May 2022 – slightly weird

27th May 2022

Nottingham 1 – Arriving and Central Nottingham

Wednesday, 18 May, 2022

Nottingham has also been on my list and was the last trip we took during the Rail Sale. Just like Norwich, we planned three days, two nights and booked our hotel.

Our train was leaving from St. Pancras at 11:35 and unlike the mad scramble we’d had when going to Sheffield and Leicester, we allowed plenty of time and had a short wait at the station.

Since we were last here they opened The Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research institute. On my list!

The train ride went by quickly. And we got to Nottingham about 13:10.

When we first left the station I was reminded of Leicester. The street ahead of us was very quiet and lined with red brick buildings. After a block or two we turned in front of a new bus station and the college and up a hill where the tram tracks ran on an elevated road. Just a few blocks up and we reached our hotel, The Mercure.

The area we were staying in – Hockley – was considered trendy, bohemian. It was a small grid of streets with a pedestrianised central road lined with small restaurants and bars. We’d decided on Chinese food before we got there but had to choose between three. The area seems to have a bit of a Chinatown and we ended up in one that had two large posters showing that Giles Coren had loved this place. We thought it would be fun to see if Giles was right.

The restaurant was Shanghai Shanghai. We ordered eggplant with green beans and rice, some crispy chilli beef and something called Sweetie Pumpkin Tarts – a sweet-for-sure pumpkin croquette that tasted like dessert. The verdict – Giles Coren hasn’t a clue!

Time to explore a bit. The first thing we discovered was that Nottingham is full of ‘chambers.’ I’ll assume these little hidden mews were solicitors’ offices that have been turned into small cafes and boutiques. They were everywhere. What does this say about Nottingham, that there were so many lawyers?

Meandering just off the main pedestrian way to the market square we came across a church and more alleyways and chambers, but once back onto the busier area we found The Exchange. Saying we found it is a bit silly. How can you miss it?

As soon as we went in, I told Krish that we were surely back in Turin or even Naples. The whole thing looked just like every Italian galleria.
The Exchange Buildings were built between 1927 and 1929, replacing an earlier 18th century building. It was Nottingham’s first shopping centre occupied at that time by Joseph Burton. In the 80s it was called Burtons Arcade before it was refurbished to its present state. I found a virtual tour. See what you think. The Exchange adjoins The Council House, which houses a 200ft high dome. Under the dome at the top are four murals, each showing a key historic time for the city. I photographed the one showing Robin Hood and later Krish took photos of all of them, which will follow in a later post.

Council House is home to Little John, the ‘deepest bell in the UK’ – with an E flat tone. We had heard this bell chiming each quarter hour – where was it, we asked – and remarked that it sounded exactly like Big Ben, an unexpected sound in little Nottingham. Turns out that we aren’t the only ones since it has been considered as a replacement should the ‘delipidated’ Big Ben fail. We’d hear the bell and think, where is it, why does it sound like Big Ben, and then wondered if it came from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry (it doesn’t – it’s from John Taylor & Co).

The Old Market Square had no market, and we never saw one while there. It’s pretty vast and people sit around any area that has ledges. I felt it had huge potential for more and I’m sure there must be events at times, but not while we were there. One story said it was the largest public square in England (UK?) while another said it was the second largest. In front of the Council House were two stone lions – nicknamed Oscar (on the right) and the much-loved Leo (on the left). Krish took a liking to Leo and I got to see this Nottingham pet up close the following day. Continue reading “Nottingham 1 – Arriving and Central Nottingham”

14th May 2022

A day in Colchester

Thursday, 5 May, 2022

May was a month for travel. Some of this was because British Rail had a big ticket sale, 50% off for a million tickets. This, plus our 30% rail discount, made travelling very tempting. We had two stays away – Norwich, and coming up soon, Nottingham, and one day trip to Colchester.

I’m not keen on day trips since my knee has been so painful. The overnight trips have lots of rest and relaxation built into them, but when you have a day trip you have nowhere to go to rest comfortably. However, with a bit of planning and a lot of cooperation, it can be done.

The truth is that I’d not thought much about Colchester. From time to time I’d read about it, that was the UK’s oldest town and that it was a market town. During the pandemic, a local cake shop Victoria Yum moved there. The owner, Kiersten, put Instagram posts up regularly. So I had a plan to go to Colchester, check it out and go say hi to Kiersten. We’d tried to go there as a stop after Norwich – it’s on the same line – but the fare was too high. The sale made it much more reasonable.

I did a bit of research on interesting things to do and we set off for our train. It’s about 45-50 minutes to Colchester from Stratford. It seemed to go quickly.

When you get to Colchester by train, you aren’t actually in the town of Colchester. That’s reached by another train that makes an 8-minute journey to Colchester Town. Luckily our ticket got us all the way there. It felt funny to be on the Norwich train again.

