Plough Blessing Service 2017

09 Mon Jan 2017

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, Folk Traditions, music, Rural Diary

Tags

Blessing the Plough, church service, folk dance, Molly Men, Old Glory, Plough Monday, Plough Sunday, Rumburgh, St Felix and St Michael's church Rumburgh, Suffolk

Those of you who have been reading my posts for a while will recognise the title of this one. Every year my church of St Felix and St Michael at Rumburgh holds a special Plough Blessing service on the first Sunday after Epiphany. Epiphany is on the 6th of January and celebrates the arrival of the Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus. The first Sunday after Epiphany is Plough Sunday and the following day is Plough Monday when traditionally, work on the land is recommenced after the Christmas break. These days there is no real break for Christmas and farm workers do not suffer from the terrible poverty they did in former times though they are still not very highly-paid. Here is a link to the ‘Old Glory’ site of our local Molly Men. Please take time to look at all their pages if you can.

The decorated plough in the nave of the church

The decorated plough

I enjoy this short service each year. In it, we look forward to spring, summer and harvest and pray that not only will there be enough warmth and rain to grow the crops but that we will not take anything for granted and will thank God for his care of us. We don’t just pray for ourselves but for all farmers throughout the world. Each component of the plough is blessed – the beam, the mouldboard, the slade, the sidecap, the share and the coulters.

I love the words from the prayer of gratitude.

From God comes every good and perfect gift:

The rich soil, the smell of the fresh-turned earth.

The keenness of a winter’s frost and our breath steaming.

The hum of the tractor, the gleam of a cutting edge.

The beauty of a clean-cut furrow, the sweep of a well-ploughed field.

The hymn at the end of the service is ‘We Plough the Fields, and Scatter…’

During Harvest-tide we get a little tired of singing this hymn as all the churches in our benefice have their own harvest service and the hymn is very popular, especially with the farming families. However, singing it at this time of year, so gloomy and cold as it is, gives hope and cheer so we all sing with gusto!

The plough and some of the costumes of the Molly Men.

The plough is left in the church over-night and is ready to be processed down the lane to the pub the next evening on Plough Monday. There are no street lights here and the nights are black at this time of the year. Flaming torches are carried to light the way. This year they won’t be accompanied by the church bells which will be silent out of respect to one of the ringers who died suddenly a few days ago.

Here is a film made in 2010 of the procession of Old Glory with the plough from the church to the Rumburgh ‘Buck’ pub.

Thanks for visiting!

King Street, Norwich

19 Tue Apr 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, Norwich, Rural Diary, walking

≈ 39 Comments

Tags

Alan Road, Albion Mill, Ber Street, Berstrete Gates pub, Bracondale, Carrow Hill, City Wall, close studded timber framing, Crystal House, Dragon Hall, King Street, Music House, Norwich, Norwich Castle, River Wensum, Southgate Lane, St Etheldreda's Artists' Studios, St John the Baptist church, St John-de-Sepulchre church, St Julian's Church, The Black Tower, The Wilderness Tower, Timberhill, walking, Wensum Lodge

A view of Norwich Cathedral’s spire beyond the market

One bright morning last spring I decided to take another walk through the city. I started at the Market and made my way towards the Castle.

Norwich Castle seen from Castle Gardens

On the wall outside the castle I found these plaques which tell a story. I will have to go into the castle one day and find out who wrote the lines and who designed the plaques. I am put off by the entrance fee of £8.80 though!

If you read the comments you will now see that Simon Nott from Quercuscommunity has supplied all the information I needed with this link

http://www.racns.co.uk/sculptures.asp?action=getsurvey&id=838

Thank-you, Simon!

Just opposite the Castle in Cattle Market Street I found this interesting yard.

A warehouse yard with workshops.

The warehouse is part of a Grade II Listed building which was originally constructed as a showroom for Holmes and Sons who manufactured and sold agricultural machinery. The front of the building is mainly glass in an iron framework made in a lily pattern design and was inspired by the Crystal Palace (built by Paxton) to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. This building is known as the Crystal House. I believe there have been plans to convert the building into apartments.

Photo of Waring’s Furniture shop (the Crystal House) taken this April

I walked from the Crystal House in Cattle Market Street, down Rouen Road and into St Julian’s Alley where I took this photo of St Julian’s church. I wrote something about this church and shrine a while ago as well as writing about the castle.

St Julian’s church

There is a narrow path between buildings that runs from St Julian’s Alley to King Street and in King Street is…..

Dragon Hall.

Until last year the Dragon Hall could be visited quite easily. Now, since it has become the home of “The Writers’ Centre Norwich” it is only open for a tour once a month and I cannot find any details of when this one day a month is. Dragon Hall is Grade I listed and dates from 1420 and is the only surviving medieval trading hall in Western Europe built by an individual. That individual was a Robert Toppes who was elected four times Mayor of the City of Norwich.

Dragon Hall

It is made with close studded timber framing where planks of wood (studs) are placed vertically and close together to great effect. It contained a grand hall; the ground floor rooms and the undercroft were used as storage for goods. One of the spandrels (triangles of space between beams and braces in the roof) was intricately carved with a figure of a dragon, which is where the building’s name has come from. I have seen a photograph and would love to see it for myself one day.

Dragon Hall

View of the River Wensum behind the Dragon Hall. Goods could easily be brought into the Hall from boats on the river.

The Dragon Hall’s main door

The King Street area was one of the first areas in Norwich to be inhabited and as it was close to the river many of the inhabitants were rich merchants. The Dukes of Norfolk and the Howard family (Catherine Howard was Henry VIII’s fifth wife) all had houses here. John Caius, physician to Edward VI and founder of Caius College Cambridge was born here.

Music House

Just a short step up King Street is the Music House. This was reputed to be the oldest occupied house in Norwich until recently when it was taken over by Wensum Lodge. The first occupants were the Jurnets who were an extremely wealthy Jewish family and who lived there in the 12th century. It became known as the Music House because during the reign of Elizabeth I it was the headquarters for the Norwich waits and minstrels.

Almost next door is…..

Wensum Lodge. The centre for Adult Education in Norwich.

Interesting old houses in King Street. These buildings are probably 400 years old with lots of adaptations made to them over the years.

New buildings were being put up next door to these old houses. From what I could see, great care was being taken that the new construction didn’t look out of place amongst the old buildings.

St Etheldreda Artist Studios

St Etheldreda was one of the four daughters of King Anna of East Anglia. She founded a monastery on the Isle of Ely (an example of tautology as Ely means Isle) and she died there in 679.

