FREE - Issue Number 284 - SEPTEMBER 2020 THIS PAPER IS FREE! COVID-19 Edition No.

5
th
Happy 100 Birthday Janet!

Janet Nichols was born Janet Blower on the 6th of August 1920 in
Saham Hills. She had 3 brothers and a sister, Ethel. When Janet left
school at the age of 14, she moved to York with her sister where she
Annual Fireworks
worked at the Terry's Chocolate factory for 3½ years. She then returned
to Saham, and in 1940 Janet married Jack Nichols in Saham Church.
Display Cancelled
Unfortunately, due to uncertainty with the
Janet was a land worker most of her life but spent 15 years (until she
ongoing Covid 19 pandemic, Watton Town
retired at 60) working in Samples greengrocers in Watton.
Council has decided to cancel the 2020 annual
She continued to live in Saham until 1986, when she moved to her
fireworks event.
home in Watton.
This decision wasn't taken lightly but with the
On her big day, Janet and family members - grandson, great grandson
public's safety paramount it is felt to be the
and great nephew - celebrated with many friends and neighbours.
appropriate course of action to take.
Janet says she will remember with happiness her card from the Queen,
In previous years the event has been a great
and the visit from Pat Warwick, Chairman of Watton Town Council
success and it is envisioned and hoped that the
and Town Mayor, to toast her 100 years.
event will take place in 2021.
And she puts her long life down to hard work and good food.

Now the MOT is back to normal we are able to offer up to three MOT tests per hour
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 2
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 3
A Quick Look Round
By Orbiter
Here we go with another look at life
from behind the doors of Lockdown
which has kept me prisoner for the last
two or three months Actually that has
not been too great a punishment as for
a change I have been able to relax and
enjoy the summer sunshine, which in
May was the best the country has
enjoyed for well over a hundred years
while a few days in June provided
some of the warmest of this century.
And being what is sometimes termed a
senior citizen my kind neighbours
have taken care of my shopping
requirements and making me feel
almost redundant.
As the weeks have gone by various
amendments have come into force
regarding social distancing and self
isolation, but it is difficult to know just
what I am allowed to do or not, but I
have tried to follow Mr. Johnson’s
advice, and I think I have been a fairly
good boy and have confined my
outings to special treats, such as being
driven by my wife to various luxurious
destinations such as the local Tescos,
where I have enjoyed a nice sit in the
car park. But it makes a change I am
told, which must be good for me.
In the last couple of weeks restrictions
have been relaxed to allow people to
visit famous beauty spots and seaside
resorts, and our newspapers have
shown pictures of overcrowded
beaches, suggesting that the crowds
have taken the authorities by surprise,
when what else could have been
expected when the easing of lockdown
coincided with the hottest weather of
the year and folks had been cooped up
for so long ? The seemingly excess
crowds were partly caused by the
number of extra folks who would
normally have been holidaying abroad,
and in spite of the fears about the lack
of social distancing I think that worries
on that score were unfounded as the
British are natural distancers’, since as
far back as I can remember whenever I
went to a beach every family parked
themselves at a respectful distance
from the next and anyone coming too
close would earn some very black
looks. And if the tide came in to
reduce the size of the beach and over-
crowding became inevitable it was
time to go home or retire to a local
refreshment bar.
So I think we can be relied upon to be
sensible on that score, the main trouble
with visiting our coastline is the lack
of toilet facilities, due to the need for
disinfecting after every user, which
would cause a problem.
But things seem to be improving daily,
although blips, such as in Leicester
have shown that all is not yet back to
normal. Unfortunately the virus is
unseen, so we do not know if wearing
masks, keeping apart, or distancing is
being successful, the only positive
results are the failures. Like allegedly
burglar-proof locks, you never know if
they worked – only if you were
burgled, when you realised they have
failed.
But, as I write, things are showing
signs of getting back to normal, with
pubs and restaurants re-opening, albeit
with certain restrictions, and football
has resumed behind closed doors. But
one game seemed to have a small
crowd., although from the lack of
interest they displayed, they might
have been cardboard cut-outs !
And Norwich City seem to be doing
well being back at the top of the
Championship.
With all the different companies and
organisations suffering severe
financial deficits due to the covid
emergency, the Chancellor makes
almost daily announcements that so
many millions of pounds have been
allocated to this or that cause, but
where are all these trillions coming
from? Surely we do not have an in-
exhaustible supply of funds!
No doubt we are in for some very bad
news some time in the not too distant
future, when the days of reckoning
arrive.
But while all these things are the
worries of the government, we can
look on what has been a great summer
weather-wise, though no doubt we
shall soon be hearing that hose-pipe
bans will be necessary. But
meanwhile, if my own garden is a
reflection of others, we have a
wonderful selection of shrubs and
flowers, all seemingly in bloom at the
same time.
They say that every bad situation has a
good side, and so it seems with
television.
Programmes have been disrupted, but
in compensation some of the best
documentaries from a dozen or more
years ago have made their re-
appearance, some that we enjoyed
when they were first shown ,and
others that we may have missed first
time round.
And so, as I come to the end of being a
Norfolk boy (adopted) for over 30
years I can look back on many happy
times, and even on the current ones,
things have not been more than a
severe inconvenience. And fingers
crossed things will only get better.
Good afternoon.
Saham Toney
Neighbourhood Plan
Shaping the future of Saham Toney!
At the time of writing this article there
are 3 days remaining of the consultation
on the Plan. We can’t give final
information on the comments received,
and obviously we are still in the process
of reviewing those that have come in so
far, so we can only give highlights of
our reactions to them.
First, I thought some simple numbers
might be informative:
Total days consultation: 52
Number of organisations invited to
review the Plan: 121
Number of organisations that have
made comments: 4
(Breckland Council, Norfolk County
Council, Norfolk Police and Sport
England)
Number of comments from Breckland
Council: 183
Number of comments from Norfolk
County Council: 7
Number of village households that
received a leaflet explaining the Plan:
approximately 750
Number of villagers who have simply
supported the Plan without comment:
41
Number of villagers who have Boo! Hiss! COVID19
supported the Plan, subject to their
comments: 3 Brings the curtains down.
Number of villagers who have
objected to the Plan: 1 By now, we at The Boo & Hiss Theatre Company, Watton,
Number of online “drop-in” meetings would be well under way with preparations for our next play.
held to allow villagers to ask questions Since 2006 we have put on a show at the Queens Hall every
about the Plan and make comments: 8 year in September but, sadly, this year we are not able to do so.
totalling 5 hours 20 minutes Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, and all the restrictions put in
Number of villagers who joined an place back in April and May, we decided, as a group and not
online meeting: 0 lightly, that it just wouldn’t be viable – many of us were
Number of hours a Plan hotline was shielding or were key workers in the ‘front line’ and it was
open: 418 impossible to hold rehearsals. And by the time the restrictions
Number of calls to the Plan hotline: 3 were lifted, there wasn’t enough time to build a set and get
At the same time as the consultation everything else done in time for September.
began, we commissioned a ‘health We held our (socially distant) AGM in August and agreed that
check of the Plan by an independent the play that we’d had in mind for this year was still the
examiner. That review is complete and perfect choice and so we will be performing it next year
made 70 recommendations. instead. These are strange times but the hope is that, by then,
Clearly in terms of quantity, it is the life will have returned back to normal and we can start
Breckland Council comments and the rehearsing in April as usual. After a year off we’ll all be
recommendations of the Health Check raring to go and should come back better than ever. But for
that require the most attention. now the curtains will, regrettably, remain closed.
To date we have addressed all but 5 of
the health check recommendations. 4 of
those remaining relate to later stages of
Great Ellingham Chit Chat
the Plan and so have been deferred. The Group
5th has been referred to the owner of INFORMATION CONCERNING THE CORONAVIRUS
one of the allocated sites for input.
Once again I am unable to give any dates for the restart of Chit
Many of the Breckland Council
Chat. So much depends on guidelines from the Government,
comments are preferences for
therefore sadly at the moment we are unable to meet. We had a
formatting and presentation.
coach and tickets booked for Thursford in November, which has
However, Breckland has objected to
now been cancelled and in August we would have been going to
some important aspects of the Plan,
Sheringham for the theatre fish ‘n chips and shopping.
those being:
Something to look forward to for next year!
Limiting development on the 9
On a brighter note, the book continues to sell, albeit slower than
allocated sites to no more than a total of
we would have liked it too, due to the Coronavirus and the
70 new houses. Breckland wants that to
inability to get out and about with it. The National Trust had
be amended to be “at least 70” with no
copies to show to their shops, however due to the shops being
suggested upper limit;
closed for the past few month I haven’t followed this up.
Phasing of development throughout the
Something which will be done when the shops re-open. I
Plan period to 2036, to allow the village
continue to have lovely letters from people who have bought the
to absorb it and give a chance for
book, thanking the group for their wonderful stories, which is
necessary infrastructure improvements
very heart-warming.
to be made. Breckland seeks to remove
I will continue to update the Chit Chat site as and when there is a
this control on the pace of development;
likelihood of news when Chit Chat will start and also news and
Site densities. Breckland seeks to
views from the group if anyone has something they wish to put
increase these, which of course would
onto the site. I thank everyone from Chit Chat who continue to
increase the number of houses
support each other and for the many ‘phone calls which I myself
permitted;
receive on a very regular basis.
The number and scope of policies
Great Ellingham Chit Chat Group Contact: Ann Reeve 0773 321
dealing with flood risk. 1410 / 01953 882065 eMail: annreeve2008@gmail.com
For the first three of these, we feel www.greatellinghamchitchatgroup.co.uk
Breckland Council has unilaterally
backtracked on agreements we made
with them on all three subjects in
October 2019. That coupled with the
fact that we consider all three to be
fundamental controls necessary on
development in the village, means we
cannot agree with Breckland, and will
not concede them. Instead we have
added yet more evidence to the Plan in
support of its approach. Similarly, with
the drainage policies, which we feel are
essential to protect at risk areas of the
village.
