Pickenham Posts

Tesco Targets Three Supermarket Town update 2

2012-01-24T18:43:00.003Z

More details from Tesco developer Millngate, prior to the exhibition at the George Hotel this Friday and Saturday, including this artists impression of what the store will look like as published in today's EDP.

Interactive map of the proposed site here via gmap-pedometer.com.

Miraculous Moisture at Marham

2012-01-23T23:49:00.002Z

Contrasting Accounts of County Crime

2012-01-23T19:47:00.001Z

Thankfully Norfolk is a safe place to live with much antisocial behaviour centred in the few larger conurbations and other crime more particular to rural farming locations. Deputy Chief Constable Simon Bailey is pleased, but not complacent, in Norfolk being named the safest place in the country to live.

Google

Indeed today's warning from Norfolk Police in the EDP of a robbery in Merryweather Road, Swaffham, recorded that the robbers, er, stole nothing. Not that East Anglia is free from serious crime. Thomas Curtis was part of a gang that had a total of 32 robberies, 67 cashpoint thefts, 42 smash-and-grabs and 126 vehicle thefts linked to it. Sentenced to 12 years for his part in the crimes, he died in Norwich gaol in January after being returned to prison for breaking parole conditions. His widow reports he was a reformed character having worked in the community whilst in custody, she added:

“You couldn’t ask for a better brother and we feel he should be remembered for the positives, not just the negatives.”

Brian Purdy/EDP

Shame the wreath givers at his recent funeral were not so sensitive to the community he had wronged. I wonder whether the victims of the crimes, where the perpetrators brandished sawn-off shotguns, baseball bats, pickaxe handles and sledgehammers to carry out the robberies during their ram raiding exploits, appreciate the 'humour' of flower arrangements in the shapes of a replica cash machine, a Post Office sign, a can of red diesel and a £20 note?

Blackmailing Bogus Bobby Busted

2012-01-21T11:37:00.000Z

Richard Humphrey/Geograph

Police are praising the persons prayed upon by a pretend policeman pursuing payoffs after improper propositions, writes the BBC. The man, Darren Witham, attempted to extort money from men he encouraged into sexual activity in public conveniences near the King's Lynn clock in the district of Gaywood. He then posed as a policeman and threatened prosecution if funds were not handed over. Officers acknowledge how embarrassing it must have been to come forward and report the incidents, treating the victims with sensitive anonymity. No comment was conjured whether the crime scene was cynically chosen. Witham was sentenced to four years in prison.

Dudgeon Dig Not A Done Deal

2012-01-15T18:05:00.000Z

Warwich Energy were dealt a new blow this week during their application to bury the power cables from their Dudgeon Windfarm in a 40 meter wide unbilical chord corridor. North Norfolk District Council rejected the plans to bury the power cables from their landfall at Weybourne to Great Ryburgh, this is just 11 miles as the crow flies from Little Dunham where other faltering plans for a huge substation connection to the National Grid are being sort despite continued local objection.

BBC

Warwich Energy plans at Little Dunham can be seen here.

Cambell's Soup Tower Condensed

2012-01-15T17:58:00.000Z

EDP

The aesthetically challenged King's Lynn landmark, which used to welcome visitors from both the A47 and A10 approaches at the Hardwick roundabout, was flattened today to make way for more out-of-town shopping facilities. Pressing the button was the daughter of a man killed in an industrial accident at the site. Mick Locke was fatally scalded by steam in 1995, his daughter Sarah Griffiths is using the event as some kind of 'closure' to the tragedy.

Lynn News

Shocking Story

2012-01-13T19:38:00.001Z

Hoping the resident pigs did not escape when electric fencing was stolen earlier this week between the Pickenham and Hilborough Estates.

Roger Gilbertson/Geograph

Rural crime is hard to spot unless you know that it is the wrong people doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, or a mixture of one or more of the three.

Tesco Targets Three Supermarket Town update

2012-01-11T18:34:00.001Z

More details were revealed today on the proposed new Tesco store on the derelict site near the Eco Centre which was once owned by Breckland Council.

EDP

The store is set to be one of their smaller and 'greener' developments which aim to reduce Tesco's carbon footprint. Tesco developers Millngate are holding a public meeting at Swaffham's George Hotel which will run from 3pm to 7pm on January 27th and from 10.30am to 3pm on January 28th; there will be the opportunity to preregister for the expect 150 job positions too.

Celebrating Cartoon Costume Clashing Capers

2012-01-10T13:51:00.000Z

Simon Little, not related to Stuart, is Holt’s new police sergeant. Reporting on a brawl in the King's Head at a New Year's Eve celebration he commented:

“The victim was in fancy dress dressed as Superman with Captain America and the suspect was Shaun the Sheep, who was working in conjunction with Tigger".

NFN.

Bird saviours and dead whale demise

2012-01-04T22:54:00.000Z

Famed for loving our animals, it is sometimes odd how much attention we pay to those who are or have been in distress.

edp

But how many fire fighting vehicles does it take to free a 'distressed' gull from a tree? Three, it seems. One to assess the situation and order a table-ladder appliance and a third to 'assist' the staff of the big steps. Well I'm sure that is all very well justified.

edp

A sad end to the whiffy whale who didn't have the good fortune to be washed back out offshore to swim with Davey Jones. Instead the watery mammal has been dissected with a chain saw and sent to landfill. Police say there is no action to be taken against the youth who misguidedly tried to make a small sum from selling thieved teeth taken from the temporary tourist attraction.

Life saving local

2011-12-22T11:07:00.001Z

Local First Responder Pete Davis has been spreading his skills wider than the local environs.

NEN24

In a recent day out in Norwich's shopping centre The Forum, Pete and pals spread their skills in first aid and resuscitation. Keep up the good work young man!

Holding on to your ill gotten gains

2011-12-15T22:56:00.001Z

Armed crime is never funny or clever, but some people need custodial sentences to save them from themselves.

A man has been sentenced to six and a half years in prison after committing two armed robberies in two days in Breckland.

