Alma Mater - UEA and Norwich - Day Three

Under leaden skies, we caught the bus to UEA and spent the morning wandering around the University campus and visiting the Sainsbury Centre - ancient, modern and ethnographic art collections exhibited in light-filled, modernist spaces (or so the blurb says!). 

Photo 1: Side-on View of the Sainsbury Centre

The Sainsbury Centre opened in 1978 after we left Norwich, so this was our first visit. The entry fee is 'pay if and what you can' with a 'recommended/typical' price of £12 per person. In addition to the museum's curated items, there are also temporary exhibitions and displays. Several exhibitions (Figure 1) under the general title What is Truth? were running during our visit.

Figure 1: What is Truth? Exhibits/Displays (May 2024)

Photo 2: Jeffrey Gibson Solo Exhibition (May 2024)

The Sainsbury Centre is situated in parkland that includes a Sculpture Park (maps here and here) ...

Photo 3: Head

Photo 4: Usagi Kannon

Photo 5: Tatlin's Tower

On the walk to the Sainsbury Centre, we passed the famous Ziggurats student accommodation (Norfolk and Suffolk Terraces) designed by Denys Lasdun (an example of Brutalism or Brutalist Architecture). Mary spent her third year at UEA in these iconic Grade II listed buildings. They are currently closed due to issues with the Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) construction material. 

Photo 6: Norfolk (foreground) and Suffolk Terraces

My second and third year student accommodation (Waveney Terrace) was pulled down in 2005 to be replaced with, presumably, on-suite rooms. The accommodation was very basic in the 1970s with communal kitchens and no on-suite facilities. It did encourage great camaraderie though.

Catching the bus back to Norwich city centre, Mary, who is Head Broderer at Hereford Cathedral,  disappeared for a couple of hours on a guided tour of the Norwich Cathedral Broderers Guild while I spent the time wandering round the city centre. Coming out of Jarrolds' Department Store, I spotted this blast from the past ...

Photo 7: Captain America's Hamburger Heaven

Captain America's, as it was informally known, started in 1972 during our first year at UEA. The restaurant was on the first and second floor if I'm remembering correctly. It was very popular with students and you always had to wait for a table. This might have been a ploy by the management, however, as they directed you to the small cocktail bar while they found you a table. Everyone was drinking tequila sunrise cocktails as I remember. Hamburgers were not the only thing on the menu - we both remember the enormous pizzas!

After meeting up with Mary, we had a look at the Cathedral herb garden and spotted two peregrine falcons on the Cathedral spire.

Photo 8: Herb Garden, Norwich Cathedral (May 2024)

Photo 9: Herb Garden, Norwich Cathedral (May 2024)

Dinner was back at our digs courtesy of the nearby Morrisons supermarket.