KL Magazine January/February 2022

ISSN 2044–7965

ISSUE 12 JANUARY & F A 2 22 PRICELESS

magazine

WEST NORFOLK | NORTH NORFOLK | COASTAL

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welcome to

N

orfolk is fast becoming one of the most innovative areas in Europe, especially within the fields of food, medicine and energy. Hubs and centres throughout county are driving forward practical uses of new technology to benefit agriculture and bring fresh thinking to how we grow food. King’s Lynn and Fakenham are substantial manufacturing bases, and there are more than 100 companies in the fields of automotive design and advanced engineering along the A11 between Thetford and Norwich.

But then we’ve always been famous for our inventors and their inventions, and we’re taking a look at just a handful of them on page 90.

It’s a narrative that now includes

COVER IMAGE

visionary Head of Conservation Jake Fiennes, who’s successfully bringing his radical approach to land management to the Holkham Estate. You can read about his exciting work on page 18.

The future looks very promising, but that doesn’t mean we’re turning our backs on our past.

Gone but not forgotten are the church of St Peter at Wiggenhall, The Athenaeum in King’s Lynn, the magnificent Beaupre Hall in Outwell, and the Wissington Light Railway.

You’ll find all of them (or at least what remains of them) in this edition of your magazine.

Happily many people are starting to realise the value of preserving our shared heritage, and there’s no better example of that than the wonderful museum at Narborough (see page 104) - the result of dedicated hard work and

commitment by an enthusiastic team of local volunteers. It may be a small village, but it has a very big story to tell.

Going even further back in time, take a walk along one of the beautiful beaches in west and north Norfolk and you’ll be literally walking on history. David Waterhouse is Senior Curator of Natural History and Geology at Norfolk Museum Service, and on page 32 he explains why the fields of fossils on our local beaches are so easy to find - and far more important than the skeleton of a T.Rex. Enjoy the magazine and have a successful (and safe) start to the new year.

Eric Secker EDITOR KL magazine

Wells-next-the-Sea by Ian Ward

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KLmagazine January 2022

contents

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LOST TO TIME AND TIDE...

The ruins of St Peter at Wiggenhall

A TASTE OF SIMON’S TABLE The local master of marmalade

NORFOLK SHOWS ITS SNOWY FACE A different view of the local landscape

MADE IN NORFOLK...

Great innovators, great ideas THE LOST WONDER OF OUTWELL The rise and fall of Beaupre Hall

CHANGING THE WORLD STEP BY STEP Jake Fiennes on the Holkham Estate A F A A The history of Weybourne windmill

A VILLAGE IN HISTORY A visit to Narborough Museum

PICKING UP THE PAST Discovering Norfolk’s prehistoric heritage

FROM SPEECHES TO STAMPS The story of Lynn’s Athenaeum

THE BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH Keeping an eye on our feathered friends

LITTLE RAILWAY, BIG IDEA All aboard at Wissington

JANUARY IN THE GARDEN Expert advice from Wendy Warner

A LIFE IN ANTIQUES The Flog It! king comes to Lynn A GENTLE ART...

The life and work of Walter Dexter

A LIVING LANDSCAPE The largest heathland area in Norfolk

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THE KL MAGAZINE QUIZ How well do you remember 2021?

MARGARET FOUNTAINE A remarkable Victorian woman FASHION Seasonal styles and inspiration

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MICHAEL MIDDLETON Be wary of all those predictions 5

A charming ruin and a fascinating story...

There are o er ruined churches in or ol which has the greatest concentration o medie al churches in the world - but ew o them are as im ressi e or atmos heric as the shell o t eter in iggenhall

Y

ou may not have heard of Cornelius Vermuyden, but the Dutch-born engineer made a huge impact on the landscape of west Norfolk, bringing a range of techniques for controlling water and draining marshland to the Fens in the 1650s.

Having studied Dutch techniques for controlling water and draining marshland he came to England in 1621, repairing a sea wall on the River Thames at Dagenham and reclaiming Canvey Island in Essex - work which led

to a number of commissions from King Charles I. Vermuyden’s ideas on constructing ‘washes’ to allow periodic flooding of the area by excess waters may have been innovative, but they would eventually have unforeseen consequences - such as the ruined church of St Peter at Wiggenhall.

When a relief channel was dug for the River Great Ouse in the 1950s, the church had been standing for at least 600 years - but the new canal essentially cut if off from the village it

served, and it was gradually abandoned and left to its fate.

Once completely overgrown, the remains of the church have been in the good care of the Norfolk Historic Churches Trust for many years, and is now one of the most evocative ruined churches in the area (of which there are over 100) and one of the most complete.

The first thing that strikes you is that that the roof is completely gone, although that allows you to examine its construction in more detail, revealing

ABOVE: The church of St Peter at Wiggenhall before a new relief channel for the River Great Ouse cut it off from the village in the 1950s. It’s now a shell of its former self (right and below)

a complex combination of brick, carstone, flint and ashlar.

Here you can see a literal history in stone. The tower dates from the 13th century, most of the present-day church was built around 200 years later, and the brick buttresses and south porch about a century after that.

To the south are the last remains of an arcade, which was once an aisle and although that’s long lost there’s still plenty here to enjoy.

Many original wooden roof beams are intact in the tower (as is some of the flooring), and you can still see the original carved seats, the chancel arch, the outline of the priest’s door, and two aumbries - recessed cabinets that were once used for storing sacred vessels and vestments. There are also many decorative corbels and headstops carved into fascinating faces and unidentifiable animals.

This part of the world has a number of extraordinary churches. In fact,

Norfolk has the greatest concentration of medieval churches in the world, with almost 650 still standing and 100 existing ruins. It also has some 70% of the country’s round tower churches and the greatest number in Europe.

St Germaine’s at Wiggenhall St Germans has some of the most fantastic carved bench-ends you’ll see anywhere in East Anglia, exquisitelycarved depictions of the Seven Deadly Sins that somehow miraculously escaped the attention of Cromwell’s troops.

Close by is the beautiful church of Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen, which has a stained glass gallery of 40 littleknown saints - many of whom are very rarely found in churches today. This is one of the very few places in the entire country where you can see depictions of St Callistous, St Britius and St Romanus - and no one is entirely sure how they survived the Reformation.

Which is equally true of the church

of the nearby St Mary the Virgin, where the ends of the benches (carved into a variety of saintly figures) are virtually pristine, an extraordinary reminder of a past that was almost totally destroyed in the interests of religious reform.

A wander around the ruined church of St Peter at Wiggenhall is to take a step back into the past and find a connection to a rich heritage of stunning architecture and community spirit.

It’s an evocative reminder of our shared history.

The image of St Peter at Wiggenhall on the previous page is available as a limited edition print from our gallery at www.klmagazine.co.uk, along with over 50 other stunning photographs of local landmarks and landscapes.

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KLmagazine January 2022

KITCHENS • BATHROOMS • TILES • BEDROOMS • PLUMBING SUPPLIES

New year, new home

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KLmagazine January 2022

If you want to save the planet, start at home...

From solar panels and battery storage to EV chargers and air source heating, the 4 Way Group leads the way in energy-saving technology

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he cost of living is fast outpacing wage rises, and we’re all feeling the pinch. Money in the bank is offering very little in the way of returns, and inflation has now become something of a “silent thief,” nibbling away at our money and our savings. Inflation is currently running at over 4% and that’s unlikey to change in the near future. It means that if you have £5,000 in the bank today, it will have the purchasing power of just over £3,500 in 15 years’ time. In 2006 we were paying 89p for a litre of petrol.

Today, you’ll be lucky to find it at less than £1.50 a litre. The government’s move towards electric vehicles, air source heating and sustainable power sources means our demand for electricity will continue to rise.

“As an electrician that’s obviously

good news for my industry,” says director Stuart Olley of the 4 Way Group, “but now the feed-in tariff has been discontinued, people are wondering whether the investment in solar power is worth it - but the figures speak for themselves.”

With a perfectly average 4kW PV solar array facing south, you can expect to generate around 3,500kW of electricity.

According to the latest figures from Ofgem, we’re currently paying 19p per kWh - which means that if you consume all the energy you generate you can expect to save over £660 a year.

“You also have to bear in mind that the disposal and recycling of the materials contained in solar panels contains no harmful waste,” says Stuart.

“PV-generated electricity results in

about 97% less greenhouse gases than electricity generated from 100% coal, and around 94% less than the European electricity mix.”

The benefits may be even greater for business owners, since they can (subject to a few qualifications) take advantage of the Enhanced Capital Allowance, which is currently running at 130% of the initial investment.

“One of our customers has recently told us that he’s currently enjoying around 75% less fuel costs having switched from diesel to electric home charging,” says Stuart. “He’ll be able to save even more by installing solar panels instead of relying on the National Grid - and reduce his carbon emissions by 70%.”

Welcome to the future of energy.

Welcome to the 4 Way Group.

t 01553 767878 w www.4waygroup.co.uk e sales@4waygroup.co.uk Recognised and accredited throughout the industry:

KLmagazine January 2022

11

Why Norfolk looks even better in the snow With its starry skies and misty marshes, our county is a beautiful sight in the winter, especially when we’re lucky enough to experience snow.

Let’s look at some of our favourite frosty local scenes...

Castle Rising

T

here’s nothing more magical than opening the curtains on a cold winter’s morning to find a smooth, shimmering blanket of snow covering the outside world. It’s a spectacular and rare sight in our famously flat county, as the UK has an average of just 23.7 days of snowfall per year, and most of it lands on higher ground where temperatures are lower.

Much of the snow we do get doesn’t even settle, as on average across the country there are only around 15 days a year when snow is on the ground.

However, we’ve certainly had some remarkable weather in the past, as this month marks 75 years since Britain experienced the snowiest winter of the 20th century, where it snowed almost constantly for more than 50 days.

We obviously don’t get winters like we used to, but our county often has its fair share of snowy spells, and its beautiful landscapes and iconic buildings look even more stunning with a dusting of white.

The grand Grade I listed church of St Lawrence in Castle Rising makes a very pretty picture with its flat roof coated with snow. The magnificent medieval masterpiece was built around 1140

by William D’Albini II, the influential Norman nobleman responsible for the construction of Castle Rising itself. D’Albini poured his wealth into the church and employed highly skilled masons to lavishly decorate the building. Many of their incredible carvings have survived through the centuries and they’re thought to be among the finest examples of Norman

Thor nham architecture in the country.

Meanwhile, with its elegant Tudorstyle buildings, ornate railings, and lamps decorated with tiny golden crowns, the wellpreserved railway station in Wolferton is one of our county’s many unique delights. The small station opened in 1862 and became famous through its association with the Royal Family, who regularly travelled there on their way to stay at Sandringham House.

Between 1884 and 1911, no fewer than 645 royal trains called at the station bringing a host of Kings, Queens, Emperors, Empresses, and politicians to west Norfolk. Despite its closure in the 1960s, Wolferton

station is still one of Norfolk’s most historic and treasured locations, as its beautiful buildings and grounds have been carefully kept and restored.

With a pristine blanket of glistening snow covering its platform and signal box, the charming stop still looks fit for royalty in these wintry photos.

The lovely beach huts at Old Hunstanton look even brighter when they’re surrounded by snow.

Nestled among the sand dunes on the picturesque beach, these attractive seaside shelters provide a wonderful

Wolferton

KLmagazine January 2022

13

King’s Lynn view of the coast. With their different sizes, shapes, and shades, the little huts fill the beach with character and charm and are perfect for peaceful coastal breaks all year round.

The snowy scene on the previous page of the mysterious gnarled wooden posts rising from the salt marsh at Thornham Staithe looks almost prehistoric. Little is known about these striking stumps, and they’re thought to be either old mooring posts or the remnants of a broken building.

Unusual and intriguing, they

Hunstanton

protrude from the murky water and add a unique sense of beauty to Thornham’s winter landscape.

The iconic Custom House is one of King’s Lynn’s most captivating and historic buildings and, when surrounded by snow and an inky winter sky, it looks like a scene straight from a Christmas card.

The magnificent Grade I listed building was constructed for Sir John Turner in 1683 and designed by local architect Henry Bell, who combined influences from London and Holland to create his astounding masterpiece.

It opened in 1685 as a merchants exchange, and the first floor was let to tax collectors. It became the town’s

official Custom House in 1703 and was sold to the Crown 14 years later, being used for Customs and Excise until 1989.

The grand and architecturallyperfect building stands proudly overlooking Lynn’s medieval harbour, guarded by the statue of Captain George Vancouver – who looks particularly charming with a snowy hat and plinth.

With its enchanting landscapes and breathtaking buildings, Norfolk is a truly beautiful place to live. Most people love our county in the summer due to its brilliant beaches, bright floral fields, and vibrant carnivals. However, there’s nothing more magical than Norfolk in the snow. Take a moment to appreciate our amazing area and its wonders this winter - whether it’s with a scenic stroll in the countryside or a walk through King’s Lynn’s historic town centre.

If we’re lucky enough to have a snowy start to the year, you certainly don’t want to miss it!

For more beautiful photographs of local landmarks and landscapes (and the opportunity to purchase them as limited edition prints) please visit our gallery at www.klmagazine.co.uk.

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KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

Insuranceinsights

Our regular look at insurance issues for you and your family with the experts at Adrian Flux...

Time to get prepped for safe winter driving

T

he motor insurance experts at King’s Lynn-based Adrian Flux have come up with five timely bad weather driving tips to keep you on the move this winter.

1. Check your tyres for safe winter driving Check all your tyres for tread depth and pressure – don’t forget the spare.

It is not only the snow that causes dangerous driving conditions; the roads can be icy and especially greasy in the winter from mud, water and the salt.

The legal limit for minimum tread depth on your tyres is 1.6 millimetres, across the central 3/4 of the tread and around the complete circumference of the tyre, but it’s a good idea to replace tyres before the tread gets that low.

You should also check that all your tyres are the correct pressure in accordance with the vehicle

manufacturer’s requirements.

on until they clear.

2. Check your antifreeze is topped up

4. Be prepared for the worst

Check and if necessary, replace the antifreeze in the radiator. It will take a few minutes and could save you hundreds of pounds should it freeze, crack or burst.

3. Make sure you can see Roads get mucky in winter with mud and slush, that means windows can become smeared and lights covered in dirt. It is vital you keep your windows clear and your lights clean. It takes seconds to run a cloth over them before you set off but it could be a lifesaver.

Before you set off ensure your window washer fluid is topped up (washer fluid will usually have deicer mixed in the solution). If your windowis iced up make sure you clear it thoroughly.

If your windows are misted up on the inside, run the engine with the heater

Always be well prepared if you are traveling during a cold snap. If heavy snow is forecast, keep supplies in your car. It may seem stupid at first but a snack, a big coat and a map may well come in handy should you get stuck in traffic or diverted.

If you do break down, ensure you and your passengers are in a safe place. Do not leave your bonnet open as you wait for the recovery vehicle, an engine bay full of snow and rain is not ideal.

5. Consider breakdown insurance If the worst comes to the worst and you do breakdown, wouldn’t it be good to know you had a reliable breakdown service to call upon? Flux Rescue operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is available from just £59 a year.

Call 01553 400399 for a free no obligation quote or visit www.adrianflux.co.uk/breakdown/.

TEL: 01553 400399 | EMAIL: contact-us@adrianflux.co.uk WEB: www.adrianflux.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

EDQ 17

Changing the world one step at a time Since arriving on the Holkham Estate just over three years ago, Jake Fiennes has seen his radical approach to land management and conservation bear fruit in more ways than one...

© SIÂN DAVEY/THE NEW YORKER

© HOLKHAM NATURE RESERVE ABOVE: The Holkham estate is one of the most important private landholdings in the country, and includes a nationally-important nature reserve - which has a promising future thanks to the work of Head of Conservation Jakes Fiennes (opposite) and his team.

T

© ANDY BLOOMFIELD

wo of his brothers are awardwinning actors, another is a respected music producer in Los Angeles, his two sisters are film directors, and one of his cousins is one of the most famous explorers in the world. So how did Jake Fiennes come to be Director of Conservation on a country estate in north Norfolk?

It’s been an interesting journey.

His father Mark was a tenant farmer in the 1960s, and Jake had a natural affinity with nature from a very early age. When he was 10 he painted his face white to blend in with the family’s chickens. He liked keeping slow worms,

KLmagazine January 2022

he liked catching hornets, and he had a habit of storing roadkill in the family freezer.

While his brothers and sisters went into the arts Jake stayed with the natural world, which may seem a bit odd until you meet him.

“Everyone asks me why I didn’t become an actor, but I think the others were the odd ones out,” he says. “I was the normal one. The question should be why didn’t they all go into conservation and wildlife?”

The Holkham estate is one of the country’s most important private landholdings, covering about 25,000 acres that includes a nationallyimportant nature reserve, is visited by almost a million people every year, and operates a farming business that grows potatoes, sugar beet and barley.

And it’s also one of the places where the Agricultural Revolution started, thanks to the efforts of Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester.

New standards of food production, new approaches to growing crops, new systematic breeding programmes, and new ways of keeping nitrogen in the soil. These were visionary ideas, although 150 years later Jake finds himself with a host of other concerns.

In the last 50 years we’ve lost 44 million breeding birds, and around 97% of our hay meadows. Over 60% of our species are in serious decline - 68% of our starlings have disappeared, 91%

“Everyone asks me why I didn’t become an actor, but I think the others were the odd ones out...” of our grey partridges, and 25% of our moths. And around 250,000 miles of the country’s hedges have been destroyed. Now that’s what you call a challenge.

After leaving school, Jake worked briefly for a nightclub in London before spending three years working on the farm at Knepp Castle in West Sussex before moving to Stanage Castle in Wales, working as a gamekeeper.

The following year he came to Norfolk, working at the Raveningham estate and he was running it within six years. As resource-intensive farming increased, and chemicals and herbicides took their toll on the natural environment, Jake felt it was time to make a difference.

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© HOLKHAM ESTATE © ANDY BLOOMFIELD

© PAUL EELE

PICTURES: A typically tranquil part of the enormous Holkham National Nature Reserve. Head of Conservation Jake Fiennes feels most at home. It also provides a rich habitat for birds such as bitterns (below top) which were once extinct in the UK, and lapwings (below bottom) - since 1960 their numbers have dropped by 80%.

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He planted 25 miles of hedges around the estate and thinned the woodlands to bring in more light. He consulted old maps and replanted trees. He brought sheep in to graze the land for the first time in over 100 years.

He removed over 1,000 acres of food production from the Raveningham estate - but his increased yields from what remained made up the difference.

“I don’t think I’m doing anything special, and it’s certainly not rocket science,” he says. “It’s just common sense. And it’s definitely not all doom and gloom.”

Indeed. Since Jake arrived at Holkham towards the end of 2018, the lapwing population on the estate is back to what it was 20 years ago, and the numbers of spoonbill have doubled in the last couple of years.

For two years running he’s seen a record number of breeding avocets, and last year his team recorded the highest-ever spawning of natterjack toads. Grey partridges have finally returned along with a number of rare plants and butterflies, and cattle egrets have bred on the estate for the first time ever.

“You’ve got to be optimistic and

you’ve got to be a realist,” says Jake, who spoke at COP26 in Glasgow last November. “We’re a species that relies almost entirely on fossil fuels, and you’re not going to change that overnight. You have to set targets, you have to make incremental changes, and you have to put the infrastructure in place to help you reach those targets.”

For Jake it’s all about striking a balance. While we need more housing, better transport networks and more food, we also need natural environments, a healthy ecosystem and sustainable habitats.

And if anyone can balance all that it’s Jake Fiennes.

“I feel deeply privileged and honoured to have this position and manage the largest privately-owned natural nature reserve in England,” he says. “Most people have a job. I have a passion that I’m paid for.”

Jake Fiennes’ book LAND HEALER will be published in April, and is partly a chronicle of his life in conservation and part manifesto on how to re-think our relationship with the natural world.

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

Save money, save energy and help save the planet The way we’re heating our homes has got to change and it has to change now - but the 4 Way Group in King’s Lynn has all the answers... warranty) you can start reducing your carbon footprint from day one, and you’ll be cutting your fuel bills in the process.”

The figures speak for themselves.

“If you’ve got an oil boiler you’ll save up to 40% in annual running costs by replacing it with an air source heating system,” says Steve, “and you can even improve on that by combining it with underfloor heating, which we can also help you with.”

Assuming you have a 100m² home with four people and a perfectly normal heating demand of 55 kWh per square metre (with an additional 4,000 kWh needed for water heating) an air source heating system will only use around 2,200 kWh of electricity (costing you less than £300) in order to produce 6,000 kWh of heating.

You do the maths, we’ll do all the work, and together we can help to save the world.

For an average four-bedroom detached home, here are the savings you might expect to get by replacing your old heating system with a new air source heat pump: EXISTING SYSTEM

ANNUAL FUEL BILL SAVINGS

ANNUAL CO2 SAVINGS

Old gas (non-condensing) Electric (old storage heaters) Old oil (non-condensing) Older LPG (non-condensing) Coal

£295-£425 £715-£1,295 £360-£555 £1,200-£1,805 £525-£875

1.6-2.4 tons 6.7-11.4 tons 2.5-3.9 tons 2.3-3.5 tons 7.1-11.0 tons

Source: UK Energy Saving Trust

I

n the UK, heating is one of the largest contributors to the UK’s carbon emissions, representing around a third of the total - and nearly 13% of greenhouse gases in the country result specifically from home heating using fossil fuels, which equates to a similar level to the amount of emissions from cars.

In order to become self-sufficient, energy-secure and (perhaps most importantly) meet our carbon goals it’s essential we start investing in decarbonising heating and hot water systems - and one of the best ways of doing that is with air source heating from the 4 Way Group.

“People are now waking up to the fact that in order to save the planet we’ve got to do something right now,” says director Steve Simpson.

“With our Fujitsu air source systems (which come with a full 7-year

t 01553 767878 w www.4waygroup.co.uk e sales@4waygroup.co.uk Recognised and accredited throughout the industry:

KLmagazine January 2022

23

The charming windmill with the peculiar past Part of Norfolk’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Weybourne also has a famous landmark that catches everyone’s eye as they pass, but there’s a lot of history and intrigue surrounding this iconic windmill...

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hree miles west of Sheringham, the Grade II listed windmill in Weybourne has been the subject of thousands of postcards and paintings for over 170 years. The fivestorey red brick tower was as striking in 1850 (when it was constructed) as it is today, but although it appears tranquil its history is anything but.

Throughout the latter half of the 19th century the windmill was rented out to several workers

who would toil away in the tower grinding wheat and other grains. It wasn’t an easy life, and the millers never made much money, so perhaps that explains the frequent tales of smuggling surrounding the windmill.

Smuggling was rife along the north Norfolk coastline throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the result of high taxations imposed in the 1770s on ‘luxuries’ such as tea, gin and silk to help cover the cost of England’s wars in Europe and America.

