Issue Number 200 - May 2013

in digital & online at www.thebrecklandview.com

Riding for Joining Jack and Macmillan

My name is Imogen Walker and for the last 2 months editions of The Wayland News I have told you about my bike ride for Watton to Wigan in aid of 2 charities, Macmillan and Joining Jack. This month I am updating you on my progress. Firstly, I am now hoping with a change in the weather I will be able to train more often (no more white stuff please!). So far the furthest I have done is 40 miles and I am hoping to up this considerably by July. I have just come back from a silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition and whilst this didn't involve biking, 60km walking over 3 days will certainly help with stamina. I am pleased to tell you that so far I have raised just over 1000 to split between the charities and would like to see how much I can raise. I have recently set up 2 texting codes in which you send a text including the code and an amount to 70070. The codes are as follows: For Joining Jack - IMOW97 and for Macmillan - IMAC97 As well as my JustGiving accounts: www.justgiving.com/imogenwalker1JoiningJack and www.justgiving.com/imogenwalker1macmillan Thank You.

The Watton Book Fest will be the culmination of Watton Book Week which is being organised by The Town Team. The week beginning Monday 29th April will see the shops in Watton dressing their windows to illustrate the title of a book, which will form a competition that will take place on Saturday 4th May as part of the book fest. The competition will be for children and their families to discover the answers posed on the competition form, which will be available from Edwards Newsagents and the book fest site in Chaston Place. Entry to the competition is free and there will be a prize. So come along and take part. We are planning an exciting programme of events for young and old. There will be story tellers, poetry readers, authors selling and signing their latest books among those who have agreed to attend are Phil Johnson who has recently written The Little Blue Boat. Paul Jackson who writes and illustrates books and Doreen Reed who writes and reads poetry in the style of Pam Ayres. There may even be a few surprises! We are hoping that children will be able to have their faces painted and take part in another competition where they will dress as their favourite book character, again there will be a prize for the winner. Lets hope that the weather is kind to us and we can enjoy the activities and events in warm sunshine. If you would be interested in a stall there may be space for you. Ring Jean Williams on 01953 884082

Watton Book Fest

Coming soon Christian Aid

Over many, many years, the Watton area has maintained a proud tradition of fantastic support for Christian Aid, one of the principle charities seeking to help developing countries to become autonomous in producing food, managing education and health care, and encouraging individuals to reach their potential. The need continues and hopefully the support will too. Christian Aid Week runs from 12th-19th May this year and a number of events are planned. On Saturday 11th May there will be a Coffee Morning at St Marys church to launch the proceedings. In addition to coffee, cakes etc. there will be a display showing some of the excellent work which the charity undertakes in different countries. At Sunday services, members of the Anglican and Methodist congregations will be asked to make donations via Christian Aid envelopes and also to take one (or more!!) to give to a friend. On Wednesday 15th May Watton will be ablaze with red and white as collectors appear in the High Street to carry out a street collection: please give generously when you spot the distinctive tabard!! At lunchtime on the same day a Soup Lunch will be held at the Watton Christian Community Centre. Come along and enjoy delicious HOME MADE soup with a roll and a cup of tea or coffee. No set charge but, of course, donations are invited for the work of Christian Aid. The people of Watton and District are always amazingly generous please continue to support this worthwhile cause. For further details, offers of help etc. please contact Paul (01953 884213) or Lesley (01760441094)

Once upon a time . . . in Wayland in May

In May the ever - inventive community of Watton and Wayland will come together to celebrate the wonderful world of books and story - telling. On the High Street on May 4th the Watton Town Team BookFest will welcome Norfolk writers and poets for more details see the article to your left. The following weekend (May 11th) the Dragonfly Gallery at Wayland House will host a most unusual week - long exhibition of book illustrations. Artists have been invited to submit work in any medium to illustrate any book title and there is already considerable interest. To round off this Festival of Literature we are hoping to run a short story workshop in 6 - 8 weeks time (date to be confirmed). The full day Saturday workshop will be led by the Unthank School of Creative Writing and will cost 50 - 55. If you are interested in taking part in this workshop please contact [email protected]. Working Together for Wayland Watton Town Team, Wayland Partnership, The Breckland View.

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Inspired Wayland students design new tourism and hospitality concepts

The winning team S.E.A Chloe Hobson, Chloe Fowler, Alisha Goodman and Matthew Hogon with Debbie Harris, 2 UP Creative. The 2013 Inspired Youth Tourism Enterprise Challenge East Anglia returned to Wayland Academy taking 22 local business people from a variety of sectors. The students were tasked to design a new tourism and hospitality concept that would attract more visitors to the area and find a gap in the market. Twenty two business people mentored the 160 year 9 students throughout the day in completing tasks such as what tourism is their locally, how to market their business, how many visitors they would be expecting over their peak periods, their pricing strategies and then putting together all this and more into an eye catching and memorable presentation. 2UP Creative sponsored the event and Debbie Harris, Director, talked about the value it brings. 2up became involved in the Enterprise Day because we see real value in helping young people gain a good understanding of the commercial world. During the course of the day it was great to see the students develop their ideas and get to grips with the elements of planning a business. It was also an excellent opportunity to meet and network with like minded businesses. Ideas on the day ranged from zorbing around zoo safaris, underwater theme parks and hotels and creation of an artificial mountain range adventure park to introduce some mountains to Norfolk! After the first round of presentations, the judges decided on their winning teams in the final round. The judging panel included Mary-Anne Sergeant from M+A Partners, Salena Dawson from Salena Dawson & Co solicitors, Jan Godfrey from the Wayland Partnership and Vanessa Scott from Strattons. The judges concluded that the environmental impact award went to Fun times for their green energy ideas and low carbon impacts. The Best marketing concept was won by WOW for their jingle they created for a radio or TV advert but also their materials, and it would be especially apt if these came from local people, creating something which will benefit Watton for years to come, said Ms Mead. Although many of us now live in urban environments, it is very important that we dont forget that our county very much has a rural and agricultural heritage, and that is why I am keen to incorporate traditional agricultural implements into the piece. The new artwork was commissioned in January by Watton-based Abel Homes, which is building 46 highly-sustainable new homes in the town. Since 2008 the company has commissioned a piece of public artwork for each of the sites where it has built new homes, and this will be the fifth it has installed. Artist Harriet Mead is daughter of the late author and broadcaster Chris Mead, and is an internationallyrenowned wildlife artist who has completed many high-profile commissions. The new artwork will be positioned near the entrance to the hus46 site. More details about the homes being strong marketing plan for their theme park. The individual of the day, decided by the mentors, was Myles Platt for his energy and creativity throughout the tasks and also his team management skills. The best overall project was won by Chloe Hobson, Chloe Fowler, Alisha Goodman and Matthew Hogon from S.E.A team. The team gave a faultless presentation, working well as a team and covering all areas in their business idea including finance, marketing and environmental impact for their water themed adventure park. The team will now go on to represent Wayland Academy against the other competing high schools, in the regional final, later in the year. Paul McCann, Assistant Head at Wayland Academy, commented on the impact of the day. I feel that these events are so important for young people in order to give them a flavour for the many different futures they have waiting for them and I truly believe that this enterprise day helped to broaden their aspirations. Glen Abbott, Senior Leadership at the Academy added Original and imaginative presentations showed a variety of skills and every student was given the opportunity to shine, students related their work to real life and used a business mentality. The student feedback reflected this with 95% of the students enjoying the day and 83% saying they learnt new skills and 97% stating they valued the mentoring from the business people. The Inspired Youth project was founded 2 years ago to create better engagement between local employers and local schools, and is currently visiting 10 schools across the region. More details on how to get involved in the Inspired Youth project, and the other schools participating this year, can be found on the projects website. www.inspired-youth.co.uk

Any Old Tools?

An artist who is set to create a new piece of public art in Watton is appealing for old farming tools and implements which will form part of the finished piece. Hilborough-based Harriet Mead has been commissioned by local house builder Abel Homes to create a lifesized shire horse collage on a specially-built wall at the firms hus46 site in the town with the collage to be made out of found materials. Now the artist is asking local people to donate old and unused implements to make up the sculpture. Ms Mead is particularly looking for traditional old farming tools and implements, which will reflect the artworks theme and the sites former life as home to the famous Abels shire horses. Because this will be a life-sized shire horse collage, I am going to need a considerable amount of found

An Irish Moiled Cow - one of Harriets sculptures built at hus46 at Watton can be found at www.abelhomes.co.uk. Items should be ferrous/capable of rusting so that they can be welded. Suitable items include old tools such as pliers, spanners, bow saws; garden tools such as hoes, rakes, forks, chain; old horse harness paraphernalia, in particular old rusty harnesses from horse collars. unfortunately automotive metal and items such as cast - iron guttering is not suitable. Anyone who can donate traditional farming tools and implements can contact Harriet Mead on email [email protected] or by phone on 07979 647839.

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Ovington & Watton to Golden Wedding Celebration be connected ?

For more years than most of us care to remember the people of Ovington have been campaigning for a walkway / footpath / cycleway along the increasingly dangerous A1075 Dereham road into Watton Town. Could there be light at the end of the tunnel at last? Will the efforts of the Ovington Parish Council and the residents of this important Breckland Village result in a physical connection with Watton? There is hope that after prolonged negotiations with The Highways department and opportunities to apply for a Parish Partnership Funding Ovington's hopes have been raised again. With enthusiastic backing from Watton Town Council and our District Councillor, John Rogers, we in Ovington feel that this long awaited dream of a safe walk to Watton could sometime become a reality. There are many factors in today's economic climate that encourage people to take up walking and cycling, activities which are fiercely promoted by central and local government, so it seems only logical that these bodies should provide facilities to ensure that our people can walk and cycle in complete safety. Support from regular walkers who prefer not to be buffeted by fast moving traffic is more than welcome by having a talk / e-mail / letter to Highways Department in support of our applications. Telephone number is 0344 800 8020 or e-mail [email protected] marked for the attention of Mr Paul Sellick. Thank you for your support. Ovington Parish Council

DEREHAM & DISTRICT

CAT ADOPTION CENTRE

Hoe Road, Longham, Dereham NR19 2RP Rehoming Cats and Providing Advice & Help With Neutering OPEN 7 Days a Week 11am to 3pm Telephone . . . 01362 687 919

Breckland Older Peoples Forum dementia day

Older people in Breckland have a greater influence over the services which matter to them, thanks to the Older Peoples Forum for Breckland, which is a user led group run by older people for older people. The Forum are holding a Dementia awareness event for suffers, families and friends to find out more. The event is on the 3rd July at the Queens Hall, Watton so make a date in your diaries now and keep an eye on The Wayland News next month for fuller details. Supported by Breckland Council, the forum provides a platform for over50s to make their views known and contribute to the planning of policies and services. Councillor Lynda Turner, Breckland Councils Older Persons Champion, said: The Breckland forum enables our older residents to make a real difference to the development and delivery of local services. We urge everyone to come along to find more about dementia and to let us know how the Form can help them.

Celebrating their Golden Wedding at the Hare and Barrel on the 27th April with family and friends were Mrs Daphne and Mr Brian Lucy. They were married at St Peter and Paul's, Grays Parish church, in Essex on the 27th April 1963. They have been enjoying their retirement in Watton since 1992.At the time of their marriage Daphne was a Special Constable and Brian a Second Officer in the Merchant Navy.

