A Walk Through Norwich

Tags

Anthony Sher, Barbara Hepworth sculpture, brick walls, bridges, buildings, Castle Green, Comedy Alley, headstops, history, Howard and Son fishmonger and Game Dealer, Jarrolds, No.12, Norwich, Norwich Castle, Norwich Cathedral, Oliver Ford Davies, River Wensum, St Andrew's Hall, St Clement the Martyr's church, St George's Bridge, St George's St, St Peter Mancroft, stone mason, The Guildhall, The Mischief Tavern, Tombland Alley, Tye Bridge, University of the Arts, walking

It is some time since I wrote about Norwich so this post will feature a walk I took last October – over a year ago!  At that time I often dropped Elinor off at college and then wandered about the city until it was time to collect her and take her home again.  This year she has longer hours at college and as Richard and I share the driving I don’t need to spend time in the city unless I want to.

I began my walk at the Guildhall in the centre of the city.

The Guildhall was built in the early 15th century after the city was granted a charter in 1404.  The building was used for civic and judicial assemblies and courts from 1413 until 1938, when the new City Hall was built and 1985, when the new Court buildings were opened.  Some of the rooms are still used today by the City Council;  the building also houses the Sheriff’s Chambers.

Norwich Guildhall – showing the knapped flint-work.

Funding for the building came from increased taxes, voluntary contributions and bequests to the city.  Despite this, much of the labour went unpaid.  The city was granted a warrant in 1407 which instructed men from many different trades to work for no pay, often for fifteen hours at a time; only the highest skilled craftsmen were paid.  Most of the construction of the Guildhall was carried out between 1407 and 1413.  By 1435 the tower and porch had been added and by 1453 the final windows were glazed.

A photo I took of the Guildhall in April of this year

The building was constructed from flint rubble faced with knapped flint and infill and the east end, which was reconstructed in the 16th century (shown on the first of my photos), was crafted from alternate squares of faced flint and ashlar stone giving the Guildhall its distinctive chequered look.

Guildhall – showing the reconstructed porch. Many of the windows were replaced during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Much of the exterior is Victorian and Edwardian, as massive reconstruction was carried out in both 1861 and 1908.  The porch was reconstructed in the Gothic style, as were the replaced windows.  A clock tower was also added.  A link here (click on ‘The Guildhall‘ ) shows a drawing of what the Guildhall looked like before the old porch (on the left of the building) was demolished.

At present only the ground-floor rooms and porch are accessible to the general public ( a café and a crystal shop use the space).  It is interesting to sit in the café having coffee and realise that you are in a virtually unchanged Victorian courtroom.  It is hoped that the rest of the building will soon be open to the public.

I walked to the bottom of Guildhall Hill and into London Street where I saw this ornate facade above Jarrold’s Department Store.  The frieze illustrates trades and crafts in Norwich.

Ornate facade

I made my way up the hill towards the Castle

This rather strange shaped building on the corner is called ‘Number 12’ and is a restaurant.

This inn is about 250 years old and used to be a popular place to visit to watch the executions at the castle opposite!

I arrived at Castle Green and from there was able to see across the city.

A view of the Norman Castle

Looking towards the Anglican Cathedral

A closer view of the cathedral’s spire

This is the tower of St Peter Mancroft church with the arched roof of The Forum next to it.

I walked from Castle Meadow to St Georges Street and on towards the River Wensum.

I admired this ornate brick wall. Red bricks made in this part of England are soft and weather easily.

St Andrew’s Hall

The Halls are a collection of beautiful flint-built buildings and St Andrew’s is the largest and most ornate.  Together, the Halls form the most complete friary complex surviving in England.  The first Dominican Black Friars’ priory was destroyed by fire and St Andrew’s was the nave of the new church which was completed in 1449.  The site was in danger of being destroyed during the Reformation (during the 16th century) but was saved by the City Corporation which bought it from the King for use as a ‘common hall’.  Since then the complex has been used for worship,as a mint and as a workhouse.  St Andrew’s Hall has an impressive hammerbeam roof which was a gift from the Paston family whose town house was in Elm Hill nearby.

