Meet Old Buckenham councillors

Come and have a chat

Saturday 31 August sees the return of the monthly Saturday Surgery. This will take place in the Memorial Room at the Village Hall. Two councillors will be available from 10am till 12 noon for you to speak to about any issues/questions you may have.

Old Buckenham goes abroad

Some beautiful places...

The Women's Institute went travelling around the world at our their meeting on Thursday 22 August thanks to one of our members telling us about her backpacking experiences. Julia talked about India and South America and some fantastic places that she has seen. The rest of the world is to come at future meetings. She brought some photo albums for them to look at as well which were really interesting.

Nice thinking on Old Buckenham

Paul's thoughts

You lucky people…

Early one recent morning I was on the Green as the sun came up, along with a few hot air balloons gliding gently across the village. And I thought; aren’t we so lucky to live in a place like this.

Just think about what this small community offers – in no particular order and doubtless not everything. Schools and societies, pubs and clubs, a post office and shop, a coffee venture, a bookshop, a thriving country park, an airshow on our doorstep. The open space, an abundance of history. The sense of community. Ask for help on the Old Buckenham Facebook group, for example, and it will quickly be offered.

Of course, not everything about this village is perfect and it wouldn’t pretend to be.

But look at the bigger picture. It’s what I did that morning and felt inspired to write this. If it comes across as sentimental and twee then so be it. 

In the past few weeks there’s been a slew of controversy in the village, some of it voiced loudly and - arguably - unfairly on social media.

I’m sure those with grievances, (imagined or not) will continue to bellow through their keyboards. Go ahead, if you must, but perhaps just remember that, on balance, you are very lucky people.

 

 

Latest Old Buckenham news

 

Old Buckenham and the Green

 Parish Council news

The Old Buckenham Parish Council issued this statement late yesterday and it will be included in the September village newsletter for all those without computers or those who 'do not do Facebook'.

You can now also read it here.

Reason for the formalisation of Business use on the green.

Old Buckenham Parish Council (OBPC) Insurance company has stipulated that OBPC must ensure that any business using the Green would need Event insurance that covers Personal and public liability and to provide a risk assessments based on the activities taking place.

Previously OBPC councillors would have been liable for any problems/accidents with any incident on the Green caused by a business operating from it. The OBPC insurance policy would not cover any business operating on it, any additional cost would need to be covered from the Precept or the Business operating from the Green.

The OBPC and the Green rights holders are responsible for following the terms within the 20 year lease (up until 29 March 2042). These are rules/regulations and statutes within the Enclosure Act 1857, Commons Act 2006 and guidance of ‘Common land and town or village Greens’ from the department for the environment, food & rural affairs.

Village businesses do not own any of the Green and will need permission and prior agreement from the OBPC and Green rights holders to use the Green.

There is now the correct insurance for the OBPC councillors and Businesses that use the Green, there are Risk assessments carried out for any use of the Green as part of the signed agreement.

This change now gives

1) Insurance / Protection for the Businesses and Staff operating on the Green.

2) The OBPC councillors are not personally liable for any incident/accident on the Green.

3) The Public is kept safe, as reasonably practicable by ensuring that any event is controlled, risk assessed and reviewed annually, to make sure it aligns with current legislation.

Two wheel Tuesday

There has been an agreement between Two Wheel Tuesday (TWT) and the Old Buckenham Parish Council (OBPC) for 8 years plus regarding monies due. This is not a new thing. Except now the use of the Green conforms to current legislation.

No OBPC member is against using the Green for legitimate local business, but OBPC/Green right holders are here to protect the Green for today and the future, but the main responsibility is the safety of the public today.

There is a signed agreement between both parties. With terms and conditions.

Each TWT event is charged £25, for up to 30 events between April and October, this money is ring fenced in the OBPC accounts, it is spent only on the upkeep of the Green.

If the event does not take place No Charge will be made. So far this year OBPC are going to charge TWT for 5 events due to poor weather restricting access to the Green for that event.

The amount charged has not increased for the last 3 years, despite the cost-of-living crisis, even though OBPC have to accept increased maintenance costs themselves during these hard times.

The insurance provided by TWT was for 1000 people to attend but when this attendance limit was exceeded, TWT immediately changed their insurance to 1500 people. This process is working, it ensured everyone including you, and your families are protected and covered.

OBPC have remained flexible and accommodating. Even when the terms we not fully adhered to:

1) Applications not submitted on time.

2) Late on agreed payment terms.

3) Not repairing the damage to the Green.

4) Using areas of the Green for Catering that are outside of the agreed boundaries of use.

The Benches on the Green provided by Mr Tranmer

There is a signed agreement between both parties. With terms and conditions.

The benches are located on the Green, in an agreed defined area, which a risk assessment has been carried out and adequate insurance is provided by Mr Tranmer.

Mr Tranmer is charged £1.17 per day between April and October, this money is ring fenced in the OBPC accounts, it is spent only on the upkeep of the Green.

The amount charged has not increased for the last 3 years, despite the cost-of-living crisis, even though OBPC have to accept increased maintenance costs themselves during these hard times.

The Green needs time to recover over winter and spring to maintain the Green to the required Standards.

There are benches that remain outside the Public house during the winter period, so seating is available, In a period where the actual demand for benches is reduced during the winter months.