This is a Norman church which became dilapidated in the 19th century and was then ‘restored’ by an enthusiastic clergyman who got rid of a lot of the original features in order that an idealised ‘medieval’ church could be created. A wall painting of St Christopher was uncovered and was copied but the original painting did not survive. Because of extensive bomb damage during the Second World War the amount of people living in the area dropped considerably and by the 1970’s the church had become derelict. Restoration was begun in 1975 and it has now been fitted out as artists’ studios.

Albion Mill

This former mill has been converted into apartments. You might be interested to see one of the apartments which is available for sale at the moment; a three-bedroom penthouse apartment valued at just under £1,000,000.

The building started out as a yam mill in the 1830’s but by the end of the 19th century it had become derelict. It was bought by Robert John Read (junior) of R J Read Ltd. in 1932 for £5,750 as he needed to expand his already thriving milling business. He milled flour, not only local wheat but imported grain, oyster shell (for the chicken/hen trade) and maize (imported form Argentina). He developed a flaking machine for the maize, as flaked maize was used in the stock and animal feed industry. When Britain joined the Common Market the price of local and European wheat dropped and Read no longer imported grain. By the late 1980’s maize was no longer imported either so the firm concentrated on wheat milling and in 1988 they were producing 5 tons of wheat an hour. The business closed in 1993 and the site remained vacant until 2004 when it was bought along with other buildings nearby to be converted into flats and apartments.

Southgate Lane

I turned up Southgate Lane which is quite a steep climb though this isn’t easy to see in the photo.

Halfway up the hill were a couple of semi-detached cottages.

The second half of the lane had a handy handrail.

Towards the top of the hill the lane widened and one of the beautiful Victorian villas in Bracondale came into view.

This old flint wall is part of the City Wall

Here is another bit of the Wall next to the interestingly named road, Foulgers Opening.

I was now in Ber Street and this is the Berstrete Gates pub. The old Ber Street Gate in the city Wall was taken down in 1807.

St John-de-Sepulchre’s church

This church on the corner of Ber Street and Finkelgate was made redundant in 1984 and between 1986 and 2009 was used by an Eastern Orthodox congregation.

St John-de-Sepulchre’s church

Buildings in Ber Street. The nearest is a medieval house; the one next to it is rather an elegant red-brick Georgian building. Next to that is another ancient medieval house with a modern office building beyond that.

I turned back the way I had come, walked back down Ber Street and into Bracondale and then past Southgate Lane. The next road is Carrow Hill.

The City Wall in Carrow Hill

The City Walls are very well preserved here

The Black Tower

This tower was part of the defence of the city and was traditionally the residence of the Constable. In the 16th century it was used for plague victims and in the 18th century a snuff mill was built on top of it. The mill was removed in the 19th century but the tower is still sometimes referred to as the Snuff Tower. Another name is the Duke of Buckingham’s Tower though I haven’t yet found a reason for this.

The Black Tower

The Black Tower and part of the City Wall

The Wilderness Tower

This second tower is further down the steep hill. There was never any wall built between these two towers but there are plenty of arrow slits built into the sides of the towers to enable the defenders to cover the steep hill inbetween.

The Wilderness is nicely planted with trees and shrubs and there is a wooden path and stairs that take one from the top of the hill in Carrow Hill to the bottom in Alan Road.

The Wilderness Tower

City Wall and the Wilderness Tower

Alan Road with the Wilderness Tower nearly hidden behind the trees

From Alan Road I walked along King Street to Rouen Road and from there back to the city centre.

St John the Baptist, Timberhill.

The church was originally sited just outside the Castle’s bailey. Timberhill is to the south of the church, once an open space and the site of the timber market.

Attractive shops in Timberhill

I apologise for the length of the post.

Thanks for visiting!

Norwich – Chapel Field

17 Wed Feb 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, Days out, Norwich, Rural Diary, trees, walking

≈ 56 Comments

Tags

Chapel Field, Chapelfield Gardens, Chapelfield Gardens Bandstand, City Walls, Cornus mas, Norwich, Roman Catholic Cathedral, St Stephen's church, The Assembly House, The Crescent, The Forum, walking

I took this short walk in Norwich on a dull cold day last spring. I began my walk near the Assembly House.

This building was designed and built by the architect Thomas Ivory in 1794 and, as its name suggests, was a place where the local gentry could assemble and be amused and entertained by recitals, displays and dances. One notable ball was in celebration of Nelson’s victory off the Cape of Trafalgar in 1805. A waxworks exhibition from Madame Tussaud’s was hosted here in 1825 and Franz Liszt the composer gave a concert in 1840. The building incorporates the layout of a previous building – the medieval college of St Mary in the Field.

The Assembly House – some more renovation work was in progress at the time of my photograph

It has been used as a dance academy, a cinema and, during the Second World War, it was an army office. It was restored in 1995 but almost immediately afterwards was severely damaged by an electrical fire. With the aid of photographs taken at the instigation of a trustee during WW2, the house was reconstructed and today it appears exactly as it did when it was first built. It is used as a restaurant and hosts exhibitions, concerts, conferences and weddings, almost the same kind of use it was put to in its heyday.

The Forum

Opposite the Assembly House is the Forum, though the large entrance seen in the photo above is on the further side of the building.

Norwich’s Central Library was located on this spot until it was destroyed by fire in 1994 and this new building, designed by Sir Michael Hopkins, not only gave the library a new home but also was built to mark the Millennium in the East of England. The main section of the building is an enclosing horseshoe shape. It is made from hand-made load-bearing bricks and has many windows.

As well as The Millennium Library (the public library) the Forum houses a children’s library, the Norfolk Heritage Centre, the Norfolk Record Office and a business library. The 2nd Air Division Memorial Library is also here; it pays tribute to the thousands of American airmen who were based in East Anglia during WW2. There are over 4000 books covering all aspects of American life and culture with a specialist section dedicated to the 2nd Air Division.

Many other organisations have a base in the Forum. BBC East has its studios in part of the building; there is a Forum shop, a café bar and a pizza restaurant. The Tourist Information Centre is here, as is MINT – a charity which helps young people gain the skills and contacts they need to find employment. MINT is run by City College Norwich where my daughter studies. ‘BBC Voices’ provides film-making and radio-editing workshops throughout the Eastern Region for free. There is a digital gallery – the Fusion Screen – which gives free screenings of work by artists, and a 120-seat auditorium called The Curve. The Forum runs regular events and there is a venue hire facility.

Entrance to Chapelfield Gardens.