The slideshow beneath is of photos of some of the headstops decorating the outside of St Andrew’s Hall

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The faces were probably of local dignitaries and may not be particularly flattering!  A dragon symbolizes Satan, the devil or evil; the dragon next to the carving of Christ may symbolize Christ’s victory over evil.  A fish symbolizes Jesus but it can also be used as a warning about the Last Judgement.  A bird symbolizes the soul; if the bird in the carving is a dove then it symbolizes God the Holy Spirit.  A lion symbolizes many things.  It is the emblem of St Mark and is also associated with Daniel, Samson and St Jerome.  It can symbolize strength and majesty, therefore Jesus.  Carvings or statues of lions are often used in Italian churches as defensive bulwarks.  The lion symbolizes vigilance.  The lion can also symbolize evil, or the Devil.  “Your enemy the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour”, says St Peter in his First Epistle.  The Green Man, as Roger Deakin says in his book ‘Wildwood’, is “…the spirit of the rebirth of nature.  He is the chucked pebble that ripples out into every tree ring.  He is a green outlaw and he is everywhere…

Next to St Andrew’s Hall and adjoining the ornate brick wall is…

an archway leading to the East and West Garth, now part of the Norwich University of the Arts.

A Garth is an open space within cloisters; a close or yard; a garden or paddock.  Garth is a Middle English word from the Old Norse word garthr related to Old English geard meaning ‘yard’.   (The Concise Oxford Dictionary)

I like this chimney!

The back of the main building at the University of the Arts.

This building was originally built for the Technical College which is now City College Norwich.  City College was given a new building in 1953 on Ipswich Road and this building was handed over to the Art College.

As you see, the river flows along under the windows.

Crossing over St George’s Bridge I came to the Norwich Playhouse Theatre on the left and a small park or plaza on the right.  The Barbara Hepworth sculpture is in this park.

‘Sea Form (Atlantic)’ by Barbara Hepworth

I walked for a little along the riverside.

View over the River Wensum. Beyond the carpark are the rears of the houses in Elm Hill.

Another view of the Art College buildings and St George’s Bridge

Looking the other way towards Tye Bridge

The river steps.

Riverside art student grafitti. ‘Artists should retrieve and learn to enjoy the inner sanctuary of their studios’

I made my way towards Tye Bridge using a little alley-way.

The Comedy Alley – a bar where comedians perform.

The alleyway brought me to St Clement’s church on the corner of Colegate and Fye Bridge Street.

A stone mason at work outside the church of St Clement the Martyr

He was wearing what looked like a folded paper hat.

The church of St Clement the Martyr

A notice pinned on a board outside the church

I have been meaning to go and visit the place for over a year now!

On the opposite side of the road was the Fishmonger and Game Dealer’s shop.

Next to the church was the pub.

The Mischief pub

Fye Bridge Street becomes Wensum Street which then becomes Tombland all in a few hundred yards.  At the gate to the Anglican Cathedral I crossed over the road and went up Tombland Alley.

Tombland Alley looking back towards Tombland and the gate to the Cathedral.

The gentleman standing at the entrance to the alleyway is the actor Oliver Ford Davies  and I had recognised him as he walked through the alley.  He had a map with him and was wandering about the city looking at the buildings.  I, my mother and Elinor had seen him on the stage at the Theatre Royal the night before when he was playing the part of Shallow in Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part 2.  The night before that we had seen Henry IV Part 1.  The great Anthony Sher played the part of Falstaff in both plays – a wonderful double production.

I believe this is a merchants mark on the wall in Tombland Alley

These marks were used by tradesmen to identify themselves and authenticate their goods (wikipedia)

Buildings in Tombland Alley

Crooked building

Crooked door

I soon made my way back to the Guildhall and then to the college where I met my daughter.

Thanks for visiting!

