Recent work to install an electrical sub-station necessitated the removal of
sections of the cobbled street surface on Elm Hill.
The restoration work has been disastrous as can been seen from these
pictures taken in early August 2010.
The Society is glad that some repair work to City-owned houses has been
completed but when is the City going to take this street seriously?

Dateline: August 5 2010.

Brenda Ferris, Chair of the St Michael and All Angels Ruin Trust, welcomed members of the Norwich Society to the site on July 7th.

Brian Ayers, the Director of the Butrint Foundation and former County Archaeologist, gave a lively guided talk about the ruin and its excavation.

Members enjoyed tea afterwards prepared by the Norwich Society Now-And-Again group.

The Norwich Society has joined with Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART) and Norwich City Council in The Wensum River Parkway Project which is designed to re-establish the river as the natural artery through Norwich and act as a driver for tourism and leisure industries.

Norwich is a river city and the river can act as a source of regeneration that benefits all its citizens.

On December 11 2009, The WRP project hosted a Stakeholders’ Conference at the Great Hospital.  The opening event was the unveiling by the Dean of Norwich of the second interpretative sign at Pull’s Ferry (see picture).  The Bishop of Norwich was present.

Afterwards the conference, in the Refectory of the Great Hospital by kind permission of the Master and Trustees, was opened by the Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP, and by Councillor Stephen Morphew, leader of Norwich City Council

The Rt Hon Charles Clarke MP chaired the meeting.  Presentations were made by
1. Michael Loveday, CEO HEART
The River in the Past
2. George Ishmael, Landscape Planning and Strategy Officer
Current Developments
3. Alec Hartley, Chairman of the Norwich Society
The Future of the Wensum in Norwich

After which there was discussion of the various possibilities for co-operation, partnership and projects.

The guest List was as follows:
Mary Ash, Chairman, Norwich Society Planning Appraisal Committee
Linda Bamment, Wensum Lodge
Peter Bentley, Chairman, The Friends of Elm Hill
Averil Brennan, Chairman, Norwich Society Environment Committee
Professor Derek Burke, Vice Chairman, Norwich Society
Anthea Cawdron, Licensee of The Ribs of Beef PH
The Rt Hon Charles Clarke, Member of Parliament
Councillor Colin Gould, South Norfolk District Council
Barbara Hacker, Chairman, The Cathedral Quarter
Alec Hartley, Chairman, Norwich Society
George Ishmael, Landscape Planning and Strategy Officer, Norwich City Council
The Rt Reverend Graham James, Bishop of Norwich
Caroline Jarrold, Group Corporate Affairs Director, Jarrold & Sons Ltd
Dr Stephen Johnson, Chairman, The Broads Authority
Professor Peter Landshoff, Chairman, Cambridge Past present Future
Professor John Last, Principal, Norwich University College of the Arts
Britt Lawrence, Programme Manager, Norwich City College Business School
Michael Loveday, CEO, Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust
Graham Macdonald, Lecturer, Norwich City College Business School
Vicky Manthorpe, Administrator, Norwich Society
Felicity Maton, Friends of the Julian Centre
Gillian McArthur RIBA, McArthur Tring, Architects
Councillor Stephen Morphew, Leader of the Council, Norwich City Council
Sally Nicolaou, Food/Beverage Manager, Nelson Table Restaurant
Dr John Packman, Chief executive, Broads Authority
Air Commodore Kevin Pellatt, Master of the Great Hospital
Stephanie Potts, General Manager, Dragon Hall
James Powell, Chairman of the Trustees, The Great Hospital
Darren Purnell, General Manager, premier Inns
Rory Quinn, Chairman, Norwich Churches Trust; Chairman, Norwich Society Conservation and Development Committee
Paul Rao for Greater Norwich Development Partnership
Caroline Richardson, General Manager, the Playhouse
Jan Scott, Manager, The King of Hearts
The Very Reverend Graham Smith, Dean of Norwich
John Spinks, Friars Quay Residents’ Association
Dr Jeremy Taylor RIBA, Vice President, Norwich Society
Philip Thomas, Estates Manager, Norwich Cathedral
Tony Jones, Planning Officer, Norwich City Council
Frank Tucker RIBA, Norwich Society
Ray Walpole, Broads Access Forum
Matthew Williams, Chairman, Norwich Rivers Heritage group
Peter Wilson MBE, Chief Executive, Theatre Royal.

