A Waggs Tale E-Book

Geoffrey Peyton

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The town of Hunstanton in Norfolk, is a suburb of England that is visited by over a million tourists each year. Situated about 15 miles north of Kings Lynn, it is the only seaside town in England that is on the east coast of the country, yet actually faces west. All this will be answered in this short and affectionate tour of this delightful municipality, not to mention a few humorous hiccups along the way.

Leseprobe

Geoffrey Peyton

A Waggs Tale

Hunstanton; a town built by Henry L' Estrange Styleman Le Strange.

Thanks to the decent folk of Hunstanton for helping me with a few enquiries whilst I was on my short stay in their picturesque seaside settings. I would also whish to thank Tesco's for selling me a dodgy thermos flask that blew up to smithereens while I was relaxing on the beach, sending scolding hot coffee all over a poor Jack Russell who was previously chasing a ball on the sands. Cheers Tesco; every little helps. BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

A Waggs Tale

Before I begin my escapades of the Northern West Coast of Norfolk, let me give you some affectionate info of the famous people from these parts. People that you would not normally give a toss about and possibly still won’t when I have finished this section.

In 1970, evidence of an early Bronze Age settlement was discovered at Hunstanton, off the west coast of Norfolk. It is alleged that in 500AD, the Romans and the Iceni were pottering about and pillaging around the shore of Hunestanesteda, as it was known then. That of course is no surprise to anyone, as the Romans were already part of the east coast furniture of Britain anyway. But a find is a find.

On Christmas day 855, a 14 year old Saxon named Edmund, landed his little dingy in a spot that is now named St Edmunds point. A year after anchoring his boat here, he was crowned King of East Anglia. 15 years later he was martyred, thus becoming the 1st Patron Saint of England. He died in battle around 870, although many contradicting conflicts about his death remain a mystery. He is interred at Bury St Edmunds – naturally.

In 1840, and at the tender age of just 25, Henry L ‘Estrange Styleman Le Strange, inherited 10,000 acres of land for the use at his pleasure. While skimming a few pebbles into the Wash, he observed a few day-trippers enjoying a family day out amongst the sand and sea, and thought, “What a rather good idea it would be to build a little town on all this land that I now have”.

So 6 years later, the plans were set in motion for Henry’s first project involving bricks and mortar, - a pub.

The New Inn (now The Golden Lion) and its ale were in full flow a year later, and a grand opening saw a few celebratory heads of merriment. But apart from the lighthouse and the town of Heacham, the inn was the only erection by big ‘H’ for many-a-mile. It took another 16 years before Henry could muster anymore of his erections, and by 1862 he was putting it about willy-nilly. Almost every natural observation in this thoughtful town is possibly the work of Henry. After all, he was an architect by trade.

In 1862, a railway was linked to Hunstanton. Unfortunately Henry died in the same year as the first train was due to pass through. Many more of Henry’s erections were built during the many years after his passing, and I am sure he would be proud of the pier that was built in 1870, although it collapsed due to a storm in 1970. And I am sure that he would have been equally overjoyed at the many happy outings that would be participated on the train by the lovely folk of Norfolk and beyond, although it was dismantled in 1969. So when I am sipping a beer in the Golden Lion (or Le Strange’s Folly as it is more affectionately known), playing push a penny in the arcades, or just meandering nonchalantly, I will tip my cap to the memory of a man who came up with a barmy idea of designing and building a town on 10,000 acres of salted marshes and cow shit. Welcome to the town of Hunstanton St Edmunds.