Arnhem Part 1 - The Hook

Last September,  before Coronavirus replaced Brexit as the only topic of conversation, we went on a weekend visit to Arnhem, in the Netherlands. Arnhem was the focal point in 1944 of a bold attempt by the Allies, led by  General Montgomery,  to shorten the Second World War by seizing bridges over Holland’s rivers and canals, thus facilitating a swift advance by Allied troops into Germany.

Arnhem bridge today

One of our Watton Rotarians, Pat Murphy, has for a number of years led tours to the town, enabling people like myself with little or no knowledge of the battle to appreciate the courage and sacrifice made by the men of the 1^st Airborne Division and their Polish Allies. Operation Market garden, as it was called, ended in failure at Arnhem’s bridge over the Rhine. The story of the conflict became the subject of the film ‘A Bridge too Far’. Pat’s tour would take us to the areas where fighting was at its fiercest, and many of the buildings can still be seen today. We were going to be in Arnhem just a few days before the 75^th anniversary of the Arnhem campaign.

The bridge as depicted in 'A Bridge Too far'

Our group of 6 would comprise myself and the PDG, her sister Lynne and her husband Richard, and Pat with his partner Pam. We had no doubt that our tour would be organised with military precision, since Pat is himself a former Para. We were to leave on Friday 13^th September on the morning ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland and return home the following Monday. Our tour of the Arnhem battle sites would take place on Saturday and Sunday. Two cars would be used, mine and Pat’s.  Our plan was that the PDG and I would travel to Braintree on the Thursday before, stay overnight in the local Holiday Inn, and in the morning pick up Lynne and Richard who live a mile away, and then head off on the hour or so’s journey to Harwich where we were booked on to the 9.00 ferry. We were to meet Pat and Pam at the terminal.

Harwich ferry terminal

We arrived at the ferry terminal in good time, and were amazed to see a small army of WW2 armoured vehicles, tanks, and ambulances  lined up, waiting to board our ferry. Upon chatting to a couple of them, we learnt that the convoy was making its way to Arnhem for the 75^th anniversary of the battle on 17^th September. Some of the vehicles were not capable of travelling more than a few miles an hour, so they had allowed 4 days to get there. Sitting there in the queue to board the ferry, I began to realise what a momentous occasion the 75^th Anniversary celebrations were going to be.

Picture from web

It was while we were admiring these old military vehicles that I received a call from Pat. He and Pam were stuck in traffic (unlike us, they were driving from home this morning, a journey of about two hours with a fair wind). He did not think they would make it in time to catch the ferry. They were going to return home and try for the evening ferry, which would get them to Hook of Holland tomorrow morning. We were therefore on our own for 24 hours. Fortunately Pat had already given us a comprehensive pack of information, including directions to our Hotel, the Van der Valk in Arnhem.

Hook of Holland terminal

So we boarded the ferry, and located our cabin. Although it was a daytime crossing, it was to take 7 hours, and on Pat’s advice we had pre-booked a cabin between the four of us so we had somewhere to come back to for some shut-eye if we needed it. As we left Harwich, and the Essex coast stretched before us, Richard and I went up on deck and, being an Essex lad, he was able to point out various landmarks, including some fortifications a few miles off shore, at least one of which is lived in. We went down for a full English breakfast, and for the rest of the trip we divided our time between the outside deck, the ship’s lounge and our cabin, and the time passed pleasantly enough.

Our ship, the Stena Hollandica

We arrived at The Hook around 5 p.m. local time and there was quite a long delay getting off the ship as one of the WW2 tanks ahead of us appeared to have broken down. Eventually it got on its’ way in a cloud of black smoke and we were able to move out of the port . We had just left the dockyard when I realised I had forgotten to switch my speedometer from miles per hour to kilometres per hour. I could have stopped somewhere and done it, but decided not to. I knew that 1 kilometre is roughly 5/8 of a mile, which means that a bit of mental arithmetic whenever we came to a speed limit sign enabled me to convert to mph.