Local smugglers took the opportunity to sail across to Holland and buy the goods, before bringing them back to England and making a tidy profit in the process.

It was a lucrative business for decades, but it was also a dangerous one. Violence frequently broke out between smugglers and the authorities, but there was little that could be done to deter the criminals.

At Weybourne windmill, it’s thought that a significant amount of smuggling

took place. The mill was even used as a signal to smugglers - when customs agents were in the area, the miller would halt the movement of the sails to warn the smugglers, and once the officials had moved on, the sails would start rotating again.

In return for the miller’s discretion (today we’d probably call it collusuion), a cut of the smuggled goods was allegedly left on the mill’s doorstep.

The mill at Weybourne ceased operations in 1916 and began to fall into disrepair. The cold and swift coastal winds had battered the sails for decades, and in 1925 they were finally removed, along with most of the machinery inside the mill itself.

No longer able to function as a working windmill, the building was passed through several owners as a private home, before it found itself at the centre of more controversy during the

Second World War when rumours of German espionage gripped the village.

Due to the deep water close to the shore, Weybourne was considered a prime spot for an invasion by Nazi forces. Defences were constructed around the area that included blocking the beach with landmines and deploying scaffolding barriers to prevent tanks and boats getting through.

Along the cliffs northwest of the village was a temporary camp for the AntiAircraft Division of the Territorial Army, but at the outbreak of war it was repurposed into a permanent Anti-Aircraft Training Camp.

It was a highly secret site, likely only known to locals and the personnel based there.

It was during this time that villagers began to take notice of the owners of the windmill. According to a secondhand account, a married couple lived in the mill - a certain Mr. and Mrs. Dodds.

Mrs. Dodds reportedly had a strong German accent but took an active part in the local community. She rode

around the village on a bicycle and was very friendly to the local children, but some villagers noticed she had a particular interest in the military camp at the top of the cliffs. She was also in the habit of carrying a large carpet bag with her that she was always careful to keep close.

Over the course of several nights, a strong light was spotted flashing from the top of the mill in the direction of the sea. Initially, nothing was done about it until one day Mrs. Dodds left her bicycle unattended in the village with the carpet bag still in the basket.

Somewhat inevitably, the bicycle fell over and her carpet bag fell out.

When one of the locals picked it up, he noticed a radio transmitter sitting inside.

The police were notified, and a coulpe of days later (they couldn’t have been that worried) they arrested Mrs. Dodds and her husband.

Some weeks later, Mr. Dodds returned to collect the couple’s possessions from their home, but after that they were never heard from again. Whether this was a genuine case of German infiltration or an example of domestic paranoia will probably never be known now, but the mill at Weybourne has enjoyed a rather sedate existence since then.

The sails we see today were built in 1969 and fixed in an easterly direction, and further renovation was undertaken to make it the beautiful landmark it’s now become. Privately owned as a unique home, it can be admired from afar as part of the picture-perfect Norfolk scenery, its intriguing history confined to the past.

For more fascinating features on Norfolk’s history, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

S

RIGHT: Weybourne is one of the most stunning parts of the north Norfolk coastline, and is home to one of its most beautiful landmarks the carefully-resotred windmill that’s now a private home.

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KLmagazine January 2022

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Living

For buyers and sellers the property market in west & north Norfolk has never been more vibrant,

Spencer Cushing of Sowerbys explains how to make the most of it...

and this year’s property market...

A

t the beginning of every new year, and following on from having time over the festive period to scan the property portals there’s always a frenetic flurry of post-new year buying activity. However, once that’s died down, we find that most typically the months of January and February are a quieter time for the house buying market.

This is almost exclusively driven by the weather as, let’s face it, few people wish to go hunting for a home on cold, wet and miserable winter days.

Now, it’s quite possible that if you’re reading this then one of your resolutions for 2022 might have been to set the wheels in motion for selling your house. If that’s the case, then this natural lull is the perfect time to quite literally get your house in order. Simple things such as decluttering make a huge difference, and touching up the paintwork can be a simple, quick, and inexpensive way of really improving your home’s aesthetic appeal - and neither activity breaks the bank.

Of course those more serious changes, such as installing a new kitchen or bathroom, make a huge difference on a

property’s saleability and this really is the perfect opportunity, if you can, to tackle such disruptive works during this quieter time.

My best advice is to use this time wisely. That way, when the buds start to open and the days get warmer and longer, you’ll be perfectly positioned to take full advantage of the Spring market surge.

Of course, no January article about property would be complete without a prediction on what the year ahead might provide.

After the most extraordinary property markets we experienced in both 2020 and 2021, such predictions are difficult to make and we’re all wondering what 2022 will hold for North Norfolk.

We start this new year with historically low stock levels and I believe that’s the key to what will happen in the first half of this year.

In January 2019 my branch in Burnham Market started the year with 62 houses to sell, an average and consistent number from previous years.

In the dark days of Lockdown III in January 2021, we had two thirds of that number available, but as we start 2022 we have half that figure again in existing properties.

With so little on the market yet so many still looking to buy, it’s my firm belief that the strength of this market will continue well into this year until such a time as supply and demand start to level up. From all of us at Sowerbys have a very prosperous 2022!

Burnham Market | Dereham | Fakenham | Holt | Hunstanton | King’s Lynn Norwich | Watton | Wells-next-the-Sea www.sowerbys.com 28

KLmagazine January 2022

Norfolk is a wonderful place to live, and few people have more experience in styling our homes than Aldiss, as managing director

Darryl Simpson explains...

Royal Sovereign mattress

Ercol Monza dining table with bench & chairs

It’s a new year and time for a new look

T

he beginning of a new year always encourages us to make a fresh start in our lifestyles, and that’s as true for our homes as it is for our eating habits and fitness levels.

Whether it’s a simple refresh or a total makeover, there’s something about the start of a new year that makes us take a step back and re-evaluate our living spaces.

And that’s what we’re here for.

Jual Helsinki oak

One of the most popular new year’s resolutions is to balance work, social and family life. Over the last couple of years the number of people working from home has increased to around 37%, which is good news for commuters and great news for the environment. But not everyone has the space for a dedicated home office, which means you’ll be looking for something compact and stylish.

Some of our ranges such as the Jual collection include coffee tables in addition to desks, which gives a seamless look to living and working areas.

As Christmas has just reminded us, getting everyone together to eat doesn’t just keep us in touch with our family members and friends. It also raises the importance of the dining or kitchen table.

Considering it will be used for entertaining and work, and will often double up as a work surface and play area for children, it’s important to choose your dining table carefully.

Happily, our latest collections don’t force you to decide between form and function - they’re perfectly functional and they look fantastic. While resolving to do exercise is a good idea we should never underestimate the restorative powers of a good night’s sleep.

Think about the cost of your gym membership, and then consider that we spend around a third of our lives in bed - and how much do we spend on that?

Our latest ranges include supportive mattresses made from technologically advanced material, natural latex and handmade sprung beds - and they’re all designed to relieve tension and attend to your individual body’s needs.

Take a little time trying them out in store and getting advice from our experienced staff – think of them as your very own personal sleep trainer!

Festive socialising can often be a springboard to replacing our furniture; whether it’s because we’ve got wineEret and food stains on the sofa, or we’ve been inspired by the interior décor of our friends and neighbours.

The start of a new year is the perfect time to make a new start and create a new look for your home.And the even better news is that our traditional winter sales are in full swing - which should make that fresh start a little kinder on the pocket.

Fakenham: Oxborough Lane NR21 8AF | 01328 86238 Norwich: Hall Road Retail Park NR4 6DH | 01603 272100 www.aldiss.com KLmagazine January 2022

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Award-winning work from the best in Norfolk Exceptional projects deserve exceptional builders, and having just picked up a major national award, are continuing to raise the bar for distinctive and unique properties

A

fter a project spanning more than four years, a beautiful contemporary build in Blakeney by Fakenhambased Grocott & Murfit has been voted Best Residential Property: Norfolk and earned 5-star status at the prestigious UK Property Awards a competition that attracts over 200 nominations and is judged by a panel of 80 industry experts.

“This is completely bespoke, exquisitely detailed and showcases the very highest standards of craftsmanship,” says director Jody Murfit, who project managed the build and founded the company with fellow director Daniel Grocott 14 years ago.

“It’s typical of the unique projects we specialise in, and it’s testament to the incredible skills of the team we’ve developed over the years.”

Inspired by the traditional village properties along the north Norfolk 30

coast characterised by beautiful flint cottages, pitched pantile roofs, red brick barns and gabled warehouses, the result is a simply stunning home.

It blends in with the local architecture and local landscape so successfully it manages to make a bold statement while remaining unobtrusive.

The build combines traditional materials such as flint with more contemporary and robust materials such as Corten steel which continues into the interior - the choice of materials helping construct a highlyinsulated external skin for the building.

Although the property isn’t Passivhaus certified, the design, construction and materials certainly aspire to those standards, with superior levels of airtightness and a high-performing and highly-insulated external envelope.

It also utilises MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery) to improve the internal environment,

harvests solar energy from the PV panels over the bedroom wing, and delivers heating via an air source heat pump - all of which helps drive energy efficiencies and long-term sustainability.

“It was quite a challenging project, but the team loved working on it,” says Daniel Grocott. “With all the different materials it’s almost three independent buildings all joined together - but the result is very cohesive. And now it’s starting to mature it’s looking even better.”

That commitment to high quality and outstanding workmanship played a large part in Grocott & Murfit being appointed to carry out the build - by Norwich-based Hudson Architects, who’ve won over 40 awards during the last 30 years for their groundbreaking designs.

“We were very pleased with our concept, but we’re really impressed KLmagazine January 2022

PICTURES: This recently-completed property in north Norfolk is a typical example of the extraordinarily high standards of craftmanship Grocott & Mufrit brings to every single project

with how Grocott & Murfit have brought it to life,” they say. “They understand the latest building technologies such as air source heat pumps and mechanical ventilation heat recovery systems, and their experience with Passivhaus standards means they’ve been able to dramatically reduce in-use energy. It’s an amazing project and it’s a fantastic home.’’

The property makes the most of its south-facing aspect. The bedrooms are located in the east wing to take advantage of the morning sun. All the main living spaces and bedrooms have the sun throughout the day, and the study, snug and living space enjoy the setting sun in the evening.

The outside terrace areas have been carefully positioned out of the shade of the site’s many trees, and attention has even been given to the external lighting, keeping light pollution to a minimum considering the property’s location within a conservation area.

“It’s always rewarding to work on a property that has a highly-sustainable design and one which helps minimise its environmental impact,” says Daniel Grocott. “It’s something we’re very committed to through our Building Norfolk initiative and our M&E team at Arcadia, who provide the very best energy-efficient solutions across the county. I think we’re all proud of the end result.”

This is an extraordinarily talented team, consisting of a construction estimator, two quantity surveyors, three project managers, nine site managers, and over 30 highly-skilled KLmagazine January 2022

tradesmen and apprentices. In fact, Daniel and Jody have just taken on three apprentice carpenters and three apprentice bricklayers.

“It’s very important for us to keep everything in house because we’ve found that’s the best way to maintain quality and ensure everything meets our high standards,” says Jody. “For us it’s not all about bricks and mortar and glass. Every project we work on enhances the local area, and we’re committed to supporting local communities.”

Grocott & Murfit are certainly changing the face of Norfolk, and it’s great to see them changing it for the better.

For more outstanding and awardwinning examples of the work of Grocott & Murfit or for an initial consultation about your next project, please visit the website or contact Daniel and Jody using the details opposite.

Heath Barn, Norwich Road, Fakenham NR21 8LZ 01328 851420 grocottandmurfit.co.uk info@grocottandmurfit.co.uk 31

ABOVE: Just a few of the fossilised treasures unearthed along the west and north Norfolk coastline by David Waterhouse (opposite), Senior Curator of Natural History and Geology at Norfolk Museums Service, who’s been in love with dinosaurs and fossils since he was a young child

Picking up the pieces of Norfolk’s prehistoric past If you’ll excuse the pun, the coast of west and north Norfolk is awash with fossilised memories of our distant past. As interest in collecting fossils grows, we speak to one of the country’s leading experts...

W

e all love a walk along the beaches of west and north Norfolk, but few people realise that they’re actually walking on history. And a very ancient history at that. Instead of admiring the vast skies and beautiful landscapes around you, look down and you may well be the first person in a hundred million years to come across a genuinely unique treasure - and a very real link to the past.

The much-delayed arrival in Norwich

KLmagazine January 2022

of ‘Dippy the Diplodocus’ and the recent release of the film Ammonite (which tells the story of the much acclaimed but equally overlooked Mary Anning) has raised public interest in fossils - which is good news for us since the coast of Norfolk is one of the very best places in the country to find them.

As little as 9,000 years ago Norfolk was actually connected to mainland Europe, and there was a time when our wide expansive beaches were treefilled plains teeming with life and full

of animals. Although you won’t find the skull of a Tyrannosaurus, Norfolk’s beaches are packed with prehistoric wonders to this day.

Discovered in 1990, the West Runton Mammoth is the largest nearly complete mammoth skeleton known and is the oldest ever found. Ten years later ex-policeman and beachcomber Mike Chambers found the “Happisburgh Handaxe” which is (at 500,000 years old) one of the oldest handaxes ever discovered in Britain. And fourteen years later the same beach revealed

33

the oldest human footprints ever seen outside Africa - which may well be a million years old.

Most of the fossils on the north Norfolk coast are even older, dating from the Cretaceous period (roughly 100-70 million years ago) and largely consist of humble creatures such as sea urchins, squid-like creatures and other molluscs.

They may not be as exciting or exotic as a Brontosaurus or a T.rex but they’re just as important for our understanding of how our world used to be. And if anyone knows just how important they are it’s David Waterhouse, Senior Curator of Natural History and Geology at Norfolk Museums Service.

“T.rex is really impressive and pretty cool, but only about 16 have ever been

“With such a dynamic coastline Norfolk is one of the best places in the country to nd ossils...

34

found and they don’t tell us an awful lot about the world,” he says. “You certainly won’t find one around the coast of Norfolk, but you can easily find ammonites and belemnites - and they’re essential for biostratigraphy and reconstructing the environment.

It’s a genuine case of the little things meaning the most.”

Born in south Wales, David took his childhood love of dinosaurs and fossils to university, and is now following in the footsteps of famous local naturalists such as Arthur Patterson, Ted Ellis and Tony Irwin.

“To be honest I feel honoured to be working in Norfolk, which is so rich in wildlife and geology,” he says. “It might seem as though I spend most of my time with long-dead animals, but they have a very real connection with our current environment. Conservation groups often contact us to gather data from our collections when they’re looking to build a nature reserve.”

And if you thought fossil hunting required a degree in palaeontology and a set of specialist tools you couldn’t be further from the truth.

“With such a dynamic coastline Norfolk is one of the best places in the country to find fossils,” says David. “You don’t need to do any digging - which is often illegal and always dangerous - you just need to look down at your feet. All you really need is a sharp pair of eyes.”

And don’t be worried if you don’t come across anything spectacular.

Hunstanton is one of the best places in the country to find ‘trace’ fossils

- burrows made by ancient shrimps, crabs, lobsters some 100 million years ago.

“They’re not particularly glamorous but you should never underestimate them,” says David. “I was lucky enough to find part of the frill of a Triceratops while on a T.rex dig in Montana, but the trace fossils you can easily pick up in west Norfolk are possibly more important. They tell us so much about the animals’ behaviour and the world they were living in - which helps us understand the world we’re living in today.

But if you really want to see a real-life dinosaur you only have to look out of the window at the bird feeder in your garden.

When a gigantic asteroid strike caused massive volcanic eruptions and disastrous changes to the environment 66 million years ago, virtually the only creatures left alive were the more diminutive relatives of the T.rex.

They were lucky enough to be small, they were capable of eating a lot of different foods and they could even fly - and they would take the best part of the next 66 million years evolving into the 11,000 different species we now know as birds.

So the next time you’re in Cromer and an alarmingly aggressive herring gull swoops down on you emitting an ungodly screech and snatches a few of your chips, don’t be too alarmed.

Count yourself lucky, because in a very real sense you’ve just been assaulted by a dinosaur.

KLmagazine January 2022

PICTURES: © ANDREW ORR/HOLTS AUCTIONEERS ABOVE: An extremely rare survivor from the First World War - the sniper rifle and its original accessories that Lt N.W. Methven MC used as part of Abe Bailey’s Sharpshooter Unit. Just of the lots in Hots Auctioneers most recent sale, to date it’s the only known example in the world

Made as weapons.

Loved as works of art.

Important episodes in British history, unique survivors from the First World War, European royalty - it’s no surprise that Holts Auctioneers is one of the most famous specialist auction houses in the world

L

ast month the eyes of people around the world were focused (thanks to a network of laptops, telephones and live feeds) on a small part of the royal estate of Sandringham as Holts Auctioneers held its final sale of 2021. Over two days in mid-December, one of the very few specialist gun auctioneers in the country offered 2,000 extraordinary and historicallyimportant lots, which included antique, vintage, sporting and modern guns, taxidermy, books, edged weapons and 36

militaria.

It was a typically eclectic collection that covered virtually every corner of the world and an extraordinary range of major historical events.

“Guns and weapons are obviously made for a purpose, but for many people that’s the least important element of them,” says Nick Holt, who moved to Norfolk from London nearly 30 years and founded Holts Auctioneers in an old dairy farm in Wolferton. “These are beautiful works of art and outstanding examples

of craftsmanship. And they’re also important parts of our heritage without them much of that history would be lost forever.”

From 18th century duelling pistols and a naval cutlass from the American revolutionary wars to a Luftwaffe dress sword and a Japanese officer’s katana from the Second World War, every lot has its own fascinating story to tell.

Take the single-barrelled sporting gun belonging to Sir Benjamin D’Urban, for example. He was born in Norfolk in 1777, became the Governor of Antigua, KLmagazine January 2022

and would eventually have the South African port of Natal named after him today we know it Durban.

Even more fascinating is a very rare double rook rifle made by the Londonbased gunsmiths Holland & Holland in 1900 for Umberto I, who’d been the king of Italy for 22 years before he received the gun at the end of May 1900. It’s in remarkably good condition, but there’s a rather sombre reason for that. It’s unknown whether or not Umberto ever had the chance to use it - because the king was assassinated less than eight weeks later.

One of the most outstanding lots is the exceptionally rare sniper rifle of Lt N.W. Methven MC, which may well be unique. It’s the only rifle known to exist from Abe Bailey’s South African Sharpshooters during the First World War. The young Methven himself was one of only six members of the 24 serving soldiers in the unit to survive the war. Even the rifle’s accessories - including its folding tripod and its original telescopic sight and trench periscope in their respective leather cases - have been carefully preserved to this day.

“It’s those kind of details that make all the difference, which is why we put such an emphasis on provenance,” says Nick Holt. “We all work incredibly hard at it and we never use words such as ‘reputedly’ or ‘possibly’ because the true value of these guns lies in being 100% accurate about their origins, their owners and their history.”

Holts Auctioneers is now a truly international operation. Nick has a network of almost 50 agents around the world sourcing guns and related items - from the USA to Australia, and from Pakistan to China. In Norfolk, he’s built a team of over 20 highlyexperienced people including ballistics experts, researchers, photographers, media and digital specialists, and gunsmiths - one of whom is Scott Wilson.

“It’s wonderful having Scott here, because he’s the son of my father’s gunsmith John Wilson when we lived in London,” says Nick. “That was where my love of guns started, and I served my apprenticeship with John as soon as I left school - that’s really where the story of Holts Auctioneers begins.”

Supreme artistry, exquisite craftsmanship and major historical importance - we can’t want to see what the next chapter in the story brings to the saleroom.

KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: Top left is the rifle made for the Italian King Umberto I (top right) who probably didn’t survive long enough to have used it. Above is a beautiful Luftwaffe dress sword from the Second World War. Nick Holt (right) and his team are now one of the most famous specialist gun and militaria auction houses in the world.

NEXT SALES Mon 21st March: Antiques Tue 22nd March: Modern Thurs 31st March: Sealed Bid Auction

VALUATIONS To maintain owners’ privacy, valuations take place on an appointment-only system, and you should call Holts on 01485 542822 to book. Please bring any documents or information relating to provenance, as that can have a huge impact on the value of your item(s).

Holts Auctioneers Church Farm Barns, Wolferton, Norfolk PE31 6HA 01485 542822 info@holtsauctioneers.com www.holtsauctioneers.com

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BARRY L HAWKINS Independent Auctioneer and Land Agent The Estate Office, 15 Lynn Road, Downham Market PE38 9NL 01366 387180 | info@barryhawkins.co.uk

Put your future in our hands

Business | Crime | Conveyancing | Dispute Resolution | Employment | Matrimonial | Wills & Probate 28/32 King Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE30 1HQ www.mcp-law.co.uk 01553 778100 Also at Wisbech, Thetford, Peterborough, Ely and Isleham

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KLmagazine January 2022

Before...

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Restore your hair and With o men being a ected by hair loss be ore the age o ReMane Ahead is o ering ad anced and high uality solutions without the need or surgery

O

ur hair is a core part of our identity and this is why it is so important to us and also why its premature loss can have such a negative effect on our mental health. If asked to describe a person’s appearance along with their height and build the next most likely feature to report is their hair colour and length before then moving onto their age and other more acute details.

If you needed to have teeth removed, you would seek dental implants. If your eyesight was deteriorating you would either wear glasses or contact lenses, or option to have corrective surgery without much concern for other people’s opinion. But when it comes to hair loss, particularly among men there is an oppressing stigma regarding having treatment to restore their hair.

In much the same way as the loss of teeth or eyesight or hearing, hair loss is going to be a reality for the majority of

men and depending on certain genetic factors it can often start as early as your 20s.

At ReMane Ahead we are on a mission to break through the negative stereotypes surrounding hair replacement systems and offer a high-quality alternative to the grossly expensive and often uncomfortable surgical procedures offered and the questionable results promoted by the various scalp shampoos and elixirs which promote amazing results after a few months of daily application. Our results are instant and depending on your personal preferences can either be maintained at home or by one of our dedicated in-house styling technicians.

Our hair systems will be individually designed to suit your lifestyle as well as physically and we will explain the benefits and limitations of all the options available to you. If you enjoy the gym and running and need a system that is breathable and allows

ReMane Ahead

Non Surgical Hair Replacement Specialists

KLmagazine January 2022

you to perspire naturally, we can provide that. If you are concerned about friends or co-workers being able to tell that you’re wearing a hair system and want the most aesthetically natural result to restore your confidence and self-esteem, we can help you. If you want both of those things combined, we can do that as well. Tell us what your hopes are and let us show you what is possible.

Our discreet consultation room is located in premises with no external advertising, to ensure client confidentiality, and is just a short walk from the Tuesday Market Place in the centre of King’s Lynn. All attendance is strictly by appointment only and initial consultations are free of charge and without obligation.

