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Page 12

Letter to the Editor

What a mess My garden backs on to Cross Lane which is regularly used as a dog walk. All too often I have to pick up Dog Mess before I can use my gateway. Can I please ask that dog owners who use the lane do not let their dogs relieve themselves on my garden area. If they do, to clear up after them. Poop-a-scoops and bags are cheap to buy and available from any pet store, so let’s all clean up after our dogs and make the village a cleaner place to live for everyone. Jan Chase

Village Hall Urgently Needs

Help Owing to the cost of the extensive re-furbishing in the Village Hall, the hall is now in the red to the amount of £2,800. Through the generosity of two gentlemen of the parish who have loaned the outstanding amount t h e h a l l i s a b l e t o c o n t i n u e functioning. HOWEVER, this outstanding sum has got to be raised to reimburse the two generous gentlemen and all suggestions as to fund raising are urgently asked for. If you can help in any way with organising fund raising activities, or p u t t i n g f o r w a r d r e a s o n a b l e suggestions, please come forward and do so. Village Hall Committee If you have any ideas of how to raise money and , give us a shout at Village Life. Ed

THANKS Thanks from Jenny Langley Thank you to everyone who helped raise £247.96 for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice at Quidenham, th is be ing the proceeds of the Christingle Service and half the collection from the Christmas Tree Festival. Many Thanks. Jenny

Thanks from Maureen and Arthur We would like to thank our family, f r iends and neighbours for the beautiful flowers, gifts and cards received on the occasion of our Golden Wedding Anniversary, with special thanks and appreciation to Adrian, Janet and family for arranging the “Surprise Party”. We had a wonderful day!

Issue Feb 2006 Copy date for the next issue is;

23rd February 2006 copy@northwold.net Tel. 01366 728233

Service With A Smile Kevin and Tara Ager have taken over the ownership of the shop and Post office, which for those who have forgotten stands next to The Crown. They have moved up from Grays in Essex having learnt about the shop when visiting Kevin’s brother who runs the Corner Shop in Stoke Ferry. They have two sons, Callum who is five and Hayden who is two and a half. The shop has been re furbished and carries an impressive range of commodities, and is very bright and cheerful. Both Kevin and Tara have been trained to run the Post Office which is now open Monday to Friday 8.30 am until 5pm and 9am to noon on Saturday. There will be banking facilities for most major banks over the counter. He shop itself opens 7am to 7pm Monday to Friday, 8. 30am to 7pm Saturday, and 8am to 6pm on Sunday At the present time they are living in Foulden but they hope this is only temporary. Whilst doing this interview for Village life there was a steady stream of customers coming and going, so things are not looking too bad. They told me that they fell in love with Norfolk when they came up on their holidays. Who wouldn’t? Were wonderful aren’t we? Seriously, if for any reason you may not have supported this amenity in the past, then go and have a look for yourself, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I was ! Ed.

Congratulations to Baroness Shephard of Northwold Back in 1229, during the reign of Henry 111 (1216 – 72), Hugh of Northwold was made Bishop of Ely. He was an important churchman in the days when Abbots and Bishops wielded real power in the land, and Henry also made use of his diplomatic talents, using him as an ambassador. (Dr Jim Norris gives a splendid précis of Hugh’s life in his St Andrews Northwold Church History and Guide, 2nd edition 2003). We have had to wait nearly 800 years for the title to reappear. In 2005 Gillian Shephard was received into the House of Lords, and has chosen the title of Baroness Shephard of Northwold. She has a long and distinguished record of service both within Norfolk and nationally, which now continues in the House of Lords. Gillian served the South West Norfolk constituency as Conservative member of Parliament for 17 years, from 1987 until her retirement from the House of Commons at the 2004 election. Between 1992 and 1997 Gillian was appointed Secretary of State for Employment, Minister of Agriculture, Secretary of State for Education, and Secretary of State for Education and Employment. After the 1997 General Election she was made Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, and in 1998 Shadow Secretary of State for the environment, Transport and the Regions. Gillian and Tom Shephard lived in this village for many years until the autumn of 2005, and during that time involved themselves in many village activities. We shall miss seeing them out on their walks, and many of us miss our almost daily chats with Gillian’s mother, Mrs Bertha Watts, of her regular outings around the village. We send them all our very best wishes for the future. Congratulations Gillian! Winifred Robinson MBE

Village Shop Baroness Shephard

cover

Whittington News Church diary

2

Plough Monday Damage at Church

3

St Andrew’s Church Bowls Club draw

4

Rita’s Ramblings 5 Our Past According to POG 6 River watch Classified Ads Spiritualists

7

W I Report Little Normans Pre School

8

Keith McCleod letter Theft from Church

9

Northwold Produce Show Northwold Primary School

10

Northwold News 11 Letters to the Editor 12

Inside this issue:

Page 2

The Village Life Team

Editor Michael Parfitt

copy@northwold.net Tel. 728233

Deputy Editor Graeme Whiting

Copy@northwold.net Tel 727425

Advertising ads@northwold.net

Circulation Manager Mark Elwes

circulation@northwold.net Tel. 728795

Committee

Chair Carol Sharp Tel. 728227

Secretary Position vacant

Treasurer Geoff Bartram

Tel. 728673

The views expressed in submitted items are not necessarily endorsed by Northwold & Whittington Village Life. Whilst we endeavour to ensure that all information contained in the newsletter is correct, we cannot be held responsible for errors. The Editor reserves the right to refuse or omit items without explanation.

