What a busy month in Old Buckenham

Diary dates for March

  
 Thursday 1           Mothers and Toddlers group, OB Airfield, 11am to 1pm

Thursday 1           Youth Council meeting, Village Hall, 6.30pm

Thursday 1           Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Friday 2                Crib drive, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Saturday 3            Roadside textile collection from 9am

Saturday 3            Diamond Jubilee planning meeting, Village Hall, 10am

Sunday 4              Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm

Monday 5             Textile collection, Village Hall car park, 8.30am to 9am

Monday 5             Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Tuesday 6             Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am to 12 noon

Tuesday 6             Village Fete planning meeting, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Wednesday 7        Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm

Wednesday 7        Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm

Thursday 8           Breckland Flower Club, Village Hall, 2pm

Thursday 8           Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.45pm

Saturday 10         Debating Society, Church Rooms, 10am

Sunday 11            LAA and Homebuilt Fly In, OB Airfield

Monday 12           Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm

Wednesday 14      Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm

Friday 16          Village quiz, Village Hall, 8pm

Saturday 17      Talk on the Duleep Singh family, Village Hall, 7pm

Sunday 18            Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm

Monday 19           Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Wednesday 21      Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm

Wednesday 21   Annual Parish Meeting, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Thursday 22         Women's Institute, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Saturday 24         Light Entertainment, Village Hall, 7.30pm

 Saturday 31          WI Spring Fair, Church Rooms, 2pm to 4pm

More printed news

March looks like this
Time to read the next issue which is out there waiting to be picked up.

West End Waiters from Watton

Singing for the senior citizens
The West End Waiters are a group that enjoy singing and other people enjoy their singing too.
At the Senior Citizens Christmas Lunch in Old Buckenham they provided the after dinner activity, keeping their audience entertained and amused as they sang their way through a wide variety of songs.
There was some Gilbert and Sullivan, some Flanders and Swan, something written by Richard Stilgoe and a medley from one of the Two Ronnies tv programmes.
They also involved the female members in some short sketches and a Scott Joplin piano piece.
With the minimum of props they brought the songs of Flanagan and Allen to life, reminded everyone of the Cub Scout salute and even made good use of a plastic duck.
The audience enjoyed it all and sang along with the group when it was appropriate.
The group do these occasions to raise money for charity, in particular a medical charity that provides help for a problem suffered by one of their members. The lunch organisers were happy to give a substantial donation as a thank you for the entertainment that had been provided and enjoyed by all.

Christmas came late this year

Senior Citizens at lunch

Being a long way through February it was obviously the time for the Old Buckenham Senior Citizens Christmas lunch to be held. So on Saturday 25 February it was time to gather in Old Buckenham Village Hall and to sit down for a full roast dinner, the choice of several sweets and a mouth-watering cheeseboard.
The preparation work had started much earlier in the day with the hall kitchen being used to its limit and all the tables being set out and decorated. The sherry glasses were positioned ready for the first guests to arrive and the wine to go with the meal stacked out on the counter.
There was even a quiz to keep each table busy before the meal was served.
Once the eating was over the guests could sit back and enjoy the entertainment. This year it was provided by a group from Watton going under the name of ‘The West End Waiters’. They sang their way through a wide repertoire of tunes which were interspersed by comic sketches.

(More details and photos of the group in action will be posted tomorrow.)

The afternoon continued with tea, coffee and mince pies as well as the now obligatory short session of bingo with cash prizes.
Highlighting the bingo caller provided a reason to make the first use of the simple part of the new lighting system just installed in the hall (which probably explains his rather surprised expression in the photo).
The quiz sheets were marked and the ‘workers’ were persuaded out of the kitchen to take a well-earned round of applause with a special boquet of flowers for the cook.
So ended another most pleasant afternoon made possible by the volunteer effort put in by many people over the last twelve months. Long may it continue.