Tel: 01553 602238 Location: King’s Lynn Town Centre Web: www.remaneahead.co.uk

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ABOVE: Two of our most famous and most popular garden birds - the charming blue tit and (opposite) the iconic robin. Both of them should be easily spotted in this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch, which takes place at the end of January.

A winged world of nature on your doorstep

There are ew things more rewarding than watching our eathered riends as they orage or ood in our owerbeds. a e sure to grab hold o your binoculars in time or this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch

B

irds are fascinating, familiar, and colourful creatures which occupy every continent in the world. There are over 600 species on the official British list, and Norfolk is widely regarded as one of the best places for birdwatching in the entire UK. This year marks the 43rd year of the RSPB’S Big Garden Birdwatch, which takes place on the 28th-30th of January. With over half a million regular participants, it’s the world’s largest garden wildlife survey and more than 17 million birds were counted last year. Take part and you’ll soon be enjoying some very common and captivating species in your very own garden.

KLmagazine January 2022

One of Britain’s most attractive and distinctive garden visitors is the beautiful blue tit. This delicate and delightful bird has a bright blue cap, sweet white face, yellow breast and green, blue and white wings. Blue tits are extremely acrobatic and often hang upside down from branches in search of juicy caterpillars.

These small, inquisitive creatures also enjoy feasting on seeds from bird feeders and are well known for breaking the caps off milk bottles to devour the creamy top. Blue tits like nesting in small holes in trees and are probably the bird most commonly found in garden boxes. Their cosy nests are made of moss, grass feathers and

leaves, and within these they lay up to 16 eggs. Because they’re so small, blue tits are often evicted from their nests by great tits and sometimes end up with the larger bird’s eggs mixed up with their own. Remarkably, when the eggs hatch, the great tits that fledge from the nest spend their whole lives thinking they’re blue tits.

Another colourful bird to look out for in your garden is the beautiful goldfinch, which is one of the prettiest birds in the finch family. With their black and white heads, crimson faces and bright yellow wing bands, these vibrant birds are a wonder to behold it’s not surprising their collective noun is a ‘charm.’ Goldfinches have long, fine 41

ABOVE: Although they can be rather elusive, there’s a large population of siskins in the country thanks to an estimated 369,000 breeding pairs.

Meanwhile, the goldfinch is one of our prittiest garden birds - explaning why a group of them is called a ‘charm’ of goldfinches

beaks perfectly suited for tweezing tiny seeds from thistles and teasels - which explains why their Anglo-Saxon name was ‘thistle tweaker.’ The female birds build neat nests in the outer branches of trees with twigs, moss, and grass and lay 4-6 lightly speckled eggs. Juvenile goldfinches don’t develop their glorious red faces until after their first moult, though they do share their parent’s striking yellow wing bands. You’re likely to hear these beautiful birds in your garden before you see them, as they produce a melodic twittering chatter and a luxurious song that sounds like tinkling bells.

For the past few years, the house sparrow has held first place in the Big Garden Birdwatch. Noisy, plump, and perky, these bold little birds are extremely tame and regularly visit our gardens in search of scraps. Males are chestnut brown with a grey breast, rump and crown, black eye markings and a distinctive black bib extending up the throat and around the beak. These bibs vary in size and are a signal of power, with larger bibbed males being more dominant. Females and juveniles have sandy brown plumage and black streaks on their backs and wings. Males and females mate for life and share the roles of nest building, incubating eggs and feeding young.

House sparrows are gregarious and sociable and live in loose colonies, with nests sometimes only 20-30cm apart. All the pairs and unattached members of a colony know each other and undertake chores like dust bathing, preening, and foraging together 42

Another common and muchtreasured garden visitor is the handsome, red-breasted robin. Small, feisty and iconic, it’s been voted the nation’s favourite bird and is regularly featured in poetry, folklore and Christmas cards. Adults sport a brown back, white belly, and brilliant orangered breast whilst juveniles are speckled gold and brown. The female birds build nests out of grass moss and dead leaves, usually in fully concealed nooks and crannies like piles of logs and hedges - and they’re famous for nesting in a range of weird and wonderful places including kettles, lanterns, car boots, wellies, and plant pots.

Despite their cute appearance and small size, robins are extremely territorial and surprisingly ferocious.

Disputes often begin with male robins singing loudly at each other and fighting to get a higher perch to display their threatening red breasts.

Escalation can result in injury or even death, as the determined little birds will defend their homes with all their might.

One of the brilliant things about birdwatching is you never know what you might see. With the national survey fast approaching, grab a notepad and pen and get ready to count your garden’s twittering treasures. You could enjoy a charm of chattering goldfinches or spot a fiery little robin scouring the soil for worms - in an amazing county like Norfolk, the possibilities are endless.

For more details and information about this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch and how you can be involved, please visit www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/ activities/birdwatch/ For more fascinating features on Norfolk’s wildlife, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk.

KLmagazine January 2022

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A unique play experience built for families by a family, Little Sharks in the centre o King’s Lynn o ers something or children o all ages and lenty or their arents. ome aboard and oin the e citement

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e don’t stop playing because we grow old,” once wrote George Bernard Shaw. “We grow old because we stop playing.” And had Little Sharks been around back in his day, all of us would still be children.

Because here in the centre of King’s Lynn is a soft play and sensory experience unlike anything in the area. Opening in May last year, it’s a totally family-run business - built with families in mind and based on family experiences.

“When my husband Andy and I started taking our children to play centres in the area, we realised there was a very real need for a family44

friendly facility in King’s Lynn,” says Natalie Atkins, “especially one that would be stimulating for our son who has additional needs. We had the experience, we had the passion and we had plenty of ideas. So we decided to build it ourselves.”

Her mother Ann Jones worked at Gatwick Airport with wheelchair assistance, and when he’s not busy farming her father Tony Duffell has spent many years working with Caudwell Children, which is now the second largest voluntary provider of specialist equipment in the UK and is widely regarded as one of the fastest growing children’s charities - transforming the lives of disabled children across the UK.

“We wanted to create a centre that would offer children of all ages, all backgrounds and all needs a positive and enriching play experience,” says Andy. “We wanted our customers to feel genuinely valued and appreciated, and to really enjoy themselves - and I can’t believe what we’ve managed to achieve in such a small space of time.”

Indeed. Relying exclusively on local businesses, work started at the end of March 2021 and was completed only seven weeks later. Andy didn’t just help with the building work - he even provided the inspiration for the underwater theme.

“Since my dad is a farmer that was the obvious choice, but it had already been done, and so had space and dinosaurs,” KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: The family behind Little Sharks in King’s Lynn - with Ann Jones and Tony Duffell (left) together with their daughter Natalie Atkins and her husband Andy - along with their two sons Harry and Leo.

says Natalie. “Then I realised that Andy is an experienced game fisherman, is involved with the Angling Trust and is captain of the England team - so an underwater theme was perfect.”

Eight months later the family is somewhat taken aback at the success of Little Sharks. Virtually fully booked every day, it’s been a much greater success than the family had expected, and more popular than they ever hoped for.

And it’s easy to see why.

It has a separate baby and toddler area for the under 5s, with soft play building blocks (although they tend to spend their time being fascinated by the virtual aquarium) while the junior space (for 5-12 year olds) contains a world of exciting places to discover.

From the rock-climbing area and the viewing platforms to the big wavy slide and huge helter skelter hidden within a lighthouse, this is a world of adventure.

On the mezzanine floor (the entire centre is fully accessible) you’ll find two party spaces, and an incredible sensory room with an interactive floor full of games and puzzles. There’s nothing like it locally, and the nearest ones in Peterborough and Norwich are only half the size.

And then there’s the Surfery, an onsite cafe and food outlet which serves

everything from breakfast baps and delicious paninis to sandwiches and some of the best cakes in King’s Lynn - thanks to Natalie’s sister-in-law, who owns the local artisan business Mrs A’s Bakes.

It’s not surprising to discover that mothers bring their babies to Little Sharks for social gatherings, families visit after school for dinner, and local businesses phone in orders for takeaway lunches.

Happily, the team are limiting the building’s capacity to around 50%.

“We don’t want it to get too crowded because we want everyone to enjoy themselves,” says Natalie. “We have a huge amount to offer, and people are always amazed when they come here.

And we’re always looking at ways to enhance everyone’s experience.”

If only it could be play time all the time.

Little Sharks Soft Play Centre Units 7-8 Berol Park Hardwick Industrial Estate King’s Lynn PE30 4JJ Open seven days a week: Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm Sun 10am-4pm 01553 824312 www.littlesharkssoftplay.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

45

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KLmagazine January 2022

Treating baby to a snug and safe night’s sleep We’ll probably spend years of our life asleep, so it’s important to get it right from the start, as Youngsters World explains...

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any parents worry about their babies and sleep and want to ensure they’re making the smartest (and safest) choice when it comes to the products they use for sleep time.

At Youngsters World, Liz Harrison and her team are passionate about helping parents create a safe sleep environment for their child, which is why they offer a comprehensive range of Purflo products.

For 25 years Purflo have pioneered safer sleep products for babies, including developing beds, bedding and sleep accessories that are in line with the latest research, science and guidance to ensure babies can sleep as safely as possible - and that parents can get a good night’s sleep as well.

The Sleep Tight Bed is an innovative sleep space for babies, and is a total gamechanger. It’s currently the only product of its kind certified as safe for overnight sleep. Babies should always sleep on a firm flat mattress, without toys, pillows or cushions around them.

Purflo’s Sleep Tight Bed offers a mattress that has been thoughtfully designed specially for newborn babies, and features a ring of firm, breathable material that gives babies a feeling of closeness and comfort without the risk of suffocation.

“It’s worth popping in store to give it a squeeze because you’ll immediately see it’s very different to a padded cushion,” says Liz, “which is why it’s passed all the relevant safety tests for overnight sleep.”

Guidance on the position babies should sleep in has gone through a complete U-turn in the last generation, with parents now advised to always put babies to sleep on their backs to help reduce risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

It’s also important to reduce risk of overheating - the recommended room temperature for sleeping babies is 16-20°C, which often surprises people as it can feel a bit chilly. As the weather changes so frequently in the UK, parents can struggle to know how to dress their baby to keep them

comfortable and safe.

“When parents ask us about this, we recommend the Purflo Baby Sleep Bag,” says Liz. “It has removable sleeves so parents can easily layer up their baby’s bedding on colder nights. It also has breathable panels to help prevent overheating on warmer nights.”

The most important thing new parents need is support and clear advice. That’s why Youngsters World provides information and guidance to help parents choose the right products for their baby.

Purflo Baby Sleep Bags have a cutout-and-keep What To Wear guide on the back of the box for parents to refer to at home, and the in-store team can answer any questions parents might have about Purflo products and how to create a safe sleep environment for their baby.

For babies this is a very new world, and Youngsters World is determined to make it as safe and secure as possible.

112 NORFOLK STREET, KING’S LYNN PE30 1AQ

Open: Tues Sat 9-5.30, Sun 10-4, Monday - CLOSED • Tel: 01553 766576 • Web: www.youngstersworld.com KLmagazine January 2022

47

Protecting your plants from frosts Looking out on a winter’s morning and seeing the garden delicately decorated with a sparkling white frost is a lovely sight. But as Wendy Warner o Tha ters arden entre e lains our lants don’t nd it uite as a ealing...

A

lthough winters are less severe than years gone by, there are bound to be frosts that catch us by surprise anytime between September and May. Generally, we think of the coldest weather in the depths of winter, but the early (September to November) and late (March to May) frosts can cause plants a great deal of damage if we are not prepared for them.

Air frosts are typical in autumn when the ground retains heat but the air above ground level freezes. This may blacken foliage, but plants are not usually killed completely, although it will usually finish off the last soft foliage and flowers of summer bedding.

Ground frosts occur when the ground level freezes, and it is prolonged periods, day and night, below freezing which will do the most damage even to established hardy plants. Sometimes this damage is not apparent until months after, especially with evergreen plants.

Frosts are most common when skies are clear with sunny days but windless, cold nights. Location and soil type can affect the severity of frosts. Being in a coastal area the temperatures are usually milder than inland but welldrained sandy soils lose their heat to the air more rapidly and will have a lower surface temperature than wetter clay soils. All soils will lose less heat KLmagazine January 2022

if moist and so reduce the severity of frost. Therefore, if frosts are forecast and it has been dry, water your plants, especially those in pots, a couple of days beforehand.

Plants are damaged by frost as the water inside the cells in both leaves and stems freezes and cell walls are destroyed.

Repeated freezing and thawing, or very rapid thawing, can be particularly damaging to plants. Once the temperature has fallen below freezing, strong winds can make a frost more damaging by removing moisture from evergreen foliage more quickly than it can be replenished by the roots. This can cause leaf tips and margins to brown.

Avoid feeding your plants in the autumn with high nitrogen fertilisers as this will encourage soft, fresh growth that is more prone to damage.

Choose instead a high phosphorus fertiliser such as Bonemeal which will strengthen

the roots of the plant.

In autumn any tender plants that you want to overwinter should have been moved into a frost-free greenhouse or shed before the first frosts are forecast.

Greenhouses can be insulated using bubble wrap to give further protection

49

and heated if necessary with paraffin or electric heaters.

Larger, or moderately tender, plants can be protected using breathable frost fleece. This can be bought as large sheets which can be pegged or tied round the plant, as bags with a drawstring bottom which are ideal for standard shaped plants, or tubes that can be cut to size and tied at the top and bottom. The roots of plants in pots can freeze too, so ensure good

50

drainage and you could wrap pots in bubble wrap.

As plants awaken in the Spring with emerging buds breaking, young leaves and fresh fruit blossom, these can be susceptible to late frosts. The coldest period is often just after dawn, known by gardeners as a “dawn dip” so don’t be tempted to remove the fleece too early.

Using a hose gun to create a fine spray of water over fresh shoots on larger shrubs and trees can combat frost damage as the frost will freeze the water rather than the plant tissues.

Early morning sun on top of a frost can cause damage and browning to flowers on plants such as Camellias especially if they are in an east-facing position. If protecting fruit blossom, remove the fleece by day to allow access to pollinating insects.

In a mild spring, it can be tempting to get your summer bedding and containers planted early but remember there are still likely to be cold nights so harden plants off by standing them out during the day and bringing them in at night. If you have planted them out and a frost is forecast, cover with cloches or fleece.

With hardy perennial and shrubby plants, the untidy gardener is more likely to have less casualties from frosts than the tidy one.

By leaving old growth, any damaging frosts will hit the ends of the old stems and the tips will die back yet there is plenty of good growth to come through below. Prime examples of this are shrubby salvias and hydrangeas.

I’d always wait until late March or early April before cutting these back once it’s warmed up and you can see the fresh shoots below.

Be prepared - have some fleece on hand and keep an eye on the forecast to protect your plants this winter.

YOU AND YOUR GARDEN Wendy Warner is the Manager of Thaxters Garden Centre in Dersingham. See the website at www.thaxters.co.uk or telephone 01485 541514.

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

Snettisham before & after

Both in Dersingham

Brancaster Staithe before & after

Beautiful gardens that are better by design At Ilex Garden Designs the highly-e erienced and ully- uali ed wen Leary o ers west and north or ol a li etime o e ertise...

W

hether you’ve just moved into a new build and have a blank outdoor canvas or are looking to create a totally new look for your garden, there are few people in the area more experienced than Gwen Leary of Ilex Garden Designs in Dersingham.

She’s been gardening since she was eight, and at 17 designed a complete planting plan for the family home in Cheshire. Graduating with a B.Sc. in horticulture, she then spent 14 years working around Europe in the agrochemical industry before being relocated to King’s Lynn.

“I loved Norfolk and realised that my true love was gardening rather than

Ilex Garden Designs KLmagazine January 2022

commercial horticulture, which are two completely different things,” she says.“ Gwen learned from some of the best in the business. She studied garden design in Sussex with the late John Brookes (widely credited as being the man who made the modern garden) and then completed a post-graduate course at the Oxford College of Garden Design under Duncan Heather - who’s regarded as one of Europe’s foremost landscape designers.

In 1986 Gwen launched Ilex Garden Designs, and has been creating stunning outdoor spaces around west and north Norfolk ever since, specialising in small to medium-sized gardens.

“I generally prefer to work locally,” she says, “but with photographs and accurate measurements it’s possible for me to design any garden in the country - or even further afield.”

Gwen offers a very personal and totally flexible service. Some of her clients have very specific ideas on the garden they want and the plants they

want in it, whereas others haven’t the slightest idea of where to start. Some clients want a strictly formal style, while others are looking for something very contemporary. And some people just need an hour of help and advice.

And Gwen’s own award-winning garden is testament to her approach - painstakingly designed to offer year-round interest thanks to careful planting, thoughtful positioning and clever focal points.

“In recent years garden design has become increasingly concerned with issues such as sustainability and encouraging a more natural environment,” she says. “Once you start attracting birds and bees and other insects, they do a much better and much more environmentally-friendly job of keeping your garden healthy.”

For a garden design that’s in perfect harmony with your home, your lifestyle and the local environment, contact Gwen today - and treat your outdoor space to a lifetime of expertise and experience.

12 Sandringham Road, Dersingham, King’s Lynn PE31 6LL T: 01485 541755 M: 07833 321055 W: www.ilexgardendesigns.com 53

A living history within the Norfolk landscape Roydon Common is known for the swathes of purple heather that coat the Common in the late summer, but it’s worth remembering the conservational importance of this natural heathland.

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orfolk boasts a unique variety of landscapes and environments, but rarer to the county is the beautifully diverse heather heathland that can be found at Roydon Common, the largest area of heathland in the county. A unique habitat, it differs from breck heath in both characteristics (breck is mostly sandy grassland) and formation, which began around 4000 years ago.

As early as the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, farmers felled local forests to allow grazing land for domestic livestock, and this was the case for Roydon Common. The poor sandy

soil that was left exposed provided the perfect condition for heather to grow and spread to cover a vast proportion of north Norfolk.

Villagers soon discovered heath to be a versatile material and it was used for a range of purposes: the gorse was used for kindling and for baking ovens, bracken became animal bedding, and peat was used for fuel. Sheep, cattle, and geese were grazed on the land, and it was these traditional land uses that allowed the open heath to thrive.

A problem soon arose, however, with the eventual introduction of the railway.

Large and dangerous fires frequently occurred through the heathland due

to the sparks from steam trains that passed through. The railway running across the heath was eventually dismantled and moved, though not before we had already lost a large proportion of heather heath, reduced now to areas like Roydon Common and the Bure Valley near Aylsham.

Despite its diminished size, a plethora of wildlife can be found here. The purple heather that characterises Roydon blooms in late August/early September, but so much is happening throughout the year as well. Around this time you can spot hen harriers and possibly the rarely seen great grey shrike, while the UK’s smallest

bird of prey, the merlin, circles the sky scanning the heath for small birds and mammals to feed on.

But it’s not just birds that have found a home in Roydon. Amongst the small pockets of mire, the strands of heather and all three varieties of carnivorous sundews, hundreds of insect species can be found. Over 450 types of moths have been recorded, as well as over 30 species of butterfly and 15 species of dragonfly, including the rare black darter and keeled skimmer. You may want to watch your footing if you’re near any dykes or ponds, as this is the

56

only spot in East Anglia where Britain’s second largest arachnid, the waterbased raft spider, lives. You certainly don’t want one of those crawling into your wellies.

Creepy crawlies aside, it’s encouraging to know that Roydon Common is home to so many forms of wildlife, particularly as it was not so long ago that the heathland was close to being eradicated altogether.

The end of the twentieth century brought an abrupt change to the Common when the area was planted with hundreds of conifer trees. This along with the birch woodland that had already been expanding across the area had a devastating impact on the heath, and it began to rapidly reduce as the forests spread. As well as this, more parts of the Common were being used for farming, resulting in the decline of natural wildlife. It seemed likely that Norfolk was going to lose this diverse habitat forever.

It wasn’t until 1999 that things began to change. The Norfolk Wildlife Trust took a risk with Roydon Common and Grimstone Warren by beginning a colossal restoration project.

Work on the heath commenced almost immediately, with volunteers helping to remove the conifers as

well as the years of accumulated pine needles on the forest floor. Beneath the needles, the topsoil contained precious seeds of heather and other heathland plants that were needed to allow the site to flourish back into a heathland.

The change was immediate.

Wildlife flocked back to the Common, including birds such as woodlarks and nightjars, as well as snakes and the impressive minotaur beetle. To ensure the heathland continued to flourish, Dartmoor ponies were introduced to Roydon Common and Grimstone Warren, and they have been grazing the land ever since. They play a vital role in maintaining the Common as they prevent bramble, bracken and scrub from encroaching on the heath, and by trampling parts of the habitat they create new structures in the heather that benefit insects and nesting birds.

Strolling through the Common, walking the paths of our ancestors as you avoid tripping down the remains of Bronze Age barrows, you get a real sense of the stretching history of the land. It may be a quiet and peaceful place when we visit, but we can be safe in the knowledge that out of sight, hundreds of species are benefiting from this uniquely special heathland all year round thanks to the work of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Just be sure to check your boots for unwanted hitchhikers when you get home.

To see more of our stunning photos of Roydon Common, visit our online gallery at www.klmagazine.co.uk where you can also purchase them (along with over 50 other stunning local landmarks and locations as limited edition prints)

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

Animalmatters

Our monthly look at the issues concerning you and your pets with the experienced team at London Road & Hollies Vets...

A commitment to care and a lifelong love of pets

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he practice at London Road in King’s Lynn was established in the 1920s and was one of the first custom built veterinary centres in the whole of the UK. And some 100 years later it’s now one of the most trusted, with a highly-trained and experienced team of vets, registered veterinary nurses and patient care assistants.

For new Clinical Director Dorian Simu (who works alongside fellow Clinical Director Sarah Colegrave) it’s been a long journey, but it’s been well worth the wait.

“I feel very lucky to be part of this team and part of this history,” he says.

“From the clinical team to the patient care assistants everyone here is stirving for perfection and the best possible patient outcomes, and for a vet you couldn’t ask for anything else.”

Dorian grew up around animals,

surorunded by cats and dogs, and his grandmother kept horses. He’d cry when it was time to leave them and go home. He read everything James Herriot ever wrote, and shortly after graduating from veterinary school in Kluj, Romania, he found himself working at a practice in a small village in Yorkshire. He moved to another practice in Northumberland, spent three years in south Wales, and then moved to the Norfolk/Suffolk border - joining the team at London Road towards the end of last year.

“Although the general population and variation of pets is pretty much consistent wherever you work there’s something very special about this practice,” says Dorian. “The team is fantastic, the clients are lovely, and the patients are always a joy to work with.”

There’s nothing more that Dorian enjoys than supporting and

LONDON ROAD Hospital Walk, King’s Lynn • 01553 773168 HOLLIES Paradise Road, Downham Market • 01366 386655

KLmagazine January 2022

encouraging young people and newly-qualified vets, but he has a particular interest in dentistry, and is currently undertaking a post-graduate qualification to enable him to offer more advanced treatments and surgical techniques.

