A little observation test to start the new week.
Taking my cue from the folks at whyevolutionistrue I offer you this teaser: how many magpies can you see in the following picture, taken yesterday at Harding’s Pits?
This one is not especially difficult, and I will reveal the answer in my next post…
The final post in my series on Heritage Open Day.
Welcome to the fifth and final post in my series on Heritage Open Day, which was a week ago yesterday. The previous four posts give a personal perspective on the places that I and my two companions for the day visited. This one is there to tie things together and sum up the whole experience.
This day provided further proof of how good King’s Lynn is at putting on a public show. Whether it is water-skiing on the Great Ouse, the Lynn Festival, The Hanseatic Festival or the “Fawkes in the Walks” public firework display (which attracted 15,000 last year) the event seems to work splendidly.
By the end of the day I was thoroughly exhausted, but I had greatly enjoyed myself. My cousin Edward and his partner Rachael were excellent company, the weather stayed decent throughout, and it was a joy to see so many people enjoying what King’s Lynn had to offer.
If you are anywhere close to King’s Lynn for Heritage Open Day 2016 don’t miss it – it is a wonderful thing to be part of!
The fourth in my series of posts about Heritage Open Day, featuring the Red Mount Chapel, The Guildhall, “Cormorant Platform”, the South Gate and the Bandstand.
This is the fourth post in my Heritage Open Day series (there will be one more small post to finish the series) and features several classic sites, starting with…
I have shown pictures of the outside of this building in many previous posts, so therefore I am concentrating my attentions on the inside, which a little like that of the South Gate contains more than you would believe from looking at the outside. The only windows most of the building possesses are tiny slits, while the uppermost level has fleur-de-lys windows which are not visible from the ground. At various stages of this buildings history its true purpose had to be concealed, because it was not safe to be known to be a centre of Catholic worship (n.b. the danger was never from unbelievers such as me, who also could not declare themselves at the time I am writing about – it was from those whose interpretation of Christianity differed from that of the Catholics). Now for some pictures…
After this we spent a bit of time outside waiting for signs of the spitfire fly past but none materialised, and we had to buy bread as a contribution to lunch, which thanks to my aunt was a feast. After lunch we started by paying a visit to the…
This is the second most iconic building in Lynn (behind the Custom House), due to its possessing this frontage…
Heritage Open Day however represented an opportunity to check out the inside of the building, including a ceiling that definitely dates from at the latest the early 1420s…
The plan was to visit the South Gate, and then go back to the park to catch some of the live music at the bandstand. A special tour bus (think routemasters of yesteryear!) caught our eyes but it was full, and it definitely was not worth waiting 20 minutes for the next. The walk to the South Gate needed little tweaking to take in one of my favourite minor attractions, which I have dubbed…
Thankfully, the cormorants did me proud, and I was not required to provide any explanation as to my name for the structure…
There were no further diversions before arriving at the…
No external picture of this – I have shown many in the past, and on this day it was all about the inside of such buildings. Suffice to say that my companions for the day, my cousin Edward and his partner Rachael endorsed my earlier description of this building as a ‘medieval TARDIS’ – there is much more inside than you would believe possible from the outside…
Following a short cut well-known to me to not to that many others (at least when it comes it King’s Lynn I can say echoing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings that “My cuts, short or long, don’t go wrong”) we arrived in the parkland area via the Seven Sisters gate, walking past the Walks Stadium (home of the mighty Linnets, a.k.a King’s Lynn Town FC – just another five promotions would see them in the premier league!) and the Guanock Gate to arrive at our last attraction of the day…
The Bandstand dates from 1904 and regularly hosts live music. For Heritage Open Day we had a brass band who produced some excellent music for us…
The third post in my series dedicated to heritage Open Day 2015 in King’s Lynn. This takes in a Napoleonic era militia, a 15th century construction and the present day work of the Eastern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority.
Welcome to this, the third post in my series on Heritage Open Day, which took place a week ago today. We are covering a lot of ground today, starting with…
As part of the efforts to protect Britain against invasion by Napoleon, militias were organised everywhere coastal ready to act if necessary. Norfolk had two, the West and East Norfolk militias, and although King’s Lynn is on the western edge of Norfolk, it was the East Norfolk Militia we saw in action. There was also someone dressed as a captured Frenchman – note the dark blue jacket. It would be fair to describe this particular militia unit as not being the best drilled you would ever see (actually I would not have been that surprised to see Baldrick or hear someone shouting “Don’t tell him Pike”).
