Fakenham: Speeding a big concern
IT IS one thing to lay down traffic regulations and another to enforce them.
I thought of this while observing cars speeding along Norwich Road in the vicinity of the infant school.
The town centre is virtually a 20mph zone now but I suspect most drivers would admit to exceeding this on a regular basis. Certainly some of the exit routes towards Lynn and Norwich have that open road feel about them which, I reckon, causes the foot to press that little bit harder on the accelerator.
The restricted sections around the high school and college seem reasonable enough during term time when students are about but much less so at weekends and during the holidays when the buildings are empty.
I'm surprised that traffic is supposed to keep to 20mph all the time during those periods.
Mind you, it's been rare to find officers available to keep checks on speeding motorists.
At least a support group of volunteers is now being lined up to impose some sort of challenge to those who break the law.
These Speedwatch citizens are due to be out and about later this month and it will be interesting to see if their yellow-jacket presence by the side of roads makes any difference.
Others who flout the rules, of course, are the cavalier parkers around the market square and along Norwich Street.
We do have a traffic warden now, after years without, but his responsibilities are divided between a number of towns. Daily duties in Fakenham are a thing of the past so transgressions are likely to continue.
Having inherited a Norwich City season ticket this year on behalf of a friend suffering from Alzheimer's, I've more or less decided not to renew it. My reasons have much less to do with the football being served up by the team – although that's been fairly woeful – than with the bad language which is now part and parcel of every home game experience.
My teenage son tells me I need to 'get real' as this is the way things are in the so-called modern world.
I refuse to accept this. But if you should be contemplating visits to Carrow Road, especially with youngsters, do be prepared for communal chanting of vulgarities directed at referees and the opposition, something which is presumably condoned by the club.
Otherwise there would be loudspeaker announcements or signs saying, 'Thank you for not swearing'. Sadly, Norwich City, like every other football club, seems to be helpless in the face of mob rule and powerless to do anything about it.
This month marks the sixtieth anniversary of the United States Air Force presence just outside Fakenham at RAF Sculthorpe. From small beginnings it grew massively until at one time there were 10,000 Americans attached to the base.
The impact on the local economy was considerable for all sorts of reasons, not least in the creation of hundreds of jobs. I recall an open day there a few years before the base closed in 1992.
Loud music boomed from big speakers, the courtesies were impressive, the aroma of hot dogs and hamburgers filled the air and visitors had the chance to climb up into the cockpit of very fast flying machines.
Our local historian, Jim Baldwin, has written a fascinating account of this period in his book RAF Sculthorpe, 50 Years of Watching and Waiting. It's available locally or call Jim on 01328 864623 for details.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
