King's Lynn, Norfolk

At the weekend we went to King's Lynn - a north East Anglian port town on the Great Ouse river which opens into The Wash and finally the North Sea. King's Lynn, aka "Lin", "Bishop's Lynn", "Lynn Regis" was an important medieval commercial town and was part of the Hanseatic League - the trading federation of German cities and communities of merchants along the North and Baltic seas. The streets in King's Lynn are a testament to its former importance and the centre is lined on either side with grand merchants' houses. There's a great square, known as the Tuesday Market Place, which was where the ancient spring and harvest fairs, or marts, took place and survive today albeit in slightly more commercialised form. It was also the site for the very public punishments - stocks and gallows - for a few hundred years, and even hosted a witch hanging in 1616! Unfortunately, on the day we went the square was transformed into an unsightly car park so it was hard to visualise the history and stories of the place.

The grand pink building in the centre is the Duke's Head Hotel, formerly Sir Robert Walpole's local. He was King's Lynn's MP for a number of years, as well as Britain's Prime Minister in the 18th century during the reigns of George I and II.

This lady seemed to epitomise the great English spirit - bare legs, rain hat, back pack, sensible shoes and an unembarrassed sense of humour. She was enjoying a bop in the rain (along with Alastair and Gregor out of shot) as a lone guitar player tried to rally the crowds in the drizzle.

The Old Guildhall dating back to the early 15th century and now part of the town hall, and to the right the more modern Old Gaol House.

A lovely barley twist entrance.

Apart from the obvious points of interest that King's Lynn has to offer the visitor, we did have another motive for visiting. Last weekend the town celebrated the 250th birthday of a former local boy done good, by hosting the Captain Vancouver Festival....