Jono's Tourism

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Jono's Tourism

I provide Tourism services for Lichfield City, including guided tours, themed day packages and coach
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Providing Tourism services for Lichfield City including guided city tours, themed day and overnight packages and general information about anything to do with visiting Lichfield City!

08/11/2024

The large poppy on the outside of the Kings Head pub, Bird Street, is very striking, all ready for Remembrance Sunday.
They also have poppy-decorated pint glasses available for £2.50, and you can also make a donation for a poppy from the bar, with all proceeds going to the Royal British Legion.
Lest We Forget

Kings Head Lichfield

07/11/2024

Dates for your Christmas diaries!
A selection (but not all!) of the Christmas events in Lichfield this year
Starting with the Festive Artisan Market at Lichfield Cathedral this Saturday, 9 November, then the Lichfield Chamber of Trade Christmas Fayre on Sunday 17 November, followed by the Christmas Lights Switch-On (including a market on Minster Pool Walk) a week later, Sunday 24 November.
It’s a full day on Sunday 1 December with a Christmas Market at the Bowling Green pub; a Family Christmas event at the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum; a Christmas Fayre at the Lichfield Cathedral School and the Lichfield Producers Market on the Market Square - definitely a shop till you Christmas drop day!
The following weekend, Saturday 7 and 8 December, is the Lichfield Food Christmas Festival and the amazing Lichfield Cathedral Christmas Lights event runs from 16 to 22 December - there’s something for everyone this Christmas in Lichfield!
*Please note that this a selection of some of the many Christmas events in Lichfield city this year.

Lichfield Cathedral Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum & Bookshop Lichfield Food Festival Guildhall Lichfield Lichfield Chamber of Trade & Commerce Lichfield Cathedral School MangiaMangia The Koalaty Bakery Co.Bowling Green, Lichfield

06/11/2024

How Do You Like Them Apples?
Lovely postcard, from March 1908, showing two militiamen talking to a lady friend in landscaped gardens.
The sender wrote the card from Whittington Barracks to Miss Annie Greene at Enfield in Middlesex, I can’t make out his Christian name from the front of the card, but assume he was stationed at the barracks.
The card talks about the language of the fruit apple - and says that they are ‘true to the corps’ - see what the postcard supplier has done there?!?!? A 1908 military play on words!

The Staffordshire Regiment Museum

05/11/2024

A quick Merlot in the Angel Inn on Market Street this afternoon, to wish them a happy 10th birthday on their anniversary.
Originally called the Angel, it was renamed to Samuel’s (Sammy’s!!) for a while, but when Leanne took over 10 years ago she, and the Joules Brewery, very sensibly restored its original name.
Happy 10th birthday to Leanne and the team at the Angel!

The Angel Inn Joule's Brewery
Duke of York Lichfield

05/11/2024

Remember, Remember the 5th of November…Gunpowder, Treason and Plot!
Photos from my talk ‘Fireworks, Fawkes and Fear’ at Erasmus Darwin House on Monday evening all about the Gunpowder Plot. It’s an incredible story, most people know about Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder barrels, but the bloody build-up to it, the discovery of the plot, and the even bloodier aftermath are fascinating - a new talk for me but definitely one I’d love to tell again.
In the meantime - enjoy your Guy Fawkes night, whatever you choose to do!

Erasmus Darwin House

03/11/2024

A quick visit to my friend Alison at the MangiaMangia stall (she’s opposite McDonalds) at the Lichfield Producers Market this morning, to collect a Lasagna Zucca and a slice of Crostata pie.
I also had a walk round the Pitches Indoor Market on the first floor of the Hub at St Mary’s, lots of artisan stalls and there is also the Hub cafe for drinks and light refreshments.
The Producers Marjet is on until 4pm today, Sunday 3 November, and the Pitches Market in the Hub is on until 3pm.

The Hub at St Mary's MangiaMangia
Short and Curly's Lichfield Coffee Roasters Metamorphic Charm

02/11/2024

Now that’s a coincidence!
I posted an old postcard of Greenhill recently, written by daughter Frances, while at Berry Hill Farm, to her mother at Stapeley near Nantwich in November 1906.
So, imagine my surprise when I bought another postcard, this time of Conduit Street, to see that the card had also been written by Frances to her mother from Berry Hill Farm in December 1906!
It’s good to have reunited these two postcards, written over a 100 years ago, and I’ll see if I can find more postcards written by young Frances!
The postcard shows Conduit Street looking pretty pretty much as it does today. The Corn Exchange is to the left and to the right is Heath’s shoe and boots shop (today Avoir Interiors), then Seagraves sweet shop (today the Halifax bank) and then the archway through to the Earl of Lichfield Arms (the Drum!). To the far right of the photograph is number 1 Tamworth Street, then a milliners, today E & S jewellery.