Derek Johnson PROPERTY & LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE

Interior & exterior painting, wood or UPVC facia boards Guttering repaired, cleaned, replaced

Roofing repairs, damaged tiles replaced Chimney pots & cowlings fitted

Chimney stacks and general re-pointing Blocked drains & sinks cleared General plumbing & drainage

Roof, patio & driveway pressure washing Trees & conifers trimmed or removed

Hedges, bushes and ivy trimmed Fencing & decking, landscape maintenance

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Church Diary for February 2006 for the parishes of Northwold, Methwold, Whittington and Wretton with Stoke Ferry Sunday 5th 11am Northwold Holy Communion Rev John Terry 9.30amMethwold.Holy Communion Fr James Mather 11am Fel twel l . Joint worship St . Mary’s BAS 9 .30am Wret ton Serv ice of the word Fr James Mather Sunday 12th. 11am Northwold Service of the word KM 9.30am Methwold Service of the word BAS 11am Feltwell Holy Communion 9.30am Wretton Holy Communion Sunday, 19th 8am Northwold Holy Communion Rev. Richard Worsley 9.30am Methwold Holy Communion Rev. Richard Worsley 11am Feltwell Service of the word BAS 9.30am Whittington Service of the word KM Sunday 26th 11am Northwold Service of the word KM 10am Methwold Joint worship with Methodists 11am Feltwell Holy Communion 9 . 3 0 a m W h i t t i n g t o n H o l y Communion Additional Services at St Andrew’s Northwold only. February 5th 11am Holy Communion. 12th 11am Matins 19th 8am Holy Communion 26th 11am Matins

W H I T T I N G T O N CHURCH NEWS The restoration work is progressing slowly but surely. The work should have been finished in October but at least the roof has been completed; and we have just heard from the architect that the contractor hopes to be finished by the end of April. The church was not used in November while the roof was being retiled - the contractor had assured us it would be ready in time for the concert on 17 December. And it was - just! We had to have a massive clean-up operation during the week running up to the concert. It was all worth it: the church looked lovely with the Christmas tree shining brightly and the window sills decked out with holly and ivy and lots of candles burning. The concert was an o u t s t a n d i n g s u c c e s s c r e a t i n g a wonderful Chris tmas atmosphere en joyed by everyone . We a re so grateful to Robert Howes for producing it for us and to everyone who took part; and also of course to Roger & Suzanne Warner for allowing us to use their home for the mulled wine and mince pies afterwards. And a lso we must thank everyone who made mince pies and helped in any way. The profit on the evening was £440. Our regular fundraiser the Bonus Ball Competition brought us in £1274 in 2005. We split the proceeds 50/50, so when all 49 numbers are sold that means the prize money each week is £24.50. Last year as there were 53 Saturdays we made 31st. December a free draw to everyone as a thank you for supporting us throughout the year. JennyElsey

Owing to lack if space there is no

room for an editorial this

month, as we do not publish in

January. Apologies to

anyone who has been affected, but keep the

articles coming in all the same.

All the best for 2006. Ed.

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Page 11

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Northwold News By Jim Booty Village Hall Funded largely by a £10,224 grant from Waste Recycling Environment, the new damp proof course and replastering in the Hall is complete. The necessary redecoration will, we hope, be done after the party season. The Committee is grateful to WREN, without whose grant the work could not have been done, and to Peter Cox for a good job cheerfully done. The next urgent task is to cure the flooding at the front of the Hall caused by faulty drainpipes. Parish Council. A report was received from the play equipment group, who also await a grant from WREN. We may have news of the proposed skate park soon. On the downside, there has been some serious vandalism on the Recreation ground, with no witnesses as usual. Next years precept will be unchanged at £10,000 The Care Group had their Christmas lunch, with the Community car

drivers invited to a god lunch of chicken with vegetables followed by t r i f l e . A s w e l l a s p r o v i d i n g waitresses, the top class from the S c h o o l s a n g s o n g s f r o m t h e Christmas play. The Forget me Not club held their Christmas dinner of roast beef in the Crown, followed by a musical afternoon in the hall. N o r t h w o l d B o w l s

Club wishes everybody a Happy New Year and invites anybody who wishes to try take up the sport to join us in the forthcoming season. We have a few vacancies in our 100 club. If you would like to join in the fun please contact Mrs Sylvia Knights on 01366 728527. We also have a vacancy for a Green Keepers assistant. If you interested, contact either Rosemary Crisp or Roger Preston for details. Roger Preston Hon Sec

Playground Project Our calendar for this year was a great success, approx £ 500 was raised. A big thank you to everyone who supported us and to the following people for donating photos; Mrs Raven, Mr Gotts, Mrs Osborne, Janet Deacon, and Val from The Crown. Our next fund raising event will be a Valentine Disco at the Sports and Socia l Club, on Saturday, 11 th February 2006 from 6. 30 pm. Tickets: Adults £ 3.50, Children £ 2, Children under 5 years free, and a

special Family Ticket of £ 10. Prize for the winning entry ticket and a raffle. Tickets available from Rosa on 728008, Angie on 727274 and Holly on 727759. Please support this event for a great family night out. Angie and Rosa.

