King’s Lynn – Page 16

The Sutcliffe Formula for a Cricket World Cup (and Some Cool Pictures)

There has been much talk at the Cricket World Cup about how the tournament should be formatted, especially given that there are those who would reduce it to a ten team tournament (so utterly harebrained a notion that I do no more than mention it). Several of the associate nations at this world cup have given good accounts of themselves, with Ireland having a strong chance of progressing to the quarter finals.

My formula for a Cricket World Cup would be as follows:

16 teams to play in the tournament. Stage one would involve two groups of eight teams, the top four from each group progressing. Each group would play its matches in sets of four (hence two groups of eight), making seven rounds of matches for each group, to played on alternate days (i.e. this stage would span two weeks, with each side having a day off between matches.

After the group stage would be a three day break before the quarter-finals, which would be played all on one day. After a two day break the semi–finals would take place. Then following another two day break the final would take place. This would mean that the tournament would be played in a period of three and a half weeks (a sensible length for a global tournament).

As for the TV people: If they don’t like it they can lump it.

Now for some pics…

Developments at King's Lynn bus station. — Developments at King’s Lynn bus station.

These magpies played a good game of hide and seek with me - but as this picture proves I emerged the winner! — These magpies played a good game of hide and seek with me – but as this picture proves I emerged the winner!

Upcoming Events (and Some Cool Pics!)

A brief post. Although there have been a couple of late withdrawals there are still 14 confirmed participants in todays #SaveOurNHS action in King’s Lynn. Also it has had good publicity on twitter via @aspitweets, with the invaluable assistance of @kingslynnlive, @ask-pergers and @jorust45 – the latter of whom is one of the confirmed participants.

The other upcoming event is the March group meeting of the King’s Lynn Asperger Support Society (KLASS), which takes place this Monday at 6PM at the Lattice House on Chapel Street.

Now for those pics…

My ersatz mounting of the railway buttons.

Please take not if you catch buses from King's Lynn. — Please take not if you catch buses from King’s Lynn.

James and Sons February Auction and NHS Action

The auction was a great success – for more detail and some images see the word document that I created about it yesterday. I also detected a good omen for the Great Centenary Charity Auction when a silver poppy commemorative coin sold for above estimate…

JAMES AND SONS FEBRUARY SALE

And this is a jpg which will be the featured image.

Talking of commemorative coins, lot 640, the British public libraries 150th anniversary coin went to yours truly for £15. Lot 875 also fell to me for the same price, and combined well with a leaflet advertising the North Norfolk Railway for a composite image…

The coin imaged in a way not open to me until it was my property.

A public library montage featuring the only one of the public libraries I regularly use to have any architectural merit.

3 sunset shots taken through the windows of an X8 heading back from Fakenham

Lot 875 - railway buttons — Lot 875 – railway buttons

A close up og one of the two British Railways buttons!

I received my pack from 38 Degrees for tomorrow’s NHS action in King’s Lynn tomorrow. It came with yesterday’s post. The A2 window poster is on display above the High Street – a look up from directly outside Debenhams might catch it (here’s hoping). I end with some images from the auction room, none of which have yet featured in my personal twitter account…

This is a wall decoration in a Fakenham coffee shop.

The banner and the TV kindly lent to us by Hughes Electrical

All three of these tables were quite light and easy carry (even with the very small one having a full set of cutlery stored inside its top), and even better all three sold.

Some copper pots and a large coin cabinet

I am not sure as yet whether it was a museum or a dramatic group (for a production of Cinderella) but somebody bought this spinning wheel.

The display case full of medals is a regular sight at James and Sons events, but lot 4, an essay VC, was pleasingly unusual.

This very large quantity of very small cutlery did not sell (there six boxed sets as well as this newspaper wrapped one).

The Prince of Wales Suite at 5PM on Auction Day.

KLASS and the Cricket World Cup

A week today is the date of the next meeting of the Kings Lynn Asperger Support Society. We will be meeting at the Lattice House on Chapel Street from 6PM. Our April meeting will be a week later than usual, on the second Monday of the month, because April 6th is Easter Monday. We will be moving to our summer venue of the quayside near the Lower Purfleet, which gives us the back up option should the weather decline to co-operate of ducking into Marriott’s Warehouse (what – British weather decline to co-operate – surely not!). I have produced an information sheet using Word, which I have then turned into a JPG for online usage (already shared with my twitter followers)…

KLASS

This is the original photo of the Lattice House used in the document.

This is the original photo of Marriott's used in the document. — This is the original photo of Marriott’s used in the document.

