Other Norwich Sights

It used to be said that Norwich had a pub for each day of the week, and a church for each week of the year. I didn't visit a single pub, but out of 57 medieval churches within the ancient city walls, 31 are still standing. I walked to all of them, and took multiple photographs of each one. I also toured both cathedrals - Church of England and Roman Catholic. Now you can understand why I didn't invite Dave and Chris to go with me!

What else did I see? The medieval churches were primarily built out of local flint, but stone was brought in from France when construction began on the Norman cathedral in 1096. The stone was shipped across the Channel, up the River Wensum, through this watergate, and along the canal that has since been filled in.



Bishop Bridge dates from c.1340, and is the only surviving medieval bridge in Norwich. Beyond it is the Red Lion - one of those numerous pubs that I didn't visit.



If you like to shop, Norwich has one of the biggest and oldest markets in England, dating back to 1025. It's gotten a bit more high tech over time, because now the metal stalls are simply closed and locked up on site every evening.



There's also the Royal Arcade, built in 1899 and home to many stores including The Mustard Shop, which traces the history of Colman's of Norwich. In addition, there are lots of shopping streets and several more recent malls. Castle Mall was built in the heart of the city next to...the castle.



Elm Hill is the most photographed street in Norwich, and well known throughout Britain. The delightfully preserved medieval buildings and cobbled path make it a popular place to film movies.



And off the beaten trail, I came across this building during my church trek!

Julian of Norwich

Two years ago, I wrote a paper about Julian of Norwich for my medieval church history class. Since Norwich is just over 2 hours from London by train, it's been high on my places to visit ever since we moved here, and I finally got there over the weekend. My first stop after arriving on Saturday - and my last stop before departing on Monday - was St Julian's Church. Julian of Norwich was an anchoress (see "Shere" from 27th March) here, so she adopted the name of the male saint to which this church was dedicated.



At the back of the church, the small cell in which she lived has been replaced by a larger chapel (right). On 8th May 1373, when she was 30 years old, Julian received a series of visions during a severe illness. She recovered, and went on to write Revelations of Divine Love, the first known book in English written by a woman, and today a spiritual classic.



It is a very peaceful area, both inside the chapel (left), and outside on grounds that include benches and a garden. There is also a retreat house adjacent to the church. Tucked away on a side street, its purpose today is to be a place of quietness and prayer in the midst of a busy city.



Mother Julian (she was never made a saint) is depicted in the Benedictine window of Norwich Cathedral. It is located on the site of a former monastery, and one theory says that those Benedictines taught Julian to read and write before she became an anchoress.



She appears in the lower right hand corner.



More recently, 2 statues were added to the west entrance of the cathedral. St Benedict is on the right...



...and Mother Julian is on the left, holding her book.



I reread my paper during my stay in Norwich. Being right there certainly made it more real...and meaningful.

what to do what do to .... no hugh

having written a paper about norwich, judy decided to head northeast for a visit. this left me and chris again bachelor padding it. we, of course, had stir-fried veg :) alas hugh's chicken run was not in repeats, so who did we watch. exactly. dr. who that is. we even survived a reconstruction of an old 1967 episode! sorry no pictures, i never get a turn with the camera :(

Chiswick Eyot

It's a small tidal island in the River Thames, not far from the Griffin Brewery. What are the words on the sign?

Warning - Tidal River - Risk of Marooning at High Tide



Before our brewery tour it was low tide, but the muddy ground was slippery, so we carefully walked over to the "island."



After our tour it looked a wee bit different....



I also took pictures further back, standing on a traffic island with a different warning sign.



Once again, we have the scene before the tour...



...and after the tour. The tide had come in enough to cut off Chiswick Eyot from the mainland, but it was by no means high tide. Between low and high, there is a 7 metre height difference at this point on the Thames. That's a lot of water!

London Pride

Dave and I went to Chiswick yesterday to take a Fuller's Brewery Tour.



There has been a brewery on this site for almost 400 years. Fuller's has been there since 1845, and it is London's last remaining traditional family brewer.



We saw the various large vats where mixing, fermenting, and maturing all take place.



The final step - where the casks are filled with beer - is not as informative as the others, but it is the most fun to watch. While we were there they were racking their flagship London Pride, but during any given season they are producing about a dozen different kinds of beer.



They've got a great slogan: Whatever you do, take Pride.

St George's Day

St George is the patron saint of England, and yesterday (April 23) was his big day. But like Rodney Dangerfield, he don't get no respect. We asked several different groups of friends, "What do you do for St George's Day?" "Nothing," was the answer they all gave us. They also acknowledged that St Andrew (Scotland; November 30), St David (Wales; March 1), and St Patrick (Ireland, March 17) all receive more attention from the English than poor St George does. One person even noted that the England flag is flown by more people on the day of a big football or rugby match than on April 23. Sure enough, we didn't see a single flag yesterday. However, today we were in Chiswick and we saw three!

