Things you may do

Diary dates for May
There are lots of things you can do in Old Buckenham
Friday 1 Crib Drive, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Sunday 3 Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm
Monday 4 Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm
Tuesday 5 Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am to 12 noon
Tuesday 5 Induction of Revd David Hill as Rector, All Saints, 7.30pm
Wednesday 6 Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm
Thursday 7 Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Friday 8 Mobile Police Station outside village shop, 9am to 10.30am
Friday 8 Netgamers computer games, Village Hall, 7pm to 9pm
Saturday 9 Spring Fayre, Church Rooms, 2pm to 4.30pm
Saturday 9 Nepal plus, Village Hall, 7.30 pm
Wednesday 13 Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm
Wednesday 13 Fete meeting, Village Hall Memorial Room, 7.30pm
Wednesday 13 Request Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm
Thursday 14 Breckland Flower and Garden Club, Village Hall, 2pm
Thursday 14 Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.45pm
Thursday 14 Habeus Corpus, Old Buckenham Players, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Friday 15 Habeus Corpus, Old Buckenham Players, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Saturday 16 Habeus Corpus, Old Buckenham Players, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Sunday 17 Book sale, Church Rooms, 11am to 3.30pm
Sunday 17 Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm
Monday 18 Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm
Friday 22 Netgamers computer games, Village Hall, 7pm to 9pm
Wednesday 27 Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm
Wednesday 27 OB 2000 Trust AGM, Church Rooms, 7.30pm
Thursday 28 Women's Institute, Village Hall, 7.30pm

What the Parish Council said

Parish Council in April
These notes of the parish council meetings are a summary prepared by the editor of the newsletter from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is corrected later at the next month's meeting.If you wish to read the full, unedited minutes, then they are posted on the notice board outside the village shop prior to the next parish council meeting.
The acting chairman (Tim Ing) welcomed Stephen Thorley as the new co-opted member.
Children’s Play Area. Kerry Talbot reported that the Spring Grand Draw had so far brought in £1471.50 and the draw will take place on Saturday 4 April at the Ox & Plough. Grant applications have been acknowledged but decisions on them will not take place until June. It may be necessary to extend the start date to September 2009 if all funding is not secured. There is a further application to submit to Norfolk Rural Communities Council for up to £20,000 which will be completed during the Easter break. Special thanks to everyone for their efforts with the Spring Grand Draw. The amount raised has exceeded the target of £1000 by a long way.
Recreation Area. The completion of the lease took place on Monday 23 March. The clerk has received a copy of the document and the cheque for the first year’s rental will be approved and signed at this parish council meeting.The council resolved to ring-fence £5,000 towards this project as agreed in 2007.
The Green. Unfortunate circumstances were noted regarding the haymaking on the Green. Some dispute exists over the way in which the proposal from the Parish Council concerning the letting of the Green was dealt with. The clerk reported on his on-site meeting with Norfolk County Council regarding funding from County for the second footpath. He is pleased to report that the Parish Council has secured grant funding from the County Council in the sum of £9,800. This money will be paid direct to the Parish Council and may be utilised at its discretion for construction and ongoing maintenance costs. Parish Council chairman Norman Cawston has instructed the clerk that matters should proceed quickly to take advantage of the time of year which is ideal for construction.The various tenders were considered and Trell Contractors (Watton) Ltd was chosen as the contractor to carry out the work. There is a revised specification for the surface dressing to take conservation issues into consideration.
Planning applications. Mr and Mrs Gedge, Twitchers Cottage, Stacksford. Ground floor extension for entrance hall, shower room and sun lounge, and first floor extension to form bedroom and bathroom. No objections from Parish Council.
B & M Developers Ltd, Stone Cottage, Fen Street. Insert two windows in ground floor lounge (amendment to previous applications). Observation from parish council members included that windows might become a door. There was no linkage from the existing property and will it become a separate property? The parish council cannot object to application as it stands. Only one councillor was in favour, the rest abstained from voting. An explanation of the doubts expressed by the parish council to be conveyed to Breckland Council.
Planning decisions by Breckland. Old Buckenham Parish Council, land adjoining Village Hall, Abbey Road. Change of use from agricultural to playing field and creation of car park. Passed with conditions by Breckland.
B & M Developers Ltd, Stone Cottage, Fen Street. Construction of two-bedroom cottage. Planning permission refused at Breckland.
Mr and Mrs A Medley, Ottomer Cottage, The Green. Proposed dwelling - two-storey with 1st floor as rooms in roof. With parking space. Planning permission granted at Breckland.
Mr and Mrs Seaman, Eel Farm, Fen Street. Annexe. Planning Enforcement Office warning that the extension is being let contrary to the planning permission originally given. A retrospective planning application from Mr and Mrs Seaman has been called for.
Financial. The items considered during this part of the meeting included payment of the first rent to the village hall for the recreation area (£385), the sum of £200 to the 1st Old Buckenham Scout Group for litter picking in the village and a donation from the Old Buckenham Newsletter of £500.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel said how pleased everyone was that Old Buckenham Stores had won the Breckland Local Independent Store Star award. The Site Specific Consultation has now finished and this will be brought back for further public consultation with recommendations in October/November. Breckland is now offering free swimming for the over-60s in their Thetford and Dereham pools.
Councillors’ reports. A ‘lollipop’ person needs to be appointed. The County Council could be contacted about this. The waste material smelling in Fen Street needs investigating as some could be coming from kennels. The Environmental Health officer must be contacted for advice. The Annual Parish meeting minutes to be circulated as soon as possible. There had been a letter concerning a commercial sign outside a property on Green. It was not thought that this had been authorised. The Parish Council were awaiting to hear from Dave Newell who will report on the Youth Club scheme. A letter about litter dropping was required for the schools. Queries on the maintenance of the Village Hall car park will need to be addressed to the County Council as soon as any construction plant for the recreation area has done the bulk of its work. Trevor Crook will look into the Community Speed Watch issue with the police.
Clerk’s report. The Chairman had asked the clerk to obtain information on benches for placement on the Green. These were circulated for consideration as items to be purchased from the Allotment to Highways Charity fund.There is a new NCC Highways initiative - the Community Rangers Team. It should be easier and quicker to get minor road repairs, etc, dealt with in future.
Correspondence. A letter from Terry Cracknell regarding the annual parish meeting was distributed. Details of the CPRE litter picking initiative were passed to Mike Craven-Romain. Alison Frank has acquired a Green Right. Any views on the Boundary Committee Draft Unitary proposals, Structural review of Norfolk must be registered by Thursday 14 May.
The next meeting of the Old Buckenham Parish Council will be at 7.30pm on Thursday 7 May.

