The Norfolk Story Book E-Book

Isabelle King

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 141

Beschreibung

Have you ever wondered what a snap dragon, a mammoth and mustard all have in common? The answer is Norfolk! Inspired by seven unique objects at Norfolk Collections Centre, this book tells seven stories, all from different periods in time, which combine local history with imagination and fun. Discover the magic of the Norwich Snap Dragon, adventure through pre-historic Norfolk with a mammoth, find out why the region's famous mustard doesn't mix with smelly feet, and get swept back in time to experience Norwich as it was seen through the eyes of two mysterious statues.

Leseprobe

First published in 2016

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2016

All rights reserved

Text © Isabelle King, 2016

Illustrations © John McKeever, 2016

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

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 6947 5

Original typesetting by The History Press

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

CONTENTS

Introduction and Thank Yous

What the Story Titles Mean

Alice and the Snap Dragon

A Mammoth Journey

The Boy Who Saved Mustard From Tasting Like Smelly Feet

Our Secret Home

Eric and the Extraordinary Statue

The Toffee Twins

Let’s Get Cracking

INTRODUCTION AND THANK YOUS

Isabelle King (© Wolf Marloh Photography)

My first encounter with Norfolk Museums Service was to visit Norwich Castle Museum when I was very little. To this day, I remember being captivated by roaring tigers, spooky dungeons, Egyptian mummies, extraordinary paintings and a castle keep with a well that goes down, down, down …

It was a magical experience that went on to inspire much of my work life. When I was a bit older I undertook work experience at Norwich Castle and learned more about the breadth of the history contained inside its walls. This included having the pleasure of watching plans for the ancient Roman Boudicca exhibition take shape. I went on to participate in the Viking Project in which I worked with groups of children to help create a drama show about these fearsome invaders and did a bit of dressing up myself because, really, who wouldn’t leap at the chance to dress up like a Viking?

I loved the way Norfolk Museums Service engaged visitors through drama and imagination and was keen to further develop my involvement as an interpreter in local museums. Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum presented a perfect opportunity for this with the Company of Enactors. I took part in a series of re-enactments called A Day in the Life of a Workhouse Inmate. I learned a huge amount about the lives of very poor people, what they ate (which wasn’t much) and where they slept (which wasn’t comfy) including a trip to the somewhat terrifying punishment cell. Whilst in the punishment cell, I remember one of the Workhouse Interpreters telling me to touch the walls and think of all the people over the generations who had touched the same walls, and imagine what their lives must have been like. This sparked my fascination with objects in relation to people’s lives, a theme which I go on to explore in this book.

Before this, I had some life experience to get on with (I was not quite so little at this stage, about medium height). Inspired by my experiences with Norfolk Museums Service, I went on to train as a professional actress, determined to pursue a career which interwove drama with history and education. I trained with National Youth Theatre and at East 15 Acting School, after which followed work with the Young Shakespeare Company, Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, Vienna’s English Theatre and some London theatres, as well as various films and voiceover work. Particular highlights included playing a dancing chicken in a children’s show and voicing a cat in an animation film. Never a dull moment.

I am also the founder of Books Talk Back: a series of literary events for writers, which I organise and host, and which have gained support from The British Library and Writers’ Centre Norwich.

As much as I enjoyed my varied and somewhat chaotic career of cat voices, Shakespearian guises and book events, it had long been a dream of mine to combine this creative work with my enthusiasm for where it all started, with Norfolk Museums Service.

In 2015, when I was something resembling a grown up, I visited Norfolk Collections Centre and found myself mesmerised by the wonderful variety of curious and delightful objects that are in store.

Each story in this book is a work of fiction, inspired by an object featured at Norfolk Collections Centre. I picked seven objects which sparked my imagination and which I thought would have been most appealing to me when I was younger. With help from staff at Norfolk Museums Service, I thoroughly researched each object’s history. Then I set each tale in its correct historical context, and imagined the characters, situations and sense of magic which makes up each story, based around what I’d learned about the objects.

The seven objects the book focusses on are: a Snap Dragon, a Mammoth Skull, a Mustard Stamper, St Gregory’s Rood Screen, the statue of Samson from the Samson and Hercules duo, a Toffee Guillotine and Caley’s Christmas Crackers. All these objects can be seen at Norfolk Collection Centre and the crackers and statue of Samson are now at the Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell. I have loved writing stories about these exciting, iconic items belonging to the place where I grew up – Norfolk.