Page 10

NORTHWOLD PRODUCE SHOW Everyone involved in the creation of jumpers/cardigans and quilts/blankets at the 2005 show will be interested in the following excerpts from the letters of thanks received. Project Linus UK: “Please pass on to all those involved in making the lovely quilts and blankets our grateful thanks for their efforts. From the enclosed letter recently received from the Sister in charge of the children’s department at the N & N hospital you will see just how much pleasure and comfort such gifts bring to children in need of an extra hug.” “It is thanks to friends of Project Linus like yourselves and those involved in the making of your gifts, that we can continue to do our bit for sick and traumatised children. Thank you to all such special people.” Sister for Children ’s Ambulatory Care, N&N University Hospital writes: “Thank you once again for the delivery of lovely quilts and blankets; on behalf of many of our visitors we are very grateful to you and your talented makers.” Roger Warner wri t e s fo r t he Ukrainian Children: “On behalf of the recipients of the lovely gifts from the members of the Village Produce Show thank you very much indeed. Ivan, who has been staying with me for the past month will take them back with him when he returns to Ukraine shortly. Thank you again for all your kindness.”

And a big thank you goes to …. … Hod and Eunice Everett, who officially stepped down as Chairman and Secretary at the Annual Produce Show meeting on 30 November 2005. All participants of past shows will, no doubt, echo the thanks expressed at the meeting for all their hard work to ensure the smooth running of the events over the past few years.

Date for your diary The show schedule for 2006 will be

discussed at a meeting in the Village Hall on WEDNESDAY 8 MARCH, starting at 7:30 pm. If you would like to get involved in the Produce Show in any way or have any suggestions please contact the new h u s b a n d a n d w i f e t e a m c o -ordinating the event! S. Freemantle Produce Show Chairman/Secretary 2006 17 Church Lane, Northwold. Tel: 727675

I know it seems a l o n g t i m e since Christmas b u t b e f o r e I report on what

has happened this term I will report on what happened at the end of last term. The children enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Party and a visit from Father Christmas. The Christmas performances were wonderful and my thanks must go to all involved, the children and staff worked very hard and had a lot of fun and the PTFA worked hard to raise funds to help us to cover the costs of the licences. The end of term service was a very special end to the year and our thanks must go to all at St Andrew’s who always welcome us. This term we have been pleased to welcome three new members of staff to our support team, they are Mrs Anna Zawiasa, Mrs Lisa Rolph and Mr. Tom Bellotti. They are already very at home with us and are getting to know the children quickly. Since returning to school we have been part of the ‘Plough Monday’ celebrations in the village. We all had a wonderful time. This is what some of the children said: “ I’ve never done anything like this before and I really enjoyed it.” Robyn Crawford Year 6 “I enjoyed the plough Monday procession as it was funny, colourful and lively, but it also told us of our past history.” Aiden Bond Year 5

“I liked the whole of Plough Monday and can’t wait for it next year.” Kay Eyles Year 5 Years five and six are working with the Fenland HeritageTrust to learn how to do some of the dances we saw on Plough Monday. Later in that same week we had a visiting theatre group in school to perform Sleeping Beauty. This was funded by the PTFA and a marvellous experience for the children. We were very pleased to receive a dona t ion f rom the Nor thwold Education Foundation and we have purchased books for the library with the money. The trustees of the funds will be visiting school to formally present the books to children. We are also delighted to have been able to present certificates to children who had 100% attendance last term. Schools are now required to set and meet attendance targets and we hope that by presenting certificates we will encourage full t ime attendance although we do understand when children are unwell they need to be at home. Our lunch time and after school clubs have resumed now that the lighter evenings are upon us. As part of our work with children and families we are opening the school library to parents for them to borrow books to share with children on Monday afternoons at 2.45 p.m. We are very grateful to Mrs. Whiting who runs the l ibrary for us for her wi l l ingness to under take th i s additional task. The term is only three weeks old and already we have achieved a great deal, there is much to look forward to this year including our next charities morning on Thursday 9th February when we will be raising money for t h e E a s t A n g l i a n H o s p i c e a t Quidenham, Guide Dogs for the Blind and the victims of the Pakistan Earthquake. Please come and join us for coffee at 10.00.a.m. Marion Dawe