The Cricket World Cup is still in full swing. Recently we have witnessed India thrashing South Africa, Sri Lanka just sneaking home courtesy of a magnificent innings from Mahela jayawardene against Afghanistan who continue to do the associate nations and themselves proud and England finally demonstrating that they have not completely forgotten how to play the game they invented. On that last however, a victory over a Scotland team whose bowling had about as much venom as an earthworm is nothing to be shouting about. I for one would not be prepared to put money (even had I such a commodity) on England getting the better of Afghanistan and Bangladesh as they need to to progress. In many ways actually, falling at the first hurdle would be better for England than a reprise of 1996 where they reached the quarter finals having beaten the non test playing nations in their group and not looked remotely like beating any test playing opposition and were then thoroughly humiliated by Sri Lanka in the quarter final. An elimination at the first stage cannot be window dressed so it would mean reality having be looked squarely in the eye. A few final pics…

Guist post office (approx 5 miles from Fakenham), viewed through the window of an X29 bus

St Ann's House - directly opposite St Nicholas Chapel — St Ann’s House – directly opposite St Nicholas Chapel

Where 38 Degrees members will be meeting on Saturday for NHS related action.

The flag flying from the Guildhall on Saturday.

Similar size and shape to mallard drake but very different colouring.

The Cricket World Cup (and Some Pictures from Kings Lynn)

The cricket world cup is well and truly under way. The night before last our time Ireland chased down a target of over 300 to beat the West Indies. Last night co-hosts New Zealand took on Scotland in Dunedin and a look at the scorecard would suggest a typical Dunedin cold, grey day with the ball nipping about all over the place. The truth was that after some excellent new ball bowling by Trent Boult and Tim Southee reduced Scotland to 12-4 the match was as good as over. Scotland rallied to reach 142. New Zealand then squandered seven wickets knocking off this very modest target (the dismissals were almost all down to bad batting rather than good bowling – but fortunately Geoffrey Boycott was not there to bear witness).

I have plenty of pictures to share with you, which I shall do in two tranches, starting with some from Sunday…

The newly refurbished steps from the street to Boal Quay Car Park, done as part of the work of increasing the height of the flood defences.

Before sharing the pick of yesterday’s images, mention of my new work shoes, which after periods of wear indoors on Sunday and yesterday are going to get their first outing today (if this proves a mistake I can revert to the old work shoes that I still have for Thursday and Friday). The key day for when I have to be able to wear them without issue is a week tomorrow, when we have our next auction down at Fakenham Racecourse, and I will then be playing bridge in the evening without going home between the two events. At this moment I am not anticipating that there will be any problems because I have catered for all eventualities including buying a box of cushioned plasters in the event of a bad reaction from my heels. My mother spotted these shoes in Russell and Bromley while in London last week, for which I was very grateful as I had drawn a blank at Clarks. Now for some more images…

One shot, three species - the smallest of which is only seen in this area at low tide when there is exposed mud. — One shot, three species – the smallest of which is only seen in this area at low tide when there is exposed mud.

They were there in great numbers - 28 in this shot post cropping. — They were there in great numbers – 28 in this shot post cropping.

These birds are not regulars in Kings Lynn.

Of Birds, Local Heritage and Rugby

I will start with the local heritage. I had the opportunity at my aunt’s house yesterday before the rugby started to photograph a modern replica cast iron piece that was made from the original…

Although there were other contenders, so remarkable was yesterday photograph wise this is the feature image.

In the first of the rugby matches, England eventually ran out comfortable winners, although Italy scored first through Sergio Parisse and kept things close for about the first hour (and would have been close still had they possessed a number 10 with a functioning boot – whatever other merits he possesses ex-Kiwi Kelly Haimona is a liability in this area) but England, just as Ireland had been last week were too strong for Italy in the end. The second game between Ireland and France was much less of a spectacle. Ireland managed to win, thereby ratcheting up the stakes for the game in two weeks time between Ireland and England. There was one very serious misdemeanour by a French player in that match, when he gave one of the Irish guys a vicious knee in the back. Somewhat surprisingly the referee only deemed this worthy of a yellow and ten minutes in the sin bin. Personally, given how badly the Irishman could be affected by the blow, I think it should have been red, end of the French offender’s participation in the match and indeed of this years Six Nations.

Although it was dark by the time the Rugby ended, I had been out and about earlier in the day and snagged some good pics – I also got one on my home…

The front of King's Lynn Minster, beautifully lit up. — The front of King’s Lynn Minster, beautifully lit up.

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…

2) King’s Lynn Public Library…

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

3)Custom House…

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

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

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.

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

Now we have some bird images…

To finish, a notice from the Environment Agency…

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…

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

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

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

The Case of the Crooked Camera Repairers

The story that is the raison d’etre for this post is already in the hands of Adam Lazzari, the EDPs chief reporter for Fakenham and Dereham. It concerns the situation with my Nikon Coolpix P520, and the plain text version is here:

THE CASE OF THE CROOKED CAMERA REPAIRERS

This is the story of the fate of my Nikon Coolpix P520 up to today, when I uncovered evidence that admits of no interpretation other than serious criminality on the part of Messrs Christopher Robert Simpson and Mark Gregory formerly of The Camera Repair Company, Dereham.

