Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • Southwold – Lord Nelson

    Southwold – Lord Nelson

    I wanted to visit the Lord Nelson in Southwold as it’s the only pub in the town which is listed in the Good Beer Guide. I had half suspected a queue, as it was around 12:15, but I loitered outside the pub and a staff member came to welcome me in. For the first time, my phone really didn’t like the QR code for the NHS login, and despite some considerable efforts on my behalf to get it to work, we resorted to pen and paper in the end. I then nearly broke the hand sanitiser as it was a bit complex, so I concluded the pub must be used to more decadent and intellectual guests.

    The drinks menu, inevitably biased towards Adnams as they own the pub and their brewery is around the corner. The service was all timely and friendly, with the order taken at the table and there was an option to set up a tab.

    There are only six tables outside in the pub’s beer garden and I managed to get the second, meaning that there were four free. I decided, to be fair to the pub, that I’d leave when the tables all got filled, as they all seated four people and the pub might lose four lunches if I blocked their table. I liked that they never rushed me, never made me feel unwelcome and it all worked out perfectly timewise. I left after around 45 minutes and a couple tried to get a table for food just as I left, so everyone was a winner there.

    The Blackshore Stout from Adnams, which I rate reasonably highly as it’s creamy and chocolatey. And, just so Nathan is pleased, it was served at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.

    The pub is well reviewed and the pricing is a little towards the higher end for food, but nothing dramatic. As Basil Fawlty says, “you’re a bit stuck if you don’t like Adnams” (well, he said duck, but Adnams fits better here) on the beer front, but there was a range of different styles of beer and cider. It’s got a bit of atmosphere to it, even when empty, and the service was all sufficiently engaging. Quite a decent place, and certainly not a bad recommendation from the Good Beer Guide.

  • Hemsby – St Mary the Virgin Church

    Hemsby – St Mary the Virgin Church

    There was a sign outside the church saying that St Mary the Virgin in Hemsby was open. Although that wasn’t entirely true. Indeed, it wasn’t true at all, it was shut. The church was built in the early fourteenth century by the monks of Norwich Cathedral (and apparently some of the tracery is the same as in the north cloister of the cathedral) although it’s all a little utilitarian for my taste. I couldn’t see inside, but George Plunkett has a photo of the interior from 1932. Other than the changed roofline, which was likely just a switch from the former thatched roofing, there are no blocked doors, moved windows or the like.

    I liked the porch, this had some more decorative elements and was executed to a relatively grand standard.

    The church has remained relatively untouched over the centuries, although the Victorians did restore it in 1867, and there was also some work on the tower in 1974. There was a tour of St. Mary’s in 1867 by those interested in church history, and it was pointed out there was an hourglass on display which had once been attached to the pulpit. This had been introduced in accordance with the wishes of Queen Elizabeth, who wanted to discourage the rather more prolix of preachers. I’m not sure that the church still has this, but I have to say that it’s a good idea.

    The chancel window and there are apparently two thirteenth century coffin slabs in the churchyard, which I managed to entirely miss. There likely wasn’t a Saxon church at this site as is common in many areas, and it’s not entirely clear if there was anything here before the current early fourteenth century building. This was though an area that was visited frequently by the Vikings and they kept raiding the coastline on a regular basis, which I’m sure considerably annoyed the locals.

  • Reepham – Three Churches in One Churchyard (Grave to Unknown Local Friends)

    Reepham – Three Churches in One Churchyard (Grave to Unknown Local Friends)

    This really is quite lovely, a beautiful gravestone located in a prominent part of the churchyard shared by the three churches in Reepham.

    The “unknown local friends” is a poignant phrase and it notes the site where 63 bodies were found when urgent storm drain repair work took place in 2007. The gravestone, which was funded by local donations, was designed by local stone carver Teucer Wilson and it reads:

    ‘Here lie unknown local friends from the 14th century, laid to rest by the people of Reepham in June 2010. Their souls are known by God.”

