Once Upon a Time in Norfolk E-Book

Isabelle King

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 148

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Beschreibung

From the author of The Norfolk Story Book comes this book of delightful stories. Set sail for adventure on the stormy seas of Yarmouth, discover enchanting tales woven by strangers in Elizabethan Norwich, journey through the forests of ancient Norfolk with a courageous Iceni girl, travel through time with the curious kitten of Thetford, meet the King of a magnificent Norman Castle and find out what life was like in a Victorian Workhouse. Inspired by the museums throughout Norfolk Museums Service, this book consists of eight short stories, all original works of fiction which combine local history with imagination and fun.

Leseprobe

First published 2018

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

© Isabelle King, 2018

The right of Isabelle King to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7509 8838 4

Typesetting and origination by The History Press

Printed in Great Britain

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

Contents

1.   ADVENTURE CASTLE

Inspired by Norwich Castle

• In the Story – Castle Battlements, the Great Hall and a Stone Lion Carving

2.   THE STORY WEAVERS

Inspired by Strangers’ Hall

• In the Story – The Great Hall, the Great Chamber, a Baltic Oak Closet and the Little Bed Chamber

3.   SIR SPECKLES

Inspired by Elizabethan House Museum

• In the Story – The Elizabethan Dining Room, a Lavender Basket, a Posset, a Foot Warmer and the Birthing Room.

4    A SKY FULL OF HERRINGS

Inspired by Time and Tide Museum

• In the Story – A Smoke House and a Drifter Boat.

5    ISOLDE OF THE ICENI

Inspired by Lynn Museum

• In the Story – The Silver Coins

6    THE CURIOUS KITTEN AND THE WONDERFUL WATCH

Inspired by Ancient House Museum

• In the Story – The Elizabethan Hall, a First World War Kitchen and Tudor Garden

7    GREY SKIES AND SILVER LININGS

Inspired by Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse

• In the Story – The Door with the Clenched Fist Knocker, a Bath and Peg Dolls, the School Room, Laundry and Dungeon

8    MATILDA AND THE SNAP DRAGON

Inspired by Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell

• In the Story – A Snap Dragon

Isabelle King(Wolf Marloh Photography)

Once upon a time, I visited Norfolk Collections Centre at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, part of the Norfolk Museums Service. As soon as I stepped inside the store, I knew that I wanted to write about it. An atmospheric cabinet of curiosities, the store was filled with unique objects all relating to Norfolk history which captivated my imagination. I went on to write The Norfolk Story Book, a book of seven short stories, all original works of fiction inspired by the objects in the store. I absolutely loved writing the book and I’m thrilled with the wonderfully positive response it has received from readers, including a shortlisting for the Eastern Daily Press People’s Choice Awards for Best Individual 2017, all very exciting – and after all that, I just couldn’t stop writing stories!

Growing up in Norfolk, I visited lots of Norfolk Museums Service museums which really sparked my creativity. Much like Martha in ‘The Story Weavers’, a story you will go on to read in this book, I’ve always had a wild imagination. When I was younger, it’s fair to say that this shone through in a very theatrical way. I loved performing, so much so that I went on to pursue a career in acting. I started out with Norfolk Youth Music Theatre, appearing in the chorus of The Wind in the Willows as a singing weasel and in Oliver! as a crafty pickpocket – enough of a taste to know I wanted to stay on stage as much as possible.

I went on to train with the National Youth Theatre and East 15 Acting School, after which I worked professionally in theatre for several years, a career which saw me in a variety of Shakespearian guises, including Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with the Young Shakespeare Company and Vienna’s English Theatre and Ariel in The Tempest in rep with the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, in which I also played Feste the clown in Twelfth Night – a particular career highlight in which I juggled oranges and wore a rather striking pair of mustard yellow trousers! Never a dull moment as an actress.

But my creative flair kept pulling me home to Norfolk and the museums which inspired me as a child. What a joy it’s been to soak up the atmosphere of each museum and bring its history to life through my ideas. In this book you will read stories inspired by Norwich Castle, Strangers’ Hall, Elizabethan House Museum, Time and Tide Museum, Lynn Museum, Ancient House Museum, Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse and the Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell. In each story, I mix history with fiction.

Now, if I’m going to do that, it’s very important that I get my facts right before I start jolly well making things up. First, I put my history hat on and get down to some research. Research is great fun; it involves asking lots of questions to the fantastically helpful curators and staff at Norfolk Museums Service and making notes in my messy yet fiercely organised notebooks. To create the setting for my story, I gather information for the era I’m going to write about, then explore the museum within that era. For example, I discovered that Norwich Castle was built as a Norman castle and this involved learning about Norman England. Following the research comes the part where I make things up, create the characters and situations, and add all the fun and imagination.

