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.

Have a busy month in Old Buckenham

Diary dates for April
Wednesday 1 Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm
Wednesday 1 Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm
Wednesday 1 Village Hall AGM, Village Hall Memorial Room, 7.30pm
Thursday 2 Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Friday 3 Crib Drive, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Saturday 4 Bucks Just Play Grand Draw, Ox and Plough, 1pm
Sunday 5 Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm
Monday 6 Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm
Tuesday 7 Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am to 12 noon
Thursday 9 Breckland Flower and Garden Club, Village Hall, 2pm
Thursday 9 Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.45pm
Friday 10 (No Mobile Police Station as Good Friday)
Friday 10 Netgamers computer games, Village Hall, 7pm to 9pm
Saturday 11 Table top sale, Church Rooms, 2pm to 4pm
Wednesday 15 Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm
Wednesday 15 Request Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm
Thursday 16 Women's Institute Group meeting
Saturday 18 Coffee morning, Methodist Chapel, from 10am
Sunday 19 Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm
Monday 20 Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm
Thursday 23 Women's Institute, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Friday 24 Netgamers computer games, Village Hall, 7pm to 9pm
Saturday 25 Gardening event, Village Hall, 10am to 1pm
Wednesday 29 Luncheon Club outing

Starring the village shop...

Pick up your copy now

The April newsletter is in the village shop and the village shop is on the front of the newsletter.

East Anglian bird life

Wild birds at the WI
One or two of the Old Buckenham WI members had heard their March speaker, Steve Lovell, at an Auditions Day and so he came highly recommended. They were not disappointed. Steve spoke about the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and, in particular, the birds of East Anglia. His slides were very good and slickly presented, and his talk ranged through the East Anglian habitats of some of the most attractive and least common British birds. He also covered the winter visitors to this part of England.
The RSPB aims for biodiversity – caring for birds, some insects and animals, their habitats and the management of these areas. East Anglia has a huge diversity of different habitats – sand dunes, heathland, wetlands and arable land - which all help to encourage wild life. The Wash is particularly spectacular in the winter months, attracting some 33,000 waders and wildfowl.
Farmers and landowners are encouraged to manage their land sympathetically to encourage the right breeding and rearing conditions for birds. Of particular interest to East Anglia are the stone curlews, bitterns, little terns, corncrakes, bearded tits, marsh harriers and the well-known success story of the flocks of avocets which feature as the RSPB’s emblem. Members also discovered what a wide remit the RSPB has, not merely caring for birds but also the swallowtail butterfly and the Norfolk Hawker dragonfly in East Anglia. The Society also has connections with Birdlife International and the Indonesian government in helping to save a part of the rain forest where the rare Sumatran tiger lives.
Old Buckenham WI were lucky to hear Steve speak as he told them that this was his final speaking engagement for the RSPB. He had finished work for them that day and was about to start his own garden design business in Lincolnshire. He was thanked for his talk by Margaret Pearce, a keen bird-watcher who has braved the freezing early mornings at Snettisham and the Wash and who can thoroughly recommend the thrilling experience of seeing thousands of geese flying in to the mudflats to feed.
After a refreshment break, Susan Hunter gave a full and interesting account of the Federation Annual Meeting in Norwich. Four members had attended and heard witty, interesting and thought-provoking speeches by Baroness Shephard and Ann Widdecombe. A party of members had also been to see ‘Calendar Girls’ at the Theatre Royal in Norwich and thoroughly enjoyed the outing. Members were also encouraged to go to the Norfolk Showground to support Old Buckenham’s entry in the competition for the Cator Cup.

Enjoy a mardle

Talk, eat and now read
The Monday Mardlers are planning to add a Book Swop to their chat and cakes afternoons and would like to welcome some new faces. The idea is for people to chat to each other and to have the chance to talk about anything they have enjoyed reading and to informally exchange books. The Mardle organisers have a small collection of novels, a few biographies and books on several other subjects and they are planning to obtain more second hand (probably paperbacks) to vary the selection.
There is a minimum of formality at the Mardle. The cost is just £1.50 a time which covers home-made scones, tea and cakes, a free raffle, an occasional quiz and of course the book swop.
They meet every other week on a Monday in the Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm except when Bank Holidays, for instance, get in the way. The exact dates are published well in advance in the village newsletter. The next Mardle will be on Monday 20 April and then again on Monday 18 May.
Do come and join in if you feel like a convivial afternoon. Everyone is welcome, phone Jenny on 860176 if you would like to know more.
If transport to the Mardle is likely to be a problem they will also do their best to help with this.

One hundred not out

The first century
Yesterday we reached our first small milestone - one hundred posts. We look forward to the next few hundred and hope you are enjoying what you are reading about our village.

A year is a long time in parish politics

Annual Parish meeting
The Annual Parish meeting was held in the Village Hall last Friday. A fuller report will have to wait until the minutes become available to read.
There were not many people in the audience to hear what the parish council has been up to over the last twelve months. There were plenty of projects that had been completed or moved on significantly during the year such as the safe route to school, the entrance to the burial ground and the recreation area behind the village hall. Little progress had been made on the management of the Green and this subject did provoke much lively, even heated, discussion. As you can see in the photo, the parish clerk, the chairman and vice-chairman followed the discussion with interest.
Reports on the community car scheme, management of the village hall, village newsletter and the village charity showed that there are people in the village giving their time and energy to making this a better place to live. Also on the positive side, two village mums made a point of thanking the parish council for getting the new piece of footpath installed and said how much it had improved their journeys.