On the evening of Thursday 14 July 2011 Jordan Carr entered the BP petrol station on Norwich Road in Swaffham and demanded money. He threatened staff with a gun and fled with a quantity of cash and cigarettes – some of which he dropped outside along with part of his gun.

Then, on the morning of Friday 15 July Carr, aged 22 and of no fixed address, entered the B & P Newsagents on Stone Road in Dereham with an accomplice, armed with a gun. When they fled with a quantity of cash they were challenged by members of the public and dropped the cash and another part of the gun.

One of the incidents was the site of last year's arson attacks by Hussain Murad, fortunately no one was physically hurt in any of the mercifully rare crimes in this region.

EDP24

Short break in the fog ...

2011-11-20T16:48:00.001Z

... allowed for a dog walk in the sunshine.

Tesco Targets Three Supermarket Town

2011-11-10T14:30:00.001Z

News today in the EDP that Tesco has acquired the underdeveloped land at the EcoTech Business Park, next door to Waitrose, from Breckland Council with plans for a fourth supermarket within Swaffham. The land (A) was earmarked for sale two years ago.

Google Maps

Whether there is enough footfall in the area will be seen, it will enable fans of the big T to shop more locally, shops in Dereham and Kings Lynn are 12 and 16 miles away respectfully, although the newly expanded Watton to the east might have expected to pick up this trade.

Tesco stores 15 mile radius of Swaffham

Tiny Turbines Twins

2011-11-02T23:20:00.000Z

The carefully minded & sighted of you who pass the Pickenhams will have noticed some smaller offspring in the vicinity. Two small turbines, not unlike larger versions of the St Andrew's school windmill, have appeared at Dennis' Kings Row Farm on the high ground off Houghton Lane.
A rather more leisurely, larger bladed turbine is nearer to the airfield eight, nearby to the Matthews' turkey sheds, at the Blackmore's Daleacres farm in South Pickenham.

EDP

Covered Clods

2011-10-30T18:04:00.000Z

Keith Evans/Geograph

Farmers have for some time covered their fields in shiny man made materials to harvest the most from the prevailing weather conditions. Thankfully plastic mulching is not too prevalent in this part of Norfolk, the materials being not only unsightly but rather unenvironmentally friendly too.

Mike Page

Following last weeks news of an anaerobic digester plant being planned off the A1065 north of Swaffham, another farmer has covered a field with a 30 acre 'sun farm' assembled near North Walsham. The 18,000, 3 meter high photovotaic cells can produce enough energy to feed 1,500 homes. Expected to last 25 years, some of the maintenance is to be provided by grass trimming sheep to keep the 35 degree tilted panels producing their solar powered produce.
Update: These could be the last solar farms for some time as the government has slashed the subsidises, known as FiTs or Feed in Tariffs, for new developments.

Finally succumbing to autumn, albeit unseasonably fine

2011-10-28T15:01:00.001+01:00

The morning fog lifted smartly, the windless day welcomingly warm.

All © J Reed 2011

A fair wind for bio digester?

2011-10-27T19:45:00.000+01:00

This part of Norfolk either embraces alternative methods of energy production, such as the turbines at North Pickenham and Swaffham, undecided, such as the proposed turbine in nearby Shipdham, or opposed like the electrical sub station, for the Dudgeon off shore wind farm, in Little Dunham.

Renewable Energy Association

Reports today that Dutch business man Teun Smits and Bury St Edmunds based Qualiflex Biproduct Solutions Limited are set to show plans of a recycling and anaerobic digester plant, to be based at West Lexham, at an exhibition to be held at Castle Acre Village Hall, in Pye’s Lane, from 4pm to 7pm on November 10th. The general principle of the plant is that waste organic matter goes in one end and biogas fuel and farm friendly fertiliser comes out the other. Only time will tell whether locals welcome the idea, with 30 direct long term jobs promised, on the positive side, and environmental aromas and increased heavy transport on the other.

Necton Co-Op Closure

2011-10-24T17:10:00.001+01:00

Reports in the papers today say that the Necton convenience store is to close with the Co-Operative unwilling to resign a lease with a 30% rent increase. The ever busy 7 day opening store will, no doubt, be sorely missed.

Co-Operative Stores

The nearby Post Office will also close leaving the near 2000 Nectonians and surrounding villagers no option but to travel to Swaffham for even the simplest of supplies and services.

Roast Dinners at School

2011-10-16T15:28:00.000+01:00

Press reports of nutritious roast dinners, made from very local produce, being served to pupils and staff at St Andrew's School including vegetables from their very own garden.

Lynn News

News of how locals can join in these feasts can be found in November's issue of the Pickenhams' Periodical or by contacting the school direct.

A11 Bat Bridges

2011-10-15T18:41:00.002+01:00

Part of the planning permission appeasements, bat bridges are to be built spanning stretches stopping squashing some soaring scavengers. The theory being that the bat's sonar senses the netting as it would the top of hedgerows, guiding the mammals over the dualled danger zone.

MikeCalder/Wikimedia

£500,000 have been earmarked to protect the six species known to inhabit the vicinity, which seems rather a lot for some posts and a bit of netting. The Highways Agency point out that this is a road safety issue too. As well as an unwelcome coming together with a hurtling motor vehicle for the bat, like the reasons steps are taken to divert deer off dual carriageways, they can be a dangerous distraction for the driver too.

Bradenham Housing

2011-10-13T20:23:00.001+01:00

The previously mentioned Hale Road development by local builder cum developer cum RIBA Chartered Practice architects firm Clayland seems to have started with initial groundworkings.
The revised plans from the original 12 homes, including 6 affordable units, are for 6 'open market homes' and 5 'local needs homes', including 1 special needs home, in what looks like the usual well designed, sympathetically landscaped Clayland style.

Clayland

The adjacent Lord Nelson pub still looks rather forlorn and not open for trade, the former landlord/land owner and prospective publicans submitting representations in support of the development with most objections coming from residents on the opposite side of Hale Road.

