I use a recent acquisition to showcase some of the more iconic buildings in King’s Lynn.
This is the first post I am creating that is inspired by lot 526 at James and Sons’ May auction. This item, a 1950 Temporary Guide to King’s Lynn was knocked down to me for £5. In the post that follows I will be showing each of the images I produced when photographing the item for auction and then producing pictures of the buildings concerned taken by me in 2024.
FRONT COVER AND MAP
The first two images are of the front cover and the map. These have no present day equivalents.
The Map…
COMPARISON PICTURES
The first image that offers modern comparisons from my own stock of pictures is this one…
There are four landmarks in this image – The Red Mount Chapel and The Archway in Broad Walk, or as it is correctly known Guanock Gate, on the left side as you look, the South Gate Approach (no direct equivalent, but I have got the gate itself) and Leziate Golf Course (no equivalent).
My pictures for comparison are presented as a gallery – to see a larger version of an image just click on it.
Front on view of the chapel.Close up of the upper door to the chapel.Close up of the name plaqueA more side on view of the chapel.The Guanock Gate town sideThe Guanock Gate out of town side.The South Gate looking towards the town.
Here is the next image from the booklet…
On the left is Greyfriars Tower and on the right what was then St Margarets Church and is now King’s Lynn Minster.
2024 versions…
This was the next image I produced for auction…
This is the iconic Guildhall of the Holy Trinity, also known as King’s Lynn Town Hall.2024 images of the building (six pics – click to view at a full size).
The next image I produced for auction was this:
The Custom House, the most iconic building in the town.
The Custom House is the official dividing point between the two medieval towns that together form King’s Lynn. Here are some 2024 pictures…
The next and final image in the gallery for auction was this one…
The South Porch of St Nicholas Chapel.
This is what this looks like in 2024…
There has recently been restoration work done on this chapel (witness the scaffolding in the top left corner of this picture.
A Boxing Day post composed of pictures and puzzles – enjoy!
INTRODUCTION
I have five puzzles to share (all via the mathematical website Brilliant– I am approaching a double century, my current solving streak now extending to 199 days) and photos that I have categorized in four groups. Therefore I will be interleaving puzzles and pictures.
PUZZLE 1: LOGIC
This is an easy one – Lestrade would probably solve it without amateur assistance!
PHOTOGRAPHS 1 – CAIRINA MOSCHATA
In preparation for the Christmas Day festivities I went for a walk yesterday morning, and many of the photos you will see were taken during that walk – others were taken at other times of the day. I first came across these birds when they were in a group near Kettlewell Lane, and since then I have seen a single specimen, in The Walks, on three separate occasions, most recently yesterday:
PUZZLES 2: AN AREA CHALLENGE
This one should not be too difficult either:
PHOTOGRAPHS 2: BUILDINGS
When everything is closed the opportunity is there to get unimpeded pictures of buildings that are usually busy.
PUZZLE 3: EVEN AND ODD
This is one is tricky rather than difficult per se – and only 37% of solvers on Brilliant managed to crack it:
PHOTOGRAPHS 3: LOCAL HISTORY
Recent renovations in the building that my aunt’s house is part of have revealed some very interesting little details, and I also got some interesting shots from the house of the person with whom we had Christmas lunch.
The first 13 pictures are from Hampton Court (no superstitions and no truck with triskaidekaphobia here!)
Two shots of the wooden beams at the house where we had Christmas lunch
An artwork display at that same house that caught my eye…
…one picture in particular!
PUZZLE 4: A DIVISABILITY TEST
Not at all difficult, but very enjoyable to tackle:
PHOTOGRAPHS 4: WILDLIFE
We finish our photographs as we started, with a nod to nature:
PUZZLE 5: THE INVESTMENT EXPERT
We end with a fairly tough problem to which I have added an even tougher subsidiary question.
My follow up, adapted from a question raised by someone named Anne on Brilliant is this: What is the minimum initial deposit required to ensure that Fred’s money grows at a sufficient rate for him to become a trillionaire if he lives for as long as Earth remains an inhabitable planet (the increasing size and temperature of the sun will cause this in 1 billion years, assuming that some stupid species has not already done so,
Lionks to various pieces I have found on the internet, an answer and solution to one problem and a new problem, and some photographs.
INTRODUCTION
This is a sharing post with some of my own stuff as well. I hope you enjoy it.
CROSSBOW BOLT STOPPED PLAY
Play between Surrey and Middlesex at the Oval has been halted and the ground has been locked down because a crossbow bolt was fired from outside the ground into the ground. Everyone at the ground is now in sheltered areas not out in the open. Armed police are now present at the ground. The match has now been officially abandoned, and a controlled evacuation of the ground is now underway.
