No rain on Bond Companions Club’s Norwich parade!

Eschewing life-jackets and armbands, nine BCC members sallied forth from the Maid’s Head Hotel, a lovely old coaching inn in the heart of Norwich, for a Friday afternoon tour of the self-styled “Fine City”

First up was the Anglican Cathedral, a Norman masterpiece rightly hailed as one of the finest of its kind in Europe, with one of the tallest spires and longest naves to be found in any cathedral in Britain. Religious or not, it is magnificent.

Thence to Elm Hill (and the adjacent Prince’s Street). The city’s most famous medieval street, Elm Hill is almost the same in appearance now as it was when most of its properties were last rebuilt, after the major fire of 1507. At that time it was home to prosperous merchants, craftsmen and civic dignitaries. Today, though folk still live there and shops still trade, it is a step back in time.

After that, the group meandered towards the centre of the city, pausing to admire Norwich’s forbidding Castle. One of the city’s most famous landmarks, Norwich Castle was built by the Normans as a Royal Palace 900 years ago. Now a museum and art gallery, it is home to some of the most outstanding collections of fine art, archaeology and natural history in Britain.

Enough of history. Time for some retail therapy. Pausing only at the Mustard Shop in the art nouveau Royal Arcade (sadly the Colman business lost its independence some years ago, though the product is still made there), the group made for Norwich’s vibrant market. Cheese, meat, fruit and veg, cheap clothes and dodgy souvenirs – though even here history intrudes; Norwich has had a market since at least 1086, and the present market, though not that old, predates all of the buildings surrounding it.

Including the most recent, the Forum Building, built to mark the Millennium. It is a striking example of 20th Century architecture and a landmark in Norwich city centre.

Over 2.5 million local people and city visitors walk into the Forum each year. Much of what happens inside and outside the Forum is free to enjoy and available to the whole community. The Forum is hard to slot into a neat category; it offers a mix of art, culture, learning, leisure, information, entertainment, technology and conference facilities – but the key word is vibrancy.

By now our BCCers were feeling a bit less than vibrant. Time, then, for a pick-me-up cuppa and cake at the nearby Assembly House, one of Norwich’s most elegant buildings, with a superb culinary pedigree.

But we couldn’t let them relax too much! Mindful of the fact that a high point of the weekend was attending a performance of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal on the following evening, we thought they might appreciate a visit from Fagin and co…

The last word should really go to a BCC member. "The BCC is about enjoying yourselves in excellent company," says Peter Robinson, from Sheffield. "The weekend in Norwich was a first-class example!"