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Tag: Norwich

  • 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….

  • 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…..