Ian moved house. Not very far, but enough to warrant a housewarming & a group trip to Norwich. Our last visit to Norwich was 25 years ago when they still had a youth hostel, but this time we had to rough it in the Travelodge at Acle.
Friday night saw most of us take advantage of the local pub for both dinner and a bit of lubrication. The Hermitage was very welcoming and the food was delicious. A great way to start the weekend.
Saturday dawned bright and sunny, a perfect day for meeting up with Ian for a personal tour of the county town of Norfolk. We started with a walk from the train station down to the River Wensum. This took us past various old Mill buildings, including the Norwich Yarn Company at St James’ Mill, which subsequently became the home of Jarrold Press – famous for all those OS green book guides we’ve used for years. Further along we passed Pulls Ferry, a flint building that was once a 15th-century watergate used for bringing in the stone for building Norwich Cathedral. A couple of hundred years later and John Pull operated a ferry from the same spot. It’s hard to believe now, but a ferry operated from here right up to 1943.
Not done with the old stuff, we passed the Bishops Bridge – the only remaining medieval bridge in the city. Dating from about 1340, it used to have gates that formed part of the defences of the city. Those same gates were attacked by rebels during Kett's Rebellion in 1549. As we found out further on in our tour, Robert Kett was a local farmer who joined a bunch of unhappy locals objecting the enclosure of common land. Needless to say, despite storming Norwich, it didn’t end well for the rebels. Kett was captured, held in the Tower of London, tried for treason, and hanged from the walls of Norwich Castle on 7 December 1549.
Even in today’s modern city, Norwich Castle dominates the town. Norwich Castle was founded by William the Conqueror sometime between 1066 and 1075, but that’s not what you see today. The current big stone keep was built between 1094 and 1121, probably under the direction of William the Conqueror’s son. Since then, it’s managed to stay roughly in one piece having survived being a seat of local government and a prison before becoming the museum it is today. It was a fascinating place to visit and there was still time to take in the cathedral and see what the monks did with all that Caen stone. It was very impressive.
After such a full Saturday, Sunday was a bit more leisurely. We met Ian in Brundal for a local walk taking in some of the marshes bounding the River Yare and the old church of St Nicolas in Buckenham, where Doug treated us to a few tunes on the organ. It was also here that we performed a remote rescue for George, who had broken down at Stalham and was struggling to get hold of the RAC. Sadly, this meant he missed out on the tea and cakes at Ian’s, although I gather he later experienced both hospitality and bread and butter pudding before he could return home.
Ali
Culture Vultures do London
On Saturday 1st November, 8 members of CYHA Culture Club travelled to London for a variety of cultural events.
Most of us met in the Royal Festival Hall, where there was an art exhibition by people living in Criminal Justice Settings in the UK, including Prisons, Youth Offender Institutions and Immigrant Detention Centres. This free exhibition of hundreds of pieces of work is held yearly and sponsored by Koestler Arts. I think we were all moved by the feelings expressed in some of the pieces, and the quality of the work.
We had lunch together in the Festival Hall Café, where Jaqueline left us to see the Caravaggio paintings in the National Gallery (the topic for our last meeting).
The remaining 7 of us then progressed to the National Theatre to see a modern production of Hamlet, with a very diverse cast. I was particularly impressed with the acting of Francesca Mills as Ophelia. Hamlet himself was played by Hiran Abeysekera, who feigned madness very well.
After a drink in The British Film Institute, where we probably ruined the date of the 2 chaps we sat with, we all enjoyed a slap-up meal in Wagamama before heading home, tired but full of Culture!
Cress
If you’d like to join future “Culture Club” events, please contact Cressida for details. Everyone welcome!