Singing in Old Buckenham

 

Waiting to sing

Since starting in November 2021, the Old Buckenham Singers has gone from strength to strength and has now reached full capacity. Therefore it has had to make the difficult decision to open a waiting list for anyone wishing to join in the future.

They are a well-being singing group and meet every Tuesday in the Old Buckenham Methodist Chapel. For any enquiries please contact Jill on 07756 233064 or email  JillStevenson.irons@hotmail.co.uk

More on Old Buckenham Almshouses

Latest renovations

The latest village newsletter contains a detailed description of the work that went on during the last six months of 2025 to replace the roof of this famous Old Buckenham building. The Almshouses now stand out as a very attractive building on the edge of the village Green.

 

Old Buckenhan February minutes

 February minutes

The following notes were written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is changed at a later date.

Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 5 February at Old Buckenham Village Hall. Those present were Councillors Naomi Bailey (Chair), Stan Burton, Lesley Evison, Steve Gowers, Pete Twissell and Darren Butler. Apologies had been received from David Taylor and Doug Irons who were unable to attend due to work commitments. Also in attendance were Megan Elvin (Clerk) and District Councillor Steve Askew together with three members of the public.

A minute silence was given for Michael Bartlett who died in late January. He was an asset to the village and will be greatly missed by all.

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 8 January were agreed (5 in favour and 1 abstain)

Financial matters. The current bank accounts stood at Barclays Community Account £18,953.85, Lloyds Community Account £3,645.79 and Barclays Charity Account 4,117.90. Payments for approval included £112.95 to the community car drivers, £6048 to Broadland Trees for work on the Green, the Christmas Tree and allotment clearance, £882.02 on skip hire and £37.50 on hire of the Methodist Church. The total payments up to the end of January were £6,709.31 and this was approved (6 in favour).

Councillors and District Councillors reports. Steve Askew said the pop up pantry is now going to be five-weekly due to less people using it. Due to the new unitary Council, Breckland is trying to pass on assets that are Breckland-owned such as the Attleborough car parks to the area council. Norfolk County Council is trying to repair potholes as quickly as they can. The preferred way to report them is to go on the NCC website and report the issue through there. Postponement of the elections meant that they were postponed last year to facilitate the new council and the mayor. Now the mayor elections postponed to 2027 and the county elections have been postponed as well to 2027.

Naomi Bailey has not heard back from the contractor regarding Puddledock. Reported many pot-holes but please report them as well if you see them. Welcome pack renewal is now in process. The original is very outdated. Started work on new one and then all the work was lost. Lesley Evison asked if the Welcome Pack is a necessity. The councillors do not know who is moving in and who is moving out. Is it a priority to work on? The groups in Old Buckenham have their own pages which people can utilise. Once it’s finished, the information will become outdated again very quickly. Perhaps something to add into the newsletter?

Steve Gower wanted to thank the Community Speed watch team for going out in January, completing two sessions a week and with good results. Pete Twissell reported that the bench around the tree at the top of Abbey Road to be replaced with a memorial plaque and he was asked to carry on with liaising with the family to get this sorted.

New planning applications. Wash Farm, New Buckenham Road, NR17 1PW. Demolition of redundant adjoined outbuildings to enable proposed single-story and two-story extension to existing dwelling farmhouse (PL/2025/1022/HOU). There were no issues and council voted to support (6 in favour).

3 Mill Cottages, Mill Road. Discharge of condition 4 on PL/2025/0167/FMIN. There were no issues and council voted to support (6 in favour).

Amended applications (for information). Tree House, Fen Road. Discharge of condition 4 on PL/2025/1627/HOU

Access on South-east side of Abbey Road. 500m north-east of Chapel Green School Discharge of Conditions 4 & 5 on PP PL/2025/1053/FMIN

Albermarle House, The Green. Pine Tree – Removal (PL/2026/0068/TCA)

E-Learning on planning applications. Costs £17. If any councillors would like to carry out the training, then this is okay. Breckland planning is not user friendly.

