Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Norfolk

  • Streets of Norwich – Britannia Road

    Streets of Norwich – Britannia Road

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    The first part of this road, when approaching from Kett’s Hill, consists of early twentieth century residential properties.

    Then things become a bit more exciting, with Norwich prison appearing in view. This was formerly the site of the Britannia military barracks, which is where the street takes it name from. The barracks were constructed between 1885 and 1887, with the Royal Norfolk Regiment remaining there until 1959. It was also initially built to be used as a prison and this opened in 1887, meaning that the prison at Norwich Castle could be closed and turned into a museum. When the military moved out in 1959, the prison took over those buildings as well.

    Until just a few months ago, this was the home of the Cafe Britannia, where prisoners were able to get customer service work experience. I’m not sure what happened, but the entire project collapsed, with the cafe being left empty (before Covid-19).

    The former entrance to the barracks. At this point, the road splits in two directions, one to the left and the other to the right, but both are apparently still named Britannia Road.

    The road to the left heads back down to Gurney Road, although is also where the road to the right goes to as well so it’d be hard for anyone to get too lost here. Although I can think of a couple of people I know who probably would.

    There’s quite a rural feel to this part of the road.

    As an aside, it’s worth walking down Britannia Road to get this view over the city.

    The prison from the viewpoint.

  • Streets of Norwich – St. John Maddermarket

    Streets of Norwich – St. John Maddermarket

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    For some reason that I’ve never fathomed out, I’ve always liked this street, which is dominated by St. John the Baptist, Maddermarket Church and its sprawling churchyard. The name of the street is derived from the time that madder, which is a root that produced a red dye, was sold from the north end of the churchyard in the thirteenth century. From then on, the name has stuck and this street connects St. Andrew’s Street with Pottergate. More on the church in another post though…..

    The building on the left is number 21-23, two buildings constructed in the seventeenth century which have been two separate shops for some time, with the left-hand side property having once been a pub.

    I’ve been intrigued by this graveyard on the right-hand side, as it’s raised up and I know that in York and in other cities this was simply because they kept trying to put burials in the space they had, and the ground level rose. However, the church itself is also higher, because it was fitted into a limited amount of land. But, having written that, there was an archaeological dig which found bodies from the seventeenth century underneath now what is the above road, so the graveyard was once lower.

    I hadn’t noticed this until today, it’s a water pump from the nineteenth century which is made out of iron and is now missing its handle.

    A view down the street towards St. Andrew’s Street.

    Another thing that I haven’t noticed before, this notes where the Golden Lion public house was located between 1783 and 1965. It was also the location of Golden Lion yard, which was also swept away when the pub was demolished.

    This is where the pub was. Replaced by yet another bland and generic building. Although to be fair, there’s a photo of the pub here and it didn’t look that exciting either. But I prefer the look of the pub.

  • Streets of Norwich – Rigbys Court

    Streets of Norwich – Rigbys Court

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    Rigby’s Court, which is the small lane which leads from Bethel Street to St. Giles Street. There’s a small plaque (below) which is on the right-hand side property.

    The lane takes its name from Dr. Edward Rigby (1717-1821) who was the Mayor of Norwich in 1805 who lived in the building. As the plaque notes, “he was associated with the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital for fifty years from its foundation in 1771, and was responsible for introducing vaccination into the city”.

    There’s an opened up area along the lane, which are numbers 4-9. Number 4 was made a listed building in 1972, although I’m unsure why, it’s marked as being an early nineteenth century residential building that is now offices, of which Norwich has many…..

    The building on the left, number 3, is an early nineteenth century residential property which became a printers and looks like it’s back to being a residential property again.

    Not much has changed since the 1880s, although before 1850, it was known as Pitt Lane.

  • Streets of Norwich – Queen Street

    Streets of Norwich – Queen Street

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    Queen Street is located off of Tombland and connects with Redwell Street. I’m omitting one building of interest on this street from this post, which is the Church of St. Mary the Less, which has an intriguing story of its own.

    This is the Old Bank of England Court. The building to the right-hand side of the court is a former residential property built in the late seventeenth century, which is now used as offices. It is also where the offices of Edward Boardman were once located, a well-known (well, locally, I don’t think he was an international superstar in the nineteenth century) Norwich architect. The building to the left-hand side of the court is similar in once being residential, although was first built in the early eighteenth century.

    The name of the court is because the Bank of England had offices here between 1826 and 1852, a regional location to try and bring some stability to the country’s banks, which had gone through a period of instability. They gave up with that idea in the 1850s, which the Bank of England operations being centralised back in London.

    This is handy at the Boardman Building at the Bank of England Court (which is a different location to the nearby Boardman House), the history of a building on a panel at the front. More places should do this.

    Looking back down Queen Street towards the Ethelbert Gateway, with the Church of St. Mary the Less visible on the left-hand side.

