“Spooky City” was a free event organised by Norwich council for Halloween and as far as I know, this was the first year they have done it. I thought it was great fun. Crowds turned out for it and lots of people and children got dressed up for it too which added to the atmosphere.
I’ve shopped in Fat Face on Haymarket many times and not realised that behind its modern facade lay parts of a perfectly preserved 16th century building called Curat House.
Nigel and I visited City Hall this week on a guided tour organised as part of the Heritage Open Days scheme. This scheme is a national one and it offers opportunities to see inside buildings or parts of buildings that are not normally open to the public. Obviously, as a public building, a lot of City Hall is in fact normally open to the public but today we got to see inside the Council Chamber, a committee room and the Lord Mayor’s Parlour, which I don’t think normally are. We also had a guide telling us some interesting facts and some history about the building.
During our tour we happened to meet the current Lord Mayor who is Councillor Brenda Arthur and Nigel was allowed to hold and wear the mayor’s chains for a few minutes. Nigel also got to sit in the hot seat of the Council Chamber!
A couple of weeks ago, I spent a lovely afternoon at the Plantation Garden Norwich. It’s a little bit like a secret garden as its a bit tucked away but actually situated in the centre of the city. Although it’s fairly small, it’s got bags of character and is laid out on many levels. You can find out more about its history and the work that has been done to restore it on their website here: http://plantationgarden.co.uk/