Having been asked to preach at the Chaplaincy in UEA (University of East Anglia) on 28 October 1979, asks if he could stay overnight at the White House.
Also notes that his statement in the Times has stirred up a hornets' nest. "... Archbishop of Cardiff saying he agreed with every word of my statement; makes me feel I must have been gravely mistaken!"
Manuscript note that he'd be happy if Bishop Clark said no as he does not wish to impose.

Has received the Walsingham document and will decipher and copy it. Pleasant to stay at Presbytery. Looking forward to the pilgrimage as not attended for a long time.

Welcome to stay for the event in the UEA (University of East Anglia) on 28 October 1979. Preparing for an ARCIC meeting in Venice. "Dick" [Stewart] is going to SPUC in the New Year - Dennis Corbishley has considerable practice in the ecumenical circuit.

Thanks Fisher for his letter and enclosures. Questions of cost arise especially when the Diocese has some large debts to attend to. "I am glad to know you are fit & well in spite of what one calls advancing age."

Will be instructing Chris Toller to deal with both presbyteries and make arrangements for letting them.

Covering letter for attachments - Fr Birch approves of sending them for the bishop to see - self-explanatory.

He is aware of financial difficulties at Walsingham but this is nothing new in obtaining a hefty loan before Christmas - usually recovers by Mothers' Day in July. He has to stress the sale of Wells' priest's house would be a great gain. "'the ball' is in your court, where no doubt you collect such 'balls' [crossed through] problems!" There must be a number of presbyteries in the diocese which could be sold and replaced with smaller modern buildings more in keeping and convenient for the priest concerned.

Sell Wells' Priests' House; history of occupancy and use (Fr Gerry Hulme / Fr Symes / Marists / Fr Murphy). House not needed and the former Congregation Hall across the road is available to borrow when necessary.

"Scandal of 30 years"; lack of accommodation for the sick; sell this property; will do all he can to address lack

Unlikely to be able to approve additional classroom at St Martha's as 1971/2 resources are now virtually used up. Note Mr Black (author) is moving to Midlands Division and Miss Catchpole is taking over.

Limited supply of mobile classrooms is already committed. The cost of a mobile classroom and associated works is £1500. Agree that a case should be made with Education Department for permanent accommodation at S Martha's.

Mr Sauvain - just received your letter. Any temporary accommodation must be approved by the Ministry and meet requirements; Managers' responsibility to provide. Cannot rely on dates from the Development Plan. Suggest the Managers push for a date and a school - there will be plenty of room on the Newlynn Estate when you are ready to proceed with your building.
Need to consider the needs of the children at the school before accepting more.

Progress so far: value of estate established at £330,000. Survey of area identified 158 Catholics - possibly 200 in total. Plan to refurbish the house - sufficient for an Oratory/Chapel in one large ground floor room. The can seek a priest to reside temporarily; he could say mass in a local hall. Hope then to be able to persuade the Bishop to build a church in the village. Fr Nesden is kept informed.

writing from 7 Jubilee Court, Queen Street, King's Lynn. Summer supply in Canada (Sacred Heart Presbytery, Regina, Sasketuan). Flat keys form either Fr Hammond or #6. "Peter" might be able to get shower fixed after a word with the agents. Settled here - but has back trouble.

Writing to Chris Burch of the Sue Ryder Foundation about matters arising from accommodating a [severely] disabled individual. She had called the Marist Fathers three times for help but they could not gain access to the building. Fr Birch suggests a number of measures to ensure such guests are safe and cared for in the Sue Ryder place. The Pilgrim Bureau did not accept her booking because they do not have the faculties, although £250,000 is to be spent on improvements.

Good to reply directly to Mr Smith of King's Lynn.
Suggested removing the reference to financial commitments in the Diocese. Corby as a singular concern to the Commission is not true as we are only paying off the interest part of its loan. The policy is to secure Maintained education for all children where possible. The difficulty at King's Lynn is the distance travelled by the children - over 16 miles in some cases. A suggestion of using Hostels in Norwich has been considered - do you have any view of progress being made elsewhere in this approach?

care needs to be taken in how the school is perceived - different rules apply to a Transferred School as to a Substitute School and you can lose 50% of the grant. You will also need to have the number of children already in school, not an anticipated number. The future of the senior pupils is involved - providing a Catholic education may mean boarding them out in Norwich or similar. Once a new school is built then you have the old one - either to keep for other use or to count in against the grant allocation.
Keep Fr Brewer informed of any steps taken with the LEA or Ministry.

True that Managers provide accommodation, also true that the LEA has considerable powers to do the same.
Any temporary accommodation will only get approval if it is of the right standard and will form part of the permanent solution.
Should not send parents away from the school. If overcrowding is intolerable then there is an "Educational need" but if this is not the case and they can go elsewhere then this becomes only a "Denominational" need and the Minister will not allow that.
manuscript p.s.: "notice that the 1938 List 21 shows the school is down for 141 on roll; so can do this without a qualm!"

Unable to attend last week - business kept him away.
Advice over the approach the LEA would take to the school under the Development Plan. Note that Norfolk would be the last to achieve reorganisation. Buying a house may not be the answer as a refit as a school may take too long and be too costly. Need to seek the opinion of Mr A Sauvain and the Chief Education Officer.
When the HMI comes, have an informal talk about the circumstances of the school.
Bp Beck suggests allowing overcrowding in order to force the pace - but you know the local conditions best.

Managers' request for a mobile classroom has not accounted for the closure of the independent convent school in King's Lynn - so St Martha's will need to accommodate an additional 60 pupils. The Northampton Diocesan Schools Commission requests an early entry into the building programme for the extension of St Martha's School for up to 12 years.
P.S. (to Ben Hannond): Asked Rev Mother to provide names and addresses of the Catholic children in the Convent School.