Starting with the well maintained pantile and ridge tiled roof, I liked very much the design of the timber frame dormers that extended out from the main roof, allowing in plenty of light. It was also nice to see that in a much later period, they had used a lighter form of cast iron for the gutters and downpipes. There was also a nice touch in the way they had used lead to cap and protect the main roof’s coping stones and various other parts of this building, including the dormers. Some of the walls had been drilled, then stitched through from the outside to a supporting rafter on the inside, using iron discs and lengths of different shaped threaded iron rods that had been nut and bolted together before being painted black. The stitching was to help support the walls from cracking, bowing, or falling down. You can see a good example from St Ann’s Lane. 

I liked that, to me, (all the cement work), from the ridge tiles, chimney stacks had, and right throughout the whole building including being mostly built in all the different sized handmade bricks. Plus the rendering, and any other cement work that l could see, had been carried out by skilled tradesmen over the different centuries. They had succeeded in matching all the existing works as best they could. It looked like to me a cement mortar, made up and mixed together over the hundreds of years, a mixture of different sands, adding water, lime, and a white to a very light grey cement. The building reminded me of a mixture of puzzles that somehow blended in nicely together. 

Then there was the strong, hard wearing and self protecting good old English oak, so much used back in the day, so well thought out in its use to structurally support this original, 15th century absolute sweetheart of a building. Splendid oak crown post timbers support the roof, really showing off the abilities and skills of the carpenters from back in that period of history, adding some of the softer woods to the roof and ceiling rafters. Originally it had 14 Baltic oak hand carved dragons as decoration. Plus the ceiling in between is, they think, one of a kind, made up of various materials combined together, making up the complete ceiling. 

Looking at some of these oak beams as I walked around the building, they reminded me of oak warships and Admiral Horatio Nelson came to mind. I wondered if Horatio had ever visited the Dragon, him being from Norfolk. He could have anchored up off shore in his battleship with its double row of cannon each side, and had his men row him up river to the famous Toppes trading hall, that would have had a thatched roof at the time.

When l was first invited to Dragon Hall, not only was l nicely greeted, l also felt this strong welcoming presence. As l started up the varnished oak timber staircase my sixth sense kicked in, lifting the hairs on the back of my neck. I took a quick look back over my shoulder and noticed a little archway to the left of me, and tried to imagine where it might lead to. I carried on up, looking up at the same time. Entering this amazing space, well l didn’t know at the time how to really explain it. But l do now know where the Mother of Dragons really lives. She’s a one of a kind that has survived the many, many hundreds of years gone by, including two world wars. 

I’d met some of the staff that work here before I’d entered this amazing hall. My friend Iga Szymanska is a trainee mental health nurse who introduced me to Sarah Witcomb, who runs a wellbeing group at The Garage. Sarah got me accepted on to an online creative writing course for the over 70s, run by the National Centre for Writing. She was kind enough to explain about my uneducated and severely dyslexic situation. I was well chuffed to be included in the class. At the end of the course we all had the opportunity to write our own story. Caitlin, who works at the hall, and my girlfriend, Alexis, both said how well they could hear my voice in my writing. Sarah Power, who also worked at the hall then, very kindly read out my story at Dragon Hall, at an event to celebrate everyone who had been on the course. I had the pleasure of watching the event on Zoom.

So let’s go back to when I first entered this blow ya mind space. l very quickly started to feel like a stick me out sore thumb. It was a big challenge for me, to be amongst all the people there that evening, promoting their books, chatting in little groups, drinking wine. l wasn’t too sure about approaching anyone so l took a step back and tried to look cool as l walked around this amazing hall. l noticed a man had just come in, wheeling himself along in his wheelchair. I kept me eye on him for a while, wondering what had happened to him. He was sitting there on his jack, and was more my cuppa tea. 

So I walk on over and give him the time of day. I said,

‘Hello mate, my name is Mick.’ He smiled, we shook hands. He’d written and published a cartoony type of book about The Big Nose Family. We had a good laugh before he was whisked away, allowing me to sit there on me jack for a bit. Shutting my eyes and imagining, picture this Dragon in the dark. 