Autumn in a Suffolk Lane

Tags

amphibian, autumn leaf colour, church, common toad, Edith Cavell, Elder, field maple, Fish Slapping Dance, fungi, Great Tit, Halesworth, Herring Festival, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano, Monty Python, nest, Norwich Cathedral, picture-wing fly, shaggy inkcap, sunset, trees, wild bird

This post and the next will have assorted photographs of things I have seen.  I’ll also mention briefly a few things I have done.  The photos are inserted in chronological order as I can’t think of anything better!

Toadstools on the lawn at the surgery.

A couple of weeks ago I had to attend the doctor’s surgery a few times in one week.  I collected my medication, I had my usual monthly blood test with a test for cholesterol which meant fasting from 10 pm the evening before, and I had my flu injection.  All on different days.  I noticed these toadstools after my blood test but unfortunately I had left my camera in the car.  The following morning I took these photos after my flu jab.

These are Shaggy Inkcaps (Coprinus comatus) also known as Lawyer’s Wig and unfortunately most of them are past their best.

The early morning light made it difficult to photograph them and they had deteriorated significantly overnight.

The white fungi are emerging Inkcaps but I can’t identify the dark brown mushrooms.

Some of you may remember that our parcels box was taken over by Great Tits in the spring and we had to seal it shut so that the birds were not disturbed.  I believe the brood was successful.  Richard dismantled the box last week as it was rotting and we had a look at the nest inside.

Great Tit (Parus major) nest.

We looked closely at what had been used.  Please click on each photo to get a description of the materials used.

Dried grass and lots and lots of moss

Bits and pieces of anything soft. I recognise lint/fluff from two of my pullovers here.

Sheep’s wool

Feathers

The work that went into constructing this nest is astounding.

This is a Common Toad (Bufo bufo) that I saw crossing our drive.  Fortunately it took it’s time and I was able to run indoors and fetch my camera before it disappeared.

Common Toad

Autumn colour.  A Field Maple (Acer campestre)

Last week was a week of sunny warm days and cool nights.  The trees and plants began to show autumnal tints.

Elder (Sambucus nigra) leaves have turned pink

A wonderful sunset seen from the back of our house

A ‘picture-wing’ fly. Possibly from the Herina group.

This little fly was in our kitchen some nights ago.  I took this photo when it landed on the window blind.  It was only a few millimetres in length.

Richard and I noticed posters up in Halesworth announcing the Herring Festival.  This is to take place in The Cut, the centre for the arts in the town.  The herring industry has been in decline for some time and Richard and I wondered what went on at the festival (not ever having gone).  We remembered this……

I haven’t been able to attend our local churches very often recently.  I have been taking my mother to her church once a fortnight to enable me to go to church with Richard every other week.  We took Elinor to the morning service at Norwich Cathedral a couple of weeks ago as she enjoys these services.  The Cathedral was preparing to hold a number of services to commemorate the life of Edith Cavell.

My music choice for this post is one of my favourite arias sung by my favourite mezzo-soprano, the late, great Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

Thanks for visiting!

Norwich Knowledge

Tags

Augustine Steward house, beguinage, Blackfriar's Hall, Briton's Arms, Christian Resource Centre, City College, Edith Cavell, Edith Cavell Monument, Elm Hill, elm trees, Erpingham Gateway, Forget-Me-Not Café, Fye Bridge, hair appointments, Norwich, Norwich Cathedral, Norwich Hippodrome, Paston family, Princes Street, Quayside, River Wensum, St Andrew's Hall, St Giles, St Giles car-park, St Michael at Plea, Stranger's Club, timber-framed buildings, Tombland, Tombland Alley, walking

Norwich is a very beautiful city and we always look forward to visiting it.  (Norwich is pronounced ‘Norridge’ or, if you are a local, ‘Narge’).  For the next few months I will be going there every day of the week so perhaps the shine may wear off a little, though I don’t think it likely.

