Hunstanton pier, Esplanade Gardens, Dad's Army, Margaret Thatcher, Harold Macmillan, Tony Blair – Turnstone in Lynn News
Turnstone Hunstanton column by John Maiden, August 1
Last Tuesday the "In bloom" judges were in town once again and it was my job, together with Mrs Canny Jones, to introduce them to the Pier Flowerbed, which is located as close as possible to the original footprint of Hunstanton's famous Victorian Pier.
"Don't panic" as Corporal Jones might have said if we were about to embark on the wartime closure of the Jolly Roger Pier in the Dad's Army resort of Walmington-on-Sea!
Today's column is more concerned with the natural environment than it is with iconic buildings. One of my earliest memories of growing up in Hunstanton was taking wartime walks through the Esplanade Gardens, where I recall the sight and smell of flowers along with freshly mown grass. At the other end of town I clearly remember walking with my mother down Alexandra Road to the cemetery, where we put flowers on her mother's grave.
During the war and for several years thereafter, the land west of Alexandra Road was given over to allotments. If this area was ever grazed by sheep, I have no memories of the change of use, which seemingly accounts for it being referred to as the sheep field!
Before I am taken on my final journey to the cemetery, I had hoped to see the so-called sheep field handed back to nature, or transformed into an urban forest. Surely, the need for our country to be planting vast numbers of trees is now more urgent than ever, because of the difficulty in replacing trees lost to forest fires caused by the increase in global temperatures…
The forgoing references to Alexandra Road are a painful reminder of the recent Lynn News coverage of Councillor Alex Kemp's decision to leave the Cabinet. The reasons she gave for her decision are probably the most worrying aspect of her departure for the leader and other cabinet members.
She was reported as saying: “I felt that joining the Independent group and the Independent administration would be different – that there would be much more openness, transparency and democracy. But it seems to me that the way cabinets work is not particularly conducive to democracy."
These words struck a chord with me, because I clearly remember discussing with a county councillor the decision to press ahead with the so-called Western Link road. I asked him how he could bring himself to support such an expensive and environmentally unfriendly scheme. He replied that the cabinet was 'for it' and that meant he was too!
When Margaret Thatcher's cabinet decided to privatise water and much more besides, I only remember former prime minister, Harold Macmillan comparing it to selling off the crown jewels. And was Tony Blair's belief in Iraq's WMD's honestly shared by so many members of his cabinet?