“Thanks to advances in technology and equipment our profession has changed enormously over the last few decades, but it’s essentially the same,” he says. “We’re still very aware that whether it’s a dog, a cat, a rabbit or a budgie it’s a family member - and we really do care for them. If you don’t feel for your patients then you shouldn’t really be a vet.”

And few practices care as much as the dedicated team at London Road.

info@londonroadvets.co.uk www.londonroadvets.co.uk

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59

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Garden Centre & Coffee Shop KLmagazine January 2022

How you can start treating your IBS today eter ugmore has a ery di erent way o loo ing at our o erall hysical and mental health but it’s a way that ma es sense. nd wor s.

O

ver the next few issues of KL magazine I’m going to start educating readers about digestive health and how that relates to IBS. So let’s start at the beginning.

Ordinarily, our digestive organs go happily about their business digesting food, nourishing our bodies and balancing our microbiome - which consists of bacteria, yeast, viruses, and other microbes.

At times of stress your nervous system will behave as if you’re being chased by a lion. It will divert blood away from digestive functions, sending it to muscles to help you either run fast or fight hard. The problem for most people is that we all have a stress ‘reserve’ bucket that can overflow from what I call hidden stress - leaving us feeling angry, overwhelmed or anxious.

We’ve been intellectually primed to consider stress as being emotional and lifestyle-derived, but many internal stresses are eating up our reserve.

Anything aside from good company and getting replenishing sleep is stressful for the body. Common hidden

stresses include immune, nutritional, metabolic, hormonal, oxidative (free radicals), and toxic stress.

The most common ‘hidden’ IBS stress I see is immune stress, where people have an overgrowth or imbalance of the microbiome.

Since hidden stresses are dependent on each other, this causes an impaired ability to absorb nutrients, unbalances blood sugar and metabolism (leading to increased oxidative stress) and this cascade of pressure can swiftly fill your stress bucket.

The net result is that you stop actively digesting food, leaving you with symptoms of heartburn, gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and sluggish feelings - which only further feeds the stress cycle.

There are some things you can do yourself right now to help you digest your food and they’ll have an instant impact on your stress levels: • Don’t eat in front of the TV and put your phone down • Slowly take 3-5 deep breaths through the nose. Try 3-4 seconds in and 5-6 seconds out.

• Leave the office for lunch • Drinking water with a meal weakens your stomach acid, and that impairs digestion • Find and eliminate any simple and easy stresses in your life - or try doing them further away from meal times wherever possible.

These small changes might be enough to significantly improve your IBS. For others, you might need more help to find those hidden stresses and lower your overall stress load - which in turn will improve your IBS symptoms.

For more details and further free advice, visit www.kyushiwellness.com/ articles/ibs-stress If you’d like to discover how to lower your hidden stress and treat your IBS visit www.kyushiwellness.com, e-mail me at peter@kyushi.co.uk or call 07817 504094.

Peter Dugmore MIFM, HCPC, SRP

The Kyushi Clinic & Studio: Acrefield House, Winch Road Gayton, King’s Lynn PE32 1QP | www.kyushi.co.uk KLmagazine January 2022

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PICTURES © NORFOLK MUSEUMS SERVICE (NORWICH CASTLE MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY)

PICTURES: The Fountaine-Neimy Collection (above) consists of over 22,000 butterflies, available to see at the Norwich Castle Museum.

Photographed catching butterflies in Turkey (opposite page), Margaret devoted her life to cataloguing new species

The captivating life of a leading lepidopterist A true pioneer, Norfolk-born Margaret Fountaine spent her life tra elling the world collecting thousands o s ecies o butter ies and moths, leading to one of the largest collections in the country...

M

argaret Fountaine was born into a family of moderate means in 1862, one of two daughters of a South Acre clergyman.

Alhough they had money, Fountaine’s childhood wasn’t a particularly happy one; her father died when she was 15 and her mother seemingly held no real affection for the two sisters.

Fountaine sought solace in the Norfolk countryside, sketching and pressing flowers and visiting the butterfly

62

collection of family friend Henry Elwes, who had the largest collection in the country.

In 1878 at the age of 16 she began writing a diary, a habit she’d keep until her death in 1940 and which tells us that while on her first trip abroad to France and Switzerland her interest turned to butterfly collecting.

“I filled my pocket box with butterflies, some I had only seen in pictures as a child and yet recognised the moment I caught sight of them

on the wing,” she wrote. “I was a born naturalist, though all these years for want of anything to excite it, it had lain dormant within me.”

Determined to become a serious lepidopterist, Fountaine threw herself into her work. Her first expedition took her to Sicily, where she was the first British collector to brave the civil unrest and outlawed brigands that occupied the south of the island. Her research on the local habitats and butterfly varieties led to her first publication in KLmagazine January 2022

These s etchboo s were most beauti ully done and illustrated the metamor hosis o many s ecies which had not been re iously nown to science...

The Entomologist in 1897 and several of her specimens were admitted to the British Museum, which at the time only accepted items of exceptional quality.

Fountaine travelled extensively to places such as Italy, Germany, and Hungary, constantly seeking knowledge and understanding of the butterfly world.

Her achievements gained her renown amongst male lepidopterists, and in 1898 she was elected as a fellow to the Royal Entomological Society, writing in her diary of the rare triumph of “being the sole representative of my sex.”

From 1901 she turned her attention to the Middle East and Asia, travelling first to Syria. By this point she had started collecting caterpillars to breed perfect butterfly specimens, raising a whole brood but only keeping one or two, releasing the remaining hundreds back into the wild. Whilst there she hired Khalil Neimy as a guide and interpreter. He became her travel companion for many of her trips, and over the years their relationship flourished into a romantic one.

After travelling around Turkey and returning with over 1,000 butterflies (most of them documented and illustrated in her sketchbooks) more of Margaret’s research was published.

Norman Riley, who would later become Head of Entomology at the British Museum, wrote “these sketchbooks were most beautifully done and illustrated the metamorphosis KLmagazine January 2022

63

of many species which had not been previously known to science.”

The height of Fountaine’s entomological career occurred in 1912 when she attended the Second International Congress of Entomology in Oxford. There she met with Edward Poulton who was President of The Linnean Society, and who formally invited her to join the society.

Established in 1788, the Linnean Society was dedicated to the study of natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It was the venue for the first public presentation on the theory of evolution in 1858 and is the oldest existing biological society in the world. The Linnean Society had diverted from the habit of excluding women from scientific societies by recognising Fountaine’s extraordinary accomplishments.

The relationship between Fountaine and Neimy ended abruptly in 1928 when Khalil died of fever. Fountaine continued alone, writing of her grief in her diaries as well as the love they shared.

“He had brought me to feel that free love was better than that hallowed by the sanctity of marriage,” she wrote.

Fountaine herself passed away from a heart attack in 1940 at the age of 77 while looking for butterflies in Trinidad.

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The Benedictine monk who discovered her reportedly found her with a butterfly net in hand and brought her back to the Pax Guest House where she’d been staying. She was buried in Jamaica, and in accordance with her will her extensive butterfly collection was donated to the Norwich Castle Museum along with a sealed box with instructions for it to only be opened in 1978.

Her collection, which she dubbed the FountaineNeimy Collection, consisted of over 22,000 carefully preserved butterflies, a record of her exploits across 60 countries over 50 years. When the box was finally opened in 1978 in revealed

ABOVE: Margaret working in her studio in Northwest London. Her findings are still important to us today, and visitors from across the world have come to study her beautifully preserved collection

12 volumes of her diaries, beginning from 100 years previously until 1939, detailing intimate aspects of her life as well as the thousands of specimens she had collected.

The Fountaine-Neimy Collection can still be seen at Norwich Castle Museum, whilst her intricate sketchbooks are on display at the Natural History Museum in London.

A woman who broke free of strict Victorian ideals to forge her own career, Fountaine’s story is a remarkable reminder that we can pursue what we love whatever the circumstances.

For more fascinating features on the history of west and north Norfolk, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

Eternal ame bowl

Locket Necklace

u in s

Paperweight

It’s a year to remember your loved ones in glass With care and respect, the experts at Langham Glass create a totally unique collection of beautiful memorials and jewellery for you to commemorate those no longer with us

W

or hether it’s your nearest and dearest, a close family member or a beloved pet, there’s now a way of creating a sensitive, personal and beautiful memorial of those who gave passed on that you can have with you at all times.

“Every single piece is created with the utmost care and respect,” says Jonathan Miller, whose parents founded Langham Glass towards the end of the 1970s, “and every item is delivered with a card personally signed by the glassmaker who created it.”

For over 40 years Langham Glass has been one of Norfolk’s most popular tourist destinations, building a strong reputation for expertly-made and exquisitely-crafted decorative glassware.

It’s a much loved family-owned

and family-run business, so it was perhaps only natural that about seven years ago the company launched Forever Into Glass as a unique way of commemorating lost loved ones.

Using less than a teaspoon of cremated ashes, the core choices in the Forever Into Glass range includes everything from rings and earrings to bracelets, bowls and glass pebbles and the extraordinary Spirit Paperweight, which is the most popular work in the collection.

But you’re not confined to the standard range.

“We’re always happy to create something unusual and special, and customers are always welcome to have a private viewing to see their piece being made,” says Jonathan’s

wife Helen - who’s played a role in the business for over 15 years. “We’ve recently included the ashes of people’s loved ones and family pets into everything from our delightful glass robins to the stem of a gin glass.”

Langham Glass even recently made a pair of cufflinks for a groom who wanted his late parents to be with him at his wedding.

“We develop very close relationships with our customers,” says Jonathan, “and they find the whole journey with us part of the healing process.”

Available in a choice of colours and completely handcrafted, Forever Into Glass is a very special way to remember.

Langham Glass, Greenway Lane, Fakenham NR21 8ET | T: 01328 863500 W: www.foreverintoglass.co.uk | E: enquiries@langhamglass.co.uk KLmagazine January 2022

67

The best winter coats ro ide the er ect nishing touch to e ery out t so they need to tic a lot o bo es. They need to be ersatile warm ractical retty and easy to dress u or down de ending on where you’re going. t’s a lot to as but our local bouti ues ha e all the answers...

Mountain Horse Alicia waterproof coat 6

THE HAYLOFT at BEARTS Stowbridge

Jacket by Dolcezza

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KLmagazine January 2022

69

Dubarry Ballybrophy £

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KLmagazine January 2022

allez chic Chic and affordable fashion for all ages

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Starts 10am on Monday 10th January (closed first week of January) t: 01553 631915 The Old School, Castle Rising, King’s Lynn PE31 6AG Open 10-4.30 Monday to Saturday www.allezchic.co.uk

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Gayton Road Health & Surgical Centre, King’s Lynn | info@dermavida.co.uk | www.dermavida.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

71

BRITISH VINTAGE BRANDS

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KLmagazine January 2022

bringing together unique style + sustainability in a magical space ~ curating individual pieces for the individual.

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visit our superstore with ample free parking TEL: 01366 388151 | WEB: www.bearts.co.uk | Brighton Mill, Stow Bridge, King’s Lynn PE34 3PD

KLmagazine January 2022

73

By appointment to Her Majesty The Queen Purveyor of Dress Fabrics and Haberdashery P.F.Day & Son King’s Lynn

The Fent Shop

Largest stock selection in West Norfolk with new stock arriving most weeks.

Two floors of everything for your next sewing project. We look forward to your visit.

Our opening hours are: 9 . 15 am to 5 . 0 0 pm M ond ay to Satur d ay.

Please follow our Facebook page for the latest updates @TheFentShop

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41 Broad Street, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE30 1DP | T: 01553 768613 | W: www.thefentshopkingslynn.co.uk

Sew & Sew Bespoke curtains and blinds for all your soft furnishing needs Handmade curtains • Swags & tails Roller blinds/verticals and venetians • Wooden blinds Roman blinds • Cushions Home measuring & design service Extensive choice of fabrics and wallpapers Give us a call, email us or visit our friendly team in store to discuss your ideas with us!

122 High Street, King’s Lynn, PE30 1DD • Tel: 01553 776411 / 07920 747157 Email: sandersontina@yahoo.com | Website: www.sewandsewkingslynn.co.uk 74

KLmagazine January 2022

refreshed, relaxed and rejuvenated.

A magical blend of facial reflexology, facelift massage techniques, and time for relaxation (which can include a luxurious facial) Zone Facelift is a total treatment for your face, mind and spirit.

Even better, part of the treatment is exploring ways of looking after yourself.

This is particularly important because emotions are held in the face - which means that by relaxing the muscles we can have the appearance of being less stressed and enjoy the benefits of a natural facelift.

Zone Facelift is suitable for all ages and all genders, and can provide a natural way to: • Stimulate collagen and elastin in your face and neck • Smooth fine lines and wrinkles • Tighten and plump up skin and release tension in the face With no fillers, no Botox and no surgery you can look happier and calmer and have a softer, more natural look.

“All my products are completely organic and charged with crystals to complete the holistic nature of this treatment,” says Sarah, “and you’ll leave with the precious gift of a rejuvenated face and spirit, complete with an advice card and information on aftertreatment care and a small take-away gift”.

Other reflexology treatments are available and for those wishing to stay at home and relax, and rejuvenating facial reflexology treatments can be delivered by Sarah over your phone and/or device.

To book your first appointment or for an initial consultation, please contact Sarah and say hello to the new you.

In Heacham,

T

here’s never been a better time to start looking after yourself than the new year.

We’re all leading busy and stressful lives and we spend much of our time caring for and worrying about other people. It’s hardly surprising there’s little time left for outselves.

The good news is that Sarah Jane Ward at Coastal Clam Reflexology in Heacham is now offering a time-saving treatment that’s as beneficial as it is relaxing - combining the benefits of reflexology with the glowing results of a facial treatment. It improves your wellbeing and improves your complexion - and will leave you feeling

Contact Sarah: 07592 455001 | sarahjane.reflexologist@gmail.com Web: www.coastalcalmreflexology.co.uk KLmagazine January 2022

Coastal Calm Reflexology 75

Glen Murtagh

Elliott Rumens and Emma Murtagh

The future of technology Gem Software is just one of the many dynamic businesses at the rapidly-growing in Snettisham

A

t first it might appear slightly odd that a company whose business is almost entirely conducted remotely would need a physical office, but the move to Poppyfields Retail Park in August 2020 has made a very real difference to the team at Gem Software. Founded 15 years ago by experienced software designer and developer Glen Murtagh and his wife, the company offers a range of bespoke applications and works with a wide range of customers across the UK and Europe.

“You have to be extremely disciplined to work from home,” says managing director Emma Murtagh, “and as the business grew it became increasingly important for us to create a physical separation between our work hours and our home life.”

When junior developer Elliott Rumens

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joined Gem Software three years ago, it seemed the perfect time to create a more cohesive unit and bring everyone together - and Poppyfields was the ideal location.

“Elliott lives in Snettisham and Glen and I live in Heacham, so this is really convenient for all of us,” says Emma.

“We actually reserved a unit while the retail park was being built.”

One of the company’s strengths is in system integration. If your business has separate programs for accounts, stock control and bookings, you may well find yourself entering the same information three times - whereas Gem Software can write an interface that enables all the different programs to work together.

The company also offers a suite of applications in the complex area of Field Service Management. Of benefit to virtually any industry, the systems

help coordinate, digitalise, centralise and focus all your data from staff working across the county, around the country or even abroad into a single streamlined and linked system - with real-time reporting and proactive fault notifications.

Gem Software also builds and develops websites using HTML, ASP and ASP.net - providing complete domain registration and hosting services, together with Search Engine Optimisation to help businesses broaden their audiences and reach them more efficiently.

And the company even offers fullystaffed and professional Sage and IT support helpdesks.

“Over the last couple of years businesses have realised how important it is to invest in their IT structures and have a professional website,” says Emma. “This is a very dynamic industry,

KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: From the luxurious surroundings of Le Kiera hair salon and the design skills of ACS Architectural to the prestigious fashion brands at McAllisters Boutique, Poppyfields Retail Park at Snettisham features a unique collection of independent local retailers.

and thanks to the enormous growth in remote and home working recently, this is a very exciting time for us.”

An active member of Microsoft’s Development and Design Network for over 12 years, Gem Software is now exploring the world of artifical intelligence - helping companies identify recruitment gaps, cut down on fuel and transportation costs, and become more efficient and streamlined.

Gem Software is just one of the forward-thinking companies at Poppyfields Retail Park, which is the perfect example of how to combine business with pleasure.

Offering a truly bespoke service and customer experience, Paula and Marcus of Christyana Fabrics and Blinds are looking forward to showcasing their stylish new season designs in their showroom at Poppyfields, giving you vision and inspiration for a fresh new look to your home.

ACS Architectural Ltd and sister company Archi-Vis Studio Ltd. are involved in many exciting projects this year, including prestigious new builds and re-models in desirable locations such as Burnham Market, Old Hunstanton and Brancaster. The practice also continues to strengthen its excellent reputation for works to historic listed buildings with extensive knowledge and expertise.

McAllisters Boutique offers a range of premium quality and stylish ladies and

gentleman’s clothing and accessories, which includes prestigious brands such as Marc Darcy and Oxford Blue, and they’ll be starting 2022 with a January sale and welcoming the new season collection of Seasalt clothing.

Meanwhile, Vickie (George) and Kiera-Lee, the mother and daughter team at the luxurious Le Kiera hair salon are looking forward to another successful year at Poppyfields, offering a complete range of hairdressing services for women and men.

Norfolk Automotive, who specialise in secondhand high-end luxurious performance cars, are also looking forward to new developments this year and providing a fantastic showcase of cars at the Poppyfields site.

The quality chocolatiers that are Maldon Chocolates have seen sweet success since opening their new shop at Poppyfields towards the end of last year.

Offering a range of their own superior handmade chocolates (most of which are made on the premises) they’re ready to welcome people to their new chocolate experience classes this year.

Making artisan chocolates is an art in itself, but it’s also great fun - and it tastes fantastic.

At the centre of Poppyfields is Poppylicious - a cafe which has been welcoming a growing number of regular visitors since opening last July.

The cafe offers something for everyone with a full menu of homecooked

food, breakfasts, cakes, desserts and sandwiches. There are gluten-free and vegetarian options on the menu too, and the 200 Degrees coffee is fabulous.

Poppylicious is rapidly becoming a central hub for local people, holidaymakers and businesses who’ve found the cafe to be a warm and welcoming place for lunch, relaxed business meetings, afternoon teas, coffee and cake.

Last but certainly not least is the Poppyfields Hub, a range of virtual offices that offer the presence and facilities of a much larger business with the convenience of a local base.

It’s a perfect working environment for entrepreneurs, local start-ups and established businesses. Interested companies should visit www. poppyfieldshub.co.uk for more details and information.

Poppyfields Drive, Snettisham, King’s Lynn PE31 7FR www.poppyfieldsretailpark.co.uk KLmagazine January 2022

77

Rose and Mascarpone Macaron INGREDIENTS

METHOD

(Serves 12) Macarons 60g almond flour 75g caster sugar 50g egg white 50g granulated sugar red food colouring Rosewater and mascarpone cream 50g double cream 120g mascarpone cheese 40g granulated sugar 2 tbsp rose water

Macarons 1. Pre-heat your oven to 135°C. 2. Add your almond flour and caster sugar to a blend and process into a fine powder.

3. In a mixer (or use a hand mixer and bowl) add your egg whites and granulated sugar and mix to form medium peaks. Add a few drops of red food colouring and mix for another 20 seconds.

4. Sift your almond mixture into your egg mixture and gently fold together using a rubber spatula until smooth. Transfer mixture into a piping bag.

5. Pipe 24 uniform circles on to a baking try lined with non-stick baking paper. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

6. Transfer your Macarons to your preheated oven and bake for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Rosewater and mascarpone cream 1. Lightly whip all ingredients together until smooth then transfer to a piping bag.

2. Pipe mixture on to your cooled Macrons and sandwich together.

3. Serve your Macrons alongside a selection of fresh seasonal berries.

Recipe by Fabian Eon – Pastry Chef at The Mulberry Restaurant at Heacham Manor Hotel Hunstanton Road, Heacham PE31 7JX | 01485 536030 | www.heacham-manor.co.uk 78

KLmagazine January 2022

Wishing you a very Happy New Year

There’s no better way to say hello to 2022. Celebrate your special occasions with a fabulous meal, pop in for tea and coffee or light lunch, and follow it up with one of our delightful riverside walks between Downham and surrounding villages. And don’t forget that we’re already taking bookings for Valentine’s Day. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Tracey & Stuart x

Valentine’s Day Menu Fri 11th & Sat 12th February Starters

Asparagus wrapped in Parma ham, topped with poached egg and hollandaise sauce, served with dressed leaves. (gf) Pan fried Scallops on a pea puree, black pudding, crispy smoked bacon crumb, peashoots. (gf) Tomato and basil soup, warm baguette and butter, basil oil. (v) Roasted Cashew nuts, Apple, goats cheese, chicory salad. (v/gf)

Only £35 per person

Mains Seafood tagliatelle, loaded with mussels, squid, king prawns, brown shrimp, with dill and white wine cream sauce. (gfa) Pan fried gnocchi with roasted butternut squash, baby leaf spinach, melting goats cheese. (v) Lamb rump marinated in rosemary cooked medium topped with a vierge dressing, creamy dauphinoise potato, honey roast root vegetables, with a lamb jus. (gf) Beef wellington cooked medium, creamy mash potato, pan fried tender stem broccoli, chantenay carrots, red wine and shallot sauce.

Desserts Toffee and Pecan Meringue Roulade, with fresh raspberries. (v/gf) Chocolate Mousse with chocolate coated strawberries. (v/gf)

Call to book: 01366 384040

Strawberry and vanilla cream layered between crispy puff pastry (mille feuille). (v)

pre-booking essential

Chocolate brownie, chocolate sauce, chocolate coated strawberries. (ve) (gf available - please ask)

NEWLY REFURBISHED PUB SET BETWEEN TWO RIVERS • TRADITIONAL HOME-COOKED FOOD GIN SHELF • AFTERNOON TEAS • B& B • TOURING CARAVAN PARK www.theheronstowbridge.com | The Heron Stowbridge, The Causeway, Stowbridge PE34 3PP

00

KLmagazine January 2022

PICTURES: Simon and Nicola (opposite page) have created a variety of delicious artisan treats, from rich, flavourful marmalade to smooth, zesty gin, and scrumptious shortbread that just melts in the mouth.

In marmalade lo er imon awcli e ruitlessly scoured sho shel es in search o a rich dar and a our ul conser e - and when he couldn’t nd what he was loo ing or he decided to create it himsel

P

robably best known for being Paddington Bear’s favourite food, marmalade has been one of the most popular items on the British breakfast table for hundreds of years. A golden and zesty delight, it’s traditionally made from bitter Seville oranges and is thought to have originated from similar preserves made by the Romans using quinces. Today the fruity spread is found in a huge variety of colours, textures and flavours, although businessman and marmalade fan Simon Rawcliffe always felt something was missing from the selection available in supermarkets.

