An account of a long morning walk, which was planned for a specific purpose. Includes a photo gallery.
I have an important meeting to attend on Friday at a location just beyond the western end of the road bridge across the Great Ouse, and with the weather much less brutal than it was a month ago I am of a mind to walk to and from the venue, although it is a fair walk from my home in North Lynn. It was with a view to that that I planned this morning’s excursion.
PART ONE: THE LIBRARY
I had 14 library books out this morning, only one fewer than the permitted maximum for a single borrower, which made the library an essential port of call. Of course having returned the books I had out I naturally had a scout for new ones to take out. I found two by a recent find whose work I am really enjoying, Helen Cox. Her series based in and around York features a librarian who doubles up as a private enquiry agent. I also found a trio of north west Norfolk based crime novels by someone named Andrea Bramhall which I am looking forward to reading. This part of the walk was accomplished largely without recourse to main roads, save for a short stretch of London Road, from the end of The Walks to the library.
PART TWO: HEADING FOR THE GREAT OUSE
From the library I headed through Hillington Square and down to the Great Ouse, reaching the river front a few hundred metres before the Nar outflow and the structure I have dubbed ‘Cormorant Platform’. which as you will see more than lived up to my name for it on this occasion.
PART THREE: LOCATION CHECKING
The bright, sunny weather helped to maintain my resolve to extend my walk to the industrial estate on which WNAG’s meeting room/ office space is located, and I duly did so, ensuring that on Friday morning, when I will need to arrive in good time, there will be no mishaps.
PART FOUR: BACK VIA MORRISON’S
My route home followed my route out in reverse as far as All Saints Church, at which point I diverted slightly, away from the crossing of Millfleet and towards London Road instead. I crossed London Road, and left it by way of the Broadwalk, then looping round by way of the Vancouver Garden and the path out of it to St John’s Walk. I got to Morrison’s, did the little bit of food shopping that had to be done today and then headed home. I had been out for about two and a half hours. My bag will be lighter on Friday, and I will have the duration of the meeting to recover from the outbound leg, so I am now confident that walking is the way to go for this meeting.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This gallery features exclusively pictures taken this morning.
This book (three pics) is one I have read on bus journeys to and from work, and I highly recommend it.I am guessing that this chimney has some sort of protected status.
A look at a category of book I have enjoyed discovering during 2024 – modern retellings of mythology. Also a large photo gallery.
It is no secret to readers of this blog that I am a voracious reader. One oeuvre that I have discovered in 2024 is modern retellings of mythology. This post looks at some of those books.
THE STARTING POINT
I have had an interest in mythology for virtually as long as I have been capable of reading. Thus when I saw “Daughters of Sparta” by Clare Heywood on the shelves of King’s Lynn library it was pretty much automatic for me to select it as one to borrow. This retelling of the stories of Helen and Clytemnestra from their own perspectives proved to be even better than I had dared to expect, and I soon found myself keeping an eye out at all three of the libraries I regularly visit for similar books.
MY EXPLORATIONS OF THIS THEME SINCE THEN
That was the start of an ongoing exploration of retellings of these myths which has gone to encompass Natalie Haynes (“A Thousand Ships”, “Children of Jocasta” and “Stone Blind” (Medusa’s story from her own perspective, rather than that of Perseus), Jennifer Saint (“Ariadne”, “Elektra”, “Atalanta” and just recently “Hera”, which provides the feature image for this post, Madeline Miller (“Circe” and “A Song of Achilles”), Laura Shepperson (“Heir of Venus”), Phoenicia Rogerson (“Herc” – the story of Heracles/ Hercules told from the perspective of everyone except the hero himself), Pat Barker (“Women of Troy”), Lauren JA Bear (“Medusa’s Sisters), Claire North (“Ithaca”, “The House of Odysseus” and presumably a third volume to come, telling the story of Odysseus from Penelope’s perspective), and from a different oeuvre of mythology Sophie Keetch (“Morgan is my Name”, “Le Fay”, and I know there is a third volume to come in this series). All of these books have been very enjoyable to read, and I cannot pick a favourite.