So who am l gunner be brave enough to go and talk to? Well, there is a lady that has just had her first book published. Come on Mick, let’s go say hello and congratulate her, so l do. She was full of it, how nice and what an achievement. I could feel the atmosphere and the confidence growing in the room. Everyone was chatting away and having a nice time. So l moseyed on over and said hello to another woman. It turned out she worked in Formula One racing, how interesting. Then, to my very nice surprise, a woman l’d crossed eyes with earlier said,

‘Hello, l thought I’d come over and join you.’ 

‘Hello,’ l said, with more than a biggish smile. She’s a play writer and it’s like the love of her life. l could see how passionate she was when talking about her work. Then she asked me, did I write? She seemed interested in my story so I shared some of it with her, including what happened to my younger brother when he was put into a home. He was only twelve years old at the time and it affected him badly. It turned him into a bit of a mad, violent psycho and he ended up in a mental hospital for five years. I hadn’t been around him for years but then someone got to my softer side and said he was dying of AIDS so I allowed him to come and see me. This was eighteen years ago and I was a different man back then.

The woman said how powerfully interesting and moving my story was and felt that it was important for my story to be told. Then this very modern out there girl, with a wicked haircut and some good tattoos, stepped in, saying, 

‘I’ve overheard there’s a good story going on over here. Can l sit in and have a listen?’ It done wonders for me ego and I was grateful to carry on. 

Then there was the time when l was invited to Sarah Bower’s book launch. Sarah had been our tutor on the over 70s writing course. As l find it very hard to sit in between strangers, l pulled one of the end chairs out and away from the rest of the rows. l put my coat over the back of the chair knowing that I’d be ok for later. So now I’m standing there by a window trying to look cool when I noticed this woman looking my way. l started to think maybe me luck might have changed when she walked on over and said,

‘Are you on your own?’ Well, l had a surge of confidence come over me. So l had a quick look all around me, before saying with a big smile,

‘It looks like it.’ She laughed, then for the next thirty or forty minutes we never stopped talking and having a nice time. She was lovely, a real sweetheart. She introduced me to some of her friends, and they all made me feel so very comfortable. l loved their company but just don’t know how to be sometimes. 

After Sarah signed my book I went and sat back down. Sarah and this man walked on through the awaiting audience and onto the stage. After Sarah had finished her speech she introduced this man as her publisher, Sam. Well, l thought, that’s interesting, I’ll give him a tug after, maybe he could help me with my book. I jumped straight in with some of my story. He said it sounded very interesting and that it was ok for me to look him up. As l walked off up the road l couldn’t help chewing everything over in my mind. l was well chuffed with meself, especially meeting all them nice people.

Then, unexpectedly, I’m so very pleased to say, at the end of 2023, l got an email from Hannah Garrard asking for volunteers for Story Makers. I was accepted and very much looking forward to meeting Hannah. So once again I walked along King Street and into Dragon Hall, constantly reassuring meself along the way. A nice young lady took me to meet Hannah. How nice it was to be here again. As we walked to the chimney stack end of the hall, Hannah came over and said,

‘l enjoyed reading your story Mick.’ Hannah made me feel very welcome, comfortable and put me at ease straight away.

Right let’s get going. Hannah gave us the opportunity to feel free to go and explore this amazing building. I enjoyed being here amongst this group of volunteers. Hannah had invited in some very clued up people to give us the heads up on more of the history of Dragon Hall. That will be my next challenge, to tell the stories that have come from the Dragon. 

The Dragon speaks to me and I’d like to think I speak for the Dragon as she has so much to say.

Author’s note

Thank you to Hannah Garrard for all your help and support you put my way, from start to finish, and thank you to Sarah Bower for your support with editing my piece and keeping my voice in there. I’d also like to thank our group of good, kind and very helpful Story Makers…I  loved the dance it’s added to my imagination. It has enriched whatever I’m writing about. I loved the depths and understanding the conversations took us to, how we had comfortably made up our minds on the history subject we were gunner be writing about, the famous Robert Toppes’ Dragon hall.