Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: UK

  • King’s Lynn – King’s Lynn Minster (Flood Level Markings)

    I’m not sure that I’ve been to a church which has these high water and flood level markings by the front entrance, but it’s a reminder of the impact that the North Sea has had on the town over the decades.

    The highest of the flood level stones remembers the North Sea floods of 11 to 12 January 1978. Flood warnings failed and so little notice was given of the impending disaster, with the River Ouse reaching dangerous levels before finally flooding the town of King’s Lynn. Damage was also down to other towns along the coastline, including at Wisbech, Wells, Cleethorpes and Boston. It also marked the end of Hunstanton Pier, which succumbed to the floods after 100 years of history.

    As an additional note to this post, I’ve now read that the flooding on 5 December 2013 reached a higher level than in 1978, but the extensive new flood defence system in the town fortunately held.

  • King’s Lynn – King’s Lynn Minster (Hanseatic Chest)

    This rather glorious chest, made from pine, dates from the fifteenth century and is known as a Danzig Chest. It’s perhaps surprising that it survives, although of all places this isn’t an unexpected location for it, as these chests were imported into the country via King’s Lynn, Boston and Ipswich.

  • Norwich Library – Book Sale

    Perhaps a sign of an over resourced library is when it dumps out hundreds of books in generally excellent condition to be flogged off cheaply. Why on earth are these, and boxes and boxes more, being removed from stock from Norwich library?

    I managed to resist the urge to buy hundreds of them, just buying one book about beer.

  • Heathrow T5 – British Airways B Gates Lounge

    I’ve realised that despite visiting the B Gates Lounge at Heathrow T5 that I’ve never managed to take any photos of the interior of it. With the exception of the food, which I appear to have taken multiple photos of on numerous occasions. Strange that.

    Anyway, this is my favourite BA lounge at Terminal 5 out of the three which I can access. There’s also the First Class lounge for those with gold cards and the Concorde Room for those flying first class, names which don’t quite make sense but are logical for reasons I’ll go into on another occasion.

    B Gates Lounge is the quietest of the BA lounges as it’s generally used only by passengers flying from B or C Gates and they usually are only there for a short period of time. There’s a legacy reason for this, as a few years ago there was no way to get back from B or C Gates (or no easy way) and so it would be ridiculous to go there before the gate numbers were announced. However, there are now public tunnels to B Gates, so passengers can walk there at any time, and more importantly, they can walk back.

    So, that’s what I do, I usually stay at the main galleries lounge at A Gates (which is the main terminal) for a short while and then wander over to B Gates. Sometimes I get fortunate if my flight subsequently departs from B Gates, but usually it doesn’t so I have to walk back.

    This is the breakfast selection, which is bacon rolls, beans, hash browns and pastries.

    The salad selection.

    Some kind of fruit stuff.

    From lunch-time onwards the sandwiches are also brought out. The coronation chicken is in my view the best sandwich offered.

    These photos are from two different visits and they show the main food selection which is available from lunch-time into the afternoon period. I like these selections, usually there’s a curry, chilli or casserole option and there’s rice or pasta to go with those. The food has a decent flavour to it and the meat, which is usually chicken, is tender and flavoursome.

    There’s a full drinks selection available at the lounge, including wine, champagne, soft drinks and there’s also a coffee machine. Take care if using the coffee machine as I managed to smash one of the plates which were meant to be unbreakable. It was stuck to the base of the milk jug when I picked it up, although the bloody thing managed to unstick itself as soon as it got into the air.

    There’s a story about that actually. I went to reception and mentioned in a casual manner that there was now a plate smashed across most of the floor. The staff member told me that I shouldn’t worry (although being honest I wasn’t particularly worried) and that he’d come and have a look. He did do exactly that, he went to have a look and then returned back to his desk as he couldn’t find anyone to clean it up. He wasn’t being lazy, he was the only staff member at the reception desk, and they do need someone there.

