Norwich is located in the east of England, around 160kms north east of London and is situated by the river Wensum. It has a population of 144,000 within the city area while the wider area has around 214,000 people. It was once voted as being one of the best cities in the World and the happiest city to work in the UK.
Unfortunately we could only spare a couple of days in Norwich, but on the fortunate side we were able to stay with a friend who also became our great tour guide, and is a fabulous ambassador for Norwich. I can fully understand how it would have been voted the happiest city to work, it’s a great town to walk around – no need for a car to see all around the centre area from the main shopping streets through to the huge and magnificent Norwich Cathedral. The city oozes history from every street and around every corner awaits a new view that invites exploration. Walking alongside the river Wensum in particular is both refreshing and full of sights you will treasure.
There are numerous cozy cafes and *pubs (*over 150!) of which each seem to have their own distinct personality from retro to quirky, from feeling like you are in the old days as you look out a window you can almost hear and see horses and carts travelling down the road, through to modern and upmarket. Almost everyone we chatted to in the cafes and stores we looked in were friendly, and the town was clean and welcoming.
If Norwich is the crown of eastern England, then Norfolk Cathedral must be the jewel in the crown. Built over 900 years ago (construction began in 1096) it is breathtakingly large at 141 metres by 54 metres, with a spire of 96 metres tall which is the second tallest in England. If this cathedral isn’t enough for you, Norwich like only very few cities of the World has another one to wow you (Cathedral of St John the Baptist)!
Along with the street-side shops in Norwich there is also a very cool outside market style shopping area – Norwich market, similar in style to the shipping container mall that was set up in Christchurch after the large earthquake in 2011. Though many of the small stalls we saw were selling food products, there were many others including stalls selling souvenirs, arts and crafts, etc. This market has existed in one form or another for over 900 years and has a total of around 200 stalls. Most stalls open around 11am and close 4pm, but some will have slightly different opening and closing times. They are open Tuesday to Saturday but there are some open Sunday and Monday.
The market deserves a good forty minutes or so to have a look around.
Blickling Hall
Another highlight of our visit to Norwich was a visit to Blickling Hall, which our friend Kate guided us to and spent time with us to enjoy.
Blickling Hall was the birthplace of Anne Boleyn who was the wife of King Henry the eighth and subsequently was the Queen of England from 1533 to 1536. She was executed by way of beheading for treason in 1936 by the order of her husband the King.
The current Blickling Hall constructed of red brick was built sometime after 1616, where the ruins of the Tudor building were which would have been the building Anne Boleyn is said to have been born in. The parklike grounds are huge at around 5000 acres.
You could easily spend half a day strolling around them – if you felt so inclined.
If you aren’t super keen on spending hours walking through the grounds, after seeing the amazing interior of Blickling Hall you can grab an excellent meal at the Bucks Arms, a 300 year old pub also located on the grounds which you will pass as you walk from the main carpark to the Blickling Hall entrance.
Bucks Arms (or its full name – The Buckinghamshire Arms)
We had a wonderful meal and drink here sitting outside under a large sun umbrella, which was great on a fine day. If it is a little too wet or cold when you visit (not unusual in the UK), the inside facilities look amazing. Being 300 years old we just had to ask the waiter if he had ever had any ghostly experiences. The young and way too good looking waiter told us though he hadn’t personally seen or heard anything of a haunted nature, others had. He described a CCTV recording he had seen from inside the pub late at night when no one was there. Apparently that morning staff had found a smashed beer mug on the floor and were puzzled how it could have been broken, and wondered whether someone may have broken in the night before and so checked their closed circuit TV camera footage. They were shocked to see the recording showed a glass suddenly flying off a shelf and smashing on the floor, with no one to be seen anywhere near it. Spooky!
We rated Blickling Hall – 7 out of 10 Kiwis.
We rated the Bucks Arms – 8 out of 10 Kiwis
We rated the Norwich Cathedral – 9 out of 10 Kiwis
We rated the lovely city of Norwich – 9 out of 10 Kiwis