Norwich derives its name from Northwic, one of the settlements on the Wensum that existed in Anglo-Saxon times. The castle and the cathedral date back to the Norman era.

The city has certainly experienced its share of adversity: epidemics (the Black Death in 1349 may have carried off as much as 40% of the population, and the Bubonic Plague of 1665-6 sent the wealthy away in droves); rebellion (the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, and the revolt of the followers of Robert Kett in 1549); fires (1507 was a particularly bad year); and bombings (more than 40 episodes during the Second World War).

For 500 years the city was associated with weaving, initially worsted and then other types of cloth, but the leather and brewing industries also gained importance as the years went by.

There's a collection of circular walks that guides you round some of this history, and it's our self-appointed task to complete all three.

Yesterday's was the "south" walk (plus a few extras).











I was particularly interested in St Julian's, the church from which Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) takes her name (we don't know her real one).



I first came across her through Richard Rohr's meditations. She is the first woman to write a book in the English language, and as a theologian she was well ahead of her time. In a heavily male-oriented era, she recognized the feminine attributes of a God who is not only father but also mother. And she presented a loving, nurturing God, when most other religious people were emphasizing an angry, punishing God.

This is all the more extraordinary given the times she lived in, which are in some ways reminiscent of our own. Julian survived three waves of the Black Death, and is likely to have lost people close to her. As an anchoress, she knew all about self-isolation.

Yet her message is overwhelmingly positive: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well... [God] did not say, 'You shall not be perturbed, you shall not be troubled, you shall not be distressed', but he said, 'You shall not be overcome.'"

Comforting...

The church we see today is a restoration, as the original was destroyed in World War II. You can now go in again, and see the shrine. But we didn't, because we were too early, and we won't, because we're going in as few places as possible, in an attempt to minimize the risk of catching anything just when we want to be boarding a plane...

Anyway, to resume:






So, all very agreeable, and we're looking forward to more.

Today, though, by way of a change, we walked out of the city to Whitlingham Great Broad.








It was anniversary weekend for us, too, so it's been a busy couple of days: