George Skipper – the Gaudi of Norwich.
Not my words, but those of John Betjeman and by a neat symmetrical twist, this Norwich web designer and copywriter heads to Barcelona on Monday 4th April 2022, which is my 57th birthday.
I’ve never been to Barcelona, before, though wife and daughter Ruby have and I’m looking forward to some spring warmth after the cool start to April in Norfolk. We’re flying from Gatwick, no doubt a trauma too with the shambles of Brexit and meeting son James, who is actually catching a bus from Toulouse to Barcelona. Some journey on those horrible itchy and scratchy bus seats.
Gaudi and Barcelona
I’m genuinely excited too about seeing Gaudi’s work and hoping that our visit does not result in some disaster there. You see, when we drove to Paris a few years ago, we decided to buy tickets to ascend Notre Dame, which was great, if poignant as it caught fire just one month later.
Gaudi is a bit like people I know – he never seems to finish things off. He is a plant, a starter, but not a finisher, whereas George Skipper, the architect who moulded Norwich most certainly was a completer-finisher.
A disclaimer though. I’ve no claim to be a part of Norfolk as we moved here in July 2008 for jobs and to escape the suffocating stress of family life in the north. It’s largely been a wonderful place to call home. Education here is particularly malevolent – but, from what I hear in other parts of the country – it’s the same there. Norfolk was ahead of its time in toxicity in schools, that’s all.
Norfolk is like Shutter Island
We’ve tried to leave Norfolk a few times and failed. We’ve had the house up for sale twice – the first time to move to Scotland when that idiot Boris Johnson won a landslide. Once I’d calmed down though and had a horrendous week in Edinburgh, we stayed put.
You see, if you drew up a pros and cons list for living here – the pros win. The climate is dry and sunny, there’s little to no crime. There are wonderful coastlines and countryside. There are the Norfolk Broads too. The city of Norwich is excellent and we’ve grown used to the fact that the natives are hard work, and would probably step over you if you collapsed in the street, once they heard a non-native tongue. It’s Brexity too, Tory central – both anathema to me. But. Largely, we love living here and are heading 25 miles west to a new build in Norwich city centre.
The home of George Skipper.
Now Skipper is long gone. He lived til almost 100 and his architectural legacy lives on in Norfolk. He designed the shabby, fading Hotel de Paris in Cromer, where Stephen Fry, no less, once worked. Norwich Union buildings on Surrey Street are his, along with Jarrolds on Exchange Street, the Royal Arcade and the now closed Fired Earth building, near the Guild Hall, that my Historian mate Paul Jones reliably informs me, was once Skipper’s office.
Ber Street Norwich
We have a named legacy close to our new home too – off Ber Street. Skipper House, a 70s office block, sits alongside us on Lily Terrace, not designed by him but carrying his name.
I’ve posted many photos and videos on Instagram and YouTube of Norwich’s fine buildings, including Norwich Railway Station. It is marketed as a “fine city” and it’s a place that, despite its many faults, has got under our skin.
So much so that we’re throwing a king’s ransom at a 4 storey new build that rubs shoulders not only with Skipper House, but Ber Street Kitchen and John Lewis, on the same road! Both are wonderful, if temptingly close for us.
Notre Dame High School calling
We’re moving there for practical reasons too – daughter has a conditional sixth form offer from Notre Dame (on Ber Street) again and, now self-employed with a wife who’s also left teaching, Norwich attracts us most weekends to eat out, wander and shop.
I’m also excited about the business opportunities that this thriving city should present – I’ve already created about 5 websites for businesses in the city centre, along with 30 more around Norfolk. I’m hoping that having a home and home office in Norwich as a freelance web designer, copywriter and marketer will lead to more work, so I can spend more in the city centre!
I’m not retiring either
I’ve no plans to retire any day soon either, despite 60 years of age being a mere three years away. I’m hoping, like George Skipper, that I live for a long time – in Norwich for three years and Lisbon from 2025. It will be interesting too to look at Barcelona from Monday and see if it lives up to expectations.
Norwich v Barcelona.
Skipper v Gaudi.
Let’s see who wins.