Once we had seen this, we crossed the lower Purfleet on the bridge you can see in the picture above (after a brief diversion so I could show the others the Navigators display) and headed across King’s Staithe Square to the…
Who had opened up their cellars for the occasion…
Then it was down to the banks of the Great Ouse, not at ultra high tide, but neither with vast areas of mudflat on display, and a chance to learn about the work of the…
and to look around one of their research vessels, which also meant a chance to get down on to the pontoon/jetty where visiting boats have mooring space…
After finishing here we decided it was time to see how my mother and aunt were faring at the…
This is the communal back garden of Hampton Court, and unlike the courtyard itself which anyone can look in on at any time it is rarely possible for ordinary members of the public to look at it. By the time we got there my aunt had been temporarily relieved by my mother, and clearly lots of folk had already visited. Part of the garden had been blocked off at the request of one particular resident, but not being able to venture there did not lessen the experience…
The second post in my series devoted to Heritage Open Day – this one covers King Street, starting from the Tuesday Market Place end and finishing at the Custom House.
This is the second post in my Heritage Open Day series, and takes in King Street, virtually every building alon which had opened its doors for the occasion.
There was some remarkable stuff on display between King Street and the river, accessible from two directions.
The premises of Kenneth Bush solicitors does indeed consist of two buildings that were joined together to become one. It also had fine garden, in which stall selling homemade cakes and biscuits.
When you first appoach them, the premises of Metcalfe, Copeman & Pettefar don’t look like they are going to be massively impressive, but you soon discover that on the inside you are looking at a Norman building…
The ground floor of the Custom House serves as King’s Lynn’s principal tourist information office, but beyond that there is a mini museum, which was accessible that day, and as our next planned activity was watching a Napoleonic era militia in action nearby we decided to have a look to fill the last few moments before that started. Custom House marks the end of King Street, after crossing the lower Purfleet the road bifurcates, one fork becoming King Staithe Square and then the quayside and the other Queen Street which feeds in to the Saturday Market Place. Here are some final pics from the Custom House…
The first of a series of posts about Heritage Open Day 2015, which happened last Sunday. The focus here is on the Tuesday Market Place, an air raid shelter, some classic cars and a masonic lodge.
Sunday was Heritage Open Day, with no fewer than 57 sites open to the public for the day. While my aunt and my mother were both involved in actually running the event – one of the venues being right next to my aunt’s home, I was merely unofficial guide for my cousin Edward and his partner. This post is the first of several which will be devoted to telling you about the day, accompanied by loads of splendid pictures.
The event itself ran from 10AM to 4PM, but, remembering from last year, I reckoned that we needed to be early for our first destination, the air raid shelter underneath the Tuesday Market Place. This was confirmed to be the case – even though we were so busy checking out the cars that we missed being at the front of the queue we only had a brief wait. Before moving on here are some early pictures…
This air raid shelter made use of pre-existing tunnels, which are known to have been used as storage in the 17th century, and it would probably not have survived a direct hit. Here are some photos of those tunnels we were allowed to see (we were going round in groups of 20, and during the war these tunnels sheltered 200 people at a time)…
Philanthropic Lodge 107 to give it its formal title is housed inside the Duke’s Head Hotel which looks out on to the Tuesday Market Place. The person who told us about freemasonry also told us that there is now a female lodge in Norfolk, though he does not where (apparently the nature of the initiation ceremony is such as to prevent mixed lodges from being a possibility). The only thing I was not allowed to photograph (an even then it was put to me as a request) was a single framed certificate. The masonry part of a freemasonry is a reference to the stone masons who built the pyramids of ancient Egypt although I respectfully beg leave to doubt as to whether the freemasons have actually been around for all that time.
Here are some pictures from this remarkable establishment…
Having seen and enjoyed to Masonic Lodge it was time to move on, and of all the streets leading off the Tuesday Market Place, the best one to follow both in terms of the overall direction we wanted to head in and in terms of finding interesting things to see was King Street, virtually every building along which was open for the occasion. This will be the subject of the next post in this series. I leave you with the last set of pictures from the Tuesday Market Place, going to town on a one hundred year old Ford…
An explanation of why I have not published a post since Sunday morning and details of some upcoming posts, with a couple of ‘aperitif’ picttures
My last published post was on Sunday morning, and as I will probably not get another full post up before tomorrow I thought a few words of explanation were appropriate (I do not like having big gaps between posts). Sunday was Heritage Open Day, and because I was at work yesterday and will be again today to get the imaging done for our next auction I have not yet had time to edit all the photos I took from Heritage Open Day. So, upcoming on this blog for definite are:
I leave you with a couple of pictures…
A short post mainly devoted to sharing links, but with some photos also included.
This is a brief post, principally to share some interesting and important links, At the end, there will be a few photos from in and around King’s Lynn.
Today’s link’s divide naturally into two sections, starting with…
Yes everyone – #JezWeCan is now #JezWeDid – Jeremy Corbyn not only won the election outright in the first round, he did so with an absolute landslide, leaving even the 57% achieved in the first round by Tony Blair when he won the leadership behind him. I have three links that relate to this news…
Tax Research UK have produced this fine piece emphasising that public services are not like business.
Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) have produced this piece about happenings in Waltham Forest, ending with the following appeal:
The Guardian have produced this about the sale of council houses
The folks at politicalsift.have produced this piece under the title “We Are Condemned To be Free“.
