Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Norwich

  • Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Pair of Walking Figures by Lynn Chadwick)

    Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Pair of Walking Figures by Lynn Chadwick)

    This bronze is by Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) and is in the sculpture garden of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. The design was for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and there were six casts made in 1978, of which this is one. Incidentally, if anyone fancies owning this, one came up for auction (number 2 of 6) in 2018 and reached just under £2.6 million against an estimate of £600,000 to £800,000. That seems like a lot of money to me…..

    Anyway, I have no idea where the other five bronzes are (or indeed if this is the one which sold in 2018), probably mostly in private collections somewhere around the world and surfacing only for occasional exhibitions. These ones were meant to be removed from the Sainsbury collection at the end of 2019, so will likely be gone soon as they’re only on loan from the collection of Denise Coates CBE (the controversial business leader who made money from her betting business) and Richard Smith.

    The figures are quite powerful with their different shaped heads and angular designs.

  • Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Draped Reclining Woman)

    Norwich – Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (Draped Reclining Woman)

    For some time, and inspired by the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, I became quite engaged with the works of Auguste Rodin. Not just the artworks, but also how French law now allows for twelve casts to be made of original plaster moulds and that means it’s intriguing to see where the various bronzes have ended up.

    There’s a similar theme to the works of Henry Moore (1898-1986) and the bronze known as Draped Reclining Woman was designed in 1958. There’s the original cast, known as 0/6, and then six castings were made of this original work and this was undertaken by Hermann Noack.

    This bronze, now on display in the sculpture park of the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the UEA, was once located in the garden of Sir Robert Sainsbury (1906-2000). He was the son of the founder of the supermarket chain and he also donated a significant art collection to the gallery.

    Wikipedia, that bastion of truth, tells me where the other bronzes are.

    The Tate Museum (they’ve put it on display at Glyndebourne near Lewes)

    Pinakothek der Moderne (a modern art gallery in Munich, which is a city I haven’t visited)

    The Staatsgalerie (a gallery in Stuttgart, another city I haven’t visited)

    The Norton Simon Museum (this is in Pasadena, a city I’ve visited, but not the museum and they have the 0/6, so the original cast)

    The two others are in private collections (so, could be anywhere)

  • Norwich – Former St. Peter’s Methodist Church

    Norwich – Former St. Peter’s Methodist Church

    This is the former St. Peter’s Methodist Church on Park Lane in Norwich, currently being redeveloped.

    The photo is a little wonky as I had to put my phone over the fence to get an unobstructed view. But, what is visible here is the former frontage of the Wesleyan Methodist Church (see http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/norwichparklanemeth/St.Peter’s-Old%20Chapel(1d4).jpg) and this was all bricked over in the 1960s to create a flat frontage.

    This was the frontage and I have to say, the developers have done the building a huge favour in revealing what was once here. The developers of this site are turning the two former church buildings into residential properties, although they’ve run into some difficulties with the council. According to the EDP, Norwich City Council demanded £507,000 as a contribution towards affordable housing and the property developers offered £371,800. Anyway, after lots of negotiations and debate, Norwich City Council accepted £167,108. I mean, what an expert negotiation that was, £200,000 lower than the first offer. Anyway, I won’t get political here.

  • Norwich – Heigham Park

    Norwich – Heigham Park

    We meandered into Heigham Park on a group walk and it’s a park that I’ve never been to before. The decision to construct it was made in around 1919 as there was a plan to build on the former Heigham Playing Fields site and the council wanted some space devoted to a public park. That was some forward planning from the council and other projects from the same period include Wensum Park, Waterloo Park, Eaton Park and Mile Cross Gardens.

    There was originally a fountain and pool near to the sole entrance to the gardens, but this has now been filled in to become a large garden feature. The park feels quite spacious, but they’re only 2.5 hectares in size and they’re bordered on all sides by residential properties. Work started on the gardens in 1921 and they were completed in 1924 when the public was allowed entry.

    The Friends of Heigham Park have a useful and interesting web-site, with much more information about the park’s history. Anyway, photos from the walk:

  • Norwich – Las Iguanas

    Norwich – Las Iguanas

    And that’s another restaurant in Norwich permanently closed, the Latin American themed Las Iguanas on Wherry Road. Located near to Coast to Coast, which also permanently closed a few weeks ago, Las Iguanas is closing as a result of the Casual Dining Group going into administration. A little surprisingly, both Bella Italias in Norwich are staying open, although many are closing around the rest of the country.

