wymondham's way ahead issue 11

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Morrisons…Morrisons… it’s been the talk of Wymondham ever since the supermarket opened in August.

Hailed as the catalyst to improve business for town centre traders, in truth it has proved to be nothing of the sort.

Shops from Fairland Street to Town Green report a serious decline in trade since the Morrisons store opened. The expected increased footfall of shoppers coming on into the town centre after leaving Morrisons has not materialised.

The supermarket’s enticements have blinded shoppers to all the special services that local traders provide.

Unless we wake up to the fact that town centre shops need our support we will be faced with a town centre dying on its feet.

This magazine has always striven to present a positive picture of Wymondham – a market town jewel standing proudly alongside the All as visitors with money to spend are attracted to its historic charm.

This is the icing on the cake for our lovely town – but if we show no loyalty towards our local traders there will be no cake for any of us.

Ivor Harvey

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While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of material published Wymondham Way Ahead Magazine takes no responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by contributors or advertisers or for loss arising from non-publication of any advert. This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or in part without the express written permission of the publisher. Products and services advertised in Wymondham Way Ahead do not carry any endorsement or recommendation by Wymondham’s Way Ahead.

PUBLISHER AND EDITOR: Ivor Harvey, Top Row, Wreningham, Norfolk NR16 1AR T: 01508 489280 M: 07900 577722 E: [email protected]

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It looks as though efforts to find traveller sites in south

Norfolk are requiring full force of the South Norfolk District Council’s bureaucracy. A 70-plus page document setting out the strategy is being published on-line by the council.

And this is just the start…despite all the managerial attention the document still doesn’t get around to referring to any particular ideas as to where travellers’ camps might go.

For the moment it is leaving this to you and I - we are invited to

put forward suggestions….Knowing how popular travellers’ sites are with local residents I doubt it will take long to deal with the response. Full details are available on the Councils’ planning web page at:www.south-norfolk.gov.uk/gtlp

Campaigner for all things Wymondham, Tony Vale,

is busily preparing again for the annual bizarrely named

“Lemon Day”.This year’s event is on Saturday,

November 1. Now in its fourth year, Wymondham Lemon Day aims to bring all sections of the community together and brighten up a winter's day, by celebrating all things lemon.And Tony is keeping up his reputation for offbeat ideas by setting a Lemon Day Limerick

Competition. He explains:“The five lines of your Limerick must begin with the letters L, E, M, O and N.A selection of the poems and the winning entry will be displayed on Lemon Day, at the Town Green Centre, Town Green, Wymondham, from 10.00am - 2.00pm.Other activities at the venue will include: Demonstration Craft Fayre; Stories from the Yellow Cushion; Nature-based activities and displays under the title of "Yellow

in Nature; Lemon Day Loom Band session.Send your limericks to [email protected] or if you want to know more about Lemon Day, telephone Tony on 01953 605434.

70 pages – but no answers!

Lemon Day no.4 in November

Under the Market Crosswith veteran journalist Ivor Harvey

Shoo-shoo instead of Coo-coo?

The Great Pigeon Poo Problem looms ever larger as efforts to

attract more visitors to the town are marred by the disgusting state of the archway entrance to the town centre car park.Whatever must newcomers must think of the pigeons’ filth littering one of the main pedestrian entrances to the shopping centre?

I gather one simple answer put to the council is for the roof space above the arch to be converted into storage space – at the same time blocking off the pigeons’ roosting space. This seems a sensible idea and one, which, hopefully, the town council will seize upon as the final solution.

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We all know of the valuable charity work done by the Royal British Legion. But for more years

than I care to remember the headline “Legion plea for more members” has appeared in local papers with monotonous regularity.

Wymondham is no exception to the rule… Sandy Dean has written to me on behalf of the Wymondham Women’s Section saying they would love to have some new members.

Many people think they have to have a Service connection to become a member. This is no longer the case “We would love to see new members,” says Sandy.

“Come along and have an interesting afternoon with tea, biscuits, bring and buy and a raffle.”

Membership is £8.50 a year and the women’s section meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month at the Town Green Centre in Wymondham at 2pm.

