Missed chance to see ceremony
What a shame that no prior publicity was given to the ceremony at Great Yarmouth Fire Station on Thursday last week.It was performed in conjunction with the Belgium fire service and fire services around the world to commemorate the 30,000 remembrance parade at the Menin Gate in Belgium.
A missed opportunity for Great Yarmouth residents to see a truly great event. Well done to the Fire service and all those who took part.
JAN GODDARD
How about a delivery of poo?
I have just been reading the letter from C H Ford regarding cat mess. Everybody knows my take on the subject, but the letter clearly suggests it is okay for cats to mess and roam in other people’s gardens.
Well, can I ask again: what about the wild instinct of the dog to roam as they are only a domesticated wolf.
Most of us do not own cats and those who do so only have cats because they can put them out at night to do whatever they do. So I say this again: how would they like to have a delivery of their cat mess back without stamp and envelope? Now you know why so many people dislike cats.
Mr R THURLOW
Jordan Road,
Caister on sea
Bring Farmhouse back into use
As a member of Shrublands Youth and Adult Centre for almost 30 years, and a member of the archive group meeting every Friday at Shrublands, I am pleased at the coverage in the Mercury last Friday.
We, as former members of the centre, are appalled at the neglect of the old farmhouse. As a Grade II listed building it should be put in order, back in use, and maintained for the future.
The house was always a hive of activity. On the ground floor were the kitchen, canteen and adjoining “news” room both just generally used by all members just to meet and chat, music room (it had a piano!) for drama group meetings, whist drives, library, general use, meeting, management committee for instance, cellar for photography and modelling groups.
Upstairs, two rooms were used for art and dressmaking groups, another housed a billiard table and the fourth any meeting. All the numerous affiliated organisations met in the house, many having their regular rooms. Never an empty room.
I was involved in theatre productions, badminton, netball, art, dressmaking, plus other activities, meetings and finally on the management committee. Happy, fulfilling years with Julian Macey as warden.
PAMELA FOWLER
St Margaret’s Way,
Hopton on Sea
Library concerns proved right
The head and management team of Norfolk Registration Services should be ashamed of the state of Great Yarmouth Register Office.
The management team was warned of the large problems of the library as a venue. Articles at the time in the Mercury raised doubts. Yarmouth people voiced their concerns in the letters pages. Registration staff pointed out they felt it was an unsuitable venue, but the decision was still made to move to the library.
Now all concerns have proved right.
Great Yarmouth people deserve more, the facilities and surrundings are a disgrace.
Maybe the solutions could be:
1 Cease using the library as a wedding venue immediately.
2 Any weddings booked should be moved to the town hall, at no extra cost to the couple.
3 A deal should be struck with GYBC that the cost of a wedding in the town hall should be no more than is charged at the Norwich Reistration office. Why should Yarmouth people pay more?
4 The births and deaths side of the service should be re-housed into a more suitable building, as soon as possible. Two or three rooms plus a reception is all that is required for this.
5 There are a lot of buildings that would be suitable if all weddings are held at the town hall.
Please give Yarmouth people what they deserve. Norfolk County Council serves the whole of Norfolk not just Norwich.
Make the most important day in a bride’s life special and not a horror story.
Name and Address withheld
Register Office in library mistake
I am writing regarding last week’s article about the Register Office.
As a professional photographer I must confess that my heart sinks when people say that they are getting married at the library - I feel so sorry for them.
I can only reiterate that the place is a mess and having to walk past drunk/homeless people on the way to what should be one of the best days of your life is just plain wrong.
Whilst there are some very attractive places to get married around Great Yarmouth, these obviously come at a premium price - and it was a mistake to site the Register office in one of the most unattractive parts of the town.
I have been fortunate not to have had to register any deaths, but again, at a time of vulnerability do we want people to have to walk past drunks and the filth on the ground?
VICTOR LING
Love every drop?
Then fix drains!
Yet again, Bradwell is being used as a scapegoat by Anglian Water who are very aware their pumping station is not able to accommodate the volume of surface water and sewage from Belton and Burgh Castle, hence the flooding in Bradwell.
Anglian Water has been requested on a number of occasions over the last 26 years to pump Belton and Burgh Castle on a separate system out to Yarmouth, then to Caister. They are not prepared to invest due to the cost, we assume.
This problem is possibly about to be exacerbated by agreeing to storage tanks for the Bluebell Meadow estate. How was this situation allowed to develop when two publications by GYBC stated that a pumping station for sewage must be built in Bradwell south?