“I wanted something more than what I considered an orange jam, something darker with more depth to it,” he recalls.

“When I couldn’t find the marmalade I

KLmagazine January 2022

desired, I set out to make it myself.”

After months of experimenting with different recipes and processes and a few mishaps (including a set that was so solid it refused to leave the jar) he was able to produce a Seville orange and lemon marmalade that was rich, dark and tangy - a flavour like no other.

Simon’s marmalade soon became popular at gatherings with family and friends, along with the fantastic shortbread baked by his wife Nicola.

Recommendations came pouring in for the couple, who already ran a business together, to introduce their scrumptious creations to a wider audience.

However, it wasn’t until the start of 2018 that the pair took this advice on board.

“For years friends and relatives

had suggested I sell my marmalade, even as far back as the late 1980s,” says Simon. “In the last eight years of running our business, we were treated appallingly by several companies we were working with and decided to do something we had more control over.”

With a pan of marmalade bubbling away in the background, Simon and Nicola decided to change tactics and make a business out of creating something themselves.

The couple moved to Norfolk 81

ABOVE: Simon’s unique and delectable marmalade is cooked for longer at lower temperatures, drawing more flavour from the fruit and allowing the sugar to caramelise.

back in 2015 and felt it was the perfect place to launch their new business due its strong artisan food community.

After baking large batches of delicious marmalade and shortbread, they began attending local farmers markets and were amazed at how quickly samples disappeared from their stall.

After receiving glowing reviews and gaining several repeat customers, Simon and Nicola received all the encouragement they needed to continue their ambition and began searching for new things to add to their product range.

“With our marmalade being so different, we thought it would be great to use it in other products,” says Simon.

“Following suggestions from some close friends we experimented with adding it to gin and, with a few tests and tweaks, we soon found a recipe that worked.”

The resulting creation was a zesty marmalade gin liqueur made by

82

infusing Simon’s rich, tangy marmalade with a smooth London Dry Gin. With three fantastic and flavourful products ready to go, Simon and Nicola decided they were ready to sell to a wider audience and ordered 1.6 tons of Seville oranges to begin production in January 2019. The couple decided on the name of Simon’s Table for their new brand, as their ambition was to share their delicious creations with others, bringing them from their table to yours.

“My marmalade doesn’t follow conventional rules and recipes,” says Simon. “The fruit is cooked very slowly at a lower temperature and the sugar is boiled for longer so it can caramelise.

This changes the character of the marmalade, resulting in a luxurious dark colour and rich, tangy flavour.”

And it’s clearly a flavour people enjoy.

In the last three years, Simon’s Table has been met with huge success. The brand’s products are now stocked across the UK and online orders continue to flood in.

Delighted with this positive reception, Simon and Nicola decided to expand their product range and have recently introduced some scrumptious new items to the table. You can now enjoy flavoured varieties of Nicola’s crisp melt-in-themouth shortbread, with ginger, cinnamon, lemon and marmalade to choose from.

Another exciting

addition to the range is the couple’s very more-ish savoury flapjacks, known as Simon’s Cheesejacks. These irresistible bite-sized treats are available in two different flavours (cheddar & chili and cheddar & rosemary) and are the perfect accompaniment to drinks.

“Nicola and I have always found working together easy, and in this business we’ve got more control of our destiny and can grow at our own pace,” says Simon. “Norfolk’s an ideal place to trade due to its strong artisan culture. Everybody helps each other out and we’re able to work with equally enthusiastic and talented people who are passionate about creating wonderful food and drink.”

Simon and Nicola have come a long way since leaving the corporate world and, with a new year ahead of them, they’re planning to go even further.

For the latest news and to order online or discover where you can buy Simon and Nicola’s tasty treats (there are currently over 40 stockists in Norfolk) please visit https://simonstable.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

VALENTINES DINNER

£35.00PP

ROMANTIC VALENTINES AFTERNOON TEA & DINNER Why not bring your date to Knights Hill for a Valentines afternoon tea or a candle lit dinner in the Garden Brasserie.

VALENTINES AFTERNOON TEA

Afternoon tea available on 12th & 13th of February Valentines dinner available on 12th & 13th February

£17.95 PP

South Wootton, King’s Lynn PE30 3HQ 01553 675566 | reception@knightshill.co.uk | knightshill.co.uk

MON-FRI WINTER WARMERS TWO COURSES

£12.50PP

WINTER WARMERS & AFTERNOON TEA Join us in the Terrace Restaurant and Lounge for delicious food from our winter warmer menu or relax with an afternoon tea.

MON-SUN AFTERNOON TEA

Winter warmers served Mon-Sat 12pm-4pm Afternoon tea served daily Mon-Sat 12pm-5:30pm & Sun 3pm-5:30pm

£16.95 PP

Golf Course Road, Old Hunstanton PE36 6JJ 01485 534411 | reception@lestrangearms.co.uk | lestrangearms.co.uk

CURRENT OPENING TIMES: Tuesday-Friday 7am - pm & Saturday 7am- pm

Have a fresh start BRANCASTER MUSSELS

Low fat, nutritious and delicious!

• • • Jumbo prawns • • Free range eggs & local honey • Deli counter • Local baked bread •

HOMEMADE DINNERS

All cooked out this Christmas?

Let us do the work for you... quiches, sandwiches, salads, scotch eggs, spring rolls.

All freshly made on the premises

DONALDSONS

Watch our Faceb ook page f o Valent r our ine’s D ay specia ls

A fresh taste of the sea

Austin Fields, King’s Lynn | Tel: KLmagazine January 2022

77 83

Moroccan Lamb Tagine INGREDIENTS

METHOD

(Serves 10) Large leg of lamb, cubed 2 tbsp olive oil 500g apricots, dates and prunes 5 large onions, grated 10 garlic cloves peeled 570ml lamb stock 570ml tomato juice 2 tspn cumin 2 tspn chilli flakes 2 tspn sumac 2 tspn nutmeg 2 tspn paprika 2 tbsp coriander, roughly chopped 2 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped

1. Place the cumin, chilli flakes, sumac, nutmeg and paprika in a small bowl and mix well. Place the lamb in a large bowl and toss together with half the spice mix. Cover and if possible leave it overnight in the fridge.

4. Add the remaining tomato juice with the apricots, dates and prunes. Bring to the boil, cover with a fitted lid, place in the oven and cook for around 6 hours - by which time the meat will be meltingly tender.

2. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300F/ Gas 2, and while that’s warming up heat 1tbsp of the olive oil in a large casserole dish. Add the grated onion, the garlic and the remaining spice mix and cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes. You want the onions to be soft but not coloured.

5. Place the lamb in a tangine or large serving dish and sprinkle over the chopped herbs. Serve with couscous and a cold beer - or a good red wine.

3. In a separate frying pan, heat the remaining oil and brown the cubes of lamb on all sides and add the browned meat to the casserole dish. De-glaze the frying pan with 150ml of the tomato juice and add to the dish.

Recipe by Susan Allen Owner of Tutankhamun’s Emporium 46 Market Place, Swaffham PE37 7QH | 01760 751592 84

KLmagazine January 2022

We’ve made our restaurant a safe place to sit in by following government guidelines

Crawfish Inn Authentic Thai Restaurant Keep up to date with us by liking us on Facebook

• Finest ingredients from Thailand

• Local cask ales to a popular range of draughts beers & extensive wine list • Takeaway service available

Tel: 01328 878313 Holt Road, Thursford, Norfolk NR21 0BJ www.crawfishinn.com Open: Tue to Sun from 6pm (open on all Bank Holidays)

GHT I N S H I P. 3 0 p m £ 1 5 M U I 7 M E Dr u a r y 1 1 t h Feb

EMPORIUM BAR

BISTRO

Created & Owned by Howard Carter’s Great-Neice

ART GALLERY

DISCOVER OUR NEW TAPAS STYLE MENU Mediterranean seafood dishes | Vegan & vegetarian dishes | Large array of gins | Atmospheric setting Egyptian memorabilia, books & paintings | Themed events - keep up to date on our Facebook

Open: Wed & Thurs 10am-5pm, Fri 1& Sat 10am-10:30pm, Sun 11am-3pm, Mon & Tue closed

46 Market Place, Swaffham PE37 7QH Tel: 01760 751592

KLmagazine January 2022

@tutankhamunsemporium

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s of ways to say cheers to the new year...

With the country’s biggest selection of beers, the area’s best antiques and collectors’ centre a ast range o tei teddies and a antastic new bar and restaurant, there’s plenty to celebrate at Beers of Europe

W

hen Derek Clark and his family opened Beers of Europe at Setchey just over 20 years ago, they started with a relatively modest selection of 100 beers from Germany, Belgium and the UK - and could hardly expect it would eventually grow into a major tourist attraction.

In addition to almost 2,000 of the world’s most delicious beers and 1,000 malt whiskeys, spirits and liquors, it also now houses the Steiff Shop, which has the largest collection of Steiff teddy bears and animals in East Anglia - and The Warehouse, which is the area’s largest and finest antiques 86

and collectables centre. And let’s not forget the best secondhand bookshop in Norfolk.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Warehouse Taproom Bar & Restaurant opened in 2020 to give visitors a literal taste of everything this magical

destination has to offer. Don’t think this is a simple café or generic bar, however. Behind the modern glass entrance are accents of soft leather, salvaged timber, exposed brickwork, and gleaming brass trumpet lampshades. Together with a genuine taproom with 16 taps featuring an incredible range of draught ales and beers.

We’ll have to wait for slightly warmer weather before making the most of the fabulous beer garden (which can seat up to 200 people on 100% recycled plastic chairs and benches) but inside the restaurant has three distinct areas to choose from.

KLmagazine January 2022

For afternoon tea and casual dining, the Taproom and Piemonte corners are relaxing and informal - but for a grander event the recently-opened Breweriana Room is perfect, whether your guests are looking for a formal meal, a fun BBQ or a relaxing buffet.

The fabulous restaurant is already making a name for itself and gaining a strong reputation for its changing seasonal menu and fantastic signature dishes - thanks to the work of Head Chef Bruce Ingle and his kitchen team, which includes talented pastry chef Morgan Masterson.

“I’m a great believer in traditional classics such as burgers and fish and chips,” says Bruce, “but that doesn’t mean you have to be boring and avoid adding new flavours and introducing people to something different. There’s always something new to discover here, and I wanted to bring that approach to our menus.”

For example, pop in before 11.30am and you can start the day with Bruce’s brilliant full English breakfast, but you can also tuck into a plate of authentic American pancakes served with Mapleanna Butter - maple bananas turned into a luscious butter.

Call in for lunch (12noon to 3pm) and you can sample one of Bruce’s artisan sandwiches (the Coronation Chicken is superb) but there’s plenty on the menu for those with a hearty appetite. The Pie of the Day is always a

delight, the Proper Ploughman’s more than lives up to its name, and the Moroccan Salad is a feast of different tastes - with chickpea harissa, pomegranate, baby leaf salad, blushed cherry tomatoes and a traditional za’atar dressing.

“Every detail of the Warehouse Taproom Bar & Restaurant has been carefully thought out and designed,” says General Manager Mark Sweetman,” and the feedback we’ve received since opening has been consistently fantastic. This is a very special place to be.”

Especially at night. Because in addition to all the draught ales and beers on offer, you can choose from over 40 carefully-selected bottled beers from the UK, Europe and the rest of the world - or try one the bar’s legendary Warehouse Cocktails. The gin menu alone is three pages long, and the wine list features almost 30 fine wines and champagnes.

“This is a unique business, it offers everyone a unique experience, and we’ve got some really exciting plans for this year,” says Mark Sweetman. “We don’t just work here - we’re one big family, and we can’t wait to welcome you into our home.”

ABOVE: Head Chef Bruce Ingle and pastry chef Morgan Masterson are responsible for the fabulous food and delicious cakes at The Warehouse Taproom Bar & Restaurant

The Warehouse Taproom Bar & Restaurant Garage Lane, Setchey, King’s Lynn PE33 0BE | 01553 812000 www.thewarehousetaproom.co.uk | bookings@thewarehousetaproom.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

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Elsegood Family Butchers A taste of Norfolk’s finest meats for 100 years

Serving customers across west Norfolk

since 1921

QUALITY MEATS Beef, Pork, Lamb & Poultry, all prepared and cut to your own requirements. Sausages and Burgers all made to our own family recipes.

DELI Homemade pies, pasties & sausage rolls and a variety of cheeses.

Plus “Aunt Aggie’s Pork Cheese”

We deliver five days a week From Tuesday to Saturday across west Norfolk Cliffe-en-Howe Road, Pott Row, King’s Lynn PE32 1BY Website: elsegoodfamilybutchers.co.uk | Tel: 01485 600222

ORIENTAL PALACE

CHINESE RESTAURANT Peking Szechuan & Cantonese Cuisine

Choose as many dishes as you want from the à la carte menu and they’ll be freshly cooked to order - all for one set price!

TAKE AWAY & DELIVERY SERVICE AVAILABLE 204 Main Road, West Winch, King’s Lynn, PE33 0NP Tel: 01553 842255 | www.orientalpalacewestwinch.co.uk or Facebook page for up-to-date news

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KLmagazine January 2022

Lindsey, King’s Lynn

“I arrived bent over and left standing up straight” At Jane Cole and Terry Connolly are using revolutionary treatments to free people from years of chronic pain

T

here’s never been a better time or a more effective way of freeing yourself from those aches and pains that have been holding you back for far too long. Just ask Lindsey from King’s Lynn, who was working as a support worker for a local charity until she slipped on ice twice in one week in early 2017 and landed on her tail bone on both occasions.

“I was in perfect health before that, but my back was never right afterwards,” she says. “I was living in constant pain, I couldn’t walk very far, and I couldn’t work. It got to the point where it even hurt to stand up straight.”

Lindsey originally visited Free Your Body Therapy on the recommendation of her brother, who’d read about various peoples’ experiences in several issues of KL magazine.

“I’d been to the doctor and I’d seen physiotherapists but all that did was give me short-term pain relief and didn’t help my mobility at all,” she says.

“To be honest I was a bit sceptical, but

when you’ve been living with chronic pain for so long you’ll probably try anything.”

At Free Your Body Therapy in the centre of King’s Lynn, Terry Connolly and Jane Cole are using amazing new (and equally effective) techniques from acupuncture and sports massage to medical grade shockwave therapy, P-DTR and ‘Anatomy in Motion’ gait therapy to help people with pain management and encourage the healing process. Together they’ll revolutionise the way you’ll think about pain - and they’ll certainly change the way you experience it.

“I couldn’t believe it, and neither could my mother who I’d taken with me,” says Lindsey. “I walked in stooped over and walked out standing straight for the first time in months. My mum was just as amazed as me.”

Lindsey continues to visit Free Your Body Therapy on a regular basis for maintenance and for work on her shoulder and neck pain, and she’s now only worried about one thing.

“I only hope that Terry doesn’t retire,” she says. “I genuinely don’t know where I’d be without him and his treatments.

Some things seem a little odd and don’t seem to make much sense, but they work. And they work wonders.”

For Terry, it’s not rocket science.

“It’s all about looking at the body from a different perspective,” he says.

“In Lindsey’s case, all I had to do was get her body working again in the way it was meant to. Pain relief is all well and good, but that’s all it is - pain relief.

It doesn’t really address or look at what’s actually causing the pain.”

Contact Free Your Body Therapy and book your first appointment with Terry and/or Jane today.

Old Dairy Units, Austin Fields, King’s Lynn | Tel: 01553 277520 www.freeyourbodytherapy.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

Jane & Terry 89

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KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: The Manby Mortar was the life-saving idea of Captain George William Manby (opposite) who was born in Denver in 1765 and also invented what the first portable fire extinguisher.

Made in Norfolk: innovators & inventions

Over the past few hundred years Norfolk has produced a steady stream of visionary inventors, some of whom are household names - and many of whose incredible creations are still being used to this day

J

anuary is the time for resolutions and promises we’ll forget about

by March, but perhaps you’ll find inspiration for a new project that hasn’t been created, that everybody needs. Below are a few of Norfolk’s designers and inventors who succeeded in bringing new creations to the public: Even though we don’t know the name of the person who created it, we’ll start with PLOUGH PUDDING. The tradition originated in Norfolk as part of a celebration for Plough Monday. As far back as the 15th century the Monday after Epiphany (January KLmagazine January 2022

6th) marked the start of ploughing for spring-sown crops, and it prompted celebrations in villages.

A plough was dragged through the streets, followed by a procession of dancers and actors who collected donations for the parish. If villagers didn’t pay up, they’d often be threatened with their front paths being ploughed up. The pudding itself (which was traditionally steamed for up to four hours) consists of sausage meat, chopped bacon, and onions encased in suet pasty. It’s still baked and sold today, though thankfully with a slightly lower cooking duration.

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SARAH ANN GLOVER Sarah Ann Glover was born in Norwich in 1786 and was musically gifted from a very young age. In her 20s she ran a Sunday school with her younger sister, and whilst there developed a simplified system of musical notation to help children learn their scales. Named the Norwich sol-fa system, it started with ‘doh’ as the first note of the scale, ‘ray’ as the second, and ‘me’ as the third, and so on. The publication of her instructional book in 1835 was met with great success and came to the attention of John Curwen, who altered Sarah’s system to create the Tonic sol-fa method that is easily memorised thanks to The Sound of Music.

EDWARD COKE Brother of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, Edward was in need of a superior hat to the top hat, which reportedly kept falling off his gamekeepers’ heads while they were working on the Holkham estate. In 1849 he went to Lock & Co hatters with the design of a hardy hat, and Lock’s chief hatmaker Thomas Bowler came up with a prototype. The story goes that when Edward returned to collect the hat, he dropped it onto the floor and stamped on it twice.

Seemingly satisfied with its durability, he paid the agreed 12 shillings and commissioned more hats for his gamekeepers. To this day, the Earl of Leicester still purchases a Lock & Co. bowler hat for his gamekeepers to mark one year of service at Holkham Hall.

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GEORGE WILLIAM MANBY Born in Denver, George Manby’s first creation was the Manby Mortar, which fired a rope from the shore into the rigging of a ship in distress, giving crew members a line back to safety.

He designed it after witnessing the sinking of a Royal Navy ship in 1807. It worked for several subsequent rescues of sinking ships, and Manby received a number of medals and honours for his service. He then invented the ‘Extincteur’ in 1813, which was the first portable pressurised fire extinguisher.

It was a copper cylinder that held three gallons of potassium carbonate solution and used compressed air to shoot water through a narrow tube, marking the beginning of one of the most important life-saving creations we use today.

FREDERICK SAVAGE Born in the Norfolk village of Hevingham, Frederick Savage was a pioneer of the early carousels. Before the 1860s, roundabouts were driven by young boys or horses pulling round the spinning frame, but all that changed with the invention of the steam-driven roundabout. Sidney George Soame of Marsham is likely the inventor of that, but Savage was quick to apply his engineering knowledge and he surpassed his competitors with the development of horses that would bob up and down on the ride in an attempt to mimic galloping. His debut of the Dobby Horses at the King’s Lynn Mart was met with nationwide admiration, and his early prototypes have transformed into the galloping horses we know so well today.

PETER CHOWN Fast-forwarding to the end of the 20th century, Peter Chown of King’s Lynn isn’t a well-known creator, yet his invention created in 1988 is still sold in supermarkets all over the country.

“I was having trouble cleaning a roasting tin with a wire wool scourer,” he says. “It wouldn’t hold the washing-up liquid, it kept falling apart and scratching the pan. I thought there must be a better way of cleaning pans than this.”

He sold his idea for a spongebacked scourer to a major international manufacturing company and was subsequently paid £30,000 for it, and we’re all grateful that we don’t still have to struggle with wire scourers.

JAMES DYSON It’s hard to think of a time when we didn’t have bagless vacuum cleaners, but before 1993 that was the case.

It wasn’t until Cromer-born James Dyson came along that it changed, although not many people know that his first invention was the ‘Ballbarrow’, a version of the wheelbarrow that used a ball instead of a wheel. It didn’t quite take off like his vacuum later would, but today he owns more than 560 patents and his company is the UK’s biggest investor in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Feeling inspired yet? These local inventors show that even today, we’re all capable of having a simple idea that can change the world. All we have to do is discover it.

For more fascinating features on the history of Norfolk, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: The Swaffham-based team at Bevan Davidson International includes (from left to right) Harvey Catchpole, Kevin Feltoe, Steve Kirk, Richard Starr, Stacey Freeman, Tim Bishop, Richard Bevan, Alan Jones, Roz Martin and Stan Nelson

An exceptional company.

An extraordinary team.

From unique cars and innovative motorcycles and game-changing ideas Bevan Davidson International continues to y the ag or ritain

I

t’s almost impossible not be excited about the work of Bevan Davidson International. The company owns such worldfamous and proudly-British names such as Connaught, Sopwith Aviation, Trident, Levis Motorcycle Company, ABC Motorcycles and Villiers - and is building on a long and proud tradition of British engineering excellence with a range of extraordinary vehicles and supercars.

It’s an enthusiasm that runs throughout the management business.

Head of Design Steve Kirk. His exquisite artwork is all hand drawn with marker pens. Everything is bespoke and everything lives up to a single vision.

“It might take me three days to work up a design,” he says, “but it will probably take the rest of the guys nine months to build it.”

Richard Bevan joined Bevan Davidson International in 2017 to work with his 94

brother Phil as Logistics Manager - the ‘Davidson’ is their father David and we are his sons.

“Working with Phil and the team here is a great opportunity to explore what’s possible,” says Chief Engineer Tim Bishop, whose pedigree includes work for SAAB, Jaguar Land Rover and Tatra, “and play a part in the future of the automotive industry.”

It’s an enthusiasm that runs throughout the business. Leading web-development and social media is

Dave Redshaw who runs ‘The Veterans Garage’ - a charity supporting exservice personnel from the UK forces.

Manwhile, British Vintage Brands is headed by Roz Martin. The sister company creates its own range of clothing from bespoke jackets to T-shirts designed and made in the UK. “I wouldn’t want to change a thing about my present employment,” she says. “I always look forward to coming to work which I know isn’t the case for a lot of people these days.”

KLmagazine January 2022

“I’ve always been thinking outside the box and wanting to do something di erent...

- Phil Bevan Joining the team straight out of university is Harvey Catchpole, who deals with social media and research.

In the workshop, bodywork and paint specialist Stacey Freeman has been working with Phil for almost 20 years, and his dog Ben has become something of a company mascot.

“This is the best job I’ve ever had and it’s always exciting,” he says. “It’s hard to describe the feeling when a supercar comes out of the factory and you realise you helped build it.”

His feelings are echoed by his fellow worker Alan Jones, who spent many years as a plumber before finding his home at BDI making moulds and building fibreglass bodies for totally unique vehicles.

“There’s a great sense of camaraderie here,” he says, “and I think that shows in the finished projects. We love what we

do, and we’re very proud of our work.”