Not far from The Forum is Chapelfield Gardens which takes its name from the chapel of St Mary in the Field. The chapel (built where the Assembly House is now) was founded in the 13th century by John le Brun and soon acquired many generous benefactors. It became a college and the premises were expanded. In 1406 the citizens of Norwich claimed 4.5 acres of ground that belonged to the Chapel and this land began to be called Chapel Field. In the 16th century it was leased with its cherry yard and dove house to notable citizens and then, after a proclamation in 1578 it was used as an open area for mustering the trained bands, archers or the artillery. It was the ‘fit place’ to charge guns with shot and powder for the exercise of shooting. The Lord Lieutenant had his ‘City Tent’ there for the general musters and the yearly reviews of the city regiment took place there in the 17th century.

Crocus and daffodils in Chapelfield Gardens

The Field was first surrounded by fencing in 1707 and the main walks were laid out by Sir Thomas Churchman who leased the land in 1746. The tree planting began then too. A large water reservoir (about 300 yards in circumference) was dug in part of the Field in 1792 and was filled in again in 1854 when larger reservoirs were built elsewhere by the newly established Waterworks Company. The reservoir in the Field had been used as a skating pond by the people of the city and it was much missed when it went. For a few years the Field declined into a rough area where children played, washerwomen hung out their linen and where sheep were grazed. Eventually, new iron palisades were erected in 1866 and in 1877 a landscape gardener was employed to make the Field into a beauty spot. The newly laid-out gardens were opened by the mayor in 1880.

The bandstand

This lovely Victorian bandstand in the middle of Chapelfield Gardens is still in use. During WW2 Glenn Miller visited Norwich and gave a concert here in 1944.

The Roman Catholic Cathedral is close to Chapelfield Gardens

City wall

I then walked along Chapel Field Road which follows the line of the old City Walls. As you can see from these photos the new and the old rub shoulders in Norwich. The weather had also improved by this time!

Building work on the City Walls began in 1294 and took 50 years to complete mainly due to complaints about the cost being levied for their construction. They were completed in 1343 after a very generous donation by a Norwich tradesman, Richard Spynk who was rewarded by the Corporation by being ‘quit all tallages, tasks and costs’ for both he and his heirs forever. When the walls were completed they had 12 gates, now all gone. Ber Street gate – taken down in 1807, Bishop’s Gate – taken down in 1791, Brazen Doors or Newgate, taken down in 1793, Conisford Gate, at the south end of King Street – taken down in 1793, Heigham Gate or Hell Gate – fell down in the 18th century, Magdalen Gate – taken down in 1808, Pockthorpe Gate – taken down in 1792, St Augustine’s Gate – taken down in 1794, St Giles’ Gate – taken down in 1792, St Martin’s or Coslany Gate – taken down in 1793,St Stephen’s or Nedham Gate – taken down in 1793, Westwick or St Benedict’s Gate – taken down in 1793.

A beautiful Cornus mas growing in a garden on the opposite side of the road to the City Walls was in flower

A row of attractive houses in a private road (The Crescent) off Chapel Field Road

The houses were built in about 1820 and are a mixture of terraced, semi-detached and detached houses, many of which are listed.

St Stephen’s Church which is next to Intu Chapelfield – a large shopping mall.

St Stephen’s church has it’s tower over the porch on the side of the church. I hope to visit this church later in the year and write about it in more detail as I also hope to write about the RC Cathedral.

Thanks for visiting!

Nothing In Particular

02 Tue Feb 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, family, Gardening, music, plants, Rural Diary

≈ 62 Comments

Tags

'The Company', Agatha Christie, And Then There Were None, Berwang Holiday Music Course, Candlemas, Christmas Cactus, church, family, flowers, funeral, hellebores, house improvements, Kerry Camden, Mozart, phalaenopsis orchid, renovations, Serenade for 13 Winds, snowdrops, wet weather

Snowdrops under the crabapple tree

As the title of this post states, this is about nothing in particular. Since Christmas we, as a family, have been nowhere and have done nothing except the usual chores of housework and shopping and driving – and in Elinor’s case, going to college. Richard has just returned from three nights away in Manchester staying with his brother and enjoyed a visit to a mining museum and a trip to Bury Market and the East Lancashire Railway. Elinor and I stayed at home.

A Hellebore flower

We have found the changeable weather a little trying but fortunately for us we haven’t had to deal with flooding, just lots of deep puddles and mud, mud and yet more mud! My car was half brown and half blue and the mud had oozed into the car round the doors, so just before he went away Richard hosed it down for me and restored it to its original blue-all-over colour.

Another Hellebore

The next two weeks will be very busy as we are beginning on our house renovations. The new garage doors were fitted today and most of the windows and doors in the house will be replaced next week. I am not looking forward to the disruption at all but when it is done the house will be warmer and more secure.

Snowdrop flower. Please excuse the horrible red finger!

One of my aunts died last Sunday 24th January and I will be travelling to Kent with my brother tomorrow for her funeral. Richard will be staying at home and will be driving Elinor to and from college. It will be good to see my cousins again despite the sad occasion. My aunt was my late father’s older sister and she was the last of Dad’s siblings. I have six first cousins on Dad’s side of the family and I am hoping to see most of them tomorrow. Andrew (my brother) and I will be meeting up with Francesca (my sister) when we get to the church.

Phalaenopsis Orchid

I am also going to visit Alice in Sheffield on the 12th of February and I will be watching her perform in another play, ‘And Then There Were None’ – an adaptation of the book by Agatha Christie.

Here is the trailer they have made for the play. I think you will be amused!

All my Christmas Cacti are re-flowering. Perhaps these are now Candlemas Cacti?

It is Candlemas today. We had a Eucharist service at Rumburgh on Sunday and celebrated the festival early. At Candlemas we remember three things; the presentation of the child Jesus, Jesus’ first entry into the temple and the Virgin Mary’s purification. Traditionally, candles are also blessed at Candlemas and Richard our priest gave us two new altar candles.

My choice of music today is Mozart’s Serenade for 13 Winds in B-flat major. My first introduction to this piece was when I was nearly 14 years of age and I was on a music course in the Austrian Tirol. I was lucky enough to be given the first (lead) clarinet part and I loved the whole experience – the great responsibility, the team-work, the music itself. I will never forget that feeling of euphoria as we played through the whole piece together! As soon as I hear the opening bars of music I am transported back in time to Austria, I am 13 years old and full of hope and excitement. This was my first ever trip abroad and I and a friend travelled there with our clarinet teacher and Kerry Camden the bassoonist who drove us from London all the way to the Tirol with a stop overnight in the Ardennes. I had a one-year passport and my parents had given me £15 spending money!