Old Buckenham Green Right Proprietors

Green contacts
At the recent Old Buckenham Green Right Proprietors AGM Mike Read retired as Chairman after many years of hard work.
The newly elected Chairman is Sarah Dye (860865) and the Vice-chairman is Alison Frank (860692). If you have any enquiries these are the people that you should now contact.

Getting more popular

How many people read this blog?
The popularity of the Old Buckenham blog has been growing steadily since it started in December 2008. The figures are tiny compared with many other blogs but two milestones have been reached today. There have been 700 posts (or 701 if you include this one). And at around 3pm today the total number of visitors over the years has now exceeded 20,000.
Not all come looking for information about Old Buckenham, they may want photos of snow scenes or plans for duck houses. But they are all welcome and hopefully they learn a little bit about our interesting village.

Time to have your say

Annual Parish meeting
If you live within the parish of Old Buckenham then you have probably read the previous post with interest. Perhaps you are pleased with what your parish council is doing or maybe there are things where you think they could be doing better.
Each year the parish council is required to have what is known, not surprisingly, as the Annual Parish Meeting. This is an open meeting when all parishioners have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the council members. It is an event that you should not miss if you have strong feelings, good or bad, about how your elected councillors are doing.
It is no good just moaning over a pint at the pub or just telling your cat or dog what a wonderful job the council have done over the last twelve months.
Part of the meeting is also the opportunity to hear short reports on what various village organisations have been up to. Has the community car service been as busy as ever? Are there lots of bookings at the village hall? What about the Village Environment and Recycling Group? And has the village newsletter been attracting enough advertising?
Get along to the Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 21 March in the Village Hall and have your say. If there is something else in your diary for that evening then there is plenty of time to rearrange it.
See you there.

