whoops: insert norfolkiana

That was the week that was. After visiting Cambridge on Tuesday, and Lincoln on Wednesday, we visited Norfolk on Thursday, before jetting off to Dublin on Friday (remind me to look at a calendar before accepting an additional afternoon jaunt; or a whole weekend in Dublin!). So between the entry on Lincoln and that on Dublin add the following.

Norfolk is east of Lincolnshire through the (very flat) Fens. Near Kings Lynn and the Wash is Castle Rising. Castle Rising is

• a small town (why does Jeff's picture look pasted in?) and a borough with a charter--which means it returned MPs (2 Members of Parliament) between the late medieval period and 1832 (and then, like other pocket boroughs, lost representation by the Great Reform Act)
• the home of a Norman keep (note the nice Romanesque [Norman] rounded arch and hatchings).

From there we traveled a small distance to Houghton Hall. Houghton is

• Built in a Palladian style, designed by William Kent, for Sir Robert Walpole
• Basically the hunting lodge for Sir Robert who spent most of his time at No. 10 Downing Street in Westminster (he becoming known as the first Prime Minister, who held power from about 1720 until about 1740)
• photo opportunity for Eastern Illinois University British Rulers and British Ruled group (you'd think I could take the picture in focus)
• great place for croquet.