For more information Sandy Dean will be delighted to hear from you on 01953 605272.

Little time for gripes from the grumpies?

An idea to combat misery for motorists

Legion plea for more members

Under the Market Crosswith veteran journalist Ivor Harvey

Reporter circa 1960’s

Keeping pace with Wymondham’s growth

Cheers for a new shop opening

It's great to see a new wine shop flourishing in the town centre.

When I called in on Chris White to ask how the new business was doing he was brimming with optimism. Offering wines not found every day on supermarket shelves has proved a very successful formula and he is particularly pleased with the

refillable bottle scheme. The demand, he says, outstripped expectations and had him clamouring for more supplies when he first opened. Reminds me of holidays in the south of France when we queued up on a campsite to buy wine piped straight into our empty bottles from a huge tanker!

My remarks about cancelled town council meetings has brought comments from readers

who agree that such inaction doesn’t look good and a letter from Peter H Moss complains about lack of openness in council proceedings, harking back to discussions over Kings Head Meadow.

He goes on: “The council have got no idea how to solve the problem with the railway bridge underpass yet they still want to push house building in Silfield… The majority group are aghast at having to spend on anything except more housing with little or no infrastructure.”

Finally Mr Moss admits… “Me? I’m a grumpy old man who likes to ask awkward questions of the Council and I rarely get an answer.”

How are other “grumpies” getting on with their gripes. Do let me know…

Motorists’ moans are often heard around Wymondham these days. And there is certainly

plenty to complain about.Flooding under the railway bridge is a favourite topic

and a solution seems way off. Meanwhile as we put up with the long detour when the road is closed the most

original suggestion I’ve heard is for a live webcam to be installed so at least motorists can check the situation there before setting out. Anyone have a brighter idea? Next in popularity on the moaners’ list is the new road configuration around the Waitrose roundabout. Is more signage the best bright idea to help the harassed there?

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Delivered by Royal Mail to 6,343 homes and businesses

The initiative to invigorate Wymondham launched by the then mayor, Dianne Fernee, more than a year ago has been gathering pace with the Business Group formed at that time now

beginning to see the results of their work. Here the group chairman, DAVID DISNEY, explains the progress that has been made….

New finger posts the first step in a long ‘to do’ list

Following almost 12 months of working closely with South

Norfolk Council the installation of new finger posts and town maps have finally arrived in Wymondham.

As a group, we considered that one of the first priorities for improving the town centre was to have dementia-friendly clear and accurate signage. The finger posts now direct visitors to the relevant parts of the town, and in conjunction with the maps in all the key areas, clear and understandable information is at last available.

We’re not saying that this will solve all the issues. Clear signage on the roads, a better car parking offer and lots of areas that need cleaning and general tidying will all follow.

We are just at the beginning… Our list of “things to do” is considerable, and we are steadily working through this list with the various agencies

involved, and some more major infrastructure changes will require more time than others, but rest assured we are on the case.

The Green Dragon put on a street party featuring stalls, food and street performers to mark the winning of the

South Norfolk Community Pub of the Year award. Five charities – Star Throwers, Snetterton Dogs’ Trust, East Anglian Air Ambulance, the Hamlet Centre and the Abbey Development Trust – benefited from the event.

Finally objectors to the development plan for 70 homes on Chapel Lane were able to celebrate when the appeal

against planning refusal was rejected at Whitehall level. The rejection of the plan for land overlooking Wymondham Abbey followed a two-year planning battle.

The Heritage Wings and Wheels air show at Tibenham attracted 5000 people and included flights by many

aircraft from the past, including a Spitfire, a Mustang, Tiger Moths and several aerobatics teams.

Pub puts on street party celebration

Objectors celebrate planning decision

Tibenham air show attracts 5000 people

Three businesses joined forces to toast the success of independent traders with a wine tasting. Reno Wines

– newly opened in Market Street – hosted the event with support from Disney’s Deli, offering cheeses, and wines from the local Humbleyard Vineyard.