The significant milestones are as follows:

October 27^th took camera in for repairs, handed over a deposit and was told I would be contacted as soon as they had identified the fault.
A week and a half later I was told that the fault was a damaged USB port and associated damage to the motherboard. I was assured that they could fix it in approximately ten working days, so although I was going to have to pay for the privilege I agreed to the deal.
Three full weeks (i.e 15 working days, since there were no public holidays in the period concerned) later I phoned them to ask what was going on and was told that they just needed to perform quality checks and would then be able to return the repaired camera to me.
On the Saturday following having mean time heard nothing I phoned them to find out what was going on, and was told it should be ready by Monday.
Thus on the Monday following that I went to Dereham expecting to pick up the camera and was told that one of them was doing a job in King’s Lynn the following evening and that they would return the camera to me then.
That following evening no one showed up, so…
On the Wednesday I made another trip to Dereham expecting to return with a functioning Coolpix P520. I was then told that the replacement board had malfunctioned and that they needed another which they were waiting for. They also said that as soon as it was ready they would deliver it to me. So I waited, and waited and waited some more, hearing nothing until…
I decided that today, with them having had three full working weeks since Christmas to get things sorted I was going over to Dereham one more time and come hell or high water would return with a camera, which brings us to what I as a classical music lover call…

DIES IRAE

I arrived at the shop to find it shut and locked, and with a notice from Brown & Co Estate Agents attached to the door, explaining that the shop had been repossessed and that more information could be obtained from them. Therefore, I travelled on to Norwich (no extra cost – on First Eastern Counties one gets a day pass rather than a return ticket) to find the branch indicated (I wanted to do this face to face, not over the phone). There I found out that I was far from being the only person in this situation and that the repossession had been because they owed the estate agents a large amount of money. Additionally, I was informed that when the agents went to repossess the shop and change the locks they found it already stripped bare, and they have not been able to make contact with the individuals who ran it.

Additionally to what is mentioned above in the word document (attached below), the website is still active, but I have not bothered to attempt to contact them by that means as I do not consider it worthwhile.

THE CASE OF THE CROOKED CAMERA REPAIRERS

This major issue apart, I am in decent fettle, and I will finish by sharing some of my more usual type of picture (taken with older and lesser camera, a Samsung) with you…

Here for your information is a photo of the repossession notice taken with old Samsung…

A King’s Lynn Walk

An account of a walk in an around King’s Lynn.

This walk started and finished at my compact town centre flat, and with frequent photography stops occupied two and a quarter hours.

I was on my way down the stairs that take me to street level when I took my first pic of the day, the top of the Clifton House Tower…

From there I crossed the Baker Lane Car Park, took the bridge over the upper Purfleet and headed for the lower Purfleet and the Custom House…

Just in shot above you can see part of the statue of Captain Vancouver…

Where the lower Purfleet joins the Great Ouse is a glass sculpture…

The next point of interest is the new jetty on the Great Ouse, not in use at the moment in deep midwinter…

Hot on the heels of this comes Marriott’s Warehouse, which required two shots to do it justice…

Next up was the carcass of the old Somerfeld and Thomas building…

After crossing the lower Millfleet on the bridge that has a high water mark from December 2013 the next site was the remains of Boal Quay…

A few minutes later came the meeting of the Nar and Ouse, and the structure I have dubbed ‘Cormorant Platform’. Sadly none of the birds in question were there today, but still the picture is a fine one…

My next port of call was Hardings Pits…

Crossing the Nar as I headed towards the next stage of the walk I got this picture…

Next, as I headed towards the parkland areas came one of King’s Lynn’s most distinctive landmarks, the South Gate…

From here I walked along London Road as far as the light controlled crossing, crossed and headed through Terrace Court and an alleyway to the Seven Sisters entrance to the parkland area…

As I headed towards Guanock Gate and the Vancouver Garden I got a sight of The Walks, home to King’s Lynn Town FC (only two more promotions needed to gain league status)…

The Guanock Gate came next, closely followed by a shot of the Red Mount Chapel looking along the upper Millfleet…

Next came the Vancouver Garden, which I entered via one bridge and left via the other (these are the only two means of getting in or out unless you fancy a dip in open water – definitely not recommended in an English January! This area is always worth a good few photographs, and so it proved once again…

A few minutes after this I arrived at Tennyson Road, and two more interesting things, the educational fence, a sample fo which I photographed and the King’s Lynn signal box…

From there until Lynn Sport, a few minutes later, there is nothing of great significance, though for the first part of that distance the path runs between two academies for those interested in such things. Lynn Sport has some interesting stuff outside it, notable the brickwork bus and the ornate mile post. It also boasts an elaborate weathercock…

Shortly after this comes the first glimpse of Bawsey Drain, which I was going to follow all the way back to town, but I started with a shot looking the other way…

The walk along Bawsey Drain did yield a few interesting (for me at least) shots, reproduced below, the large number of flying birds as approached the town end of it being particularly impressive…

Getting a good shot of St Nicholas Chapel is a challenge because you need to be far enough away to get it all in. Also, it is undergoing repairs/ renovations at the moment. I was pleased with this one…

From St Nic’s it was on to the Tuesday Market Place, where as well as getting a full shot of the Corn Market I also noticed a glass sculpture on the same lines as the one where the lower Purfleet meets the Great Ouse…

Finally, I delayed my return home just sufficiently to get some shots of the Guildhall (8 in total) and King’s Lynn Minster…

I enjoyed doing this walk, and enhancing my photo collection.

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