    I understand that the bodies were found near to where I’ve placed the cursor on the above map. The burials were in the St. Mary’s Church section of the churchyard and they were placed there in the fourteenth century. Analysis was done on the skeletons and it was discovered that many of the individuals had suffered from osteoarthritis issues.

  • Reepham – Three Churches in One Churchyard

    Reepham – Three Churches in One Churchyard

    This is the delightful churchyard in Reepham, home of St. Michael’s church of Whitwell parish, St. Mary’s church of Reepham parish and All Saints of Hackford parish. The first two are still standing and in the first photo there’s St. Michael’s on the left and St. Mary’s on the right, and in the second photo, there’s the remains of All Saints on the right and St. Michael’s is in the centre of the photo.

    It’s not entirely clear why three parish churches were all built in the same churchyard, but this all likely revolves around the very different way in which these buildings were once used. An information panel at the church notes that pews were introduced in the Tudor period as there was a fashion for longer services. I’m not entirely sure about that, I’d go for that it was less fashion and more a requirement of the new regime following the Restoration to ensure people actually went to church.

    But all of this is why these churches could be built next to each other, something that actually makes sense, as it’s a prominent location and land was available to build them on. There was probably some form of religious element to the location as well, perhaps some miracle had taken place on the site and it had a reputation for being a holy site. The churches are all on the very edge of their parishes, but they wouldn’t have necessarily competed as they would have been used more for private prayer, for meeting up or just for wealthier individuals to buy indulgences or have a private family chapel. Individuals weren’t required to go to the church, although there was more of a expectation to do something at Easter, and they would have been more of a community centre.

    All Saints was likely the first church to be built on this site as it’s the only one mentioned in the Domesday Book, probably in the late Saxon period, but it was destroyed by fire in 1543. The village of Hackford was already abandoned by then, so there was no great necessity for that parish to have a church given the small size of the congregation. The church stood in ruins until 1796, when it was decided to demolish nearly all that was remaining. The other two churches were likely constructed in the early Norman period and at some stage the two were touching for a distance of around of one metre. It wasn’t until 1935 when a door was finally knocked through the walls to connect the two churches together, which was also at the same time when the three parishes were combined. The Reverend Luscombe, who was taking over the combined parish, said in 1935 that:

    “Feuds between these various churches made it rather difficult for people to live together in the peace of Christian brotherhood we would like. They are going to be united. Think of me in the coming winter trying to run two churches and trying to settle a few feuds”.

    He wasn’t lying, there were huge arguments in May 1905 when one parish wanted to erect an organ in their church, but Reepham Church was furious that it might disturb their services. It was pointed out that Reepham Church had installed an organ and they didn’t seem to have thought about the impact on their neighbour, and this was one of a series of squabbles that the churches had over the decades.

    There’s a lot of church on this site, with the two remaining structures being quite large and it’s not entirely clear what they did with all that space. St. Mary’s was though a pilgrimage church in the medieval period, which would have brought in some considerable wealth to the entire town, but the three churches would have remained fiercely independent of each other. Back to the Reverend Luscombe, who said “feuds have occurred since Cromwellian days, almost to the present time. A troop of Cromwell’s cavalry came to be billeted at Hackford, but on their map, Hackford was Reepham, so the troopers went to Reepham church. That did not soothe injured feelings”.

    There is a long-standing rumour, that is mentioned in the Victorian period (although denied then as well) that the churches were built by three arguing sisters who couldn’t agree on anything. Unfortunately, the reality is rather more that the Lord of the Manors would have made those decisions for reasons that likely suited themselves. It could have been that the site was convenient for accessing Reepham, that the land was readily and cheaply available or that it was on holy ground, no-one is quite sure. I’m amused though that the Bishop of Norwich had to intervene in 1240 to stop the churchyard from being used as the town’s marketplace.

  • Reepham – The Crown Pub

    Reepham – The Crown Pub

    This was a bit of a random visit, it was a pub that was open and had a beer garden, so we went for it. I normally have more exacting requirements for a pub, but we were just pleased to find somewhere that we could visit. It’s the Crown in Reepham and the owners saved it from being turned into a residential property a few years ago, and congratulations to the council for refusing that application. The plans are on the council’s web-site and it would have a been a huge loss for the community for the owners to have gotten away with turning a viable pub into a residential property.