All the same, it seems inevitable that
Breckland Council will again object to
these controls at the Plan’s final
consultation. That being the case, the
decision will rest with whoever
examines the Plan and we will hope that
our arguments tip the balance in favour
of the Plan’s policies as they stand.
As usual, if you have any comments or
questions on any of this, or the
Neighbourhood Plan in general, or if
you would like to be added to our
mailing list, please get in touch with
Chris Blow at stnp2036@gmail.com
Most importantly, stay healthy and
safe!
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 4
In your
Garden with
Lotta Potts
Season of mists and mellow
fruitfulness possibly. I do hope
so. The weather at the time of
writing is (for me) a total
nightmare with the un-British
30+deg C day after day and it
seems never-ending. We have
had a few days of what’s
supposed to be ‘seasonal normal’
at around 20-24 but not to many.
I know I look at August as being
rather dusty and warm but this is
ridiculous. On top of that we
have the Corvid-19 to deal with
and it all makes gardening rather
dismal. The weeds are doing well
and some other plants that I
would expect to do badly are also
better than in cooler years. The
greenhouse is overheating to a
large exent and the tomatoes are
suffering from blossom-end rot
more than usual. I have tried to
make sure they get the proper
amount of water but I am trialling
a new variety in compost I have
never heard of so it might not all
be my fault! The best tomato
plant I have is a ‘volunteer’ that
must have been from a discarded
fruit in the compost bin. It’s
growing like topsy in the most
unsuitable place – right under a
clematis that self-sowed by some
netting. I tried to grow a few
clematis from seed and never
managed it. So maybe tomatoes
and clematis like each other! It
should be interesting to see if the
fruit actually ripen as it’s so
shady.
So onward to September. If we
are lucky we might get back to
something like normal on the
conditions front so if so we can
pick up and do a bit of normal
gardening let’s hope. It's largely
a question of keeping it tidy:
deadheading, cut out completely
flowered stems of perennials and
use the results of these tasks to
start a compost heap if you don't
already have one. If you have
either a heap or a bin you will
now have lots more material!
Maybe time to start a second so
that you don't end up with a
permanently uncomposted heap.
Ideally, of course, we all would
have at least three large bins made
of slats or old pallets. We could
then start off accumulating
material in the first, layering it
nicely in the second and as time
goes by turning it all from one to
another and back again. Monty
Don will no doubt be
demonstrating this soon. Yeah.
Right.
For those of us with a more
modest bit of ground and a couple
of plastic bins it's easier. Just
keep everything going in and stir
it round until it's too heavy. Start
the second and use the compost
out of the first. Even in a north-
facing wind tunnel the plastic will
warm up quickly and you will
have compost within six months.
It will take that long to fill a bin
in a small garden anyway and it
does have the advantage of taking
kitchen waste – nothing cooked,
no meat. Tea bags tend to take a
long time but even if you put
them in with the rest of the
compost the bags will fade (or
blow) away.
The flower most people associate
with September is the good old
Michaelmas Daisy. The botanical
name was Aster for all the
varieties but I just read an article
that recently botanists decided
that we need seven different
names, including Aster.
However, if you think that the
most popular types of Aster were
either novi-belgii or novi-angliae,
most of the new names retain
these add-ons. Thus Aster novi-
belgii is now Symphyotrichum
novi-belgii. I have no idea how
you say that! I doubt that all the
sheds and garden centres will
have the new names already so it
should be interesting to see how it
all develops. Still, the good news
is that you can still get flowers
from deepest purple to pure white
and heights from nine inches to
three feet. It should therefore be
possible to avoid the ones that are
martyrs to downy mildew where
plants look as though they have
been sprinkled with talcum
powder.
Some clematis come into their
own now and are well worth
having. Varieties of tangutica are
the ones to look out for. The
flowers are small but they
produce large fluffy seed-heads,
sometimes at the same time so
you get twice the display. A
good well-known variety is Bill
MacKenzie that has golden-
yellow flowers with purple
centres and huge seed-heads. As
with most clematis these need
deep, fertile soil with roots in the
shade but the flowers will grow
into the light. Don't plant in a
north-facing aspect but otherwise
any will do. Callicarpa is a shrub
for autumn into winter. It's a bit
of a Marmite job as it develops
vivid orange and red foliage but
has clusters of bright purple
berries that can last until
Christmas. These can be a bit off
-putting. Cyclamen hederifolium,
on the other hand, is universally
popular with flowers opening
before the leaves which are very
attractive and last all winter.
These little pale beauties are fully
hardy and the flowers will go on
until November. They like well-
drained soil with lots of humus in
light shade so round the edges of
shrubs would be ideal.
There are some lovely bulbs to be
had in September, colchicum,
autumn crocus, galtonia (look like
tall snowdrops), gladioli,
schizostylis that look like small
gladioli for those who prefer
smaller versions, nerine,
sternbergia lutea. I keep meaning
to get some of these as they are
hardy, spread into patches and
bring a bit of sunshine in their
yellow flowers. A bit of botanics
here for those not in the know,
anything described as 'lutea' has
yellow flowers. I only found out
a while ago and being a show-off
needed to tell everyone else. You
all knew to start with! I do,
however, have a few nerine
bowdenii under a south-facing
wall and their pretty pink flowers
never fail to cheer me up. They
don't need a lot of looking after as
long as they're reasonably well
sheltered and keep on going. On
the subject of bulbs, now is the
time to plant most of the spring
flowering ones, such as daffs in
containers with winter bedding
and in the ground. Do make sure
they go in deep enough – at least
three times their height – as if
they are too shallow in a couple
of years they won't flower. Leave
tulips and hyacinths until late
October/November as they are
late starters and may well rot in
damp ground if planted too soon.
Make sure when buying that the
bulbs are plump and firm without
signs of cuts or bruising. Small
green sprouts at the tips of the
bulbs are acceptable but avoid
any with long pale shoots. Get in
line early for prepared bulbs for
Christmas. There, that dreaded
word but if you want the glorious
scent of hyacinths, now's the
time.
This is a good time to try a small
experiment. If you have a bit of
border that's been cleared, try
sowing hardy annuals. If you
think about it this does make
sense as the annuals from this
year will have set seed (if you
didn't manage to deadhead) so if
they dropped the seed they will
have been fresh. This is the time
to collect ripe seed from
foxgloves, delphiniums and
anything else you want to
increase for next year. Maybe try
sowing some of those as well.
Aquilegias will probably have
done it all by themselves already
but if you are cutting back the
dead stems you will hear the
rattle of seeds and if you look
carefully you'll see the tiny plants
from this exercise last year.
As far as veg is concerned, it's
harvesting all the way. Later this
month you can plant onion,
shallot and garlic sets. I have
done this several years now and
am impressed with the way it
works. However, this year I have
tried growing them from seed.
They seem to be doing reasonably
well so far so we shall see later in
the season. They aren’t shaping
up to be show champions yet but
you never know.
Lawn enthusiasts still have work
to do. If it's mild then obviously
the grass will grow, albeit slowly,
but will still need cutting. Trim
off the edges, hopefully for the
last time, so that it looks tidy for
the winter. Autumn feed can be
applied but don't use up left-lover
spring feed as this will promote
soft growth that gets knocked
back in cold weather. If there's
moss either leave it alone as it's
green or rake it out together with
accumulated thatch. Forget the
gym! Just to give you a bit more
exercise you could spike it as
well, stick in a garden fork about
four inches deep every few
inches. This improves drainage
where the grass is compacted. If
it doesn't get too much wear the
spiking only needs to be done
every two or three years. If you
have a large area look at hiring a
tool for the job.
If you're starting a new lawn
now's the time to sow seed or
prepare for turf-laying next
month into November. The soil
needs the same preparation, weed
and stone-free, level, tread down,
rake, tread down, rake – think
about employing one of those
lawn expert firms or artificial
grass
So there we are but even if you
can only manage a few minutes at
a time, keep weeding.
Club Restart
Grants
available from
Rotary
DOES YOUR LOCAL CLUB OR
GROUP NEED FINANCIAL
HELP TO GET STARTED?
WATTON ROTARY CLUB
HAVE SET UP A FUND OF
£1,200 TO HELP.
We understand it may be difficult for
groups & clubs to re-start after the
Covid-19 lockdown measures are
released. We realise club attendee
numbers may be down initially for
many reasons.
So the Rotary Club of Watton &
District are offering a small grant
package for local clubs and groups
within our Rotary Club district to
help pay for venue hire to run your
groups and clubs.
Simply send an email to
grantswattonrotary@gmail.com to
request an application form.
Applications will be accepted until
the closing date of 15 October 2020.
(Eligible areas are: Ashill,
Bradenham, Carbrooke, Caston,
Cressinghams, Great Hockham,
Griston, Ovington, Sahams,
Shipdham, Shropham, Watton)
Wayland
Mens Shed
Social Group,
Church Walk,
Watton.
Following numerous requests
from a good number of our
members regarding the possibility
of reopening our Shed- Meeting
place and Workshop in Church
Walk, a ballot of our members
was sent out to establish if there
are enough members wishing to
return to re-opening to make it
worthwhile, the result of the
ballot established that there was
sufficient number of members
who wanted to do so. Taking into
account the need for Covid-19
Health and Safety restrictions and
requirements, discussions are at
present underway between our
Committee Members on how best
to move forward at this time and
we hope to have some positive
news, subject to agreement,
regarding some reopening
structure in the very near future.
Richard Adams, WMS
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 5
The first signs
of Autumn at
RSPB
Lakenheath
Fen
One of the best things about
working on a nature reserve is
watching it constantly change
through the seasons, and
September is no exception. These
changes are what has helped a lot
to keep me sane during lockdown,
furlough and in dealing with the
changes COVID-19 has caused to
the way that we work here.
I hope you are all finding ways to
enjoy daily life too, despite it being
very different to how we were this
time last year!
