Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Norfolk

Streets of Norwich – Bishopgate and Norwich Lower School Gone By

Linked to my Streets of Norwich – Goldsworths Buildings post…..

John kindly got in touch regarding Norwich Lower School, which is a little further down Bishopgate. This is relevant as pupils had to walk by the former Goldsworths Buildings to get to the football pitch near to the river.

There will be a longer interview in the new year on this, but John mentioned:

“The Lower School was built in the old fashioned style common to state schools in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with high windows and a pitched roof. Think of it as an elongated rectangle divided laterally into three classrooms. The room nearest Bishopgate was the 2 J classroom (Mr Christopher Smith, known by us as Smithy), then Form 2 (Mrs Edith Stephenson, the headmaster’s stepmother, who we referred to as Ma Stevo) and furthest back was Form 1 (Mrs Spruce, known irreverently as Fanny – we had no concept of the more slangy meaning of this word as it is often used nowadays, it was just a female name as used by Jane Austen for Fanny Price). We were turned out at break times on to the School Field. The loos were also outside and froze up in the cold spells which happened every winter in those days, accompanied by snow and ice. The whole setup would have failed a modern school buildings inspection and the place was demolished after the next Lower School was built in (I think) the mid 1960s.”

I hadn’t known much about the old Lower School, which was replaced in either the late 1970s or early 1980s with the current building. There was an arson attack in something like 1989 which caused significant damage, but the general structure of the building was restored, although extended.

Unfortunately, the late and great George Plunkett doesn’t have any photos of the school in its current or former incarnation, so I’ll go on the hunt elsewhere for those.

December 18, 2023
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Sausages from Lobster Lane

Returning briefly to my series of posts from newspapers of 200 years ago this week…. This is from the Norwich Mercury and it’s an advert that was just a little intriguing, bearing in mind that ‘eructative’ means ‘belching’. It reads:

“W. GREENWOOD, Lobster Lane, Norwich.

Highly sensible and grateful for past favours, most earnestly solicits a continuance of the same, respectfully notifying to his friends and the public, that he has commenced making sausages for the season, assuring them that they are made of the best meats, and spiced in a process peculiar to himself, and possessing a flavour inherent in them the most delicious to the taste and depriving them of that eructative quality so unpleasant to the palate, which is generally the case after eating sausages. Are only to be had at his old establishment, in the Lobster Lane.

NB, home cured hams, blacked breasts, tongues, &c, having that delicacy of flavour and fine tenderness of texture for which they have been held up and so highly esteemed.”

As an aside, the &c is the old printing version of etc. The sausages of the early nineteenth century certainly seemed to have been of a dubious quality if this advert can be believed. Lobster Lane is the little stretch of road that connects Pottergate with Bedford Street, an area of the city where the Saxons were present as a kiln from that period was found on the street. The street, I assume, was named after the Lobster pub which was once located here. Unfortunately, I can’t find out much about Mr Greenwood, but I would have rather liked to try these decadent sausages of his.

November 25, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – The End and the Final Results

Over the last few months, I’ve visited all 29 of the food stalls at Norwich market, initially with my friend Nathan and then my long time market food eating friend James took over to assist. This was all a marvellous idea, the variety, quality and value of the stalls has really surprised me and made me feel just a little guilty for having gone to same chip stall for the best part of twenty years. There are dessert stalls, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, cafes, chips shops and plenty more besides. I fully recommend a visit to Norwich market for any visitor, or indeed resident, of Norwich to see just how much variety is here.

Honourable mentions first. There were many friendly figures at the market, but the one that stands out for me is back in week three when our social butterfly Nathan got chatting to the really lovely owner of Chimneys. Given that he had just picked me up from Luton Airport (Nathan, not the guy running the market stall) I was impressed at his socialising skills. Unfortunately, Chimneys is the only stall that has closed during this process, I do hope the lovely guy running it thinks about another similar project in the future. Back to Nathan and his socialising, when we went to the Taste of Shanghai he already knew the owner as he had had a chat with him in the street or something. Who chats to people in the street? Also honourable mention to Deb’s for making a bacon sandwich just I like it, namely not what I consider to be raw as some places serve it. And, to the venue that might have surged into first place if they had offered us hot pies with gravy, Walsingham Farm Shop. The theatre of the Go Crepes stall was also a delight to watch.