Page 3

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Plough Monday O.K.; so Molly Dancing we are all familiar with now, big boots, men dressed as women, odd clothes, black faces and all that, but who were those people with the BLUE faces, and what was that funny play all about? During the winter months, glimpses of villagers flitting from house to house carrying strange bundles were seen, snatches of song, that weren’t carols resonated from the church and mutterings of rhymes echoed on the wind from the village hall. What was going on in secret? Was there to be a revival of the fabled Northwold Pantomime? All was revealed on Plough Monday when a MUMMERS’ PLAY was

performed both at the school in the afternoon, and twice in the evening, much to the entertainment and delight of a record crowd of followers. So, Mumming plays, what are they all about? What is performed now is a relic of a primitive custom designed to bring luck and fertility on places and peoples visited. Some sources say that these play were remnants from Viking ceremonies, hense their prevalence on the eastern s ide of England. A champion is always ki l led and

revived, symbolising the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness or winter over summer. The practise goes back thousands of years and was re-enacted at strategic times of

the agricultural year, hence the link with Plough Monday. Our play was in fac t a sc r ip t f rom the Eas t Midlands and is a ‘wooing’ play, probably one of the earliest versions in which a love is lost and won, in addition to the death and revival scene. The players were always farm labourers, their costumes homemade, and t he i r appea rance a lways disguised, and the play performed in yards or squares (well it was pre-metric). They processed in while the first speaker performed his lines whilst drawing a magic circle around him. They waited in silence before declar ing their l ines and then s t epp ing back . Desp i t e t he i r seriousness there was always an element of rough humour! I hope we portrayed some of the essential style to you, and not only kept a good custom al ive, but bestowed an abundance of luck and fertility on all around! G i n n y R o b s o n - Hull (producer)

Mummers rehearsing

Molly Dancers Performing

Disgrace Over the Christmas period, as usual, a large Christmas tree was erected outside the church, along w i t h c o l o u r e d l i g h t s . Unfortunately on three occasions, the light bulbs were either stolen or smashed (by throwing pieces of broken roof tile at them). It is believed that at least some of this damage was caused by local youths , who are s een to be "hanging about" the village in the evenings. If you are a parent in the village, do you know where your children were in the evenings over Christmas? This isn't a witch hunt, but it is to everyone's benefit to discourage this type of anti-social behaviour before it escalates into much more destructive vandalism. If you have any information relating to these incidents then please either contact the Police, or give the details to Village Life.

Page 4

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St Andrew’s Church Christmas at St. Andrew ’s always starts with out Church bazaar at the end of November. This year we held it in the Church and raised approximately £1300. Father Christmas arrived by pony and trap accompanied by 3 excited children. The usual stalls and attractions were all in attendance and our thanks go to all who helped with this event. The Christmas trees arrived at the beginning of December and a team of helpers, which seems to include at least one person from most households in the village managed to set them, decorate them and clean the church ready for a spectacular sight on the evening of the Christmas tree festival. This event again proved very popular with a congregation almost flowing into the aisle. The village children gave their version of the nativity story, the hand bells rang and a saxophone played. Readings and poems were read and carols were sung. The evening ended with the serving of mince pies and mul led wine . Th i s seems to provide an opportunity for people to

meet up with friends and neighbours – some of whom have moved away from the village but still like to come back to share in this evening. We are always pleased to welcome back Mar t in Ch i lve r s who re tu rns to officiate this event for us. A toy Service was held at which the Tots of the village collected lovely selections of toys which were then donated to the children at Quidenham Children’s Hospice. The annual Christingle was held on the Sunday before Christmas. Seeing and listening to the children as they stand in the darkened church, singing “Away in a Manager” with only the glow from their candles and the lights on the Christmas trees is for many of us one of the greatest pleasures of Christmastide. Chr i s tmas eve aga in saw Canon Rowsell taking our Midnight Service a n d o n C h r i s t m a s m o r n i n g w e welcomed the Rev. Terry who came and conducted our morning service on the special day. Plough Monday now brings to an end

our Christmas season at St. Andrew’s. Our thanks go to everyone who helps us with all these events. We could not manage to organise all this without a great deal of assistance and consider that we are very fortunate that so many of you willing, give up your time and talents to help. Thank you all very much. Brenda and Jane

Bowls Club 100 ClubDraw December. 2005. R. Eyles. £ 20 T. Cater. £ 15 P. Everett. £ 10. January 2006 A. English £ 20 T. Hay. £ 15 F. Eyles. £ 10 Sylvia

Page 9

The Parishes of St. Andrew’s, Northwold, All Saints, Wretton with Stoke Ferry & Christ Church, Whittington Reader: Keith MacLeod, West Barn, Ryston Road, West Dereham. Tel. (01366) 500960 or 07766766137 email: keith.macleod@virgin.net

Keith MacLeod’s Monthly Report Poor old Charles Kennedy! - Who? I almost hear you asking, as you try to think which of the (non) Celebrity Big Brother guests he might be! Well, as you read this, it will only be two or three weeks since he was Leader of the Liberal Democrats, bowing out due to his alcoholism. His main problem was not his alcoholism, but his fai lure to face up to i t , once i t was diagnosed. For, however self-induced by his own bad habits, it is now an illness and he needs to follow the prescriptions for its control, given that it cannot be cured. M o s t l y , I t h i n k w e a r e n o w a d a y s sympathetic to the alcoholic and once we know, we do not make life difficult for the sufferer but aid and abet his attempts to control it. Moreover, we go out of our way not to expose him unnecessari ly to temptation, but we do not, on that account, refuse to invite him to parties. When we do we keep a kindly eye on him and help him to stick to his no-alcohol-please guns. The papers and news broadcasts are full of the problems that the Minister of Education is having over sex offenders being allowed into schools. In some sense this will have been resolved by the time this article is printed and read. But the fundamental problems will not have been solved – just put under a different carpet than they have been swept under hitherto. On Question Time on TV recently, Norman Tebbitt, wondered what all the fuss was about. He did not think that our society has changed so drastically since he was at school – and there was no problem (except the inevitable isolated incidents) with sex offenders then. Well things have changed in so far as we care (or at least seem to care) more for individuals and their families than we used to. Then, the problem for one individual in one family in one village somewhere in the back of beyond did not loom large in the News – but now they do – possibly too much. Moreover carpets were just as much in evidence in Lord Tebbitt’s day as they are now and there was much less possibility of raising them to see what was swept under them. But we seem to have a social malaise – where every risk (however remote) has to be reduced to nothing by some sort of control mechanism, rather than by all of us as individuals taking responsibility for leading a sufficiently, but not overly, careful life. Now increasingly teachers refuse to take groups of children on any trips at all, not just adventure holidays, because some parent is going to sue for some imagined or real damage. Without exposing children to risk, while they are children, they will not be able to handle the real vicissitudes of adult life, when it comes – hence we are having to

