Aaah well let's start with yesterday. Woke up and first task was to finish as much of Good News magazine as I could. That done I answered e-mails, read through some bits and pieces and then made a delightful discovery on a Norwich history site.
There was a posting about American GIs being stationed at Ketteringham Hall in the Second World War and also a picture of a young mother from Hethersett who was described as "one of the first squatters to take up residence" in Ketteringham Hall after the war. The troops moved out and families moved in.
I think the word squatters must have had a different meaning in the late 1940s to that of today as we are told that the families who took up residence had milk and groceries delivered and also received mail. They were later rehoused by the council. Certainly in the photograph the young mum from Hethersett who is identified as Mrs O. Hurrell doesn't look unhappy as she is smiling.
But my great find was a picture of the Kinkajou Cafe - something I have long searched for. The Kinkajou was a regular haunt of GIs and it is quite likely that Hollywood star James (Jimmy) Stewart ate and drank there as he was stationed at Old Buckenham.
The cafe was situated on what is now the B1172 and which was formerly the main A11. It was in an area of Hethersett known as Kett's Oak, named after rebel Robert Kett who I have written about before.
I certainly missed a trick on the Kinkajou as I believe it was owned and run by Hilda Hagg who was the mother of village stalwart Duncan Pigg. I had lots of chats with Duncan about village history but never asked him about the cafe and now it's too late as Duncan died a couple of years ago. Perhaps somebody has some information, If they have I would love to hear from them. Certainly the photo I found shows it to be a much grander building than I had envisaged.
It is a great delight for me, uncovering such pieces of information and trying to put together a jigsaw of local history.
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A slightly shorter blog today as I have had to spend quite a bit of time making more changes to the book on Le Paradis. This is all part of the process and shouldn't delay the printing which we are still hoping will be around the end of the month.
So I finish with a few more of those amusing jokes and facts found in the men's loo of the Red Lion at Cromer.
The average person spends six months of their life waiting for a red light to turn green (unless you live around Hethersett and then that six months is spread over just a year).
10% of the world's population are left handed but 100% of Polar bears are left handed.
The average male gets bored of shopping after 26 minutes. (This just proves that I'm not average as I get bored with shopping after about six minutes.