As the weather cools down and the
days shorten, it gets interesting on
the Washland, or Hockwold
Washes- many wading birds such
as curlew, common sandpiper,
green sandpiper and ruff will be
using the rich feeding grounds to
fuel up and rest safely part way
through their migration further
south. The mud surrounding the
water is full of worms, flies,
crustaceans and small fish which
are rich in protein and fat- just
what these birds need after a busy
breeding season! They will also be
joined by increasing numbers of
ducks, especially shoveler, wigeon,
gadwall and mallard, so it can get
quite busy up there. The best way
to enjoy these birds is to walk
along the public footpath that is the
northern border of the reserve, or to
sit and take it all in from the
Washland Viewpoint near the
Visitor Centre.
If you come for a walk soon, it will
be hard to miss the snowy white
giant puffballs that grow almost
anywhere, though they are most
common under the poplar trees in
Brandon Fen or in the lush damp
grassland around the Visitor Centre
and the Photography Station. The
cooler, damper weather of autumn
triggers a lot of fungi to rise up out
of the soil to produce their fruiting
bodies (releasing spores, a fungi’s
equivalent of seeds) in the form of
mushrooms, brackets, or balls as
with puffballs.
The insect life on the reserve will
also be changing- we will be
catching moths typical of autumn
in the light trap overnight, such as
frosted orange (pictured above left)
and pink-barred sallow (right).
Migrant insects, such as silver Y
moths and painted lady butterflies,
also reach their peak in late
summer and early autumn, so you
may see these on sunny, warmer
days. Willow emerald damselflies
are a species that is late to emerge
but one worth waiting for- they are
a gorgeous, metallic green and very
graceful, having a habit of perching
with wings slightly raised on a bare
nettle twig. The best places to look
for these are, conveniently, around
the Visitor Centre but especially in
the nettles to the right of the bird
feeders at the Visitor Centre.
It won’t be long either before we
see the first redwing, fieldfare or
whooper swans on the reserve
either! We hope to see you on the
reserve soon- although our Visitor
Centre is still closed, we do have a
Welcome Point which is stationed
outside, where you can find out
about our latest sightings. We also
have an accessible toilet open now
and our Car Park is open from
dawn until dusk.
With best wishes for the weeks
ahead- stay safe!
Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience
Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen)
The Ovington
Crower
By Tha Boy Sid
Jist wun gud thing tew report tha
munth, Horry hev cum owt of his
hidin plearce, cor he looked
suffin ruff I kin tell yew. He hent
hed a shave an his beard wos rite
down on his wuskit, yew coon’t
see his eyes thar was orl scewed
up cos he hent sin tha lite o day
since orl this lock down wos
started, an he picked wun o tha
days wen tha ole sun wos a
blearzin down tew cum owt.
Well thas enuf abowt him, har
yew orl dewin, hev yew olduns
bin owt an abowt agin? I see
moost o tha yunguns hev bin
drivin arownd fer a week or tew
now, must hev crearzed them orl
bein shut up indoors.
Anuthawun who give up on hidin
away wos tha ole farmer, he say
“Wos tha barley lookin like Sid”
he say. “Well Marsta” I say
“Thas abowt reddy tew cut but
thar hent got a harf decent bit o
corn” “Thas tew bad” he say
“Thas gotta be dun afore thet
rearn agin, hev tha combine bin
got reddy?” “Yis” I say “Thas orl
greased up and reddy tew goo
wen yew say” “Rite” he say
“Best git started, I’ll drive tha
combine if yew’ll dew corn cart”
Well he set orf up tha rood fer a
little way the stopped, I hed a
look an he wos parked owtside
tha ole Cowncil Chairmawthas
house. He left tha engine
running, which hent tha kwitest
bitta sheenery,an he wos bangin
away up tha straw chute. He got
back up an I see him hold up a
finger tew see which
way tha wind wos
ablowin an he started
tha ole gal up agin but
this time he hed har
runnin jist as if he ware
cutting, corse the ole
fan was tunning over an
blew orl tha ole chaff
an dross owt tha back
an yew can gess which
way orl thet wos blowin. He let
har run till sheed cleared orl tha
dross then he shut
har down an set orf up tha rood
agin. Cor blarst tha ole gel wos
soon owt in the rood shearkin har
fist arta tha combine, I dint stay
tew see wot she dun next, cos I
dint wanta git wrong alonga har
afore weed dun harvest. I bet
sheel hev suffin tew say wen
they hev reglar meetins agin.
I wos rite, tha barley hent good
enuff fer mearkin beer tha year,
alltho Horry say he kin brew
beer owta ennythin, hevin hed
sum o his home brew I dred tew
think wot wos innit.
Nex we wos on tha wheat, thet
warn’t a lot betta, but tha
inspecter he say “Thet hent no
wus than ennywun elses, so thet
mite be orlrite fer flour arta orl”
Thet stayed dry so we wos able
tew git orl tha straw baled an in
tha barn
Cos tha fust thing arta harvest is
hev a pint or tew up tha pub, cos
thas open agin.
Horry hed got hisself cleaned up
an we set orf down tha rood our
tongues hangin owt lookin
forrard tew hevin sum o tha
lanlords best bitta. Ha, things
hent kwite tha searm, yew hatta
give an ole gel orl yore naerms
and ware yew live, an then put
sum stuff on yore hands wot kill
orl tha garms she say. We started
tew goo up tew tha bar but
anutha ole gel say “Yew hev tew
sit at wun of tha tearbles wos bin
put in tha bar an sit tew yards
away from yore meart, wot dew
yew want then?”
We wos a bit took aback by orl
this parafenaller, but we told the
gel what we wanted, an orf she
went, har fearce orl covered by
this bitta clorth, an she gottit rite
but not till she hed give tha
glasses anutha rub oova wi sum
more of thet germ killin stuff. No
darts no dommies.
Wot kin we dew but jist kip on
troshin an dew yew dew tha
searm, fare yew well tergitha.
Boy Sid

Norfolk Wildlife Trust,

Breckland Local Group
We hope you have all stayed safe and have been able to
enjoy your gardens and local wildlife in these trying times.
The group took the decision to cancel the whole year’s
planned events as we thought it would be difficult to
maintain social distancing, a lot of the speakers/walk leaders
would not be available or maybe not willing under the
circumstances and many of our audience are not so young
and would be very cautious about group meetings, as are we.
Our events organiser has been very busy
rearranging these events for next year,
where she has been able and we hope to
run something every month starting from
January.
However, with constantly changing
advice we cannot guarantee to be able to
do this.
So please look in this publication or on
the NWT website for further information
in future months.
We look forward to seeing you all in
2021.
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 6
The Fruits of
High Summer
Ashill & Holme Hale Garden Club
Website:
ashillgardeningclub.wordpress.com/
Email:
ashillholmehalegardenclub@gmail.com
While the gardening club is currently not
able to hold monthly meetings we are
providing gardening advice via newsletters
and our website (address above) to keep
everyone active with gardening tasks. The
RHS website (rhs.org.uk/) is also a good
source of jobs you should do each month in
your garden, as is the BBC’s Gardeners
World on a Friday evening on BBC2. Late
summer is a time to enjoy your garden
produce as your vegetable garden provides
you with lovely home grown produce and
flower beds are full of dahlias in bloom and
other late summer flowering plants.
Gardening jobs for August / September
Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: Now is the
time to cut back your fruiting summer
raspberry canes right down to the ground.
Select six to eight remaining young canes
from this years growth and tie them in 8-10
cm apart along wire supports for fruiting
next summer.
Continue to provide a high potassium feed
once a week to your tomatoes as their
trusses are close to full ripening. A good
watering twice a week is usually suffice
pustules (often in concentric rings) which
will also reduce further spread.
Trees Shrubs and Flowers: Continue to
deadhead plants such as dhalias, roses and
summer annuals to prolong displays into
early autumn.
Keep camellias and rhododendrons well
watered, particularly those in pots, as they
moisture now to produce flower buds for
next year.
Increase your stocks of evergreen shrubs,
trees and conifers, as well as hardy
climbers by taking semi-ripe cuttings.
These can be taken from July to early
autumn from growth that has begun to
unless very hot weather. Enjoy the harvest
harden at the base.
of lovely ripe tomatoes.
Plants such as Chrysanthemum and
Take semi-ripe cuttings of culinary herbs
Penstemon are susceptible to leaf and bud
such as rosemary, sage and lemon verbena.
eelworm. Look out for stunted growth and
Second early potatoes should be ready to
distorted, blotched leaves. To reduce
harvest sometime in August. Your main
spread, avoid wetting foliage when
crop potatoes should be ready to harvest in
watering.
early to mid-September. As always when
Wildlife Gardening: August is a busy
harvesting potatoes be careful not to pierce
month for enjoying home-grown food but
the potato when searching in the soil for
spare a thought for birds and small animals
the crop.
by leaving a few seeded of sunflowers,
If you want salad leaves all summer
teasels, lavenders and verbena bonariensis.
through you need to successionally sow
These will offer an important food source
seeds about every two weeks to keep a
as summer mellows into autumn.
good supply ready to eat. In addition to
Turn compost heaps to mix contents and
lettuces why not try some oriental leaves
add air, which is necessary for the
like Mizuna or Mustard or the peppery
composting process. The heap should be
flavoured wild Rocket.
slightly moist.
Check fruit, particularly apples, pears and
In such hot weather when rain is also
plums, for signs of brown rot. Remove and
scarce thing about using domestic waste
dispose of any fruit with buff-coloured
water, ‘grey water’, can be used
in the garden. Use with care as it
varies in quality and may contain
contaminants such as soap and
detergent. Avoid using it to water
edible crops.
If your water butt is empty this is
an ideal time to give it a thorough
clean.
