The year started with Steve Wright, charged with the murder of five prostitutes in Suffolk, pleading not guilty at Ipswich Crown Court. His trial will begin in January 2008.
February saw the first of the year's agricultural disasters to hit the Eastern Region with the deadly HN51 strain of Bird Flu being discovered at the giant Bernard Matthews' Turkey Farm. Over 160,000 birds were slaughtered.
In March a total lunar eclipse turned the Moon blood red. Lunar eclipses occur when the Sun, Earth and Moon are in a near-perfect line in space. The Moon travels through the long cone-shaped shadow the Earth casts in space. The only light that can reach the Moon's surface at this point has been refracted through our planet's atmosphere. This light takes on a red tinge - depending on the amount of dust in the Earth's atmosphere. The next visible eclipse is due on February 21st 2008.
The James Paget Hospital in Gorelston was caught up in a row that it had tried to cover up an outbreak of Clostridium difficile (CDiff) which had contributed to the deaths of 17 people. The deaths came to light when a member of the public contacted a national newspaper.
April saw Conservative Party leader, David Cameron arriving in Diss to great fanfare to rid the town of graffiti. The assembled media gather to record this momentous deed only to find Cameron and his entourage painting a wall that was, er.... devoid of any graffiti!
After 40 years of service, Eric Edwards retired from cutting reed and sedge on the Norfolk Broads. He will be sorley missed by newspaper photographers of whom he has provided endless features for. Eric kept the Broads traditions alive with his trademark smock, hat and neckerchief, and is one of only two reed-cutters in the Broads to still use a scythe. He famously told Magaret Thatcher she was 'doing it wrong' whilst giving her a lesson in stacking and dressing reed.
Gordon Brown moved next door in June finally ousting Tony Blair for the job of Prime Minister. The honeymoon of public opinion has been short lived after dithering over an election and various disasters with personal information, and the spectre of sleaze rearing its head. By the end of the year opinion polls were putting the Conservative Party firmly in the lead.
In July members of the Household Cavalry took their mounts out of the stifling heat of London for a little play on the Norfolk coast. The annual summer camp includes two days of exercises on the beach where cavalry charges in the surf mean most of the riders end up airborne.
Britain's Prison Officers locked down cells and walked out of work in August. The illegal strike action took the government by surprise and forced the Justice Ministry to seek a High Court Injunction to force the warders back to work.
Apocalyptic visions of the East of England under water last seen in 1953 as a storm surge in the North Sea failed to cause the predicted mayhem and destruction during November. In Gt Yarmouth where some of the worst flooding was expected surfers took to the sea taking advantage of the swell.
Dropping off this mortal coil was literary legend, Norman Mailer. His debut work, The Naked and the Dead, set in Japan during World War Two made his reputation as one of America's tough guys. He twice won a Pulitzer Prize for non fiction, married six times as well as keeping various mistresses and sired eight children.
Bird Flu reared its head once more with a free range flock on the Norfolk/Suffolk border being hit by the virus. 6,500 free range turkeys destined for Waitrose were culled. Poultry on surrounding farms were also slaughtered bringing a total cull of 22,000 birds.
Boss of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Paul Gray resigned from office in December when the news broke that HMRC had lost two computer disks containing the personal details of 25 million child benefits claimants. Many commended him at the time for doing what so many officials in recent government have refused to do; taking responsibility for the failings of his department under leadership.
It was however a short lived spell in the wilderness. 13 days later he was back in full time employment in the civil service working for Sir Gus O'Donnell at the Cabinet Office, the very man he had tendered his resignation to.
It was however a short lived spell in the wilderness. 13 days later he was back in full time employment in the civil service working for Sir Gus O'Donnell at the Cabinet Office, the very man he had tendered his resignation to.
Licence Ipswich prostitute murders photographs here.
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