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Category: Norwich

  • Norwich – Georgian Townhouse

    Norwich – Georgian Townhouse

    This is a City Club venue, a chain that is relatively new to me, but I rather like. I’ve been to some of their venues without realising such as the Bath Brew House, but recently have gone to the Old Ticket Office and the Cambridge Brew House, both in Cambridge. I had looked at going to some of their London pubs, although the ones I have been looking at haven’t re-opened yet.

    Anyway, this City Club venue was still doing their version of Eat Out to Help Out until the end of October, with food half price before 18:30, which is very generous. There weren’t many tables left, although we only booked the day before, so we were fortunate to get a table with the offer still going.

    The welcome was friendly, although the staff member tried to take our order very quickly and then didn’t re-appear for eleven minutes (yes, I did time it, although only because we wanted to be sure we got our order in before 18:30, although I don’t think it mattered). The beer selection was limited to two, neither overly exciting, but the Norfolk Topper was Barsham Brewery is local and was well-kept. I noticed then writing this that I also had this at the Old Ticket Office and was pleased to note I gave it the same score on Untappd which shows some consistency. I understand that these are difficult times for pubs, but I’m hoping that there might be a little more innovation in their beer selections in 2021.

    I was dining with my friend Richard, who bought a wine that was more expensive than my main. He’s very decadent though. The environment was all clean and comfortable, with the venue also being quite a large hotel, so there was a formal element to proceedings, but nothing that was too frightening for me…… Being a creature of habit, I went for my usual dishes, not least because Richard was very adventurous and had venison carpaccio with crispy parsnip beignets. Apparently it was lovely, but I’m not into eating raw deer, so he had the more exotic dishes.

    My starter of salt and pepper squid, which was served on a dollop of chilli mayonnaise. The salt and pepper element was a little lacking, but the squid was well cooked and wasn’t chewy, which is rather a good sign. All very acceptable as a starter.

    This batter on the haddock and chips looks burnt, although it didn’t taste like that and I like some crispiness to the batter anyway. It was a large portion, well presented and had been drained well so that the chips weren’t all moist and annoying. Tartare sauce is one of my favourite things and I think this was home-made, and if it wasn’t, I liked it anyway. The fish was tender and everything was cooked well, so all entirely acceptable again.

    The starter, after discount, was £3.50 and the main was £6.50, so I thought that was sufficiently good value for money. I would come here again, and likely will, as it’s a comfortable environment and I’ve got some confidence that they’ll ensure everyone is satisfied. Richard and me faffed about with their app, but it does pretty much work and let us split the bill and pay separately, without needing to hassle the staff. Applying the discounts involved staff intervention, but this was done efficiently.

    I thought I’d have a little look at TripAdvisor to amuse myself, and the restaurant isn’t quite as well reviewed as I would have thought. Primarily, it’s got the first review that I’ve seen marked by TripAdvisor as “a serious safety incident” and I’m moderately surprised that the hotel hasn’t replied to this. The more recent review of 1/5 for refusing entry to customers coming in at 21:55 seems harsh, if they’re closing at 22:00 it’s not entirely sensible to serve a round at that point. Anyway, having read the reviews I’m less tempted to come back, but I think we still left happy with the price we’d paid. And Richard forgot to apply his £5 welcome discount, so he has to go back to get a free drink. Well, I would, no point in not getting that.

  • London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Air Raid Damage in Norwich)

    London – Lambeth – Imperial War Museum (Air Raid Damage in Norwich)

    From the collections of the Imperial War Museum (© IWM HU 140004), I’ve never seen this photo before. There’s no address on it, but it was taken in Norwich following a Baedeker Raid which took place on 29 April 1942. The man was the owner of the shoe shop which had been destroyed, looking through to see if he could salvage any of his stock.

  • Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    Greater Anglia : Norwich to London Liverpool Street

    My last train journey was from Chesterfield to York in March 2020 and I didn’t expect it would take until August 2020 for me to make another. Norwich railway station looks different to when I last used it, with the ticket gates now left open and unmanned. There’s now directional signage around the concourse and a couple of the food outlets, West Cornwall Pasty and Starbucks, haven’t re-opened, nor has Marks & Spencer. It felt moderately busy, but nowhere near what I would have usually expected for a Monday morning.

    Waiting at platform 2, the new style train which serves the Norwich to London line.

    There was plenty of space for customers on board, just a handful of passengers in each carriage. The power points and on-board screens worked on the train, although it wasn’t doing a very good job of air conditioning and not for the first time this week I muttered to myself that it was too hot.

    Safely at London Liverpool Street railway station, the train arrived dead on time.

    The barriers were operating as usual at the station, with revenue protection officers and police questioning a couple of people as I walked by. So, although there’s no ticket barrier at Norwich and tickets aren’t checked on board, there are still mechanisms to ensure people have paid their fares. The concourse was relatively quiet and someone asked me how they could get out of the railway station, something I didn’t think was particularly challenging, but there we go. Once outside, it became evident to me just how quiet London currently is….

  • Norwich – Drunken Dash and Daring

    Norwich – Drunken Dash and Daring

    This news story is from 1860, when a robbery took place on White Lion Street in Norwich.

    “William Marsham, on bail, was charged with stealing a coat, the property of Mr. George Womack, clothier, White Lion Street. Mr C. Cooper, who prosecuted, said the intent with which the prisoner took the coat did not seem to be a felonious one, and, therefore, with the Recorder’s permission, he should not offer any evidence. The Recorder, addressing the prisoner, said he entirely believed the statement the prisoner made to the policeman, that he had never known a happy moment since he took this coat, and he entirely believed that the prisoner had no felonious intention. That was evident from his going to the shop and putting the coat on before the eyes of all the shopmen. It was a case of drunken dash and daring, and he hoped the prisoner, having placed himself in such jeopardy by his intemperance would be wiser for the future, and abandon a vice which to young men in his position was often the first step to theft. The prisoner was then discharged”.

