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Category: UK

Food from Every Stall on Norwich Market (2025 Edition) – Week 28 and B’s T’s

James and I are visiting every food stall at Norwich market this year and we’re very nearly there, with this visit being to the cafe B’s T’s. I think we have an admission here, this unit was trading when we did this same project in 2023 but we don’t appear to have visited. So, this is one of four cafes on Norwich market and they’re the traditional stalls which sell hot drinks, burgers, rolls, hot dogs, breakfasts and the like. There seems to be a constant demand for these stalls as they’ve all been busy when we’ve visited them this year.

The menu board, but I don’t have a comparison from two years ago since we forgot to go there. It’s evident from the stickers on the menu that there have been some price increases though. There was a friendly welcome and the ordering system seemed easy to understand, with the stall taking both cards and cash.

In my helpful way, I asked for a burnt bacon and sausage roll, which the staff member engaged with in a positive manner. Although she clarified that I really just wanted well done, she continued to reference the term burnt. I like this sort of engagement as it makes it easier for customers to return and be remembered by the stall holders. Anyway, it wasn’t greasy and the bacon was satisfactorily cooked and it meant that I had only a minimal need to remove excessive fat. The staff member did forget to add on the sweet chilli sauce that she meant to, although I had some ketchup in sachets with me anyway (it’s essential when travelling….). The sausage was meaty and juicy, although it was under the bacon and so a little hard to see in the photo. The roll was also soft and fresh, so another point there.

James had a cheeseburger and I can’t remember half of what he said about it, but he said it didn’t beat the best one he’s had in the market this year, but it was better than the last couple that’s he had. So, let’s go with he thought that it was above average. I’ll pay more attention to what he’s saying next time but a polite pigeon distracted me during the food testing phase of our visit.

Overall, I liked this stall and the service, it felt informal and friendly. The roll cost £4 which seemed reasonable for the market, although the market stalls are perhaps going to struggle a little with the onslaught of meal deals from national chains at the moment which are mostly priced at £5 to £6. I would repeat though for those looking at the photo and thinking the bacon has been overcooked, that was to my request and now they usually do it….

September 19, 2025
Great Yarmouth – Tourist Information Centre (and Sailors’ Home)

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

This building isn’t of historic interest just because it’s a tourist information centre (although I’m sure it is a lovely little service for visitors to the town), but because it was the Sailors’ Home from 1861 until 1965. During the time which it was open it looked after over 11,000 shipwrecked sailors from 29 different countries. I’m sure that I remember this building being used as a Maritime Museum for a while in the 1980s.

There doesn’t seem to be any specific connection with this building and HMS Lutine, other than it sailed from Great Yarmouth in 1799. The boat was carrying today’s equivalent of £100 million of bullion and coin and it sank, which must have irritated its owners. Although not overly irritated them as they had the sense to insure it, so Lloyds of London paid out for the losses. Lloyds have since salvaged some of the gold, although much is still underwater, and they also got back the ship’s bell. This bell, the Lutine Bell, is now pride of place in the Head Office of Lloyds in London. Although it occurs to me that if I sent a salvage crew to collect my gold I’d rather they returned with that rather than the bloody ship’s bell.

September 14, 2025
Great Yarmouth – St. Mary’s Catholic Church

[I posted this in August 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

I’ve walked by this church on Regent Road hundreds of times over the years, but never actually gone in it. The church opened in 1850 after three years of construction, replacing a small chapel which couldn’t cater for the growing congregation. At the time this was the only building on Regent Road and it now looks a little out of place with the mainly tourist orientated shops and restaurants that are on the street today.

The church was designed by Joseph John Scoles, who also designed St. Peter’s Church in the town. It was built for the Jesuits, although was taken over by the Diocese of East Anglia in the mid-twentieth century. When the church opened it had a congregation of over 800 people, showing why the previous building had been of an inadequate size.

The font is from the 1850s and was also designed by Scoles.

There are numerous of these painted artworks around the church and there are information sheets (well, pieces of paper stuck to the wall) which give information as to what they represent. The information sheets are though useful and give a little bit more context about the building’s history.

The impressive interior, which is relatively unchanged since the church was built, with some interesting roof decorations. There are over 800 carved roof bosses in the church and there are a few of the original mid-nineteenth century pews remaining in situ.

The pulpit was apparently designed by Pugin, although there seems some doubt on this, and it was installed under the supervision of George Myers.