A11 dualling

2011-10-11T19:49:00.000+01:00

The government has brought forward capital expenditure projects already given the go ahead with preliminary work to start on the Barton Mills to Thetford stretch next Monday.

Highways Agency

The works will make the journey on the A11 dual carriageway from the M11, and the main east-west A14 road, to Norwich. Hopefully the widened road will alleviate the traffic jams at the notorious bottlenecks at Fiveways and Elveden .

Last of the Indian Summer Sunshine

2011-10-09T14:50:00.001+01:00

Only the long shadows give away these were taken only last Friday.

No such sunshine this weekend.

Cromer Crab Company Crisis

2011-10-08T22:34:00.000+01:00

The Seafood Company arm of the Findus Group is 'consulting' on closing down the Cromer Crab Company section of the organisation with the potential direct loss of 230 jobs.

Antony Kelly/NEN24

There is a petition to keep the Cromer Crab Company in, well, Cromer. In 2006 Findus started to ship scampi, to be sold in the freezer departments of European supermarkets, from the langoustine grounds of Scotland to the deshelling hands of Thailand and then 6000 miles back again. The decision isn't set in frozen seas yet, but past decisions don't bode well for sentiment beating cold financial decisions.

Fly tipping, again

2011-10-08T00:17:00.001+01:00

Almost a daily sight, new signs of fly-tipping around the Pickenhams' has long been a problem.

The vacuum cleaner was on Houghton Lane on the way to the Ashill Recycling Centre, the burnt out carcass was in fact a loaded rubbish laden trailer, dumped some days before it was burnt with the fire brigade attending the situation, and not a caravan as the press reported.

Breakthrough Broccoli

2011-10-04T22:03:00.000+01:00

The Institute of Food Research in Norwich has developed broccoli with higher than usual anti-oxidant producing properties.

Beneforté

Beneforté, to be sold by M&S in the UK, has three times as much glucoraphanin which the body turns into sulphoraphane and is believed have anti cancer properties.

Bartlett Beets to Rainbow Roots

2011-10-03T22:24:00.000+01:00

With the sugar beet all but harvested and sweet smelling tractor loads of onions thundering down The Street, this truly is a harvest time to feel festive about. But what of more exotic fare?

PA/Mail Online

Half way between Swaffham and Oxburgh Hall, near Cockley Cley (Cock-lee Kl-eye), they are growing rainbow carrots exclusively for Tesco. Modern GM madness, no. A 15 year old variety that harks back pre William of Orange's edict to promote his house's colours and make the night sight improving vegetable more patriotic. Some or all of these facts may be apocryphal. One of the root's original colurs, purple, seems to run in the roots of grower Alan Bartlett.

A family firm, the Scottish Albert Bartlett branch provides the tasty Rooster potatoes amongst many others, started by boiling beetroots in post war Scotland. The history of the soil syndicate can be seen here.

Beautiful Butterfly Better than a Busy Bee?

2011-10-01T19:09:00.000+01:00

Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta) photographed on the warmest October day on record.

What season is this?

2011-09-30T18:19:00.001+01:00

Seeds are setting, berries are rippening whilst flowers continue to come into bud.

all photos © J Reed 2011

28 centigrade, with a light wind, in Mid Norfolk today - lovely.

Bus Stop Burn Shock Photo

2011-09-24T12:43:00.001+01:00

Seems that the carcass is still sound, the thatch however has all gone.

The seemingly rather overly zealous fire fighting, three appliances at one point, seems to be not the proximity of any other buildings but the closeness to the B1077 Swaffham to Watton road and some overhead electricity cables.

Bus Stop Burn Shock

2011-09-21T23:26:00.003+01:00

The quaintly thatched bus stop in South Pickenham has been purposefully set alight, so the fire brigade believes. The suspected arson of the picturesque shelter, believed to have been erected by the South Pickenham Estate, happened around 8pm on Tuesday 20th September, 2011. Any suspicious behaviour should be reported to local police (0845 456 4567).

Persistent Planning Permission Petition Part 3

2011-09-21T23:10:00.001+01:00

News is that planning permission for the large Dunham Electrical Sub Station, to be located just the other side of the A47 from the Pickenhams, has been rejected by the government ministers.

EDP

Warwick Energy has six weeks to appeal the decision.

Theft is no laughing matter...

2011-09-19T23:29:00.000+01:00

...oh, perhaps it is. Crooked couple in Cromer try to steal laughing gas for rave parties. With Kenneth Williams on the videos screens perhaps?

Normal for Norfolk? Suffolk and Lincolnshire perhaps

2011-09-11T23:48:00.000+01:00

EDP/James Bass

In Suffolk they just throw hundreds of ducks in the river for fun, thankfully they are of the plastic variety.

Over in the Fens, however, the respect for wildlife, dead or alive, can be somewhat more unusual.

'£200 fine for man who defecated on dead hedgehog'

Headline of the year so far.

Thankfully the image is unrelated to the main story.

In Norfolk? Well, watch this space...

Normal for Norfolk, Devon visitors too it seems

2011-09-07T18:41:00.001+01:00

Amongst a stolen broken washing machine and a man returning money he had stolen from a Ex-Serviceman's Club, Sheringham police report that someone telephoned them to say they thought Sammy The Sea Serpent, the inflatable mascot for the 2011 carnival, was 'suspicious'. A slippery suspect surely.

EDP

Serpents may well be unusual sea sightings, but the man who complained to the authorities because of crates of fish at a working harbour in Ilfracombe should be less surprised. Disgusted by the smell, the middle aged man also said the dead fish had distressed his children and that the fishermen should be more considerate of holiday makers. The man returned back to his hometown to feed his sprogs on fish fingers before the locals had a chance to lynch the Grockle.

BBC

Mid Norfolk Train Crash

2011-09-07T17:34:00.000+01:00

How fast was the Mid Norfolk Railway train travelling at the Dereham gateless crossing crash?