Bake a cake, buy a cake

Christian Aid needs help

As well as the Christian Aid house-to-house collection around Old Buckenham during the week starting Sunday 10 May there will also be a cake stall at All Saints church after the 9.30am service (about 10.30am) on Sunday 10 May. If anybody could either help with the house-to-house delivery/collection and/or provide some cakes then Helen or Alison would be very grateful. Please contact Helen on 861353 or Alison on 860692. Thank you.

Along the garden path

Today in pictures

The sun has been shining on the Garden Event at the Village Hall and there has been cosiderable progress this week on the new footpath alongside the Green.

Change of date

Later fete
The date of the fete to be held at the village hall has been re-arranged for Saturday 5 September to coincide with the fairground that will be set up on the Green at that time.

What an experience this will be

Nepal Plus - an Evening of Experiences
Do you fancy an evening of experiences? Some to hear about – some to buy?
On Saturday 9 May in Old Buckenham Village Hall, David Hannah will be giving an illustrated talk of his experiences in the foothills of Everest plus auctioning off some great experiences for you to try yourselves. The full list is given below. There will also be a bar, refreshments and a surprise gift for you and your family.
Why not take this opportunity to have an interesting and relaxing local night out, as well as raising money for our Parish Church.
Admission is £2.50 per ticket available from the village shop or phone 01953 861261.
Doors will open at 7.30pm and the talk will start at 7.45pm.

The Auction of Experiences will include:
One pair of tickets to the following Thetford Forest Concerts:
James Morrison Thursday 4 June
Paul Weller Friday 5 June
Jools Holland Saturday 6 June
The Human League Thursday 9 July
David Gray Friday 10 July
Sugarbabes Saturday 11 July
Plus
The Proclaimers Sunday 12 July – University of East Anglia
Plus
Ride and Drive Lotus car on Lotus Test Track (with Lotus test driver)
Annual season ticket to High Lodge - Thetford Forest
Tickets for ‘Go-Ape’
Family ticket for ‘Bike Art’ (cycling in the forest)
Ticket for 8 people to swim at Harlingwood Leisure
An enjoyable day of tuition for 1 or 2 people in 15th Century methods of egg tempera painting with Maz Jackson (based in East Harling)
2 tickets to see Rick Wakeman + Nicholas Parsons (an interesting combination!)