Discussing local issues

February parish council meeting
These notes are written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and may contain information that is amended at a later date.
Three members of the public came along to the meeting and all parish councillors attended apart from Paul Boggia. Kerry Talbot was also present to take the minutes as the Parish Clerk was unable to attend.
The minutes of the January meeting were signed as a true and accurate record. There were no matters arising.
Bribery Act 2010. Akis Chrisovelides asked if all councillors had read the previously distributed Act and asked for the document to be adopted by the Council. This was agreed unanimously.
Development in Old Buckenham. This subject was discussed and it was agreed that the Parish Council would consider small developments of 8 to 10 properties and bungalows. The Clerk had tried to obtain demographics of the area from the County Council without success. Adrian Joel is to find out when the 2011 census data will be available to analyse.
Parking issues in Old Buckenham. Tim Ing instigated a discussion on the issues of parking around the Village Hall and the two local schools. There have now been several incidents of verbal abuse and threatening behaviour regarding exit and entry to the Village Hall car park. Tim Ing and Carol Marshall undertook a head count one afternoon and reported that better positioning of vehicles in the car park would alleviate some of the congestion. Various suggestions were put forward with councillors agreeing that although this was not necessarily a parish council issue it was an issue that affected Old Buckenham parishioners. It was agreed that a Village Hall representative and a parish councillor should meet with the Education Authority to find a solution. The Parish Clerk to contact the schools and Village Hall. Adrian Joel and John Frost to arrange a meeting and then report back to the next parish council meeting with their findings.
Planning. Arenal, New Buckenham Road. Continued use without compliance with agricultural occupancy condition. Councillors agreed that this was not a planning issue but a legal one and offered no comments.
Land at St Andrews Close. Discharge of conditions 3, 4 and 6 on previous planning permission. Agreed unanimously.
Land adjacent to 12 Hargham Road. Erection of 3 bedroom detached dwelling and garage (re-submission). Councillors still felt that this is an overdevelopment of the site and objected unanimously to the application on these grounds.
The Parish Council had also received planning documentation for a compost plant in Carleton Rode – this has been placed in the correspondence folder for councillors to comment on at the next meeting.
Planning decisions received from Breckland. Land at corner of Grove Road and Crown Road. Extension to existing stable block plus new hay barn/field shelter. Permission granted.
The Council had received information regarding ‘Section 106’ money and details of this will be available in the correspondence file for councillors to read.
Chairman’s report. Tim Ing read a letter received from parishioners regarding parking in the village. The Clerk is to respond. The Parish Council has received notification of a seminar from Norfolk Rural Communities Council regarding the Localism Bill. It will be held on Thursday 1 March and Sarah Dye agreed to attend on behalf of the Council. The Community Ranger has been at work in the village and details of the work that had been undertaken were received. Tim Ing is to write to the individual concerned to convey the parish council’s appreciation at the work completed to date. The parish council has been asked to support the Village Hall in developing a project to install solar panels at the village hall. Councillors agreed to underwrite an expenditure of £1500 to be confirmed at the precept meeting in October this year for payment in 2013/2014. Tim Ing will consult with the Parish Clerk to ensure this proposal is within the parameters of the council’s financial guidelines.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel reported that Breckland have joined the County Council and the EDP to support the “Say Yes to the Better Broadband” campaign. Bursaries are on offer for aspiring sports coaches. The Breckland Sports Coach Development Bursary Scheme, designed to celebrate London 2012, will help aspiring sports coaches to gain qualifications in a number of sports’ disciplines. Those who wish to obtain a coaching qualification in a ‘priority sport’ can obtain funding for 75% (up to £300) of the cost of the course; those applying for qualifications in other sports can receive 50% (up to £150).
Parish Councillors’ reports. Tom Johnson reported back from a Village Hall management meeting which reiterated previous discussion on a solar panel project. John Frost informed the council that All Saints Church has registered with a scheme called Wi-spire which provides reliable broadband to rural areas together with providing an income to churches and the provision of a network of surveillance cameras. Five villages currently have this scheme in operation. Jonathan Kemp and Carol Marshall updated the council on the Recreation Area and their investigations into Section 106 money being available to provide funding. They have also organised a meeting with Breckland Council to discuss the provision of sports coaching over the Jubilee weekend celebrations together with advertising for the sporting events. Sarah Dye reported that the maintenance of the play area is ongoing and that Playdale will be on site for maintenance issues covered under their guarantees. The coloured benches have been vandalised and the Clerk is to put a report in the village newsletter to highlight this and to ask parishioners to be vigilant and report any actions of vandalism to the police. Sarah Dye had also received information from Norfolk Warm & Well Scheme which provides help to people in need during the cold months. They also help with insulation, loan heaters and emergency oil supplies. If anyone knows of parishioners that could benefit from this scheme Sarah Dye is happy to be a contact and distribution point. Mugs for the Jubilee need to be ordered. Orders for around 220 mugs have been received and Tim Ing is to liaise with John Hicks and the parish clerk to organise order and payment. Derek Smalley apologised for missing the last Attleborough Safer Neighbourhood meeting but had distributed the minutes from that meeting to all councillors. Councillors were invited to put forward items for discussion at the next meeting under the headings of anti-social behaviour and speeding. Derek Smalley was asked to raise the issues of vandalism at the play area and parking at the school. Steve Milner reported on the events formulated for the Jubilee celebrations. Leaders have been allocated to each task group with the next meeting scheduled for Saturday 3 March – all ideas are still welcome. Tim Ing expressed the Council’s thanks to Steve Milner for leading this event. Akis Chrisovelides will arrange a further Youth Council Meeting for Thursday 1 March starting at 6.30pm. The question of equipment for the Recreation Area was raised and Carol Marshall and Jonathan Kemp reported that they have applied for some Section 106 money but only small amounts of money are available as there are four villages in the group which can apply for the money and within that there are restricted funds for certain aspects such as play, sport, etc.
Highways. A pot hole was reported by the ‘triangle of grass’ at the top of Church Lane opposite the play area. The junction of Mill Road/Grove Road was still of concern and the Parish Clerk is to write to Highways to ask for their ideas on how to make this junction safer.
The Green. Tim Ing reported that the Green Right Proprietors’ AGM will be held on Tuesday 21 February. This will be followed by an ordinary meeting where it is hoped that agreement will be reached on the parking proposals. The Parish Council is to contribute some funding for the work and local businesses have indicated their agreement to make a financial contribution.
The next meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council will be on Thursday 1 March at the Village Hall at 7.30pm. The Youth Council Meeting will also be on Thursday 1 March at the Village Hall and starting one hour earlier at 6.30pm.
The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Wednesday 21 March in the Village hall at 7.30pm.