After much ruminating, this means that the results are in and I’ve decided to name my favourite three outlets as my two loyal readers have been waiting for this. I haven’t consulted Nathan or James on this as I’ve decided it’ll all be about me 🙂 For anyone who wants to see all the photos from every visit, they’re at https://www.flickr.com/photos/julianwhite-uk/albums/72177720305738387. I’m also conscious that some new stalls have opened recently, we’ll visit them in 2024.

Now, after much wittering, my top three!

3RD PLACE: COCINA MIA

I had to think about this for a while given that there were so many positive moments. I liked the friendliness, the variety of the menu and also the depth of flavour of the food. There were positive little touches here, including the free water for customers and the comfortable seating area. The empanada I ordered was generously filled with pieces of chorizo and chicken, all very tender.

2ND PLACE : LUCY’S FISH AND CHIPS

In second place is a stall which means quite a lot to me since I’ve visited so much, Lucy’s Fish and Chips. Their customer service is on point, they manage to deal with their queues in an efficient manner which is a challenge given how busy they are. The food is of a consistently high standard and it’s always a delight to come here. Their prices are some of the lowest on the market, there’s a seating area and they have scraps to put on top of the chips.

And that means, in first place is…..

1ST PLACE : BODEGA

Just look at that, a packed pastrami sandwich which tasted as good as it looks. The service is friendly, efficient and it feels all very on-trend and customer focused. It’s not necessarily the cheapest option at the market, but the quality is so high that it justifies its price. For extra excitement, Toby’s Beer is located just one market row away to enjoy this decadent sandwich with a craft beer. So very lovely.

Many thanks to Nathan for his help, always merrily chatting to stall holders and selflessly going for a different option to broaden out the reviews, whilst although James has often been inspired to have the same food as me, his photos have added a huge amount to the blog posts. Thanks also to everyone on the market, I’ve very much enjoyed this project.

November 9, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 29 and Go Crepes

Here we are with the final instalment (for now) of my plan to eat at every food stall at Norwich Market, this time it’s Go Crepes.

There was a friendly welcome from the smartly dressed team member, who added some theatre to the whole proceedings with his style, not just in terms of his appearance but also in how he was preparing the food. There’s a choice between sweet and savoury crepes, with plenty of choice in terms of the ingredients. They accept cards and cash here, with everything looking spotlessly clean.

I went for sweet and here’s the start of preparing my Nutella, banana and coconut crepe.

Flipped over.

Here we go, neatly presented and generously filled with ingredients including lots of Nutella, a whole banana and plenty of coconut.

James went savoury with cheese, pepperoni and egg. This is his photo, as the better quality of the image perhaps makes obvious. That’s his hand too.

James was suitably impressed, with the fillings being of a generous amount with his, plenty of cheese, four large slices of pepperoni and an egg. If I’m being honest, this isn’t necessarily my go to type of food as I find it a bit stodgy, but it was one of the best crepes that I’ve had. I felt that they represented very reasonable value for money, they tasted of a good quality and I liked the engagement and theatre from the team member. This was a marvellous visit to end of this project and there will shortly be a final results post 🙂 Oh the anticipation for my two loyal blog readers.

November 9, 2023
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Creation of a Lifeboat Service in Norfolk

Another post in my series of what was happening in Norwich 200 years ago this week.

In November 1823, the Norwich Mercury published this letter:

“Sir – We beg to request your attendance at a Meeting to be held at the Shirehall, at Norwich, at Two o’clock, on Saturday, the 22nd November, for the purpose of forming an Association for saving the Lives of Shipwrecked Mariners on the whole line of the Coast of Norfolk.

The object of this Association will be raise Funds sufficient to place Life Boats and the Apparatus for saving Life, invented by Captain Manby and others, on different points where they may appear to be likely to be serviceable, and sufficient to give due recompense to persons as shall assist in cases of Shipwreck. Should you be unable to attend, may we beg that you will signify whether you are disposed to support such an Association by letter addressed to JJ Gurney, Esq, Norwich.

Signed by John Wodehouse, Thomas William Cook, Edmond Wodehouse, Suffield.”

The Norfolk Association for Saving the Lives of Shipwrecked Mariners was successfully founded and it became part of the RNLI in December 1857. The first lifeboat had been designed by Lionel Lukin in 1785 who patented what he called the world’s first unsinkable boat. There were some forward thinkers in Norfolk, as the RNLI wasn’t created until 4 March 1824. The readers of this letter to the newspaper in 1823 helped to create an institution which has saved hundreds of lives along the Norfolk coastline over the last 200 years.

