A look back at Heritage Open Day (Sunday), with plenty of photographs.
Sunday was this year’s Heritage Open Day. King’s Lynn’s official brochure for the day featured a total of 64 sites. This post looks back at the day as it unfolded for me. I end this introduction with a picture of the map from the brochure:
The map from the official brochure for Heritage Open Day in King’s Lynn.
GETTING STARTED
I set off from home at 9:30AM, going by way of Bawsey Drain since my first definite target was the Tuesday Market Place, where I could pick up my brochure and look at the classic car display there. Along the way I passed True’s Yard, and went in (no pictures as they have a no photography policy) and passed the outside of St Nicholas Chapel…
A BUS RIDE
Just as I was thinking about moving on from the classic cars I spotted an old London Transport Routemaster bus picking up passengers, and as it was raining lightly and I could do with being under cover I decided to board it.
STARTING TO EXPLORE SITES
I began my explorations on King Street with one place that was well known to me and one that was new to me…
An Austin Seven – known to bridge fans as the make of car driven by Abbot Hugo Yorke-Smith of the Monastery of St Titus!This building of Norman origin is one I know well and always enjoy visiting.This picture marks the start of my perusal of Chequer House, previously unknown to me.
THORESBY COLLEGE AND THE RIVERSIDE
I reacquainted myself with Thoresby College on my way to the riverside , where I took the opportunity to go down on to the pontoon jetty to hear about the Baden Powell, an old cockling boat that has been extensively renovated in recent years and now runs trips from the town to The Wash, where at the right time of year seals can be observed.
I considered a second bus ride, but this one was going to North Runcton, so I decided against it in the end.These last pictures are from Hanse House.
LUNCH AND A COUPLE OF OUTLIERS
I lunched at Roasta Food Court, on my way to the old library, which I was keen to see again, and I then reacquainted myself with the Red Mount Chapel…
BACK TO THE TOWN CENTRE AND STEWARDING
By this point I was thinking in terms of being ready for my stewarding, at The Secret Garden, Hampton Court, from 2PM to 4PM, but I made one more call, at Sommerfeld & Thomas, a long neglected warehouse which is currently being renovated, and spent some time in the environs of the Saturday Market Place. By this time the weather had long since cleared up, and for the two hours I was stewarding it was genuinely hot. I had some interesting history to tell folks as part of my stewarding, and The Secret Garden proved a popular port of call – about 350 people had visited before I started stewarding, and that was increased by over 200 in the two hours I was there. I had enjoyed my day, but it was also tiring.
A shot of part of the Guildhall of the Holy Trinity aka King’s Lynn Town Hall.Medieval musicThis instrument, similar in size to a violin save for the much deeper bowl (it also has only three strings rather than four) is carved from a single piece of wood.A rather better known stringed instrument.Sommerfeld and ThomasThe real star of The Secret Garden – 600 years ago when it was built these arches faced directly on to the river and were completely open, enabling direct transfer of goods from boats to the mercantile premises that Hampton Court then consisted of. By about the year 1700 the line of the river had changed too much for these to serve their original function, and the transition to private residences was underway. This arcade frontage is the only one of its kind anywhere in England.
This is an example of why Erin Human is a firm favourite of mine. This post has wonderful title: “Diversity is Beautiful“. Below is a screenshot of the feature infographic. I urge all of you to visit the original and read the accompanying text.
NAS WEST NORFOLK OFFICIAL POST ABOUT THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY
Our vice-chair Rachel Meerwald with some input from the rest of the committee created a post for our website about this event, which you can see here. Below is a screenshot of the end of the piece (my reasons for choosing this section will be instantly apparent!).
A FEW FINAL PHOTOGRAPHS
This is either an Iceland Gull or a Glaucous Gull (they have very similar colouring).
The Red Mount Chapel, a sprightly 600 year old
These last two shots are of All Saints Church, reckoned to be the oldest in King’s Lynn, which means that ;parts of it date back a thousand years.
