John Smith

Those of you who enjoyed my first Newsletter article concerning the extraordinary story of Hunstanton’s boy geologist will be pleased to know that I have re-published his book in the exact format that was first used in 1910.

Copies can be purchased from Witley’s in the High Street or from John Smith at a Friday morning (10 – 12) St. Edmund’s Coffee Morning.

Please put in your diaries the dates Sunday 8^th – Sunday 15^th August when you will be able to see some of James Ja...
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Norfolk Libraries

I am truly sorry to have upset P. Hurst in my letter published in the March issue where I criticised the new self service library system. I think the Norfolk Libraries are a wonderful institution, they are well stocked & the staff are knowledgeable & helpful. I particularly like being able to borrow or return to any of the many Norfolk branches. I do however stand by my assertion that the new system is a joke & a mistake, though to be fair the machines have been ...
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On Monday 12th April, Hunstanton, Heacham and Docking Brownies went on Pack Holiday to Wells Field Study Centre, at Wells-Next-Sea, Norfolk.  A fantastic venue well equipped spacious, lovely large light airey spacious  bedrooms, not a bunk bed in sight. http://www.wellsfieldcentre.norfolkedunet.gov.uk/.

On Monday after unpacking and having a light lunch, we did an eco trail.  The theme was the seaside and we did seaside themed craft.

On Wednesday, after breakfast we wa...
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Stella Gooch

Since 2001 Heacham and Hunstanton businesses and organisations have benefitted from the growth and development of first Heacham-On-Line then Hunstanton-On-Line with each site achieving more than 350,000 hits per annum in recent years.  This kind of success led to the recent redevelopment of both sites in order to better promote the sunset coastline of Norfolk.

In these worrying economic times how we are seen as a tourist destination is key in attracting and growing visitor ...
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  (Church of Our Lady and St Edmund, Sandringham Road, with St Cecilia’s, Dersingham)

 At the time of writing, we are looking forward to the feast of Pentecost – which is the birthday of the Church.  On the first Pentecost, the Holy Spirit transformed the timid followers of Jesus into fearless proclaimers of the Good News of the Kingdom of God.  This same Spirit continues to empower the Church, even in difficult times, and we look forward to celebrating this fact with our fellow Christ...
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probably derives from the Old English bēd, the verb being “biddan”, which means to

pray, and if it was the name given Bede at birth, it probably meant that his family had planned on his entering the clergy from birth. He said of himself: “I have devoted my energies to the study of the Scriptures. Studying, writing have always...
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 Some may say our arrangements are haphazard, but as a Christian Fellowship we deliberately don’t plan in too much detail in order to allow space for God’s spirit to move. There have been times when we’ve changed from the planned speaker at short notice. Rather we have sort of skeletal framework within which our meetings occur, So normally we can but give a brief outline of our plans. As a routine we meet at 11.00am on Sundays and have meal together afterwards for thos...
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Concert by ‘Norfolk Brass’ Saturday July 3rd 7.30pm.

Norfolk Brass (formerly Matthews Norfolk Brass) is a registered charity and enjoys the reputation of being one of the most consistent high standard Brass bands in the East Anglian area.

The band's professional conductor is David Stowell who studied at the Royal Military School of Music and continued his career as a professional musician in the UK. He has appeared with several leading Orchestras and Brass bands including the City of Birm...
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Visitors to Norfolk are being offered a taste of the best local produce thanks to a deal between the region’s leading holiday lettings agency and a groundbreaking online farmers’ market.

Norfolk Country Cottages (NCC) has teamed up with social enterprise We Love Local Food to give holidaymakers a true flavour of the county.

People staying at one of NCC’s 360 holiday cottages can now have fresh local food and drink from more than 50 producers and suppliers delivered to their door.

The ...
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Quality and the designer touch marks Scent With Love as one of East Anglia’s leading florists.

              Nick Godfrey-Cole had managed a florists in Cambridgeshire for many years before establishing his business in Hunstanton and he brought to the town a flair and understanding of floral art that is rare indeed.

              Based in Greevegate, the shop is double fronted and is stocked not only with beautiful and exotic flowers from around the world, but als...
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Sunday 20th June 2010

33rd consecutive year!

 A new date in the calendar. Something for everyone…

              This year sees the Ringstead Open Gardens event moving forward by a couple of weeks to mid June to ensure that the gardens really are at their optimum.             

How many villages in the country, let alone Norfolk, can claim to have held an open gardens event for as long as Ringstead? This year Ringstead celebrates its 33rd consecutive event! F...
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Margi Blunden, committee member

 As the cold winds of spring retreat we are looking forward to events which have been organised over the winter. The Civic Society programme of talks has now ended for this season but Brian Holmes our talks organiser has been busy arranging an exciting range of topics for the 2010/11 season. Amongst these are the deeds (and no doubt life) of the king of Norfolk poachers, a history of aviation in Norfolk, and also, taking us far away from Norfolk but to some ...
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 In a week that saw the Blue Flag proclaiming safe bathing at Hunstanton, the new Town Mayor had to navigate his way through some muddy water as he made a firm start following his election on May 14th. Faced with a packed council chamber, Cllr Peter Mallam suspended Standing Orders to allow residents of Seagate Road to voice their objections to a revised planning application for a block of apartments on the Kit Kat site.