Tim Earp joined Bevan Davidson International shortly after school, and his job (which involves welding, engineering and fabrication) is a dream come true.

“When I was a youngster most of my toys were in pieces because I’d taken them apart,” he says. “Now I’m fitting suspensions and building chassis, no two days are the same and you never know which project you’ll be working on” A sentiment that auto electrician Richard Starr would endorse. He’s been with Bevan Davidson International for about seven years now, having already worked for Lotus, Aston Martin and Tickford - but now he feels truly at home.

“One day you’ll be working on a supercar and the next you’ll have a concept motorbike to tackle,” he says. “And the day after that you’ll be helping build a wind turbine. It’s amazing. ” One of the newest arrivals in the workshop is Kevin Feltoe, who joined Bevan Davidson International a couple of months ago after a 29-year career in the Royal Air Force.

“I’m now spending my days restoring vintage motorcycles,” he says, “and for me it’s the best job in the world.”

LEFT: Keith Bolton (top left) and David Dunn (top right) have recently joined Bevan Davidson International as Managing Directors of International Ambulances, a sister company that’s completely changing the face of emergency vehicles.

KLmagazine January 2022

One of the most exciting projects the company has recently developed has resulted in International Ambulances, with the Aceso and Integro versions of the revolutionary vehicle launched at this year’s Emergency Service Show at the NEC. David Dunn and Keith Bolton have joined as Managing Directors to oversee the running of the business and give Phil time to concentrate on other exciting projects.

In this corner of Swaffham, you can’t help feeling that anything is possible, and if you’d like to join the team as a technician, engineer, bodyworker or a mechanic then please use the details below to get in contact.

Bevan Davidson International The Complex, Norwich Road, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 8DD 01760 723866 www.bevandavidson.com www.britishvintagebrands.com

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NO W O FFERING CLASSIC CAR STORAGE

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East Coast Business Park, West Lynn, King’s Lynn PE34 3LW www.eastcoastselfstorage.co.uk

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Nursery Lane, North Wootton, King’s Lynn PE30 3QB | 01553 673000 | www.roythorneandson.co.uk | sales@roythorneandson.co.uk

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Bethany Little Trainee at Stephenson Smart

The key to success is the next generation

Stephenson Smart explains the advantages to your business of traineeships and a renticeshi s - and what a di erence they’ll ma e in the uture...

P

art of the government’s Plan for Jobs to help the UK economy recover from the Covid pandemic includes support for employers to take on trainees, and there are currently a number of different schemes available:

KICKSTART SCHEME These 6-month job placements are aimed at supporting young people who are currently on Universal Credit to develop the skills and experience they need to find permanent work. For each Kickstart job, the government will cover the cost of 25 hours a week at the relevant National Minimum Wage in addition to pension and National Insurance contributions for a period of 6 months. Employers will also receive £1,500 per placement to cover set-up costs and provide wraparound support for the young person.

TRAINEESHIPS Traineeships are skills development programmes for people of all ages that include a work experience placement and get people ready for employment

or an apprenticeship. Businesses can benefit from an employer incentive of £1,000 when a work experience placement of over 70 hours has been completed. This incentive can be claimed for up to 10 learners per region and employers can decide how to use the money.

APPRENTICESHIPS Apprenticeships employ people to do a real job while studying for a formal qualification. There are two ways of accessing government funding to support an apprenticeship. Large organisations will pay a levy of 0.5% of the wage bill. Levy paying employers get a £15,000 allowance per annum to offset against the amount they have to pay.

If an organisation’s wage bill is under £3 million, they don’t have to pay the levy. Instead, the employer agrees a payment schedule with a registered training provider and pays 5% towards the cost of the apprenticeship training to them directly. The government will then pay the remaining 95%.

At Stephenson Smart we believe in nurturing talent within our organisation and have an active apprenticeship scheme. We currently have 24 trainees working across our six offices, and one of the youngest is Bethany Little, who is based at our King’s Lynn office.

Bethany came to Stephenson Smart straight from high school to embark on her accountancy career.

“I came for a week’s work experience while I was at school and really enjoyed it,” she says. “I am now studying for a joint ACA/CTA qualification which will mean that I will not only be a chartered accountant but also a chartered tax advisor at the end of it.”

If your business is struggling to recruit, offering a traineeship or apprenticeship scheme might be the answer and could make someone’s New Year.

Chartered Accountants and Business Advisors

KING’S LYNN 01553 774104 FAKENHAM 01328 863318 WISBECH 01945 463383 MARCH 01354 653026 DOWNHAM MARKET 01366 384121 GREAT YARMOUTH 01493 382500 www.stephenson-smart.com

KLmagazine January 2022

D E: CQ 97

ABOVE: A contemporary engraving of the magnificent manor house of Beaupre Hall at Outwell. At the time of its construction nothing like it had been seen in the area before - and it stood for almost 500 years before being finally demolished in the 1960s.

The rise and fall of Beaupré Hall It was once the grandest building in Outwell, and although nothing remains o the magni cent manor house today it’s a story o lost treasure ascinating history and intriguing myths and legends...

A

s many as 2,000 notable English country houses have faded from existence since 1800, though Outwell’s beautiful Beaupré Hall is undoubtedly one of the most devastating losses. With its picturesque towers and turrets and pillared entrance guarded by ferocious stone falcons, it really was a wonder to behold.

The story of Beaupré Hall begins with Nicholas Beaupré, whose family had held the Manor of Outwell since the late 1300s. In 1493, after his marriage to Margaret Fodryngaye from Suffolk, he embarked on the construction of a new

98

hall to display his elevated status.

Together with his son Edmund, he began building a breathtaking Tudor manor house that came to be known as Beaupré Hall. Construction began in around 1500 and when Nicholas died in 1512 Edmund continued with the work and completed his father’s ambitious project. With its immense size, elegant Gothic spires, and grand turreted gatehouse Beaupré Hall evoked feelings of awe and astonishment throughout the village of Outwell - it was like nothing anyone had ever seen before.

When Edmund Beaupré died in 1567 the hall passed to his daughter Dorothy

Beaupré, who had married Sir Robert Bell in 1559.

Bell was a prominent speaker in the House of Commons (and later MP for King’s Lynn) and was responsible for increasing the grandeur and value of the hall by adding the south wing, raising the old wing, and building the outer walls. He also constructed a spectacular entrance, consisting of two grand gate pillars crowned with heraldic stone falcons - which have survived through the centuries and are now perched at Fulbourn Manor in Cambridgeshire.

Bell worked wonders at Beaupré

KLmagazine January 2022

© GLYNIS ARBER

Hall and enhanced its enchanting appearance, though he sadly died in 1577 after catching a fatal disease whilst working in Oxford. The hall was inherited by his son and remained in the Beaupré Bell family for generations.

By the 18th century the family’s fortunes had diminished and the spectacular manor had fallen into disrepair.

The final Beaupré Bell son was an active member of the Society of Antiquaries and seemed more interested in collecting books, coins and notes than spending money on the upkeep of the huge hall. He died unmarried in 1741 and the manor was inherited by his sister Elizabeth when she married William Greaves of Fulbourn.

In 1750 Greaves started restoring some of Beaupré Hall’s former glory by refurbishing a large area and demolishing parts that couldn’t be saved. His daughter Jane inherited the manor and brought it by marriage to the Townley family, who were prominent in the area and founded Outwell’s first public school. The Townleys owned Beaupré Hall for over a hundred years and eventually sold it to the Newling family in 1890.

It was in the 20th century that the real problems began for Beaupré Hall. In 1915, a ferocious gale tore the roof from the chapel and collapsed the manor’s southwest wing. The devastating damage was never fixed, and the once magnificent and imposing building was allowed to become derelict.

Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Beaupré Hall was

KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: A charming sketch of Beaupre Hall as it looked in 1885 drawn by Guy Dawber almost exactly a century later. One of the very pieces of the hall remaining today is this decorative stone falcon (below) which now guards the entrance to Fulbourn Manor in Cambridgeshire.

requisitioned by the RAF and used as a military base and battery headquarters for a nearby searchlight station. After the war, the army left the hall in a sorry state and a local newspaper described it as “rapidly falling into ruin” with overgrown gardens, broken windows and rotten woodwork.

In 1952 Lilian Kinsman (a former member of the Newling family) tried to save the manor by offering it to the National Trust at no cost, although sadly they declined.

In the 1950s the leftover RAF barrack

huts in the eerie ruins of Beaupré Hall were used to house students on the ‘Holidays with Pay Scheme’ run by the government.

For centuries the manor had been surrounded by legends of spirits and headless horsemen, which suddenly began to regain renewed interest. In the book ‘The Bedside Companion for Ghosthunters’ by the actress Ingrid Pitt, there is a chilling account of a ghostly woman seen by a couple of students who entered the hall at night.

Though the tales and mysteries surrounding Beaupré Hall provided both adventure and excitement, they weren’t enough to keep it alive.

Gradually, the surrounding land was sold to local builders for development and a housing estate was swiftly advancing towards the ruins. Finally, in 1966, the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works gave permission for the house to be demolished.

And with that the grand Beaupré Hall, which had stood in the fields of Outwell for nearly 500 years, was torn down along with all its pride and glory.

It left behind a sea of history, myths and legends. In fact, many villagers in Outwell still avoid Beaupré Avenue at midnight in case the headless horsemen of Beaupré Hall ride past in their ghostly carriages.

For more fascinating features on the history of west and north Norfolk, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

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Claire Gosling Primary School Teacher

I studied the BA (Hons) Early Childhood Studies Degree, beginning with the FDA Early Years and Education and continuing immediately onto the BA. Moving away to university was out of the question, so being able to continue employment and study alongside was the prefect mix for me. This made UcWA the best choice for me.

Without my degree, I wouldn’t have been able to continue on to qualified teacher status. To anyone thinking of returning to learning as an adult, I would say to be brave. It was a big step to go back into the classroom after having left school and I wasn’t sure I could do it. At first it feels overwhelming but with hard work and dedication you can do anything.

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KLmagazine January 2022

ABOVE: Solicitors in the family law team at Hayes + Storr include (from left to right) Maria Endall, Zuzanna Pogorzelska, Emma George and director Rob Colwell

Building a new team for a new era in family law More expertise and more help for your family at Hayes + Storr

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ayes + Storr Solicitors have announced two new appointments to boost their family department, which sees the long-established law firm continue to grow at a time of major change for family law.

Solicitors Zuzanna Pogorzelska and newly-qualified Emma George will be working alongside senior family solicitor Maria Endall and director Rob Colwell to bolster the family department in what has been a tumultuous time for families up and down the UK. “There’s no doubt the last two years have been extremely challenging for everyone, and sadly the pressure of living in lockdown has pushed many families to breaking point,” says director and head of the family department Rob Colwell. “The pandemic has changed everything, and the legal sector is no

exception. The pace in which reforms are being made has increased rapidly.

Family law has undergone a massive overhaul and it looks as though the changes are here to stay. With the help of remote hearings and the online divorce petition portal, technology has enabled family law to operate throughout the pandemic. The new no-fault divorce laws are imminent, which means the process for divorcing couples will become a lot less complicated as well.”

The no-fault divorce law is due to take effect in England and Wales in April this year. It means that couples will no longer need to apportion blame to get divorced, and is seen by many in the legal sector as being the most important element of the new laws.

There’s never been a more pressing time to expand the family team at Hayes + Storr.

“Both Zuzanna and Emma are exceptionally talented individuals,” says Rob. “Zuzanna has led very complex cases and provides a no-nonsense approach, reducing conflict even under the most challenging circumstances.

And Emma has worked extremely hard to qualify and is an excellent lawyer.

She’s highly regarded by her peers and clients and has already proved herself to be a great asset to our family team.”

Both solicitors will work across a variety of family law matters including divorce and separation, financial and child arrangements, cohabitation agreements, prenuptial agreements, and civil partnerships.

If you are going through a breakup and would like to speak to a professional about children or other family legal matters call Hayes + Storr on 01553 778900

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.

The Old County Court, County Court Road, King’s Lynn PE30 5EJ W: www.hayesandstorr.co.uk | E: law.kingslynn@hayes-storr.com OFFICES AT: KING’S LYNN | FAKENHAM | SWAFFHAM | HOLT | SHERINGHAM

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

years on and years strong.

Exactly ten years ago this month, Edmonton Estates opened its doors for the rst time and has been o ening them or thousands o eo le e er since...

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his month Edmonton Estates is celebrating its 10th anniversary of supporting landlords to achieve the best returns from their investment properties and assisting tenants to find homes.

Since taking on its first two properties in January 2012 the business grew at a significant pace with more than 300 residential properties listed on management and a further 60 available via our tenant finding service after just 6 years of trading.

Director Damien Simone says; “Our success is not just our own but our landlords as well. By trusting our knowledge and integrity we have been able to support our landlords through some difficult changes in legislation and housing standards. In a market where most agents are seeing smaller landlords selling their investment

Damien Simone Director

properties we have been able to not only help our clients retain their properties for their pension as originally planned but in many cases also increase their portfolio, better securing their financial future.”

The residential lettings market has changed significantly during the past 10 years with more than 200 legislative changes since Edmonton Estates first opened its doors.

Changes relating to landlord tax, minimum energy efficiency standards for rented properties, and most critically to Notices for recovering properties have proved challenging and meant that agents not able to adapt and keep ahead of the legislation have exited the industry. With one of the government’s next targets for agents (and landlords) to require formal qualification before being permitted to conduct property rental activities,

a further constriction of local service providers is anticipated. Having always been keen to promote the firm’s status as being ARLA Propertymark regulated due to the qualifications held even when none were required, the directors of Edmonton Estates view the formal regulation of letting agents as a positive step forward for the future of the company as well as raising the quality standards across the whole industry.

Whether you are considering purchasing your first investment property or are an experienced landlord seeking advice regarding legislation (either present or impending) Edmonton Estates can be contacted on 01553 660615 for independent professional guidance.

Edmonton Estates Ltd, St Ann’s House, 18 St Ann’s Street, King’s Lynn PE30 1LT T 01553 660615 • W www.edmontonestates.co.uk • E info@edmontonestates.co.uk

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OPPOSITE: A small part of the amazing cardboard model of Narborough in the 1920s made by long-time village resident Philip Hoggett in the late 1980s, shortly before his death in 1989. It’s just one of the fascinating exhibits in the newly-opened Narborough Museum, which has been carefully curated in three purpose-built buildings by an enthusiastic team of volunteers (above)

The small village with the big story ering a uni ue and ascinating glim se into the story o a single illage arborough useum is a oy to isit and a tribute to the team o local olunteers who’ e created it

V

isit a local museum and you can pretty much guess what you’re likely to see - a Stone Age axe, a relic from ancient Egypt, and a few pots from ancient Greece - so it comes as something as a surprise to visit Narborough Museum and discover that lives up to its name and has a real sense of place. It’s a celebration of a village that has quite a few claims to fame.

Few villages in Norfolk can claim to have had a busy railway line, a thriving river-based barge trade, an aerodrome which was the world’s biggest airfield

KLmagazine January 2022

during the First World War, and a bone mill that turned the imported remains of long-dead Germans into agricultural fertilizer.

“Narborough has such a rich and fascinating history and we wanted to preserve that,” says curator David Turner, who’s been a member of the local historical society for over 30 years. “Especially as the old village has almost entirely disappeared now.”

That’s clearly obvious thanks to an enormous (and fascinating) model of Narborough at the start of the 20th century that was hand-crafted by the

late Philip Hoggett in the 1980s.

The musuem originally opened in the village’s Methodist chapel in 2006, but had to close when the building was put up for sale five years ago. Many people thought that would be end of the story, but they didn’t take the support of the local community into account.

On land owned by David’s son and partner, the team of volunteers (and a number of local businesses) set about cutting down a forest of stinging nettles and demolishing some derelict sheds.

It took over two years, but the new Narborough Museum was officially

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ABOVE: The exhibits in Narborough Museum range of prehistoric bones to mementos of the village’s wartime heritage and fascinating pieces of social history, such as the remarkable scrapbook of Constance Critchley-Martin (above right). Curator David Turner (below) has been a member of the local historical society for over 30 years and is very proud what the team of volunteers have managed to achieve

opened last summer in three purposebuilt buildings that give the exhibits all the space they need.

“We have things donated to us virtually every week,” says David.

“People have really taken to the museum and often leave objects on the doostep anonymously. Somebody from King’s Lynn once sent us some sepiatoned photographs of Narborough from the 1880s, but we’ve never been able to find out who sent them.”

Narborough’s history stretches much further back than the 19th century, however.

Walk through the museum and you’ll find the bones of a woolly mammoth and an Iron Age wolf, and see coins from the days of the Roman Empire.

There’s a poster for a local agricultural sale in 1857, a fascinating collection of magazines and advertisements from the 1950s, a shunting signal from the now defunct rail station, and plenty of memorabilia from 59 Squadron, who were stationed in Narborough during the Second World War. Perhaps the most extraordinary exhibit is the scrapbook of Constance Critchley-Martin of Narborough Hall, which dates from the late 19th century.

“My father was a gardener at the hall and the book was given to him in 1925,” says David. “It’s a wonderful thing and I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

Packed with pictures, drawings and clippings, it’s a fascinating glimpse into a long-lost world - encompassing everything from fox hunting and horses to holidays in France and local views of Narborough. Constance included 106

photographs of the 1891 tennis tournament in Hunstanton, and had many artistic friends who contributed pictures for her scrapbook. She even established a ladies’ cricket team and included their first scorecard. They won, by the way.

“The museum is really popular with people moving into the village who want to learn more about Narborough,” says David, “but it’s also a great experience for people who’ve moved away. We recently had a visitor in his 90s come up from Sudbury who used to live in the village, and he loved it.”

Preserving this personal history is central to the museum. In the future, David and his team of volunteers plan to open a research and study centre for people tracing their family trees and anyone interested in the history and

development of the village.

Open on Thursdays (10am-3 pm) and the first Sunday of the month from April to October (10am- 3pm) and also available for private pre-booked tours, this is a museum that celebrates a Norfolk village with a fascinating past and a very bright future.

“Considering we survive entirely on donations and through book sales I think we’ve done an incredible job,” says David. “This is a lovely village with a very rich heritage, and I think we’re doing it justice.”

Welcome to Narborough. It’s a small village, but it has a very big story.

For more fascinating features on the history of west and north Norfolk and its many attractions, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

Better for your home, and better for the planet More choice, better performance and strong green credentials - it’s no wonder people are turning to Rudd Joinery for home improvements

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owards the end of last year, the COP26 conference in Glasgow highlighted the urgent need for us to be more conscious of the global impact of the products and services we’re using.

This year it’s expected that over three million households in the UK will be investing in ‘green’ home improvements, and the majority of those will involve new or replacement windows, doors and conservatories.

Just outside Fakenham, Jamie Rudd and his team at Rudd Joinery are producing a superior and evironmentally-friendly range of high quality handcrafted timber products, all expertly designed and produced at the company’s very own manufacturing facility.

Whereas UPVC products are generally mass-produced and leave a large carbon footprint, Rudd Joinery’s high performance

KLmagazine January 2022

windows, doors and conservatories are all completely bespoke from responsibly-sourced timber. And with a wide range of styles, colours and ironmongery, they can be customdesigned to suit your property.

“Our farmed timber is endorsed by Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund as the greenest choice for windows, doors and conservatories,” says Jamie. “It’s a fully recyclable material and it’s much better for the atmosphere too - because UPVC creates around 200,000 tonnes of waste a year. It also contains almost 50% of the 15 most hazardous chemicals listed by European standards.”

Part of the British Woodworking Federation (BWF), Rudd Joinery works to the very highest standards - combining the beauty of the past with technology of the present and exceptional craftsmanship skills to create outstanding high-performance products.

“Timber frames are stronger than plastic and the sound performance is better as well, so they’re ideal for larger projects,” says Jamie. “Wood is a perfectly natural and highly-efficient insulator, and our designs easily outperform UPVC and aluminium frames. They look significantly more stylish as well.”

For a totally new view of windows, doors and conservatories, visit Rudd Joinery’s showroom near Fakenham today and chat to a member of Jamie’s team about your next project.

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“

“

One such lecturer, who gave a talk in entitled ‘Personal Impressions of America’ was Oscar Wilde...

ABOVE: The old Post Office in the centre of King’s Lynn has stood empty for almost 15 years, but when the building opened in the summer of 1854 it was once a hive of cultural activities and popular entertainment

The cultural institution of Lynn lost to history n the centre o King’s Lynn lies the ormer ost ce which has been closed since but it was once the beating heart o the town’s culture and entertainment and it may well be re i ed soon...

M

any people passing through the town centre of King’s Lynn don’t look twice at the empty building standing tall on Baxter’s Plain. Closed and abandoned for nearly 15 years after the Post Office moved location, we have no reason to pay attention to it. Before it was the Post Office, though, it had another name; a striking name that suited its original purpose.

The grand opening of Lynn’s Athenæum in August 1854 marked the launch of a new venue that promoted KLmagazine January 2022

the arts and literature. The name references ancient Greece and the goddess Athena, although it wasn’t the Greeks who came up with the name.

Instead, it was the Roman Emperor Hadrian who built the first Athenæum and named it after Athena and the city of Athens - which was considered the centre of intellectual thought at the time.

The Athenæum was built near the Roman Forum as a school for literary and scientific studies. Its site was discovered in 2009 during the construction of a new Metro line for

Rome. By the 1800s, the definition of the name had altered to mean a literary or scientific club, rather than a specific place of learning.

The purpose of the King’s Lynn Athenæum was detailed in the Lynn Advertiser, which said it was planned to “unite under one roof the several literary, scientific, and artistic societies in the town,” and it accommodated the library, museum, an institute (or newsroom) and the Conversazione – a society that discussed literature and the arts.

It wasn’t just societies that made use 111

ABOVE: In its heyday The Athenaeum attracted such famous speakers as Oscar Wilde, but the building was never a great commercial success.

Parts of it were sold to the Post Office at the start of the 20th century, who bought the entire building in 1936

of the Athenæum, though. Within the building, a central hall was constructed with the intention of hosting lectures, concerts, and exhibitions for the public to attend. The following decades saw numerous music hall acts grace the stage, along with classical concerts that featured artists and opera singers from Italy, Vienna and Russia, and special guest lecturers frequently added the Athenæum to their tour.

One such lecturer, who gave a talk in 1884 entitled ‘Personal Impressions of America’ was Oscar Wilde. Two years previously, he’d been invited to tour North America to talk about the charms and quirks of the aesthetic movement and whilst there, he inevitably gathered his own opinions of the continent and decided to tour the UK with his observations.

‘The well-known apostle of aestheticism, who was in usual evening dress, has a fluent and graceful delivery, and spoke for about an hour and threequarters without the aid of a note of any kind,’ wrote the Lynn Advertiser.

A particular highlight seemed to be Wilde’s trip to Niagara Falls.