Awaiting opening date

Windmill information
Earlier this blog contained a short note to announce the delay to the opening of the Windmill for the 2009 season. The reason for the delay was the need to finalise work shown to be necessary by the recent health and safety risk assessment undertaken for Norfolk Windmill Trust, who own and oversee the mill.
The local volunteer Windmill Committee stands ready to assist, where appropriate, in the revised arrangements but will not be able to open the mill until the arrangements have been agreed with the Trust and volunteer rota duties arranged. This is likely to include any necessary training for specific fire, and other, duties.
At the present time, a date for completion of this preparatory work has not been set. Accordingly the Committee is unable to prepare volunteer rotas and to set a date for opening again. As soon as there is a firm plan in place a further note will be put in the Village Newsletter and also on the http://www.banhamandthebucks/ website.
Any member of the Windmill Committee (Murray Curtis, Gerald Norton, Alan Blakey, Pete Twissell and John Frost) will be pleased to give the up-to-date position to anyone who needs to know or wishes to enquire about a possible future group visit. The Windmill Committee apologise for the delay and any inconvenience this has caused.

Walking round the gravestones

Burial ground pathway
Because of the adverse weather during the winter months, the underfoot conditions in the village burial ground were unpleasant for those visiting. The Parish Council have undertaken to have a path constructed to Norfolk County Council standards at the time of the pathway construction along the B1077, subject to a contribution of £500 from the Church.
The Churchwardens invite donations towards the £500 in order to minimise its commitment as the Quinquennial Inspection is due this autumn and is expected to recommend urgent restoration to the stained glass windows at a possible cost in the region of £30,000.
Should members of the community wish to contribute towards the cost of this pathway, please forward any amounts to Sheila Freake, treasurer to All Saints' Church, at 36 Hargham Road, Old Buckenham. Cheques should be made payable to All Saints Church and, if you are a taxpayer, please authorise gift aid reclaim. If the contributions exceed the sum of £500, any surplus will be passed on to the Parish Council.
For further information please telephone 01953 860462.

Your fete in your hands

Village fete in September
As there is no fete planned to be held on the Green this year, the Village Hall Management Committee have been approached to hold a similar event on the grounds at the front of the building (or inside if wet) on Saturday 5 September.
The committee are very pleased to co-operate but, taking into account their average age which is well above retirement, they are desperately seeking assistance in the planning, particularly from younger members of the community.
Stallholders will be charged £5 a table, with an additional charge for extra space, with all their takings/profits retained by them. It has now been confirmed that the Gray Fairground will be in the village that weekend.

A raffle will be held with the funds raised being for the kitchen refurbishment.
An open meeting will be held on Wednesday 13 May in the Memorial Room at the Village Hall commencing 7.30pm. Please come along as a supporter, a prospective stallholder, ideas person, an individual or a member of an organisation, to help make the event in August a success. There is a need for young bodies and young ideas to maintain our village community spirit - visitors welcome of course. Please make the effort.
The information from the meeting will be reported on this blog and in the next newsletter but please come along and take part in this meeting if you can.

World trip in flowers

Breckland Flower and Garden Club
Julie Barham demonstrated at April's meeting – “Take a Break” was the title - and her designs depicted cycling in Holland with pink gerberas, memories of Poland that included wonderful yellow chrysanthemums, a very colourful arrangement from Disney Florida, Aphrodite's statue with white lilies and eustoma from Cyprus, and a trip down the Nile which included lilies and orchids.
Janet Skidmore won the New Hands class in the competition and she was also presented with the Rachael Tarry Spring Trophy; Sally Westrup came first in the Old Hands class.
Next month's meeting will be on Thursday 14 May at Old Buckenham Village Hall, starting at 2pm for a Teach- in. If you are coming, don't forget your ingredients, table cover and secateurs.
The monthly competition will be for a petite arrangement on,or with, a cup and saucer.
Visitors are always welcome at the meetings, further information from Sally (01953 788712) or Pat (01953 457305).

