Friday 22 October 2010

We Went To Wymondham And Watton

[btw Wymondham is pronounced Windham]

Wymondham is a lovely market town with a lot of history [find out more here] Today was actually market day. There is a Market Cross atop a building nearly 400 years old.

DSCF0032

The Tourist Information Office is now housed in this building.

The rest of the week, the market area is surrounded by bollards, I think to restrict parking – but today all the bollards were neatly stacked in a rack to make room for all the market stalls.

They reminded me of cannons!

DSCF0031

There are some superb old buildings to look at…

DSCF0033

We wandered down to Becket’s Chapel – now an art gallery, which was  first a chantry chapel, then the boys’ grammar school, then the library before its current incarnation.

Outside is the town sign – designs on either side celebrate the wood turning heritage of the town – as do street names like ‘Spooner Row’

DSCF0034

DSCF0042

wymondhambecketschapel

Inside the gallery was an exhibition based on a recycling theme – all the exhibits were made from repurposed things. Some just artwork to hang on the wall, like these made from locks, keys and tickets

DSCF0038

DSCF0040 Others were a little more strange – these hanging plastic bottles made an interesting noise when touched – and you were invited to stand in the middle and see/hear how it felt.

DSCF0039

I thought this interpretation of the water lilies at Giverny was very cleverly constructed- it is made entirely from old plastic carrier bags

 DSCF0041

and Monet’s original…

monet

Outside the gallery is a plaque to two Norfolk heroes

DSCF0036

By the gallery is the Dragon Pub – this inn dates back over 500 years!

DSCF0035

After all this culture,we had a good wander round the many charity shops, and Bob bought an LP for 50p [“we don’t sell many of them” said the surprised assistant] and had a cheap lunch in a greasy spoon cafe.

Then we went to Watton – Bob looked at Triumphs in the motorbike shop [whilst I went in still more charity shops – but bought nothing] then we drove to the Norfolk Guitar and Bass Centre, which was enormous fun. [website] Watton is twinned with Weeze in Germany [since 1987] I love the sound of “Watton and Weeze”!ngbc_logo

Then back to Cornerstones, time to catch up with the neighbours over a cuppa, then Bob cooked a brilliant evening meal. I shall really miss his cooking when we get back to our regular non-holiday-timetable next week! He did a warm chicken salad, accompanied by new potatoes. He cooked the spuds a la Jamie Oliver – boiled, smashed and pan fried [recipe here]. They were delicious!

Now I should go and help him wash up!

1 comment:

  1. My goodness, the faux Monet is amazing! I'm sure there was no such thing as a plastic bag when he was painting.
    So glad you are enjoying your break.

    ReplyDelete

Always glad to hear from you - thanks for stopping by!
I am blocking anonymous comments now, due to excessive spam!