Georgian Holt at Work and Play

Georgian Holt at Work and Play

April 3rd, 2023 sees the publication, by the Holt Society, of a new booklet entitled Georgian Holt at Work and Play written by Margaret Bird, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Based on the contemporary diaries of Mary Hardy and an historical walking tour around Holt, led by Margaret, as part of the 2022 Holt Festival

This 32-page soft-cover booklet delves into the life of the fine north Norfolk town of Holt 1780–1810, thanks to the contemporary diary of Mary Hardy It answers these and other questions:

● What was it like to live and work in Holt during the Georgian period?

● Which were the key buildings?

● What entertainment and schooling were available?

● What impact did enclosure and the constant wars have on the town?

The booklet ’s seven chapters offer in-depth commentary coupled with colour and archive photographs and references to sources and further reading. The chapters are entitled: 1. Holt ’s claims to prominence; 2. The town at work; 3 The town at prayer; 4 Women to the fore; 5 Children’s schooldays; 6 The town in wartime; 7 The town at play Mary Hardy lived in the neighbouring village of Letheringsett, and she and her family frequently visited Holt for work, shopping and recreation. Her extensive diary has allowed us to appreciate and understand Holt and its residents in the Georgian period through its editor Margaret Bird, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society

In Georgian Holt at Work and Play the reader is taken on a virtual walk around the town, as shown on the copy of a map of 1810 Key buildings and landmarks are located, and their associated stories recounted, in this excellent study which will appeal to the curious resident or visitor as well as historians

You can read about the sample market in grain, the local and regional justice system, the twice-yearly fair, and how the many public houses ‘underpinned a wide range of activities central to people’s lives’ This wonderfully rich description of life in Georgian Holt also includes the rise of the Methodists and the reasons behind the severe economic pressures of the time In addition, the enormous influence of the womenfolk is certainly not left out Georgian Holt at Work and Play is published by the Holt Society You can find it priced at £5.00 (+ postage & packing £1.50) in local bookshops, on Amazon and at other major booksellers Or you can order a copy from the Society ’s own website (http://www theholtsociety org / members php)

Margaret Bird

Margaret Bird is the editor of the full text of The Diary of Mary Hardy 1773-1809 (Burnham Press, 2013) and author of the commentary volumes Mary Hardy and her World 1773-1809 (Burnham Press, 2020) : www burnham-press co uk

A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she was an honorary research fellow in the History department of Royal Holloway, University of London 2006-21. A member of the Holt Society Margaret likes to spend as much time on the family boat on the Norfolk Broads despite living in Kingston upon Thames

The Arts Society Glaven Valley

The Arts Society Glaven Valley meets for lectures on arts and related subjects, once a month on the third Tuesday from September to June. We meet at Cley Village Hall. The next meeting will be on Tuesday 21 March at 1.45 for 2.15 at the Village Hall in Cley.

Stone on Stone - The Men Who Built Cathedrals. A lecture by Imogen Corrigan

Do you stand in the nave of Norwich cathedral and wonder how on earth ordinary human beings created sky-scraping, dizzyingly high buildings on which even the top-most parts were delicately decorated?

In this lecture Expert Imogen Corrigan will tell us about the Master Masons who both designed the buildings and ran the site They commanded everything whether it was sourcing the vast quantities of wood and stone, recruiting the workforce or knowing enough about their various trades to be able to create heaven on earth out the cacophony of thousands of chisels and hammers These men were charismatic leaders, but they were continually checked by their fellow Master Masons in the interests of making a building as strong as possible - we only see their successes, after all They were real people who got into trouble with the law, who occasionally cheated on contracts, who liked to start a job but not to finish it On the other hand, their creations remain to this day, some breathtakingly beautiful in their exquisite detail causing us, centuries later, to stand in a nave and wonder

Membership of TASGV costs £45 a year You can come as a guest for £5 to see if you enjoy our meeting There is free parking in the car park next to the Village Hall New members are welcomed, and you can find out how to join on our website www.theartssocietyglavenvalley.org.uk

