A Day out in Norwich (1)

We'd been to Norwich a couple of times before by car and we liked the place but we'd never been by train so this seemed like a good excuse, not least because they've got a branch of Cotswold Outdoor there which we like, despite their crappy web site.

So once Beth had walked Jake we set off. We started at Waterbeach which was a bit of a trial as the car parking machine wasn't accepting coins but we managed to pay by credit card on my mobile at vast expense. Ho hum.

Waiting for the train at Waterbeach

First stop Ely where we had to change train. There was a long diesel hauled special on platform 1 so we were dropped on platform 2 (which saved us a trip through the underpass to platform 3). The special had one loco at the front and two at the back. I took some photos and then called across to one of the passengers to ask where they were going.

The Broadsman special at Ely

Like us they were going to Norwich and then on from there half of the train was going to Sheringham to the North Norfolk Railway (another one on my list of places to go this year) and the other part to Great Yarmouth. I looked this up later and it was a trip organised by Spitfire Railtours called "The Broadsman" and had started from Crewe. That explains the Spitfire plate you can just see on the front of 37059 above its left hand light cluster.

When we got to Norwich they were there waiting to be split for the next part of their journey. We meanwhile walked across the bridge over the Wensum and then dived across what seemed to be a pub terrace onto the riverside path which took us around to Pull's Ferry.

Pull's Ferry

This is where there used to be a ferry across the Wensum before the bridges arrived. It's at the end of the cathedral close so I guess it mainly served the cathedral. We wandered up through the cathedral close taking photos as we went. See the album for a few more but I particularly like this one for the geometric shapes on the spire wall.

Wall of Norwich Cathedral spire

Once we'd finished exploring the close we went to the covered market in the centre of town and bought lunch which we ate on a bench while watching some young lads doing stunts on their bikes. Beth had chips and I had chinese ... which was a mistake as it was horrid. I should have known: they were the only stall without a queue. I ended up throwing most of it away and getting a pork pie from a butcher on the market instead.

So then some consuming. We went to Cotswold Outdoor (twice) and to Milletts and I bought some new hiking boots. By then I was feeling more than a little spaced out. The crowds in town weren't so bad but the piped music in the shops was driving me bananas. So we went to The Forum for a cup of tea and, in my case, a slice of cake.

The Forum (photo by Beth)

The Forum is an amazing place. Built after the old central library burned down in 1994 as a millennium project it forms an iconic new central hub to Norwich. The area outside has steps and, as you can see in the photo above, people gather on those, and sit on them when it's dry, as it forms a natural amphitheatre and meeting place. Inside it's even better with a huge central space with a roof with translucent panels to let in the light interleaved with metal in a shape which reminds me of a kite.

Tea and cake in The Forum

The offices and library are behind mirrored glass and on the ground floor there's a café where you can eat outside (either really outside or in the central space like we did). Above the café there's a Pizza Express and you can sit and eat your pizza on a bridge which runs over the entrance (you can just see all the people there in Beth's photo).

Anyway that was our day pretty much done. We weaved our way through Norwich City football supporters back to the station and caught the train home, pausing only for another cup of tea and a cake on Ely station.