    The building on the left is Seebohm House, the former Haldinstein’s Boot and Shoe Manufactory, which later became the Bally shoe factory.

    Another view of Seebohm House, with the large gateway.

    Norwich Brewdog, I wish it was open as usual…..

    Brewdog is at 1 Queen Street, which was built as a residential property in the late seventeenth century, although it retains its fifteenth century undercroft. It has been a licensed premises since the beginning of the twentieth century, with CAMRA noting that over the last few decades that it has traded as “Hideout, Knowhere, Noir, Indulge, Hogshead, City Ale & Wine Bar, Gundry Whites Cafe Bar, Drummonds and Whites”. And as I’ve learned to love Brewdog, so hopefully it’ll stay there for some time….

    Next to Brewdog is the Bank of Scotland at number 3 Queen Street, which also has a fifteenth century undercroft.

    This is now Revolución de Cuba, which is the sister bar to Revolution, which is located over the road. I remember this as Yates, although it has been a Slug and Lettuce.

  • Streets of Norwich – St. George’s Street (Colegate to Blackfriars Bridge)

    Streets of Norwich – St. George’s Street (Colegate to Blackfriars Bridge)

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    St. George’s Street is a little complex as chunks of it have been renamed over the centuries and the route at the north has changed. And, it once wasn’t called St. George’s Street, it was instead known as Gildengate and it runs along the line of a Viking defensive ditch and bank which was constructed in around 900.

    As it’s such a long street, this post is just the section between Colegate and Blackfriars Bridge. Moderately surprisingly for such an historic street, there’s only one listed building in this section of road, suggesting how much the buildings have been mauled about and demolished over the last couple of centuries. This section of the street was probably more often known as Bridge Street in the nineteenth century, rather than St. George’s Street.

    This was historically a built-up area of the street, but is now St. George’s Green. Near to the river, the Blackfriars Tavern was a pub which traded between the mid-eighteenth century until its final closure in 1911. It was also known as the Cellar House and the Friars Tavern, and probably overlooked the river.

    Norwich Playhouse, which is housed in what was built as a nineteenth century maltings building, which became a theatre in 1995. This former building is set back a little, with the roadside section once taken by the Crown public house, which closed in 1928.

    A former shop, now used as offices. Somewhere behind these buildings there was a pub known as the Cork Cutters Arms, which was a licensed premises between around the early 1860s until 1898.

    Cafe Pure on the right-hand side.

    The Last Wine Bar on the left. Somewhere on the left-hand side of the photo was the Two Quarts pub, which traded between the 1760s and was closed down in 1907. It sounds like a pub of some considerable character and it had rooms to rent.

    The building to the left, numbers 25, 27 and 29, are the only listed properties on this section of the street. They date to the sixteenth century, which were added to in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although the shopfronts are from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The frontages of the buildings have been heavily restored, the photos George Plunkett took in the 1930s show much more character. Although the buildings would have probably fallen down if they weren’t restored…. Number 25 was a cafe for quite a period, run by Alfred and Emily Aldridge in the late 1930s and all of 25-29 is now By Appointment, which I think was a cafe and is now a hotel.

  • Norwich – Blackfriars Bridge

    Norwich – Blackfriars Bridge

    There has been a bridge across the Wensum River at this site since St Margaret Newebrigge was constructed in 1289. It was replaced with a stone bridge in 1587 and then a more substantial stone bridge in 1783. This latter bridge was needed as the previous construction had three narrow arches which was causing problems with the current of the river. The bridge is also sometimes known as St. George’s Bridge, and in the past, New Bridge.

    File:Blackfriars Bridge Norwich.JPG

    I didn’t take a photo of the actual bridge, but this is the one from Wikipedia until I do take one….. The current bridge is the 1783 bridge, built by John de Carle, designed by Sir John Soane and made with Portland stone with iron balustrades on the side.

    Photo: © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, and there are some more images at http://collections.soane.org/OBJECT1804. This is Soane’s design and at the bottom right is the signature of John de Carle, the local builder. The bridge cost £1,250 and the design means that the stones are tightened together by use of the iron clamps.

    This bridge was only fully pedestrianised a few years ago, although there was once a separate iron footbridge on one side which was removed in the 1970s when single direction traffic only was implemented.

    The bridge was one of the earlier constructions designed by Soane, who is better known today for designing the Bank of England, although there’s not much left of his work there. Soane put in a design for the Hellesdon Bridge in 1785, clearly hopeful after the success of the Blackfriars Bridge, but the design by James Frost was chosen instead.

    The view to the east from the bridge, the building to the right is the Norwich University of the Arts.

    And a view to the west, with the building to the left also being part of the Norwich University of the Arts and Dukes Palace Wharf behind that.

  • Norwich – Line of River Cockey

    Norwich – Line of River Cockey

     

    Located at the top end of Westlegate is this stone marker which notes the former route of the Great Cockey river, but also mentioning the now lost Muspole, Dalymond and Freshflete rivers in Norwich.