Mens' Shed The Budget and Plans

Wayland Chamber Chairman Norman Wilsons Notes When we visited our grandchildren in Australia we came across Mens Shed. It is now in the UK but not in Norfolk yet. So what is it? A MensShed is a larger version of the typical mans shed in the garden. A place where he feels at home and pursues practical interests with a high degree of autonomy. A MensShed offers this to a group of such men where members share the tools and resources they need to work on projects of their own choosing at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive venue. They are places of skill-sharing and informal learning, of individual pursuits and community projects, of purpose, achievement and social interaction. These skills might be used professionally or just to undertake the jobs they do not have room at home to complete. A place of leisure where men come together to work. A Sheds activities usually involve making or mending in wood (e.g. carpentry, joinery, turning, carving, whittling, marquetry, furniture renovation) and may include activities as varied as bike repair, gardening, vehicle repair, tool renovation, upholstery, boat renovation, model engineering, milling, turning in plastics, etc. Reclamation, reuse and restoration will feature strongly and some say that is true of the men too! Although Sheds mostly attract older men, some have included men of any age, women and young people. Whichever activities are pursued the essence of a Shed is not a building, which some dont have, but the network of relationships between the members. What do you think? Do we want to have one in Wayland? It can give people the opportunity to pass on skills in an informal environment and up-skill the community. Contact me Norman Wilson, [email protected] The guys in Australia were clearly enjoying themselves! The budget promised several things. One of the most valuable is the allowance for the first 2,000 of employers NI from 2014/5. Smaller businesses need better access to finance maybe the business bank to be ready to operate to supply finds in the autumn will help solve this. We have responded to the NewAngliaLep Plans following our Breakfast. It is possibly to late but any other responses would be welcome see http://bit.ly/15cpZIF

This year the immensely popular Barbaras day, raising funds for All saints Church, Rocklands is being held on Wednesday 15th May at Cheyney Low Lane, Rocklands. From 10am until 3.30pm. (Follow the B1077 and turn into the Street, Right past Ridgeons coming from Attleborough or left before Ridgeons coming from Watton end. Low Lane is left hand fort past the School in the Street.) At lunch time from about 12 noon ploughmans lunches will be served together with home made desserts. There will also be lots of stalls of plants, home- made jams and cakes, bric-a-brac, hand- made 3D cards and pictures and other hand- made stationery as well as a raffle to be drawn on the day. The funds from this event go a long way towards the upkeep of All Saints Church and last year it raised an amazing 1600. Barbara always prays for good weather and, nearly always, her prayers are answered, but should it be wet it will be held under cover.

Barbaras Day

Spring has finally sprung! Now that we are in British Summer Time and the weather seems to have caught up with the season, every week at the Country Market we have more to tempt you. Over the coming months I shall introduce a different aspect of our Market and I'll begin with the bakery. At present we have five dedicated cooks who, between them, produce savories including sausage rolls, pasties and cheese scones plus a mouth-watering assortment of cakes, buns, tray bakes and fruit pies. Jams, marmalades, chutneys and other preserves are also available. While many of our customers tend to buy on impulse, some place regular orders to avoid disappointment which is something which we always encourage. If you are looking for something for a special occasion or would like a product that we don't currently sell, why not have a chat with one of our friendly ladies and see if we can help. Elsewhere in the Market you will find many different craft items for sale, including greetings cards, knitware, wooden toys and jewellery as well as our ever popular eggs, fresh garden produce and plants. We are open from 8.30am until 11.30am every wednesday in Watton Christian Community Centre. Come in and see us - you'll we glad that you did and can be assured of a warm welcome.

Watton Country Market

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Holme Hale Pavilion

Bingo

Education
By Ken Knowles Hardly a day goes by without the newspapers quoting some government minister, criticising the methods of teaching currently in use throughout our schools, together with reports from the business world bemoaning the fact that prospective recruits can hardly read or write. While these reports are sometimes exaggerated, there is no doubt that certain aspects of education leave a lot to be desired. When I look back on my own schooling, I realise how lucky I was to live in a period when every child had an excellent training, at least in the basics necessary to prepare one for later life, although of course I did not appreciate it at the time. I started school at the age of five, in a class of mixed infants, and my memories of my time there are few, except that (a) we chalked on slates, (b) each afternoon we were made to lie down on mats for a half-hour nap, and (c) on Empire Day we had to trip gaily round a maypole, both (b) and (c) being completely against the nature of any small boy. But we must have been taught things, as by the time I was seven, and moved to the Junior School, I could read well and write legibly if I took my time. Those two things seem to cause much anguish in these modern times, for the experts fail to agree on the best methods for teaching a child to read, while one gets the impression that writing is hardly taught at all, for holding a pen or pencil seems to be completely alien to the pupil of today. I was always told to hold one lightly between thumb and middle finger, with the index finger on top to serve as a guide, whereas whenever school-children are shown on television in the act of writing, they almost invariably are clutching their pens tightly in a closed fist, as if they were grinding something in a mortar and pestle. No doubt this is partly due to the fact that pens are no longer dipped into ink-wells, but even so it must be extremely difficult to write anything in that awkward position, and this is probably why calligraphy, the art of producing beautiful hand-writing, is rarely seen these days. It is the third R, arithmetic, that seems to generate so much argument amongst the education experts, mainly on the method of teaching the times tables by rote. I learned my tables in that way, which I found to be easy even pleasant, for to be allowed to sing out at the top of my voice in class without being reprimanded made a nice change, while it has left me with an instant recall of figures, at least to multiples of twelve, while higher numbers may take just a little thought. It seems rather sad that when I go into a shop to buy, say, four bars of chocolate at 40p each, and lay the correct money on the counter, the chances are the young assistant will suspect me of trying to swindle her until she has been able to confirm from the cash register that I have calculated correctly. Of course this does not apply to all youngsters, but I have found that so many do find figures to be a great problem. Even simple addition causes great difficulty, and a column in a cash book can often be too much for them to cope with, even a

Wednesday 1st May Saturday 11th May Eyes Down 7.30pm

All Welcome

modern one with decimal currency, which simply demands straight adding. They are fortunate they do not have to deal with the old pounds, shillings and pence amounts, which entailed adding first the pence column, which might total, say, 95, which then had to be divided by twelve, giving the answer 7, with 11 over. This latter amount was entered as the total in the pence column, while the 7 was carried forward to the shillings list. Further divisions had to be made to the ten shillings part before carrying forward any balance into the pounds column. That all sounds so complicated now, but we used to cope with it quite easily, and it was one of the skills that would definitely serve us well when we left school for the real world. I cannot say the same for algebra, whereby we were taught to substitute letters and signs for figures, and although my maths teacher assured me that this was the most used method of dealing with problems, I have never used it, and it has faded from my memory completely. Geometry was part of our training, and I even reached a stage where I actually understood the Pythagoras Theorem, and could demonstrate it at will, but once again I can say that it has not come into my life since I left school. Great emphasis was laid on Geography, but though it has helped me to know more or less where places are in the world, in the main I found it boring since my lessons seemed largely confined to knowing what crops grew where, or which minerals were found in various foreign countries. History did not turn me on either, as I was never told anything more recent than just before the Industrial Revolution, so I missed most of the interesting bits, and the dates of the various Kings and Queens I have always found boring, and only of use when completing crossword puzzles. It was explained to me at some point that having a basic knowledge in all the various subjects was desirable, and the problems that were set were all merely a means of encouraging me to think things out for myself, and I think the powers that govern our education system should bear that in mind, and concentrate less on tests, exams and positions in school league tables, and allow the individual teachers to use their own particular skills in passing on their knowledge, just as in former days. How often we used to hear people attributing whatever success they may have achieved to their maths teacher, or their English master, because of the special way their lessons had been put over. I am certain there is too much effort concentrated today solely on passing the exams, as can be seen when results are published. Youngsters are said to be Over the moon with passes, but devastated by any failures. Too many of the latter results In schools being subject to special measures, which means more interference from above, together with a reputation that may not always reflect the true position. Perhaps if there was less meddling from the government the education people could make a better fist of things, but that seems to apply to most things nowadays.

Heritage group search for the men who went to war

The members of the Wayland Heritage Group are currently researching the lives of the men who feature on our war memorials. Several of our villages have memorials to the returned as well as to the fallen. We wish to honour all of these men by putting together some details of them for the 100th Anniversary in 2014 of the outbreak of WWI, hopefully in some published form still to be decided. We are all experiencing problems, such as no information beyond the name on the memorial, knowing of men who have not been recorded for some reason, while others feature on more than one memorial, incorrect names and more. It would be great to put the record straight for these men, so many of whom not only never returned but often have no known grave. If you have any information, and in particular any photos, of any of the men who went to war please do contact us. Personal memories handed down by those who knew any of the men would be very welcome. They deserve to be remembered as more than just a name we see in passing. My own particular area of research is the men on Thompsons memorials and those on the Tottington memorial, which is now situated in Thompson parish. The Tottington memorial seems to me the most emotive in its lonely spot away from its home village, and is in danger of becoming the most forgotten now that the families of those inscribed on it are so widely flung. I will pass on any information on anyone from the other Wayland villages to the relevant members of the group or you can contact Wayland House. Contact me by e-mail at [email protected] or telephone 01953 483741. Alternatively contact Wayland House on 01953 883915.

Our April meeting was well attended and our speaker was Bob Greef, one of the gardeners from Oxborough Hall. He spoke about his involvement with the Hall, the types of gardens, the planning, the plants, their care and the past present and future plans for the gardens. Bob was also able to answer some questions from our members, but we couldn't see the slides he brought because we did not have access to a projector, but he will be coming back to see us next year with the pictures on a disk so we will all be able to enjoy them. Bob was warmly thanked by the group and I

Diabetes UK

think the Watton Two were suitably impressed!! In May our speaker will be Jane Little a Diabetes Dietician from Kings Lynn. She came to see us last year and wanted to return because she ran out of time previously. The meeting will be on May 13th, 10.15am, at the Pentecostal Church, Watton, and our thanks as always go to them for the generous use of their facilities. For details of this meeting, or for information about the group, please phone Helen, 01953 448713, leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Dereham Organ and Keyboard Society

There were 21 persons attended our monthly evening at the Dereham Meeting Point on 8th March. The theme for the evening was eponymous movie songs that is, songs with the same title as the movie in which they were featured. Our Vice-Chairman brought in a Wersi Abacus organ. It had a five octave upper manual, a six -octave lower manual, a 21 -note, radial pedal-board and a vast range of voicings and music styles. There were four, various, Yamaha keyboards brought in by other members and nine members, of various ability, played several pieces each, with at least one 'theme' song. Another succesful evening of live music and lively chat. On 10th May from 7pm to 10 pm James Sargeant will be demonstrating and playing the latest Yamaha Keyboard, the PSR - S950 at the Dereham Organ & Keyboard Society. James musical taste is broad, ranging from light classics, through ballads, rock and roll and modern pop. His signature style is jazz and swing, whether big band, laid -back jazz ballads or dynamic Hammond organ. His varied programme incorporates many different styles of music so that there is something for everyone to enjoy. He has been involved in the design and programming of many Yamaha products, including the amazing Tyros series. At the MEETING POINT, St Withburga Lane, East Dereham. NR19 1ED Entrance Fee 2 per person, including refreshments. The event is sponsored by Cookes Pianos and Keyboards, Norwich

There will be a Country Fayre on May 4th from 11am- 4pm at Fincham Hall and Memorial field. There will be plenty to eat from Hog Roast to Fish and Chips, plenty to do with over 30 stalls from Bouncy Castles to Tombolas to Climbing Wall and plenty to entertain including a Dog Show. Something for everyone! All in aid of the parishes of Barton Bendish, Beachamwell, Boughton, Fincham, Marham, Shouldham, Shouldham Thorpe, and Wereham.

Country Fayre

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Thank you two hundred times over

It may have escaped your attention that this issue marks The Wayland Newss 200th Birthday. For months I have been trying to think of some suitable way to mark the occasions and in truth, I couldnt. Whatever I thought of seemed in some way inadequate. So I am going to say just this . . . To every person who has played a part, no matter how large and no matter how small, in The Wayland News over its lifetime, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You. Now, wiping a tear from the eye, lets get on with the next 200. Shall we?

