Help Yourself
FREE!
No. 163 incorporating The Wayland News, Attleborough & District News and The Wymondham News November 2010
Don‟t be caught by
these confidence
tricksters . . .
From the Editor: Many people in and
around Watton (and, I have no doubt,
Attleborough because they seem going
through the 01953 numbers) are
receiving phone calls from someone,
usually an Indian lady, who claims to
come from a computer support
organisation that has noticed recently
that your machine is infected with one
or more viruses.
They will then ask you to visit their
―support‖ site where they will clean up
your machine. Once there, they take
control of your machine and download
a fake virus scanner which then reports
multiple serious infections which can
only be cleaned up if you give them
your credit card details and pay them a
sum of money.
This is a scam and under no
circumstances should you follow their
instructions. If you receive such a phone
call, tell them you are busy and ask if
you can have a number to ring them
back on and report the original call and
any number they give you to Consumer
Direct on 08454 04 05 06.
If you have already been caught then do
ring your bank or credit card company
now and tell them exactly what has
happened. You should also get your
preferred computer service person to
look at your machine and make sure it
Help Yourself
A natural winner
is cleaned up before you use it again on
the Internet.
Do not let this put you off using your
computer; this is a confidence trick that
can catch even the most wary of people.
Follow this advice from Consumer
Direct and watch out for these warning
signs:
 It sounds too good to be true: Beware
of hype and extravagant promises. If
it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is.
 You are contacted out of the blue:
You may get a phone call, email or
letter from someone you've never
heard of.
 You have to make a quick decision:
Scammers don't like to give you time
to think. They will try to pressure you
into making a decision by saying
things like 'If you don't act now, you'll
miss out.'
 You have to give away bank account
details: Trustworthy firms will never
contact you to ask for this
information.
The winning picture of the 2010 Breckland Photography Competition - Gooderstone Water Gardens. See page 3
 If you see any of these signs in a
letter, phone call, text message or
email, it could well be a scam.First of
all, don't reply. Then bin it, delete it or “Songs from Players‟ Fish & 'Pop' Quiz
hang up. And if you're still unsure,
you can call Consumer Direct for
advice on 08454 04 05 06
the Shows” Not letting off any fireworks? Rain
forecast? If you want your November
have to do is light your Pop
knowledge, stand well back, listen to
Cabaret evening celebrations to go with a bang and a
sparkle of excitement, then come to the
six rounds of musical clips, come up
with answers and win a prize! In
―Songs from the Shows‖ takes place on Connaught Hall, Attleborough at 7.30 addition, Fish & Chips, or 'Bangers' &
Friday November 12th and Sat p.m. on Saturday 6th November where Chips etc may be ordered when you
November 13th and the Connaught Hall in the Attleborough Players will be buy your ticket for £7 from A.W.
Attleborough, features song and dance hosting a 'Fish & Pop Quiz'. Musical Myhill & Son, Exchange Street,
and starts at 8pm. fireworks will 'POP' in a range of a Attleborough. Tel. 01953 453107
Tickets, costing £7, are available from 'Golden Oldie Rain' of sixties music to The date for ticket availability will be
the Connaught Hall, Station Road, present day 'Jumping Jacks'. All you advised on application.
Attleborough, 01953 452523 or from
Star Throwers, 30 Melton Road,
Wymondham 01953 423304 or Pete
Thatcher 07780 600945.
The profits from one evening are going
The Wayland Players
to the Star Throwers and the other
evening to the Connaught Hall have gone „Haywire‟
refurbishment fund.
Star Throwers are a drop in centre for Alec Firth is having an affair with The Wayland Payers will present the
anyone caring or affected themselves his assistant Liz and has organised comedy ‗Haywire‘ by Eric Chappell
by cancer. Dr Henry Mannings set the his domestic life so that they can go (‗Rising Damp‘ & ‗Natural Causes‘)
centre up in 2009, and they offer free to Spain without making his wife from 11th-13th November at 7.45pm
care, support and advice on any type of Maggie suspicious. What could in The Queen‘s Hall
cancer. The centre is run entirely by possibly go wrong? Plenty as the rest Tickets priced at £6.50 are available
volunteers, and is a non-profit of the family arrive on the doorstep from Adcocks in the High Street,
registered charity. in rapid succession! telephone 01953 881248
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 2
Watton Ballroom Could you be a book Live near Attleborough?
Dancing Association
Queen’s Hall, Watton
in the Human Library? Have your say
8 to 11.00 Admission £3.50 Norwich will stage the biggest
Saturday November 6th Human Library event ever held in
the UK next month, with visitors
Mike 01953 882799 able to borrow up to 100 books that
will challenge their preconceptions
and prejudices. The difference?
DY-FIT FOR LIFE These ‗books‘ are, in fact, people.
The Human Library allows
EXERCISE TO MUSIC CLASSES
members of the public to have open
Watton Sports Centre, Dereham Road.
All the sessions are designed to promote and frank conversations with people
stamina, strength and flexibility whilst whom they might not have the
taking into account the fitness level and chance to meet in the wider world,
ability of participants. and people who, for whatever
reason, may be stereotyped or suffer
General Aerobics Mondays 7pm discrimination or stigma. By
An hour long, as energetic as you wish!** allowing people to be curious and
Nifty Fifties Fridays 11am ask questions that they would
A challenging workout for perhaps otherwise be too
embarrassed to pose, the events aim
"recycled teenagers"**
to change perceptions and
Gentle Option Fridays 10am encourage people not to judge a
40 minutes duration, no floorwork. Problems such as ‗book‘ by its cover.
arthritis and joint replacement are taken into account.
Norfolk County Council‘s Library
** Please bring a mat for floorwork Service has been running the
For further details, please contact Human Library in the county,
together with community and third-
Diane Cuthbert
sector partners, since October 2008.
01953 850275 Norfolk has hosted more than 25
RSA/YMCA Qualified Teacher events in this time – more than any
other county in the UK – and a
partnership called Human Library
Norfolk has recently been
established to further develop the
project in the county.
The concept was founded in
Denmark in 2000 and there are
Human Library projects in more
than 50 countries around the world.
Norfolk‘s work has been praised by
the Human Library‘s Danish
founders and, when a new Human
Library project was launched in
Thailand recently, Norfolk‘s
approach was used as a model for
the organisers to follow.
On Wednesday, 3 November
Norfolk will see its most ambitious
Human Library to date staged at
The Forum in Norwich, and there
are still places available for people
who would like to volunteer as
books.
At Human Library events, books sit
‗on the bookshelf‘ and wait to be
borrowed by visitors. All books
choose a title for themselves that
will challenge a commonly held
characteristic or stereotype or will
encourage questions and once
borrowed, a book and borrower sit
down and have a conversation.
Books that have been borrowed at
previous Human Library events in
Norfolk include people with
disabilities or disfigurements or
people in minority social, religious
or ethnic groups. However, anyone
who has experienced discrimination
or wants to share information about
themselves that will help promote
better understanding and
relationships in communities is
encouraged to put themselves
forward for the Human Library.
James Carswell, Cabinet Member
for Cultural Services at Norfolk
County Council, said: ―The Human
Library concept is absolutely
fascinating. Being open-minded
and inquisitive enough to have your
preconceptions challenged is the
key thing, and this is why the
Human Library is such a great idea.
It‘s fantastic that Norfolk is leading
the way, nationally and
internationally, with this project and
I hope lots of people want to get
involved in the November event,
whether as a book or a borrower.‖
Tom Garrod, county councillor for
Yarmouth North and Central, has
been a book at a Human Library
event and is one of two Chairs of
the Human Library Norfolk. Tom
was 19-years-old when he was
elected to the county council in
2009, making him Norfolk‘s
youngest ever county councillor,
and he has cerebral palsy.
He said: ―I feel really strongly about
the Human Library and its potential
for good in the county. It gives
people the chance to talk freely and
ask questions which they wouldn‘t
feel able to in normal life for fear of
causing embarrassment or offence.
Of course, borrowers need to be
respectful to the books, and the
organisers are there to support this,
but my experience of being a book
was wholly positive and I came
away feeling really empowered.
I‘m fairly certain the people who
borrowed me went away with a
better understanding of me, my life,
what drives me and what cerebral
palsy is, but I also had a better
understanding of the people I met.
―Everyone has prejudices, it‘s
natural to have them and unnatural
not to - most of the time people
have them without even realising.
It‘s obvious perhaps but true that
conversation is a powerful thing
that can break down barriers, build
relationships, even avert wars. All
the Human Library does is give lots
of different types of people the
opportunity, and the licence, to
come together and talk without fear
– it‘s so simple but so effective, and
we have big hopes and dreams for
what it can achieve in Norfolk.‖
The event on Wednesday, 3
November will coincide with a
seminar which will officially launch
the Human Library Norfolk
partnership. The seminar will be
attended by Human Library
organisers and supporters from
various community and third-sector
organisations from Norfolk and
other areas of the UK. One of the
Human Library founders Ronni
Abergel, will also speak at the
seminar which will be held in The
Curve in The Forum. A film about
the Human Library in Norfolk will
also be showing all week from
Monday, 1 November in Fusion at
The Forum.
The Human Library public event on
3 November will run from 11am to
7pm in The Forum and from 11am
– 5pm in the Millennium Library in
The Forum. Members of the public
are welcome to drop in and borrow
books at any point between these
times.
People wanting to find out more
about being a book at the event
need to get in touch no later than
Saturday, 30 October by calling
Nick Little on 01603 774781 or
emailing
nick.little@norfolk.gov.uk. Because
of the sensitive nature of some of
the discussion topics at Human
Library events, organisers will be
able to advise on what is expected
of books and help possible
volunteers decide whether they
want to take part.
For more information about the
Human Library visit
www.humanlibrary.org.
Breckland Council are producing an
Area Action Plan to guide
development in Attleborough and
Snetterton Heath over the next 15
years and need the help of residents
and communities in and around the
town. The ‗Issues and Options‘
consultation is a chance to have a say
early on in the process of producing
the Area Action Plan.
The area around Attleborough and
Snetterton Heath is set to change over
the coming years with potential plans
for:
 at least 4,000 new homes within the
Attleborough area by 2026 to the south
of the town;
 the necessary supporting infrastructure;
 1,500 to 2,000 net additional jobs in
Attleborough by 2021 and the release
some 10 hectares of land for
employment;
 a new road from the A11 to the B1077
Bunns Bank to help ease congestion;
 and 20 hectares of new employment
land at Snetterton Heath.
Shipdham and
District Book Group
This small, friendly group meets on the
3rd Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m.
There is no subscription, you do not
even have to purchase books, unless
you wish to as we have them provided
through the library service. Meetings
are held in the home of any member
with sufficient chairs and tea cups as
discussing books does not take up
much space nor require special
equipment. It does mean that we have
to restrict numbers and have been
known to have a waiting list.
Each month we read a book for
discussion which can be lively at times.
There is no compulsion on members to
finish books they are not enjoying, just
to read enough of the text to be able to
make a reasoned comment not just
‗this is a load of rubbish‘. During the
course of a year we cover a wide
variety of genres such as biographies;
classics, old and new; modern fiction;
historical novels and many more.
Recent titles have included The Bolter
by Frances Osborne, The Great Lover
by Jill Dawson and Alan Bennett‘s The
The Wayland Business Centre
REPROGRAPHIC SERVICES
AT WAYLAND HOUSE: The
Wayland Partnership has invested in
a high quality high speed A4/A3
copier/scanner/printer which is
capable of producing small to
medium (5 - 5000) runs. We are now
offering a low cost service to
accredited community organisations
for the following:
- Printing of leaflets, flyers, booklets,
calendars, village newsletters etc.
- Photocopying of documents
(copyright assumed)
- Scanning and printing/saving of
documents etc.
- Printing of photo images from flash
card/digital camera/USB memory
stick
We can also design and publish all of
the above using a range of MS Office
News
The consultation on these plans will be
over 11 weeks and is due to start on
Monday 15 November and finish on
Friday 28 January 2011.
There will be an interactive copy of the
draft Area Action Plan document on
the Breckland website:
http://consult.breckland.gov.uk
with over 60 questions on a range of
topics and issues on the planned
growth. A summary questionnaire will
also be on-line focussing on the main
questions on possible areas for
development. Your comments can be
sent on-line.
Breckland Council has also organised
a drop-in session for the rural parishes
around Attleborough at Old
Buckenham Village Hall on Saturday
20 November between 10am and
12.30pm. Officers will be on hand to
answer questions, there will be display
material and summary questionnaires
will be available.
Information courtesy:
http://oldbuckenham.blogspot.com
Uncommon Reader. The book for the
November meeting will be
Marshmallows for Breakfast by
Dorothy Koomson. As well as the
prescribed book each member of the
group tells us what they have been
reading and consequently there is
much borrowing and lending and
passing on of unwanted copies.
Our pre-Christmas gathering takes the
form of an ‗anthology‘ session where
those who wish d a passage of poetry
or prose of their own choice some with
a seasonal flavour. Last year we even
managed mince pies and mulled apple
juice (plus a chocolate cake for a
veteran member with a birthday
although members were warned this
was a one off).
The only qualification for membership
is a genuine interest in reading of all
types, in fact we all confess to it having
become an addiction. If you think this
might interest you then ring Sue on
01362 822536 or email
shipbooks@btinternet.com
products or we can use supplied art
work. In addition we offer an A4/
A3laminating service. We are happy
to provide a no-obligation quotation
on request as each job is individually
priced. Contact us on 01953 880204,
mail to iain@wayland.org.uk or call
in to Wayland House in Watton High
Street if you want more information
or a quote.
A WINNER! Congratulations to our
virtual tenant Claire Martinsen of
Breckland Orchard who was recently
a runner-up in the EDP Food Awards
and then this week won the Best
New Business Award in the EDP
Business Awards. Also to our partner
Wayland Community High School
and Mansells who won the Best
Industry/ Education Link.
News
Paul is the natural winner
Left to right: Breckland Photography Competition Judges Simon Edwards and Vicki Nunn with Paul Giverin
Paul Giverin from Thetford has been
declared the overall winner of the 2010
Breckland Photography Competition,
and winner of the ‗Nature in Breckland‘
category. Paul, who also triumphed in
the 2008 competition, was awarded a
£100 voucher for the Norfolk Camera
Centre in Dereham.
Judges Simon Edwards, Vicki Nunn and
Graham Corney, all professional
photographers, decided that Paul‘s
haunting picture which was captured
early one autumn morning at
Gooderstone Water Gardens was the
clear overall winner across all four
categories. Jan Vlcek from Thetford
Diabetes
UK
Our booked speaker was unable to attend
the meeting in October, so we had a
general chat about Diabetes, how it
affects people differently, tips that
members had found helpful and so on
and so forth. This proved to be very
successful and interesting. Even the
"Watton Two", John & Rod, were asking
intelligent questions - an unusual
occurrence!!
Our meeting on November 8th will be our
AGM, followed by a light hearted quiz.
All members welcome, both past and
present. If you have Diabetes, or care for
someone who does, you are most
welcome to join us at any of our
meetings.
We meet at the Pentecostal Church,
Watton at 10.15am, to whom we are
grateful for the use of their facilities.
Refreshments are available and the cost
per person is £1.50.
For further information, please phone
Helen 01953 884713, leave a message
and I will get back to you as soon as I
can.
We will also have a stand at the
Christmas Market on November 28th so
please come and say hello and meet the
people who run the group. We look
forward to seeing you.
triumphed in the ‗Creative Breckland‘
category, Ken Clegg from Watton was
named the winner in the ‗Architecture in
Breckland‘ category and Rosa Furneaux
an 18 year old from Dereham was top in
the ‗Active Breckland‘ category.
Individual category winners each
received a Camera Centre voucher for
£50.
Adrian Stasiak, Breckland Council
Executive Member for Communities and
Benefits said he was impressed with the
standard of the submissions:
―With so many talented entries this year,
it was a difficult choice for the judges.
Not everyone can be a winner, but no-
Festive
Bazaar
St Peter and St Paul C.E
V.C School Carbrooke
We are having a Festive Bazaar on
Saturday 20th November from 12 - 4pm.
This will be held in and around the
school.
There will be craft stalls, games,
refreshments and much more! So come
along and grab some festive bargains and
reindeer food before the December rush!!
Anyone interested in helping or having a
stall please contact Vicky Earl at the
school or email darrennsam@sky.com
Caston
Christmas Fayre
Our annual Christmas Fayre this year will
be on Saturday 20th November in the
Village Hall, starting at 2pm until around
3:30pm There will be raffles, games and a
Tombola as well as Cakes, Fancy Goods/
Bric-a-brac, a Christmas Goods stall - all
the traditional Christmas Fayre contents. In
addition, the HAMPER DRAW will take
place - a chance to win a wicker picnic
basket packed with many items for
Christmas. Why not come along and have
a go at winning one of the super prizes and
enjoy your first mince pie of the season?
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 3
Old Buckenham
November Market
All Saints Church will be holding its traditional November Market in
Old Buckenham Church Rooms on Saturday 13 November from
11am to 2pm. There will be the usual stalls - do come along and join
in for a light lunch of soup, rolls and other goodies.
Additionally, a representative from the Energy Saving Trust will be
present with an information stall.
Information courtesy http://oldbuckenham.blogspot.com
“The Best In Country Music” 7.30 „til late
BIOTITE LENS, Crystal Therapy, Spiritual
Healing, Crystal & Pamper Parties,
Workshops & Crystals, based in Watton
For more details and appointments contact:
Pete on 01953 880003
one‘s efforts will be wasted as all the
photographs will all form part of a
touring exhibition‖.
Photography is something of a passion
for Paul and the Breckland competition
is an annual fixture on his calendar. He
said:
―I always look forward to a new
challenge for the Breckland competition
each year. This photo was taken in the
morning when the sun had just broken
through. I photograph at Gooderstone
Water Gardens quite often. I even dashed
up there one Sunday last December after
a heavy snowfall – needless to say I was
the only person there!‖
Watch Out!
Watch Out!
There's A Wolf
About!!
Rehearsals are under way for the
production of our pantomime, Red Riding
Hood which will be shown in the Queens
Hall Watton February 2011. We have
some original cast members and some new
recruits. Everyone is enjoying their role
and the laughter can be heard from
Thompson Village Hall on a Tuesday and
Thursday Evenings.
It is our 25th year so we are getting ready
for a big celebration and do hope everyone
will come and support your local
pantomime group.
If you have any spare time and would like to
join our jolly group then please call
Stephanie Easter - Chairman 01953 483752.
Dereham
Organ Concert
David Thomas, professional player and
demonstrator for Roland, will be playing
a concert on Friday 12 Nov, at The
Meeting Point, St Withburga Lane,
Dereham. 7-10pm, concert starts 7.15
and entrance fee is £4 per person,
including refreshment on the door.
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 4
Coffee at the Queens Hall Watton News from
and Table Top Sale
Farmers Market Day-
Evening WI Rocklands
Another very enjoyable evening this month
Saturday 6th November 9.30 to 11.30 School
when member, Anita Taylor, showed us
some quick and ‗easy‘ ways to make cake
decorations (mostly for our Christmas
cake)! We were surprised at how simple it
seemed to be to turn a few coloured balls of
marzipan and icing sugar into delightful
little figures, etc. Then it was our turn!! –
Anita had all the ingredients ready for us to
have a go at copying her Father Christmas
for the friendly competition. She judged
Lynne‘s very good effort as the winner.
Next month is our Annual Meeting which
we precede with a fish and chip supper.
The business part of the meeting usually
only takes a short time and once that‘s
done and dusted the fun will begin …!
Any lady who has ever thought she might
like to join the WI is welcome to come
along and join us at 7.30 pm in Watton
Christian Community Centre on Thursday
11th November to find out more.
There‘s always lots of fun and laughter
when we get together. Everyone has a jolly
good time whether we are being
entertained by a speaker or enjoying a
social evening with games and quizzes. We
have a variety of speakers and activities
already lined up for 2011.
Before that, of course, we will be going out
in December for our Christmas Dinner –
Lincolns Inn at Hingham, a new venue for
us this year.
Watton
University of
the Third
Age (U3A)
Member Brian Salmons is presenting a
Film evening on Friday 22nd October at
The Christian Community Centre
commencing at 7pm. The films are all
made by Brian and have been shot
locally and worldwide some gaining
International Awards. Each film is
approximately 15 minutes long.
Refreshments will be available and
admission is free to members and guests.
The Christmas Lunch will be at the
Richmond Park G.C on Friday 10th
December at 12.45pm. Booking list is
now available. Payment for this lunch is
SALEC TRAVEL LTD due at the November meeting.
Theatre trip to see Essence of Ireland at
the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmonds on
Sat 6th November Bury St Edmunds 9.30am & 3pm Return Adult & Child £5 Tuesday 16th November is now full.
Saturday 13th November Cambridge 9am & 4pm Return Adult £10 Child £6 Coach leaves Queens Hall car park at
Tuesday 16th November Kings Lynn 9.30am & 3pm Return Adult & Child £5
6pm sharp.
Saturday 20th November Westfield Shopping Centre 8am & 5pm Return
The next monthly meeting is on
Adult £19 Child £12
Thursday 25th November at 2pm with
Sunday 28th November Bury Christmas Market Adult £10 Child £5
speaker Richard Wright with ―From Pigs
Thursday 2nd December Fakenham Xmas Trees 9.30am & 1.30pm Return
to Oil Lamps‖. Members may note that
Adult & Child £5
Richard usually has some very unusual
Saturday 4th December Ipswich 9am & 4pm Return Adult £9 Child £6
lamps for sale. An ideal Christmas gift.
Sun 5th December Rochester Festival 8am & 5pm Return Adult £19 Child £15
The Watton U3A Membership Secretary
Wednesday 8th December Thursford Evening Show Adult & Child £37.50
can be contacted on 01953 885358
Saturday 11th December Christmas Seaside Special Show at Cromer Adult £22
For further information on the National
Sunday 12th December Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park Adult £15 Child £10
U3A go to www.u3a.org.uk
Sunday 19th December Christmas Lunch at The Burrage Gorleston Adult £20
Monday 20th December Wisbech Christmas Market 9am & 4pm Return
Adult £10 Child £5.50
Wednesday 29th December Christmas Circus Times: TBA Price: TBA
Ashill
Annual Craft
Saturday 8th January Lakeside Sales 8am & 5pm Return Adult £15 Child £10
Saturday 22nd January Bury St Edmunds 9.30am & 3pm Return Adult & Child £5
(PLEASE NOTE SOME OF THE DATES ABOVE HAVE BEEN CHANGED)
Fayre
For more details please phone:
01953 881159
We are holding our annual Craft Fayre in
Ashill community Centre on Sunday Nov
7th 10am to 3.30 pm come and support the
activities of Ashill Village Aid and maybe
PRIVATE COACH & MINIBUS HIRE ALSO AVAILIBLE
find that extra special Christmas present.
Early in the month the school held a
Community Day, where parents and
governors all get together to do repairs,
gardening, maintenance and general
handyman tasks about the school. We
extend a big thank you to all who
volunteered their services on the
community event. The library and hall
have been re-decorated, the conversation
houses re-roofed, notice boards and a
drying rack were erected and some spring
cleaning too.
A harvest festival was held at Rockland St.
Peter‘s Church, and parents and carers
joined the children in a celebration of
autumn and the bounty it offers. Once
again the singing was excellent as well as a
number of little plays and recitations put on
by each of the classes.
The school opened its doors on Thursday
14th for Open Day and invited prospective
parents for a tour of the school and all its
facilities, the PTA also provided some
delicious cake and coffee. The previous
week the PTA and parents also provided a
scrumptious selection of cakes at our
regular Cake Sale; a chance for all parents
to show off their culinary skills and help to
raise funds for our school.
We have always been proud of our writing
in Rocklands. We conducted a post-it
poll on attitudes to writing today in Class
3 where children were asked to rate their
enjoyment of writing on a scale of 0-10.
When asked which part of the writing
process they enjoyed most, the majority
agreed that it was the final draft, where
all the ideas are sorted out, and where
they are beginning to see something they
can be proud of. One child preferred the
first stage, because it is the point at
which the writer's imagination is given
free rein.
After many hours spent practising for the
Jump Rope Challenge in aid of the British
Heart Foundation Skipping Rope
Challenge, and the appearance of some
surprisingly able skippers, a very
successful charity fundraiser took place on
the 21st of October. All sponsorship
monies will be sent to the above charity.
Class 1 are busy looking at island life with
reference to the Katie Morag stories. There
are some superb papier-mâché models
being created, and a very fun sticky time is
