Photographs of King’s Lynn Buildings – 1950 and Present Day

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.

The first two images are of the front cover and the map. These have no present day equivalents.

The Map…

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.

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.

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.

2017 Photographic Wall Calendar

A sneak preview of the 2017 Photographic Wall Calendar.

INTRODUCTION

As some of you know I created photographic wall calendars last year. I recently mentioned that I was going to do again this year. This morning my inbox contained an offer from Vistaprint that was too good to refuse, so the calendars will be arriving with me some time around October 20th.

THE FRONT COVER

This time, there will be no borders, and no added text. It will surprise few who have followed this blog recently to find out that I have chosen an Inlandsbanan picture for the front cover…

front-cover

The actual calendar will be much bigger than this of course.

THE MONTH PAGES

Here are the individual pages for each month…

jan

feb
This picture was taken quite recently, but I decided that it looks wintry enough for February.

maraprmay

june
This picture is one of my Swedish ones, but not inappropriate for the month.

julyaug

sep
This picture was taken on Heritage Open Day, which in King’s Lynn is always the second Sunday in September.

oct
Two pictures both from October 1st joined together.

nov

dec
Another two pictures from very recently joined together for this purpose.

 

A Day Out In Norwich 1: Overview

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the first of several posts about a day out in Norwich, which took place this Thursday. I hope that you will enjoy this post and be encouraged to share it.

THE ARRANGEMENTS

A combination of a rescheduling of the Great Centenary Charity Auction which meant that I would not be able to take part in a family weekend, and a a dearth of options in terms of when I would be able to see my sister and my nephew led to the timing of the event – the only day between their arrival from the other side of the world and subsequent departure for Poland that I could take off was the Thursday. So it was that I got the 9:45 bus out of King’s Lynn to East Rudham to meet up with the others, and we travelled on to Norwich.

WHAT WE DID IN NORWICH

After a brief look at some of the shops we had lunch at The Belgian Monk, before heading off on a walk round the city, spotting some of the dragons that no adorn the place. I will conclude this introductory post with a few photographs…

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This street, Elm Hill, was almost a casualty of 1960s slum clearances.
This street, Elm Hill, was almost a casualty of 1960s slum clearances.

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Birds, Buildings and Quilts

Some historic buildings, a quilt and some birds plus a notice from the Environment Agency.

The title is a reference to what I have been photographing over the weekend. To start with some of the buildings:

1)Greyfriars Tower, all that remains above ground of the Franciscan priory…

This is a montage created for putting up on twitter, the rest of the gallery follows...
This is a montage created for putting up on twitter, the rest of the gallery follows…

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2) King’s Lynn Public Library…

Once again, we start with a montage...
Once again, we start with a montage…

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3)Custom House…

This is the last multiple image
This is the last multiple image

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4)The Red Mount Chapel, Guanock Gate and various interesting bits of buildings…

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West Lynn Church
West Lynn Church

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I chose to include this with the buildings, although it also features birds!
I chose to include this with the buildings, although it also features birds!

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The quilt reference is to a very elaborate quilt that my aunt made and will be submitting to a competition, for which she required photographs of it. I have provided two versions of each picture, one with very little editing, and one with much more editing….

The first five images of this quilt are the fully edited ones.
The first five images of this quilt are the fully edited ones.

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These next five images have been cropped but not fully edited.
These next five images have been cropped but not fully edited.

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Now we have some bird images…

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To finish, a notice from the Environment Agency…

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The First Fruits of My New Camera

My new camera was ready for collection today, and since picking it up I have been enjoying myself testing it out. For comparison purposes before going into the main set of pictures here are the images for Lot 723 in our February auction, the last set of pictures I took with the Samsung…

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For the rest: Camera Nova Ipse Loquatur (Let the new camera speak for itself)!

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This panel is quite attractive. Pity about the building it belongs to - £1.2 billion tax dodger B**ts
This panel is quite attractive. Pity about the building it belongs to – £1.2 billion tax dodger B**ts

Effective and appropriate restoration.
Effective and appropriate restoration.

Stage one of sorting out this disaster should involve the use of a wrecking ball!
Stage one of sorting out this disaster should involve the use of a wrecking ball!

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Auction in Norwich

On Saturday James and Sons had their September Auction in the Erpingham Room at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich. The auction featured two lifetime stamp collections, a large amount of militaria, some interesting coin lots, three folders of Liebig Company Picture Cards and sundry other items.

In order to assist with setting things up, and to be ready for action at the 10AM start time it was necessary for me to catch the 6:00 bus from King’s Lynn, arriving at Norwich Bus Station just after 7:30. After a slightly slower than usual start (for the right reason – lots of bidding), the pace picked up in the later stages of the auction. On a whim I purchased a tub of thru’penny bits for £7, and a little later a made a more considered purchase of a set of Liebig Picture Cards featuring “Divers systemes de Chemins de Fer” for the same price.

Although the massive lot 83 (all 16 boxes of it) did sell, it went to an internet bidder, so it still had to be loaded back on the van. Overall it was a very successful sale, and in the end I got back to my flat a mere 13 hours after setting forth.

I have some pictures from before, during and after the sale, and you can expect pictures of thru’penny bits, and when the coin in question comes out juxtapositions of thru’penny bits and the new style of £1 coin to feature in future posts!

Swaffham Church early in the morning
Swaffham Church early in the morning

The nearest place to this church is  so insignificant that  I have forgotten its name.
The nearest place to this church is so insignificant that I have forgotten its name.

Dereham Rotary Club clock ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????

A light source doubling up as a hanger!
A light source doubling up as a hanger!

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Most of this headgear did sell.
Most of this headgear did sell.

The Auction Database ready for action (but revealing no confidential information) - all I will enter manually during the day are paddle numbers and hammer prices.
The Auction Database ready for action (but revealing no confidential information) – all I will enter manually during the day are paddle numbers and hammer prices.

This spiked helmet did not go due to having an overly high reserve.
This spiked helmet did not go due to having an overly high reserve.

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This is part of the Norwich Cathedral complex.
This is part of the Norwich Cathedral complex.

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Making use of a renewable resource the Norfolk is abundantly blessed with!
Making use of a renewable resource the Norfolk is abundantly blessed with!

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Heritage Open Day 4: Ferry Lane

The house on Ferry Lane that was opened for the occasion featured a wonderful garden and many interesting features inside. It was well worth making a tiny diversion from my route down to the Great Ouse to take in this fine old building (Ferry Lane does precisely what its name suggests that it should – leads to a ferry pick up point – hence as stands it to reason it is pretty close to the river)

The rest of the story of this part of my day is I believe well told by photographs, while my next post will not be about a specific site, but being out and about in King’s Lynn on the day.

Garden - 1st look The house viewed from outside

Garden viewed from near the house
Garden viewed from near the house

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A very impressive document.
A very impressive document.

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Getting a straight on shot of this was impossible due to lack of space
Getting a straight on shot of this was impossible due to lack of space

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Flower head
Anyone familiar with this blog will know that I like to get close ups of interesting flower heads