On Tuesday E and I had to be at City College Norwich at 8.30 in the morning so that E could meet her mentor before her ‘taster day’ began at 9.00 am.  I had a hair appointment at 9.45, my second one with my new hairdresser.  When my local hairdresser went on maternity leave and I found the replacement hairdresser wasn’t to my liking I decided to look for a new one in Norwich where I would be spending some time each day.  I rather like the young woman who now does my hair.  ‘Oh Clare!’, she said the last time I saw her, ‘Don’t start colouring your hair again.  Your shade of grey is really lovely!’.  There aren’t many women who wouldn’t fall for that one.

So, after leaving E at the college I drove to the city centre and parked my car in my usual car-park at St Giles.  This is rather an ugly multi-storey car-park built in the 1960’s so is quite difficult to park in if you have a modern car – it’s very narrow and full of pillars.  The car-park is on the site of the Norwich Hippodrome, an extremely ornate theatre built in 1903 and demolished in 1964.  Apparently many inter-war stars performed there – Charlie Chaplin, Marie Lloyd, Gracie Fields, George Formby and even Archibald Leach (Cary Grant) made his acting debut there at the age of twelve.  After the Second World War it continued to be popular for a while with acts like Laurel and Hardy visiting in 1954.

I had about an hour to kill before my appointment and, as the morning was bright and sunny I decided to have a short walk and visit some of my favourite places.

I walked up past my hairdressers in London Street to the junction at the top of the hill.  On the corner of Redwell Street and Queen Street is the redundant church of St Michael at Plea.

St Michael at Plea church

The church ceased to be a place of worship in 1973 and opened in 2008 as a Christian Resource Centre.  Before that it had been used as an antiques market.  We call in quite often as we buy things for our church here – candles, communion wafers etc – and it is a good place for Easter and Christmas gifts.  The bookshop is very good and stocks new and second-hand books.  There is also a really nice café in what was the chancel, with extremely tasty and cheap food, all supplied by volunteers.  The café is called the Forget-Me-Not Café after the wording on the clock on the tower.

The Forget-Me-Not clock

The battlements and spirelets were put on the top of the tower during a 19th Century restoration.  The tower had been lowered for safety reasons some time before that.  I think it had been much taller with bells.

The rather truncated tower with its pretty pinnacles

The porch is probably early 16th Century and rather strangely gives access to the base of the tower rather than the Nave.  Most of the church’s furniture and valuable decorations were removed when it was made redundant but it still has a beautiful memorial in it, some medieval glass high in the east window and some carved angels in the roof.

I then went down Elm Hill, one of the most lovely streets in the country.

Elm Hill. Blackfriars Hall is on the corner of the street on the right of the photo.

Elm Hill is a cobbled street full of timber-framed buildings and virtually unaltered since the 16th Century.  There have been people living in this area since at least 1200.  (Probably before that time, as it is close to the river and to Tombland, the site of the Anglo-Saxon market.)  It is called Elm Hill after the elm trees that used to grow there next to the Briton’s Arms, all of them killed by Dutch Elm disease.  This was a wealthy street in medieval times where many merchants lived.  By the 20th Century it had seen better days and there were plans to sweep it all away.  Fortunately, the authorities thought better of this idea and now most of the buildings have been restored and look wonderful.

Briton’s Arms, now a restaurant and coffee house.

The Briton’s Arms was built in 1347 and became an ale house in 1760.  It is three storeys high and was the only house on Elm Hill to survive a fire in 1507.  It stands in the corner of the old churchyard of St Peter Hungate and the only reason it survived the fire was because it stood apart from the rest of the houses.  The fire destroyed 300 houses and shops.  There are two rooms per storey of the Briton’s Arms and each floor is reached by a side staircase.  The top floor is jettied out on three sides and it also has an attic – a rarity in Medieval buildings.  It is perhaps one of the oldest inhabited attics in England.  It began life as a beguinage associated with St Peter’s church.  A beguinage was the home of a group of single women who devoted their lives to prayer and community work, like a nunnery.  However, unlike a nunnery which accepted the daughters of wealthy parents, beguines were usually from poor backgrounds.  They earned a little money from spinning and begging for alms and did charity work in the city but their main work was regular worship in the church next door which was reached through a stone arched door in the rear wall of the building.  Beguinages were common in Europe but there are no known other examples elsewhere in Britain.