  • Norwich – The Chip Shop (Stafford Street)

    Norwich – The Chip Shop (Stafford Street)

    Not the most innovative of chip shop names, but I’ve heard positive things about this location and their reviews are broadly glowing in praise. Before I start, I’ll get my pet hate out of the way, which is businesses that don’t take cards. Although I have no complaint as they can run their business how they want, it means I won’t go back. The number of locations that don’t take cards is now so small that customers expect it, and in my view, local businesses need to fight back against the sea of monotony that is offered by some chains.

    Indeed, Amex is running their usual December offer early, so any customer visiting a chip shop (or any small business which accepts Amex) with that offer will get £5 for free if they spend £10. More and more market traders are accepting cards and any business which doesn’t seems destined to need a large sign visible in their window or on entrance telling customers they don’t accept cards. And, that was the case here, the first marketing message in the shop was “cash only”. Although to be fair, the shop wasn’t quiet, the trade was steady.

    The service was polite and efficient, with the social distancing system being a little unclear (over half the customers got it wrong), but the staff were verbally explaining it. The price for battered sausage and small chips was £2.60, which is below average and the portion of chips was substantial. There was a moderate customer service failing in that they wrapped the whole lot up, even though I wanted it unwrapped, and didn’t offer salt and vinegar.

    But, the chips were excellent, fluffy on the interior, slightly firm on the exterior and they had a pleasant taste. The sausage content was a little generic, but it tasted fine and the batter seemed freshly made, was golden and had a richness of flavour.

    So, I can understand why they have the reputation that they have, there’s a focus on the food and all seemed fine with perfectly good value for money. The locals are fortunate to have this chip shop here, it is clearly well respected in the area.

  • Norwich – UEA Walk

    Norwich – UEA Walk

    Just some photos in this post….. This is from our group walk which covered part of the lake at the UEA and some of their sculptures. More of these next week when we explore the rest of the lake and sculptures area.

    Incidentally, the dog was rather sweet. He just sat in the lake like that for some time, the owner said that he was wondering if his dog thought that he was a crocodile.

     

  • First Bus – New Excel Buses

    First Bus – New Excel Buses

    First brought their new Excel buses into service in February 2020, although circumstances have meant that they’ve obviously been heavily under-used since. They run between Norwich and Peterborough, stopping at Dereham, Swaffham, King’s Lynn and Wisbech.

    This was my first foray onto public transport since March and so this Norwich bus station queueing system was new to me.

    There were only two of us attempting to board the bus in Norwich, so the queueing system wasn’t exactly overloaded.

    The front of the bus, with a clear new display screen.

    And looking back to the rear.

    The interior upstairs is light and airy, there are no shortage of windows.

    There are now tables at some of the seats and the seats themselves have USB power, wi-fi and there’s a stop button on every pair of seats. The seats are leather, which I personally find can get quite sticky in the heat, but there’s a modern feel to the whole arrangement.

    The seat and it’s clear they’ve spent a chunk of money on these buses. The ride doesn’t feel that comfortable, but it might well be that this is more to do with Norfolk’s roads than anything else.

    Health arrangements on-board.

    And, safely in King’s Lynn.

    Another one of the same fleet of buses in King’s Lynn.

  • Norwich – Chish and Fips

    Norwich – Chish and Fips

    To start our Catton walk off, we popped into Chish & Fips on Angel Road, a reminder that this blog used to have many more posts about food and drink before the current crisis….. Anyway, the social distancing was all clearly laid out and managed well. The staff members were friendly, the shop was clean, the service was efficient and the process was fast. Well, Nathan had to wait for his battered sausage since I ordered the last one, but I got over that.

    Not the easiest to eat when presented like this, but it was all entirely acceptable, albeit unexceptional. The sausage was generic (although they usually are, but then again I suppose that’s the definition of generic), the batter had no discernible taste to it and I’m not sure what the chips were cooked in, but it didn’t add any particular richness of flavour. But for £3, it’s admittedly still perfectly acceptable value for money as they were served hot and they didn’t taste bad or overcooked. The portion size was also sufficiently generous and there were no customer service issues here.

    However, I understand that their strongest element is their fish, which is rather useful for a fish and chip shop. But, they don’t accept cards and given the times in which we live, that’s enough for me to once again divert via Grosvenor instead. Although I say this and I haven’t been there for weeks, I must do some diverting this week to get there.

    So, overall, entirely acceptable and there was a friendly welcome.

  • Norwich – Tree

    Norwich – Tree

    OK, this isn’t exactly fascinating content, I just liked how the tree roots had forced the concrete and bricks apart. I’m easily pleased….