Project Linus Norfolk Coffee morning

Watton & District University of The Third Age

The Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 28th March at the Christian Community Centre Watton. Fifty eight members attended. The following Officers and Committee were elected. Chairman Ron Upton, Vice Chairman Arthur Rawbone, Secretary Margaret Upton, Treasurer Marion Smith, Membership Secretary Anita Taylor, Group Coordinator Barbara Spiegler, Speaker Organiser Brenda Bracewell, Health & Safety Off. Brian Cubby, Refreshments Shirley Lubbock, Hall Bookings & Books Margaret Rose. The Chairman thanked the Committee for their work throughout the year and together with members their support in making the tenth anniversary celebrations a success. Both the membership and finances remain healthy going into the New Year. The Group Leaders were thanked for their dedication over the past year and it was pleasing to report that we now have twenty active Groups, a record for our U3A. Following the meeting the Chairman presented a film and talk on the manufacture and the last flight of Concorde. Susan Page will take the Garden Visit Group to Clermont House at Little Cressingham on Sunday 12th May and to Lexham Hall Nr Litcham on Sunday 19th April. Ring Susan on 01953 881373 for further information. Allan Bickers Pub Luncheon Group will be at The King Head at North Lopham on Thursday 9th May. Please note that this group is now meeting later at 12.30am for 1.00pm. Brian Eulers Group is at The Hare & Barrell Watton on Tuesday 28th May. Outings lists for visits to Hatfield House and Gardens on Wednesday 12th June and to Newmarket Races on Ladies Day Thursday 11th July are now available as from the April meeting. Please note that seats are limited on both these popular trips. The Members New Year Programme has now been published and is available at the monthly meetings. The next monthly meeting is on Thursday 23rd May with speaker David Berwick presenting The Life and Times of Joseph Hall Bishop of Norwich 1641-1656. For further information on the National U3A go to www.u3a.org.uk

This event, held on 6th April at the WCCC , hosted by Hackers, Tackers and Stuffers, was very successful with over 70 visitors in 3 1/2 hours. These were not only people living locally but some from further afield. At the time of writing we have taken a few pence short of 550 after expenses such as rent, and are still counting. Our visiting traders: Sandra Beech Dyed Silks, Sew and Sos from Bungay and Steve from Sewing Machine World did well. The latter sold three sewing machines as a result of his presence and it is worth mentioning that he did not transport these on his motorbike. The cakes donated for refreshments and the cake stall were very successful and all delicious. We were overwhelmed but still got through large quantities resorting to a cut price sale in the last half an hour and a few people going home with a small amount of their creations which were left. Our own sales table did well as did the Tombola, with more donated goods. A very big thank you to the local traders who donated raffle prizes. These included The Dutch Flower Parade; Boots; Edwards of Watton; Tesco; The Co-op; Steve Smith the Butcher; The Village Florist; Grandmas Patch and Sew and Sos of Bungay. We have received some very favourable comments on the quality of these which were much appreciated by those with winning tickets. As this was entirely in aid of Project Linus helping local ill and traumatised children in Norfolk, we displayed some of the donated quilts and also had great pleasure in receiving more during the morning. For information email [email protected] or ring Jane on 01953 884215; Susan on 01760 440313 or Suzanna on 01953 880057.

Jack Clarke awarded Artic Star

By Enid Clarke Winston Churchill described it as the worst journey in the world and at last the men who braved the Arctic seas to get vital supplies to Russia during the second world war, have been recognised with a medal in the shape of the Arctic Star. My husband, Jack Clarke, who was a regular in the Royal Marine and served throughout the whole of the war on HMS Manchester and HMS Howe, both of which took part in the Russian Convoys, has just received his medal. It is believed that of the 60,000 men who took part, only as few as 200 are alive today. Jack did not talk much about his experiences until fairly recently when he was persuaded by Robert Chalmers that it is important for these things to be recorded and not forgotten and Robert has written a small book which is an account of Jacks war. Jack is now 94 years old and not in good health at this time, but he did appreciate receiving the medal after such a long time.

Hackers, Tackers and Stuffers

Although much of our time in preceding weeks has been taken up with the Coffee morning on 6th April and Open Workshop on 20th, both hosted for Project Linus Norfolk, we continue to meet normally on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month from 7 -9pm in the WCCC and have an interesting programme ahead. At our meeting on 8th April we welcomed 3 new members. On 28th May the meeting will include a demonstration of making a fabric luggage label. On 20th May there will be an all day workshop making a very attractive bag suitable for holidays. On Thursday 12th September we are once again organising a coach trip to the Fabric Guild in Leicester for which the cost will be 16, payable at the time of booking. Details of these and other activities can be found on our Blog at http:// htsqgroup.blogspot If you are unable to find something for which you are looking its worth scrolling down to the calendar feature or ring Jane on 01953 884215.

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News

Watton Evening Womens Institute

Call the Midwife is a popular television programme starring Miranda Hart and Jenny Aggutar but for members of Watton Evening WI our star at the March meeting was Yvonne Harrolds who started her nursing training in 1949 here in Watton. After an initial three months preparation course, which included many menial tasks she was encouraged to always look busy even if she wasnt! As any promotion in nursing then required at least part 1 midwifery Yvonne secured a place at Padstow Maternity Hospital in West Ham, London where she spent six months at the hospital; and six months in the district, this was her Call the Midwife experience. From the conditions and people she met to the fun of riding a bicycle trying to avoid the tram lines, Yvonne had several anecdotes to tell us. On her return to the Watton area she served the community here for many years. She described that in those days there was a strict regime with no husbands allowed in the delivery room, women spent at least ten days in hospital after the birth and most midwives worked on their own only calling for assistance in a real emergency. What a difference experience todays mothers have. Lots of members reminisced on their experiences. A fascinating evening. Delivering Loads of Fun to Special Children is the motto of the charity East Coast Truckers and a team

from the charity, led by Ivan Hardy, were our guest speakers at the April meeting. Formed 25 years ago by lorry drivers the charity has gone from strength to strength. Starting with the well known Childrens Convoy from County Hall Norwich to Great Yarmouth via Pleasure Wood Hills the impressive lorry tractors carry the children and their carers for a day of fun and friendship. This has now been joined by visits to the pantomime, a Christmas party and other outings organised by a team of volunteers. The charity also offers financial help to individuals and groups for items not financed by government. Wheelchair refurbishment is very expensive but with the skills of members much can be achieved. A half hour film gave a clear idea of the charitys work and this was followed by many questions. Watton Evening WI held a very successful coffee morning in aid of the Watton Christian Community Centre Refurbishment Project. It was good to see so many people enjoying the company and the cakes! The May meeting is the WIs annual review of a resolution to be voted on at the National AGM in Cardiff in June. This years resolution urges members to support our High Street shops and make the High Street the destination of choice for goods and services and calls upon decision makers to work collectively to ensure our High Streets flourish and provide the focal point for local communities.Isnt this what we all want? This meeting will be held on Thursday May 9th in Watton Community Centre at 7.30pm. New members and visitors are always welcome to our meetings. Just come along or contact Carol Robeson on 01953 881006 for further details. there and visiting aircraft on open days from the 1960s until its closure in 2006. This was followed by a miscellany of images from his lifetime collection. Nigel Tooth proposed a show of appreciation from the audience which responded with enthusiasm. West Norfolk Aviation Society: Next Meeting Tuesday May 7th 7.30pm at Methwold Social Club Chris Samuels Navel Aviation from The Battle of Midway until the 21st century New members & guests welcomed. For more Information Tel: 01842 879210 Or visit our Web Site https://sites.google.com/a/ westnorfolkaviationsociety.org.uk/ home/

Did birds cope with last year's wet weather?

Join the Nest Box Challenge
After contending with an exceptionally wet spring and summer, in most parts of the UK last year, how will birds nesting in our gardens fare in 2013? Help the BTO find out by taking part in the Nest Box Challenge (NBC). The BTO is calling on householders across the UK to help them track the progress of nesting birds in gardens during 2013 by getting involved in this years Nest Box Challenge. Gardens provide both food and nest sites for birds, and an increasing number of species are choosing to raise their offspring in our back gardens. Recent analyses of BTO data suggest that over a third of UK Blackbirds now nest around human habitation, favouring thick hedges and shrubs, while over a fifth of the nations Blue Tits breed in our villages, towns and cities. Birds had to contend with an exceptionally wet summer in 2012, which reduced the abundance of caterpillars, a food source that species such as Blue and Great Tit depend on to provide food for their chicks. A comparison of NBC results for 2012 with those from the Nest Record Scheme (NRS), the BTOs survey of nesting birds in the wider countryside, suggests that those breeding in gardens may have fared better, as NBC Organiser Hazel Evans explains: Blue Tit and Great Tit clutch sizes in all habitats were around average in 2012. However, NRS participants recorded a reduction in brood sizes of about 20%, a much bigger drop than that noted in gardens by NBC participants. If birds in gardens are better able to cope with extreme weather events, this could have longer -term implications with regards to climate change. The impact of weather, be it a wet summer or a warming climate, on the breeding success of birds, may be influenced by their diet, states Dr Dave Leech, Head of the Nest Record Scheme at the BTO. If birds are increasingly foraging on non-native garden plants or relying more heavily on supplementary food, they may be less susceptible to changes in the availability of more traditional foodstuffs, such as caterpillars. Will the terrible weather in 2012 have reduced the numbers of birds breeding in gardens this year? asks Hazel, and will the cold winter lead to smaller clutches and fewer fledglings? Nest Box Challenge participants can answer these questions by counting eggs and chicks in any nests they find in their garden, from Collared Doves on satellite dishes to Blue Tits in boxes, and entering their records on the NBC website. You can find out more at http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nbc

Shellrock Circle Club

for the Over 50's of Rockland and the Surrounding Districts

Venue: The Village Hall, The Street, Rocklands.As usual with A.G.M'S, attendance was down but all the members who attended were active in voting. The committee, having previously agreed to serve for a further year and there being no other interested replacements were quickly voted in again. Mrs. Jean Eyres, however, felt that after years as the Entertainment and Outings Organiser it was time for a break and had decided to step down. Although no longer serving on the committee, Jean assured the meeting that she would be on hand to help her replacements and help the club in any way she could. In her place Mrs. Gillian Ellis of Attleborough volunteered to take on the job of organising the entertainment and Mrs. Margaret English, also of Attleborough, volunteered to organise the outings. Mrs. Eyres was presented with a bunch of flowers and given a resounding round of applause. The Secretary and Treasurer gave their reports and that concluding the A.G.M. part of the proceedings. The tea-break, raffle and a card game rounded off the afternoons activities.Appeals were made for donations to help with our Spring Fair, we were reminded that items for the bottle stall, tombola, raffle, produce (which could include tinned items) good quality bric-a-brac and cakes (home baked or bought with good dates) would be acceptable on the day. On the 8th of May Mr. John Reid will give a talk on "Soap" sounds interesting! As we work our way through the alphabet May's task will be to bring along something beginning with the letter "B." The response to last month's letter was excellent so let's keep up the good response. Our fund raising Spring Fair and Car Boot will be held on Saturday May the 18th. Bring all your family and friends and spend some time with us, doors open at noon and will continue till 3pm. 30th of May sees us off to the Theatre Royal to see the Ice Show. Don't forget to check that you have your tickets. First pick-up will be at Gt.Ellingham at 1:00 clock. New members are always welcome. Why not bring along a friend or a family member and see if you enjoy yourself. First visit free and you get a nice cup of tea and a bikki!! Wow!

