On this week: January 8-14, 1981

In our weekly feature we look back through the pages of the Lynn News 44 years ago…The Queen has given 12 jobless youngsters the chance to take up temporary employment at Sandringham Estate under the government-sponsored youth opportunities scheme. Under the scheme the dozen youngsters, helped by two adult supervisors, will work on the parts of the estate open to the public and the jobs will include clearing and landscaping work as well as some enhancement such as building picnic tables. The government’s allowance for the youngsters is £23.50 per week. But the scheme has come under fire from Mr Roger Ward, district secretary of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, who thought that government money should not be spent on the Royal estate “which is part of a private enterprise and seems to be doing rather well”.Ideas for a mixed 11-plus and 12-plus entry to the new Downham High School have been overwhelmingly rejected by most schools in the area. Now the choice looks likely between a return to 11-plus transfer of children from primary schools or a renewed commitment to the First and Middle School scheme with transfer at 12-plus. Last summer, head teachers and school governors were asked to submit their views on education in the area to Norfolk County Council and a meeting of the Western Area Advisory Committee will meet to discuss the implications of the consultations.

Berol Ltd, based at Lynn’s Hardwick Industrial Estate, has made a £500,000 investment in the future so that it can be in a strong position when Britain recovers from the economic recession. The company, manufacturers of many forms of writing instruments and art and craft materials, is writing its own success story by forging ahead with a new 28,000 sq ft warehouse, with North West Norfolk MP, Christopher Fowler, performing the tape-cutting ceremony officially to open the building. Berol has almost trebled the amount of usable space at its premises in just ten years and there has been a doubling of the workforce with investment in machinery and equipment.Determined efforts are being made to change Norfolk Education Committee’s decision to cut out school meals in primary and infant schools. Petition forms have been circulated by the National Union of Public Employees to every school in the area in an attempt to keep the service intact. The cuts were approved by the controlling Conservative members on the committee – and they were accused by Labour members of being “uncaring about the quality of children’s education and welfare.Permission has been given for the Wolferton Railway Station Museum to be opened to the public on a permanent basis – and the owners, Eric and Herta Walker are delighted about it. Opposition to the planning application was squashed at a meeting of West Norfolk Council’s planning committee. Afterwards, Mrs Walker stressed that the intention behind opening the station was to help pay for essential repairs to the building and said it was not planned to extend the business, only to preserve the station. North West Norfolk MP Mr Christopher Fowler has sailed in to the stormiest waters of his political career. It has reached a point where some leading Conservatives are saying that they would rather not see him represent them at the next election, but Mr Fowler has countered by saying he will fight the local seat with or without local Tory support. Some Tories are angered by the MP’s criticism of Margaret Thatcher and some of her Government’s policies, especially as some of his comments have attracted adverse publicity in the local and national press and even in the satirical magazine Private Eye.More than 200 unemployed West Norfolk people are wanted as temporary enumerators to work on the 1981 national census. The task of census enumerators involves advance delivery of a leaflet to all addresses in their specified area, making contact with all householders, delivering and collecting the census form and making sure each has been fully completed. For 11 days’ work, spread over four weeks, enumerators will receive a lump sum of £124 each, plus expenses and allowances. Criticism from members of the public of the town’s Christmas lights has been answered by Swaffham Chamber of Trade during a committee meeting this week. Officials listed the financial details of the lights scheme and it was pointed out that the Chamber was raiding its balances to meet the cost, much of which was taken up by a one-off purchase of equipment that can be used in the future. The president, Mr John Lister, said: “We have had a devil of a lot of criticism about the lights and I feel very aggrieved about it.” The Chamber has said it will seek the help of Rotary, Round Table and the youth centre towards cutting costs in putting up the next lighting display.