Pickenham Twister Update

The Hart's dice with dangerous whirling dervish of nature is described in the EDP24.

Pickenham Twister

Today has been a mixture of sunshine and showers with a blustery wind. Gusts of over 40 mph have brought down branches for the first time this Autumn which also made the cycle ride to Swaffham a battle on the way there and a jet propelled journey back. Around 2pm the skies darkened and heavy rain with hail fell. Worse things seem to have occurred to the older parts of the village. A house in The Street lost the flint rendering to one side, making the building unsound, with the residents evacuated until the fire brigade make things safe.

© J Reed

Local sources say that the culprit was a small twister caused by the storm, forcing its way down a corridor between two houses, uplifting some trees on it's way south easterly to Ashill. It would seem, fortunately, no one was hurt and by 6pm the winds have dropped and the sun has reappeared.

What a difference a day makes

The garden is all topsy turvy with poppies still flowering along with the second wave of yellow roses at the kitchen window.

And tomatoes ripen on the vine...

...as rose hips redden on the rock rose bushes.

Today was just beautiful, warm and sunny with a gentle breeze. 
Hot enough for Bertie to need a dip and drink in the Wissey after our cycle ride together up to St Mary's.

All photos © J Reed

And the met office confirms that a warm Saturday night low of 14 degrees centigrade heralded a high of 23 Celsius this afternoon.

But what is this on the horizon?

The Wissey might be a little fuller in the morning with up to 8 centimetres of rain a possibility overnight with stormy winds. The farmers are busy, desperately squireling away dry grain and straw.

Twenty four little hours, indeed.

Stark naked seaside silliness

Postcards from Cromer may have changed over the years.

But stripping off and enjoying the sand,sea and pier hasn't.

Saucy postcards, 'What the Butler Saw' machines and a 'Kiss Me Quick' hats, Cromer circa 1950s. They tried to censor nakedness then too with McGill postcards, that pre-teens would find tame now, banned from promenade vendors. 

Censorship central Cromer, the Victorian Poppyland gem on the cusp of north and east coasts of Norfolk, seemed to return to pre Edwardian prudity when a collection of standard pose nude paintings were taken down at local government offices today. 

John Vesty's work had meant to hang at the North Norfolk District Council offices in Cromer for four weeks but were squirrelled away after apparently offending some members of staff. The artist  is said to be dumbfounded and remarks that the models are in standard life drawing type poses. Eight of the works are now on display in a nearby gallery.

What the puritans would have made of the visit by the now veteran punksters on Christmas Eve 1977, at the now disappeared Cromer Links Pavilion, lord only knows.

Rave Culture, Laser Cutting and Echinops Bannaticus

 

Yves Lecoq

Turbines, music and a field. Must be a Swaffham rave. Well Cockley Cley to be precise, that's pronounced Cock-Lee-Kli (as in sky) for you foreigners, where the police have dropped their objections for a charity party event after reassurances over illicit drug consumption. The licensing application will be decided by Breckland Council, for the live music and sale of alcohol between 8pm on Saturday September 11th until 2pm the following afternoon, on August 25th. Expect some noise and state of the art light effects from one of the sleepiest corners of Breckland.

Lasers will also be at the cutting edge of metal merchants Laserfast, based at the Ecotech Business Park in Swaffham. When does half a centimetre count? When it comes to cutting stainless steal, apparently. £400,000 investment would seem to be the proof needed for Laserfast to gain new, lucrative energy and chemical clients.

© J Reed

Precision engineering, mother nature always gets there first. Summer must be coming to the end as my Echinops Bannaticus come into flower. The bees are happy, though.

Well I never...

...Council Tax Benefit and Mortgage Relief take on a new meaning:

'Norfolk county council said it did not believe it had funded any visits to sex workers, but Di Croot, assistant team manager for learning disabilities in North Norfolk said such requests would be looked on "favourably" with staff encouraged to be "as free thinking as possible" about how to ensure all the needs of clients were met.'

More here.

August? Advanced Autumn Alert.