PHOTOGRAPHS
This gallery does not include the feature image, but does include all three elements of that composite image. Remember that all pictures can be viewed at larger size by clicking on them…
Sharing a large quantity of photographs taken in the last two days in and around King’s Lynn.
I did two walks during the daytime yesterday, visited my sister and nephew for supper in the evening. I have also done a very long walk this morning, taking full advantage of weather that was genuinely pleasant by December standards – it started to rain lightly near the end of the walk, but I got over two hours worth of dry weather before the rain came.
These excursions provided me with a very large photo gallery – once I had finished the editing process there were 150 pictures there. As well as pretty much all the regular bird sightings I managed to get pictures of a dunnock and a common sandpiper (the latter was near the mouth of the Nar this morning).
This afternoon has been unyieldingly grim, and this being December even at 4PM the such daylight as there was is already beginning to fade.
Enjoy a bumper gallery (and don’t forget to click to view pictures at larger size)…
Sunday morning pics…The dunnock. In size and build it is not dissimilar to a sparrow, but the colouring is very different.Sunday afternoon pictures…This new building……was inspired by this much older one opposite it.Sunday night pics.I got a picture of the train fully lit up at the third attempt.Todays pictures start here.The official start of King’s Lynn coming in from the southeast of the town.In olden times this was the southern edge of the town.A stretch of the Nar – this river has its source near the town of East Dereham, close to the centre of Norfolk.Two cormorants with wings outstretched simultaneously.Lapwings in triangular formation at the waters edge (the far side of the Great Ouse from me).The common sandpiper, which features in five images in total.The feature image.
An account of a walk in and around King’s Lynn. This particular variation on a favourite walking theme of mine took place yesterday late morning. There are plenty of photographs.
It is no secret to followers of this blog that I do a lot of walking, and that I go nowhere without my camera. This post looks in detail at a recent walk.
WALKING IN AND AROUND KING’S LYNN
One of my favourite themes around which to construct walking routes in and around King’s Lynn is what I call the ‘three rivers’. The three rivers of that title are the Gaywood, multiple sections of which are encompassed, the Nar, which is crossed twice at different points, and Great Ouse, the main river in this part of the world, alongside which some of the walk takes place. The particular walk that this post uses for detail took place yesterday, when the weather was bright and sunny but cold.
THE WALK
I started by leaving my house by the back door, as I was heading at first in the general direction of the town centre. The road that runs behind the row of houses in which I live is a private road and is unnamed. It disgorges on to Raby Avenue, which I crossed, and then headed down Townshend Terrace, a side road which forms a right angle, running from Raby Avenue to a pond at which point it swings 90 degrees and disgorges onto another road. However, as you will see I was not going that way. The pond usually yields pictures, and it did so this day as well…
While Townshend Terrace goes on way, a footpath leads in the opposite direction, through to Loke Road. On the far side of Loke Road, almost directly across from this footpath is a side road called Harewood Parade, which leads round the side of a second pond, until it terminates and is replaced by footpath which heads into a section of greenery flanked on one side by a section of the Gaywood River and on the other by Kettlewell Lane. Although the second pond did not yield anything for the camera on this occasion, the rest of this segment of the walk did…
Kettlewell Lane leads out on to what at that stage is Littleport Street, though a little way north it becomes Gaywood Road. By this stage one is very close to the town centre, but one is not committed to main roads. I crossed Littleport Street at the light controlled crossing on Eastgate Bridge, and headed down Highgate, past a little patch of greenery that sometimes yields pictures though not on this occasion, and down a little side passage that leads to a small bridge back over the Gaywood to the town side and another little section of greenery, which I exited on to Wyatt Street at the other side. I then crossed Wyatt Street, and took a footpath that runs alongside Eastgate primary school before coming out on Blackfriars Road, the road that runs past King’s Lynn station. At this point, for a brief period there are no further options for main road avoidance, so I followed the road round past the station, and shortly after the station headed into the park called The Walks. I headed alongside another section of the Gaywood (heavily sculpted at this stage of its route) until I reached the white metal bridge that leads in to the Vancouver Garden wherein is located the bandstand. I exited the Vancouver Garden by the other bridge from it, crossed the Broadwalk, and headed for the Seven Sisters exit. This section did not yield many pictures, but there were a few…
The Guanock Gate
From the Seven Sisters exit I headed to where a passage leads through to London Road, joining that road at a light controlled crossing, which I availed myself of. I then headed away from town, passing the South Gate and then turning down the road that crosses the Nar, which I exited on to Hardings Way before taking a footpath through Hardings Pits to the Great Ouse at a point south of the town.
