This multi-cache will take you on a walk across the centre of Norwich, a city where the medieval city plan is still clear in many places. Hopefully there's something for everyone to discover about the Fine City on the way and you may even uncover an unexpected element to Norwich.
The walk is about a kilometre in length and can be done slowly, taking diversions off to other parts of the city as you go, or more directly. It's generally flat and the way is suitable for just about anyone including wheelchair users. There are some useful notes about the final cache at the bottom of the listing and a way of checking you have the correct coordinates.
Waypoint 1: Bank Plain
N 52 37.799 E 001 17.815 (the published coordinates)
The walk starts on the edge of Bank Plain at the top of London Street. From 1900 until the mid 1930s trams ran along Bank Plain until the network was replaced by motor buses by the Norwich Omnibus Company. Traffic congestion rapidly became an increasing problem on the often narrow medieval streets within the city centre, as first buses and then motor cars became more popular and affordable over the course of the 20th century.
London Street leads into the heart of the city centre from here, away from Bank Plain and down the hill. It also marks the beginnings of pedestrianisation, and not just in Norwich.
Clue A: (updated 1 March 22) Look down London Street from the waypoint. You will see two buildings next to each other with a series of crests on their wall at first-floor level. Count the total number of crests you can see on the buildings.
The crests on the white building had been removed, but are now back and wonderfully painted.
Waypoint 2: Bedford Street
N 52 37.785 E 001 17.762
By the 1960s London Street was increasingly crowded with motor traffic. Congestion, noise, air pollution and accident risk were all causing problems, particularly towards the bottom where, as you can see, the street narrows. Over 800 vehicles an hour used the street and, with car ownership rising quickly, the medieval street plan of Norwich was struggling to cope. Something clearly needed to be done - but what and at what cost to trade?
November 1964 saw a fortuitous accident when a section of sewer pipe on London Street collapsed. The street was forced to close to vehicles for six weeks for repairs, an event which allowed one man's vision for the centre of Norwich to be showcased.
Clue B: Find the FP marker which shows that there is a fire plug/pump/point (or hydrant - somewhere to attach a fire hose) 13'6" from the marker. At the top of the marker is a smaller two digit number. Add the digits of that number together to find B. Note: specific hint for this clue below.
Whilst you're here, there’s a white plaque on the wall just on the right of Opie Street which is well worth a brief diversion to take a look at. This features as a point on the Look Up virtual cache set in 2017 by CaptSlogg which is well worth considering alongside this cache - you'll pass another of the waypoints for that cache later on.
Waypoint 3: London Street
N 52 37.749 E 001 17.691
Alfred Wood was the chief planning officer of Norwich Corporation. Planners had long considered the benefits of pedestrianised streets, but by the mid 1960s not a single existing major shopping street in the UK had been closed to traffic. The temporary closure of London Street in 1964 had seemed to show that, despite expectations, shoppers had actually increased and Wood proposed the closure of the street to traffic on a permanent basis in 1965. Arguments continued, and a three month experiment was agreed, with London Street from the start of your walk to this point being closed to all traffic.
On 17 July 1967 the Lord Mayor of Norwich Cecil Sutton and his wife tied a ribbon across London Street at this point, closing the street to traffic - the opposite of the usual "cutting the ribbon" ceremony. Within a few days the plan was being heralded as a success. Tables appeared on the street and traders reported a marked increase in shoppers. The experiment was extended until Christmas and the closure made permanent in 1968 as London Street became the first shopping street in the UK to be pedestrianised.
The modern building to your right at the top of Swan Lane is the site of Garland's department store. The original building burned down in a fire in 1970, although the shop remained here until 1984 in the rebuilt premises. You'll find your answers for clue C on its wall...
Clue C: How many names has London Street had? Don't forget to count its current name!
Waypoint 4: Castle Street
N 52 37.713 E 001 17.673
London Street continues to the right towards the medieval Guildhall, the largest outside London. This section of the street was not part of the initial pedestrianisation after opposition from traders. There are always, it seems, people dead against the idea.
