Things you didn't know about... Norwich

Carrow Road is a Canary island
Yellow is the kit colour for Norwich City FC, aka the "Canaries". The team is majority-owned by TV chef Delia Smith, who can regularly be spotted in the stands at its home ground, Carrow Road. The "Canaries" nickname is thought to come from Dutch refugees who brought the yellow birds with them to Norwich in the 16th century.

And that's not the only yellow streak round here
Colman's Mustard has always had its HQ in Norwich. Founded in 1814, the factory still turns out its popular condiment. There's even a Colman's Mustard Shop in Norwich city centre devoted to Colman's products.

Norwich knows its limits...
...they're clearly marked with splendidly preserved medieval walls. And not only that, they enclose a bigger area than any other city walls in England (even London's). Norwich's flint walls were completed by the mid-14th century, and much of them are still standing above ground.

Great fire sparks Tudor facelift
A massive fire in Norwich in 1507 resulted in mass rebuilding. Elm Hill is one such street that underwent a facelift, Tudor-style: it's claimed there are more Tudor homes down this street than in the entire City of London. The Briton's Arms coffee house is one of the few buildings that escaped the flames.

Paris, Milan... Norwich
Shoe-making has been an important industry for Norwich for more than 700 years. By the late 19th-century it had become the city's major industry, with some 26 shoe factories at the peak of the Norwich shoe-producing age. Familiar local names include Start-Rite and Bally.

There's no Up with the Partridge on Radio Norwich
Steve Coogan's grotesque comic creation, the crassly cheesy TV and radio presenter Alan Partridge, began his second series as the presenter of Up with the Partridge, the so-called "graveyard slot" presenting in the early hours on then-fictitious Radio Norwich. There is now a real Radio Norwich—it began airing in 2006—but sadly no place for Mr Partridge.

Norwich—more radical than it looks
Despite a reputation for being out of touch and conservative, Norwich has a long tradition of political radicalism. In 2008, 10 of its City councillors were from the Green Party.