The South Gate (town side)The South Gate (out of town side).The only picture I got in Hardings PitsLapwings and Gulls at the far edge of the Great OuseKing’s Lynn viewed from the river bank on leaving Hardings Pits/A gathering of birds.
The next port of call was ‘Cormorant Platform’, although none of the birds that led me to give it that name were present on this occasion. There was a heron there however…
The heron and platform in the foreground, West Lynn church in the background.
From here I headed on to a dike which can be muddy, but as we have had little rain of late I knew would be fine, and followed it until the path bifurcated – one route led to more of the Great Ouse, and the possibility of following that river as far as Purfleet Quay, but on this occasion i took the other, heading across another part of Hardings Way, through a gateway and down a side road which leads to play area that is at the meeting point of several roads, one of which leads to All Saints Church, reckoned to be the oldest church in King’s Lynn and then by way of Hillington Square to Millfleet.
I crossed Millfleet at a light controlled crossing, headed up past the library, though on this occasion I did not visit that establishment as I already had a number of books out. I then went past the war memorial and Greyfriars Tower, before heading on to Tower Street and thence to the bus station, though I was merely passing through, not intending to catch a bus. From the bus station I headed along Railway Road, crossed at a light controlled crossing and walked along the northernmost section of Norfolk Street to arrived a triangular road crossing that invariably involves two waits if you are a pedestrian, followed Littleport Street until the junction with Kettlewell Lane, passing through the greenery to the second of the two ponds mentioned earlier in this piece, but I now did not entirely duplicated the starting route, instead heading along Loke Road, on to Columbia Way, and then availed myself of a recently opened cut through to the private road behind my house and thus got home.
King’s Lynn library.The war memorial and Greyfriars Tower.Two images of a scale model showing what the Franciscan Friary would have been like in its 13th/ 14th century heyday.An arched doorway on Tower StreetThis used to be Argos, and when work on it is finished it will be a Library and community hub for King’s Lynn. The old building will remain fully accessible to the public whatever use it may be put to.Once upon a time, when such things still existed, this was King’s Lynn Main Post Office.
I hope you have enjoyed this account of a variation on one of my favourite walking themes, that of the three rivers.
An account of my journey from King’s Lynn to Plymouth yesterday, with a fine photo gallery.
I am in Cornwall, staying with my parents for a few days. I travelled down yesterday, and that journey will be the subject of this post.
KING’S LYNN TO LONDON
I was booked on later trains than I would have liked – leaving Lynn on the 1:42Pm and arriving into Plymouth where my parents would be meeting me at 8:13PM. I set off from my home in North Lynn an hour before the train was due to depart from King’s Lynn, and was on the platform with huge amounts of time to spare. The train suffered a couple of minor delays en route to London but I still had over 50 minutes to get from King’s Cross to Paddington. I arrived at Paddington half an hour before the train to Plymouth was due to depart, but it took a long time for the platform information to be confirmed, and I had only a few minutes to make my way to my seat by the time that happened.
PADDINGTON TO PLYMOUTH
I was on a train that was stopping at more places than usual for a journey to Plymouth – Newbury, Hungerford, Pewsey, Westbury and Castle Cary between Reading and Taunton. I got some good pictures between London and Exeter, but it was dark by the time I got to the seaside section of route between Exeter and Newton Abbot, and that meant it was hardly possible to take pictures due to the interference of reflections owing to the extreme contrast between the brightly lit train interior and the near darkness outside. The train arrived into Plymouth almost exactly as per schedule, which I understand is not a frequent occurrence with GWR long distance services. Apart from the overcrowding on the Hammersmith & City line between King’s Cross and Paddington the journey went well overall.
An account of my visit to Norton Hill near Snettisham yesterday.
