Yesterday I mentioned Godwick which I had never heard of. But it is a lost village. Here is what the Internet has to say about it.
Godwick is a deserted village in the county of Norfolk. Its location is south of Fakenham between the villages of Tittleshall and Whissonsett. There are several hundred deserted or ‘shrunken’ medieval villages in Norfolk, but most sites have long been destroyed by ploughing, the pressures of two world wars or other agricultural uses. Only a few still have impressive surface remains; the earthworks at Godwick being one of the best preserved. It can be found in an area that became pasture in the 16th Century, not long after the last few villagers departed, and remained being grazed by sheep ever since; this has meant that the ground has never been disturbed from deep ploughing or flattened for cultivation. Today it is one of the best surviving examples in the county and the only one open to the public.
Apparently there are over 150 deserted villages in Norfolk - one of the largest collections in the entire country. New lost communities are still being discovered. My favourite is probably Shipden which was Cromer before Cromer existed. Today if you look straight out to sea beyond the end of Cromer Pier for about 400 yards you will see where Shipden is now.
In the Domesday Book, Shipden was firmly on dry land and housed 117 people. But by the 14th century the town had been destroyed by coastal erosion with residents moving inland to what has become Cromer
Originally Shipden and the surrounding area had two churches both of which became victims of the North Sea.
* * *
I also mentioned the village of Babingley which I had never heard of. Turns out this is near Sandringham which, those of us who live around the Norwich area tend to refer to as Bow and Arrow Country.
* * *
I am well into the editing process for my book and will be looking to self publish in the not too distant future. Editing seems to be taking longer than the actual writing and it's rather a laborious process. Once I have completed the first edit it will be back to the beginning for a second complete read through and then a third which I hope will be more like stepping outside myself to try and see what is written from a new reader's point of view. Then I will get the Word reader to read it to me. Once I have the finished product I will look at how to self publish it on Amazon.
* * *
Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. This cannot be happening. Ken Bruce is leaving Radio Two. He will be going in March. Like Terry Wogan his shoes will be impossible to fill. No doubt he will be replaced by another faceless DJ off the conveyor belt. Somebody with little personality or originality. I will miss Ken Bruce. He was from the old school of broadcasting.