Green Working Committee. Woodchipper is very useful bit of kit and there is a log book that people have to read and complete before use. Risk assessments are required and this is non-negotiable. All are required to do these for insurance purposes. It is stored by Stan Burton in a locked area. Expenses for using woodchipper (fuel, oil, etc) to be reimbursed by the Parish Council.

Stan Burton is to become a member of the Committee as a Green Rights Holder and Darren Butler to potentially step in as a Parish Council member. He will attend their next meeting.

Ottomer Pond (ongoing). The Clerk is still waiting for response from Water management team at NCC regarding chasing the private land side of things.

Parking (ongoing). Have contacted the High School and the Primary School regarding parking. High School has added it into their weekly notice board but nothing received from Primary School. Crown Road is full of pot holes as a result of the Green being eroded due to school parking.

Solar Farm. Response received from Solar Company answering questions that Doug Irons had and he is currently looking through the response. Suggestions for ideas on what the funding can be used towards are needed. The funding has to be solely for the community. The Clerk to contact newsletter editor to ask villagers for suggestions to pass on to the solar company. One potential use is for it to go toward the burial ground.

Radar Tower update. Main contractor finished the construction of the tower and the installation of the communication cabin before Christmas. The activities associated with providing a net ecological benefit are now being progressed; this includes planting along the fence lines, bird-boxes, improvements to the existing pond on the Anglian Water site, etc. The project team are currently planning for the tower-top install of the radar parts and the associated radome which will protect the radar-parts from the elements. This will take around three weeks and expected to happen from mid-February. There will be a period of increased activity at the site during this time, including deliveries and crane operations. After the tower-top install the project will move into a testing a commissioning phase which is expected to take several months. This is mainly to check that the radar is functioning well and is able to deliver the higher quality rainfall data to feed into Met Office and Environment Agency products and services. The radar will be controlled and monitored remotely during this phase of the project, so no anticipated significant increased activity on and around the site. Will use this time to check noise levels to make sure that they are within the constraint stipulated in the planning permission and to discuss and progress visual screening with the occupants of Waterworks House. Expect to close the project in the summer once the testing and commissioning has been completed.

Community Car Scheme. Still waiting for a councillor to take on this position. The councillor that has been asked has not been present in the meeting to discuss. The Clerk and RFO to organise applying for the funding this month. DBS checks need to be done for everyone. Once new paperwork in place a plea for more volunteers will be made.

Drainage and embankment on Hargham Road/Post Office Road. Clerk to compose a letter out to the owners. Posts to go in to prevent cars from driving over the new drain.

Annual Parish Meeting. This was fixed for Saturday 13 June from 10am to noon.

Assertion 10. The Government have brought out the requirement for Council’s to conform to the new Assertion 10. This requires the council to have one generic email address on a council-owned domain. They will eventually require Councillors to have a council-owned domain email as well. This is not currently a requirement. Gmail accounts are not allowed as they are not secure. Same with the website. This needs to be a council owned domain. They would prefer Gov.UK addresses but this is not a requirement.

The Clerk email (clerk@oldbuckpc.co.uk) and the website (https://oldbuckpc.co.uk/) are okay as we own this domain. Should we wish to switch to a Gov.uk address, NALC offer the following service: fully .gov.uk email service. The cost is £106+VAT per year. This will provide a .gov.uk domain name and an unlimited number of 10GB email accounts. No need to go for this yet if we conform to the current guidelines. An IT policy will be issued in March’s meeting to conform to the final part of Assertion 10.

Approve an Internal Auditor. List of internal auditors have not yet been provided by NALC.

Costs for Fen Street speed limit change. The study lists TRO costs at £3000 and this will be legal fees from Nplaw and advert costs and design fee to carry out the consultation. The remaining £5500 will be the works costs, a bit of the designers’ fee to pull the contract documents together, so approx. £4000 in materials and labour and traffic management with the remaining £1500 being fees for the designer and contractor fee. Steve Askew would put 50% of the costs towards it out of his councillor funding. Old Buckenham Parish Council would need to fund the remaining 50%. Need to ask the residents how much they would be willing to put in and then decide. 

