On this week in 1984 and 2002: McDonald’s opens on High Street, Revolution filming announced and school’s bake off

In our weekly On This Week feature, we look back through the pages of old editions of the Lynn News dating back to 1984 and 2002…On this week: November 29 – December 6, 1984Fast-food chain McDonald’s has opened in Lynn High Street, providing a wide range of food and drink, as well as 60 new jobs. Customers, who have previously had to travel to Norwich or Peterborough to sample the famed ‘Big Mac’ hamburgers kept the restaurant’s new staff on their toes. It is McDonald’s 150th store in Britain and the company now has about 7,000 branches worldwide. “We are expanding rapidly,” said the Lynn manager Mr Andrew Bird. The shop includes a special area for children, with mushroom seats and tables shaped like yellow flowers. It took workmen 16 weeks to refit the shop which previously belonged to outfitters John Walton.

Lynn police officers on duty on the miners’ picket lines in South Yorkshire have contributed to a collection towards the funeral expenses of two young teenage brothers who were killed after an embankment collapsed on them while collecting coal which they were planning to sell for pocket money. More than 50 officers of ‘D’ division, comprising Lynn and Dereham, collected £79 which was given to the boys’ family to help cover the £500 funeral costs. The Lynn police officers were part of the Norfolk contingent on duty at the pit village of Goldthorpe, near Barnsley.A multi-million pound film starring either Richard Gere or Al Pacino is going to be partly filmed in Lynn. The film, Revolution, will focus on the American Revolution and parts of Lynn have been picked as the ideal background to double for colonial New York. British director Hugh Hudson, who made the blockbuster Chariots of Fire, is still negotiating with top heart-throb actors Gere and Pacino to decide who gets the lead part.A dog that is lucky to be alive has met the men who risked their lives to save him. Fred the golden retriever was taken to Lynn fire station by his grateful owners to watch an RSPCA bravery award presented to his rescuers. Sub-officer Rick Bentley and leading fireman Pat Baker had carried out the operation in nightmare conditions on January 22, one of the coldest nights of last winter. Fred had fallen through the ice of a 30ft deep pit at Leziate and had been stranded in the water for three hours before sub-officer Bentley reached him with an inflatable dinghy. He said: “My hands were so cold and he was so heavy and wet that I don’t know how I got him in the dinghy.” The cost of promoting tourism in West Norfolk could nearly treble next year to £70,000. Development officer Mr Ken Faulkner told West Norfolk Council’s tourism sub-committee that the area had to be promoted nationally. The southern half of the borough needed special attention and had a lot to offer tourists, he added, saying promotional programmes with supporting literature were essential in the light of fierce competition from both home and overseas markets.Animal rights supporters’ latest protest at Sutton Bridge restaurant Oliver’s, in Bridge Street, has got the owner hopping mad. One member of Fenland Animal Liberation, dressed as a giant frog, led a group into the bar to hand out gruesome posters showing how frogs legs are obtained in India. The police were called after the 15 protestors sat down on the floor and refused to leave. Despite the demonstration, the restaurant owners have said they will not be taking the traditional French delicacy off the menu. House prices in Lynn rose by an average of 3.7 per cent in the third quarter of the year, estate agency Charles Hawkins has reported. The greatest rise in the town was in semi-detached and terraced post-war houses with two or three bedrooms. These properties were up by 7.05 per cent, while pre-war terraced properties in the town rose by 5.54 per cent over the three months. Post-war detached houses with three to four bedrooms were up by 4.66 per cent.West Norfolk Mayor, Mr Bryan Seaman, donned his gardening boots when helping to plant two new trees in St James’ Park at Lynn. An English oak, given by the Norfolk Youth Service commemorates International Youth Year; next the mayor planted an alder to mark National Tree Week. Central area manager Mr Simon Beales said that up to 500 trees were planted in the town every year.The number of affiliated clubs to the Norfolk County Bowls Association has increased from 165 to 175 and there were now 14 leagues affiliated, it was reported at the association’s annual meeting. County competitions continued to be successful with a record number of 1,231 players taking part – which was about double the number of entries for the 1978 competitions.