being had by all.
Finally, pupils enjoyed a welcome
break for half term and with all the
exciting annual festivals that take place
at that time.
For further information about school
activities, student projects and the
opportunity to keep up to date with
events, visit our website: http://
www.rocklands.norfolk.sch.uk Here
you can also listen to the children
talking about all the amazing fungi
they have found and researched. Visit
the Parent page for school term dates,
and the calendar for information and
school events throughout the year.
Wymondham
Helicopter Group
Charity Event
Friday 12th November 7.30pm at the
Corn Hall, Diss Presents Roger Dean and
the Lazy Boys with a tribute to Johnny
Cash tickets £16, £15 with a £1 off for
cons. Tickets from the Corn Hall Box
Office.
www.wymondhamhelicoptergroup.btck.co.uk
News
Village hall
is floored
Caston Village Hall has a brand new
tongued and grooved wooden floor with
newly fitted under-floor insulation to cut
heat loss and save on heating costs. The
original floor had been in place since the
hall was built some 80 years ago but
having had various repairs over the years
the Hall Committee decided enough was
enough and so a new floor and floor
joists have been expertly put in place by
local Watton contractor Paul Lincoln.
David Blincow, newly appointed
Committee Chairman, said ―It‘s our
intention to bring our village hall into the
21st century and, while the building of a
new hall is out of reach for the
immediate future, we have extensive
plans in hand for the refurbishment of
our present building. We want to see far
greater use of the facilities that we have
and we will be adding to those facilities
as and when we can.‖
The village hall is currently home to
Caston Camera Club (already the most
popular club in Norfolk) as well as
Caston WI and a number of other
facilities including upholstery classes
and a very popular Art Club. The Village
Hall Committee have said they would
welcome hearing from anyone who has
an idea for any additional service, club or
function that they would like to see held
at the village hall. Contact can be made
through the booking secretary or by
feedback on the website.
Asked if the improved facilities would
increase the hiring cost of the hall, David
said ―There are currently no plans to
change the pricing, probably the cheapest
in the area and which starts at £4.00 per
hour for Caston residents and £5.00 per
hour for others with a discount for
charities. Anyone wishing to book the
hall for a private function can do so
either by calling the booking secretary on
01953 488 495 or by visiting our new
web site www.castonvillagehall.co.uk
where they will find both an on-line
diary showing when the hall is available
and an on-line booking form should they
wish to make a booking.‖
Autumn
Craft Fair
The latest in the Wayland Partnership‘s
very successful Craft Fairs is being held
on Saturday 27th November Between
10.00am – 2.00pm at the Queens Hall,
Watton, IP25 6DA. Admission is free.
We are delighted to offer you a
celebration of local crafts including,
Christmas decorations, bath products,
greetings cards, candles, pyrography,
jewellery, wood turning, animal portraits,
silk flowers and much more.
Our aim is to promote the handmade
work of talented individuals and provide
them with a venue where they can
exhibit and sell their work directly to the
public. We also want to provide the
public with an opportunity to purchase
quality handmade crafts and allow them
to speak with the people who make them.
We carefully select exhibitors to ensure
that the standards of crafts are kept high
and that there is a varied range of crafts
showcased at each event. If you are
looking for something different and if
quality and affordability are important to
you, you will find what you are looking
for at a Wayland Partnership craft fair.
Refreshments will be available. Contact
Susan Hollingworth 01953 880205 for
more information
News
Internet café opens in Watton
Town Clerk Jacqui Seal, Clotilde, Sandra, Cllr Wassell and Mayor Roy Ivory at the opening of Sandra’s Café
Watton isn‘t exactly short of somewhere
to go for a bite to eat or something to
drink, but Sandra‘s Cafe, at 5A High
Street, is most certainly a new asset to
the town.
Some of you will remember Sandra
Barros, following in her Dad‘s and
Grandad‘s footsteps in the restaurant
business, from the Daily Fresh café in
Middle Street, which Sandra ran very
successfully for 3 years until she was
regrettably forced to cease trading for
health reasons. However, Sandra saw
this as a temporary state of affairs,
hoping larger premises would become
available where she would have scope
to extend not only the seating capacity,
but also the kitchen and therefore the
range of dishes on offer.
When the current premises became
available Sandra immediately applied for
planning permission for change of use,
which was duly granted on the 21st of
September. A miraculous transformation
then took place within a couple of weeks,
with the entire family working around the
clock on the refurbishment, sourcing as
many materials as possible from local
suppliers. Their time was very well spent
as the café is light, bright, tastefully
decorated in coffee colours and very
All Fired Up!!
What‟s on at the Dragonfly Gallery
The next exhibition to be hosted at the
Dragonfly Gallery at Wayland House is
‗All Fired Up‘ a collection of outstanding
ceramics by individual and groups of
potters from across Norfolk and beyond.
There will be both functional and
decorative pieces in a wide variety of sizes
and styles – and made in a range of
methods with varying and unusual glazes
and colours.
Prices range from just a few pounds to
£100+ so this will be a good opportunity
for those looking for a Christmas gift for
someone special to find something unique
and beautiful. The exhibition will be open
daily from October 30th to November 5th
welcoming, whether you pop in for a
coffee or a full-blown lunch! The chef
isn‘t some mysterious person secreted
away in the kitchen, since Sandra enjoys
waitressing and meeting her customers as
well as cooking, ably assisted by her
mum-in-law, Clotilde. Since opening, the
café has been well supported and has
kept them very busy! Sandra is used to
hard work, since at the same time as
running the Daily Fresh café in the day
time, she was waitressing on the floating
bistro boat in Thetford.
Sandra said she felt very honoured and
welcomed into the local community
when town Mayor Roy Ivory
conducted the opening ceremony, at the
suggestion of former Daisy Fresh
customer Jacqui Seal, the Town Clerk,
on Tuesday 6th of October.
Sandra‘s new, extended menu has
something for everyone, from
sandwiches and ‗things on toast‘ to jacket
potatoes and a range of main meals, some
influenced by Sandra‘s Portuguese and
French heritage. The home-made desserts
look especially tempting. Having been
born in Portugal to Portuguese and
French parents, Sandra spent several
years living and working in France
before moving to England 20 years ago.
(10 – 1 Saturdays and 10 – 4 weekdays).
The preview evening is on October 29th
from 7.00 – 8.30pm. This is a free event
but call Susan on 01953 880205 to book a
place.
Our final exhibition of the year will have a
seasonal flavour. The Christmas Show -
always one of the most popular of the year
- takes place from the 4th – 11th
December.
Although the Gift shop and Visitor Centre
are closed for the winter, they are fully
open during exhibitions. In addition to what
is available at the exhibition, there is a wide
range of gifts and cards, including
Christmas Cards, available.
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 5
Saham Heritage Craft Fair &
Annual Exhibition
Saturday 13th November
10am - 4pm Wells Cole Community Centre
Bell Lane, Saham Toney
Local Craft Products for sale
Local History Exhibition
Refreshments served all day ~ free entry
Everything on the menu is available to
take-away, and always cooked to order,
so deliciously fresh. Sandra takes great
pride in not only the cooking, but also the
presentation of her food and strives to
give her customers first class service.
Many of her Daily Fresh customers have
said how thrilled they are that she‘s
opened another café in the town.
Sandra also offers an internet Café
facility in a separate area designed for the
purpose, a first for Watton, and available
during café opening hours. Charges are
very reasonable at £2 per hour, or £2.99
with a drink included. Another indication
of Sandra‘s thoughtfulness is the
provision of a printer, at a cost of 10-15p
per printed sheet.
Opening hours are from 6am to 5pm
Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm on
Saturdays. The Café can be booked for
functions and Sandra also offers an
outside catering service.
Sandra has asked us to extend a heartfelt
thanks to all her Daily Fresh customers
for their past and present support and for
all the gifts and good wishes. Sandra‘s
hard work and care for her customers
should ensure the success she richly
deserves.
Report by Rosalie Davis Gibb
Come and
visit our
Christmas
Bazaar
At Watton Christian Community Centre on
Saturday 20 November 2010 from 10 a.m. to
1.30 p.m. Refreshments served from 10 a.m.
with light lunches served from 12 noon.
There will be a variety of stalls, some of
which are Christmas decorations, Cards,
Books, Bric-a-brac, Homemade Cakes,
Pantry (Preservatives etc.), Toiletries, Gifts of
all sorts as well as Guessing Competitions and
a Lucky Dip. Something for all ages!
We look forward to welcoming you on 20
November 2010. (Organised by Watton
Methodist Church, High Street, Watton).
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 6
1st Saham Toney Guides enjoying some time on
the bouncy castle slide at Seaside Sparkle
1st Ashill Brownies enjoying the celebrations
1st Saham Toney Guides hit Great Yarmouth
ready for all the fun of Seaside Sparkle
The girls from 1st Saham Toney Guides with other
guides at NORJAM
1st Watton Brownies in the recording studio
Rainbows using their buckets for a different
purpose at Seaside Sparkle
Watton District Guiding
– „Girls Having Fun!‟
What a fantastic year we have all had
celebrating 100 years of Girlguiding. The
celebrations started in September 2009 with a
fabulous day trip to Colchester Zoo where
members of the Watton District Guiding
enjoyed a fun and active day with the sun
shining brightly above. We were able to feed the
Elephants and Giraffes and saw some animals
from all over the World. 2nd Watton (RAF)
Brownies enjoyed being really close to some of
the animals through the windows/ fencing and
some of the Guides from 1st Saham Toney unit
made their promise while taking a train ride
around the zoo. The day finished off with a
Division Camp Fire at Weeting where members
of the Watton & District Trefoil Guild joined in
the fun.
A small group of Guiders, Brownies, Guides
and Senior Section members attended a
Centenary Thanksgiving Service at Norwich
Cathedral on Saturday 20th February 2010.
They travelled from Watton by bus and enjoyed
the service and singing very much. Birthday
cards were shared between units and a way of
celebrating our 100th year in Guiding.
Watton District Guiding celebrated their
Thinking Day with a church service at
Carbrooke Church and although the snow fell,
spirits were high and afterwards we all enjoyed
some indoor games and decorated cupcakes
with icing and items in the centenary colours.
Each unit made a cake decorated with the flags
of various countries around the world.
The year has also been a time to participate in
the Centenary Challenge. The 100 Adventure
Challenge encouraged all of us to complete
some different challenges and gain 100 points
during the year. Some of the activities carried
out included Celebrating the Chinese New Year,
a visit to the Wind turbine at Swaffham –
climbing the 308 steps, a pamper session where
the Brownies from the 2nd Watton (RAF) unit
learnt how to perform a simple facial massage.
Some of the 1st and 3rd Watton Brownies
recorded a radio jingle, played parachute games
and had a meeting when the girls were in
charge.
The Trefoil Guild took up their Centenary
Challenge to ‗Make a Difference‘ by raising
over £1300.00 for Teenage Cancer Trust,
Addenbrooks Appeal through the following
events: An Open Evening with Susie Rice from
Teenage Cancer Trust; held a Coffee Morning at
Ovington; enjoyed Ploughman's Lunches at
Ashill: invited many friends to join us at a
Pudding Evening in Watton; plus donations
from 1st Watton Guides as a result of their
tombola, staff at Watton Carnival, Rotary and
Feltwell Trefoil Guild. They have also been
joining in the fun by visiting the Crystal Maze in
London – all safely returned, no one got lost and
they found the special plaques commemorating
guiding within the maze. They have had many
other visits out, held a Centenary Lunch at
Broom Hall, Saham Toney and joined in a
County Trefoil Day at Patteson Lodge.
Meanwhile the year has been passing on and
August brings a time to enjoy the open air with
the big Camping event – NORJAM 2010. This
was a fun packed adventure with dodgems and
bouncy castles for over 6000 Guides and Scouts
from all over the world. 1st Saham Toney
Guides and Young Leaders joined in the fun
mixing with others units, both locally and
around the world to celebrate the Guiding
Centenary with a massive cake decorated with
ducks. The adventure went beyond imagination
with water sports, quad bikes, flying trapeze and
zorbing …. Where else apart from the Norfolk
showground could you try all these activities.
Before we know where we are, it is September
2010 – a year on from the 1st event and
Saturday 18th September takes some 4,000
members of Girlguiding Norfolk including
Watton District, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides,
Senior Section, Leaders, Helpers, Volunteers
Advertising
and Trefoil Guild members to an event –
Seaside Sparkle in Great Yarmouth. It was a
truly magical celebration. 1st Saham Toney
Guides described it as the mountain top moment
for Norfolk Guiding. Everybody from the Our District Commissioner Joanne Oxborough with
Rainbows to the Trefoil Guild enjoyed a sun the Celebration Cake at Ashill Brownies
kissed day. There was so much to do from;
glittering sand castles and sculptures being built
on the beach, to travelling along the sea front on
the road train and open top bus, Yesterday‘s
World, Sealife Centre, Merrivale Model Village,
Hippodrome Circus, Pleasure Beach, Crazy
Golf, Time and Tide Museum. All Guiding
members were given reduced rates for our
special day and each Unit decided what
activities they would like to participate in. The
finale was a specially constructed stage on the
beach with live bands playing and fireworks.
The atmosphere was electrifying. Everybody
was also provided with a girl guiding goodie bag
containing various items to use on the day and
keep as a memento - Wow, it was certainly a Posing for a group shot at their Thinking Day event
day to remember! in Carbrooke Village hall
A day like this cost us nearly £5,000 and we
have been helped in the funding of this by
grants, donations and fundraising events. Our
celebrations would not be complete without
giving our grateful thanks to the following
organisations:-
 Norfolk Community Foundation
 Rotary Club of Watton and District
 Wayland Agricultural Society CIC
They gave so generously and enabled the cost of
the day to be more affordable for everyone who
attended.
Our Celebrations end as we all join together for
the Centenary Finale on Wednesday 20th
October 2010 (20:10 - 20/10 - 2010) at St Peter
and St Paul Church in Swaffham to renew our Feeding the elephants at Colchester zoo
Guiding Promise at 20:10.
What a fun packed year Watton District Guiding
have enjoyed.
It truly has been ‗Girls Having Fun!‘
Watton District Guiding consists of the
following units:-
Rainbows for girls aged 5 to 7 years;
 2nd Watton (RAF) Rainbows, held on
Thursdays
Brownies for girls aged 7 to 10 years;
 1st Watton Brownies, held on Thursdays
 2nd Watton (RAF) Brownies, held on
Thursdays
 3rd Watton Brownies, held on Wednesdays
 1st Ashill Brownies, held on Mondays Saham Toney Brownies and Guides join in the
 1st Saham Toney Brownies, held on Mondays Remembrance Service at Saham Toney Church
Guides for girls from 10 to 14 years;
 1st Watton Guides, held on Wednesdays
 1st Saham Toney Guides, held on Mondays
 Senior section for girls from 14+ years held on
Wednesdays
 Trefoil Guild held every 3rd Thursday in the
month
We provide a unique girl-only space . . .
We promote equality and diversity . . .
We‘re relevant to today‘s girls . . .
We give girls and young women a voice . . .
. . . and have done so for 100 years!
If anyone would like further information
about Watton District Guiding please
contact Joanne Oxborough, District Above and below Enjoying the indoor games after
Commissioner on (01760) 441046. the Thinking Day service.
News
Remembrance
Events in
Watton
Remembrance Day – 11th
November: There will be a short
Remembrance Day Parade on
Thursday 11 November 2010 at 11.00
am to observe the Two Minute
Silence. It is hoped that as many
Royal British Legion and RAFA
members will be present, plus the
Standards. The Two Minute Silence
will be held at the War Memorial at
the Thetford Road car park.
Laying Of Poppy Crosses on War
Graves Saturday – 13th November: A
short service will take place at St
Mary‘s Church Watton at 12 o‘clock
to place the Poppy Crosses on the War
Graves in the Churchyard. This
Parade is normally attended by
members of the public and 864
Squadron ATC and it has been
provisionally agreed that the Last Post
and Reveille will be sounded.
Remembrance Sunday – 14th
November: Watton and District
Branch of The Royal British Legion
invites all members of the various
organisations and the general public
from the town and surrounding district
to join in the Annual Remembrance
Sunday Service at the Town War
Memorial situated on the Thetford
Road car park on Sunday 14th
November 2010.
The parade will assemble at 2.15 pm
for the Service at The War Memorial
at 2.30 pm when the names on the
Memorial will be read out and Poppy
Wreaths laid. Afterwards there will be
a march of Standards, Town Mayor
and Councillors, members of Royal
British Legion, RAFA, Aircrew
Association and other organisations
present along Norwich Road to Saint
Mary‘s Church, Watton provisionally
led by the Band of 864 Squadron
ATC for a Service of Remembrance
due to start at 3.00 pm.
All members of the public are invited
to these moving services to remember
not only those who died in past
conflicts of First World War and
Second World War but those who
have died serving their country right
up to the present day. This is not a
glorification of war but of
remembering the human cost of
preserving our way of life and our
sense of values.
WAYLAND
HAPPY
CIRCLE
Our October meeting turned out to
be rather different from our planned
speaker. Due to unforseen
circumstances our 'Hearing Dogs for
the Deaf' lady was unable to be with
us however, Margaret Upton, was
able to produce a very interesting
quiz and from that we had a general
discussion about various places and
people of historical interest etc.
Many thanks for that Margaret!
For our Christmas meeting on
Tuesday 7th December, 2pm at the
W.C.C.Centre,it was decided that
we would 'KISS' (keep it so simple)
this year, just bring one Christmas
card per person, NO PRESSY, also
David Skipper, will give us a talk on
the manufacture of apple juice and a
promise of a drink of mulled non-
alcoholic juice and a mince pie
afterwards.
Hope to see you all there.
Local business women
raise funds for charity
Clockwise from top, Suzanne Lake, Angela Jones, Jane Pennington and
Penny Lindop (Denise Sheppard missing.)
A group of five local businesswomen,
teamed up under the name of Dead Good
Designs, held a Christmas shopping event
in Watton, raising nearly £800 in aid of
Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The event, held on 21st October, was well
supported by around 100 visitors
throughout the day who all helped to raise
funds by buying raffle tickets and some of
the gorgeous gifts and jewellery, produced
by the businesswomen. Generous
donations for refreshments were also
given on the day.
Raffle prizes, worth around £400, were
generously donated by local businesses,
family and friends, including a large gift
hamper contributed by the group and a
beautiful hand-made quilt, donated by the
host‘s mother-in-law, who also gave up
her day with family and friends to provide
teas, coffees and delicious homemade
cakes to guests.
The group of artisan business owners
joined forces recently to provide mutual
business support and share experiences,
Watton Relief In Need Charity
The Trustees of this Charity will be
meeting on the 8th December to consider
applications from residents of Watton for
financial support this Christmas. It is
hoped, therefore, that applicants will
contact the Clerk to the Trustees prior to
that date so that the Trustees can fulfil
their duties.
The Charity is an amalgamation of
Charities set up many years ago to support
those in need. The Trustees have a duty to
distribute the income of the Charity to
relieve, either generally or individually,
persons resident in the town of Watton
who are in conditions of need, hardship or
distress by making grants of money or
providing or paying for items, services or
facilities calculated to reduce the need,
hardship or distress of such persons.
Institutions or organisations which provide
or undertake in return to provide items,
services or facilities for such persons may
also benefit.
In the past few years, grants have, in the
Wilfson remembers . . .
I remember when I was a young boy, Mum used to give me 10 shillings and send me to
the International Stores on Watton High Street. I would come home with cheese, sugar,
sweets, bread, cakes and often some biscuits.
Can't do that now - too many security cameras.
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 7
whilst also raising funds for charities and
worthy causes.
This charity is particularly important to
Suzanne and husband Neil who hosted the
event. ―Our daughter had successful open
-heart surgery there at the age of two so
raising money through the shopping event
was a perfect opportunity to give
something back‖.
Following the success of this event, the
group is keen to offer their services to help
others raise funds for charities at similar
shopping events or home parties. They
welcome and encourage any invitations.
The five women in the group are; Angela
Jones of Artisans-UK, Suzanne Lake of
Handmade from the Heart, Penny Lindop
of Penny Lindop Designs, Denise
Sheppard of More Than Just Words and
Jane Pennington of Stone-Me jewellery.
For further information about other Dead
Good Designs events, or to request the
group‘s support at a local charity event,
please call 01953 881289 or email
goodies@deadgooddesigns.co.uk.
main, consisted of support for the elderly
to help with the extra costs of Christmas
and/or heating costs. However, the
Trustees are most willing to consider
applications from other age groups
provided they are residents of Watton and
they are in conditions of need, hardship or
distress.
No preference is given to any section of
the community but there will be times
when applicants will be required to give
full personal financial details and provide
whatever information the Trustees require
before decisions can be made. Any
information given will be treated in the
strictest confidence.
Applications for assistance should be
addressed to:-
Derek I Smith, Clerk to the Trustees -
Watton Relief In Need Charity. 39
Dereham Road, Watton IP25 6ER Tel:
01953 884044
Email: derek@frenzymail.co.uk
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 8
Portugueses no St. Johns Ambulance
Café Portugues em
Watton - Sandra‟s Café
No passado dia 6 do corrente mês foi
inaugurado pelo Presidente da Vila de
Watton o Sr. Roy Ivory um cafè
Portugues.
"SANDRA'S" Cafè de Sandra Barros ,
com uma vasta experiência na área da
restauração , quer aqui em Inglaterrra
ou em França onde trabalhou tambem
varios anos nessa mesma area.
Como não poderia deixar de ser
Sandra agradece o apoio que tem
recebido de todos os clientes desde o
tempo em que tinha o Daily Cafè.
O Cafè tem ao seu dispôr toda a
diversidade de Bolos de Pastelaria e
Sobremesas, refeições Inglesas e
Wayland Agricultural Society thanks Queens Hall Coffee Mornings
The Wayland Agricultural
Society would like to say a big
thank you to all who supported,
participated, sponsored and
came along to the Show in
August. It was a fantastic day
and over £8000 was raised for
local charities.
An even wider variety of
attractions than ever before and
the usual high standard of
livestock entries made it a
family day out to remember.
Caston Camera Club were the
official Show photographers and
Portuguesas e computador com
Internet num local reservado com
serviço de Impressora .
A especialidade da casa `e o Bacalhau
`a casa e Mexelhões c/ batata frita.
Com menus especiais a Quarta-feira e
ao Sábado e com disponiblidade para
Festas de Aniversarios e/ou Catering
(por reserva) , telef.01953 883010 /
mόvel 07842158723 .
O cafè situa-se na High Street n. 5A,
com abertura das 6 da manhã άs 5 da
tarde.
Se passar em Watton não deixe de
visitar este sitio fantάstico.
there are many superb photos on
their website available to
purchase should visitors wish to
do so.
For local organisations wishing
to apply for funding from the
proceeds, application forms can
be found on our website
www.waylandshow.com
Alternatively they should
contact the
secretary@waylandshow.com
The requirement is that
applicants should be a registered
charity and have local
No passado Domingo mais duas
crianças Portuguesas se juntaram
como membros do St. Johns
Ambulance na Divisão de Watton.
Fazendo agora um total de 4 crianças
Portuguesas, 2 na qualificação de
Badger e 2 como Cadete .
`E um orgulho para a nossa
comunidade ver as nossas crianças a
participar numa Organização
Inglesa e aprender desde cedo o
serviço de voluntariado.
Se pretende partecipar pode ligar
para o n. 01953 883918 e falar com
Sra. Rose Millard ou dirigir-se ao
local, na rua St. John Hall – Saham
Road (cruzamento em frente á
Junior School ) que esta aberto todas
as Quartas-feiras a partir das 6h. da
tarde. Boa Sorte.
Aprendizagem
na Casa Wayland
O Inglês para Falantes de Outras
Línguas. As aulas (ESOL)
comecaram ha 5 semanas atraz e
estao a ser um sucesso. Com 9
pessoas inscritas no inicio e que
neste momento ja está completo.
Qualquer pessoa interessada neste
curso deve entrar em contato com
Sra. Jan na Wayland House-
Watton (01953 880202), pois
haverá uma nova série de 6 aulas a
partir do mes de Janeiro.
Com a BBC estamos a tentar
garantir que todos tenham uma
oportunidade de "entrar ".
Tem havido muito pouca aceitação
para o Clait (Alfabetização em
Computação e Tecnologia da
Informação) Cursos que o ablitam
a um certificado e que será
liderado pelo Poultec Centro de
Formação.
Estes cursos irão comecar depois
do Natal, por isso, se você estiver
interessado, entre em contato com
a Sra. Jan o mais rapidamente
possível. Os lugares em cada curso
são limitados a cinco.
Envie sua
notícia para
Tina por e-
mail para:
tina.wattonfamilysupport@live.co.uk
connections with the Wayland
Area. The funds will be
allocated and distributed early
next year.
The Committee are now starting
to plan next year‘s show. We are
a friendly and active committee
who wholeheartedly welcome
new volunteers and would
encourage anyone interested in
being involved to contact the
Secretary (as above) and come
along to our next meeting to find
out a bit more.
Letter from Australia
By Chris O’Connor
As I mentioned in my last Letter