Avoir Interiors The Earl of Lichfield Arms ES Jewellery Ltd

01/11/2024

Thanks to everyone who came to my Murders, Mysteries (and Executions!) talk at the Encore bar on Market Street for Halloween last night.
One of the most infamous executions was that of poor old Edward Wightman, from Burton Upon Trent, was who was burnt at the stake not once, but twice, in 1612 for the crime of heresy, becoming the last man to be burnt at the stake for heresy in the country - not a claim that anyone would want to boast about!
Before the talk we all enjoyed a beef (or vegetarian) casserole which, sensibly, everyone ate before my grisly stories began!
Thanks to Caroline and the team at Encore for hosting the event.
Encore Lichfield

01/11/2024

A nice, crisp start to November in Lichfield today and there are plenty of bright autumnal favourites on Jake’s Fruit and Veg stall on the Marjet Square!
My favourite this week are the little multi-coloured peppers 🫑, but there is also purple flowering broccoli, purple cauliflower, large multi-coloured peppers, tomatoes 🍅, carrots 🥕, bananas 🍌 mangoes 🥭 and more!
Jake and the team will be on the market square today, Friday, then on Saturday from early to 3pm - be sure to pop down and stock up on your fruit and vegetables this November weekend!

Lichfield Market Fruit and Veg

30/10/2024

I was delighted to provide the introduction speech for my friend Alison, of the Mangia Mangia Italian food company, at the launch of her new Italian cook book ‘Appetito’ at the Hub at St Mary’s on Tuesday evening.
The book is packed full of authentic recipes as well as photographs of the food and some stunning images of Italy.
I’m definitely going to try out some of these recipes, I love Italian food throughout the year, but Autumn is definitely the time for comforting risotto’s and hearty lasagna.
If you’d like a copy of the book it will become available on Amazon very soon!

MangiaMangia The Koalaty Bakery Co. The Hub at St Mary's Lichfield Chamber of Trade & Commerce

30/10/2024

Many thanks to all of my current top fans - you are all diamonds! 💎

Stephen P*e, Janet Pickford, Liz Leyshon, Helen Danson, Colin Ablitt, Caroline Davis, Janette Horton, Julie Deeley, Graham Dancer, Ron Bird, Val Hunt, Nick Sedgwick, Christine McDermott, Eileen Cope, John Richard Moore, Steven Paul Johnson, Simon Cox, Karen Cunningham, Sarah McIntosh, Alan Barton, Richard Howell, David Plumridge, Mike James

29/10/2024

Find the Scarecrows!
I had a lovely walk round Whittington village this afternoon, following the Scarecrow trail, all ready for Halloween!
There are lots to find, you can pick up a map trail from the Main Street Cafe, and there are also other houses and businesses that have decorated their properties with ghouls, spiders and pumpkins!
I didn’t manage to find all of the scarecrows on the trail but I was tempted by a cappuccino and a slice of gorgeous cake at the cafe!
It’s a great way to explore the village of Whittington, which is full of historic buildings, and an ideal activity for the children this half-term week - and at 66 years old I’m still a youngster at heart!

Main St Cafe Whittington Village Hall. Lichfield Downes & Daughters Estate Agency The Bell Inn, Whittington The Dog in Whittington.

29/10/2024

More progress on the former Feria bar (Prince of Wales to many!!) on Bore Street. The door was open for the first time in years, the Feria logo has now been removed and, best of all, the stained glass window has now been boarded up - finally!

29/10/2024

I had a look round 71-73 St John Street yesterday morning. A very large Georgian Grade II listed building, planning permission has been approved to convert it to 8 apartments in total, six in the main building and two behind it.
Not too many original features unfortunately but the building itself is amazing and the views from the upper floors are wonderful.
It was previously called the Hope Centre and home to the Pathway Project, and in the 1980s it was known as Management House.
If anyone has any memories of the building, or worked there in the past, please let me know in the comments below or email me at: [email protected] - thank you.
My thanks to Henry Appleby for allowing me access to the building and for providing the drone image of the building and beyond.

