Old Buckenham talk on famous people

Social and Wine Circle
The Social and Wine Circle met in the Old Buckenham Church Rooms on Thursday 8 March to hear Basil Abbott talk about famous people from Diss. Basil is the manager of Diss Museum and has always been keen to promote the history of people with a connection to the town. 
He started with John Skelton, a Tudor poet laureate and satirist, who was appointed tutor to Prince Henry (afterwards King Henry VIII of England) as well as becoming rector of Diss.
He then went on to talk about Sir John Betjeman who also became poet laureate and made a famous (locally anyway) television programme about the town. Thomas Paine was his next subject. Thomas, known for his views on politics, ethics and religion, was born in Thetford where he is commemorated with a large statue but spent a year living in Diss - enough to get him mentioned in this talk. Other people mentioned included the many people of the Manning family who served as vicars at St Mary's Church. Also born in Diss was Ethel Le Neve, the mistress of the infamous Dr Crippen hanged for the murder of his wife in 1910.
The next meeting of Old Buckenham Social and Wine Circle will be on Thursday 12 April when Dr Sarah Dorling will be returning to give part two of her talk on radiation. These meetings are open to all, why not come along?