A tale of Owen being a Good Samaritan, in 1986, when Bunwell was ice and snow bound .
The Winter of 1985/1986 was a particularly cold one. I believe February 1986 is still one of the coldest months on record. We had occasional heavy snowfalls too though these were not as substantial as those of some other Norfolk winters. The East wind blew persistently cold that February with a very strong wind chill factor and the roads were icily treacherous.
At the time I was Chairman of Bunwell Parish Council. One freezing cold day whilst seated comfortably reading the Eastern Daily Press newspaper in my favourite kitchen armchair, positioned strategically next to the Rayburn and its warmth, I received a phone call from a senior police officer in nearby Long Stratton.
Mrs Taylor, a Bunwell single mum with two daughters, had used up her coal allowance for two weeks in just one week. She had no other means of heating and no spare money, being on the limited means of Social Security, with which to buy in more coal. A concerned friend of hers contacted the police who in turn called me. The police officer asked if I could go check on the family and, if necessary, pay for more coal and anything else they might need. I would be able to claim the money back from the local DHSS office he assured me confidently.
I telephoned my neighbour, Mr Leslie Norton, who agreed to help me. I never did learn to drive a car - though I was fine in charge of a tractor - and Leslie had a 4 x 4 vehicle that could cope with the conditions. Together we made our way to Mrs Taylor's house at the Greenways council estate in the village - fortunately it was not very far from my home. When we got there we found the house to be freezing with the two children, aged just 2 and 4, wrapped up in duvets in an effort to keep warm. The water pipes had frozen up too and there was not much food in the pantry. Mrs Taylor gave us a shopping list and Leslie and I then drove the relatively short distance to the village shop and stocked up on milk, bread, soup and other warming foodstuffs. I had plenty of coal in my bunker so I gave the family some of that to tide them over until their next benefit payment.
Mrs Taylor was extremely grateful for our assistance and it was heartwarming to know that we had been able to help out a local neighbour in need. The story made our local paper too. Last year my daughter posted the newspaper clipping on a local Bunwell Facebook group and both the Taylor girls saw it. The eldest remembered the events well and said when she showed her mum the post she burst in to tears remembering the kindness shown to her and her daughters. That Interwebby Thing is a very clever invention; I wish I were young enough (and could see well enough!) to make proper use of it now.
I duly sent off a bill to the DHSS but heard nothing from them which, in all honesty, I was not terribly surprised about! I did eventually get the money I spent on the groceries back though. A senior policeman phoned me a month or so later and asked if I had been reimbursed. I said "no" and he said "leave it with me". A few days later the money, in the form of a postal order, arrived. That made me very happy. The James clan are well known locally for being careful with our pennies!
Sadly, through no fault of their own, I suspect today's police force would be far too overstretched to follow up that sort of thing.
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