David Redfield’s Secret Fakenham

David Redfield is a poet, writer, mentor, and creative writing tutor, living in Fakenham. Publications include Stretching Horizons (Hawthorn Press), Sulla’s Cauldron (Crataegus Press), Utter (The Ennor Press), and various anthologies. He was longlisted in the 2014 RSPB/ Rialto Nature Competition.

“Secret” – that’s a very loaded word. Tantalising.

Because I’m a writer and therefore can’t help redefining the terms, I’ll need to start with that word’s considerable resonances.

Other blogs on this page have drawn – quite rightly – our attention to many of their writers’ favourite places around Fakenham; these may be off-the-beaten track, little known, sometimes under-appreciated. And there’s no gainsaying any of those choices. We have a wealth of history to wonder at, both under our feet and above our heads; charming natural spaces and walks to lose ourselves in; local traditions and institutions to cherish (yes, of course the market) to help us feel rooted and connected to where we are. We prize these things, however everyday they may seem, and celebrate them as demonstrating our unique identity in the wider world.

But I’d like to focus here on a different aspect of that slippery word “secret”: the idea of latency, of concealment as a precondition for potential, growth, moving forward. And since I can’t reveal my personal connections with the town without telling something of my own history, permit me a little backstory.

I first came to Fakenham in 1984, with my then-girlfriend (now my wife). She had a connection with Norfolk which stretched back to childhood holidays and visits. My own first impressions were of a bustling market town full of vitality and community spirit, reminding me enough of my Hertfordshire home-town to strike comforting resonances and rekindle memories. Now, flash through thirty-odd years of professional life in inner-city Peterborough schools, (and thirty years of inner-city congestion, traffic, rubbish, anti-social nonsense) to reach a point where we were ready and able to make meaningful changes in how and where we lived. That intervening period had seen north Norfolk become a haven in many ways – a place we could occasionally escape to in order to re-charge, re-define, re-identify with our essential selves. It had kept us going back in “the big smoke”. When we were casting around for a location in which to begin our new lives, Norfolk, (and Fakenham in particular) came high on our agenda. We’d had years of living in something like a low-level pressure cooker – crowded, anxious, sapping the mind and the spirit.

Time moves differently in north Norfolk. This was borne in upon us one early-spring day in 2008 on one of our many house hunting days. Frequently we’d return from trips up to the coast agreeing that the best house we’d seen all day was the one we were coming back to. On this particular lunchtime we’d needed to stop into the Fakenham branch of Nationwide, for some reason I can’t now recall. It seemed that we weren’t advancing much in the queue for cashiers as everyone ahead of us appeared to take an age to complete their business. I started tapping my watch and probably muttered impatiently under my breath. City time making itself felt. But then focussing in, without obviously earwigging, it was clear that a real conversation was taking place through either side of the glass: “How’s your …?”; “She’s such a lovely girl”; “Did you hear about …?”. The lightbulb came on; this was exactly what we were looking for in our new home – connection, community, being known. Cities and large towns tend to anonymise modern daily life; make us notice less, care less, feel less. And we were ready to be connected, and to have those conversations.

Fifteen years on we’ve reset. Simply walking around town, especially on Thursdays, being hailed and recognised, made welcome in shops and cafés, passing the time of day, moaning about the weather, is an endless joy. I’m essentially a small-town boy, and being rooted in this way again was the ideal growth impulse for the writing career I’d always yearned to develop. My writing life has since blossomed along paths and through channels that it probably would not have done in a large town or city. (I run workshops and courses locally, offer mentoring, started a low-cost monthly writing group meeting in the library, as well as my own work). Pace and scale of life has much to do with this wonderful set of circumstances. It also means that the flipside of the nourishment – giving back – is easier and can be more impactful too: I’m proud of the fact that both of us, now semi-retired, are involved in various voluntary and community-based activities in Fakenham, working with others for the betterment of the town that is our home. Put simply, Fakenham has brought me closer to the person I’d always hoped I could be.

At a time when high-street retail practices and established business models are under intense pressure, and following a curtailment of confidence through the lockdown years, Fakenham looks to be set on a cautiously optimistic path. Small-town communities are resilient; whilst we mourn the passing of those businesses that have fallen by the wayside, the seeds of an independent retail culture, based on individuality of provision, personal service, and genuine human scale are alive in this town, being carefully encouraged by a variety of energetic and dedicated entrepreneurs, individuals and organisations. Fakenham aspires to be, and with tending and care has the potential to become, a true “gateway to the Norfolk coast”. Things are moving forward.

Aspiration and potential need opportunity to thrive. Opportunity may not be the most tangible of qualities that our town can offer to its casual visitors, but the community of Fakenham is good and fertile ground for the many positives in that tantalising word “secret”.

You can follow David on Facebook and view examples of his work, further bio-information, and make contact through his profile page on the WriteOutLoud site: www.writeoutloud.net/profiles/davidredfield