Some of the objects featured in the stories can be seen at the museums and are highlighted in this book so that you can see them for yourself. It would have been impossible to write this book without the wonderful support of the chief curator at the Norfolk Museums Service, Dr John Davies, to whom I would like to give special thanks for helping me to research the history behind each story and for reading the stories countless times to ensure they were factually correct. I would also like to give thanks to brilliant Megan Dennis, curator at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, who helped me to research the Workhouse story, ‘Grey Skies and Silver Linings’.

I would very much like to thank all the staff at the Norfolk Museums Service for their amazing support of both this book and The Norfolk Story Book. Enormous thanks to my wonderful publisher, The History Press. Abundant thanks to John McKeever for bringing my ideas to life through magnificent illustrations. I would also like to thank the Prince’s Trust for its support, in particular, my fantastic business mentor Clare Stammers.

Thank you to my family and friends – you guys are the best.

And now, reader, I would like to thank you – yes, you! – for reading this book, whether you’re at home, in school, on a train, in a park, in a café or snuggled up in bed. Wherever you are, I hope this book takes you on a great adventure! I hope each story captivates your imagination and brings you the same delight and wonder that I experienced in writing them. And of course, I hope that these stories will inspire you to write stories of your own. Perhaps next time you visit a Norfolk Museums Service museum you could make up a story about it. Why not find out where your ‘once upon a time’ will take you? Now, let’s get lost in some Norfolk magic!

1

ADVENTURE CASTLE

INSPIRED BY NORWICH CASTLE

In the Story – Castle Battlements, the Great Hall and a Stone Lion Carving

Once upon a time, a very exciting time, a time of kings, castles, knights, princesses, magnificence, merriment, feasts, folly and pies, lots of pies, Norwich was a very important place to live. Norwich was a Norman town because, at this time, the Normans had invaded England and won a great big battle, which meant that the kings who ruled the land were Norman kings. The town boasted one of the finest Norman castles in all the country, which made it a very powerful place and so popular that it often received a right royal visit. The Norman king at the time of this story was called Henry. We know him now as King Henry the First, a proud warrior of a king, and should you have met him, you would be sure to bow straight away or he would soon have something to say!

Now, one summer’s day, a man riding a horse, a messenger of the king, galloped up to Norwich Castle and shouted at the top of his voice that King Henry was coming to visit.

‘Make ready for the King! He’ll be here in precisely three days. Actually, make that two, because it took me a day to get here! Actually, make that one and a half, because I stopped for a snack on the way!’

All at once there was a huge uproar of panic and excitement. A visit from the king! Make everything look the most splendid it has ever looked! Prepare food, the finest food you’ve ever feasted your eyes on! Most importantly, get some quality entertainment together. The king was known as rather a fun-loving sort who didn’t like to be bored, not for a second. His time at Norwich Castle must be an extraordinarily enjoyable time, a time to remember, a time of great adventure.

Speaking of great adventure, let’s meet the star of this story, a boy called Ralph. Ralph was the son of the chamberlain; the chamberlain was a well-to-do person who looked after the castle. Ralph was an extremely energetic thrill-seeker of a boy, adventure in his eyes, adventure on his mind – the most adventurous boy anyone had ever seen, if, that is, they could see him at all. You see, Ralph was seldom visible. Sometimes he was up, high in a tree, swinging through branches, climbing up walls, dangling from ceilings. Sometimes he was down, hiding under a table, behind a tapestry or crouched in a corner ready to pounce into action. Sometimes he was all around, popping up in unexpected places and making people jump, whizzing and whirring about. Blink and you missed him.

It was just as well that Ralph enjoyed being super active because, as the chamberlain’s son, he was expected to learn fighting and swordsmanship, a boisterous activity at which he excelled, and it gave him the perfect opportunity to play his favourite game, pretending to be a knight. He called himself ‘Ralph the Ready, Ready for Adventure!’

The only time Ralph was not bouncing about like a spring on the loose was when he attended his lessons. Ralph was taught reading, writing and languages by a monk who lived in the castle, the only time you could marvel at Ralph quite happily sitting there, quietly absorbed in reading. Ralph loved his lessons. He was a very inquisitive boy, itching with curiosity, and he relished how reading made him think and ask questions. He especially enjoyed chatting in the different languages he was taught – English, French and Latin. In spite of being enthusiastic about his lessons, Ralph knew he wasn’t the best at sitting still. He found quiet concentration a bit tricky and he wasn’t all that quick to pick things up – at least, not like he did when he got to be active.

Luckily, Ralph took lessons with his sister Emma and she was always on hand to help him. Emma was a good few years younger than Ralph. He always said she was half his age and twice as clever. In fact, Emma was quite the cleverest person that Ralph had ever met. When Ralph and Emma played at being knights, Emma would use her wits as much as her wooden sword to outsmart her way to victory. When Ralph was trying to grasp how to ask for food in French, Emma could fluently order an entire menu of French cuisine. When Ralph was struggling to remember Latin sentences and slowly writing them out, Emma had penned a poem and scribed a song.