West Norfolk Aviation Society

At the April meeting the speaker was Derrick Horn, his presentation was Fifty Years of Photographing Flying Things. Derrick was an enthusiastic photographer from an early age, in the 1960s armed with a Kodak Box Brownie he proceeded to amass an archive of aircraft images, black & white and later colour and on to Digital. The first part of his presentation was RAF Coltishall, the aircraft based

Thank you for everyone who came to the Watton Craft Market at the Queens Hall in April. We raised 30 for the East Anglias Childrens Hospices. (E.A.C.H). The next event is on 4th May. Along with the regular stalls of locally hand made items including cards, knitwear, wooden items, jewellery, textiles, photography and craft supplies. New this month will be ceramics, leather, candles and water colour pictures. Opening times will be 9.30am to 2pm and admission will be free although a donation for East Anglias Childrens Hospices would be appreciated. Refreshments with home made cakes and hot lunches will be served by the Thetford based charity ASD - Helping Hands. Please come and have a coffee or lunch and support these good cause. If you require any further information please e-mail [email protected].

Watton Craft Market

Rocklands Bingo

The next Bingo will be held at Rocklands Village Hall on Wednesday 15th May. Doors open 7pm for 7.45pm start. Have a great night out for less than 5! As well as a warm welcome, there will be cash prizes, refreshments, raffle and a very generous Jackpot on offer. All Proceeds go to the Village Hall.

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Carbrooke Heritage Group

Watton Festival 2013 - how 'Friendly' are you?

Would you like the opportunity to become 'Friendly' with Richard Digance (pictured)? Perhaps you'd like to get to know Lord Arthur Saville, Dandini's Marionettes, the Westend Waiters or even Queen Elizabeth 1st. All of these and more are coming to Watton at the end of October as part of this year's Festival. As a Friend of Watton Festival, you would be one of the first to get the chance to spend time in their company! For just 5 per annum, not only do you get priority booking for all performances, you also get an invite to the exclusive Launch Party, the right to vote at General Meetings, a complimentary programme and invites to any other social events that take place. There are several ways to join this ever-growing group. Log into our website at wattonfestival.org.uk and click on the Friends' button where you can find all the information and download a bankers' order form. Or you can send a cheque for 5 per person made payable to WATTON FESTIVAL, to: The Treasurer, Watton Festival, 39, Dereham

May 9th 2013 at 7.00pm in Carbrooke School Jan Godfrey presents a talk Carbrooke School and links with American Servicemen during WW2 All welcome - no charge Teas served
Web: www.carbrookehistory.co.uk Email: [email protected] Facebook: Carbrooke History and Heritage

Road, Watton, IP25 6ER giving the Friends you can contact Derek your name and address plus your e - Smith on 01953 884044. mail address if you have one. If you This year's Festival is going to be would just like to know more about bigger and brighter than ever with warm weather this spring) there are hundreds of bulbs to see including a woodland garden with bluebells carpeting the ground. There are three ponds with fish and plants, a wild flower area, a walled garden with herbaceous and mixed borders, mown paths entice you around two areas of unusual trees (most of which are labelled) and a grass labyrinth for those in a contemplative mood. There are seats dotted around the 13 aces of garden so a chance to just relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. You are assured of a warm welcome and we are happy to try to answer any questions you may have. We serve teas with home made cakes on the lawn in the walled garden. Dogs on leads are welcome as are children although we do allow them without a lead! (both free of entrance charge) Most of the garden is accessible for wheelchairs but it is mostly gravel paths and grass so can be hard work Holy Cross church on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 June. Co-ordinator is Caston resident Mrs. Lois Gill, a three-times Chelsea medallist and a National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies demonstrator and judge. Details are on the Caston website at http://www.caston-online.co.uk/ localevents.asp (and there will be more details in next months Wayland News). Book early for a 20% discount! Tickets for the open gardens are 5 each (children free), but only 4 if you book before 1st June (Phone Lynne on 01953 483640).

something for everyone, young and old. Don't miss out on the chance to make it your Festival - and bring your Friends!

Clermont House Gardens opening

Clermont House Gardens are open for two Sunday afternoons this year in aid of nursing, caring and gardening charities supported by the National Garden Scheme (NGS). The garden has been created over the last thirty years or so and now includes many features. However the main purpose of the garden has been to create an enjoyable relaxing atmosphere, to provide a habitat for wildlife and to exhibit our ever growing collections of trees and plants. Depending when you choose to come (and of course if we ever get any

if you have to push. Gardens open 2-5.30pm on 12th May and 23rd June. 4.50 entrance. Signed off the B1108 at Little

Cressingham down School Road. If you get lost ring 01953 881997 and we will try and answer but may be busy with teas etc. Breckles, NR17 1EW. The walled gardens were once tended by several gardeners, and the present owners have begun the task of bringing them back to their former glory. There are walled lawns, woods, a monument to a previous owner and a one mile walk along the river and meadows. Ploughman's lunches and teas will be served and there will be a few local craft stalls, a plant stall etc. displaying their goods and a small exhibition of photographs from the past.Entrance 3.50, children 1. Good parking near the house

Through The Garden Gate

Caston Open Gardens and Flower Festival - A date for your diary The award-winning village of Caston, just 4 miles from Watton (off the A1075), is holding an open gardens day on Saturday 29 June, and a flower festival in the thatched

Breckles Hall Gardens Open Sunday

12th May12 Noon to 5pm. Spring is really here at last. We invite you to visit the gardens and enjoy the surroundings of the beautiful Elizabethan house at Breccles Hall,

For our latest offers and deals, go to our website

www.adcocks.co.uk or call 01953 881248
We deliver - We care

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News

Silly Grandad's poetry in local library

Local poet Alan Chilvers (above left) has said a big thank you to the staff of Watton library for arranging and stocking his poetry book, Poems from a silly Granddad. It will make it accessible to everyone locally and I hope that a lot of youngsters will read it and become interested in poetry. Community Librarian and Surf's Up! Co-ordinator Jayne Winterbone (above right) said How nice to have a local author in. We will be looking at dates with Mr Chilvers to enable

him to read to our local children. The book was only written after his family convinced Alan of his talent and to put his collection into print. The title of the book comes from the fact that most of his Grandchildren call him a silly Granddad due to his good nature and crazy sense of humour. Mr Chilvers said, Its my fault as I always act silly when Im with them and I turn anything they say into silly jokes. book. Most had read it in childhood and only remembered crying at the sad parts, especially the life and death of Ginger to whom Black Beauty had been close in early life. All agreed it contained a great deal of social history. Sewell drew the readers attention to the down side of hunting on men and horses; the discomfort and damage to horses of fashionable details such as the bearing rein which held the horses head high with no relief; cab horses, and their owners, forced to work seven days a week and far into the night; obvious cruelty such as throwing stones and whipping and downright neglect. We considered the fate of horses in battle as described in this book. It was felt that the unusual narrative device of telling the story through the voice of the horse made it more poignant. We also debated the cruelty to these animals which still goes on today and feel there should be no complacency and self-righteousness when we are less dependent on them and consider ourselves more enlightened. Our book for our May meeting on the 15th, the third Wednesday in the month, is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

The poems in the book are mostly humorous, written in a simple style so they appeal to every age and with every book sold Alan donates 1.00 to the Royal British Legion. His current donation exceeds 130. Alan chose the R.B.L because of his close ties to the charity. I am a standard bearer for them as my father was before me and I feel they do amazing work in many areas. Hopefully with my book now available on EBay and Amazon they

will benefit even more. His book is now available in local libraries including Watton, Dereham, Swaffham and Hingham and is still available to buy direct from him. If you are interested in his poetry you can contact Alan by email [email protected] or by calling 07749276676. Alternatively you can visit his Facebook page www.facebook.com/ poemsfromasillygranddad

Shipdham & District Book Group

The book discussed at the meeting on 17th April was Black Beauty by Anna Sewell . Told through the voice of the horse of the title it highlights the life and welfare of horses, so dependent on the people who in turn had depended on them throughout history. Norfolk born Anna Sewell spent much of her life unable to walk and totally in the shadow of a dominant mother, Mary Sewell who wrote what we can only see as sickly, morbid, moralistic poetry. Anna spent 5 years writing this book often considered a childrens classic but intended for those working with horses that they might consider their treatment of the animals. It was published by local publisher Jarrolds 5 months before her death in 1878. The members were unanimous in their praise of this thought provoking

As the weather slowly improves and the days get longer, why not make the most of it and test your grey matter at the same time, whilst enjoying a cold buffet supper, good company and participating in the quiz. Spaces are limited and open to teams of 4 people. Evening starts at 7.30PM on Friday 17th May at Ovington Village Hall, Church Road. Tickets are required in advance and are available from Christine on 01953 885848 at 6 a head (In Teams of 4) BYOB! and don't forget your thinking cap!!

Ovington Quiz Buffet Evening

Calling All Music Teachers and Student Musicians

St. Marys church Watton is holding three lunch time recitals this Summer with the aim to give those seriously learning music the chance to play before an audience helping to provide experience and

give confidence - and in so doing to bring more live music to the community. The recitals will all take place in the newly refurbished church with its state of the art sound system on 25th July, 8th and 22nd August. The emphasis leans to a more classical repertoire, and to students at an intermediate level or above. All donations from the recitals will go to the church organ fund. We hope you can join us and would like to hear from you by 31st May, 2013. For more information please contact: The Organist on 01953 881252 or Email: [email protected]

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An invitation to Tea with Westend Waiters

Dance Away
at the Queens Hall
Ballroom, Latin and Sequence dancing at the Queen's Hall, 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. admission 4 May 4th, June 1st, July 6th, August 3rd, Sept 7th

An invitation is offered to all on Sunday, May 5th at the Queens Hall, Watton to enjoy an afternoon of music and fun with Watton's own Westend Waiters. They will be presenting their own special programme of humorous songs and

monologues for your enjoyment and including tea and a slice of delicious homemade cake, The concert will start at 2.30p.m., tickets are 6 available from Mullengers on Watton High Street or by ringing 01953

881792 or 884044. This local group are very popular both in Watton and around the county and proceeds from all their concerts are donated to the Waveney Branch of the Motor Neurone Association. suffin Oh I say Who yew goonta git ter lay down inna tha rood fer thet ter happin then? He hadda think or tew then cum owt with the daftest idee eva. Wot we'll dew he say Is get boy Jimma, he's darft as a brush, tew lay in the rood, git my neffew wi his ole Fordson Mearjor anna harra on tha back, run it oova Jimma, chuck sum red pearnt orl ovva tha plearce an git Missus H. W. wos gotta camra, ter teark a few pikters and send them ter tha pearpas I say ter him I say. Wos gooin ter happin ter orl the otha traffic while yew're dewin orl this play actin, yer gooin ter git a reel accident iffen yew dont watch owt Well Yis he say, Thas orl tha betta, we'll git sum pikters of thet as well, thet'll show thet ole chairman a thing or tew, he'l hefta git orf his backside and an rase sum munny Wot abowt yar nephews Fordson, thet ent got enny brearks an iffen thet carnt stop pore ole Jimma's gunna end up orl cort up inna tha harra? Sarve him rite sez Horry He nivva orta bin let owt in tha fust plearce Thet'll be a good job if we kin git a parth along thet rood, cos thars a lot o yung mawthas an thar bearbies hefta walk ter Watton these days an the traffic ent gitten eny less and sartenly doont goo eny slower. We jist hafta hoop tha peeple wot bilds tha footparths see tha problems from our point of view. Well tha sun's ashining an thas time I got out inna tha gardin agin or else the missus will start mobbing abowt We sharnt hev northin ter eat cum summer. Fare yer well tergitha and don't fergit, dew yew kip a troshin. Boy Sid

Musical treat in store at Wretham

Lovers of a wide range of music are in for a May time treat at Wretham, when The Upper Octave give a concert entitled Bizet to Broadway. The seven strong Norfolk based group of singers will perform at St Ethelberts Church in Church Road, Wretham, on Saturday May 18th at 7.30pm. The group of four women and three men will offer a mix of top tunes from musicals and favourite operatic arias. Tickets, to include light refreshment, are 8 and available from Eileen Kitson on 01953 498609.