    The beer garden was open and the pub had taken what I’m becoming sure is the right decision and that’s not to take reservations. Pubs offering those seem to have a lot of dead table time waiting for their customers, even assuming that they turned up. Anyway, we didn’t have a wait here. The pub has also at some stage turned two store rooms into clean external toilets, which makes this an ideal venue given the current lockdown situation.

    Nicely done, a list of the real ales is chalked up on the board outside. As I’m a bit inept, I missed this and the staff member had to tell me what the pub had, but it’s clearly visible for customers paying attention. The beer selection was fine, nothing exceptional maybe, but there was a choice and an effort to buy locally.

    The service was attentive throughout, it was timely and we were never left waiting. The servers were conversational, engaging and welcoming, so this felt a relaxed and comfortable environment. This pub feels like a venue for the local community and I know I use similar terminology to politely say that the pub looks like its locals are on the edge of starting a riot by the pool table, but here I mean that it is a location designed to be used by pub teams, diners, drinkers and indeed anyone. It had a laid-back atmosphere and I suspect that if someone was new to an area, they’d be able to find friends in a pub like this.

    The beer was well-kept, at the appropriate temperature and tasted crisp. All good. The glasses were plastic, hence the branding, with the pub looking to use disposable items for the moment to keep things clean and safe.

    As everything else was going well, we ordered food. Richard went for a lasagne and I went for fish and chips as I haven’t had them in nearly 48 hours. Again, all absolutely fine, the portion size is larger than in looks in the box and it was all cooked well. The batter had a pleasant taste, the chips were firm on the exterior and fluffy inside and the mushy peas had some texture to them. Individual sauce sachets were available and Covid-19 compliance was all excellent. The pub accepts cards, and I think encourages them, and we received a check back during the meal.

    This little series of pictures tells its own story. The poor dog kept getting called back by its owners and by the time she had actually reached our table the food had all gone.

    All told, I think this is a brilliant pub, it’s just got that vibe I like from a venue that serves its community. It’s rather delightful that this pub stayed opened a few years ago and wasn’t lost, and it’s the sort of pub I’d happily visit again. Although, when more normal times return, I’d say that a darker real ale choice such as a stout, mild or the like would be really lovely.

  • North Barsham – All Saints Church

    North Barsham – All Saints Church

    This peaceful country church, not far from Walsingham, looks a bit odd with its lack of tower and porch. Unfortunately, the tower fell down and it took the end part of the nave and the porch with it. Certainly not ideal.

    The church dates to the thirteenth century and it’s known that there was a chapel here in 1531, although the records don’t show whether it was inside or outside of the church. There was more to the village of North Barsham in the medieval period, but parts became deserted and the population decreased. There are remaining earthworks and ditches relating to this very close to the church, on the Walsingham Road as it goes towards the former railway bridge. This makes the survival of the church all the more meaningful, it must have survived on a relatively small congregation for some centuries. More recently, there has been a boost in visitor numbers due to the nearby Catholic shrine arrangement in Walsingham.

    Following the collapse of the tower, this is now the main door into the church, although unfortunately it was locked. Apparently it is usually open, so its closure seems to just be a temporary situation during these hopefully final few weeks of partial lockdown. The stone used in constructing this wall came from the old collapsed tower and an interesting decorative pattern has been made which looks quite unusual.

    These weren’t immediately obvious to me, but there are two stone gargoyles in the stonework. This is a nice reuse of the stone that was salvaged and they’re located just about the doorway.

    Window in the chancel end of the church, which didn’t seem to quite fit in, not least as it’s from a later period. The pretty graveyard had several burials from the late eighteenth century and also some iron grave markers.

  • X29 First Bus Minor Debacle – It’s Not Ideal…..

    X29 First Bus Minor Debacle – It’s Not Ideal…..