The WRP Steering Executive will be assessing the discussions and releasing a summary in due course.

VM
21/12/09

Dr Jeremy Taylor, architect, architectural historian and recent chairman of the Norwich Society, has been actively involved with the Advisory Group for the restoration and enhancement of the St Peter Street memorial Gardens. Paul Monchaux is the artist chosen to create the new sculpture to complement the back of the Lutyens War Memorial when it is repositioned. He has devised a sensitive work called ‘Breath’ that is both impressively authoritative against the scale of City Hall, yet sensitive in terms of the meaning and importance of the War Memorial itself. To see the design: Norwich City Website

An elegant model in lovely condition seeks a new home. She may not be absolutely up-to-date in her accessories, but she does represent a fine tradition and has been much admired in her time.

The 6-foot square 3-D model of the centre of the city which used to sit comfortably in the reception area of the NCC Planning office in City Hall has been ousted from her plinth to make way for desks and chairs. She has found temporary lodging in the back bedroom of a Thorpe Hamlet Samaritan.

Like all models she needs to be seen and admired.
The Norwich Society has taken up her cause and would like to see the model displayed where everyone can enjoy her attractions. She could serve as a teaching aid, a novel attraction, or, as intended, an aid to citizens trying to estimate how proposed changes will alter the city.

Perhaps there is an architect’s office, a museum, school or library that would give space to this excellent scale replica of the centre of Norwich.

Photograph by Justin Barnard

 

The Howard House (97 King Street) dates from the mid-17thC and was built for Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk. Originally extending the length of Mountergate and to the river it had extensive pleasure gardens. Said to incorporate a fine Jacobean staircase, possibly from the former ducal palace, it is now sadly derelict and steadily deteriorating. Owned by City Living Property, the developers of the St. Anne’s Wharf site, it has been surrounded for many months by scaffolding and heavy sand bags, around and through which large weeds are springing up.

Originally the Preservation Trust indicated that the developer was to undertake immediate repair and conservation, with a view to using it initially as a site office.

The Society is anxious that given the important history of the house it will not remain neglected and that later the question of some public access can be discussed. It would be very suitable for pre-booked visits from local societies and for Heritage Open Days.

Alec Hartley had a long career in journalism, working in newspapers and on television, writes KEIRON PIM. Now he puts the same skills to use in safeguarding Norwich’s heritage, which he believes is currently under threat.

IT IS “A FINE OLD CITY, TRULY… VIEW IT FROM WHATEVER SIDE YOU WILL”, but some views of Norwich are looking distinctly more fine than others at present. As the city’s history comes under the spotlight during the current Heritage Open Days, that famous old phrase by George Borrow is less true than it has been at many times since he wrote Lavengro in 1851. At present the Guildhall is wrapped in scaffolding, the Castle mound is suffering from slippage, the Memorial Gardens are a mess, and Elm Hill is being blighted by heavy traffic and vandalism.

The full text of the interview is available- here!

Changes to Government planning procedures have forced the Greater Norwich Development Partnership (GNDP) to issue a new document entitled Technical Consultation Regulation 25 (TCR25) on the Joint Core Strategy (JCS) for Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk. We feel that the new document does nothing to change the opinions and reservations expressed in our response in February 2008 to the Joint Core Strategy Report (Issues and Options), but the extra information that it contains does require further comment.
The rapidly worsening national and international economic situation has already made meaningless the assumptions of continued expansion and development on which the JCS is founded. Worries that we expressed in our earlier response have now become major anxieties, and we see no evidence in the new document that the planners are able to even acknowledge the existence of the new realities.

In addition, developments on the ground, in the form of transport infrastructure decisions and piecemeal planning permissions already granted by or in process with individual councils, may have begun to distort and undermine the JCS before it is even formulated. Those details that do emerge in the new document reveal a lack of strategic long-term planning vision that is in danger of producing a badly-flawed and unbalanced outcome for the Greater Norwich area.

Full latest response click here • For original response click here