July 23, 2018

North Elmham, Norfolk – Chapel and Church of St Mary

Wednesday 11 July. A trip on the Mid Norfolk Railway from Dereham to Wymondham. Please note the wonderful Great Eastern Railway bench. Then we drove north to North Elmham for a wander round the old Cathedral and the parish church – TF 987216. North Elmham Chapel is a Norman chapel, built on the site of an earlier timber church, which was probably the Saxon Cathedral for East Anglia. In 1071 the Norman conquerors instructed that the bishop’s seat should be moved to Thetford. Bishop Herfast installed himself there, intending to move himself to nearby Bury St Edmunds with its...
Categories Norfolk/Railway History/World War 1 Comments: 0
July 20, 2018

Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk – Chapel of St Margaret and our Lady

Tuesday 10 July, a day at Oxburgh Hall. This is one of my favourite NT properties. We came here as children, came with our children, came just the two of us to see an open air performance of Macbeth – heads being thrown around in front of the gateway. It was the set for one of my favourite TV series, the 1994 BBC adaptation of John Hadfield’s 1959 novel Love on a branch line. It had this wonderful hall (though some interior shots were filmed elsewhere), beautiful women, jazz, traction engines, and a steam loco (filmed on the North...
Categories National Trust/Norfolk/World War 1 Comments: 0
July 18, 2018

Cambridge – Selwyn College

In Cambridge for the day. I left northernreader in Heffers bookshop and walked across to Selwyn College. Some of my earliest memories are of staying with Granny and Granddad – Joan and Len Hoskison  – who kept 23 Grange Road as a College hostel. I remember the noise as undergrads returned from hall. You can read more about those days in my mum’s book – Backstairs Cambridge, by Jane Barham (long out of print, but copies are available). Here is 23 Grange Road.15 years later I started at Selwyn, and my room was I15. A few weeks later I...
Categories Cambridgeshire/Personal Comments: 2
July 17, 2018

Wighton, Norfolk – All Saints’

We went for a ride on the Wells and Walsingham Railway. It was built in 1982 by Lt Cmd Roy Francis, a veteran of the Arctic convoys. It is 10¼ inch gauge, and runs about 4 miles. We hadn’t visited since the children were young, and had a good ride today. However it feels as it needs a lot of work on the track, and it is all looking a bit shabby. They were friendly, but I hope it has someone dynamic who can find new sources of finance and give the line the renovation and new lease of life...
Categories Norfolk/Railway History Comments: 2
July 10, 2018

Appleton, Norfolk – St Mary

We are in Norfolk – staying at Gayton. There are lots of churches in Norfolk, so I could blog to my heart’s content. I’ll start with a derelict one! On Sunday 8 July Julie wanted to visit the Lavender Farm at Heacham. Julie likes lavender. Peter knows when he is beaten. We drove north towards Sandringham, and saw a ruined church just off the B1440 on the right – grid ref TF 706273. It is next to Appleton Farm, and there were no display boards or information. I looked it up later. For any Norfolk or Suffolk churches you start...
Categories Norfolk Comments: 0
July 8, 2018

Heckington, Lincolnshire – Mill

Having been to the stunning church, we went to Heckington windmill – a unique eight-sail windmill beside the station, signal box and level crossing (though I still think the new H&S-complaint signal is hideous). The ‘box is 1876 Great Northern Railway, and Grade II listed – photos here. We had visited the mill in the early 90s – while at Lincoln Theological College we purchased a Lincoln Mills Passport and visited them all. I believe my family were the first to get their silver Dusty Miller badge. I can’t find a photo of it, and I must have lost...
Categories Lincolnshire/Personal/Railway History Comments: 0
July 8, 2018

Heckington, Lincolnshire – St Andrew (again)

Last time we visited Heckington church was 4 years ago – read my blog. When we called in then there was a good bookstall, so my wife was happy. This time (Saturday 7 July 2018) Julie stayed in the car while I went to check – but they were preparing for a concert, so the books were packed away. I had a quick visit round the church – didn’t spend too long (one should not leave pets (or wives) in hot cars). Last I time I commented they needed a new guidebook – they have a new guidebook. Rather...
Categories Lincolnshire/World War 1 Comments: 0
July 1, 2018

Northernvicar Walks – Snowdon in June

When we moved to Derby we ended up on the British Heart Foundation fundraising committee – some readers of this blog will know we have Dilated Cardiomyopathy in the family, our son Gareth had a heart transplant in 2004, a transplant which gave him another nine years of life. The BHF group organised a weekend – and I found myself saying “I’ll climb Snowdon with you.” I was up early on Saturday 2 June 2018, left home about 0515 and had an easy drive across to North Wales. I got to Llanberis about 8, treated myself to a bacon roll...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Railway History/Wales Comments: 0
July 1, 2018

Grindleford, Derbyshire – St Helen

On my Baslow-Grindleford circular walk, see the last blog, I stopped at St Helen’s church – SK 246779. It is one of the churches open on the Peak Pilgrimage – website – with a welcomed loo. It is also on the Derbyshire churches website. The church was started about 1910, and was going to be a large Gothic revival church. The chancel was finished, the First World War intervened, and the rest was never completed. The guide leaflet says it “would have been a fine building. It would also have been expensive to maintain and difficult to heat.” It’s a nice...
Categories Derbyshire Comments: 2
July 1, 2018

Derwent Valley Heritage Way 3 – Grindleford to Baslow

I walked the first 5 miles of the Derwent Valley Heritage Way on Monday 1 August 2016, and the second 3 on Tuesday 25 April 2017 – if you want to find them on northernvicar, click on Derwent Walk on the right hand side of this screen. On Wednesday 30 May 2018 I drove to Baslow and parked by the Village Hall – SK 258722 – with the plan of walking a circle – the return leg being along the Heritage Way. A rather damp and foggy afternoon, but honeysuckle lifted the spirits. Up through the village and then up...
Categories 1,000 mile walking/Derbyshire/Derwent Walk Comments: 0