Downham Market Fryer in Bridge Street; Lottery grants for Castle Acre, Terrington St Clement, Snettisham, Watlington, Heacham
Nostalgia round-up for August 1:
There was a new look for Downham’s oldest chippie in August 1994. The Downham Fryer, in Bridge Street, had recently re-opened and new owner Mr Graham Adderson was pleased with customer satisfaction for the completely refurbished fish and chip shop and its 30-seater restaurant.
Special offers included lunches for 65p for students and schoolchildren, while senior citizens could enjoy fish, chips and peas, bread and butter and a cup of tea for £2. The staff facing the camera outside the shop are, from left, Tina Townley, Scott Woodruff, Graham Adderson, Steven Adderson, Philip Adderson, Jane Thorrold and Georgina Cowley. Photo: MLNF-940824
• On this week: July 30–August 5, 2001
Eleven West Norfolk Clubs and organisations are celebrating after receiving more than £30,000 in National Lottery grants. They have benefitted through the Awards for All programme which was set up in 1999 to target small National Lottery grants of between £500 and £5,000 to more people. The groups cashing in are: Castle Acre’s Big Heart and Soul Choir (£2,140); Terrington St Clement Preschool Playgroup (£1,928); Snettisham Beach Sailing Club (£4,956); Watlington Village Hall (£5,000); Heacham and District Age Concern (£4,750); Stoke Ferry Harvest Fayre Association (£2,683); Sporle Wildlife Conservation Group (£1,350); Fifth Lynn (Gaywood Churches) Scout Group (£2,978); Reel People Association of Anglers with Disabilities, Lynn (£2,500); Fakenham Gingerbread (£2,291); Fakenham Bowmen (£2,000).
Controversial plans to fell trees in Hunstanton to build new public toilets look set to be put on hold by councillors. Campaigners have been fighting to save an area known as the Spinney, close to the bus station, where trees would have to be felled in order to build the new toilets – a proposal which caused an outcry. West Norfolk Council Cabinet heard that 2,116 people had signed a petition against the plan and now the town council has requested the proposed development does not proceed.
A further 30 beds may now have to be shut down at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital because of nursing shortages and increases in medical admissions. Originally, QEH bosses were planning to close 46 beds for surgical patients, but now, following discussions with clinical staff, the top figure for possible surgical bed closures has been increased to 76.
North West Norfolk’s voice will be heard at Westminster, pledged comeback Conservative MP Henry Bellingham. This is his fourth term as MP and his first on the opposition benches after being re-elected in June’s General Election. He now has new offices in a building just a quick four-minute walk from the chamber of the House of Commons, and will be getting straight down to business having received hundreds of letters from constituents on a range of problems.
Teenagers are thought to be responsible for nearly £1,000 worth of damage to the Dersingham village sign at the southern entrance to the village off the B1440. The carved wooden sign features two lions on either side of the village shield, but one of the lions was completely snapped off and the other was damaged.
A week-long house-to-house collection by Lynn’s Churches Together raised more than £8,445 for Christian Aid, it has been announced. The envelope collection covered homes in Lynn and The Woottons, and while the collection was held in May, it has taken time for the envelopes to be collected and the cash counted. Churches Together secretary, Andrew McAdam, said the final total was one of the biggest the group had collected.
Linnets manager Tony Spearing was delighted with the performance put in by his side in a 2-1 win over the Nationwide Division Three outfit Leyton Orient in a pre-season friendly at The Walks. Dave Robinson put Lynn ahead and triallist Louis Evans got the second before Orient pulled a goal back in the second half. The defeated Orient boss Tommy Taylor tipped Lynn to do well in their forthcoming league campaign.
A new allowances scheme for borough councillors is on hold after Conservatives and Liberal Democrats voted against it. Some councillors could have seen their allowances increase by up to 40 per cent under plans which had been drawn up by an independent panel of six West Norfolk people. The allowances were determined by comparisons with other councils and organisations of a similar size and it was proposed that all councillors would get a basic £2,500 with special allowances in addition according to additional responsibilities.
Neighbourhood Watch schemes have become almost commonplace nowadays, but an extension of the same concept to town centre business premises is a relatively new idea. Nine stores in Fakenham have just got together, in association with the police, to launch a Shop Watch scheme in a concerted bid to counter an increase in shoplifting. Via walkie-talkie handsets they can keep in regular contact with each other to share information about known offenders who may be working in the town.
