Pancake racing and accident hotspot set to get roundabout: Look back on headlines from 1986 and 2003

In our regular On This Week column, we look back through the pages of the Lynn News from February 11 – 17, 2003 and we’re also featuring a picture from 1986…One of West Norfolk’s most notorious accident blackspots is finally set to get a roundabout after years of campaigning. In the region of £500,000 of work is provisionally planned to start in the first week of March to build a roundabout at the Tottenhill junction of the A10 and A134. Known as Oakwood Corner, the junction has been the site of 11 accidents – four serious in the last three years. The junction has been targeted by Norfolk Police as one of the three worst junctions in West Norfolk. The other two are the A1122 Marham turning at Beachamwell and Downham’s A10/A1122 junction.

West Norfolk Council has approved spending up to £60,000 on a revamp of Lynnsport’s outdoor athletics facilities. The money will be spent on floodlighting, drainage and disabled access – providing a request for Lottery funds is successful. The total refurbishment will cost £120,000, and a bid for a contribution of £60,000 to £90,000 has been made to the Sport England Lottery Panel. The council says that improved drainage and floodlighting would mean the facilities could be used by dedicated sportsmen and women all year round.The Queen juggled both a walking stick and an umbrella as she arrived at Sandringham Church for the last time at the end of the royal family’s traditional break, after being driven from Sandringham House by car as it was raining. Prince Philip, however, walked the quarter-of-a-mile through the park and told onlookers: “Mad dogs and Englishmen go walking in the rain.” The service was the last taken by Canon George Hall, who retires at Easter from the Sandringham group after 16 years.Heacham’s own community website has received 50,000 hits from all over the world, just 22 months after it was launched. Heacham-On-Line was the brainchild of retired villagers Malcolm Diggins and Barry Gardiner, who started the website in March 2001. The site includes a guest book where people can write messages and comments. Mr Diggins said there had been a lot of contact from American former servicemen stationed in the area when they were at the Sculthorpe airbase. One of the most visited areas is the 17 pages of old school photographs and memories.A ten-point action plan has been drawn up by West Norfolk Council to solve problems caused by Downham’s rapid growth. Fears that services such as schools, doctors and dentists cannot cope with the influx of people into the town have been raised by residents. Now the authority has come up with an action plan to address Downham’s growth and tackle the related problems. Welcoming the news, Downham Mayor Bill Hayes-Allen said: “There is a shortage of doctors and dentists, and not enough school places for the children coming in. The infrastructure just hasn’t kept up.”The Linnets’ promotion aspirations suffered a major setback this week when top scorer Lee Stephenson parted company with the club due to work commitments. Stephenson, who has been a revelation since his arrival from Spalding last summer, has opted to take up a career on a North Sea oil refinery. He has bagged 39 goals to fire Lynn on the fringes of promotion. Manager Peter Morris said: “Losing him is a blow, but he has got to look after his long term career outside football.”Anti-war protestors from West Norfolk joined more than a million people on Saturday in the biggest march in British history. Two coach loads from the Lynn area travelled to London to show their opposition to the looming war against Iraq. The sea of marchers made their way from The Embankment in the south and Goodge Street in the north to Hyde Park where celebrities and politicians spoke about why the country should not go to war. Young and old, people in wheelchairs and on crutches, people walking dogs and carrying babies all braved the icy weather to shuffle along the three-mile route, which brought the capital to a standstill.Slices of history are hiding round every corner at The Priory at Magdalen. And now this Grade II*-listed house, set in just over three acres and has features that date back to the reign of Henry VII, is on the market for £525,000. It was originally a T-plan hall house with a timber frame, but was remodelled, floored and cased in brick around 1525. Norwich Museum has dated a piece of glass to around this period.