Turn left into Castle Street which, along with the final section of London Street, was pedestrianised in the 1970s. The London Street scheme was promoted by the government and by 1970 at least 19 other UK streets had been pedestrianised. The idea was influential beyond the UK and Perth, Western Australia was one of the first to take up the idea, encouraged directly by the success of London Street's closure.
Clue D: A building here was rebuilt. The number of Cs in the date on the plaque is D.
Waypoint 5: Gentleman's Walk
N 52 37.713 E 001 17.606
Turn on to Davey Place and walk to Gentleman's Walk and the Market Place. This is about as central as you get in Norwich. The market has been here since 1075, having moved from its original site on Tombland between Bank Plain and the cathedral, and this has long been the commercial heart of the city. City Hall housed Alfred Woods' office and is behind the market. It dates from 1938 when it replaced the medieval Guildhall you can see slightly to the right.
Gentleman's Walk was pedestrianised in the 1980s. Its worth considering the difficulties businesses might have in getting stock delivered in a pedestrianised city. Traders, especially those who deal in bulky goods, have always had mixed views on pedestrianisation. Those on London Street were reluctant to take the plunge until the fortuitous sewer collapse and every new stage of pedestrianisation has been greeted with doubt by some, whilst others remain dead against it. The newer building between Davey Place and the Royal Arcade was once the home of a major electronic retailers who might have had difficulty getting access.
Clue E: Norwich has many firsts other than pedestrianisation to its name and one is commemorated here. Take the last digit of the last year on the plaque as E.
Waypoint 6: Royal Arcade
N 52 37.690 E 001 17.638
Turn left onto the Walk and then walk through the covered Royal Arcade, an Art Nouveau shopping arcade built in the late Victorian period. It was designed by local architect George Skipper and built on the old coaching yard of the Royal Hotel, one of many hotels and inns which once fronted on to Gentleman's Walk. Glass, mahogany and decorative tiles decorate the arcade which was described as a "fragment of the Arabian nights" when it was opened.
The front of the arcade retains the original frontage of part of the Royal Hotel. The arcade itself provided a refuge from traffic on Gentleman's Walk, originally carriages and carts and then during the 20th century, cars and buses. It was one of Norwich's first shopping areas to be away from traffic and shows that pedestrian only areas - or Foot Streets as Wood termed them - existed in the city before 1967.
Clue F: Half way down the arcade there is a round plaque commemorating George Skipper on the right hand wall. Make sure you get the right plaque - you want the one that gives his birth and death dates. Three dates are shown on this plaque. Count how many times the digit 6 appears.
Your GPS enabled device might be less useful here as you're under a roof. You need to look half way down the arcade. The arcade may be locked late at night - if it is, go back along Davey Place and turn right. You'll find the same information on a wall by the next waypoint...
Waypoint 7: Back Of The Inns
N 52 37.690 E 001 17.676
Walk through the Royal Arcade to reach Back Of The Inns. The inns and hotels which fronted on to Gentleman's Walk had their stables along here which provided them with access to the River Cockey which once ran along here before following the line of Castle Street, crossing London Street at Waypoint 3. The Cockey is now underground, no longer needed as a source of water for the horses. We'll come across it again later on the walk.
Looking up from the exit of the Royal Arcade you can catch a glimpse of Norwich Castle, built by the conquering Normans. The stone keep was completed by about 1100 and still dominates the skyline of the city.
Clue G: At the exit to the Royal Arcade you can find a date related to the castle. Take the last digit of the date as G.
If the date is covered for some reason you can find an identical fixture a little way to the right, outside the entrance to Castle Mall.
Waypoint 8: York Alley
N 52 37.646 E 001 17.675
Follow Back Of The Inns past the entrance to Castle Mall (renamed as Castle Quarter) and on to White Lion Street. The largely underground shopping centre was built in the early 1990s and, along with the newer Chapelfield centre, has helped keep major stores in Norwich's city centre and opened up more traffic free shopping areas.