Thanks for visiting!

A Week of Winter

22 Fri Jan 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, plants, Rural Diary, trees, weather

≈ 58 Comments

Tags

Aram Khachaturian, buds, flowers, frost, hoarfrost, ice, Masquerade Suite, moss, music, snow, winter

After the warmest December on record and a mild New Year we have, at last, had a little cold winter weather. Some of the flowers that were blooming in the mild weather have been frosted and turned brown. Others don’t seem to have been bothered by the frost and ice and have continued to flower.

The first ice starting to form on the big pond

We have snowdrops in the garden that don’t look anywhere near being ready to flower but some in tubs have buds that may open in a couple of days. Strangely, a golden crocus which usually flowers in March has appeared in the grass near the end of the drive. The garden is unusually colourful for this time of year.

Slightly stunted pink Hyacinths.

Grape Hyacinths.

Miniature iris

The ‘sticky-buds’ are swelling on the Horse Chestnut tree.

Those four photos were taken the morning after a severe gale when lots of rain, then sleet and wet snow fell. The snow settled for a while but most of it disappeared the next day when the sun came out. The wind had blown the snow almost horizontally and when I went out the following morning I saw walls and tree trunks with snow and ice stuck to them but hardly any snow on the ground.

Small amount of ice on an apple tree.

Melting ice on a window sill

It was a beautiful day

The water-level in the pond has risen quite a lot recently but not as much as we’d expected. Probably ditch clearing and drainage works done locally have meant less water entering our garden. The reeds and brambles need to be cut back here!

Colourful fungi on a dead log.

Even the pond at the front of the house had some ice on it

We continued to get hard frosts at night and then a light sprinkling of beautiful powdery snow on Saturday night.

The big pond

I like the patterns the snow made on the icy pond

We had a hoarfrost yesterday morning but the sun soon came out and the frost melted. I wish I could have got outside earlier!

Pyracantha leaves

Cherry tree buds

Winter-flowering Honeysuckle

Thyme

Marjoram/Oregano

The moss and lichen garden on top of the brick pillar at the end of the drive

A close-up of the moss with its frosted capsules

Crabapples.

I am pleased we have had a few frosts because the birds will only eat the crabapples once they have been frosted.

Richard went to a PCC (Parochial Church Council) meeting on Wednesday evening and came home with two pieces of good news. The first is that we are a stage nearer to getting the screen put in between the Tower Room and the main body of the church at Rumburgh and the second is that when our Rector retires in 2017 we will (eventually) be getting a replacement for him. For some time now, we have thought that we would have to do without a priest when Richard (the Rector) goes. We have a large but sparsely populated benefice and even though we would have tried to keep things going on our own and with the help of retired clergy and the priest from our neighbouring benefice, it would have been very difficult and might have meant that some, at least, of the churches would have had to close. We will have to put up with at least a year’s interregnum before the replacement priest arrives but if we know that we will get a Rector eventually we will cope better.

The piece of music today is a great favourite of mine and very romantic in style. It is quite long (just over 16 minutes) but is in five short movements so you don’t have to listen to it all in one go! This music makes me happy – I really don’t think anyone could help being cheered by it! It goes from a fast ‘Waltz’ to a very romantic interlude – ‘Nocturne’; then to another fast movement – ‘Mazurka’ followed by a slower ‘Romance’. The piece ends with a ‘Galop’. It was originally written in 1941 by Aram Khachaturian as incidental music for a new production of a play called ‘Masquerade’ by the Russian poet and playwright Michail Lermontov. The satirical-romantic play was written in 1835 and has a similar storyline to ‘Othello’. The run in 1941 had to be cut short because of the invasion of the USSR by Germany. Khachaturian later (in 1944) turned the incidental music into a Suite.

Thanks for visiting!

St. Peter Mancroft Church, Norwich

14 Thu Jan 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in art, churches, Days out, Norwich, Rural Diary

≈ 60 Comments

Tags

carving, churches, flushwork, medieval, Norwich, St Peter Mancroft church, stained glass

St Peter Mancroft Church

This large church is close to Hay Hill where my last Norwich post came from. It is the largest of the thirty-one Church of England churches in Norwich and is often mistaken for one of the two cathedrals.

The building was begun in 1430 and was consecrated in 1455, a twenty-five year single phase of construction which gives the church its unity of style. There have been only a few additions to the exterior of the building since then, notably the little spire on top of the tower (a fleche), the parapet round the top of the tower and the ‘pepperpots’ on the corners added by the architect A E Street in 1895.

St Peter Mancroft before the Victorian additions to the tower.

St Peter Mancroft Church. Beyond it on the left of the photo you can see The Guildhall featured in a recent post of mine.

This church wasn’t the first to be built on this site. One of William the Conqueror’s barons, Ralph de Guader, Earl of Norwich, had had a church built there in 1075 but shortly afterwards he lost everything he had after rebelling against the Conqueror. Fortunately he had already bestowed the church on one of his chaplains, Wala, who fled to Gloucester after the rebellion. Wala passed the church on to the Abbey of St Peter in Gloucester and so for 300 years this church was known as ‘St Peter of Gloucester in Norwich’ – quite a mouthful! After pressure from the citizens of Norwich in 1388, the church was passed to the Benedictine Community of St-Mary-in-the-Fields in Norwich whose church (long since destroyed) was where the Assembly Room and the Theatre Royal are now. The Dean and Chapter of St Mary’s found the old church dilapidated and in very poor condition and so decided to re-build. It took them 42 years to save enough money through gifts, legacies and donations to be able to start the construction work.

Norwich Castle can be seen beyond St Peter Mancroft church

St Peter Mancroft on the right and the Forum ahead

St Peter Mancroft

I include here a link to an aerial map of St Peter Mancroft (marked in purple).

http://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/map-record?UID=MNF257&BBOX=622901,308412,622961,308442&CRS=EPSG:27700&count=1&ck_MON1=true&ck_MON=false

During the Reformation the College of St-Mary-in-the-Field was suppressed and the patronage of St Peter Mancroft was passed through several families until 1581 when it was acquired by trustees on behalf of the parishioners. The church was originally the church of St Peter and St Paul but the name was shortened to St Peter after the two saints were given independent saints days during the Reformation. ‘Mancroft’ probably came from the ‘Magna Crofta’ (great meadow) on which it was built.