    The blue stones start at the marker and then head off down Westlegate. The river once started at what is now All Saints Green, which is at the end of Westlegate, down Westlegate and then flowed down under Bedford Street and joined the Wensum River opposite where Norwich Playhouse is located today.

    Flowing down….

    There’s the site of the former McDonald’s on the right-hand side, and the blue carries on to the lower end of Westlegate. I hope that road reconstruction doesn’t cause chunks of the blue to go missing over the next few years, as it’s a rather lovely idea. There was a small nearby river, called the Little Cockey, which ran pretty much parallel, but didn’t join the Great Cockey.

  • Streets of Norwich – Haymarket (East Side)

    Streets of Norwich – Haymarket (East Side)

    Part of my Streets of Norwich project….

    I’ve already posted about Haymarket, but there are some buildings on the east side which are of particular interest.

    The Haymarket Chambers building, designed by the local architect George Skipper. Now one of the two Pret outlets in the city, it was previously used by Snob, a clothing retailer.

    Looking down towards the Market Place, the rest of Haymarket is on the left-hand side of this photo.

    The entrance to the Lamb Inn, which is one of the oldest pubs in the city and some argue that it might be the second oldest in Norwich (the Adam and Eve on Bishopgate dates back to the mid-thirteenth century).

    The original part of the Primark building, once used by BHS when they were in the city.

    The new Primark extension on the left, which has been open for a few months. Well, it’s shut now with the virus, but, other than that….. The archaeological report from that process is an interesting read as well. There was no real loss with the building they pulled down, a bland modern affair, which was used by Wallis and Dorothy Perkins.

    This is number 3/4 Haymarket, now used by Fatface, but it has a substantial heritage and it retains its fifteenth century undercroft. I haven’t yet got to go on one, but there are tours of the building as part of the Heritage Open Days Weekends (and there’s a series of photos on-line at http://www.oldcity.org.uk/norwich/tours/curathouse/index.php). There are still oak panelled rooms inside from when this was a residential property, lived in at one stage by John Curat in the sixteenth century, with the building now often referred to as Curat’s House.

  • Norwich – Bell Pub Re-Opening

    Norwich – Bell Pub Re-Opening

    Unfortunately, rather than this being about the pub’s opening after the lockdown, this post relates to the re-opening of the Bell pub in 2017, when they had just completed a major refurbishment. This saw one of the downstairs seating areas removed and turned into toilets, some of the former hotel rooms (long before Wetherspoon operated the location) being turned in seating space and the closure of the second floor toilets.

    The pub was open only for training purposes, with every visitor allowed a free meal and two drinks.

    The training menu.

    The information sheet given to customers.

    The food I ordered, the half chicken and chips, with coleslaw and peri peri sauce. Unfortunately, Wetherspoons don’t sell this any more. Or indeed the pastrami bagel, but I won’t start about that again.

    The new part of the pub, which I think is in the former hotel bedrooms as the windows suggest a series of smaller rooms. More recently, this area was used by the bank below for offices.

    The same room as above, but looking the other way.

    A long seating area and looking back into the same room as in the above two photos.

    I liked this area, as there are power points along here, but last year they removed the seats, I assume to give staff better access. Shame though, it was a quiet area to sit.

    One of the booths, complete with power points, USB chargers and a dimmer for the light.

    Another view of the new area of the pub.

    And the outdoors seating area.

    The trial opening was all very smooth, the food and drink was served as expected and I was particularly delighted at the very cheap price of free….. Although it gave the pub more seats, it still isn’t enough as it’s hard to get a seat at lunch-time such is its popularity. I have no idea when it’ll re-open after the virus, but I imagine it’ll be popular again soon enough.

  • Norwich – Wagamama

    Norwich – Wagamama

    This post circulating on Facebook reminded me that I haven’t posted much about wagamama in Norwich. Incidentally, the correct answer is Greggs, JD Wetherspoon (despite their boss) and wagamama……

    Anyway, back to a Norwich before the virus….

    wagamama freshly made juices do have a richness of flavour, but they don’t always look the most amazing.

    My usual dishes in wagamama are firecracker chicken and chicken katsu (and perhaps the tori kara age as a starter), but this is the spicy bream donburi which I think only usually appears as a special. And, beautiful fish which was tender and soft, with a heap of pea sprouts which added texture. Slightly hidden away in the photo are the shredded carrots and rice, with a side of kimchee sort of visible at the back of the photo.

    Seating in wagamama can be a little bit communal and, despite the slightly highly prices, it usually seems busy. It’s one of those restaurant chains which doesn’t have a huge amount of competition, unless the seemingly endless number of Italian dining options. The food usually arriving at different time is usually the cause of complaints at the restaurant, with the service being perhaps their strongest element.

    This is all making me hungry again, but I’m sure that wagamama will be back open soon….