But that's insane I hear you cry even though you haven't a clue what I'm talking about.
Well I'm talking about roadworks on the A11 road but I think my comments might be relevant to many other areas of the UK and even further afield.
It is currently chaos near where we live thanks to work on the A11. They are resurfacing it. But does it really need to be resurfaced and does that work, which has already taken months, need to last until 2023? Do the gains overcome the disruption? To my mind they certainly do not. Then we will have more disruption until 2025 as they redo what is known as the Thickthorn interchange. There is no doubt that this is needed to cope with all the additional traffic generated by new housing but you can guarantee the work will take much longer than it should or ought to do.
There's a stretch of the Norwich ring road that has been shut for months after a bridge became unsafe. This has caused traffic chaos but nothing much seems to happen. Why do these jobs take so long? They seem to be able to throw up new houses in no time at all but when it comes to roads it feels like a permanent go slow. For those who don't live in the area, St Stephens in Norwich is one of our main shopping areas. For quite some time private vehicles have been banned and it was used by taxis and buses. Then the city council decided they were going to rip the road up and turn it into something better for buses. Was this work really necessary? Will it enhance services that much? Sadly I think not and how much is this all costing? So many questions.
We have American friends visiting shortly and it's embarrassing to take them down a road that used to be so vibrant but is now a building site.
I firmly believe that this is all part of a move to keep private cars out of the city centre which is all well and good if the public transport system is A1 and ours certainly isn't. Ban cars from the city centre or introduce a congestion charge and you are asking for trouble.
People will stop shopping on the city centre and soon shops and stores will be moaning that profits are going down the drain and their livelihoods are being affected. At the same time shops will be turned into flats and the character of the city will be destroyed.
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They got the weather forecast wrong for North Norfolk for another of our minor sojourns. It was supposed to rain in the morning and clear in the afternoon. But it was clear in the morning and rained in the afternoon - how perverse of the weather.
Everything seems to be friendlier here in North Norfolk. The bus drivers smile and speak to you and my other threequarters seems to be a magnet for people who want a chat. It's obviously her fashion sense. People are always asking about her clothes. Sadly they never ask about mine and I just wonder why that is?
A green coat seems to be something particularly popular with others. So there we were sitting outside a cafe with a coffee in Weybourne. We were intending catching the bus into Cromer. Why is it bus timetables in the real world never correlate with bus timetables on the internet? On the internet it clearly said the bus arrived at three minutes past the hour whereas it actually arrived at 23 minutes past the hour.
So we were enjoying our coffee when a lady stood and stared. "Is that a Barbour jacket," she inquired. And this began a full conversation about coats, fashion items and any number of subjects including how kind her neighbours were to her. I think the conversation could have gone on for hours and morphed into the state of the nation and much more had our bus not come. We did learn about the perils of internet clothes shopping, shopping rebates, how to buy new shoes and much more.
At times I felt myself spluttering over my coffee: "That's tomorrow's blog sorted then," said my other threequarters.
We eventually made it to Cromer - self styled Gem of the North Norfolk coast, although I think Sheringham has always claimed that title as well. The reason for going was to have a look at hundreds of ceramic poppies climbing up the wall of the parish church. We read about this in the local newspaper and it was certainly worth a look. I took some photos which are included here. Unfortunately it was very grey and dull, so I would like to go back and take brighter photos. I always like visiting Cromer Parish Church. It's so welcoming and they do everything so well. They had a video feed of Peregrine Falcons. There was an interesting display of Royal art by local schoolchildren. We then had a light lunch at the art cafe close to the church and then returned to our base, by which time thankfully the rain had stopped.
I was amused by an inscription on a bus shelter at Beeston Regis which is near Sheringham. It said: "Beeston Regis - small but interesting." Sounds like a description of me (sorry that's my alter ego speaking there).
Had a wander round charity shops. I always look for unusual items and was pleased with my purchases of a book on Dunkirk (admittedly not an unusual item) and something that really caught my eye. It was a drawing/etching of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont, US Naval Officer (1803-1865). On the front of the print were the words: "This is a genuine antique print and is guaranteed to be over 100 years old."
My main reason for buying it (apart from the fact it only cost £1.95) was because I am intrigued by anything over 100 years old and also love researching history and this looked worth researching. So just who was Rear Admiral Samuel Du Pont? Of course I turned to the Internet.
This is quite a famous dude in American history. Wikipedia has much to say on our friend including the following: Samuel Francis Du Pont was a rear admiral in the United States Navy and a member of the prominent Du Pont family. In the Mexican-American War, Du Pont captured San Diego and was made commander of the California naval blockade. Through the 1850s he promoted engineering studies at the United States Naval Academy, to enable more mobile and aggressive operations. In the American Civil War, he played a major role in making the Union blockade effective, but was controversially blamed for the failed attack on Charleston, South Carolina in April 1863.
All I have to do now is find a good home for the Rear Admiral or if it's worth a lot of money he may be a Rare Admiral. Many year's ago I found a lovely Welsh etching in a job lot at a sale. I paid something like £5 for a box full of rubbish but one that included the etching. I thought it was a real find but when I checked it out on E-bay, identical original etchings were selling for about £3. But to me it had good historical providence.
As for my Rear Admiral. Well the sketch/plate/etching comes from 1863 and is selling on E-Bay for anything from £10 to £20. In other words it's not valuable but just to have something in my hands that originated in the USA in 1863 fills me with joy. This may be worth peanuts but it's a fine historical find for me.