So as they say in the Sound of Music "let's start at the very beginning 'cos that's a very good place to start."
I wandered down to see the lovely people at Dawson's Law for a feature for the next edition of Hethersett Herald and possibly the EDP if they want to print it. Salena Dawson told me that the demand for wills has risen by 60% since lockdown.
The obvious but very silly question to ask was: "So are they all worried about catching COVID and dying?" Well no not really as the solicitors explained. Apparently people are prompted to make wills for a number of reasons and for a number of changes in circumstances. These include happy events including buying a house, having children or grandchildren and less happy ones like the death of a close friend or relative.
Ironically when she found out where I was going my wife said: "We really need to think about updating our wills!" And that's without a happy or sad event!
I also had a chat with Salena Dawson about the trio of children's books she has written starring Clay the Cromer Crab. Salena and I share a love of North Norfolk and this certainly comes over in the books. More about them in a future blog.
Next stop was Café Kin and can you believe the value of the food and drink there on Mondays to Wednesdays under the Governments 50% off scheme? We ate and drank for the princely sum of about £7 - it was like going back a decade.
Later in the day I got a call from the editor of the Eastern Daily Press to ask if I could do a story about plans to get a new pavilion on the Memorial Playing Field. So I had a long chat with parish council chair Adrienne Quinlan (always a delight) and then wrote a full article on plans to ask for the views of residents.
Going back seven years or so I was closely involved in obtaining the original planning permission for a new building. At times it has been a struggle but now I'm very happy that the new pavilion will become a reality through a partnership between the parish council and the Memorial Playing Field trustees.
The appeal has over £100,000 from the S106 development money from development on Great Melton Road. Then there is optimism that another £200,000 can come from a Football Foundation grant. Finally the parish council has the option of taking out a low interest grant.
I have been saying for years that Hethersett deserves good sporting facilities on the Memorial Field. The new pavilion will have the bonus of including a room and kitchen available for community events. Let's hope we soon have a building to be proud of and a replacement for that dreadful unfit-for-purpose eyesore that is there at the moment.
The survey can be filled in at:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HethersettPavilion
The parish council will also be distributing paper copies of the survey within the next week along with its latest newsletter.
Below are photographs of the proposed new build.