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The June OW 100 Club STAR draw was carried out at The Gunton Arms, Thorpe Market. The prize winners were:-
Juliette Wilcox [nee Hannah] – resident of Kingston-upon-Thames - £500
&
Neil Whyte – resident of Lichfield, Staffordshire - £200.
The Gunton Arms certainly lived up to it’s star billing and, as we had some late evening sunshine for a change, we were able to sit outside and watch the deer grazing in the park grounds as the sun went down. The huge timber table and bench seat that we sat at would have brought tears to Bob Mullenger and Andrew Seeley's eyes - it was huge and well constructed although it would been a struggle to fit it into a house dining room!! The photographic evidence can be seen below!
We were joined by some of our North Norfolk brethren – Tony Lake; William Hammond; David & Sue Spinks; Joyce Pycroft [Daniels]; Anne Chambers [Bean]; Jerry Linden Ball; Anne Bradley [Ashworth]; Lynne Pettit [Semmens]; Jane Davies [Pritchett]; Jennie Foster [Clarke] as well as Steve Read and myself. As usual it was good to have a mix of eras but also strange to have some local doctors surgery staff mixing with their patients and none of them knowing that they were all ex-Wycol!
The beers on offer were from Woodforde and Adnams – my personal favourite being a brew just relaunched by Adnams called Ghost Ship [it was a good job that I wasn’t driving!]. The whole ambience of the pub was excellent and the restaurant seemed to be packed for a Wednesday evening. Our score for the Gunton Arms was 8.5 – let down only by the paucity of bar staff at busy times although the toilet quality was outstanding!! It is certainly an establishment to call in at when venturing to or from the North Norfolk coast.
Memories of Gunton Hall have been received from a onetime resident of Thorpe Market and now a leading Norwich solicitor as follows:
Sorry I could not attend the Gunton Arms draw - I had hoped to as Thorpe Market is my home village and where my family have lived for nearly 100 years. The Gunton Arms was the Dower House for Gunton Hall. It was previously called Elderton Lodge. When I was at Primary School (in the next village, Southrepps) it was divided into several flats and I had a girlfriend called Patricia who lived there with her parents. The resident landlady was a fearsome old girl called Mrs Cardew (?) who kept very big ferocious dogs which she used to feed with whole sheep's heads on the kitchen floor. She had a Pianola with the paper rolls which 'played itself'. All very memorable as a 10 year old. My 2 brothers and I plus mates used to spend much time in the Park and around the semi derelict Gunton Hall dodging the estate gamekeeper, breaking windows, stealing lead off the roofs etc….
The perpetrator has been not been identified for obvious reasons!!
Thanks go to David Spinks for taking the photos and to Phil for providing the names which go around the table from the left and BOH = Back of Head/Obscured
Wymondham College Remembered