    We were sailing home back to Norwich on the last bus from Fakenham and were just a few miles outside of the city in Lenwade when this happened. And I’ll start this story by saying that the drama adds something to the day and I wasn’t personally troubled, but I do get annoyed when public transport companies treat customers in such an off-hand way. Apologies for the mostly self-serving overly long moaning, but I’m quite edgy about getting any of their later services.

    To cut a long story short, the road was closed for quite substantial road works to Lenwade bridge. I was hoping that the construction work was to build a new Greggs, but it seems that they’re just repairing the current structure. Not as exciting, but clearly necessary. There was a debate for a few minutes between the engineers and the bus driver, which was polite, but fruitless. The engineers were not letting the bus through and so our double decker bus was a bit stuck.

    The driver contacted someone, I assume at First, and the passengers downstairs (we were upstairs, but could hear) were told that the Norfolk County Council authorised works had started early and that the signage was inadequate. I don’t need to further investigate this, I checked the county council web-site, and the road works are authorised. It is regrettable that any representative of First should be saying this, as what the engineers were saying was correct, that First bus should not have been there. There were quite some allegations made about those engineers and I hope that First get in touch with Norfolk County Council to withdraw them. But that’s all a bit serious and not really relevant to this already seemingly never-ending story.

    Anyway, these things happen and I’m very placid as delays on public transport are hardly new to me. Someone hadn’t realised that there were road works this weekend and that the bus shouldn’t have been there. There was also confusion from many other road users, so it’s clear also that the road signage here was perhaps really not ideal from the County Council and their representatives. However, bus companies should probably have a better understanding of this, but, mistakes happen.

    The view from the front of the bus of the drama, which is about as much excitement as I get until we can travel further afield.

    We sat upstairs for thirty minutes (the situation was moderately entertaining at that point) and could hear what was going on downstairs. I was surprised when I heard the bus driver say that the passengers upstairs were just sitting there as I wasn’t sure what he expected us to do. We were rather waiting for instructions from him, although perhaps he wanted us to be more pro-active somehow.

    Anyway, there was another bus driver behind, on what I assume was the First bus service back from Fakenham to Norwich which didn’t have passengers, as it had terminated service back in Fakenham. There was some discussion between First, their two drivers and an off-duty driver. They got one passenger to go in a private car driven by an off-duty driver, which didn’t seem a usual way of dealing with things, but that’s perhaps not entirely relevant here.

    We were then told that the only option for us was to get back on the bus, and the bus would go from the outskirts of Norwich back to Fakenham, through to Swaffham and then to Norwich. That was a bit of a ridiculous journey (which the driver admitted was “very long”) and clearly a bad call. I asked what happened if passengers needed the toilet and why was there no contribution towards a taxi. The bus driver told me that passengers could urinate at the back of a house now, in partial view of other properties, and she said there were no other options as legally there was no way a bus could stop anywhere else. She told me to contact First if I didn’t want to take that option.

    It’s not entirely clear how I was expected to contact First in the highly limited amount of time offered to me and I’m not entirely sure it’s really the customer’s role to do that. So, in this exciting story (I accept I need to get out more), we have a passenger being driven back in an off-duty driver’s car, we’ve got passengers told to urinate in a semi-public place and a total disregard for what the five passengers actually wanted. No-one was asked if we needed water, if we were on a deadline and the taxi option clearly wasn’t happening. I accept the water option is a bit of a side point, but any welfare related questions would have been useful just to ascertain the situation. Disability awareness is important and was ignored here, although the details aren’t really relevant here with regards to that.

    As can be seen in the photos, it got dark during this meander around Norfolk. To keep the passengers awake, the driver sounded his horn on average once per minute. I didn’t understand what that was about. The bus managed a decent speed during this tour of Norfolk, but it still really wasn’t an ideal situation. I did vaguely hope that the driver would pop into the McDonald’s in Swaffham, but that didn’t happen. I quite fancied some Chicken McNuggets, but recognised that wasn’t really a likely scenario. This is a far cry from when I was in the United States and a bus driver needed to get out to use the toilet and he came back with snacks for me for the inconvenience (no pun intended), but that’s a different story.