Learn more local history

[just click on the image if you want to read the little lettering]

Antarctica explained

Chilling tales
It may have felt freezing cold outside for those who came along to the Old Buckenham Social and Wine Circle meeting in February. But sitting in the comparative warmth of the Church Rooms they were treated to a talk by Cris de Boos entitled ‘Twenty-five things you didn’t know about Antarctica’. Cris runs the Erskine Press, a local publishing firm that specialises in producing books about the Antarctic.
Members learnt that the snow is between 1km and 4km deep, they heard about the effects of frostbite, they were told of the many expeditions to the South Pole and the political infighting that went on. There is an active volcano in Antarctica and many interesting recipes exist on how to eat various parts of the seal.
After the talk was finished there was a chance to look through all the many books that the Erskine Press produce as well as some antiquarian books about the Antarctic.
Next month, on Thursday 8 March, David Hill will be talking on his visit to the USA. The meeting will start at 7.45pm in the Church Rooms and all are welcome to attend.

Improving the lighting

Paul Saunders of installers ETS with Alan Devaux representing the Old Buckenham Players

Better facilities for Old Buckenham Village Hall
The work in the Old Buckenham Village Hall to update the lighting system and stage curtaining has now been completed. After much fundraising within the village and some grants from Breckland District Council and the Norfolk Community Foundation, new equipment and wiring has been installed that will allow the Old Buckenham Players to put on their productions safely and with more panache.
On Saturday 11 February the new equipment was formally handed over to the Village Hall management. All the big expensive equipment is installed out of sight behind the stage but facilities are now available that will allow other hall users to operate the basic lighting on the stage. A small control panel, about the size of a computer keyboard, will switch on and dim various lights on the main lighting rig.
Other work carried out by the Old Buckenham Players has improved the facilities behind the main stage curtains with a new lighting rig and a mid-stage curtain having been installed.
A special celebratory evening of ‘Light Entertainment!’ is being arranged for Saturday 24 March to show off the new facilities with a series of sketches, songs and short radio plays. All residents of Old Buckenham and friends of Old Buckenham and the Players are invited along to this free evening in the Hall. More details later.

David's secret garden

Breckland Flower and Garden Club
Despite snowy weather many members enjoyed David Wright's excellent flower demonstration - My Secret Garden - at February's meeting of the Breckland Flower and Garden Club.
His containers included an old willow stump, a small fence, a little urn, a water butt and bucket, a large garden spade and a wheelbarrow. Red carnations, pink and yellow tulips, white eustoma, iris and veronica were used in his designs, highlighted with robins and even Peter Rabbit in the vegetable patch.
The month’s competition winners for 'Cupid's Arrow' - a modern design - were New Hands Alison Walker, and Old Hands Christine Hewson who also won the cup for the best exhibit.
The table show was for a houseplant and was won by Pat Poulter.
Next month’s meeting will be on Thursday 8 March in Old Buckenham Village Hall starting at 2pm. It will be the Club’s AGM and will be followed by a workshop. - please phone Christine on 454528 for list of requirements.
The March competition will be for an arrangement entitled 'Springtime and Driftwood' and for the table show you will need a pot of spring bulbs (any variety).
Visitors are always welcome to these meetings.