Ralph’s favourite creative item that Emma ever made was a picture which she painted on his wooden shield and gave to him for his birthday. It was a picture of the castle’s symbol, a lion. You could spot the lion all over the castle, carved onto stone walls, on wooden tables and in tapestries hanging from the ceiling. The fierce lion represented strength and bravery, all things which Ralph aspired to. He played with his lion shield every day and dreamed that King Henry himself could see him. The king, Ralph imagined, would immediately know what a magnificent knight Ralph was going to be when he grew up, if only he could see him with his lion shield. More than anything else in the world, Ralph wished that he could impress King Henry – he wished and wished and wished. Now, as you all know, when you make a wish …

On the day the messenger arrived on horseback, Ralph was up on the castle battlements, pretending to be a knight with his wooden sword. The battlements were way up high, high enough to make your head spin, your stomach turn and your toes tingle, but oh, what fun to be up, up, up in the sky. Ralph loved to be on the battlements, surrounded by whipping air, with the green fields of Norwich stretched out for miles in front of him. He felt as though he were king of the clouds. He knew the castle was very famous for its white stones which gave the building a glowing appearance, like a huge stone beacon which could be seen from many miles away.

Ralph had his wooden sword with him and was ready as anything for an adventure. Up galloped the messenger and Ralph heard him shout, ‘Make ready for the King!’

‘This is it!’ gasped Ralph. ‘My big chance, my chance to impress King Henry!’ Ralph was wildly excited, but at the same time, oddly nervous. It was rather a daunting thought, meeting a real-life hero, someone he had heard stories about and looked up to, aspired to be like. What if the king didn’t like him, or just ignored him?

This was all too much, and for the first time in his life Ralph the Ready felt … well … not ready. He decided to make a plan, a plan to impress the king. An idea sprang to mind that he could put on a show, a show to show off his skills, a real showstopper of a show. This would be no easy feat, pondered Ralph, he would have to work very hard on this show. This required much thought, effort and attention to detail. If the slightest thing went wrong he could end up looking very silly.

Ralph fastened his wooden sword to his side and wandered down from the battlements. On his way, he bumped into Emma. Emma was gazing intently down at the ground as she walked. Ralph supposed she must have been deep in clever thoughts. ‘What are you doing, Emma?’ asked Ralph.

‘Following,’ said Emma.

‘Following what?’ asked Ralph.

Emma pointed to the floor and Ralph saw a long, sloppy, smudgy trail of big, muddy paw prints splattered in front of them like a painter had flicked a mucky brush and made a great mess. The two followed the long trail of scattered paw prints all the way down to the castle’s basement. The basement was an enormous space used for storing barrels – you couldn’t see the walls for all the barrels stacked on top of each other. The paw print trail was smudged all the way up a lone barrel and there, sitting on the top with a look of contented self-importance, happily oblivious to the mess he had made, was the castle cat, Smudge.

If the castle symbol was that of a fierce lion, strong and brave, Smudge was the opposite of this. He was rather a cowardly cat, who scuffled off at the merest sign of danger. Not one to exert himself, Smudge was big and round, the roundest cat you ever did see, with a round belly, a round face, round eyes and a round pink nose. He was tremendously fluffy with white and ginger patches of fur all about his terrifically round body. Smudge’s job in the castle was to catch mice, although he never did. In fact, it’s safe to say that Smudge never bothered to do anything that didn’t involve sleeping, snacking or leaving smudgy paw prints in places he had no business to be. Catching mice just didn’t make it to Smudge’s ‘to-do’ list.

Today was no different. There sat Smudge, lazy as you like. Emma scooped up Smudge in a big cuddle in her arms and his fluffy face wrinkled with a mixture of joy and confusion. Smudge was very happy to be picked up and cuddled, although he was never sure what he did to deserve it. Nothing, as far as Ralph was concerned, although he adored Smudge all the same.

‘Shall we play?’ asked Emma.

‘No time,’ said Ralph. He wanted to play, but the thought of King Henry’s arrival was pressing on his mind. ‘I’ve got to work very hard on my show, a show to impress King Henry.’

‘We’ll help!’ cried Emma, excited. ‘At least,’ she added, ‘I’ll help, Smudge can watch.’

Ralph gave this some thought. Smudge had an ability to look pleasantly surprised at everything, which would make him a good audience member. As for Emma, Ralph figured that two heads were better than one, and with his adventurous spirit and her brilliant cleverness they would surely come up with a fantastic show. But this most welcome offer of help somehow seemed too good to be true, too easy.