28/10/2024

This postcard, posted on December 17 1906, shows Greenhill, Tamworth Street, looking towards St Michael’s church. The road to the top right is Rotten Row.
The houses in front the trees were demolished and in front of them is the water fountain and trough for cattle / horses.
The fountain was a memorial to the memory of Reverend James Jordan Serjeantson, who wax the rector of St Michael’s Church from 1868 to 1886, when he passed away. The memorial was created by Robert Bridgeman and Sons, stonemasons of Quonians Lane, off Dam Street, and it was presented as a gift for the people of Lichfield and to the Mayor of Lichfield that year, Alfred Charles Lomax of Lomax printers at 10 Bird Street (now the home of the returned Samuel Johnson bust!). The fountain wax relocated to its current location, not far from the Duke of York pub, and was refurbished in 2012 in readiness for the procession of the Olympic flame.
The pub to the right hand side (with the lantern on the wall) is the original Bald Buck pub, which was demolished in the 1950s to make way for the Birmingham Road extension and was then rebuilt. The pub is now the Richer Sounds technology shop.
Frances, who wrote the card to her mother, Mrs George Sykes, of Stapeley near Nantwich in Cheshire, was writing from Berry Hill Farm on Knowle Lane, which runs between London Road (by the Owl pub) and Birmingham Road.
As usual that’s a lot of Lichfield history all packed in to one postcard!
Duke of York Lichfield
The Earl of Lichfield Arms
Guildhall Lichfield

27/10/2024

A lovely, sunny October afternoon watching an open-air performance on the Market Square of the story of George Fox, who came to Lichfield in 1651, when he walked round the city’s streets proclaiming ‘Woe to the Bloody City of Lichfield’!
Despite this insult, George went on to form the Society of Friends, or Quakers.
The painting of George Fox walking the streets of Lichfield, by Robert Spence, hangs in the cafe area of the Hub of St Mary’s.
A large crowd enjoyed the performance which was historically interesting as well as funny, especially when Barnaby Walters, as George Fox, started shouting out ‘Woe to the Bloody City of Lichfield’ to bemused passers-by!
The play was written by Berry Dicker, directed by David Titley and also featured Lichfield Town Crier Adrian Holmes.

Staffordshire Quakers
Guildhall Lichfield
The Hub at St Mary's

25/10/2024

There are just a few tickets left for my scary and spooky Halloween talk at Encore Lichfield, on Market Steet.
My talk is ‘Lichfield’s Mysteries and Murders (with a few executions thrown in!!)’ on Thursday 31 October, starting at 7pm.
Tickets are £20pp to include a warming beef stew meal (or vegetarian option). Book tickets by calling in to Encore or ringing them on 01543 323984 - or email me for more information at: [email protected]

Encore Lichfield

25/10/2024

After my visit to the Fruit and Veg stall on the Market Square, I found more fruit this morning at Rymans Pick Your Own Pumpkin Farm!
With a wide variety of pumpkins, of all shapes and colours, you can catch a tractor (great fun!) up to the pumpkin field and can then fill a wheelbarrow with your favourite pumpkins, as well as carrots and potatoes.
There are straw bales to clamber on, and a mini tractor circuit, as well as other games for the little ones. There are tables where you can carve your pumpkins and also a refreshment kiosk serving hot drinks and scrummy cakes.
It’s an ideal place to take the children, or grandchildren, this Half-Term, all ready for Halloween!
Rymans Pumpkins is open daily from 10am to 4pm until 31 October and you can discover more about the farm on their website at:

https://rymanspumpkins.co.uk/

Rymans Pumpkins farm can be found at Manor Farm, Wall, WS14 0AH

Rymans Pumpkins Lichfield The Cake Spa

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Lichfield Town Crier, Adrian Holmes, officially opening the 80th exhibition of the Lichfield Society of Artists today, Friday 18 October. The exhibition is free entry and is on until Tuesday 22 October in the lower floor of the Lichfield Guild Hall on Bore Street.

Not Something You See Every Day! The Mayor of Lichfield, Councillor Sam Schafer, unveiling the bust of Samuel Johnson at 10 Bird Street last week!! Keep watching till the end as Sam takes the cherry-picker upwards, rather than back down! #lichfield #SamuelJohnson

Many thanks to my friend Adrian, Lichfield’s Town Crier, for his impromptu ‘shout’ outside the clinic of Cathedral Hearing, an independent audiologist, run by Laura this morning. Set in the wonderful Grade II listed mid-16th century building, 6a Sandford Street, Laura is now taking bookings for appointments. Love the ‘photo-bomber’ who walked right in front of Adrian as he started the shout ha ha! #lichfield #history

Thunderbirds are Go! The Thunderbirds 54321 exhibition, currently on display at the Hub at St Mary’s, was featured on the Central ITV news recently. The free exhibition is on at the Hub during usual opening days / times and runs until 2 November 2024. If you’re a child of the 60s or 70s it will definitely bring back some happy memories!

