A visit and slow stitching.

This weekend John and I went off to Norfolk on our own. A little down time and also just the two of us time. We left Scamp at home with Lucy looking after him. He wasn't best pleased as we put our bag in the car especially when he saw our walking boots go in. We didn't take him because we wanted to visit a couple of bird watching sites which are on the coast and he would have got very cold sitting around while we watched birds. This was a short visit as we left at 9 on Saturday morning and arrived home at 7 this evening. We headed to Kings Lynn as we both know we have visited it before, a long time ago, and we couldn't remember it at all. Kings Lynn is a seaport and market town in Norfolk about 98 miles north of London. Until 1537 it was known as Bishops Lynn as it was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Norfolk but  during Henry Vlll reign it was surrendered to the crown and it became Kings Lynn. We parked by the side of the River Great Ouse

Near where we parked there was nothing on the water but as we walked into the town we came across these craft.

We also came across this glass  sculpture. There was no information about it.

There was a statue to Captain George Vancouver. He was a British naval officer who is best known for his expeditions to explore and chart North America's northwestern Pacific coast. You can read about him here

I liked the anchors and chains 

In the main market square we found another glass sculpture but still no indication of why it was there. i loved the way the light played on it.

Kings Lynn had a interesting mix of buildings, some modern, some Tudor and some Georgian. We visited St Nicholas Chapel which is no longer used for services but is still consecrated. You can find out more here Below is the outside of the chapel

The entrance was rather grand.

The chapel itself was huge. It is now used for community activities.

The stained glass gave a beautiful light.

In the ceiling there were angels. Most of them are playing musical instruments.

Leaving the chapel we wandered around the town, found a good place for coffee and bought a jumper for John since he'd forgotten to pack one. We decided to visit the Minster as well. I couldn't fit the whole of the outside into a photo but here it is from the front. You can find out more about its history here

There was a lovely round east window and an amazing reredos.

You can probably see it better in this picture

I  liked the tiles by the font.

Outside again we enjoyed the architecture of the old goal house, with the guildhall to the left .

The Guildhall and then going off down the street is the Town Hall.

By this time it was getting well into the afternoon and we wanted to quickly visit Snettisham bird reserve to find out what was there before heading to our hotel. By the time we got there the light was fading but we saw some golden eyes and cormorants. The sky was amazing so I took some pictures.

We headed for our hotel where we'd booked dinner for 8 pm. and so we sat and chatted and had a drink until it was time. I'd taken Alex's quilt with me so I could get on with stitching the binding down. I started just after a corner and over the evening I almost turned the first corner. The quilt is 80 inches square so that's a lot of stitching. Tonight I've done a little more stitching on it and I hope to have the whole binding finished before the end of the month.

It's now time for bed and I have work tomorrow so you'll have to wait until then to find out what we did today.

Lyndsey