A Norwich Day Out

Today we had a splendid day out in Norwich.

This was the invite from Joyce.

"Tuesday March 31st a walk in Norwich which everyone is welcome to join. I am arriving in Norwich about 9.30am and meeting others at The South Asia Collection, near The Forum. I think we will probably spend a full 30 mins here and then pop to the Forum for toilets and takeaway coffee if required. There is a cafe at Waterloo Park for coffee further into the walk. I have then adapted a walk that the Bury Ramblers did recently to make a circular 6.5-7 miles that will include a portion on The Marriotts Way , Wensum Park and then taking in Waterloo Park (café here if we want).  Then it’s uphill to Mousehold Heath and possibly to the Old Norwich Prison (still in operation) or Ketts Heights for a view over the city if time allows. I don’t know all of these areas so bear with me please. I have included as much ‘green space’ as I can. Of course there will be some pavement walking too. We will end up back at the Train Station for 2.30pm (for onward travel) and then others will walk the 0.8mile to Carrow House for our tour that starts at 3pm. Ends at 4.30pm. Do let me know if you would like to join at any point and I would suggest a packed lunch and drinks." 

We gave Joan and Pam a lift and we parked at the Thickthorn Park & Ride. We didn't have long to wait for a bus and did the 1/2 mile walk from the Bus Station to the South Asia Collection arriving just after 10am. After 1/2 hour admiring the exhibits we set off for The Forum for a coffee before the start of our walk.

This was our walking route from The Forum to Carrow House.

Here are some of my photos.

Arriving at the South Asian Collection. It is housed in a former roller-skating rink. Read about the history of the building here.

The South Asia Collection now consists of almost 10,000 objects and artworks from South and South-East Asia, which include textiles, architectural elements, furniture, everyday objects and examples of crafts and living traditions. The collection of artworks includes narrative paintings such as Gond, Madhubani, Warli and Bhil from around India, watercolours and prints of works by European artists travelling in South Asia in the 18th and 19th century, postcards, stereographs among others. Read more about the history of the collection here.

Then it was off to The Forum for coffees.

Time to go on our walk. There were 11 of us today.

It was a bit drizzly to start with but soon dried up.

The restored New Mills pumping station.

We walked some of the Marriot's Way starting at the site of the old Norwich City railway station.. The name of the route originates from the chief engineer and manager of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, William Marriott, who held the position for 41 years. The line itself is also known as the ‘Muddle & Go Nowhere' line.

We visited Wensum Park.

Some pretty Forsythia on our way to...

...Waterloo Park. This is the pavilion.

We liked the 3 wise monkeys on the roof. See no evil, say no evil and hear no evil...

I wondered what the virtues were of the other two on the bench below

We climbed up to Mousehold Heath and walked through it, passing the golf course.

We stopped at the picnic tables across the road from Norwich prison.

From here we had some great views across the city, including the two cathedrals and castle.

We tried going down from here but had to turn back and go along the road instead.

We climbed up again to Kett's Heights. It is steeply wooded and contains the remains of a medieval chapel, 19th century garden terraces and one of the three strategic viewpoints overlooking Norwich. It is from where Robert Kett and his 10,000 followers besieged the city in 1549. 

Back down and along the river to the station.

We passed Pull's Ferry, the water gate to Norwich Cathedral. The building we see now dates from the 15th century. Read all about it here.

At the station we met up with Shaun, who was joining us for the rest of the day.

Onward towards Carrow house, passing the Queen of  Iceni....

...and following the river along to Carrow Bridge.

We were at Carrow House in good time for our tour, Carrow House and the Forgotten Vaults. Carrow House was once the grand residence of the legendary Colman family, makers of the city’s famous mustard. 

Here is Max giving us his introduction to the tour. He was very knowledgable and gave a great commentary on the history of the house, family and business.

The stained glass in the orangery.

There are no less than 12 safes in the building. Two of them have yet to be cracked.

The green man symbol is quite common around Norwich.

An aerial view of the site.

One of the as-yet-unopened safes.

Into the vaults. Don't worry. it's not a real skeleton.

The tour ending in the touching memorial chapel to employees of the business who had died in the first world war.

Thanks Max for the great tour. Then it was a mile or so walk back to bus station for us to get to the Park&Ride and drive home.

It was quite a long and tiring day, but well worth it. Thank-you Joyce for arranging and leading us round and thanks also to the others for the additonal company. You can see more details of our 8.2 mile walking route here on MapMyWalk or here on OS Maps (or download a  GPX file here), and more of my photos here on Flickr.

Other related walks you can find on my blog include

• Norwich GoGo Hares Trail (Aug 2018)
• Norfolk Nomads Walk (Jan 2020)
• Boudicca Way Part 2 (Oct 2020)
• Norwich T.riffic T.Rex Trail (Aug 2021)
• Marriot's Way (Dec 2021)
• Dad's Removals Part 2 & 3 (Mar 2022)
• Norwich Nooks and Crannies Walk (Oct 2023)
• Another Norwich Day Out (Nov 2023)
• Norwich Walk (Nov 2024)
• N is for Norwich Go-go Safari (May 2025)