  To their credit, the town councillors listened ...
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Police in the Hunstanton area have launched a drive to reduce break-ins at coastal outbuildings.

It follows a recent increase in outbuilding thefts in Brancaster Staithe and other villages along the A149 route.

The new priorities were agreed for the Hunstanton and Burnham Safer Neighbourhood Team with the help of local residents at the recent Safer Neighbourhood Action Panel (SNAP) meeting.

During the next eight-week period, local officers will focus their attention on:

1. Reducing break-...
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Thank you and goodbye

John Maiden

 With the League One title in the bag, Norwich manager, Paul Lambert decided it was time to release five players in preparation for life in the Championship next season.

              Fans may have been surprised to see Gary Doherty's name included in the first list of departures from Carrow Road, but it could be unwise to question the judgement of the League One "Manager of the Season" when his acquisitions and team selection have proved...
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Hunstanton’s first B.Y.O.B (bring your own booze) Restaurant has opened in Northgate. Partners Stuart Fleming (ex head chef Briarfields) and Tony Lombari (ex-Luigi’s Trattoria) have put together the simplest of concepts; Stuart cooks it and Tony serves it and they both wash-up, clean, carry and shop!! With only 16 covers in their simple dining room and 12 on the sunniest of terraces overlooking the coast, staff were never on the cards given the economics!

Stuart and Tony sat down and wrot...
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The Skeleton in my Cupboard

Kingsley Pearce

All of us have heard of a skeleton in the cupboard, and few of us would admit to having one.  However, I would readily admit to having had one. My remembrance of the curious events relating to my skeleton was again in the early war years.  At that time I was living with grandfather in his house, which had five bedrooms and an attic bedroom.  The house was then mainly lit by gas and, as I remember, about to have electric lighting installed. Can...
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Robin Sainty of IFA Corporate Ltd

 Since Gordon Brown’s attack on the trust legislation during his tenure as Chancellor it has become much more complicated for grandparents with Inheritance Tax (IHT) planning concerns to gift money into trusts with the intention of providing for their minor grandchildren’s future education. Prior to the 2006 Finance Act the solution to this problem would have been an Accumulation and Maintenance Trust. These were widely used by both IFAs and solicitors...
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J. Smith

 Something completely different this month. Frustratingly, internet searches for St. Edmund in France only revealed some new minor details. Surprisingly, I did discover that St. Edmund is the patron saint for Agen – the largest town in the vicinity to where I was staying, and also he is the patron saint for the protestant church in Sweden. There is information about him the Toulouse archives but unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to visit them.

  I have just finished a...
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Sandra Hohol

 We are well into the year now and have several ‘gigs’ already under our belt so to speak.  All went exceptionally well and I must thank John Maiden for his glowing reports on Aladdin, both in the Lynn News and Hunstanton Newsletter.  If any parents want photos please let me know.

Our youngsters performance of St George and the Dragon, at the St George’s Day evening at the Princess Theatre was different as it was mimed, interacting with incidental piano music and there ...
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It’s nice to know, you’re always there,

And good to know, you truly care.

And that you’re only one heartbeat away,

In your arms I’ll always stay.

You give me hope, when there is doubt,

You keep me calm when I want to shout,

You make me laugh when I feel like crying,

You gave me life when I was dying.

You give me strength when I am weak,

Gave me a voice with which to speak.

You gave me love, when I was lonely,

For me you are the one and only.

You are the night, to ...
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Hopefully, most of you will have visited the reserve at some time and seen what a fantastic wildlife haven and spectacle is on our doorstep.

We have birds that are amongst the rarest breeding birds in the country such as bittern and marsh harrier and every now and then we have more unusual birds such as common crane or  red kite which have been several times during the last few weeks.

We even had a Bee-eater (a very colourful bird from southern Europe) turn up for a few minutes recently.

I...
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 Neen Riseborough for SLC. itec aslams

 This is an often asked question by all sorts of people   I thought It might nice to put the record straight.

              To begin, with we are not in any way linked to Sandringham hospital, we are indeed, a separate organisation offering our clients what we would hope to be the best of treatment in a totally private clinic. The emphasis in not just in private as in a paid for professional service but in what we feel our clients des...
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Hunstanton has been named as one of 71 English beaches to receive the internationally recognised Blue Flag Award. The award is a symbol to beach goers that they can be assured of good quality water and high standards of safety, services and general environmental management. Previously the beach gained the Quality Coastline mark, recognising the high standard of the beach and facilities.

 Hunstanton Town Mayor, Christine Earnshaw welcomed the news, “Visitors will be impressed to see the fl...
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Ron Coggins

 This is a very old photo of myself aged 10 and foster brother Albert taking a stationary ride on the First World War Gun as mentioned in the Kingsley Pearce article in May’s Newsletter (p23).

