It's been fete day in Old Buckenham

A sunny day at the fete
The grounds around the Old Buckenham village hall have been busy today with fun and fundraising. There were stalls galore outside with even more inside the hall where there was the added attraction of tea and cakes. 
A town crier came along to make sure people knew what was going on, there were arena displays including Zumba dancing, an art show and games to help you spend your money. By the time 5pm came along the stall holders were ready to start clearing up after a most successful day.

Old Buckenham plays host to new Buckenham band

Performance by New Buckenham Silver Band
There was a different type of music in All Saints, Old Buckenham on Thursday night. The music played ranged from Sussex by the Sea and the Floral Dance to Memories and the Teddy Bears' Picnic. The acoustics of the church is great for such music and the audience enjoyed it all.
One interesting aside from the conductor was that he was missing one of the euphonium players as getting in the harvest had to come first. That's how we do things in the country at this time of the year...

Old Buckenham activities in September

Diary dates for September

Sunday 1    Balloon festival at Old Buckenham Airfield

Sunday 1    Wargames Club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm

Monday 2    Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Tuesday 3    Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am to 12 noon

Wednesday 4    Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm

Thursday 5    Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Friday 6    Crib, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Saturday 7    Roadside textile collection from 9am

Sunday 8    Windmill open, 2pm to 5pm (last time this year)

Sunday 8    Askew Agricultural Museum open, 2pm to 5pm

Sunday 8    LAA and homebuilt fly in, Old Buckenham Airfield

Sunday 8    Village Produce Show, Village Hall, 2.30pm

Monday 9    Textile collection, Village Hall car park, 8.30am to 9am

Monday 9    Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm

Wednesday 11    Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm

Thursday 12    Breckland Flower Club, Village Hall, 2pm

Thursday 12    Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.45pm

Friday 13    Cycle Cinema, The Wizard of Oz, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Saturday 14    Barn dance, Old Buckenham Airfield, 7.30pm

Sunday 15    Village picnic on the Green, lunchtime onwards

Monday 16    Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Wednesday 18   Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm

Wednesday 25    Luncheon Club outing

Thursday 26    Women's Institute, Village Hall, 7.30pm

September newsletter for Old Buckenham

Look out for this cover
Copies of the September village newsletter for Old Buckenham are now being distributed for you to pick up your copy. Plenty of news for you to read...

Old Buckenham Women's Institute

Mental health through the ages

 

Are we all mad? That is the question that Alison Hannah asked when she came to talk to Old Buckenham WI about the history of mental care from the thirteenth century to the present day. The definition of madness has always been a problem. Possession of evil spirits, witchcraft, immoral behaviour, have all been named as causes of insanity.
Eight hundred years ago care was provided by monasteries, then lunatic asylums of varying quality and cruelty were introduced. Bedlam, an asylum in London, was a day out for people wishing to view the inmates and their madness.
Slowly attitudes changed with the work of Freud, the Quakers and the introduction of new drugs. Unfortunately mental health is still the poor relation in the NHS with funding desperately needed to fund adequate provision.
Norfolk had its first hospital in Bethal Street Norwich, privately funded. Later an asylum was built at Thorpe, now closed. Lastly Hellesdon was built and remains a functioning hospital today. Much has changed from the manacles and brutality of earlier asylums and modern units such as the ones at the Julian Hospital in Norwich are leading the way with their Dementia Intensive Care Unit and Training Academy.
After refreshments, members were reminded that September would be a busy month with the WI cake stall at the Village Fete, the Produce and Handicraft Show on Sunday 8 September and two WI meetings.

 

 

 

 

 

Buses all come along together at Old Buckenham

Catching a bus at the airfield
Yesterday there were a lot of buses at Old Buckenham Airfield. It was the occasion of the second annual Eastern Transport Collection Bus Rally and the vehicles gathered together to be examined and photographed by visiting enthusiasts. This was a chance to find out what the back of a bus really can look like.
The oldest buses were originally in operation during the 1920s and the newest had only been registered this year. One unusual happening during the day was the 'regular' bus service between Attleborough and Old Buckenham. They may have been veteran buses but this is a much needed service that the local inhabitants would like to have every day of the week.

