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Local naval hero honoured

24th November 2009

A local naval hero has been honoured at Abel Homes' Swaffham site (The Hatchery), with its main street being named after the town's own Victoria Cross winner, Admiral Sir Arthur Knyvet Wilson.

Swaffham Town Mayor David Harman (left) and local history enthusiast Vic Tucker (right) toast the new street name with some appropriate Navy rum.

The sign for Admiral Wilson Way was unveiled in a ceremony by Swaffham Town Mayor David Harman and local history enthusiast Vic Tucker. Mr Tucker suggested the name in a competition run in conjunction with the Swaffham Times.

Admiral of the Fleet Wilson had a long naval career, seeing action in the Crimean War, the China War, the Egyptian Campaign and the Sudan Campaign. He eventually rose to become First Sea Lord before retiring in 1912 - only to come out of retirement two years later to bring his expertise and experience to bear in the First World War.

He died aged 79 at his Swaffham home in what is now Sporle Road in 1921, and is buried in the churchyard at St Peter and St Paul's Church in the town. His VC is in the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth.

Maggie Abel, who together with Mayor David Harman and local EDP reporter Dominic Chessum, chose the name from suggestions put forward by local people, said that it was very appropriate to recognise a local hero. "We were really delighted with Mr Tucker's suggestion, because Admiral Wilson was a true local hero, although fewer people know about his exploits today."

Norfolk Construction Manager wins National Award

26th August 2009

Tim Walsingham, who is a Site Manager for the company, has won a ‘pride in the Job’ Award from the National Housebuilders Confederation (NHBC). The award is given following a ‘Michelin Guide’ style inspection by a NHBC inspector, who assesses site managers against 38 strict criteria.

The awards are given in four categories according to the size of the employing company, and Tim, who is currently managing our site in Drayton where 22 Conran-designed highly sustainable homes are being built, is the only winner in Norfolk in the Small Builder category.

He will go forward to the NHBC’s ‘Seal of Excellence’ Award, the next stage in the annual search for the best site manager in the UK in each of the four categories.

Abel Homes’ MD, Tony Abel, said, “This is the industry’s most prestigious award for site managers, and it is a huge achievement for Tim to have won one – we are very proud of him. Very few are awarded to smaller house builders, and it’s a reflection of the effort we put in to keeping quality standards high on our sites.”

The award judges look for consistent high standards in workmanship, excellent leadership skills, technical expertise, the ability to turn the designer’s intentions into reality, good health & safety standards and a commitment to raising standards.

Tim will receive his award at a ceremony at the MK Dons stadium in October.

More details of the NHBC Pride in the Job Awards can be found here: www.nhbc.co.uk/NewsandComment/PrideintheJob

New Artwork on New Homes Site Harks back to Dairy History

25th June 2009

Residents of a new close in Old Catton in Norwich were surprised to see a cow and calf grazing on their grass verge – but it was all in honour of a new piece of community artwork which has been unveiled.

The sculpture – an engraved standing stone – was commissioned by us to mark the completion of eight new homes on the site of an Old Dairy, and it was unveiled by 84-year-old George Pointer, whose family farmed the land for nearly 70 years before passing it to us to build the new homes.

The stone was commissioned from local stone carver Teucer Wilson, as part of an ongoing commitment by us to place public art at each of the sites where it builds new homes, to create a focus for the new community.

The five-foot-high stone is inscribed on one side with – The Old Dairy – and a reversed motif ‘butter mould’. The other side features the J.M.Barrie quote: “He who distributes the milk of human kindness cannot help but spill a little on himself.”

Unveiling the artwork alongside Mr Pointer, in front of residents of the eight new homes, Abel Homes Managing Director Tony Abel said, “We are building communities, not just houses, which is why we have committed to commissioning a piece of artwork from local artists at each of the sites we are working on.

“We hope that this stone will act as a focus for this new community – a kind of village sign for the modern age. And we wanted to recognize the history of this site, to give it a sense of place. We’re delighted that George, whose family farmed this land for so many years, can be with us to unveil this splendid stone.”

The sculpture was created by Teucer Wilson, a north Norfolk-based stonemason and architectural carver. The stone itself, a five foot slab of York stone, was sourced from a yard in Aylsham.

We have built eight four and five-bedroomed houses on the site in Old Catton, of which only the show home is left for sale.

Download:  Old Catton Artwork 

Community Artwork Unveiled to Gardeners Green Residents

4th June 2009

Residents of a new street in Hingham are enjoying a new piece of art, following the unveiling of a specially-commissioned sculpture for an open space created by us at our development in Bell Meadow.

