Events and Activities:

AGM Report
On Friday 10^th April approximately 40 members gathered in the Venue for the Holt Society’s AGM.
The business meeting was fairly brief:
Robin Back told members that after serving two years as both chairman and membership secretary, he had decided to relinquish the chair to concentrate on membership. Tony Leech, the immediate past vice-chairman was to take over as chairman.
Tribute was paid to Paul Plumstead who was standing down from his role as planning officer.
The treasurer, Geoffrey Peel, presented the accounts and these were approved with no opposition.
The minor changes to the committee were noted and all members were approved and elected en bloc.
After the usual votes of thanks, there was a short break during which time the meeting was joined by a number of guests.
Following the break, Tony Leech introduced Michael Evans, who was to give a talk about the role of High Kelling in the treatment of TB during the first half of the 20^th century.
  Michael explained that All Saints Church in High Kelling began its life as a chapel for a TB sanatorium for children, and his interest in TB began after he was asked by Father Howard to write a small booklet to mark the hundredth anniversary of the chapel’s first service in August 1924.
  He discovered that a friendship between a Fakenham GP and two very wealthy young men led to the first sanatorium for working men being established in 1903, A sanatorium for children and one for women were to follow later.
  By the mid-century the introduction of new drugs led to the closure of TB sanatoriums and the now redundant chapel was offered to the population of the growing community of High Kelling for £500. In November 1955 the chapel became All Saints Church and is now a lasting reminder of High Kelling’s historic part in the treatment of this dreadful disease.
 
Planned future events include:
Friday 22^nd May in the Venue: a talk by chainsaw-artist Matt Darge
Friday 12^th June: A talk by Gresham’s headmaster Douglas Robb (details to follow)
Friday 18^th September in the Venue: a talk by local author Helen Murray
Friday 23^rd October in the Venue: How the old control tower at RAF North Creake became a successful B&B
Entry is £4 if paid up to 2 days in advance and £5 if paid “on the door”.

28th Nov 25: Holt Hall – past and present under Gresham’s School ownership: Tony Leech and Headmaster Douglas Robb.

The future of Holt Hall has been a matter of interest to Holt residents ever since the Norfolk County Council Educational Department decided it had become too expensive to continue as residential host for educational programmes. After an historical slanted introduction by Tony Leech we learned the new owners are Greshams School and plans for relocating the Prep School section of the School from Comer Road have begun. There are a number of outstanding difficulties – especially regarding safe access over/across (or under) Kelling Road by pupils and teachers. Douglas Robb, Headmaster, spoke candidly of such difficulties tand possible alternatives. We are most grateful for his clarity and also his determination to bring the Hall back into use for educational purposes when not in use by the school. Much still needs to be done before then however and we wish him success in his endeavours.

Joe and Laura Carey discuss their Gold awards at The RHS Chelsea show.

The Society’s next event was a much-anticipated talk from Joe Carey, RHS Chelsea Gold award winners in 2023 and again in 2025 as well as owners of the Carey Design Studio in Holt. Sadly, Laura Carey was unable to attend to the Lecture which was held at The Holt Venue on Friday 12th September. We were treated to a most interesting description of their extraordinary awards this year of no less than three RGS gold medals! Two at the RGS Chelsea Flower show in May.

Tony Leech, Vice-Chair, shares THS collection of old photographs of Holt”Looking Back at Holt”,

Tony Leech’s lecture on 6th June and discussion on some of the archive photographs held by the Holt Society raised one challenging photograph dated 1891. This showed a public, tea event with no notation of the photograph’s content, front or back. Although we can’t be sure, we believe it could have been a Holt village celebration of Prince George’s engagement to Princess Mary of Teck in December that year. Although engaged in 1891, the future King George V and Princess Mary were not actually married until 1893.

Members Outing to Stody Lodge Gardens

On 9^th May, the Stody Lodge Gardens were at their best and the weather was ditto! A group of THS members treated themselves to a variety of Azaleas and Rhododendrons in the Water Garden and in the Lodge Gardens where breadth of colours and plants flowering in the Spring is a real delight to see. This was followed by tea at the Lodge tea tent with a welcome cup of tea and a variety of delicious cakes.

“The Gloucester “Across the Globe: Cromwell’s Warship, 1654–60”

Speaker: Dr. Benjamin Redding is Senior Research Associate in Maritime History in the School of History & Art History at the University of East Anglia.

Before its loss in 1682 while transporting the future King James II and VII to Scotland, the Gloucester had a long career at sea. This talk emphasises the warship’s global significance as a Cromwellian weapon and diplomatic tool. It focuses on its first campaign when it sailed to the Caribbean as part of the Western Design, before then addressing the ship’s activity during the late 1650s. The Caribbean experience, however, was less than successful. Led by Norfolk’s Admiral William Goodson, there were moments of disorder on the ship when, far away from home, disease, unrest, and political and religious radicalism permeated the Gloucester‘s decks. Despite this, the ship eventually returned home to England in 1656. A new Captain was appointed and the ship was sent North to Norway , Sweden and Denmark where the Danish/Swedish war was threatening to close access to the Baltic. The ship eventually returned to England to coincide with the restoration of Charles II. HMS Gloucester again took to the seas when other naval duties beckoned – but that’s another story.

Fishermen, Bathers and Beach Folk: The lives of those captured in Juliet Seebohm’s Cromer sketches, 1883-84

The author of the above book, Helen Murray, treated members to a fascinating account of how a wealthy Quaker socialite, Juliet Seebohm, used her sketchbook to capture a range of “beach people” during her visits to Cromer in 1883-1884.
The attraction of Cromer beach has long been recognised, and in the 1880s, following the coming of the railway, Cromer was becoming particularly popular for sea bathing. The enterprising Lucy Miller had a thriving business renting out bathing machines where ladies could modestly change into voluminous bathing dresses before entering the water. They would then be taught to swim by rather eccentric crab fishermen, such as the Mates Brothers and “Old Billy”, who despite having two club feet, lived to a grand old age. A most enjoyable evening for all.

The Hales Family and Stained glass windows at St. Andrew’s Church

Dr James Thomson is a retired NHS Consultant Surgeon, now resident in Holt, who has developed an interest in recording stained glass in his retirement. A regular attender at St Andrew’s Church he decided the eighteen windows would be a good ‘lockdown project’ and his record with the excellent photographs by James Sidgwick was published on the St Andrew’s website, and in hard copy, a little while ago. His talk on the above, very special windows and their relationship to events in the Hales family on 27th September last was particularly engaging and supported by excellent photographs from James Sidgwick.

Holt’s Own River

Tony Leech is well-known to many of us as a naturalist with a wide knowledge of flowers, fungi, birds, insects, water creatures – in other words, our natural world around Holt. At his Venue lecture on 28^th of June, Tony guided an audience of 70 from the beginnings of the River Glaven  in Bodham, through Hempstead to Letheringset, gathering tributary streams from Hunworth, Thornage and Holt and eventually arriving at the Cley Sluice. On the way, Tony described and showed to us some of the plants and animals that can be seen and outlined the threats to the well-being of the river and how these are being addressed. These include sewage pollution, siltation and the presence of invasive species including Signal Crayfish, American Mink and Himalayan Balsam.

In 25 years of its existence, the River Glaven Conservation Group has managed projects to restore flood plains, re-meander the river at Thornage and re-instate the river in its original course at Bayfield.

A very interesting lecture from our local expert!

Featured Past Events & Activities