Jono Bids on Binoculars!

Me bidding on a set of opera binoculars at the sporting edition of BBC1’s Bargain Hunt, recorded a couple of months ago but broadcast last Friday. It was a sporting celebrities special edition and Paralympians Dame Sarah Storey and Richard Whitehead bought a pair of opera glasses for £12. Thanks partly to my bidding (you can see me waving my hand like a madman at the back of the auction room!!) it made £40 - though I’d backed out before then ha! Their expert was Kate Bliss, presenter was Natasha Raskin-Sharp and the auctioneer was Richard Winterton of Richard Winterton Auctioneers at Fradley, Lichfield. Got to love an auction, I bid on three items on the day and didn’t win any of them - better luck next time! #auctions #lichfield Richard Winterton Auctioneers

My 15 seconds of fame!!

Talking about Richard Winterton Auctioneers, I appeared (very briefly!!) on Friday’s episode of BBC1’s very popular Bargain Hunt programme, filmed at Winterton’s Auction House at Fradley. I bid on a lovely little silver-plated Vesta (matches) case. I’m at the back of the auction room and stopped bidding when it reached £35 as that was, as they say in the auction business ‘all the money’ in my opinion. They also filmed the celebrity sports personalities on that day so I’m hoping to be featured again when they show that episode later in the schedules! Richard Winterton Auctioneers

Four Historic Lichfield Buildings

For Staffordshire Day, this was the video that I and my friend David Gough put together for Staffordshire Day in 2022, telling the history of four well-known Lichfield buildings. The video was created for Staffordshire Libraries. #StaffordshireDay Staffordshire Libraries Enjoy Staffs

Balloonist crashes at Lichfield - not an April Fool!! I’m always listening out for Lichfield on TV programmes and this clip is from the Antiques Road Trip, featuring Jane’s Braxton. James Sadler (1753 - 1828) was a former pastry chef who later became one of the earliest balloonists, taking to the skies only a short while after the much more famous Montgolfier brothers. Although he was quite good at launching his silk-made, hydrogen-filled ballooons skywards he was not quite as good at landing them safely, on one occasion he and his balloon were dragged two miles across the countryside when it landed and he also crashed close to Lichfield in 1785. On this occasion he was thrown out of the balloon and it then disappeared up into the sky, never to be seen again! Lichfield’s own Samuel Johnson was fascinated by the early flights of the balloonists from 1783, stating that a day barely went by without the mention of ballooning in the journals of the day. Samuel provided a financial subscription for another balloonist, Vincenzo Lunardi, the team at the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum provided a blog about Sam’s love of ballooning (and other scientific inventions), read more below: https://sjmuseum.wordpress.com/2022/09/02/inventor-a-finder-out-of-something-new/ Find out more about James at: https://aboutmanchester.co.uk/so-who-was-james-sadler/ Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum & Bookshop Antiques Road Trip

Acoustic Sunday debut at the Hub at St Mary’s - great value evening’s entertainment - next one is Sunday 23 July! #acoustic #sunday #Lichfield

Shrove Tuesday Proclamation

Proclamation of the Shrove Tuesday Fair, read by Adrian, Lichfield Town Crier, from the steps of the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum - oyez, oyez, oyez - God Save the King!

Hosanna In Excelcis at the Tudor Row Shops

The choristers from the Lichfield Cathedral School singing the wonderful Hosanna in Excelsis at the Tudor Row Shops late night shopping event on Thursday evening. Sounding glorious, hopefully they will be back for the next event, Thursday 22 December. They will definitely get you in to the Christmas spirit, please come along and listen to them perform, along with browsing and shopping at six of the shops in the Row. Tudor Row Lichfield Frosts Photo Centre 4533 Lichfield The Tudor of Lichfield Lichfield Cathedral School

Did you see people dressed up in Alice in Wonderland costumes walking round Lichfield this morning doing a mobile app walking trail? Find out how you can join a real, live history walking tour with a real, live human tour guide (me, Victorian Jono!!) tomorrow, Sunday 2 October at 12noon and 2pm, starting from the Bureau Bar on Market Street - just £5pp - and no mobiles are required! The Bureau Lichfield

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08/11/2024

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Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Videos

Jono Bids on Binoculars!

My 15 seconds of fame!!

Four Historic Lichfield Buildings

Shrove Tuesday Proclamation

Hosanna In Excelcis at the Tudor Row Shops

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