In June, Wymondham Heritage Society republished “Wymondham in Words and Water Colours” by Anne and Adrian Hoare, in tribute to Anne who sadly passed away on 23rd December 2023.
Both Anne and Adrian were accomplished local historians and together they published over twenty books and pamphlets. Their first publication was in 1984 and called ‘In search of Robert Kett’, Other titles written by them include ‘Standing up to Hitler’, ‘An Unlikely Rebel: Robert Kett and the Norfolk Rising’, ‘On the Trail of Kett’s Rebellion in Norfolk’, ‘Looking Back at Damgate’, ‘Discovering Wymondham History along its Streets’, ‘When War came to Wymondham’ and ‘Wymondham: A Pleasant Place’.
Anne and Adrian’s final book together ‘Wymondham in Words and Water Colours’ originally came out during the lockdown and had a print run of just 40 copies which they gave to friends and family as Christmas gifts. In November 2023, Adrian suggested that the Heritage Society republish the book to raise funds, and after Anne died, the Society agreed it should be republished in her memory. The book includes Anne's drawings and paintings of Wymondham with captions and poems.
Anne had a love of drawing and painting, and friends eagerly looked forward to receiving their annual Christmas card. She turned local images into hand-painted cards. Many friends of theirs still treasure and display these cards. Anne and Adrian always worked together as a team with her doing the illustrations. They both read history at Hull University and this subject was central to their lives. Anne didn’t do much typing and Adrian was responsible for the word processing, page layout etc. Teamwork was the key for this marriage in so many ways.
Anne was the first in her family to go to university. There she met Adrian who was a few years older having completed national service. Anne first saw him at a meeting of the university’s history society, of which Adrian was president. Suffice to say that, suddenly, she found herself attending history society meetings more frequently!
When she was just age 21, Anne developed type 1 diabetes. To live with type 1 for more than 60 years is rare - so rare that in Anne's many hospital admissions in the last couple of years, some doctors often assumed she was type 2 - before she put them right! Anne managed to live a full life with it - but it was extremely hard for her. She had to inject herself with insulin four times a day, checking her blood sugar constantly. Never able to skip a meal, eat at an unconventional time, or do something impulsive or spontaneous.
They moved to Bedford in 1966 and took on new teaching posts. Diabetes carries particular risks during pregnancy and very sadly for Anne and Adrian, their first child, Katherine, died shortly after birth. Happily, Jonathan was born in 1971 but due to complications, he was moved to Great Ormond Street Hospital where he remained for six weeks. Anne would take the train from Bedford to London and back most days to visit him.
Anne and Adrian (and Jonathan) came to Wymondham in 1974 when Adrian took up a post at Wymondham College. Anne soon got involved in the local community. She was a volunteer at Morley play group and later became chair of Morley school’s governors.
Anne slowly became part of the social fabric of the college, first acting as a part-time matron, then, gradually, returning to part-time teaching; teaching History, English, and French - a Jack of all trades! She was key in organising the summer fair each year and eventually became deputy housemistress of Cavell Hall. She was later appointed Head of Special Educational Needs. She continued to take an interest in the children she helped long after they had left the school, delighted to see them thrive. Helping young people achieve their potential was very important to her. Many past pupils and colleagues remained in touch with Anne and Adrian and held them in high regard.
There was an American hospital on the school site during the Second World War. Anne’s passion for local history and research enabled the story of the hospital, which treated injured American airmen from 1942 and the post-D-Day landing casualties, to be told properly for the first time. Her research led to enduring friendships with the families of the American doctors and other staff from whom she gathered evidence. Today only one hut, which serves as the school chapel and a heritage centre remain. It includes information on the site’s history provided by Anne. With Adrian’s help she wrote a book about the hospital’s history. After they retired in 1994, they devoted more of their time to further historical research and soon became busier than ever. They kept in close contact with Wymondham College and were honoured with the joint presidency of the Old Wymondhamians. They also helped with the colleges’ anniversary book and heritage trail.
As active members of Wymondham Heritage Society, the Hoares began to produce a variety of local history books, which Anne illustrated in her instantly recognisable style. Anne designed many historical maps of the locality. She was asked to create a special heritage map of Wymondham, which raised funds from the sale of its limited edition (500 copies) for the museum. She loved the historic buildings of Wymondham and painted handmade greetings cards of these buildings, to be sold in the Wymondham Heritage Museum. Her artwork was also used on numerous tea towels sold to raise funds for the museum. Of course as well as all this they spent many hours at the museum working in reception, meeting visitors, creating annual displays, representing the museum at events and general administration. Adrian was chairman for 12 years and also organised the steward’s rota.
A group of retirees from Derbyshire visited Wymondham in 1996; Anne and Adrian took them to Norwich and gave them a guided tour of all the places in the city with Kett’s Rebellion connections, including Kett’s Heights. One member of the group Dorothy Whetnall sketched all the places they visited. Later these became beautiful watercolours, many of which feature in the main Kett’s display in the museum. Anne and Adrian kindly donated these loved works of art to the museum last year.
In May 2000 to commemorate the millennium Anne and Adrian organised ‘The Wymondham Story’; a walking trail around Wymondham with around 25 costumed characters telling the town's history. This led to the publication of a book in 2004: ‘The Wymondham Story - A Snapshot History of a Norfolk Market Town’, based upon the route and stories told in the event.
In 2007 their book ‘History along the Tiffey’ saw profits donated the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital.
Anne and Adrian were honoured in 2008 with the Wymondham Civic Award, in recognition of their work for the Wymondham Heritage Society, and other charitable organisations. Anne was particularly proud of this award. The late C J Sansom’s 2018 book ‘Tombland’, the seventh in the Shardlake series, was set in Norfolk and especially Norwich. Shardlake is sent to Norfolk to investigate a murder and he becomes embroiled in Kett’s Rebellion, When C J Sansom was researching the book he contacted Adrian and Anne and twice came to Wymondham to meet with them where they shared their knowledge of Kett and the Rebellion.
During the 2020 lockdown, Anne and Adrian needed a project to keep them busy. ‘Wymondham in Words and Water Colours’ was born. It is a reminder of their affection for the town where they had lived for over 40 years.
When Anne passed away, Adrian and Jonathan said “kind” was the word most often used to describe her. Others included “lovely smile”, “warm personality” and “friend of many”. Anne always thought of other people, whether it was being active in the patient supporters’ group at the Norfolk and Norwich hospital, the patients’ participation group in Wymondham, or the Wymondham diabetes group of which she was a founder member and Group Secretary, she wanted to help people. She was a great ambassador for Wymondham, embodied in her maps, drawings and books. Anne has left us with a significant legacy and will always be remembered with love by those who knew her.
‘Wymondham in Words and Water Colours’ by Anne and Adrian Hoare is available for sale from Wymondham Heritage Museum for just £4.95 a copy, and is also available from local bookshops.
