With all the effort going on to boost the town’s image, it’s a crying shame that The Crown Hotel in the Market Square remains closed. It’s currently owned by London property developers Wildmoor who, I believe, purchased the building from the previous owners – who then leased it back from the company and remained as managers. After a short while, the managers opted out of the lease and the pub has been closed since March 2009.

I know somebody (a client) who has just looked round the property with a view to taking the lease on. We’d been talking about the town in general some time before Christmas and the subject had got on to pubs (how strange, I hear you say!). I mentioned the fact that Kick Start Fakenham was originally interested in the re-opening of The Star. We came to the conclusion that The Crown was in a great location and could be run as a going concern given the right circumstances - and would considerably enhance the town centre if it was open again.

My client’s viewing of the property had made it obvious that lots of work needed doing to get the place running. The bar area had been previously renovated, taking away much of of the character of this 18th century building (including the original fireplace). The kitchens needed replacing. The rooms upstairs needed work. Sounds like £££s of investment are required to get things up to scratch.

I wonder if Wildmoor have the foresight to see that The Crown isn’t actually a great investment as things stand. The lease, as advertised here at £60,000 a year seems more than a tad overpriced if the intention was to get a tenant in quickly. No wonder it’s still unoccupied. Maybe it would be a better investment if the owners were willing to sell the building on again.

Any local entrepreneurs looking for a project? Drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with my client – who might be interested in joint ownership rather than leasing it (if the owners are willing to sell, that is)!

We went to a wine sampling last week. My wife and I were asked over by a friend in Fakenham who said that he’d answered an online ad to get a free gift in return for an hour’s tasting session. The idea was to try half a dozen different wines before being invited to order a case of them.

When we arrived the rep was already there, armed with two small suitcase-type boxes full of reds and whites. After being asked about the types of wine we normally preferred, we were offered shot-sized plastic glasses, a third filled with three whites and three reds from various countries.

The rep, who was very pleasant and not at all pushy, described each of them in turn before we sampled them. He seemed reasonably knowledgeable, although came out with some marketing-talk which was a bit dodgy. He said that as the wine contained no additives it would keep fresh after opening for several weeks. Also, he insisted that you wouldn’t get a hangover by drinking them (again a refence to their lack of impurities). I took both those statements with a large pinch of salt, but still promised myself to judge the wine purely on merit. 

How did they taste? They were nice enough (except for one red which I couldn’t bring myself to finish). Trouble was, they cost from around £9 to £15 a bottle plus VAT and to me, they seemed to be no better than a bottle you can pick up in Tesco for a fiver! This was emphasised by the fact that when the rep had left (heading for an appointment in North Park – sadly, without selling us any wine) we shared a bottle of supermarket red which was every bit as good as any of the samples we’d just tasted!

For your info, the winery is called Pieroth, a German company with their UK arm based in Luton. The rep covers a wide area across North Norfolk, so if you’re interested look them up (their free gift – a desktop ‘weather station’ looked useful). Thanks to Graham for the interesting invite -and the very tasty supermarket plonk!

Sarah Palin has just got a job with Fox TV. “I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Mrs Palin said in a statement on the network’s website.  “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

What planet is she on? What planet does she think we’re on? Do Fox actually believe we’re on a planet?

Fox is owned by Rupert Murdoch. He hopes one day to actually own the planet.

This news makes the BBC look good, like Will Smith wearing those shades and that cool MIB suit. Long live the Beeb.

In the UK, we love to criticize our own country. During this cold weather, we’ve seen endless stories about our councils running out of grit, UK drivers not being able to cope on the roads, trains and planes being cancelled, people dying because of the cold etc. “This doesn’t happen in other countries“, we hear people say. Actually, it does…

140 people have  frozen to death during the last weeks in Poland. 226 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt Airport.  Switzerland closed its alpine tunnels to lorries. Local power cuts and public transport disruption is forecast this weekend for Germany, where one area in the southwest has seen 300 car accidents – they also have a shortage of grit. Hundreds of trucks were stranded when French authorities closed the road near the German border due to snow.

See – it isn’t just us! Let’s stop spreading this misinformation. It happens all over.

The full article can be found on BBC News

It’s official. Fakenham has had so much snow for such a long period that the council has decided to mark the worst bits with permanent road signs.

Sorry, couldn’t resist. It was taken on my way to work this morning.

I’ve noticed lots of people complaining about the lack of grit on the town’s roads and pavements during this recent cold snap. Well blow me down, when I got to work this morning there was a guy in a hi-viz jacket hand-gritting both sides of the pavement along Norwich Street. The road had been done too – and I think a fair bit of the town had been covered, judging by my walk home this evening.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent Town Council meeting, where the state of Fakenham’s car parks before Christmas was ‘discussed’. Town Councillor Ann Chappel criticised the NNDC, saying that it had “failed to meet its responsibilities to shoppers and businesses”. I must say, having seen what Queens Road car park was like on the week before Christmas (we skated round for a bit then decided not to park there at all) I tend to agree.

As you may have read in the local press, Norfolk County Council are planning to save money in future by switching off some street lighting between the hours of midnight to 5am. They aim to complete the project by around the end of 2012 and are due to make the final decision by 25th Jan this year. The scheme will cost £274,000 during the next three years but is then projected to save £167,000 a year.

Here is a list of roads included in the project for Fakenham if the idea goes ahead as planned. Next to each road name is the number of the street light which is to be affected so you can check for yourself. The full list for Norfolk is available on the EDP website.

Arthur Road 001716 ; Baron’s Close 001719 ; Barons Hall Lane 001720
Bracken Close 001722 ; Bramble Court 001723 ; Bridge Street 001724
Bridges Walk 005894 ; Charles Road 001728 ; Clover Way 001732
Copperbeech Close 001733 ; Dairy Farm Close 001738 ; Eckersley Drive 001739
Edinburgh Drive 001740 ; Elizabeth Avenue 001741 ; Fayre Green 001745
Foxglove Close 001747 ; Gorse Close 001750 ; Great Eastern Way 001751
Green Court 001752 ; Gwyn Crescent 001755 ; Hall Close 001756
Heron Close 001759 ; Holt Road 001762 ; John Chapman Close 001763
Kingfisher Close 001764 ; Mallard Close 007742 ; Massey Court 001767
Meadow Court 001768 ; Nightingale Close 001771 ; Norman Close 001772
Norwich Road 001773 ; Oak Street 001776 ; Old Post Office Street 001779
Olivia Close 001780 ; Paddock Close 001783 ; Plantation Road 001785
Queens Road 001786 ; Riverview Court 001787 ; Rowan Way 001789
Salmons Way 001794 ; Searle Close 0017973 ; Sedge Close 001798
Shelldrake Close 001799 ; Smiths Lane 001800 ; Southgate Drive 001802
Station Close 015680 ; The Drift 001804 ; The Lawns 001806
The Ridings 001807 ; Townshend Green East 001809 ; Townshend Green North 001810
Townshend Green West 001811 [ Valley Way 001814 ; Warren Avenue 001815
Wells Road 001816 ; Wensum Way 001817 ; Wigg Road 001819