Wine-tasting promotes all things local

The opening of Morrisons supermarket created long queues as the doors opened for the first time on Monday,

August 4th. The store in Postmill Close has created nearly 200 full and part-time jobs.

Crowds welcome Morrisons store opening

... from August


11

N1939K

Leading the way… new signs have been erected in key spots.

Overleaf - It’s your choice – shops’ survival depends on it.

On the business front we have a new supermarket to add further competition to the town centre. Some business owners have noticed a considerable fall in customer numbers, and the predicted increase of visitors walking to the town from its car park just hasn’t happened.

I just hope that people will support the town centre businesses or I’m afraid we’ll start to lose some and that would be a shame, but also would signal a decline that other towns in similar situations have been unable to reverse.

We need the town centre to grow, but grow in the right way. There must be a balance or we lose the character and become clones of high streets up and down the land with Payday loan shops, cash converters and yet more charity shops. Is that what we really want for Wymondham? Use them or lose them is the message here.

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Business Group chairman DAVID DISNEY sets out the stark choice for shoppers…

A recent in depth study of footfall in Wymondham by

an independent market research company reported that on any given day in Wymondham over 50% of the people in the town centre did not live in a Wymondham post code. A surprise to some perhaps, but it confirms that many people consider the town as a destination for a day out, be that on market day or other week day, for both were counted.

What I find a bit odd, is why so many people find Wymondham town centre a destination for shopping, worth driving miles to get to and why so many who live on the doorstep don’t. Maybe as a resident, the character of the place gets forgotten. Maybe it’s a while since many have wandered around the town and rediscovered its jewels. Or maybe we just take it for granted that it will always be there for those items you only occasionally need.

There have been remarks about the local shops not being open at convenient times, and whilst I agree, some of the shops could and some would agree to a late night opening, others just don’t have the staff to cover for a working day that for some starts at 6 am as it is. This coupled with the specialist knowledge that many of the independent business owners possess cannot be easily transferred to casual staff. After all, that’s half

It’s your choice – shops’ survival depends on it

Your bi-monthly focus on what's happening in Wymondham

Continued from page 11

13

Wymondham Rugby Club’s annual beer festival raised funds for the local Star Throwers cancer charity and the East Anglian Air

Ambulance. The three-day event featured 50 real ales, ciders and parries.

An exhibition of Meccano, the model construction system, and Hornby trains was staged at the Hethel Engineering Centre. The

event was organised by staff at the centre, which specialises in engineering developments.

A parliamentary committee is to study the way rail subsidies are set. Department of Transport figures suggest that East Anglia

gets a poor deal compared with other parts of the country with services running into London.

Rugby club’s beer festival helps charities

Hethel centre shows off engineering icons

East Anglia’s rail subsidies under scrutiny

Peter Broome, Conservative, has been elected to represent Rustens ward on Wymondham Town Council. In the by-election

he defeated Independent Mark Walker, taking with 318 votes against Mr Walker’s 137.

Work is starting on the building of extensions to Wymondham Abbey, including exhibition areas aimed at increasing

interest for tourists. The foundation stone was blessed by the Bishop of Norwich at a special sevice.

New Conservative councillor elected

Building work starts at the Abbey

A public consultation programme has been launched to gauge

reaction to plans for almost another 2000 homes in Long Stratton. The development will go alongside the long-awaited village bypass and 12 acres of “employment land” are included in the plan.

Thousands more houses at Long Stratton

... from September

13

Keeping pace with Wymondham's growth

the reason many people use the town centre shops, they get advice and service that the stack ‘em high sell ‘em cheap outlets simply do not have.

In the end it comes down to choice. The independent shops will survive if enough people patronise them and allow them to grow their businesses. If people abandon them they will close. The opportunity to pop in for those items not available in other shops will disappear and a trip to Norwich will be the only alternative, and the character of the place that first made you want to live here will have been forced out of every nook and cranny.

The Wymondham Business Group will do everything possible to keep up our half of the bargain, but the residents must do their bit or future generations will lose out.

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Wymondham College starts the new academic year with a

new principal, Jonathan Taylor.