St Peter Mancroft – the tower is 146′ high

The church is almost completely faced with limestone which was brought many miles over land and sea at great expense. (There is no local free-stone in Norfolk). It was a deliberate display of wealth on the part of the 15th century citizens of Norwich. There is some knapped flint flushwork decoration most notably on the tower which is well buttressed and was probably intended to carry another lantern stage The tower also carries a peal of 14 bells.

There are two fine porches to the church on the north and south sides. The North Porch has a parvaise (a room over the porch).

This is a view of the interior of the church from the back looking towards the East window.

It is 60′ from floor to roof and has eight arched bays with slender columns. The church is also very long at 180′.

The Crib was about 5′ tall and 5′ wide. I could have got into it easily – if I had so wished!

Richard, Elinor and I visited the church on a very rainy day last week. Amazingly, the church was warm inside! Even the cathedral doesn’t get as cosy as St Peter Mancroft.

Font and Font Canopy in the Baptistery

The font was a gift to the church in 1463 by John Cawston, a grocer from Norwich. The Seven Sacraments were carved on panels round the font basin and an eighth panel showed the ‘Sun in Splendour’, the badge of Henry IV. Eight saints were carved on the shaft of the font. Sadly, the Puritans hacked off all the images, plastered the font with lime and daubed it with black paint. It was found in the crypt with other rubbish in 1926 and was cleaned and put in its present position. The four pillars and the base of the canopy over the font were made in the 15th century but the upper part of the woodwork is 19th century Victorian work.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I apologise for the poor quality of the photos in the slideshow but all of the objects were in glass cases in the St Nicholas Chapel. These objects are just a few of the many treasures owned by the church and known as the Mancroft Heritage.

The Jesus Chapel.

This chapel is normally used for weekday services.

The tomb of Francis Windham, Recorder of Norwich in the reign of Elizabeth I

The Chancel or Choir

The Reredos (the panel behind the High Altar) has some beautiful carved figures made in 1885 and gilded in 1930 to mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the building of the church. At the same time the lower line of larger figures were added by Sir Ninian Comper.

The Chancel roof

This roof (and the roof of the Nave) is of open timbered construction supported by hammer beams. Most hammer beam roofs are ornamented and uncovered but this one is covered by fan tracery or vaulting in wood. Most fan traceries are made from stone so this roof is very rare. It is also an angel roof – there is a single row of small angels on either side of the Nave roof but a double row on either side of the Chancel. There are also gilded suns in splendour on the ridge bosses. The roof was restored in 1962 -64. Some amazing work was done then by the restorers who raised the roof on jacks and then pulled the walls straight which had been driven outwards by the weight of the roof over the centuries.

Here is the memorial to Sir Thomas Browne, the subject of my previous Norwich post

I have discovered a quote of Sir Thomas Browne’s from his treatise ‘Urn-Burial’ at the beginning of Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The most memorable sight in the church is that of the Great East Window.

The East Window

It has 39 tracery lights (windows/panes of glass) and 42 main lights, all of which are 15th century except seven main lights which are Victorian. The Victorian ones are the lower five in the centre colomn and the two bottom ones either side of the centre colomn. This window contains some of the finest work by the 15th century School of Norwich Glass Painters. Most of the church would have originally been full of glass like this but during rioting between Puritans and Royalists in 1648 there was a gunpowder explosion nearby in a house in Bethel Street which left many people dead and much of the glass in the church blown in. It wasn’t until four years later that the glass was gathered together from around the church and most put into this window.

Please click on this link to see each light in detail.

I am obliged and indebted to the Church Guide I purchased in St Peter Mancroft for some of the information in this post.

Thanks for visiting!

A Winter Miscellany

06 Wed Jan 2016

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, Days out, family, literature, plants, Rural Diary, trees, walking

≈ 38 Comments

Tags

bare trees, birch, corsican pine oak, Harleston, hedgehog, honeysuckle, pinks, primulas, Robert Louis Stevenson, Scots Pine, St Cross South Elmham, St Georges church, The Black Arrow, Tunstall Forest, viburnum bodnantense, walking, winter-flowering honeysuckle

I had a lot of difficulty trying to think of a title to this post as it is made up of a mishmash of lots of different photos taken from the beginning of December up to New Year’s Day and at a number of locations.

A young hedgehog I saw wandering about the garden during the day at the beginning of December.

This little creature looked healthy enough, though still not quite full-grown. It seemed unbothered by my presence and was trotting about looking for and finding things to eat in the garden. The photo is a little blurred because it didn’t keep still long enough for me to take a good picture of it. Hedgehogs are normally nocturnal mammals and only emerge during the daytime if disturbed or hungry. They hibernate during the winter but emerge during mild spells of weather to feed.

The Viburnum bodnantense is in full flower and smells divine!

The Winter-flowering Honeysuckle is also flowering and its scent is beautiful.

The Primulas in Richard’s border are in flower and his Pinks are covered in flower-buds.

Not only do we have all these flowers but also miniature Iris, Grape Hyacinths and Hyacinths are in flower. On my travels I have seen Daffodils, Snowdrops and Winter Aconites. My mother’s garden has Hardy Geraniums still in flower from the autumn and also the bright red flowers of Ornamental Quince. We have had a lot of rain (though much less than in the north and north-west of the country) – the ditches are filling fast, the roads are thick with mud and have standing water on them and parts of our garden are like a quagmire. The grass hasn’t stopped growing but it is too wet for it to be cut. I spent some time a few days ago pulling out Stinging Nettle runners from under our Crabapple tree.

This seaweed-like algae has started growing out from the edge of the grass onto our driveway.

This is St George’s church at St Cross South Elmham – another of the churches in our benefice.

I had reason to call in to this church a couple of days before Christmas and while there I thought I’d take a few photos. I didn’t have much time to spare so only took a few pictures – I hope to return there again soon and finish the job.

The church is large and seems very tall especially as one approaches it from the bottom of the valley. I didn’t have time to walk round the outside of the church or visit the grave of the Canadian poet and writer, Elizabeth Smart.

Inside the church

Sunlight entering through the clear windows

A very attractive pulpit and the tiny staircase that used to climb up to the rood loft

I like the little bracket on the wall above the reading desk.

The altar with its painted reredos. The picture on the left is of St George.

The pretty pipe-organ.

The heater – a venerable one!

A watcher from up in the roof.

In this photo you can see where the face is. There are others elsewhere in the church.

This person with the jolly face, long auburn hair and white shirt is up in the roof too.

This carving round the door is in the porch.

This is part of the wooden ceiling to the porch.

This is The Beck flowing through St Cross.

The road crosses The Beck by a bridge which I looked over to watch the water racing through underneath.