“In order to prevent oneself getting drenched, one was compelled to wear a suit of yellow oilskin,” he is reported to have said, “which was as unbecoming a texture as could be imagined. It was as bad as the India Rubber mackintoshes, which he hoped his hearers never thought of wearing.”

Wilde’s talk was one of the first to occur after parts of the Athenæum had been taken over as a post office and telegraph station. Despite the dazzling 112

acts and famous faces appearing on stage, it wasn’t as big of a commercial success as everyone had hoped when the building first opened.

This led to parts of it being sold to the post office, although events and concerts still went ahead, and the societies were still accommodated for.

It wasn’t until 1936 that the Athenæum was no longer an institution for the arts, and instead was sold fully to become the town’s Telephone Exchange and Post Office. Renovations on the building modified it into the one we know today. Bizarrely enough, elm and beech panelling used in the interior offices had come from the bed of the river Thames during the demolition of Waterloo Bridge in 1934, materials that were not needed for the new bridge were recycled across the country.

Indeed, there was even a plaque within the Post Office to commemorate this odd anecdote: “The joinery in this public office is made of silver beech and elm taken from the original piles of Waterloo Bridge London where it was immersed in the riverbed for about 120 years. It was recovered

from the river in 1936.”

In 2007 the Athenæum closed for good when the Post Office relocated to WHSmith. However, there may be a new beginning for this old institution, as planning permission has been applied for to convert it into a pub with flats above it.

Though no decision has been reached yet, it is encouraging to know that there is renewed interest in the great Athenæum of King’s Lynn.

For more fascinating features on the history of west and north Norfolk, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

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k info@rgrdevelopments.co.uk KLmagazine January 2022

Adrian & Michaela

If you’re looking for a plumber, look no further To see you, your family and your home safely through the winter A.T Norfolk Plumbing & Heating are only a phone call away...

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he idea that the prevention is better than the cure is particularly relevant when it comes to your home’s plumbing over winter.

Ignore it and you’re running the risk of catastrophic damage, unexpected problems, no heating or hot water, and large insurance claims. Two years ago, insurance companies in the UK paid out over £2 million every single day for plumbing-related problems.

You need to make sure your all your pipework (not just the exposed sections) is adequately insulated, you need to get your boiler serviced, and Adrian did a fantastic job on our shower room and it’s now a really beautiful space. Not living locally meant that we had to leave the job in his hands, but we never worried about that. I would highly recommend his company, his service and his work to anyone and everyone.

The Old Game Wing, Docking Hall High Street, Docking PE31 8NG

KLmagazine January 2022

you need to repair any leaky taps or valves. In short, you need to be prepared, and for that you’re going to need a fully-qualified plumber.

Thankfully Docking-based A.T Norfolk Plumbing & Heating are just a phone call away, offering a traditional and exceptionally-reliable service for everything from dripping taps and leaking toilets to replacement radiators and water tanks across west Norfolk and all along the north Norfolk coast.

“We never promise anything that we can’t deliver,” says Michaela Taverna, who established the company with her husband Adrian just over 20 years ago.

“We only came to Norfolk a few years ago, but we’ve already built a very loyal and strong customer base.”

Much of that success is undoubtedly due to Adrian’s professional, honest and friendly approach.

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A definite 5-star job from start to finish.

of a traditional plumber - calling on a trusted team of subcontractors for any work that requires tiling or carpentry and dealing with the company’s increasing amount of enquiries for complete bathroom replacements.

From emergency repairs and small works to complete shower room and en-suite installations, contact A.T Norfolk Plumbing & Heating today - for quick, reliable and professional results. And get your home ready to face the winter.

Web: www.atplumbingnorfolk.co.uk Email: adrian@atplumbingnorfolk.co.uk

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C O S Y T E A RO OM S E T I N T H E H E A RT O F G R E AT M A S S I N G H A M

a place to enjoy breakfast, coffee & cake, lunch and afternoon teas Locally sourced ingredients | Hot food freshly cooked to order All cakes handmade on the premises | Takeaway available Open: 9am-4pm 7 days a week Book a table: 01485 520 272 / info@thecartshedtearoom.co.uk Web: www.thecartshedtearoom.co.uk Located behind Great Massingham Stores & Post Office: Church Lane, Great Massingham, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE32 2HY

Lings Country Goods for all your country pursuits

Dubarry | Schoffel | Seeland | Ridgeline | Musto | Alan Paine | Meindl MacWet | Dents | Le Chameau | House of Cheviot Also stocking guns, ammunition & shooting accessories Heath Farm, Great Massingham PE32 2HJ www.lingscountrygoods.co.uk Tel: 01485 520828

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KLmagazine January 2022

PICTURE: STEPHEN PIOTROWSKI MEET THE TEAM: Members of the Great Massingham Community Cars Scheme include (from left to right) David Butterworth, driver and former Chair; Linda Steed, driver; Barbara Nadel, driver; Bob Panrucker, Committee member and driver; Sue Donnelly, Committee member and driver; Carole Venthem, Co-ordinator and driver; Neil Steed, Chair of Committee and driver; and Denys Winner, driver.

The community service that’s really going places a e a ery real di erence to the li es o local eo le as a olunteer dri er with the Great Massingham Community Cars Scheme

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ural transport can be a real problem for many people, because many journeys need to be made when buses aren’t running, people have too much shopping to carry, or they simply need help getting to the nearest bus stop. Without a car, without available taxis and often without safe pavements and lighting, people can find themselves either stranded or at risk.

And that’s why the Great Massingham Community Cars Scheme has proved to be such a success.

“The concept is really very simple,” says coordinator Barbara Nadel. “Any person who needs transport for any reason simply phones up and requests a lift to wherever they need to go – you don’t need to ‘join’ the scheme, and you only pay 45p per mile. The only requirement is that you live in one of the villages served by the scheme.”

The Great Massingham Community Cars Scheme currently serves the

KLmagazine January 2022

villages of Great and Little Massingham, Bagthorpe with Barmer, East and West Rudham, Flitcham, Fring, Harpley, Hillington, Houghton, Rougham, Sculthorpe, Sedgeford, Stanhoe, Syderstone, Tattersett, Weasenham, West Raynham and Wicken Green.

“It’s a huge area to cover and we simply couldn’t do it without the help of our team of volunteer drivers,” says Barbara. “They’re the lifeblood of the service and we really need some more - it’s quite upsetting to refuse a passenger’s request because we don’t have a driver available.”

All potential drivers undergo an enhanced DBS check with Norfolk Constabularly (it’s arranged by the service) and need their own vehicle, with appropriate insurance. There’s no commitment regarding the number of journeys or miles, and all drivers are paid 45p per mile.

“All you really need is a friendly attitude and a wish to help your

community,” says Barbara. “Our drivers are always trusted and helpful, and for their passengers they really are a lifeline.”

The drivers themselves also benefit - visiting places they’re never been to before, meeting new people, and making new friends.

“I actually used the scheme myself when I needed day surgery and wasn’t able to drive myself home afterwards,” says Barbara. “It’s really convenient, it’s really enjoyable, and it’s really bringing our local communities together.”

If you have your own vehicle and would like to join the service, please contact the Great Massingham Community Cars Scheme on 01485 520823, e-mail communitycars@ btconnect.com or visit the website at www.massinghamcommunitycars. co.uk

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© GORDON EDGAR

PICTURES: The wonderful Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0 saddle tank ‘Wissington’, specially built for BSC in 1938, shunting on the south side of the factory.

An employee heads towards Wissington sugar factory as a locomotive shunts in the yard (right) both in the late 1960s

The story of the little railway with the big idea Norfolk once had a vast network of railways, although by the end of the th century over two thirds of stations had closed. One of the county’s most unusual lines was the Wissington Light Railway...

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issington is famous for being the site of British Sugar’s refinery, which is the largest in Europe, and annually converts around 3 million tons of beet into 400,000 tons of sugar and 64,000 tons of bioethanol. However, its huge success wouldn’t have been possible without a small fenland network known as the Wissington Light Railway.

The line was built in 1905 by Arthur Keeble, a farmer and businessman who’d recently bought a large estate of fenland south of the river Wissey.

Keeble had a keen interest in both 118

science and agriculture and, in the Norfolk tradition of experimental farming, began to grow a range of market crops including celery and carrots. He also intended to develop an industry for producing ammonia out of the nitrogen-rich Fenland peat - but in an area devoid of metalled roads, transporting the goods was a next to impossible task.

To solve the issue, Keeble decided to build a private railway to connect with the GER’s Stoke Ferry branch near Abbey station in West Dereham. He leased all the land for the trackbed, so no Act of Parliament or Light Railway

Order was required, and he named his estate Wissington, inspired by Wissey town. Opened on 30th November 1905, the railway crossed the Wissey on a 70ft span bridge and went from Abbey to Poppylot on the Southery to Feltwell road.

Keeble’s railway got off to a smooth start and helped bring life and productivity to the isolated fenland.

The Wissington train would puff merrily down from Abbey at about 8am, dropping off empty wagons at goods sidings and delivering newspapers to locals - there was even a passenger carriage on Lynn and Downham market KLmagazine January 2022

© MICHAEL ALDERMAN

days.

However, issues with funding and flooding meant Keeble’s ammonia factory was never a success and he soon found himself in severe financial difficulty. He went into receivership in 1912, the ammonia plant closed in 1914 and he died the same year. Efforts were made to keep the railway running, but it closed in 1917 after three successive years of flooding.

However, this wasn’t the end for Wissington Railway - its history had only just begun.

In 1918 the land was bought by William Towler, a friend and past neighbour of Keeble, who was eager to bring the railway to its full potential.

Towler felt that growing sugar beet would be more profitable than producing ammonia, and planned to build a factory on the banks of the Wissey.

He obtained a loan from the LNER which enabled him to extend the railway south of the Feltwell road, opening up 14,000 acres of uncultivated fen. Towler’s hard work and enthusiasm resulted in the construction of the Wissington sugar factory in 1925.

It was operated by British Sugar Manufacturers, who leased the railway from Towler and built a further eight

miles of track. Due to the absence of hard roads in the area, beet could only be transported to the factory by rail or water, so the line soon became extremely busy.

When Towler went into receivership in 1932, BSM continued to lease the railway and in 1936 they merged with 15 other companies to form British Sugar Corporation. Instead of continuing to hire engines, the new organisation decided to buy their own locomotives, and in August 1938 a shiny new saddle tank named ‘Wissington’ arrived on the railway.

© GORDON EDGAR

PICTURES: The Wissington locomotive puffing merrily on the North Norfolk Railway in 2015 (above). Wissington busily shunting coke wagons for the factory’s power plant on a misty morning in January 1970 (left). A Manning Wardle 0-6-0 saddle tank called ‘Newcastle’ out on the Wissington Light Railway in the 1950s (below)

Shortly afterwards, BSC purchased the section of track running from the Abbey to the factory, although they were forced to close the rest of the line when their lease expired in 1940.

But it didn’t stay closed for long.

In 1941, in an effort to increase farm production, the Ministry of Agriculture requisitioned and upgraded the line.

Contractors and Italian prisoners of war were brought in to repair and refurbish the railway and it was soon back in action.

Train loads became extremely heavy, and staff worked 12 hour shifts every day to meet wartime demands. In 1943 employees at the railway and factory managed to save the crew of a Stirling bomber which had crashed on the factory’s settling pods whilst trying to get back to Feltwell. The railway also played a crucial role in combating shortages and increasing production, but when the war was over it faced operational problems, and in 1957 the line south of the factory was closed for a second time.

Due to the development of roads in the area, lorries gradually took over the role of bringing goods to the factory.

BSC stopped transporting beet by rail in 1975 and traffic ceased completely on the line in 1981.

Final closure came in 1982, with the track being lifted, and Arthur Keeble’s ambitious little railway reached the end of its life - though it certainly made its mark in history.

With the rhythmic chuffing and merry whistling of engines, the Wissington Light Railway broke the silence of the Black Fen, gave many isolated farmers a crucial link to the outside world, and left behind an area of thriving industry and food production.

For more fascinating features on the history of west and north Norfolk, visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

A new bathroom and new kitchen for the new year MKM in King’s Lynn has all your home improvement needs covered with a fantastic range of fabulous kitchens and stylish bathrooms

Y

ou already know that as part of the UK’s largest independent merchants MKM in King’s Lynn offers a complete one-stop shop for all your building supplies, but it also has a recently-opened showroom dedicated to kitchens and bathrooms together with a specialist plumbing and heating department.

“People change their bathrooms and kitchens more often than they used to, especially at this time of year,” says branch director Damian Roach. “Some people simply want to refresh their existing room and give it a new look for a new year, while others want a completely new installation. Whatever they’re looking for, we’re here to help.”

KLmagazine January 2022

And if you find the choice available somewhat overwhelming, MKM’s team of in-store specialists can give you all the help and advice you need. They’ll share their considerable design expertise with you, and guide you stepby-step through every stage of the process - from initial concept to final delivery. And when it comes to fitting, MKM can even recommend a number of reputable and reliable local installers.

“At MKM we’ve always been proud

of our ability to help customers find exactly the right products to create the ideal kitchen or bathroom, just the way they want it,” says Damian. “Whatever your tastes, whatever your plans and whatever your budget we’ve got everything you need - and a lot more besides.”

Make your dream kitchen or bathroom become a reality and discover the MKM difference today - with everything your project needs under one roof, with plenty of local knowledge, a huge range of high quality products, efficient deliveries and a super-friendly service.

There’s no better way to start the new year.

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KLmagazine January 2022

YOUR SAFETY MATTERS!

At Xtraclean we always use professional anti-bacterial cleaning and finishing agents to keep you, your family and your home as safe as possible!

ith a totally sa e and rst-class ser ice Xtraclean can treat your stone and tiled oors to a genuinely good as new’ loo

O

ver the next few months your beautiful stone and tiled floors can look forward to some pretty rough treatment. It might be a new year, but that doesn’t mean your floors are enjoying a new look.

All the friends and family you’ve welcomed over the last few weeks will have arrived with plenty of unwelcome dirt, mud, dead leaves, various allergens and a number of other contaminants.

Which means it’s the perfect time to call on the professional cleaning services of Martin King and his Swaffham-based team at Xtraclean.

Using the latest technology and highquality anti-bacterial cleaning agents, Xtraclean will bring your floors back to their best and give them an ‘as good as new’ look. And they’ll usually do it in less than a day.

“If your stone or tiled floors were expertly fitted they deserve an equally professional approach to cleaning,” says Martin. “For over 25 years we’ve been restoring floors all over Norfolk using the most advanced and powerful system currently available in the UK.” Xtraclean’s highly experienced technicians offer a fully-insured and friendly service (they’ll even move your furniture for you) and following an initial test and survey will get to work breaking down all the ingrained dirt and loosening surface soiling.

“Our powerful turbo ‘clean and capture’ system pressure cleans the floor using its own water supply,” says Martin, “and it even reclaims all the waste in the process – so you have no mess, no fuss, and no worries. And fantastic looking floors.”

Xtraclean never uses harmful chemicals or damaging procedures

such as grinding and resurfacing and the results are truly spectacular.

“Stone and tiled floors aren’t the easiest surfaces to clean,” says Martin, “but our powerful system and highgrade products can bring even the dirtiest floors back to their very best.”

Xtraclean can also help you preserve those good looks for longer with a range of specialist sealing products specially developed for stone floors.

“To be honest you really have to see the results to believe them,” says Martin.

“Just ask our customers – they’re always amazed at the finish, and they can hardly believe it’s the same floor.”

To give your floors a bright new look for 2022 and bring them back to life, contact Martin and his team using the details below for extra-professional cleaning, extra-personal customer service, and sparkling results that really are second to none.

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ABOVE: The 18-hole course at Heacham Manor is now officially recognised as one of the 100 best golf resorts in the country, and it’s home to rising local stars such as Warren Bates (opposite) who started his golfing career when he was seven years old and is about to turn professional

Why quality in every area is par for the course With the opening of has become one of the most exciting leisure destinations in Norfolk - and its young golfers are some of the country’s most promising rising stars

W

est Norfolk has a proud and well-established golfing tradition thanks to highly-regarded courses at King’s Lynn, Hunstanton and Brancaster - but Heacham Manor is now becoming one of the area’s most exciting golf centres, thanks to a forward-thinking vision and a commitment to encouraging young talent.

Which makes it hard to believe that 20 years ago there was no golf here at all. It all started at Searles Leisure Resort with the creation of a 9-hole course and a driving range.

“Since we were in the family holiday market we didn’t think people would want to be out on the course all day, so we thought a 9-hole course would be ideal,” says managing director Paul Searle. “It went so well that we realised there was a real opportunity here to provide a bigger and better golf offering.”

Teaming up with Ray Stocker, who’d become a professional golfer at the KLmagazine January 2022

age of 19 and became friends with the Searle family after playing for a Searles-sponsored team in a Pro-Am tournament in King’s Lynn some 25 years ago, Paul bought a 16th century farmhouse and the surrounding farmland.

The farmhouse would eventually become the luxurious Heacham Manor hotel, while the fields were transformed into an 18-hole golf course that’s now recognised as one of the 100 best golfing resorts in Great Britain.

“I originally came here to help with some coaching over a summer,” says Ray, who hails from north London and has been playing and teaching golf all his life. “That was about 16 years ago, and I’m still here - and I think what we’ve achieved at Heacham Manor is amazing.”

Together with a small team, Ray and Paul Searle re-laid the earth, planted seeds, landscaped the course, planted around 40,000 bushes and cut the greens. Given the fact the area experiences very dry summers and

the ground had been farmland for centuries, the course took a couple of years to come to life - but it’s now maturing and developing its very own character.

Ray Stocker & Paul Searle 125

With the help of course architect Simon Gidman (who designed the famous Centurion course near St. Albans) and greenkeeper Trevor Dennis (who trained at St. Andrews) the course at Heacham Manor is as attractive as it is challenging. It’s the perfect destination for people looking for a short golf break or a longer mini-tour of the area’s surrounding golf courses.

But that’s far from the end of the story.

“The whole point of creating the 9-hole course and the driving range was to give holidaymakers and local residents the opportunity to play golf, which they may never have had before,” says Paul Searle. “It was always our intention to develop and encourage young players, and Ray and his team have worked wonders in that respect.

We’re immensely proud of the young talent we have here.”

King’s Lynn golfer Jack Yule started playing golf at Searles Golf Resort, and won the ORIDA Championship on the PGA EuroPro Tour last year, but he’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Warren Bates was one of Ray’s students at the age of 7, and the 22-year-old now works in Heacham Manor’s golf shop - although he’s expecting to turn professional this year. Playing off a handicap of +4, his coaching is now taking place on a national and international level.

Similarly, Chloe Tarbard is an extraordinary talent. The 14-year-old scratch golfer originally joined Ray’s junior classes and now plays countylevel golf and trains with England’s under-18 squad.

“In all my years coaching they’re

126

some of the most talented students I’ve ever had,” says Ray. “Both of them hold the course record at Heacham Manor, and in last year’s Club Championships they both came first. They have so much talent. I know I won’t be their coach forever, but we’ve certainly helped them on their journey.”

That journey - and the future of golf at Heacham Manor - is now looking even brighter with the recent launch of The Pavilion, a stunning new country club, conference centre and events venue with seven luxurious bedrooms. It houses the golf shop, and a fabulous terrace offers spectacular views over the golf course.

“What’s really encouraging is that the reputation of Heacham Manor has been built

ABOVE: PGA Professional Ray Stocker and promising young golfer Warren Bates, who Ray’s been coaching for the last 15 years. In addition to being a local centre of golfing excellence, Heacham Manor now offers a superb new multi-purpose country club (below left)

on the facilities at the hotel and the improvements we’ve made to the course,” says Paul Searle. “Now The Pavilion has opened we’ll be taking that to another level. It’s already working really well with weddings and regular events with local businesses and golfing societies, and I’m really proud of the work our team has put into making it become a reality.”

The Pavilion at Heacham Manor Hunstanton Road, Heacham PE31 7JX 01485 536030 www.heacham-manor.co.uk info@heacham-manor.co.uk

KLmagazine January 2022

4 MONTHS FREE GOLF

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Join BoilerCare today and save £ s a year For over years Foreman & Son has been keeping people warm and safe with a -hour boiler care service that’s second to none

A

t any time of the year a boiler breakdown can cause you all sorts of problems, leaving you with no hot water, no heating, a major headache, and a hefty bill. But thanks to the team at Foreman & Son in Heacham it doesn’t always have to be that way.

When Jane Barnett of Ringstead had to call on their services at the start of last year when her oil boiler decided to stop working, the remedial work cost in excess of £600 - although there was a silver lining to what seemed like a very dark cloud.

“The engineers who helped me were really courteous and friendly, and they even tidied up after themselves,” she says. “Best of all, they told me about Foreman & Son’s brilliant BoilerCare service, which would have covered all

01485 570578 32 High Street, Heacham PE31 7EP KLmagazine January 2022

the parts and labour. I could have saved £100s, so I had no hesitation in signing up virtually immediately.”

It was a wise decision.

A few months later, Jane’s boiler started leaking and shorting out the electricity supply. As a BoilerCare customer she called Foreman & Son late on a Friday night - and engineers were with her within the hour, making the electrics safe, getting the boiler working, and returning the next day to complete the necessary work.

“I’m so impressed with the level of service from Foreman & Son and the speed at which they come to help you,” says Jane. “Even the office staff are brilliant, and they keep you updated at all times. They’re totally professional and completely reliable.”

Over the last 12 months Foreman & Son has attended over 1,500 boiler

breakdowns, helping thousands of families stay safe and warm. The company’s BoilerCare service is available in three packages to suit specific needs and budgets, and can be tailored for landlords to help them meet their legal obligations .

Fully-qualified and highly-trained, G3 regulated, Gas Safe and OFTECregistered, Foreman & Son is always here to keep you safe and warm.

www.foremanandsonltd.co.uk boilercare@foremanandsonltd.co.uk 129

PICTURE: THE TABLE GALLERY

ABOVE: This complete horse skeleton dating to 1910 was one of the most prized possessions belonging to popular television presenter and antiques expert Paul Martin (opposite), who’s been collecting since he was six years old. It’s been sold following his recent move

Looking back at a lifetime of collecting Paul Martin is probably best known for his appearances on the BBC’s ‘Flog It!’ this year. Before his visit to King’s Lynn he found the time to talk to Pippa Jane Wielgos about his love of antiques

F

or two decades Paul Martin has been entertaining millions with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the antiques market, his infectious enthusiasm and his friendly style of presenting - his daytime show Flog It! becoming a cult classic and transforming the way we think about and appreciate antiques.

“Antiques bring a piece of history into

KLmagazine January 2022

your life,” he says. “They’ve been made with love and handed down through the generations, they’ll certainly outlast me, and there’s nothing ‘greener’ they’re the ultimate in recycling.”