Light showers were predicted today. What we got was a day of drizzle, interspersed with heavy rain, with a 'high' of 16 Celsius and only in the early evening were there any signs of blue sky. It must be the middle of the school holidays!

Not a great day to sell any BBQ, let alone one called 'God Grilla' that can cook 7 whole lambs or 2 cows at any one time.

Cotswold based Bespoke BBQ Company will make anything up to this £10,000 5m long, 1.9m wide and, with its twin chimneys which can be fitted with extractor fans, 3.5m tall example. 
The poshest BBQ in Norfolk must be the summertime menu from the court yard at The Victoria, Holkham.

With half lobsters and whole sea bass on offer, this is no glorified burger joint. Perhaps David Cameron would have popped in after his quick dip in the sea at nearby Holkham Beach, as he revealed on promoting 'traditional' values over Blair's 'Cool Britannia', had it not been April. He is more man than I thought, I won't go into the North Sea until May!

Naturists on Holkham Beach - Michael Smith

No news on whether he skinny dipped or not.

Tartan Tidal Turbines

With some of the highest tides of the year on the Norfolk coast today, a rise and fall of around four metres at Wells next the Sea, the intrinsic power of nature came to mind. It makes one wonder whether, as well as harnessing the wind around our wonderful coastline, the power of the bi-daily rise and falls could be harvested. There was news today from Scotland of the unveiling of the AK-1000 tidal turbines which will harness the endless power source from Crown Estate waters off the Orkneys and the Pentland Firth.

The turbines, built by Atlantis Resources Corporation, are said to be environmentally friendly with the blades, turning only at between 6 to 8 revolutions per minute, safe to the aquatic fauna. 

A slightly tardy update on the Matthews' Two. A meeting of the Breckland Development Control Committee on 2nd June approved the recommendation to allow the two turbines at the Bernard Matthews' turkey sheds at the airfield on a 25 year lease. I can report no signs of building work as yet with working turbines not due until 2011.

Fire Fighter's Daring Deer Rail Rescue Plans Prevented

Some more Normal For Norfolk news.

Following last months daring rescues,  Norfolk fire fighters were asked to come to the aid of a deer in distress today but, alas, the ruminant had already released itself.

Norse Woods Log Homes

What will they be asked to free next? I feel a theme emerging here. That dog is a good carving, isn't it.

Road Kill Cremation Rates

Road Kill Toys

News today that West Norfolk Council spends £18,000 a year cremating animals flattened on its roads in the name of 'public health'. 

Perhaps a better use could be 'art' or the slightly more traditional dinner plate ending as served at The RoadKill Cafe in Alabama, their slogan is 'You Kill'em and we Grill'em!'. Or you could fill the freezer like Arthur Boyt, but spare a thought for his long suffering vegetarian wife.

Hedgehog is the most plentiful, their road skills are particularly bad, but their anatomy means they are often difficult to butcher when flattened. The Peoples Trust for Endangered Species conducts annual countrywide surveys that can help you know what deceased fauna you might find and where. An excellent larder service with an easy to use identification guide.

So the North and East look like the best hedgehog hunting haunts. 
But back to West Norfolk Council, will they be picking up bear shit from the woods next?

Its a strange world...

... when a man, over paid because he can kick a ball around, who is betrothed to a lingerie model, even though he resembles a stick insect, still can't keep it in his shorts and feels the need to pay for sex. The same inability to count one's blessings could be said about our local 'celebrity' who achieved every working man's dream of winning the lottery. King of chavs lotto lout Michael Carroll has finally sold his Swaffham pile as part of his bankruptcy, announced on 18th February this year, after blowing all the £9,736,131 National Lottery win of November 2002. 

Before Carroll

After Carroll

The house is a mess, as you can see, and has been snapped up for £142,000. That is £200,00 less than he paid for it and doesn't allow for the estimated £400,000 spent extending it and fitting an indoor swimming pool. Michael recently applied to get his old bin-man job back and says he is now much happier. 

Money doesn't buy happiness, it seems.

Normal For Suffolk

How embarrassing. Grown man needed to be rescued from a tree. 'Possibly drunk'. Well you'd pretend to be anyway, wouldn't you.