By Chris Styles
Hi, Max here, you’re probably used to reading my blogs on this site but today we have something a bit special for you. Chris is one of our newest tour guides here at The Shoebox, he has taken to the role like a fish to water and brings his enthusiasm and knowledge of local history and folklore with a passion that always impresses. Having conquered our Hidden Street Tour and performed many successful runs of it, we thought it a good idea to get him involved in running the first tour I had ever written, Carrow House and the Forgotten Vaults! Chris has become a natural in delivering the complex history of the Colmans and has grown to love the history of the famous mustard family featured in the tour. So much so, that he decided to write a small piece on his experience of coming to love it! So please enjoy this insight into Chris’ journey and what it’s like being a tour guide approaching a brand new tour!
When I was given the task of learning the Carrow house tour, I’ll be honest, I found it a bit daunting. Even though I’m Norwich born and bred I knew surprisingly very little about the Colmans. However, what I didn’t know is that this would be the start of a deeply enriching journey into the heart of the city that I know and love, which was what I always wanted from the role of being a living repository of the stories that this fine city has collected over the years.
My change in perspective started when I started to look into the man who turned Colman’s mustard into the global powerhouse it would be known for, Jeremiah James Colman (who we call JJ for short).
What first got my attention about him was the story of when he had the local pubs demolished because he was concerned about the role alcohol was playing in domestic abuse at the time. To most I think this would be seen as overstepping the mark, but, as someone who also dislikes alcohol, it made him a legend in my eyes!
Not only this, he put his money where his mouth was and put a lot of work into bettering his community and the lives of his workers. This had a positive, ripple effect through Norwich that continued long after his death. Even to this day I’ve had people on the tours tell me of their fond memories of their time working for Colmans, even teaching me a thing or two that I can then add to the tour. Some of them are part of a long family line that worked for the company. In fact, Mick, the caretaker of Carrow house today, has even descended from one of these lines.
So, even though the Colmans have long since left Carrow, their philanthropic spirit and the family feel of the place started by JJ and his wife Caroline is still going strong, which really blows my mind.
On the tours, our customers often share their upset looking at the abandoned factory, soon be converted into homes, but I do see a possible silver lining there. Not only will the factory be preserved but the empty rooms will soon be filled with families and future happy memories (a rebirth if you like). Not only that, the work of Norwich Unity Hub and The Shoebox is very focused on helping our local communities, the money from our tours goes towards this. I think this is a wonderful full circle situation as we know how dedicated JJ and Caroline were to helping the community. JJ is certainly looking down on us with a big smile behind that mighty beard!
This was all further made clear to me when I decided to visit the graves of the Colmans at Rosary Cemetery. It was a day permeated by heavy showers and, upon approaching the graves, the heavens opened. Luckily, the Colman plot is under a canopy of trees and afforded me adequate shelter. I decided I would sit by JJ’s grave and wait for the rain to pass, but as I was sitting there I noticed a dramatic change in atmosphere, even though it was raining, it was eerily quiet. Before I got freaked out, I was overcome with a deep sense of calm and I looked at JJ’s headstone as a big raindrop fell through the canopy and caused some dirt to move just below his name. Underneath that dirt was a shiny pound coin! Was this JJ giving me his approval to be the custodian of his story from beyond the grave? Had he watched me go from intimidated tour guide, to falling in love with his story and going on to tell it to people with that same passion he had for his community? I’m certainly going to believe that going forward.