A map showing the four quarters of Colchester

Colchester looked small and quiet and we started to walk. We found one of our places of interest right away. It was just behind the station, St Botolph’s Priory. It was founded between 1093 and 1100. In the Colchester siege of 1648 the early Norman church was largely destroyed by cannon fire and has never been repaired. The church had been built of flint rubble with arches and dressings in brick, mostly reused from Roman buildings at nearby Colchester. This was a lovely ruin. We sat and admired it for a while.

We left the priory and headed into the centre of town. Although Colchester lacked much in the way of energy or urbanity, it was visually interesting a lot of the time and I took many photos. It’s already hard to decide which ones to use and I’ve only just started.

Colchester has the accustomed lanes all leading to a more modern shopping area. We wanted to get the lay of the land, see what we were in for in terms of architecture and scope, and of course where to eat. Krish had booked a place already but we then decided it was better for dinner. After a heavy lunch, who wanted to walk around so much?

The lanes were full of small cafes and shops. We poked around a bit before looking for our lunch choice of restaurants.

We somehow hit Red Lion Yard, where Kiersten has her shop, without trying. And a lovely yard it is too! Festooned with union jacks and the site of the fantastic old Red Lion Inn. It felt festive and very English. I popped in to say hello to Kiersten and we had a glimpse of the inside of the inn as we walked by towards the high street.

Interior of Victoria Yum — Victoria Yum, Kiersten on the left – inside the buildings of the Red Lion Inn

Colchester’s main high street has a grand building. the Town Hall. Very impressive! We continued along, then back into the lanes area looking for a place called Timbers.

Timbers sounded like it would be a nice old Tudor style pub, but instead was a café. My assumptions led me to walk by it a few times. Perhaps I should have kept walking, but such is life when you care what you eat! Krish decided he would get a breakfast and I’m not keen so ordered my own thing, the daily suet pudding (steak and mushroom) and it arrived as an enormous plate in front of me. Right then! You won’t be surprised to hear that I ate almost half of it. ) It was the same for Krish, whose breakfast was aptly named Mega. Did I mention we didn’t want anything heavy? )

If we’d been at home, a nap would be in order even though we hadn’t eaten even one whole lunch between us. However, we had about six hours to go, so we walked on.

We found our next two targets quite easily and accidentally. The first was the Jumbo Water Tower. It’s very hard to miss! It was completed in 1883 and was nicknamed ’Jumbo’ after the London Zoo elephant as a term of derision in 1882 by Reverend John Irvine who was annoyed that the tower dwarfed his nearby rectory. Jumbo or not, it’s a brutalist and ugly thing in an otherwise pretty little area where we also saw a Quaker Friends’ House doubling as a polling station. It was local voting day in the UK.

The water tower was right at our next target, the Balkerne Gate. It is the largest surviving gateway in Roman Britain, dating from the second century. It’s a very impressive structure with the lines of red brick running through the stone wall that we got used to seeing in Torino.

Next to the gate is a big white pub, The Hole in the Wall, with some of the Roman gate showing under its foundation, where they had simply built on top.

Beyond the gate, is a highway and beyond that a large residential area so it was time to turn back and track down the final area we’d planned to check out, the Dutch Quarter. Continue reading “A day in Colchester”

10th May 202210th May 2022

Norwich – Elm Hill and Over the Water

Thursday, 28 April, 2022

We had the rest of the sausages and hot cross buns and started getting ready to leave. I have recurring nightmares about having to pack for somewhere and not being able to get it together. So in real life I try to get it done early and quickly – it’s almost like PTSD from all those bad dreams. Anyway, everything fit in so that’s good. When the case was almost done, the plumber showed up to fix the shower and said that there was something wrong with the thermostat and it would have to be replaced. A few minutes later the receptionist showed up to offer us a shower in an empty room. Way too late! We politely refused and soon afterwards left our cases in the front lobby and left, passing the views of the cathedral and the back road to where we needed to be. There was construction that Krish was sure was a nod to Ukraine.

We planned to go ‘over the water,’ which is what they call it in Norwich – crossing the River Wensum. It’s also called The Creative Quarter, since the art school and other creative arts venue are there. So ‘Creative Quarter, Over the Water.’ My friend Tom, who has lived here, had told me to check out Elm Hill and I’d seen a bit of it the night before so knew it was worth looking at. It’s just before you reach the river.

It’s worth a moment to say that the street called Tombland is wonderfully named. It comes from two Old English words meaning ’empty space’ – and the area was originally the site of an Anglo-Saxon market.

Elm Hill is considered the most famous and most complete medieval street in the city. It’s steep, cobbled, and lined with some lovely small boutiques. At the top is St Peter Hungate church. The churchwardens planted the first elm trees during the first quarter of the 16th century and these gave the name to the street. They stood there until Dutch Elm disease killed them all.