The Magpie (or as it’s now known, the JD Young Hotel – so boring!) in Harleston.

We stopped off in Harleston on our way back home after taking Alice to the station on New Year’s Eve. Harleston is a town on the north side of the River Waveney and in Norfolk. The Waveney is the border between Suffolk and Norfolk.

This is another view of the town from the same spot – outside the bank where Richard was withdrawing some money. By the time I had taken this photo he had finished the transaction and had walked off, as you can see.

The Swan. Another of the inns in Harleston

The Adnam’s Shop, Harleston.

After we had finished our shopping we treated ourselves to a wander round this shop. Adnam’s is a local brewery based in Southwold. They brew many different types of beer and ale and recently have started to produce wines and spirits as well. They opened a very large store selling their beers and spirits and also cooking utensils, china and glassware in Southwold. This shop in Harleston is a much smaller version of their main store.

Tunstall Forest

On New Year’s Day, Richard, Elinor and I went for a walk in Tunstall Forest. The forest is managed by The Forestry Commission and is about 20 miles to the south of where we live.

One of my favourite books when I was a girl (and I still enjoy reading it now) was The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was overjoyed to find that I was living near the Tunstall Forest of the book when I moved to Suffolk in 1988. Surprisingly, this walk was the first time I had visited the place.

The day was very dull and the ground was muddy from the quantities of rain we had had recently. It was difficult getting decent photos of the walk and there wasn’t much to see of special interest. However, the walk in the fresh air and in good company was good in itself.

The forest is predominantly Scots Pine and Corsican Pine used as a crop but since the Great Storm of 1987 when many of the trees were lost, it has been replanted with mixed woodland.

The rides through the forest are wide and sandy and I look forward to returning here in the spring and summer.

The Gorse was in flower and the bright yellow flowers were a welcome sight.

I noticed this toadstool at the edge of the path.

More fungi.

Moss

More moss

Even more moss

Another view from our walk

A fallen tree with its roots in the air.

I was surprised to see these new Oak leaves

New Honeysuckle leaves

A fine tree next to the ride.

Proof that I didn’t walk alone. Elinor in the foreground and Richard in the distance.

And now for my music choice.

Thanks for visiting!

Advent

02 Wed Dec 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, cooking, family, music, Rural Diary

≈ 43 Comments

Tags

Advent, Advent Crown, Advent Sunday, candles, Carol Services, chores

The Advent Crown that I helped assemble with its first candle burning. This photo was taken in our church at Rumburgh on Sunday morning.

Here we are in Advent again. I enjoy Advent – I like the quiet thoughtful aspect of the season. One tends to get caught up too easily in the rush and tear of Christmas preparations – the frenzy of shopping for gifts and preparing food. Advent is all about waiting patiently and being prepared – not for the arrival of friends and relatives or having enough food and drink to last through the holiday (though that has to be considered!) – but for the gift that God gave us, his son Jesus Christ. We also have to be prepared (as Maurice reminded us on Sunday morning) for the Second Coming; for the Day of Judgement. Have we been leading good Christian lives? Have we loved God with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our minds? Have we loved our neighbours as ourselves? Or, if we were suddenly asked to account for ourselves, would we be found wanting? I love the beautiful words of the Collect for Advent Sunday written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in the 16th century.

‘Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal.’

The Advent Crown seen from a different angle.

Elinor and I made our own Advent Crown at home. I had a look in the garden for greenery to decorate it but could find hardly any. Our hedges have been cut and there weren’t any branches that hadn’t had all the best bits cut off. A lot of the ivy has gone from the garden this year as well. Fortunately, I visited Mum on Friday to deliver some shopping (which included candles for her Advent Crown) and while I was there she invited me to forage for useful evergreen in her garden.

Our Advent Crown

I have to provide two dozen mince pies for a carol service next Sunday evening. I have collected the ingredients for the shortcrust pastry and the filling and now I will have to find the time to bake them! This is the post from last year where I described how I make them.

The next few weeks are going to be quite busy and it will be hard to set aside enough time for quiet meditation and prayer.

Elinor breaks up from college at the end of next week and next Tuesday evening Richard and I will be attending a Parent’s Evening where we will meet her tutors. The pop-up design of Red-Riding-Hood and the Wolf she made at the beginning of term has been put on display in a gallery in Norwich. We must go to see it!

We have someone coming to see us tomorrow to discuss the replacement of our garage doors and we have the gas man coming to service our gas boiler on Friday. We believe that we need to replace the boiler quite soon and we will have to ask his advice. I will have to take my mother Christmas shopping soon – this will need to be carefully planned as she doesn’t have as much energy and strength as she thinks she has!

We have a trip up to Manchester planned for one weekend and I hope to visit my sister in Kent as well. She is a paramedic and is on stand-by from now until the 28th December and can’t visit us until after Christmas. There is another carol service on the 20th December and I will no doubt have to provide mince pies for that as well. Richard and I have tickets for a Carols by Candlelight Concert in Halesworth! Alice comes for Christmas and will arrive quite late on Christmas Eve and will need collecting from the station.

So what with all that and the usual round of our own chores to do we will be kept quite busy.

Thanks for visiting!

November

26 Thu Nov 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, family, Gardening, music, plants, Rural Diary, theatre, weather

≈ 47 Comments

Tags

Autumn plants, berries, church going, Diary, Don Pasquale by Donizetti, family, flowers, garden work, Glyndebourne Touring Company, house repairs, leaf colour, Open Space Theatre Company, snow, St Michael and All Saints and St Felix church, Suffolk, Uncle Vanya by Chekhov, weather

Red Christmas Cactus

Salmon Christmas Cactus

My point-and-shoot camera stopped working and we didn’t think there was much point in taking it to be repaired. A replacement probably costs what the repair would have cost – if it could have been repaired – so we ordered a replacement which arrived yesterday. Richard kindly said I could borrow his small camera while we waited for the replacement, but I never used it. There haven’t been many opportunities for photography during the past week and the camera only took a couple of days to arrive.

Acer leaves at the beginning of November

After a chilly week or so in October, the weather this month has been fairly warm for the time of year. We have also had a fair amount of rain. I have managed to do a little garden-tidying, though as usual, not as much as I need to do or as I would have liked! There may be a few more days this year when I can finish off the work so I am not too worried. We had a couple of storms with high winds last week which ripped most of the leaves from the trees and Saturday was cold with wintry showers.