from Australia I have moved from
dusty South Australia to the
greener and much cooler climes of
the Victorian Alps, a distance of
about one thousand kilometres; and
it is distance that I want to talk
about this time around. The town in
which I lived in South Australia
had a population of over 30,000.
Where I am now living has a
population of around 1800 – about
the same size at Watton just before
WW2. The nearest major town is
120 kilometres away and there is
just one small village in between.
Recently a national newspaper
article suggested the local
supermarket was the most
expensive in the country and
having shopped there I can attest to
that.
However, it is one of the friendliest
places I have rested my head over
the years and the services,
particularly medical, for such a
small area are astonishing. We
have an eight bedroom hospital
with a fully staffed emergency
department, an aged care home,
five doctors a Health and Home
Community service which must be
the envy of major hospitals around
the world. All of this is free of
charge mind you. However there is
always a catch and this one is a
whopper if you ignore the basic
rule – get ambulance cover.
Ambulances are not free in
Australia, no matter where you live
on this vast continent. People who
are not pensioners (for whom
ambulance cover is free) need to
pay the ambulance service an
annual fee unless they want to get
slugged with a bill that would make
their mortgage look like a piggy
bank. It is not horrendously
expensive to take out this cover,
around $100 (£50) for a single
person but if you get really ill and
the local hospital is unable to cope
(say in the case of a major road
accident) the bill to the nearest city
hospital, which you will recall I
mentioned was 120 kilometres
away will slug you $1500!(£750)
And because this is the Alpine
region of Australia a helicopter is
often used to rescue people – I
haven‘t dared ask what that would
cost.
There is a saying in Australia
which is quite simply ‗the tyranny
of distance‘ and you realise it when
you live in small towns such as
this. While all the major things you
need in life are available there are
For the last eight years many of us have
enjoyed our regular Coffee & Cakes at
the Queens Hall Coffee Mornings held
on Farmers Market Day. Thanks to a
small but dedicated group of volunteers
we have enjoyed memorable home
baked scones, cakes and pastries and
the small pangs of guilt about our
waistlines have been more than
compensated for by the pleasure of
good company in pleasant
surroundings. The Coffee Mornings
have also generated a regular addition
to Queens Hall income, which is
becoming increasingly important at the
present time. The Hall is not publicly
News
the things like a broken window
where you hope the local glazier
has just the right glass you need.
There is nowhere to buy a new car;
you would be crazy to buy a
television locally quite simply
because it would cost you many
more dollars. And then there is
getting to the nearest capital city.
Melbourne is a five hour drive
away and that is on a three lane
highway. Sydney is about the same
distance, although anybody who
wants to go to Sydney needs rocks
in their head; however, and is there
always the however; a friend of my
suffered a major heart attack and
needed triple by-pass surgery. He
had to be flown to the specialists at
a Sydney hospital and his wife had
to put up in a nearby hotel while he
recovered. They were fortunate in
that they had private health
insurance but if they had not it
would have cost them thousands
and of course they had to get
friends to look after their pets,
water their garden – the list goes
on.
Mind you, there are massive
advantages to living in this area of
the world. Apart from the fact it is
probably the most beautiful country
in Australia with snow capped
peaks in winter and wonderful
walking trails in summer the people
are friendly. I have not yet met one
single person who did not welcome
me with enthusiasm. It is the type
of place where you stop and talk
for half an hour to somebody in the
street and the bank tellers call you
by your Christian name when you
walk in.
I mentioned earlier the wonderful
health service. After arriving here I
needed an operation to repair a
ruptured Achilles tendon. The
community went out of its way to
make sure I was ok. People brought
food, another person would keep
the fire in the lounge burning and
three times a week somebody came
in to clean and tidy up – all for
nothing. There are not too many
places on earth where that happens.
It is now Spring in this area of the
world and while the snow begins to
melt on the mountain tops the trees and
flowers come out in their glorious
colours; the grass is green and like the
cows around here I‘m a very contented
man. Quite frankly, I think I have
found an earthly paradise.
Talk to you again soon and please
write if there is anything you would
like to know, or comment on the
article. The email address is
oconoz@bigpond.com.
funded on a regular basis, and relies on
hiring fees to pay for the day to day
expenses, currently in excess of £1000
per month, so any additional income
has been much appreciated.
Unfortunately, for a variety of personal
reasons, the current team are
reluctantly retiring at the end of this
year, and unless someone else is
willing to take over this pleasant event
the December morning will be the last.
Is there anyone out there willing to fill
the gap? If you think you might be
interested talk to us at the next Coffee
Morning on November 6th or phone
01953 885698.
News
Young Achievers recognised
in Pride in Breckland Awards
Young people who have made an
outstanding achievement in the community
were recognised on Friday evening at the
glittering Pride in Breckland Youth Awards
ceremony.
Breckland Youth Council had been
inundated with nominations since the
inaugural Pride in Breckland Youth
Awards were started and Youth
Councillors had a very difficult job in
picking winners.
The awards recognise and celebrate those
people aged 11-19 and their role in helping
make Breckland a special place.
Amongst other well-known local people
presenting the awards were; Elizabeth
Truss MP, Kiss FM‘s DJ Thomsta, Adrian
Stasiak, Deputy Leader of Breckland
Council and British record holder and IPC
World Number One Para-Olympian shot-
putter, Danny Nobbs.
The results of the awards were as follows:
Young Arts Performer of the Year: Winner
- Oliver Johnson; Runners up - Oliver
Haylett & Kyle Fenn
Young Green Person / Group of the year:
Winner - Aaron Bolton and the Eco Bugs
Project
Pet lovers urged to
know the law and avoid
big quarantine bills
Pet lovers are being urged to comply
with EU quarantine regulations or face
being separated from their pet and
paying for the privilege.
Norfolk County Council‘s Trading
Standards‘ team is urging the county‘s
pet owners to make sure they know their
legal requirements when travelling
abroad or returning to the UK with their
pets. The warning comes after Trading
Standards' officers were called to deal
with a puppy that had been brought into
the UK illegally, albeit unintentionally,
by its owners.
A Great Yarmouth vet contacted the
County Council's Trading Standards'
team after becoming suspicious that the
Dachshund puppy had not received the
appropriate vaccinations to travel to the
UK.
Within an hour of receiving the
telephone call, Trading Standards'
officers were on the scene. The puppy's
owners claim a vet in Lithuania issued
the four-month-old dog with a passport
and told them it was OK to bring it to
the UK. However, the puppy had not
been vaccinated against rabies or tested
for the disease after six months to see
if it was rabies-free, as is the legal
requirement.
The puppy has been placed in the care
of quarantine kennels at the expense of
its owners, where it will remain for up
to six months to ensure it does not
have rabies.
Pet owners and members of their
families who live outside the UK are
reminded they must comply with the
Department for Environment Food and
Rural Affairs' Pet Travel Scheme
(PETS) to avoid putting their pet into
quarantine.
To bring a dog, cat or ferret into the
UK from an EU country without
having to place the animal into
quarantine, owners must adhere to
certain rules under PETS. These are:
- The animal must be microchipped
- The animal must be vaccinated
Young Sports Person of the year:
Winner - Pippa Horn; Runners up -
Joe Ground and Declan Davis
Young Volunteer of the year:
Winner - Sam Trayton; Runner up
- Laura Allen; Highly Commended
- Alistair Wright and Stuart Green
Young Carer of the year: Winner -
Leslie Fincham; Runner up -
Bethan Thomas
Young innovator of the year:
Winner - Jordan Bailey; Runner up
- Lewis Hanrahan
Young Group Project of the year:
Winner – ACOSY; Runner up -
The Right Direction
Outstanding Achievement of the
year: Winner - Kelsy McTaggart;
Runner up - Thomas King
Youth Worker of the year: Winner
- Emma Fletcher; Runner up -
Sally Palmer
Hosting the Event; Adrian Stasiak, Deputy
Leader of Breckland Council said: ―This is
an opportunity to applaud and celebrate
some of the remarkable contributions that
Breckland‘s young people are making both
within their local communities and across
against rabies
- After 6 months, the animal must have
a blood test to ensure the vaccination
was effective
- Owners must obtain a passport for the
animal
- Before entering the UK, owners must
ensure their animal is treated for ticks
and tapeworm, not less than 24 hours
and not more than 48 hours before it is
checked in at the port/ airport
- The animal must travel with an
approved transport company on an
authorised route.
Councillor Ann Steward, Cabinet
Member for Sustainable Development
at Norfolk County Council, with
special responsibility for Trading
Standards, said: ―We are a nation of
pet lovers and I completely understand
why people would want to travel with
their pets, but we must be sensible and
play our part in ensuring the UK
remains rabies-free.
―Importing any animal into the UK
without placing it into quarantine or
adhering to the Pet Travel Scheme is
an offence and pet owners found to be
flouting or ignorant of their legal
obligations face possible prosecution,
huge quarantine bills and the prospect
of spending up to six months away
from their pets, which can be very
distressing."
Gemma Nicholls, Trading Standards'
Officer at Norfolk County Council,
said: "It's never easy removing a pet
from its owner but the laws are in
place for one very simple reason - to
keep the UK free of this deadly
disease. If you break the law you could
face prosecution as well as a hefty
quarantine bill, so I urge anyone who
wants to bring a pet into the UK to
double check the rules and ask for
advice."
To find out more about the Pets Travel
Scheme, visit ww2.defra.gov.uk/ (yes
that is correct!) or telephone its
helpline on 08459 33 55 77.
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 9
society. We are all extremely proud of the
strong community spirit that the young
people of our district show and I applaud
Breckland Youth Council for organising
such an event.‖
Ovington
Christmas
Bazaar
Make a note in your diary to visit
Ovington Village Hall on Saturday 4th
December between 12 and 3pm so you
don't miss the traditional Christmas
Bazaar. The proceeds from this
annual event are split between
Ovington Church and Village Hall
and there will be ample opportunity
to support these two worthy causes.
There will be a raffle, tombola,
hamper competition, books and toys,
games, toy lucky dip, cakes and guess
the weight of the cake. If you are
looking for inspiration for the festive
season, there is a Christmas crafts
stall, gifts and a £1 stall. As is
traditional in Ovington, refreshments
will feature prominently, whether you
just want tea or coffee, or something
more substantial. Come for lunch -
we will have a choice of delicious
home-made soups and filled rolls.
Bring your children as Father
Christmas will be paying a visit!
Watton
Silver Band
Needs You!
Watton Silver Band was established
over 100 years ago to entertain the
community in and around Watton,
fulfilling all sorts of engagements such
as church services, garden fetes and
carnivals. Today the band comprises
some 15 players who come together
simply because they enjoy playing.
We are looking to recruit more
members. We have a junior band who
feed into the main band once they have
achieved a reasonable standard.
Instruments and tuition are provided
free of charge. If you are interested in
playing for us then do not hesitate to
contact: Chris Austin (band master)
01953885296
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 10
Bradenham & District
Horticultural Society
On Thursday 16th September we
were delighted to welcome back
Graeme Simmonds for his second
visit. This time his talk was entitled
‗Findings in the Soil 2 - Medieval
and Tudor‘. When most of us think
of the Norman invasion of 1066 we
may have in mind Harold ‗with his
eye full of arrow‘ and following on,
the Domesday Book some years
later. We may also think of the
inconvenience of the survivors of
the ruling classes of having to speak
Norman French. Most of them
probably already did. What doesn‘t
immediately spring to mind is the
regulation and oppression of the
English people. For example ladies‘
hairdressing. The only approved
style was long plaits, wound round
the ears like modern earphones but
called ‗ramshorn‘. Not a very
elegant name. The nobility were
allowed to wear hoods as well.
Surprisingly the only women who
wore their hair down were
prostitutes.
This was Graeme‘s opening gambit
in what has become a history lesson
for what the ordinary people‘s
living conditions were like. Another
bit of oppression was that only 5%
of the population - the rich men -
got an education. This was
classical: Latin, astronomy,
geography, maths etc. Women were
brought up to be household
managers. As it was
inappropriate for women to have a
felt
classical education their managerial
training included writing. They
must have been able to read what
they‘d written but that was all and
limited to household business.
Women‘s main occupation was the
production of cloth, spinning and
weaving wool both for their own
use and commercially. This led to a
box of buckles of incredibly varied
sizes. There were no buttons then,
so clothes had to be held together
by clasps, buckles and hooks. The
majority were made of copper or
bronze with silver or gold for the
rich. Most of the buckles in the box
were missing the central pin as
these were commonly made of iron
so rusted away during their stay in
the soil. As these items were from
the 14th to 18th century there were
several styles and all handmade,
normally by the local blacksmith.
The cloth trade was very important
in East Anglia for export as well as
domestic consumption and was
regulated by officials the equivalent
of modern Customs & Excise, who
attached alnage seals to each bale.
Without these seals the cloth could
not be bought or sold. The seals
were made of lead - cue another
box! Graeme‘s collection is from
one field near Reepham and come
from far and wide - including
Antwerp,
Nuremberg, Seville
as well as English.
The seals are all
different in design,
presumably to
indicate the
inspector.
On to the coins and another box. As
well as pennies and groats
international coins have been found
and we were handed a beautiful
Doge of Venice coin of the era of
Antonio Venisrio who was Doge
from 1382-1400. During this time
Venice controlled the
Mediterranean trade but the coin
was found at Acle. This just goes to
show how important the import-
export trade was in Norfolk and
Suffolk. Another startling coin was
the quarter noble coin dated 1350
from the reign of Edward III. This
is very thin but wonderfully
preserved as it is made of pure 22
carat plus gold, shining as if it were
made yesterday. Someone important
(or their servant) lost a lot of money
the day they dropped it!
The final box contained crop-
pickers tokens. These were given to
labourers at the end of each day
instead of cash and was an early co-
op system. These were made of lead
and are all local with more turning
up all the time. Signature seals were
also in this box, including a Papal
seal from Honorius II, 1217-1224
and it makes you wonder how that
turned up in Norfolk!
The last piece handed round was a
pendant depicting Saint Barbara.
She is patron of artillerymen,
military engineers, armourers,
gunsmiths, miners, masons, anyone
involved with explosives, anyone
afraid of lightning or sudden death
at work. She is celebrated by
various military units involved with
armoury and explosives and gives
her name to Santa Barbara in
California. There‘s lots more about
her on the good old internet. The
pendant has her with a tower (she
was incarcerated in one by her
father to protect her from the
outside world and she rejected an
arranged marriage). Her father was
subsequently killed by lightning
when he executed her hence the
patronage of lightning and
explosives.
Graeme gave us one final bit of
advice - if you find anything that
looks interesting, don‘t rush to wash
the soil off it. Leave it on an indoor
windowsill to dry out then gently
remove the soil but don‘t scrub it as
you may remove valuable evidence
of what it is!
Thank you Graeme for another
fascinating evening and for bringing
the articles you showed us, not
forgetting the biscuit tin in which
we were invited to get our hands
dirty and fish things out. To sum it
up, the first question I was asked at
the end of the talk was ‗When‘s he
coming back again?‘ and you can‘t
say fairer than that so here‘s to next
year.
The mini-show - Any Single
Flowering Stem:
1st Ralph Kinsley dahlia
2nd Judy Atkinson viola
3rd Eric Reeves red hot poker
HC Geoff Twelftree dahlia
Marianne Kilmartin
Publicity Officer 01362 820744
Gardening
Breckland
Flower and
Garden
Club
October's meeting was well attended
to watch Alison Cushing's
demonstration 'Seasonal'. Her love of
roses showed through her designs as
she blended them with shamrock
chrysanthemums, gerberas, Chinese
lanterns, veronica and sunflowers.
Most of her arrangements were
modern although she closed the
afternoon with a traditional triangle on
a lovely raised container.
The competition for 'Autumn in a
Copper Container' - New Hands was
won by Janet Skidmore, Old Hands
by Shirley Penfold who also won
the trophy for Best Exhibit.
Table show for three stems of
autumn colour from the garden was
won by Shirley Penfold's Nerines.
November meeting will take place
at Old Buckenham Village Hall on
Thursday 11th November at 2 p.m.
when Lisa Howard will demonstrate
'Enchanted Christmas' The
competition title - Enchantment, and
the table show is for dried or
preserved plant material.Don't
forget December 9th when there
will be a workshop and afternoon
tea (please bring a plate)
commencing 1.30p.m. More
details next meeting.
Visitors are always welcome -
phone Sally 01953 788712 or Pat
01953 457305
Gardening
Tomato-Tomayto
Gardening in Navasota, Texas with Helen Quinn
Flaming Fall! Not the colour of the
leaves, which we don‘t get until
December, if the leaves colour at all, but
Lycoris radiata - commonly known as
Ashill & Holme Hale Garden Club News
Our first meeting at Holme Hale in The
Pavilion went very well. Firstly we all
received a welcome and an introduction
from our new Chairman David Green He
told us a little about his past membership
of other garden clubs and urged
everyone to take part in activities at
meetings in order to make the club lively
and interesting, and to join in on
arranged trips Also to let the committee
know of things they would like added as
an alternative to the usual events. There
are usually cheap and well grown plants
on the monthly sales table and full
advantage should be taken of these. If
anyone has plants to spare or items for
the raffle these would be gratefully
received
We received a warm welcome from Hall
Chairman Michael Buttolph and his
short introduction to the recent history of
the Pavilion was most interesting,
making us feel at home right from the
start.
We were joined by several new members
and were happy to see the return of
others who had been forced to leave us
for a while. Good to see you all. We
hope that once word gets around that we
shall see more people from Holme Hale,
they can be sure of an entertaining
afternoon.
Then, at last, a chance to hear Trevor
Harrison from South Creake Nurseries
talking about the plants that he had
brought with him in order to show just
how much colour it is still possible to
have in the garden at this time of year
The grasses were quite spectacular, there
were many kinds of heleniums, lots of
different colours in the montbretias, the
dahlias, the rudbeckias, and many more
easy to grow border plants.
The beautiful blue Caryopteris and the
many coloured asters made a real splash
of colour along with the gentians, the
colchicums and the cyclamen.
There was a break for tea and biscuits,
during which time David showed how to
Spider Lily, Hurricane Lily, Naked Lady
and several other regional names. These
are similar to the Nerine found in
English gardens, and have a similar habit
(leaves in winter die
down and in autumn
the flower stalks shoot
up, followed by leaves
again once the flower
has faded in mid-
November. Lycoris
radiata has a flaming
red flower 16 cm
wide, on a 50 cm stem.
The bulbs multiply
very reliably, and
despite having dug up
great clumps over the
years to give to friends
and sell at Farmers
Market, you will see
from the photos that
there are still plenty
left (and even more
around the side of the
house.) There are
some in a tub by my
door, and I always pat
them on the head each
time I come and go!
Cabbage and Collards
are coming along
take fuchsia cuttings .Success to be
compared next year!! Then it was back
to Trevor for more about the plants on
show, the drawing of the raffle, and a
chance to purchase plants from Trevor,
On the 21st October gardening guru
Richard Hobbs came along to deliver
what turned out to be a most informative
and well-structured talk on Winter
colour in the garden. This visit came at a
time when winter seems to be on the
doorstep, and when colour is never more
welcome.
Richard defines winter as the period
between Michaelmas and Candlemas,
and suggested colour in the form of
many perennials, shrubs and trees.
Eucomis also known as the Pineapple
flower or Pineapple lily offers flowers
and interesting seed heads, with Eucomis
Bicolour additionally offering variegated
foliage. Nerines were recommended, not
only for their white flowers, but for their
colourful bark. Cyclamen Cipriani will
grow in dense shade, and seeds readily,
while Buxus Necrophilia (box) provides
winter interest; additionally, Daphne has
glossy green leaves and has scented
flowers in January and February. For the
rose lover, Rosa Nitida has glossy
leaves, red stems, and red hips.
Cornus with its colourful stems and
changing foliage is a popular addition to
the winter garden; one should aim to
have light at its back in order to get the
full impact. Strong shapes in garden help
to add winter interest, and Richard asked
members not to forget that texture (seen
in coastal areas, for example) is very
important.
It is impossible to mention all the
sources of winter colour which Richard
touched upon, though for interested
readers, some of these included:
Agapanthus, Lonicera, or honeysuckle,
all kinds of Hellebores, (of which the
Christmas rose is probably best known)
Asters and Michaelmas daisies. Others
include Ilex and Juniper, Heucheras
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 11
nicely in the vegetable garden, and the
Egyptian Walking Onions
resprouting. Multiplying onions are
doing well, but I don‘t know where the
are Norfolk Wildlife Trust
To ask a question about the Norfolk’s Wildlife please call the Norfolk
Wildlife Information Service. Wildline 01603 598333 9am to 5pm Mon - Fri.
E-mail wild@norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk
leeks went. As if to prove they could get
Website http://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/naturalconnections
along without me for the three weeks I
was away on holiday, the Viva Italia Further details and Membership enquiries 01953 498467
tomatoes have produced loads of fruit, Tuesday 16 November 7.45pm-9.30pm Bats- Denizens of the
but they don‘t seem to be in a hurry to Night. A illustrated presentation by Sam Philips Ecology Consultant
ripen. I set a sprinkler to run on a timer of the Norwich Bat Group. Followed by refreshments and raffle.
three times a week for an hour at a time, Venue: Watton Christian Community Centre, High Street, Watton.
and while most things survived, a few on Cost: £2.00 members and £3.00 for non-members.
the outer edge where the water didn‘t
reach, look a bit sad. Still, it will rain
again here one day..
Today I have been digging the baby fig
trees that I layered this time last year.
They have nice roots now, and have gone
into containers to continue their journey
into adulthood! Beetroot, lettuce and
carrots have been seeded, and now I‘m
running out of sunny space. I see more
lawn disappearing in the future! Spring
flowering bulbs, pansies and other cool
season bloomers are in the nurseries
now, and pumpkins are everywhere,
artistically arranged in people‘s front
yards or carved into scary faces. These
will disappear as we transition into
November, having been transformed into Need small home improvements?
pumpkin pies and soups for
Thanksgiving feasts. The hummingbirds
have suddenly left, and their place at the
feeders has been taken by butterflies
Keith Huish
sipping on the sweet nectar. Tasks for Skilled & Experienced Carpenter
November include application of copper
spray to peach trees at time of leaf drop,
and gather covers to protect plants if an
Doors, windows, locks . . . no job too small.
early freeze threatens. Free no obligation estimate.
K R H Carpentry Services
01953 (Watton) 882484 – Mobile 07746 114285
(which will provide yearly cuttings) and
a whole host of ferns – the list is too
long to mention them all. Some
Bales Browne Accountancy
wonderfully descriptive names included
Aster lady in black, with dark foliage,
Services Limited
and the Blackberry Lily with its black Accounts preparation for Sole traders,
fruit, and orangey-red flowers. Limited Companies and Partnerships
Richard thoughtfully fetched sprigs Personal, Limited Company, and Partnership Tax Returns
of some of these plants with him Book-keeping PAYE VAT Returns
which were passed round to the
members. While speaking, he Karen Bales ACCA MAAT Bsc (Hons)
offered interesting morsels of
gardening lore, including advice on
the Chelsea chop, which involves
Telephone 01953 884019
cutting back some shrubs to one foot 118 Norwich Road, Watton, Thetford, Norfolk. IP25 6DU
in height, thus promoting a host of
Email: balesbrowneaccountancy@yahoo.co.uk
smaller flowers later in the year.
This is so called because it should
be done around Chelsea Flower
Show week.
The session finished with a Raffle and
some words from our Chairman. Next
month (18th November) members are
asked bring a single stem from the
garden which will be judged by Mr Keer
who will be speaking on the subject of
Begonias. David also asked for
suggestions for gardens to visit in 2011,
and reminded members to keep the 16th
December free for the Christmas party.
Ovington
Gardening
Club
Our October meeting was a fascinating talk on
Garden Insects by Robert Maidstone, which
was delivered in his own light-humoured way
and was most informative. The November
meeting will be on Wednesday 3rd at 7.45pm
in the village hall when Rory Hart will give a
talk on Conservation in the Garden. For further
details contact Ed on 01953 885848 or Carol
on 01760 440719.
Gardening Mid-Norfolk Times Page 12

