Archive for July 2010
As if the host of wonderful shops, workshops, cafe and therapy room wasn’t enough to encourage you to visit Creake Abbey Studios this summer, there is now an added attraction that will be of particular interest to those nature-lovers among you.
A Date With Nature - Barn Owls
White Barn Owls are a regular visitor to one of the barns at Creake Abbey Studios in North Creake, so much so that this year, the RSPB installed a camera in one of the boxes they nest in. Just to demonstrate that while we may be able to observe these stunning wild creatures, we cannot control them, the owls consequently decided to nest in the other available box! When the time was right, the camera was moved, and now provides a live feed from the nesting box onto a television in the nearby exhibition trailer, where you can watch the birds.
What can you expect to see we hear you ask? Well, depending on the time of day, you can be privvy to the owls’ family life as they come and go and raise their young. You can also chat with the RSPB representatives about all things bird-related. If you visit in the evening, you might be able to spot Daddy Owl hunting across the nearby fields before returning to the nest box to feed his baby. Ringed so he can be tracked, Dad is a native to the locale – he was born down the road in South Creake!
There is a slightly sad (and grim) aside to this story that serves to illustrate the delicate balance of nature, including these majestic birds. Originally, there were 5 chicks this year but it has been a poor vole season apparently and there was not enough food to go around. So one chick ate the other four (we warned you it was grim). This remaining (presumably strongest/largest) chick is the only one still to remain.
The event runs 7 days a week from 5 June until 29 August 2010, from 11am until dusk. It is totally free to visit.
View ADWN barn owl (PDF) for further information about the Date With Nature at Creake Abbey Studios or visit www.rspb.org.uk/datewithnature/
Barn Owls - Hunters Not Haunters!
The long summer school holidays are almost upon us and there’s lots of fun to be had at Norwich’s Dragon Hall which is especially welcoming families over the coming weeks.
Throughout the summer the ancient building is inviting families and young visitors the opportunity to ‘Step Into A Story’. Every week throughout the summer there are weeklong activities based on a different themed story, inspired by the people and history of Dragon Hall.
Step into a new story each week to discover a fun range of craft activities, trails, dressing up and much more. One day of each week will be a special hands-on day with extra things to see and do and exciting things to make and take home.
Normal admission prices apply, except for the special activity days, which cost a little bit more to cover materials and additional activities. Full listings details at the end of this.
For the first week of the holidays, Monday 28 – Friday 30 July visitors are invited to Meet The Toppes’. Robert Toppes was the founder of Dragon Hall, a wealthy merchant and Mayor. Robert Toppes and his family’s likenesses were captured in stained glass and can still be seen in St Peter Mancroft Church Norwich today. For one day only (Weds 28) Captured in Glass is a chance for families and kids to paint their own image on glass to take home and to keep forever.
Robert Toppes Window at St Peter Mancroft, Norwich.
The following week Dragon’s Den invites everyone to create a product, present a business plan to the Guild of St George and become a Medieval Millionaire! The Guild will be judging all week long and the best creation of the week will win an annual family ticket to Dragon Hall.
Other Step Into A Story summer family fun events will run throughout August.
From 9 – 13 August Fashion and Feasts Fit for a Queen allows you to join in as the inhabitants of Dragon Hall prepare their Royal Feast and dress in the latest fashions for the visit of Queen Elizabeth I in 1578. You can to make medieval food and clothing to take back to your palace! On 9 August Liz Is Here! And you can Meet Elizabeth I and watch the intriguing spectacle of her being dressed.
Don’t forget to shower her with compliments otherwise it will be OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!
Quest for the Dragon’s Hoard, 16 – 20 August. calls for help from all brave knights and plucky princesses. Enemy of the city, Tolbert Rottes, is threatening to steal the hoard of loot collected during the Mayor’s Procession. Snap the Dragon is protecting the cash in Dragon Hall. By following the quest, and completing the tasks to find Snap, knights and princesses can defeat Rottes and collect a reward. There’s a free gold coin on arrival for those who come dressed as a knight or princess.
