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A historic picture of Hunstanton for every month




In his weekly Turnstone column, John Maiden looks at the new Hunstanton Heritage Calendar…

The Heritage Calendar for 2025 is on sale now at ‘By The Book’ near Legges in Hunstanton High Street. Previously it was only available from The Heritage Centre. At just £7 it represents great value for money because there is a historic photograph for every month and each one tells a story.

This month, for example, the photo featuring the Golden Lion reveals the fact that, prior to World War Two, the hotel grounds covered much more land than is covered today. It would appear to be a classic example of asset stripping, which is sadly true for much of my home town. Fifty years after the hotel opened in 1846, as the New Inn, our town hall became a welcome addition, designed by the famous Norfolk architect George Skipper and his son.

The January photo featuring the Golden Lion
The January photo featuring the Golden Lion

The use of carrstone was still the norm in the 1930s when the Capitol cinema was built across the road from the town hall. Unfortunately, by the time the hotel's land was used for the Northgate Precinct in the late sixties and early seventies, carrstone was out of fashion and brutalism had replaced art deco. No doubt this was made acceptable by Hunstanton Secondary Modern School - now Smithdon High - receiving the kind of praise normally associated with the king's magic suit of clothes. The block of flats depriving hotel guests of their sea views is a sad reflection of the lip service paid by borough planning officers to protect Hunstanton's highly significant Conservation Area.

In case anyone should think this is overstating the case against those responsible for planning enforcement, it is worth mentioning a meeting of Hunstanton Civic Society, held in the Town Hall during the spring of 2003, at which the head of planning policy at the borough council informed the audience that English Heritage (now Historic England) would soon be onto the council if it failed to protect the Hunstanton Conservation Area, which had been carefully photographed from the moment Henry le Strange founded the Sea Bathing Village of St Edmund at Hunstanton in 1846.

This did not fit in with the failure of planning enforcement officers, witnessed by numerous Civic Society members in 2002/03, which is why it was decided to seek clarification from the Cambridge office of English Heritage. After an exchange of correspondence, it soon became apparent that the planning department had failed in its statutory duty to consult English Heritage. The only excuse for this act of misconduct in a public office was because none of them had realised just how large a major new development on The Green was going to be.

June shows the pier railway in its glory days
June shows the pier railway in its glory days

There is still unfinished business to be dealt with on this issue, so moving swiftly onwards, let me comment briefly on two more photographs. June shows the pier railway in its glory days. This is a reminder that a pier structure, strong enough to support such a venture in the 1950s, must have been drastically neglected to collapse beneath the waves 20 years later. This leaves me wondering why the lease for Hunstanton Pier was not surrendered in January 1978, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the 999-year lease for the pier.

Moving swiftly onwards to September, where the opening of the boating lake in 1932 is the selected photograph. My own memories of this venue date back to the long hot summer of 1959. I find it difficult to believe that this kind of facility would have lost its appeal thereafter, had it not been for the decision to replace some of the rowing boats and canoes with small motor boats.

The opening of the boating lake in 1932 in the September choice
The opening of the boating lake in 1932 in the September choice

The Sea Life Centre is a popular visitor attraction, but not as easy on the eye as the boating lake was with its attractive gardens. In sharp contrast, the pirate-themed crazy golf, now taking up most of the former boating lake, can best be described as a complete eyesore, totally out of character with the surviving art deco shelters.



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