The perfect rainbow

This morning I had an errand to run about a mile and a half away, so I decided to walk there and back - it was cloudy, yes, and the forecast was for rain, but I needed the exercise and it’s mostly a fun walk.

I headed out onto the Quay and along towards the fishing boats, and was hit by the cold North wind - just as well I had my thick coat on! There were a few spots of rain in the wind, and I did briefly think of turning back, but it was nothing too bad - nothing like the conditions the fishermen would see out in the North Sea today.

I cut through the gravel car park and then through the back streets that form the quickest walking route to South Gates. This is not the “historic” part of Lyn, but still old - mostly Victorian/Edwardian I’d guess, but lots of different styles of housing, even a few newer developments squeezed into the spaces between the older houses. There is a fascinating juxtaposition here; All Saints church - a classic 14th century building reaching up to the heavens - is almost totally enclosed by a late 20th century utilitarian housing development - a real contract of architectural styles.

Walking on through this area I get to the South Gates and past that I attempt to cross the road - not an easy thing in the morning “rush” hour, when the traffic going in to town just wants to keep on crawling in, and not leaving any space for a pedestrian to cross. But eventually I do get over the other side safely, and start along the long straight Hardwick Road. This starts off with some Victorian villa - each one named and still having the air of middle class respectability about them. At the end of these is the Cemetery running away to either side, and then the road becomes a bridge over the railway. This higher vantage point - which is unusual around Lynn - gives a view of the large stores here, one of which is my destination this morning. The clouds are scudding past as I cut across Tesco’s parking lot to the one I’m going to, and for a few moments I'm out of the weather.

Coming out of the shop I’m suddenly hit full in the face with a really cold north wind, as it starts to rain in earnest and soon my glasses are totally covered with water. But, just as I get across the parking lot and emerge onto the road again it stops raining - there is a bus stop here and I could wait - but I’d decided on a walk, and it might, in any case, take as long to get a bus from here.

I retrace my route, and as I come within sight of the South Gates, I’m suddenly aware of a thick, dark grey cloud ahead of me - should I have waited for the bus after all? Just then, however, I see a rainbow - a perfect arch from left to right across the sky, deeply colored at the ends and lighter overhead. I stop for a moment to just admire the beauty of it - yes, it means rain, but the rain is worth it for this spectacle.

I negotiate the crossings again with a smile on my face, and even as the rain starts to really fall, I’m at least content that I saw some of the wonders of nature, even when I wasn't looking for them.

Vancouver Quarter

Now, why would a shopping area in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, UK, be named after a city in Canada? Well, of course it wasn't, it was named after one of King’s Lynn’s most famous sons, Captain George Vancouver, famous for exploring the North West coast of North America. He has cities in Canada and the USA named after him - and also a shopping centre in his town of birth!

So the Vancouver Quarter is a collection of modern-for-Lynn buildings (built in the 1960’s) which has all the shops you might expect for a Market Town this size. But it’s also a centre where things happen. Today as I walked through the town, the local radio station had set up a stand, and one of the Dj’s was there playing music and handing out balloons to the youngsters. An Easter Bunny was there dancing to the music and giving out chocolates. There were a number of small kids having their faces painted, and a group of young, maybe 10 year olds, were dressed up in fairy costumes. To be honest, I’ve no idea if these were part of the show, or their parents thought it would be fun to dress them like that!! A bit further along there are a couple of small carnival rides - when I went past not having much custom, but certainly adding to the brightness of the place.

And it seems that there is often something to see or do here - over the Christmas period there was a ice skating rink put up, and for one day there were reindeer - real live reindeer - in a pen waiting to take Santa Claus on a ride round the town. There have also been a “rock” climbing structure, rides, and various displays over the course of the year.