Repairs to the Green. David Tranmer has now been informed that the repairs will be carried out by professionals and invoiced to him. The ground needs rotavating and top-soiled along with the seeds. Still waiting for quotes for the repairs.

Volunteer Meet and Greet Day. Sixteen organisations have expressed an interest to come. Parish Council to attend with information about the Council and requests for volunteers. Event will be on Saturday 25 April from 10am to 12.30pm.

Resurface outside Village Shop. Steve Gower to provide details of some companies for Clerk to get quotes from.

Footpaths around village. Steve Gower still waiting for full quotes for March. There is funding that is now being issued to contribute to footpaths and the Clerk to look into this funding.

Bike ramps. Naomi Bailey has been asked if some bike ramps can be installed in Prince Harry’s Wood. Not had anything further about it with a plan from the resident. Should the Council provide this – the maintenance costs would come down to the parish council, a councillor would need to be responsible for the upkeep. Unless more information comes to light it is not feasible at the moment.

Public participation. The question was asked whether the website could have a page for useful links like bus time tables, local doctors, etc? After the meeting in April the Council should have an up-to-date list of village organisations.

Next agenda. This is expected to include Crown Road parking and repairs, Ottomer Pond, parking in general, Green Working Committee, repairs to the Green, volunteer Meet & Greet day, Solar Farm and Community Cars.

Exclusion of the press and public. The Council is invited to resolve that, in accordance with Section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the discussion of a request regarding village signage, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of sensitive information and relates to the personal circumstances of individuals. [Closed Session] Discussion of Signage Sensitivity. The signs are the responsibility of the Council. At the moment, one family wishing for the signs to be removed is not a reason to remove the signs. The proposal was rejected (6 in favour).

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Thursday 5 March in Old Buckenham Village Hall and starting at 7.30pm.

Old Buckenham remembers

 Mike Bartlett's life

The following post is based on the eulogy given by his daughter Julie at the celebration of his life. 

Michael Bartlett was born in Hove, Sussex, on 29 November 1936, an only child to Stanley and Amy Bartlett of 17 Fifth Road Hove. He attended a local junior school and later went on to Shoreham Grammar School. Academic yes but his true love was sport especially cricket and football, specifically his beloved Brighton and Hove Albion. He joined a local football team and it was there he met his closest friends and between them they had many a tale to tell. From an early age he was always seen with a football at his feet and this led, many years later, to one of his most treasured memories when he was a linesman for Norwich City.

The apple of his parents’ eyes however he had a rebellious side (no surprise to many of you) and decided to leave school before he should have done and got himself a job without his parents knowing. This was not well received. He applied for an auditors job at J. Sainsbury in London which he duly got and his career with this company flourished. After a few years, a promotion was on the cards but this meant a move to Norfolk. Mike didn’t hesitate, took the opportunity and hit the jackpot as he met his future wife Pauline there and they never looked back.

Mike and Pauline were married in October 1963 and lived initially in Forncett End followed by Fordham in Cambridgeshire. Here four years later his daughter Julie was born. Pauline went into labour and Mike went off to referee a football match with the midwife telling him that they could feel the football boots. So off he went with a smile on his face only to return to find a bundle of pink waiting for him. Never to be defeated, he brought Julie up to kick a ball and to go to football matches with him. He never did get a boy but two granddaughters and two great-granddaughters.

They returned to Norfolk again with his job in 1970 and lived in Kenninghall, (a house on the site of the Egg Packing Station where he worked) and then moved into their own house in Old Buckenham.

Old Buckenham was always a special village to Mike and he became instrumental in building the village hall which was opened in 1978. He spent years fundraising, organising village fetes, dances, bingo, etc. Julie fondly remembers his suggestion that in the school summer holidays she should knock on every door in the village and sell raffle tickets. For every book she sold he would give her commission. This encouraged Julie and gave her the foundations to emulate his work ethic. A Christian himself, he also worked tirelessly to raise money for the village church overseeing the overhaul of the tower along with raising significant monies for a new thatched roof and ensuring that every grant was applied for. Mike was an instigator of the Candlelight Christmas Eve service in All Saints and for many a year it was standing room only for those for this was the beginning of their Christmas. He was also chairman of the trustees for the Almshouses in the village and although not on the parish council he attended many of their meetings and was not backwards in coming forward if he felt that something should be said.