The Ovington Crower

Har yer gitten on tergitha, hent thet bin a grate ole chearnge in the weatha, orl tha little ole seeds are startin to shuffle abowt now the mowld's warmin up a bit. Hev yar got yar teartas in yet? Reckun tha arlies orta be gooin in by now. We hed anutha Cowncil meetin the otha nite, orl abowt gitten a footpath alonga the rood to Watton, cos thet ent nuthin new, we're bin hossin on abowt thet for oova thutty year. The ole chairman he reckuned we orta git sum munny orfa the govmint corse that'll corst a helluva lot to git thet bilt. He sed, lookin hard at me an Horry. Cos if summa the peeple inna tha willage were ter git thar hands outa thar pockets, we cudda hev hed tha parth years agoo! Horry, he say, Thas a gudden cummin from yew Guvner he say If yew cen afford tew run orl tha ole Landroovas o yorn, yew cudda paid fer thet parth afore now Thet shut him up, but not fer long, Corse he say Wot we need is fer sevrul peeple ter git run oova on thet bitta rood, then tha ole govmint will hefta pay fer a new parth Well Horry he say, Yer the greartist ole lump o lard around these parts, why doont yew goo an lay in the rood The ole Chairman, cor blarst, he got orl riled up and chucked Horry and me owt o tha horl, sayin we wos a wearst o spearce and dint dew no good fer no-wun. We hossed on down tew tha pub and hed a few pints o tews to carm owerselves down. Arta a while Horry he say, I reckun we orta stearge wun or tew real accidents alonga thet rood and git tha pearpas tew cum along and teark sum piktures of peeple orl bleeding or dead under a bus or

Every Picture Tells a Story

Art with a Book theme Our May exhibition celebrates the world of fiction. Every Picture Tells a Story will support the Book Event in the High Street on May 4th. Housed within the gallery you will find Dragonfly Gifts and Cards a small retail area to support both the artists and the Gallery. Unique art cards and unusual crafted gifts, all hand-made by local artists. Opening Times: Weekdays 10 - 4pm, Saturdays 10 - 1pm Contact Susan Hollingworth for further information 01953 880205. Saturday 11th May Saturday 18th May, Preview Eve Friday 10th May 7.00 8.30pm, A limited number of free tickets. Refreshments will be available. Dragonfly Gallery, Wayland House, High St, Watton.

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News

For three nights in May, audiences at the Queens Hall, Watton will be transported to the Royal Enclosure to experience all the glamour, culture and sporting excitement of Ladies' Day at Royal Ascot, thanks to the Wayland Players. The Players latest production, Ladies Day, by Amanda Whittington, is an exuberant comedy about four likely lasses from the Hull fish docks on a day trip to the Races. Work, love and life are just one long, hard slog for the fish-filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda but their fortunes are set to change when Pearl takes her friends from work for a posh day out at the races to celebrate her early retirement. Out go the hairnets, overalls and wellies as the four ditch work, do themselves up to the nines and head off to the races for a drink, a flirt and a flutter. The outing becomes a rollercoaster ride of emotions, changing fortunes and unexpected revelations as the ladies set out to in their quest to find love, happiness and Tony Christie! Joan Joyce, Director said At times wry and poignant, Ladies Day is always believable with comedy to leave the audience with a feel-good ending Ladies Day has been a real pleasure to direct; we have all had a huge amount of fun rehearsing and the cast hope the audience will come dressed for the Royal Enclosure making this a production to remember. Ladies Day will be performed nightly, 16th, 17th and 18th May at the Queens Hall, Watton. Tickets, 6.50, are available from Adcocks Electrical, High Street, Watton. Mark Bunning Photography will be available before each performance to take photographs of audience members in their Royal Enclosure finery. Ladies Day Competition Win Afternoon Tea at the Broom Hall Hotel To encourage the audience to get in the mood the Wayland Players in partnership with Mark Bunning Photography and Broom Hall Hotel are offering their best dressed patrons the opportunity to win a luxury afternoon tea for four with sparkling wine valued at over 45 and kindly donated by Angela & Simon of the Broom Hall Country Hotel, Saham Toney. Just like Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda the Wayland Players invite their audience to don their Sunday best and come dressed to impress the judges. Each group, (comprising of no less than four), will be photographed on arrival at the Queens Hall by Mark Bunning Photography. The two best dressed groups each evening will be put forward to the final with winners chosen after the final performance. Photographs will also be available for purchase during the interval. Ladies day will be performed nightly, 16th, 17th and 18th May at the Queens Hall, Watton. Tickets, 6.50, available along with competition entry forms are available from Adcocks Electrical, High Street Watton. Competition entry forms and further details are also available at www.waylandplayers.org.uk

The Wayland Players are under starters orders for sell out performances

Watton Rotary Roundup

On 21st March we had our annual UnChristmas dinner at the Debut Restaurant, the real-time training facility at Norwich City College. Monitored by their instructors the whole restaurant experience is undertaken by the students, aged 16-19. We have always made allowances for errors and inexperience but on this occasion we reckoned an A+ was well deserved. Despite the weather, our DixieMix "Jazz at the Queens Hall" concert the next evening achieved a record attendance with a record profit for our charities fund of 686. Around this time, some 5 weeks late, our purple "End Polio Now" crocuses bloomed, a reminder that we are just that close to eradicating polio from the world. The speaker at our 28th March meeting was Derek Scott of Fakenham, whose theme was credit management. In fact, his talk is really a light-hearted and anecdotal record of his long service in that field. He was highly recommended to us and we can highly recommend him to other organisations seeking an entertaining speaker. Derek is no youngster, he served at RAF Watton in the early 50s! The picture shows Derek (left) being thanked by Vice-President

Roy Challand. We were able to run a limited bric-abrac stall on the Wednesday Market on a cold 3rd April and took just 20. However, our coffee morning at the Queens hall the following Saturday saw 145 added to our coffers. We entertained Rotarians from the Dereham & Brandon Rotary Clubs the 4th & 11th April respectively. 2 members from Dereham arrived by bicycle as part of our Rotary Districts Wheelie Good Idea, a polio fundraising initiative where any means of visiting another club other than by using a car is attempted and sponsorship sort. A while ago we went to Swaffham by tractor and trailer, with a motorcycle escort. The following week was our annual exchange with Brandon Rotary Club; we meet weekly on the same evening, so it is a straightforward swap of our respective presidents, each running the others meeting, supported by 6 to 8 members each way. We hope to be supporting the Town Teams Book Fest on 4th May we will have a good selection of books on offer paperbacks at 3 for 1, and hardbacks either 1 each, or 2 for 1. Worth as look. Martin Anscombe

Refurbishment of Watton Christian Community Centre

By the time you read this, you will see a new roof on the popular Watton Christian Community Centre on the High Street. For some time, we have needed help from local roofer, Justin Foster, to replace slates loosened by the wind and this was occurring so often, we realised that the old roof needed to be completely renewed. We have been supported by substantial grants from Watton Town Council and Norfolk Community Foundation and the work will be done by another local contractor, V.P.H. Roofing. We are working now to have the 19 space car park re surfaced and to eventually repair the historic boundary walls of the Centre. Very soon, our many regular hirers will enjoy even better facilities in the town, through the W.C.C.C. jointly run by the Methodist Church and St Mary's Church.

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Tales from the East Anglian Mills

Over the weekend of Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May, National Mills Weekend will see more than 300 mills opening their doors around the country, including many which do not normally have public access. The weekend is an initiative started by The Mills Section of The Society for The Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) in 1984. The aim is to encourage people to explore our milling heritage by visiting wind and watermills and taking part in special events. For National Mills Weekend 2013, the SPAB Mills Sections theme is 'Tales from the Mill', linking to the national campaign of the Heritage Lottery Fund 'All our Stories', encouraging everyone to share and record their stories and experiences - in this case stories about the people involved with mills today and in the past. The East Anglian Mills Society (TEAMS) was set up in 2008 and is a loose affiliation of mill owners across East Anglia and they will be participating in this year's National Mills Weekend as well as their own annual Open Weekend on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September. Windmills in particular are iconic buildings with their visual impact as well as social historical value tied in with rural communities. The grass roots development to look after their mills is what brought the mill owners of TEAMS together and we are delighted to see something positive happening to safeguard the future of these historic yet underrated buildings in our region. The Mills that will be open in our region for National Mills Weekend are: Bourn post mill, Cambridgeshire - 14:00 - 16:00 (Sunday 12th May only) Cattell's Mill, Willingham, Cambridgeshire 13:0017:00 (Saturday and Sunday) Foster's Mill, Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire - 14:00-17:30 (Sunday 12th May only) Great Mill, Haddenham, Cambridgeshire - 12:00-18:00 (Saturday and Sunday) Haddenham and Aldreth Blossoms and Bygones, Stanton Post Mill by Bob Paterson Cambridgeshire (Sunday 12th May only) Hinxton Watermill, Cambridgeshire (Saturday and Sunday) 14:30 - 17:30 (Sunday 12th May only) Thelnetham tower mill, Suffolk - 11:00Impington smock mill, Cambridgeshire 17:00 (Sunday 12th May only) 10:00-16:00 (Saturday and Sunday) Wicken smock mill, Wicken, Morse's Wind Engine Park, Repps Cambridgeshire (Saturday and Sunday) (Norfolk) - 10:00-16:00 (Saturday and For more information on TEAMS please Sunday) see http://www.millsofeastanglia.org.uk Northfield Windmill, Soham, For more information on the weekend Cambridgeshire - 11:00-17:00 (Saturday please see: http:// and Sunday) www.nationalmillsweekend.co.uk/ Stanton post mill, Suffolk - 12:00-18:00 MillTales.htm can be uncomfortably competitive with an emphasis on speed. The Norfolk Driving Challenge is much more relaxed with the focus on handling vehicles with skill and enjoying new experiences, as well as raising money for such good causes. The challenge is to drive a wide variety of weird and wonderful vehicles! Each Driving Challenge is unique, but at any given event you can look forward to driving at least five different types of vehicles. Chief Fire Officer Nigel Williams said Fire and Rescue Service staff, along with colleagues in The Firefighters Charity and The British Red Cross, know only too well the importance of charitable fund raising and the positive outcomes it brings. All over Norfolk our teams raise considerable sums of money for our own charities and for many other worthy causes. Once again it is our pleasure to work in partnership with The Fire Fighters Charity and the British Red Cross with another Charity Driving Challenge. This provides anyone who can drive the opportunity to experience a wide range of different vehicles from fast cars to fire engines. So... do you want to come and have a go? Bring your family and friends to let them see what you can do. Sarah Hurren, community fundraiser for the British Red Cross in Norfolk, said; "The driving challenge is going to be a lot of fun, and we are really glad to be working with our partners at the Norfolk fire service to make it happen. We work closely with the fire service through our Fire and Emergency Support Service (FESS), and our teams of trained volunteers and fully-equipped vehicles are on standby 24 hours a day in case they are called by the fire service to the scene of a fire. We can provide first aid, comfort and reassurance to people who have lost their homes and possessions, offer them food, drink, clothes, hygiene packs and even a hot shower - and we will also help people find somewhere to stay or deal with insurance claims. Our partnership with the Norfolk fire service has worked very well so we are delighted they have involved us in this brilliant driving challenge. Laura Harden of the Fire Fighters Charity explained, Behind the fun, there is a very serious message that we are supporting those heroic fire fighters who risk their lives for us. When they run into a burning building, there is always the very real risk of serious injury, and when the worst happens not only fire fighters suffer, but also their families. The Fire Fighters Charity helps support injured fire fighters, both physically and emotionally, enabling them to return to work faster. Unbelievably, the Charity receives no government funding and relies entirely on beneficiary and public donations. If you would like to take part in this fantastic event and try your hand at driving some unusual vehicles, register at www.firefighterscharity.org.uk or contact Fundraising Support on 01256 366566 if you have any queries.

