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At this time of the year there are many more reports of faulty street lighting
columns. The lights come under the auspices of this Council, Norfolk County Council and
North Norfolk District Council. |
Norfolk County Council lights have a number
painted onto the column and can be reported to them directly on 0844 800 8008 (don’t
forget to note down the number). Sheringham Town Council lights do not have a number and
can be reported to 01263 822213. North Norfolk District Council lights are situated on
their Car Parks and along the Sea Front, the number to report them to is 01263 513811.
To enable disabled/wheelchair bound people being able to access the Council Chamber
and Town Council office, this Council is, and has been for some time now, looking into the
possibility of the installation of either an ordinary stairlift or a platform lift for
wheelchairs. However, there could be problems with the installation of a platform lift due
to the construction of the staircase but this is being investigated. A new entrance into
the Town Hall, to avoid the front steps, has been made at the rear of the building.
Dog Bins. Thanks to generous sponsorship two new Dog Bins are to be erected shortly. One
on Otterndorf Green, sponsored and donated by Miramar Veterinary Centre Ltd of Holt Road:
and the other to be sited on the East side of Beeston Back Common, and kindly sponsored by
Mr & Mrs R Pharo. All public seats owned by this Council have during the year
been repaired, painted and varnished, bringing them up to a good standard. The War
Memorial decorative railings were freshly painted recently ready for the Remembrance Day
Service which many townsfolk attended to honour those lost in the World Wars and other
conflicts.
Shortly work will be undertaken to repair the leaking concrete roof of the brick built Bus
Shelter in Station Approach. The roof was constructed so that the run-off for rainwater is
to the front of the Shelter: this is to be altered so the run-off will be to the back,
away from pedestrians walking past the front of the Shelter. Just a reminder of
contact details, the Council Office is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, 9.30am
until 12.30pm: telephone 01263 822213. Cherry Ashton, Town Clerk. |
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| Thanks to funding from the Norfolk Rural
Community Council Local Network Fund for Children & Young People Excel 2000 is able to
offer two unique pilot courses for local dis-abled children aged from 4 to 12 years.
The sessions will be held on Saturdays from 09.30 to 12 during term time at the
Splash Leisure and Fitness Centre, Sheringham. The start date for Pilot 1 is 8th January
and for Pilot 2 the 19th March 2005. This project intends to motivate and empower children
with physical dis-abilities to enable them to lead and enjoy a more active independent
fulfilled and inclusive lifestyle. Children and their parents/carers will take part in,
and hopefully enjoy, water based exercise activities together followed by workshops for
the adults and a crèche/supervision for the children. The cost to the participants is
minimal thanks to the fund givers backing the charity's recognition of this need in the
community. The families targeted are those where a child is physically dis-abled and
attendant problems are likely to be on going. We aim to work with those parents/carers who
need further support in encouraging progress for their child. We plan to help families by
the provision of training that will enable regular recreational rehabilitation, motivation
and assistance with mobility. For further information and/or to hear the background
to this exciting development for family support please contact Penny Bevan Jones, the
project leader at Excel 2000. 01263 825670 |
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| NEW
NORTH NORFOLK NOVEL |
A new book published earlier this year takes
North Norfolk and specifically Sheringham and district, as one of the settings of the
narrative. Based in the 1940’s, ‘Himmler’s Double’ by David
Isherwood relates how Hitler’s cunning SS Chief Heinrich Himmler started to make
plans for his own post-war survival from as far back as 1943. He succeeded, because having
had someone commit suicide after capture, who told his guards that he was Himmler - no one
should ever continue to search for a ‘dead man’.The story setting starts in
war-time Nazi Germany and also features Auschwitz in Poland. After the war’s end, the
setting moves to North Norfolk, England, where the real Himmler surfaces as a refugee. His
plan was to lay low, until it was safe enough to move money from numbered Swiss Bank
Accounts set up during the war. At this point, possibly old soldiers or people
interested in military history, may be thinking, but we know Himmler is dead; he committed
suicide in 1945 and we have seen photos and newsreel clips. Sorry to disappoint you,
but DNA didn’t exist in1945. British Army intelligence decided to bury the body of
their ‘Himmler’ in secret, after the extremely embarrassing suicide of their
prisoner, whilst in their custody. Today - no one knows where the body is located, so
there is no DNA evidence. For years after the war, there were sightings of Martin Bormann
the Nazi Party Secretary. Despite those sightings mainly in South America, I believe
Bormann’s skeleton was found in Berlin in the sixties, but it was not until the mid
nineties, when DNA proved the skeleton was indeed Bormann.
We can all be wise with hind-sight. Ask yourself this question, after the scene is set:
If you were Himmler, you have more direct power in Nazi Germany than even Hitler
himself. It has been obvious with a war on several fronts that Nazi Germany will lose. You
are the Nazi leader responsible for many crimes, chiefly the extermination of 6 million
Jews. At the war’s end, you allow yourself to be captured in disguise. The
British Army does not know of your real identity, you are merely a lowly sergeant
according to your papers. Faced with this, IF you were Himmler, would you
voluntarily tell you captors -actually I am Heinrich Himmler former Reichsfuhrer of the SS
- I don’t think so? However someone who said he was Himmler and looked like
Himmler committed suicide in May 1945. If that man was not truly Himmler, how could the
suicide be arranged. The answer lies in one of the many reasons that cause people to
commit suicide. Contrive those circumstances and the person concerned will no longer wish
to live. A great deal of research has gone into the book. The author found it
difficult to establish the position of the British war-time minefields in the North sea
off the East Anglian coast, but Germany has a fine naval museum, opposite Kiel on the
Baltic, that illustrates the war-time minefields very well. The story is woven
around a great deal of factual information. Amongst the local contributors was
Norfolk’s own Colin Claxton - who has been providing ‘Colin’s Tours of
North Norfolk Beaches’ for many years.
Step back in time to those dark years of the 1940’s, I hope you will find
‘Himmler’s Double’a worth while read. ‘Himmler’s Double by
David Isherwood, Published by The Book Guild Ltd. Available through Book Shops at
around £17.95 in hardback, Internet Book Suppliers at a lower price, or ask your local
public lending library. See also www.himmlersdouble.com |
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