Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Norwich

  • Norwich – River Lane Tower

    Norwich – River Lane Tower

    When walking in the city yesterday, Ron pointed out a sign which marked the remains of one of Norwich’s defensive towers. Although I knew about the line of the city wall, evident in the above map, I hadn’t paid much attention to the tower itself.

    The tower, first erected in 1347, is just visible in this photo. It’s not known whether this tower pre-dates the wall behind it, as this was the final stretch of city wall that was completed and that work took place in the 1340s. It was likely they were constructed at the same time, and it would have been a boom tower which gave access to the walkway on the city wall.

    This is on the north side of the River Wensum, with the riverside footpath going through the former tower.

    I’d never noticed this sign before.

    Another view of the tower.

    It’s not possible to examine the rest of the city wall at the moment, as there’s a construction project going on along Barrack Street, but I imagine this will be treated sensitively as part of the works. There’s a lot more information about this stretch of wall at https://www.norwich.gov.uk/site/custom_scripts/citywalls/01/report.php.

  • Norwich – Dolphin Bridge

    Norwich – Dolphin Bridge

    Long ago there was a ferry here, connecting what is now Heigham Street with Drayton Road, across the River Wensum. Initially, there were plans at the beginning of the twentieth century to build a roadway at this site, but the levels weren’t right and so a 6-foot wide pedestrian footbridge was installed instead.

    At 12 noon on 15 December 1909, Dolphin Bridge was opened by the city mayor Ernest Egbert Blyth.

     

    The views along the River Wensum from the bridge. The bridge takes its name from the nearby Dolphin Inn on Heigham Street, which was the former summer home of Bishop Joseph Hall, the then Bishop of Norwich who saw the puritans attack Norwich Cathedral. This rather grand property was used as an inn from the early seventeenth century and remained as a pub until 1999.

    In January 1932, Robert Nelson, a milk roundsman (a lovely word for someone who performed a milk round) from 53, Philadelphia Lane in Norwich was fined 2s 6d for cycling along the footbridge. This does seem slightly harsh, but perhaps they had a wave of cyclists upsetting pedestrians.

  • Norwich – Waterloo Park Area Photos

    Norwich – Waterloo Park Area Photos

    Just photos of the Waterloo Park area, along with Wensum Park and the Marriott’s Way, which is the former rail line between Norwich and Aylsham. It’s a reminder of much green space there is in areas relatively near to the city centre.

  • Norwich – Greggs (Re-opened)

    Norwich – Greggs (Re-opened)

    So, today is the day that Greggs re-opened. I thought it a bit ridiculous to get there at 09.00 which was the time that they formally opened their doors, there are many other important things to think about in life at the moment. Getting there at 09.00 would have looked desperate.

    At 09.21 I arrived at Greggs in Anglia Square, just for a sausage roll at the moment. It seemed excessive to get too excited and start ordering more exotic items, slow and steady is important.

    I thought at first that these were queue barriers. Indeed, they might well have been, but since it was pouring with rain, there was no queue.

    Looking good…. Well, bar that steak bake which has burst with excitement.

    Nice and clear.

    And there we go, life is returning to normal.

  • Norwich – Thorpe Marshes and Dead Cygnets

    Norwich – Thorpe Marshes and Dead Cygnets

    Not particularly positive news, Thorpe Marshes (where I visited a couple of weeks ago) has had dogs running off leads which have killed some cygnets.

    Norfolk Wildlife Trust said about the three killed cygnets:

    “One of them was witnessed by somebody who is a regular visitor to the marshes and it was very upsetting for them to see. The mute swan had moved her nest to a dyke near a footpath, but that does not excuse the owners of these dogs. They should be kept on leads. We understand that people like to walk dogs, but running them off a lead in a nature reserve is not a good idea. We are appealing to people to be sensible and responsible”.

     

  • Norwich – Coast to Coast

    Norwich – Coast to Coast

    Sad to hear that Coast to Coast, located to the left of TGI Fridays in the above photo, is closing permanently in Norwich. They bemused me, they were becoming popular locally and their reviews were positive. But they were for months deluging out offers whereby anyone who had a Tastecard, Gourmet Society card or voucher could get 50% off of food. If you were a diner who went in without those cards, you were getting charged twice the amount of everyone else and I’m not sure how that could ever end well.

    They can run their restaurant how they wanted, but why they devalued their product so much never quite made sense to me. Anyway, I hope the space is used for a large Greggs, constantly good value without gimmicks.

  • Group Walking is Back…..

    Group Walking is Back…..

    At least for me, yesterday was the chance to go on a small group walk for the first time since March. All socially distanced, just a small group of under the maximum allowed and all professionally-led (since I wasn’t leading it).

    An intriguing tree…..

    The walk went around Thorpe marshes at first, which is where most of the photos below are from. I’ve neglected walking this area as I had forgotten about it, which isn’t much of an excuse, but it was peaceful and I’m not sure many people are aware of the walking options around there.

    There’s a photo of a deer drinking on the other side of the river, which I hoped was a Chinese water deer given there are lots around there, which were introduced from China in the nineteenth century. I’ve been told it’s a Muntjac though, but nonetheless, it still looked sweet and innocent.

    Anyway, the photos…..

       

  • Norwich – Name Origin

    Norwich – Name Origin

    Since I’ve been merrily writing about the name origins of numerous villages around Norfolk, it perhaps makes sense to mention the county’s major city. No, not Dereham, it’s Norwich.

    The Concise Oxford Dictionary comments on the origins:

    Norwich, Norfolk. Norowic in 930, Noruic in Domesday Book. North Town.

    This is one of the book’s shorter definitions and Norvic is still used today, not least by the Bishop of Norwich who signs off with this title. The explanation, as the book says, is simple, it just means North Town, so that makes this blog post nice and easy….. The Saxon ‘wich’ meaning settlement or town is relatively frequently seen, including at Ipswich, Harwich, Greenwich and so on.

  • The Stone Bridge at Horse Fair

    The Stone Bridge at Horse Fair

    I posted earlier about how the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society have made back issues of their journal available on-line. Meandering through a few issues, the Reverend W. Hudson wrote in 1884 about the stone bridge at Horse Fair. He noted:

    “Of the hundreds who in the course of a year make their way from Prince of Wales Road by St. Faith’s Lane into the Lower Close, probably nearly all could at once call to mind the old wall which skirts the road on their left; but scarcely one, perhaps, is aware that if he keeps close to the wall, at a point not far from where the wall bends round towards the open space called the Horse Fair, the ground is hollow under his feet, and he is in fact crossing over a bridge which once spanned a dyke which passed under the road”.

    Over 135 years later, that road layout hasn’t changed and I’m one of no doubt many who wasn’t aware of this bridge either.

    The full-sized map is visible by clicking on the above image, and I had no idea there was once a bridge here. Prince of Wales Road had just been laid out at that stage, hence why it’s pencilled in.

    The full article is available at https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/details.xhtml?recordId=3236503.

  • Norwich – Meadows Near the River Yare

    Norwich – Meadows Near the River Yare

    Just photos, but this is the meadow area between Trowse and Whitlingham Lake, just by the River Yare. I’ve never walked on these meadows, although they were peaceful and there were a few small groups sitting by the river.

    Not the most welcoming of introductions though.