HOLME VILLAGE - 1970

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(Part of a School Geography Project by Martin Crown)

A Walk Around the Village

I set off from Tipple’s grocer and General Store, a shop which opened only 6 years ago and walk west towards Hunstanton and reach the cross roads. Ahead is Faraway Cottage and opposite, the Beach Road. To the left is Ringstead hill up to Ringstead.

I turn right here down the middle lane. The houses at the top here have only just been completed, while the other houses are only a few years old, excepting the Vicarage and "The Lodge" which are a bit older. On the left all the way down are fields. At the bottom I come to the old village centre. J Murphy’s shop and Post Office now closed down and the houses on the group behind it are being demolished and renovated.

Turning left past the chapel and the gate onto Redwell marshes, I pass several houses including Holme House now occupied by Mr and Mrs Walton a solicitor. Round the corner is Miss Wheeler’s riding stable. I pass on to the T-junction. The left fork goes up to join the main road opposite Faraway Cottage, while I turn right to head towards the beach. I cross the bridge and on my left is Jimmy Neave’s caravan site behind which is the golf course. Round the next bend, I see the path onto the beach. To the left are the public lavatories built in 1962 and to the right the car park. This is a small grass field hedged off and with a refreshment shop, St John's ambulance hut and car park attendants hut all clustered round the entrance.

Just before the exit gate of the car park you come to a rough road leading to a large white house surrounded by grasslands and dunes with a copse of pine and buckthorn to its left. Hence the name "The Firs". This is a nature reserve. The road is known locally as "Firs Approach" and called by youngsters the "Bumpy Road". From the road to the "Firs" is about 1.3 miles long. On its seaward side are about 10 plots occupied by bungalows or caravans with only 2 large houses not including the firs. Only one of these dozen homes is occupied all the year round by the owner Mrs Riviere, and all the rest are purely holiday homes.

I will now retrace my steps back to the old Post Office opposite to which is the Methodist Chapel, a rather small plain looking brick building built in 1875.

Here instead of turning right up the Middle Lane I will continue now past the new post office opposite the White Horse public house behind which is a caravan site, the largest in Holme which holds about 100 vans. I pass the "pub" and continue past Whitehall on the left. This is a large farmhouse with grounds, property of Mr Baker. Opposite this is Craske’s Market Garden and on the left also the Institute, a 3 room building used as a village hall. Next comes the school and church.

I continue to the corner where Mrs Sheldrake’s caravan site is seen down the Marsh Road. This site has about 30 vans. Here on the opposite side of the marsh road is the old village pound for stray animals, later to become the Village Smithy’s shop and now used as a garage for Smugglers Cottage up the road. Past Smugglers Cottage is Mr D Renault’s dairy. A herd of about 30 Friesian cows are milked here twice a day. Near the dairy is his barn containing silos for his cereal crops.

On the main road I halt. To the left between here and Thornham is Mr K Wright’s nursery garden and produce shop, and further along the mushroom farm owned by Mr Hopper and the fruit fields owned by Mr Jamieson.

I will turn right past the manor house with its farm buildings some of which are hired by Mr. Renault. On the left is the Bowling green, also manor property but now grown over and surrounded with trees. Past here is Burtons camping site for tents only which is often packed out in the season.

End of the 1970 essay by Martin Crown