Museum 4
Watton
Throughout the medieval period,
land in England was held by a
range of different institutions,
from the Crown and the Church,
down to individual lords within
their manors. The landholdings
of the manor were considered in
two ways: the demesne – the land
occupied and farmed directly by
the lord, and the tenements – the
land held by tenants from whom
the lord extracted rents. A manor
could be defined within a parish
area, or extend across several
parishes, but importantly, in
terms of administration, the
manor had a court.
The manor court was the lowest
court in England and only had
jurisdiction over those who lived
or held lands within the
boundaries of the manor. Each manor held
two courts: the Court Baron and the Court
Leet. In the 13th century, the Court Baron
was held every three weeks, although as
the centuries went on, the court was held
less frequently. The court was overseen by
the lord of the manor, or his steward, and
was attended by tenants. A jury was named
at each court meeting, and all tenants were
expected to attend. Those that did not
attend usually had to pay a fine.
The main function of the Court Baron was
to oversee the administration of tenancies.
Tenants held their land in ‘copyhold’. Each
copyhold outlined what land the tenant
held and what he owed to the lord. As well
as the transfer and management of
landholdings, the Court Baron would also
hear minor offences such as failure to
maintain fences. Fines and work to be done
would be agreed at the court. Essentially,
the Court Baron oversaw the smooth
running of a manor.
Despite being responsible for overseeing
the running of the manor, including
resolving minor disputes, the Court Baron
couldn’t hear criminal cases – these were
heard by the Court Leet. This court met
less frequently than the Court Baron, but
like its counterpart, it operated at a very
local level. More serious crimes were
presented to the King’s justices.
From 1841 it was possible, if the lord and
tenant agreed, for land to be transferred
entirely as freehold – this meant that any
subsequent transfer of the land no longer
needed to be recorded in the manor court
books. Copyhold tenure was finally
abolished in 1922.
Museum 4 Watton is fortunate in having
copies of the Court Baron and Court Leet
records pertaining to Watton Hall. These
handwritten records cover information on
tenancy arrangements, local events from
and appointment of dignitaries 1670
through to 1924. Of particular note are
references to Watton’s historic clock and
its builder, Christopher Hey, and a record
of the great fire of 1674 that destroyed
much of Watton’s high street.
On page 49 of the volume from 1670-1674,
dated Tuesday 24 . April 1674, we find the
postscript
above, translated from Latin it reads ’The
subsequent day the town was demolished
by a great inferno.’ This proves that the fire
that destroyed much of the town happened
on Wednesday, Market Day. Many
publications have the day and even the year
wrong.
This and many other documents and books
can be seen at the Museum which is once
again open on Wednesday and Saturday
between 10 and 4p.m. (other times by
appointment.)
Museum 4 Watton, Wayland Hall, Middle
Street, Watton IP25 6AG
01953 797060
www.museum4watton.org.uk
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 7
Thought for the
Month
By Deacon Jen Woodfin, Methodist Church
Reserving a place, being shown to a
particular seat, listening quietly to music
without singing (quite a challenge for
Methodists) and wearing a mask. All these
happened in two funerals I have attended in
the last two days. Beforehand there were all
sorts of questions about whether it would
‘work’ and whether it would feel like a
‘proper’ funeral. The answer to both those
was a resounding yes. Of course, it felt
different as we arrived but we had entered
God’s house and nothing could change that.
God’s presence was very real and shone
through everything.
This is true for all parts of our life. Whatever
challenges we are facing God is with us
through them. Even though it may not always
feel like that, His love is greater than any
obstacles or changes that may exist. He
always wants his love to shine through for all.
The Methodist Church will be recommencing
church services in September, as will the
English and Polish Catholics that meet in our
building. Although there will be some
restrictions there will always be a warm
welcome and a joy in worshipping together.
We will also be continuing our weekly
worship sheets and Youtube services to
enable everyone to worship in whatever way
is appropriate. Just as schools are starting
again with a new vigour and energy, let us,
too, be re-energised to find ways to give
thanks to God for all He has been in the past
and for all He will be in the future.
Sunday Services
Resume at St Mary's
St Mary’s Church has reopened for Sunday
Services, keeping to Government and Church
of England Guidelines!
Please check the www.stmaryswatton.org
website to book your place at an 8.00am or
10.00am service, while we are restricted in
the number who can gather. Someone else
can do this on your behalf, if you do not have
access to the internet. Sanitisers are available
and chairs marked clearly for use, which are
socially distanced 2 metres apart, for those
not in the same household. Please enter
through the side entrance near the Church
Rooms and proceed through the church
following the one-way system marked out.
Face masks are to be worn at this time of
writing, but not for under 11’s or where there
is a health issue making this difficult. A
Steward is at the door to welcome you and to
take names and contact tel numbers for
‘Track and Trace’.
On Wednesdays St Mary’s continues to open,
providing a quiet space for Prayer and/or to
light a candle for loved ones, between
10.00am and 12 noon. Or, please come to the
Labyrinth, mown into the grass on the
Church Green next to the Church car park
and take a walk gently round to the centre
and back out again. It’s an opportunity, while
giving space for your thoughts, to enjoy the
beautiful countryside views, amidst the wild
flowers.
We do hope you will come! Thinking of you
and holding you in our prayers. Your Vicar,
Revd Gerry Foster
The Watton Society
The committee of the Watton Society has
reluctantly taken the decision to cancel the
remainder of this year’s events. Our
members and speakers could be very careful
about attending meetings and our September
speaker has already said that he would be
unable to come. We would not be able to
accommodate enough members or to enjoy
the social side of our meetings that is so
important to many of us. We hope to meet
again in January but this will have to be
confirmed. Members will receive a separate
newsletter soon.
On the positive side we would like to express
our thanks to Watton Town Council who
have awarded us a grant of £500 to further
our Heritage Trail and Green Plaques
projects. We have several areas and
properties lined up for this and more
information will follow.
The committee has sent their nominations to
the Mayor for the Watton In Bloom
Competition, a competition which nobody
knows they have entered and which involves
the front gardens of Watton. Results will
follow in due course.
Our annual poster competition for children
will go ahead as normal, being issued in
September to local schools and youth groups.
The posters do not need to be submitted until
early November so more information in the
next Wayland News. The more posters we
get the more prizes we give.
So as you can see we are not sitting doing
nothing, but getting on with everything we
can. We have a website –
wattonsociety.org.uk – which we shall be
updating as often as possible.
John Kerr for the Watton Society Committee
Watton
Neighbourhood Plan
Drainage Working
Group
The Drainage Group are members of the
National Flood Forum (NFF) and I, as
Chairman, have been invited to join the
virtual meetings they hold. On 7 July, I joined
for the first time to learn about how the
insurance industry deals with flood risk.
If you have been flooded or might be at risk
of flooding you should not be paying high
house insurance premiums because of that.
But homes built since 2009 are barred from
the scheme, regardless of their risk of being
swamped, as insurers did not want to
encourage building in flood-prone areas.
In 2016 an organisation called FloodRe was
established as a joint government and
insurance industry initiative. Their main aim
is to make insurance available and affordable
for homes affected by flooding.
Every insurance company pays an annual
amount to FloodRe based on their share of
the market. The total amount each year that
FloodRe nets is £180m.
The insurer of any eligible property at high
risk of flooding passes on that risk to
FloodRe. Their website will let any home
owner know if they are eligible under the
scheme. If the property is flooded and a valid
claim made, the insurer settles the claim and
then FloodRe reimburses the insurer from
their central fund. With this support, insurers
should be able to provide affordable
insurance (which should include flood risk as
standard), even on those homes that are most
at risk as they no longer have to pay the cost
of the flood claim.
The FloodRe website link is
www.floodre.co.uk
If you are not happy with the premiums you
are paying because of having been flooded in
2016, shop around. Your insurer should be
part of the FloodRe scheme.
If you have any questions or comments
please contact me by email on
liz.whitcher44@gmail.com or leave a
message with the Clerk to the Town Council
on 01953 881007 and I will get back to you.
Reports of the work of the Drainage Group
can be found on the Town Council website at
the following link:
www.wattontowncouncil.gov.uk/
neighbourhood-plan/
Liz Whitcher, Chairman
Letter From Australia
By Chris O'Connor
It is the second most biggest city in Australia
with a population in millions but now it is
almost like a ghost town. Sweeping new
restrictions, including a night-time curfew,
have been imposed across Melbourne under
stage four restrictions as a result of an
increase in Coronavirus.
An evening curfew has been implemented
from 8:00pm to 5:00am every day,
forbidding anyone from leaving the home
except for working, receiving or giving care,
or visiting their partner.Under the restrictions,
Melbourne residents will only be allowed to
shop and exercise within 5 kilometres of their
homes. Face masks are mandatory when
outside and large fines are in place for those
who ignore the edict,
Supermarkets will remain open but only one
person from each household will be able to
shop at a time, once a day.
Melbourne is the second most populous state
in Australia with a population of more than
five million. Seven people died from
coronavirus in Victoria in one 24 hours
period. taking the state's death toll to 123. Six
of the seven cases are linked to aged care
outbreaks.
Residents of Metropolitan Melbourne and the
Mitchell Shire are almost halfway through
what was meant to be a six-week lockdown
under stage three stay-at-home orders.
Premier Mr Andrews said the current strategy
undertaken by the Government so far had
avoided "thousands of thousands" of cases
from overwhelming hospitals, but it was "not
working fast enough".
He said after much detailed analysis, the state's
health experts told him the current strategy
would not see the state reach a point where it
could reopen until the end of the year.
"Therefore we have to do more and we have
to do more right now," he said.
Under the stage four restrictions, Melbourne
residents will only be allowed to shop and
exercise within 5 kilometres of their homes.
Supermarkets will remain open but only one
person from each household will be able to
shop at a time, once a day.
Police and members of the defence forces in
Australia are now manning state border
crossings and patrolling rural; areas to stop
people trying to evade the blockade.
The closure of the border with Victoria is
vital as adjoining states fear a transfer of the
disease to the same level. One person who
tried to get around the blockade was caught
by authorities and was fined $6000.
