There were two significant moments for me at the Sunday, April 27 meeting – one signalling the end of a long and distinguished riding career and the other marking a debut win. In their somewhat different ways they both represented important rites of passage.

Nigel Bloom seems to have been around for ever on the local pointing scene, having clocked up 184 winners at East Anglian tracks. But two years ago he suffered a bad fall at Fakenham which left him with serious leg injuries and the likelihood of never riding competitively again.

Defying the odds he proved the pundits wrong by turning out for the Confined Hunts race on Bunratty's Sole – and almost stole it with a typically aggressive ride. In the end he had to give best to the hot favourite Took My Eye, ridden by top horseman David Kemp.

Our man then announced in the winners' enclosure that he was finally calling it a day. A bottle of bubbly and three rousing cheers from all the other jockeys was no less than he deserved.

At the other end of the scale, Sam Vaughan-Jones from just down the road in Wells experienced the thrill of winning his first race in this his second season on the circuit.

On board the old warhorse Nokimover, now a 14 year-old, he led from virtually start to finish to see off his brother Alex in the members' race. The horse is jointly owned by Mr Vaughan-Jones' mum Alice and Gary Luck, who runs GJL Animal Feeds on Fakenham's Commercial Park. So it was even more a cause for local celebration.

• Hundreds of volunteers deliver meals on wheels in Norfolk and as regular readers may know, I've been involved with the Fakenham set-up for more than ten years. This includes me counting and banking the monthly takings as well as ferrying meals around the town to the elderly. So far, so good.

The trouble is, prices for meals keep changing. A year ago they went up to three pounds which from my point of view was good news. Round figures just make adding up so much easier. But you knew there was a sting in the tail, didn't you?

From the new financial year at the beginning of April, some jobsworth at county hall has come up with a figure of £3.12 for each meal. And for the solitary pudding-only customer in Fakenham, they've worked out a figure of 59.

That just makes me tear my hair out, what little I have left. This is a voluntary exercise and I wouldn't have it any other way. But do those who set such bizarre figures have any idea what difficulties they cause for us lot working on the doorsteps?

Many of those to whom we deliver don't have the right money for a start. Which is hardly surprising, really. And the job of totting everything up has been made so much more complicated. Maybe some of those responsible for setting the meal prices should get out of the office periodically and join us on our rounds. It might make them think twice in the future.

• The lack of a footpath along much of the south side of Norwich Road between the Infant School and Norwich Street has long been a bone of contention.

At last a feasibility study carried out in April 2007 following a request from the school has identified the significant need for this safety measure.

Plans have been submitted and neighbours are requested to make their comments on the proposals by Friday, May 23.

With a new housing development on the go adjacent to the Job Centre and right by the main road it already seems a foregone conclusion. I'm saddened to see the loss of so many trees and shrubs as part of this equation. Presumably even more will get the chop when the footpath is laid.