Norwich is a town in East Anglia noted for its cobbled streets, museums, cathedral and castle.
During the middle-ages Norwich became very wealthy through the wool trade. This money was used to build beautiful churches and today Norwich has more medieval churches than any other city in Western Europe north of the Alps.
By the middle of the 16th century the town had become weavers. This was a trade that had been bought to Norwich by the Walloon community.
In the early 20th century Norwich had several industries in the town including shoes (such as Start-rite) clothing, structural engineering and aircraft manufacturers. Boulton and Paul, Barnards (inventors of machine made wire netting) and electrical engineers, Laurence Scott and Electromotors were both big employers.
Caley’s was a local firm making chocolate it was taken over by Mackintosh in the 1930’s who merged with Rowntrees in 1969. It was subsequently brought up by Nestles who closed the factory in 1996 when they moved production to York. Caley’s chocolate made a comeback and is still being produced in Norwich.
Norwich was the eighth most prosperous shopping destination in the UK in 2006. It has an ancient market place with now the largest open air, six day a week market in England. Though this has just been downsized with less space and higher rents, the stallholders are not happy with the new arrangements.
The shopping mall, The Mall Norwich has been cleverly built into the side of a hill most of it has been hidden underground with a car park on the roof, just south of the castle. Some of the shops that can be found in Norwich include Monsoon, Elements, Ted Baker, John Lewis, Jarrold the Store, Mothercare, La Senza and the Disney Store.
There is always property for rent in Norwich with average prices of £635pcm for a l bed flat, £780pcm for a 2 bed flat, £630pcm for a 2 bed house and £745pcm for a 3 bed house.
Norwich Castle is on a hill in the centre of town. It was erected in 1067 and was built of Caen stone over flint. It is now a museum housing some original and recent exhibits.
Norwich Cathedral was built during the early to mid 1100’s out of flint and mortar. Its spire is the second tallest in England.
In the grounds of the castle are statues of the Duke of Wellington and Admiral Nelson and is also home to the King Edward VI School.
A Visitor Centre is on site and has been open since 2004.
The Cathedral Choirs is made up of sixteen boys (7-13yrs) all from the same school, twenty-four girls (11-18yrs) from various schools and men. The men and boys sing at six services a week. The girls sing at Tuesday evensong alternately on their own and with the men. All sing at more services during Easter and Christmas times. The choir regularly sing at other churches both in England and abroad.
Apart from the castle and cathedral there are plenty of other attractions in Norwich. There is the Inspire Discovery Centre and educational charity for the exploration of Science by hands on techniques. This is a fascinating place for both adults and children.
City Boats run cruises varying fifteen minutes to three and a quarter hours depending on the destination.
There are a couple of theatres in the city, the most popular being Norwich Theatre Royal. It has a good variety of entertainment throughout the year including comedy, musicals, dance, opera and family shows.
The Norwich Puppet Theatre gives performances and runs children’s puppet making workshops. It is houses in a converted church.
Norwich has a Indoor Kart Centre. This is another very popular attraction.
Origins is an interactive journey through 2000years of Norfolk and Norwich. It is over three floors with sixty exhibits most of these have flaps to lift or buttons to push, levers to pull, games to be played and challenges to be taken. There is also an underground cinema in which to relax.
The city’s football stadium is at present being upgraded.
The Riverside complex has opened and has a nightclub and other venues on site.
There are plenty of public houses, nightclubs and restaurants within the city for anyone wanting to spend a night on the town.
|
