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  • 200 Years Ago in Norwich : Swedenborgianism

    200 Years Ago in Norwich : Swedenborgianism

    The below article appeared in the Norwich Mercury 200 years ago.

    “Doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church.

    ON Sunday, July 9th, THREE DISCOURSES will be delivered at Crook’s Place Chapel, by the Rev. W. Mason, in which it will be shewn what are the views of the New Church in regard to the Quality of that Faith which justifies, and the true nature of Justification — Who the Lord’s Sheep are, and the Goats contrasted with them — and The Nature of the Christian’s Conquest, and the Rewards promised to the Conqueror.

    Service to commence in the morning at half-past Ten, Afternoon at half-past Two, and Evening at half-past Six o’clock.”

    The New Jerusalem Church was the Swedenborgianism religion and some of this story links to the St Mary the Less church on Queen Street which I’ve written about before. In short, that church was closed during the Reformation, then given to the religious refugees from the Netherlands to use as a cloth hall, with the building being used for services given in French until 1832. It was then leased to the New Jerusalem church of Swedenborgians who remained here until 1852 and they then moved to Park Lane to a building constructed for them. The church was already though in decline at this stage which is rarely the ideal moment to embark on a new building project and in the 1920s they transferred the building to the Mormons and although it was used by another religious group, it was then sold to become a private residential building. It was never fully converted into a home but is no longer used for religious purposes.

    This article from 200 years ago tells a little of the story before the Swedenborgians moved to St Mary the Less, it appears that they were using Crook’s Place Chapel. This is in an area of the city that was changed heavily following the Second World War, but Crook’s Place Chapel appears to have been demolished in the 1880s. And back to the article, it’s an interesting look back that there would have been three services held that day for those interested in finding out more about the church. Those attending would have been no doubt fascinated by the discussions about faith, sheep, goats and conquest, but they probably got to have a nice little sit down.

    There were concerns nationally about the stability of the Church of England, with the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1824 trying to fund new Anglican churches. The Norwich Mercury article captures quite nicely this period of religious competition and general anxiety about picking the right religion.

  • 200 Years Ago in Norwich : Suicide of Samuel Chenery

    200 Years Ago in Norwich : Suicide of Samuel Chenery

    200 years ago this week the Norwich Mercury printed this article:

    “On Monday, during the election, Samuel Chenery, a lad of 16, was detected in picking the pocket of a gentleman, in the market, and lodged in the Vagrant Room in the Hall, where he soon after cut his throat. He was conveyed to the Hospital, and died on Wednesday morning.—Verdict, insanity.”

    I’ve written numerous times about how Norwich 200 years ago was a city troubled with crime, poverty and mental instability. I assume that he was taken to St. Andrew’s Hall, which was the city’s workhouse at this time, which is where Samuel Chenery killed himself.

    The lad was Samuel Haywood Chenery who was born on 19 March 1810, the son of Thomas Chenery and Elizabeth Chenery (nee Haywood). He was baptised on 25 March 1810 at St. Paul’s church in the city, a war damaged building unnecessarily pulled down in the 1970s for the flyover.

    Samuel was buried at St. Augustine’s Church in Norwich on 25 June 1826, although those who died through suicide often weren’t buried in Church of England graveyards. I’m not entirely sure that there would have been a grave to him if the family were poor, but if there was, it’s not there now. Samuel’s Dad, Thomas, died on 12 April 1821 at the age of just 49 and is also buried at St. Augustine’s Church. Samuel’s Mum, Elizabeth, died on 16 May 1852 at the age of 80 and is also buried at the same church.

    I do wonder how many times Samuel has been thought of over the last 200 years, whether he has been included in other family trees or his memory has been recorded elsewhere. But it appears from the information available that he was desperate financially and was unable to cope with what life had given him. At 16 years old, he was just a child.

  • National Express Coach and Greater Anglia Train from Luton Airport to Norwich

    National Express Coach and Greater Anglia Train from Luton Airport to Norwich

    The late night arrival of my flight meant that I knew I’d have to stay at Luton Airport for a couple of hours and then cross over to Stansted Airport by coach before getting a direct train to Norwich. That was the cheapest option and Pret was clean, warm and had power points. Thanks to the staff member for giving me a decadent coffee for a price of a filter coffee, much appreciated.

    I was very tempted to book this, all I would have to do is go through security and then a few hours later I’d be in the great city of Tallinn. I showed enormous restraint not to book this £8.99 flight as it would have been easy to get muddled up.

    I went outside to look at the coach station and it was still there.

    The Stansted Airport coach pulls in.