Our car

 Pat had told us the distance to Arnhem was about 85 miles and it would take about 1 hour 30 minutes, but I don’t think he had factored in the Friday night rush hour. Most of our journey was along motorways, but sheer weight of traffic, particularly near cities such as Rotterdam and Utrecht meant it was stop / start at times. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the drive. Dutch roads, like those in France are a pleasure to drive on. The surface was invariably excellent, I don’t recall any pot-holes, and junctions were well laid out and signposted. However Dutch drivers did not appear to be great respecters of speed limits, and great care needed to be taken when venturing into the outside lane, as vehicles which appeared a speck on the horizon in the rear view mirror, were very quickly right behind. This is where I think having a GB sticker helps, as it indicated that we were obviously  foreigners more used to driving on the other side of the road, and consequently other drivers gave us a bit more space.

Nothing left to chance - Pat provided us with detailed road maps

I had never previously been to Rotterdam, and on this occasion we merely bypassed it on the Motorway A20, so we didn’t get much of a view of the city. It seemed ironic to think that I would be returning to this fine city next month, this time on a cruise ship, the Columbus, bound for the Canaries. My objective on that occasion will be the same as whenever I visit Amsterdam, namely to find the nearest Pancake House. Holland is famous for them, and everybody should have one whenever they visit.

CMV Columbus

I think it was about 7.30 before we arrived at our Hotel, the Van der Valk, and checking in was very straight forward. I was a bit embarrassed, because when I am abroad I like to try and speak a few words of the local language, but I knew no Dutch at all, except for ‘Danke vel’ (Thank you). Not that it mattered, everyone seemed to speak English well, and were happy to practice on us. It was a good, mid-sized family run hotel, and one where Pat is very well known, as he comes at least twice a year to conduct a tour. We had a good meal in the Hotel Restaurant, but we found 3 courses  a bit too much and resolved to stick to just one course in future. I must be getting old! By now we were exhausted and went off for an early night, so we would be ready for tomorrow’s tour, which was scheduled to start at 10.00 a.m.

Hotel Van der Valk

Eviction

Being forcibly housebound due to Covid 19, I thought I would take the opportunity to resume this blog. A lot has happened since my last post, including the Rotary Club’s surprise eviction from its meeting venue, the Hare and Barrel Hotel, at Christmas 2018. The name of the hotel is significant to the local area, as the depiction of a hare jumping over a barrel features on the Watton town sign. This is because the ‘wat’ of Watton is an old local dialect word for hare, and ‘ton’ means tun, or barrel. We understood that the hotel was closing as it couldn’t make profits, and there were plans to change its use into an addiction clinic (In the event it re-opened a year later as a bar / Restaurant called ‘Verve by Watton’).

At the time of our eviction I had been a member of the Rotary Club for about 12 months, during which time I had kept a low profile, supporting its activities, but not putting myself forward for anything. One thing I had been determined about, following my transfer from Shepperton Aurora, was that I would never say things like ‘That’s not how we did it at Aurora’. I have always found that sort of comment intensely annoying, as it conveys a sense of superiority, which never goes down well with others. So I just went with the flow, trying not to be controversial.

Hare & Barrel Hotel

Taking a back seat for my first year in Watton Rotary suited me and the PDG, as we had a lot to do at home in sorting out our move from Shepperton.  As I write this, it is now two and a half years since our move to Norfolk, and we still have a shed full of boxes that need to be gone through.

My shed

Anyway, back to the eviction. Early in December  the Club were notified that the hotel was closing permanently, and we needed to find a new venue with effect the 1^st January, or we would be homeless. My first reaction was one of puzzlement, then of despair. Didn’t they realise we are a Rotary Club?  We don’t do things urgently. If we are to decide on a change of direction, or a new procedure, it has to be debated over a minimum six months before a decision is reached. How would we cope with a two-week ultimatum?

In the event, I needn’t have worried, we reacted very quickly. Within a week or two a shortlist of  4 or 5 different venues in and around Watton were identified, visited by a sub-committee set up for the purpose, and the pros and cons of each were discussed at a full meeting of club members. I recall that it was a long debate, with members firmly in the camp of one venue or the other, but eventually it was put to the vote and the majority went for Broom Hall Hotel in Richmond Road, just half a mile from the Hare and Barrel.