Links to a selection of interesting and/ or important pieces I have found in the last day or so and some of today’s photographs.
INTRODUCTION
I will be sharing various links I have found in the last day or so in this post. I also have some photographs from this afternoon.
THE GREAT BUS RIP OFF
This is my most recent find, courtesy of campaign group We Own It. They have a piece in The Mirror today which you can access here. Below is an infographic map showing the amount of money from British bus services that goes directly into the pockets of shareholders:
As a postscript to the above, the only reason the figure for East Anglia (my region) is so low is because being largely rural and hence fairly sparsely populated it does not have many bus services.
POLITICAL IDIOCY – TORIES GO AFTER SCHOOLS WITH SOLAR PANELS
Instead of sensibly rewarding those who try do their bit by using solar panels to generate some of their energy this government is hitting some of them with extra bills. Private Schools (i.e. fee-paying schools, and the sort of school to which MPs, especially Tory MPs, send their children) will not feel the effects of this because in a spectacular misuse of the English language they are classed as “charities”. State schools (those that ordinary folk attend, as a few eons ago, I did) pay business rates which means that those state schools with solar panels will be paying a combined £1.8 million in extra rates for having them.
To charge anywhere more money because they have solar panels seems utterly boneheaded to me, but to charge schools, who should be setting positive examples to their students, for having solar panels takes the stupidity to level unanticipated even by Einstein when he said “only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I am not sure about the universe”.
To read the full article that inspired this section, courtesy of The Guardian, please click on the image below:
TWO STORIES OF STELLAR DEATH
The first of these stories is a commemoration of…
SUPERNOVA 1987-A
As the second part of its name suggests it is now 30 years since the explosion of this star was witnessed on Earth, and to commemorate that anniversary some new observations have been made of the stellar remnant by the Hubble Space Telescope. To read the story in full, which comes fromibtimes.com, please click on the image below:
When a supernova collapses, if the remnant weighs more than 1.4 solar masses it continues to contract beyond the white dwarf stage to form a neutron star, which is stable between 1.4 and 3 solar masses (beyond 3 solar masses the crushing continues until all that is left is a black hole). A spinning neutron star is known as a pulsar. To read about the discovery of the new record holding pulsar please click on the image below.
DOWNLOAD A FREE POSTER FROM THE NEW SCIENTIST
New Scientistare at the moment offering everyone who creates an account on their site (it is free, and very easy, to so) a free download of a You Are Here poster showing us our place in the Milky Way. If interested, click on the edited version of my poster below, which I have reduced for this specific purpose, while making sure I still have the original.
ROCK SOLID EVIDENCE THAT WE ARE NOW LIVING IN THE ANTHROPOCENE
This is the first fruit of my creating an account for myself on New Scientist. The article, which I have linked to by way of the image below (I have also included the explanation of the image from the site) is about the 208 minerals that humans have created during their tenure on the planet (yes, the primary evidence on which the article is based is quite literally rock solid).
Mines are a good place to find minerals like this Simonkolleite – evidence of the impact humans are having on the planet
PHOTOGRAPHS
To finish this post here are some photographs I took while out walking this afternoon:
An important letter to be delivered to world leaders on International Women’s Day (8th March) and a few other bits. Read, enjoy and please share widely.
INTRODUCTION
This blog post features two special sections to start, and then some regular aspiblog fare to finish. We start with…
A LETTER TO WORLD LEADERS
Because I am on the mailing list of ONE I received their email containing a letter about education for girls and a button to click to add my name. Here is the text of the letter
A Letter to Leaders
You couldn’t be where you are today without a good education.
But because poverty is sexist, 130 million girls across the world are denied this basic right. Indeed, if the number of girls out of school formed a country, it would be the tenth largest on the planet – bigger than Japan or Germany.