I have very much enjoyed delving into the fascinating history of each object which has involved multiple visits to Norfolk Collections Centre and the Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell, as well as trips to some of the sites featured in these stories, including St Gregory’s Church, Norwich Cathedral and Samson and Hercules House.

A particular highlight in my investigations has been consuming vast quantities of toffee for the Toffee Guillotine story, naturally for serious research purposes. In addition, this book has presented the perfect excuse for me to explore and write about animals of all kinds, from friendly mammoths to beautiful bouncy dogs, a welcome opportunity for an animal enthusiast.

As a performance storyteller, I frequently take part in family events throughout Norfolk Museums Service and absolutely love bringing the stories to life, off the page, in my storytelling sessions which are imaginative, improvised and fun.

All in all, writing this book has been an incredible adventure for me, but it would never have been possible without the fantastic support of the staff at Norfolk Museums Service.

In particular, I would like to give special thanks to the kind and continual support of Wayne Kett and Jamie Everitt at Norfolk Collections Centre, without whom this book would, quite simply, not exist! They helped to choose the objects, they read the stories countless times to ensure they were factually correct, and they organised my very first storytelling session for the book at the Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse’s Summer Story Festival, where I told some of the stories in front of the objects from which they were inspired.

I would also like to thank the support of the Chief Curator for the Norfolk Museums Service, Dr John Davies; together with Head of Learning, Colly Mudie; Retail Manager, Maria Wong; Informal Learning Officer, Anna McCarthy; as well as Jenny Caynes and Kate Cooper at the Museum of Norwich at the Bridewell and Cathy Terry at Stranger’s Hall.

Finally, I would like to thank the objects themselves! Yes, it is a little odd thanking an object but I’ve grown rather fond of them. My biggest wish is that, having read the stories, you will visit the museums and see these wondrous things for yourself! The seven featured in this book are far from the only objects on display throughout Norfolk Museums Service. Perhaps next time you visit a Norfolk Museums Service museum you could pick an object which captivates you and write a story about it. Now, let’s get lost in some Norfolk magic!

WHAT THE STORY TITLES MEAN

ALICE AND THE SNAP DRAGON

Snap Dragon

This story is set a very, very long time ago. So long ago, that the people who lived in this time couldn’t even tell the time. That is to say, they didn’t have clocks or watches or phones which told them it was seven o’clock in the morning or ten past one in the afternoon and time for lunch. The only way that they could tell the time was to measure the movement of the sun. As soon as it was light it was time for breakfast. As soon as it was dark it was time for bed.

This story all happened in Norwich. Back then it was a very different city to how it is now. It took ages to get anywhere because there were no cars or buses. Instead, people rode horses or simply walked on foot. The streets were very dirty and smelly and, sometimes, so were the people. Nobody had showers in their houses so some people washed wherever they could find water, and some people just didn’t wash at all.

There really wasn’t much choice as to what you could eat. Most people lived on a diet of plain, boring gruel which filled you up but wasn’t very tasty.

Our story begins with a little girl called Alice. Alice lived in Norwich, in this very long time ago, with her Mum, Dad, two brothers, John and Peter, and sister Matilda. The house they lived in was very small, so small that at night-time they all had to share the same bedroom to sleep in. Alice knew that her family were very poor and this was the reason why their house was so small. It got very crowded sometimes, and she generally would have liked a bit more personal space but, on the whole, Alice didn’t mind because she loved her family.

One morning Alice woke up feeling very excited. She didn’t have an alarm clock to wake her up but she knew that it was morning because the sun was shining through the window of their bedroom and her stomach was rumbling, so it was definitely time for breakfast. On an ordinary day Alice would simply have got up and got on with her day. But today was not an ordinary day. Today was a very special day because today was Guild Day. Guild Day was one of the most magical, most spectacular, most brilliant days of the year.

Once every year, on a bright spring day, many people in the city would get together for a big party on the streets of Norwich. Not just any old party: there would be music and dancing and jollity, yes, but there would also be a theatrical extravaganza; a play with real actors would be put on by a host of people who called themselves The Guild of St George and they would act out the story of St George and the Dragon. It was this play that made Guild Day one of the most magical, most spectacular, most brilliant days of the year because the star of this play was the Norwich Snap Dragon.