    The situation for the next fifteen minutes was that I was sitting there with my rather lovely coffee, surveying how far this plate had smashed across the floor. Customers carefully walked by the random shards and I pretended not to know anything about it. Then, eventually, a member of the cleaning staff comes along and does a double take at why there is a smashed plate across a tennis court size space of floor. Out come numerous warning signs, some tutting from the member of cleaning staff and then lots of furtive action at cleaning it up.

    I don’t know why I got distracted there recounting that story. I did incidentally mention I could clean it up, but the staff member at reception seemed adamant that neither I, nor indeed he, would need to do that. For anyone interested, my coffee was lovely.

    Anyway, I got distracted there. The lounge is spacious and there are plenty of different types of table and seating depending on what the passenger wants. I like the high chairs and tables as I can use my laptop. By high chairs, I don’t means the ones that toddlers use, just that the chairs are high. Unfortunately these are mostly near the kids area of the lounge, but it’s rare that there are any bloody screaming children, so that’s fine. By bloody I’m just randomly swearing, the children don’t have blood on them.

    The newspaper selection is reasonable and BA also have the system where you can download magazines and newspapers for free in the lounge. Most of the television screens are on silent, but there are instructions on how you can download an app which lets you listen to them via headphones. I like this, the less noise in an airport lounge the better, and televisions blaring out aren’t conducive to quiet and calm.

    There’s also a spa area of the lounge, although I’ve never engaged with that. There are also showers available at this lounge and the queue for these is usually minimal, so there isn’t the wait that there might be in other lounges.

    So, that was my quick explanation of why I like the B-Gates lounge. Spacious, quiet, clean and comfortable. Fortunately not many people will actually read this random splurge of text, otherwise they’d all go to B-Gates lounge and then I wouldn’t like it as much.

  • Beccles – Shopping Trolley

    This is an interesting use for a shopping trolley in Beccles…..

  • Norfolk Broads – Albion Wherry

    For the last three years I’ve organised the Hike Norfolk trip to the Norfolk Broads, which has included hiring a Broads cruiser from Wroxham. Last year we were walking around Ranworth for our lunch break and we saw the Albion wherry and the volunteer on board mentioned about it being available for hire. So, I decided that was a marvellous idea and that’s what twelve of us did for this year’s maritime expedition.

    The Albion wherry was first built in 1898 and remained in use carrying cargo around the Norfolk Broads until the middle of the twentieth century.

    The Norfolk Wherry Trust took the boat over in 1949 and initially continued with carrying cargo, but it had a couple of little incidents when it sank twice and it was agreed that this wasn’t ideal. So from 1961 it was decided never to carry cargo again, just carrying passengers around the Broads.

    Our boat is ready to sail.

    This photo was taken out when we were taken out in small groups using the wherry’s dinghy to get photos of the wherry itself.

    A swan.

    The sail, which is 1,200 square feet in size.

    This subtle little thing is the Quant Pole, which lets the crew punt the boat along. We had three crew aboard the Albion and they were all helpful and enthusiastic.

    The downstairs quarters of the boat, which can be used for overnight hire, so hence the bunks.

    Getting the food ready. Susanna and I had heated the water up for coffees and teas, a process that took considerably longer than we had expected. There is an oven and basic cooking facilities on board, all fuelled by gas.

    Our picnic on board.

    The view of the Norfolk Broads, we went from Oulton Broad to nearly into Beccles.

    Part of the wherry, I don’t know the technical term….

    A dragonfly.

    All told, it was a warm day and the twelve of us from Hike Norfolk were very fortunate with the weather. Although I thought that it was too hot…. Sitting downstairs was though much cooler, so it was handy to have the option of where to sit and there were plenty of spaces around the wherry.

    It was only when I went on the dinghy to circle the wherry that it was clear just how beautiful the Albion is, and many people had taken photos of the wherry during the day as we went past.

    For any group or so, a charter for the day is recommended, especially as it isn’t that much more expensive than taking out a Broads cruiser for the day. And this is certainly more of an experience.

