Since the summer, I’ve been preparing a new book in the Colonel Unthank’s Norwich series. This has involved rewriting selected posts, often adding new information. Where necessary, I’ve taken new photographs and checked third-party images—no trivial task where over 500 illustrations are concerned.

Reflecting the eclectic nature of these deep-dives into sometimes hidden aspects of the city’s past, the new title will be Colonel Unthank’s Norwich: Detours through History.

We are working hard to produce the book in time for Christmas and, with crossed fingers, anticipate it being on the shelves around the first week of December.

The 17 stories contain some of my favourite trawls through Norwich’s history. I had long wanted to write a piece on suffragettes in Norwich, though there never seemed to be enough available material; now, however, the story is a rich one. For the same reason, it seemed important to acknowledge the contribution of Kate Nichols to the city’s vibrant art scene, as she has often been overlooked. This serves as a small counterbalance to the chapter on the Norwich School of Artists, who established the first provincial art movement of the nineteenth century.

I kept coming across tantalising mentions of the Sons of Flora in my research, though not much had been written about them. It turns out that this enigmatic group of flower fanciers – often competing at shows or enjoying companionship at a Florists’ Feast – kept alive an interest in plant breeding from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century.

Finally, I had the most fun following the trail of the United Friars – a group of men who met wearing monks’ habits and fabric skull caps on their heads – to discuss most things bar politics and religion. Mostly, these were members of the Dissenting class who, in abandoning dogma, were unspoken members of the English Enlightenment.

The book will retail at £14.99 and should be available from The City Bookshop in Davey Place, Norwich (info@citybookshopnorwich.co.uk), which also offers mail order. The Book Hive in London Street will also stock the book, and I will provide updates concerning other suppliers.