Norfolk Wildlife Trust

To ask a question about the Norfolks Wildlife please call the Norfolk Wildlife Information Service. Wildline 01603 598333 9am - 5pm Mon - Fri. E-mail [email protected] Website http://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/naturalconnections Further details and Membership enquiries 01953 498467 Local group E-mail: [email protected] Tuesday 21st May, 7.45pm-9pm. The History of Thetford Forest. A talk Anne Mason from the Friends of Thetford Forest, followed by refreshments and raffle. Venue: Watton Christian Community Centre, 57 High Street Watton. Cost : Members 2 Non-members 3

Every child's dream driving challenge is coming to Norfolk

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to drive a Fire Engine, a Bus, a Police Car or a Tractor Trailer here is your chance to get behind the wheel of some really amazing vehicles. On Sunday 14th July 2013, The Fire Fighters Charity and British Red Cross will visit The Former RAF Coltishall Site to give people the chance to drive a variety of large and unusual vehicles all kindly donated by local businesses and the emergency services in the Norfolk Driving Challenge. Volunteers from Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service are helping to organise this event to raise money for two very worthwhile charities: The Fire Fighters Charity (Supporting injured Fire Fighters and their families) and the British Red Cross (A volunteer led humanitarian organisation that helps people in crisis) and they have set themselves a target to raise 20,000 The idea is simple - the event is open to both men and women of all ages who hold a current full manual driving licence. All you need to do is pay a 10 a non returnable registration fee and then undertake to raise at least another 90 in sponsorship. It makes a great day out for all your family and friends. Event Organiser, Laura Harden said, The Norfolk Driving Challenge promises to be an exciting day, with the chance to operate a fantastic collection of vehicles. Other types of driving events

Watton & Wayland Dragonfly Gallery & Visitor Centre

We are pleased to announce that our volunteers have agreed to staff the Centre for an additional 3 hours on Thursdays, from 4pm to 7pm, to provide an opportunity for those that cannot visit during the day to come along. This later opening parallels the later opening hours at the Library next door, so we hope more visitors will be encouraged to pop in and see what we have on offer.

The Wayland News Page 12

News

In your Garden with Lotta Potts

May is usually one of the best months in the garden, sunshine has warmed the soil and everything is growing well. Unfortunately, there's often a sneaky late frost in May. Keep some fleece handy. If the frost gets your beans a second sowing will probably work. Apart from late frosts, we can also get caught out by unexpected strong sunshine. There's nothing worse than finding a greenhouse full of plants wilting in the heat. That's where some automation comes in useful. I have automatic vent openers fitted. These arent expensive and can be fitted to most greenhouses if they werent included. Watering can be another issue in greenhouses. Self watering kits are available but if this is neither necessary nor affordable just remember that small plants in warm greenhouses are as keen on a freezing cold shower straight from the tap as most people. Keep one or preferably two watering cans in the greenhouse so the contents are at least a degree or two above that coming out of the tap. Keep successional sowings of salad crops going to avoid a glut, every two weeks is the norm. Mulching is said to be one of the most important gardening tasks, whatever your skill level. A mulch is simply a covering of material over the soil between plants that will reduce the need for watering and prevent weeds from gaining a foothold, provided it is put on damp soil. There are basically two types: loose mulches which can be organic, such as bark chippings, or inorganic, such as gravel; and sheet mulches such as mulch matting, polythene or a piece of old carpet. Mulch is best applied now or in the autumn when the soil is moist. If you apply mulch once the soil is dry in summer, it can actually stop any new moisture getting to the plants. However, there are a few downsides: depending on what kind of mulch you use, slugs and snails can make a home in it. If plants with mulch are attacked, scrape away the mulch immediately surrounding them. It could be said this just makes the slugs journey a bit longer. Also, in my opinion, mulch prevents seedlings growing. This year, despite the fearsome winter, I have found self-sown seedlings flourishing once the weather improved. If I had mulched they would have disappeared and if I did it now Id kill them. I guess the best place is around shrubs and herbaceous plants that are permanent plantings. Even dry grass clippings can make a suitable mulch around established plants such as trees and shrubs, particularly at the back of a border where the mulch is less obtrusive. Sprinkle a thin layer onto the soil where it will slowly rot down. The clippings also can be dug into the top few centimetres of soil, which will speed up its rotting process. Make sure there is no sprouting meadow grass among the sprinklings

AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS
By THE ALL SAINTS PAINTERS
To take place at
ALL SAINTS CHURCH, STOKE FERRY, NORFOLK, PE33 9SF.

18th May 2013 to 2nd June, Open from 10-5 daily

Open Garden Breccles Hall

NR17 1EW

Sunday 12th May 12 Noon to 5pm Gardens, grounds and woods surrounding a beautiful Elizabethan house. 1 mile river/meadow walk Ploughmans lunches, Teas & Raffle
Stalls to include Walnut Tree Nursery, Pottery, Wooden Toys, Bonsai Display Entrance 3.50 - Children under 12 1

A record attendance of 47 (pictured) braved a freezing afternoon to hear Bob Coutts, until recently Head Gardener at Somerleyton Hall in Lowestoft, talk about Spring in the Garden. Despite the unseasonal weather, he provided plenty of practical advice to turn our thoughts to sunny afternoons among the flowerbeds. Bob demonstrated the subtle arts of seed sowing and even the most experienced gardener would have picked up fresh tips. Of course, high quality compost is vital in ensuring healthy root systems and fresh seed is more likely to result in success, although bigger seeds last longer. Sowing thinly into a 5 inch pot should produce 50-80 young plants. Bob stressed the importance of cleanliness so that pots are thoroughly washed in Jeyes fluid solution and fungicide is used to ensure clean water from a water butt. When sowing seeds prevention is better than trying to cure later problems. Bob demonstrated various seed sowing techniques and advised the use of silver sand or talcum powder when dealing with tiny seed to ensure an even distribution. He recommended watering from the bottom to avoid disturbing the seed. Spring is also the time for pruning and taking cuttings from plants such as geraniums (pelargoniums) and penstemons. Bob gave a geranium a drastic haircut that raised some surprised gasps from the more squeamish of the members and then trimmed a standard fuchsia after replacing the soil around its roots. He searched for the dreaded vine weevil but found no trace. He warned that pruning plants such as hydrangeas and penstemon before the late frosts could result in the loss of plants. He uses peat and sharp sand as a cutting compost and when taking some geranium cuttings he stressed the importance of removing all material from the lower stem to prevent rot. He had not used hormone rooting powder for 30 years as its overuse could create a seal at the base of the cutting which would attract moisture. As a rule, he advised that all hairy leaved plants, such as geraniums, should never be covered. He expected these cuttings to be flowering in the late summer. Responding to members questions, Bob said that he had no preference for plastic or clay pots: the latter dry out more quickly and the former do not require crocks because they tend to have several drainage holes. He added that compost contains about 6 weeks feed and it was important thereafter to liquid feed at regular intervals. This was a refreshingly down-to-earth and hands-on talk and demonstration, delivered with a light touch, that was warmly appreciated by the large audience who went home feeling more optimistic about the coming gardening Spring. David Green

Ashill and Holme Hale Garden Club

Ovington Gardening Club

The April meeting consisted of a slide presentation of 'The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll' by Sue Robinson. This covered the many gardens that she designed, some in conjunction with Edward Lutyens, that remain today in roughly the same form with the same types of planting. Many still show the semi-circular steps and mill-stones that are typical of her designs. The May meeting is our annual plant sale which will be held on Saturday 4th May between 10 and 12 noon at Ovington Village Hall. Please turn up, if only to buy a coffee and a cake and to participate in the raffle. For more information, phone Ed on 01953 885848 or Carol on 01760 440719.

Things to be doing: Plant up hanging baskets and patio containers with summer bedding; Propagate shrubs using softwood cuttings; Trim formal hedging such as box; Clear spring bedding and continue deadheading spring bulbs, dividing overgrown clumps of daffodils particularly if they came up blind ie didnt flower. Apply a liquid fertiliser to spring bulbs after they have flowered, to encourage good flowering next year, and help prevent daffodil blindness. Allow the foliage of daffodils and other spring-flowering bulbs to die down naturally. Feed fish as they become active and feed pond plants with aquatic fertilizer; Propagate perennials from basal cuttings; Earth up potatoes; Plant out summer bedding at the end of the month; Regularly hoe off weeds; Open greenhouse vents and doors on warm days; Mow lawns weekly; Check for nesting birds before clipping hedges. The middle of May can be one of the driest times of year and most gardens will begin to dry out. Initially, this is a benefit because the soil will reach an ideal consistency for seed sowing. However, as drying continues, there may be insufficient water to keep the seedlings going. Use water butts to collect rainwater. Open rain-catchers are a start, but fixing the butt to your down -pipe will enable you to collect rainfall from your house or shed roof as well. Target your watering to when and where plants need it - often at fruit set and fruit swelling times, or coming up to flowering. Keep tubs, hanging baskets and alpine troughs well watered. Remove faded wallflowers and spring bedding from beds and containers, to make space for summer plantings. Pot on plants showing signs of being root bound. You can tip out the root balls of unhappy looking containerised specimens, to see if they are indeed pot bound or if they are suffering from some other problem. Inspect lilies for the scarlet lily beetle as the larvae can strip plants in days. The beetles have a clever trick. If disturbed they fall to the ground, turn over and become invisible. Put a pale cloth or paper under the lilies to catch them! The larvae are extremely unpleasant. To protect themselves they are covered in their own droppings so they look just like something a passing bird left. Use gloves! Continue to protect lily, delphinium, hostas and other susceptible plants from slugs and snails. If using slug pellets, spread them very thinly, not in little heaps. There are some now on the market that claim to be harmless to wildlife but if, like me, you are more interested in protecting the birds and hedgehogs that might eat them, try a slug pub or two. Old margarine, cream or small ice cream tubs can be used. Put a small amount of (cheapest) beer or milk in the bottom and bury it so the rim is proud of the soil by about to 1 inch. This is to prevent beetles falling in. What you do with the merry/drowned slugs is up to you. I probably mentioned this before, but you never know, there might be a new reader! Have a very merry May and keep weeding!

