Old Buckenham Village Hall

Your help required

If you have read the insert in the September newsletter, and should you be one of the one of the ' younger and inspiring people' who the village hall management committee are looking for, then you need to know that they have had to postpone their monthly committee meeting until Wednesday 8 September. They would love you turn up at the village hall at 7.30pm that evening to observe their meeting and to see if you could become involved in some way and help looking after this most valuable public asset.

Bingo in Old Buckenham

 Eyes down once more

Bingo resumes on Saturday 25 September starting at 2pm sharp in the Church Rooms. Refreshments available. Donations of raffle prizes would be very welcome. The event is in aid of the upkeep of the Church Rooms.

This year portrayed in Old Buckenham

Come see them for yourselves

The Flower Festival at the Methodist Church opened on Saturday. Here are pictures of some of flowers to give you an taste of what is on show. Why not pop along and see them in real life? Open Sunday afternoon from 1pm to 4pm and then 10am to 4pm on Bank Holiday Monday.

Quizzing in Old Buckenham

Have you the answers?

Old Buckenham Village Hall Quiz will take place on Saturday 9 October starting at 7pm, £10 per person if having fish and chip supper, less if not. Raffle and bar. Please contact Alison Frank on 01953 860692 or andrew.frank@btinternet.com for more details. 

Walking for Old Buckenham

 Getting around the local churches

The Norfolk Churches Trust (NCT) Bike Ride and Walk takes place on Saturday 11 September. Sheila Freake and black Labrador, Gina, will be taking part in this event. She plans to walk 15+ miles by visiting 10 churches in Wilby, Eccles, Quidenham, Kenninghall, Banham, New Buckenham and Old Buckenham.

Sheila is looking for sponsors to raise funds which will be split between NCT and All Saint's Church in Old Buckenham. If you are able to give your support please give generously (Gift Aid will increase your donation by 25%) by visiting justgiving.com/fundraising/sheila-freake

Flowers in Old Buckenham

This year in flowers

Make sure you pop in to the Methodist Church for their Flower Festival over the Bank Holiday weekend. It is free and there is plenty of room to park  behind the building.

The flower arrangements are all based on the theme of ‘2021’ including the Olympics, the Euros, lockdown and other events that happened during this year. Refreshments and open air seating will be available.The church will be open Saturday 28 and Monday 30 August (10am to 4pm) and Sunday 29 August  (noon to 4pm).  

For more information email oldbuckenham.methodist@aol.co.uk

Lilies in Old Buckenham

Flower displays in Church

Each year, All Saints Church in Old Buckenham commemorates the lives of loved ones who have died and they will continue this tradition this year. As a result of the Covid regulations this event was unable to take place at Easter but will now take place on Sunday 31 October – All Saints Day. Flower arrangements in the church will comprise of lilies in memory of departed relatives or friends. If you would like to contribute to this event, could you please provide your donation before Sunday 17 October together with the name of the person to be remembered. In the event that you have not subscribed before please also advise year of birth and date of death. It is estimated that each lily will cost in the region of £5 and any additional monies received will go towards the memorial fund.

If you wish to contribute, please send a cheque made out to ‘Old Buckenham PCC’ with details of the deceased to Revd Alistair Monkhouse, Wildwood', Mill Road, Old Buckenham, Norfolk. NR17 1SG. 

Highlights in Old Buckenham

Best of the rest

The Scarecrow Trail has now officially finished but the blog editor did manage to get round and photograph virtually all the entries. Here are a collection of images that have not appeared on the blog before and probably no longer exist in a recognisable form.

Bridge in Old Buckenham

Play your cards right

The local bridge group is starting up again in Old Buckenham and will be having meetings each Tuesday. They will now be meeting in the Methodist Church in Hargham Road from 1pm to 5pm starting from Tuesday 10 August. All are welcome to come along and there is plenty of parking behind the building. The cost is just £2 each time which includes tea and biscuits. If you would like to attend or need more details please contact Mary Parker (01953 860167).

Winners in Old Buckenham

 Which scarecrow was judged to be best?

Over the last weekend, two villagers have been round to see all the scarecrows that were on display. They found it difficult to decide on a winner but eventually chose the display outside the Methodist Chapel in Hargham Road because of the cleverness of their theme of displaying the many people who would have worshipped there over the last 150 years. The massive effort that had been made to dress the scarecrows in the appropriate clothing for the different times from the 1870s up to the present day was obvious.

They also decided to give special commendations to three displays. They were ‘Oh Matron’ in Cake Street, showing the NHS at work, ‘We’re all mad here’ in Ragmere Road portraying a Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and also ‘Darby and Joan’ who have been enjoying tea outside the Almshouses.

At present it is intended to have a further Trail next year and the judges suggested that it might help to have a general theme for the scarecrows, if only to help in making the judging a little easier. The Scarecrow Trail has proved to be popular with 29 entries, plenty of families going around the village to see how many they could spot .and has raised funds that will help with the upkeep of the Children's Play area.

Old Buckenham weather radar

Latest rainfall news

The editor of the Old Buckenham blog has received this message from Richard Bennett of the Met Office:

I wanted to take this opportunity to update you about the proposed plans for erecting a weather radar at Old Buckenham. We have also notified the Parish Council, airfield and nearest residents of our intentions.

Having taken the time to consider the options available to us and to engage with our stakeholders we remain committed to erecting a weather radar in East Anglia. The addition of a radar in this area will help safeguard people and property throughout the region and further afield by providing information to support improved severe weather and flood warnings. The Old Buckenham site on the Anglian Water land is the best location for that weather radar.
Since the planning committee in May, we have used the interim period to address the issues raised and commissioned further survey work relating to the ecology aspect.
We therefore intend to submit an appeal against the planning decision to Her Majesty’s Planning Inspectorate later this week. Typically, an appeal will take up to 24 weeks following submission and validation of paperwork. Within the appeal documentation we will be addressing the concerns raised by the Breckland Planning Committee. During this time, comments should be directed via Breckland Council to the Planning Inspectorate in line with the normal appeal process .

May we take this opportunity to remind you about the dedicated project website (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/weather/observations-research/east-anglian-radar-project) containing a wide range of further information, including answers to frequently asked questions that we have encountered during this and other radar developments. These should hopefully answer many of the question that the residents in the area may have.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for allowing us to engage with you and your readership.

Richard Bennett
Senior Project Manager

Yet more Old Buckenham scarecrows

Everyone wants to join our school

This is the collection of scarecrows along the road leading to the Primary School and Village Hall. A really big collection.

August newsletter in Old Buckenham

 More local news

The latest newsletter is being brought around to all the homes in Old Buckenham. Now you can read about somewhere new to sit on the Green and the latest machinations of the Parish Council.