Although there’s evidence that Elm Hill has been there since the 1200s, very few buildings now there are of an earlier date than 1507, when 700 houses n Norwich were destroyed by fire. The oldest building is The Britons Arms, 1420. The Tudor building above is 22-26 Elm Hill former Paston House, now Strangers Club. The wooden door with the plaque saying Father Ignatius tells another tale. Father Ignatius (Reverend Joseph Leicester Lyne ) and his Anglican monks first came to open his monastery in 1863. He was by all accounts charismatic and controversial. By 1866 his monastery was closed, following wide-spread public outrage and outbreaks of violence over the activities of Father Ignatius and his Third Order. Since I read most of what I know now after leaving Elm Hill, I can’t tell you which buildings are which, but they are certainly memorable. Memorable to my legs too – the cobbles and the steep hill were not friendly to them. Then we went over the water.

I was looking for where Tom used to live but I never found it. He’d sent me a map but I couldn’t make it out – ‘not very good with maps.’ This area was rougher than the other side of the river. Krish and I talked about how different the areas people actually live in can be from what you see in the centre of towns. My legs were tired though, so Krish went exploring and I got a hot chocolate and sat outside waiting for him. We thought we might try to eat here, but somehow we reached the residential area very quickly and so turned around. I could tell I was reaching overload.

I’ll confess to a lot of blurry memory of what we saw. A lot in a short time…no time to linger, explore, contemplate, and at this point of our time away just happy to look and enjoy and be captivated by this and that in our view. It makes me think about how to explore in areas like this where there is so much. Hop on/off sightseeing can be a good overview, but we didn’t do that and rarely do these days. These tours can be good for seeing a lot in a shorter time, but lack the behind-the-scenes off-the-high-street flavour I love. A day somewhere is good only if you focus or have a goal, two days is less tiring, three is ideal or a good taste of what’s on offer. To really explore a month or three is ideal. I miss those longer visits to Torino and, of course, Toronto, La Habra. Will I have those days again?

At any rate this was Norwich so the final bit of our journey had to play out. Before we knew it, it was time for something to eat and get to the station on time. We walked down St George’s Street, trendy and filled with students and digital age types.

A little Norwich geography confusion happened when we realised we were close to not only Pottergate, but not far from St Benedict’s Street again. Suddenly I had that rare ‘putting the jigsaw puzzle together’ experience. Everything was right there.

The penultimate adventure was deciding to go to Haggle this time and again overstepping it, eventually making it through the door. It was full but they had room downstairs. We were alone down there and it was peaceful. We chose our menu items and then I routinely asked if there were green or red peppers in anything. The server went to check and came back with a marked menu – over half the menu was pepper-full, including all of our choices. We’d wanted the lamb tagine and were told ‘It’s just the nature of the cuisine.’ So we left, and I was unable to stop myself saying ‘I’ve had many tagines and never a pepper in one of them’ as I thanked him for his time. Authentic is as authentic does. Well, we weren’t going back to Farmyard, so we headed to the market again.

This was my first time inside the market. There are rows of places and most are for food, one after the other. We swept through and I noticed that Lucy’s had two fish and chips stands – were there more? Krish queued for ramen and I queued for dumplings, and we sat in front of the town hall and ate our final Norwich meal. If Delia is from here, we saw no sign of her, but we managed.

I’d sworn I would take a bus or cab to the station, while Krish would fetch the cases but instead we walked, finally more confident in directions. And off we went to the station and our train home.

The journey was smooth until we slowed down, then stopped. ‘Trespasser on the track,’ they announced. A slowy, stoppy bit later the trespasser was ‘apprehended, a mental health issue sadly.’ England is ‘funny’ like that.

7th May 202210th May 2022

Norwich – King Street Quarter and the Cathedral (mostly)

Wednesday, 27 April, 2022

Our fridge was now stocked so I made sausages with toast for breakfast. Such a good idea. We were loving having a kitchenette.

We left the hotel room with no clear direction. First we walked right from the front door, instead of left. We were on St Faith’s Lane and headed over to Recorder Street. On the corner was a little garden with a lovely gate.

On the street outside was a row of houses leading up to the main road, Prince of Wales. The ne on he corner was my favourite. I wondered what the cost of houses was here in Norwich. I don’t have a clear idea of when these houses were built, but they were pretty – a line of them leading down to what is or was a theatre.

We had thought about going down past the station today to Riverside, but instead we crossed the road and headed into what was called the Kinge Street Quarter. This area promised lots of historic houses and it delivered. It’s also where Julian of Norwich counselled the citizens of Norwich, had her 16 visions, which inspired her book ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ the first book written in English by a woman. It’s considered quite a literary area. The historic houses date from the 12th century. Below, the house with the timber frame over flint rubble and brick ground floor is the Dragon Hall, a former merchants’ hall, dating from the 14th Century. The oldest house is the Music House – 12th century – and I don’t think I photographed it since, looking at the images online, it wasn’t that remarkable! If you know Norwich and see it below, please let me know.