I guess it comes with being a Market Town that we get people from the area visiting us, and so these things are viable. I certainly know that it makes the town centre a fun place to be a lot of the time:)

Time Travel

This is an old property that I live in - the buildings were originally put up in 1650 - so they are older than the USA:) The buildings actually form a square built around a courtyard, which is now a calm oasis of grass and flower beds - a lot different from when it was the hub of a commercial enterprise I'm sure!! The courtyard has also got some old timbers which form an enclosed seating area - these are old roofing timbers from part of the building that no longer exists.

Back in 1650, when Lynn was the second biggest port in England, this building was a shipping merchant’s home and workplace - what is now my tiny one bed room cottage was then the end part of the main warehouse which went right down to the water’s edge. Most of this has been demolished and is open, and when you look at the cottage knowing that, it’s easy to see the difference between the original brick work, and the later changes. As I sit looking out my window towards the river, on my right there is a moss covered 6 foot high brick wall which marks the boundary of what was the merchant’s property. The other side of that wall is our private parking lot, marked out into bays. There have only been private dwellings here for a relatively short amount of time (which in Lynn means less that a hundred years), and the parking lot was previously a coal merchant’s yard.

In the wall is a gate to the parking lot and next to that is a really old hand water pump - the original water supply to the warehouse!!! As you go through the gate, the house to the right seems like it’s part of the same complex, but on closer inspection it’s not actually attached to this building at all. This is another courtyard building - smaller in size than my complex, but actually owned and lived in by one family. Walking past this house there is another gateway in a wall that seems even older than the original walls in my cottage - these are the remnants of yet another Shipping Merchant’s home and warehouse - actually, this is almost all that remains of it, as it has been rebuilt into private apartments.

Going through the gate here, there is a private path through bushes, and then you come to a public right of way - if you turned left this path goes under the new apartments to the riverbank - and under the other part that remains of the older building - a wall with a low beam that you need to duck under if you are more than about 5 foot 10. In front is a raised garden, and again this is a private area for more old houses hidden away back there.

But turning right and going away from the river, you walk under an arch which is part of the building fronting onto Queen Street - and suddenly from the quiet country feel of the backyards, you are in the bustle of a busy street. It’s a two minute walk, but feels almost like time travel, from the 17th to 21st Centuries!

Wenns public house

When I was new in the town, I asked the landlady why the name of the pub was Wenns - it has a picture of a sale boat outside, and I wondered if it was the name of the type of boat, or something like that. But I was told no - the original 17th century place was a temperance guest house, run my two sisters by the name of Wenn - hence Wenns:) And although it now sells beer, and doesn't have overnight guests, it's been in the hospitality business to this day!

To some extent you can see the development of the place over the years in the structure - as you enter from the corner of High Street and Saturday Market Place, you come into an upper bar, and this used to be the "snug" - and I've been told that up to about 30 years ago you had to have a tie on before you could be served in this bar! Here there are comfy chairs and tables, and bar stool where the "more mature" people can sit and chat. Off of this is another room with a pool table, and the door to the "smoking area" - although most of the smokers seem to congregate outside the pub, rather than use this.

Down two stairs takes you to the larger bar area, which would have been a separate bar in previous days, and has its own entrance in Saturday Market Place. This is a longer bar, with tables and chairs but also has a few bar stools too. The jukebox is here, and this is the main "congregating" part of the place. When they did food, you ate it at the tables in this area.

Further along you go under some wood beams to an area set up with big trestle tables and benches. This always seems odd to me, but now I know that this used to be a completely different building - a previous owner bought it and extended the bar into it. Here is where the bands set up for live music, and also where the quiz and poker nights happen.

Like all pubs right now, it's struggling - they stopped doing food recently because they were spending more on providing it that it was making. But they have not taken the strategy I see some other places have of shutting on quiet nights. Some days you will go by and see no one in there but the barmaid - and at others there will be a smattering of people there.

I for one would be sad should such an historic part of the community be forced to close, and hope they ride out the current economic storm. Certainly it is a friendly and welcoming place, and something of a centrepiece to Historic Lynn.