I start with a tool created by the Labour Party called the living wage calculator. You enter your postcode and it tells you how many people in your area would benefit from the minimum wage being increased to £10 per hour. Below is what is says about my postcode:
“CONFIRMED: IT’S #LEONARD V #SARWAR FOR SCOTTISH LABOUR” electing Sarwar would mean a continuation of the approach that has failed miserably for both Kezia Dugdale and her predecessor Jim Murphy, whereas Leonard would be a move to the left.
In one of my posts on Monday I set a problem from brilliant. Here is I show the answer and an impressive solution. I also offer a new problem to end the section.
Thomas’ answer:
I admit to being lazy on this one – knowing that the internal angles of an octagon add up to 1080 degrees and that 7 x 90 = 630 I realised that with seven acute angles the remaining angle would have to be over 450 degrees, and the max is just under 360 degrees which takes you back to where you started. However 6 x 90 = 540 which means that the remaining two angles would have to add up to something in excess of 540 degrees, which is no great difficulty. Therefore I gave the correct answer of six (in less time than it has taken me to type this). However, one solver by the name of Atomsky Jahid produced a splendid effort:
A NEW PROBLEM
The mass extinction at the end of the Permian era is at the time of writing officially the largest in Earth’s history. An estimated 96% of all species on Earth at that time were rendered extinct. If the death rate in species that were not completely wiped out had been the same as the extinction rate what proportion of living creatures would have been wiped out in this event?
PHOTOGRAPHS
With Heritage Open Day coming up soon I decided to revisit these first two pics which feature thw town hall.
Greyfriars tower and the war memorial
The library, taken today
A hald-moon in an early evening sky.
The first of three closer up and enhanced shots of the half-moon.
The last of my series of “Super sharing Saturday” posts, includes some of the lighter moments of the last few days.
INTRODUCTION
I finish this day of sharing with my last few bits. These are in the main fairly light-hearted pieces, although more than one touches on serious issues.
GIANT PHARAOH STATUE
DISCOVERED IN MUD PIT
For more about this statue, possibly of Ramesses II, please click on the image below to read the article posted on livescience.com
EMMA WATSON CLASSIC RESPONSE
TO DONALD TRUMP’S ELECTION
Somebody failed to proofread a church bulletin, resulting it being much funnier than intended. The image is below, and links to the piece on whyevolutionistrue where I first saw it.
A SLICE OF (JONATHAN) PIE
This one was also brought to my attention by WEIT and is a classic example of the fictional (and very foul-mouthed – you have been warned) newscaster at his best. Here he is getting seriously aerated by the fact that there is ban on public swearing in Salford (where the BBC are based these days):
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are some of my pictures to end this post:
Close up of Norfolk cost tea towel.
This tea towel is in the window of the coffee shop.
Three prints side by side – from L to R as you look these are of Greyfriars tower, the Custom House and the almshouses on Queen Street.
A post built around Dan Green’s “The Periodic Table in Minutes” and an article that brought things even further up to date.
INTRODUCTION
This is a post that has grown from two distinct roots as you will see. At the end I will be sharing some photographs and other links that have caught my eye.
A BOOK AND AN ARTICLE
I spotted a small format book about the periodic table in the library a few days ago, and duly borrowed it (I have also read and enjoyed Hugh Aldersey-Williams’ Periodic Tales). It proved to be an enjoyable and informative read.
While I was still working out how I might work this book and some ideas the occurred to me from my reading of it into a post I came across this article about the approval of names for the four elements which had previously had placeholder names based on the Latin for their number (113, 115, 117 and 118). This leads to my next section…
NAMES FOR ELEMENTS
The four new names are in ascending atomic number order Nihonium (based on the Japanese name for Japan), Moscovium, Tennessine (for the state of Tennessee) and Oganesson (in honour of physicist Yuri Oganessian), this latter further tilting the list of elements named after people in favour of men. Although a few female mythological characters were honoured in earlier times the number of real life females to feature in the periodic table stands at two – Marie Curie with Curium and Lise Meitner with Meitnerium. There was nearly a third – element 102 was subject to vigorous dispute over its discovery between research teams from Sweden and Russia – the Russians were ultimately given credit for discovering it first, but by way of compensation it was given the name Nobelium chosen by the Swedes as opposed to the Russians preferred name of Joliotium (for Irene Joliot-Curie.
This paucity of females having elements named after them got me thinking about ideas for names for future use if more elements (if you have sensible suggestions in this regard please post them in the comments section) and I came with a few ideas:
Hypatium, in honour of the possessor of the last great brain to be nurtured in the Great Library of Alexandria.
Noetherium, for Emmy Noether, mathematical genius.
Angieron for science writer Natalie Angier.
Reichsine for forensic anthropologist and hugely successful novelist Kathy Reichs.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I given you a lot of text, so now here are some pictures…
Three pictures from the lumiere shown on Greyfriars tower.
