River Wensum, Norwich

We had a lovely walk today, along the banks of the River Wensum.  The name of the river is believed to be derived from the old English, meaning winding, and it certainly does wind through Norwich.

We have found many little bits of old and not so old Norwich, and I have since spent a fascinating few hours researching many of them on the internet.  I have used Cow Tower as the main blip, because it conveys not only the ancient, but also the lovely, if rather chilly, day.

Cow Tower was built in 1398, as an artillery block house, to defend the approach to Norwich over the river, from Mousehold Heath.  Just a short distance from here is the last Swan Pit in the country - not used, but in a reasonable state of repair.  And also close is Pulls Ferry, where a spur from the river was built, to carry stone in for the construction of the cathedral.  I have added pictures of both these in extras. 

I have also added a photo of a derelict building, covered in writing.  On researching this, I discovered that it is the full text of Thomas More's Utopia.  When the artist did this, in 2006, the building was due for demolition within 12 months.  Fortunately, it is still standing.  The writing is faded in places, but much of it is still legible.

Edit - I cannot make the link to wikipedia for Pulls Ferry work, because there is a comma in the web address.  If you follow the link, and then the top listed article, you'll find what I was trying to link.