Old Dive's History of Norwich Castle - Part the Twelfth - Episode IV - Up On The Roof

 
Yay! It's the Cathedral from the Castle Keep roof!

Nine long years after the original "Box on the Hill" meeting that kicked off what would morph into "Norwich Castle, Gateway to Mediæval England" and eventually "Norwich Castle - Royal Palace Reborn", the roof is now available to everyone (though because of fire escape regulations, only five wheelchair users at any one time can enjoy it).

And here's our Dan emerging onto the central roof deck. If you scroll down a few posts you'll see the structure being put in that supports it.

For those of you with elephants' memories, here is my old model showing how the new roof platforms work.

Gods, we put some work in on this project! Dan is standing just about where the little figure is on the roof in this cutaway. Down to to lower right you'll see the Ghost Arches from the last post, when they only existed as 3D models on a server.

And this is why we did it.

I won't bore you with a full 360° as there are more than enough of those on the interweb already.

Instead, let's stand on the east side of the roof and pan across from the Cathedral.

Here's my old office window, from which endless sunsets with the Castle and the Cathedral got photographed and posted here over the years.

A half-hour cycle ride from here, down the river valley, is Old Dive's house.

And here are the Castle Gardens, on what remains of the old Castle Fee (see posts passim). Just below us is the moat and to the right, the underground Castle Quarter Mall.

The gardens are a lovely place to just sit and gaze at the Castle.

Next time, we'll venture back inside.

Old Dive's History of Norwich Castle - Part the Twelfth - Episode III - There's Semen In The Basement

 
Actually, there's not - or at least I hope not. That just comes from our old "Game of Scunthorpe", which involves words hidden within other words, and I can never hear the word 'basement' without - how can I put this? - inserting 'semen' into it … er.

What there IS (or was, two days before the Grand Opening, when we had a walk around) was lots of builders' equipment (and lots of builders), desperately dashing to finish on time.

In the northern half of the basement, which was almost finished, the stone flags have been laid back in their original positions, in accordance with a huge, numbered map; every one having had its appropriate number code chalked on the back for the years they were in storage at Gressingham.

Protective glass balustrades now surround the bases of the original arch columns, lost during the castle's long centuries as a prison.

The building contractors wanted to put the floor back level, but we insisted it go back in its original state, otherwise some of the stair doors would be up in the air and some below the floor, as William Rufus started building before the enlarged mound had settled (see posts passim) resulting in the whole thing being somewhat "on the huh".

As well as the mediæval doors and the boring modern doors (outside the keep), I had to design secure glass doors for closed off sections (deemed to dangerous for the public, though we used to clamber all over them when we were kids).

Accessible only for maintenance, but glazed so that folk can see inside, this is the door at the base of the north-west stair tower.

You may recall Henry the First, on the death of Rufus, changing the plans and stopping this stair halfway up, so he could put in a large kitchen fireplace.

This is where the fireplace stood. One of my many glass floors allows folk to see down to the truncated spiral stair below.

This pic is by the castle's own photographer (the kitchen area was cordoned off while I was there, filled with panicking builders), who imported a bunch of families to pose photogenically. sweet, huh?

Speaking of glass floors, there are a whole bunch of them and they were a bugger to detail as they had to be unbreakable, see through (expensive low iron glass for the basement archæology ones, to get rid of the usual green tint) and vented / climate controlled; also removable for access.

Here is the extended foundation last seen in my early posts when we were exploring the archæology.

You can see traces of the infamous Henry and Adeliza Porpoise-Eating Party of Christmas, 1121, in the black layer at the top.

We went through many and varied iterations of the Ghost Arches, to show where the original arches had been under the Great Hall.

Here are Dan and Gabi's hard hats with the lights switched off.

And here is a somewhat wonky photo of them switched on, showing how the basement was illuminted with slit windows spaced to shine through the arches.

And finally today, Gabi, Natasha and Dan enjoying the ambience.

More soon.

Old Dive's History of Norwich Castle - Part the Twelfth - Episode II - Gabi's Glass Bridge

 
Before we start, let's just nip upstairs to the new café for a gander at the atrium.

Dan, Gabi and Natasha admire the view.

Here's a moment we've waited nine long years to enjoy.

Dan and Gabi on Gabi's Famous Bridge. Designed by Gabi, built in 3D by Old Dive, who also produced the construction drawings and overseen by Dan.

Old Dive's model of the bridge.

Looking back t'other way, towards the atrium lift, which will take wheelchair users (and anyone else who feels so inclined) to access the keep on the Great Hall level.

Hopefully, when you get to use it, the place won't be filled with folk in hi-viz jackets, arguing about deadlines.

And, last pics before we head inside the keep: the tiniest of my mediæval doors, hidden within the thickness of the castle wall, the sweet little double doors that close off the bridge out of hours.

Old Dive's History of Norwich Castle - Part the Twelfth - Episode I - Come Inside

 I know, I know; it doesn't look any different on the outside, but come inside and let me show you what I've been up to these past nine years.

Aha! The Victorian window that you may recall being sold off during demolition works has magically transformed into a new entrance.

Mercifully, the new schools entrance is around the back so arriving at opening time will mean you no longer have to wait in the rain while several coachloads of bickering kids are marshalled into what was the miniscule reception area.