After promotion with the then Sainsbury Spillers, the company was taken over by Dalgety Foods which saw a move to the chicken division at Bury St Edmunds. This factory was then acquired by the Padley Group and Mike was made redundant and had to re-think his career path. The options were to re-locate to Aylesbury or to work for himself which he duly did by buying the Fresh & Frozen Centre in Attleborough. He turned this business around and after five years sold it and just concentrated on his egg business which he had started with Pauline some year’s previously. Mike continued to do this until semi-retirement came along in 2000.

Never being one for not doing something, Mike threw himself into raising money for the St Martins Homeless Charity. He once said his grandfather could not walk past a homeless person without giving them some money. It all started for him with standing at a supermarket entrance with a collecting bucket over the Christmas period whilst also visiting local business for donations and in return their name would be in the Christmas Eve Service sheet at the village church. Always one to spot an opportunity he then started to collect from supermarkets and garden centres all year round, standing in both cold and hot weather. He did have his favourites who in the depth of winter would bring him out a cup of coffee! His tenacity clearly paid off and he raised tens of thousands of pounds for St Martins. In 2025 a new building was opened and named after him, not that he understood this as his illness had started to impact his ability to understand what was going on around him.

One of the most proud moments and memories that the family have of Mike is receiving an MBE from the then Prince Charles in 2006. You could take three guests so Pauline, Olivia and Julie proudly attended. When the official letter first arrived from the Palace, Mike was completely taken aback and typically did not want to accept it as he genuinely felt that there were others more deserving than him. Along with those who had nominated him, family members persuaded him otherwise.

Over the last few years thing started to change for Mike and his ability to drive his white egg van caused great concern. Reluctantly he went off for a driving assessment and it was no surprise to others that he failed. Mike wanted to take it again but others knew this would not be possible. Eventually Mike agreed and Julie held his driving licence and van keys . It was about this time when sadly he had to stop going to Carrow Road every other week. His memory and balance were deteriorating and after many months of Pauline looking after him he went into the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where he spent many weeks followed by three more weeks in Odgen Court in Wymondham. Returning home it was clear that the care that he now needed far exceeded what could be offered at home and with great trepidation from his family he went into The Beeches in East Harling. He did not really know where he was but was happy and well cared for which was a great comfort. Mike then had a chest infection and was taken to West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds which was where he sadly passed away on Wednesday 28 January this year. His family took enormous comfort in knowing that he did not suffer and passed away peacefully.

An incredible person, an incredible life and an inspiration not only to his family but those who were lucky enough to know him and to those who didn’t know him but have benefitted from his tireless work.

Old Buckenham bin

 Another bin for you to use

The Village Hall car park now has a big new clothes bin. Because villagers used to often fill up the existing bin, there is now another one for you to fill up as well. There are still three recycling bins for your glass so please make use of all of them and make a little money to help the Village Hall. 

Old Buckenham news

Parish Council minutes for January

These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is changed at a later date.

Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 8 January 2026 at Old Buckenham Methodist Church. Those present were Councillors Naomi Bailey (Chair), Doug Irons (Vice Chair), Stan Burton, Steve Gowers, Pete Twissell and Darren Butler. Apologies for non-attendance had been received from Lesley Evison, David Taylor and Steve Askew (District and County Councillor. Also attending were Megan Elvin (Clerk) and Julia Aitken (RFO) along with six members of the public.

The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 4 December 2025 were approved (6 in favour) after a slight amendment needing to be made under Pete Twissell’s report regarding the village hall. The land is owned by the Parish Council. The Village Hall Committee are currently searching for the official documents stating this for administrative purposes. The amended minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 6 November 2025 were also agreed (6 in favour).