Looking further down Elm Hill from outside the Briton’s Arms.

I cropped the photo above to make it easier for you to see the pink house on the left.

The house just in front of the man in the photo is the Strangers’ Club built on the site of the Paston’s House which was destroyed by the fire.  The Club is said to be haunted by a man who died in the fire of 1507.  Queen Elizabeth I stayed here and watched a pageant in her honour from one of the upstairs windows.

The Pastons rose from peasantry to aristocracy in two generations.  They also left a record of private correspondence (The Paston Letters) which is the first example of such correspondence to survive in Britain.  To quote my on-line source ‘The letters show first hand testimony of the social benefits of the plague brought to the peasantry, the chaotic effects of the War of the Roses on the general populace and the individual impact that the Black Death could have on a family’.  I have a copy of the letters and they are a really good read especially the letters from Margaret Paston to her two sons and theirs to her.  Her husband had managed to be bequeathed Caister Castle by John Fastolf who was a knight during the Hundred Years War, became a loyal servant of Henry V and fought in the Battle of Agincourt.  He was also the knight that Shakespeare based his John Falstaff on.

Quayside from Fye Bridge

At the bottom of Elm Hill I turned left along Wensum Street and crossed halfway over Fye Bridge so I could look at the River Wensum.  Wensum comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘winding’ – wandsum or wendsum.  The river winds in two large loops through the city and is a tributary of the River Yare despite being the larger of the two rivers.  It is chalk-fed and the whole river is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area of Conservation.  Fye Bridge is built over the oldest river crossing in Norwich and is the gate to the North of the city known as Norwich Over the Water.  The bridge is also the site of a former ducking stool.

The River Wensum

Norwich Cathedral seen from the Erpingham Gate

I didn’t cross right over the bridge but returned to Wensum Street and walked along it to Tombland and stood by the Erpingham Gate so I could look at the Cathedral.  Though it doesn’t look it from this angle the cathedral is immensely long (407 feet) and the top of its spire is 315 feet from the ground.  The construction of it was begun in 1096 and finished in about 1145.  The Cathedral was also a Benedictine Priory.  The Erpingham Gateway was built in 1420 by Sir Thomas Erpingham who was the commander of Henry V’s archers at the Battle of Agincourt.

Just to the right of the Erpingham Gateway is the Edith Cavell Memorial.

Edith Cavell is buried near the east end of the Cathedral.  She was born in 1865 and grew up in Swardeston, south of Norwich and was a vicar’s daughter.  She became a Matron of an English teaching hospital and was also an influential pioneer of modern nursing in Belgium.  She was in England visiting her mother when World War I broke out but returned to Belgium as she felt it was her duty so to do.  Her hospital became a Red Cross hospital and so wounded soldiers from all nations were treated there.  She was a devout Christian and this motivated her to help all those in need, both German and Allied soldiers.  When a group of wounded British soldiers arrived who had been cut off from their comrades she decided to help them despite knowing that that she was putting at risk the neutrality of the Red Cross and endangering others working with her.  She then joined a Belgian underground movement and helped more than 200 Allied soldiers to escape to neutral territory.  The network was betrayed, she was arrested, tried by a court martial, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.  Her execution was carried out at dawn by a firing squad on 12th October 1915.  She was still wearing her nurses uniform.  On the eve of her execution she said, “I am thankful to have had these ten weeks of quiet to get ready.  Now I have had them and have been kindly treated here.  I expected my sentence and I believe it was just.  Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough.  I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”

Augustine Steward house

Opposite the Erpingham Gateway in Tombland is this rather lop-sided medieval building.  This is Augustine Steward house which was built in 1530 by Augustine Steward, a cloth merchant.  A merchant’s mark can be found in the passage next to the house.  A merchants mark is a symbolic sign or design used by artisans, merchants and townspeople to identify themselves and authenticate their goods.  The alleyway next to the house is called Tombland Alley and in the alley is the burial ground for the adjacent church of St George.  The high-walled churchyard contains mainly victims killed by the plague.  The name ‘Tombland’ has nothing to do with tombs but comes from an Old Scandinavian word for ‘open space’.  It was the area used for the Anglo-Saxon market and the administrative centre of Norwich before the Norman Invasion.