Local farming history

Askew Agricultural Museum
It will soon be time to take a look back in time and visit our local museum in Old Buckenham. Openings in 2012 are in the afternoon on the second Sunday of each month between 2pm and 5pm.
So the dates for your diaries are:
Sunday 8 April
Sunday 13 May
Sunday 10 June
Sunday 8 July
Sunday 12 August
and Sunday 9 September.
There is adequate parking for any vehicle and addmission charges are £3 per adult, children under 16 free but must be accompanied by an adult.
Parties, schools, etc, are encouraged and special openings can be arranged.
The museum is situated at Scales Farm, Stacksford, Old Buckenham, NR17 1PE

Over £21,000 raised for the homeless

Charity begins in Old Buckenham
There was a special gathering at the Church Rooms in Old Buckenham on Saturday 4 February when cheques totalling £21,006.50 were handed over to Derek Player, General Manager of the St Martins Housing Trust. St Martins operate many facilities to accommodate the single homeless of Norwich and Norfolk.
Each year around Christmastime, the people of Old Buckenham and the surrounding area make a special effort to collect funds for this charity.
Karen Watts, Manager of Sainsburys Attleborough, presented a cheque for £5,560 and Saphire Allen, Departmental Manager at Sainsburys Thetford, passed over a further cheque for £4,235. A further £1,137 was presented by Brian Parish of Old Buckenham 2000 Trust and £647 was handed over by Revd David Hill as a result of the collection at the Christmas Eve Candlelit Carol Service in Old Buckenham.
The representatives of St Martins expressed their gratitude to the many collectors and to the management of the stores involved. Derek Player then gave a short talk on how important the collection is to the charity, while John Mantle talked of his experience of St Martins, having initially been picked up sleeping on the streets and now working for the charity as part of their ‘Under One Roof’ project.

Snow scenes in Old Buckenham

Black, white and sometimes added colour
Several inches of snow fell overnight on Saturday meaning that on Sunday morning everywhere was covered in a white blanket.
It remained overcast all day so the photos below look very black and white with the occasional splash of bright colour. Here you can see the war memorial, All Saints church, the almshouses, some dog walkers on the Green and some rather deserted allotments.

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Shooting on Old Buckenham Green

It's just a game
Yes there really was lots of shooting going on in front of the village shop in Old Buckenham yesterday. And the guns were real (infra red P90 gaming guns with up to 250 metres range).
A new local business called Battlefied Live Norwich has been set up and will be based on the outskirts of Old Buckenham Airfield. The site there will be opening on Saturday 11 February. 
To publicise this, they had set up their mobile inflatable village outside the village shop so that passers-by could see what it was all about.
If you are so inclined you can have this war gaming experience on your doorstep. As their leaflet suggests, it could be just the thing for your birthday party, stag and hen parties or corporate events.
Here are a few photos to give you a flavour of what it was all about.

Frozen fish

Shark discovered in Old Buckenham
Somehow a shark has found its way to the frozen pond at Rod Alley Row in Old Buckenham.
But then it has been a newsworthy day in the village with the shooting outside the village shop and cheques for over £20,000 being handed over to a local charity. More on these two stories will be posted later.

Life some seventy years ago

1940s fashion comes to Old Buckenham
The first meeting of the year proved to be as entertaining as ever at Old Buckenham Women’s Institute. Gloria Daines came to talk about life and fashion in the 1940s. There were stories of childhood on a Norfolk farm with no days out at the seaside, no electricity in the farmhouse but plenty of freedom to play and roam in the fields and swim in the rivers and ponds. This brought back many happy memories to quite a number of the members.
Gloria had a table covered in photographs, women’s magazines, American nylons, makeup, handbags, etc, all from the 1940s and each with a tale to tell. Then came the clothes – examples of day and evening wear and a hat box full of the most beautiful underwear including several pairs of the inevitable camiknickers. Gloria finished her talk by reading the poem ‘For Johnny’ from the film of the 1940s ‘The Way to the Stars’.
Susan Hunter told members of all the events planned for the year ahead which is proving to be pretty busy. Votes were then counted for the resolutions to go forward to the WI Annual Meeting at the Albert Hall.
The prizes for both the ‘flower of the month’ and the regular monthly competition for 2011 went very deservedly to Kathy Fleckney who, each month, never fails to enter both competitions.