    And back in Norwich, two hours late…..

    This was a far from ideal situation (as I may have mentioned) and it was entirely caused by First’s management, this wasn’t the fault of the drivers. Travelling what seems nearly constantly on public transport, the situation on the rail network is brilliant. Passengers would be given water, provided with a taxi, toilet facilities arranged and checks usually made to ensure there were no vulnerable, disabled or confused individuals. It’s also very easy to contact rail companies, or is in my experience, and although things have gone a bit askew, they’re nearly always on top of problems.

    These solutions were all available to First, the taxi journey would have been fifteen minutes, the bus could have stopped in Fakenham if a customer did urgently need the toilet or water and First could have checked that passengers were OK. There’s all manner of logistical questions here, but there were toilet facilities in Fakenham that could have been used if a passenger really needed to. I also don’t believe that the Norwich to Fakenham bus wouldn’t be allowed to stop in Fakenham as it was technically off-route, this seemed like incorrect information from First.

    In an ideal world, it’d be nice to think that the bus driver would be empowered to try and get customers back on a taxi as the journey would have been 15 minutes. Perhaps it wouldn’t have worked if there was no availability, but it would have been nice for them to try. And of course, I did have Nathan on board with me, who used to work for a bus company and it didn’t entirely warm my heart to know that his company wouldn’t have dealt with the situation like this.

    That all brings me to a problem that has been ongoing with First, which is that passengers have no way of contacting them after 19:00. Twitter is turned off, there’s no obvious support line and it’s clear that the drivers were struggling to know what to do. In this situation, it wasn’t entirely problematic as passengers were safe as they were still on the bus, but it’s clear the drivers have been given no authorisation to deal with issues and passengers have no way of gaining help.

    Compared to the rail network, this is a poor customer facility that First are offering, which is slightly annoying as First operate some of those rail services. Problems must happen all the time, and if you follow the link to First’s phone number, they ask that customers call between 09:00 to 17:00 and ideally between 11:00 and 15:00. That’s dead handy if your bus hasn’t turned up in the evening. Terminating phone calls at 17:00 on Friday evening and starting them against at 09:00 on Monday morning wasn’t ideal and it’d be lovely if that someone centrally who could have sanctioned a taxi or offered to pay a contribution towards it. Even if a national customer service team could do nothing practical due to circumstances, even the offer of a small voucher for future bus travel would have been useful.

    Anyway, that’s my overly long post finished. I’ll add again that I wasn’t personally much inconvenienced as I wasn’t in a rush for anything, but it puts me off getting any later bus services on First. I suspect that if we’d just got a taxi ourselves then we’d have been back nearly on time and First might well have just refunded it or made a token gesture. And if they’d offered everyone say £5 each towards a taxi, I’d have been entirely happy and would have praised their customer service instead of boring everyone moaning about it.

    On that note, moan over…. And, no, I didn’t need to post this….. But, what I would like at least is just for the bus drivers to be empowered to maybe offer a £10 taxi fare each without further recourse to First in limited situations such as this.

  • King’s Lynn – South Gate

    King’s Lynn – South Gate

    I’ve been under this archway many times, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever walked down to have a closer look. King’s Lynn’s South Gate, which is Grade I listed, was first constructed in 1437 by Robert Hertanger as part of the town defences, although it also served as a useful way of tolling anything that came into Lynn. The structure is built in brick with a stone facade and the two pedestrian walkways weren’t knocked through until 1817 (the eastern chamber) and 1841 (the western chamber, which also saw the western staircase being removed). Since then, the two walkways have now been closed off and since 1899, traffic only now goes one way through the gate as another lane was added to the side.

    The South Gate is at the top-right of this map (click on the image to make it larger), marked number 11, and shows that there was a different road system at the time. At this time, there was no London Road (that was constructed between 1800 and 1804), and the main access point was down Southgate Street and Friars Street, which is now gated off to prevent modern day motorists using it as a rat run.

