Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Norfolk

  • Thetford – Church of the Holy Sepulchre

    This priory was founded in 1148 and it takes its name from the Augustinian order of the Holy Sepulchre, of which there are no other remains in the country. The order didn’t have the wealth of other religious establishments, such as St. Mary’s Priory, and failed to grow in size and power. They did own the comb of Thomas Becket though as one of their most holiest of relics.

    The Reformation inevitably wasn’t kind to the order  and the building was seized by the Crown and the order dissolved in 1536. The nave survived and was turned into a barn, but the structure of the building continued to decline.

    This entrance was built in the eighteenth century when the building was used as a barn, and then subsequently blocked off. Parts of the building were also used as ornamental gardens.

    There was a lot of structural work going on when I visited in 2018, with some of the information signs being inaccessible. The site is now managed by the English Heritage, with no charge being made for admission.

  • Thetford – Thetford Grammar School

    Thetford Grammar School is, as the plaque notes, one of the oldest schools in the country. It has been educating children for over 1,400 years, which is quite a claim for any educational establishment to have.

    The actual date of the school’s foundation is rather unclear, which is inevitable given the sort of periods of history that are being referred to. There are some who claim it was founded in 631AD as it’s known that Sigebert, the King of the Angles, wanted a school creating in his court.

    Some date the school to the late eleventh century and relate the school to being run by Herbert de Losinga. He is an important figure in Norfolk as he was the first Bishop of Norwich, but he had previously been the Bishop of Thetford. The Cathedral of Thetford, which is a strange concept to write, existed from 1072 to 1094 and Thetford Grammar School was built on the site of the building.

    The school had some turbulent times around the period of Reformation, but it continued in operation in its one room until the late eighteenth century. The facilities were improved at that point, in conjunction with the Victorian Girls’ Grammar School which was opposite, with the two schools later merging.

    Perhaps one of the most well-known of the school’s former students, and I’m sure many would disagree, is Thomas Paine. A controversial figure who went from a quiet upbringing in Thetford to being one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, before he upset lots of Americans with his religious views.

  • Thetford – Captain Mainwaring Statue

    This statue of Captain Mainwaring from Dad’s Army was unveiled in 2010 and it was located next to the Anchor Hotel in Thetford, where many of the actors stayed when filming. This was a wonderful (although admittedly a little run down) eighteenth century building which appeared in the opening scene of the first episode of Dad’s Army, so it was a very suitable location.

    There had been a hotel and pub on the site for 400 years, so Breckland District Council bought the site and knocked the hotel down. The site is now home to a bland Travelodge, but not to worry, they’ve put a plaque up in the hotel to note the area’s history. And at least the area is decently landscaped now.

    A close-up of the statue and visitors to the area can sit next to it on the bench. The statue was unveiled in the presence of Bill Pertwee, who sadly died in 2013, who played the ARP Warden Hodges in the series.

  • Downham Market – Whalebone

    This JD Wetherspoon pub opened in March 2018 and it was the only one in Norfolk which I hadn’t been to. It’s a relatively large pub and a couple of other publicans in Downham Market have blamed it for closing down their premises. It was busy when we visited and slightly grubby, although staff seemed to be doing their best.

    The pub as it is now is formed of two buildings, the taller building on the left is a former residential property, whilst the right hand-side part of the building has been trading as a pub since the 1740s. The pub name comes from the local whale trade and there was a whalebone placed outside of the pub in the late nineteenth century.

    The interior of part of the pub, it still looks modern and contemporary with the restoration of the building seeming sensitive. There are some narrow stairs in the pub, perhaps the narrowest that I’ve seen in a Wetherspoons conversion.

    My standard option of a chicken wrap and I still bemoan the lack of pastrami bagel on the menu. The presentation was slightly messy, but the food tasted fine and represented the usual good value for money. It was also brought over promptly along with the lemonade that I’d ordered via the app. There were also numerous different elements to the building with some private seating areas. The pub seems quite badly reviewed on-line for a JD Wetherspoon outlet, but I found everything acceptable.

  • King’s Lynn – Lattice House

    It’s a few years now since JD Wetherspoon sold off the Lattice House in King’s Lynn, which I thought was just a little unfortunate as it was one of my favourite JDW pubs. It made sense though since they have the large Globe Hotel just around the corner and probably didn’t need two pubs so close together.

    But then something potentially rather impressive happened after a short spell under a different pub operator, the building was rebranded as the Bishops Dining Rooms and the whole concept seemed very much in keeping with the historic building. The south end of the building had been in use as an inn since at least 1714, so it can claim some considerable heritage.

