I have mentioned George in my blogs on a number of occasions. A few years ago I contacted George's son Jonathan to get permission to use a few of his father's images in the Norfolk Family History magazine The Norfolk Ancestor.
Jonathan kindly gave me permission to reproduce them in that magazine and also in other publications. So I am delighted to bring you two photographs of Norwich Market Place taken in February, 1938. I wonder how many people on that date would have guessed that within two years we would be at war with Germany and that Norwich would suffer severe damage during the Baedeker Raids so called because of places chosen for bombing through their description in a German travel book and the fact that they were given three stars as places of great and historic interest. As well as Norwich the Luftwaffe also bombed York, Exeter, Bath, Canterbury and many other towns and cities. Mind you how many people two years ago would have predicted that people would have been prevented from seeing loved ones or that businesses would have been shut down and everyone told to wear face coverings and only go out when necessary?
I am really hoping that I don't have to restart my Steward Strolls. Not that I have anything against walking and I'm still doing many miles a month but I still associate the words Steward Stroll with lockdown and those bad old days in March, April and May. I just hope they don't return as part of a second wave, although it looks highly likely at the moment.
Next week certainly looks like being a big one for news in the village. On Monday I'm having a look round the new extension at Hethersett Academy and there will be plenty of other things going on which I will report on as and when they happen.
It will be rather strange this afternoon as I, like thousands of others, will be watching Norwich City's home match against Preston on a laptop. Carrow Road is being used this afternoon for a crowd experiment with 1,000 supporters being allowed to attend the game. Sadly with the second wave of coronavirus it is likely that this number will go down again before it goes up.
Season ticket holders are being given access to matches via the internet. We will have to see how it goes.