cope with an increasing sub-population of inadequate adults. One consequence is that we have made it impossible for sex-offenders to lead a normal life in our society. We are happy to let the alcoholic live among us and we try to protect him and us from his alcoholism. Admittedly, the damage he can do is less frightful than what the rampant sex-offender can inflict, but nonetheless, in a civilised socie ty wi th sophis t ica ted , t ra ined specialists, I do not see that we cannot manage this problem better than we do. I was ashamed to be a member of this society when I heard of the disgraceful attacks by locals on an ‘outed’ sex-offender a few years ago (the fact that it was a case of mistaken identity simply made it worse – if it had been the right man, it would still have been totally reprehensible behaviour). Surely, it is better to know (and I do not mean just the authorities) who lives in our mini societies. If they are handicapped, so that they live in a w h e e l c h a i r , n o w a d a y s w e t r y t o accommodate them and to enable them to live as near as possible a ‘normal’ life. Similarly if they are blind. If they are too damaged to be totally ‘free’, then we care for them in appropriate Homes. I am sure that much of this care is inadequate and often misguided, but the intent is there and, as time goes by, we will get better and delivering it well. There are two types of sex-offenders – those who are evil and do what they do because they enjoy torturing others and those who are addicted – who are no better or worse than the alcoholic, except in so far as they cause more deep damage. The first lot should be dealt with under the Criminal Justice system and should not be protected by anonymity when released from prison anymore than a burglar is – which does not mean that vigilantilism is a civilised response to their eventual freedom from prison. The second lot are ill and should be treated accordingly by all of us. There is no reason why they should not be allowed to teach or do other responsible jobs in appropriate environments and where there is knowledge of their problem and care taken to prevent unfortunate incidents. In the recently published stories, such people were given jobs where they needed to be trusted, but without full transparency and therefore without the safeguards of oversight. The risk of falling off a mountain and killing yourself can be wholly eliminated by never going near a mountain – but what an awful way to lead a life. Better by far by going to the mountains and taking appropriate care – with sensible equipment, guidance at non-dangerous times and so on. Of all those who do this some will still be killed by the

unforeseen accident – but by the same token the guy who insists on living on the plain 100 miles from the foothills may just as easily be killed by a flash flood, his roof collapsing, a bolt of lightening, his brakes failing – the list is endless – a riskless life does not exist. The safest lives are those where the risks are recognised, weighed up and measures taken to control them – and the happiest lives are those where that is done and then the remaining risk accepted as part of life’s happy pattern, what gives it a little zest.

Theft From The Village Church It has become a tradition over the past few years to have a Charity Tree in the Church at Christmas. The idea i s tha t peop le pu t a donat ion in a box and chose a bauble from the basket provided, to hang on to the tree. This way the tree is slowly decorated and the proceeds are then sent directly to the Quidenham Children’s Hospice. The dona t ion box i s empt i ed regularly but we were dismayed to discover on one visit that someone had stolen the cash from the basket a n d a l s o f o r c e d t h e C h u r c h donation box from the wall and stolen the money from that. Although the amount of cash stolen may not have been very large, it is a sad fact that someone felt that their n e e d w a s g r e a t e r t h a n t h e terminally ill children for whom this money was intended. Unfortunately many of the lights on the Christmas tree outside the Church were vandalised this year. We also continue to have a problem with individuals spoiling the walls of the porch and we are regularly having to scrub clean and repair this area. Muddy footprints on the walls, discarded chewing gun, cigarette ends and empty cans and bottles do not make the entrance to the Church look very welcoming. At the moment the actions of a few are spoiling the enjoyment of many.

Page 8

Northwold W.I. January 2006

It seems ages since we were all at the V i l l a g e H a l l f o r o u r C h r i s t m a s Meeting. Hilda Bond gave an excellent demonstration and then most of us tried to turn our chocolate sponges into life-like mushrooms with varying success. Mine ended up a mass of crumbs! The competition for the best mushroom was won by Jenny Bunyan, Ann Howarth 2nd and Rosemary Crisp 3rd. It was also time for the presentation of the shield f o r t h e m e m b e r g a i n i n g m o s t competition points during the year and this went to Jackie Young.