In your garden with

Lotta Potts
Remember, remember the fifth of
November etc. etc. I make no apology
for repeating last year‘s plea for
everyone, private or public, planning a
bonfire to celebrate Guy Fawkes, to
move the whole thing a few hours
before lighting it. This will prevent
roasting hedgehogs or any other
animals that think it a good place to
shelter or hibernate.
Some people say November is the start
of the gardening year. It comes as a
surprise to those of us who traditionally
leave the whole thing until Easter.
However, as long as the soil is
workable, this is the best month for
planting bare-root shrubs. The one that
springs to mind is the rose. Inevitably if
ordered by mail these will arrive as a
few sticks in a polythene bag with
finger-ripping staples to close it inside a
paper bag. The instructions will be
inside the polythene bag and wet
because the roots will have been
doused by the supplier. Oh and they‘ll
arrive on the day the monsoon starts.
Still, the instructions will cheerfully
inform you that if the weather is
inclement, all you need to do is keep
the whole bag in a cool dark place with
the roots moist. The trick is not to put
them where they‘ll be forgotten! Been
there done that. Once the weather is
reasonable plant the shrub. The late
Arthur Billett of Clack‘s Farm and
Gardeners‘ Question Time gave out the
succinct instruction ―If you‘ve paid
7/6d for a plant, dig a 7/6d hole to put it
in.‖ This was repeated by my father and
also Geoffrey Smith. It‘s a good way to
remember to dig the hole deep enough
and wide enough to accommodate the
roots and put the graft point of the rose
about 2‖ below the finished level. Also
put a generous amount of compost or
well-rotted manure in the bottom. Use a
stick across the top of the hole to
estimate the depth and backfill well,
using a bit more compost mixed with
the soil removed from the planting
hole. Don‘t be afraid to use your boot
close to the plant to pack the soil in to
remove air pockets - you don‘t want its
little feeding roots waving about under
there. The soil should still be warm
enough to divide and move perennials
but I heard recently that as our
Breckland soil is very sandy in the
main, it is able to allow frost to
penetrate deeper than heavier ones that
keep the cold at the surface so that‘s
something to be aware of.
Despite the gloom there is plenty of
colour to be had at this time of year.
Winter-flowering heathers will keep
going even in cold weather and they
don‘t mind windy locations. They can
be planted close together for colourful
ground cover and are very effective in
containers, specially if they can have
company such as hardy cyclamen. Both
plants come in a variety of pinks,
mauves, purples and white. Viburnums
are good at this time of year as well -
good old Bodnantense ‗Dawn‘ is very
popular when the flowers appear from
November until March on bare
branches. You can cut some for vases
when the scent will fill the room. Don‘t
ignore plants that berry - holly, of
course, varieties of viburnum can
produce berries in red or black,
Skimmias are in full berry now and will
flower in spring but most are unisex so
it takes two of them. Both can be
planted in the same hole or container.
Some berried shrubs are evergreen.
Other container or border plants at their
best are ornamental cabbages in green
and pink and pansies in all sorts of
colours. The michaelmas daisies and
autumn crocus/colchicums may still be
in flower. There are trees for winter
interest as well. The acers grown for
bark will show up nicely now the
leaves are down and the winter-
flowering cherry Prunus x subhirtella
‗Autumnalis‘ bears its small double
flowers on bare branches. This one is a
very pale off-white but there are pinker
ones such as ‗Autumnalis Rosea‘ and
there‘s even a weeping version. That
should stop the traffic! Most of the
plants mentioned will grow in
reasonably well-drained soil in sunny
positions. But on the whole they‘re
pretty easy going as regards conditions.
While you‘re planting your bare-root
deciduous shrubs or trees, make sure
they are staked if necessary. A good
supplier will provide good instructions.
If necessary water but not if it‘s
freezing. It might be worth putting
some bulbs around while you‘re at it as
now is the time for tulip and lily bulbs
(and any others you forgot earlier).
Keep the digging going when the
ground is not soggy or frosted and
mulch. If the ground has been dug over
while harvesting veg or tidying borders,
just add a nice layer of compost or well
-rotted or leaf mould and let the worms
do the work. This is a good time to
evict any pests - snails under pots,
rodents in sheds - all need to be dealt
with. Pick your option regarding the
snails but remember the lady who won
the amateur scientist of the year prize
by establishing that snails need to be
more than 30 metres/100 feet away to
prevent their coming back so don‘t just
throw them over the fence into next
door‘s garden!
Take photos when it‘s reasonably
comfortable outdoors so you can
incorporate something for next winter
in your plans. When the weather‘s
really bad and you‘ve done all the tasks
just settle down with a glass of
something nice and start the planning
process for next year.
Don‘t forget the weeds will still keep
growing whatever the weather.
Great Hockham
Gardening Club news
On WEDNESDAY 13th OCTOBER
we had a fantastic speaker of
gardening distinction, Lucy Redman.
A superb plantswoman who told of her
beginnings in gardening at early school
age with her mother and at her great
school garden at Hadleigh High, now
sadly derelict. She is now so passionate
about children being able to garden
that she along with 75 children at her
old school are redesigning those very
gardens, the work includes art & craft
plus drama working and display areas,
science work and a weather station.
She hopes for it to be completed within
the next year.
She was the youngest person to be
accepted at RHS Wisley and studied at
the English Gardening School where
she achieved her Diploma in Garden
design. She has been a Gold medal
winner at both Chelsea and Hampton
Court and writes a regular column for
the East Anglian Daily Times Suffolk
magazine.
She has now set up her own School
of Garden Design at her beautiful
home in Rushbrooke in the depths of
breath-taking Suffolk countryside.
Her garden has been featured in the
English Garden Magazine and
Country Homes and Interiors &
Homes and Gardens. It is a rare mix
of finely selected country garden
plants and features with more stately
plantings and then huge arty
sculptures and willow features,
subtle colours and bright colours to
match the rooms from which the
garden is viewed.
She gave us plenty to think about,
her talk was entertaining and
inspirational.
25 members attended. It was the first
meeting taken by our new Chairman,
Ed Szczepanowski, who welcomed
everyone to this new Club Year with
an excellent Programme of Events to
look forward to. We wish him well
leading our Club.
The Flower competition was judged by
Lucy and was won by Claudine
Garrod, 2nd Lois Gill, and 3rd Sue
Thomas. We also have a new
Vegetable competition at each indoor
meeting and this was won by Hazel
Dunn, 2nd Lois Gill and 3rd Jane
Dalton. The quality of entries was very
high. Well done everyone who took
part.
Our next Club meeting is on
WEDNESDAY 10th NOVEMBER at
7.45pm in the Village Hall and should
prove a real crowd puller as it a very
interesting one to everyone: By
GRAEME SIMM entitled ‗HISTORY
BENEATH YOUR FEET‘.
You are asked to bring along an
artefact you have found in your
garden.
We know from others who have
booked this speaker that the evening
will prove to be a fascinating one and
could contain revelations about finds in
this and other areas, so come along and
take part. Everyone welcome!
Free to members £2.50 visitors.
Refreshments and raffle.
Don‘t forget to enter our Flower and
Vegetable competitions.
At the November meeting we will be
taking bookings for our Annual Dinner
in January, on Sunday 12th Jan, 1pm at
the Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant
in Attleborough. Cost to be notified.
We are a very active, friendly club,
always keen to increase our
membership and now is a great time to
join.
If anyone would like a lift to meetings
please give me a call. Jane Dalton
(Secretary) 01953 498694

SANCTUARY COUNSELLING Attleborough &

MOTs £35.00 SERVICE WATTON
It’s good to talk! Counselling can help
District
VEHICLES FROM V 99 ONWARDS. £40 FOR OLDER VEHICLES
if you’re struggling to cope with: Horticultural
Relationship difficulties Bullying/Abuse
IVAN CHUBBOCK GARAGE SERVICES Bereavement
Stress
Addictions
Depression
Society
SHIPDHAM The November meeting of the society takes place on
Sanctuary offers a confidential low-cost counselling service with Wednesday 17th November, commencing at 7.30pm. The
professionally trained counsellors, who work on a short-term or long-term venue, as usual, is Attleborough Junior School and guests are
Tel: 01362 820416 basis. Call us on 01953 880922 to arrange an appointment.
Appointments are available 6 – 9pm Tuesdays and 9.30am – 1pm Wednesdays.
Sanctuary Counselling Service is part of River Ministries (Norfolk), registered charity number 1054419
most welcome to come along. The talk in November will be
―Ornamental Plants Grown for Their Scent‖.
Mike Flood gave a very interesting talk on ―Heavy Horses‖
at the September meeting. He has spent a lifetime caring for,
BROOM HALL working with and breeding these horses whilst working
fulltime in the agricultural supply industry and his talk was

Country Hotel full of anecdotes about these gentle giants. We also came
away knowing how to tell apart Shires, Percherons,
Saham Toney Clydesdales and the Suffolk Punch.
The Table Competition suffered from a lack of entries.
Your Local Three Star Hotel However, the prize for 3 stems of flowers went to Sally
Westrup and John Darlow took the award for 3 eating apples.