All children deserve a good education, but in the poorest countries girls are denied it more often than boys. Education is vital for moving out of poverty. Every additional year of school that a girl completes increases her future earnings, which is good for her family, her community and her country.
We cannot afford to squander the potential of 130 million girls to cure diseases or end wars, invent brilliant technology or revolutionise an industry…or simply to access opportunity.
We are coming together and uniting across our divides to get every girl into school and to make sure she gets a quality education once she’s there.
But we need you to do the same.
Your education helped you to get where you are today – and it is in your power to help millions of girls to get theirs. Please act now, with the right policies and the necessary funds.
Show us that politics can work for the people – starting with the people who need it most.
To add your name to this letter, as I already have:
The letter will be delivered to various world leaders on International Women’s Day, March 8th.
SOME SPECIAL COINS AT AUCTION
These pictures are of lots 1036-40 in James and Sons’ February Auction. This auction, like our January auction which is Monday-Wednesday of next week is a three day affair, although day three, which the coin lots will be opening, will be at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich, after two days at our shop in Fakenham. Save for the picture of the presentation box for lot 1040 these images are all ultra hi-res (600 dpi) scans…
Lot 1036 (all these lots have at least three images, one of each face of the coins and a composite).
Lot 1037
Lot 1038
Lot 1039
Lot 1040, a medallion rather than a coin.
This will be the front cover picture on our printed catalogue for the February auction.
Mainly photographs – a drone that my nephew was given for Christmas and some pictures from a walk I took in the winter sun today. Read, enjoy and please share!
INTRODUCTION
I am having a quiet day today, having spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the company of various family members. Earlier today there was blue sky and bright sun over King’s Lynn, so I went for a walk.
THE STAR GIFT OF YESTERDAY
Although most of the presents given out yesterday seemed to go down very well there was no doubt as to which was the best received – a drone that was given to my nephew. Here are some photos from yesterday…
My cousin and his Swedish girlfriend came bearing gifts – this crispbread is exceedingly good.
A piece of stained glass at my aunt’s house.
The side view of my parents new burner.
Front on picture of the same.
The remaining pictures all feature this drone…
A WINTER WALK
I walked along the riverbank as far as Hardings Pits and then back into town by way of the parkland…
The Custom House
Two pictures of the bright but very low sun reflecting off the river.
A brief account of the resumption of Musical Keys sessions for NAS West Norfolk.
INTRODUCTION
Yesterday saw the resumption of Musical Keys sessions for people with Autism in the King’s Lynn area. The sessions will now take place fortnightly at the Scout Hut on Beulah Street (youngsters 3PM to 4PM, older people 4PM to 5PM). The sessions are now being run by two new people, John and Kirsty.
FIRST SESSION BACK
The biggest change other than in personnel was the absence of i-pads – we were using real instruments, with the focus being on percussion…
You can see here five drums that need to lifted above ground level to be played, one box which you sit on to play, generating sound by hitting the front, a wooden instrument that like the drums needs to be lifted to be played and a second wooden instrument (partially concealed), which comes with its own striking implements.
Once we had made our selections it was time to start playing, initially to instructions.
The side of the drum I chose.
After a while I was introduced to a new instrument, a wooden frog with a hollow centre, which comes with a wooden striking instrument.
Later still I switched drums to one of the larger ones…
With this larger drum I could position the frog in the centre and vary the sound according to whether I struck the frog or the drum.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the session. John said that if anyone indicated that they wanted a particular instrument to be available they would try to make it happen.
SOME NEW PHOTOS
With one exception these pictures are all from today, from walks at each end of the day…
This poster was on display at the Scout Hut yesterday.
These buildings span most of the history of this town. The first two buildings you will see are visible from right outside my door.
CLIFTON HOUSE TOWER
More or less due west of my own “compact” flat, this tower is instantly recognizable.
THE GRANARIES
Located on the Purfleet side of Baker Lane car park, and one of the tallest buildings in the town.
