The comments on the article are as varied and entertaining as usual. The first ones I read seemed to be pointing out the role that convenient car parking (or the lack of it) and its cost are playing in keeping people from shopping in town centres. It’s a point of view I’ve read recently expressed by local people too.

I’m involved, via Kick Start Fakenham, with a new local business group we’re just starting to organise. One of our ideas is to run a Fakenham shop promotion in 2012. I thought it might be a good idea if we could arrange for free parking in the town while it’s running, as an added incentive to bring in shoppers. What do you think? Is parking in Fakenham still a problem? Does it put you off coming into town to buy locally? Do you use the free parking at Tesco or the Pay & Display? Your views are sought!

It’s tomorrow!!! Saturday 26th November

Santa & Guests will be leading a procession at 4.45pm, from the Community Centre to the lights switch-on ceremony at 5.00pm.

The event is organised with the help of Fakenham Area Partnership, the Kick Start Fakenham community group and Fakenham Lions.

Bridge Street, Downham Market. Picture: Ian Burt. EDP website

Here’s an EDP article about Norfolk and North Suffolk’s market towns.

It reports a study carried out by Norwich Business School at the UEA which looked into the public’s view of these towns – what the shops are like, whether they were just ‘clone towns’ with the same old choice of retailers or had independent shops and where they were lacking.

One section about Fakenham says that it isn’t looked on as a clone, that part of our town’s charm is the ‘old fashioned feel’ and that the ratio of chain stores compared to independent stores seemed to be 50-50.

“People feel, however, that Fakenham could be updated a bit with a wider choice of shops as most people end up going to King’s Lynn or Norwich to shop for clothes etc.”

I reckon that’s probably right. Fakenham needs more clothes retailers. Which clothes shops, if they opened in Fakenham, would keep you from travelling to Lynn or Norwich for your duds?

Stuart was sorting out his stock for display. He had loads of spectacle frames and was giving them a polish and setting them out on the shelves (PS. if any of you need a pair of ‘goggles’, Stuart’s your man. I got good old fashioned service and very keen prices when I bought my frames there).

Anyway, I was on the ball yesterday. I immediately spotted something that obviously didn’t belong in the shop and asked why it was there. What was it? A lovely big Lowrey MX-1 theatre organ – not something you see every day in a spec frames shop! Apparently, this beauty is worth a fair bit of cash, but Stuart wants to give it away to make space. It sounds nice too – I got a free demo from Stuart, who’s a dab hand on the keyboard it turns out. Loud too – we had to shut the shop door to make sure we didn’t frighten the passers by!

So… I don’t usually place free ads on this blog, but as this is unusual and a bit of a giveaway… Anybody fancy a free Lowrey MX-1 ‘consolette’ organ? It could do with a touch of TLC (Stuart says, ‘It needs playing’) but what an absolute bargain for an enthusiast!

The Garden House in Fakenham could have its licence removed  

The pub has gained a reputation for drug use, violence and high noise levels and is to have its licence reviewed at the request of police. In a report by the Police Licensing Team, it says that  the venue presents “a high risk to its patrons and the wider community that use and live in the area of Bridge Street“.  

The District Council are currently holding a public consultation regarding the pub in Bridge Street. People have until 15th June to make their views known.

The Licensing Team have requested that the management at the pub be removed and the premises closed for three months for staff training. If that happens, I hope the police will support the other pubs in town, as the Garden Room’s clientele will obviously be looking for somewhere else to frequent. It would be pointless if the trouble just moved elsewhere. Other options include the imposition of licence restrictions (eg closing at 11pm instead of opening as a club until the early hours) or removing it completely.

I’d never been in the pub before a week or two ago, when I popped in with my fellow conspiritors in Fakenham Plubfest to see if the venue would be doing anything for the festival. I was surprised to see the appearance of the interior (it’s a vast cavern of a place) and was interested to hear the manager, who seemed a pleasant enough guy, describe the current noise restrictions they’ve had placed on the site. Apparently, when the sound levels reach a certain pre-set level, they trigger a switch which completely cuts out the sound system! However, I think some of the noise problem stems from the fact that you can’t fit those kind of switches to the customers!

So, this is how all my new clients will go about ordering a new website this month, in line with Visa’s UK Olympic ticket policy…

1. Indicate the kind of website(s) you would like. There will be a choice of single page, medium size or “like Amazon’s”
2. Choose where you want the site to be hosted. Options will be “on a server in a UK datacentre”  or “on a random person’s home PC somewhere in a former Baltic state”
3. State your first, second and third etc. choice of website subject. Examples are, “Plumber’s website”, “Solicitor’s site” or “Genealogy for Beginners”.
4. Provide your Visa card details (NB. other cards not allowed)
5. Wait until May 2011
6. Have an unknown sum of  money deducted from your account according to the final cost of the website you have been allocated.
7. Wait until the end of June 2011
8. Be told what kind of website you’ve been allocated and how much you ended up paying.
9. Wait until summer 2012
10. Get what you paid for a year ago (but not neccesarily what you originally wanted)

Think it’ll work?

The company has always been busy and successful as a small jobbing printers on the industrial estate, forging the old method of printing (letterpress) with the more modern Lithographic method. Work they have done over the years includes letterheads for Norwich City football club and stationary for nearly all the main businesses in the town from the last 20 years.

With the advent of digital printing becoming affordable and access able to the average home owner, Taylor print had to make the decision whether to ’go digital’ or retire while on top of their game and they have gone for the latter.

The town will miss them greatly and we wish them happiness in their retirement.

Fakenham has a great tradition in the print industry and it’s sad to see one of the remaining print businesses close. However, others remain to successfully uphold those traditions and long may they thrive.

Thanks go to Mark Baldwin who interviewed the owners, wrote this piece and provided the photographs.

First, the Spalding estate agents has moved across Oak street to the premises formerly occupied by Pearce Electrical. Bigger, more modern and more impressive shop front – it looks really good.

Second, the old Fakenham Learning Centre building, which has been unnoccupied and extremely dowdy for ages now, has some stickers in the window announcing that Hughes Electrical will be opening there in May. Well done Hughes – that’ll make a massive improvement to the shopfronts in Norwich Street.

The meeting will start between 6.15 and 6.30, with the formalities of a standard Chamber commitee meeting. After that an informal session between committee and members where you’ll get a chance to pose questions and put your ideas across.

During the evening a presentation will be made with the donation to Help for Heroes and the five local charities supported by the Chamber’s 2010 Fireworks event.

To end the evening, a hog roast and drinks will be available. The Chamber committee hopes to see as many members as possible at the event!

If you fancy a quick preview, click on the picture on the right. It should take you to the new Fakenham shop at Spreadshirt, where you can browse through the selection of tees, hoodies and other Fakenham-branded stuff.

It’s all very tongue-in-cheek and I think it’ll strike a chord with Fakenham folk. Let me know what you think so far.