Evelyn Simak/Geograph

Slowly, of course.

Council destroys Banksy original

2011-08-19T10:34:00.002+01:00

Without wishing to start an inter county incident, some may consider this a 'throwing stones and glasshouses' scenario where regional accents are concerned (Boy!), but ripping down an artwork by your most internationally famous living creative must be a bit galling for any cash strapped council.

BBC

Should you wish to speak or understand 'Norfolk' whilst enjoying this fine county, here are a few pointers.

Hats, holes and a hasty hawker

2011-08-06T11:49:00.000+01:00

Local news from East Anglia.

Lost property is usually returned to the rightful owner if at all possible. In East Anglia it warrants a police information operation with Suffolk police putting out an appeal after the errant chapeau, thought to be lost from an open top bus, was returned to the King's Lynn living owner after her day trip to Felixstow.

Whether you fall in to them or dig yourself into one, holes can be dangerous. Like the woman who fell in woodland burial site in Norwich. Unfortunately it wasn't a shallow 6 feet into a prepared grave that she fell into but 33 feet down a well where she stayed undiscovered for six hours. On the coast at Caister a fifteen year old nearly did dig her own grave when the 7 foot hole in the sand she had dug collapsed around her.

EDP

News of a 180mph ice cream van, powered by a racing Jaguar engine and performing this weekend at Snetterton, reminded me of the Morecambe & Wise sketch - relevant joke is after five and a half minutes.

Village Show 2011

2011-07-30T15:15:00.000+01:00

The royal family at North Pickenham Village Show and other highlights of this years competition entries.

All photos © J Reed

Sheringham Park

2011-07-28T00:48:00.000+01:00

Sheringham Park, one 'r' is the given spelling, is a delight at any time of the year. Should you happen to miss the rhododendrons that flower from spring to summer, you may be able to enjoy the copulating toads or the brisk walk down to the stony seashore via the two lofty lookout towers, which give breathtaking 360 degree vistas, on the way. If you're really lucky, patient or have a relevant timetable you may see, and smell, the historic North Norfolk Railway.

Houghton Hall

2011-07-28T00:21:00.001+01:00

Nothing to do with my local Houghton on the Hill, as far as I know, this gem is still a private house; the grey bit, the reddish buildings are the stables and now a museum cum canteen cum toilet-block. Albeit the custodian of HMRC owned historic soft furnishings, the bricks and mortar, situated just the other side of the gloriously dual ponded Great Massingham, are still owned by the relatives of the de facto first English Prime Minister. Even in the greyness of a July English summer, Houghton Hall is a truly grade one gracious place. The walled gardens are truly splendid.

All photos © J Reed

Dandy Dancers and Insightful Interviews

2011-07-03T14:36:00.003+01:00

Whilst international attention eyes the gladiators on Centre Court in SW19 and in the ring in Hamburg, Sheringham on the north Norfolk coast saw a dance-off between 32 morris dancing teams from around Britain. There were various styles of dress from the colourful, flower strewn, camp handkerchief waving to the more sinister looking, blackened faces resembling those seen at Sweeps festival in Kent. Excellent EDP photo story.

William Kempe morris dancing from Norwich to London

Reporting techniques in provincial newspapers can be somewhat different to sensationalist tabloid titillating storytelling. In a not at all funny tale where several people were seriously injured in a car accident, Rebecca Gough in the EDP filed the following stunning insight:

'One woman said she had lived in her house on the A1066 High Road, for 22 years and had not seen a crash. "I didn’t hear anything, I hadn’t heard anything about it,”'

Not happy with this revelation, the point was driven home by another fascinating interview with a couple:

'“We didn’t see or hear anything but we don’t usually get accidents along here.”'

with the man adding that, although he hadn't actually seen another accident:

'“I think the only fatality I’ve seen was a cat about three or four weeks ago which I saw at the edge of the road.”'

Regional Press Award heading to Norfolk for sure.

Sat Navs, Black Cats and Unscheduled Bus Snags

2011-07-02T23:01:00.004+01:00

Summer is always a bit of a short news season, perhaps even more so in Norfolk. So stories of big cats, lost American servicemen and disastrous delays on the gorgeous north Anglia coast abound in this weeks splendid Eastern Daily Press.

EDP

Small country, have satellite navigation - surely the high flyers of the American air force elite can't mistake Mildenhall in the west country for the America abroad namesake airfield base in deepest Suffolk? The Americans deny having lost anyone permanently, perhaps the hundreds of miles detour embarrassment is not often admitted?
'John Desmond, the landlord of the Horseshoe Inn, a popular pub in the Wiltshire village, said personnel arrived roughly 11 or 12 times a year.' A strangely accurate estimate.
Guys, head towards the rising sun, not the setting one, but don't detour to any houses of disrepute.

EDP

If you read books about wilderness walks you will be aware of the idea of a monster in the quite woods actually being a squirrel burying its nuts. I, too, have been guilty of this misappropriation. In the woods behind Narford Hall I could swear I had spotted some stray domesticated pale lamas, in fact they were disparate delinquents from the near albino deer herd at Houghton Hall. Anyhow, the sighting of something large and black in the shadows of a bleak Breckland brook could be mistaken identity. A Black Leopard in Breckland? Perhaps.

EDP

Transport chaos? Well, in fact the incident started at 11am and, although the local road bound tourist train was impeded, the two buses were sent on their way by 12.45. This may sound petty, but as all locals know, Cromer really is a roundabout with three main arteries with no obvious detours. Still, a finer place to be stranded to consume fresh crab can't be found.

Pyrotechnics and Personable Pupils

2011-06-16T22:21:00.000+01:00

A vanity bonfire was lit by devlish arsonists in North Pickenham, well just outside in the slightly over stated 'industrial area' a mile out of town between the two Pickenhams, on Wednesday using lucifers in a derelict building. Not sure whether it was at what is locally called the Old Firework Factory, a half built unit left up for sale some years back, or other buildings closer to the old airfield.