We had a very short business meeting and then it was time for refreshments and Christmas cake. We all had a Christmas present and raffle prize to bring home to add to the Christmas wreaths which many of our members had made at a class at Oxborough Hall supervised by Mr. Graham Donachie and his two very able ass is tants . Everyone voted this successful but it was very hard on ones hands.

2006 started off with Rosemarie Jacob giving us a very entertaining talk on her 2 7 y e a r s a s a N e w s a g e n t . H e r anecdotes were hilarious but sometimes also hair raising. Arrangements were confirmed for the visit to Okalahoma at the Theatre Royal, Norwich and for the lunch club at the end of the month. Several members are going to the Taste of Anglia Fayre at Chilford Hall in March and we are already discussing plans for our next birthday party in October. In the meantime we have a full monthly programmed commencing with Trevor Burlingham’s talk, “ A Walk around East Anglia”, next month.

With best wishes for 2006,

Verity

Little Normans Northwold Pre- School If you have a child or children of Pre-school age and are interested in the Little Normans then please call in and collect one of our information booklets o r phone 728804 and speak to a member of the staff.

The Pre-School opening hours are as follows :

Monday. 9am – 12 noon Tuesday 9am – 3 pm Wednesday 9am – 3pm Thursday 9am – 3 pm Friday 9am – 12 noon

Claire

For the third year running I have received at my door, an envelope containing £20:00. with a note saying "Towards the expenses of the bellringers"

We have purchased a ceiling fan, for the hot weather, also a heater, as it can get very damp and cold in the winter. so this anonymous donation

will go towards those expenses.

So to that kind person, I would like to say on behalf of myself and all the bellringers, a big "Thank-you. Charlie. Askew

Established over 18 years

Page 5

RITA’S RAMBLINGS It seems such a long time ago now but as it is my first ramble of 2006 I would like to wish you all a happy and contented New Year. I wonder if a n y o n e m a d e a n y N e w Y e a r s ’ resolutions? According to the papers that is one of the old traditions that is beginning to fade away. I will leave you to ponder whether you believe everything you read in the papers or not!!! Like most things in life there are two ways of looking at these traditions. Firstly you could look at the positive side and say that they e n c o u r a g e p e o p l e t o m a k e t h e forthcoming year better than the last or to make improvements in their own lifestyle. On the other hand you could look at the negative side and say that many resolutions would be impossible to attain so why bother. I’m afraid I prefer the first ideal – why not try to make tomorrow a slightly better day than today. If today has been absolutely wonderful for you then maybe you could make someone else’s day a l i t t le bet ter tomorrow. It may be that you could spare a moment to say hello to that new colleague at work. You know, the one who seems so committed to making a good impression and is the l a s t o n e t o l e a v e t h e i r d e s k a t lunchtime and the first to return. Perhaps they find it uncomfortable forcing themselves on the rest of the group – because you’ve probably known each other for ages. Or may be you could give way to that car that is waiting to join the queue of traffic that is crawling towards the Hardwick roundabout first thing in the morning. You never know you may create ‘The Butterfly Effect’ h e r e i n W e s t Norfolk. If, however, today has been

absolutely wretched for you wouldn’t it make tomorrow a l i t t l e eas ie r i f someone spoke to you or let you into that horrendous queue of traffic? If you dec ide to improve your own lifestyle you may not be able to resist going back to your old ways but at least you will have tried and maybe even done yourself some good into the bargain. Has anyone ever tried one of those ‘easy 7 day plan to get fit’ that s e e m s o e a s y i n a n y n u m b e r o f magazines? To my mind you often need to have the flexibility and stamina of an athlete on day one!!! I have s tar ted the New Year in a positive frame of mind with lots of ideas on how organised I will be this year. I have even bought myself a new vacuum cleaner so that I don’t have to lug the old one up and down stairs. Why is it that it is always upstairs when you want to use it downstairs and downstairs when you want to use it upstairs? I’m afraid I very nearly fell at the first fence when I tried to buy the cleaner. I did some research and found just the model in a well-known store catalogue – but it was only available from their larger branches – l ike Norwich! Never mind, there was a page at the back of the catalogue that told me how I could reserve any item and collect it from a local store – like Thetford. All I had to do was make a telephone call, key in some numbers and 3 days later collect the item. Easy! Well, no – t h e r e w a s n o w a y o f ordering the item from Thetford; I was sent round in a circle. I know I could have actually gone to the store to order it but that rather defeated the object. I went elsewhere and bought an equally good cleaner and saved myself several pounds into the bargain. In the middle of last year Nigel and I

decided it was about time I had my own Internet account so that I could have fun finding out all sorts of useless information. Nevertheless, I have managed to find us a cottage to rent l a t e r i n t h e y e a r s o I h a v e n ’t completely wasted my time. Anyway, in late November we were looking to place our Christmas meat order and discovered that cockerel was available. As you may know I was born and brought up in the suburbs of London and all I knew about cockerels was that they crowed loudly in the morning and woke everyone up . None o f my cookery books were any good (no, not even the one associated with Carrow Road). They all mentioned Capons but nothing about cockerels. Where else to try – I asked various people at work but they knew next to nothing about the di f ferences e i ther . Someone suggested I ask Jeeves, that well-known Internet enquiry service. What a good idea I thought. As the weather was thoroughly miserable there was no f l y i n g s o I t y p e d i n m y q u e r y . Unfortunately, the results didn’t really help much so I tried again. Still no luck so I tried a third time. Much to the amusement of all my colleagues I found myself heading towards an adult only site! I quickly exited the site and logged off. Ooops, a salutary lesson in making sure I ask the right question in future otherwise I might find myself the subject of an investigation! Having said that, where would I be without e-mail? Walking down into the village to drop this off with the editor at 10.00pm on a dark, frosty night. No thanks. Until next month, take care, Rita