Christmas lights in Fakenham (three pictures).
LINKS
My first link is to a post by Rob Gorski, who calls himself the Autism Dad. This particular post is about sorting out an issue of one of his sons being bullied.
The text that appears below comes courtesy of Google translate, which I put to work on a piece from Spanish language website www.circuitodeprueba.com – if you can read Spanish, or would just like to see the piece in its original setting click the image that ends this post.
We are in a boom of artificial intelligence for vehicles and electricity as the main fuel, this is when IBM, a legendary computer manufacturer, wants to board the ship and for that he presented OLLI, the means of transport of the future.
Olli is a bus created solely with 3D printers that has automatic driving and is totally electric. In his brain we find the artificial intelligence system IBM Watson IA and its skeleton bears the mark of Local Motors.
The Olli Smart Bus has a capacity of 12 passengers (seated and stopped) and is currently being tested in the city of Washington DC, soon to reach other cities nearby (Miami, Las Vegas) later, specifically later this year, Begin the tests in Denmark.
An analysis of my newly acquired collection of beer mats (complete with photos), a unique LNER display and some other stuff.
INTRODUCTION
This post features some stuff I have bought at auctions and some stuff I have been given, and features some links at the end.
BEER MATS
I mentioned in my post about James and Sons’ November auction that I had purchased a box of beer mats. Well I have just finished sorting through them and categorizing them, taking photos along the way.
MACALLAN
There are seven mats that relate to Macallan Scotch Whisky. Macallan are sposnors of one of the world’s most prestigious bridge tournaments as well as purveyors of whisky.
HEINEKEN AND ICE HOCKEY
I have 12 Heineken mats, one circular and 11 athletics track shaped. These latter 11 feature Ice Hockey Heroes – I have a run of numbers 2 through 9 of the original series of 10 and duplicates of numbers 7, 8 and 9.
RANDOM FOREIGN
Five mats referrg to foreign drinks.
COCA COLA AND COMPETITIONS
I have three mats advertsiign coca cola, two of which are duplicates, a schweppes mat and mat advertising a Holsten Pils competition.
The two central mats are duplicates – I have shown different sides of each.
GENERAL SCOTCHES
Four mats advertising scotch whiskies other than Macallan.
PRODUCE OF THE APPLE
Five mats where the focus is on drinks created from apples:
THE IRISH CONTINGENT
I have nine mats featuring products of the Emerald Isle.
The two big Guinness mats are duplicates, as are the three Murphy’s mats.
UNCATEGORIZED
Four mats that I could not think of a category for.
BEER MATS GENERAL
We now come to the best bits of the collection. Starting with nine mats featuring a range of beers from around the country.
The Webster’s mats at the top are duplicates save that they have different heroes on the back, as you will see later…
BEER MATS – EAST ANGLIA
There are ten beer mats in this group, all with a connection to East Anglia.
You have now seen every beer mat in the collection, but I was not quite finished yet…
THOMAS’ TOP THREE
This is an image of my three favourite beer mats.
THE RAILWAY CONNECTION
Some mats that are specifically railway oriented.
The Samuel Whitbread connection is a little tenuous, and I took the opportunity to show the Amy Johnson profile.
THE BUTTONS
One of my colleagues recently gave me some LNER buttons (LNER stood for London and North Eastern Railway), and had previously given me an LNER badge. I also had some other LNBER buttons and an LNER themed postcard from previous purchases, and assembled this into an LNER display.
The three buttons that set me thinking about the display – without using the flash
the same buttons with flash
close up of the locomotive button
Close up of an LNER button
Buttons, the badge and the postcard mounted ready for display.
The top of the display.
The bottom fo the display
The badge.
The display (it is housed in a plastic wallet).
LINKS
I start with some interesting pieces about the byelection that has surely spelt the end of Zac Goldsmith’s political career:
David Hencke, who usually blogs on legal matters offers his take here.
As it’s title says, this post is a mixture of all sorts of things – enjoy!
INTRODUCTION
I have a wide range of stuff for you, including pictures and links.
GREYFRIARS
In the second of my series of posts about “Buildings of King’s Lynn”, I put up some pictures of Greyfriars Tower. Tucked away in one corner of the grounds is a scale model of the friary as it would have been back in the 14th century…
A five image composite showing the model and the key (four images)
More details about the company that this second survey boat belongs to cna be found by clicking here.
For the opera lovers among you.
LINKS
I have a plethora of links for you today. I start with a subsection dealing with…
PETITIONS
Two petitions today:
On the Government’s own petitions website, is this call to protect academic freedom. The government have new legislation in the pipeline to include an ‘anti-lobbying’ clause in all government grants, and this petition seeks to exempt academic research from this law.
My second petition is on a matter of local interest. A new factory farm is planned for Sedgeford, Norfolk and if you find the notion as repellent as I do please click hereto sign and share the petition against it.
