Butchers closes after 27 years and prince opens £1.2m stand at racecourse: Memories from 1994 and 2002

In our regular On This Week column, we look back through the pages of the Lynn News from March 17 – 23, 2002 as well as a picture from March 1994…One of Hunstanton’s best-loved landmarks, the helter-skelter, has been taken down from the town’s fairground after more than 40 years. The owner, William “Young Rocky” Thompson has been forced to dismantle the helter-skelter as ill-health made it difficult for him to keep it running. He told the Lynn News he was on kidney dialysis and had been unable to maintain the ride in the way it should be done for the past two years. He had taken over the running of the ride when his father, William “Rocky” Thompson, died in December 1981. Hunstanton resident Mr Dick Melton said there had been a helter-skelter on or near the fairground since 1898, apart from a 16-year gap when it was removed during the Second World War to make room for a vehicle depot.Prince Charles was given a royal standing ovation when he braved the weather to officially open a £1.2 million stand at Fakenham racecourse. And to mark his mother’s Golden Jubilee he also planted a tree at the racecourse, of which he is a patron, having taken over the role from The Queen two years ago. Joking to the crowd as he unveiled a commemorative plaque, he said: “As this is proverbial brass monkey weather I will not keep you here long.” Prince Charles was also hosting a house party at Sandringham over the weekend and guests included musician Jools Holland, actor Richard E Grant and Poet Laureate Andrew Motion.

Terrington St Clement Primary School is proving to be so popular that a new classroom is being built and two more are being enlarged to make room for more children. With the village itself expanding, there has been an increasing number of new pupils every year and the extension is being built in time for the next intake. There are currently 338 children at the school which has 13 classrooms.Litter louts in West Norfolk will face on-the-spot fines of £25 if they are caught dropping rubbish by council “litter wardens”. Car park attendants, cleaners and ground staff could be given the power to impose fixed penalty notices for littering as part of a massive clean-up campaign being launched by West Norfolk Council in June. It is also planned to take on nine new members of staff to deal with street cleaning in urban and rural areas for 16 hours a week.Fire chiefs and councillors are pushing for a new fire station to cope with Downham’s growing population. The current facility in one-way Priory Road is old, and parts of it cannot be used because they are in a state of disrepair. With new housing developments springing up, bringing an influx of new residents, the need for relocation from the congested town centre is felt to be ever more pressing. The £300,000 needed for relocation is one of a number of departmental capital bids which are being considered by Norfolk County Council.Thousands of starfish and razor-shells have been washed up on Holkham beach. They are the latest species to litter the shores in a periodic phenomenon that last year saw huge numbers of cuttlefish washed up. Ron Harold, warden for English Nature, which manages the Holkham Nature Reserve, believes the incident coincided with strong north-easterly winds which stirred the sea bed and disturbed a lot of marine life.Jobs for local people will be created by major changes taking place at Oxborough’s only pub, which is being renamed the Bedingfeld Coach House. Formerly the Bedingfeld Arms, near historic Oxburgh Hall, it has new owners who are carrying out extensive alterations to the interior of the old building. The upstairs rooms have been virtually gutted and will be transformed into three en-suite double bedrooms for paying guests and the old stable block in the rear yard will be turned into five more en-suite bedrooms for tourists and visitors.Air pistol shooter Steve Archer, from Terrington St Clement, has been selected as part of a three-man team to shoot for Great Britain in the European Air Pistol Championships in Greece. It will be a precision shoot competition, which means they have unlimited sighting shots and 60 competitive shots at a distance of 10 metres in an hour-and-three-quarters. Mr Archer has used a shotgun for wildfowling for 20 years and started shooting a .22 pistol at Lynn St Michael’s Club in 1991.