Norfolk Nips | Pub and Brewery News around. I took advantage to check out what is going on at the Wenns Hotel, which has been empty for some time. There was a display of the plans for the transformation of the place which looked quite exciting, but the one question that they couldn’t answer is ‘when will the work begin’? As I write there is still no sign of any activity and even the bunting from the open day has not been removed. Another place which opened its doors or rather its cellars was the Bank House. We were taken down by John, one of our branch members who joined the amazing number of volunteers for the day, which make the whole event work. He showed us the extensive network of wine cellars and tunnels which to me resembled the Minotaur’s labyrinth. Some are now blocked off, including the one which stretches as far as the Baker Lane car park. Also taking advantage of the day was the Live and Let Live which had a display of information of lost pubs in Lynn and a Sunday afternoon piano player to add a bit of atmosphere. Credit to them for getting involved, as they did with Cask Ale Week, but it is a distinct warning sign when a good old street corner local is considered as heritage. In September the West Norfolk branch finally managed to persuade the council to award an Asset of Community Value listing to one of our pubs, the Railway Arms on Downham Station, hopefully awarding it a degree of protection from any plans the railway companies have to redevelop the catering outlets on their stations. Our fears were well founded as towards the end of October, the Railway closed as a result of the company that owns the building putting up the rent to an unrealistic level. The future looks bleak, for this former CAMRA National Cider Pub of the Year even with the ACV in place, but any change of use will require planning permission, so it might not be as straight forward to change the use as the land owners hoped. There was no time to rest as several other issues have arisen in the last few weeks. Our September branch meeting was due to be at the Lord Nelson in Burnham Thorpe, a historic pub close to Nelson’s birthplace. Indeed, it used
to be called the Plough but was named after the great man in 1798, being the first pub in the country to bear his name. When I first came down to Norfolk it was run by Les Winter (there is a landlord who deserves a blue plaque), who had gathered a huge amount of Nelson memorabilia, so that it was more like visiting a museum than a pub. There was no bar for service. Instead there was a room with some old wooden settles where you sat while your beer was brought up from the cellar. Three days before our meeting we had a call from the pub telling us that they could not host us, as the place would be closed (and thanks to the Flitcham Social Club for stepping in at short notice and making us very welcome). The day before the meeting was due, the bailiffs arrived at the Nelson and watched as the tenants moved out, taking with them, as was their right, everything that was not part of the building. This included the historic settles which Nelson himself might have perched on. Many in the village and beyond were less than happy about the state of affairs. There has been a village meeting to discuss the way forward and I have had a long talk about applying for an ACV, which I think they will do on their own initiative. Greene King assure us that the place is to be refurbished, returned as near as possible to its former glory and reopened, so hopefully the settles will be reinstated at some time in the future. I contacted Greene King for a comment, but received no reply. Meanwhile, we had our October meeting at the Ouse Amateur Sailing Club in Kings Lynn a few days after the shock news was sent out to those of us who are members that the club is in danger of closing. As you can imagine, this decision has not met with universal approval, and moves are afoot to come up with a way of retaining this wonderful place, which is the current CAMRA East Anglian Club of the Year. In a further development, a plan has been put forward to disassociate the club from the sailors and run it as a separate entity. For the foreseeable future the club will remain open as usual while the details are voted on and finalised. Continued Overleaf Winter 2016 / 2017 | 9