The hugely-popular presenter started collecting Brooke Bond tea cards as a youngster, and spent several years dividing his time between an antiques stand on London’s Portobello Road and a promising career as a professional

drummer before being discovered by the BBC during an interview about oak furniture. He was signed up to present Flog It! and over the course of the last two decades has become one of the channel’s most popular presenters. In March he’ll be returning to King’s Lynn (the seventh episode of the 18th series of Flog It! was filmed in the town) to talk about his lifelong love of everything antique.

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PICTURES: RED

“Antiques are my oxygen, and I live and breathe them,” he says. “I buy them because of their wonderful history of craftmanship, or as a document of social history, which has a real identity and tells a story of that area. We’re giving it a new lease of life by loving it and making it survive for another century.”

Ahead of his talk at St George’s Guildhall, we caught up with Paul Martin and asked him about how he first became interested in antiques.

“I think it must have started with my uncle David, who was an antique dealer in Teddington,” he says. “He was surrounded by fascinating things, so until I was 15 I used to help him out in the shop and stay with him on the occasional weekend. I learned an awful lot about antiques though him.

He was a great collector, a classic car enthusiast, and he had a big grand piano. The shop was full of weird and wonderful things, and they were fascinating to me.”

His favourite pieces come from the Queen Anne (1702-14) and Georgian (1714-1830) periods, when England ruled much of the world and trade routes brought back goods from the Far East that had a significant influence on domestic designers.

“It’s the Golden Age of furniture making, and marks the height of craftsmanship at its very best before power tools were invented,” says Paul.

“The workmanship was extraordinary, and everyone was a master of their genre in every skill.”

Having filmed over 1,300 episodes of

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Flog It! all over the country since the summer of 2002 and seeing thousands of antiques brought in by members of the general public, Paul’s still as enthusiastic as ever - but the items themselves aren’t his favourite part of the work.

“I really enjoy meeting people and hearing their stories,” he says, “and it’s great to be able to go behind the scenes in castles, stately homes and museums, and talk to experts and curators - soaking up their knowledge and experience.”

It sounds like the perfect job for an antiques dealer, but the life of a television presenter isn’t glamorous all the time - especially when you’re filming on around 200 days during the year.

“It can get quite tiring sometimes, working 12 hours a day and living on

S

FORGE STUDIO

ABOVE: Paul Martin’s antique shop The Table Gallery in Wiltshire, which houses a vast range of furniture and artwork in addition to everything from Victorian coppers and animal skulls to ancient bog oak from the Forest of Dean and 19th century garden urns

takeaways and hotel food,” he says.

“You do spend a lot of time on the road, and I miss my home and my family.”

He’s looking forward to coming back to Norfolk, though.

“I have very fond memories of Norfolk,” he says, “because my first holidays as a child were in the county.

I remember the Norfolk Broads with its wherry boats, the camp sites and I collected all the memorabilia and stickers from them. My father was a member of the Caravan Club, so we visited much of the county. I love the place and the wide open spaces, and I love the people.”

In addition to owning and running The Table Gallery in Corhsam, Wiltshire, Paul’s just finished filming for the new Channel 5 series Susan Calman’s Antiques Adventures with Susan Calman and antiques experts Natasha Raskin Sharp and Danny Sebastian. He’s working on a new series of Antiques Road Trips and other filming projects for the BBC and Channel 5 are already in the pipeline.

“If I can find the time I’d also like to continue restoring my house, and I’m really looking forward to things getting back to normal after the last two years,” he says. “And as usual I’ll always be on the lookout for more interesting art and antiques. That’s the magic of collecting - you never know what you might find.”

Paul Martin will be appearing on Thursday 24th March at 7.30 pm at St George’s Guildhall in King’s Lynn.

For tickets please call the Alive Corn Exchange Box Office on 01553 765565.

KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

From Bond to Bizet: the best live entertainment Whether on screen or on stage, Alive Corn Exchange King’s Lynn o ers a aried and ibrant rogramme o er ormances...

W

elcome to Alive Corn Exchange in the centre of King’s Lynn - say hello to the future of live entertainment.

“With the opening of our new twoscreen cinema last year, we now have one of the finest multi-purpose cultural venues in the area,” says Philip Bayfield, Head of Arts and Entertainment for Alive West Norfolk and General Manager of Alive Corn Exchange.

“From Kids Club and toddler-friendly productions to the Silver 60s and autism-friendly screenings, we have a fantastic offering for all ages

that covers all genres.”

And a close working relationship with the town’s famous Majestic Cinema ensures that King’s Lynn always has an exciting, varied and ever-changing programme that includes everything from live comedy to art house films, world-class opera and the latest blockbusters.

Watch a live performance from the Royal Opera House in comfort on your doorstep. Enjoy the latest productions from the National Theatre with a glass or two of prosecco, or revisit the 1960s with a screening of The Doors’ legendary concert at the Hollywood Bowl in July 1968.

Grab your controllers and take part in a live big-screen video game tournament, or treat yourself to a private showing of the latest films in one of the most luxurious cinemas in the area.

“People have really missed live entertainment over the last couple of years,” says Philip, “and the whole team here has been amazed at the response and encouragement we’ve received from the local community.”

Over the coming months, audiences can look forward to Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (13th March), Bizet’s Carmen (14th April), and James Gaddas’ extraordinary stage production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (8th March).

“This has been a fantastic arts venue for over 25 years now,” says Philip, “and we’re currently working on some really exciting ideas for both the screen and the stage.”

For current and forthcoming shows and film screenings, more information, the latest news and online booking details, please visit the website at kingslynncornexchange.co.uk

Box office: 01553 764864 Tuesday Market Place, King’s Lynn PE30 1JW KLmagazine January 2022

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KLmagazine January 2022

It’s the ideal time to visit our newly-expan ded showroo m

Can’t go to the cinema?

Have one in your home!

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With a bigger and better showroom Core Technology Projects is bringing the complete big-screen experience to your home

f the last couple of years have taught us anything, it’s that home entertainment has never been more important. According to the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom, viewing figures for video streaming services have increased by record levels and we’re now spending much more time in front of a screen of some form or another - which means that the screen in question has to be as good as possible.

We’re demanding better pictures and better sound, we’re looking for more comfort and more flexibility - and we’re looking for an expert local service to make sense of all the technical wizardry.

For several years Core Technology Projects in the centre of King’s Lynn has been taking the latest innovations and state-of-the-art technology into

people’s homes - with full 4K UHD resolution, crystal clear screens up to 13ft wide, full Dolby ATMOS surround sound, completely automated and easy-to-use controls, and luxurious bespoke seating. It’s all the magic of the movies, but it’s all in the comfort of your own home.

“Even if you don’t have the space for a bespoke and specially-designed cinema room we can still transform your home entertainment experience,” says managing director Jim Garrett.

“We can connect your existing television to a discreet and wireless sound system, and for multi-purpose rooms we can even arrange for the screen to drop down from the ceiling at the touch of a button. The options are virtually endless and we’ll design a system to meet your individual needs and requirements.”

Following a major recent refurbishment, the Core Technology Projects’ showroom is now almost four times bigger than before, offering the best home automation experience in the area - with a dedicated cinema room, specially-designed furniture, and live demonstrations of everything from the very latest ideas in home security to next-generation gaming.

If you want to take your home entertainment to the next level or discover how the latest technology can benefit every room in your house, contact Jim and his team using the details below - and bring the future into your life.

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OPPOSITE: Detail from a painting of Gaywood Mill completed by local artist Water Dexter in 1920. He’s pictured above in his studio in King’s Lynn working on a painting of the town’s Custom House. The portrait to the left (The Artist’s Wife) was completed c.1925 and can be seen on the following page.

The art of capturing the gentle spirit of Norfolk From sweeping landscapes to intimate portraits, the works of Walter Dexter catch the details of everyday life in Norfolk, giving us a unique insight into the lives of locals a century ago

T

he Norfolk countryside has been the inspiration for hundreds if not thousands of artists over the centuries, from John Crome’s reminder of when Chapelfield in Norwich lived up to its name to Edward Seago’s carefree depiction of people playing amongst the dunes at Waxham. Many of these painters were met with great success for their works and their lives have consequently been welldocumented - and the reputation of the Norwich School of painters

KLmagazine January 2022

continues to grow.

The life of Walter Dexter, however, perhaps isn’t as well-known as his local associates. Many of these painters were met with great success for their works and their lives have consequently been well-documented.

The life of Walter Dexter, however, perhaps isn’t as well-known as his artistic associates despite a selection of his paintings being displayed in Lynn Museum and the Castle Museum in Norwich.

Though he was born in

Northamptonshire in 1876, Walter was raised in King’s Lynn. His artistic talent formed from a young age and he was taught to paint by Henry Baines, the prominent local painter who is best known for his paintings of the fisher fleet and views of King’s Lynn.

In an interview with the Eastern Evening News in 1941, Dexter reminisced on his childhood and his surroundings: “I remember as a boy of eight spending long summer days with my grandfather on the embankment,” he said. “The sun shone, the tide rose or

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ABOVE: View of Lynn from the South West was completed by Walter Dexter around 1930 and is a typically calm and gentle view of the town he loved so much. The Artist’s Wife (below) is a portrait of Dexter’s beloved Helen Chadwick) and was painted c.1925

fell; I watched the sand-martins which had their homes in the low, sandy cliff where the bank had fallen away, and I learned to distinguish one vessel from another.”

Dexter’s love of art led him to train at the Birmingham School of Art in 1892, where he swiftly proved himself worthy of being there. After only four months he won a local scholarship after entering as the youngest candidate that year.

Whilst studying he developed an admiration for the works of the Dutch and Flemish Old Masters: the most recognised European artists that included Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, and Johannes Vermeer.

He travelled across Europe, studying in Belgium and Holland, fascinated by the Medieval architecture in the cities.

When he was later asked how he made the surface of his paintings so smooth, he answered, “but that is how the Old Masters worked.”

When Dexter returned to King’s Lynn he began making a name for himself locally, writing for any British newspaper that would publish him. In his lifetime he wrote over 400 press articles on nature, art, and architecture, as well as developing his style of poetry.

Amongst this he continued to paint, and after finishing his piece entitled ‘A Workshop’ in 1904, Dexter became a member of the Royal Society of British Artists.

Some years later he met and fell in love with Helen Chadwick. She was a friend of Walter’s sister, and they met before the first World War and were later married in 1915. When Dexter’s talent as a painter and knack for 140

teaching landed him the role of Art Master at Bolton Grammar School until 1920, Helen went with him and worked in a children’s clinic.

The pair moved to East Winch where Helen became active in the suffrage movement and was a local secretary for the organisation. From this time, Walter began focusing on capturing the Norfolk landscape and less on the pre-Raphaelite traditions of his early influences. His works, ‘Lynn from the Southwest’, ‘Gaywood Mill’, and ‘Ely Middle Fen’ were created during this time, and he painted several versions of ‘Lynn from the Southwest’, finding the view of the town overlooking the river a favourite spot of his. He said it was “Lynn at a glance - a view at once exceptional and arresting.” It wasn’t just landscapes he painted, however; ‘The Artist’s Wife’ is an intricately detailed painting of Helen, and the same can be said for his piece, ‘Portrait of a Lynn Fishergirl.’

In 1941 Dexter was hired as Art Master at King Edward VII Grammar School in Lynn until 1944, when an illness forced him to leave. Despite this, he served as a local Council member and still wrote articles for the EDP and the East Anglian Times, primarily on the topic of Norfolk’s beauty.

It was in 1948 that Helen passed away, after which Walter moved into the former Valiant Sailor pub in Nelson Street, King’s Lynn. He found solace in his paintings and sold his works to local patrons, including the Queen Mother.

Dexter himself died in 1958 aged 82, after being struck by a motorcycle in the Saturday Market Place. He is buried at East Winch.

Today, a black plaque commemorates the time he lived at his old residence in Nelson Street, reading ‘Walter Dexter, artist, lived here.’ His works have steadily risen in popularity, with one of them – ‘The Carpenter’s Workshop – selling for over £34,000.

The love and admiration he had for Norfolk can be felt in his paintings; whether they were of locals or peaceful landscapes it didn’t matter. Though they capture his feelings, his poem ‘In Praise of Norfolk’ more easily tells us of his fondness for this county: ‘Traditions rock, withstands the rending storm Of battling theories, both new and strange This peaceful refuge in a world of change.’

For more articles on the history of Norfolk and its fascinating people visit our website at www.klmagazine.co.uk

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DESIGN & CODE BY

Welcome to the quiz of the year As we enter the new year we’re testing your general knowledge with a look back at the last months with questions, all of which have a local connection. As you’ll see, was a great year for Norfolk 1 In January 2021, at least 10 very rare animals were spotted at Blakeney Point. What were they? a. Black seal pups b. Sea eagles c. Dolphins d. Arctic foxes 2 Which hugely-popular television show was broadcast live from west Norfolk in May 2021? a. Britain’s Got Talent b. Grand Designs c. Springwatch d. The Great British Bake Off 3 Norwich City kicked off their new season in the Premier League on 14th August 2021 against which formidable 142

opponents? a. Brentford b. Millwall c. Crystal Palace d. Liverpool 4 A world-famous dinosaur finally arrived in Norfolk in July 2021, and is affectionately known by what name? a. Donald b. Dippy c. Derek d. Desmond 5 In April 2021 it was the 300th anniversary of Robert Walpole of Houghton becoming what? a. The country’s first Prime Minister b. Mayor of Lynn for the 10th time

c. The richest person in England d. The head of the Church of England Which famous building in King’s Lynn celebrated its 600th birthday in 2021? a. The Duke’s Head Hotel b. The Minster c. The Town Hall (yes) d. Marriott’s Warehouse The world famous British sculptor Tony Cragg held a major exhibition over the summer of 2021 at which location? a. Houghton Hall b. Sandringham House c. The Walks, King’s Lynn d. Dersingham Bog

KLmagazine January 2022

c. Docking d. Dersingham

© TRUSTEES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

15 In Waveney Valley’s popular Conkers Tournament 2021, what was the extra award a conker could win? a. Most Ferocious b. Scariest Looking c. Best Dressed d. Most Colourful 1 The local store of which village won the national Independent Retailer of the Year Award for 2021? a. Snettisham b. Gayton c. Blakeney d. Great Massingham

Which famous actor helped the local suicide prevention charity Three Dads Walking raise over £500,000 in 2021? a. Brad Pitt b. George Clooney c. Arnold Schwarzenegger d. Daniel Craig Which controversial artist visited Norfolk in the summer of 2021 on what they described as a “Great British Spraycation”? a. Damien Hirst b. Banksy c. Tracey Emin d. Grayson Perry

b. 10 years c. 175 years d. 220 years 13 The iconic Cromer Pier celebrated its 120th birthday in June last year.

How much did the 500ft-long landmark cost to build? a. £752 b. £400,531 c. £1,500 d. £17,000 14 Which village is home to the pub that won the award for Best Beer Garden in 2021? a. Thornham b. Brisley

1 Paralympian Jessica-Jane Applegate was the pride of Great Yarmouth after winning a gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, but in what sport did she achieve her victory? a. Volleyball b. Swimming c. Fencing d. Modern Pentathlon 1 Which Hollywood star hinted at investing in Norwich City Football Club in 2021? a. Vin Diesel b. Meryl Streep c. Robert de Niro d. Hugh Jackman 1 In October 2021, Norfolk’s Banham Zoo celebrated the birth of two babies from which critically-endangered animal? a. Siberian tiger b. Polar bear c. Golden eagle d. Hammerhead shark

1 Norfolk writer Richard Balls published a highly-acclaimed biography of which infamous Irish singer-songwriter in October 2021? a. Sinead O’Connor b. Bono c. Shane MacGowan d. Enya 11 Which event in King’s Lynn celebrated its 70th annniversary when it opened on 18th July 2021? a. King’s Lynn Festival b. King’s Lynn Farmers’ Market c. Fawkes in the Walks d. The Mart 12 On 27th October 2021, the railway station at Downham Market celebrated its birthday. How old was it? a. 400 years KLmagazine January 2022

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2 On 29th May 2021 King’s Lynn Town FC finished their season with an eight-goal thriller against Aldershot Town. What was the score? a. 8-0 b. 3-5 c. 4-4 d. 6-2

22 The 2021 five-part drama This Sceptered Isle features many locations in Norfolk and an uncanny portrayal of Boris Johnson by which actor? a. Christian Bale b. Tom Hardy c. Kenneth Branagh d. Colin Firth

21 In October 2021, the most famous buildings in King’s Lynn were illumintated by an interactive art installation by what fictional organisation? a. The Intergalactic Hanseatic League b. The Futuristic West Norfolk Division c. The Local Time Travelling Group d. The Lynn Space Travel Club

23 Broadcast in March 2021, the seventh episode of which national television show with Julie Walters and Ben Fogle featured a tour of Norfolk including the Broads and the beach at Holkham? a. Not-so-little Britain b. A Green & Pleasant Land c. A Walk on the Wild Side d. For the Love of Britain

25 In July 2021, what became the first of its kind to be born in Norfolk in over 600 years? a. Beaver b. Wolf c. Emu d. King Cobra 2 Which iconic building in Norfolk finally started emerging from a total covering of scaffolding in the autumn of 2021 after a five-year restoration project? a. Norwich Cathedral b. Red Mount Chapel c. Oxburgh Hall d. Happisburgh Lighthouse

24 Around 32ft in length, what kind of animal was washed ashore at Sheringham in January 2021? a. Killer whale b. Sperm whale c. Basking shark d. Giant squid

ANSWERS The only way to receive the answers to this quiz is by joining Friends of KL magazine. If you haven’t already registered (it’s completely free) please visit www.klmagazine.co.uk - all you need is an e-mail address and we’ll send you the answers in the next few weeks.

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KLmagazine January 2022

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1. 35 2. NICs will increase by 1.25% with effect from April 2022 3. Class 3 4. 4% 5. Inflation risk 6. Tax relief on employee contributions, Employer contributions treated as a business expense, the pension may not be included in the estate for inheritance tax purposes 7. Yes, the Marriage Allowance lets you transfer £1,260 of your Personal Allowance to your husband, wife or civil partner which reduces their tax by up to £252 8. Yes - through a small self-administered scheme (SSAS) or self-invested personal pension (SIPP) 9. Control over your assets (you can decide what happens to the inherited money), speed of payment (no need for beneficiaries to have to wait for probate) and protection from Inheritance Tax 10. 40% 11. No 12. This scheme offers borrowers the ability to obtain a level of home ownership through purchasing a share of a property, with rent charged on the remainder. Whilst Shared Ownership is aimed at helping first time buyers onto the property ladder, it’s actually available to any eligible purchasers including second steppers, upsizers and downsizers 13. The Government introduced VCTs in 1995 as a way of encouraging investment into Britain’s exciting, entrepreneurial businesses. VCTs offer up to 30% upfront income tax relief, tax-free dividends and an exemption from capital gains tax on the shares should they rise in value 14. A Will is automatically revoked on marriage (unless written in anticipation of marriage). A Will can remain in force following divorce, but for inheritance purposes, your ex-partner is treated as if they had died when your marriage or civil partnership was dissolved 15. 55 (this will be rising to 57 from the 6th April 2028) 15. Cross Option agreements provide partners with the mutual option to acquire the interest of another partner on death, this is beneficial as it allows the surviving business owners to retain control of the company in a tax efficient manner

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145

Michael Middleton’s

WildWestNorfolk

I

t’s that magical time of the year again when we decide to make radical changes to our lifestyles only to abandon them by January 10th. I am, of course, talking about New Year resolutions, although Mrs Middleton tends to make radical changes to my life every other day of the week.

I’m not entirely sure where and why the idea of New Year resolutions started, but we seem to be supremely capable of failing to live up to them. I managed to come across a research paper from last year that showed that 35% of people failed because they’d set unrealistic goals, 33% lapsed because they didn’t keep track of their progress, and 23% couldn’t even remember what they’d resolved to do in the first place.

Last year, the man who wanders around the village picking up litter resolved to get a new job (I can’t say I blame him) and the woman who lives opposite us made a resolution to set a world record. It sounds ridiculous, but she probably succeeded in setting the record for the Shortest New Year Resolution since she gave up on January 3rd because she couldn’t think of anything worthwhile to do.

One of our neighbours is a great fan of Michel de Nostredame, who’s more commonly known as Nostradamus - a French doctor and astrologer who wrote a book called Les Prophéties in 1555 and is supposed to have predicted the future with uncanny precision.

The problem is that his ‘predictions’ are so vague that they can be applied to virtually anything, any place and anyone at any time.

Take this, for example, which our neighbour believes predicted Brexit long before it was coming and foresees

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the end of the European Union in 2022: “Sacred temples prime Roman style Will reject the goffes foundations...”

Make of that what you will (and if you can tell me what ‘goffes’ means I’d really appreciate it) but if you thought that’s weird, try this for size: “The sudden death of first personage Will change and another will reign...”

Apparently, this means that sometime this year Kim-Jong Un will be the victim of an unexpected accident and a member of his family will take over control of North Korea.

As you’ve probably gathered by now, we do live in a very interesting village.

I got into a lot of trouble regarding this during a recent dinner party, when I pointed out that since the book was written in 1555 the ‘prediction’ could apply to virtually any king, queen, pope or ruler anywhere in the world during the last 400 years. In fact, I said, it could even describe our local butchers.

A stony silence descended on the gathering, and Mrs Middleton’s Medusa-like glare could probably have cut through her horrifying Peach Spam Bake, a recipe that’s almost as scary as The Exorcist.

The trouble with predictions is that the future is always just around the corner, and it has a nasty habit of making you look rather stupid.

Take Henry Morton, for example.

When the esteemed scientist and first president of the Stevens Institute of Technology was shown a new invention by Thomas Edison called a ‘light bulb’ he didn’t exactly mince his words.

“Everyone acquainted with the subject will recognise it as a conspicuous failure,” he said.

Before lighting another candle, no

doubt.

Much the same could be said of the head of the Michigan Savings Bank, when he advised Henry Ford’s lawyer not to invest in some daft thing called a motor car.

“The horse is here to stay,” he said, “but the automobile is only a novelty.

It’s a fad.”

And it’s a fad that now outnumbers horses by more than 25 times.

You may not have heard of Dionysys Larder, but in his time he was a wellrespected economist and scientist, who edited the 133-volume Cabinet Cyclopædia, helped found the University of London, became its first professor of natural philosophy and astonomy, and even got a mention in Karl Marx’s Das Kapital.

Despite having a brain the size of a planet, however, he was less than enthusiastic when presented with the idea of a train.

“Rail travel at high speed is not possible,” he said, “because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.”

Having successfully emerged unscathed after a rather uneventful rail journey from King’s Lynn to Ely a couple of weeks ago, I can assure you that the good professor was seriously mistaken.

Entering 2022, I was quite looking forward to the United Nations’ Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture and the International Year of Glass, but it seems that Mrs Middleton has other plans in store.

It seems that my new year resolutions will be revolving around DIY, gardening, and tidying up the shed. Which should keep me busy until the middle of February at least.

KLmagazine January 2022

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