years of age and lived at Wilderness Place”.

    This must have been a hugely emotional task for Richard to perform, especially as he had the same job on the railways as his brother.

  • Norwich – Bridewell Prison Door

    Norwich – Bridewell Prison Door

    And today’s post is about a door-frame. Content doesn’t get more interesting than this….. OK, it does, but I still like this door and I’ve only recently noticed that it exists.

    Perhaps the best description of this door is from George Plunkett, who noted:

    “Descending St Andrew’s Hill from London St, there is about halfway down on the left a wooden doorway thought to date from about 1490, the former entrance to the Bridewell. Its spandrels, carved to resemble foliage, support a large wooden grille enclosed within the doorframe. This grille, which in unglazed, is of Gothic design and consists of two large lights, each divided into four smaller ones by slender mullions which interlace at the top like tracery in a church window. Sadly two of these mullions have gone since the 1930s; in view of the extreme rarity of such a doorway one would like to see it sympathetically repaired and conserved to prolong its existence for a few more centuries.”

    And he’s quite right, he has a photo from 1935 and it shows that bits have gone missing since then, having previously managed to survive several centuries. And I’m not sure what that bloody awful box is doing to the left of the doorway, it hardly ignites a feeling of beauty and history.

    These Norwich Lanes tablets (or slabs, whatever they’re called) very often give details of where pubs once stood, but this is a handy reminder that this door was once the entrance to Bridewell Prison. And if this excitement about the door isn’t enough, here’s some more about the flint wall on the same building, with a bit more history about the prison. I think I need to get out more….