The stained glass window, which I think is from the mid-nineteenth century.

The organ dates from the late nineteenth century and has 1,032 pipes.

I had wondered why there were numerous CCTV signs and warnings of alarms, but assumed it was a general security measure. Unfortunately though it now makes sense, as some yob tried to set the church on fire earlier on in 2018. Fortunately the damage wasn’t too severe and the idiot was caught and charged with committing hate crimes.

It’s a peaceful and quiet environment in the church, in contrast to the rather busy and noise shopping street outside. I can’t imagine this church when it was located on a little quiet road which led to the beach, but I’m pleased that it has survived intact.

September 14, 2025
Great Yarmouth – St. Spyridon Church (St. Peter’s Church)

[I originally posted this in September 2018, but have reposted it to fix the broken image links]

It has to be noted that the state of Anglican churches in Great Yarmouth isn’t what it was, with perhaps most of the energies in recent decades going into the Minster. This church was opened in 1831 as St. Peter’s Church, designed by JJ Scoles, who also designed the nearby St. Mary’s Church.

The church fell into disuse in the 1960s and it was given to the Greek community to use as an Orthodox church. It was fortunate for the building that a new use was found, as this was at a time when churches were often demolished if they had become redundant.

The building is currently being repaired and the process has been on-going for several years. English Heritage have helped with the funding, but it has also been a major financial challenge for the local congregation to raise money themselves to put towards the project. The first part of the work involved repairing the tower, which had become a danger given that bits were falling off of it, never an ideal situation…..

September 14, 2025
Great Yarmouth – St. John’s Church

[I originally posted this in August 2018, but I’ve reposted it to fix the broken image links]

A short way from the busy seafront is this closed and redundant church, looking a little sad. Its future is though more positive, as it was sold to the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust in 2016 for £1 and the organisation has plans to restore the building and use it for the community. The funds aren’t currently in place to complete the project, but the Trust seems hopeful that they can be secured.

A rather charming tree in the churchyard.

Sadly, at the moment the entire church is fenced off. The church had first opened in 1858 when it was opened by the Beach and Harbour Mission. During the Victorian period the church was primarily used by the local beachmen, sailors and their families.

The church’s former chapter house. The building was built by John Henry Hakewill, who designed and restored many churches during the mid-Victorian period.

The Trust is restoring and preserving seven documents which were found in the church, including an impressive baptism roll. It’s delightful that these documents have been secured for the future, as without the Trust’s intervention there must have been the risk that the church would have been turned into flats and the contents lost for ever. The kneeler cushions, which had been left unused for years, were also kept and there are plans to repair and preserve them.

The restoration of the church appears to be in good hands, and the Trust said to the local media that the repairs would be sensitive and that the interior wouldn’t be reconstructed. Hopefully in a few years this building will once again be used by the community, and I can then have a little look inside.

September 14, 2025
Oxford LDWA Weekend – Oxford Canal Walk

The first walk of the LDWA weekend was along the canal routes into Oxford and we boarded a train to Tackley railway station.

The station is on the Cherwell Valley Line which runs from Banbury to Didcot Parkway, although the station here was added to the line relatively late, opening on 6 April 1931.

Andy gave us an introduction before starting the walk, although he likely could have done without someone keep asking when lunch was.

A lock and old bridge a short distance away from the start of the walk in Nethercott.

There was lots of pleasant canal walking, although at first the path was a bit ropy and I did wonder if someone would fall in, but there were fortunately no incidents. We saw a grass snake, or it might have been a rattlesnake, gliding across the water. This annoyed me, I wish they’d stop letting snakes out unattended.

Wild hops, I don’t often see those, although that’s mainly because I’m usually looking for blackberries.

Beautiful surroundings and we were fortunate with the weather, it was warm with no rain, but there was also a pleasant breeze.

Sarah, blazing a trail.

A rather lovely little church by the river, this is the Church of Holy Cross at Shipton-on-Cherwell. There was a medieval church at this site, but it was mostly rebuilt in 1831 when it was all reworked and a new tower was added by William Turner.

The lunch spot at Thrupp.

This bridge pivots up and can be operated by just one person, but there was nearly an incident here when a car tried to drive onto the now rather vertical bridge. Shortly afterwards, a pedestrian tried to do the same thing.

A rather clever piece of engineering.

An old stone bridge near Kidlington. It’s number 223 and known as Sparrow Gap Bridge

A heron.