PLEASE
MENTION
THE WAYLAND
NEWS
WHEN
SHOPPING
WITH OUR
ADVERTISERS
IT LETS THEM
KNOW YOU
CARE!
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 8
The letters of
Freddie Thripp
After sending the postcard telling
his family of the impending move
to Watton, this is the first letter he
wrote home describing
what he found here. His
letters at this time are
not dated unfortunately
but based on the
sequence and events
described we can work
out roughly when they
were sent. This one
must be around the
time war is declared so
lets say around the first
week in September
1939 or thereabouts.
They are all gives
Fred's address in the normal way as
follows: 611006, 'A' Flight, 82 B
Sqdn, Watton, Thetford, Norfolk.
And this one starts:
Dear Mum Dad Rene & Harry.
I am very sorry for being so long
but we have had hardly 5 minutes
to ourselves. I got back OK
Tuesday night, but did not unpack,
instead I got everything together,
and labelled, and helped pack up
the squadron. I just managed to get
your card off as I was ready to go
off. Then when we arrived here, we
had to start unpacking, and since
then we have been up in the
hangars from 6am to 7.30pm, then
after a wash and a good feed in
canteen, all we are fit for is bed.
Every body is tired out fed up and
every other complaint. To make
matters worse, we have had 10 new
machines in and they have had to
be fitted out completely, and the
sets recalibrated which is no small
job.
We have gone back to normal
routine today, so we can breathe
more freely now. We are all waiting
for further orders to move again,
but we dont know where or when.
The whole RAF has moved, all the
aircraft markings changed, and our
call signs changed as well. So we
came here one day with our usually
lettering, and took of the next with
the new ones. The station here is
quite good, when you find it
amongst the camouflage, but the
surroundings are something
terrible. There is one either small
town or large village about 1/2 mile
away, with perhaps 20 shops and
one small cinema.
The rest of the "villages"consist of
about a dozen houses, sometimes a
church, but no pubs, so Uncle
Frank would simply die of thirst.
We had our first night off last night,
and we had a look round and that is
what we found. There are not even
any decent orchards. You know
what the land is like when you went
to Yarmouth, nothing but straight
roads and gorse. By the way we all
have to go out in uniform, and the
weather here is simply sweltering,
and when we take our clothes off at
night time, they nearly stand up on
their own with sweat.
The army are doing our guards for
us, so that is a load off of us. We
are about 20 miles from Norwich,
40 from Yarmouth, 30 from
Cromer, 30 from Kings Lynn, so
you can imagine what it is like. But
dont come and look for us, because
you wont find us, the men have
been working from early morning
till after dark with
paint and nets, and
you have to look 2 or
3 times before you
find the place. Still
we are still keeping
"happy", and again it
is the outside
population that is
worrying, but we all
think that Hit. will
get what he wants
without any trouble,
even though things
look black.
We have all the reserves, militia,
and fighter escort here, and every
other bomber squadron alike so
any body who starts things, will
soon get it in the neck. I have one of
the new machines to look after, and
have 16 ammunition pegs so I feel
quite safe. Perhaps. Well dont
worry too much and I will do my
best to write regularly now we have
settled down.
Cheerio now. With Love, Fred
Immediately after war was declared
on 3rd September, most of the RAF
was posted off to stations in the
west of the country. Fred's sister
squadron, Number 21 Squadron's
Operational Record Book (ORB)
records the following at 2.30pm on
the 3rd September:
“In view of possible air attacks on
aerodromes in the east of Gt.
Britain, the squadron was ordered
to move its aircraft to SEALAND.
16 aircraft proceeded in the
afternoon.”
RAF Sealand was a Royal Air
Force station in Flintshire, North
Wales and operated between 1916
and 2006. Unfortunately 82
Squadron's ORB for this time does
not seem to have survived or is yet
to be discovered, however clearly
82 also relocated somewhere near
to Salisbury as Fred's next
communication was a postcard
dated 13 Sept 1939 from Salisbury.
Dear Mum Dad Rene & all.
Another spare moment among
many down here. We came right
over home last Saturday, but
somebody ought to get another
greenhouse, it was too conspicuous.
My old observer brought us right
over just for me. Well I had a
marvellous stroke of luck on
Sunday. We went to a place north
of Bude for firing practice, and
having finished my turn, a Sgt Pilot
asked me to go with him but one of
the ground crew went instead and
the a/c piled up. The pilot killed, the
others broken arms and legs, but
still OK.
Coming back tomorrow. Don't
know where to from there. Weather
grand here see post mark.
With Love Fred
These were the only two
communications from Fred in
September, more from him next
month.
Shipdham &
District Book Group
When I asked for details of books
read I thought the worst had
happened - they’d stopped reading
as a result of the Covid 19 Virus and
hot weather - fortunately this was a
temporary blip. Understandably
we’ve all gone for lighter material
which obviously some members
considered not worth recording. A
few days later reports of other
reading arrived. I think any book is
worthy of recording and a list of
lighter ‘reads’ at a time like this
would be welcome.
I read three light Kindle books by
Melanie Hudson: The last Letter
from Juliet, Dear Rosie Hughes and
The Wedding Cake Tree. All were
different in style and presentation
but worth reading as what I refer to
as ‘Drinking Chocolate books’, ideal
in the situation in which we find
ourselves. Meanwhile I am reading,
with effort, Olive Kitteridge by
Elizabeth Toutt recommended to
me, but I’m wondering why. It is an
American winner of several notable
prizes. Written in short story format
but always including Olive, a large,
retired teacher living on the
American coast with strong views. I
am trying not to be biased but it does
reflect its country of origin.
Other books from members
included: 7 in a Joy Ellis series set in
the Fens featuring a female DCI
Nikki Galena, good stories with an
interesting geographical
background. Another read The
Moscow Sleepers by Stella
Rimington commenting that she has
to assume the procedures are
accurate as the book feels authentic,
described as a good read especially
for those interested in The Cold
War, spycraft and contemporary
politics.
Another read The Obsession by
Nora Roberts supposedly ‘a pulse
racing thriller’. Set in 1998 in a
sleepy American town a young girl
unable to sleep owing to heat
(sounds familiar?) follows her torch
bearing father in the garden and
nearby woods to uncover something
so horrendous she and her siblings
have to move to New York under
assumed names. Having completed
college and established as a
photographer she inherits money
from her grandmother, buys a
rundown house by a lake which she
renovates and develops a new, good
life until…? The readers comment
was ‘more chic lit than thriller’ but
had to finish to move on.
Somebody read A Kestrel for a
Knave by Barry Hines, better known
as Kes and read by many following
publication in 1968 as for years it
was set book for exams in secondary
schools. The re-reader describes it as
an excellent read - authentic, gritty,
sad and often brutal in content with
narrative interspersed with
beautifully descriptive passages. As
Yorkshire born and bred she enjoyed
the dialogue which reflected the
dialect of her early years.
There may be more out there but so
far this is it. Sue Hart August 2020
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 9
Great Ellingham
Chit Chat Book
Childhood Memories –
1930's to 1960's, A
compilation of stories
gathered by Ann
Reeve and illustrated
throughout by
Christine Fuller.
From Ann Reeve: I sincerely
hope this book will inspire other
communities to do the same, for
once folk pass away, unless their
story has been told, wonderful
tales can be lost forever.
Although the stories are from the
Great Ellingham Chit Chat
Group, the stories are from far
and wide. The Childhood
Memories Book is available on-
line from the Chit Chat Group
website or can be purchased
from: J C Books, 55 High Street,
Watton. Or from Ann Reeve
0773 321 1410 / 01953 882065
eMail: Annreeve2008@gmail.com
Chit Chat are proud of the fact
that so many happy friendships
have been formed because of the
group. We realize that loneliness
can be a soul-destroying
condition, and we also realize
how difficult it is for someone to
come to a group if they don’t
know anyone. I would like to
reassure any would-be newcomer
that we will do our utmost to
make any new person feel at
home. We promise that once this
virus is over and we can start
meeting again, the kettle will
always on the boil!
Here are a couple of extracts
from tstories in the book to whet
your appetite:
Extracts from Ten Pound
Pom by Gail Clifford
We had a good life, My brother,
Denis, was a boy scout and I was
a brownie, we went to school and
Sunday school and after our
chores went out to play. We had
skipping ropes and a piece of
chalk for hopscotch and our dad
made our own swing in the back
garden a magnet for all the other
kids in the neighbourhood. I was
a bit of a tomboy and liked to go
off with the boys to the dell.
Cousin Roger was an ace at
making go carts out of old pram
wheels and anything he could
find. We would take it in turns to
ride down the tracks in the
woods behind the Maid Marion
pub on the Ipswich road.
Summer holidays we had picnics
in Waterloo Park or Eaton Park
and Earlham Park where we
paddled in the river and caught
tiddlers. Ringland Hills was
another favourite and at least one
day of the holidays we went to
the seaside. Great Yarmouth by
train with the cousins or all of us
piling into the van and heading
for Hemsby or Bacton. The gas
terminal wasn’t there then, Dad
always brought his primus stove
so we could have a hot drink
after being on the beach, no trips
to the café except for a real treat,
chips wrapped in newspaper or
some mushy peas to share.
So, it came as a bit of a shock
when mum and dad wanted to
talk to Denis and I about
Australia. I knew where it was,
we had a world map on the wall
at school, but it was such a long
way away and why would we
want to go there? Dad said that
Jean and Gerry Thompson who
used to live a few doors down
had gone to Melbourne and he’d
had a letter to say how wonderful
it was there and that there was
plenty of work. He planned to go
out first and see for himself if it
was as good as they said then we
would all follow. I was
devastated what would we do
without him, who would look
after the rabbits and saw the
logs? I could chop the wood and
Denis could tie it up in bundles
but – I was seven years old and
thought the world was ending. I
cried solidly for days and didn’t
eat, I couldn’t.