              As both of us were Dr. Barnardo Boys, our yearly trip to Hunstanton in those days was by courtesy of whichever Church or Chapel you attended. Ours was St Edmund’s Church so we always came by train, whereas those attending the four chapels in Downham Market al...
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John Smith

 A major new Hunstanton Project for 2011 is taking shape. The Hunstanton Branch of the Royal British Legion together with the help of John Smith’s archives is planning some major events for August 2011, including a book entitled Hunstanton At War and an exhibition of WW1 and WW2 Hunstanton war-related memorabilia.

Therefore “HUNSTANTON NEEDS YOU!” – if you have anything that could be used for this event, such as war-time family photographs, ration books, military memorabil...
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Joanna

This part of the rhyme doesn’t really apply as lambing is largely finished and the lambs are growing rapidly especially in this area. What does apply in May? Well supposedly warmer days and the twitter of House Martins as they drop mud on our paths in their house building attempts, but where are they, there are usually several pairs around the area where I live in, so far none!!! I hope to see Swifts around town; there have been one or two about.

Will we ever see the end of thi...
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Peter Mills

 There are still tickets available for our evening talk being held at the Town Hall in aid of the “Gurkha Welfare Trust” on Friday June 4^th at 7.30pm. If you would like to attend, please call Ian on 01485 533108 (any daytime), or just turn up at the door on the evening. The cost is only £5.00 per head and there will be a bar and refreshments available. The evening will be an interesting one with a talk by Lt Col (Retd) Chris Taylor, who was ‘called up’ in 1960 for two year...
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You may or not be aware that every Wednesday morning in the St Edmunds Church Hall, there is an informal Art Group where members gather to practice their art in water colours/oil/pastel/pen & ink and much more.

Occasionally we have a visiting artist give a demonstration or workshop on their craft.

As a demonstration of the friendly atmosphere that exists we are holding an open day on Wednesday 7th July, when you can drop in for a cuppa and see our members at work and perhaps tempt you to j...
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 Sunday 9th May at 1.50 p.m.  Hunstanton Lifeboat DJS Haverhill manned by Hunstanton volunteer RNLI crew  launched on service to a kite surfer, reported by a 999 call to Yarmouth CG that a surfer was thought to be in trouble about 3/4 mile out off Hunstanton, on arrival the crew recovered the surfer to the Lifeboat along with his gear, he had been having trouble with his gear,  and was unable make it back to the shore, after confirming that no other person's were involve...
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Everyone is invited to attend the cheque presentation at Hunstanton Town Hall on Wednesday 9th June, when Sainsbury’s are to present a cheque to the Mayor’s Appeal.

              As you probably know this appeal was set up to raise funds to open up the disused basement in the Town Hall for the youth of the area. The aim is to establish a youth club, computer access and much more.

 Sainsbury’s have had a whole host of in-store events to raise funds for this cause; they hav...
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Pictured here with his parents and friends at the Mayor’s Reception in Hunstanton Town Hall is the Hunstanton Sportsman of the Year, Louis Wilson age 14.

His achievements to date: Tang Soo Do - National Champion 2009, 3rd European Championships 2009, 2nd National Championships 2010. And later this year he is going to compete in the World Championships. Good luck Louis.

 BBC Blast will be at the Oasis Centre, Hunstanton from 8th to 10th July 2010.

If you're 13-19 and you like art, dance, film, music, games, writing or fashion then BBC Blast could be for you. BBC Blast aims to inspire and motivate young people to develop their creative talents with free multi-media workshops and showcase events for teenagers. Participants can use the latest technology, share ideas, and learn from media-industry professionals. Young people can try their hand at workshops from ...
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The Rolls Royce estate car

Norman C. Whye

 It was the standard idea that the apprentice should be able to perform good quality work on any make of car, and although we were British Motor Corporation franchised, the makes of this organisation were not always the sole types to come to the workshop to be worked on. When the Americans were based at Sculthorpe, some of their huge, heavily chromium plated, left hand drive vehicles used to appear on our forecourt for work to be done, and this we ca...
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One of the exciting things about Hunstanton’s entries into the In-Bloom competitions is that they provide the opportunity to bring so many residents and members of the community together towards the common goal of improving the attractiveness of our town.   Last month for instance, volunteers from the public planted wild flowers alongside the zig-zag path down from the Esplanade gardens to the Northern end of the promenade.  Not only will these plants improve the appearance of what was a ...
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by Edward Wheatley

 No more dancing in green wheat fields.

    No more lepine lindy-hops.

No more racing through dark beet fields.

   No more rests in summer crops.

By the roadside bloody and muddy lies a

    poor old mad March hare

Death returns us all to reason and there's

     little humour there.

No more Aprils cold and showery.

   No more Mays and Junes of sun.

No more Augusts warm, wild flowery.

   No more Octobers misty fun.

Instead, wet fur and ey...
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With the longest day this month, we can all hope to be spending more time outdoors enjoying the good weather.

              Old Hunstanton, Ringstead, Holme-next-the-Sea and Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale all have Open Gardens in June so if you need inspiration or just a lovely day out turn to pages 36 and 37 for details

              The Visitors’ Guide should have dropped through your letterbox by now and once again there is an extensive diary of events...
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