We drove down to Norwich on what turned out to be a very nice weekend, staying in a place called The Summer Room. This is essentially an extension to the owner's house, consisting of a living room and an en-suite bedroom. The location was a lovely quiet side street in a residential area of the city about a 20 minute walk to the city centre. The place was excellent value for money considering all the space available, the large comfy bed and continental breakfast, with real milk as opposed to the usual long life stuff available in other hotels. Owners were also super friendly and happy to recommend places to visit.
After checking into our B&B around midday on Saturday we headed straight for Brewdog's Norwich bar. We are a couple obsessed with beer, and have been known to brew our own every once in a while. We also have Brewdog passports and are aiming to visit all the bars and collect all the stamps. Of-course stamps mean prices like shirts, bottle openers and wall shields. We've almost completed all the UK ones and luckily for us, they are always opening new venues!! Being stuffed full of food and beer, we decided to go for a walk around the shopping area, including the market. This was made up of different coloured huts, each one being a different shop. Even though it didn't seem to be fully open due to COVID, you could find almost anything in there from more beer to fast food and fruits and vegetables to clothes. We tried to visit both the city’s two cathedrals but both were not open to the public on the Saturday. We were able to have a peek inside the Anglican cathedral as it had its massive front doors thrown open. It seemed impressive so we decided to come back the next day during its opening hours between 1 and 3pm. While we were exploring the outside of the Catholic cathedral we noticed a sign for the Plantation Garden right next door, which we decided to go and visit. It costs £2 to go in, and it's totally worth it as it's gorgeous! There is a long strip in the middle consisting of paths weaving between plants, going past a pretty fountain. These lead onto tiers of stairs leading into a balcony that looks back on the way you've just walked. There is a path leading to the right (as you look forward to the entrance) that takes you above the garden and back towards the exit, and gives a new perspective looking through the trees. The rest of the afternoon we spent trying the local ales at St Andew's brewhouse , followed by dinner at YO sushi. If you are a beer fan I would recommend trying the local beers.
The following day we had to check out by 10am, leaving us plenty of time to fill before we could head towards the Anglican Cathedral at 1pm. We also had to move the car, parking it near the river Wensun. This allowed us to start the day with a walk along the riverbank, coming across Pulls Ferry, a 15th century Watergate, followed by Bishop Bridge, the only medieval bridge still standing in Norwich and built in 1340. Lastly we came across the Cow Tower, a former medieval defensive tower, making up a part of the city's fortifications. Coming off the river, we followed a trail looking out for the remains of the Norwich city walls. There were chunks of wall remaining here and there but nowhere near as much compared to places like York or Chester. We ended up ending that part of the walk at a café called Sahara, offering the usual hot drinks menu, as well as North African style food and cakes. We didn't try the food, but the coffee was good and they had a selection of tagines, tahini, olive oil, vine leaves and herbs for sale. The next state of the walk saw us following Marriott’s Way, a path along the remains of a Victorian railway track that used to connect Norwich to Aylesbury, and now used for hiking, cycling and jogging. The part we followed was parkland next to the river Wensum. One side has a very forestry feel to it, while the other, accessed via a bridge, is more of a manicured park leading into houses and flats. I would definitely recommend doing the Marriott’s Way, especially if you have kids that need entertaining.
For lunch on the Sunday, we went to the Adam and Eve pub which claims to be the oldest one in Norwich. The earliest reference to the pub comes from around 1249, with the current building dating from the 17th century. Situated behind the Anglican cathedral, the pub is a gorgeous building on the outside with the ideal weather to sit on the tables outside. We were quite lucky to get a table arriving as we did at peak lunchtime, as there was no inside seating due to COVID. The orders were taken outside with no menus available to look at. The barmaid did know what was on offer, so it wasn't a problem for us, but if you do like to take your time deciding, this may not be ideal. The food offering was also limited consisting of roasts, fish and chips and scampi and chips so it was easy to decide to go for the Sunday roast. The ale selection was okay, which you had to ask for, as it was difficult to see inside the bar. The portions were very generous with loads of vegetables, however, the overall taste wasn't great. The roast potatoes were hard, chewy and tasted as if they had been reheated while the two small Yorkshire puddings were soggy and cold. Would I go back there again? Probably just for a drink as opposed to food, as it is a quaint little pub in a pretty location. After lunch, we finally made it to the cathedral, which was just around the corner from the Adam and Eve pub. The cathedral was magnificent with high ceilings making you feel small, stained glass windows and a copper baptismal font.
What struck us both during the time we spent in Norwich is the sheer number of churches within the city. A quick look online later and there are apparently there are enough pubs in Norwich to drink in a different one every day, with enough churches to confess your sins in a different one every Sunday. Now that would be a challenge! Overall, we enjoyed our weekend in the city, with the walk we did on the Sunday being really good. Especially when we came across the medieval bridge, the Cow Tower and the watergate. We looked into booking onto a history or ghost walk, which didn't seem to run on weekends, which was a shame, as we'd usually been able to book onto similar ones in other cities. Given the current situation with the pandemic, the museums and castle were closed so we couldn't go inside any and explore the city’s history. We'd definitely go back again to visit those too at some point in the future.
Here are the links of where we stayed and where we went.
The Plantation Garden https://www.plantationgarden.co.uk/
St Andrews Brewhouse https://www.standrewsbrewhouse.com/
Marriott’s Way https://www.marriottsway.info/
Adam and Eve Pub https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186342-d4085954-Reviews-Adam_Eve_Norwich-Norwich_Norfolk_East_Anglia_England.html
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