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Noise Nuisance

Bus Stop Perfection

Dear Jo,

I am interested to know if any other Holt resident was affected by a low flying aircraft spiralling, circulating and diving over Holt on Tuesday 14th February at approx 4-20pm? It was a lovely, bright, clear afternoon, the plane very visible, shiney, silvery and a delta wing shape, I think? I do not know I cannot say how long it lasted It seemed an eternity I was in my garden at the time when the aircraft suddenly appeared, once it began circling the noise became indescribable, frightening even

We do have a problem with noise pollution over Holt from aircraft, however, this occasion was exceptional. What about farm animals? Pregnant ewes? Would they abort their young? Surely having to endure such a level of noise is totally wrong and out of order?

It should be addressed by the proper authorities on behalf of the residents of Holt

Irene I'Anson

It ’s good to talk ...

Grieving can be such a lonely place Very little, if anything, prepares you for what follows the death of a loved one Once the funeral is over, it feels like everyone else’s life just goes back to normal while your life is anything but normal And, in truth, it will never be the same again Carol found herself in this position in lockdown Her husband had died just a few months earlier Fortunately, she discovered an on-line grief café run by The Good Grief Trust and started to realise the benefits of being with others who just ‘got ’ what grief is like It made such a difference that Carol wanted to find somewhere locally where people could meet in person and support each other

In December last year, Carol and Elena, Manager of the Holt Library, hosted the first Bereavement Café. It was such a success with those who attended that the café now runs on the third Monday of each month It is an informal, friendly group of people who meet to share their experiences and support each other The feedback has been really positive: ‘It ’s been so helpful to be able to put feelings into words and share our experiences’; ‘I’ve liked hearing how other people are dealing with their grief ’ ; ‘I’ve felt listened to without judgment ’ . ‘It ’s been good to share memories too’

So, if you’ve been bereaved, you can be sure of finding a warm welcome We meet on the third Monday of the month, 2pm at Holt Library Why not come and join us?

Dear Jo

A while ago I wrote a short article for the Holt Chronicle (October 2017) about the naming of the bus stops around Holt, Market Place Nothing matched: the name on the bus stop flag, the wayside timetables, the printed timetables and online timetables all varied

It has been agreed that the three stops are to be called: Holt Market Place Hospice Shop, Holt Market Place Bus Shelter Holt Market Place Feeney ’s Newsagents

As of 7 February 2023 I am happy to report that thanks to Holt Town Council, Norfolk County Council and Sanders Coaches Ltd the bus stop flags, the wayside timetables and the on line timetables all match perfectly!

James P S Thomson

Holt Probus Club

Members of Holt Probus Club were entertained at their February meeting by a brilliant talk from Steven Ashling about the North Norfolk Railway

Steven has been a director of North Norfolk Railway PLC for 20 years or more He has been a railway enthusiast since he was 9 years old and is presently employed as Train Driver Instructor for Greater Anglia

Involved with the North Norfolk Railway for over 30 years, he was the first to be married at Weybourne Station!

Steven outlined the history of the railways before the mid-20th century and described the chaos of competing railway companies and the tangle of small lines that resulted Much of which was ended when most of the lines were closed and some of the remainder became part of the British Rail network But from 1963, enthusiasts took over the track between Sheringham and Weybourne, later extended to Holt, and devoted huge amounts of work in developing the Railway we see today. Steven told how he had been the lead in projects including the relocation of Stalham Station to Holt, and the connection to the main line at Sheringham He is now leading an exciting project codenamed HIVE (Holt Interactive Visitor Experience) which is to provide an exhibition hall with Victorian street to house their museum collection with catering and retail space.

Blakeney Bar High Tides

An exciting forthcoming event on the Railway is the visit of the famous loco Tornado from 27th May to 4th June Visit the Railway ’s website at www.nnrailway.co.uk/tornado/ for details

Holt Probus Club meets on the first Wednesday of the month at The Venue in Holt and they are on the lookout to increase membership. Any retired gentlemen interested in joining should contact the club –through their website holtprobusclub wordpress com or their Chairman Alan Taylor at alantay41@outlook com

Holt WI

A well-attended and busy meeting with one new visitor After business was discussed the Holt WI Annual General Meeting then took place with Coral Batchelor, WI advisor, on her last visit to Holt before moving away She was presented with a bouquet of flowers and the President thanked her for the advice and assistance she has given. The committee was duly elected with one new member and one member stepping down The President was re-elected by unanimous vote

Refreshments were followed by a talk from Michele Bishop of the North Norfolk Food Bank Quite an eye opener as to how much help is given to people in need. Instead of a speakers fee a large donation of supplies was made and members made their own individual donations

The meeting ended with the raffle Next month the talk will be on the work of the Magistrate so come along and learn something new, you will be made very welcome are having open session on Saturday 1st April, 10am – 2pm

We meet at the Venue, third Wednesday of the month, 2-4pm.

‘

Sea Shanties Save Souls

The Blakeney Old Wild Rovers have raised over £24,000 for Wells-next-the-Sea lifeboat station

On Friday

17 February the Blakeney

Old Wild Rovers were invited for a tour of the new lifeboat station and viewed the station’s state of the art Shannon class Lifeboat, Duke of Edinburgh.

