Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Norwich

  • Norwich – Thorpe Marshes and Dead Cygnets

    Norwich – Thorpe Marshes and Dead Cygnets

    Not particularly positive news, Thorpe Marshes (where I visited a couple of weeks ago) has had dogs running off leads which have killed some cygnets.

    Norfolk Wildlife Trust said about the three killed cygnets:

    “One of them was witnessed by somebody who is a regular visitor to the marshes and it was very upsetting for them to see. The mute swan had moved her nest to a dyke near a footpath, but that does not excuse the owners of these dogs. They should be kept on leads. We understand that people like to walk dogs, but running them off a lead in a nature reserve is not a good idea. We are appealing to people to be sensible and responsible”.

     

  • Norwich – Coast to Coast

    Norwich – Coast to Coast

    Sad to hear that Coast to Coast, located to the left of TGI Fridays in the above photo, is closing permanently in Norwich. They bemused me, they were becoming popular locally and their reviews were positive. But they were for months deluging out offers whereby anyone who had a Tastecard, Gourmet Society card or voucher could get 50% off of food. If you were a diner who went in without those cards, you were getting charged twice the amount of everyone else and I’m not sure how that could ever end well.

    They can run their restaurant how they wanted, but why they devalued their product so much never quite made sense to me. Anyway, I hope the space is used for a large Greggs, constantly good value without gimmicks.

  • Group Walking is Back…..

    Group Walking is Back…..

    At least for me, yesterday was the chance to go on a small group walk for the first time since March. All socially distanced, just a small group of under the maximum allowed and all professionally-led (since I wasn’t leading it).

    An intriguing tree…..

    The walk went around Thorpe marshes at first, which is where most of the photos below are from. I’ve neglected walking this area as I had forgotten about it, which isn’t much of an excuse, but it was peaceful and I’m not sure many people are aware of the walking options around there.

    There’s a photo of a deer drinking on the other side of the river, which I hoped was a Chinese water deer given there are lots around there, which were introduced from China in the nineteenth century. I’ve been told it’s a Muntjac though, but nonetheless, it still looked sweet and innocent.

    Anyway, the photos…..

       

  • Norwich – Name Origin

    Norwich – Name Origin

    Since I’ve been merrily writing about the name origins of numerous villages around Norfolk, it perhaps makes sense to mention the county’s major city. No, not Dereham, it’s Norwich.

    The Concise Oxford Dictionary comments on the origins:

    Norwich, Norfolk. Norowic in 930, Noruic in Domesday Book. North Town.

    This is one of the book’s shorter definitions and Norvic is still used today, not least by the Bishop of Norwich who signs off with this title. The explanation, as the book says, is simple, it just means North Town, so that makes this blog post nice and easy….. The Saxon ‘wich’ meaning settlement or town is relatively frequently seen, including at Ipswich, Harwich, Greenwich and so on.

  • Streets of Norwich – Drays Yard

    Streets of Norwich – Drays Yard

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    I include this yard mostly for completeness than for any historical interest, as it’s a new yard with a limited amount of heritage. Located off of King Street, it’s located roughly in between the two PH symbols on the above map, on the King Street Old Brewery side of the map.

    As for why its called Drays Yard (the word dray is a beer delivery, or more precisely the cart the beer was carried on) I’m not sure, but I imagine it’s linked to the former nearby King Street Brewery site.

    There are mostly new residential plots in the yard.

  • Streets of Norwich – Scott’s Yard

    Streets of Norwich – Scott’s Yard

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    Scott’s Yard is located off of Ber Street, connecting into Jolly Butchers Yard. It too once had a pub at its entrance, the Old Friends, which opened in the 1860s and was closed down in 1908 as part of the national plan to pay compensation to the owners of licensed properties (and it mostly went to the owners, not much went to the licencees themselves) in a bid to reduce the number of pubs.

    The yard was formerly primarily residential, but became more commercial during the late twentieth-century. This has since changed since planning permission was given in 2016 to demolish a warehouse and to build five residential dwellings.

  • The Stone Bridge at Horse Fair

    The Stone Bridge at Horse Fair

    I posted earlier about how the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society have made back issues of their journal available on-line. Meandering through a few issues, the Reverend W. Hudson wrote in 1884 about the stone bridge at Horse Fair. He noted:

    “Of the hundreds who in the course of a year make their way from Prince of Wales Road by St. Faith’s Lane into the Lower Close, probably nearly all could at once call to mind the old wall which skirts the road on their left; but scarcely one, perhaps, is aware that if he keeps close to the wall, at a point not far from where the wall bends round towards the open space called the Horse Fair, the ground is hollow under his feet, and he is in fact crossing over a bridge which once spanned a dyke which passed under the road”.

    Over 135 years later, that road layout hasn’t changed and I’m one of no doubt many who wasn’t aware of this bridge either.

    The full-sized map is visible by clicking on the above image, and I had no idea there was once a bridge here. Prince of Wales Road had just been laid out at that stage, hence why it’s pencilled in.

    The full article is available at https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3236503.

  • Norwich – Meadows Near the River Yare

    Norwich – Meadows Near the River Yare

    Just photos, but this is the meadow area between Trowse and Whitlingham Lake, just by the River Yare. I’ve never walked on these meadows, although they were peaceful and there were a few small groups sitting by the river.

    Not the most welcoming of introductions though.

  • Norwich – Colman’s

    Norwich – Colman’s

    Last week, Unilever closed the Carrow Works factory that has been used by its Colman’s brand since 1856, marking the end of the connection with Norwich.

    I noticed that the Colman’s branding has been removed from the site now, with production mostly moving to Germany. I have no idea what they’re going to do with the huge site, although there are some listed buildings within the complex, so it’ll likely be turned into housing. Some of the site is currently available for short-term let, although I’m not sure who would want such a large site for 18 months.

  • Streets of Norwich – St. John’s Street

    Streets of Norwich – St. John’s Street

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    There’s not much to write about St. John’s Street, which is located off of Mountergate. The current St. John’s Street used to be called Orchard Street (named after the Orchard Tavern pub), and the rest of it has since been lost to development.

    The buildings that were either side of what was Orchard Street have also gone, with car parking on the right-hand side and Parmentergate Court housing project on the left-hand side.