Up at 4,500 metres

Nepal Plus
On Saturday 9 May David Hannah will give an illustrated talk in the village hall on his trip to the Everest region in Nepal. Here is a photo of David in situ just to whet your appetite.
The evening will also include an ‘Auction of Promises’, a raffle, a bar and refreshments. Admission is £2.50 per ticket, available from the village shop or by phoning David on 861261. Doors will open at 7.30pm and the talk will start at 7.45pm.

Further details are on the post for 17 March.

Top of the Shops

New star seen in village

Last night Breckland Council hosted a reception to present awards to various people and organisations. One award was for the best village shop as part of the BLISS initiative (Breckland Local Independent Shop Stars).

Shoppers thoughout Breckland were invited to vote for their favourite shops and the best village shop category was won by our own Old Buckenham Stores and Post Office.

Congratulations to Nathan and Venuka who were there to pick up the trophy and who enjoyed showing it to their customers today.

Opening delayed

Delayed re-opening of Windmill
Regrettably the opening of Old Buckenham Windmill will be delayed this year. There is essential work to be done at the mill, and a review of safety procedures to be finalised, before the local Committee can feel reassured that all the required safety arrangements are agreed with Norfolk Windmills Trust and have been put in place.

The mill will not open until May at the earliest. Future plans will be announced on this blog and in the next village newsletter and it is hoped that many visitors will be able to look around the mill later in the season.

High level flying

Raising thousands for charity
The Old Buckenham Air Show has supported the East Anglia Children's Hospices (EACH) for many years with the profits from its annual Air Show. The year 2008 was no exception.
Airfield manager William Layzell recently handed over a cheque for £4771 to Danielle Clarke from EACH who said they were so grateful to everyone involved – the organisers, the pilots and, most of all, the public who go to the show every year.
This money will be a real help in caring for children with life threatening illnesses. William Layzell said how those at the airfield get a real kick out of supporting EACH. The Air Show is exciting and great fun for all of them but raising cash for the hospices is the cherry on the cake.
The annual Air Show at Old Buckenham has been a local summer highlight for nearly ten years being one of the best flying displays in the region. In 2008 it was the 90th anniversary of the RAF and the show had the famous Battle of Britain Memorial Flight of Lancaster, Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft and many other exciting aerial displays.
Will they be doing it again this year? William Layzell can only say maybe. They are at an early planning stage for the 2009 show but this year’s show is not certain as they are very dependant on sponsorship to cover the considerable cost of staging the event. So if there are people or organisations out there who would like to be associated with the show and will help with the costs, please contact him at the airfield. The airfield web address is www.oldbuck.co.uk

High level talking

Nepal Plus
Do you remember David Hannah’s ‘Peru Plus’ evening at Old Buckenham village hall in 2007? Well on Saturday 9 May he is repeating the experience but this time it’s ‘Nepal Plus’. Following the same format as before, David will give an illustrated talk on his trip to the Everest region in Nepal.
The evening will also include an ‘Auction of Promises’, a raffle, a bar and refreshments. So far the ‘Auction of Promises’ includes a chance to bid for tickets to all the ‘Concert in the Forest’ events this summer at High Lodge – namely Paul Weller, Jools Holland, The Human League, David Gray and the Sugarbabes (more information on these concerts can be found at www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-7M7J3X). There will also be an annual family season ticket to the High Lodge Forest Centre and a family ticket to ‘GoApe’. An updated list will appear on this blog next month.
Make sure you 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 by phoning David on 861261.
Doors will open at 7.30pm and the talk will start at 7.45pm.

Changes at the top

Breckland Flower and Garden Club
The Annual General Meeting was held in March at Old Buckenham Village Hall. Christine Hewson was retiring after her term as chairman and she thanked everyone for the help and support she was given during that busy time. She presented representatives from the Big C charity with a cheque for £125 raised from the sale of a Handy Tips and Recipes booklet and also presented the club with a table frontal. The new chairman, Pat Wells, thanked Christine for all she had done for the club during her term in office. Marion Beasley was welcomed as president for the coming year and was awarded a cup and voucher for the most points for competition work during the past year.
For the afternoon’s project, bookmarks and cards were made from pressed flowers, and then laminated.
The competition winners were: New Hands - Margaret Smith and Old Hands - Ursula Jackson.
The next meeting will be held at 2pm on Thursday 9 April in Old Buckenham Village Hall when Mrs J Barham will demonstrate 'Take a Break'. The competition will be for a basket arrangement with fruit or vegetables included.
Further details from Sally on 01953 788712. Visitors are always welcome.

Coffee, fellowship and singing

Old Buckenham Methodist Church

A coffee morning with various stalls will be held in the Chapel on Saturday 18 April from 10am. A warm welcome awaits all who come.

The Women’s Fellowship meets at the Chapel on the first Wednesday of each month (up until December) starting at 2.30pm. There is usually a speaker and the meetings end with a cup of tea and a chat. New members are very welcome.

Request Songs of Praise takes place on the third Wednesday of each month and continues to be popular. If you would like to sing with others in a friendly atmosphere then why not come along and try it, you will be most welcome.

High level building sites

The rooks are building

Nest building is in full swing alongside Cake Street in Old Buckenham. And the birds are making a lot of noise as well...

Advance notice of fundraising

Spring Fayre
Each year events are organised to raise money for the Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party. This year there will be a Spring Fayre on Saturday 9 May in the Church Rooms in Old Buckenham. It will run from 2pm to 4.30pm and there will be many stalls including bric-a brac, plants, cards, tombola and a raffle. Refreshments will be on sale too.
If you would like to run a stall of your own you can book one through Janet on 01953 452847 for the sum of £5. Or if you have items that you would like to donate for any of the stalls the Janet would be pleased to hear from you.

One hundred and one

Charlie Styles

Yesterday was the funeral of Charlie Styles and about a hundred people gathered in All Saints Church for the service. The following is taken from the address given by the Revd Alistair Monkhouse during that service.