    I managed to stand in the middle of the road (well, sort of, most drivers notice that there is a big gateway in the way, so tend to focus their minds here) to get this photo of the gate, which I thought was rather brave of me. The room above the gate was used by the gatekeeper from the early seventeenth century, and likely before, and was long used as a private residence. There were plans to build a drawbridge in front of the gate early on during the Civil War, but this was never constructed. King’s Lynn was besieged in 1643, but the gate remained undamaged during the period of trouble which the town had. The role of gatekeeper was abolished in 1741, with the tolls having already been removed in 1721. The wooden gates were removed in 1795 when the threat of attack seemed remote.

    The west side of the gate and this fifteenth century structure was located on the same site as an earlier medieval gate, with the footings of that remaining today. Although the design makes it look like there was a portcullis, there isn’t sufficient space inside for one to have been present. George Plunkett took a photo of the gate in 1935, when pedestrians still walked through the side tunnels.

    A sign on the gate and this isn’t entirely accurate, as it’s older and there were just some renovations to the structure in 1520.

    The east side of the gate. A new roof was added in 1966, but that didn’t last long as an archeological survey of the site in 1982 decided that the older medieval roof should be restored and some of the western stairway was put back.


    A photo of the gate from 1891. The gate is accessible to the public during the summer months (or at least it is in normal times….) and hopefully I’ll get to go and see inside at some stage.

  • Long Stratton – St. Michael’s Church (Cyril Edmund August Cheney)

    Long Stratton – St. Michael’s Church (Cyril Edmund August Cheney)

    This is the grave of Cyril Edmund August Cheney, one of the two men buried in this churchyard who died of their injuries during the First World War.

    Cyril was born in 1899, the only son of Edmund Cheney and Rosa Eva Cheney. Edmund worked as a farmer and they had three children, Olive Flossie Mabel (born in 1898), Cyril and Alma Beatrice (born in 1900). All of the three children were born in Denton, but they moved at around that time to Stratton St. Michael (now part of Long Stratton) and that’s where they are listed on the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

    Cyril joined the Royal Horse Artillery in June 1917 (the above photo was likely taken at a similar time), and the RHA is shown on his grave, which is a nicely sculpted stone. He was given service number 61367 and served in the U Battery of the RHA, something akin to a regiment.

    Cyril was wounded in France on 3 October 1918 and was taken to Rouen Hospital before then being brought back to the UK for treatment to his injuries. He was sent to the 4th London General Hospital at Denmark Hill (now known as King’s College Hospital), but he died on 26 October 1918, at the age of 20. His probate was completed in February 1919, with his entire wealth of £185 17s being transferred to his father, Edmund.

    Cyril’s parents are buried next to him on the same plot, with their stone noting that Edmund died on 11 April 1928 at the age of 62, whilst Eva died on 4 October 1955, at the age of 80. Following Edmund’s death, Eva had moved in with her daughter Olive, who had married the farmer James Brighton, and they all lived at Lime Kiln Farm in Newton Flotman. Olive remained living in Newton Flotman until her death in 1991, over 70 years after the death of her younger brother.

  • Long Stratton – Edge’s Lane

    Long Stratton – Edge’s Lane

    This is one of my more niche posts (although, to be honest, I’m not sure that any are particularly mainstream or useful), but I was interested walking along Edge’s Lane as the road clearly went a bit askew. It transpires that the end section into Long Stratton has been rerouted, with the old road now being used as a footpath.

    As an aside, I was walking down where that footpath is on the right-hand side of the above map and there was a dog trying desperately with all his might to take his owner over the field to explore. I stopped to chat for a short while (not for long, being British I can’t be doing social for that long) and she said her dog adored the field and she was taking him back that way later, but he didn’t seem at all convinced. I admired the dog’s persistence though, I get like that when stopped from going into a pub. Anyway, I digress.

    This felt a little odd, but was once the road into Long Stratton.

    A small section is still in use so that homeowners can park their cars, but it doesn’t go anywhere else (other than the road that gets the cars in, obviously).

    Where Edge’s Lane used to join the main road, with the white stop sign still being visible, even though the road has been closed off for well over a decade.