Sunday, April 24, 2016

King's Lynn Treasures

Yesterday, Mum, Dad and I had a little trip out into King's Lynn.  It's their local town and one that I went to secondary school in.  I know lots of people aren't fond of the place, but it's very close to my heart.

We parked in Tuesday Market Place.  It's changed a little since I was last there, with some pedestrian areas and tables and chairs outside of cafes, which I imagine would be lovely in the summer.


I did my driving test round this market place, in the snow with the mart (annual funfair) on it!

The reason for our trip was to visit the flea market in the Corn Exchange and we had a good wander round and I bought a few treasures, but before I show you what I bought let me show you some of the treasures of King's Lynn.

This is King Street, I went to secondary school in King Street, yesterday we had a coffee in the building just along from my old school.


This is my old school, now rather expensive apartments.


It has a blue plaque on it saying that it was once the home of the King's Lynn and West Norfolk High School for Girls.  I'd love to go inside and have a look round it now.

This is the Custom House and the statue of Captain George Vancouver  - he was born in King's Lynn and in April 1792 sailed to America and declared the land as British Columbia.



This is Queen Street - see the dutch influence in the gables? That's due to the influence on architecture from the town being part of the Hanseatic league  - a commercial group of merchant guilds and towns in northern Europe from the 14th to 19th century.

photo courtesy of Flickriver

And this is the Guildhall - a pretty spectacular building.

photo courtesy of Lynn News

If you're ever in North Norfolk I do recommend that you pay a visit to King's Lynn - don't be put off by the modern shopping centre, go and find the old part, you won't be disappointed.

What did I buy at the flea market? These 4 treasures:


a glass bottle complete with its marble, a crown derby jug, a 1950's dish and the hand embroidered cloth they're standing on.  Total cost £19 - bargain :-)



10 comments:

Jo said...

I've never been to King's Lynn so thank you for the tour. What a shame your school has been turned in to apartments, it's the way with many buildings these days. Love the cute little jug.

busybusybeejay said...

I have a jug identical to yours.It is one of my treasured possessions.It was given to my late Mum as a present on leaving a little job she had.She suffered dreadfully with depression and worked for a time as a school secretary.When it became too much she resigned and the lovely staff gave her this jug.Bless her.She died when I was 24 and I have missed her so much.She never met my children.

Janneke said...

Thank you so much, very interesting, because we are going on holiday within a few weeks to North Norfolk, so I've put King Lynn on my list to visit.
Regards from Holland.

Celia Hart said...

I love the 1950s dish!

King's Lynn is going on my list for a visit, must be decades since Si was last there.

Frances said...

Thanks so much, Su, for sharing these views and information about King's Lynn, a town I hope to visit someday myself. I promise to avoid the modern shopping center. (I do the same with such places over here, too.)

Your flea market finds are quite marvelous. On my afternoon walk today, I browsed a bit in a weekly Sunday flea market set up in a local school's play yard. As usual, I liked the fun of looking around, but knew that my own collection of antique and vintage items are quite a bit more beautiful (and were much less expensive) than anything I saw this afternoon.

On my way home, I dropped off a heavy bag of old books and magazines from my own shelves, with one of the sidewalk book sellers who line some Broadway blocks in my neighborhood. Hoping other readers will recognize the treasures I've released.

xo

Gina said...

Although I've driven past many times I'm not sure I've ever been to Kings Lynn. It looks lovely and well worth a visit.

TrishWish said...

its my local town too for last two years! I avoid the shop area and explore the lanes and streets in the old area around the church, river and library. They are lovely as your pictures show. The Walks Park is worth a stroll too. But our favourite thing is park (free) in West Lynn and take the ferry for £1.50 across the river and go left into the old town. Art centre is being closed down but there is a nice Co-operative Art Space near the library which has good exhibitions.

Anonymous said...

I love this post, not least because of the way you wrote 'Yesterday, Mum, Dad and I' instead of the ubiquitous and incorrect 'Yesterday, Mum, Dad and ME'.

Then, to see King's Lynn again was a thrill because I spent a lot of time there as a child and I haven't been back for too long a time. It really is a lovely place.

Your treasures from the flea market are the sort of things that I would have bought.

Anna said...

What a treasure trove Su! I have memories of passing through King's Lynn as a child in the family car en route from Peterborough to sunny Hunstanton. Would like to stop and have a good look round one of these days.

elaine said...

Even after all the times we have travelled to N.Norfolk we have never stopped at King's Lynn - probably because we are keen to get to our destination. But it is obviously worth a visit so maybe we can stop off on our way ho e instead - the old part is beautiful"