During his 101 years he lived through twenty prime ministers and five reigning monarchs. He saw twenty-one clergy serve this church. He lived in a time before the first aeroplane flew across the English Channel, before the Titanic set sail on her fateful journey and before the British Empire broke up. He also saw the R101 airship break away from her mooring mast at Pulham and drift away to Belgium where it was recovered.
Charlie was born at Winfarthing on 25th August 1907 and he was the third eldest of six children and the last surviving. As one drives quickly through the villages of Norfolk it is often difficult to realise that a time existed when all the hustle and bustle of this present hectic life did not exist. The countryside was based on agriculture with the gradual change from horsepower to mechanical power. With no television and radio in its early stages of development, each had to make their own entertainment.
Charlie’s father died quite young. His mother, always dressed in black, used to frighten the grandchildren. She was the village person that all the villagers turned to. She looked after all their needs from cradle to grave. Acted as midwife, treating most of their medical needs, caring for young and old and laying out those who had died.
Charlie had a village education at the nearby village of Winfarthing and left school at 14. As agriculture was the only employment on offer he worked on a farm as horseman. There he learnt his skill to plough using heavy horses and to plough a furrow straight and neat.
In the 1920s he was married to Dorothy and enjoyed seventy happy married years of life together. With the ability of earning a little extra money they moved from Winfarthing to Old Buckenham in 1929. They moved into Hargham Road, when the council houses were built in 1931, which was to remain his home for the next seventy-six years. There four children were brought up - Betty, Brian, Jane and Richard.
He was in the Home Guard during the war protecting the village against enemy invasion.

Charlie worked for the Gaymers cider company in Attleborough from 1929 until his retirement in 1971. During this time he worked in every department producing this worldwide known cider. During his last few years he was in charge of the filtration plant and his number of friends increased dramatically as they visited him with their empty jugs to go away with a sample of the filtered brew.
He had probably the best garden in the village for many years. He always had a tremendous display of standard roses. Passers by would always stop to look at his wonderful handiwork. It was always totally weed less and immaculate - no weed dared to grow. His rows of vegetables were like lines of soldiers at the Trooping of Colour. He was known at times to go out into the garden at night with a light so that he could complete the scheduled digging. He kept up his gardening until he was 97 years old. A wonderful achievement. And he re-roofed his shed when he was 87!
He was able to make or mend virtually anything. He was equally well skilled in wood or metal. He was also a very good inventor and made many things in his well equipped shed. His forte was rat traps of which he made many.
He loved his dogs which he had after his retirement. He would walk miles with them. He could always be seen walking on the Green at all times of the day.

Until he had to move to the care home in October last year he was the village's oldest resident. Thanks to his great friend Billy Large and Pat he was able to stay in his own home, where he wanted to be, beyond his 101st birthday.
Another Charlie trademark was his smelly old pipe. He smoked it from age 15 until he went into the home aged 101. He had a wicked sense of humour and often played tricks on his friends and family. He had a stuffed ferret which he used many times in his trickery.

He was probably one of the few people in this neighbourhood who flew on Concord. A day trip to the Bay of Biscay and back. Not many people can say they have travelled from horsepower to supersonic in their life. Holidays with the kids were taken at Great Yarmouth in a static caravan and later he enjoyed holidays in Tenerife and especially Norway.
He was a charmer who liked everyone, was never stressed out and was a character of the village who will be deeply missed by his family and the village. He did not want any fuss and when he reached one hundred years of age he did not want any celebrations. Although receiving congratulations from the Queen he considered it just a normal day. He is recorded as saying when I go ‘I don’t want anyone ‘snotting or slavering’ over me.
A truly wonderful genuine "old Norfolk boy".

Hire your own table

Table top sale
There will be a table top sale on Saturday 11 April in the Church Rooms at Old Buckenham between 2pm and 4pm. There will also be a raffle and refreshments will be available.
It is being run to raise funds for All Saints Church.
You could have a table for a mere £5 and you can book one by ringing Janet on 01953 452847. If you have stuff to dispose of but don’t want to book a table then items can be donated for sale on the Church’s stall.

All the local winners

Crib
In March the format of the crib drive at Old Buckenham village hall was changed slightly. By no longer stopping for a tea break, the number of games played was increased to ten. A good turnout was shown for the new changes with five full tables.
The prize-winners were Bill Cheesley, Alan Staniforth, Olive Fuller, Tommy Mack, Bev McAnulty, Jill Emms and Iris Lancester.
The Village Hall numbers club winners (that were drawn at the crib evening) were Frank Peck, Rhona George, Gerald Norton, John Walker, Mike Read, Mary Parker and Diane Packham.

What's on the agenda?

Meet your parish councillors
You are reminded that the Annual Parish Meeting of Old Buckenham will be held on Friday 20 March in the Village Hall starting at 7.30pm. This is the chance for villagers to find out what their parish councillors have been doing during the last year.

The Agenda is expected to be:
1. Welcome by the Chairman of the Parish Council Norman Cawston.
2. Notice to convene the meeting.
3. To confirm the minutes of the annual parish meeting held on 28 March 2008.
4. Matters arising from that meeting.
5. Chairman’s annual report on the activities of the Parish Council.
6. Financial report on the Parish Council’s accounts.
7. Open forum with reports from Robert Ziman (Community car scheme), Old Buckenham Green Right Proprietors, Den Packham (Village Hall Management Committee), Ron Brewer (Village Newsletter), Joan Jenkins (Charity matters) and Mike Bartlett (Village Hall funding).
8. Norfolk County Councillor’s report (John Baskerville).
9. Breckland District Councillor’s report (Adrian Joel).
10. Councillors’ reports.
11. Electors’ comments on the above reports.
12. Any other Parish issues.