On Wednesday 18 August it’s Teddy Tabbards! Bring your bear to Dragon Hall and create a stylish knight’s tabard for ted and another for yourself, then picnic together in the beautiful Dragon Hall garden.
In 1625 the bubonic plague returned to Norwich. In Pestilence and Plague! throughout the week of 23 – 27 August youngsters are asked to help the residents of Dragon Hall find a cure for all those irritating pimples and pustules. They’ll be shown how to make their own mask as protection from disease and sweet smelling posy bags, tinctures and potions to soak away the stink of the City! On Wednesday 25 August at Aromas and Remedies there’s the chance to meet Dragon Hall’s very own wise woman to learn all about the medicinal magic of the medieval garden.
For the last week of the holidays from 30 August – 3 September the focus falls on archaeology with Dig Deeper, a week of archaeological antics. Everyone is invited to hunt through the Hall to find out how objects buried for centuries are unearthed and can help explain the past to the present.
Events
Monday 26 – Friday 30 July 10am – 4pm (last admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Meet the Toppes: Painting and Portraiture.
Included in normal admission charges
Wednesday 28 July 10am – 4pm (last admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Captured in Glass
Family ticket £20, Adult £4.50, Child £5, Senior £3.50
Monday 1 – Friday 5 August 10am – 4pm (last admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Dragon’s Den
Included in normal admission charges
Monday 9 – Friday 13 August 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Fashion and Feasts Fit for a Queen
Included in normal admission charges
Monday 9 August 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: LIZ IS HERE!
Family ticket £20, Adult £4.50, Child £5, Senior £3.50
Monday 16 – Friday 20 August 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Quest for the Dragon’s Hoard
Included in normal admission charges
Wednesday 18 August 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Teddy Tabbards!
Family ticket £20, Adult £4.50, Child £5, Senior £3.50
Monday 23 – Friday 27 August 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Pestilence and Plague!
Included in normal admission charges
Wednesday 25 August 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Aromas and Remedies
Family ticket £20, Adult £4.50, Child £5, Senior £3.50
Monday 30 August-Friday 3 September 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Summer Family Fun: Dig Deeper: A week of archaeological antics
Wednesday 1 September 10am – 4pm (final admissions for activities 3pm)
Archaeology Day
Family ticket £20 (2 adults and up to 3 children), Adult £4.50, Child £5, Senior £3.50
Dragon Hall, 115-123 King St Norwich NR1 1QE 01603 663922 www.dragonhall.org
Gift Aid Admission prices are Adults £5.50, concessions £4.00 Family group (2 adults, up to 3 children) £15.00 Under 5s FREE
Standard admission: Adults £5, concessions £3.50 Family group (2 adults, up to 3 children) £13.50 Under 5s FREE
Jarrold voted the nation’s favourite department store by The Times.
Jarrold in The Times. Click to Enlarge.
Hot on the heels of their 240 year anniversary, there is even more reason to celebrate at Jarrolds this week. They are delighted to have been named the UK’s favourite department store following a poll conducted by The Times. Their readers think that Jarrolds is the best place to shop in the United Kingdom citing “excellent quality, dependability and friendliness ..” amongst the reasons for giving such huge vote of confidence.
“We are naturally thrilled to receive such an endorsement from The Times readers. Our aim has always been to offer our customers a unique shopping experience through the combination of an outstanding product range and a traditional approach to good service,” said Michelle Jarrold. “It’s great news to hear that this mix seems to be hitting the spot with the shoppers of East Anglia, and to receive this accolade in the year of our 240th anniversary makes it all the more special.”
A fantastic show of support for Norwich as a National retail destination. Superb.
- 18/05/2012 - Victorian Shell Artistry May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Shipwrecked! Back to 1897 May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - A Walk Through Time: The Victorians May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Norwich 20 Group – Looking into 20 – paintings and sculpture at The Forum May 18, 2012
- 18/05/2012 - Tony Foster Paintings/Angela Harding Prints May 18, 2012