Visitors ‘teemed through the doors’ as King’s Lynn beer expert Jeff Hoyle joined stewards on heritage day
In his weekly The bar Man column, King’s Lynn beer expert Jeff Hoyle praises Heritage Open Day…
Heritage Day has come round again, and our day was planned like a military exercise. First stop was Wenns in Lynn which serves an excellent breakfast at weekends and set us up nicely for the day.
From here it was but a short walk to the must-see attraction of the day. It is the first time the Valiant Sailor on Nelson Street had been open to the public and it didn’t disappoint. It hasn’t been a pub since 1925, so it is not surprising that there is no bar or other trace of its former role in hospitality but, with the wooden beams and grand interior, it’s not hard to imagine how it was 100 years ago.
The owners had evoked the spirit of some of the former inhabitants with reproductions of some of Walter Dexter’s paintings hanging on the walls and information about his life.
Dr Elizabeth Harrison, a more recent inhabitant was also featured, but weirdly, I was more impressed than I should have been by the number of books on the bookshelves that I have read.
I am sure that I am not alone in awarding top marks for the owners and the Heritage Day organisers for allowing us a peek inside, and I saw at least eight people I knew during my brief visit.
From there it was off up the road to the Greenland Fishery, where we acted as stewards for a couple of hours. We had seen new owner Stevie, a couple of days before and she asked how many visitors to expect. Sixty or 70 she guessed while we suggested that was a considerable underestimate. We were correct.
They teemed through the doors, perhaps attracted by the chance to see the fabulous wall paintings or maybe to listen to Stevie playing her hurdy gurdy accompanied by a flute.
Either way, it was nice to see both sides of the building open again and the huge iron bar on the ceiling correctly identified as a type of balance rather than a harpoon as it was last time I stewarded there.
Apparently, it was used to weigh carriages or wagons at the Blue Lion pub which once stood on Norfolk Street and was nicknamed The Hanging Chains.
I was stationed in a ground floor room where the massive wooden beam over the old fireplace displayed many witch marks carved to protect the premises from evil spirits and burn marks, for which I was presented with at least three theories, possibly related to its time as a pub.
Passing up the chance to visit the third former pub in the area, now the Friends’ Meeting House, but still retaining the fabulous stained glass in the windows, it was time to have a pint at a current establishment, and so on to the Live and Let Live.
As well as historic displays, games and the most delicious looking cream teas, there was a special offer on the beer, available for 1/6d per pint. I had prepared by scrabbling around in the attic and came armed with a selection of pre-decimal coinage so I could fully enjoy the excellent ale while the bar staff consulted their crib sheets to understand the difference between pennies, thrupenny bits and tanners.
It was a shame the rain brought a premature end to the day for many visitors, but my impression is that it was very popular with thousands of people in town and the organisers and stewards are due praise and the thanks of all of us who participated.
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