Instead, you may (though you probably won't) be caught up by the lovely Natasha for squealy hugs and catch up gossip in the far more Tardis scale new Atrium.

Natasha is the force that keeps my old company alive and kicking.

Here is the new reception desk and the east wall of the keep that had been covered for centuries.

My lovely glass atrium roof, which you've seen being designed and built over the past years.

Structural glass is so much better than the crap steel beams the contractor wanted to use.

Bugger the expense; it's not a bloody factory.

Hoorah! Here come Dan and Gabriela across the moat bridge, armed with a bagful of hi-viz jackets and hard hats for us to cosplay as sexy Architects.

The main museum and art galleries have been kept open as far as possible during the works, but as we'll be in the keep, where the final touches are being made, we have to play dress-up.

Well, now that we're all here, I suppose I'd better show you around, starting with the next post.

The A Team Reunited

So here we are again. Two days before the Castle is due to open but there is still loads to do.

Left to right are: Dan, Old Dive, Tim and Gabriela, the A Team Reunited.

Dan has taken over my duties at F+M since I retired, Tim is Dr. Tim Pestell, Curator of Archæology at Norwich Castle and Gabriela left just before I retired and is now in-house Architect at the Natural History Museum.

No matter how much Morgan Sindall (main Contractors) like to use their huge PR team to claim the glory, it was these four together with Erin (back at the office) and the late and much lamented Hugh Feilden who designed the whole damned lot (see posts passim) and got it built.

Yay us!

 

 

 I took so many photos today, it's gonna take an age to sort them all out and post them, but here is my pride and joy, the main Bigod Tower door.

 

I first started designing the Castle's mediæval doors back in 2018.

You may remember we had to build a version of each one and have it fire tested at £15,000 a pop.

The Smithy has done a fantastic job forging and making all my designs. Many more to come.

Just thought I'd pop this on here now as a big sigh of relief after nine years' hard work.

Artificial Ignorance

 Hokay, so Fuckerberg added his crap AI to Faecebok as well as sucking Trump’s arse by getting rid of fact checking for hate speak and kiddie porn.

The hundreds of spam ads offering me surgery in Turkey for dental work, hair implants, butt lifts, etc. that deluged me yesterday had me wondering about the AI algorithm he’s using.

So I clicked the three little dots and selected, “Why am I seeing this ad?”

The AI replied, “We noticed you’re interested in musical instruments.”

That did it for me.

By-the-bye, please read Careless People, especially the later chapters.

So Farewell Fuckerberg

 Looks like I could post as many sweary, ranty, anti-Trump posts as I wanted but mention Careless People, the book that outs Fuckerberg as a Chinese government stooge who exploits suicidal children for profit and suddenly my Faecebok account is spammed with hundreds of inappropriate and probably illegal ads for Turkish hair and teeth transplants and bum enlargement surgery plus a never-ending spew of distinctly creepy ads for underage dating for elderly men.

So, here I am, back in my beloved Blogville while most of my friends are still trapped in Fuckerberg’s Faecebok Nazi child-porn and suicide hellscape.

I’ll still keep this up, but unless Fuckerberg is prevented from blocking and spamming the real world I won’t be returning to his child-abusing shitscape.

Come Rain or Shine

 

Come rain ...

... or shine ...

... smiley, happy people toil tirelessly to build a nice viewing platform cum party space on the keep roof for your future delight.

Meanwhile, inside the keep itself, those less tolerant of the British weather do their best to persuade Old Dive that there's no way they'll have the Great Hall finished in time.

Down in the basement, an archæologist with a teeny-tiny toy shovel prepares to remove the tons of protective material from the wonders below.

Over in the modern section, someone discovers what happens when you throw a cardboard box at a wall REALLY hard!

More fun and games from the castle soon.

Old Dive's History of Norwich Castle, Part Whatever the Fuck; I Lost Count Months Ago.

 Moving back inside the Keep as the modern buildings outside are nearing completion, it's amazing how much new prison-era graffiti keeps turning up from behind old Victorian boards and cupboards.

Here's another lot to be protected behind glass.

Joining the inside of the Keep to the new buildings outside will be Gabi's waffy glass bridge for wheelchair access to the Great Hall.

Here are a couple of likely lads comedy-wrestling a steel prop into position where we've hacked through the Soane-era crap brickwork to the Norman external arch for the bridge link.

And here's what will be the new bridge entrance a week later with the first of the bridge support steels in place.

Let's finish up with another rainy and grey February view of the Atrium showing the previously hidden east wall of the Keep basement and the base of the Bigod Tower.

The Atrium Takes Shape

Well here we are, back in the Atrium in our sexy yellow gilets. That waffy brown plastic drainpipe is NOT part of Gabi's design, though with her Modernist tendencies she might want to keep it.

The lower floor here will be the Museum shop and the floor above the café, looking across to the keep wall and the Bigod Tower (previously hidden for centuries).

The floor above that will be the Education Centre, where schoolkids can gaze at the newly exposed castle walls and learn about mediæval grossness.

I must say I'm chuffed with the structural glass beams; much better than great big ugly old steels.

We do get the occasional blue sky here in Norfolk, though at this time of year it means it's bitterly cold.

More soon …