Bradenham & District

Wednesdays
Sirloin or Rump with chips £10.00
Steak Night Horticultural Society
November - it can get a little flat in the middle - short
Fridays Pie & Mash Night gloomy days, fireworks over and the garden is miserable.
Pastry Pie & Mash with Dessert £9.95 Come and cheer it up with a talk on Design & Garden
History by Judith Srigley from Easton College.
New Ivy Room for Bar Meals Venue: Bradenham Village Hall. Date: Thursday 18th
Monday to Saturday 6.30 – 8.30 November. Time: 7.30pm
Tuesday to Saturday 12.00 – 2.00 As this is the start of our year, you could join us and then
come to our Christmas Party in December, full details on
01953 882125 18th November. Further information from Marianne
www.broomhallhotel.co.uk Kilmartin, Publicity Officer 01362 820744
News Mid-Norfolk Times Page 13

Town Council Jackson steams his way into Scouting

support for At the recent 1940‘s weekend in
Sheringham and Holt with the North
Norfolk Railway, Wayland Scouts help
some former Scouts
who were proud to
see that youngsters

credit union marshal the vintage cars at Holt Station.

For the newest Scout it was an extra special
event as he was invested into Scouts from
were still enjoying
all that Scouting has
to offer.
In addition to the grant from the Breckland District Council
Participatory Budget scheme earlier this year to support our
marketing campaign by paying for advertisements in parish
magazines and this paper, plus the printing of many
explanatory leaflets for distribution in the community , Watton
Town Council very generously gave Wayland Community
Bank, the local branch of Norfolk Credit Union, a grant of
£200 to help our work in the community and which has
enabled us to purchase some equipment for outside events.
This includes a free-standing banner and a portable table top
display. With these we hope to reach out further into Wayland
to let more people become aware of the support we can offer
through our credit union savings and loans schemes.
There is a marked rise in the number of households
approaching the illegal loan sharks, legal doorstep and Akela, Jo Ashford, discovered all about them. The snails had
internet lenders for loans. Many of these charge very high commented, ‗it was even recently laid some eggs which was an
interest rates, which can be seen on the wonderful to have added bonus for the Cubs to investigate,
lenderscompared.co.uk web site. somewhere different As the darker evenings arrive, activities move
Credit unions however have their loan rates capped by for the investiture, we inside so the Scouts have been working on a
legislation at a maximum of 2% per month - 26.8% A.P.R., would like to thank the number of activities including mini pioneering
and Norfolk Credit Union offers unsecured loans at Jackson Cutts on the footplate after his investiture crew for their help and to create model gateways – ideas for next
between 1% to 2% per month - 12.68% to 26.8% APR. We support. It was an year‘s camps!
currently have substantial funds available for all sorts of the Cub Section on the foot plate of the exciting addition to a fun packed weekend.‘ They have also been sharing their hobbies and
small loans from domestic appliances to helping people George Stephenson Steam Engine. Apart for this activity both Sections have skills with some fantastic examples of Airfix
untangle their debts with the high interest lenders. Jackson Cutts was supported by his fellow been really busy during meetings, the Cubs model building and Meccano
Support for our campaign by local authorities is very much Scouts bearing the Group‘s flags as he took recently placed host to Shelby and Mustang, If you are interested in getting involved in
appreciated, and anyone wishing to have a chat with our his promise. He was then treated to a short tow Giant African Land Snails! These Scouting in Watton, please contact Paul Cutts
volunteers about savings, current account or loans , or about ride along the track. amazing creatures didn‘t mind being the 01953 884243 or email
joining us as a volunteer working for the local community, Visitors to the event looked on including centre of attention while the Cubs waylandscouts@gmail.com
can contact us at Wayland House on 01953 883915, or view

Attleborough W.I.
our website www.waylandbank.org. The family delivered the colony of monkeys arrived in 1971 it became
bread by horse & cart. Banham Zoo & Woolly Monkey Sanctuary.
There is also a loan calculator which can be viewed at our
Head Office web site: www.norfolkcu.co.uk During WW1 there was The Zoo has the finest collection of monkeys
a great demand for bread in Europe, but many visitors come to see the
The speaker for September was Denise for the Army barracks & hospitals. The endangered snow leopards. Banham Zoo has

Water, Water,
Hammond-Webb on The Birth of Banham business expanded so that during WW2 links with zoos all over the world. We are
Zoo. John Goymer was an agricultural bakeries were opened in Thetford as well as fortunate to live so near to the zoo.
labourer in the 18thC. The Goymer family, Bury. In 1952, after sliced bread was The winner of the competition for an animal

Everywhere
by Edith Pleasance
It was mid-morning of just another day at the office. I
had taken down my usual load of dictation and was busy
dealing with it when the manager‘s buzzer sounded
twice – the signal for me to report to his office along the
corridor with my notepad. All sorts of reasons for the
summons came to mind. Mr Reece was a man of habit
and did not like his usual morning programme disrupted,
once he had dealt with the daily mail.
I knew he had an appointment to see one of our branch
managers so guessed it to be just a progress report.
Several days previously I had driven my boss, (acting as
chauffeuse was one of my duties) to the most outlying
who opened the zoo, were small farmers in introduced, the head of the family sold his ornament was 1) June Clark, 2) Brenda
1854, but in 1890 when farms became shops. He bought a farm & also opened a farm Spencer. Next months‘ speaker is Charlotte
mechanised & workers left for London, they shop, which was very successful. In 1956 they Philcox & the competition is a picture of
went to work in the local bakeries. In 1909 the bought parrots & with pheasants opened the Autumn leaves.
family opened a bakery in Bury St Edmunds. collection to the public in 1968. When a
cv
James Ball
SHOWROOM: 49 High Street, Watton
01953
883288


branch of our area, where he would make a general

review of management etc. while I mingled with
Very Competitive Prices
members of the staff and made a general nuisance of Most Makes of carpets
myself. This was a very effective way of discerning any
undercurrent there may be. & Vinyl Supplied and Fitted
On our way back to Area Office I remarked on a new
member of staff who, because of the beautiful blond hair
caught back in a ‗ponytail‘ I took to be a female clerk. I Massage Treatments
walked around the back of the counter only to find it was
indeed a young man, around seventeen. I knew my boss Swedish Massage and
had a dislike of long-hair on male members of staff, in
fact I once chided him on getting upset about it whilst he
Hot Stone Massage
never bothered that the mini-skirts of the young females Appointments available at
were getting shorter by the day! ‗Humph!‘ was his
response.
Entering his office, notebook in hand, I was surprised to BROOM HALL
see the pony-tailed young man accompanied by his
branch manager. Without preamble Mr Reece started Country Hotel
dictating.
―I, John Smith, state that I broke into the premises of my
Saham Toney
employers on Friday evening last and turned full-on the Your Local Three Star Hotel
stopcock in the basement, then went to both cloakrooms
on the ground floor and turned on all the washbasin taps.
My actions resulted in the offices being flooded, causing
extensive damage to the premises and its contents.‖
―Right Edith. I want that typed in triplicate
immediately.‖ Apart from the boy being automatically
dismissed, I never knew the outcome of this unusual
case. But I couldn‘t help wondering why!! Telephone: 01953 882125
Edith Pleasance © 26.09.10 www.broomhallhotel.co.uk
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 14 News

Attleborough High School Celebrate the West

European Day of Languages in style
Head of Languages at Attleborough High School, Connie Wind Avery (4th from right), and fellow teachers (left to right) Frances Billin, Head of RS Mrs
Linda Trounce, Silke Schardt, Caroline Graham, Rowena Tyrer, Kay Southgate and Laura Stowe
Attleborough High School, led by Head
of Languages Mrs Connie Wind Avery,
celebrated European Day of Languages
in style. A range of activities for students
focussed on different languages and
cultures. Staff joined in the spirit of the
event by dressing up in national costume
and European styled clothes.
Norfolk
Aviation
Society
Chairman Rod Rumsby welcomed
guest speaker Julian Horn to the
October meeting, who gave an
account, including a film, of the
WW2 adventures of Bill McGrath.
In 1940, aged 20, Bill McGrath
was posted to 82Sqdn at RAF
Watton as an Observer/Navigator.
On 13th July 1940 82Sqdn
attacked (the German held)
Aalborg airfield in Denmark with
12 Bristol Blenheim‘s; they
encountered heavy flak and ME
109s, and all but one of the
aircraft were destroyed. Bill‘s
pilot bombed the airfield, but the
aircraft was hit and ditched in
water 100m from the shore but
with rocks only a meter below the
surface. As a result, Bill suffered
severe eye, arm and leg injuries.
20 aircrew were killed & buried at
Vadum cemetery, 10 aircrew plus
Bill‘s crew became POW‘s. Bill
eventually escaped from a POW
camp and made his way across
Europe to Barcelona then returned
to UK, via Gibraltar. He received
the Military Medal and continued
his service as an Air Traffic
Controller. A fascinating story of
bravery.
Next Meeting Tuesday 2nd
November 7.30pm at Methwold
Social Club. Speaker Martin
McClelland "Three Years at RAF
Kemble‖ New members & guests
welcomed. For more Information
Tel: 01842 879210

LANDSCAPE GARDENING
Tim Luxton Established 1973
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Seeding ~ Turfing Etc.
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Designed & Built
Photos and References always available
For a Quality Job & Free Quote
Phone Tim Luxton on 01603 880184
www.timluxtonlandscaping.co.uk
On your PVCu Replacement
Windows, Doors
Sunlounges.
Plus!We have no pushy sales
reps, all appointments are
undertaken by
Ray Harman(Proprietor)
Petrified of Your Computer?
You don’t need to be!
Free NHS
Ring Lesley Horn Health Check
For 1 to 1 beginner’s support in your own home
Friendly, patient and knowledgeable help with using your
computer to find things on the Internet, email your family &
at Total Health
friends, “Listen Again” on the BBC® iPlayer® and do your
shopping without leaving your home Pharmacy
Everyone is at risk of developing heart disease, diabetes or
01953 881 885 kidney disease or suffering a stroke. These conditions can
often be prevented, even if you have a history of them in
your family, but you can also be at increased risk of
developing them if you are overweight, smoke, take little
exercise or have high blood pressure or cholesterol.
Attention All NHS Health Checks are being offered by Total Health
Pharmacy in Watton to assess a person‘s risk of developing
stroke, diabetes, heart or kidney disease, later in life.
and
Gardeners! The Health check is free to people between the ages of 40
and 74 who are not already being treated for these
Improve your soil, keep weeds conditions. An initial assessment will determine if you are
eligible for the free health check. The health check will take
down and keep moisture in with approximately 30 minutes during which various health
details will be recorded, your blood pressure will be taken
Sterilized Mushroom as well as a simple blood test to check your cholesterol.
The results of the check will determine a risk factor for the
Compost likelihood of you developing the mentioned conditions later
The ideal mulch and in life and you will be given advice on how to lower your
risk and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
soil improver Pharmacist, Geoff Ray, said ―NHS Health checks encourage
people to be aware of their potential risk factor to allow
Unit B, Yaxham Rd, Only £1.50 per Bag them to take action now rather than waiting until it is too
late.‖
Delivered free (min 5 bags)
Dereham The Health Check is available from Total Health Pharmacy
(behind Halfords) Watton area by calling 01953 881157 or visiting the pharmacy at 14
Gregor Shanks Way, Watton, opposite the Watton Medical
01953 881969 Practice.
News
Reality‟s Dream to be signed
in ink at JC Books
Seventy-seven year old Coralita Martin
will be signing her dream in ink when
she appears at Watton‘s J C Books on
Saturday November 6 to help launch
her epic biography. The first black
teacher in Thetford and Watton will
make a guest appearance at the shop‘s
Applestore Gallery at 55 High Street
between 11am – 12 noon to sign
copies of her book, Courage to Dream
– the impossible becomes reality (Last
Word Publications).
Poverty, abuse and prejudice have
failed to topple this courageous woman
of faith who has gone from the slums
of Antigua to the suburbs of London
and the wilds of Norfolk to pursue the
doorways of destiny and open the
annals of learning for thousands of
youngsters for 50 years.
Coralita has fought injustice, silenced
misery and out lasted fear during
eviction, near-death, a violent marriage
and forced departure to the East End of
London where she faced racism and
hardship. Her healing has come as she
has let go of the past and found the
grace to forgive. It has included
forgiveness for the man she was
pressured to marry who tore at her soul
for 25 years and tried to kill her twice.
―Faith, hope and love have been
important but the most important has
been love for others,‖ says Coralita,
who was rejected by her mother in
Antigua when she was just ten days
old.
She lived with her godmother in a tiny two-
bedroom house with a tin roof by the beach
that had no kitchen, bathroom or electricity.
―We cooked and washed outside, using a
standpipe to rinse away the daily grime and
sweat,‖ says Coralita who lives in Thetford.
At six her mother insisted on her return to
the family home to join her two sisters. She
wore the family hand-me-downs and did
not own a pair of shoes until she was a
teenager. There were no regular meals and
she slept on the floor and fought rejection
and outwitted poverty when she sold empty
bottles for a few pennies and helped with
her mother‘s fruit and vegetable business
before school.
As a school girl she changed history when
she became the first youngster from the
slums in Antigua to be offered a place at
the foremost girls‘ school after sitting the
entrance exam. But with no financial
backing for a school uniform and books her
place went to someone else. The future
looked bleak until she was awarded an
unexpected scholarship a few years later
from a rich shipping tycoon who wanted to
help a poor child.
Coralita entered a new learning phase. She
excelled at her studies, survived a hurricane
Letters to
the Editor
Another bus for Watton
This letter is primarily intended to
publicise the fact that we now have
another bus service for Watton. It is
run by Coach Services and runs from
Watton via many of the villages to
Thetford. It runs every 2 hours on
weekdays only and links with the
Dereham bus from Watton.
So Watton now has buses to Norwich,
Wymondham, Thetford and the
Flexibus does Attleborough.
and later worked at the Christian mission
while having a heart fired with faith after
attending a mammoth crusade led by Billy
Graham – a dynamic young man at the
time, whose warm gospel message cut
across every culture and class. Home
tutoring students became the launch pad for
her dream to teach; at 21 she began a life-
long vocation in Antigua which began
without any formal qualifications.
An angel with provision, friends of mercy
and doors of opportunity have helped mark
her path. Says Coralita: ―Provision was
unexpected and divinely imparted. My
family and friends have wondered how I
have managed, but God has always made a
way where there was no way - through the
darkest night his light has shone.‖
Teaching has spanned the generations and
cultures from a private school in the
Caribbean (where she knew now famous
entertainer, Joan Armatrading ) to tough
inner London schools, exclusive fee-paying
ones, and a variety in Norfolk, until she
was 70 years-old. She taught future
doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and even
convicted criminals. She has dined with
rich, influential parents and cried tears for
the youngsters downtrodden by abuse, fear
and poverty as they have struck a strong
Whether or not we continue to be so
well served will depend upon the usage
so to some degree the long term future
of these routes is in our hands.
The one big miss is the link to London,
Watton Town Council resolved some
time ago to talk to National Express
about this link and will be doing that
within the next few weeks.
Timetables for the new service are
available from the Library, and Coach
Services telephone number 01842
821509.
Barbara Anderson
Thanks from Olive Salter
I would like to say a very sincere thank
you to everyone who donated money in
memory of my late husband, Bill. A
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 15
TecH-help
Bamboozled by Technology?
Have you brought or are you
thinking of buying a new piece of
technology such as a Computer,
Digital Television or DVD recorder?
Not sure if you can cope with
getting it all working properly?
We Can Help!
Whatever your problem with technology, we can help you
overcome it. Whether you need to tune in that nice new
television, hook up that shiny DVD recorder, need help
understanding that instruction book that is written for
people with an electronics degree (or a 7 year old!).
We can help you . . . if you
ring Julian 01953 881885
FINE BOOKS
J.C. BOOKS BOUGHT AND
SOLD
& Applestore Gallery
Telephone/Fax 01953 883488
55 High Street, Watton
For quality out of print books, Fine Bindings and
Collectable Editions. New Books including local and
children’s classics.
Visit the Applestore Gallery on the first floor,
exhibiting the Paintings of Kevin Robinson and his
complete range of East Anglian prints including Watton
and Wymondham.
chord of empathy
―I wanted to be a teacher since I was a little
girl. If you want something badly enough
you have to keep persevering although it
may be a struggle,‖ says Coralita who
studied long and hard to qualify as a
teacher in England despite the difficulties.
―I have had such joy being a teacher and
seeing the happiness on children‘s faces so
it has all been worthwhile. Looking back I
see my life as a rose bush among thorns.
The thorns are the pain but the roses are
like the joy that has bloomed in the
sunshine.‖ Co-author Sandie Shirley from
Tacolneston, a former Archant reporter,
met Coralita while working for the
Thetford and Watton Times. She says:
―This book had to be written after I
discovered a woman with an epic
biography mined in the deep caverns of
suffering. Terrible tragedy has forged an
invincible spirit in Coralita that has turned
the countless trials into golden miles as she
has walked with God. Her story provides
hope for others no matter how tough life
gets.‖
Courage to Dream – the impossible
becomes reality, by Coralita Martin with
Sandie Shirley (lastwordpublications.com),
ISBN 9780955943942 is available at £7.99.
total of £360 has been given to the
Luncheon Club. Olive Salter
Brownie thanks
On behalf of 2nd Watton (RAF)
Brownies I would like to thank
everybody that participated, in our 100
year Centenary quiz. Also the shop and
business owners in Watton who
supported us very well. The money
raised went towards our 100 Centenary
Year Outing at Gt Yarmouth on
September 18th 2010, which
everybody enjoyed. People have come
back to me saying how much they
enjoyed doing the quiz. Margaret
Moult, Guider in Charge, Brown Owl/
Snowy Owl
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 16
Up the Cally
Wayside Farm Shop
Stow Bedon
Fresh Seasonal Vegetables
Home Produced Pork
By Ken Knowles
01953 483 375 It must have been about 1933,
when I was staying with an aunt in
her flat near Highbury Corner in
Ashill Food & Wine north London. As usual when in a
strange house there were all sorts
1 Hale Road, Ashill of strange noises to disturb my
sleep, but after a few days I had got
01760 440932 used to them, especially the
Fresh bread and milk, news and grinding sounds of the tramcars
grocery. Alcohol. Paypoint passing by.
Then one morning I heard a
Rocklands completely different sound, which,
when I looked out of the window,
Post Office & Stores proved to be the noise of the
wooden wheels of handcarts,
The Street, Rocklands wheelbarrows and prams being
pushed along the road by a
01953 483 217 succession of men in caps, as well
Car Tax, Lottery, Fresh Milk as a few horse-drawn wagons.
When my Dad came that morning
to take me out, I asked him what
Great Ellingham could be the reason for this
procession, and he said ―They were
Village Stores & P.O. going ‗up the cally‘ ‖, though of
Long St, Gt Ellingham course I had no idea what he
meant.
01953 452 155 ―I‘ll take you there‖, he said, and
Post Office, Fresh Bread & Milk Daily so we started out on a long walk
through a lot of back turnings until
we came to Caledonian Road,
Quick Stop where there was a great fever of
activity at what proved to be an
Church Street, Attleborough enormous Market, known to all
01953 458 036 and sundry as ‗The Cally‘.
As I found out in later life, this was
Italian Wines 2 for £5 Wide range the site of the Metropolitan Cattle
of Polish Foods available Market, and occupied a space
about half a mile square. To get
some idea of its size, try to imagine
Old Buckenham all the Car Boot Sales in Norfolk,
all together in one place.
Stores I can‘t remember how often the
market took place, but when it did
The Green, Old Buckenham
01953 860210
people came from all over London
to look for bargains, of which
many were available.
Lovells Post Office
Besides the usual established
traders who went from site to site
each week, hundreds of private
& Stores individuals would hike their
possessions to the Cally, starting
Market Place, New Buckenham from very early in the morning,
when they would pay a few pence
01953 860 351 for a place
‗on the stones‘, on a first come first
Village Stores Alice and friends thank you
Market Street, East Harling
01953 718115
A wide range of products in stock
Anne and Kevin Ledgard
Londis Banham
01953 887320
Your Local Village
Supermarket
Londis
News Extra
High Street, Attleborough,
(Opposite Sainsburys) A grand total of £315 was raised for Wayland First Response by Alice
01953 453 257 Elvin and her friends.
They have been organising raffles, tombola's and bingo for this worthy
Newspapers & magazines cause. The cheque was presented to Wayland First Response in the
Wide range of confectionery, tobacconist community centre at Lime Tree Walk. Alice would like to thank her
Wide range of Wines, Beers and Spirits friends for their support.
News
Caston School Winners
served basis, as they did not want
to be too far from the gates, as in
the far reaches fewer punters
would venture, either because they
were exhausted, or had spent all
their cash.
The difference between this place
and modern markets was the noise.
These days stall-holders seem
mainly to stand waiting for
customers to approach them, with
just a few cries to attract business,
but at the Cally the din was
deafening. Everyone was
determined to let the public know
what they had to sell, and there
was no shortage of Del-boy
characters and their helpers
persuading the punters to open
their wallets.
And when they did they had to be
wary, for it was well-known that
pickpockets were always out in
force, despite the presence of a
policeman here and there.
It used to be said that you could
find anything you wanted at the
Cally, and, just as in Car Boots
today there was a complete
mixture, from near-rubbish such as
rusty nails, up to small items of
furniture and bicycles.
There weren‘t many large items,
because few people had their own
transport, so anything they Caston Primary School children from felt and various other craft items.
bought would have to be carried competed in the Wayland Show Craft The Craft section is open to all children
home, either on foot or on the bus Competition by entering felt bags in each year and local schools are
or tram. the craft section. encouraged to participate.
The one section where there was A workshop was organised by Mrs Sue The photographs show the winners
no need for ‗barkers‘ to encourage
sales was where live animals were
available. Anyone accompanied by
Lee (Parent Support Adviser) and Mrs
Bridget Hall (Wayland Show).
from Caston School proudly displaying
their rosettes.
Children designed and made their bags (Names not supplied)
a child would find it difficult to
resist the pleas to buy a kitten or
puppy, as these looked so adorable,
and many a housewife was
horrified when her offspring came
Shop locally for
home with an unexpected addition
to the family.
A visit to the Cally would never be
Christmas - at Watton
forgotten, and whenever I see a Car
Boot or Garage sale today, I cannot Country Market
resist a smile, as they seem so
insignificant in contrast to what
must have been the biggest market November is the best month for
shopping for Christmas at Watton
pens), wooden toys for the younger
children, and small gift boxes are all
of all time.
Country Market. Our crafters can on offer. Greetings cards are
offer you a very wide range of gifts,
greetings cards, plants, baked goods,
available for all occasions including
Christmas. All our producers can
homemade sweets, jams and jellies, accept orders for special items but
and produce. This year we also have would appreciate plenty of notice for
on offer gift vouchers for £5 or £10
which can be redeemed for any item
those special Christmas orders and
cannot guarantee that it will be
or combination of items on sale in possible to fill special orders in time
the Watton Country Market. for Christmas that are placed after
Our producers all come from within the end of November.
a ten mile radius of Watton. Fresh
eggs come from a farm at Ashill and
much of our produce from Carbrooke
We look forward to seeing you in the
Market on Wednesday mornings
between 8.30 and 11.30 a.m. in the
or Garvestone. Knitted goods, pretty front half of the Watton Christian
bags, jewellery, etched glass, turned Community Centre.
wood items (including beautiful
For Lexophiles . . .