Mr Taylor is a newcomer to Norfolk after a teaching career, which has taken him into schools in Nottinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.

He says: 'I am very excited to have the opportunity of leading such a well-regarded school. My vision is to provide a world class education, where students are stretched to achieve their academic potential and encouraged to take full advantage of the rich and varied opportunities that the college offers.'”Wymondham College has a long standing reputation of providing an exceptional secondary education, combining high academic standards with an extensive and wide ranging programme of extra curricular activities.

The college was rated as 'outstanding' by Ofsted in its last education and boarding inspections and Mr Taylor comments: “We

are proud to be the largest state boarding school in England and Wales. Boarding is an integral part of college life and enables students to gain confidence and independence in a nurturing and caring environment.”

The College offers numerous opportunities for students to learn beyond the classroom. This includes an annual programme of over 700 sporting fixtures, numerous concerts, productions, exhibitions, exchanges, visiting speakers, trips and visits. The International dimension is given a high prominence and includes links with schools in Asia, Africa and Europe, an area the College is keen to develop further.

On the academic front a record 13 students were offered Oxbridge places last year with the overwhelming majority of post 16 students securing places at their first choice University

15

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Wymondham College - the largest state boarding school in England

New principal’s vision for Wymondham College

Wymondham College is making renewed efforts to maintain contact with ex-students. Director of Marketing and Development, Justin Smith, says: “We are appealing to ex- students to come forward as we begin to develop our links with the alumni. We will be putting together some exciting ways in which they can get involved with the College and help inspire, encourage and support our current young people.”To contact Mr Smith call the college on 01953 609083 or email: [email protected]

Calling on ex-students

Justin Smith – developing new links with past pupils.

Overleaf - Q&A with the Principal

16

My ambition – to be a beacon of outstanding practice



Here the new Wymondham College Principal, Jonathan Taylor, answers our questions as he takes up his new role at the start of the academic year

Q. What drew you to the college and what ambitions do you have for it?

Wymondham College has an excellent, long standing reputation for delivering high academic standards, combined with outstanding extra-curricular provision. The philosophy of the College very much matches my own and the boarding dimension is an area that I have a natural affinity with, as I needed to attend boarding school as a child. My ambitions for the college are simple

- to deliver an exceptional, well rounded education for all of our students and to be regarded as a beacon of outstanding practice.

Q. Tell us a bit about your career path, what inspired you to go into education?

After leaving Oxford I took a 'gap' year and travelled in India. I became involved in assisting a charity project working with children. This inspired me to train to teach on my return. I really enjoy working with young people and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing young people achieve success.

Q. You are new to the area - what do you think of Norwich?

I last visited Norwich over twenty years ago. The City has grown a great deal in that time, but has retained its friendly feel. I love the balance of old and new in the City.

Q. Are there any particular things you would recommend doing in the city?

It is early days for me - but a visit to Carrow Road looks a good thing to do this season - Norwich City look set for a good season!

Q. What do you do to relax?

I enjoy most team sports and watching live sport too. Music is an important part of my life and my tastes are quite eclectic - I am listening to Neil Young & Crazy Horse as I write this article. I also enjoy travelling.

Q. If you had £1 left in the whole world, how would you spend it?

Great question! My immediate response would be to buy a lottery ticket ... although if I really were down to my last £1 I'd probably want to save it!

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February 3rd 2014 will always be remembered as a momentous date in the long history of Wymondham Town Football Club (WTFC). It was at this routine committee meeting that the alarming financial figures were presented that the club had just £83 to its name and immediate bills of near £4,000. Andy Gardiner, the Council’s representative to the football club, on hearing this news called a public meeting for Saturday 22nd February to try to save the club. WTFC had been in negotiations with the Town Council since December 2012 regarding the proposed new Kings Head Meadow development. Part of the proposal was a two- storey building complete with full basement to replace the club’s existing premises as well as the Council’s much outdated and expensive Council

20

Your bi-monthly focus on what’s happening in Wymondham

Huge efforts are being made to revive the fortunes of Wymondham Town Football Club and here – at the magazine’s invitation – chairman Andy Gardiner sets out the

background to the club’s troubles and to its recovery.