News

The Wayland News Page 13

Great Hockham Gardening Club

Our club meeting on Wednesday 10th April was attended by 23 members. Our Chairman, Ed, welcomed everyone and introduced our speaker for the evening. An excellent, illustrated talk entitled, GARDENING IN THE SHADE by Jim Paine, from Walnut Tree Nursery. He gave us lots of ideas for planting and brought along some lovely unusual plants for sale. His talk gave us a good insight as to why plants need certain conditions and explained the reasons why they flourish in certain areas of the garden or not, making it easy to understand which plants to buy. The Club Flower Competition was won by Cees de Ruyter, 2nd Jane Dalton, 3rd Jill de Ruyter. The Photo Competition was won by Stuart Cullum, 2nd Jane Dalton, 3rd Chris Dalton. Congratulations and thanks to all those who entered - our speaker, Jim Paine, judged the competition. After our speaker we had a brief Gardeners Question and answer session run by Dave Thomas HORN FAIR ~ SUNDAY 5th MAY: This is our only fund raising event of the year. We will be having our usual fantastic Refreshment Tent, a tombola stall and because of the early date and poor weather fewer plants for sale this year ~ we look forward to the day, your support and some sunshine! It starts at 12noon and early help from members and any items for sale and for the tombola as well as cakes etc.. will be much appreciated. With thanks. See you on the village green!! Next meeting our first outside visit! Wednesday May 8th to Dunbheagan, Dereham Rd, Westfield, NR19 1QF. Leave Village Green prompt @ 6.15pm 7pm there. Telephone me or be there early enough for a lift.. As we approach our Outside Visits starting in May, we would love to see new members for our club, so come and make new friends, see lovely gardens in our area and learn new skills. Membership fee just 10 per year. We meet on the 2nd Wednesday of every month. Look us up on our fantastic website www.greathockhamgardeningclub.org.uk If you would like a lift to meetings or more information do give me a call. Jane Dalton (Club Sec. Tel: 01953 498694)

Creative Writing day schools in Watton

In July the Wayland Partnership will be hosting two Writing Day schools and would like to invite anyone interested in extending their writing skills to sign up. The first workshop on writing Short Stories is on Saturday July 6th and the second, called Life Stories is on July 13th. Each workshop costs just 50.00 and will be delivered by The Unthank School of Writing. About the Workshops Short Stories Have you ever fancied trying your hand at writing short stories? The Unthank School of Writing is offering a one-day course in the short story. This will include discussion of a working example and exercises in the gathering of ideas, plot, structure, character and language, all with the aim of writing a short story in a day. Plenty of time will be devoted to sharing work and talking about the craft. This workshop will appeal to those who want to develop their creative writing skills. LifeStory Was great-grandma seduced by the lord of the manor? Did you witness the Boxing Day tsunami? Have you got a box of wartime medals with a story to tell hidden in your loft? Do you remember where you were the day Kennedy was assassinated? Life is the raw material of fiction. This workshop aims to give you the tools to transform family history or personal experience into a good read. This workshop will appeal to those researching their History and Heritage and who want to write their own story. The Tutors Ashley Stokes has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and has taught creative writing, for UEA, the Open University, the Unthank School and others, for fifteen years. His first short story collection, The Syllabus of Errors was published in 2013. He won aBridport Prize for short fiction in 2002, has been long-listed for theFrank O'Connor International Short Story Award and nominated three timesfor the Pushcart Prize. Sarah Bower is the author of two historical novels The Needle in the Blood and The Book of Love. Her third novel, a contemporary thriller entitled Erosion, will be published later this year. She is also a prize-winning short story writer. She teaches creative writing at UEA and the Open University. Please contact Jan Godfrey to register your interest in either or both of these workshops and she will provide you with further information. T: 01953 880202 E: [email protected]

A Quick Look Round

By Orbiter Let the bands play. Let the trumpets sound. For this is the 200th edition of Wayland News. I know that because I have before me the front page of the issue dated May 1996, which was number 2, so a quick addition of the months since then brings me to the double-century figure. Confirmation comes by noting that last month was number 199. So a big well done to our esteemed Editor, thats quite an achievement. Ed: Thank you Sir! The end of March saw the holding of the Boat Race, the 159th time it has been held, an annual event that for some reason has held our interest, even though we may have no connection with rowing or universities. Whether this applied to other parts of the country I do not know, but in London Boat Race day was a most important feature of the yearly calendar. Almost everyone claimed allegiance to one of the two crews, though exactly why this should be is not known. I do remember an instance early in my schooldays when a bigger boy twisted my arm behind my back and demanded Are you Oxford or Cambridge ?. Not knowing to what he was referring, but anxious to be freed from his grasp I said Cambridge, which much have been to his liking because I was immediately released. Since it was an unwritten tradition never to change your faith, I was therefore to favour Cambridge for the rest of my life. On the actual day, everyone managed to wear some article coloured either light or dark blue, and many of our shops sold rosettes in exchange for hard-earned pennies. Since hardly any of us lived near to the Thames (or indeed we may never even have seen it !) we would gather round a wireless set to hear the commentary from the BBC, the main parts of which consisted of a chap announcing the frequency of the strokes made by the oarsmen with the words In Out, In Out, In Out, and so on. This, plus the final result, was the sum of our involvement, unless we were able to see the last twenty seconds of the race on a newsreel at the cinema the following week. This year, when I expressed my intention to watch the race on television, my son and grandson greeted this with derision, so I must conclude that this event does not exactly chime with the modern generation. Of course the BBC managed to make eighteen minutes of rowing last almost three hours, by means of the

Bradenham & District Horticultural Society

Thank you to all who participated in our Spring Show on Saturday 13th April. The turnout was much better than we expected and we had a very enjoyable day.Our monthly meeting for May will be THURSDAY 16th MAY at 7.30pm and Ian Bedford from John Innes, who will speak to us about the control of garden bugs. Bring along a plant in an unusual container. We will, as always, have a PLANT STALL at the village Sports Day on MONDAY 27th MAY. Come along and bring us any plants you have over for us to sell.We have a B B Q planned for June and our annual outing early in July.New members are always welcome - come along to a meeting and see for yourself what a friendly group we are.

use of waffle, but then waffle is the main constituent of most outside sports broadcasts these days, for otherwise the long gaps in the schedules would have to be filled with even more repeats of Dads Army. Leaving the interests of London and the south, it is rather surprising that our friends in the Midlands are engaged in great arguments as to where the bones of a long-dead king that have been dug up from a Leicester car park should be reinterred. Can this really matter enough to warrant all the fuss that has been kicked up ? Well, some folks do take these historical things very seriously, particularly when new building is proposed where important events, such as battles, have taken place years ago. Unfortunately local history cannot always be relied upon ( or perhaps it is the historians that may be at fault) for we are now told, for instance, that the Battle of Hastings took place at a spot a mile or so from where it was traditionally located, while Bosworth Field was also inaccurately recorded, and currently a battle site just outside York is under review. It has long been a topic for discussion in Worcester, as to whether the famous battle there actually occurred at the spot marked on the Ordnance Survey map, or further along the riverside. Not everyone is bothered about these ancient historic things, although there are some ancient Britons who continue to dominate the world of entertainment. Most noticeable of these is David Bowie and the Rolling Stones, tickets to see whom are fetching hundreds of pounds, even though they are a part of life we thought had disappeared years ago. Isnt there some law about retiring at 65 ? I was surprised to read that a famous football manager had been fined several thousand pounds for refusing to appear on television to give his after-match comments recently. Fined ? He should have been rewarded, for these appearances are more annoying and unwelcome than anything else that appears on our screens, with the possible exceptions of the panels of experts who follow every match to tell us what we have already seen.. As I write these notes the Weather girl tells me that temperatures may reach double figures, so look out for headlines screaming Cor, what a scorcher ! But no restrictions on the use of hosepipes have been announced, so presumably we make look forward to a drought this year. Also I am told that cricket starts today, so obviously the rainy season is about to return. At least that is the one forecaster we can usually trust to get things right, and if it lets us down then alls well and good. Right then, on with the celebrations (see opening paragraph).

CASTON VILLAGE FETE

Saturday, 1st June 2 p.m. Chase Farm, The Street, Caston Watton Silver Band, Sideshows Stalls, tombolas, Grand Draw Vintage Tractors and displays
Books, bottles, cakes, plants, bric-a-brac Ice-creams, BBQ and refreshments
All proceeds to Holy Cross Church, Caston

Quiz Night at Caston

Letter the Editor

Missing Signs - From Andrew Francis Funeral Service We have had an awful situation where our road signs advertising our presence in the town and focusing that we are the only family business in Watton, keep being stolen. We initially believed that the council were moving them, we have now discovered it is not them and in fact could be a third party. As a new business and a young family man, finances are always tight and the expense of replacing these signs is becoming a strain, If anybody can help with this problem or have any information about who is doing this, please don't hesitate to give us a call in confidence so we can rectify the situation. 01953 883033

Caston School Quiz Night, Thursday 16th May 7pm, in the school hall, teams of up to 6 adults. Cash prize for the winning team. Refreshments available or feel free to bring your own. 07899040119 to book a table.

Church Times and News

The Wayland News Page 14

Breckles, Caston, Great Hockham, Griston, Merton, Stow Bedon & Thompson Worship Calendar for May
Sunday 28th April - Fifth Sunday of Easter 9:00 am Holy Communion (BCP) 10:30 am United Holy Communion Sunday 5th May - Sixth Sunday of Easter (Rogation Sunday) 10:30 am United Holy Communion 3:00 pm Farm Tour & Rogation Prayers at Chase Farm
th

Watton Churches Together

Service Calendar for May
St. Marys Church, Watton Open Wed 10.30-3.00pm & Thurs10-12.30pm. You are welcome to come into church to enjoy the peace and tranquillity, say a prayer or just to look round. Church members will welcome you and serve refreshments. 1st, 3rd & 4th Wednesday at 9.30am Holy Communion 2nd Wednesday Morning Worship Church Office opens Tues, Wed & Thurs 9am-1pm Tel: 01953 881252 [email protected] www.stmaryswatton.org Sun 5th 8.00am Holy Communion 10.00am Holy Communion 12.30pm Holy Baptism Thur 9th Ascension Day 7.30pm Group Service of Holy Communion Sun 12th 8.00am Holy Communion 10.00am Holy Communion Sun 19th Pentecost 8.00am Holy Communion 10.00am Holy Communion we will be joined by the Methodist Congregation Sun 26th 8.00am Holy Communion 10.00am All Age Worship 6.30pm Choral Evensong Watton Methodist Church Every Wednesday the Church is open for quiet reflection and prayer between 10.15am & 11.30am Its your quiet place. At 10.30 there is a half-hour Midweek Service in the Large Vestry led by the Minister or a Church Member. www.wattonmethodist.btck.co.uk Minister: Deacon S Sowerby 01953 881035 Sun 5th 10.45am Rev D Greenaway Holy Communion 6.30pm Mrs S Mann Sun 12th 10.45am Mr R Hompstead 6.30pm Rev M Pillay Sun 19th Pentecost 10.00am We will be joining the Holy Communion Service at St Marys Church 2.30pm Circuit Service at Swaffham Sun 26th 10.45am Mrs S Greenaway 6.30pm Mr A Warby Roman Catholic Community Each Sat 5.30pm Mass at Watton Methodist Church Pentecostal Church, Dereham Road, Watton Children have their own programme during the Sunday morning services Sun 5th 10.30am The Captain of Salvation The Commission Sun 12th 10.30am The Captain of Salvation The Crossing Sun 19th 10.30am The Captain of Salvation The Capture Sun 26th 10.30am The Captain of Salvation The Completion St. Nicholas Church, Ashill Tuesdays at 10.00am Holy Communion Sun 5th 9.30am Lay Led Morning Worship Sun 12th 9.30am Morning Worship Sun 19th 9.30am All Age Worship Sun 12th Sun 19th Sun 26th St. Georges Church, Saham Toney 11.00am Morning Worship 11.00am All Age Worship and Holy Baptism 10.30am Benefice Service of Holy Communion. Preacher The Ven John Ashe Archdeacon of Lynn

Thoughts for the Month

The Presence of God
Fr Gordon Williams, Our Lady of Pity Catholic Church, Swaffham The presence of God. We cannot merit such an experience, yet we still long to experience his presence and often pray that God will reveal himself. Is this wrong, or selfish? I dont think so, because this longing is something deep within us. It dwells in our heart. Faith tells us that in heaven longing will cease and every tear will be wiped away. But this faith does not take away our pains. So we continue to search for God, the Living Lord. Everyone turns to God at some time in life, even when they dont know why. I believe its when we are empty that Gods grace can enter our hearts. God comes to us, not on our terms, and in his own time. We must often be very patient. Of course, no one has ever seen God, but we see the shadows of his passing through our lives if we look. When we are aware we might glimpse the mysterious ways in which God has been present and touched our lives.. When we can see a little deeper our faith is enkindled and we have a little more strength to continue the journey of faith.

