Mitzi and Jazz

We sadly lost Frosty our last pussycat in September 2024. He has been sorely missed and we decided that we still wanted a cat or cats in our lives and so a month ago we took in Mitzi and Jazz, a mother and son of 7 and 5. The mother in particular has settled well but her son is gaining in confidence and they are certainly happy with each other with regular play fights and chases around the house that need to be seen to be believed. They are a complete contrast to Frosty and keep us on our toes. Fortunately they do rest sometimes.

Gloucester Docks

Gloucester Docks are England's most inland port. The docks opened in 1827 and became a hub of activity during the 19th and early 20th centuries, with ships offloading cargos of wheat, barley, oats and maize to numerous warehouses before onward journeys via barge and narrowboat to the Midlands. Small coasters and barge traffic continued to serve the Docks until the 1970s, after which time they largely fell out of use. However, the area is now an area of regeneration boasting a number of listed buildings including the old mariner's chapel. The old warehouses have been restored for office, rsidential and leisure use and an old engineering works re-opened as a retail outlet in 2009. It's an interesting area to have a wander around.

Monmouth

Dean Forest Railway

We headed to Norchard station today for a ride on one of their steam services which was hauled by a Pannier Tank marked up in British Railways black and looking very smart. After a bite to eat in their cafe we were just having a mooch around the book shop carriage when someone mentioned something about a fire and, sure enough, dry bracken on a large section of banking was ablaze! We soo heard sirens and a couple of appliances turned up and crews dampened things down. Good job too!

Wymondham Abbey

Wymondham Abbey, in Norfolk, is a Norman church that has its origins in 1107 as a monastic church. Much of the stone was shipped from Normandy, in France. The central tower is a late 14th century replacement and the church was enlarged in the mid 1400s when a hammer beam roof with carved life sized angels was added. The dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII resulted in the demolition of monastic buildings but the stone was re-used and parts of the church further enlarged in the mid 1500s.

Inside the church can be found an impressive organ dating form 1793, the aforementioned carved angels and a more recent gilded altar screen which was dedicated in 1921 as a war memorial.

In 2016 following a fund raising campaign a new extension was built to house historic displays and information boards as well as provide vestries and a refreshment area.

Despite visiting Norfolk more times that I can remember over the years the Abbey had previously escaped my notice but we called in on Christmas Eve to finally catch up on what we were missing.