There were lots of arguments at
that time, the whole family got
involved. Everyone, the
grandparents, uncles and aunts
all had an opinion and then Dad
told us that we were all going to
go together. We were going to
sail from Southampton on
December 8th to go to a new and
much better life. I was so excited
as the 8th of December is my
birthday and we were going to
Melbourne on a ship on my 8th
birthday.
Preparations started, the rabbits
were sold, the hutches
dismantled and burned. Things
were packed in tea chests even
the old fridge was going stuffed
full of a rolled up rug and
cushions. We became sort of
celebrities in Tuckswood, the
family that were going off to find
a new life down under. Mum
took us to a place to get some
clothes, it was sort of a clothes
bank, I think it must have been
run by the Salvation Army as I
remember seeing a lady in a
black uniform and bonnet. At
first I didn’t want the clothes as I
thought they must have come
from dead children otherwise
how could they have so many
clothes that we didn’t have to
pay for? Everything was neatly
folded on shelves in sizes and the
lady with the bonnet told me that
they were most definitely not
from dead children but from very
kind rich people who just want to
help those less fortunate than
themselves.
The record player was given to
Uncle Billy. That was very sad
we played our favourites for the
last time and sang along to ‘Oh
wouldn’t it be lovely’ and
shouted out loud the chorus to
‘The Green Door’, then we shed
a tear at Elvis’s ‘Love Me
Tender’ and ‘Return to Sender’. I
always found that title very
confusing so asked what it meant
and Dad in his broad Norfolk
accent said it was simple and
explained it something like this –
‘Now this here bloke keeps a
writing to his gal and she keeps a
sendin on ‘em back’ How we all
laughed because that just about
said it all.
Extracts from “The
Boy Up The Tree”
The story of life in Suffolk
1940/50s by George Reeve
I was born on 28th February
1945 at Doves Farm,
Cretingham, in the heart of rural
Suffolk. I was the only son of my
farmer father, although my
mother had other children from a
previous marriage. My father had
been a bachelor farmer until he
had married my mother, when he
was in his forties. He was forty-
seven when I was born.
Before my first birthday, we
moved to Witchpit Farm,
Melton. This was, once again, a
very rural location. The farm was
one-hundred-and-one acres large.
Around the perimeter of the farm
was the point to point race-track
for the Easton Harriers. Once a
year, the meadows at the front
were full of tents and bookies
ready for the day’s racing. The
races were a great day’s
entertainment for everyone in the
local area. The most popular tent
being the beer tent!
There was no electricity at the
farm. The water was from a well
- this remained unchanged for
the next fifteen years. We had
paraffin lamps and candles which
were lit when it was dark. We
also had a large iron range in the
kitchen which had a water jacket
on it and a tap on its side. It
could be filled up with water,
thus enabling hot water to be
constant when the range was
alight.
Our only source of information
was the radio which was
powered by glass batteries
(accumulators), which we had to
take to the cycle shop in
Woodbridge to be charged up.
My bedroom was lit by a candle
when I went to bed however I
soon changed this. I saved up my
pocket money and bought some
wire, switches, cycle bulbs and
batteries from Woolworths in
Woodbridge, in order to make
my own bedside lamp. My sister
had a plastic doll’s tea set and I
used one of the cups. I cut off the
handle and drilled a hole in the
bottom to put the bulb through to
make the light fitting. I then
connected it with a wire and
switch to a cycle lamp battery -
hey presto I had my own little
bedside light!
Mother cooked on the range. We
had a large walk in pantry which
mother used to display bottles
and jars of fruit which she had
bottled during the summer. In the
pantry, there was also eggs
which had been stored in
‘Isinglass.’ Isinglass was used as
a preservative in Great Britain
from the 1940’s before and
during World War II. The
Isinglass was brought in tins
dissolved in a bucket of water,
with the resulting solutions being
ideal to preserve eggs.
Obviously, my mother continued
with this well into the ‘50s. The
pantry shelves were always full -
we never went short of food. We
had an orchard with all sorts of
fruit trees and every September
we would harvest the apples and
other fruit. The apples would be
sorted and put into trays and
stored under our beds to keep for
the winter. Every two to three
weeks we would look in the trays
and throw out any which showed
signs of decay.The fruit that my
Mother bottled was delicious to
eat in the wintertime. My father
had a small wooden barrel of
beer in the pantry with a wooden
tap, and I was allowed to take my
little tin mug and have a small
drop of beer from time to time.
We had a Jersey cow for the
house, so we were never, ever
short of milk. My mother would
make butter and sell it. Any
surplus milk we had, was mixed
with meal and fed to the calves,
which my father was rearing for
beef. We had our own chickens,
and there was always an
abundance of pheasants and
rabbits. This was after the war,
and with our vegetable garden
and orchard, we were never short
of food.
Our only toilet was outside,
across the yard. My Father had
two vegetable plots, one being
dug in the Summer and Winter
and one planted up in the Spring.
Every time the toilet needed
emptying, he would dig a trench,
empty and bucket into it and dig
another spit to cover it over.
When this plot was completely
dug and composted, he would
plant it up and start digging the
other one. Recycling at its best!!!
We had wonderful, tasty
vegetables.
When I was a year and half old,
on an August Bank Holiday
Monday, my inquisitive nature
came into fruition. I climbed
onto my little pull-a-long
wooden train engine, to see what
Mother was cooking on the
stove. Unfortunately, it was a
pan of boiling water. The whole
pan scalded me, but fortunately
missed my face. In those days,
butter was put on scalds, which
was the wrong thing to do. I
ended up in Ipswich Hospital and
was lucky to live. I spent the
next fourteen years in and out of
hospital, Ipswich and Norwich
having various skin grafts
because the skin kept dying. I
was in hospital for weeks at a
time with only Peter, my little
sheepskin dog, for company. I
still have him to this day. He was
given to me by my Dad’s sister.
My parents could only visit at the
weekends.
My first memory of going to
school was with my Mother,
taking me on the first day -
walking down a half-mile lane to
the bus stop where we caught the
bus. Just after getting onto the
bus, it travelled about fifty yards
to the crossroads, stopped to turn
right, when I jumped off and ran
home, leaving Mother on the
bus. I certainly wasn’t going to
school, it was far too much fun
on the farm! Double decker
buses those days had open
platforms, with no doors - hence
my escape!
One of my Mother’s
favourite stories concerning me,
was when the teacher, Miss
Ward, was giving a lesson on
growing crops. She kept talking
about putting manure on the
fields to make the crops grow.
Apparently after a while, my
hand shot up in the air, with me
shouting, “Please Miss, that’s not
manure its Cow S**T!” Clearly
my mother thought it was funny
because the story was relayed
many times.
When my dog Socks was
about 3 years old, I entered him
into ‘The Best Kept Dog
Competition’ at The Woodbridge
Flower Show. On the morning of
the event, I washed and groomed
him, cut his nails, trimmed up his
straggly hairs and cleaned his
teeth with toothbrush and paste
(he didn’t like that at all but he
let me do anything with him as
he was totally trusting) To my
amazement we won first prize,
and as a little boy I was so
proud!!!
The farm was named
Witchpit after the large, deep
pond near the house and farm
buildings. Legend had it that this
was where witches were ducked.
In medieval times, until the 18th
century, ‘ducking’ was a way
used to establish whether a
suspect was a witch. Ducking
stools were first used for this
purpose, but ducking was later
inflicted without a chair. In this
instance, the victim’s right
thumb was bound to their left big
toe. A rope was attached to their
waist, and then the witch was
thrown into a river or deep pond.
If the witch floated it was
deemed that she was in league
with the devil and if the witch
sank, she was retrieved before
drowning and let off. Mother was
always afraid of this pond, and I
was told in no uncertain terms
never to climb the trees which
hung over the water there.
However, as boys don’t always
do as they are told, one day I
climbed one of the trees.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get
down. After some time, my
mother realised I was up the tree.
She couldn’t do anything about it
and said I was to wait for father
to come home for lunch. We
waited, and when my father
returned, he looked up at me and
(Continued on page 10)
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 10
said, “I told you not to climb
those bloody trees, you can stay
up there until I come home for
tea tonight.” And this is what I
had to do. I think Mother kept an
eye on me, but what my Father
said was law. Needless to say,
after my Father got me down
with a ladder, the lesson was
learnt: I never climbed that tree
again.
Every year, during the
Summer, a gypsy family would
camp on a piece of rough ground,
the other side of the A12, opposite
the farm gates. They had two pretty
horse-drawn canvas bow-top
caravans, decoratively painted and
would stay there for about two
weeks. I was told not to go near
them but the children seemed nice
and I used to talk to them. They
never went to school. Gypsys had a
poor reputation but this family
never caused any problems. I
presume they must have sold things
in Melton and Woodbridge but they
never came across the road to the
farm.
We had a large sandpit at the
front of the farm and every year the
rubbish from around the farm, tree
branches etc. would be built into a
huge bonfire, ready for Guy
Fawkes Night. Dad would buy
some fireworks and we would have
a bonfire party every year, always
on the 5th November, and for the
family only. (Not the nearest
Saturday celebrated today)
Another traumatic experience
was when I had trouble with a bit
of bullying - just one boy. Anyway,
a Christmas party was held at the
school. We all had to take a plate
and an enamel mug for all the
goodies and drink. The boy I didn’t
get on with grabbed my mug, peed
in it and gave it back. It spoilt my
Christmas party. Anyhow, I told
my Dad I was being bullied by this
boy. His immediate remedy was,
“hit him as hard as you can, and if
you don’t hit him then I will hit
you!” This taught me to stand up
for myself, which I have done all
my life - another hard lesson learnt.
(Although I had much hospital
treatment, I was obviously a strong
boy to have survived like I did.)
One day, my half-brother,
Ron, who was ten years older
than me, was given the money to
3 take me to Woodbridge for a
haircut. He convinced me to let
him cut my hair, so we could
spend the money on sweets. This
we did, and upon arriving back
home it was quite obvious I
hadn’t had a proper haircut. Poor
Ron had to take the blame and
face the wrath of my father!
