Prehistory and Power: The Arminghall Henge

Very little to see here, let alone photograph, this little patch in Arminghall, just outside of Norwich, is nevertheless the site of a Neolithic timber circle and henge. The two concentric rings are barely perceptible today, easily mistaken for mere mounds in a field. The henge is orientated on the midminter sunset.

The henge was discovered in 1929 by Gilbert Insall VC, who noticed the circles whilst flying overhead. (A decorated First World War pilot, he had also discovered Woodhenge a few years earlier in the same way). The River Tas flows past nearby.

The most noticable features of the landscape here today are the looming pylons and nearby electricity sub-station. There is something weirldy poetic about this: massive energy-transferring structures erected over the site of the location of long-gone prehistoric wooden totems.

On Top of the City: Kett's Heights

The small park on Kett's Hill known as Kett's Heights. Over the past 900 years the garden has been the site of a chapel (St Michaels: part of the wall still remains), the campsite of local 16th century Roebrt Kett, and a piggery and allotment during the Second World War.

The beacon at the top of the heights was erected in 1988, on the 400th anniversary of the attempted invasion by the Spanish Armada.

The landscape of Norfolk and Norwich are often (lazily) assumed to be flat, akin to the fens. Whilst hardly the most mountainous of counties, the view from the top of the Heights is certainly one that stretches out for miles.

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.

Sports Day is Cancelled: The Civil Service Sports Ground

The site of the former Civil Service Sports Ground, off Wentworth Green, Norwich, close to Newmarket Road. It included several football pitches and a basketball court. A demolished building was presumably changing rooms / reception.

The entire site is fenced off, and has been closed for several years. This, however, doesn't stop the ground from being used by the many local dog walkers who take advantage of the several gaps in the fencing. On the day I visited, dragonflies were also in abundance.

Planning permission to concrete over the site and throw up cheap housing for maximum profit is inevitably in the works, but until then, and despite the rubble and neglected basketball court on the far side, the site it remains a surprsingly pleasant, well-hidden, mini green belt in the city.