And, although we thought we weren’t going to Riverside, this area does border the river and there it is, with its brand new housing.

We considered takng a look at a model home in the area but it didn’t tempt us for long. It was just funny seeing Pizza Hut and TGIFridays in such close quarters to the timber framed buildings on the street outside.

And the churches and churchyards continued.

Talking of continuing so did our jumbled sense of the geography of this place. Turning away from the river, we were suddenly in the Castle Quarter so again close to the market. This suited us since we had decided that we would have a ‘chip off,’ the market Lucy’s fish and chips vs Grosvenor.

The market was bustling but I didn’t have any step in me so Krish headed in for Lucy’s while I sat at City Hall, a building with a crazy tower on top. It’s supposed to be very interesting inside – we never made it in.

Krish was gone for quite a while and came back with some chips and three fish bites. Krish couldn’t resist the onion rings, but wish he had. That’s always the case. Verdict later.

To get up to Pottergate we walked through the newer pedestrianised shopping area and into The Forum (a mix of free exhibitions, events, activities, catering, shopping and learning opportunities) for a bit.

I think the next photos might show the Guildhall. I’m not sure! I’ll be perfectly honest and say that I have no idea which photo belongs to what anymore. But I photographed anything that struck me and hope you enjoy them.

This time we found Pottergate and the Grosvenor Fish Bar easily. Time for the second part of the chip off. We had chips again, a cod goujon, and some gravy – my request.

And the result. Divided! Krish liked Lucy’s chips, while I thought them a bit too well done and with an odd taste (beef fat? although I think Grosvenor also uses fat instead of oil. Both had a batter that was thicker than we liked. Lucy’s batter tasted nicer but Grosvenor’s fish was a larger piece so moister and more flavourful. Neither won prizes with us but I’d choose Grosvenor. Fun, though!
Continue reading “Norwich – King Street Quarter and the Cathedral (mostly)”

1st May 202210th May 2022

Norwich – The Lanes and City Centre

Tuesday, 26 April, 2022

It’s not that I haven’t been anywhere or done anything, but I’ve been lazy about putting it all together.

We planned a two-night trip to Norwich, somewhere I’ve wanted to go for some time. I didn’t know much about it and tried to research a bit before I went, but these days I’m just as happy to be away as to actually go out and discover new things. In fact, I didn’t spend that much time just relaxing but walked every day until I couldn’t manage another step.

The journey there was uneventful. We got the train to Stratford and from there another train all the way to Norwich, about an hour forty minutes for the longer ride. Luckily, the train was fairly empty and fast.

Norwich station was quite old fashioned and small. I was happy that we came straight in without any stairs to climb before we could leave. My friend, Julie met us there and we started our walk to have lunch together.

Norwich looked small-townish, but there were some interesting old stone and brick structures. I was itching to take photos already. However, we headed for a restaurant. The food wasn’t good and I think I made the best choices of the three of us – just some squid, and a papaya salad.

The Old Post Office – I was surprised to see three Nathan Bowen art pieces, and others throughout the city

From there we walked to where we were staying on St Faith’s Lane. It wasn’t far from the station – a small curved back street with a view to the cathedral. We were staying in a studio apartment which I’d found online. I forgot to take photos but it was decent – we had a full kitchen along one side, an armchair, a bed, a little table with two chairs, and a bathroom with a big walk in shower. It would do nicely for our two half and one full days.

We rested for a while and decided that we’d like to have fish and chips that night. One place, Grosvenor Fish and Chips in The Lanes area came highly recommended so we decided to head to The Lanes, which we could see the beginning of from where we had eaten. It seemed that if we plunged into the first sight of it and followed through, it shouldn’t be hard to find Grosvenor.

Walking through the back streets from St Faiths Lane. The cathedral is to our right. The houses here were very old and probably Flemish

This building was such a surprise. We were walking down The Lanes and it loomed ahead of us, reminding me so much of walking in Italy where huge churches dominate small squares

The Lanes are some winding, narrow laneways, often hilly and mostly cobbled. It’s a mix of tacky and interesting, the medieval and the modernised. The entire city is littered with churches and blue and other historic plaques, too many to read. And finally we found the Grosvenor.

I loved the fact that we not only found it in the maze of lanes but it was on a street called Pottergate, which I decided to call Harry Potter Gate. Its name comes of course from being where the pottery industry once flourished. I’ve now read that there are many haunted spots in Norwich, but I hadn’t taken the time to learn about the many ghosts the city has.

We could have stopped for fish and chips then, but the queue was quite long so we decided instead to explore a bit more. This was a mistake.
Continue reading “Norwich – The Lanes and City Centre”