Setting about survival – the fight to save a football club

wanted to keep its club for future generations. An EGM was called for March 31st 2014 and a complete new six-person management committee was elected with a 15-month mandate to save the club.

The new management committee elected in March moved forward by

On the morning of Saturday 22nd February 150 people

packed the WTFC clubhouse on Kings Head Meadow where Gardiner delivered a presentation and called for people to save the club. The sheer number of people in attendance and passion in the room showed that Wymondham

organising Community Days where many Wymondham residents gave up time to paint and do all the maintenance jobs that had been ignored by previous committees.

Walls were painted and cleaned, rubbish cleared, grass cut and as much as could be done with

Party times… on the wish list for the 131-year-old institution

offices in Middleton Street. The proposal had been voted in by 14 votes to nil with one abstention at the packed full Council meeting on March 14th 2013. Over 300 residents attended this meeting when Gardiner presented the proposals of the working group that consisted of Councillors Foulger, Fernee, Taylor and Gibbins that Gardiner chaired. The working group had become totally frustrated that WTFC had been unable at first to produce any committee meeting minutes for three months and despite weekly requests no financial figures came out of WTFC until eventually in January 2014. No financial reports had been delivered to any Committee meeting of the club or at the previous two AGMs. Frustration was growing that the KHM proposal was going nowhere and the blame for this lay squarely at the doors of WTFC…

21


£83 and a lot of good will was completed. But in early April when the club was given a two-hour inspection the result was the club had to close almost immediately on Health and Safety grounds! The Club had no FTW (fire) PAT or Asbestos certificates. These were just a few of the things that forced the closure of the club. The club had no business plan and did not even know its own running costs. Again the threat of having to close permanently loomed large. The club now though far from out of the financial woods has survived to play another season. The club has attracted more players and has a First team, Reserves and a successful Ladies side. For the first time this year and Under 19 side also plays from Kings Head Meadow. The club has a full business plan which

shows the club needs to take nearly £200 each and every day just to survive and pay its bills and historic inherited debt. Immediately £8,000 needs to be spent just to bring the electrics up to date - money that the club simply does not have. The clubhouse has been re opened and forms an excellent competitively priced venue for 100 people in the heart of Wymondham. Anyone can book the venue and the club actively encourages this. Membership has risen from a very low inaccurate figure to near 200 already despite doubling the membership fee to £10. Things are very very tight still and the committee need far more people to become involved and help. However the green shoots seem to be showing in the weekly

battle for survival. The new committee has worked tirelessly and Chairman Andy Gardiner feels if the club can survive this season both on the playing side and financially then it could be the springboard to much better things. The lease negotiations commence with Wymondham Town Council this month as WTFC lease ends on the Kings Head Meadow on October 1st 2015. WTFC urge Wymondham residents to come in and have a look at the venue and help save this 131 year old institution by booking your parties and events at the totally re vamped club. If you have not been in for a while please come back and visit as you will be very pleasantly surprised. All details can be found at www.wymondhamtownfc.co.uk.

Party times… on the wish list for the 131-year-old institution

Andy Gardiner

22

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24

What was to have been a one-off screening in

July 2000 has turned out to be a wonderful cinematic odyssey for the Regal Experience Group. That year Norwich’s Cinema City staged a series of events in Norfolk to mark

100 years of cinema in the county and Michael Armstrong asked if they would like to show a film in the old Wymondham Regal, which had closed commercially in 1993 and had become part of the local Ex-Services’ Club.

Michael had been associated with the Regal since 1958, almost all the time as a projectionist, and luckily the old Kalee projectors were still in situ in the box - and still working! Thus it was that Michael and myself helped Cinema City to put on that delightful 1952 Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt - and so successful was the screening that the following year two more classic movies – The Way to the Stars and The Glenn Miller Story – were shown and attracted wonderful support. Other film buffs joined the initial “promoters” and the number of Sunday

afternoon classic film shows quickly increased

to eight with sometimes additional ones for charity. The Regal Experience was up and running!