Robert Gilbertson/Geograph

A couple of fire tending units from Swaffham and Watton put out the small malicious furnace.

St Andrew's School

News of a positive review from OFSTED at North Pickenham's school was reported today in the Lynn News. A thriving school, pub and church help to keep a village alive.

Toddlers throwing toys? Tantrum thugs.

2011-06-13T23:50:00.000+01:00

Aidrian S Pye/Geograph

Swaffham is well known, to locals anyway, for its waddling ducks around the ponds on New Sporle Road but it appears the youth are the main issue in crimes against duckmanity and not inconsiderate road users for not slowing down - so says the BBC today.

Persistent Planning Permission Petition Part 2

2011-06-07T20:33:00.000+01:00

Buck passed to ministers with opposing portfolio loyalties, so the appointed planning inspector announced at today's meeting. Like the Marham RAF Tornado base decision, expect some horse trading with local interest not necessarily to the forefront from centralised government.

Bill Smith/EDP

Persistent Planning Permission Petition

2011-06-07T13:18:00.000+01:00

Residents don't want it, local councilors don't want it but today the fate of a peaceful Breckland village lies in the hands of a government appointed planning inspector.

EDP

The substation planned for Little Dunham, including four 70m high by 25m wide and 15m high converter buildings, will connect the offshore Dudgeon wind farm to the nation grid. Previous blog entries here.

Birds Block Build, Demonic Dog & Dodgy Driving

2011-06-05T18:47:00.003+01:00

EDP

A new North Walsham hospital is being delayed because of nesting birds. Despite the use of a tame hawk to discourage birds from establishing nests in early spring, blackbirds and dunnocks have decided to raise their families in trees that need to be felled for building to commence. Experts say that the birds may not leave until September and the planning permission won't allow for the lumberjacks to start their work until the birds depart.

EDP

Bob the demonic dog from Downham Market needs a new home. Caveat emptor, however, as behind that smiling face is a cantankerous canine who could be accurately twinned with Bulgakov's cat Behemoth. After ten years pig farmer Tem Sosa has had enough:

“He looks older than his years, has wonky teeth, bad breath and a bad attitude. He is terrified of cats, snaps at horses’ heels and nips pigs. He should not be left unsupervised indoors as he steals food off the side, licks the cooker and pees at terrier height so as not to get the blame”.

BBC

Dangerous driving in Dereham this week when an older than average driver mistook the accelerator for the brake and mounted a Swedish model in Homebase's car park. The Saab was unoccupied, the female of the French fourwheeler found in flagrante was shaken but not stirred.

Parched Earth

2011-06-05T16:20:00.003+01:00

Even with some free water distributed from a day long gushing stand pipe, due to some emergency water works, the rain forecast for this evening will be most welcome.

With the poppies in full bloom and the arables, those that have grown at all, ripening fast, it is easy to forget that it is only the start of June.

Norfolk a bit backward?

2011-05-27T13:47:00.001+01:00

Some might say that Norfolk is a little behind other more cosmopolitan parts of the country and many locals might agree saying that is what they love about it.

BBC

More telling, perhaps, is a more laid back attitude to life. It's not big news that a church clock stops or even that, when it starts again, it goes backwards. But when Norwich's St Clement's Church's clock stopped and started sending Norfolk back in time no one noticed. 'Nobody knows when it happened but it is likely to have been within the last month.'

Monet Missing

2011-05-25T10:28:00.001+01:00

Masterpiece Monet missing, stolen at Suffolk seaside?

Ah, no. Technical typo about thieving tykes rather than an errant Expressionist artwork.

Treacherous Travel Tales

2011-05-19T22:27:00.001+01:00

Sleepy sailor starts speedy saviour shout. A man off the coast of Happisburgh, that's 'haze-brrrrr' for you outsiders, fell asleep on board his boat mustering the local RNLI lifeboat to discover that, in fact, he just forgot to turn his external lights on. More dramatically there was a bus fire on the outskirts of Norwich.

Amy Taylor/EDP

No one hurt. There was a much more awfully offal accident near Thetford on the A11 which caused chaos all day as the unspeakable bits of chicken were strewn across the road.

EDP

Umhhh, Kentucky Fried Chicken anyone?

4 minutes of rain, 4 hours of no power

2011-05-14T18:57:00.003+01:00

The storm clouds came to North Pickenham today, a few minutes of blustery wet stuff and the electricity went off. Sun returned with intermittent dark clouds but as of yet no more rain. The dusty roads look about the same, not enough rain to have made much difference to the still struggling seedlings. Dramatic skies, though, with the wind blowing the possible dousing black clouds past without delivering their load.

Queen's Pigeon Keeper Passes

2011-05-12T17:30:00.000+01:00

A man with lofty ideas, the wonderfully named Carlo Napolitano has died at his home in Wolferton on the Royal Estate near Sandringham. Boyhood boxer and heir to family hairdressing business, Mr Napolitano was the Queen's pigeon keeper in Norfolk.

Matthew Usher/EDP

Incidentally the birds were for racing, not shooting and eating.

Even drier Norfolk

2011-05-09T23:33:00.007+01:00

Being to the east of England, Norfolk is well used to being slightly colder than the Riviera of the south west counties but, as any visitor to Cornwall will attest, it rains down there and not so up here in England's driest county.

BBC

This year East Anglia is reminiscent of a 1930's US dust bowl with, as near as it makes no difference, no rain for over a month. Unseasonable warmth and sunshine has made everything grow too soon as well, but a below zero night time air frost killed not only tender bedding plants and vegetables plants but also normally totally hardy baby ivy leaves. My neighbour's lawn looks like a Wimbledon centre court after two weeks in a drought. Rain, rain, rain please to return England to a green and pleasant land.

Right Royal Rural Representative

2011-05-09T22:43:00.001+01:00

Sure to be best in show, the Princess Royal returns to the Royal Norfolk Show this year.