Everyone was in good spirits and there were lots of laughs and appreciation for their ongoing support and fundraising for Wells lifeboat station Gary Mears of The Old Wild Rovers said: ‘We are all based by the sea and have connections to the local lifeboat stations, Wells, Sheringham and Cromer, with some of the crew being great mates of ours, so the RNLI is a charity close to our hearts ’

Since 1999 the Blakeney Old Wild Rovers have been singing their way round Norfolk raising money for the RNLI and other charities close to their hearts. To date they have raised over £250,000, holding various events within the local community, and regularly supporting at lifeboat station events

On behalf of Wells RNLI Coxswain Nicky King said: ‘We are extremely grateful to the Blakeney Old Wild Rovers for all their hard work and continued support in raising funds for Wells lifeboat station We all appreciate the significant donations they have made to the RNLI

The RNLI as a charity relies on the kindness and generosity of people such as The Old Wild Rovers, and what better way to help our volunteer crew continue to be able to save lives at sea 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year, than with a sea shanty.’

Perfect Pie

Something magical happens when you roast vegetables; their flavour intensifies and sweetens, turning a boring veg into something sublime Squashes are notorious for being bland but roast them up and it ’s a whole other story Many people consider vegetables to be a side dish but cooked in the right way they become the star of the show and bought seasonally they are a very economical option I've included fennel here, but don’t worry if you can’t get it, the recipe works fine without it, but it can now be purchased in most supermarkets very reasonably I know some purists don’t like using Bisto, but personally I like to keep it handy as it ’s great for gravy and this sort of dish You can add a splash of white wine to the sauce if you want to jazz it up a little, but for a regular, family friendly dish I’ve left it out Most ready-made pastry is vegan, so if you use Alpro soya cream you can happily feed this to vegans, and the flavour is just as good

Roasted Celeriac and Butternut Squash Pie

Serves 4

1 large butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks

1 celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks

Olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 leek, cut into half rounds

4 sticks celery, finely chopped

1 bulb fennel, finely chopped

1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms, quartered

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

Editor ’s Recipe

With Easter coming up, I thought this month I would give you a recipe that uses up leftovers but has a feeling of indulgence at the same time If you have made hot cross buns and have some left over these are perfect for this, which is a variation on bread-and-butter pudding No leftovers? I cheat and buy a pack of buns from the supermarket which will do just as well

Add in some eggs (not the Easter variety!) milk and a little cream and you are nearly done This pudding will easily serve 6 people

Hot Cross Bun Pudding

You will need a deep round baking dish approx 25cm wide

Ingredients

200ml double cream

400ml whole milk

3 eggs

75g castor sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp Cointreau (optional) zest of 1 orange

50g butter, softened

7 or 8 hot cross buns sliced in half

4 tbsp marmalade

Method

Generous tsp dried thyme

A little Bisto or cornflour

Small carton cream (or soya cream if vegan)

1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry

Start by tossing your squash and celeriac cubes in a little olive oil, season and roast for around 30 minutes on 190° until starting to brown and cooked through Meanwhile, gently fry the onion, leek, celery and fennel in a little olive oil for 10 mins until softening, then add in the mushrooms and garlic Season with salt and pepper and the dried thyme and cook gently for a further 5 minutes Add in a little boiling water to form a sauce, and thicken with either a little Bisto or cornflour, and stir to combine it all Pour in some cream and check your seasoning Once the roasted veg are ready, add them in and gently stir to combine, then pour it all into an ovenproof dish Unroll the pastry and use it to top the pie, sealing the edges well, and make a slit in the middle Brush with a little milk, and pop back into the oven for approximately ½ an hour, until the top is golden and risen Serve with creamy mash and seasonal veg

Carolyn Burn

Heat your oven to 160C/140 Fan/Gas 3 and place a heavy baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan and heat to just below a simmer In a large bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar together with the orange zest and Cointreau, if using Carefully whisk in the milk mixture (make sure it is not too hot or the eggs will scramble).

Butter the hot cross buns and spread with marmalade and sandwich back together, keep 1 bun whole and cut the others in half the other way so that you have semi-circular pieces Place the whole bun in the centre of your baking dish and arrange the halves in a circle around the whole bun Pour over your custard and leave the buns to absorb the custard for 15 minutes, gently pressing them down into the custard Place in the oven on the baking tray and cook for 35 - 40 minutes until golden brown and the custard is set Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving with a little cream or ice cream.

Enjoy! - Jo

The Origin of the Hot Cross Bun

Thomas Rocliffe, a 14th-century monk, is widely credited as making the very first hot cross bun. Although the Ancient Greeks, Romans and Saxons all baked a type of bun to mark the changing seasons, it was Brother Rocliffe who made the Alban Bun in 1361.

By the 19th century, hot cross buns were commonly eaten on Good Friday to mark the end of Lent.

01263

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ECHO Ear Care is a new service, which is now available in Holt Consulting Rooms for clinic appointments.

Home visits also available.

Professional Advanced Nurse Practitioners

Mari-Anne Jones & Debbie Perez Selsky