We waited here for Sue to join us.

Walking into Oxford.

The Toblerhome river boat.

Into the city centre and then a quick pub stop before I traipsed to my thrifty hotel which was nowhere near the centre of Oxford. Memories of the dangerous snake we saw swimming in the canal had faded away, with me looking forwards to the pubs in the evening (which I’ve already written up….).

September 10, 2025
Wizz Air (Luton Airport to Wrocław)

It was a very enjoyable weekend in Oxford with the LDWA, but it was time to get a National Express coach from this historic city to the charms of Luton Airport.

Parked up in Milton Keynes Coachway and I wonder whether travel can get any more exciting than this. I was pleased that I got the emergency exit row seat on this coach as it has more legroom, although it wasn’t particularly busy on board. The one excitement about sitting in this seat is that it seems to require the occupant to assist anyone who can’t work out that the coach toilet door slides rather than opens inwards or outwards.

I accept I didn’t try too hard to get an outstanding quality photo here, but safely at Luton Airport on time.

I cut this incredibly fine by arriving at the airport just three hours before my flight. Mine was the third last scheduled departure from Luton Airport that day.

Using my Priority Pass card to get some chicken tenders and a pint in Big Smoke.

And a Limoncello Spritzer in Nolito with the same card. I felt really quite decadent.

The screens indicated for a while that the flight would be 20 minutes late, but all ended up operating on time.

The boarding process was yet again efficient and free from drama, despite it being a relatively full flight. The aircraft is 9H-WBU which I don’t think I’ve been on before.

Here’s a nice blurry photo of London. I had a window seat assigned by the seating Gods, although astute readers will have guessed that because of the photos taken out of the window. The crew was efficient and they seemed to have very few sales when they walked up and down the aisle, but perhaps passengers were just tired.

I don’t know if the Blood Moon impacted this, but the water had a strange sort of glow.

We landed safely on time and I was ready to catch my bus to the airport.

I didn’t catch the intended bus to the airport as I then had an exciting hour-long wait in the airport whilst there was a detailed check of the stamps in my passport. The end conclusion was that I had lots more days left in the EU as they thought some countries hadn’t stamped their stamps very clearly, but the wait was sub-optimal when I wanted to be in my hotel.

And finally on the bus to the hotel, where I arrived at just before 03:00. Marvellous….

September 9, 2025
Oxford – Grapes Pub

As the weekend drew to a close, I had time for one final Good Beer Guide pub visit. Regarding the history, CAMRA notes:

“First built in 1820 and rebuilt in 1879, this is a rare Victorian pub in the city centre. There is a single narrow panelled room, with the bar on one side and seating on the other. The glazed timber screens have been removed to give more room. In the entrance there is some original tiling, mostly obscured. After being run by St Austell Brewery for a while the pub reopened under West Berkshire Brewery ownership in April 2019 but the brewery went into administration.”

There was an extensive and interesting selection of real ales which covered a range of beer styles, it actually felt curated. The service was slightly sluggish, but it was friendly and efficient, with the general environment being inviting and comfortable. Everything felt clean and tidy, with power outlets available for those who might need them.

There was also an excellent range of craft beers and if I had longer then I would have started to work my way down a couple of these, I had no idea that they would have 40 keg lines.

It wasn’t very busy, although there was some drama when the 15:00 national phone emergency testing alarm went off.

I went for half a pint of the Bliss Point from Thornbridge, which I haven’t had before. It was well-kept, light and had flavours of hedgerow (this isn’t an official term), pine and citrus. The price was towards the lower end of the scale for Oxford, although some of the decadent craft beers are of course more decadently priced.

Although I didn’t eat, there was food available and the only customer I saw order a meal came over to the bar to say how much they’d enjoyed it. The menu isn’t overly extensive, it contains small plates, traditional pub classics, burgers, pizzas and the like.

Some beermat decoration on the ceiling of the pub. There are also some vinyl records near to the door which I think can be played, with sports being shown on the TV. Neither of those latter two points particularly engage me, but it all adds to a rounded pub and I’d be happy just with the beer selection. The recent online reviews are very positive and I can imagine that this venue will soon get busier as its reputation spreads as it certainly surprised and delighted me.

This was the best pub that I visited in Oxford and I’m very grateful to the Good Beer Guide for pointing me towards it. The venue has won numerous CAMRA awards recently and shows what can happen when a large corporate doesn’t make it formulaic and drab. There are a few offers floating about, not least the current £3.50 for any pint of real ale on Mondays.