Page 6

O u r P a s t According To POG Aka Mike Coley

Bernie Chandler was the village coal merchant when I was a lad and he lived at the far end of Little London in one of the Flint Cottages that still stand there today. He was also the brother of my uncle ( Bob Tout ) and so I saw quite a bit of him, especially after he retired. He was a nice chap and we got on well. When he gave up work he became the water bailiff in charge of the stew ponds ( the pits where young fish are placed to acclimatise and develop before being released into the main river ) that were obscurely situated at a point beyond Flat Fen. I would accompany him at times when he used to feed them with pellets and I was fascinated to see large shoals of Rainbow Trout following him round the pond like an eager pack of dogs waiting for a bone. Rainbow trout are not an indigenous species of course, however they’re promoted as the sporting fish of choice. The fact is that they’re easier to rear and domesticate than our own truly wild fish, the superb Brown Trout. As a result i t’s the rainbows that are farmed, sold in supermarkets, and generally exploited. On the other hand the Brown trout is superior in every other way as far as I’m concerned, being a good muscley fighter, generally chunkier and providing a more earthy, sat isfying flavour when properly cooked. The Wissey has been seen as a fine fishing river for centuries and the Dilton estate, who held the fishing rights through to Ickburge, entertained many high flying guests in the past, including Royalty. Later as the estate diminished, those in charge saw that there was good money to be earned f r o m p e o p l e p r e p a r e d t o p a y handsomely to catch Rainbow Trout. In return for having deep pockets, these wealthy individuals gained access to the well stocked waters of our river and considered themselves ‘select’ i n gaining access to the swift , clear stretches of this anglers paradise. Having sufficient cash afforded them the privileges of uninterrupted Fly-fishing opportunities upstream from the Hymer bridge.. ( anyone using flies to catch these hand reared creatures is in

the same league as a person who, in my opinion at least, kids themselves that they are sportsmen when they go out to blast away at hand reared game birds that are driven for them on organised shoots !!! ), The river has always had a wide and healthy diversity of species but to accommodate the Rainbows, the Estate had all the ‘Course Fish’ removed from that stretch of water. This seemingly impossible task was in fact quite simply achieved by men ‘stunning’ ( not killing ) the unsuspecting fish by means of electric rods being swept back and forth through the water from the back of a boat. The stunned fish were collected up and put in slatted wooden crates that were towed behind the boat until they could be taken away to be relocated in some other fortunate coarse fishing stream. We had to leave the rainbow trout unmolested for the most part, men from Lord Amherst’s estate ( based a t Foulden Hall by now ) would keep a sharp eye out for would-be opportunist fishermen and send them packing in very short order should they come across an unfortunate itinerant. However, we had the occasional Brown Trout that appeared as though from nowhere in our river and the largest of that species ever caught by yours truly was taken from the Hymer bridge. It lay beneath that lovely flowing weed which, when the sun is shining reminds me always of Mermaids Hair. Gently swaying back and forth in the current as it does. When it comes into flower the small daisy like blooms that break the surface, make those green tresses seem as though they’re bedecked with many jewels. I enticed that fish with nothing more exotic than bread on that day, and was so thrilled that I thought my heart would have stopped if it had got away, BUT IT DIDN’T, ‘Alleluia’. But then, as I held the great fish in my arms,** Disaster **. for who should come peddling down the drove but Constable Phil Scott, ( P.C Scot t was Mick Parf i t t’s predecessor of course ) I quickly hid my catch in the long grass and then continued fishing from the bridge as before, as angelic as you like. Old Scotty came up and asked me what I’d caught, and of course I said that I’d had no luck at all. He gave me a little lecture about fishing in private waters

before going on to take my tackle from me, not to confiscate it you understand, but so that he could have a little go himself. . Needless to say, things couldn’t go on that smoothly, that bloody trout, so carefully hidden in the grass ‘til now, decided at that very moment to leap up from the grass and make his f inal farewell, like some great spotted ‘Jack I n T h e B o x’. Tha t t ook a b i t o f explaining I can tell you, and you bet that I was sent home with the proverbial ‘F l e e i n m y e a r ’, AND THAT B E A U T I F U L F R E S H B R O W N TROUT, big enough to feed the whole family. Naturally my Mum was more t h a n a l i t t l e d e l i g h t e d . ( Country Coppers were a different breed then, and it’s a tragedy that they were ever allowed to become extinct ). I’ve still got that same old rod, the first I purchased all those years ago from ‘Kays catalogue’, a 7 foot glass fibre spinning rod. Prior to buying it I used a bamboo cane wi th me ta l s t ap le s hammered into it to act as eyes. We bought our fishing licenses ( and later our gun licenses and cartridges ) from Gus Carr’s post office in the village. We used to get our fishing line from there too, it was a brown cotton cord and the hooks we used were black eel hooks. The Amhursts had moved from Dilton, the old Lord being long dead by now. His successors however had moved up the road into that much smaller and less imposing property which became known as ‘Foulden Hall’. In fact ‘Foulden hall’ had served previously as the ‘Didlington Estate Office’. The Old Lord Amherst and his lady would ride about their Dilton estate in a fine horse drawn carriage in its heyday. Now however the current Lord, (known by locals as Lordy ) was reduced to using transport of a much more modest nature to take him to the village post office where he would weekly draw his pension. ( equal to 50p per week, and some begrudged the poor old boy even that ) How the mighty had fallen. Oh Well!! more fishy tales next t ime my old bewtys , r e s t a s su red I’m already Looking Forward to Looking Back again very soon. So ‘Til then, Best wishes POG.