Tony Abel of Abel Homes, aided by James Knott and Izabel Nti, two children who have recently moved into homes on the site, unveiled the bronze sculpture by South Walsham-based artist Alison Atkins.

Reflecting the horticultural theme of the site, which is called ‘Gardeners Green’, the sculpture consists of 38 leather gardening gloves cast in bronze, arranged in a shape of a flower, set on a concrete plinth. The artwork has been positioned in an open space, which we have created to form the centre-piece of the new community.

We committed last year to commissioning a piece of artwork from a local artist for every site on which we build new homes, and the Hingham sculpture is the first of these to be completed.

Unveiling the sculpture, Tony Abel said, “Because we are a local, family-owned firm, we try to build communities, not just bricks and mortar. We feel that it is important that communities have a focus, which is why we have committed to providing a piece of public artwork on each of our new sites – a modern equivalent of the village sign, a place where residents can meet and get to know each other.
“We are delighted to unveil the first of these, a wonderful piece of art by a local artist – as all of our commissions will be. We hope that the residents of Gardeners Green will enjoy both the sculpture and the open space for many years to come.”

Alison Atkins is a graduate of the Norwich School of Art and Design (now Norwich University College of the Arts), and has completed a number of commissions for public art.

Following an appeal to the public to donate old gardening gloves, Alison cast 38 of them in bronze before arranging them in the shape of a flower, all of which was then mounted on a concrete plinth.

New residents witnessed the unveiling ceremony during a garden party hosted by us on the site.

Of the 34 homes being built by us, 28 have already been sold. Work on the site is anticipated to be finished by the end of July.

Download:  Hingham community artwork revealed 

Abel Homes defies downturn and starts 51 new homes in Swaffham

23rd February 2009

Abel Homes Ltd is bucking the trend by starting work on 51 new homes in Swaffham – at a time when the construction industry’s leading trade body is reporting the lowest number of new house-building starts since records began.

The National House-Building Council (NHBC), which was established more than 70 years ago, has reported that new starts in the UK fell by almost a half during 2008 compared with 2007, with just 72,114 private homes started during the year, with many developers opting not to build on land they own.

However, we have started work on 51 new homes on the site of a former Bernard Matthews turkey hatchery in Castleacre Road in Swaffham.

Groundworks have already started on the 3.65 acre site, and we hope to open its show house early this summer. The 51 homes will be a mixture of two, three, four and five bedroomed houses. We will also be providing a large area of public open space on the site.

Abel Homes Managing Director Tony Abel said that the commencement of work reflected an optimistic view. “Throughout the downturn, we have still been selling houses – the right home with the right quality in the right location will still sell. So unlike the volume developers who build acre after acre of identikit boxes, as a local company we can build homes that people actually want to live in.

“We undertook significant local consultation with residents and Swaffham Town Council before submitting our plans, to ensure that what we were proposing would meet the needs of the local community. The fact that we achieved planning permission in record time – less than 13 weeks – reflects the care we took to make sure that we are meeting local needs.”

We are continuing our consultative approach by implementing its ‘Good Neighbour Charter’ on the site. This sets out promises about how we will try to minimise the impact of construction on surrounding homes and businesses, as well as a number of pledges to ensure that the we will be considerate, clean, respectful, safe and environmentally aware as we build the new homes. A copy of the Charter has been delivered to every neighbouring property of the site, and is available on site and online to anyone else who requests it.

The NHBC figures showed that private sector new build starts in 2008 were 56 per cent down on 2007, and 18 per cent below the previous record low, set in 1992. The body is predicting that the level of new home starts will remain low throughout 2009.

The first homes on the Swaffham site are due to go on sale in July; it is anticipated that construction will take around two years.

An amazing week in the media

14th January 2009

Wow, what an amazing week for Abel Homes! Lead story on page 3 of the EDP, coverage on BBC Look East and Anglia TV AND Maggie appears on GMTV!!

It all started with Maggie’s idea of creating a realistic teenage boy’s bedroom at our otherwise immaculate showhouse at The Dairy in Old Catton.

The Eastern Daily Press sent reporter John Welsh and photographer Bill Smith to the showhouse on Saturday 10th January to get information and photos. We were very fortunate that the buyers of the house turned up at the same time and were very helpful and kindly agreed to be interviewed and photographed. Diana, who has already moved into her new house at The Dairy also kindly took part but sadly her teenage son was less accommodating! Click here to see the EDP article.

As the show house is sold and due to be handed over to the new owners on Friday 16th January, Maggie and I left the office early on Monday morning to pack up the house.