September 8, 2025
Oxford – The Royal Blenheim

This was an unexpected treat, being able to tick off two things at once, another Titanic pub and a Good Beer Guide pub. In terms of its history, it’s a Victorian pub which takes its name from one of the stagecoach services which used to serve Oxford.

What a lovely sight and the pub has won numerous CAMRA awards in recent years.

The keg section.

For the many and not the few.

The bar and there was a friendly welcome from the staff member. It’s always a delight to visit a Titanic pub and she was knowledgeable and engaging.

Clean and comfortable seating. The pub doesn’t serve food any more, instead focusing on its drinks trade and it clearly does that very well.

This is half a pint of the Idaho Pale, a Titanic beer that I haven’t had before. It’s 4.3% and was really rather lovely, hoppy, fluffy and rich in flavour.

My second half pint was also a first for me, the True Stout nitro, which the staff member told me is a long-standing Titanic beer, although I’ve not knowingly noticed it before. It was smooth, dark, creamy and again there was a depth of flavour. Titanic really are good at this brewing thing.

Well, indeed.

The online reviews are broadly very positive and this was one of the very few negative ones:

“Pretty unfriendly if you have kids. Great pub otherwise, but the unfriendly treatment spoiled it for me. I understand why the management might prefer to have a kids-free pub, but there are nicer ways to communicate it, even conceding this might be a tenable position to have in 2023.”

I don’t know how they communicated it, but I find it hard to believe they randomly turned on some kids that entered without them having caused a disturbance.

“There was live rugby on, but in the area we were sitting no one was watching and the sound was intrusive and distorted. Two customers, including the person I was with, asked if the sound could be turned off. The pub employee replied that it could not be turned off, and if people did not like it they should go elsewhere.”

This feels sub-optimal if true…..

Anyway, this was a pub that I thought absolutely deserved to be in the Good Beer Guide, a wide selection of real ales and keg beers, a friendly welcome, a quirky feel and something that didn’t feel formulaic. All really rather lovely.

September 7, 2025
Oxford – St Aldate’s Tavern

The next Good Beer Guide listed venue on our little pub crawl was St Aldate’s Tavern, a Young’s pub which makes an attempt to have a couple of local beers. The history of the venue is complex and Young’s have shown no interest in the pub’s heritage, but it’s not the original St Aldate’s Tavern which was located further down the same road. CAMRA notes that there has been an inn here since 1397, although rebuilt on numerous occasions and in 1716 it was known as the New Inn. It was then renamed as the Bulldog in 1965 before being rebranded back to St. Aldate’s Tavern in 2005.

The beer selection was dreary, although there was an attempt at having a local beer which was the Prospect from Oxford Brewery. The service was friendly and engaging, although the prices were to the higher end of the scale.

The seating was odd, a sofa that really isn’t that suitable to sit at for those wanting to drink or eat, it all felt formulaic. The online reviews here are a little poor, although I like this one:

“I went to this pub and was enjoying My self with friends when we were told to be quite? I won’t be going back as we had to be quiet”

The pub replied:

“Good evening, we are sorry you are feeling this way about your visit today. Your group were raising your voices and cursing, including raising your voice towards one of our team. You were politely asked to keep the noise level down. To give an opportunity to all of our guests so they can equally enjoy their time in our venue.”

I’m with the pub, I like them a bit more now.

“After a show in Oxford we went in the pub and Callum said to us that they were showing the World Cup Final. Great we thought! Lets stay eat drink and enjoy the match. After the match, extra time, two meals and several drinks later it was time for a penalty shootout. Lots of people in the pub in a good mood. Took to France missing second penalty and calum decided to switch all the TVs off in a huff. Plus the upstairs projector.”

I quite like Callum 🙂

The DEYA is decent, there’s a slight effort to offer some craft beer options here.

I went for the Prospect as it was the local option and it’s named after the story of when the unfortunate prospective Balliol scholars were set upon by the College Fellows and carried to College Hall where they were forced to tell stories to entertain them. The beer is 3.7% and was hoppy, a slight taste of toffee and was well-kept. It was slightly challenging to battle off all the flies in the venue, a slightly sub-optimal situation.

It was dark when we left…. Although it’s an interesting venue historically, I thought it was all just a little soulless, corporate and formulaic, perhaps fortunate to be listed in the Good Beer Guide.

September 7, 2025