    It was a slightly odd arrangement, the driver said hello and disappeared into the coach. He seems surprised I was still obediently waiting at the door a few minutes later and he didn’t bother checking tickets. This rather made the whole operation feel less like formal transport and more like a man with a coach had agreed to take us somewhere broadly useful, but I’m easy going (well, generally) and so I didn’t query him.

    I have a theory that National Express is going into a permanent decline, this service was a third full and was one of the busiest I’ve been on in a while. I looked at some of their prices, and they’re charging ridiculous amounts in some cases where they have a monopoly. That’s great for a while, but Flixbus is going to steal that trade and I can’t see how they’ll get it back. National Express also have fiercely uncomfortable seats with very limited leg room, it’s fortunate that they do shuttle about nearly empty a lot of the time. Incidentally, I didn’t get my usual emergency exit row seat here, which is likely why I forgot about how poor the leg room was in the other seats. Nothing says ‘premium national transport network’ like quietly folding a passenger into a seating position not found in nature, but we shall see what the future holds…..

    Safely at Stansted Airport.

    I had a few hours to kill so I went looking for bargains and found some in Boots. Note the number of reduced prawn sandwiches which is either a sign of my impeccable timing or a troubling commentary on airport seafood confidence.

    Another breakfast of champions. The quality of Boots Meal Deal has declined a lot over the years, that’s another example of greed and then noticing that rivals have stolen a march on them. Still, it was edible, portable and reduced, which is sometimes the holy trinity of travel catering.

    I then went down to Stansted Airport’s railway station to get the direct rail service to Norwich. There were no delays which meant no delay repay, but at least I’d be getting home in a timely manner. Punctuality is good, but it’s also rather lovely to have a little financial gesture when things go slightly wrong.

    It was relatively quiet all the way to Norwich.

    Cambridge South had opened the previous day and it was rather lovely to see it in operation, even if only from the passing train, which is exactly the sort of niche infrastructure excitement that keeps my two loyal blog readers on edge.

    I, and the rest of the train, arrived back into Norwich on time and that’s another journey finished. I may or may not post more random stuff about the trip, I’ll leave that as a surprise because suspense is important in travel writing.

    Incidentally, it was too hot in Norwich when I arrived.

  • Wizz Air (Bilbao to London Luton)

    Wizz Air (Bilbao to London Luton)

    I arrived safely at Bilbao Airport after some faffing about working out the airport bus. The temperature was much cooler than when I had arrived and there were a few brief moments of rain, as might be evident from the grey sky. At least it prepared me for what the weather was likely going to be like in the UK.

    The terminal felt quite busy and there was a limited amount of seating available in the main section.

    There was one of the quickest airport security processes to go through, it took under three minutes from walking into the area to leaving it.

    I noticed that there was a VIP lane into security for decadent passengers such as Richard.

    After a visit to the lounge, which I wrote about separately, I discovered that there was still no gate for my flight so I pottered about exploring the now relatively quiet airport. At least that meant I was able to examine a lot of airport infrastructure, although I did wonder whether I should have just spent another thirty minutes in the lounge eating chorizo.

    This was a bit confusing, it’s the line for border control and there’s one agent dealing with passengers on the left and one agent behind four kiosks on the right. I thought I’d try the kiosk and it scanned my passport before stating “invalid passport”, so I assumed it was just for EU passports despite the number of people using it. I went back to the queue and the agent called over that I could just walk through and he’d open the gate. I wasn’t sure if EES was working and just reporting a failure, or whether they were bypassing it. Either way I haven’t got a stamp in my passport, although that appears to be quite random now at the EU borders, presumably to keep collectors of passport stamps emotionally unsettled.

    As usual for Wizz Air, I found the boarding process to be well managed and it was clear which queue to get in.

    As might be evident, the seating Gods gave me a window seat and I was very comfortable during the flight.

    The outskirts of London somewhere. The flight itself was peaceful, the crew were friendly, no-one annoyed me, nothing fell off the aircraft and I spent two hours playing games on my phone instead of sleeping. This might not have been the most sensible life choice, but it kept me amused. The announcements from the pilots were clear, we landed on time and this was once again excellent value for £9 using my Wizz Air Multipass. For that amount, I require a seat, basic structural integrity and a landing broadly in the advertised country. All were achieved.

    We boarded via an air bridge in Bilbao, so this is back in London Luton. The aircraft is G-WUKR which I’ve been on before when it brought me back to London Luton from Tallinn. I’m not sure why I am pleased to meet an aircraft again as I doubt it remembers me.

    And the aircraft looking very lovely there in the middle.