    I can’t tell whether it was the father or son George Womack, but the former died in 1860 at the age of 72, whilst the son died in the Thorpe Rail Disaster of 1874, a tragedy where 15 people were killed. William Marsham was lodging at a property in Porter’s Square in Norwich a year later, working as a bricklayer, but I can’t work out where he went after 1861.

    But, I do like the pragmatism of the Norwich courts at the time, as well as the phrase “drunken dash and daring”.

  • Norwich – Brewdog (Wings Wednesday)

    Norwich – Brewdog (Wings Wednesday)

    Back to Brewdog, which I’ve written about before, but some of my favourite pubs are still closed and I think this chain has handled things well in recent months. And I like their craft beer. So, I pre-booked a table in advance and this was acknowledged and confirmed around a day later.

    The bar area with the list of beers on the back bar. I took these photos when leaving, at a time when it was quieter, because otherwise it was relatively busy throughout the evening. When entering the bar, there’s a staff member near to the door and they explain how everything is working in terms of hygiene and safety. Customers need to scan a QR code (I won’t mention that Nathan’s Nokia 8210 doesn’t have this facility, so he had to stand and look confused) and that allowed me to give my contact details to comply with Government rules, and there’s also an ordering facility as well on the app. Customers can decide whether to use the app to order, but table service is still offered.

    Another photo of the front bar area.

    My drink was Layer Cake, a pastry stout with layers of flavour including marshmallow and chocolate. Decadent, rich and very sippable. I was also conveniently seated next to a hand sanitiser, which was quite handy given that the food choice for the evening wasn’t the cleanest to eat.

    And, Wings Wednesday, which is either cauliflower or chicken wings for £10 and they keep on bringing them until you tell them not to bring them. Which seems a very good deal. The wings were excellent, evenly coated with a pleasantly flavoured sauce and they were all cooked well. I like blue cheese, but not always blue cheese dip, but this one complemented the chicken wings nicely, and they also brought me over some hot sauce.

    Service was friendly and engaging throughout, everything was brought over with no real delay and the staff seemed to be in control of the whole process. There is an air of professionalism to Brewdog, so the whole efficiency of the process wasn’t unsurprising.

  • Norwich – Cathedral Gates

    Norwich – Cathedral Gates

    I’m not sure that I can recall a time when the Erpingham and Ethelbert Gates have both been closed in the evening, I wonder whether it’s related to the Nelson statue incident.

  • Norwich – King’s Head

    Norwich – King’s Head

    I should have written about this on my blog before, but the King’s Head in Norwich is one of my favourite pubs and is absolutely worthy of its place in the Good Beer Guide. Friendly, warm, welcoming and always with sufficiently interesting beers for me. They’re more on the real ale end of the spectrum than the craft beer end, but the quality is high and the choice is balanced and well thought out.

    The beer list is reduced given the current situation, but there was a coffee stout and this pleased me greatly. OK, the S&P Beano Coffee Stout might not be world-class, but it’s a solid 4/5 on Untappd for me. As usual, perfectly kept and at the appropriate temperature.

    Not that the pub has much choice in the matter, but it’s sad to see the bar billiards table like that.

    The pub was busier than this for much of our stay, but I took the photo of the back bar when people weren’t in it, that makes things easier. The whole health issue was handled well, table service was offered, beer menus at the table, extra drinks offered pro-actively, payment taken at the table, everything clearly laid out. Marvellous, all very professional.

    The front bar, feeling quite empty and there’s now a one-way system operating throughout.

    And more photos of the front bar. As every, a marvellous pub which is understated, professional and a reliable location for a dark beer (and others for customers who so desire). I was tempted as usual by the pork pies, which are back on the menu, but managed to resist on this occasion. But, their pork pies are a culinary delight, served with mustard and pickle…… Ah, it’s good to be back in pubs….

  • Norwich – Nelson’s Statue

    Norwich – Nelson’s Statue

    The statue of Norfolk’s hero, Nelson, in Norwich Cathedral Upper Close. It was installed here in 1847, sculpted by Thomas Milnes. It was attacked by vandals, twice, over recent days. I have no comment to make on my non-political blog, but I’m conscious that this may be an independent attack without political links, so jumping to conclusions would be unhelpful and wouldn’t be relevant here anyway. Events may mean that view is misguided, but we shall see and perhaps it was intended as an attack on the Church of England, the establishment, British history, society in general or the British Empire. I don’t know and that debate can be had elsewhere.

    The rear of the statue.

    The front of the statue.

    When we were standing taking photos, a police car drove by. I thought they might hang around and see why I standing by the statue, but they must have thought I was trustworthy as they drove off (the lights of the police car are just visible going through the Erpingham Gate in the above photo).

  • 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.

  • Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Pair of Walking Figures by Lynn Chadwick)

    Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Pair of Walking Figures by Lynn Chadwick)

    This bronze is by Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) and is in the sculpture garden of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. The design was for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and there were six casts made in 1978, of which this is one. Incidentally, if anyone fancies owning this, one came up for auction (number 2 of 6) in 2018 and reached just under £2.6 million against an estimate of £600,000 to £800,000. That seems like a lot of money to me…..

    Anyway, I have no idea where the other five bronzes are (or indeed if this is the one which sold in 2018), probably mostly in private collections somewhere around the world and surfacing only for occasional exhibitions. These ones were meant to be removed from the Sainsbury collection at the end of 2019, so will likely be gone soon as they’re only on loan from the collection of Denise Coates CBE (the controversial business leader who made money from her betting business) and Richard Smith.

    The figures are quite powerful with their different shaped heads and angular designs.