Refreshments will be served at the end of the meeting.

Less landfill and fairer trading

Two lots of thank you
A big thank you to all those who have brought their old batteries along for recycling. The result is that 3000 batteries have now been saved from landfill by being placed in the green container in the back of All Saints church. There are still some in there so the total is now on the way to the next hundred!
Another thank you is due to those who bought from the Fair Trade stall after church on Sunday 7 February. A total of £24.85 was raised which will go to help give a fair wage to those who produce Fair Trade produce all over the world.
The next stall will be on Sunday 29 March in the church after the morning’s service (about 10.30am).

How flexible can the bus be?

When is the bus coming?
Judith Powles from Norfolk County Council spoke to about fifty people who attended the meeting in the village hall on Wednesday 25 February to explain all about a proposed flexi-bus service for this area. Very pertinent questions were dealt with by her in an expert manner. The one surprise for many of those in the audience was that the current 51 bus service to Attleborough on Thursdays is not expected to continue. There may have had a bigger attendance if people in the village had known about this beforehand.
Two buses (carrying 14 passengers each) are scheduled to come on line in May and this will be a six days a week service between 9am and 6pm. Basically there will be local rate phone number where people can book their ride on the day before. Fares will be at “competitive rates” and valid senior citizens' bus passes will be accepted. Further information is expected to be made available for distribution in the next few weeks.

Lots of hats

Women’s Institute
On a rather cold and wet evening in February, Old Buckenham WI listened to a talk given by Julie Hirst on the history of hats. She had brought a large selection of hats with her, ranging from a cloche of the 1930s to a baseball cap of the present day. She also had a colourful selection of her own handmade raffia hats, beautifully made and dyed in a variety of natural dyes.
The talk began with a brief history of hats and hat-making, from the earliest hats worn for warmth, for identification, for tribal distinction, or occupation, or religious belief. Hats worn by Pearly Kings and Queens with masses of pearl buttons sewed on in particular patterns to denote which part of London you hailed from, bowler hats originating from the Earl of Leicester’s estate at Holkham as worn by the gamekeepers and flat tweed caps from the north of England which showed by the tweed pattern where their wearers hailed from.
One early historical mention of hat making came from Milan in the seventeenth century – milan:millinery. The Italian salesmen did a good promotional job in selling their wares around Europe which helped trade and hats began to be used for more decorative purposes and not merely warmth or local identification.
Hat-making was based on three areas in England; Luton, Stockport and London. After the 1930s, hat making declined as fewer people wore their hats to work in or when going out. Today they tend to be special occasion wear. John F Kennedy is often blamed for the decline in mens’ headwear as he declined to wear a hat when campaigning during his presidential election campaign. Conversely, his wife Jackie is credited with helping to keep the fashion alive for ladies. Princess Diana also did a great deal for the industry during her lifetime.
All this information was demonstrated by Julie whilst wearing the hats she was talking about. She demonstrated her method of plaiting and making her raffia hats and members saw a hank of raffia, which comes from the 7ft to 8ft long leaves of the raffia tree and is then dried. Dyeing, plaiting and stitching together to make the hats takes about 8 hours work. They are packable, very easy to wear and will last a long time. With the request to wear hats at the coming Federation AGM, several members gave those on show a careful look.
The next meeting of Old Buckenham WI will be on Thursday 26 March in the village hall when Steve Lovell will be talking on the RSPB in East Anglia and the monthly competition is for a four to six line poem entitled ‘Birds in my garden’.

Which way to the Palace?

Sign of the times

The editor was tempted to leave this until the first of April but the first day of March will have to do instead.

Old Buckenham Parish Council has spent the last few years trying to get the village properly signposted at the Dambrigg crossroads (where the B1077 crosses the B1113).

Extra signs have now been installed but they don't mention Old Buckenham at all...

Things to do this month

Diary dates for March
Sunday 1 Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm
Monday 2 Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm
Tuesday 3 Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am to 12 noon
Wednesday 4 Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm
Wednesday 4 Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm
Thursday 5 Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Friday 6 Crib Drive, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Saturday 7 Roadside textile collection, from 9am
Monday 9 Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm
Thursday 12 Breckland Flower and Garden Club, Village Hall, 2pm
Thursday 12 Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.45pm
Friday 13 Mobile Police Station by Village Shop, 9am to 10.30am
Friday 13 Netgamers computer games, Village Hall, 7pm to 9pm
Sunday 15 Wargames club, Village Hall, 2.30pm to 6pm
Monday 16 Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm
Wednesday 18 Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm
Wednesday 18 Request Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm
Friday 20 Annual Parish Meeting, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Thursday 26 Women's Institute, Village Hall, 7.30pm
Friday 27 Netgamers computer games, Village Hall, 7pm to 9pm
Monday 30 Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Results of Green election

Who is doing what
At the AGM of the Green Right Proprietors on Tuesday24 February the membership returned the following people as officers of the organisation:
Chairman - Mike Read,
Vice-chairman - Colin Phillips,

Secretary/Treasurer - Rosemary West.