Broom Hall Country Hotel

I was very happy with the move to Broom Hall. Firstly, it was half a mile nearer to my home, and I could walk to meetings, which I find far preferable to driving there. Now I could enjoy a pint before the weekly meeting, and a glass of wine during dinner, without worrying about being over the limit whilst driving home. Also I found the meals more to my liking. We have a two course meal during our meetings comprising main course, followed by dessert or cheeses and biscuits. At the previous venue I had always opted for cheese and biscuits, as the desserts were not usually to my taste. However, at our first meal at Broom Hall, apple pie and custard was served for dessert, true comfort food for me. Unfortunately I had pre-ordered cheese and biscuits, but that was the last time I did so. I have always gone for the dessert ever since.

Apple pie & custard

The hotel have, I think, looked after us well over the past 15 months. We have a private room for our meetings, storage for our equipment and good parking outside. Some of my old friends from Shepperton Aurora visited last summer to spend the weekend in Norfolk. On my recommendation they stayed at Broom Hall and were very happy with it, to my relief. On occasion our Rotary Club hires the main restaurant for a function, so I think our association with the Hotel has been to our mutual benefit. Unfortunately like all hotels and pubs in the UK it has been forced to close its doors in the current Covid 19 pandemic and as I write this it is not clear when it  can re-open.

Shepperton Aurora members 

Some highlights from 2019 at Watton Rotary Club include supporting the education of young people locally, which we do in a number of ways.  Illustrated Usborne Dictionaries are presented to local primary school children, a great way of promoting literacy in the UK. Rotary clubs across the country do this, and the dictionaries are always very well received by children and teachers alike. Personally I think this is one of the best things we do, as many children will treasure their dictionary  for the rest of their lives, and every time they open the front cover they will see that it was presented to them by the local Rotary Club.

We also organise competitions at the  Wayland Academy, the only secondary school in our area. The school has a state-of-the-art training kitchen, which I have visited, and we support a Young Chef competition every year, organised by Mike H. I have volunteered to be on the judging panel for this competition, but there seems to be a queue. Another competition is for photography, organised by Dr Mike. For a number of years we have sponsored a poetry competition at the school, but this seems now to have fallen by the wayside. I have been to the school a couple of times to meet the Head and Deputy Head to discuss forming an Interact Club at the school (well, I would, wouldn’t I?). This idea hasn’t got off the ground yet, but I’m always hopeful.

Training kitchen at Wayland Academy

Service activities included helping at 2 Crucial Crew events, where youngsters in their last year of Primary School attend a number of workshops away from their school, to prepare them for some of the risks they need to be aware of, such as cyber-bullying, fire hazards, road sense, smoking and drugs. These are organised by the Fire Service in Norfolk, and I think they are a timely introduction to the world that awaits them outside Primary school. We also provided stewards at the town firework display. Every year we make a community award to an individual and to a group who we believe to have done outstanding work in the community.

David B presents individual vocational award to worthy recipient

Fundraisers last year included 2 quizzes organised by Pat, a Dixie Mix jazz concert at Queens Hall,  and our Umbrella festival at Watton carnival, which we did for the second year running.  We also purchased and presented a hospital approved easily moveable bed for the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital Charity for use by anyone needing to stay overnight with their seriously ill relatives. Master-minded by  David W the bed was officially presented just before Christmas. David also masterminded the production of emergency toiletries bags, once again for the use of relatives who needed to stay over. The nursing staff at the hospital were hugely appreciative of Watton Rotary Club's continued support for NNUHC. 

David B and David W present 'Rotary' bed to Norfolk & Norwich Hospital

Social activities in 2019 included a barbecue at Andrew’s house, a visit to Peter Beales’ wonderful rose nursery in Attleborough, a car treasure hunt organised by Ivan, and a safari supper, where we travelled to different Rotarians’ houses for starters, then elsewhere for main course, then all back for dessert at the President’s house. ‘That’s not how we did dinner parties at Shepperton Aurora’ I couldn’t resist saying. Another safari supper is planned for this year. The PDG and I are down for a main course if it goes ahead.

Umbrella festival was well supported for second year running

Well, that was a whistle stop tour through another Rotary year. Hopefully I will have time to post a little more frequently from now on, and perhaps cover some non-Rotary activities as well.

Dixie Mix  jazz band