This piece from disabilitynewsservice is both a confirmation of the fact that the Cameron government has made history by causing Britain to become the first country to be investigated by the UN Commision on the Rights of People with Disabilities and some detail and why this is happening.
Finally, via Huffington Post, comes this piece written by a mother going public about her daughter’s autism diagnosis.
Just before putting up some of my more recent pictures, a reminder that tomorrow is Heritage Open Day, featuring 57 sites in King’s Lynn…
A post created in support of Chris Packham, and therefore featuring nature. I also have some important links and a great infographic for you.
I am producing this post to offer public support for Chris Packham, who has been targeted by group of hunters/shooters/fishers who call themselves the Countryside Alliance. I hope that you will all enjoy it and that you will share it.
It will not be news to followers of this blog that I take a great interest in nature. One of the reasons why living where I do works for me is that as well as having the amenities of a town centre on my doorstep I have open green space within comfortable walking distance and a river with all its associations even closer at hand. The combination of the fact that I do not drive and the scandalous state of public transport provision for out of town areas mean that I have to live in a town centre.
Most days I get out for a walk, and I usually get some good pictures (there is only one kind of shooting that I am interested in, and my weapon of choice is a Nikon Coolpix P530). Here are a few highlights from today…
Just in case any of you are not already familiar with him Chris Packham is a naturalist and nature photographer who sometimes presents stuff on the BBC. I included a link to his official website in my introduction, and repeat that here.
The claim made by the Countryside Alliance is that he has violated BBC neutrality. Frankly I would regard being targeted by this group as something to be proud of, and I am adamant in saying that the BBC should stand by him. I finish this section by including the full link to a petition to tell the BBC not to sack Chris Packham:
https://www.change.org/p/bbc-don-t-sack-chris-packham
Please sign the petition and share this link!!
I wish to draw our attention to two things coming up in the near future:
I have a few other links I wish to share, starting with two that should both make unpleasant reading for the…
My remaining links are all connected with…
I will start with a link to the website of the West Norfolk branch of the National Autistic Society. Their most recent newsletter includes this quote: “a member has pointed us towards www.autcraft.com the online version of minecraft for people with autism”. As the member who provided the information I am delighted, but I must also assign credit where it is really due – I only happened to know about Autcraft because Autism Mom has written about it in a number of blog posts, such as this one.
Although various social media organizations have verified Kevin Healey, twitter have still yet to do so, and Kevin’s petition about the issue is still running.
My last link is the twitter account through whose good offices I located an infographic in the “Never mind gold, that’s platinum” class with which I shall end this post. They are called identifor and the infographic is this:
Some stuff about the Great Ouse at high tide, some stuff about evolutionary biology, lots of pictures and links.
Having finally completed (after a couple of false starts – fortunately not a DQ offence in the blogosphere!) my post about the Metropolitan line I now have this offering which includes some links and a couple of quality infographics.
This morning the Great Ouse was at very high tide. Cormorant Platform was almost enitrely submerged. There was also a high tide yesterday morning, but not quite so high as this – I have pictures from both for comparison purposes.
In addition to these, my walk this morning provided some other splendid pictures. I saw a small rodent by the water near the bandstand, and a hare, a member of the lagamorph order of mammals later on in the walk. The lagamorphs and rodents form a cohort (intermediate between an order and a class in the system of classification) called Glires. For a fun and digestible account of these relationships and others among living things I recommend Richard Dawkins’s book “The Ancestors Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life”.
I also got a few more pictures of other things that I consider worth sharing…
I have some petitions to share with you, but will start with the other links first:
First up, this from counterpunch titled “Return to Crisis – Things Keep Getting Worse”
My next two links both come from the Corbyn campaign:
The wonderful kittysjones has this piece turning her guns on the Daily Mail for its (and Tory MuPpet Ian Liddell-Grainger’s) response to the news that UN Special Raporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Catalina Devandas Aguilar will be investigating the UK’s welfare reforms to see if they constitute human rights abuses. Ms Jones’ excoriation of the Daily Mail is an excellent read.
My next link is to a story of yet another outrage perpetrated by religious zealots, brought to my attention by newhumanist. This is the story of an Indian rationalist murdered in his own home.
Courtesy of pertinentproblems comes this account of why TTIP would be bad for Europe.
Cosmos Up, a regular source of good material, have this about New Horizons’ next target.
First up, courtesy of change.org comes this one having a go at Virgin Trains over the amount by which they are increasing their fares.
My next two links are both concerned with women’s rights:
My remaining petitions all concern one man, the
First, Maggie Zolobajluk’s well merited victory celebration (kudos also to Mike Sivier of Vox Political whose FOI request started the whole process).
Second, this from thepetitionsite demanding IDS’s resignation.
Finally, this petition to parliament to assess the full impact of cuts to support & social care for disabled people.
A couple of classics to end this post:
aspiblog 