Village Hall matters

Report of the Village Hall AGM
The AGM of the Village Hall Management Committee (VHMC) was held in the Memorial Room at the beginning of April. The following notes are taken from the minutes of that meeting.
The committee members present were Dennis Packham (Chairman), Michael Bartlett, Bridget Burton, Jill Emms, Pat Shearing, Beryl Watts and Gerald Norton. Five members of the general public also attended. Apologies were received from Carol Marshall and Pauline Cattermole. Tony Freake has been unwell and the meeting wished to register its concern and to send good wishes for his speedy recovery.
Before the formal start of the meeting Colin Phillips asked to speak to those attending to say that the Green Rights Proprietors’ committee would like to join with the VHMC in organising a joint fete on Saturday 29 August. Any profits would be shared, particularly with regards to the bar. There was unanimous agreement from those present and this subject will be on the agenda at the next VHMC meeting.
Minutes of the AGM were circulated, agreed as correct and signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising from the minutes included a report from Michael Bartlett that the initial application to Breckland for a grant had been turned down. It appears that the applicant must apply on behalf of their own organisation so he had re-applied on behalf of the Village Hall and should hear later in April. There had also been an application to Norwich Foundation for £5000. He also reported that at a recent Breckland Council meeting matched funding of up to a third of the cost had been suggested and this seemed a favourable outcome.
The chairman’s report was also circulated. In spite of having a relatively small committee, the finances are in good shape because of good housekeeping by the treasurer and the income from local hirers. Thanks go to Alison Frank for organising the annual garden event and to Michael Bartlett for organising the draw and selling raffle tickets to coincide with the fete.
The agreement lease for the recreational area had been completed on Monday 23 March.
Michael Bartlett continued to work hard for the kitchen refurbishment project. The car park continues to be in need of repair. The parents bringing and collecting their children from school are daily users but pay nothing towards the upkeep.
The need for more committee members is urgent. Some long standing members are due for retirement.
The report ended with thanks to the committee, to Peter Rhodes (caretaker), Sue Cottee (who unlocks and locks the hall) and to the minute secretaries.
The treasurer presented the accounts and supporting figures. She explained the various amounts already committed leaving £10,000 cash available. The meeting discussed fund raising events and how to make them more popular; suggestions included film shows and quizzes run on a different format. Julian will supply a contact for the film shows but he also mentioned that all village halls were having the same problems. Ron Brewer will publicise events in the newsletter if he can have the dates as early as possible.
The treasurer’s report was accepted and signed by the Chairman who thanked Jill for her work on behalf of the VHMC.
There were vacancies for three members to be elected to the VHMC. Michael Bartlett accepted nomination and was re-elected to the committee. Beryl Watts also accepted nomination and was elected to the committee.
Representatives from organisations were agreed to be as follows: Women’s Institute - Pat Shearing, Parish Council - Gerald Norton, Old Buckenham Players - Lesley Evison, Luncheon Club - Bridget Burton, Carpet Bowls Club - Jill Emms, Methodist Chapel - Dennis Packham, All Saints PCC - Tony Freake. The Scouts’ representative is still to be confirmed and the Breckland Flower Club is not at present represented.
Amongst the other points raised, Julian Goodey reported that all Village Halls throughout the County are losing committee members. Dennis Packham will definitely be retiring at the end of this year. Bridget Burton thanked him for all his concern and commitment and for all his hard work over many years. All agreed.
The provisional date for next Village Hall AGM is Wednesday 7 April 2010.

Show support for the OB2000T

The top men at the Country Fayre

Trust AGM is next month
The Annual General Meeting of the 'Old Buckenham 2000 Trust' will be held in the Church Rooms on Wednesday 27 May. Why not go along and show them that their work is appreciated.
The Old Buckenham 2000 Trust was set up as a result of a very successful millennium 'Country Fayre' held on the village green. The Green had not seen a summer fair for a number of years and a group of villagers wanted to organise something special for the village to celebrate the millennium and between them managed to put on a show that was enjoyed by young and old alike. The 'Committee' wanted to ensure that any money raised was put back into the village and set up the 'OB2000T' as a vehicle for that purpose.
The Country Fayre had a further six years of success, continued to raise funds for the Trust and to date grants and donations have been made to local organisations of over £11,000.
Although the Country Fayre has not happened for the last few years, the Trustees of OB2000T want to keep the charity status and continue to raise money through other activities. The Trustees would welcome your interest and support so please put the date in your diary now.