On Sunday I was at Norton Hill, where the Hunstanton & District Rotary Club were running an event and had very kindly invited the West Norfolk Autism Group to have a stall. This post looks back at the event.
THE PLAN
I had said I would come on the Sunday as there was no way I could go on the Saturday (see my previous post). As I was envisaging leaving early due to having an evening commitment and wanting to catch up on the cricket at some point I planned being there as early as possible – which meant 11AM for the start of setup. I had arranged to travel by bus with another member of ours, and had picked out the number 35 leaving King’s Lynn bus station at 10:10 as the best option. I wasn’t over worried about buses back as there are at least three bus routes that run between Snettisham (Norton Hill is a few minutes walk from Snettisham town centre) and King’s Lynn, and even on a Sunday the services are pretty frequent (King’s Lynn – Hunstanton, which passes through Snettisham is Lynx Bus’s most important route). I hoped to help get things set up, take a look around and sample Norton Hill’s feature – a light railway. I did accomplish this.
THE NORTON HILL LIGHT RAILWAY
This railway runs for one kilometre (a circular journey), on tracks with a gauge of about nine inches. The locomotives though small are genuine steam locomotives. I managed to get there before it got really crowded, though I had a fairly long wait in the end, as I just missed getting on one train, and the next was reserved for a group of travelling singers, and actually broke down, meaning that the diesel locomotive kept for such emergencies had to be pressed into service. Fortunately the other steam train, on which I was travelling had no such issues. I enjoyed the journey, though the seating on the train I was on was very uncomfortable, and one kilometre was plenty from that point of view. On this short route a lot of pieces of railway infrastructure are duplicated in miniature – there are viaducts, there is one tunnel, which though not very long is impressively dark. This is very much a summer activity – there is no shelter for passengers. We got the bus back at around 3PM – it was 3:25 when we got in to King’s Lynn bus station. I was thus able to catch up with the cricket, though as you will see in my next post my evening engagement meant that I missed the conclusion.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here is my Norton Hill gallery…
This was one of a number of mosaics made by a member of ours and available for a donation. I didn’t actually buy it.This was the type of wagon I travelled in.A viaduct section.Approaching the tunnelThe locomotive that pulled my train on the turntable.This locomotive has yet to be pressed into service.
A look back at Early Music Day at the King’s Lynn Festival.
I have had a very busy weekend – Saturday was Early Music Day at the King’s Lynn festival, and on Sunday I was involved with a fund-raising event at Norton Hill, and there was a family meal in the evening. This post deals with the Saturday.
HOW EARLY MUSIC DAY WORKS
Early Music Day at the King’s Lynn Festival comprises three concerts – a short one at noon, a longer one that starts at 7PM and a final short late evening concert that gets underway at 9:15PM. I attended with my mother, and we had lunch out after the noon concert. I then went home between that and the evening concerts to catch up on progress in the test match that was going on between England and the West Indies. The end of the early evening concert and the start of the late evening concert are so close together that one cannot do very much in the gap between them.
THE MIDDAY CONCERT
This was an organ recital by Harvey Stansfield and he had chosen some excellent works. Featured composers included JS Bach and the man he once walked 200 miles (each way) to see, Dietrich Buxtehude, among others. The organ at St Nicholas chapel is a superb instrument, and Stansfield’s performance was 100% worthy of such an instrument. Unfortunately attendance at this concert was both very small and very old – my mother looked younger than most of the audience, never mind me. Those who did the find the time to attend got a real treat. The full programme was: Bach, prelude and fugue in E Flat, Buxtehude, Praeludium in D Major, Coleridge-Taylor, Impromptu in F, Schumann, canonic studies 2&3 and Mendelssohn, Sonata no3 in D Major.
THE LUNCH
We had lunch at Marriotts, sat outside overlooking the Great Ouse (unfortunately the scene was marred by the river being at rather low tide which meant that lots of mud was on display). We were joined by my father who had already eaten, but who did indulge in a drink, and my nephew who both ate and drank. I, knowing that my arrangements for the rest of the weekend pretty much ensured that my next proper meal would be the Sunday supper had a steak and chips, which was a gargantuan meal.