THE GUILDHALL
The second most iconic building in King’s Lynn. The checkerboard frontage is unique, although a couple of other buildings in the town have small bits of the same in their walls and there is one church in Norwich that is not entirely dissimilar.
GREYFRIARS TOWER
The last remnant of the Franciscan Friary, where at one time Nicholas of Lynn, who certainly sailed as far as Iceland and may have reached the American Coast over a century before Columbus, was resident.
BANK LANE ARCHES
Another remnant, in between Greyfriars and the Library.
THE LIBRARY
An amazing and important building. This construction in brick and carr provides a vital service to the residents of our town.
HAYES AND STORR
A solicitor’s office in a very handsome building that happens to be almost directly opposite the library.
THE METHODIST CHAPEL
Right next door to Hayes and Storr.
THE REMAINS OF ST JAMES’ CHAPEL
One wall section is all that now remains of this chapel, which was also a workhouse in the Victorian age.
THE RED MOUNT CHAPEL
THE CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST
This church sits right at the town end of St John’s Walk.
KING’S LYNN TRAIN STATION
This station, which opened in the 1850s, has recently been restored. It is very close to the centre of the town, and there is the option of a scenic route – follow the footpath down past the church of St John the Evangelist, then diagonally across The Walks to the library, down Millfleet to the river front, along the river front as far as the Purfleet and approach the Tuesday Market Place by way of King Street, thereby circumventing the Vancouver Quarter entirely.
A SECTION OF OLD TOWN WALL
Very little of King’s Lynn’s old town wall survives, but close to Morrisons and the Primary School this section can be seen.
HIGHGATE METHODIST CHAPEL
Much smaller than the main Methodist chapel on London Road, this building is located just off Littleport Street, still very close to the town centre.
AN OLD BUNKER?
I cannot think what else this building which sits next to a small river, just off Littleport Street, could be.
THE LYNN MUSEUM
Admission to this museum, which adjoins the bus station, is free.
THE NEW BUS STATION BUILDING
Following extensive redevelopment work (visit this post for more pictures) the new bus station opened in June of last year. This is the building that accompanied the external developments.
THE MAJESTIC CINEMA
There have been plans to extend this cinema for some time, but for the moment it remains the same as ever.
THE LYNN RESTAURANT
While both the quality and the prices at this restaurant are very acceptable, it is the restoration work that has been done to the building above it that chiefly interests me.
ST NICHOLAS CHAPEL
This chapel has recently been repaired and restored, and the results of all this work are spectacular.
There has been a chapel on this site since 1146
This image shows all four large cushions that comprise the timeline – it is followed by eight individual images that show close ups of parts of the cushions.
The organ – dates from 1899
THREE BUILDINGS FROM THE TUESDAY MARKET PLACE
This building houses the West Nordolk Disability Service among others.
Not to be confused with the establishment in Norwich where James and Sons hold some of their auctions, this is The Maids Head, King’s Lynn
The Dukes Head, where the Positive Autism Awareness Conference will be taking place on April 15th. This photo was constrained by the presence of the Mart. After a fortnight in Lynn, the Mart splits in to two to go to various other places around the country – but it is only in Lynn that you get to see everything.
CODA: KING’S LYNN’S NEWEST CONSTRUCTION
A new wind turbine has just been built near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. It was built very rapidly – there was no sign of anything there on Tuesday, by Thursday morning the tower was in place, and by Friday morning it was complete (my bus travels this way on work mornings). Here are a couple of pictures, taken through the window of the bus on Friday…
This post was inspired by a comment posted on my ‘about aspiblog’ page by faradayscandle. I will be returning to this theme in future posts.
A SELECTION OF BUILDINGS
We will start with the most iconic building in King’s Lynn…
THE CUSTOM HOUSE
For more about the inside of the building visit this post. Here are two outside pictures both taken recently (the second of them today)…
KING’S LYNN MINSTER
This 12th century church, formlery known as St Margarets, has its own website where you can find out lots of information about it. Here a couple of pictures…
The frontage of this colossal edifice.