A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tyred
A will is a dead giveaway


Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana
A backward poet writes inverse
 A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion
 When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds


The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine is now fully recovered
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it
 He broke into song because he couldn't find the key
 A calendar's days are numbered
 A boiled egg is hard to beat
News
Lavender
Hyacinth
Garnier
Lavender Hyacinth Garnier was born
on 14 October 1923 the first child of
Lord & Lady Walsingham and grew
up in the family house, Westmere in
Tottington, with her brother, John, and
sisters, Margaret & Katharine, until
they were forced to leave in 1942 in
the middle of the Second World War
when about 12,000 acres of the
Merton estate were taken over by the
army to become Stanford Training
Area. For economic reasons her
brother was sent off to boarding
school while Westmere was turned
into a school where Lavender and her
sisters were educated. Their mother
set up a small school in the house and
built on rooms to accommodate it.
When the war came Lavender joined
the FANYs, the First Aid Nursing
Yeomanry, as a signaller working
alongside the SOE. She volunteered to
parachute into France as an SOE agent
to fight in with the Resistance but
fortunately she was rejected because
her spoken French was not good
enough. In Italy she hitchhiked to the
front "just to see what it was like" She
believed passionately in the war and
had a huge a sense of duty and loyalty
to her fellow men and women and to
her country. She was a very proud of
what she did but would never show
off or draw attention to what she had
done in the War
At the end of the War, in India, she
became engaged to her third cousin
William, who she had grown up with.
They had first met at Westmere when
he was 5 and her mother was pregnant
with Lavender. They married in April
1946 and in the first 28 years of their
married life spent in the army they lived
in over 30 different houses in England,
Germany, Northern Ireland, Cyprus,
Singapore and America, until William
retired in February 1973 and they came
home to Norfolk. William worked for
his brother-in-law, Lord Walsingham
and took over as the land agent for the
Merton Estate from Lavender's uncle,
Dick de Grey. William & Lavender
bought College Farm from the Merton
Estate and then spent several years
restoring the house. The front porch
came from Westmere where Lavender
had grown up.
Lavender was widowed in 1989 aged
only 65 and continued to run her B&B
until only 2 weeks before she died.
She had thousands of people to stay
every year, many of whom became
good friends and came to stay year
after year.
She died at home after a short illness,
ending her days living close to where
she had lived as a child and where her
family have lived for nearly 900 years.
She was a direct descendant of
William the Conqueror's first cousin
and cavalry commander at the Battle
of Hastings, Angetil de Grey, as
Corporal, later Ensign, de Grey she
had fought bravely in the War; she
was a life member of the Special
Forces Club and she was a member of
the men's section of the British Legion
on account of her war service and not
an auxiliary woman.
Lavender died on 13 September 2010
and is survived by her children, Jimmy,
Richard, Edward & Katharine, and by
her 14 grandchildren (Louisa, Sophie,
Georgina, Olivia, Milly, William,
Robert, Hetty, Eleanor, George &
James Garnier and Florence, Teddy &
Billy Wolstenholme).
Caston Camera Club and
the Poppy Line
As a nation we have a fascination
for steam trains and things have
never been the same since Dr
Beeching‘s axe fell in the 1960‘s.
But there are various volunteer
steam train lines run around the
country and one such is The Poppy
Line which runs from Sheringham
to Holt. Now, if you then join that
together with a lot of people in
1940‘s attire in order to celebrate
70 years since the Battle of Britain,
and you send along some members
of a camera club, you can obtain
some really stunning images.
And so to Holt, Weybourne and
Sheringham was where a number
of Caston Camera Club members
headed a few weeks ago. The
Poppy Line held a 1940‘s weekend,
the weather was fabulous and all
kinds of 1940‘s attractions were
there including a Glenn Miller
tribute band. They even had a fly-
past from a Lancaster bomber.
Many people were in uniform
including a man in a beret with
onions round his neck. ―Are you
the French Resistance Monsieur‖ I
News from the Shellrock
Circle Club for the over 50‟s
The Autumn Fete was the last Fete of
the year for Shellrock Club. After a
rainy start to the day it didn‘t look
too promising, but although the ―Car
Boot‖ patrons stayed away we all
had a good time in the hall. The stalls
were well provisioned so a BIG
THANK YOU to everyone who
contributed cakes, presents and time
etc., for the event. The sum total of
everyone‘s efforts was surprising and
pleasing.
We had no set plan for the 13th
October meeting as our Emcee Terry
had decamped to Australia for a
month but Margaret stepped into the
breach and things progressed with
the popular ―Beetle Drive.‖ The
competition for the month was to
paint a stone. Participation was
disappointing but this was won by
Allyson. Next month we have been
asked to make a Christmas cracker.
Come on everyone, have a go, you
don‘t have to worry about being
asked.
―Non‖ came the reply, ―I am a
downed British pilot in disguise.‖
Elsewhere a man carrying a small
war-time attaché case inscribed
Pvte Walker (from Dad‘s Army)
and looking every bit like him, held
open his jacket to reveal a lining
covered in watches ―Can I interest
you in a gold watch guv?‖ he
asked.
There were so many more
characters and you can see many
―artistic‖ just have a go, you might
surprise yourself.
We had our raffle in the tea-break
then Brian set up ―Play your cards
right‖ which rounded off the
afternoon nicely.
We had five visitors to our meeting
and we do hope they will consider
becoming members.
Events for November
10th November Monthly Club
meeting 2pm start 4pm finish.
Entertainer to be arranged.
Competition ―create a Christmas
Cracker.‖ Let‘s have a good go at
this.
16th November Lunch at the ―White
Lodge‖ Attleborough with Marion &
Archie. If you would like to join in
contact them on 01953 483431.
30th November Christmas Dinner.
Please arrive at the Village Hall by
11.45am for 12 o‘clock start. Anyone
who has just joined the Club will be
asked to contribute £10 each towards
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 17
Livewire
presents
A Celebration of Christmas
at
Great Ellingham
Recreation Centre
Saturday 4th December
at 7.30pm
Tickets £7 inc a glass of wine
available from
Pat Partridge 01953 452492
Jean Leech 01953 453375
more of these fascinating images
by going to our web site
www.castoncameraclub.co.uk and
clicking the Poppy Line link at the
top of the page.
Caston Camera Club is the premier
camera club in Norfolk with
members who come from as far as
40 miles away to attend meetings.
You can find out a lot more about
us by visiting our web site. We are
also a bronze sponsor of the
Wayland Agricultural Show.
the cost of their meal. Our entertainer
will be Don Wescott. So far, his
visits have been to do with behind the
COUGHTREY BDK Ltd.
scenes in the theatre and films, and Unit 2, Coughtrey Industrial Estate
also with music in films so what he Church Road, Griston. IP25 6QB
will do for Christmas will be a
surprise. New members are always Fitted Kitchens
welcome.
Bathrooms
Internal Doors
www.coughterybdk.co.uk
Free Quotations &
Full Planning Service
01953 881243
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 18
Tips and hints from
Abel Community Care
Question - If I decide to employ my
own carer what are my
responsibilities?
Answer - If you employ a carer
directly you will be responsible for
deducting tax and National Insurance
from your employee's wages and
paying them to the HMRC (HM
Revenue and Customs) with your own
employers National Insurance
contribution.
You also have responsibilities around
the hourly rate of pay, rest breaks,
maximum number of hours that your
carer can work per week and in
addition you will be responsible for
holiday and sick pay.
It is also essential that you take out
Employers Liability Insurance and
Public Liability Insurance. If you
visit the website http://
www.direct.gov.uk and look for
"employing a personal assistant" you
will find further information and you
could also visit your local Tax office
for further help.
Question - If I go into a care home will
I have to pay for my care? My husband
will not be coming with me so will he
be able to stay in our home?
Answer - In order to see if the state
will contribute to a person's care
home cost, a financial assessment
will be made by your local authority.
The assessment in this case would be
on any assets you have in your name
and a share of any assets held in joint
names e.g. such as your home, joint
investments, other property held in
joint names, etc. If your assets are
deemed to be above £22,250 then
you will be expected to pay for the
cost of your care until such time as
your assets reduce to that figure.
Your husband could remain in the
home if that is his wish to do so. For
further information you may like to
read the Factsheet 39 of Age UK
which covers other financial aspects
relating to one of a couple going into
a care home.
Question - I have poor mobility and
can no longer go shopping as I used
to do. This causes me problems when
it comes to buying birthday and
Christmas presents. I have been told
recently that I can buy gift vouchers
for many shops at the post office.
However we do not have one in my
village and I do not have the internet.
What do you know about these gift
vouchers and can I buy them by
phone?"
Answer - The One4all gift voucher is
available at every post office in
amounts from £10.00 up to £100.00
and can be spent at over 17,000 outlets
in the UK. These outlets include
Samuels, Toys R Us, Debenhams,
B&Q, Argos, House of Fraser, Boots,
Curry‘s, Comet, PC World to name but
a few. They can be purchased by phone
using a debit or credit card as well as
online. The gift vouchers are valid for
18 months and come in a variety of
designs to suit all occasions.
Information from: Able Community
Care, The Old Parish Rooms,
Whitlingham Lane, Trowse, Norwich.
NR14 8TZ Telephone 01603 764567.
£10,000 cash for
youth projects
Pictured left to right are: Breckland Youth Engagement Officer Caroline Cox, Youth Council members Luke
Dawson, James Whitehead and Alistair Wright
A Thetford-based group of young
people living with Autistic Spectrum
Disorder (ASD) was one of six youth
organisations to receive a grant after
recent approval of their project by a
board of representatives from the
Breckland Youth Council.
Following the decision,
‗ASD Helping Hands‘ will
receive a grant for £3,000
that will enable the
children to film and create
a DVD to raise awareness
and understanding of
ASD.
Other successful projects
included £1,000 to enable
the East Harling Scout
Group to continue their
programme of outdoor
events, and £350 to help
the Swaffham Youth
Council hold an event to recruit
Council members and find out what
local children would like the Youth
Council to campaign for.
Earlier this year, the Youth Council
secured £5,000 from the Take Part
Development Fund and used £5,000
from their own budget to support
deserving projects that will improve
the lives of young people in
Breckland aged between 11-18 years.
Nine projects were submitted and all
the young applicants completed the
forms themselves, explaining how
their project would meet its stated
objective and how it would help
youngsters in the Breckland district.
Finally, the groups presented their
projects to the board and answered
questions before the final
assessments were made.
Adrian Stasiak, Breckland Council
Shop locally for
Christmas - at Watton
Country Market
November is the best month for
shopping for Christmas at Watton
Country Market. Our crafters can
offer you a very wide range of
gifts, greetings cards, plants,
baked goods, homemade sweets,
jams and jellies, and produce.
This year we also have on offer
gift vouchers for £5 or £10 which
can be redeemed for any item or
combination of items on sale in
the Watton Country Market.
Our producers all come from
within a ten mile radius of
Watton. Fresh eggs come from a
farm at Ashill and much of our
produce from Carbrooke or
Garvestone. Knitted goods, pretty
bags, jewellery, etched glass,
turned wood items (including
News
Executive Member for Communities
said:
―These young people should be proud
of themselves. They have all put in a
huge amount of work to get this far
as it can be a daunting process to cost
a project and complete the paperwork
and then present ideas to their peers. I
have every confidence that they will
succeed in their ventures and will
provide a real benefit to young
people in Breckland‖.
The Youth Council will continue to
monitor the six groups and they will
be invited to attend a presentation
evening in January 2011. On the
night, the children will report back on
how they have used the funds and
will demonstrate how their project
has improved the lives of young
people in Breckland.
.
beautiful pens), wooden toys for
the younger children, and small
gift boxes are all on offer.
Greetings cards are available for
all occasions including
Christmas. All our producers can
accept orders for special items
but would appreciate plenty of
notice for those special Christmas
orders and cannot guarantee that
it will be possible to fill special
orders in time for Christmas that
are placed after the end of
November.
We look forward to seeing you in
the Market on Wednesday
mornings between 8.30 and 11.30
a.m. in the front half of the
Watton Christian Community
Centre.
News Mid-Norfolk Times Page 19

Inner Attleborough has the best WAYLAND

AGRICULTURAL
Wheel Club SOCIETY

of Watton new party and costume shop CIC A G M

Tuesday 9th November 2010 at 7.45pm
Broom Hall, Richmond Road, Saham Toney
Our October meeting was held at AGENDA
the home of Margaret Smith, and
Welcome and Apologies
President Beryl Brannan welcomed
our District Chairman, Jacquie 1) Minutes from last AGM & Matters
McDaniel, who joined us for the Arising
evening. After our business 2) President‟s Address
meeting, Jacquie told us several 3) Report from the Chair
stories to illustrate how Inner Wheel 4) Treasurer‟s Report and Accounts
had enhanced her life. When she 5) Election of Officers
and her husband were visiting Delhi 6) Any Other Business
many years ago she decided to ring
a member of one of the Inner Wheel
clubs - we have a directory with
contact numbers around the world -
and this lady came to her hotel and
chatted all evening and then invited
her to a Hindu wedding the
following day and she had a
wonderful time that she has never
forgotten. Similarly, when her son
did some voluntary work in Sierra
Leone in the days prior to mobile
phones, she rang a local club and
asked if they would mind if he
contacted his family through them
and they are still in touch today. She
valued all the friends she had made,
both in this country and abroad.
Beryl presented her with a cheque
for £100 for her charity which is
Marie Curie, and a pot of flowers
and bulbs as a present for herself. The Dressing Up Box, its 4th birthday on October 19th. Sue ' I have had a wonderful 4
Our Barn Dance was enjoyed by all Attleborough has recently been On proud display was the trophy, years, the time has just flown
participants and raised £208 for our awarded the title of 'The Best refreshments and a large spider past'
charities. On 4th December we will New Party and Costume Shop' by cake, supplied by Diamond The Dressing Up Box has grown
have a stall at the Queen's Hall, The British Costume Cakes of Attleborough, helped to from nothing, an outlet for Sue's
selling absolutely anything and Association. Owner Sue Day make the day extra special for needlework skills to one of the
everything, from homemade cakes (pictured) is thrilled by this customers, who were given the best Fancy Dress shop in the
and jams to books and jigsaws, so national recognition, she said ' it chance to enter a drawer to area, and as her recent win has
come along and pick up a bargain is a great achievement to be receive the cost of their costume shown one that the British
and enjoy a cup of coffee upstairs chosen by members of the hire back. Costume Association thinks
afterwards as usual on Farmers' Costume Association for such a 'The birthday party was Sue‘s deserves the title of Best New
Market Day. On 8th December at 12 wonderful award'. way of saying thank you to all Party and Costume Shop 2010.
noon at the Queen's Hall, we have The Dressing Up Box celebrated my friends and customers' said
our Christmas Lunchtime Concert
with June Garratt and friends - just
£5 which includes a turkey roll with
salad and a mince pie - tickets Wayland Women in Businesses
available from Mullengers. This is
always a popular event so buy your
tickets early. We look forward to & The Lady From Mars
seeing you at both these events.
Jenny Simons Clare Martinsen, from Breckland were pleased to see a number of Carolyn Emblen from House of
Orchard, was our guest speaker in employed and retired ladies this Colour.
June and what an inspiring lady. time and a number of ladies who All are welcome. Ticket sales will

Learning at Clare gave up a successful career

at confectioners Mars and has
taken her grandmothers recipes for
are seeking to return to the work
place.
Our festive lunch will be held at
be circulated in the next few
weeks. For further details please
contact: Jane Richards 01953
Wayland homemade soft drinks and turned
these drinks into a successful
Broom Hall Saham Toney on
Thursday 2nd December 12 - 2pm
850810 sales@janerichards.co.uk
or Clare Rowling 01953 488993