The group has always presented traditional shows with nostalgic supporting “shorts”, adverts, trailers promoting future attractions and the main feature, while during the interval ice-creams are sold from “the original Regal tray”.

Everyone in our group of volunteers has a role – Michael chairman, treasurer and projection, David

How the revival of the Regal became reality


A remarkable revival of Wymondham’s enthusiasm for “going to the pictures” has been created by a group of film fans who have dubbed their enterprise “The Regal Experience”. Following our feature on

the re-creation in miniature of the town’s cinema local historian PHILIP YAXLEY follows up with an account of the group’s incredible achievements.

Above, film poster of The Titfiled Thunderbolt and top, The Glenn Miller Stroy

25

Oldfield technical and projection, Maureen Dodman secretary and tickets and Les Woods, a veritable walking encyclopaedia on all things movie, seating and posters. My job has been publicity and announcing with occasional interviews.

Others who help in various ways are Joan Parry, Sheila London, Wendy Yaxley and John Jarvis (technical) with his wife Peggy, the ice-cream usherette. The late Ray Atkin helped for a number of years as did Marilyn Monroe devotee John Lee who has now retired. Originally our films were booked by Cinema City and then Hollywood Cinemas in Norwich, but as we gained experience Michael has looked after this side.

Delivered by Royal Mail to 6,343 homes and businesses

Overleaf – How Wymondham has welcomed stars from the golden age of cinema… including June Whitfield, pictured on her visit to the Regal and Sylvia Sims, right, seen in the Regal projection box with group members.

The Glenn Miller Story, the biopic of the famous dance band leader made in 1953, will be screened by the Regal Experience on Sunday November 16. Starring James Stewart.

Supporting will be Winning Your Wings, a wartime documentary featuring Stewart, who was stationed at Tibenham, Old Buckenham and Ketteringham Hall during his service with the USAF in World War Two.

The show will be in aid of the Abbey development project.On Sunday December 7 the main feature of a Christmas show will be Miracle on 34th Street, made in 1947, an Oscar- winning comedy-fantasy.

Both shows start at 2.30pm in the Ex-Services’ Club (Regal Cinema). Tickets are available from Maureen Dodman (01953 605593) or Michael Armstrong (01953 603246) and at Simply Cards, Market Street, Wymondham. They are priced £5 (concessions £4).

Showing soon at the Regal Experience

26

The film show auditorium now called The Regal Lounge has

hosted a number of star guests making personal appearances to support films in which they appeared.

It was in 2003 that I invited Forties favourite Jean Kent along for a screening of her movie The Woman in Question and, with local television covering the afternoon, the show was oversubscribed.

Over the following years among the stars who have come to Wymondham are Anne Aubrey, Muriel Pavlow, Shirley Anne Field, Rita Tushingham, Susan Hampshire, Veronica Hurst, Helen Fraser, Melvyn

Hayes, Peggy Cummins, John Leyton, Virginia McKenna and

Dora Bryan.

Some, like Julie Christie, Richard Todd and Michael

Craig, couldn’t get to the screenings of

their films so they

Film stars bring to life golden age of cinema

Promoting all that's best in Norfolk's fast-growing town

In the Sinden Theatre at Tenterden with Donald Sinden who died at the age of 90 last month.

invited us to their homes to have a photo taken with them to use in publicizing the shows. Donald Sinden showed us round The Sinden Theatre in Tenterden then chatted to us in a nearby tearoom about his illustrious career.

Not all guests have been actors and among others have been props man Don Westcott, who enthralled the audience with tales of working on films like Zulu, and David Rocksavage, the Marquess of Cholmondeley and owner of Houghton Hall, who came for his Norfolk production of Shadows in the Sun, which starred Jean Simmons.

Fred Astaire’s daughter Ava has visited us twice for The Barkleys of Broadway and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, both starring her legendary father Fred and Ginger Rogers. Ava completed a wonderful year for us in 2008 when she followed Sylvia Syms and June Whitfield, who appeared on the Regal stage in consecutive months.