The Criterion Cafe once stood on White Lion Street, in the rather ornate building which is now a gentlemen's outfitters. Norwich City Football Club were formed here in 1902 - a plaque in York Alley to the side of the shop commemorates this high up on the wall.
Clue H: Count the number of letters in the former name of York Alley - include both words.
Waypoint 9: Orford Hill
N 52 37.624 E 001 17.696
You'll probably notice that Red Lion Street, which comes down from the castle to the left, is the only road you need to cross to find all the clues. It's a testament to the pedestrianisation of the city that this is now the case. Only buses and taxis are allowed to use the street nowadays and a handy pedestrian crossing is just where you need it to be to cross on to Orford Hill, the area of open space at the base of Timberhill.
There have been timber and swine markets here and the hill was originally known as Hog Hill. As you walk up Timberhill keep an eye out for an unusual pub sign on the left (check both sides - locals will know all about this) and check out 7a Timberhill which used to be the home of the Owl Sanctuary, a local music venue. Cracking, indeed. But first, find the answer to Clue J.
Clue J: There are three blue plaques on the walls of Orford Hill. Find the one commemorating the local surgeon. He published about a number of things, including the treatment of a particular condition (the last two words on the plaque). Count the number of letters in the condition - and then take just the UNITS as J (so 24 would give you 4).
Waypoint 10: Timberhill
N 52 37.579 E 001 17.728
Timberhill leads out of the city centre and towards the old Roman road into the city which runs along the line of the modern Ber Street. It was only pedestrianised in the 1990s. You'll find another entrance to Castle Mall at the top of the hill - four floors of retail units fit into the climb between here and Back Of The Inns.
At the top of the hill you'll find Lion & Castle Yard, named after a former pub - Norwich is believed to have once had a pub for every day of the year and a church for every week. It certainly still has an awful lot of medieval church buildings - St John the Baptist is on Timberhill (and, yes, there is a church micro there...).
Clue K: Two dates are mentioned here. Take the first date only and add the digits together to get K (so, 2018 would be 2 + 0 + 1 + 8 = 11).
Waypoint 11: All Saints Green
N 52 37.543 E 001 17.749
The top of Timberhill opens onto All Saints Green. This is the most recent stage in the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre, completed in 2017, a full fifty years after London Street was first closed to traffic. Westlegate, which runs back down into the city centre to the right, was closed in 2016. As a result the city centre is now almost completely traffic free - Alfred Wood's plan for traffic to be diverted around the city centre on the Inner Ring Road has just about reached its logical conclusions, although Wood would probably have gone further.
Perhaps you've decided how you feel about the pedestrianisation of the city centre?
Clue L: You should find information about the River Cockey here. How many rivers, including the Cockey, are mentioned?
The Cache
There are plenty of places to sit down to calculate the final coordinates for the cache. These can be found by substituting your answers into the following formula:
N 52 37.(G-F)(H-A)C E 001 17.(B-D)(K-E-L)(G-J)
Your final coordinates can be checked on certitude where a hint as to the final cache location will also be revealed. You should be able to find some kind of wi-fi signal close to here to make accessing the checker easier.
To reach the final cache location is straight forward and should take no more than a few minutes to walk to. The hint from the checker is very precise and once you find the final location it will be obvious where the cache is. Try to be subtle whilst removing and replacing it as the area can be busy at times.
The container is very small with only room for a log. A log removal tool might well be helpful - I find a paper clip convenient. Please bring something to write with and try to replace the cache as you found it.
Changes made to the cache listing on 18 June 2018 mean that I believe the entire cache is now suitable for wheelchair users. Feedback would be appreciated from any wheelchair users regarding this.
Please, please, please replace it exactly as found - it seems to hide away much better on that "side".