Brandon Town Magazine - Issue 18

Brandon TOWN MAGAZINE

FEBRUARY 2015

Brandon School of Dance See page 19

READ YOUR TOWN MAGAZINE ONLINE AT BRANDONSUFFOLK.COM

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Welcome to Brandon February sees a noticeable difference in daylight hours bringing us the hope of spring.

Many gardens have bulbs flowering after a mild winter has confused them into early blooming.

We hope you all enjoy February’s issue which brings exciting news of plans ahead for some of the community groups in our town.

Don’t forget that if you’re part of one of the groups in Brandon or Weeting, please get in touch with us so we can include information about your upcoming events.

We can be contacted any time by email to magazine@brandonsuffolk.com.

Regards The Brandon Town Magazine Team

To advertise your business please email magazine@brandonsuffolk.com

Deadline for March issue 13th February

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information contained within this publication, the publishers take no responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by it’s contributors, in any advertisements or for any loss arising from non-publication of any advertisement. Reproduction of any part of this publication without permission is strictly forbidden. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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Brandon & District Rotary Club Following our Christmas & New Year break we have started back at the Community Garden Project.

Several Rotarians have been involved in clearing and landscaping the front and back gardens for a young lady in Brandon who is confined to a wheelchair. This young lady, despite her own disabilities, spends a great deal of time at a local care home for the elderly keeping the residents company and reading to them; despite being confined to hospital over Christmas she did not forget an old lady in Brandon and telephoned her so that she heard from somebody. These are just a couple of examples that we have heard about.

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Once the patio is built a new shed and raised planters (complete with new plants) will be installed.

This has only been possible with the help and support of local businesses including Travis Perkins, Stoke Ferry Timber, B&B Betts Sheds, P&R Garden Supplies and B&Q Thetford.

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It is this consideration for others that had really encouraged us to do something for her.

Rotary was made aware late last year that her back garden was inaccessible by wheelchair so we decided to build a new ramp and completely transform the garden. We have made significant progress with a new back door suitable for wheelchair use, new fence, new walls built for the ramp, hard base and most of the new patio. Front garden has been

Brandon Town Council Report Play area: The toddler’s play area at the Brandon Remembrance Playing Fields has now been completed. For added security, the equipment has been purposely sited behind the Brandon Leisure Centre. When additional funding or grants are sourced it is the town council’s intention to purchase further items.

A picket fence or hooped railings around the play equipment will put the finishing touches to the project (see page 11 for more details).

Brandon Safer Neighbourhood Team: A community engagement meeting of the Brandon Safer Neighbourhood Team will be held at the Brandon Town Council offices between 6.30pm and 7.30pm on Wednesday

4th February 2015. Members of the public can go along and raise any matters they wish to discuss.

Reporting at Meetings of Brandon Town Council: New legislation now permits any person to film, photograph, audio record or use social media to report on meetings of the Council, or a committee. There are strict guidelines in place and need to be observed at all times. A copy of the protocol for reporting at meetings is available on request.

Christine Mason Town Clerk

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Glade Primary School A time capsule was buried at Glade Primary School just before the school broke up for Christmas. This was to mark the completion of the recent building work to increase the size of Glade by adding 4 classrooms and a drama studio.

The time capsule ceremony took place after the school Christmas lunch and was attended by pupils, staff and governors. After placing the time capsule in the ground, the children had the chance to help bury it. The area in which it is buried will be landscaped during

spring of this year.

The purpose built time capsule will be buried for 50 years. It is due to be opened in 2064 when the current pupils are in their 50s and 60s. The capsule contains photos and documents about Glade, as well as examples of children’s work. There are also local and national newspapers from this week, showing the future generations how we lived in 2014.

We have even included some old registers from the 1970s as a real antique.