New words have appeared above the door

You must have the body

Forthcoming performances
Old Buckenham Players will be presenting Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus at the Village Hall in May.
“More innuendo than you can shake your stick at!” is one way of describing this play. It is from one of England’s finest playwrights and this saucy comedy of the 1960s so-called ‘permissive society’ is hilarious from start to finish. It concerns the aging Dr Arthur Wicksteed and his pursuit of a nubile patient, Felicity Rumpers. Wicksteed's wife, Muriel, is, in turn, lusting after the vertically challenged head of the BMA, Sir Percy Shorter, who, as well as being Wicksteed's old rival, turns out to have other intimate liaisons hidden away in the closet. Meanwhile, Wicksteed's spinster sister Connie, ashamed of her flat-chestedness, has schemes of her own. Mrs Swabb, the housekeeper, pushes the action along in league with the audience.
Bennett knows how to take the joke so far and not beyond the point of acceptability while bringing the audience back to earth with a bump occasionally. All this should end up making for an exhilarating, and occasionally thought-provoking, evening of huge enjoyment.
The players will have a licensed bar for their three performances on Thursday 14, Friday 15 and Saturday 16 May, starting at 7.30pm in Old Buckenham Village Hall.
Tickets will cost £6 and be available from Old Buckenham Post Office, Nuts ‘n’ Bolts in Attleborough or by calling 01362 697260.

An oak for Alfred

Special tree planting on the Green
Members of the Frost family gathered together on Old Buckenham Green on Sunday 5 April for the planting of a special oak tree. It was to commemorate the life of Alfred Frost who would have celebrated his hundredth birthday a couple of days earlier. The three children of Alfred and Rosa Frost with other family members and friends were there to plant the tree close to one they had planted last year in memory of Rosa. Alfred and Rosa had lived nearly all their lives at their house in Mill Lane, very close to the tree planting site.
John Frost and his two sisters, Lorna Gedge (on right) and Mary Early, are shown planting the tree on Old Buckenham Green.

Cator cup success

WIld, WIld women

The ladies of Old Buckenham Women’s Institute are again feeling very pleased with themselves after their success in the annual Norfolk WI Cator Cup competition held at the Norfolk Showground over this last weekend, Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April.
The competition, which is open to all the WIs in Norfolk, tests the skills of the members who have to produce a co-ordinated display on a particular theme that is changed each year.
For 2009 the theme was ‘w.w.w’ and Old Buckenham chose to portray “Wild, wild women”. The items on display had to be selected from a given list covering cookery, handicraft, painting and flower arranging – all to be displayed on a baseboard 70cm wide by 55cm in depth. Each item on display was individually judged by independent experts with further marks being given for both the interpretation of the theme and the staging of the exhibit.
Last year Old Buckenham entered this competition after a break of several years and were surprised and delighted to come third out of some forty entries. They were also encouraged to find that their display had been chosen as the “people's favourite” by visitors to the exhibition who had been asked to vote on the display that appealed to them most.
This year they did even better, coming second out of 39 entries, losing only seven points out of the possible maximum of 140 points.

The latest news is that they were also voted the "people's favourite" for the second year running.

Money for playing

Spring Grand Draw
It was one o’clock in the Ox & Plough and time for the picking out of the winning tickets in the Spring Grand Draw. It had been organised by the Bucks Just Play Group who are raising money for the refurbishment of the Old Buckenham children’s playground.
There were 24 prizes to be won, starting with £100 cash and continuing with other cash prizes and vouchers for all sorts of items from pub meals, museum entrance, a tour of a whisky distillery, theatre tickets and a trip on a narrow gauge railway.
Landlady Sally Bishop picked out the first ticket and other regulars at the pub and supporters of the Bucks Just Play Group took their turns to pick out the rest.
There were plenty of cheerful people in the village who had been rewarded for their generosity in buying tickets but the biggest cheer was for the announcement that the draw had raised the sum of £1579 towards the playground refurbishment.

Really hot cooking

Help from Grassroots
Old Buckenham Luncheon Club are delighted to have received a cheque for £669 that was awarded to them by Norfolk Community Foundation to fund the purchase a large hot cupboard to use to keep food warm prior to serving.
This grant came from the Grassroots Grants Programme who wished the Luncheon Club every success with their project and were pleased to support the good work of the organisation.
The Old Buckenham Luncheon Club was formed 27 years ago for the elderly residents of the surrounding villages who live alone. Four outings are held during the year and these are always enjoyed by the members. They usually hold a New Year's Lunch Party when they welcome the volunteer drivers who do such a wonderful job in transporting members to and from the Village Hall. The Club depends on volunteers who cook and serve the meals to the members at their lunches on alternate Wednesdays and is funded mainly by generous donations.

Recycling helps repairs

Useful savings
The collection at the end of March of unwanted textiles by the people of Old Buckenham and those involved with the Junior and High schools amounted to 1258 kilos in weight. This clothing, bedding, shoes, etc will be most useful for those in need in the Third World. As it also saves all the material going off for landfill, the recycling credits for this have amounted to a payment of £308.08 which will be used to help pay towards the maintenance of the Church Rooms in the village.