November 9, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 28 and Walsingham Farm Shop

And we’re in the final week of eating at every food stall at Norwich Market and today’s visit was to the Walsingham Farm Shop. James and I are visiting the final stall tomorrow and our job here is done.

As a spoiler, I think it’s fair to say that this stall managed to confuse both James and I. Initially we thought that this display was misted up because of the warm pastries and pies inside.

The team member came over to clean the front of the display for us, which should have made it obvious to us that the food inside would not necessarily be warm as we thought it might be. But, look at how tempting this food selection is, this is all very me and my expectations were high.

I went for the turkey, stuffing and bacon pie which cost £4.95 and it was served cold. It’s fair to say that I had managed to be confused with the hot food signs at the unit. I’ve looked back at photos of this stall (and noted another customer has had this issue in a review that I hadn’t noticed earlier) and there appears to be a separate display board at the rear of the unit. The moral of this story is that don’t assume your customers aren’t idiots 🙂

And here’s the photo that James took, which is notably better than mine and so I’ll use this as the thumbnail once again.

The pie was of a high quality but we did think just how good this would have been hot with gravy. There’s a small seating area at the stall and everything was clean and organised with some condiments available. Anyway, the pie was packed with the promised ingredients with the turkey being tender and the bacon adding flavour, and some cranberry sauce at the base of the pie. All really rather lovely and I felt that I received perfectly reasonable value for £4.95.

Anyway, we were just about to leave when someone came with a hot pie, gravy and mash. They must have either been cleverer than us, more aware of their surroundings or it might have been explained to them differently. The shame about this is that if they had sold me a hot pie with gravy this would have been a contender for the best market stall when I announce the results to my two loyal readers tomorrow. But they didn’t, so they’re not.

November 8, 2023
Streets of Norwich – Albert Place

Part of my Streets of Norwich project…. [Updated in November 2023]

Albert Place is a small road located off of Telegraph Lane West, which is visible on the above map coming off of Albert Road, but the top section is no longer there and is underneath some more modern housing.

This is all that is left now, so there’s not much that I can write here.

But, there is a story about two former residents of this street, Mr. W. Scott and his wife, who both incurred head injuries from a major railway accident which took place on 10 September 1874. An express train running from London to Great Yarmouth hit a mail train from Great Yarmouth to Norwich at some speed near Thorpe Junction, given some communication confusion caused by a telegraph clerk. 25 people were killed, including both sets of drivers and firemen, with a further 75 being injured. The disaster led to the introduction Tyer’s Electric Train Tablet, a token based system which made it impossible for two trains to be on the same section of track.

And, as another story, John Abel advertised in the Norwich Mercury on 7 September 1896 the below:

“This is to give notice, that on and after this date I will not be responsible for any debts contracted by my wife, Charlotte Abel.

John Abel, Albert Place, Albert Road, St. Leonard’s Road, Norwich.”

I’m not entirely sure what happened there….

November 7, 2023
Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market – Week 27 and Bread Source

Apologies that Norwich Beer Festival meant that there was no post last week, but I’m pleased to say that there will be two next week and that’s the conclusion of my plan to eat at every food stall at Norwich market. Being honest, I’ve had to get James to rush those two visits in next week before I’m off on another little project.

Bread Source has something of a strong reputation locally with a couple of shops in Norwich and one in Aylsham.

The baked goods were neatly presented and looked appetising. The service was efficient and polite, with the stall accepting cards and cash. I ordered the last pastrami roll, meaning that James was forced to opt for something different, he went for a chicken mayo roll. The roll cost £3.80 and the everything in the stall was clean and tidy.

We’re on week 27 now and I haven’t really queried the quality of any item yet, just a couple have been a little expensive. I’m afraid this is the first one that I thought really wasn’t quite there in terms of the quality if I’m being entirely honest. Let’s compare this with the same product that I purchased at Bodega (and I’ve included that photo at the base of this post for those who don’t follow that link), another market stall, a few weeks ago. There were huge quantities of pastrami in that sandwich whereas this one had just one solitary piece. The roll was just a little dry and the ingredients completely inadequate in quantity for the roll, so the taste was mainly just dry roll. The flavour of the roll was pleasant and the pickle added some texture, but this didn’t really work for me as it just needed more filling. The seeded part of the roll was decent, but the salad element was just a couple of small pieces of lettuce, they hadn’t gone beyond that. It was a Tesco meal deal type of quality and I would have got a snack and a free drink if I had gone there for less than the price here.