Googie Wither’s daughter Joanna McCallum paid us a visit for a tribute show for Googie, a 1940s film icon who was living in Australia..

A galaxy of stars has come to Wymondham when the Regal Experience has shown films from the golden age of cinema in which they appeared. Here PHILIP YAXLEY recalls some of the memorable visits…


We have enjoyed holidays all over the country visiting old cinemas, film locations and movie museums, where we have met like enthusiasts who have been most interested in our retirement hobby. Several of us are avid movie memorabilia collectors and we all belong to a UK-US magazine club called Movie Memories, some honorary members of which are among the classic stars who have appeared for our shows.

*But perhaps most exciting for us film fans have been our trips to California – and our Hollywood Story will be “coming shortly”.

28

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Barbara and Brian Randall, who launched Wymondham Music

Festival with a series of concerts in 1996 and have nurtured the festival into its position as a much loved and respected element of the Norfolk market town’s cultural life, have retired after 18 years at the helm.

Long serving former chairman, John Wood and treasurer, Derek Fripp have also retired from the festival committee. Richard Elliott took over from John Wood as chairman in February and Derek’s successor as treasurer is Steph Homburg.

The festival began succession planning in 2012 and a new team of volunteers, led by Richard Elliott, is in place to run the 2015 festival and beyond.

The festival staged a special celebration evening at Central Hall on Friday, August 22, for friends

and supporters, to mark the long service of Barbara and Brian Randall, John Wood, Derek Fripp and Hugh Morgan. Hugh has run the patrons’ scheme for many years and will be retiring at the end of March.

Councillor David Goldson, Chairman South Norfolk Council, who attended the event said: "I thank you sincerely for all you have done for your community and wish your successors luck."

New team working on next music festivalA new era is beginning for the Wymondham Music Festival as long-serving stalwarts retire

and a fresh team begins planning for the next annual event.

Left to right: Brian Randall, Barbara Randall, John Wood, Derek Fripp and Hugh Morgan.


Festival Landmarks

1996: First Music Week established by Barbara and Brian Randall

1997: First Jazz Picnic, Derek Fripp joins the team as treasurer

1998: Lunchtime recitals and Market Place events launched; Hugh Morgan launches the Patrons scheme.

2000: John Wood becomes Chairman; first Town Busking Day

2001: First Music Lecture

2008: Festival Fortnight established

2009: First Teddy Bears' Picnic

2014: John Wood retires as Chairman at February public meeting, Richard Elliott takes over as Chairman. Barbara and Brian Randall, John Wood and Derek Fripp retire in August.

Minutes of committee meetings from the last 18 years weigh 7.5kg.

Festival Facts

Over the last 11 festivals,

there have been 85

ticketed concerts at

Wymondham Abbey,

Baptist Church, Central Hall,

Fairland Church Centre,

Kett's Park, Wymondham

High School, Wymondham

Ex-Servicemen's Club and

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32

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Wymondham’s Promoting all that’s best in one of Norfolk’s fastest growing towns

Singing Wymondham’s praises – and promoting local business

Summer 2013Issue 4

Promoting all that’s best in one of Norfolk’s fastest growing towns


THE ROADTO RICHESGeorge Freeman MP spells out how better links with the outside world can bring prosperity to Wymondham – pages 16-17

Wymondham’s Way Ahead article brings a huge wish to see town

centre thrive – pages 12-13

Autumn 2013

Issue 5



Wymondham launches a voluntary initiative to help

the vulnerable – pages 36-37

A townthat cares

Issue 6



Buttonssets the mood for Christmas Fayre

Pages 36-37

Big plans for town centre – pages 14-16Winter 2013

“Wymondham’s Way Ahead” magazine is produced by retired local newspaper editor, Ivor Harvey, and his daughter, Emma, who is a professional graphic designer running her own Norwich business, Mdesign.

Their family home for more than 20 years has been in Wreningham, during which time they have developed a deep affection for nearby Wymondham. Their intention with the magazine is to project a positive image of the town while providing a unique platform for advertisers.

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16 Late Summer

17 Autumn

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wymondham's way ahead issue 11

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