    And then they did something quite bizarre. They decided to ban young people. Not children to create a slightly quieter and relaxed dining environment, but they banned people in their early 20s. Somehow, and perhaps this could only happen in Britain, it was thought that people in their early 20s couldn’t enjoy a decent dining experience.

    And, the rest is of course history. As soon as that decision was made, it was perhaps inevitable that the ill feeling caused would lead to the restaurant being considerably less busy than it might otherwise have been. Particularly irritating when the restaurant actually seemed to have been pitched so well in terms of price, decoration and menu choice.

    Anyway, that’s not really relevant, what is relevant is that the Lattice House name is now coming back and the restaurant is being restored into being a pub once again. The new owners have confirmed they don’t have a problem with younger people, so the age limits have been dropped. So I’ll make an effort to visit in the next few weeks……

  • Norwich – KindaKafe Tour

    Steve kindly organised a tour for 24 of us to visit the hidden rooms under KindaKafe in Norwich. Twelve members of Hike Norfolk went down at 19:00 and then the other twelve members went down at 20:00. I was in the latter group and was fortunate to have an extended tour which went on for one hour and forty minutes.

    In short, the property was once lived and worked in by weavers, with the area to the rear being a courtyard. The building up of Castle Meadow meant that the ground level rose and the old property was extended upwards and a new frontage was constructed onto what was then known as Castle Ditches. So the courtyard disappeared under the new building and the old rooms became used as storage areas for Ponds the shoe shop.

    Down one flight of stairs, this is the old first floor of the property, the windows are of the room where the weaving would once have taken place. This is the back of the property, which would have overlooked the courtyard.

    Two flights of stairs down from where we started and this is the old ground floor of the house that was built here. The window frame is more recent, but is in the same place as the original window.

    Inside the former living area of the house which is where the weavers would have lived. The floor above this is where they would have worked.

    The ceiling of the property’s former ground floor, which has seen better days….

    Old graffiti on the wall, seemingly dating to 1739. There’s a similar piece of graffiti in Norwich Cathedral which appears to be representative of a religious building, that’s my best guess for this as well.

    An old bed, it’s thought that this was used when the basement was an air raid shelter during the Second World War.

    And a desk lamp from the same period.

    A separate undercroft area under a different section of the building. The strange collection of items are related to the escape rooms which have recently been opened as an attraction.

    This door comes out on to Castle Meadow. All this history that I’ve walked straight by for years without even thinking about….

    The rear of the building opens out into a courtyard area.

    And our tour also came out opposite the Cosy Club and right near to Greggs. Which is very lovely indeed.

    The guide was marvellous, she was engaging and knowledgeable and managed to keep talking for over 100 minutes on the topic. During this time she was never boring and didn’t seem to be tempted to move into the realms of making things up for effect, so there was solid history behind her dialogue. This tour is booked up for some months, and rightfully so given just how much heritage there is to see. I had expected the evening to be interesting, but I hadn’t expected to see this much or for the guide to be so engaging.

  • Norwich – Old Library Wood Sculptures

    These beautiful wooden sculptures and carvings have appeared in Old Library Wood in Norwich since I last walked through it around ten days ago. They look marvellous and I hope no idiot damages them, as it has been a problem area for some years. It’s nice to see that some people are making an effort to make the area visually more attractive.

  • Norwich – Fatso’s

    It’s many years since Fatso’s left Norwich city centre, when they closed their Prince of Wales Road location. This was then turned into Lost, a nightclub, and then more recently it has become Popworld, not somewhere that I am particularly engaged with….

    Anyway, the chain is back in the city, on the site that was previously Artorio’s, although I think that the owners are the same. I might visit at some point when it opens, just to check if it’s as I remember….

  • Norwich – Castle Mall – Veeno

    This is Norwich’s exciting new Italian restaurant in the Castle Mall, which has managed to close after just a few weeks. I thought something was wrong when I noted that bloggers were being chucked free meals to review it. I don’t set the bar very high on getting free stuff, but at least my feedback is for the restaurant, hotel and so on directly.

    The restaurant is apparently re-opening, so I have no idea what’s happened and nor does it seem does the EDP….

  • Norwich – Christmas Decoration at Chapelfield

    I’m typing this in January, but since this Christmas decoration is still at Chapelfield it doesn’t feel inappropriate to post this. Anyway, this random photo is of the giant bauble outside of Chapelfield, and I think it looks rather impressive. Sad to see that the nearby Carluccio’s has now closed, it would have been a good view for their diners to look out on.