King's Lynn Conservancy Board

Surely if history had a sound track it would be flooded with the sound of stable doors being slammed after the horse has bolted and is clip-clopping merrily down the cobbled street. So with a weary sigh let me tell you how the King's Lynn Conservancy Board came about. In eighteen hundred and eighty nine a cargo ship, the Wick Bay, ran aground and broke her back outside King's Lynn port. Not an unheard off event in UK waters but for the Corporation of the town of King's Lynn a financial disaster since it had ownership of the port and was held legally responsible for maintaining the waterways and had to pay the expense of removing the wreck. So a few years later the KL Conservancy Board was set up to manage the port, the marker buoys and eventually the pilotage. The Board is entirely funded from fees and receives no public funds. I don't often get to say that Hull was ahead of the curve but it has had pilots in charge of shipping since the days of Henry VIII (see this for example). Here on Common Staith Quay they built themselves a fancy office in a throwback Georgian style (it was late 1890s after all not late 1790s) and look-out tower that does the job. 

The pilots do a magnificent job of getting ships that are way too big through a dock entrance that is way too narrow without scraping the paintwork. Here's an interesting blog post I came across while performing due diligence for this post.

The Corn Exchange, Tuesday Market Place, King's Lynn

I've shown the Corn Exchange on the Tuesday Market Place before. I think it's worth another show. Whether you agree or not here's three more glimpses of the place and its surroundings. These were taken early morning so there's no traffic about, there's usually some drivers going round this place, so keep your wits about you...

 

This one gives the game away, it's now a fancy façade to a plain, modern rear. Still it keeps in business so long as the Fat Controller doesn't get any more crazy ideas. (We await the next Presidential announcement tomorrow, or rather those that care await it. I've given up and moved on).

The Weekend in Black and White is here.

Palm Paper Factory, King's Lynn

Earlier this year I posted that this place was a sugar beet factory. Well I was just showing my age and my ignorance. There was a sugar factory here many years ago when I first came to this land (early 1980s) seems it closed mid-1990s. Now it's this magnificent, steamy place. This I read has the "world's widest, largest and most powerful newsprint machine in the world" and to show you just how whoopy big that is I read that it can produce 2000 metres of 10.3 metre wide newsprint every minute, that's ample space for a lot of lies I think you'll agree.

There are in fact two bridges across the Great Ouse in this picture, the front is for local traffic to and from West Lynn, the rear one carries the A47 road which goes from Birmingham to Great Yarmouth (and back again) should you wish.

The Bentinck, Loke Road, King's Lynn

Lord William George Frederick Cavendish-Scott-Bentinck, or George to his pals, was the member of Parliament for King's Lynn for twenty years or so until his death (from apoplexy) at the age of 46 in 1848. He was a mate of Disraeli, lending him money and opposing the repeal of the Corn Laws and later getting rid of Peel thus making his man, Dizzy, PM. I still don't see how a Lord could sit in the Commons but those were different times ... There's a Bentinck Dock around the corner and this pub to continue the name. I'm happy to see the place still open and, as the sign says, under new management. The last time I was in there was near forty years ago to buy a bottle of sherry, or rather get an empty sherry bottle refilled from a porcelain barrel of sweet sticky alcohol that had probably never been near to Jerez or even Spain. This view is along Lansdowne Street towards Loke Road.

Vancouver Quarter, King's Lynn

It would be wrong to give the impression that King's Lynn is all ancient buildings and scenic riverside views. At its heart is this modern offering; straight from the Mary Baker City Mix, instant-town-centre out-of-a-packet and microwave in minutes. The Vancouver Quarter could be anywhere today, goes without saying it's bland, out of scale, the stores are those found in all towns with exactly the same layout, same offers, same, same, same...I won't say I dislike it, there's nothing tangible to dislike, it's just a big inoffensive nothing wrapped in bricks and plate glass, a bit like a urinal, you go, you do the business and leave and think no more of it ... It has messed with centuries of streetscape; so much that folk born just decades ago can longer find their way around their own old town. Still what's lost, is lost and gone forever, no use pining for the past and they were just old streets with crumbling buildings  and well past their sell-by date (and who needs trees? and character? They don't begin to pay the rent on the space) and all this is absolutely essential for modern retailing or was until the internet and Covid-19 nonsense made it somewhat less vital and the cancer of vacant lots is starting to show. 

Smoothing the curve

 

This is looking north along the river towards the Alexandra dock in Lynn.

And this is the first time I've used (and not through choice; it was foisted on me) the new Blogger user interface. I must say I like the photo size adjuster with more options than small, big and enormous and out of sight; the rest seems like change for change sake, annoying but not life threatening.

I'd like to say I was professional and spent an age lining up this and that but nah it's just a click and ooh look they all kinda meet up nice; sometimes it just happens.

The Church of All Saints, Hillington Square, King's Lynn

This little church is not much spoken of in the tourist bumpf, we hear loads about St Margaret's church and St Nicholas chapel but it was only a few months ago I came across a mention of the ancient church of All Saints, tucked away to the south of the town. Odd because it's the oldest church in town originating in the 11th century or possibly earlier. It describes itself as "a hidden pearl" and with centuries of accretions it has a certain barroco appearance. A sign informs the visitor that "the tower collapsed in 1768", I'm at a loss to know where a tower could be fitted in but that's not my problem. I visited early in the morning so it was closed but visitors are welcome if you contact before hand and I've since found it's open on Saturdays  but maybe check before you go. Anyhow I'll post an anticlockwise tour starting at the west end.

This little window/niche and statue seem to have been added since the mid 19th century as an engraving shows a sundial over the doorway.

This is the view from Church Lane, the iron gates are pretty useless since there are no walls apart from these little bits.

The two windowed annex above is (or was), I'm reliably informed an anchor-hold, a room set to the side of the church where an anchoress (think Julian of Norwich) would seal themselves in and live a life of religious contemplation there's a tiny window inside with a view of the altar. This is considered a rare feature being on the north side of the church as most were on the south (warmer) side and also most have also been lost to demolition (the reformation did away with this kind of thing). You can see it has been added to over the years and it's now obstructing the window of the church.

Another odd feature is the lack of a church wall surrounding the church yard, it is surrounded by 60-70s social housing giving a quiet, peaceful almost cloistered feeling.