City's feast of firsts

There are some in Norwich whose idea of culture is football and food served together by Delia Smith.

Saturday home games can work a treat. Watch the team that won the First Division title last season and then move seats in the stadium for fillets of Sole Vronique with new potatoes, young spinach, carrots and broad beans, or try the vegetable tagine with apricots and coriander cous cous.

It's a winning formula for Norwich City FC and the premier league cook who is the club's joint majority shareholder. But in her efforts to extend the cultural profile of East Anglia's unofficial capital, Delia tasted defeat recently.

The disappointment, felt also in Sheffield and Birmingham, came when Derry was chosen as the UK's first City of Culture in 2013.

To have made the shortlist of the government-backed venture was an endorsement in itself, and Norwich already has more than most to recommend it, not least 1,500 historic buildings within the remnants of the city walls. Its visitor guide states the case: "Discover why it is one of the finest heritage cities in the land, steeped in 2,000 years of history. A buzzing cultural scene, superb eateries and UK top 10 shopping create the ideal city break destination."

That's not enough for Norfolk loyalists like Stephen Fry, who believe its contribution to the arts deserves far wider recognition. On the eve of the City of Culture announcement he was still urging the judges to reward Norwich's modern creative minds and to "see past the church towers".

Easier said than done, that last bit. Towers are everywhere, looming over cobbled streets and golden fields. The cathedral's spire is a misfit because this is a landscape not of steeples but square and rounded sentinels of flint. Norwich alone has 31 surviving medieval churches, the most of any place north of the Alps.

Architecturally they resemble less chubby versions of the 12th century castle keep, but judge for yourself by taking an open-top sightseeing bus which pauses on St James' Hill, part of Mousehold Heath and just beyond the city centre.

The view is impressive though perhaps not for those who have to wait years for transport back to town. The hilltop has been the site of Norwich prison since 1887. Inmates have included Lester Piggott and Ronnie Biggs, one of the snippets mentioned on the bus company's commentary about the city's past and present – and in its way at least as meaningful as jargon-filled Whitehall initiatives that promise to "deliver a substantial programme of cultural

activity which leads to a demonstrable step-change..."

There was definitely a step-change when Yorkshire helped to put paid to Norwich's textile trade based on wool, but ever resourceful, its citizens saw new opportunities. It's said the insurance business was inspired there by a gentleman who spotted a gap in the market when he couldn't find financial cover against robbery by highwaymen. And the Quaker Gurney family were descendants of a nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror to England and became a banking dynasty which was one of the components of present-day Barclays.

There are many more quirks and ground-breaking episodes for the tourist guides to describe. Here are a few: Dame Julian of Norwich was the first woman known to have written a book in the English language; it was the first provincial city to establish a municipal library; the first long-distance commercial phone call was made from here in 1878; it built the first all-metal aeroplane in Britain; was the first to use

a postcode; had the first driving school and, either coincidentally or as a direct consequence, was the first to pedestrianise a conventional street.

Firsts don't come much bigger than the one claimed by archaeologists a few miles away this summer. On the Norfolk coast just beyond the Broads – a couple more compelling reasons for a visit to the area – 78 pieces of razor-sharp flint, shaped into primitive cutting and piercing tools, were found during digging on the beach near Happisburgh. So what? It suggests that humans arrived in Britain about 250,000 years earlier than previously thought, that's what.

The discovery might eventually make a sentence or two for the tour bus team. So might the fact that significant history is still being made in Norwich. An anecdote in the distant future might mention the fact that the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit was deeply involved in one of the great debates of the early 21st century, and controversially so thanks to another phenomenon of the time, embarrassing emails.

For now though they're keen to promote Delia and her football club, also known as the Canaries. There's no escaping the lady in these parts. Her recipes are on sale in the tourist information centre and for those with an appetite for her Christian faith, a second-hand bookshop in a street called Tombland had a copy of Ms Smith's A Journey Into God.

In addition, the route of the sightseeing bus goes via Norwich City's ground where it's pointed out that the stadium is also home to the only celebrity restaurant in the city – 35-a-head for three courses on Friday and Saturday night.

She's since opened a second eaterie there, an American-style diner called Yellows which is open every day. The food was terrific and great value; the bill for two, including wine, less than 50.

The trading name, Delia's Canary Catering, helps to finance the football, which is fine unless your team loyalties lie elsewhere. When you see a local paper placard screaming "City Sign Hot-Shot Striker", you may have mixed feelings in knowing that your seared tuna, wilted spinach and Eton Mess helped to pay the 600,000 transfer fee.

Tourist information: www.visitnorwich.co.uk, 01603 213999.

YP MAG 11/9/10