Norwich and Great Yarmouth

This weekend we decided to go to Norwich which is about 70 miles east of here. ILen spent some weeks in Norwich prior to leaving for Austrlai in1952. Ostensibly the time was to be spent "learning about the "norwich Union" in Australia where he was being sent. It was quite staggering that he has no recoolecion of his time there, and had no recognition of anything in the aCity.

Our first stop was the St Peter Mancroft church which is is one of the largest Parish churches in England. It was a beautiful brightly and naturally lit church due mainly to the fact that nearly all the windows were clear rather than the usual stained glass. this was because a gunpowder factory nearby exploded many years ago and blew out all the original windows and they were never replaced! We were accosted by a dear old lady who offered to show us around. We made her day, but she was very interesting.The church was built between 1430 and 1455 and escaped the considerable bombing of WWII which Norwich suffered.

We walked through the dellightful narrow streets of the city down to the Norwich Cathedral, another magnificent building which dates back to 1066 and again we were welcomed by volunteers working to promote the cathedral. We have seen so many Cathedrals that it is getting hard to make comparisons.

Nearby is the Norwich Castle which was built by the Normans as a royal palace and, while the outside has been restored, the inside of the old building has been turned into one of the best museums we have seen. Had lunch there, beef casserole with dumplings - quite scrumptious.

Then we took off for Great Yarmouth about 20 miles away on the coast. Waste of time - a very depressing waterfront which, while there was a nice sandy beach, was backed by a delapidated pier and similarly delapidated buildings on the espalanade. Off shore there was a battery of 30 Power generating windmills - very ugly sight. Drove home with Carol navigating the back roads. Stopped at a pub for apint and then Carol drove back through the darkened lanes - did a great job to get us home!!