Royal Norfolk Show

Princess Anne will visit on 30th June 2011 at the Norfolk Showground near Costessey, Cossy to you foreigners, on day two of the annual agricultural show.

Mobile Mobile Mouthing Morons

2011-05-09T22:09:00.000+01:00

Sixty pounds, 3 points and higher insurance premiums.

Norfolk Police Crackdown

Get caught talking non hands free in Norfolk Constabulary's crackdown and that is the least you can expect with fines up to £1000 if it goes to court.

Happy Birthday Howard Carter ...

2011-05-08T23:54:00.000+01:00

...an adopted local boy. More here....

All change for Wissey Ward

2011-05-08T13:56:00.000+01:00

Local resident Jill Ball, current Parish Councillor in North Pickenham, has been ousted as incumbent Breckland councillor, a role she has had since 2003, after standing as an Independent. Jill's former party colours beat her into second place with the new Conservative candidate Paul Darby holding the post for the Tories. Third place was the Green's Alison Haines with a creditable 202 votes, Jill had 292 and Paul won with 475. Disappointingly there were no candidates from either of the other two main parties, Labour and Liberal Democrats, possibly explaining the 2% spoiled ballot papers in protest. The turnout was 51% compared to the national average of 42% who voted in the Alternative Vote at the same time although it should be noted that not all areas had a dual voting reason to turn up.

BBC

Whole country looks very blue, a lot less yellow and slightly redder within the council chambers.

Not so normal, even in Norfolk

2011-04-28T18:12:00.004+01:00

What with the Eurofighters practicing their formation flying over head yesterday and the dress, charity and grocer's shops in Swaffham paying suitably reverential homage to the soon to be wed couple in a slightly cheap and plasticy manner, this week is certainly not normal. Not to fear, even in the country which has been closed for over a week the county of Norfolk still provided us with the NFN stories. There was the man on incapacity benefit working as a claims processor in a Norwich Jobcenter Plus and the burglar who took his swag of a TV on a number 10 bus, having previously asked a passer by where the nearest bus stop was and waiting there for his getaway vehicle to arrive. Even the weather just isn't, well, very British. Too much sun and warmth for too long for April, even the north easterly wind in Breckland today and yesterday didn't require an overcoat for comfort on the daily dog walk. But what could be more British than the royal family, parental lineage aside? A pre wedding poll suggest the majority still think so, giving the blue-bloods a 2:1 thumbs up. But wait, this was a Twitter poll which is not representative of the population as a whole. Twitter, as we all know, is only used by middle aged men, lazy journalists and Stephen Frylets. Perhaps the country should have a vote on it. But that's no good either because, like all elections, there is no compulsion to participate like in forward thinking countries like Australia. The same with the Alternative Vote referendum on May 5th, only those enthused either way will bother to have their say. Why we are compelled to fill in a census form, whether you randomly tick boxes and profess to worship Yoda the Jedi master or not, but not to vote is an enigma to me. Even if you believe that every option is as bad as the other, spoil your ballot paper in protesting disgust. Democracy is the central theme of this discourse. Whether we keep the monarchy, watch the nuptial pantomime paid for out of what is meant to be a bankrupt country's purse or get the MP who upsets the least amount of people possible, it should always be a majority's decision of the country as a whole. Along with democracy comes the right to protest and today's clean up of undesirables who may have protested tomorrow smells of the kind of tactics used by nations with the word 'Democratic' in their name which, you can be sure, guarantees that the country is anything but.

Pickenham Parish Protest

2011-04-11T14:40:00.002+01:00

South Pickenham Parish Council, all 5 of them, have withdrawn their names to be reelected in May as a protest against having to treat the Parish Clerk as an employee and so pay PAYE tax and National Insurance at source.

Wikimedia

The local press has got hold of the story, can't imagine how they got tipped off.

Spring definitely reaches Breckland

2011-04-06T21:54:00.001+01:00

22 Celcius, warm southerly wind - perfect mid Norfolk day.

All photos © J Reed

Beautiful.

Cats, Bats & Ass Kidnaps

2011-04-05T18:17:00.000+01:00

More stories from the wonderful eastern counties of England.

Wikimedia

'BONKERS! More than 20 Suffolk firefighters rescue cat from tree' says the EDP today, which is difficult to disagree with. After reporting the stuck cat, Teresa Saunders from Leiston was amazed that amongst the other fire fighters called was a turntable ladder from Bury St Edmunds some 60 miles away. Day out for the under used piece of high tech kit? No, health and safety. Apparently our fire crews are too clumsy to climb a ladder over a one storey height. Good job that it wasn't needed for a real emergency as the Ipswich rig was out of action. In fact a local retained firefighter shot up a normal ladder and freed the moggy.

Rob Farrow - Geograph

Chris Bishop reports in the EDP that bats can be spotted on organised walks in, er, The Walks and around the Red Mount Chapel in King's Lynn.

Space-hoppers.co.uk.gif‎

Donkeys at the Little Tinkers Donkey Sanctuary in Norwich are at a loss after their space hoppers were stolen, reports BBC Norfolk. Unfortunately they don't bounce on them, which as every child knows is impossible anyway, but pick them up by the rubbery horns and kick them around in impromptu games of footie.

Garden update

2011-04-01T16:45:00.001+01:00

No fooling ...

All photos © J Reed

... taken this afternoon.

Charity Chicken Contribution

2011-03-10T18:22:00.003Z

Matthew Usher / EDP

Maxwell, local bird man Fabian Eagle's oldest, has donated two chickens to the spring ball associated with the Wayland Show to be held at Lynford Hall in Munford on Saturday. They will be auctioned off in aid of the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Kyle Bean / Rex Features

Sure one of the Eagle clan would know the perennial question of which came first...

Searching Signs of Spring

2011-03-04T21:00:00.001Z

Catkins bask in early March rays but super sunshine and waning winds promised signs of spring today, pertaining proof proved hard to produce. The lichens live long lives on lost logs.

The cultivated flora has begun to flourish though, daffs are sprouting and roses shooting. Also...