Mahonia this November

Mahonia flowers

We had a gardener/landscaper and his assistant come to do a few jobs that Richard needed help with. Almost all our hedges have been cut and tidied by them and the front ditch has been strimmed. The hedges between us and our neighbours on either side of us have been left for now and will be done at a later date. Both of those hedges (like the front one) are on the far side of deep ditches which are fast filling with very cold water and are difficult to do.

Copper Beech at the beginning of November

Copper Beech in the sun in the middle of the month

Another job the gardener did was to dismantle our old summerhouse and extend the concrete pad on which it stood. When I say ‘dismantle’ I use the word quite loosely as all he did was lean on it and it fell down. With the winds that blew last week it probably would have fallen down without anyone’s help. Richard is still deciding which summerhouse to buy to replace the old one. We will be able to keep a few things in it that are needed for that end of the garden and Richard will be able to use it as a little home-from-home – a place to escape the hurly-burly of life in the house – a ‘shed’ with a view (of our big pond). I am sure a comfy chair and coffee-making apparatus will be making their way down the garden and the bell on the wall of the house will be put to good use when summoning him for meals!

Spindle berries beginning to split

Spindle berries

We got a couple of quotes from local replacement-window firms and have made our choice. The work to replace almost all the windows in the house, both garage doors and the back door and window in the garage will be done in January. I just know the weather will be freezing cold when the work’s done and I will have a miserable time of it! However, it will be worth it in the end as the house will eventually be considerably warmer and our heating bills will be much reduced.

The path round our big pond earlier this month while we still had some leaves on the trees

A new reed that has appeared next to our large pond this year

Richard spent a couple of days staying with an old friend in Manchester a few weeks ago. His friend had to retire early through ill health (heart attack) but is much better now and is enjoying not going to work. Richard came home after a very pleasant break much happier about his own retirement.

Lots of little bracket fungi found on a dead branch

Richard and I went to the Rectory coffee morning at the beginning of the month and enjoyed seeing all our friends from church. We came home with cakes, pains aux raisins, marmalade and a book – no prizes in the raffle this time. This month we also went to the Remembrance Sunday service at St James’ church which was quite moving. Representatives from all the villages in the benefice read out the names of all the people who lost their lives in some of the wars we have taken part in – the two World Wars as well as the Korean and the Boer Wars. The American airmen who lost their lives during WW2 and who were stationed at Flixton airfield were also mentioned.

Crabapple ‘Evereste’ covered in fruit . This photo also shows part of the front hedge and ditch before we had them both trimmed and tidied.

Alice came home the Saturday before last and stayed until the following Tuesday. This was only the second time she has been able to visit this year but we hope to see her at Christmas as well which will be fun! Mum came to lunch that Sunday and she enjoyed chatting with Alice and catching up with her news.

The church of St Michael and All Angels

The sundial on St Michael’s wall

Some of the sheep in the field next to the church.

(The three photos above were all taken with my new camera. I think I will need to adjust the settings to get clearer pictures.)

Richard and I had been to the 9.30 Morning Prayer service at St Michael’s church the Sunday before last. Maurice, one of our Benefice Elders, took the service and spoke about St Edmund, Suffolk’s Patron Saint whose feast day is the 20th of November. I had been due to take Mum to her church that day but couldn’t because of lunch-cooking duties. Instead, I arranged to take Mum to church this Sunday just gone. It was very icy with snow still on the ground in the morning and we assumed that it would be as bad at Mum’s house and at Eye; Richard said he would drive us in his 4×4. Unfortunately for Richard, the further inland we got the less snow there was and he found that he needn’t have driven me and Mum after all! He had to sit through a High Church service at Eye church with bells, incense and a procession to boot, because he had been gallant. Richard doesn’t like High Church services – his Methodist upbringing revolts against them. I was brought up going to High Church services and I can worship anywhere really, but do prefer my own local church with my friends and Richard by my side. I think I’ll be left to drive Mum to church on my own as usual in future, whatever the weather!

These next photos were taken by Richard on his phone on Sunday morning.

View of the garden from the conservatory

The greenhouse seen from the conservatory

The garden on the south side of the house from the conservatory

I went out for the evening twice last week. On Tuesday evening I took Mum to a performance of the opera ‘Don Pasquale’ by Donizetti. It was performed by the Glyndebourne Touring Company at the Theatre Royal in Norwich. We loved it very much indeed. The singing, the costumes, the orchestra and the stage set were fabulous. A really enjoyable evening out only spoiled by a gale blowing and making driving and walking difficult – Mum was nearly blown over a couple of times and I had to hold onto her tightly. Clouds of leaves were swirling about in front of the car and bits of tree were falling onto the road all about us. As I drove along I was aware of loose branches swinging to and fro just above the car and hoped I could get out of the way before they fell. Fortunately I got my mother and myself safely to Norwich and then back home again.

Wild Rosehips in the hedge.

On Saturday night Richard and I went to see ‘Uncle Vanya’ by Chekhov performed by the Open Space Theatre Company at The Cut in Halesworth. We both enjoyed the play very much which was acted and directed well. On leaving the theatre we found it had started snowing and as Richard had left his hat in the car he got quite wet and cold on our brisk walk to the carpark. The snow was falling heavily as we left the town and Richard found it very difficult keeping to the road once we left the street-lights behind. Most of our lanes have deep ditches running along next to them and there is always the risk of driving into a ditch in the dark. We were glad to get home again and into the warm. The snow didn’t last long and by morning most of the roads and paths were mainly clear but icy.

All photos in this post were taken either in our house or in the garden except for the ones of St Michael’s church.

My musical choice is performed by Emeli Sandé and Jules Holland.

Thanks for visiting!

A Walk Through Norwich

10 Tue Nov 2015

Posted by Clare Pooley in churches, Norwich, Rural Diary, walking

≈ 44 Comments

Tags

Anthony Sher, Barbara Hepworth sculpture, brick walls, bridges, buildings, Castle Green, Comedy Alley, headstops, history, Howard and Son fishmonger and Game Dealer, Jarrolds, No.12, Norwich, Norwich Castle, Norwich Cathedral, Oliver Ford Davies, River Wensum, St Andrew's Hall, St Clement the Martyr's church, St George's Bridge, St George's St, St Peter Mancroft, stone mason, The Guildhall, The Mischief Tavern, Tombland Alley, Tye Bridge, University of the Arts, walking

It is some time since I wrote about Norwich so this post will feature a walk I took last October – over a year ago! At that time I often dropped Elinor off at college and then wandered about the city until it was time to collect her and take her home again. This year she has longer hours at college and as Richard and I share the driving I don’t need to spend time in the city unless I want to.

I began my walk at the Guildhall in the centre of the city.