Ten minutes after leaving the office we got the first phone call from a national press agency. They were sending a photographer to the house immediately and required more information to pass on to the national papers who might be interested in the story. By the time I called Lee, the site manager to let him know to expect the photographer, he had had a call from BBC Look East to say that they would be on site at 10.30am.

And so the morning went with numerous calls from the press and Maggie being given media training by our PR guru Andy Newman before being interviewed.

Anglian TV turned up but worked around the BBC crew and various photographers. Maggie did a fabulous interview with them which you can view here.

Mike Liggins from Look East really got into the spirit of things, demonstrating all the benefits of a new built house, he was very impressed with the soft close drawers in the kitchen and even had a quick shower for the camera! See him in action here.

When a call was put through to Maggie from GMTV her face was a picture of complete shock and horror. Could she come to London to be interviewed in the morning? Well of course.

As she had to be at the studio at 6.30am we immediately left the half-packed up showhouse and headed back to the office. A few miles down the road and we got another phone call to say that GMTV would be coming to Old Catton as they would like to film the boy’s room. So back to the house, unpack what we had packed and a quick tidy up.

5.30am Tuesday morning - broadcasting unit, camera man, sound engineer, presenter and Maggie all in position, ready for action. Lots of equipment to set up, a few practice runs and then it was live at 6.50am with Jonathan Swain. Back on at 8.25am, Jonathan doing a great job showing off the smelly trainers, the food under the bed and the state of the room.

“It’s a wrap”, leaving us to pack up the house for good, during which time Maggie got further calls to do interviews on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Radio Tees, we even got a mention on BBC Radio 2 by Sarah Kennedy.

It has been a great experience for all involved and it has generated lots of press coverage - The Telegraph, The Times, the London Metro, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, and The Sun all covered the story. Not of course forgetting the EDP article which started it all off so a huge thank-you to John Welsh.

Lena

Handy Artwork

4th December 2008

We have committed to commissioning a piece of public art for each of our new homes sites - and the first of these is due to be unveiled in the new year, at Gardeners Green in Hingham.

A bronze sculpture has been commissioned from Norfolk artist Alison Atkins - and she has come up with a gardening-themed piece which will form the centrepiece of the public open space which is being created on the site.

The sculpture is made up of 36 bronze gardening gloves - which have been cast from real gloves donated by local people. Alison put out an appeal in the area around her home in South Walsham, and was deluged with used gloves. Working with bronze sculptor Lawrence Edwards in Suffolk, Alison has now perfected the technique of casting the gloves, and work is now underway to create all 36.

Once cast, the gloves will be welded together in a spherical form, with the fingers of the gloves forming 'petals'. The whole piece will be nearly a metre in diameter, and will be mounted on a plinth in a specially-created part of the garden. The bronze will be pattinated, giving it a weathered look - a case of real 'green fingers'!

The sculpture is due to be unveiled in February.

Maggie Abel, who commissioned the piece, commented, "Alison has really captured the spirit of the site in Hingham which is next door to allotment gardens. We have tried hard to create a nice, open, green feel to Gardeners Green, and Alison's sculpture will complement this nicely.

"We believe that too many new houses are designed and built without any thought being given to creating new communities - that's why we have tried to include public open spaces around our new homes, and why we have decided to commission Norfolk artists to make pieces of public art to act as a focal point for these communities."

67 HOMES IN WATTON GETS GO-AHEAD

22nd September 2008

Our planning application to build 67 new homes on a 2½ hectare brownfield site on Norwich Road in Watton was approved today (Monday 22nd September) by Breckland Council.

As part of the plan we have agreed to donate part of the site to the 'Tree-Tots' for a new building to house the playgroup.

In addition, we will make a £300,000 contribution towards the provision of affordable housing in Breckland, as well as over £93,000 towards educational provision at Watton Infant School, and £17,755 towards Watton’s Walking & Cycling Strategy plus a further £4,000 towards book provision in the town’s library.

Land & Planning Manager Jamie Bird comments “We are delighted once again to be building homes for local families right on our own doorstep. This site is just a few miles from where we are based as a company, and so the opportunity to provide much-needed homes, as well as making contributions to the life of Watton, is very attractive for us. We will be implementing our unique Good Neighbour Charter at the site, which sets out a list of promises on how we will operate during construction to minimize the disruption to those living nearby.
As a locally-based and family-owned company, we believe it’s important to be a good neighbour and to recognise how we affect the community in which we operate. We can’t stop the disruption that a construction site causes totally, but our Good Neighbour Charter is designed to keep any inconvenience to a minimum.”

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