I was a member of the 1st
Woodbridge Scout Group
(Kingfisher Patrol) and us boys,
one Winter’s evening, were on
our way to a Scout meeting. It
was dark and during the day, I
had found a nest of pheasant’s
eggs which had been laid in the
spring but had not hatched.
They were very stinky eggs! I
was carrying them in a paper
bag with a view to using them
as stink bombs when the
double decker service bus
passed us. Although it wasn’t
planned, spontaneously, I
threw the eggs onto the
platform of the bus. The bag
rolled up the alleyway of the
bus and the eggs must have
broken. The bus was stopped,
and we were chased by the
conductor, but phew… we got
away with it. I now feel sorry and
repent as that wasn’t a nice thing
to do!
On Saturdays, a crowd of us
would go to the cinema at
Woodbridge. One of my
schoolmates had had an arrow shot
in his eye, playing cowboys and
Indians in Leeks Hills Woods,
Melton. He sadly finished up with a
glass eye. We were in the cinema
when his eye dropped out and
rolled under the seats. What a
commotion we caused during the
film, with all us boys hunting under
the seats for the eye. The manager,
whose name was Tommy Trinder,
stopped the film, went on the stage
and called for calm. All ended well.
Incidentally, the screen for the
cinema was next to the railway line,
so when the express train went past
the cinema, the screen used to
shake!
My father had a hard-working
life on the farm. We had two
Suffolk Punch horses, Scott and
Depper, which he worked with on
the farm before we had a tractor. In
fact, Suffolk Punch horses nearly
died out in later years, but were
saved. They are now making a
comeback and are being shown at
Agricultural Shows. The really are
a lovely horse. I can remember the
first tractor arriving, which was one
of the first in the area to be used on
a farm. In those days, farming was
very labour-orientated and not
mechanized.
At Harvest time, the corn
was cut with a binder, which tied
the corn into sheaves. It was then
taken to a stack yard and made a
stack of. In the winter time, a
steam engine and thrashing tackle
would come to thresh the corn, to
get the seed. My dog, Socks, used
to love this time because as the
stack got lower and lower to the
ground, the rats used to run from
the bottom of the stack. He would
have great fun by catching them
and throwing them up in the air.
By the time they hit the ground,
they were dead! The men
working on the threshing machine
used to tie the bottom of their
trousers with string, so the rats
didn’t run up their trousers!
To read more, copies of the
book which is over 100 pages
from:
J C Books, 55 High Street,
Watton. Or from Ann Reeve
0773 321 1410 / 01953 882065
eMail:
annreeve2008@gmail.com
OOP FOR
T’ COOP
By Ken Knowles
On August 1st. I opened my
newspaper and was amazed to read
that it was Cup Final day, and for
the first time since I was a little lad
this had arrived un-noticed,
obviously because the virus crisis
has upset everything we do these
days.
My thoughts went back to the
’good old days’ of the nineteen-
thirties, when Cup Final Day was
an occasion second only in
importance to Christmas Day,
particularly on the calendar of
sports fans.
It marked the end of the football
season and the Final saw the climax
of the F.A. cup competition that
had begun the previous August
with every club, however small that
was affiliated to the Football
Association being eligible to
compete, on a knock-out I basis,
the eventual outcome being the
final, now traditionally held at
Wembley. Yes, even the smallest
clubs, so that in later years, when I
was older, I, myself, could say that
I had played in the F.A. Cup,
although like hundreds of other
little teams, we were always
eliminated in the first round.
Actually this was really just a
preliminary qualifying round, well-
known Third Division teams only
joining in the First Round Proper,
as it was then known. So, although
just a figment in the realms of
fantasy, it was actually a remote
possibility for me, in my club, to
win the Cup. Of course, there were
years when a small club enjoyed an
unexpected run of success and
reached the latter rounds of the
competition, when all the country
followed their progress with great
fascination, until eventually their
amazing run of wins ended, and
they returned to their previous
obscurity, though they would
forever be remembered for the year
they reached their one pinnacle of
fame.
But each season two clubs will
have emerged from the semi-final
as winners, almost invariably two
of the bigger names of the game,
and though they might both be
London based, nearly always at
least one of the contenders would
be from the midlands or north of
England, and in those pre-war days
a trip to Wembley, meant a trip to
London, which for millions of
people was similar to modern day
might regard as a visit to
Venezuela, since for many their
annual holiday meant a week in the
nearest seaside town for the lucky
ones.
So, the moment the two finalist
teams were known, allocation of
tickets was made, invariably
causing anguish, because the F.A.
had their own thoughts on
distribution which usually resulted
in clubs receiving far fewer tickets
than they felt was their just due.
Nevertheless, a club like Preston
North End, for instance, whose
supporters came from a catch -ment
area of perhaps fifteen mile radius
(small because there were so many
other leading clubs around them).
For these fans the approaching Cup
Final would not be a football match
but a day out, and not just Any day
out, but a trip to London, which
would represent the most exciting
day of their lives for they would be
able to see all the sights that they
had heard or seen photographs of in
their newspapers or possibly on
newsreels in their local cinemas.
And, on such a special day it would
be sensible to share the experience
with the rest of the family, so a
ration of, say. 10,000 match tickets
could with extra family travellers, it
would obviously be necessary for
special trains to be provided to
accommodate such numbers.
This in itself caused more
problems, for though to provide an
extra train occasionally, the railway
would be hard put to supply several
all at once, since each train would
entail the use of a whole fleet of
carriages, plus a locomotive, and
normal running requirements did
not offer too much spare capacity,
and other services still had to be
maintained, though luckily
schedules were much lighter at
weekends.
In order to provide these extra
trains the railway companies would
have to bring into use rolling stock,
but this was not too much a
problem as there were hundreds of
carriages parked on sidings all
around the country, but the
provision of locomotives was not
so easy as most of the engines used
for passenger work were already
fully engaged, so any sudden
demand for one extra loc could
cause a headache for the
authorities, but the need for several
would entail really scraping the
barrel; so that when the big day
arrived railway enthusiasts were
treated to all sorts of strange sights
as special trains chugged past,
pulled by a startling assortment
of engines, some of which had
probably spent their existence
shunting wagons around goods
depot sidings, or had been
withdrawn from service many
years before and had been tucked
away at the back of some engine
shed while they awaited their turn
at the scrapping yard.
These ancient relics were enjoying
a last hurrah with what may have
been the first journey of any length
since they had been built, and
certainly the first time they had
been anywhere within miles of the
capital.
Since these special trips to London
were arranged for the folks to enjoy
as much time in London as possible
an early start was needed, so the
trip from the north had to
commence in the early hours,
which in turn meant that steam in
the engines had to be generated in
some cases soon after midnight on
the Friday, but eventually the
marathon trek to London could
begin, and the ‘specials’, packed
with fans wearing clothes in the
colours of their teams, plus their
prospective sight-seeing relatives
all adding their numbers
temporarily to the population of
London.
Yes, Cup Final Day was an event
that captured the attention of the
nation like no other, and though it
is still a major date on the modern
sporting calendar the trip to London
is no longer quite the special event
it was for long distance travel is
within the reach of nearly everyone
with luxury trains and long ranging
coaches available for those who do
not have their own cars.
In those pre-war years only a
comparatively small portion of the
population could ever hope to
actually see the Cup Final, whereas
today we all have TV sets and can
watch, again and again if we so
desire, and folks can visit the
capital virtually any time they care
to.
And for the keen footie fans it is,
and will always be, the big day of
the year’.
Letter to the
Editor
I thought your readers might be
interested to know I sent the
following letter to Mr George
Freeman MP at Westminster on
29th June this year. As at the time
of writing (11 th August) I have
received no reply to, or even
acknowledgement of same.
Surely a letter to the house of
Commons should have merited a
reply but it does seem as if all
the hand clapping of the
politicians for the N.H.S. was an
empty gesture. Nurses and care
workers do deserve a decent
wage and proper funded training
if we are to continue to have a
committed health service but the
government seems to want to
privatise as much of that as they
can.
Dear Mr Freeman
I have been impressed, as have
many others no doubt, with the
support by the Prime Minister
with the public hand clapping for
the Key Workers in the N.H.S.
during the covid 19 crisis.
May I ask what plans you have
now the crisis is easing, to
encourage the Prime Minister to
do something more substantial
than hand clapping, for key
workers such as nurses and care
workers. Will you be
encouraging him to provide them
with a significant pay increase or
to enable prospective nurses to
receive their training without
landing themselves in heavy debt
as happens at present?
I am sure the public will not be
very impressed with their
government if they sense that all
the hand clapping and public
appreciation was just an empty
political gesture.
Yours sincerely,
Brian Lawrence. Watton.
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 11
PLEASE MENTION Great Hockham
THE WAYLAND Gardening Club
NEWS Corona Diary
WHEN SHOPPING We started the month with a cry of help from
Mary Watkins. “Please can anyone tell me
WITH OUR what is affecting 6 of my apple trees; is it fire
ADVERTISERS disease as mentioned on Gardeners World;
What to do?” Mary supplied pictures and
several members were able to help. Basically,
the consensus was that it was fire blight and
the only remedy was to cut out any affected
parts – quickly. It’s great to know that
regardless of the current restrictions we are
keeping in touch and our combined broad
range of knowledge is still on tap.
Incidentally, regardless of lockdown, anyone
can still join the club and be part of our
community on-line. Visit our website at:
greathockhamgardeningclub.org.uk for
details.
During this analysis Mary added: If anyone
would like free sheep’s fleece to use as
mulch, bags are available from Melsop Farm
Park near Watton. ASAP before it is burnt.
Bean and potato trenches need far less water
when lined with fleece.
The bottom has dropped out of the wool
market leaving many small flock owners with
the dilemma of how to dispose of the fleece.