February at the Parish Council

Parish Council meeting
These notes of the parish council meetings are 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.
Those attending the February meeting were Norman Cawston (Chairman), Tim Ing (vice-chairman), Mike Craven-Romain, Adrian Joel, Carol Marshall, Gerald Norton, Kerry Talbot, Liz Taylor and Denise Ziman along with John Baskerville (County Councillor), Mike Read (Clerk) and one member of the public.
The minutes of the January meeting were approved and there were no matters arising.
Village Hall. The Lottery ‘Awards for All’ grant application submitted by the village hall had been turned down. At a meeting with Laura Apps-Green of Breckland Council attended by Adrian Joel, Mike Bartlett, representatives of the Luncheon Club and Mike Read, she explained that the refusal had been partly due to the parish council’s involvement in the application. This opinion was reinforced by a letter received by Mike Bartlett from “Awards for All” confirming this situation.
County Councillor’s report. John Baskerville said that the Council Tax increase is likely to be 2.9%. The Puddledock end of Fen Street may be shut for about 10 days to facilitate road works when drainage work is undertaken. The Park & Ride fares are being revised.
Children’s Play Area. Kerry Talbot reported that the East Coast Truckers’ Charity has pledged a donation of £554 for the purchase of some equipment for the enlarged playground. Mike Craven-Romain and Kerry Talbot met with Lucinda Leonard from Norfolk Rural Communities Council about further funding opportunities. Lucinda was able to provide a further list of funders and some useful information on funding coming online during March.
The Community Spaces grant application has been completed and sent off.
Lesley Coates has organised the licence and Spring Grand Draw tickets. Thanks were expressed to Womack Building Supplies Limited, Executive Leisure and members of Bucks Just Play for sponsoring the draw. The tickets are on sale at various village outlets and by door-to-door sales.
The draw will be on Saturday 4 April in the Ox & Plough at 1pm. The main prizes (1st, 2nd and 3rd) are £100, £50 and £25. Other prizes include vouchers for a meal at The Gamekeeper, treatment at the Clinic on the Green, two tickets to Funtime Factory plus many more.
The next meeting of the working party will be Wednesday 4 March to follow the Breckland Council decision on funding due to be considered on Tuesday 24 February.
The Norfolk Rural Communities Council is running a course for weekly play area inspections and course fee is £10 per person. The Parish Council agreed unanimously to finance two people from the working party to attend.
Settlement Boundary Review. The second stage of site specifics consists of three further sites and the consultation period goes up to Monday 30 March. Placement of details will be made in the village newsletter and on their blog (see earlier post for map showing sites). This will give people about six weeks to make any comments.
Recreation area behind the Village Hall. The planning application is now under consideration and the statutory period for consultation expires on Thursday 26 March. The Parish Council has returned a “no objection” response on its own application.
The Green. The Green Rights Proprietors have raised a query with Mott MacDonald about the promised dropped kerb that has not yet been installed. They still await a positive reply. Information on when the remaining work will be carried out is necessary before the construction of the footpath can proceed.
Consideration was given to the possible letting of the Green to the Parish Council. John Baskerville reported that in answer to a survey (which had a 68% response) 78% of the village who voted wanted the Parish Council to manage the Green. A proposal to approach the Green Rights Proprietors was made and put to the vote. The proposal was carried (9 in favour and 1 against).
A further proposal was made that no up-front payment would be made to the Green Rights Proprietors in respect of the proposed letting by the Parish Council. This was carried unanimously.
It was also proposed that a joint meeting be set up afterwards with a specific group from the Parish Council if the Green Rights Proprietors agree to grant the letting. This too was carried unanimously.
Adrian Joel commented that the Proprietors could and should invest in the Green. Mike Read, as current Chairman of the Green Rights Proprietors, pointed out that, even with the benefit of a grant from Breckland Council, over £4,000 had been invested by the Proprietors in the Rod Alley pond improvements. This money constituted most of the Proprietors’ savings.
Tim Ing, as the Parish Council’s representative on the Green Rights Proprietors, will present concrete proposals at the Proprietors’ AGM on Tuesday 24 February.
From the floor, Mike Bartlett referred to his letter suggesting that the Parish Council might consider organising a fund-raising appeal to local residents to help finance the initial costs involved if the Parish Council does take on the letting of the Green. The chairman pointed out that he had made a proposal of setting aside a sum of £1,000 to get the ball rolling but the Parish Council voted not to go to the full extent of his proposal for a precept of £17,000 and instead elected for £15,000.
Planning applications. Old Buckenham Parish Council. Land adjacent to Old Buckenham Village Hall. Change of use from agricultural to playing field and creation of car park.
For reasons that are obvious the Parish Council raised no objections.
Planning decisions by Breckland. Mr and Mrs J Germany, Thistledome, Crown Road. Replacement of conservatory. Permission given at Breckland
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel said that Breckland’s share of the Council Tax will increase by 3.35%. A Band D property will be charged at £64.05 (an increase of £2.07 per year). Breckland have also agreed a charter for a Cleaner, Safer and Greener District, working with other partners.
Additional Site Specific proposals as part of the Local Development Plan will be consulted on from the middle of February for a six week period.
Breckland residents will be able to vote for their favourite independent store. There will be a prize for the best village shop.
Councillors’ reports. Denise Ziman reported on the Allotment to Former Highways Surveyor’s Charity. The Parish Council is now in dialogue with the Charity Commission regarding the 2008 return and changing the payment arrangements. When the matter has been resolved Joan Jenkins, secretary to the general Eleemosynary Charity, will be consulted.
Vandalism had occurred (principally outside the post office) on the evening of Friday 30 January. There is a possibility that some students from the High School were involved and the head teacher, in conjunction with the police, is looking into this and no doubt the Parish Council will receive a report.
Work at Stone Cottage, Fen Street, appears to be proceeding in spite of a planning permission refusal for part of the redevelopment. The clerk was asked to make enquiries.
The matter concerning grant funding for the village hall is not at an end. A suggestion was made by Gerald Norton that a leaflet be sent out to solicit the villagers’ support for the kitchen improvements.
Tim Ing made the comment that a member of the public had suggested that the report of parish council meetings that is published in the village newsletter could be worded a little more sensitively. It didn’t seem to portray how the parish councillors are performing and failed to tell the parishioners how the people they had voted for are dealing with progressing projects and day-to-day problems. It comes across that a lot of responsibilities are falling on the shoulders of the clerk. It needs to reflect how both parties need to support each other and that the councillors accept their share of the workload. The terminology used in the minutes is of the utmost importance. It needs a subtle change of emphasis to avoid any misunderstandings as to how the public perceives the decisions that the parish council makes.
It appears that the Pilgrim pig processors’ lorries are in breach of the 7.5 tonne limit weight restriction on commercial vehicles. However, it is the understanding of the parish council that Pilgrim has an exemption certificate. This will need to be looked into.
Clerk’s report. One parishioner has requested consideration as a co-opted parish councillor. The closing date for applications was Wednesday 11 February. A decision has to be made as to whether the Parish Council needs a new member at present. The Parish Council was awaiting any further applications. The question of appointing a new member was discussed and it was proposed to go ahead (9 voted in favour with 1 against).
The clerk’s position as Chairman of the Green Rights Proprietors was discussed. He was asked to leave the room and a short discussion ensued. The Parish Council decided that they would not hold Mike Read to his undertaking not to stand for re-election as the Green Rights Proprietors' chairman on the understanding that, if re-elected, the matter would be reviewed before the Proprietors’ 2010 AGM.
Trevor Crook is drawing up plans of the second footpath on the Green for submission to three contractors.
The Hall is booked for a Flexi-bus public meeting on Wednesday 25 February at 7.30pm. Help is requested in providing light refreshments for those attending.
Highways. The Parish Council has had an undertaking from the County Council Highways that the lay-bys outside the village shop will be improved when the weather gets warmer. Another Highways inspection is called for.
Correspondence. The council considered Mike Bartlett’s letter to Mott MacDonald concerning the controversy over the footpaths on the Green.
A change of Green Rights has been notified to the Parish Council. Johannes Lindenmayer has sold two rights to Mrs Gulcheher Phillips and one to Matthew Phillips.
The Parish Council has received a reply from the Attleborough Town Clerk about the state of the Banham Poultry site in Attleborough. Because of financial constraints she does not feel that any action will be taken at this time.
The next meeting of the Breckland Town and Parish Council Forum is scheduled for Thursday 19 March at Dereham.
The next meeting of Old Buckenham Parish Council will be at 7.30pm on Thursday 5 March.