Public participation not relating to the agenda. Children had been seen on the previous Sunday jumping on the ice over the pond near the shop. Should there be safety warnings? The Parish Council will check if it can do this and/or provide buoyance aid. Something could be put out to social media, ponds are deep and parents should advise children not to play on the ponds.

Financial matters. The Barclays Community Account now holds £24,495.52, the Lloyds Community Account has £3,645.79 and there is £2,998.90 jn the Barclays Charity Account. Payments for Approval totalled £4,089.02 which included £107.45 to the community car drivers, £39.50 for the Clerk’s DBS Check and £1,792.97 to Breckland Council.

A meeting is planned for Monday 12 January between Naomi Bailey, Doug Irons, Megan Elvin and Julia Aitkin to discuss the financial side of things. Steve Gowers and Pete Twissell to attend to complete an internal audit. A proposal to consider using an accountancy software was approved (5 in favour 1 abstained).

To approve budget for Precept 2026/27. Total amount requested for the Precept is £31,779.91. The budget was not increased greatly last year which is why this year it is a large budget. The estimated total contribution from the Parish Council to a Council Tax Band D property will be £57.72 for 2026/27. (This makes it ten monthly instalments of £5.77 which is an increase of 48.5% based on last year’s budget.) This was approved (6 in favour).

Councillors’ and District Councillor’s reports. Steve Askew was unable to attend the meeting and so had sent a written report of his activities. This consisted solely of news from the County Council and will be available when minutes are approved.

Pete Twissell reported that he had carried a repair to the gate at the war memorial. Steve Gowers said Speed watch had been collecting data over the last year over 70 sessions. Cars have started to slow down. Still a problem of speeding especially down Hargham road and Attleborough Road and he would like to have a brainstorming session regarding Speed watch with the volunteers. Road signs that need clearing have still not been done and the Clerk to contact Highways again regarding this.

New planning applications. The Homestead, Old Buckenham: Variation of conditions 2 and removal of condition 9 on pp PL/2024/1120/RMIN – Revised front porch design for plot 1, garage sizes slightly under requirements of condition 9 (PL/2025/1886/VAR). No issues and a proposal to agree was approved (6 in favour).

The Cottage, Loss Wroo, Hargham Road. Remove Existing Conservatory and Erection of a Rear single-story extension (PL/2025/1793/PAH). No issues and a proposal to agree was approved (6 in favour).

Community Car Scheme. Doug Irons took on the task of amending the Community Car Scheme following previous co-ordinator stepping down and a current driver taking on the role in the interim. Our insurance company have advised that we need a risk assessment and to continue minuting the financial side of things. Need for a councillor to take on the co-ordinator role and one month given to make a decision on this.

Green Working Committee. Naomi Bailey had a phone call discussion with the chair of Green Working Committee. The chair is doing a lot of the admin work herself and some of her committee are not always able to help with the computer side of things. She wanted to know if the committee could be expanded to provide more help. Foundation of committee at the moment is two Green Right holders, two Parish Councillors and two  public members. The suggestion was to increase the public members by four to make the committee ten. Green Rights holders in the village are very few. It was proposed that either Lesley Iveson or Stan Burton move over to become a Green Right holder section of the committee and a new councillor comes on to replace that role. Darren Butler is to take on the role of the councillor committee. The Clerk is to contact the Lord of the Manor to ask regarding having a proxy to attend the meetings as per lease of the Green agreement.

Their next meeting is Thursday 15 January and planned volunteer day is Sunday 17 January. Stan Burton has drawn up a risk assessment that the volunteers need to read and sign. The person who is heading the volunteer day will be the one to organise this each volunteer day. The Clerk to re-do the Terms of Reference.

Ottomer Pond. The private land side of the pond is going up for auction. The estate agents has not been very forthcoming with advising buyers what needs to be completed.

Parking. School parking has increased again. Naomi Bailey to send an email to the schools again advising use of the car park behind the Gamekeeper between 2.30pm and 3.30pm.

Precept Grant application approval. Both the Village Hall and the Old Buckenham Players had applied for £1000 Precept Grants. They were each asked for more information before the grants would be considered. Both were then agreed (five in favour, one abstained due to interest).