Sending to the Wool Marketing Board can
mean a loss where the cost of transport is
more than the price paid for the wool. Many
are resorting to dumping heaps in the corners
of fields or, HORRORS, burning it.
Gardeners, hand spinners, eco builders and
the wider crafting community can help by
making better use of this brilliant natural
resource.
There is quite a lot of information to be
found on the wonderful Internet. Just
Google uses for sheep's fleece for some
ideas. I used some dirty, daggy fleece in
one bean trench that very dry summer.
Those beans thrived and produced better
crops with less watering than the next
trench with no fleece. Fleece is also a
proven slug deterrent when tasty plants are
well tucked in with nice greasy fleece.
Again there is a slow release nitrogen
fertiliser so less feeding needed. Fleece is
excellent for lining hanging baskets. Leave
some short lengths on top for the nesting
birds. The blue tits will manage to dig out
some choice staples for their nest lining.
African violets like their pots to have fleece
in the bottom with a little wick pulled
through the hole.
No need to gather small handfuls of fleece
from fences when out on your walks; there
are several small flocks around Hockham and
Watton. Melsop Farm Park near Scoulton has
an abundance for free with the added bonus
of a small cafe and butchers shop selling rare
breed pork. (Yummy meat: slow roast joint
then whack up the heat for proper crispy
crackling. I still need to try the ham.) I know
the park is open, just need to check about the
children's play area. (We have tried the
bangers: first rate, Ed.)
Their rare breed sheep produce a wonderful
variety of fleece in natural colours so even
if you are not a hand spinner, there is
always the possibility of mulching and
weed suppressing, or even felting a bedside
rug. The National Trust is selling greasy
wool garden string for a price. How about
learning to stick spindle some of your
fleece and make your own? Just a thought!
Mary.
Sue Thomas writes: Hi Ed. Still keeping
our head down, and have ventured as far as
the petrol station for fuel for the mower and sunshine. Keep well, Julie.
to collect groceries from my daughter. The I hate moles! I am not precious about our
garden has bloomed and is now on the grass; in fact I mow around daises, dandelions
decline. We have picked and eaten, stewed and other serendipitous germinations. But in a
and made crumble with one complete plum very short space of time a mole can create
tree, and have also picked, eaten, stewed, havoc. If you mow the grass without
made pies, crumbles and flans of one removing the heaps it ruins the mower blades
complete apple tree. Quite sick of apples, and fires stones at the windows. Removing
but still one to go. Still have two victoria the heaps doesn’t help much as the wheels of
plum trees to deal with, both rammed with the mower drop into unseen cavities created
fruit, but still as green as grass I am pleased by the runs, causing the blade to drop and
to say. The late strawberries are now in full create those familiar brown rings that look
bloom, and have picked 3 or 4 pounds so like crop circles. We even had one mole in
far. Now on the 4th row of radishes and the our gravel drive. The time involved sieving
third row of cut and come again salad the gravel and making the repairs is
leaves. Carrots have been particularly good disheartening. Other beasts can be deterred
this year and beetroot exceptional. The with various barriers. In our garden, pigeons
runner beans planted in the poly tunnel, are kept at bay by our dog, a staffyjack with a
now having left the doors open, are going pathological hatred of said birds. But moles
mad. The runners and climbing French move in mysterious ways their devastations to
beans planted outside are now catching up perform. But that is not why I hate moles.
fast and we have eaten a couple of pound of The only solution to the problem is to kill
the Cobra beans which are a delight. them. I have to kill a beautiful, hard-working
Foolishly, I thought that the bean little creature that is only doing what it has to
department was not going so well, and do to survive in that part of the adaptive
decided on planting some ground French landscape it finds itself. When I finally
beans to compensate. About two dozen manage to trap one I hate myself, and that’s
plants have appeared, so we could be knee why I really hate moles.
deep by the end of the month!! The two The moles do not trouble the grass that
pumpkin plants that survived now have grows on the tarmac at the side of the road
about 8 fruits on them and still rushing outside our house. It must be a very tough
round the garden, currently about 3 metres variety as it is surviving under the harshest
long! The gourds insist on climbing up the of conditions: little or no soil, dries out
wire of the fruit cage and have abandoned quickly and is constantly driven on by
the bamboo framework I so carefully passing vehicles, a prime example of the
installed for them!! I have made a point of survival of the fittest. Its grip on terra firma
collecting as much seeds from my plants as is so slight that it is quite easy to slide a
possible, in the hope that we can embark on spade underneath and lift it. Passers by are
our 'Seed Swop' sometime in the
future. Keep Safe everyone.
Cheers - Sue
Julie Brown writes: Hi Ed; not
much happening in the garden at
No 1, still waiting on 'im in-doors.
The hi-lite is the lovely self-sown
sunflower which came out of the
birdseed, a 6ft beauty isn't she? I
have harvested about a dozen
cucumbers and my tomatoes are
just starting to turn. Have been
working at Liz's so will get some
pics of what we have been doing
there. We are also working on her
son's garden, too. Will be as quick
as possible, hope you have sorted
the plant in the conservatory. (Fat
chance, Ed).
I spend a lot of time at Liz Head’s
garden with my sister. Liz's garden
is being changed from a huge
expanse of grass to no grass at all. It
has been a long journey but she is
almost there. The garden backs onto
a farmer’s field and is at the mercy
of the weather coming from the east,
and then you can just see the trees of
the Forestry Commission.
Disappointed that we are not
meeting as Liz thought she might
have scored a few points for her
cabbages? (right)
Liz is loving the new flower bed.
The blue thistle is a huge clump
from 3 plants so will need splitting unaware that they are witnessing a crime: I
up, but covered in little blue globes. The bees am stealing the council’s grass. When this
and hover flies are loving it. particular grass is used to fill in any mole
Liz, Michael and I have recently dug a damage and finds itself on some half decent
wildlife pond in the garden, but Liz is not soil, and gets watered regularly, it thinks all
ready to show just yet, but I think it looks it’s Christmases have come at once. It
good already. She wants there to be more quickly takes root, grows at an almost
growth before showing. Not sure of the alarming rate and provides a virtually
name of the butterfly, is anyone? instant solution to the problem of bare
Hope you have all enjoyed July now patches.
August will bathe us all in glorious Happy highway maintenance, Ed.
The Wayland News September 2020 Page 12

Please support your Inner Wheel In Lockdown

local businesses as
we try and get back
to a new normal!

Wow! What a hot Friday, and another
one to come, we hope everyone is
enjoying this wonderful summery
weather.
The ladies of the Inner Wheel gathered
on that very hot Friday for an
abbreviated AGM in a member's
garden to sign off the necessary
administration of the past year in order
to move on to the next. This took about
10 minutes after which the very
important part of the gathering took
place. The time to catch up on news
both of each other and of friends and
families not seen for months. What a
miss in our lives this has been.
The next very important part of the
gathering was, of course, tea and cake,
you really cannot forego tea and cake
when meeting old friends! Fortunately
the garden had plenty of trees and there
was a pleasant breeze so with a certain
amount of moving when the sun
moved we were all able to be
comfortable on the hottest day of the
year ….so far.
We have plans for a BBQ in another
member's garden at the end of August
so will look forward to meeting up
with friends, again in a carefully Covid
secure way by keeping the social
distancing which gardens allow.
Perhaps the weather will be kind for a
few months longer and a few more
meetings can be held out of doors. In
the meantime various types of social
media must do to keep us in touch with
each other, are you a Zooming
enthusiast?
Stay safe everyone.
Brenda Davis, Club correspondent. I
can be reached on 01953881792 or
brendadavis30@icloud.com
for information about Inner Wheel.

St Mary’s Church Grand Second Hand Book Sales

As I write this on another blisteringly hot August day it is interesting
150 Club Prizes to reflect on the year so far. How life has changed for so many of us!
1st prize £50. - ticket no 8. – Lucas Connie; As we try to adjust to the “new normal” of social distancing, facial
2nd prize £25. - ticket no 24 - Ellie Nethaway coverings, and contact with many of our loved ones reduced to
Congratulations! remote mediums, we wonder what the future will bring. Rest assured,
however, that all involved in the Second Hand Book Sales are doing
their utmost to continue. Understandably, given the current
restrictions, and with everyone’s safety in mind, the SALE
THE WAYLAND NEWS SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 10th has been CANCELLED.
We are looking to have 3 next year as normal; the dates still to be
PLEASE READ!!! Page space is allocated strictly on a first come,
decided. Watch this space!
first served basis. 12 Noon on the 15th of the month preceding
Because we will not be holding any more sales in 2020, we must
publication is the last date and time that copy will be
regrettably put a halt to more donations too. What we already hold in
CONSIDERED for inclusion. Arrival of your copy before deadline stock will see us through until next year. When we can start collecting
does not guarantee inclusion, if you wish to be certain your again will be notified here, but realistically that might not happen
entry gets published, then please make sure it arrives in plenty until January 2021.
of time otherwise you may still be disappointed. Please take care everyone, stay well, and we look forward to seeing
You can contact Julian by ringing (01953) 858908. you all next year. Keith and Caroline 01953 880153.
The e-mail address is now: newsfromwayland@gmail.com
Views expressed in articles in The Wayland News are those
of the contributors and not the views of the publisher or
Salec Travel Ltd - Excursion Update
Firstly we hope you are all keeping well.
printers. Following the cancellation of Thursford Christmas Spectacular the
While every care and effort has been taken to ensure management have made the decision to cancel the rest of this year’s day
accuracy, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for excursions our priority is the safety of our employees and customers and
errors or omissions. we hope you will understand this decision.
This issue of the The Wayland News was published by: We are now busy planning for the 2021 season and hope to see you all
Julian Horn, 32 High Street, Watton IP25 6AE again then. We remain open for private hire taxis, minibuses and coaches.
and printed by: The management team at Salec Travel Ltd.

Sharman & Company Ltd, Newark Road For more details please phone: 01953 881159
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