Sign Of The (Church) Times

Sign Of The (Church) Times, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

St Andrews Trowse has just had its roof replaced after the lead was stripped off it before Christmas.

Another sign on the church announces the use of Smart Water to "fingerprint" the roof. All high flat surfaces on St Andrews have been covered with barbed wire. To my eye anti-climb paint has also been used at higher levels. The alarm system has been beefed up. A church that is sadly never left open* now has all the appearance of being under siege.

I cannot find more recent figures but between January and November 2007 twenty one insurance claims were made from Norfolk churches in respect of the theft of lead.


* In the parish's defence it is only a mile away from St Wandregesilius, Bixley that was the subject of an arson attack in 2005.

Open Up Them Pearly Gates

The Road To Hell Is Gated With Good Intentions, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

As always I am overstating the case but it is not with giant leaps but inch by inch we lose our freedom.

An example of this axiom is the Norwich City Council's latest wheeze. From 8pm at night until 8am in the morning part of the Riverside Walk will be closed off to all but visitors to the Yacht Station. (For those who don't know this is a popular stroll with local residents in the summer evenings)

Presented with the problem of people returning from the pubs and clubs late at night the worse for wear and casting off boats from the Yacht Station, the council decided not to cause the area to be policed to stop this from happening. They also decided not to punish or make liable the pubs and clubs who were selling the alcohol. They decided instead to punish everyone else by blocking off the staithe at night. People mooring in the boats, we are told, will be given the combination number to the locks but no one else. There was no local consultation about this at all. We lose an amenity, and have to pay for its loss out of the council taxes but we have no say.

Presumably they feel that at 8pm we should all be tucked up in bed with our cocoa and only troublemakers will complain.

I hate this. Our right to roam is one of our most precious freedoms. Happily the Council are a bunch of cheapskates where their own expenses claims are not involved. They have installed a shoddy Squire combination lock. It took well under 30 seconds to work out the combination. It is 8228. It is the same number for the gates at both ends. I will update this as it changes.

Sign Of The (Church) Times

Sign Of The (Church) Times, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

St Andrews Trowse has just had its roof replaced after the lead was stripped off it before Christmas.

Another sign on the church announces the use of Smart Water to "fingerprint" the roof. All high flat surfaces on St Andrews have been covered with barbed wire. To my eye anti-climb paint has also been used at higher levels. The alarm system has been beefed up. A church that is sadly never left open* now has all the appearance of being under siege.

I cannot find more recent figures but between January and November 2007 twenty one insurance claims were made from Norfolk churches in respect of the theft of lead.


* In the parish's defence it is only a mile away from St Wandregesilius, Bixley that was the subject of an arson attack in 2005.

Go To The UEA For A Charisma Free Future

Go To The UEA For A Charisma Free Future, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

Bloody U.E.A. Parents spend ages trying to persuade their kids that going to University is a gateway to an exciting and glamorous future and they go and produce this.... ( and they choose an assistant headteacher in exotic Lowestoft to boot to be the "face" of the campaign).

Is this the worst advertising campaign ever?

No wonder a whole generation has grown up who consider appearing on Celebrity Love Island is a more effective pathway to an exciting career.

I think we should demand that the whole staff of the U.E.A. resign over this one. From the Cleaners to the Chancellor. No exceptions. Further and higher education is not safe in their hands.

Barrack Street Slum Clearance, Norwich

Barrack Street Slum Clearance, Norwich, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

From my collection Part of a map from the City Engineers entitled
CITY OF NORWICH
BARRACK STREET CLEARANCE AREA,
JANUARY 17th 1933
[SECTION B]

I thought it would be interesting at this time when the flats on Barrack Street are awaiting final demolition to post this plan of what the area was like before they were built.

Tiny houses, crammed together, sharing outside WCs and wash houses. An old boy once told me that the whole area was so infested with rats they did not even bother to run away if you approached them in daylight. This kind of housing would have been the lot for the majority of citizens of most of the country. All this is only eighty years away from the lifestyle we have now.

To give you some idea of scale this portion of the map shows about a 300 foot length of Barrack Street. This is about a third of the area shown on the map and features the T-junction formed by Barrack Street and Silver Road. I have been told the area was nicknamed Bottlegate but would like to have this confirmed.

The elephant in the flickr Norfolk groups room

The elephant in the flickr Norfolk groups room, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

Sign in the window of Trowse Post Office.

There has been a revolution in Norfolk. We have been the subject of a friendly invasion of migrant workers from Poland and Portugal. (Although it is said the Poles are returning home). We have Portugese and Polish Shops, Pubs and even night clubs. Some banks and building societies have employed Polish and Portugese speakers to deal with their new customers. My small corner newsagent has found it profitable to stock Polish brands and beers. It is not just in the towns but also in the villages that one hears European languages being used; it is impossible to go to a car boot sale without meeting migrant workers on both sides of the counter. Interestingly enough this enormous social change has not been reflected in the local flickr group photo pools. Is this because we are a bunch of Racists? Or are we just very unwelcoming?

Indiana Blink And The Quest For The Lost Ho Lid Ayinn

Indiana Blink And The Quest For The Lost Ho Lid Ayinn, originally uploaded by Colonel Blink.

We have all seen that film. Carruthers, in a quest to find the legendary something of something, is cutting his way through the jungle accompanied only by his faithful native bearers and a blonde girl with her silly ass brother. Suddenly a shrunken head is seen atop a pole and all the the bearers throw down their burdens and run away screaming, leaving Carruthers (and the girl) up the Amazon without a machete.

Much the same happened to me on Carrow Road. Only it wasnt a shrunken head but a cone and my bearers, from the local hoody tribe only threw down their traditional Burberrys before sloping off. And I did not have a girl or a silly ass brother with me.

In the distance can be seen the fabulous Temple Of Ka - Na - Ry home of the legendary Queen Delia.