What they once saw

Carrie came to visit for a few days, and we went around to lots of interesting places in Norwich. I hadn't been to Dragon Hall before, forgot to last time, but now I have made it.

It was really nice to have Carrie visiting. I'd only been here a week, but feeling fairly comfortable in the house and back in Norwich, so it feels like I've been here longer than a week. We went to some of the beautiful medieval churches, wandered the streets, and walked through Dragon Hall.

This hall is a 14th Century wool trading centre, and is the only surviving wool hall owned by an individual in England. All of it is a display of wealth and power, with unnecessary amounts of wood and huge windows. It has been used as a wool hall, to house several families, as a storage space, and was forgotten for many years (although how people can forget the spectacular room just upstairs beats me). It's been patched up at times, wallpapered, had an extra level put in and then removed, and restoration done. It is now a function and visitors centre, and displays the interesting history well. Carrie and I walked through in the morning, and after I took her to the train station I went back, and walked through on a tour.

I always enjoy looking out of high windows in these old buildings. I almost chose a photo of a window showing only the sky. All that is visible is sky, and I know that what I am seeing has been seen by generations throughout the ages, that hundreds of years ago someone stared out that window on a sparkling day and seen the same blue sky radiating through. It's a powerful connection with the past. The view would have been a little different from these windows, but I still wonder about all the people who have stood there, waiting for their purchase, waiting for a meal, day dreaming out the window.