Abandoned Boozers of Norwich #11: The Kimberley Arms

Returning to one of my earliest themes on Eastscapes: the decline of the good old traditional boozer. Whilst on the edge of Norwich's student land, I only ever called in here once: one Christmas Eve afternoon, by myself, waiting for my girlfriend to finish work in the city. There were about half a dozen regulars drinking, with the staff, from a multipack of cheap canned lager placed brazenly on the bar. I ordered a pint of John Smiths, was on the receiving end of a few suspicious looks, drank up swiftly, and headed off again.

The Abandoned Boozers of Norwich

Some very early (re-edited) images from EastScapes. The declining pub industry seemed to represent the present-day UK in a nutshell: decay, shifting community, shifting leisure patterns. So much history has been carved out on the floorboards of British inns: the bargain booze aisles of harshly-lit supermarkets don't feel quite the same.

EastsXXXapes

Finally, smut arrives at Eastscapes. A touch of street art on a cistern in the gents at the Rumsey Wells pub on St Andrews Street, Norwich.

Abandoned Boozers of Norwich # 10: The Ferryboat

Closed since 2006. The Ferryboat was an important live music venue in the city until its closure in 2006. Bands and acts performed in a converted boat barn at the back of the pub. A selected list of acts to play there over the years can be found at the pub's Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ferryboat_Inn

Post-Moldy Peaches, pre-'Juno' soundtrack Kimya Dawson played there in 2004, too.

Fondly remembered by many, The Ferryboat has an additional dark curiosity nowadays since the revelation that Ipswich Strangler Steve Wright ran the pub in the late 1980s. The fact that The Ferryboat is located in Norwich's red light district did not go overlooked.

The Ferryboat is supposedly to reopen in 2011 as an eco-friendly youth hostel. Hopefully this will materialise, and will maintain some of its former life's more alternative spirit, in opposition to the increasingly soulless Riverside gentrification and yuppiefication that partly saw it closed in the first place.

Abandoned Boozers of Norwich # 9: The Grove Inn

Closed July 2009. Recent reports in the local Evening News claim the 'eyesore' building has now been sold, and is to be demolished to make way for the inevitable flats. Situated on Cadge Road, Norwich.

Abandoned Boozers of Norwich #8: Cricketers Rest

Closed in March 2010. Opened as The Beerhouse back in 1836. In the past few years it was a regular venue (or, rather, its smaller outhouse - The Barn) for punk, rock and alternative music gigs.

Abandoned Boozers of Norwich #7: The Walnut Tree Shades

As with The Woolpack (see #5), The Walnut Tree Shades is currently 'Closed Until Further Notice,' and its decent physical condition will hopefully allow for a swifty reopening. Tucked into a city centre sidestreet, only a few seconds away from my workplace, it also doubled as an American restaurant on the first floor. I only ever drank here a couple of times, despite its close proximity. It can boast one of the best signs in the city (the great, New York-in-the-'40s style one on the outside wall), and one of the most hideous (the walnut wearing, um, shades).