It's out and about

March newsletter now available

Thirty-two pages of news, views and, of course, advertisements. Pick up your copy at the village shop now.

Snapshots of the past

Princely family at the Hall
An album has recently been discovered by a London historian of an Old Buckenham family, dating around 1900/10. The album belonged to a family who were in the service of Prince Frederick Duleep Singh, the famous Royal resident at Old Buckenham Hall between 1897 and 1906. The album contains some great early photos of the old Hall and its gardens with a few of the Prince’s siblings, whilst the rest are of the family and friends of the Hall’s employees and the person believed to have originally compiled the album.
Prince Frederick was the second son of Maharajah Duleep Singh, the King of the Punjab. As a minor, the Maharajah was deposed by the British Empire and brought to England in 1854 where he fathered six children. Prince Frederick was amongst the most prominent of his children and had a love for Norfolk, and this is where he spent his whole life. He purchased the Georgian country house, Old Buckenham Hall, in 1897 and extended it considerably. The 340-acre ground came complete with a well-timbered park, commodious stabling, gardens with pleasure grounds and shrubberies. It also included four farms with homesteads, cottages and other small holdings, all of which the Prince tenanted. He had a small sporting ground and often hired adjoining shootings for his personal use. It was the Prince’s custom to hold an annual dinner party for all the estate tenants and from those whom he hired the shootings. He also had a cricket ground built to the rear of the Hall. Although he transformed the grounds into a formal garden he showed great dissatisfaction with his efforts. "Nothing goes right, the garden is a failure...it is disgusting...peoples' borders are gorgeous - mine are in swarms" he wrote in his diary entry for 9 October 1904. In 1906 he was house hunting again, putting the Old Buckenham estate on the market advertising it as a ‘A Miniature Mansion in a Miniature Park’. The Prince took temporary residence at Breckles Cottage in the summer of 1906 as a tenant of Charles Bateman Hanbury, and renamed it ‘Breckles House'. It was a modest house compared to the grandeur which he was more used to, situated in the tiny Norfolk village near Attleborough. His final home was the 16th century moated Blo Norton Hall, situated off the main road from Thetford to Diss, where he died in 1926.
As for Old Buckenham Hall, it was purchased by the wealthy broker Lionel Robinson who demolished the old building and rebuilt it on a grander scale. It was later converted to a Preparatory School, but a fire in 1952 put an end to the school and to the building. Old Buckenham Hall was again rebuilt as the present country house.
Peter Bance has traced the album back to a Diss saleroom, where it was sold some years ago by an elderly lady whose family had been employed by the Prince at the turn of the century at Old Buckenham, but has not been able to establish the name of this family. Nothing more is known about the album’s compiler or original owner nor the many people contained in its pages. It is hoped that publishing some of the photos in the newsletter and the newsletter blog will jog some memories.
Some of the images from the album are included with this post in the hope of identifying the family and finding out more about their time with Prince Frederick Duleep Singh at Old Buckenham Hall.
Some of the names mentioned in the album are: Fred Chapman, Daisy, Ted, Sasy, Lucy, Franny, Mary Jones, Annie Jones, Herbert Minck/Mitter, Kathleen Ryan, the King family and Babs. The names may be other employees at the Hall or local villagers of the time.
Any information and memories will be most appreciated by Peter Bance who can be contacted on 020 8509 2406 or sent to him at Coronet House, PO Box 64026, London, E17 0GY. If you prefer they can be emailed to oldbuckhistory@aol.com

Who paid for the teaching?