Chiswick Parish Church - St Nicholas of Myra with St Mary Magdalene



Chiswick Mall



Chiswick Pier (with Hammersmith Bridge in the background)

Smart Cars

It's an appropriate entry for Earth Day. I don't think that Smart Cars are quite as popular here as on continental Europe. (Dave got to drive that sporty one in Germany!) But they do exist. I've seen them around Woking, and this picture came from my Bridge Day back in February. Smart Cars are as long as most cars are wide. They only have 2 seats, and get great gas mileage. Since petrol costs more than 1 pound a litre (that's around 8 dollars a gallon), fuel efficient cars are very popular.



Some people do drive gas guzzlers. In fact, SUVs have been nicknamed "Chelsea Tractors," because they are so popular with the wealthy residents in the London borough of that name. However, small cars far outnumber large cars on the roads. One of my favourites can often be seen in the car park just outside our window. The owner then continues his or her journey into London by train - even better!

A Touch of Homesickness

Some of you know that I was rather apprehensive about moving to England, and for the first few weeks I was pretty miserable. But then we settled in, met a few people, got involved in a church, and I finally realized it wouldn't be so bad. Nine months later, I still spend a day in London at least every other week. My first stop on 3 April was Parliament Square. I certainly recognized Winston Churchill, but some of the other figures were less familiar to me.



Later that day I came across an unexpected sight, but a very welcome one. On my way from the Wellington Arch to the Handel House Museum, I rounded a corner and there it was. Completely by chance, my path had taken me through Grosvenor Square, home of the US Embassy.



It was there that I also saw my final statue of the day.



Yesterday in church we had a guest minister. In the course of the morning, he shared a story about George Washington, and quoted from Martin Luther King, Jr. (Try to imagine an excerpt from "I Have a Dream" in a heavy Scottish accent....) The latter really hit me. Once again I'm ready to be home, but at the same time, I'm determined to take full advantage of the 2 months that we have left here.

Woking Canal Festival

I've already mentioned the Basingstoke Canal at least twice. It appeared at the start of blog entries "Seasonal Music and More" (12 December), and "Skating on Thin Ice" (23 December). These are shots I took from Arthur's Bridge, a pedestrian crossing about 15 minutes west of the town centre. I was walking home from the World Day of Prayer service on 7 March, and it was a beautiful day. Looking back east in the direction of town, you see a special turning area (a winding hole) built for the narrowboats that were too long to turn around just anywhere. I think the people living in those flats have a nice view.



Looking further west away from town, several narrowboats are tied there on a permanent basis. We have yet to eat at The Bridge Barn Restaurant, located next to the water.



This was the scene 4 weeks ago on 22 March. It was the 13th Woking Canal Festival, and Mother Nature was not cooperating. Fortunately, that white tent provided protection.



It was extremely cold and windy, and the first of 3 rounds of hail pelted us shortly after we arrived. (See the white streaks?) The miserable weather kept away many of the expected stallholders, boats, and visitors. But not us!



The Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society has always sponsored this event on Easter weekend, but it may rethink dates the next time Easter falls in March.... Even the narrowboat that usually gives rides along the canal was not there, so instead, we took a nice journey in this one. (That was when the second round of hail fell.)



And wouldn't you know it, the owners are none other than Colin and Ruth - very active members of Woking URC.



Luckily for us, we had a dry walk home...almost. The third and final round of hail appeared out of the sky when we were just minutes from our flat. One mad dash later, we were under shelter again.

Octagon and Lantern Tower

Dave was looking forward to driving fast in Germany. I wonder if he'll get to do it again today on his way back? Personally, I'd rather take on altitude. At Ely Cathedral, I signed up for " The Total Experience" - admission, ground floor tour, stained glass museum, octagon or west tower tour, and tea or coffee in the refectory. The stone octagon tower designed in the 14th century was 74 feet across. Because it was too wide to support a stone vault, the lantern was instead built out of wood and covered in lead. At the bottom of the stairs we saw the model...



...and soon we were inside the real thing.



At this level, we were also able to look down inside the cathedral.



Our roof tour took us outside the octagon...



...and then the lantern.



In addition, we had great views in all directions. Pretty flat, huh? Ely Cathedral is locally nicknamed "The Ship of the Fens." It dominates the low-lying countryside in which it is set, and is a well-loved landmark for many miles around.

getting to dagstuhl

the day before jens and i were fahr'n auf der autobahn to the dagstuhl workshop, we visited some sites in the ruhr valley. here i am at a lookout tower. if i were turned around, i'd be looking at the ruhr river as seen on the right.

we then visited hattingen. the town center dates back to the 12th century and has excellent examples of period architecture. after the requisite local beer, we ran across this church.



we later found out that the steeple was intensionally built to lean into the wind!
100's of years later it appears to have been a good idea :)

our final stop was the freilichtmuseum in hagen. this open air museum includes restored buildings stocked with period specific craft tools. the water powered hammer used in the 1750's was something that i've never seen in the states . it was also real loud! of all the sights, the printing building contained the most unexpected find - a gutenberg illuminated bible!!



i bet that my better half wished she came along :)

the next day, having seen the sights,we were off to dagstuhl for the seminar. the highlight was the drive in jens' smart car (boy i bet that #1 daughter is jealous ). the highlight of the drive occurred when jens let me have a turn behind the wheel. very brave! alas it was rainy, so i only got up to 140 :( ... here is the car and my excellent parking job.


yea 140 kph :)