The Guildhall was built in the early 15th century after the city was granted a charter in 1404. The building was used for civic and judicial assemblies and courts from 1413 until 1938, when the new City Hall was built and 1985, when the new Court buildings were opened. Some of the rooms are still used today by the City Council; the building also houses the Sheriff’s Chambers.

Norwich Guildhall – showing the knapped flint-work.

Funding for the building came from increased taxes, voluntary contributions and bequests to the city. Despite this, much of the labour went unpaid. The city was granted a warrant in 1407 which instructed men from many different trades to work for no pay, often for fifteen hours at a time; only the highest skilled craftsmen were paid. Most of the construction of the Guildhall was carried out between 1407 and 1413. By 1435 the tower and porch had been added and by 1453 the final windows were glazed.

A photo I took of the Guildhall in April of this year

The building was constructed from flint rubble faced with knapped flint and infill and the east end, which was reconstructed in the 16th century (shown on the first of my photos), was crafted from alternate squares of faced flint and ashlar stone giving the Guildhall its distinctive chequered look.

Guildhall – showing the reconstructed porch. Many of the windows were replaced during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Much of the exterior is Victorian and Edwardian, as massive reconstruction was carried out in both 1861 and 1908. The porch was reconstructed in the Gothic style, as were the replaced windows. A clock tower was also added. A link here (click on ‘The Guildhall‘ ) shows a drawing of what the Guildhall looked like before the old porch (on the left of the building) was demolished.

At present only the ground-floor rooms and porch are accessible to the general public ( a café and a crystal shop use the space). It is interesting to sit in the café having coffee and realise that you are in a virtually unchanged Victorian courtroom. It is hoped that the rest of the building will soon be open to the public.

I walked to the bottom of Guildhall Hill and into London Street where I saw this ornate facade above Jarrold’s Department Store. The frieze illustrates trades and crafts in Norwich.

Ornate facade

I made my way up the hill towards the Castle

This rather strange shaped building on the corner is called ‘Number 12’ and is a restaurant.

This inn is about 250 years old and used to be a popular place to visit to watch the executions at the castle opposite!

I arrived at Castle Green and from there was able to see across the city.

A view of the Norman Castle

Looking towards the Anglican Cathedral

A closer view of the cathedral’s spire

This is the tower of St Peter Mancroft church with the arched roof of The Forum next to it.

I walked from Castle Meadow to St Georges Street and on towards the River Wensum.

I admired this ornate brick wall. Red bricks made in this part of England are soft and weather easily.

St Andrew’s Hall

The Halls are a collection of beautiful flint-built buildings and St Andrew’s is the largest and most ornate. Together, the Halls form the most complete friary complex surviving in England. The first Dominican Black Friars’ priory was destroyed by fire and St Andrew’s was the nave of the new church which was completed in 1449. The site was in danger of being destroyed during the Reformation (during the 16th century) but was saved by the City Corporation which bought it from the King for use as a ‘common hall’. Since then the complex has been used for worship,as a mint and as a workhouse. St Andrew’s Hall has an impressive hammerbeam roof which was a gift from the Paston family whose town house was in Elm Hill nearby.

The slideshow beneath is of photos of some of the headstops decorating the outside of St Andrew’s Hall

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The faces were probably of local dignitaries and may not be particularly flattering! A dragon symbolizes Satan, the devil or evil; the dragon next to the carving of Christ may symbolize Christ’s victory over evil. A fish symbolizes Jesus but it can also be used as a warning about the Last Judgement. A bird symbolizes the soul; if the bird in the carving is a dove then it symbolizes God the Holy Spirit. A lion symbolizes many things. It is the emblem of St Mark and is also associated with Daniel, Samson and St Jerome. It can symbolize strength and majesty, therefore Jesus. Carvings or statues of lions are often used in Italian churches as defensive bulwarks. The lion symbolizes vigilance. The lion can also symbolize evil, or the Devil. “Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”, says St Peter in his First Epistle. The Green Man, as Roger Deakin says in his book ‘Wildwood’, is “…the spirit of the rebirth of nature. He is the chucked pebble that ripples out into every tree ring. He is a green outlaw and he is everywhere…

Next to St Andrew’s Hall and adjoining the ornate brick wall is…

an archway leading to the East and West Garth, now part of the Norwich University of the Arts.

A Garth is an open space within cloisters; a close or yard; a garden or paddock. Garth is a Middle English word from the Old Norse word garthr related to Old English geard meaning ‘yard’. (The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

I like this chimney!

The back of the main building at the University of the Arts.

This building was originally built for the Technical College which is now City College Norwich. City College was given a new building in 1953 on Ipswich Road and this building was handed over to the Art College.

As you see, the river flows along under the windows.

Crossing over St George’s Bridge I came to the Norwich Playhouse Theatre on the left and a small park or plaza on the right. The Barbara Hepworth sculpture is in this park.

‘Sea Form (Atlantic)’ by Barbara Hepworth

I walked for a little along the riverside.

View over the River Wensum. Beyond the carpark are the rears of the houses in Elm Hill.

Another view of the Art College buildings and St George’s Bridge

Looking the other way towards Tye Bridge

The river steps.

Riverside art student grafitti. ‘Artists should retrieve and learn to enjoy the inner sanctuary of their studios’

I made my way towards Tye Bridge using a little alley-way.

The Comedy Alley – a bar where comedians perform.

The alleyway brought me to St Clement’s church on the corner of Colegate and Fye Bridge Street.

A stone mason at work outside the church of St Clement the Martyr

He was wearing what looked like a folded paper hat.

The church of St Clement the Martyr

048Sign re Guild of St Stephen and St George

A notice pinned on a board outside the church

I have been meaning to go and visit the place for over a year now!

On the opposite side of the road was the Fishmonger and Game Dealer’s shop.

Next to the church was the pub.

The Mischief pub

Fye Bridge Street becomes Wensum Street which then becomes Tombland all in a few hundred yards. At the gate to the Anglican Cathedral I crossed over the road and went up Tombland Alley.

052Tombland Alley with Oliver Ford-Davies

Tombland Alley looking back towards Tombland and the gate to the Cathedral.

The gentleman standing at the entrance to the alleyway is the actor Oliver Ford Davies and I had recognised him as he walked through the alley. He had a map with him and was wandering about the city looking at the buildings. I, my mother and Elinor had seen him on the stage at the Theatre Royal the night before when he was playing the part of Shallow in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 2. The night before that we had seen Henry IV Part 1. The great Anthony Sher played the part of Falstaff in both plays – a wonderful double production.