"Littleport: Famous for Harleys and... " a Littleport Travel Page by Confucius

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Riots are not central in this village sign's theme

Welcome to Littleport! Please behave yourselves!

At the beginning of the 21st century, Littleport decided that they needed a new village sign. The previous one depicted armed rioters walking around the streets; an incident that occured in 1816 which is Littleport's original claim to fame.
This is the new sign, which was unveiled on June 24, 2001. It presents a kinder gentler image of the village, including a windmill! (Tourists love windmills; just look at Mykonos!)

I have included a photo of the old sign in a travelogue for comparison.

Imagine if the only thing your hometown was famous for was riots. No wonder the village of Littleport threw a huge party when the Harley Davidson motorcycle statue was unveiled.

Harleys and riots? What's the connection? I followed the little blue signs in the village and they led me to the interesting answer.

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This old building used to be a bank in Littleport

Lloyd's Bank and downtown Littleport

This late 19th century house was converted to a bank in 1914. The historic building was re-thatched in 1984.

Thatch as a roofing material will likely soon disappear from England's landscape. The danger of fire has led to many district councils prohibiting the use of thatch on new roofs. Also, thatching is almost a lost art in England. There just aren't many roof-thatchers passing their skills down to the next generation. (Insert Margaret Thatcher joke.)
Terms used in roof-thatching may now only be heard in antique shops. In bygone days the roof-thatcher used a "strood" to hold the loose straw. Then using his spars, split rods pointed at each end, he made neat pegs for the fastening of the straw rope that he cleverly twisted with a simple tool called a "wimble" (Yes, the very same "wimble" in Wimbledon).