Builders started on the estate by connecting up to the Bradwell sewer when there should surely have been a pumping station erected first?
Our planning department agreed with the builders that the first nine homes only would be connected, that has now we believe grown to 150 houses so it won’t be long before all 850 will be connected.
Should Anglian Water, who loves every drop, separate Belton and Burgh Castle there wouldn’t be any problems with the Bluebell Meadow estate being connected.
Should the current system remain, and the storage tanks be installed, then a storm similar to the one of July 4 will mean Bradwell will be the dumping ground for all sewage from Belton, Burgh Castle, and Bluebell Meadow as well as our own.
We appear to be getting further and further into the fertiliser business.
It is only thanks to Mrs Hacon who has unfortunately been replaced by someone from Ormesby, and Mr Carl Annison, that meetings have been arranged to try to sort things out.
We totally agree with Mr Rudrum, that the withholding of Anglia Water’s sewage rate might have some reaction.
PS We don’t love every drop!
Mr and Mrs R SMITH
Lords Lane,
Bradwell
Sewage comes in my garden
I live in Beccles Road, Gorleston near to the White Horse roundabout. The drains keep overflowing and the sewage comes into my garden and this is getting out of hand.
When I phoned the highways department they said they clean the drains once a year as money is tight. That is no good to us. When the man came to clear them last year he said there was more silt down there than water!
The council and Anglian Water know this is a problem like Bradwell, Belton and Burgh Castle. The only solution for me would be to buy a pump and pump it back out, after all when the firemen came last time they pumped it out onto the road, so why not me?
Name withheld
Beccles Road,
Gorleston
Trying to locate cousin Gertie
I am trying to trace my cousin Gertie Lee, whose maiden name was Seaborn. She would be aged in her late 80s.
She lived in Gorleston in the 1960s in the area of New College Close.
EVELYN HOUSTON
Formerly Wells
Come along to our At Home
It is 35 years since the new hall adjoining Caister on Sea Methodist church was built. To celebrate this and the opening of our re-furbished kitchen we are holding an At Home afternoon on Thursday, July 23 from 2.30-4.30pm.
There will be free refreshments, table games, a quiz with prizes and a chance to see a computer montage of past exhibitions. Some of the banners we have made will also be on display.
An invitation is extended to residents of Caister to come and share in this special afternoon.
Over the 35 years the hall has been open we have played host at various times to the Boys Brigade, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides not to mention Sunday School and baby clinic. If you attended any of these please feel free to come and indulge in a bit of nostalgia and see some of the changes that have been made.
Although the church building has been in the village for around 35 years, newcomers and even people who have lived in the village for years often have difficulty in finding us.
If you walk down Beach Road facing seawards you pass the library on your left at the top of Eastern Avenue. The church is situated down an unadopted road which is the next left hand turn. A warm welcome awaits you.
Weather permitting, on the 23rd one of our scarecrow figures will be situated at the turnoff to point you in the right direction.
We would emphasise that everything that happens during the At Home is completely free and this is definitely NOT a fundraising activity.
A reminder there is a coffee morning every Tuesday (with the exception of a two week break at Christmas) 10am-11.30am. Services are held every Sunday 10.45am and most Sunday evenings at 6.30pm. Our morning worship is usually accompanied by keyboard, guitar and percussion. If you play an instrument we are always looking to expand our music group. At the moment CDs are used as accompaniment for the evening service so an instrumentalist would be welcome.
For further information please contact Linda or Don, Grasmere Caravan Park 01493 720382.
LINDA PEERS
Latest Budget a total disgrace
I read the remarks made by our MP Brandon Lewis in last week’s Mercury, regarding the recent budget, with total disbelief. Sadly, like most politicians, I believe he is not in the real world because for most people it was a terrible budget and especially so if you are under the age of 25.
Why? Because 18-21s will not get anything at all from the Government and come next April when the living wage is introduced and goes up to £7.20 per hour no-one under the age of 25 will receive this – a total disgrace,
And of course in a poverty stricken town like Yarmouth, employers will then take advantage of that and employ more young people under 25 to avoid paying the living wage.
And even if you are 25 and on tax credits, most people will still be a lot worse off.
If the government was to introduce a living wage or £8 per hour from next April, rising to £10 per hour by 2020 and payable to everyone who is 21 or over, then I like many others would agree with Mr Lewis, but sadly that is not the case.
P J MANTRIPP
Leman Road,
Gorleston
Many happy with library service
I read the article, Wedding Service is a disgrace, July 10, with great interest. As an inveterate library user, I have witnessed many wedding parties who appear happy and contented with the surroundings for their special day.