Flowering Blackcurrant

Photinia 'Red Robin'

Viburnum Tinus

Forsythia

All photos © J Reed

Seeing red, rubber bands that is

2011-02-20T15:18:00.000Z

The Royal Mail uses over 13 red rubber bands for every man, woman and child each year.

www.hippyshopper.com

Statistictastic.

Black & Decker, Bike Danger and Bin Disaster

2011-02-20T13:49:00.002Z

Three Norfolk related stories to catch up on.

The death in Jersey, at the age of 78, of inventor and designer Ron Hickman was announced this week. Famed for inventing the Workmate, which has sold 30 million units since its invention in 1961, he is also credited with designing the original 1960's Lotus Elan and Europa cars in Hethel near Wymondham.

A kidnapped bike was saved from a suicidal drop off the Midland Bank roof in the Georgian Market Place, Swaffham on a busy Saturday morning. The bike was safely brought down with no injury to the velocipede or any passer by beneath.

A thunderbolt in Holt may have not have caused a bin blaze in the picturesque North Norfolk Coast town, the fire was put out by the local crew before the Sherringham tender could arrive as back up.

Nothing rubbish about that kind of service, damping down the danger of the fire flash in the trash.

Farming Opportunity

2011-02-20T11:14:00.000Z

Local land in the Wissey Valley is up for grabs on a 5 year lease for a young farmer to get their first foot on the farming ladder. David Bolton Partners, in association with Norfolk Federation of Young Farmers’ Club , has organised it with, I assume, the help of South Pickenham Estates.

Beautiful office of work.

Sweet Beet, Tweet and Bonne Nuit

2011-01-28T19:06:00.001Z

Good news for local farmers who feared fines for failing factory quotas of 95% annual allocation of sugar beet. British Sugar won't enforce future decrease in contracted tonnage after much of the local beet has been deemed unprocessible.

EDP

Congratulations to local girl Ruby Kerridge who has used Twitter to hopefully get the X Factor's Aiden Grimshaw to perform a gig in Norfolk. Known as a Twitition, a portmanteau word or blend of Twitter and petition, Ruby already has 1000+ Twititioners.

And at last there was some sunshine today, right to the end of the day as the sun disappears behind South Pickenham Hall.

Costly Super Chalet Surprise

2011-01-06T16:42:00.001Z

Norfolk firm Flights of Fantasy, based in King's Lynn, has built a playhouse for two lucky children for their Christmas present, at a cool £150,000 (but that does include P&P!)

Masons

In Pickenham, we call that a house.

Weather warning

2011-01-04T14:34:00.000Z

I heard reports of some snow falling in King's Lynn this morning with talk of a few flurries forecast for Friday.

Not two feet of snow, though.

Haw Frost Replaces Snow

2010-12-07T20:15:00.000Z

Thickest frost I've seen in years lasting all day as the previous night's low of -8C only decreased to -1C even with some early and late sunshine.

Bracing Breckland part 2

2010-11-26T17:45:00.005Z

Face freezing but snow free, the clouds looked menacing but blue broke through before blackness beckoned now that we under a month away from the shortest day.

Darkness fell over the turbines by the Bernard Matthews' turkey sheds as news of its founder's demise yesterday was released. My recently departed neighbour told me that her father, a farmer in my village, knew Bernard when he had his '20 eggs and a second-hand incubator'. He laughed that no one would eat turkey except as a whole bird at Christmas. The group turned over £330 million of its turkey based convenience food in 2008!

Bracing Breckland

2010-11-25T23:33:00.005Z

The weather was deceiving. Walking out of the house, secluded of any wind, the weather seemed quite clement. Experience led me to don five layers of above the waist clothing, three below and two pairs of socks.

The lunchtime sunshine highlighted the freshly sprouting winter wheat, the clouds reflecting in the wet, muddy roads where the sugar beet traffic have trundled from early morn to dark evening time.

A couple of miles from home and the sun is losing the battle with the snow laden sky.

The skies over Shipdham look awfully ominous but usually the weather comes from the opposite direction.

Walking the formalised field edge permissive ways, Bertie and I reach the Lower Road which, at its other end, cuts into the road to Necton just below Holme Hale. Closed since the weekend when a smouldering roof fire gutted a period house. The property is amongst a handful in a hamlet along what is a quiet single track road, even to Norfolk standards.

The incident very sadly took the lives of two elderly ladies. The property, externally almost intact, belies apparent internal devastation. One of the sisters is believed to have been a landlady and wife of owner Frederick Charles Rowland of the Blue Lion, North Pickenham in the mid 1960s. The snow had already started just after a dusk like darkness came across the already grey sky. The flakes where light and fluffy, happily settling on any but the smoothest clothing.

The walk from Holme Hale to its sister Station Road was really rather unpleasant. The snow had become hard and wet, driven directly into my exposed face. Turning left up to King's Row Farm, the wind became kinder but the evening light came on prematurely.

The snow, all of a sudden, refused to melt on reaching the sod. For the first time this year, autumn landscape had succumbed to winter.

One man and his dog, thankfully close to the warmth of home.

Beautiful Breckland

2010-11-07T22:29:00.009Z

Well, I managed to capture a little of the week long autumnal colour before the wind and rain turn everything quite wintry.

This is becoming a more and more unusual sight now, a tree with leaves still attached.

The ferns stay beautifully fractal even whilst losing there greenness.

Now the sun and once warm ground no longer evaporate the night time's rain, most paths are slippery underfoot all day long.

The fields are all but bare. Only stubble, beet and sprouting winter wheat sprigs lie in the fields. That and the waves of propagated winged wildfowl pending shotgun silencing by the well shod civilless servanted callous carnivores.

Chisellers, Councillors, School Children and Incumbent Conservative

2010-10-22T23:24:00.005+01:00

North Pickenhams' new village sign was unveiled today by Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman amongst crowds of young and old, and very splendid it is indeed. The effigy, not our representative.