This is James’s photo of his chicken salad roll, which had the same issue of being slightly dry and we’re looking here at something that probably wasn’t as good as Greggs would make. Perhaps we got unfortunate and other products are just better, with the doughnuts looking tempting. The main problem here wasn’t necessarily the slightly dried out roll, but really the lack of ingredients within it to try and add moisture, taste and texture. As mentioned, comparing this to Bodega showed the difference in the quality. I’m also not entirely sure that rolls should be left out in the open as they will need to be discarded more quickly if unsold, and I’m not entirely sure that they were doing that here.

But, I have to note that the reviews for Bread Source are very popular and they’ve been going here for several years, so it’s clear that there’s much that they’re doing right. If we had gone earlier and the roll was fresher, with more filling included, this would have likely met my expectations and I would have been merrily praising it. I’ll go again at some point and maybe one of the other products will surprise and delight me. But, for the positives, the service was friendly, the environment was clean and the products looked appetising. And, ultimately, the roll didn’t taste bad, it just wasn’t quite what I expected and I hope that the stall wouldn’t be annoyed at my mentioning that.

Just as a final reminder, this is the Bodega pastrami sandwich. I’m craving one of those now…. And I want to remind my two loyal readers that I’ve been impressed with nearly every other food stall at Norwich market, so I want to end on that positive note.

October 31, 2023
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Inquest at Windmill Pub Following Suicide

Another in my series of posts featuring articles from 200 years ago this week. This one is on a subject that I’ve written about before, which is the wave of mental health issues that were being reported at the time, a reminder this isn’t some new situation as a few people suggest. The article reads:

“Monday last an inquest was held at the Windmill public house, in the parish of St. Michael at Thorn, before Mr William Bell, coroner, on view of the body of Joseph Lindsey, aged 68, who hanged himself. Jurors’ verdict, non compos mentis.”

I’ve tried to delve a little into this man’s life, he was born on 4 August 1754, the son of John and Anne Lindsey. At the time of the death he lived in the St. Stephen parish of the city and he was buried on 4 November 1823 at St Stephen’s Church in Norwich. This is the church which is today a main route into the Chantry shopping centre and I don’t know if anyone purchased a gravestone for Joseph, but it isn’t there now if they did. Burials for suicides were complex at the time, but there doesn’t seem anything different about this one judging from the church register. Such a tragedy, but at least his name hasn’t been entirely lost to history, although the story behind his life might well have been.

Incidentally, the Windmill pub was located at 24 Ber Street and was damaged during an air raid in 1942, finally being demolished in 1970.

October 31, 2023
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Robbery at White Lion in Drayton and a Knife Attack in Norwich

And the latest in my series of posts relating to things that happened in the news 200 years ago. I’m constantly surprised at just how much crime there was in Norfolk at this time, the newspapers have some quite violent crimes reported and there were no shortage of robberies. I’m intrigued at this one as there doesn’t seem to be much about the White Lion in Drayton on-line (the authoritative resource at https://www.norfolkpubs.co.uk/norfolkd/drayton/draytwl.htm has limited information on the pub).

The article reads:

“On Monday night last, between the hours of 12 and one o’clock, an attempt was made to enter the White Lion public house, at Drayton, by breaking through a brick wall in the back part of the premises 18 inches in thickness, ten inches in depth & two feet & an inch in breadth, which the thieves had nearly effected, when they were overheard by Mr. Howard, the landlord, who saw three men run away from the place.”

Can I just mention the detail of the journalism where the width of the wall was given to quite a high degree of accuracy. I also referred to violent crime and the article above in the newspaper was this one:

“Yesterday se’nnight, soon after eight o’clock, some evil disposed person threw with great violence, a large case knife through the shop window of No. 16 Dove Lane, without doubt to inflict some deadly wound upon some one, the wretched miscreant immediately fled and mixed with a crowd in the market-place and so evaded pursuit. The knife feel very near one of the ladies of the shop.”

Firstly, I’ve never heard of the word ‘sennight’ before, but it apparently is an archaic word for ‘a week’. Secondly, this is an horrendous crime and would make the national news if it happened today. There’s this temptation to believe that crime is somehow a recent innovation, but I can’t help thinking that it must have been a lawless and frightening time to live in Norwich.

October 31, 2023