Another ancient building and the best antiquarian bookshop in Norwich.

This is a 15th Century timber-framed building also in Tombland.  I like the way the gable-end of this house leans outwards.

It isn’t as easy to see how much it leans out in a photo as it is in real life.

Princes Street

I turned off Tombland into Princes Street.  Again, this street is cobbled and is full of a mix of beautifully restored 16th and 17th Century buildings with some modern offices and homes.

St Andrew’s Hall

Princes Street becomes Hall Plain after passing the top end of Elm Hill.  St Andrew’s Hall is in Hall Plain.  It and Blackfriar’s Hall at the top of Elm Hill are part of the most complete medieval friary complex surviving in this country.  In 1538 during the reign of Henry VIII they passed into civic hands.  The roof beams for Blackfriars and the hammerbeams in St Andrew’s roof were the gift of the Paston family together with superb 15th Century doors bearing the Arms of the Pastons and Mautbys in the South Porch.  The nave of St Andrew’s Hall was repaired and renamed The New Hall and has been used for civic ceremonies ever since.  The first recorded event was the mayor’s feast for Henry Fuller in 1544.  The Hall has been used for many things – Guild meetings, an assize court, a corn exchange and a corn hall.The Earl of Warwick stabled his horses here when he came to crush Kett’s Rebellion in 1549.  Sir Thomas Browne, the physician and polymath, was knighted here in 1671 by Charles II.  The Norfolk and Norwich Festival was started here in 1824 and still continues. The largest regional Beer Festival in Great Britain was started here in 1978.  I believe the Blackfriar’s Hall is used as a museum and art gallery.  The old east and west ranges of cloisters have also had many uses – granaries to store corn for Poor Relief, places of worship for Presbyterians and Baptists, a mint where £259,000 of coins were produced in 1695, the City Workhouse, schools and colleges.  They are now part of the Norfolk Institute of Art and Design.

I was now in time for my hair appointment and when that was finished I made my way home via Bungay where I bought some bird seed for my mother.

May I thank everyone for their kind thoughts and wishes.  My husband is in good heart though not looking forward to brain surgery.  My mother seems a little better too.  We will see how E gets on on Monday and the rest of next week.  I will keep you informed when I can.  God Bless you all.

 

 

 

Friendship and Other Matters

Tags

buzzards, friendship, greylags, Norwich Cathedral, ravens, skylarks, St. Peter's Hall and brewery

When we awoke yesterday our house was enveloped in thick fog and there was frost on the grass and our cars.  (Like a lot of people we have a garage full of rubbish and no room for even one of our cars!)  However, by 7.40 when R left for work the fog was clearing, the sun coming out and the birds singing loudly.  The geese had got visitors – I counted eighteen geese on the field behind the house – and the couple of muscovy ducks which belong to one of our neighbours were having a stroll together round the big pond.

I had to take E in to Halesworth for a hair appointment at midday and afterwards I shopped in the supermarket.  On the way home, in fact only a quarter of a mile from home, we saw something flapping at the side of the road and as we approached we realised it was a large bird with prey.  As it took off we saw it was a buzzard.  This is really exciting, as until just a very few years ago they were not to be found in this part of England.   When we lived for eighteen months in Somerset near Wellington we saw them every day and I got to love their mewing call.  The only other time I had seen them was when visiting the North or West Country on holiday.  I then remembered having seen a couple of buzzards soaring over us as we worked in the garden on Sunday.  How could I have forgotten this?  Are they here to stay?

  Thinking about our short residence in Somerset, reminds me that we had a couple of skylights in the roof of our house and I used to love to sit under them, looking up at the sky, watching clouds and buzzards and ravens.  Yes, ravens too, with their deep croaking bark of a call.