  • Fakenham – Aldiss (Heritage Trail 6)

    Part of the Fakenham Heritage Trail, this is number 6, the former Aldiss store which unfortunately burnt down in 2014. The fire was caused by an electrical issue and it destroyed the department store which had been built in the early twentieth century. Aldiss had already moved out of the store to another location in Fakenham and the building was being used by The Original Factory Store, who have since moved back into the newly built replacement premises.

    I hadn’t previously paid much attention to this arch, which goes through from the market place to Fakenham Church. But, as the signage notes, it was built over at some stage by Stewardson for his printing business.

    And the same passageway coming from the direction of the church. Fortunately, the church wasn’t damaged during the fire, although there were some initial fears that the fire might spread.

  • Fakenham – Heritage Trail

    I was bemused yesterday, although that’s certainly not for the first time…. I noticed that there were numerous heritage numbers and maps in Fakenham which I was sure I hadn’t seen before. It transpired that I hadn’t, they were installed in early 2019 and are encouraging people to discover the history of the town.

    The project was funded by the European Union, which is marvellous, and it’s a nicely put together trail. Unfortunately I only noticed it before I was leaving Fakenham, but I will go around the rest of it next time I’m in the town.

    In an article in the Fakenham Times, it was reported that:

    “Fakenham Town Council has received an EU grant of £33,500, as well £8,000 from North Norfolk District Council’s Big Society Fund, to produce the Fakenham Heritage Trail, along with town council funding.

    The trail will lead people on a tour of 29 of the town’s most iconic sites and will also include two town maps, one by Fakenham Library and one by the town sign, with plans to landscape the area by the library in order to improve the entrance to the town centre.”

    I’ve seen a lot of projects such as this across Europe, and it’s excellent to see that Fakenham also took a similar initiative.

  • Peterborough – Brewery Tap

    I’ve managed to miss visiting the Brewery Tap during my previous visits to Peterborough, but it seemed well reviewed and worth trying. They stock beers predominantly from Oakham Ales and the pub is also known for its Thai food, which did look rather tempting. It was formerly an employment exchange and CAMRA note that the building was recently nearly demolished.

    I asked if there were any dark beers on, but there weren’t. I didn’t have huge expectations of that given it’s the height of summer, but I went for Citra which I’ve had before. It was at the appropriate temperature and it tasted well kept, but I was surprised at how lacking in taste it was. Personally, I thought the brewery notes of the beer having a “pungent grapefruit, lychee and gooseberry aroma” as perhaps just a little aspirational. Citra hops are a bit of a US thing, and my experience of similar beers there is that they have a much punchier citrus flavour and a more refreshing taste.

    Anyway, back to the Brewery Tap. It was pretty much empty when I visited, which is a shame as it’s a sizeable venue and the lunch menu looked interesting and creative. The staff were all friendly and helpful, with the pub being clean and well presented.

    Being honest, it all felt a little tired and behind the times, but it was comfortable and clean. The food seems really well reviewed and it seemed a shame that their pub was pretty much empty, but perhaps it’s a lot busier in the evenings. Certainly a good location though for a larger group as it’s spacious and everything seemed organised. I only discovered later on that there is a discount for CAMRA members and also a reduced price beer of the month.

  • Bixley – Saint Wandregesilius Church (Leslie Fenn)

    I spent the morning at Norfolk Record Office and was researching the church at Bixley for some time. That task was made much easier by the research work of a gentleman named Leslie Fenn (1910-1989) who was an amateur local historian who had a special interest in the church.

    He has compiled a large A4 ring binder full of information about the church, which can be seen on request at Norfolk Record Office. His researches have been extensive and the files contain copies of letters from the British Library and other locations when he had paid for information to be sent to him.

    Fenn was the headmaster at Redenhall Secondary Modern School towards the end of his career and his fascination with history throughout his life shines through just from this one folder full of documents. He was a Lay Reader at Bixley Church and had a huge interest in the history of the building. I dread to think what he’d have thought of the arsonist who destroyed the church and also at the lack of repairs being made to the building.

    Certainly future generations benefit from the work of people such as Leslie Fenn, their contribution to local history might be small individually, but is beyond measure when looked at collectively with the work of many other men and women like him.