Teacup: storms in

 

Back in February this year, before the world went mad, someone took offence to the bells of St Nicholas Chapel. Seemed bell ringers had moved there to practice while St Margaret's was being repaired or some such story making too much campanological disturbance ... They only went and sprayed what you see here, and yes, it was still there in October (now slow yew down ...). I don't know if they caught the culprit but I did come across another story about poor old St Nick and his bells. Someone was irate that the bells no longer chimed the correct time, this guy liked the bells, for a change, indeed he had done away with clocks and watches and relied on the chapel to tell the time and was not too impressed with only ten chimes at midnight ... the Council, I read, were looking into it having only just found that they were responsible, I quote "... regarding that law, you learn something new every day!” You do indeed.

Homes ancient and modern

 

The area around St Nicholas chapel was cleared of its quaint little buildings and yards, OK it was a quasi slum as you can see from the old photo below taken from the roof of the chapel many years ago (thank you internet; I don't know the date but clearly back when everything was black and white and smokey). You don't just demolish buildings but a whole community as well, hence the museum to try and keep some memory of it alive. Anyhow modern housing has been built to replace what was removed. It seems to be weathering in nicely, though I doubt they'll build a museum to it.

 

 

Most of the houses, chapels, schools, small businesses and yards in the foreground have gone but those terraced houses way off in the distance are still there around Loke Road. The graveyard trees are also still there as you can see above.

What's in a name? ...

I was going to write how this was St Anne's House on St Anne's Street and how some folk think a secret passage runs from here to the Exorcist's House over on the other side of St Nicholas Chapel. That was until I found that this is not really St Anne's House after all but the house next door to St Anne's and that the echt St Anne's House was demolished way back. Anyhow it still a fine façade but perhaps a bit too twee for my taste. The building is split into apartments some of which are for sale I notice. (I suspect that this building got called St Anne's House by estate agents wanting to make a buck ...) I found a picture of the real St Anne's House and why shouldn't I paste it here ... and if you want to know more try here.

The site of this old house is now a fine Elizabethan car park.

... and finally to top off the post, as it were, there's an owl automaton, complete with swivelling head, atop the Georgian pile; I'm told it's a bird scarer.

An alley off Hextable Road, King's Lynn

 

Hextable, in case you were wondering is "a pleasant place to live, it is an attractive rural village surrounded by beautiful Green Belt. The village is inside the M25 in north west Kent in the Sevenoaks District..." and no, I've never heard of it except here in Lynn, it wins the obscure street name award for October.

The Grain Silo, King's Lynn

You simply cannot have posts about King's Lynn without at least one featuring the rather tall concrete grain silo that towers above north Lynn by the docks. I read that it has recently been refurbished (how?) and that it has 40  bins inside it and that it is just perfect for storing grain which I suppose is what it was built for. I also read that peregrine falcons nest on top so I'll keep an eye out. When I first came to this place they used to put a Xmas tree with lights on top so Santa could see where he was going (ho ho ho) but I'm told that now they don't, something to do with health and safety. Also back then the building on the far right used to be a pub, the Victoria, but we didn't go in it for some reason, can't think why not, we went in all the others.

The other side of the world

 

Plonked in the middle of the King's Lynn shopping centre is this globe. I suppose it to be bronze but you never can tell. Quite why it's there I don't know, perhaps someone discovered that this spot between Sainsbury's and T.K.Maxx was the very omphalus of creation and just had to mark the spot. Who knows? Reason not the need, eh? It's been there long enough for Cornwall to have disappeared.

Old Buoys, King's Lynn

 

 

 

The Weekend in Black and White is here.