THE EVENING CONCERTS
The early evening concert featured the European Union Chamber Orchestra and two guest recorder players, Tabea Debus and Miriam Monaghan. Being a chamber orchestra and hence limited in size the lead violinist, Hans-Peter Hoffman led the orchestra. The programme was Handel, The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Corelli, Concerto Grosso Opus 6 Number 1, Telemann Concerto for Recorder in F, Vivaldi, Concerto for two violins in A major, Opus 3 Number 3, Telemann, Suite Perpetuum Mobile and Bach, Brandenburg Concerto number four. This was much better attended than the earlier event, and was just as enjoyable in its own different way.
The late concert was a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations in their entirety, by Masumi Yamamoto on a harpsichord (the same harpsichord that had featured in the early evening concert, but a different player thereof). This music when played on a harpsichord by a really expert player (and she is certainly that) is superb, and certainly knocks the spots off any version of it on a piano.
PHOTOGRAPHS
My photo gallery for this post is purely St Nicholas Chapel (where all three concerts took place) and musical instruments…
The organ at St Nicholas Chapel.The Harpsichord all set for the final concert.The double keyboard – which comes into play in a big way in the Goldberg Variations.
Concluding my account of my Scottish holiday with the return journey.
This will be the final post in my series about my Scottish holiday (28-31 May inclusive. I will briefly mention the birthday festivities which took place a day early – the day itself (May 31) was to be a day of travelling home, before covering the return journey.
THE BIRTHDAY MEAL
One of the shops Comrie possesses is a butcher, and the centrepiece of the meal was three large rib eye steaks purchased from that establishment. We also had Jersey Royals and locally grown asparagus, while there were locally grown raspberries for pudding. There was sparkling wine before the meal, and still wine with it.
THE RETURN JOURNEY
I was due to leave Perth at 11:15AM on May 31st, a time which was tailored to the fact that we had to be out of the building in Comrie by 10 at the latest – it was late enough not hurry our departure and early enough that the wait at Perth station would not be too long. This train was running a Perth to Edinburgh route and stopped at a number of places. There were some fine views, although I had put myself on the less good side of the train. I was worrying at one point as it ran late, and indeed I had only eight minutes to make the connection at Edinburgh, but I was never actually in any danger of missing that connection. The train from Edinburgh to Peterborough ran smoothly, though my reserved seat was on the less good side of the train for photography. At Peterborough I had a wait of about 20 minutes for the bus to King’s Lynn. This part of the journey also ran smoothly, and I arrived at the bus station a little before 6:40PM, and was home just before 7PM.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Here are my photographs from the return journey..,
The train for the Perth-Edinburgh leg of the journey.
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 look ahead to the upcoming cricket season and a bumper photo gallery.
It is now less than a week until the English first class cricket season kicks off. In the meanwhile there has been some interesting action in the IPL, though I am following today’s game only through cricinfo, as this long weekend features Classic FM’s ‘Hall of Fame’ countdown – the 300 most popular pieces of classical music as voted for by listeners (you get to pick your top three if you choose to vote, and the pieces with the most votes make it into the charts) – and I always follow as much of this countdown as I can.
Surrey start the season as winners of the last two county championships. The last side to win three in a row were Yorkshire in the 1960s (1966, 1967, 1968). A decade earlier Surrey themselves set the all time record by winning seven in succession (1952-1958 inclusive).
I end this look ahead to the season by mentioning two youngsters who may well feature for England before the season is done. Somerset batter James Rew was simply magnificent last season, and if he can pick up where he left off he will have to picked. Surrey pacer Tom Lawes has shown considerable promise, and with Broad retired, Anderson surely nearing the end, Wood already 35 and with a history of injuries, Robinson’s fitness unreliable (to put it generously) there are more than likely to be vacancies in the pace bowling department.
PHOTOGRAPHS
I have a bumper photo gallery to finish with – the weather has been very springlike in recent days…
A view of King’s Lynn from the edge of Harding’s PitsGetting the whole frontage of the town hall in a single picture is a challenge, but I found one place from where it can be done today.
aspiblog 