House
business, supplying Cafes, Coffee which includes a hot lunch, a glass enquiries@rowlingbuilding.co.uk
Shops and many National trust of wine and tea and coffee served or Ann Lusher
venues. Clare will be speaking at with mince pies. We are pleased to lusherann@yahoo.co.uk
The English for Speakers of other
the Shaping Norfolk‘s Future announce our guest The Hare &
Languages (ESOL) class has been
running now for five weeks is going
Conference to be held on Friday
3rd December at the Theatre
speaker is Jan Godfrey
MBE. Jan will be talking
Barrel Hotel
well. Nine people have now enrolled
Royal Norwich. about her career starting Originally an old manor house dating back
on the Beginners IT course, which is
The Wayland Women in business in education and resulting to 1806, we offer 16 en-suite bedrooms,
now full. Anyone else interested in
meetings are open to everyone. in her MBE. There will 10 of which have been converted from
this course should contact Jan at
Although most attendees are be two exhibitors, the old Coach House Stables
Wayland House (01953 880202) as
running businesses, please do not Suzanne Lake Handmade
there will be a new series of 6
let this deter you from coming. We from the Heart and ‘Noted for Good Food’
classes starting in January. Like the
BBC we are trying to make sure that Extensive Bar & Restaurant Menu
everyone has an opportunity to ‗get bookings advisable at all times
on line‘. A relaxing Conservatory ~ Beer Garden
There has been very little take-up Patio ~ Bar ~ Restaurant
for the CLAIT (Computer Literacy Games Room ~ Car Park ~ Courtyard
and Information Technology)
Courses which lead to a certificate
Try our Traditional
and which will be led by Poultec Sunday Lunch
Training Centre, These will now Discounts for large bookings always negotiable
take place after Christmas so if you Children Always Welcome
are interested, please contact Jan as
soon as possible. Places on each 80 Brandon Road, Watton.
course are limited to five.
Tel: 01953 882752
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 20
Watton Ballroom Capturing our The Westminster View
Dancing Association
Queen’s Hall, Watton Wayland Heritage - The Big Society in Mid Norfolk
8 to 11.00 Admission £3.50
forthcoming events
Saturday November 6th
DEREHAM & We have had a number of
interesting and exciting events
DISTRICT during the last few months,
CAT ADOPTION CENTRE culminating most recently with
Hoe Road, Longham, Dereham NR19 2RP the exhibition in the Queen‘s
Rehoming Cats and Hall on October 16th – Wayland
in Image and Sound which
Providing Advice & Help caught the imaginations of about
With Neutering 300 people who visited during
OPEN 7 Days a the day. It was an excellent
event with a wide variety of
Week 11am to 3pm displays, presentations and films
on display.
Telephone . . . We now turn to the final months
01362 687 919 of 2010 with a series of events
planned which we hope
Wayland residents will find
CHARITY STALLS IN AID enjoyable and interesting.
October will end with an outdoor
OF UGANDAN ORPHANS session on Field-walking and
Exploring Earthworks. This will
Bric-a-brac Books, CDs, toys, cakes, raffle, take place on Saturday October
tombola, tea and coffee. Admission Free. 30th and will be led by Brian
Cushion, surveyor and author of
Saturday 27th November, 2010 'Earthworks of Norfolk. There are
St. Mary's Church Hall, only 12 places available, so please
email sue@wayland.org.uk to book
Church St , Attleborough a place.
10.00 - 11.30 am The next meeting for the focus
Please contact the Websters on group is on November 2nd.
01953453110 for more information On the 3rd of November
or visit www.ugandasupportfund.co.uk Andrew Rogerson will talk
about Archaeological Finds at
Wayland House at 7.30pm. This
should be an informative
evening focusing on some of
those items we all come across
from time to time, either by
digging them up in our gardens
or stumbling across them when
out walking.
On November 10th Bronwen
Tyler will be sharing her
experiences of how she got
started on researching local
history and some of the
unexpected paths it has taken
her. We hope this will form part
of a series where some of those
who have become involved in
the project will each pass on
their experiences, which should
be entertaining but also helpful
to others getting started.
On November 17th at Wayland
House we have the first in a
series of sessions on story-
telling, focusing on the myths
and legends of our area. This
first session will be a planning
and preparation day in readiness
for a training workshop on
researching and telling stories
on November 24th at Wayland
House, led by teacher and
storyteller Theo Fanthorpe.
Theo was for many years at Holt
Hall, the residential centre
owned by Norfolk County
Council, where his dramatic
storytelling and knowledge of
Norfolk myths and legends was
enjoyed by all ages. The final
session in this series will be an
evening of storytelling with
Theo on December 2nd. We
hope those who have been
taking part will have developed
the skills and confidence to
share the stories from their
particular village. We want this
to be a fun and relaxed evening
and there will be no pressure on
those overcome by shyness! The
venue is still to be finalised for
this session and will be
announced later.
This will complete the formal
programme for 2010 but we
have more planned for the New
Year so look out for adverts or
contact Sue White at Wayland
House for details.
All events are open to all those
living in the Wayland
community and are free of
charge. However, because space
is necessarily limited at some
events, please contact Sue to
book a place and avoid
disappointment. We look
forward to meeting new as well
as familiar faces.
The Capturing our Wayland
Heritage Project is a Wayland
Partnership Project funded by
the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Contact details are: Sue White
Tel 01953 880216 or e-mail
sue@wayland.org.uk or call in
to Wayland House reception.
During the Conservative Party
Conference last month David
Cameron outlined his vision of the
Big Society.
A lot was made of the Big Society
when it was launched during the
General Election campaign, during
which it became too defined by
Michael Gove‘s ‗Free School‘s‘
policy, which is just one part of it.
Repeatedly political journalists
asked ‗what does it actually mean?
Why should people have to set up
their own school? Indeed, do
people even want to set up their
own school?‘
But the essence of the Big Society
is not new and applies far beyond
schools; it is a simple idea that the
Government should stop trying to
do everything and we, as citizens,
should be able and encouraged to
take responsibility for more
aspects of our lives and our
society. Or, as David Cameron
succinctly put it, it is about
transferring ―state power to people
power.‖
It is not a new idea. It was
described by the then Prime
Minister 25 years ago in 1986 as
―a Society in which people do not
leave it to the person next door to
do the job. It is one in which
people help each other. Where
parents put their children first.
Friends look out for the
neighbours, families for their
elderly members. That is the
starting point for care and
support—the unsung efforts of
millions of individuals, the selfless
work of thousands upon thousands
of volunteers.‖ Prime Minister
Thatcher went on to explain that
‗society‘ (a term commonly used
at the time in political debate) is
actually nothing more than a
collection of active neighbours,
families, and communities, which
is where the infamous ‗ no such
thing as society‘ quote comes
from. The Big Society is the
insistence by David Cameron that
a new generation of Conservatives
cares and is determined to replace
Big Government with a Big
Society.
It is about championing the spirit
of ‗self help‘ that has underpinned
Norfolk‘s communities for
hundreds of years. During the
election campaign I saw an elderly
lady cutting her garden hedge. She
finished her own hedge, and then
went and cut the hedge around the
street sign further down the road.
Nobody paid her to do it. She
wasn‘t required to do it. But she
was proud of where she lived and
wanted it to look nice, so she took
on the responsibility of
maintaining the hedge herself
rather than waiting for somebody
else to do it. If everybody did that
–taking a bit more responsibility-
wouldn‘t the world be a better
place?
The truth is that many of us have
been worried about a decline in
our society in Britain for many
years. We worry about antisocial
behaviour, welfare dependency
and family breakdowns. About a
generation of youngsters brought
up without the respect, self-
discipline and values this country
News
George Freeman is the
Conservative MP for Mid-
Norfolk. The object of this
column is to help readers stay
in touch with their MP - it is not
intended as a reflection of the
political views of anyone
associated in any way with the
Mid Norfolk Times.
used to be admired for. We were
told that by giving more money
and more power to the
Government, these problems
would go away. But they never
did. In fact they often got worse.
So instead of Government
pretending it has all the answers
and can solve every problem, this
Government is trusting the people.
Instead of taking your power and
money, this Government is letting
you decide what problems need
solving and how to solve them.
Taking control from the dusty
corridors of Whitehall and
‗quangos‘ and giving it back to
people, volunteer groups and
neighbourhoods.
It is about helping community
groups take over derelict pubs or
start community services for their
local community. It is about
encouraging – not letting daft
Health and Safety Rules prevent –
local voluntary self-help in
communities. It is about helping
and celebrating the 300,000 people
in the UK who give up time every
month to volunteer as a school
governor. It is about making the
system more responsive and
receptive to more of this.
This Government wants to give
you more power. More power to
control the treatments you receive
through the NHS, more
information about how much your
local authority is spending on
things, the chance to elect your
Police chief and decide what local
problems need tackling.
Nobody expects you to go and set
up a school tomorrow. Most
people are far too busy or simply
don‘t want to. But that misses the
point, the Big Society isn‘t about
forcing anybody to do anything, it
is about the Government not
preventing you from doing it in the
first place.
As David Cameron said, ―It‘s not
government abdicating its role, it
is government changing its role.‖
This Government trusts you to
know what is best, and to take
responsibility where you can. I, for
one, think this is a welcome new
approach.
George Freeman
www.georgefreeman.co.uk
Church Times and News

Great Hockham What a Concert! It‟s your busy time

The Pete Oxborough/Phil Brook Jazz quartet gave an
Christmas Tree Festival exhilarating concert in Breckles church on Friday 17th
September. They, together with Bob Dore and Ivars Galeneiks, of year, Vicar!
Enjoy the spirit of Christmas in this lovely village church, where
30 Christmas trees will be sponsored and decorated by local and are fine musician who performed with such talented enthusiasm
national charities. Come along, make a small donation and add to a full church. Breckles church PCC thanks them and all who By the Rev. Geoff Garrett, an important aspect of the
your support. Entry is free! came and supported the evening which resulted in the sum of Vicar of St Mary’s, Watton. meaning of the word ‗worship‘
There will be light lunches available and afternoon teas. There is £804 being raised for church funds. As you read this article you and is a reminder of the
disabled access and a toilet and there is parking for cars but mini- will have, at the most, 8 weeks appropriate response we give
buses should be pre-booked by e-mail at: until Christmas, but it could be to God, and helps to put
greathockhamchurch@gmail.com Watton Churches Together as little as 3 or 4. Many people everything into perspective.
Opening times: Thursday 25th November 12Noon - 6pm; Friday will no doubt mention the Thanksgiving is not purely a
Service Calendar for November usual ‗It‘s your busy time of one way activity. Our attitude
26th 12Noon - 6pm; Saturday 27th 11am - 6pm; Sunday 28th St. Mary’s Church, Watton
12Noon - 6pm. Not to be missed! year, Vicar‘. However, it of thanksgiving should inspire
1st, 3rd & 4th Wednesday at 9.30am Holy Communion seems to me that one busy us to be more generous
2nd Wednesday Morning Worship
time rolls into another. A brief ourselves. When we realise
Breckles, Caston, Great Hockham, Church Office opens Tues, Wed & Thurs 9am-1pm respite over New Year – just how much we have to be
Griston, Merton, Stow Bedon, Thompson Tel: 01953 881252 margaret@churchadm.freeserve.co.uk hopefully, taking in a Football thankful for we realise also
www.stmaryswatton.org League match on the way - just how much we have to give
Worship Calendar November 2010 Sun 7th 8.00am Holy Communion
rolls on into Epiphany, the and probably we cannot be
nd
Tuesday 2 November—All Souls Day 10.00am Holy Communion Week of Prayer for Christian generous enough to adequately
7:00 pm All Souls‘ Day: Service to Remember Departed 7.00pm Informal Worship in the Church Room Unity, Ash Wednesday, Lent, respond to all that we have
Loved Ones Thompson Sat 13th 12 noon Remembrance in the Churchyard Holy Week and Easter received. The gift of life, the
Sun 14th Remembrance Sunday
Sunday 7th November (usually a busier time than gift of love, the gift of
8.00am Holy Communion Christmas!). This is followed friendship and in our worship
10:30 am United Holy Communion Caston 10.00am Holy Communion within a few weeks by and lives lived out day by day,
th
Thursday 11 November—Armistice Day 2.30pm Act of Remembrance at the Ascension Day, Pentecost and it is important to remember
10:55 am Act of Remembrance Caston War Memorial War Memorial followed by Trinity Sunday before moving God‘s other special gifts of
procession to St. Mary’s Church for
Sunday 14th November—Remembrance Sunday Services on through the summer and on faith and deep inner peace.
3.00pm Service of Remembrance towards Harvest, All Saints‘ This time of year is busy for
10:00 am Merton (for Merton, Thompson, Tottington)
Sun 21st 8.00am Holy Communion Day and Remembrance all members of our
10:45 am Great Hockham
10.00am Holy Communion
10:55 am Caston (for Breckles, Caston, Stow Bedon) weekend, which is followed community, schools and shop
7.00pm Informal Worship in the Church Room quickly by Advent and Hey staff, council employees and
6:30 pm Griston
Sun 28th 8.00am Holy Communion Presto, it‘s Christmas again! all who provide local services
Sunday 21st November —Feast Of Christ The King 10.00am All Age Worship No rest for the wicked, eh??!! as well as being busy in our
10:20 am Sunday Club Gt. Hockham 12 noon Holy Baptism
One common theme through personal lives, and it will get
(ages 4-11, church room)
Watton Methodist Church all of the year is that of busier over the next few
10:30 am United Holy Communion Gt. Hockham
Every Wednesday the Church is open for quiet reflection and ‗Thanksgiving‘. Christmas and weeks. Through all of that
Sunday 28th November—Advent 1 prayer between 10am & 12 Noon It‟s your quiet place. birthdays are particular times busyness, don‘t forget to be
9:00 am Holy Communion (BCP) Merton At 10.30 there is a half-hour Midweek Service in the Large when we traditionally say thankful for all you have and
10:20 am Sunday Clu b Griston Vestry led by the Minister or a Church Member. thank you for gifts received be as generous as you can.
(ages 4-11, ‗Manorcourt‘ Day Centre, Manor Rd.) www.wattonmethodist.btik.com and it is important to be ‗Gratitude unlocks the
10:30 am United Holy Communion Griston Sun 7th 10.45am Rev B Winner Holy Communion thankful to others for all that fullness of life. It turns what
(with Advent Lessons & Carols) 6.30pm Mr Donald Fisher they both give to us and do for we have into enough, and
Sun 14th Remembrance Sunday us. I wonder, though, how more. It turns denial into
Sunday 5th DECEMBER—Advent 2 10.45am Mr A Warby often do we remember to give acceptance, chaos to order,
10:30 am United Holy Communion Stow Bedon 2.30pm Town Remembrance Service thanks to God for all of his confusion to clarity. It can turn
5:00 pm Candlelit Lessons and Carols Breckles at the War Memorial followed by gifts to us. An important a meal into a feast, a house
3.00pm Service at St Mary‘s Church aspect of all of the week by into a home, a stranger into a
For all our parishes… 6.30pm Rev Daphne Lloyd week worship which takes friend. Gratitude makes sense
‘The WAY’ Youth Group (ages 11+) Sun 21st 10.45am Mrs Aileen Fox place in all of our churches of our past, brings peace for
Sunday 7th November, 7-8:00 pm, Rectory 6.30pm Rev Valerie Spencer locally is giving thanks to today, and creates a vision for
Sunday 21st November, 7-8:00 pm, Rectory Sun 28th Advent Sunday God. Indeed thanksgiving is tomorrow.‘ (Melody Beattie)
Pram Services 10.45am Mr s Sonia Mann
For parents or carers with children aged 0-5 2.30pm Service at Great Ellingham
Wednesdays, 10:15 am Caston Primary School Hall Roman Catholic Community
Enquiries: The Revd. Bob Nichols: Tel.: (01953) 483222; Each Sat 5.30pm Mass at Watton Methodist Church
Email: revbobnichols@gmail.com Pentecostal Church, Dereham Road, Watton
Children have their own programme during
the Sunday morning service
Sun 7th 10.30am ―The Early Ministry of Jesus—
Rejected at Nazareth‖
Sun 14th Remembrance Sunday
10.30am ―The Early Ministry of Jesus‖ -
The Move to Capernaum‖
Sun 21st 10.30am Family Service
6.00pm Prayer and Praise
Sun 28th 10.30am ―The Early Ministry of Jesus—
Peter‘s Mother-in-law Healed
St. Nicholas’ Church, Ashill