AN APPROPRIATE STAND ALONE LINK
Appropriate because the MP about whom this piece was written, the dishonourable Julian Lewis, is in a club of one as a British MP who will not accept communication by email.
A TRIO FROM COSMOS UP
The website cosmos up has been in fine form recently, and here (two of them accompanied by images) are three crackers they have produced in less than two full days…
This picture shows the orbital path of a donut planet’s moon should it have one.
A NEWPOST ON WWW.LONDONTU.BE
A reminder of the existence of my London Transport themed website. Today’s new post focusses on London Bridge, partially inspired by this picture…
REMINDER: POSITIVE AUTISM AWARENESS CONFERENCE
This will be taking place on April 15th at the Dukes Head Hotel, Tiesday Market Place, King’s Lynn, starting at 9:30. It has proved very popular – my latest information is that just 13 tickets are yet to be bought.
The venue for the Positive Autism Awareness Conference.
These buildings span most of the history of this town. The first two buildings you will see are visible from right outside my door.
CLIFTON HOUSE TOWER
More or less due west of my own “compact” flat, this tower is instantly recognizable.
THE GRANARIES
Located on the Purfleet side of Baker Lane car park, and one of the tallest buildings in the town.
THE GUILDHALL
The second most iconic building in King’s Lynn. The checkerboard frontage is unique, although a couple of other buildings in the town have small bits of the same in their walls and there is one church in Norwich that is not entirely dissimilar.
GREYFRIARS TOWER
The last remnant of the Franciscan Friary, where at one time Nicholas of Lynn, who certainly sailed as far as Iceland and may have reached the American Coast over a century before Columbus, was resident.
BANK LANE ARCHES
Another remnant, in between Greyfriars and the Library.
THE LIBRARY
An amazing and important building. This construction in brick and carr provides a vital service to the residents of our town.
HAYES AND STORR
A solicitor’s office in a very handsome building that happens to be almost directly opposite the library.
THE METHODIST CHAPEL
Right next door to Hayes and Storr.
THE REMAINS OF ST JAMES’ CHAPEL
One wall section is all that now remains of this chapel, which was also a workhouse in the Victorian age.
THE RED MOUNT CHAPEL
THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST
This church sits right at the town end of St John’s Walk.
KING’S LYNN TRAIN STATION
This station, which opened in the 1850s, has recently been restored. It is very close to the centre of the town, and there is the option of a scenic route – follow the footpath down past the church of St John the Evangelist, then diagonally across The Walks to the library, down Millfleet to the river front, along the river front as far as the Purfleet and approach the Tuesday Market Place by way of King Street, thereby circumventing the Vancouver Quarter entirely.
A SECTION OF OLD TOWN WALL
Very little of King’s Lynn’s old town wall survives, but close to Morrisons and the Primary School this section can be seen.
HIGHGATE METHODIST CHAPEL
Much smaller than the main Methodist chapel on London Road, this building is located just off Littleport Street, still very close to the town centre.
AN OLD BUNKER?
I cannot think what else this building which sits next to a small river, just off Littleport Street, could be.
THE LYNN MUSEUM
Admission to this museum, which adjoins the bus station, is free.
THE NEW BUS STATION BUILDING
Following extensive redevelopment work (visit this post for more pictures) the new bus station opened in June of last year. This is the building that accompanied the external developments.
THE MAJESTIC CINEMA
There have been plans to extend this cinema for some time, but for the moment it remains the same as ever.
THE LYNN RESTAURANT
While both the quality and the prices at this restaurant are very acceptable, it is the restoration work that has been done to the building above it that chiefly interests me.
ST NICHOLAS CHAPEL
This chapel has recently been repaired and restored, and the results of all this work are spectacular.
There has been a chapel on this site since 1146
This image shows all four large cushions that comprise the timeline – it is followed by eight individual images that show close ups of parts of the cushions.
The organ – dates from 1899
THREE BUILDINGS FROM THE TUESDAY MARKET PLACE
This building houses the West Nordolk Disability Service among others.
Not to be confused with the establishment in Norwich where James and Sons hold some of their auctions, this is The Maids Head, King’s Lynn
The Dukes Head, where the Positive Autism Awareness Conference will be taking place on April 15th. This photo was constrained by the presence of the Mart. After a fortnight in Lynn, the Mart splits in to two to go to various other places around the country – but it is only in Lynn that you get to see everything.
CODA: KING’S LYNN’S NEWEST CONSTRUCTION
A new wind turbine has just been built near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. It was built very rapidly – there was no sign of anything there on Tuesday, by Thursday morning the tower was in place, and by Friday morning it was complete (my bus travels this way on work mornings). Here are a couple of pictures, taken through the window of the bus on Friday…
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