Early schooling
Maureen of Badsey, Worcestershire (formerly of Bradwell near Great Yarmouth) has contacted the newsletter editor asking if anyone can help provide her with information.
Her ancestors, the Robinsons (no relation to the Lionel Robinson of Old Buckenham Hall), lived in Old Buckenham from the end of the 18th century to the latter part of the 19th century. She has compiled their history and has photos of her great-great-grandparents' grave (James and Sarah Robinson) which she took on a visit to Old Buckenham a number of years ago.
Also in her possession is an old postcard which shows a picture of the church and school. She has noted from this website that the old school now seems to be used as church rooms and wonders if anyone in the village is able to tell her the following:
When was the school in the picture built?
When did the school close?
Does anyone know when the postcard photo was taken? (she has others in the series showing Old Buckenham Hall; the church; the abbey).
As her great-grandmother, Ruth Robinson (1850-1938), was able to read and write, she assumes that the school was in existence before compulsory education started in 1870.
It seems the school appears to have been built in 1865. Her great-grandmother, Ruth Robinson, was born in 1850, the youngest of ten children of James and Sarah Robinson. Ruth was able to read and write, but was obviously born too early to have gone to the school which is now the Church Rooms.
Does anyone know what educational provision was available for the children prior to 1865? White's Gazetteer of 1854 says, "Mr Sturdivant, in 1604, left £100 for schooling poor children, which was laid out in 16a. 15p. of land, now let for £28, which is paid for instructing 10 boys and 10 girls." Was this the only education available? As far as she is aware, even though James was just a corn merchant's labourer, working for the Burlinghams who owned the mills, all his ten children (born between 1826 and 1850) were educated. Indeed, at the time of the 1851 census, one of the girls, 14-year-old Lois, was described as "Infant School Assistant Teacher". So does anyone know where the children in mid -19th century Old Buckenham went to school?
She is looking forward to someone being able to assist with her enquiries. Please pass on information via the newsletter editor by emailing him on oldbuckhistory@aol.com

Your hall needs you

Village Hall AGM
If you care about our village hall then you should make an effort to go along to the AGM on Wednesday 1 April. It will start at 7.30pm in the Memorial Room at the hall and all Old Buckenham residents over 18 are entitled to attend.
The management committee are still looking for someone to take on the job of booking clerk. Please contact Dennis Packham for further information if you think you could help.

Places to rent

News of Cotman houses
Breckland Council have given planning permission to Cotman Housing Association for the erection of 14 rented dwellings in St Andrews Close. Three of the dwellings are 3-bedroom bungalows and eleven are houses ranging in size from 1-bedroom to 5-bedroom.
As these dwelling are outside the Settlement Boundary, they will come under the "Local Connections Scheme" for local people. Further details will follow in due course.

Additional sites for development?

Breckland Council Site Specific consultation
During the summer of 2008, Breckland residents were asked to comment on hundreds of sites which might potentially see development as part of the District’s Local Development Framework. During the following consultation, around 200 further sites were submitted to the Council, three of which are within the Parish of Old Buckenham. One is in Stacksford, another at the junction of Ragmere Road and Cake Street and the third in an area behind the village shop. A copy of the map showing the location of these sites in more detail will be printed in the March issue of the village newsletter. The opinion of local residents is being sought on these three sites.
Old Buckenham has been indentified as a “Local Service Centre” but has not been recommended for any further growth, just protection of the existing services in the village. As no new growth is proposed in Old Buckenham, the additional sites submitted to the Council have been classified as “Non-conforming” or “Unreasonable”. The chance to comment on these sites opened on Monday 16 February and goes on until Monday 30 March. More details on the consultation, as well as the document and maps for the entire district are available on http://www.breckland.gov.uk/. The consultation document will also be available from the Parish Clerk (Mike Read on 01953 860920) and the District Councillor (Adrian Joel on 01953 860663).
Should you wish to make any observations, you can complete a comments form on line, or obtain printed copies from either Mike or Adrian.

The story behind the stamps

Magical stories from envelopes
Those attending the February meeting of the Old Buckenham Social and Wine Circle were treated to a look at the detailed life of a stamp collector and the stories behind his collections. The speaker, Tony Blackburn from Diss, explained how he had specialised in stamps from the period of the Spanish Civil War. Because there was no opportunity to print new stamps, those from areas controlled by Franco had overprinted the existing Republican stamps with various slogans. Even when the Nationalists could print their own postage stamps they continued to overprint them with messages. This subject had provided a fertile area for specialised collecting and Tony already had several hundred of his pages acquired by the British Library with even more to be passed on later.
Members had the opportunity to see a very small part of his collection before the second part of his talk. Several of the envelopes (covers) that Tony had obtained were from, or addressed to, the same person, an engineer on the motor vessels Palayo or Pinto. This led to what is known as “social philately”, trying to find out about the lives and people who were writing these letters just before the second World War. More covers were obtained and part of the life of A W Thompson was slowly uncovered from his time regularly sailing from Liverpool to the Mediterranean area with a variety of cargo to the Pinto being a ‘rescue ship’ accompanying convoys during the war and being torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat. Help in uncovering this story came from all over the world, mainly by chance conversations, from newspaper articles and the remaining members of A W Thompson’s family.
The next Social and Wine meeting will be on Thursday 12 March in the Church Rooms when Quinton Spratt will be talking about peacocks. All are welcome to come along to hear this talk.