    There were long queues at London Luton as if they hadn’t expected some planes to land there, but the whole process took just under half an hour which ultimately wasn’t too bad. I then had an exciting few hours in the airport before getting a coach to Stansted and then a train to Norwich, but that riveting commentary can come in the next post as I would not want to overwhelm my two loyal blog readers with too much inter-airport glamour all at once.

  • Ryanair (Norwich to Faro)

    Ryanair (Norwich to Faro)

    When in the airport lounge, I could see the Ryanair aircraft arriving into Norwich.

    The flight to Faro was the last one of the day and so all felt orderly and well managed. It’s somehow a little better to be in the calmness of an operation about to close down rather than in the midst of chaos and overcrowding. And I don’t think that Norwich Airport is often overcrowded…

    We waited outside ready to board the aircraft. I do wonder if they might have covered this area, but maybe now they’ve stopped collecting their £10 departure tax perhaps that investment will have to wait. A new roof is all very well, but one must not rush into these decadent infrastructure commitments I suppose.

    Ready to board and it was aircraft 9H-VUJ, which I don’t think I’ve been on before.

    I rather like these little steps at the front and these are the ones that fold-up into the aircraft. This is really clever, it saves airport fees, it’s quicker and it allows them to land in more places.

    It’s a rather move convoluted affair to board using the rear steps, which definitely do not fold back into the aircraft.

    The seating Gods gave me an aisle seat and I was slightly annoyed to find someone sitting in it. He willingly moved, his logic was that he thought the flight would be quiet and so he would sit in the aisle seat rather than the window seat. I did rather think he could have just sat in his actual seat and moved later on, but I kept those thoughts to myself.

    As for the flight, the aircraft was a little grimy, but there is a limit to what the cabin crew can do in the 25 minute handover. The crew were friendly and helpful, but they appear to knock into the chairs with their trolleys more than Wizz Air crew. It seems that the Ryanair aircraft are slightly narrowed, as they use Boeing and Wizz Air using Airbus, so I suspect it’s just that. Or perhaps I was just in the trolley danger zone, which would be very on-brand for my travel arrangements.

    And safely in Faro. It was too hot.

    All of the European Entry System (EES) machines were on and the set-up here is that passengers go through the process using the kiosks and then a member of border force checks the passport but doesn’t stamp it. The whole process took around fifteen minutes which felt reasonable.

    The queue for EU citizens was longer but they only had to go through the EES machines and didn’t need to see a member of border control.

    There was one of the worst altercations I’ve seen at border control when two people at the neighbouring counter were told that they needed to step aside and wait for someone else to look at their passports. I don’t know why, but the two refused to move. The member of border control shouted at them to move back, then the border control officer who was serving me ran out of his counter and warned that they would be immediately deported. This rather raised the temperature of the room, which was already too hot in Portugal (as I may have mentioned) and therefore did not need further assistance.

    The younger of the two women cried and said that she was confused and didn’t know what was happening. I did feel some sympathy, as border control is not the ideal environment in which to become confused or muddled up, especially when the staff are now discussing deportation with the energy of people who very much mean it. But I also quite liked this little bit of excitement, in the limited and selfish sense that it was happening near me rather than to me. My own border control officer then came back and was lovely, which was reassuring. It is always pleasant when someone returns from threatening deportation elsewhere and then smiles at you.

    And here is the list of arrivals, because I remain committed to documenting the full glamour of international travel. Aircraft, queues, signage, crisps and border control tension: the modern European journey has everything.

    The whole flight was entirely agreeable and it was £20 which is more expensive than my Wizz Air arrangements, but I didn’t have to pay to go to Luton. In terms of efficiency, this worked out well as the Luton rail line was closed after the crash, so this saved a bus replacement service and allowed me to enter the European Union cheaply. A smooth Ryanair flight from Norwich, a local beer beforehand and only a modest amount of border control theatre at the other end. That is about as much excitement as I require from budget aviation. So, all rather lovely.

  • Norwich Airport Lounge

    Norwich Airport Lounge

    I haven’t been to Norwich Airport lounge before, or I’ve forgotten if I have. It is a relatively small affair, but it was clean and organised. I do not need a champagne bar, rainfall shower and someone silently folding towels in the corner. I mostly need somewhere to sit, plug something in and eat cheese with the quiet dignity of a person who has walked to the airport, so my expectations were based around that rather than anything too decadent.

    The staff here are particularly helpful and engaging, but I think that they know a fair number of the visitors so I imagine that they are commuting to Amsterdam or similar. My first impressions were positive given the friendly welcome and it didn’t look too busy. The lounge remains open for all the flights and there’s the usual rule that there’s a maximum three hour stay.