If Alice were to describe the Snap Dragon to you, she would tell you that he is a wonderful sight indeed. The first thing you would notice is that he is a very colourful thing; he is covered in scales, some are red, some are green and some glisten from yellow to gold in the sun. He is surprisingly small for a dragon, with a large round belly that looks too heavy for his little legs to carry, but don’t be fooled; the Snap Dragon is very nimble on his feet. If you’re not careful, he will run up behind you when you’re not looking and snap his jaws together to make you jump. Believe me, Alice would say, you don’t want to be too close to the Snap Dragon’s jaws. He has hundreds of sharp, pointy teeth that look ready to bite, and not only that, he can really breathe fire. Imagine that, a fire-breathing dragon on the streets on Norwich!

This might all sound a bit scary, but Alice would assure you that the Snap Dragon would never hurt anybody; he just likes to give people a bit of a fright. Really, he is a very friendly, playful thing and the fact that he can sometimes be a bit unpredictable is all part of what makes him the most fantastic fun.

Alice didn’t know where the Snap Dragon lived or why he chose only to be amongst the people of Norwich on Guild Day. She wished that he would come out and play every day of the year and not just on that one special day. Now, you might have guessed this already, but one of the reasons why Alice was so excited about seeing the Snap Dragon was that she truly believed he was a real live dragon.

That morning, when she thought about the Snap Dragon, Alice got the same feeling she got when she woke up and realised that it was her birthday.

Alice and her siblings were all squashed together in the same bed. She reached over and prodded her brother, Peter, who was lying next to her. ‘Peter, Peter, wake up, it’s Guild Day.’

Peter grunted and rolled over.

Alice prodded him a few more times for good measure. ‘Guild Day!’

‘It’s still early Alice,’ Peter groaned, ‘go back to sleep!’

But Alice did not go back to sleep. Instead, she got up, got dressed and headed straight out of the house. She wanted to see what the world outside looked like on this very special day. Alice stood at the front door and gazed down the road. The world outside did not disappoint.

The streets were already decorated in preparation for Guild Day with bright banners of all the different colours you could think of. Alice ran down the road to get a better look at them. It was so colourful; it seemed to her as though a rainbow had exploded across the street. She got even more excited at the thought of seeing the Snap Dragon later.

Alice ran back to the house and on her way through the front door bumped into Dad.

Alice never really knew what to say to Dad. Dad was always busy and cross and worrying about something. He never wanted to spend any time with Alice and he certainly never wanted to play with her.

Mum had told Alice that the reason Dad was like this was because he was always trying to earn money for the family to live on. The trouble was, Dad didn’t have a job. Instead, he did lots of different jobs, some days he did this, some days he did that, and some days he did this and that, but he never knew where his next job was coming from. He was always so busy trying to find work that he didn’t have any time for Alice and the rest of the family. Alice did feel sorry for Dad because she knew that having to find work all the time must have been a lot of pressure for him. Still, she couldn’t help but wish that he would be less grumpy and would sometimes play with her, or at least say ‘good morning’ every once in a while.

Alice bowed her head and stayed quiet until Dad brushed past her without a word on his way through the front door. Whenever he left the house early it was because he was going to work. But today was Guild Day and everybody in the city had a day off work. What sort of job could Dad possibly be doing on Guild Day? Alice had no idea, but one thing was clear: Dad wouldn’t be coming with them to the Guild Day celebrations. This made Alice very sad, because it was the one day of the year that the family had a chance to all be together.

After breakfast, which was gruel, followed by gruel, with some gruel on top, it was time to go to the celebrations.

Mum rounded up the four children and made sure that they were all looking their best. She made Alice run her fingers through her hair to untangle it, several times, because it had got messy from running on the street.

‘You, young lady,’ she told Alice, ‘always look like a little vagabond.’

Then all the family headed off to Norwich Cathedral, which was where the Guild Day celebrations were starting. Well, all the family except Dad.

Norwich Cathedral was an enormous, great big building, the biggest building that Alice had ever seen. It had pointy turrets sticking out in all directions and some of the turrets were so tall that they swept all the way up to the sky.