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- The Royal Connection
- Norfolk Eats
- Norfolk VIPs
- Richard Remembers
- Owlbut's Birdwatch
Most people are probably
aware that the Sandringham Estate in North West Norfolk is owned by the Royal family. The whole estate was bought by the future Edward VII in 1862
when he was Prince of Wales. In recent years, the late Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the Royal family have spent Christmas and the New
Year period at Sandringham House which is on the 20,000 acre estate. The house is a Grade II listed building and the landscaped gardens, park and
woodland are also listed as having Special Historic Interest.
On Christmas Day members of the Royal family will walk from the house to St. Mary Magdalene church which is also on the estate. The
pictures from this will usually be on your television screens on Christmas morning. On a sadder note both the late Queen's father, George VI, and
her grandfather, George V, died at Sandringham House. The late Queen would often extend her Christmas stay to include the anniversary of her
father's death on 6th February. In 1977, to celebrate her silver jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II opened the House to the public for the first time
and, 8 years later, I was there while on my first trip around the coast. On my second trip, in 1994, I did a live radio broadcast, on bended knee
just in case, from just outside the gates.
It may be less well-known, about the Queen and Sandringham not my broadcast, that Princess Diana was born at Park House on the Sandringham
Estate in 1961 and it was her home for the early years of her life. The House was given to the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity by the late Queen
in 1987. It is now run as a hotel designed for guests with disabilities, providing 16 wheelchair-accessible rooms and high levels of care for those
who require it.
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It seems that the word dumpling was actually born in Norfolk sometime at the beginning of the 17th century. The purpose of the food was to fill empty stomachs as
cheaply as possible and make up for the shortage of meat in a meal. From my experience a dumpling is made with suet but not in Norfolk. They only use flour, yeast,
salt and water. This makes them lighter, and whiter, than the dumplings I know.
This lightness has given them the name of "swimmers", while more normal suet dumplings are known as "sinkers". When correctly made a Norfolk dumpling
should rise to the surface of whatever liquid it is cooked in. It is thought that, in the old days, the dumplings would be made with the leftover bread dough.
Watch the video and see if Richard's dumplings sink or swim. You can also see the problems of doing this all on your own as nobody tells you that the
specially purchased apron neckband is caught round your shirt collar. Oh well, won't happen next time.
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Seven random people who were born in Norfolk in the last 100 years:-
Myleene Klass (Singer and TV Presenter), James Dyson (Inventor and Businessman), Olivia Colman (Actor), Hannah Spearritt (Singer - S Club 7 and Actor),
Bernard Matthews (Businessman), Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) and Sigala (DJ and Record Producer).
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The picture on the left is of an armoured
bulldozer on the beach at Trimingham in Norfolk in the 1950s and is proof that I didn't imagine the story I was going to tell you from my journeys and stays in
Norfolk. I stayed there on each of my 3 coastal trips and between 1965 and 1971 I went on holiday there each year, excluding 1969. There are many things I remember
from these times including the Norfolk accent, discovering there are theatres on piers and, of course, trips out on the broads.
On our first holiday, in 1965, we visited the usual beaches at Cromer, West Runton, Overstrand, Sidestrand and Mundesley. However the road down to the
beach at a place called Trimingham was closed and from the cliff top we could see that barbed wire stopped anyone walking along the beach from either direction. In
recent years I had begun to think I had imagined this because it seemed so weird and my parents were no longer alive to ask but, in researching
this little piece, I discovered that what I remembered was true.
Until Monday August 1st 1966 Trimingham beach was indeed closed off to the public and the reason went back to WWII. Although the cliffs at Trimingham are
the highest in Norfolk at almost 18 metres (60 feet), they were the only ones in Norfolk that were mined to prevent a German invasion. One of the problems was that
the cliffs are prone to erosion so the place where a mine was put may not be the place where it was when the time came to clear them away. The job began in January
1944 and it claimed the lives of 20 men between then and 1953.
The beach was closed by an Act of Parliament in 1946. By 1947 all other Norfolk beaches had been cleared of mines. In one week in August 1947, at Trimingham, over a
mile of beach was searched and 30 mines removed. A week later when that area was checked again more mines were found. By 1966 528 mines had been removed and it was
assumed another 300 had somehow been destroyed or detonated in some way. It was estimated that 100 mines were still unaccounted for but it was considered that this
made the beach no more of a hazard than any other beaches in the region.
My mother was a champion worrier and had she known this story I am certain we would never have holidayed in Norfolk again. Ah, old age. The joy of
holidaying on a mined beach.
Talking of beaches brings me to one of my 5 favourite beaches In England. Holkham Beach is reached via a walk through Pine trees and sand dunes and,
when you reach it, opens up into a massive expanse of sand, at low tide anyway. It was in week 1 of my very first coastal journey that I first found the beach
and quite took my breath away. I may, as we continue on this virtual journey, name the other four on the list. Keep your eyes open for them.
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This is a big bird. It's called the crane and it has very long legs, a long neck and drooping, curved tail feathers. It is
very graceful. The reason it is in this county is because there is a small breeding population in Norfolk. However it is thought there are only 48 breeding pairs
in the whole country. The site is kept secret. A few crane visitors from Europe pass through England in spring and autumn. They eat seeds, roots, insects, worms and snails.
They are about 115cm in length, have a wingspan between 220 and 245cms and can weigh between 4 and 7 kilograms. The feathers are generally black, brown,
cream and grey although some adult birds may also have some red and white feathers. Their legs are grey and their beaks black and yellow, of medium length and
medium thickness. They live in farmland, grassland and wetland. You are most likely to see one in April or May.
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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 17 February 2025