    The food is mainly cheese, mugshots, croissants, cakes and the like.

    As well as crisps and fruit.

    The view over the airport apron.

    There’s a limit of two alcoholic drinks per customer, although I only wanted one and that was an agreeable chilled Woodforde’s Wherry. It’s nice when lounges make some effort to provide local beers and they also had Heineken for those who aren’t fussy about what beer they drink.

    On the limited number of alcoholic drinks, I’ve some sympathy for the lounge as some airports are struggling with the number of customers who are treating it as an all you can drink affair. That isn’t quite what lounges were really designed for and it’s forcing the cost of them up, so controversial as it might be, I’d be happy if every lounge limited customers to two alcoholic drinks.

    I had a quick espresso although there were some issues with cleaning the coffee machine which I decided that I didn’t want to know more about. There are moments in life when curiosity is a virtue, and other moments when one should accept the coffee, drink it and not ask too many questions.

    Dr Pepper, Cathedral city cheese and Mini Cheddars, this is what travel is all about.

    This lounge was included in my annual Priority pass card, but walk-up availability can be purchased for £27.50. That’s possibly pushing it a little bit, but the surroundings are comfortable, the staff members were friendly and I was able to have as many crisps, cake and cheese snacks as I wanted. I think that’s a result.

  • Norwich Airport McDonald’s and the Drop-Off Fee

    Norwich Airport McDonald’s and the Drop-Off Fee

    As a little reward for walking to the airport from the centre of Norwich, I thought that I’d pop into McDonald’s that’s only a couple of minutes from the airport itself. I’m not sure that elite athletes generally use McDonald’s as part of their recovery and reward strategy, but there we go.

    I don’t usually have such decadent Chicken Selects, but they were part of the McDonald’s Monday app offer. And a coffee as I realised I hadn’t had my usual 8 in JD Wetherspoons and didn’t want my body to become alarmed by the sudden absence of routine. It was all very nice incidentally for what that’s worth.

    The team member in the restaurant, or whatever you want to call it in the modern corporate food environment, was very enthusiastic. He was checking customers knew how to order, he was doing check backs, cleaning the windows where people were sitting and I liked how he welcomed a German visitor by using what he told her was his GCSE German.

    Personally, I thought the engagement was a bit much, and I preferred the grumpy-looking team member who was less conversational. This is not a criticism exactly, more a reflection of my own social expectations. Sometimes I want warm hospitality, and sometimes I just want to be handed coffee by someone who looks as though they too have accepted the basic futility of the modern world. But I would never knock enthusiasm, especially in hospitality, where cheerful effort deserves more credit than it usually gets.

    This is bloody ridiculous and just greedy of Norwich Airport. The airport is operated by Regional and City Airports who also operate Exeter Airport and Bournemouth Airport and I’ve written about the latter where they’ve tried to ban walkers in a desperate attempt to get more revenue.

    This is Norwich Airport, and it’s fair to say there are no real congestion problems here. We are not dealing with Heathrow at half-term or Gatwick during a systems collapse. This is an airport where the main traffic management challenge often appears to be identifying whether anything is happening. The drop-off charge therefore feels less like a necessary operational measure and more like an unnecessary little money grab with barriers and CCTV cameras.

    This is Norwich Airport and it’s fair to say that there are no real congestion problems here, this is all an unnecessary money grab. Anyway, it’s McDonald’s that had to deal with the airports policies, their car park had four taxis in it and several people being picked up and dropped off as the fining regime can’t reach them there. Anyway, my usual slight complaining aside, it meant that I had reached Norwich Airport ready for my early evening flight.

  • Norwich City Centre to Norwich Airport

    Norwich City Centre to Norwich Airport

    I’ve decided I’ll have to leave some stories of the last trip untold for the moment and it’s back to this week. This is slightly unfortunate for the chronological order, but I have long since accepted that this blog now operates less like a diary and more like a lightly confused archive with opinions.

    I thought that I might as well walk to Norwich Airport as it isn’t that far. Here’s the delights of the riverside walk near Cow Tower.

    And Cow Tower itself, which seems to have been locked again after a recent period of being left open. It was built between 1398 and 1399 and is one of the earliest purpose-built artillery blockhouses in England, designed to defend a strategic point in Norwich’s medieval defences by the River Wensum. That is a rather more dramatic original purpose than its current role of standing photogenically beside walkers, dog owners and people like me trying to get to an airport without paying for a bus or taxi. The name comes from Cowholme, the meadow that was once located here

    This is St James Mill, built by the Norwich Yarn Company in the late 1830s as part of an attempt to revive Norwich’s textile industry. The company itself did not last long, because Victorian industrial optimism was not always matched by the accounts department, but the building survived and later became associated with Jarrold’s printing works. And, yes, it was too hot.