Sun 7th
Tuesdays at 10.00am Said Holy Communion
9.30am Morning Worship and Holy Baptism Prayer of the Heart
Sun 14th
Sun 21st
9.30am
9.30am
Morning Worship & Act of Remembrance
All Age Worship
Activities at Watton Methodist Church
Comprising Christian Meditation and Bi Monthly Worship.
Sun 28th 9.30am Holy Communion
For further details ring Joyce 01953 886674
St. George’s Church, Saham Toney
Sun 14th 11.00am Morning Worship & Act of Remembrance
Sun 21st 11.00am All Age Worship Has Your PC Slipped a
Sun 28th 11.00am Holy Communion
Disc or Netted a virus?
S.S. Peter & Paul’s Church, Carbrooke
Sun 14th 10.30am Holy Communion & Act of Remembrance Is your Mouse trapped
Sun 21st 10.30am All Age Worship and wont work now?
Sun 28th 10.30am Holy Communion
6.30pm Group ‗Darkness to Light‘ Advent Service
For all manner of
St John the Evangelist Church, Ovington
Thursdays at 8.00am Said Holy Communion computer repairs and support
All Saints Church, Threxton Sun 7th 10.30am Benefice Service of Holy Communion
Call Julian Horn on 01953 881885
Remembrance Service Sunday 14th November Sun 14th 9.30am Morning Worship & Act of Remembrance
At 10.30am with Watton Silver Band Sun 28th 9.30am Lay Led All Age Worship “Silver Surfer” support a speciality!
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 22
In Attleborough? Call in THE
for a Coffee & Chat OVINGTON
At St Mary’s Church Hall, Behind St Mary’s, Attleborough
Saturdays 10am to 11.30 - Come and have a coffee,
tea or maybe a scone and most importantly a chat.
Holly Court Bazaar
Holly Court, Surrogate Street, Attleborough
Thursday 18th November from 10am
25p entrance (to include tea or coffee)
Stalls to include Bric-a-brac, books, cakes, raffle, tombola
All proceeds to go to Holly Court Social Club
There will also be a stall for Holly Court Knitting Circle who
are raising money for EACH, Quidenham Hospice
Everyone Welcome
HJC Ltd Motor Engineers
Servicing & MOT preparation to all makes of
modern cars & light commercials
Tyres, Exhausts, & Batteries supplied and fitted
Courtesy cars available
Ask for Steve at: 5 Linmore Court Threxton Rd
Industrial Estate Watton
Tel: 01953 889924
CROWER
Evenin tew orl
onnya, hoop yer
orl farin well an
hev got yer goose
greese reddy cos
thas goonta git
suffin cold
d‘rekly.
Cor I hed a rare
frite yisdy, I wos a
sittin listnin tew
Reardio Norfolk,
hoopin ter hare
thet Norrije hed
scored whin
Horry came bustin in tha dor, orl offa
muckswet, he say ―Sid, yer gotta cum n gissus a
hand‖ I say ―Woffor?‖ he say ―Niver mind thet,
best yew cum rite now‖
I wos suffin mad, cos thar wos gonna be a
penatally fer Norridje, but Horry fanged howld
o me lug a hossed me owtside afore I got my
boots on.
―Cum on Sid‖ he say ―Yew gotta see this‖ he
say ―Never sin northin like it in orl my daze‖
Well I clored his hand orf my lug,cos thet felt
like thet ware cummin away from my skull.
He waor a teerin along hollerin ―Cum yew on
Sid, doon‘t kip hangin abowt‖ I say ― Howld yar
slarva yer owld fewl, I hent got my boots on yit‖
Well I follerd him alonga his gardin parth, an he
stood thar orl offa sheark, with his datty ole
finger pointin to his owld fork stickin owter his
tearter plot. ―Goo yew on Sid‖ he say ―Hevva a
goo a liftin thet wun up‖ Silly owld fule I thort,
wos he up tew. So I gotta howld of the handle
and pulled it owta tha grownd, no trubble.
―No no no Sid‖ he say ―Stik har back innagin
and lift har up‖ I wos gitten sorta ror abowt
Horry‘s gearmes so I shuvved thet ole fork rite
in and tryed to tarn the mold oova. Blarst thet
oont budge, I thort my back wus a gooin hoem.
―Wot tha hell yew got unner hear Horry,
musta bin wunna tha ole tree roots?‖ Horry he
say ― Ile git nutha fork‖ he wunt gorn long an
he cum back with a grat ole beet fork. He
shuvved it in alonga mine and he say ―Rite
Sid, wen I say tree, lift‖ ―Tree‖ he yelled. We
both onnus giv a grunt and heaved. Goo ta
hell, tha ole forks ware a bendin an I thort
they wos gooin ta bust, next we wos on our
backsides an the air was full o tearters. I
nivver sin tearters that big and thare ware
hunnerts onnem, musta bin a whool barrer
lood.
―Thar yew are Sid‖ say Horry orl reddy to be
a selebrity. ―Wot dew yew thinka them spuds
then Sid?‖ Bet yew ent nivver sin the likes o
them hev yew?‖
Well I hatter agree with him, they wos a
masterful crop an I tolled him so.
―Howld yew hard, Sid‖ he say ―Thas oonly
wun root, Ire gotta nuther tew rows yit, are
yew gunna gi us a hand?‖
Thet took us orl tha rest o Satdy and moost o
Sundy ter git his tearters up an in his shid, we
run owt o sacks an Horry hatta hoss orf an git
sum more from ole missus S, whoo kip hosses
and hev plinty ole sacks wot thar feed cum in.
Reckun we hed a good tun o tearters orfa tha
tew rows.
Coss Horry ent stopped torkin abowt his grate
ole spuds, he wos a walkin up an down tha
lottments on Monda tellin tha story to orl wot
wos daft enough to listin to him runnin on.
Dint hev tha hart to tell him thet my teartas wos
so big I hadda git boy Geff wi his JCB ter git
mine owta tha grownd.
Wun thing abowt Ovinton peeple we allus tell
tha trewth!!!!!.
Member wot he say, keep yer hans orff uther
wimmin if yewre got wunner yer own. And dew
yew keep a troshin!
Boy Sid
There‟s a Will
By Alex Slade
We often only think about making a
Will when we are planning a holiday
or, sadly, when someone passes away.
The truth is we should all make a Will
to ensure that our entire estate passes
down to the ones we want it to go to.
Without a Will you are leaving it up to
the law to dictate to whom your estate
goes to and indeed what percentage
they are entitled to receive.
Making a Will is not as daunting as it
may seem, but it is very personal.
Many of us put off making a Will
because we don‘t want to think of a
time when we won‘t be here any
longer, which is understandable, but
consider it like an insurance policy; it
is there for when you need it!
Many people are under the impression
that assets automatically pass to a
spouse, but this is not necessarily the
case. If you die, and have not made a
Will, then your estate would pass
under the intestacy rules. Joint
ownership on bank accounts, for
example, would pass to the survivor;
however anything in your sole name,
including property, would form your
estate and be divided as under these
rules.
The intestacy rules are quite complex
but, generally speaking, if you are
married with children then the spouse
receives a statutory legacy of £250,000
plus a life interest in half of the
remaining capital, the children would
receive half of the remaining capital
absolutely and upon the death of the
spouse would receive the remaining
capital. This could cause concern if the
family home is worth more than
£250,000 since the statutory legacy
could leave the survivor not owning
the home outright.
Hackers, Tackers
and Stuffers
On 27th September 15 members
participated in an all-day appliqué
workshop led once again by tutor
Shirley Bloomfield. The following
evening on 28th September at our
regular meeting Rachel King,
probably better known locally for her
floristry skills, entertained us with
her machine embroidery. This goes
far beyond stitching on fabric,
although there were stunning
examples of this, Rachel uses many
different materials including paper
normally associated with legal
documents, wire, paint and
something which sounded like cotton
wool paper. Articles shown included
pictures; three dimensional
ornamental objets and bags suitable
for shopping (although far too
beautiful for something so mundane),
sewing kits and to go with smart
evening wear. She proved to be not
only a talented artist and
craftswoman but also a witty an
entertaining speaker. I hope to have
photographs of her work to display
on our Blog. Thank you Rachel, do
come back!
On Monday 25th October we are
having a Linus workshop and on
26th there will be a working
demonstration constructing
News
It is especially important to make a
Will if you have a partner but are not
married. It is a misconception that the
partner would be entitled as a
‗common law wife/husband‘.
The intestacy rules make no direct
provision for a child to inherit anything
from a deceased step parent, even if
treated as a ‗child of the family‘. There
are also tax planning opportunities
available under a Will and, as of
December 2005, same sex couples
who have registered a Civil
Partnership will have the same tax
saving opportunities as married
couples.
It is extremely important to think about
appointing guardians for your children
if they are under 18 years old. If you
fail to appoint guardians in your Will
and your children are orphaned before
they reach 18, the courts will appoint
guardians instead, but they won't
necessarily choose the people that you
would have preferred to take care of
your children. If when you pass away
the other parent of your children
survives, the surviving parent will
normally continue to have full
responsibility for the children.
However, if neither parent survives
then the guardians you have appointed
will take on the responsibility for your
children. By appointing guardians you
can ensure that your children are
looked after by the people that you
have chosen as the best people for the
job.
Why leave it to chance when you can
have it all sewn up in a Will?
Alex Slade is the dedicated Elderly
Client Consultant at
Salena Dawson & Co. Solicitors
20 Thetford Road Watton
01953 883535
Christmas gift pockets. Plans are also
under discussion for our annual
Christmas Lunch.
We continue to meet at the Christian
Community Centre in Watton High
Street on the second and fourth
Tuesdays in each month apart from
August (although I suspect we will
not be there on 28th December) from
7 to 9 p.m. Further information
including a calendar of events is
available on our Blog at http://
htsqgroup.blogspot.com and through
me, Sue Hart on 01362 822536.
News
Attleborough businesses support youth in sport
Two local businesses in Attleborough
have sponsored the Norfolk United
(Attleborough Branch) Netball Club by
purchasing kit for the U12 Team
(Diamonds). This team attends training
every Friday and play in the Norwich
Junior Winter League which takes
place at Hellesdon Community Centre.
Diamonds were successful in their first
match winning 5/3.
Roger Thompson and Laura Myers
(middle and left in the photo) of Roger
Thompson Mortgage Solutions made a
generous contribution to the new
dresses, which have been embroidered
with the company logo. Pete Venables
(to the right in the photo) of
Springfields Flooring bought two sets
of patch bibs and also sponsored the
Attleborough Branch Award at the
Richmond Park Golf Club
Ladies Section
The last month has seen a few of the
main trophies of the Ladies section
being competed for, also the
culmination some of the knockout
competitions. The October medal was
very poorly attended due the Ryder
Cup being carried over to a fourth day.
Two ladies played the competition and
Julie Ellis came in with the best score
(108-22-86).
The Granny Cup is always fiercely
contested, a real favourite with the
ladies, and this year the honours went
to Yvonne Shaw, who scored 33 points.
The Secretary's Salver was another
trophy competition decided this month,
and Julie Ellis was again the winner
with 31 points.
32 ladies played in the Invitation Day
competition on a sunny day. The
winning score was 68points by
Richmond Park member Maureen
Flack and her guest Lorna Burroughs
from Diss.
The annual Ladies v Seniors is always
a popular event in the calendar, and this
Watton Rotary focus on the crocus
―Focus on the Crocus‖ is another
Rotary initiative to draw attention to
our international ―Thanks for Life‖
campaign to eradicate the world of
poliomyelitis. Watton Rotary Club is
one of hundreds of Rotary Clubs in
Great Britain and Ireland to take up
the challenge of planting thousands
of ―Ruby Giant‖ crocus bulbs in
appropriate locations to draw
attention to Rotary International‘s
continuing ―Thanks for Life‖
campaign to finally eliminate polio.
Rotary first started the polio
eradication campaign, through the
vaccination of children, in 1985. At
that time, polio was endemic in 125
countries, and the aim was for every
child in the world to be vaccinated
against the disease by the new
millennium; polio is specific to
humans and can only be transmitted
by human contact, so, with every
child vaccinated, the disease dies out.
The target date proved elusive due to
the difficulties of access in remote
areas, and safety in areas of conflict.
However, by 2005 only 4 areas
remained where polio was endemic.
In 2007, the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation challenged Rotary
International Foundation to match
Norfolk United Awards Dinner, where
his wife Chrissie presented the Award
to Lucy Temple. Other nominees
Emily Cocker and Hannah Blades were
presented with certificates.
Springfields Flooring 07788 125369
Roger Thompson Mortgage Solutions
01953 455222 / 07958 900076 /
The club, team and parents would like
to thank both businesses for their
valued support.
Adding to our successful training
sessions 4 till 5pm for 11 to 14 year
olds and 5 till 6pm for 7 to 12 year
olds, we now run a session from 6 till
7pm for 14 year olds to senior players
of any ability. Please contact myself,
Fay Manning for more information on
faymanning78@gmail.com
or telephone 01953 483691.
year was no exception. Everyone
enjoyed their round, followed by a
meal of ham, egg and chips, and the
winning pair of Rosie Sutterby & Dave
Packard came in with an excellent 39
points.
The performance of the month came
from Barbara Coverdale & Simon
Jessup who paired up to win, for the
second year in succession, the Mixed
Link competition held at Caldecott
Hall, scoring a fantastic 41 points. This
is a yearly mixed greensome
competition between 9 clubs, with 6
couples from each club participating.
The results of the club knockout
competitions are as follows:
Singles KO Winner: Mrs Maureen
Flack
Singles Plate Winner: Mrs Margaret
Broadbent
Doubles KO Winners: Mrs Jan Bone &
Mrs Dilys Gibbs
Doubles Plate Winners: Mrs Lesley
Matthews & Mrs Maureen Flack
their offer of cash (some £200M) to
complete the task. We rose, and
continue to rise, to the challenge.
Thus the ―Thanks for Life‖ initiative
came about and Rotary, working with
The Eden Project, the International
Flower Bulb Centre, the National
Trust, and Learning through
Landscapes, the idea of the mass
planting of purple crocuses was
conceived as a means of promoting
awareness of what we are doing.
Why crocuses? Firstly because they
come in purple which is the colour of
the dye that children‘s little fingers
are dipped into to show they have
received the vaccine. Secondly,
crocuses bloom in February, so,
hopefully, some 5 million flowers
will be evident throughout Britain
and Ireland in time for Rotary Day,
February 23rd.
For our part, Watton Rotary acquired
10,000 bulbs and arranged helpers
from schools and parishes to plant
them during October in suitable
locations in Watton and around local
villages. Pictured right are some of
the young people from Breckles
planting their crocuses beside the
church wall at Breckles.
On a market day, we sought
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 23
Richmond Well done
Park Seniors Conrad
The competitive season for the Seniors Congratulations to Conrad
came to a close on Oct 7th with the Sellers on passing his
Autumn Cup - the main competition of kickboxing Black Belt 1st
the year- this year the winner was Alan Dan recently after a very
Dunn with 35 points,second was Terry hard grading consisting of
Hannon and third was Roy basic blocks basic punches
Fleming.Nearest the pin winners were then advance hand combos
Roy Skeldon,Rod Whyatt and Jeff then hand and foot combos
Sutton. The best front nine and back then on to kicks ranging
nine score prizes were won by Phil from basic to very advanced
Barrall and Bill Evans. In the evening jumping kicks, bag work,
the Annual prize giving dinner was held self-defence, sparring and
at the Club. Approx 70 members and then fitness at the end.
guests were treated to an excellent We are pleased to say
dinner hosted by the Seniors Captain Conrad did come out
Peter Ford. The main prize-winners victorious although very
were: Winter League - Roy Fleming. tired! Well done Conrad
Winter Knockout - Mike Hosier. Spring long time coming.
Meetiing - Tony Bonner. Summer If you are interested in
singles knockout training in kickboxing please
- Phil Barrall. Summer Plate - John come to the Watton Youth
Crowdy. The Memorial Bowl - Dave Centre Thursday evenings
Flack. 6.30pm-7.30pm for juniors
From now on the Seniors will only be aged 6-15 and the adults Holme Hale Pavilion
involved in friendly competitions over class for 16+ 7.30- 8.30.
the winter months before the new
season proper starts in March.
Contact Matt 01953 889313
Christmas
Bazaar
Saturday 27th November
10am - 3pm
sponsorship at 20p
per bulb for a small
Come and join us
number to be for some festive fun
planted close to Craft stalls ~ Grand Draw
Watton town
centre, this raised
Cake stall ~ Refreshments
£64 for the cause. Live Music ~ Games
So, come February, Santa with a difference
look out for carpets
of purple, and
Free Admission
remember the
cause!
We have often A PRELUDE TO
reported on the
problems
providing
of
clean
CHRISTMAS
water, in third An Evening of Music and Word -
world countries and Something for Everyone
in disaster areas, in
particular where Karen Harries (Mezzo Soprano)
there have been Christopher Speake (Tenor)
floods such as in accompanied by
Pakistan – there 1.5 Claire McArthur
million people with
remain homeless and without clean Tickets for the brilliant humourist Cynthia Gosling
water. Our ‗ShelterBox‘ member, entertainer, Winston the Singing
Paul Weatherill, has acquired an Farmer, are now available from 7.30pm Saturday 27th November
AquaBox, and is arranging Adcocks; and pre-booked tickets can at Stow Bedon Parish Church
demonstration of Water Aid be collected from there. This is a Tickets £10 inc Refreshments & Glass of
initiatives to interested groups and in Sunday afternoon show, on 21st Wine from Beryl Warren Wayside Farm
schools. He can be contacted on November, and tickets cost £6
01953 884213 Martin Anscombe 01953 483375
Mid-Norfolk Times Page 24 Sports News

Piggy French and Jakata in the top 20 at FUNERAL DIRECTORS

SERVING WATTON & DISTRICT

the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games W.C. LITTLEPROUD & SON
of BRADENHAM
‘A genuine, family owned & run business
offering a caring, traditional & affordable service‟

Written estimates always provided Memorials supplied

Personal supervision Pre-Paid Funeral Plans available
Arrangements may be discussed in the privacy of your own home

Tel: (01760) 440269 (24 hrs)

Established over 60 years

Picture by David Burton

Norfolk born and bred, and reigning
European Eventing Silver Medallist,
Piggy French helped boost her claim to a
place at the London 2012 Olympics with
a top 20 finish at the recent Alltech FEI
World Equestrian Games (WEG) in
Kentucky.
Norfolk event rider and Leicestershire
based Piggy rode Jakata, a horse
belonging to her father Wally French and
Michel Underwood, whom she only
started competing in March this year
Piggy comes from a horsey family (her
Mother, Kate, competed to Advanced
level) and has been riding for as long as she
can remember. The youngest of three girls,
she hunted and went through Pony Club as
a child but didn‘t really take up eventing
until she was 15, despite being a self-
confessed ‗eventing geek‘: ‗I used to
wander around all the big events with my
camera and I really admired Mary King – I
was completely in awe of her and found it
very weird when I started competing
against her.‘
While still based at her family home in
Norfolk, Piggy‘s parents, Kate and Wally
supported her decision to event after it
became apparent that nothing other than a
career with horses was an option. She
never had ‗ready made‘ horses though
and worked hard to secure rides in the
early days.
Piggy‘s first big wins came in 1996 with
her Junior horse, Lloyds Gamble, but it was
Rebecca Finch‘s Flintlock II, ‗a proper
hunter type and not put on this earth to do a
4*‘ who was her real breakthrough horse
and who took Piggy to her first Badminton
in 2003. He was also her team gold medal
winning horse at the Young Rider European
Championships in 2001 where they finished
fourth individually.
From there, Piggy‘s eventing career went
from strength to strength and she is now
established as one of the country‘s leading
riders and a member of the UK‘s World
Class Squad.
Speaking about her latest performance
Piggy said ―This was a good experience for
us as we‘re still getting to know one another
and coming here was completely unknown
territory,‖ said Piggy, who didn‘t think she
would make the Games after her top horse,
Some Day Soon, injured himself in May.
But Jakata proved a more than able deputy
and performed consistently well over the
course of the four days to finish in 16th
place; less than seven penalties behind
William Fox-Pitt, who won Individual
Silver and led the British team to Team
Gold – their first in 16 years.
While many experienced combinations
crashed out on the cross-country phase –
most notably two of the hotly-tipped
German quartet – Piggy and Jakata posted a
superb round for just 1.6 time penalties.
―He got very excited before we set out, but
I managed to get him in a rhythm and keep
it. He‘s a lovely horse who has it all,‖ said
Piggy.
An unlucky pole down in the final show
jumping phase relegated the pair from 12th
to 16th.
The overall individual placings were;
Michael Jung (GER) Gold, William Fox-
Pitt (GBR) in Silver position and Andrew
Nicholson (NZL) Bronze. Pippa Funnell
(GBR) 5th place and Mary King (GBR)
came 6th.
The World Class Programme
incorporates the three Olympic sports of
Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping and
the Paralympic sport of Para-Equestrian
Dressage. It comprises the Performance
and Development programmes plus the
Equine Pathway. The aim of the
Programme is to have in place a
sustainable system that can deliver more
Medals on the International stage now
and in the future. The Programme has
been funded by the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport, through
Exchequer and National Lottery funds,
via UK Sport since 1998.
EVENTS DIARY
If you would like to see your event included in this section then
please email details to julian@midnorfolktimes.com
ACC = Ashill Community Centre, Hale Road, Ashill; Watton
CCC = Watton Christian Community Centre;
Wells CCC = Wells Cole Community Centre, Saham.
November
Fri 5th 95 Nelson Court, Macmillan Coffee morning 10.30 - 12
Sat 6th Fireworks Gt Ellingham Recration Centre See ad.
Tues 9th Wayland Agricultural Society AGM Broom Hall 7.45pm
Fri 12th } Songs from the Shows - Cabaret Evening
Sat 13th } at the Connaught Hall, Attleborough. See ad
Sat 13th Saham Heritage Craft Fair and Annual Exhibition
10 - 4 at Wells CCC. See ad
Tues 16th 7.45pm. NWT Talk- Denizens of the Night. See ad.
Thurs 18th Holly Court Bazaar, Surrogate St Attleborough 10am see ad.
Sat 20th Caston Christmas Fayre 2pm Caston Village Hall See art
Sat 20th Carbrooke CE VC School Festive Bazaar 12Noon See art
Sun 21st Winston the Singing Farmer at the Queens Hall. See Ad
Sat 27th Christmas Bazaar - Holme Hale Pavilion See ad
Sat 27th St Mary‘s Church, Christmas Bazaar. Watton CCC See ad
Sat 27th Charity stalls in aid of Ugandan Orphans at St Mary‘s
Church Attleborough. 10 - 11.30 See ad.
Sat 27th Prelude to Christmas at Stow Bedon Church See ad
December
Sat 4th Queen's Hall Christmas Stall. see IW article.
Sat 4th Livewire Celebration of Christmas at Gt Ellingham See ad
Wed 8th Lunchtime Concert with June Garratt and friends. Tickets
£5 from Mullengers. See IW article.
Tue 21st 7.45pm NWT Talk Changes in the Norfolk Countryside

Attleborough Coffee & Chat

At St Mary’s Church Hall, Behind St Mary’s, Attleborough MID-NORFOLK TIMES
Saturdays 10am to 11.30 - Come and have a coffee, tea or The deadline for the December issue will be
maybe a scone and most importantly a chat. 12 Noon on the 16th November
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date and time that copy will be considered for inclusion. Arrival of copy before
deadline does not guarantee inclusion, if you wish to be certain your entry gets to print
then please make sure it arrives in plenty of time.
If you are submitting on paper you MUST sign and include your contact details
with each item. If you do not, the item will NOT be published.
You can contact Julian by ringing (01953) 858908. You can write to 32 High
Street, Watton IP25 6AE Or you can leave copy in the bin at
Adcocks, 32 High Street, Watton.
The e-mail address is julian@midnorfolktimes.com
All views expressed in the Mid-Norfolk Times are those of the contributors and
not the publishers. While every care and effort has been taken to ensure accuracy
the publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.

This issue of the Mid-Norfolk Times was published by:

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