Old Buckenham Heritage Group. No update to give. Will chase one more time but currently not gaining large interest.

Benches on the Green. Discussion is being held regarding the ownership of the existing benches outside the Ox and Plough pub. The current agreement is until April 2026 but it is under the previous tenant’s name. Until ownership of the benches is established, the Parish Council cannot get involved. They can remain until April.

Repairs to the Green. Written in the agreement for TWT it is stated that the repairs to the Green should be carried out one month post event or the Parish Clerk notified in writing why this can’t be done. The Parish Council were promised repairs would be completed early December, then before Christmas. They have still not been done. The Parish Council have now decided that they will proceed with the repair to the Green and get three quotes. The invoice will then send to the previous leaseholder to reimburse this payment. Should this not be paid the Parish Council will take him to court. The Clerk to contact Dave Tranmer regarding this.

Two Wheel Tuesday. Doug Irons to talk with new leaseholder of Ox and Plough to see if this will be going ahead and to get the wheels in motion regarding application for it.

Fen Street traffic/speed. The Clerk to chase for a fixed quote of the costs and what they will be doing with this money. To remain on agenda until we have a firm answer.

Solar Farm. No update to give as waiting for Solar Farm representative to come back with a meeting date.

Volunteer recruitments and Meet and Greet morning. No longer need to provide funding for the cost of hiring village hall – they have kindly offered use of the hall for free. To be discussed further for what Parish Council will provide for councillor volunteering.

Footpaths. A one-off payment made many years ago for the instillation of the footpath as well as maintenance. Need to find evidence of this. Look to getting three quotes for the reparations of the path ourselves.

Puddledock Corner update. Waiting for the contractor to come back with date to start the work. Naomi Bailey will chase.

Resurfacing outside post office. When weather is better, the potholes will be re-filled. In the meantime the Clerk to get quote for the full car park to be resurfaced

Post Office drainage. First estimate to repair drainage is £1500. Who should pay for this? Letter should be sent to the property’s owners of all the houses to advise that it is the water running off their roof that is causing the issues to the Green. Parish Council does not have the funds to repair the drainage themselves.

Public participation, agenda items only. A parishioner was concerned about Ottomer Pond. Appreciates everything that has been done. The pipe between the two properties is blocked. Why have we not been proactive and enforced the cleaning out of the pipe that is blocked to be flushed through? There is a dispute as to who owns the ditch. The problem now is getting the landowner to do their side of things. Wanted to know what we can do next – the more people who complain to the local flooding authority, the more likely something might happen.

Next agenda. Subjects to be discussed should include Ottomer Pond, Solar Farm, Community Car Scheme, Green Working Committee,   resurfacing outside village shop, drainage and embankment on Hargham Road/Post Office Terrace, Parking, repairs to the Green, Volunteer Meet and Greet Day and Footpaths.

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Thursday 5 February in Old Buckenham Village Hall starting at 7.30pm.

Weather radar in Old Buckenham

Progress so far

Latest news on the construction of the weather radar on Abbey Road at Old Buckenham. Before Christmas the Met Office's main contractor finished the construction of the tower and the installation of the communication cabin. The activities associated with providing a net ecological benefit are now being carried out and this includes planting along the fence lines, bird-boxes and improvements to the existing pond on the Anglian Water site. 

The project team are currently planning for the tower-top installation of the radar parts and the associated radome. This will take around three weeks and is expected to start to happen from mid-February. There will be a period of increased activity at the site during this time, including deliveries and crane operations.  

After the tower-top installation, the project will move into a testing and commissioning phase which will probably take several months. This is mainly to check that the radar is functioning well and is able to deliver the higher quality rainfall data to feed into Met Office and Environment Agency products and services. The radar will be controlled and monitored remotely during this phase of the project. They will also use this time to check noise levels to make sure that they are within the constraint stipulated in the planning permission.
The project will end in the summer once the testing and commissioning has been completed and the data obtained will be used to better predict the rainfall and other weather conditions throughout East Anglia.