    There’s a bit of a gap in this narrative here as I already posted the photos that I had taken of Anglia Square as I walked by.

    This is the former King Edward VII pub on the Aylsham Road, now used as a mosque. I never visited this pub and I think it was something of a music venue towards the end, but it’s always sad to see a licensed premises closed. It first opened in 1903 and was a Morgans, then Bullards and then a Watney Mann pub which finally closed in 2014.

    I had a little stop to cool down here.

    A now closed Lloyds Bank.

    The former Falcon pub which Lacons opened in 1926, later owned by Whitbread and Enterprise Inns. It was destroyed by the Co-op in 2014 when they turned it into a supermarket, but then after doing that damage, they ditched it in 2018. It looks now as if it’s being turned into a residential property.

    This is a small remaining stretch of the old Norwich to Cromer road, rerouted when an airport was put down on its route.

    The former Firs pub which was opened in 1933 by Bullards and was owned by a series of breweries including Watney Mann, Brent Walker, Chef & Brewer, Pubmaster and then Enterprise Inns. This was probably ultimately a viable pub, but it was snapped up by Tesco in 2011 and so that was the end of that. Fortunately, planning changes have made it harder for supermarket, and indeed McDonald’s, to do this.

    And an hour after leaving, walking into the retail park next to Norwich Airport.

  • Stoke Gifford – St. Michael’s Church (Michael John Hayman War Grave)

    Stoke Gifford – St. Michael’s Church (Michael John Hayman War Grave)

    This is the grave of Michael John Hayman, who died on 14 September 1963 at the age of 19. I did try and find out more about him, but haven’t been very successful. I made a mistake here as I looked up how many war graves were at the church and CWGC noted that there was just one, which I assumed was this. I had forgotten that they don’t list graves that are from after 1947, so I only took this photo.

    The incident wasn’t directly related to the military, but as he was a senior aircraftman in the RAF, he was given a war grave. I don’t know why this church was chosen, but it was very close to RAF Filton which has now closed, but the site is used by Aerospace Bristol.

  • Newport to Bath Spa Rail Journey

    Newport to Bath Spa Rail Journey

    I accept that these blog posts are entirely out of order. I particularly mention in the chronology sense with that statement I’d better hasten to add. I’m going to post what I can today and then move on to my current trip and I am unanimous in that… This is the sort of firm editorial control my two loyal blog readers have come to expect, assuming they are still trying to work out why I was apparently in three places at once.

    Anyway, this is Newport railway station which I think is quite an ugly building, but each to their own as I’m sure that some thought that it was a bold modern transport experiment.

    The station opened as Newport High Street in June 1850 and is on the mainline between Bristol and Cardiff.

    This was my first train, the GWR service from Newport to Bristol Parkway.

    I was pre-annoyed as it required me to have a seat reservation and, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t like them. Invariably someone will be sitting in the seat or there’s some other inconvenience, so I’d rather sit where I want. Anyway, I boarded the train, which was going to London, and just sat where it said there was no reservation. It transpired that the train’s reservation system was down so it didn’t matter anyway and this no doubt annoyed the people who did want to have a reserved seat, which is one of the pleasingly democratic qualities of British rail travel, namely that eventually everyone gets disappointed.

    Crossing the River Usk at Newport.

    Safely at Bristol Parkway. I went off to look at an old church at this point, I’ll come back to that another time. Although this is how the blog chronology collapses, one church and one railway platform at a time.

    Back at Bristol Parkway, this station opened in 1972, although it was heavily modernised in 2001.

    Many people come to look at this plaque noting the unveiling of the new platform by Chris Grayling, then the Transport Secretary and now in the Lords, in April 2018.

    I found a Tesco when church hunting so that was lunch sorted. Note all that fruit. I mention this because it gives the whole arrangement a faintly healthy glow, even if the broader dietary context of my travels may not withstand close academic scrutiny.

    The GWR train to Bath Spa turned up six minutes later and I wondered whether Delay Repay would kick in, but they got the train back on track so to speak.

    This train wasn’t overly busy and GWR hadn’t burdened themselves by cleaning it.

    Playing music loudly from his phone and feet wiped on the seats numerous times. The train guard didn’t say anything, although I hardly blame the staff as they don’t want the risk of being attacked. I limited myself to silent disapproval, at which I am becoming increasingly professional.

    And safely into Bath Spa railway station, although it was rather harder to leave it later in the day.