Today's activities in Old Buckenham

Raising money and cutting down the undergrowth
People were arriving early to pick up the bargains from the garage sale at Karmel on Old Buckenham Green. There was still a regular flow of browsers mid-morning and most were going away with a purchase or too in their plastic bags.
There is an awful lot of stuff on display. The garage sale is open at 8am again tomorrow morning so come, look round, buy something and help Yvonne and Henry raise even more money for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

Meanwhile, a few hundred yards away at All Saints Church, a collection of volunteers were hard at work clearing around the gravestones in the churchyard. The grass was getting rather high and young trees, particularly sycamore, were springing up everwhere. The noise of petrol-driven strimmers filled the air and the end result was much more open space. And a load of hay...

 

The iron man of Old Buckenham

The Ironman challenge
If you have been through St Andrews Close in Old Buckenham lately you may have noticed the homemade notices in the front garden of one of the houses. These were in honour of Chris Bott who had completed his first 'Ironman Challenge' in Bolton earlier this month.
Chris had done the 2.4 mile open water swim followed by a 112 mile cycle ride and then run the full marathon distance of 26.2 miles. All this had been completed in under thirteen hours, 12 hours, 57 minutes and 32 seconds to be precise.
Well done Chris. Now have we any other iron men in Old Buckenham?

That big garage sale in Old Buckenham

The notices say it all

All that is missing is the location. So come to Karmel on the side of Old Buckenham Green next to Manor Corner. Satnav users should use NR17 1RR.

Breckland Flower and Garden Club

What came out of the box?

 

Five containers, five boxes of flowers and foliage and five members of the club. Mix them all up, place on the stage and then 'lift the lid' to see what's inside. The result? An interesting selection of arrangements in yellows, pinks and vibrant reds together with amusing stories and one or two surprises. Well done 'girls'.
In the competitions, the results for ‘Out of the Box’ arrangements were that the New Hands was won by Alison Vivian while Shirley Penfold came first in the Old Hands class and also won the monthly trophy. In the table show Alison Walker took first place with her three stems of hot colour from the border.
The next meeting will take place at Old Buckenham Village Hall on Thursday 12 September at 2pm. Ken Barham will be talking about Autumn Colour. The competition will be for a basket of foliage arranged from your garden and the table show for a collection of flowers or vegetables grown by yourselves.
Visitors are always welcome to come to these meetings, further details from Sally on 01953 788712.

Old Buckenham Women's Institute

All about Gilbert and Sullivan

Old Buckenham WI members were pleased to welcome Arthur Barrett to their July meeting. For over 37 years Arthur was a teacher at our local High School and he said he was pleased to be back in Old Buckenham. He gave an excellent talk on the lives and works of Gilbert and Sullivan. Sir William Gilbert (1836-1911) was the librettist and Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842-1900) of course provided the music for these popular operettas. The latter was also an organist and conductor and he is also remembered for writing some eighteen hymn tunes, including “Onward Christian Soldiers”.
For over a century, the comic operas of G & S have enchanted audiences throughout the world. Gilbert’s texts are parodies of institutions and ideas held dear by middle-class Victorian England and the topsy-turvy humour, pithy dialogue and witty versification remain as delightful as ever.
The speaker illustrated his talk by showing videos of some of the well-known pieces, including Frankie Howerd’s portrayal of the learned judge in “Trial by Jury” and also a clip of ‘The Mikado’ (recorded in 1963) of Lionel Blair and his team performing The Mikado Twist!
The Old Buckenham WI has been involved in several activities during the past month including a visit to Gooderstone Water Gardens (including an excellent pub lunch en route), their annual ‘Progressive Supper’ and an enjoyable walk with a Norwich Blue Badge Guide around the Cathedral area of the city on what must have been the only very wet evening in the past few months.
Pat Shearing reported on her recent visit to Denman College. The subject of her art course was “Water and Reflections” and she brought some of her work for members to admire.
Members have several activities to look forward to, namely the Old Buckenham Village Fete at the end of August, the Village Produce Show on Sunday 8 September and the group meeting on Thursday 19 September when the speaker will be journalist Lynn Mortimer. There will also be the Craft Day on Saturday 2 November when it is hoped that non-members will take part as well.

News of Old Buckenham village fete

Fete coming at the end of the month
All the details on this poster, click on the image to enlarge it.

New Buckenham band visits Old Buckenham

Musical evening in All Saints

Would you like to listen to New Buckenham Silver Band playing their music in All Saints Church, Old Buckenham? Well just come along to the church on the evening of Thursday 29 August. The concert starts at 7.30pm and there will be no admission charge.
However donations will be gratefully received and will go towards the refurbishment of the historical stained glass windows in the church.