July 2024. Dereham.
A whole (difficult) week spent in Waterbeach; we’d had enough of sleeping upstairs at Mum’s thatched cottage (rubbish Wi-Fi),
so took advantage of the ultra-expensive UK hotel rates in the scruffy posterior of Norfolk and booked the Wetherspoons in Dereham on a gorgeous Monday evening.
Free parking 6pm to 10am, round the back of a museum and church I’d inexplicably missed before.
Blimey. You could be somewhere nice.
The Romany Rye takes you briskly from that pastoral view and down to earth with a bump.
But the staff, wow ! I know I always say this, but the young guy who checked us in, told me the Top 3 pubs in Dereham and served us pints of Abbot (NBSS 3.5) and Old Hooky (3) (“Oh yes, Spoons vouchers welcome here !“) was a credit to Sir Tim.
He candidly told me about the trade that filled out the Spoons hotel rooms every night, drawn by the volume of central Norfolk’s building and renovation trade rather than John Travolta’s recent visit while he was filming the follow-up to “Pulp Fiction” in Swanton Morley.
As you’ll know, it’s still (always) 1964 (good year) in Norfolk, so local paper the Dereham Declarer (est. 1844) has a key role in explaining the cultural relevance of your favourite Scientologist.
There’s a commemorative plaque, but GDPR prevents them revealing John’s actual meal so let me assume it was a Ham and Pineapple pizza with pint of Punk IPA.
Mrs RM took the seat by the window, delighted to have avoided the weird seats reserved for giants,
And then Curry Charles arrived, with adventurous neighbour Maria.
You remember Curry Charles, yeah ?
retiredmartin 
So do we have Maria to blame for curry Charles disappearing?
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That would be an ecumenical matter.
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Wasn’t Curry Charles our partner in off piste pubbing in Buxton?
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And a curry in Wolverhampton.
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Good memory, Paul.
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And also Worcester.
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Yes, but not curry ?
Faggots in the Cricketers, I think.
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Cricketers in Worcester? Now closed.
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I stumbled across that church and museum combination, on one of my last visits to Dereham, probably around the time my sister and I were clearing out my parents’ bungalow. Both buildings are well tucked away, because I’d never noticed them before, despite numerous trips to the town.
ps. Mum and dad’s bungalow was in Swanton Morley – a nice enough village, but I wouldn’t have put it down as a film location.
pps. Am I the only person who has never seen Pulp Fiction?
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Yes, they filmed the bloodbath in the public bar in the Angel.
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Paul, I’ve only heard of Swanton Morley for the RAF base.
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And have never seen Pulp Fiction.
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Paul, the RAF have been replaced by the army, so very few flights now operate out of Swanton Morley.
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