Hunstanton is given pandemic plaque for its community spirit

Hunstanton mayor, Adrian Winnington was pleased to welcome the Vice-Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk, Peter Wilson to a recent town council meeting.

He had come to present a special memorial plaque, commissioned by Lady Dannatt, the Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, to commemorate the community’s resilience during the pandemic.

Receiving the award on behalf of the community, the mayor was joined by Smithdon High School’s head girl, Caitlin Wagg; head boy, Theophilus Bazeley-Smith; and Mark Williamson, vice-chairman of Hunstanton Round Table.

The plaque, which is awarded to the community as a whole for pulling together throughout the pandemic, will be placed on the front wall of the Town Hall.

In thanking Mr Wilson, the mayor said the response to the pandemic in Hunstanton had all been down to the people.

Many had needed to change or adapt their way of working, which had required a lot of extra time and effort. Organisations and individuals had taken it upon themselves to care and provide for those in need of help.

There had been a general outpouring of good-neighbourliness.

The mayor concluded by drawing attention to the words on the plaque: “Live your best & act your best & think your best today” and also the words of Smithdon High School’s motto: “Work hard, be kind, and smile”.

He suggested that if everyone tried to live up to these ideals then our community would be all the stronger to face any new challenges together.

Whilst mulling over the use of plaques to acknowledge the response of communities to the pandemic, my mind went back to several similar plaques awarded to the people of Hunstanton for their heroic efforts during the second World War.

In those days it meant parting company with the iron railings, which used to add a touch of elegance to the front garden of 79 Westgate, where I was born, and to countless other properties throughout the town, including the Esplanade Gardens.

It also included finding a place of refuge in the event of Nazi bombing raids, like the raid that came close to claiming my own life in 1941.

There is even a plaque in the Civic Society Heritage Centre taken from a motor torpedo boat, which owed its very existence to the fighting spirit of my home town’s inhabitants.

Having survived the attempt on my life at the age of three, by the time I had grudgingly started school, and the D-Day landings had given the allies a foothold on the European mainland, I was active on the home front collecting ‘salvage.’ This included anything and everything capable of being reused or recycled.

Having spent the war years raising money for the defence of their country, the inhabitants of Hunstanton then set about raising money to buy something really useful for themselves, which would also remind future generations of their heroic efforts.

This explains why a neglected plaque at the entrance to their recreation ground still proudly proclaims the fact that they raised sufficient funds to buy it in 1949. Unfortunately, it has since been claimed that only a ‘lease’ was acquired in 1949; and in 1974 this ‘lease’ was transferred from Hunstanton council to West Norfolk Council.

Perhaps, when the current pandemic is consigned to history, along with any other threats to our customary way of life, Hunstanton council will finally be granted ownership of its own recreation ground, complete with a new plaque confirming this to be for real!