Wherry Charity Launches 2023 Programme of Norfolk Broads Sailings

Bookings are now being taken to sail on the Norfolk Broads this summer in a traditional Edwardian passenger wherry. Only eight of these elegant vessels are still in existence - five of which have been restored and are maintained and operated by the Wherry Yacht Charter Charitable Trust Income generated from their just-published programme of scheduled sailings and bespoke charters helps preserve the historic wherries for the future while allowing current generations to enjoy the unique experience of sailing in them Day trips are available on various dates between May 5th and September 30th, setting off from a number of Broadland locations including Wroxham, Stalham, Ludham, How Hill and Dilham. Some sailings stop at local nature reserves and tourist attractions while others include lunch or supper In addition to the scheduled trips, up to 12 people can charter a wherry for the day or a longer period of time for a family gathering, special occasion or event - with refreshments provided if required Each wherry has a fully trained skipper and crew who are all volunteer members of Wherry Yacht Charter Behind the scenes more volunteers help maintain the wherries, take part in fundraising activities and undertake administrative roles

To view the 2023 sailing programme, make a booking or to find out more about Wherry Yacht Charter and how to become a volunteer or Friend of the charity log on to www wherryyachtcharter org

It has now been two years since I began working at Age Concern North Norfolk and one of the goals set for me by the trustees was to increase our profile in North Norfolk through expanding our range of networks

I am pleased to say that the services that we offer in our day centre and our meal delivery scheme have become our success story to the extent that we are preparing up to 40 meals per day and we have around 50 people attending sessions across the four days that we are open

Two special events have been held at The Lighthouse recently – the Dementia Engagement Day and ‘Sheringham Helps’ which brought the community and general public in to find out about all the support that is on offer in this area We had a stand displaying all our activities which included the Magic Interactive Table and our robotic cat Tabitha (who I could have sold several times over!) While I can acknowledge that the vast majority of organisations represented at these events was well aware of Age Concern North Norfolk, there are still people who do not know what we do or think we are an advice organisation like AgeUK

I will continue to write these articles, which go into every household in North Norfolk, as they keep people informed far better than I can ever do on my own

If you are interested to find out more, please contact Alison on 01263 821188.

Magnificent Music Thrills crowd at Briston!

Take just one talented man, a state of the art digital musical instrument, a packed hall of live-music lovers, and you've got a recipe for a brilliant night out! The musician was the amazing Brett Wales, the instrument was the Wersi Sonic digital organ, and the hall was the Copeman Centre at Briston, which on Friday February 10th was filled to capacity with music lovers from all over the East of England!

We heard a most varied programme - from 'Macarthur Park' to themes from 'Pirates of the Caribbean' - 'Oh My Beloved Father' to 'The St Louis Blues March' - 'Tico Tico' to 'Sleepy Time Girl' - and just so many more great numbers too Proceeds from the raffle and refreshments also helped to raise £160 for the Copeman Centre funds, and an amazing £124 for our chosen charity, the wonderful ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital (see www orbis org)

Want to know what you missed? Well, click on www brettwales com and watch his video clip - and then wish you had been with us for the evening! If you would like details of our next shows this year, give us a call on 01263 860844 - it might just be the best 'phone call you ever made!

Langham Dome Museum

The beautiful sunshine that we’ve had lately has focused our minds on the fact that Opening Day is right around the corner!

Our first day for the 2023 Season will be Thursday 6th April, 10 am till 4pm

In March our magnificent replica Spitfire will be mounted on its plinth and pilot Dickie will once again be keeping watch over the Dome!

We have 6 new volunteers on board this year Having had a new recruiting poster out this winter it was well received, and we had replies from several interesting candidates. They will be joining our newly appointed Assistant Manager, Scott Eltringham, at the Dome for an Induction Course on how our volunteers interact with our visitors

Last year we were over the moon to have received The TripAdvisor Award 2022, making us one of the top 10 % of attractions in the world! A big part of this was down to our wonderful group of volunteers, who help present the unique history of the Dome to our visitors You only have to check out our 5-star reviews to see the public’s comments! Scott is spending time looking for new lines for the Gift Shop, to keep things as tempting as possible! He is also doing a great job with our social media output If you’re on Facebook and Instagram, you may like to follow his hugely interesting posts about the stories that surrounded the Dome in WW2 RAF Langham was part of Coastal Command and has an abundance of heroic and sometimes tragic tales to tell

We’ve been fundraising like crazy for a much-needed new Projector System for the Dome One of our Trustees, Roland Goodison is cycling the C2C, 146 miles across the country, to help raise money for the new system The films are the HEART of our museum The very purpose of the Dome was to project moving images of enemy planes onto its curved surfaces to enable trainee gunners to hone their skills Those