Merton Griston

Stow Bedon Caston

Thursday 9 May - Feast of the Ascension 7:00 pm United Holy Communion Caston Sunday 12th May - Seventh Sunday of Easter 9:00 am Matins (BCP) Merton 10:30 am United Holy Communion Thompson Sunday 19th May - Pentecost Sunday 9:00 am Matins (BCP) 10:30 am United Holy Communion Sunday 26th May - Trinity Sunday 9:00 am Matins (BCP) 10:30 am United Holy Communion Gt. Hockham Breckles Merton Caston

Lifes too short . . .

By Rev Geoff Garrett, St Marys Church, Watton Show me, Lord, my lifes end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be. But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you. So writes King David, the author of Psalm 39. In essence he is saying, Lifes too short Other references in the bible, remind us of this popular phrase: Abraham reminds us that we are but dust and ashes and we are told that our life span is 3 score years and 10 anything else is extra. That, in context, does not mean that everyone will live to at least the age of 70 (I am now older than my father was when he died), but it is illustrative to remind us of our mortality, and how relatively short our lives are when compared to the whole of eternity. So what is life is too short for? To live it without love. 1Corinthians 13 a passage often read at weddings tells us about the greatness of love, but also the responsibility of love it is patient and kind, it is not self seeking, it keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. Love always protects hopes, trusts and perseveres. Lifes too short to live it without love. To live it without others family and friends. We need people around us and they need us. People to celebrate with, people to support and to be supported by. Lifes too short to live it without others. To live it without God. We have just celebrated Easter, a time in the Christian calendar which reminds us of the importance of living life with God and living life for God Jesus showed that in a most dramatic way, paving the way for us to be able to live our lives with God and for God as well. Lifes too short to live it without God. I conclude with some quotes I have come across I hope they mean something for you as they do for me. Life is too short to live in the past regret nothing, learn from mistakes and keep moving. Life's too short to start your day with broken pieces of yesterday, it will definitely destroy your wonderful today and ruin your great tomorrow. Live your life every moment of every day, you never know what could happen. Your life is ticking away a minute at a time, enjoy it, live it, love it. Today will never come again. Be a blessing. Be a friend. Encourage someone. Take time to care, Let your words heal and not wound.

Sunday 2nd June - First Sunday after Trinity 10:30 am United Holy Communion Gt. Hockham Watton Food Bank donations will be received at all our regular Sunday morning services. PRAY AND PLAY Wednesdays at 10:15 am 1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd May, Caston Primary School Hall 29th May, Caston Village Hall For those of all our parishes with children aged 0-5 Short Holy Communion, kiddies Christian songs; social & play time THE WAY YOUTH GROUP (ages 11+) 5th May, 3:00 pm, Chase Farm, Caston 17th May, 7:00 pm, meeting with other Church youth groups, Necton Church Enquiries: The Revd. Bob Nichols: Tel.: (01953) 483222;

Watton Bereavement Support Group

Wed 1st May 2.00pm Tea and Chat at Watton CCC . A representative from the Red Cross has been invited. If you would be interested in hearing the history of the Red Cross you are more than welcome to join us. Mon 20th May 12.00 for 12.30pm Lunch at Griston Wagon & Horses.

S.S. Peter & Pauls Church, Carbrooke Sun 5th 10.30am Benefice Service of Holy Communion Sun 12th 10.30am Holy Communion Sun 19th 10.30am All Age Worship Sun 12th St John the Evangelist Church, Ovington 9.30am Holy Communion

Andrew Francis
Funeral Service
Telephone 01953 883 033
Wattons Only Independent Family Funeral Directors

All Saints Church, Threxton

Sunday 5th May at 10am Family Service Thursday 9th May at 7pm Service of Thanksgiving with the Bishop of Lynn, the Rt Rev Jonathan Meyrick and Watton Silver Band.

Pre-Planned Funerals
An alternative to the Pre-Paid Funeral plan is Pre-Planned Funerals, where we can discuss all the requirements of the Funeral either in the comfort of a clients own home or in our office. We can store these details so that when they are required we have them taking away a large amount of worry and confusion from relatives. We will also issue the client with paper work to include in their own files confirming we have all the details, there are NO CHARGES for this service.

Coffee Morning
Saturday 11th May 10 a.m. to 12 noon

SUNDAY AFTERNOON TEAS

Sunday 19th May at Watton Christian Community Centre 2.30pm until 4pm Please join us, a warm welcome awaits you and your friends.

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The Wayland News Page 15

This month has seen all the children at Castons Martial Arts Centre-Headquarters of Ishin Ryu JuJItsu - participate in their physical gradings. As usual the children participated with much gusto and there were many happy faces as they all passed on to the next level. Traditionally they were rewarded by a fun games night followed by a presentation ceremony watched by many a proud parent. Well done to all who participated in Caston and all the other Ishin Ryu clubs. For information regarding the Caston club, or any other Ishin Ryu Dojos please contact Ishin Ryu JuJitsu on 01953 483795

Ishin Ryu JuJitsu

Saham Toney Bridge Club has been running for 17 years and is well established in the county bridge circles. We have over 40 members who meet on a Thursday evening at Broom Hall Hotel & Country Club, Saham Toney and play duplicate bridge. We are a very friendly but competitive club and our members vary a great deal in ability. Anyone is very welcome to come and join us and if you are not familiar with duplicate play, there are many willing members to help you along. Our annual club dinner was held at the Willow House in Watton when our club trophies were presented to the 2013 winners. Derrick Savage Trophy :Elaine Aberdeen & Gay Davidson John Cleverly Cup :Gordon Bingham & Ken Edwards Rawnsley Individual Cup :Elaine Aberdeen As well as playing bridge, we have 3 social occasions during the year. Our annual Christmas Party in December is for members only but our other 2 events are for spouses and partners. A B.B.Q. is held in the summer in one of the members gardens and the annual dinner is held in March.

Saham Toney Bridge Club

Jeff Sutton, Chairman of STBC presenting The Rawnsley trophy to Elaine Aberdeen These events are greatly enjoyed by all, it being especially nice to mix with husbands and wives and talk instead of playing bridge. We would like to see anyone living in the area who plays bridge, has a small amount of knowledge of bridge or who would be interested in learning to play the game. If you come in any of these categories and would like to know more about the club, please get in touch with Elaine Aberdeen 01953 882005 Email [email protected]

The Inner Wheel concert at the end of March had a varied programme of songs from both Music Hall and Shows. These were sung by Colin Thackeray and Pip Jenkinson some as duets and some as solos, all accompanied by David Kett on piano. There were also readings and poems read by Anne Hawkes, some in Norfolk dialect. The theme for the concert was Spring which seems to have prompted some welcome Spring-like weather recently. It was an entertaining and amusing concert followed by a lunch of filled baps provided by the ladies of the Inner wheel Club of Watton. At the end of the concert Betty Saunders, who regularly attends Inner Wheel events, was presented with flowers to mark her 93rd birthday on that day. The concert raised 229:20. In addition a Wine into Water raffle realised a further 88 for the charity Water Aid At the Club meeting in April members enjoyed a fascinating talk by Bill Richmond who shared many stories of his experiences working backstage with the Festival Theatre Players in Malvern. He was, in particular,

Inner Wheel

responsible for stage make up creating many different characters. He demonstrated this art to the members using two young models, Darcy and Jennifer (pictured undergoing her transformation) both of who he transformed completely with the skilful use of greasepaint, water-based paint and cream make-up. He also created a particularly nasty-looking wound on the arm of member, Fran Parker. Helen Glibbery

expressed the thanks of the meeting and presented Bill with a cheque which he intends to donate to the Sandra Chapman unit at the James Paget hospital. At the business meeting which followed plans were made for the Birthday Supper in May and the next fund raising event the Strawberry Tea to be held on June 25th. Pam Challand and Lesley Cowling.

The Wayland News Page 16

News

Watton Hockey Club Girls Under-Fifteen Development Team

WAYLAND EVENTS DIARY

May
Sat 4th 10-12 noon Plant Sale & Coffee, Ovington Village Hall (in aid of Ovington Garden Club funds) Sat 4th Country Fayre 11am- 4pm at Fincham Hall and Memorial field Sat 4th Dance Away at the Queens Hall. Ballroom Latin & Sequence 8pm to 11pm Admission 4 Sat 4th Every Picture Tells a Story - Dragonfly Gallery See Art. Sun 5th Westend Waiters Invite you tea at The Queens Hall 2.30pm Tickets form Mullengers - See article Sat 11th Christian Aid Coffee Morning St Mary's from 10am. Sat 11th Cake Break 10 - 12 Noon Ashill Call In Proceeds to MS Sun 12th Harling Bowls Club Open Event See article. Sun 12th Breccles Hall Gardens Open See Article Sun 12th Cleremont House Gardens Open See article Weds 15th Home made soup lunch WCCC 12-1:30 Donations for Christian Aid. Weds 15th Barbaras Day at Rocklands 10am to 3.30pm See Art Sat 17th Ovington Quiz & Buffet 7.30pm See article Sat 18th Upper Octave in Concert at Wretham - See Art. Tue 21st NWT Talk The History of Thetford Forest. WCCC See Ad

June
Sat1st Sun 23rd NWT Guided Walk at NWT Weeting Heath reserve 11am Meet the NWT Breckland Group at Rockland All Saints Open Gardens.

Watton Hockey Club Girls Development Team is very proud to be sponsored by Emo. Emo have provided the entire squad with new hoodies and look to support the team in the future. Emo Oil supply fuels and lubricants to domestic, agricultural and commercial

customers throughout East Anglia and has a deep knowledge and understanding of the heating oil market in the local area. The company is owned by GB Oils, one of the leading fuel distributors in the country. Emo Oil offers local knowledge, local staff and local depots

supported by national delivery network. Emo Oil launched the charitable bursary scheme to support local community groups, charities and sports teams who need a helping hand. They feel that as a local business, its important that they give something back to organisations in the local community.

Aged 19 99? Need a new interest? Why not try bowling at East Harling Bowls Club? Sunday 12 May 2013 from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm - light refreshments provided. Bowls is a popular national/international sport which is easy to learn, friendly and sociable. We can offer both outside bowling and indoor short mat bowling. Why not come along and try either, or both. You may surprise yourself. Bowls will be provided, but please wear soft, flat soled shoes. Please ring Val on 01953 717556 or Matt on 01953 498796, or just turn up at the clubhouse in Church Road, East Harling, NR16 2NA (opposite the Church) on 12 May between 2.00 pm and 5.00 pm. We look forward to seeing you.

Harling Bowls Club Open Event

April Medal Results: Division 1 Ann Achilles 95 net 76; Division 2 Sandy McCormack - 102 net 78; Division 3 Eileen Chard - 111 net 77 Coronation Foursomes: Elaine Aberdeen and Rosie Sutterby were the winners with 37 points, they will now go through to the next round at Thetford Golf Club. Daily Mail Foursomes: Was won by Jan Bone and Sandie McCormack who won the first round against Diss Golf Club. They went on to play the next round at Barnham Broom Golf Club where they put up a good fight but were beaten 3/2.

Richmond Park Golf Club Ladies Section

THE WAYLAND NEWS

Page space is allocated strictly on a first come, first served basis. Deadline is 12Noon on 16th of the month preceding publication and that is the last 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 published, then please make sure it arrives in plenty of time otherwise you may still be disappointed. 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 8 Princess Close, Watton IP25 6XA The e-mail address is [email protected] Views expressed in articles in The Wayland News are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers or printers.
While every care and effort has been taken to ensure accuracy, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.

This issue of the The Wayland News was published by: Julian Horn, 32 High Street, Watton IP25 6AE and printed by Sharman & Company Ltd, Newark Road

Peterborough PE1 5TD. Phone: 01733 424 949