Norwich nostalgia

It took just a two-hour train journey from London to be whisked back years. I lived in Norwich, an ancient and important city in eastern England, from 1992-9. It was both family home and the place where I studied at the University of East Anglia.

This time I was armed with my camera to see its crowning glory, the cathedral. My feet remembered where to go, from the pretty lanes including Elm Hill, and to lunch at an unchanged old haunt, The Waffle House. The banana milkshakes were still deliciously rich, and the same guy still works there.

The UEA’s campus, a bold cluster of concrete set beside a lake, couldn’t be more different from the ancient city centre. It felt nostalgically familiar, but the current students weren’t even born when I was one of them. Sometimes going back can be a bad idea, but this was a happy retread.

Click first image to view the gallery

Tags: architecture, campus, cloisters, concrete, Elm Hill, Great Britain, Norfolk, Norwich, Norwich Cathedral, nostalgia, photography, Sainsbury Centre, Suffolk Terrace, The Waffle House, travel, University of East Anglia, ziggurats

15 thoughts on “Norwich nostalgia”

Sreejith Nair on March 17, 2015 at 18:34 said:

Really enjoyed the diversity of images here, Mike :)

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 17, 2015 at 18:36 said:
  
  Thank you Sreejith :) Yes, quite a dichotomy of architectural styles.
  
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elmediat on March 17, 2015 at 18:32 said:

Beautiful sequence of compositions.

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 17, 2015 at 18:35 said:
  
  Thank you very much! I hope you enjoyed a quick visit to this city.
  
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jotsfromasmallapt on March 16, 2015 at 01:47 said:

Spent two lovely weeks in the Norfolk vicinity: Norwich, Blakeney, Salthouse, Cley-Next-the-Sea…etc. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Thank you, Mike, for the reminder of my wonderful time….

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 16, 2015 at 12:54 said:
  
  Thank you so much, I’m glad to have revived good memories other than my own! And that part of the north Norfolk coast is wonderful – superb for some moody landscape monochrome.
  
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Cos on March 15, 2015 at 11:10 said:

Going back to such a beautiful place isn’t bad at all. Such a nice cathedral and I love the 70’s-style architecture as well. I suppose the sunny weather was working in advance to this retread too.

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 15, 2015 at 14:43 said:
  
  Hey Koos, thanks so much as always. I must admit the cathedral rocked my photographic world, but the real memories flooded back at the university and overtook the photography a little. And I chose the weather for it indeed!
  
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ckponderings on March 15, 2015 at 10:36 said:

A nice set of images, Mike. Unfortunately, Norwich is forever tarnished in my mind – I travelled there a couple of times for work (when I was gainfully employed by the huge insurance company in the city) and all I can remember about it is the ring road… :(

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 15, 2015 at 14:41 said:
  
  Oh indeed! I worked for them briefly as well. Ah, it’s a fine city… you should have penetrated the ring road (as it were).
  
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  - ckponderings on March 16, 2015 at 08:16 said:
    
    Haha! Ahem, lol…
    
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leecleland on March 15, 2015 at 09:57 said:

What a wonderful collection of old and modern, love them all Mike. The first two set the stage for the ones that follow, such a contrast there. Love the abstractedness of Pillar’s Shadow.

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- mikeosbornphoto on March 15, 2015 at 14:32 said:
  
  Thanks so much, Lee. It struck me that no two buildings could be more different. But I think the whole point of the visit almost overcame the need to photograph it. Memories, eh?!
  
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  - leecleland on March 16, 2015 at 02:59 said:
    
    Memories indeed Mike but unless you’d gone you would still be wondering, it’s a catch 22 situation my friend :)
    
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    - mikeosbornphoto on March 16, 2015 at 12:52 said:
      
      Very true! It was the nostalgia that drove me there in the first instance. Best to take it on the chin!
      
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