A busy but fun day today.  My dearest friend W has come to East Anglia for the week as her husband is working in the area.  We met in Norwich and walked to the cathedral which we wandered round and then had coffee in the refectory.  I then drove us to St Peter’s Hall, here in ‘The Saints’ and we had a lovely lunch, talking all the time.  The last time we had met was at her eldest daughter’s wedding in 2012 but naturally we weren’t able to talk much then.  We heard skylarks singing above the brewery next to the hall as we left to spend the afternoon at my house.

  W was so supportive when my first husband left when A was thirteen weeks old.  I had also just been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and could hardly walk.  She used to visit every few weeks bringing food as well as her own baby (my god-daughter) who was five and a half months older than A, kept me company and cheered me up.  Thank-you W.  I love you. 

  

 

Gardening and Feeding Birds

Tags

Mark Cocker 'Crow Country', Norwich Cathedral, Rain, rooks, weeding, wild birds

A beautiful red sunrise this morning and some frost on the grass.  We had a lot of heavy rain yesterday evening with high winds and thunder and lightening but during the night the sky cleared and the wind dropped.  Yesterday afternoon I managed to work in the garden for a few hours.  There has been so little cold weather that the weeds are growing very well and so I decided to try to clear the worst affected flower bed.  It was hard going as the soil in our garden is clay over chalk and flint and with all the rain we have had the soil had become very sticky mud.  It is not recommended that work is done with the ground so wet but if I had left the weeds, mainly red dead-nettle and thistles, they would have totally engulfed all the miniature bulbs coming up.  I wasn’t able to finish the whole bed before it got dark and began to rain but most was done and I was quite pleased.

This morning we decided to go to Norwich Cathedral and have lunch in the city.  The drive was pleasant (especially as R drove not me!) and I noticed all the catkins on the trees and in the hedges.  The sky was very overcast as more rain was forecast but the roads were fairly empty and we quickly found somewhere to park.  E loves coming with us to the cathedral:  she enjoys listening to the choir and the wonderful organ playing and also being part of a large congregation.  We left the cathedral in pouring rain.  Only then did R realise he’d left his hat in the car and didn’t have his umbrella.  E had her umbrella but the wind kept blowing it inside-out.  We went straight to the café where we had some lunch and then did a little shopping.  I left E in Waterstones where she chose some books to buy with some of her birthday money, and went to buy her a new umbrella, some re-proofing spray and a couple of things from the chemist.  R went to buy himself some underclothes and a hat!

We got home at about 2pm and had a hot drink.  The rain eased off soon afterwards so I went out to feed the birds.  The amount of black sunflower seeds I use is amazing.  I have two sunflower feeders the larger of which is about 20″ tall and both need refilling every day.  I know that a lot of the seeds are taken by rooks and I haven’t yet found a way to deter them.  I admire them as they are very intelligent birds but when they descend on the garden in large numbers they eat most of the contents of a feeder in a very short space of time and that becomes expensive.  I have a squirrel deterrent on the larger feeder which is weight sensitive.  When it detects something heavy on the feeder an alarm sounds and then the feeder spins round quickly for a few seconds.  This has put the squirrels off but not the rooks!  I think they enjoy the challenge and seem to play on it.  One rook hangs on the feeder as it spins round and shovels out the seeds to friends waiting on the ground below.  Most infuriating!  A couple of years ago I was becoming almost bitter about this so I read the book by Mark Cocker called ‘Crow Country’.  He used to live not far from here and studied the local corvids as well as those in other parts of the country.  His book taught me to understand them and even to like them!  I now have to limit the amount of food I put out (to save my pocket) and if I think the rooks have been on the feeder too long I go out and shoo them away.  (They then wait for me to go out then gorge themselves until I return!).  Other unwelcome guests are next-door’s free-range chickens free-ranging in our garden and of course, the moles, the rats, the deer, the rabbits, the pheasants which peck off and discard! all buds, growing tips etc. of all the plants in the garden, other people’s cats and dogs and so on.
  It is now time to cook the evening meal.