NORWICH: NO LONGER CUTTING THE MUSTARD?

by James Anthony

It has been suggested that the world famous Colman’s brand may soon break with a tradition more than 200 years old, of producing mustard and other products here in Norwich. Make no mistake – this is not nearly as trivial as it sounds, and would be nothing short of a local tragedy.

This may seem exceptionally daft, but Colman’s has so much history here in Norwich, it is tough not to be upset by this news.  Colman’s Mustard has been based in Norfolk since 1814 when Jeremiah Colman formally set up his mustard and flour business in Stoke Holy Cross, just outside of the current Norwich city boundary. Later, Jeremiah Colman’s great-nephew Jeremiah James Colman established the production factory in Norwich in 1858, which still exists today. With business booming, royal approval was gained in 1866 with the granting of a Special Warrant as manufacturers to ‘Her Majesty the Queen Victoria’, helping our local mustard gain a global reputation and put Norwich on the culinary world stage.Continue Reading

THE RIVER WENSUM STRATEGY: A JOINED UP, COMPARTMENTALISED, CONSULATION

by Rowan Van Tromp

Last month Norwich City Council opened up a public consultation on the river Wensum to gather views that will be used to shape a strategy aimed at breathing new life into the river — enhancing it for the benefit of the city and its residents. The strategy forms part of a joined up approach, bringing together the four main bodies (Norwich City Council, the Broads Authority, Norfolk County Council and the Environment Agency) with statutory responsibility for the river.

The consultation asks interested parties to raise general issues and opportunities that the strategy could address — pertaining to the management of the river and its surroundings, as well as river access and use — but makes it necessary to categorise them as relating to either business, leisure or the environment. This pigeon-holing of issues and opportunities is a real flaw in the consultation, mirroring a wider societal issue of evaluating the value of nature through an anthropocentric lens.Continue Reading