A Monthly Publication

 By Edward Wheatley

“In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure-dome decree.”

In Hunstanton we've an arcade: on the Green:

                                        beside the sea.

You wouldn't call it stately, but the rent is almost free.

And for years it's been the subject of much

                                       controversy.

Old Kubla, 'cos he was a khan, could build just what

                                       and where he chose.

Our Council, 'cos we elected them, serve our wishes

                                       you'd suppose.

But they just pretend to care.  For no matter

                                      what's exposed,

They know how short our memories are and they'll not

                                      be deposed.

The fact is people do get fun from the games

                                      that are inside.

And how many locals really cared for the view

                                      that it now hides ?

They may have signed petitions, but when the time

                                      came to decide

They voted as they always have – old loyalties

                                      weren't denied..

This 'little local difficulty' reflects society's ills -

-   the hope for unearned money that a

                          slot machine fulfils

-   the loss of respect for learning, hard work

                          and craftsmen's skills:

-   the bureaucrats that use the rules to curtail

                          our free wills.

The Victorians on their cenotaphs put cruel

                                     images of war,

To warn those who came after of what had gone

                                    before.

So, as a  “Victorian Seaside Town” how could 

                                    we want for more 

Than this 'pleasure-dome' as our monument  –

                                    a cheaply built eyesore.

Still let's “... look on the bright side...”  

                                    (to quote more famous lines).

The arcade hides another blight  -  

                                     those dreadful wind turbines !