Folklore enthusiasts should take care not to confuse the Pedlar of Swaffham with the Pedaller of Beeston.

I was awarded honorary title of the latter for riding my bike to catch a daily train at nearby Fransham into that fine market town for seven years of grammar school education.

Now, to mark my 80th birthday on March 11 and pay tribute to those who set me on my Norfolk path as journalist, broadcaster and wandering mardler, I am preparing for an emotional pilgrimage on the back of an invitation to help celebrate the work of Swaffham Cultural Consortium Group and a week of special heritage week events.

I will turn a nostalgic spotlight on my years at Hamond’s Grammar School from 1955 until 1962, sharing stories of classroom adventures and singling out notable characters, teachers and fellow pupils, who helped me along the way. Yes. I’ve been doing my homework at last!

I’m teaming up with old friend and Press Gang colleague  Pat Nearney from Mundesley to present  a potent mixture of Norfolk humour and wisdom liberally coated in dialect at the town’s Methodist Church on Saturday, March 16 from 11.30am.

I know this recently renovated  building well from previous visits to entertain and Swaffham Methodist Circuit gatherings  during my Beeston Sunday school days in the 1950s, This happy return is bound to provide a cluster of reunions along with chances to introduce comparative Norfolk  newcomers to the glories of home-made squit and wit.

It’s market day - so plenty of folk about who may like to drop in to find out how a couple of coastal interlopers set out their stall for local culture!

I have kept in close touch with Swaffham changes and challenges over the years as a proud Old Hamondian at reunion lunches held at The George Hotel and serving as a patron of the parish church window restoration and development appeal from 2010 until 2012.

I presented a fundraising evening of Norfolk entertainment with wife Diane at St Peter and St Paul Church. She stood in at the last minute when old friend Ian Prettyman lost his voice!

Several social calls at the town museum, bookshops, cafes and Assembly Rooms, where I tucked into school dinners and tried hard not  to smear custard on my yellow and black tie,  brought back cheerful memories of a surprise opportunity  to extend my learning strokes  into sixth-form waters. The fact I didn’t sink without trace becomes increasingly satisfying with advancing years!

It was just four years ago when Historic England awarded Swaffham a grant for cultural community events around the much-lauded market place with aims of bringing extra life to the area, new experiences to the people and boost business.

A Swaffham Cultural Consortium group was set up to lead the operation and many other organisations and volunteers of all ages soon joined in. The year 2022 was special for the town as it marked the centenary of Howard Carter’s thrilling discovery of the tomb of Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun. Howard’s family on both sides were born in Swaffham and the name goes back to the 18th century in the town and nearby villages.

A community archaeological dig took place on the town’s Campingland with over 100 people of all ages volunteering to join in. A mosaic of a pyramid created out of over 300 tiles mad by townsfolk and visitors now stands on edge of the market place and glitters in the sunlight as a permanent reminder of the country’s best-known archaeologist.

Harry Carter, a cousin to Howard, was art and woodwork master at my old school for 30 years . Scores of Norfolk towns and villages  bear vivid testimony to his talent and generosity. He designed and made an array of signs, handed over as gifts and many others carved for little or no cost.

The first sign he made is the one standing proudly at the Swaffham market entrance depicting the story of the Swaffham pedlar. Harry presented it to the town in 1929.

Market place celebrations, including a revival of the Swaffham Harvest Horky funfair, have continued apace  to the grand finale of Heritage Week running from March 9 and culminating in a wide range of activities on Saturday, March 16.

It’s an honour to be included on that bill of fare to salute an exciting Swaffham  adventure of modern times and reflect on what some now see as a “golden era”  for Hamond’s Grammar School throughout the 1950s and onwards when a boy from Cowmuck and sugarbeet land” could ride a bike and catch a train to proper reading, writing and ruminating.