The sunny autumnal light doesn't give justice to the superb carving by Mr.Yorke, expect a few more photos soon with a fuller story on the statue and how this project came to be.

Black and White Breckland

2010-10-17T18:39:00.009+01:00

One of those days when knowing what to wear whilst walking warrants the wits a work out. The sun was strong enough to temper the overnight chill and make two light weight layers welcomingly luxuriant by lunchtime.

Breckland offers wide vistas and big skies at any time of year ...

... but autumn adds a low sun for luscious laboured light likenesses.

Beet, Berney, Burning and Build Ban

2010-10-12T23:35:00.003+01:00

With the mild and dry weather set to continue, the annual sugar beet harvest race has started in Norfolk. Rude awakenings for the next month or so as the huge lorries thunder around the rural highways with or without their sweet load.

A new Norfolk forum, the Norfolk Mardler (that's Norfolk Gossiper to outsiders), led me to what must be the smallest railway station in the country.

Berney Arms railway station is 3.5 miles from the nearest road and is the most remote station in Norfolk. It is only accessible by rail, boat, on foot or on horseback and is 5 miles west of Great Yarmouth. Trains will only stop on request for you to visit the English Heritage windmill or the RSPB nature reserve.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service had another busy day, so did the reporter who posted this riveting story.

Good news for the nearby Dunhams with a planning reprieve for the huge sub station next to this small settlement, that I reported on in March, to connect the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm to the National Grid. Warwick Energy may well appeal, the associated cable laying was given approval.

10 4 10-10-10

2010-10-10T20:43:00.002+01:00

Well the idea was to go and take some autumnal photographs but nature had its own ideas.

With poppies still in bloom, it was a struggle to find any golden brown leaves at all.

Oak leaves are so stunning, especially against a cloudless sky.

The t-shirt and shorts 19 Celsius demanded a longer than usual walk past the green lane which goes up to St.Mary's ...

... down towards South Pickenham and the road section of Peddars Way ...

... towards the traditional Norfolk road sign with the updated Houghton on the Hill direction board.

After startling what may, or may not, have been an escaped fir farm mink, the hedgerows show signs of last year's tree cull from our unusually long winter.

Only the silver birches show any sign of being really ready to shed their leaves.

One sure sign of autumn in East Anglia is the sweet smell of sugar beet harvesting, but the machinery here is still dormant ...

... unlike the local kids on their bikes enjoying the sunshine denied them during the school holidays.

Stop Taking the Peas, Pinched Pony Poo and Phony Potato PC

2010-10-06T14:04:00.001+01:00

Well, not strictly all NFN but typical East Anglian headline news.

After the bad news earlier this year that Bird's Eye were to stop buying from the Anglian Pea Growers, the good news this week is that the 15,000 tonnes are to be bought and processed by Ardo in Lowestoft before being packed in Kent.

'Where there's muck there's brass' goes the saying, well it's true if you steal the trailer transporting the manure too. 'Where there's poo there's a pun' is a journalist's motto, and the EDP doesn't disappoint with 'Thieves in Dersingham have dung a runner'. Classic.

Buyer beware, or caveat emptor for the educated amongst you, should be heeded especially when buying a mobile computer from a mysterious merchant coercing monies in the main marketplace. You might say the couple who forked out £650 for a laptop, from a stranger in the street, and got a sack of spuds were a little unwise. No need to have a chip on the shoulder over any police roasting. Sorry for the puns, I'll get my jacket.

Bald Bandit Barbers Break-in

2010-09-23T18:07:00.002+01:00

Never wanting to condone crime, a crafty convict confiscates cosmetics in a comical custom.

John Steven Gurney

Naughty Norwich nicking in a Normal For Norfolk nature.

Painterly Poppies

2010-09-21T14:53:00.000+01:00

Poppies in September, is that normal?

Clouds and chased cows

2010-09-18T16:28:00.000+01:00

With an aching body from yesterday's brake and exhaust overhaul I was still pondering, this morning, why is it you never have 'that' tool to complete what is a relatively simple job? With the MOT still pending for Monday it is Shanks' Pony for me, not that Bertie minds. Clouds. That would sum up today's walk up and around Houghton on the Hill.

On return home, the cows were being moved from the field behind me to another just over the bridge which has the Wissey running through.

Not Pamplona bull run, sure, but exciting enough. The road being blocked by a cattle lorry, only a feisty calf tried to go for the gap I was filling. With some arm waving and 'whoooing' it was persuaded to follow the others into their autumn residence.

Breaking the silence without a hammer

2010-09-14T01:31:00.004+01:00

It seems the police were correct to allow a legal rave at Cockley Cley with only minor offences and one possibly unforeseen major casuality reported after the 18 hour dance festival. The noise pollution could be heard quick clearly in North Pickenham, an odd bass rumble backdrop to the usual serenity.

The seven mile road journey is under five as the crow flies, the stillness of a lovely early autumnal Saturday evening wafting the party poundings unfettered.

This weekend had enforced, yet pleasant, sightseeing tours on local buses with elevated views of Breckland from a double decker bus after a kindly boy in blue reminded me that my MOT was more than two weeks overdue. Advice taken and fine duly paid. What I was unaware of, however, was the apparent Zen like philosophical conundrums on board the ticket touting transport.

Thought provoking.

Plethora Pickenham Pickings

2010-09-01T19:43:00.000+01:00

Bountiful berry bushes

Pickenham Twister Update

2010-08-31T17:11:00.000+01:00

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

Pickenham Twister

2010-08-29T18:39:00.002+01:00

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.

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

2010-08-22T19:15:00.005+01:00

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.

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

2010-08-17T22:45:00.002+01:00

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

2010-08-17T00:16:00.005+01:00

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.

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...

2010-08-15T22:57:00.003+01:00

...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.

2010-08-13T20:51:00.001+01:00

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

2010-08-12T16:41:00.000+01:00

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

2010-08-11T14:19:00.002+01:00

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

2010-08-10T15:15:00.002+01:00

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?