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Tag: Norwich

  • Norwich – Nelson’s Statue

    Norwich – Nelson’s Statue

    The statue of Norfolk’s hero, Nelson, in Norwich Cathedral Upper Close. It was installed here in 1847, sculpted by Thomas Milnes. It was attacked by vandals, twice, over recent days. I have no comment to make on my non-political blog, but I’m conscious that this may be an independent attack without political links, so jumping to conclusions would be unhelpful and wouldn’t be relevant here anyway. Events may mean that view is misguided, but we shall see and perhaps it was intended as an attack on the Church of England, the establishment, British history, society in general or the British Empire. I don’t know and that debate can be had elsewhere.

    The rear of the statue.

    The front of the statue.

    When we were standing taking photos, a police car drove by. I thought they might hang around and see why I standing by the statue, but they must have thought I was trustworthy as they drove off (the lights of the police car are just visible going through the Erpingham Gate in the above photo).

  • Norwich – Deliveroo and Gonzo’s Tea Room

    Norwich – Deliveroo and Gonzo’s Tea Room

    I’ve wondered about Deliveroo for a while, I was nearly knocked over by one of their bikes during the lockdown period and I put that down to the rush to get food delivered. These things happen and it was so quiet in Norwich at the time that it wasn’t unreasonable for a cyclist not to expect many pedestrians.

    But, I’ve noticed some strange things, such as a delivery driver collecting food from Five Guys and then standing outside for nearly ten minutes last year. I wondered why that was (and just assumed the customer had cancelled), but a post from Gonzo’s Tea Room today on Facebook has perhaps made that obvious, the driver might have been waiting for another order. I’m not sure that I blame the driver/cyclist for this, it’s not an easy job and in some inner cities it’s downright dangerous.

    I’ve checked Gonzo’s are happy for my quote their entire piece, and they were which is much appreciated. I’m also pleased that Deliveroo sent me an explanation within 15 minutes of my asking and so that’s enormously efficient and appreciated (as this blog is hardly the mainstream media), so at least they seem to be taking it seriously now. But, I still wonder about this model of delivery, it’s taking a lot of money from small outlets. Perhaps more importantly, I don’t like the idea that someone saves up for a meal as a special treat and then they’re treated like this, it’s hugely unfair on them and the restaurant.

    Hopefully, it was a one-off and standards in Norwich will now return to normal….

    “Today we will 100% be leaving Deliveroo. We apologize to any customers who have had to deal with their shit service.

    However this statement also comes with a story..

    Yesterday, two occurrences,

    A rider arrived to pick up an order, he was handed the food and we presumed he’d left. TEN MINUTES LATER we found him hanging around outside still, when we asked him what he was doing he said he was waiting for the next order to deliver as well!!! THIS IS WHY YOU GET YOUR FOOD LATE AND COLD NORWICH!! They’re doubling or tripling up deliveries to increase their pay per trip!

    Second occurrence…

    The rider arrived and collected his order, on the way out the door he dropped the order on the ground. He then began to pick it up and put it back in the bag when he dropped it for the SECOND time!! The boxes popped open and we think the food might have touched the ground outside so we presumed it did for health reasons.

    We immediately confronted him and told him to come inside, we couldn’t dare let that food get to a customer if it was spilled on the ground. However the driver ignored us and literally took off.

    Deliveroo does not give us customer details, we literally have no idea where the food went or how to contact the customer.

    We next called their head office to complain, luckily we immediately got through to a service agent who contacted the customer and confirmed the food had arrived “cold”.

    Us “What about the fact that it was dropped on the ground? “

    Deliveroo “Well the customer didn’t complain about that.”

    Us “Wait…You didn’t tell them, they’re going to eat meals that were dropped on the ground!”

    Deliveroo ” Well, no, not if they haven’t complained”

    Us “How would they possibly know it’s been dropped? That’s literally insane!”

    Deliveroo ” Well they said it was cold and they were happy.”

    Us ” Who’s happy with cold food!? You NEED to tell them it was dropped. They shouldn’t be eating it.”

    Deliveroo ” We won’t do anything else, unless they complain”

    THAT POLICY IS STRAIGHT UP EVIL

    Every time you order from a restaurant Deliveroo takes more than 1/3rd of the money to deliver it. Almost the entire profit margin is gone into their pocket and this is how much they care about your business and health standards.

    During the last few months the world has changed and they have profiteered massively. We know some of you may not be ready to go back out, but please stop ordering from these takeaway giants and if you do feel the need to use their platform, please only use those that use their own drivers.

    In saying that, we know companies aren’t all terrible, we know some of their drivers are great people who’ve worked incredibly hard during the pandemic and that controlling every facet of a company like Deliveroo is nearly impossible.

    We’d like to invite Deliveroo to make contact we us and we can help them regulate their riders. We want to make sure restaurants can communicate hazards and complaints quickly and effectively. Our goal is to make sure bad food, cold food, tossed food (especially pizzas) NEVER reach a customers doorstep and that the clients that work with Deliveroo are never left with social media outrage as their only avenue to resolving a situation for diners.

    Demand better.

    ( If you think this was your order, please contact Deliveroo and demand answers, we have no way of knowing where it went as Deliveroo refuses to let us contact customers)”

    Deliveroo said to me:

    “As soon as we became aware of this situation, we took immediate action to rectify it. We are also speaking to Gonzo and have apologised for their experience. We will do everything possible to ensure it does not happen again. Deliveroo takes any complaints we receive extremely seriously. We have taken immediate action to rectify this situation.”

    They also sent some explanatory material which is reassuring and so I am impressed that they’ve dealt with the issue now.

  • Norwich – Pret Chapelfield

    Norwich – Pret Chapelfield

    And another closure, Pret at Chapelfield in Norwich is closing permanently. The Haymarket one is staying open, but I imagine the rents here were just too high at the moment. I can’t help thinking that they never really rewarded their customers, they ignored the loyalty schemes that most of their rivals offered and I did think that was quite brave of them. There was always the danger that they desperately needed customers and that eventuality came to pass, although perhaps that wouldn’t have made much difference in the scale of things. But, a sad loss for Norwich (although maybe some independent operators might disagree), the staff here were always friendly and helpful, with the food being of a decent quality as well.

  • 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.