Time to ask questions

Annual Parish Meeting
The annual Old Buckenham Parish Meeting will be held at 7.30pm on Friday 20 March in the Village Hall.
This is not a Parish Council meeting so all electors have the right to speak and vote. Members of the public or press representatives are also welcome to attend and observe. This is your chance to question the parish council members on the decisions that they have made during the last year. You can also check up on why progress on some matters has not been as fast as you might have hoped.
Should any elector wish to have an item included on the agenda please contact the parish clerk on 01953 860920 before Friday 6 March as the agenda will be published then.

Another blooming meeting

Film titles in flowers
Members of the Breckland Flower and Garden Club braved the elements to attend the February meeting in the village hall when Julie Woods from Cambridge demonstrated her title 'Pass the Popcorn'. Her six arrangements depicted film titles including ‘South Pacific’ and ‘Pretty Woman’ and her flowers included orchids, anthuriums, mimosa and red roses.
The competition subject was 'Crazy Love' and the results were: New Hands - first Margaret Smith, second Norma Howes and third Janet Skidmore. Old Hands - Ursula Jackson, Shirley Penfold and Trish Barton tied for first place and Marion Beasley came second. Ursula Jackson was awarded the Christine HewsonTrophy for Best Exhibit.
Next month's meeting will be held at Old Buckenham Village Hall starting at 2pm on Thursday 12 March. The AGM will be followed by a practical exercise for all - making a pressed-flower bookmark. Please bring along any pressed flowers that you have.
The competition title is 'Spring has arrived' and the best exhibit including spring flowers will be awarded the Joy Tunmore Trophy.

Start taking them now

The Bucks Photoshow 2009
Two years ago there was a successful display of photographs by local people over one weekend in New Buckenham.

Did you exhibit your photos before? Did you visit and decide you would like to participate in future?

Now there is going to be another Photoshow in New Buckenham village hall during the last weekend in May and they’ll be asking for exhibitors. More details later but meanwhile just keep your cameras busy.

Remembering those no longer with us

Easter lilies
On Easter Day each year All Saints, Old Buckenham, commemorates the lives of loved ones who have died and they will continue the tradition this year. Flower arrangements in the church at Easter will comprise of lilies each in memory of departed relatives or friends.
It is estimated that each lily will cost in the region of £3 and any additional monies received will go towards a lasting memorial for use in the Church.
If you would like to contribute to this event could you please provide your donation by Wednesday 1 April together with the name of the person to be remembered. If you have not subscribed before please also advise year of birth and date of death.
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.

Lots of winners

Numbers Club
The winners in the village hall Numbers Club for January were Malcolm Wade, Gerald Norton, the Breckland Flower Club, Mike Read, Sandra Jones, P Large and Alan Staniforth. Winners for February were Peter Warren, Peter Rhodes, Dave Jones, Fresia Coad, Tim Edwards, Carol Brinded and Peggy Eke.

February Crib
Although numbers were down, not only because of the weather but also family commitments, the hardy few carried on playing crib at the February drive. The winners were Mary Parker, Joyce Goodey, Richard Cockrill, Helga Baggs and Bev McAnulty.
In March the format of the evening will change slightly as the tea break is being done away with thus enabling the players to have ten games instead of eight.

Sounds interesting

Youthful music
As part of the promotion of Norfolk County Youth Orchestra’s concert in Attleborough Church on Saturday 28 March, David O’Neale of Norfolk Music Service is leading workshops in a number of schools including Old Buckenham Primary and High Schools.
At Old Buckenham Primary he is working with Year 5 on listening to, and pupils playing, excerpts from the concert programme. They will also compose their own piece based on one of the ideas in the concert (for instance as in Smetana’s Vltava which tracks the river from its source to the open sea or Grieg’s Homage March to a hero). The pupils will also devise art work on the trolls attacking Peer Gynt in the hall of the mountain king. This will be on display at the concert.
At Old Buckenham High School, as well as listening to the concert items, members of the wind band will play some of the easier excerpts from the concert programme. They may also provide an informative display on the friends of Elgar portrayed in his Enigma Variations.

If you are interested in going to the concert, the details are:
NORFOLK COUNTY YOUTH ORCHESTRA
conducted by Sarah Coleman
at St Mary’s Church ATTLEBOROUGH
on Saturday 28 March
starting at7.30pm.
Tickets are £8 (£4 for senior citizens) with free admission for accompanied children.
The programme includes:
Smetana: Vltava
Elgar: Enigma Variations
Grieg: In the hall of the Mountain King
Humperdinck: Hansel and Gretel overture
Why not go along and support Norfolk's talented young musicians. Tickets may be pre-ordered on 01953 718266 or by emailing david.oneale@norfolk.gov.uk

Is the bus coming?

They are out there somewhere...

Looking for aliens
Invasive non-native plants and animals can have a serious impact on native wildlife. Norfolk Wildlife Trust (NWT) is working with the Norfolk Biodiversity Partnership to support their major new initiative to monitor the impact of invasive non-native species that are already established in the county.
As part of its Natural Connections project, NWT is running a survey to map the distribution of five key non-native species: Muntjac, American mink, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and giant hogweed. Their aim is to engage the general public in helping to find out where these species are found in Norfolk and help discover what impact they are having on Norfolk’s countryside.
There are plenty of the muntjac deer out and about in Old Buckenham and perhaps some readers of this blog will report back their sightings to support this survey. They may also know the whereabouts of some of the plants too.
The survey runs from February till October and can be done online or with a Freepost survey card. If you would like to take part or just want some further information, phone 01603 598333 or visit www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/naturalconnections. You can also take a look at the Norfolk Non-native Species Initiative webpage which is the ‘one-stop shop’ for information on invasive non-native species in Norfolk. The site can be found through the NBP website www.norfolkbiodiversity.org