Page 7

DIDLINGTON NURSERIES Why not visit our walled in garden Nursery

Now is the time to buy your Ornamental Trees,Shrubs and fruit trees. Cut Flowers always available. Seed potatoes now in stock. Still pansies Galore.

Tel. (01842) 878288

GARY BOYCE QUALITY RETAIL AND CATERING BUTCHER, est. 1985

25, High Street (next to Fire Station) Methwold, Thetford, Norfolk

Tel 01366 728512 (or Fax 01366 728883 anytime)

Prime Barley Fed Beef (11/13 months old), Pork, Lamb, direct from the farm (locally). All our meat is prepared to the highest standard & cut to customer’s requirements. Norfolk pork sausages made by Mr Dennis Self, formerly of

Waters Butchers, Stoke Ferry.

We also offer a delicatessen counter of traditional cooked hams, also home cooked quiches, pork pies, Cornish pasties, sausage rolls, scotch eggs and much more. On the

sweet side of the pastries we offer a large selected of Curtis of Lincoln cakes. British bacon, unsmoked and smoked, dry

cured - no added water. A range of English and continental cheeses plus our

usual range of cooked meets, once again cut to your requirements by our team of

friendly staff.

Opening times are: Monday 9am-1pm Tuesday 8am-1pm, 2pm-5.30pm Wednesday 8am-1pm Thursday 8am-1pm, 2pm-5.30pm Friday 8am-1pm, 2pm-5.30pm Saturday 7.30am-1pm Est. 1962

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Riverwatch Everything is white. Overnight there has been an extreme frost and the countryside is completely transformed. The drive to the river was somewhat perilous as the back roads had not been gritted and black ice seemed blatant. Although sti l l dark the hedgerows and fields beyond shone and glittered away making a seasonal picture. The farm track down to the river is frozen hard and the deep wheel imprints in the mud are now solid and act like tram lines so that regardless of intention you are committed to drive one path only. Puddles meander everywhere and all covered with thick ice. Hogweed and teasels in the hedge sparkle like Christmas decorations. Trees and bushes are now all skeletal and covered with the same thick haw frost. This whole effect is without the benefit of any snow. The snow has already been and gone but will doubtless return in weeks to come. So starts the beginning of another days fishing and as expected there is already another car parked at the bottom of the narrow lane. It has no lights on but the engine is running so that my friend can enjoy the last benefit of his heater before spending the day exposed to artic conditions. As dawn breaks we pile our luggage into a rowing boat and slowly commence our voyage across the river to an island. This is the island of ‘milk and honey’ where fishing is ten times better than anywhere else! Many times the illusion has been destroyed but it is always a special adventure for these two little boys (who are now several years retired).

It gets even colder mid morning but eventually the sun does appear and noticeably raises the temperature. Even then the grass remains white and crunchy. There has been no wind and the river has shown little flow or movement. We find tiny footprints in the frost which belong to a shrew or similar and also several new molehills but these are the only signs of any creature activity. A pair of swans fly low and gracefully up the river but are not seen again. Behind the island an expanse of slack water has frozen over since our arrival. A tin of ‘All Day Breakfast’ bubbles away on the gas stove and will be far more welcome than any gourmet meal. Three pike have already seen the net and were all promptly returned to the water. However we feel certain that the feeding spell is now over so it will s o o n b e t i m e t o r e t u r n t o t h e ‘mainland’. We quickly forget the frozen fingers and it has been yet another enjoyable day spent in the company of the good old r iver Wissey. Ivor Hook

Northwold Spiritualist Group

Meet in the Village hall on alternate Fridays at 7. 30 pm. Future speakers:

10th Feb. Gloria Brown 24th Feb. Colin Holman

For more details tel. Peter on 01440 702791 or Eileen on (01366) 728289

For the third year running I have received at my door, an envelope containing £20:00. with a note saying "Towards the expenses of the bell ringers" We have purchased a ceiling fan, for the hot weather, also a heater, as it can get very damp and cold in the winter. so this anonymous donation will go towards those expenses. So to that kind person, I would like to say on behalf of myself and all the bell ringers, a big "Thank-you. Charlie.

Who’s Who? We’ll be publishing a new village Who’s Who next month, so if you’ve got any amendments , please let us know before the next copy date. Deputy Ed.