OBPC have remained flexible and accommodating. Even when the terms were not fully adhered to:

1) Applications not submitted on time.

2) Applications not submitted for 2024

3) Late on agreed payment terms.

Old Buckenham Parish Council (OBPC)

We are a strong team from a great range of backgrounds and ages, all with a keen interest in helping maintain Old Buckenham Village.

A Parish Council is the ‘grass roots’ level of local government, and as such, plays a vital role as a connection between the local community and government authorities. It is non-political and non-sectarian.

The Councillors’ are a team of individual volunteers, from wide and varied backgrounds/age groups who live or work, in and around the Old Buckenham area. We give our time freely to maintain and improve the environment, services, and facilities for the residents of the local community.

All members of the Council are personally involved in these activities, giving their time and effort far beyond the monthly meetings.

OBPC holds monthly meetings on the first Thursday of each month at the Village hall Abbey Road, Old Buckenham, NR17 1RH. Residents are welcome to attend any meetings.

OBPC are only responsible for

• Street furniture.

• Allotments.

• Public buildings.

• Open spaces.

• Community transport.

• Statutory Consultee (planning).

• Cemetries.

There are also various sub committees, which perform specific functions throughout the Parish and meet every few months. Currently we have:

• Speed Watch.

• Allotments.

• The Green working Party for Maintenance and Preservation of the green.

• Application for to use the Green.

• Playground.

• Recreation Ground.

• Prince Harrys wood.

If you are interested in learning more about the parish council or would like to get involved with some of its activities, please contact the clerk via email on oldbuckenhampc@live.co.uk

Everyone is welcome. The more councillors we have the more we can achieve.

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Lively meeting in Old Buckenham

 Active Parish Council

Last night's Parish Council was rather unusual. The car park of the Methodist Chapel was overflowing, all the parish councillors were there and the number of the public in the audience was just over thirty (there are usually only two or three). The subject of interest was Two Wheel Tuesday which happens outside of one of Old Buckenham's pubs during the summer months and attracts hundreds of motor cyclists and their machines to park on the village Green.

The subject of TWT as it is known had aroused a lot of comment on the Old Buckenham Facebook page during the last week. These comments ranged from how good TWT was for the village and the pub, the problems caused by the parked cars of those coming to see the bikes and  the speeding and noise of some bikers going through neighbouring villages.

We will have to wait for the minutes of this parish council meeting to see whether anything was resolved...

Old Buckenham's railway carriage

Trains of thought

This article written by Tom Walshe tracks a railway carriage journey through this description of more local history: Old Buckenham is not an obvious place to find a railway carriage. So you may be surprised to learn the story of a coach that began its journey on the commuter lines of Victorian London and now lies derelict in woodland at Old Buckenham Hall.

It came to its current resting place in the late 1980s following an intriguing contribution to local history - first as a unusual family home and then as an unlikely addition to the village sporting scene. 

Built by the Great Eastern Railway at its Stratford Works around 130 years ago, the carriage was one of many redundant vehicles sold off by the railway companies in the 1920s and 30s for domestic use. When and why it first came to Old Buckenham is unclear but, from the 1940s, it was situated on a large piece of land beside Hargham Road. It was lived in by Mr Horace Hilton, his second wife Florence and their young son David, born in 1948. 

Horace was the brother of Herbert Hilton and an uncle of Clifton who farmed at Mill Farm. He and his first wife had a cottage on the opposite side of Hargham Road (or Old Mill Road as it was then known). But after her death in 1939 and his marriage to Florence the following year, the newlyweds moved into the carriage, granting occupancy of the house to his daughter Ella and her husband Fred Lancaster.

As I remember the carriage in the 1960s, it had only basic amenities with a bedroom and kitchen extension on the side - as with most living accommodation in the village at that time - an outdoor plank-and-pail toilet. Other features included a solid-fuel stove, a harmonium (on which David honed his considerable skills as an organist) and Mr Hilton's trusty Windsor chair.

To some degree, young David adopted the quirkiness of the living arrangements. If the actual accommodation was a little inhibiting, the extensive piece of land it occupied widened his horizons. And both helped inspire his interest in railways and gardening. He even set out an imaginary train line via garden paths, complete with semaphore signals connected by string to wooden levers. Friends on their bicycles would ride along the “track” obeying the signals that David operated. Later in life he realised his boyhood dream to become a signalman and worked the box at Attleborough station (see below) for a decade before going on to supervise signalling on the North Yorkshire Moors heritage line.

Back in the early 1970s, after his parents had died, David and his sister Ella decided to sell the land for development. But what to do with the railway carriage? Old Buckenham Cricket Club needed somewhere as an equipment store and part-time pavilion and he generously gifted the carriage to the club, a crane and low-loader being hired to relocate it to the Hall grounds. 

It served its purpose well for around fifteen seasons until the present brick clubhouse was built, after which it was moved to the edge of a nearby meadow and used as a hay store for horses. There it remains, rather sad but still recognisable, among the trees that frame its resting place.

The fate of the carriage has only become known to the family following David’s death late last year. His son Tom, who taught music at the High School for a number of years, says: "Following Dad's passing, it has been fascinating to learn the full story of the Hilton railway carriage. Having had a lifelong association with Old Buckenham - attending the Primary School, teaching at the High School, and playing the organ at All Saints' Church - I am proud of my ancestors' small but unique contribution to village history."