I have several issues with this article, the main picture is an old one and the garden has now grown and flourished, which is lovingly attended to by volunteers.
The staff in the library and registry office are extremely user-friendly and for my mind provide a service which goes out of its way to be communicative and responsive to peoples’ needs and requirements.
The Registry Office provides such an important service at very happy and sad times of people’s lives and we as library users, are cognisant of that fact and are obviously respectful to them in our midst. I also take great pleasure in admiring all the new babies and their delighted parents.
The room which is used for weddings is spacious and tasteful, which leads out to a gallery space, which is frequently used for exhibitions which lends a cultured feel to the proceedings. It is not soulless and has a pleasant and calm ambiance.
The main issue which your anonymous correspondent is concerned about is “running the gauntlet” of abusive comments and disorderly behaviour. This is assiduously monitored by committed library staff and it is true people do gather outside but it is I don’t think an habitual problem.
The proximity of the Salvation Army Citadel and all it provides for the less fortunate amongst us is such a necessity in our town and it is a case of “there but for fortune” and any serious misdemeanours are dealt with efficiently and quickly.
There is also a café in the library which provides home-cooked food, run by the charity Gyros which helps and assists migrants and newcomers to our town.
We are so fortunate in this area to have at our disposal two large libraries but they are constantly having to change and evolve to peoples expectations. They are not the silent buildings of the past but are proactive and constantly trying to fit into an extremely complicated and demanding world.
When there is a wedding, we as onlookers are pleased to be witnesses of such obvious happiness and joy.
To conclude from one very appreciative library user of all its facilities who is not averse to criticise when necessary, this was a bleak picture painted and to my mind does not as usual as in these circumstance describe the whole multi-faceted scene.
JUDITH A DANIELS
Winifred Road,
Cobholm
Shambles of the wedding service
Reading your shocking article in the Mercury this week has prompted this email. Not just Yarmouth library the whole of Norfolk Registration wedding services are a shambles.
Two years ago the wedding services were moved to a hub in Norwich. Trying to contact them is impossible. Telephones are not answered, messages left are not returned, emails take three to five days to return and the website is often not available. Eventually speaking to somebody I asked about getting married in the Yarmouth office and what the venue was like.
I was told she didn’t know as she had never been there, didn’t know exactly where it was but the Norwich office was lovely.
We found Yarmouth library and it is just as appalling as your article describes, if not worse. We decided to get married in a licensed venue.
The wedding co-ordinator from the venue informed me that as from June 1, I can only have a very set script, lasting 13 minutes, costing £600. I feel this is a disgrace.
One of the main reasons we were planning to get married in Norfolk is that just over a year ago we attended a local ceremony which was conducted by a registrar with compassion, dignity and fun and the ceremony lasted 30 minutes – which is exactly what we wanted. What is currently on offer is simply not good enough.
The day should be one to remember and the ceremony should be a major part and not one that is easily forgotten.
Name and Address withheld
Good luck to Age Concern GY
Congratulations to Age Concern Great Yarmouth - who have been awarded over £400,000 from the National Lottery for on-going services to older people in the Borough of Great Yarmouth. This is a huge amount of money - the biggest sum awarded by the Lottery in Norfolk this year.
The hard-working team of Jackie Tierney and Sarah Lee, plus all the Trustees and volunteers who run so many activities and lunch clubs across the whole borough are to be commended, and I am sure they will continue to go from strength to strength.
Good luck to them all.
WENDY READER
To decry state of library is unfair
Regarding the report in last week’s Mercury relating to the state of the gardens outside the Library, I would like to say that although I don’t think the library is an ideal venue for weddings, to decry the state of the gardens and the rubbish is justly unfair and somewhat exaggerated.
I am a Yarmouth resident born and bred and also feel passionate about the town of my birth. Yes, sometimes rubbish does appear and also sometimes a homeless person may find the need to take advantage of the small amount of shelter there. Homelessness is a sad reflection of present day society, and one should reflect “ there but for the grace of god go I”, so I have only praise for the Salvation Army and the wonderful work that they do.
Also the library does offer many activities, most of which are free for the general public take advantage of. If anybody has any concerns about the state of the garden then they are more than welcome to join the small band of dedicated volunteers who work in all weathers to their very best to keep this area neat and clean.
Obviously for some people this is not good enough.
GLORIA WEBB
St Peter’s Plain
Great Yarmouth
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