A closeup of the tide clock
THE OLD GAOL HOUSE
Still on the Saturday Market Place, this handsome building possesses one very interesting external feature. The building is currently closed, but will reopen as Stories of Lynn around Easter time. Meantime, here are two external pictures…
An interesting outdoor timepiece.
THE GUILDHALL
This remarkable building, right next door to the Old Gaol House, is chiefly known for its checkerboard frontage, but as this post shows, the inside is not too shabby either! Here are some pictures of the outside…
The remainder of the buildings will feature only single pictures. Having finished with the Saturday Market Place, we head towards the Tuesday Market Place, by way of King Street where we feature the Arts Centre…
Frequently when featuring the Tuesday Market Place the Corn Exchange dominates, but I am featuring just one building, The Dukes Head Hotel, home to Philanthropic Lodge 107. Of greater significance at the moment, this building will be hosting a Positive Autism Awareness Conference, organised by NAS West Norfolk. Here is the outside of the building…
ST ANN’S STREET
I am saving St Nicholas’ Chapel for another post, so I offer you St Ann’s House and the upstairs of the barber shop…
Our next brief port of call is…
THE RED MOUNT CHAPEL
This chapel, which is entirely surrounded by beautiful parkland always repays attention. here is a recent picture…
From here we head down the Broad Walk to…
THE LIBRARY
This is the only building in this part of the post of which I am posting more than one image, and both were taken recently. This is one of three libraries that I use on a regular basis, the others being Fakenham and The Millennium Library, Norwich.
The whole building
The frontage
HILLINGTON SQUARE
On our way down to the river, where we will finish, we pass Hillington Square, where improvement work has stopped since the £10 million that was allowed for this project has all been spent. Here is a glimpse of one of the new blocks…
SOMERFELD AND THOMAS
A disused warehouse, in need of renovation. The building is still fundamentally very attractive, and could be turned into something very good.
Before heading towards Lower Purfleet and the end of this post, a little look upriver to…
PALM PAPER
The direction in which the smoke is travelling in this picture (straight towards town) provides one reason as to why we objected to the building of an incinerator there. What we knew of the company who would have built it had we not put a stop to the idea was all bad (no contracts for anything in their native land since 1995, banned outright from operating in 29 of the 5o states of that native land). Also, incinerators are not a good idea anyway (I, and I suspect a majority of the 65,000 of us who said no, did not think it should be built anywhere). The fact that we prevented this should provide encouragement to others faced with greedy politicians trying to force hare-brained schemes on them (see here for a classic example).
MARRIOTT’S WAREHOUSE
A warehouse that has been given the necessary attention. As well as good cafe and restaurant this building houses a small exhibition of models of King’s Lynn buildings. From the outside this is what you see…
THE BANK HOUSE
This hotel his some interesting stuff inside it, and from the outside looks like this:
THE LOWER PURFLEET
We finish the post with a glimpse across the Lower Purfleet from The Bank House, where these buildings can be seen (a stone’s throw away is the Custom House where we started).
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.
KING’S LYNN AND PUBLIC FESTIVITIES
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.
THE DAY AS A WHOLE
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.
This is the regular tourist map of Lynn, which can be picked up at the bus station among other places.
This is what casual visitors can find out about Hampton Court any day of the year.
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.
INTRODUCTION
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…
THE RED MOUNT CHAPEL
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…
A prettied up fleur-de-lus window
An original fleur-de-lys window
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…
GUILDHALL
This is the second most iconic building in Lynn (behind the Custom House), due to its possessing this frontage…
This pic was taken yesterday – i got none of the outside on the day itself.
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…
Decorative stonework in the Guildhall.
The 1420s ceiling (maybe even older)
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…
CORMORANT PLATFORM
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…
SOUTH GATE
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
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…
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