Wymondham, Norfolk, Part 2

In winding up my current postings on Norfolk and the second part of Wymondham I'll begin with the Abbey

Wymondham Abbey is the town's Parish Church

It is called and Abbey as the present church was once attached to a monastery founded in 1107 byWilliam d'Aubigny, the royal butler.

The east end of the church (now ruined) was where the monks worshipped.

Some of the restoration work currently taking place   

It is partly in ruins because in 1538 King Henry VIII

closed the monastery. The monk's church and living quarters were gradually dismantled and the materials sold off.  

Certainly a work in progress

The central nave still has it's original round Norman arches built of stone from Caen in France.

During the 1400s the roof was raised and the north aisle rebuilt and enlarged. The bell towers were re-built with one at the east (for the monks) and one at the west for the parish. 

The great organ was installed in 1793

and the gilded screen behind the main alter was added in the last century as a memorial to the people killed in the Great War of 1914-18.

It was Harvest time when we were there. Not something you see much of these days

Now onto something very different

The historic railway station, no longer in use was built in 1845 on the Norwich to Ely line. The station and it's section once employed over 100 staff,

providing a frequent rail link with Norwich, London, Cambridge, the Midlands and the North West.

The award winning station has now been restored and it's buildings house a restaurant and tea room. 

Interesting how it has been fitted out as a reminder of the trains of bygone days

There is of course a modern railway line now close to here.

Well we did not stop to snack as we had quite a long and steep walk back to the market place and preferred to wait until

we arrived back at the Market Place

where we sat outside at the Mad Hatters Tea Shop

before resuming our journey home.

Hard to think now that this was back in October when it was sunny and warm for the time of year.

Since then we have experienced the wettest Winter on record.

At least we can be thankful that we did not experience the devastating flooding that parts of the country did.

Wroxham, Irstead and Neatishead, Norfolk

On the Wednesday of our Norfolk stay in October we decided to do something different to visiting country houses. (more of that later)

We first went to Wroxham which is part of the Norfolk Broads. These broads consist of 188 miles comprising 7 rivers and 63 broads, mostly connecting. 124 square miles are navigable and much used as holiday destinations. 

Considering it was October we were blessed to have another warm and sunny day.

We had a great carvery meal in The Kings Head pub on the waterside

Why I want to photograph a Heron I don't know as we do our best to keep them out of our garden as thgey eat our fish!

We soon decide to drive further up the broad to Irstead where we knew there was a Board Walk down to the water.We find this walkway through the reeds (a pretty long walk in itself) but at the outset did not realise it was about 3 miles away from the car park to a viewing point.

We were nearer the coast and the wind was pretty cool here

Worth it though as we saw these Cormorants  

A beautiful Dragonfly basking in the sun on the way back

Driving through the village of Neatishead on the way back

we passed this community run village store and decided it would be a good place to stop for tea.
These community run stores are quite unusual here and we wanted to give them our custom. 

Also a good opportunity to chat to the locals

Ye Olde Saddlery

The White Horse Inn

Three places visited today so think we need to head back to our cottage. 

Earl Grey Tea - Exploring Tea - Part 6

Who was Earl Grey

Everyone is familiar with Earl Grey tea, but not everyone will realise it is named after a former British Prime Minister.

Born in March 1764, Charles Grey – who became the 2nd Earl Grey in 1807 – was the Whig Prime Minister of the UK from Nov 1830 to Jul 1834. Among the notable achievements of his government was the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Grey was also an architect of parliamentary reform, and the 1832 Reform Act saw major changes to electoral boundaries and the representation of major cities.

- Grey was educated at Richmond College, Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge

- A descendant of a Northumbrian family with its seat at Howick Hall, Earl Grey is commemorated by a statue on Grey’s Monument in Newcastle-upon-Tyne

- Grey spent his retirement at Howick, died in 1845, and is buried at a nearby church

Grey married Mary Ponsonby in 1794 and, between 1796 and 1819, the couple had 10 sons and 6 daughters. Prior to the marriage, he was already having an affair with Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire (as played by Keira Knightley in the film ‘The Duchess’), who fell pregnant with a daughter, Eliza Courtney. Born in Aix-en-Provence, France in 1792, she only learned of her true father following her mother’s death 14 years later.

Dominic Cooper (Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey) and

Keira Knightly (Georgina)

According to the Grey family, the tea which bears his name was blended specially for the Earl, using Bergamot to offset the excessive lime in the water at Howick, but many stories exist as to how he became to be introduced to the alluring blend. There is no doubt, however, that he led an eventful life, both politically and personally, and his name lives on in the form of one of the world's most flavoured teas.

Using only natural bergamot oil, Newby presents its own Earl Grey in loose-leaf form, as well as tea bags and extra-special Silken Pyramids, at the Newby e-boutique.

- See more at: http://www.newbyteas.com/2015/03/earl-grey/#sthash.x8ZhZK6z.dpuf

Crafted from silver at the height of the Regency 

period, this Paul Storr teaset from the Chitra

collection dates from 1810.

His work was found in the homes of the Prince 

Regent and noted aristocrats of the year. 

I'm Still Here!

Yes, I am still here but have not posted for a month nor hardly visited. This has not been intentional but as we all know 'life happens'. Talk about slowing down as one gets older, we just seem to get busier! Apart from that my i-pad and Facebook have played a part.

I need to rectify this with a few bits and pieces and get visiting you, my blogging buddies.

Where do I start - maybe with a photograph from the beginning of the year.

Our son was trying out his new camera for this photo

but the following are mine

The Grandchildren are growing fast

Five and Eight here

A lego gift I had bought for Bekah which she assembled in less than half an hour

We had some gorgeous weather in April and even managed to have our AGM at Pilgrims Hall outside

When pruning shrubs in March I began to think about cutting down on some more of the work in the garden (those who have followed my garden may remember that in the last two years we have removed some the larger shrub beds and replaced them with small island beds and planted new roses). I am looking ahead to the time when it might be more than I can handle.

So decided  to 'just do it' rather than dither.

Hopefully soon this area will be dug out and grassed over. I am now looking forward to seeing this area opened up. It was hard to let go of the Smoke Bush particularly, but it had spread to it's limit of 16ft x 16ft and a lot of the wood was dying off.

Still some Spring colour to enjoy

I'll finish with another tea note

My son just returned from his second trip this year and having seen how we enjoyed the tea he brought back from a tea plantation in Bangladesh in February, he brought some back from a Borneo tea plantation.

It's interesting to note the slight difference in flavour these teas have.

This is Sabah - the national black tea.

It is cultivated on the verdant foothills of Mount Kimbalu, Malaysia's first ever World Heritage Site. 

Here choice tender leaves are carefully harvested and meticulously processed to preserve the pristine purity of the Borneo Rainforest. 

Well I just realised that I have been blogging for 8 years Easter gone. To think that when I began I wondered what on  earth I would have to say!