Tag: Steam Engines

Heritage Open Day: Towards Lunch

A continuation oof my personal Heritage Open Day 2016 story which takes it up to lunch.

INTRODUCTION

This is my second post about Heritage Open Day 2016. There will be one more covering my post lunch activities.

THE ATTRACTIONS

On leaving the London Road Methodist Chapel I walked through the parkland and past the train station to the edge of the bus station and the..

LYNN MUSEUM

I took advantage of the fact that it being Heritage Open Day admission was free to have a look round this establishment. The trip round the museum starts with…

SEAHENGE

This is a circle of standing timbers revealed by a particularly low tide (the North Sea coast has been progressively moving west since the end of the last period of glaciation some 10,000 years ago,  and a lot of land from even historic times is now below the surface, including the well known fishing grounds now called Dogger Bank) and ever since taking its place in the museum has been the prime exhibit…

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This is one of two historic buses doing duty on the day, of interest because Towler’s are local, being based near Wisbech.

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There was too much reflection from this side!

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These last two pics are of a speculative model of Seahenge in it’s original surroundings.

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The rest of the museum, although it plays second fiddle to Seahenge is by no means devoid of interest either…

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King’s Lynn circa 1967
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My part of Lynn, circa 1967
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This sort of poster could do with being pressed back into service!

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With apologies for the reflections, about which I could do nothing. This was a marine reptile and a contemporary of some dinosaurs but not a dinosaur itself.

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After this museum I got an inside look at something I had witnessed being worked on from my own humble abode…

NEW BUILD ON BAKER LANE

This owes its presence on the Heritage Open Day roster to the fact that it is in a conservation area and therefore obliged to be in keeping with what is already there. The stairs by means of which my flat is accessed are directly across Baker Lane car park from this development. I was reasonably impressed by what I saw…

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I next paid a brief call at the building on Queen Street (Baker Lane is a side street off Queen Street) where the Civic Society had set up shop, where my eye was caught by this tapestry map of Norfolk…

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I saw three more places before breaking off for lunch…

ALMSHOUSES, A COLLEGE AND A SECRET GARDEN

The Victorian almshouses, which like the Baker Lane development are visible from my flat, allowed admission to the upstairs of the front of the building and to a courtyard..

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The Great Hall at Thoresby College has something in common with Headingley cricket ground – looking up is better than looking down!

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This is why I recommend that visitors to the great hall at Thoresby College look up!
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This A3 sheet shows some of the attractions in and around King’s Lynn

The secret garden mentioned in the header of this section is behind Hampton Court, where my aunt lives. The land-facing wall is an old warehouse frontage which back in the day (14th century) abutted directly on to the river so that cargoes could be offloaded direct into the building. Later, when the river had assumed its current position, about 50 yards west of the old warehouse the site of what is now the garden was a waste dump. There is one original door, which used to provide access to Summerfeld & Thomas.

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LUNCH

My aunt had laid out some food on her kitchen table, for which I was very grateful. It was very good food too.

Trials and Tribulations

An account of recent events at James and Sons.

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday was James and Sons’ May auction, at Fakenham Racecourse, and today we had a badge sale at our shop in Fakenham.

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WEDNESDAY

Our main auction was blighted by problems with the internet connection at the venue. Eventually we relocated the auction itself to Cool Roxy, the owners and trainers bar, while leaving the stock in the Prince of Wales Suite. This left us way behind schedule. Nevertheless, the sale was very successful, with five pieces of postcard artwork accompanied by sample postcards by a man called Twelvetrees selling phenomenally well, some old vinyl records selling well (a Black Sabbath recording went for £340), and many other items faring well. Among the lesser lights a book of photographs from King’s Lynn’s past went for just £4 (it goes well with my substantial digital archive of pictures from King’s Lynn’s present thank you), while a Cornwall Polytechnic Society medallion featuring a bust of James Watt (he after whom the unit of power is named, and who along with his distant predecessor Heron of Alexandria, his closer predecessor Thomas Newcomen and his near contemporary Richard Trevithick played a key role in the development of the steam engine, the first power source for locomotives) went for £11. In amongst all this I had to get images of the reverse sides of the some of the badges being sold today to resolve queries.

Overall, the early problems not withstanding it was a successful day, and here are some photos…

These helmet plates all did well
The model aerolplane was another success
The model soldiers (of which we had vast numbers in various lots) also went down well.
These mounted soldiers were one lot
The Twelvetrees artwork and sample postcards referred to in the text.
This map piqued my interest but was beyond my means.
This barometer has seen almost as many auctions as I have, but this time it found a buyer.
Had this been being sold individually instead of as part of a much larger lot I would have been interested.
A plastic case full of fishing flies, of which this is just a sample, sold.
The medallion referred to in the text.

TODAY

Today’s sale proceeded smoothly. Although no huge prices were recorded a number of items did better than expected. Overall therefore I think we can say it was a successful week, although very draining (especially yesterday).

March Catalogue With The Printers

An account of yesterday at work and the current state of play as regards James and Sons March Auction.

INTRODUCTION

A brief post about two interlinked things – yesterday at work and the plans for James and Sons March Auction, which is at Fakenham Racecourse.

A TWO DAY SALE

Due the quantity of items we have received, we have over a thousand lots in this sale, so we will be conducting it over two days. The format for this auction will be:

Tuesday 29th March: Set up and viewing
Wednesday 30th March: Day 1 – lots 1-600 go under the hammer (the cut-off is after half-way as we can leave the stuff at the venue overnight).
Thursday 31st March: Lots 601-1050 and clear-up

The catalogue has been sent to the printers and will therefore be available shortly, and an online version should be ready for viewing by the end of the week.

IMAGING

Although the vast amount of stuff in this auction and lack of staff to image it has left us a little behind where we would like to be in that regard there are only about 200 lots in this sale for which we thus far have no image. I conclude this post with some of the best of yesterday’s images…

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The war that led to the creation of this silk map was one that I am proud to say that I virulently opposed, but the map itself is splendid.

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This was the lest lot O imaged yesterday.

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494

For those interested in historic buildings, these five volumes which form lot 494 represent effectively a “Complete Guide to Scotland’s Historic Buildings”.

Christmas and a New Light Show at the Custom House

A quiet Christmas day at my aunt’s house yesterday. We went out at 4PM to watch the new light show that is being projected on to the Custom House. This one is entirely devoted to mechanical devices such as can be seen at Thursford, and is every bit as compelling as the original…

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The first of two views of my aunt's latest creation
The first of two views of my aunt’s latest creation

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Just a few pressies on display.
Just a few pressies on display.
All the rest of the pictures are from the light show...
All the rest of the pictures are from the light show…

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