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CHRONICLES OF BRANDON AT WAR

By Darren Norton

www.brandonatwar.co.uk

With the war not going well in Europe, thoughts naturally turn to protecting our town, especially following the Zeppelin attacks in other parts of East Anglia. A meeting has been called in order to get local men to join a group called the Volunteer Training Corps (V.T.C.). Tonight the Paget Hall is filled to the rafters and on the stage is Sir John Aird. He is chairing the meeting and this is his first official appearance in the town since he took up residence at the Brandon Park Estate. Flanking him are representatives from Brandon’s council, the church and the military. A hush descends upon the meeting and we are ready to start. First off we stand to give a rousing rendition of the national anthem.

First up to speak is an officer from the Norfolk Regiment. He outlines the role of the V.T.C. If a man is too old, or too young, or not fit enough to enlist for the war, or perhaps he has vital employment, then he should serve at home with the

V.T.C. The officer suggests Brandon’s group could be responsible for defending the railway from German spies. The authorities cannot at present offer weapons or uniforms so the V.T.C. will have to get their own, but the captain reckons this will not be a problem for Brandon. He suggests spies usually carry a revolver and

February 1915

thus would be no match against the shotgun our farmers carry on their land! Most importantly though, the men would learn army drills and by doing so they would be contributing to the “common cause”. After all, one day they may be called upon to fight the enemy. The audience respond to this with loud applause.

Next up is Sir Henry Bunbury who lightens the mood by suggesting that a few of the audience would benefit from the exercise of doing regular drills. Then his speech takes a sterner tone when he reinforces the fact that it is our patriotic duty to defend this nation and thus free the more able-bodied men to go overseas to fight.

Just like a preacher on the pulpit, he lets us know that men who have not enlisted into the army would be shamed into doing so, “The sight of the old men in uniform would put the fear of God into the hearts of the younger men”. “HEAR, HEAR” the audience roar out in agreement, while vigorously applauding the man.

More men stand to speak, all enforcing our duty to join the V.T.C, and each receives loud applause. There is a call for men to put pen to paper and sign up for Brandon’s V.T.C. Thirty-three men do so. Sir John Aird concludes the meeting by thanking us for answering the “bugle call”. He claims it has been a great honour to see our response, and suggests that Brandon’s V.T.C. will be something the town will be proud of.

There is one last act before we go home.

Everyone, without exception, is inspired to give a most rousing rendition of the National Anthem. It was almost as though we wanted the enemy to hear our fortitude and it leaves no doubt that the meeting has whipped up a fighting spirit. However, the V.T.C. are not the only ones engaged in defending Brandon.

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Toddler Play Area Opens A new play area, specifically designed for younger children, has been installed to the rear of Brandon Leisure Centre and is now open to the public.

the size of the play area and install more equipment in the future.

Recognising the lack of exisiting toddler facilties at the Remembrance Playing Fields in Brandon, the town council agreed to provide a play area specifically for this age range.

With this in mind, various companies were approached to provide specifications for exciting and innovative play options.

Cllr Reg Silvester, pictured at the new play area along with town clerk Christine Mason, provided a grant of £3000 from his locality budget towards the cost of the new equipment with the balance being met by the town council.

Plans are already underway to increase

© BrandonSuffolk.com

Town clerk, Christine Mason, said “We will be looking to purchase further equipment as and when funding is available.

“Overall it’s been a successful venture both in terms of cost, design and location. Enjoy!”

Brandon in Bloom The ‘In Bloom’ group held their first meeting of 2015 on the 12th January. The meeting reported last year’s efforts and also those to be included in the 2015 plan.

After the planting of 6000 Daffodils, everyone reported 1st sightings of shoots and with 10 locations around the town, they should certainly brighten up your day very soon.

The group are committed to holding the wheelbarrow competition again this year and hope to see more entries. The idea of a theme has been taken up and everyone agreed to have a think and a discussion and a decision will be made soon. There was no date set for the judging day, but it is hoped we may be able to have a joint event with another group.

2015 is the year of the Sunflower and we intend to provide every school child with the means of growing a giant sunflower, a Giraffe, which I don’t think needs any explanation, maybe just a warning to the pilots from RAF Lakenheath to watch out for the sunny faces staring towards them.

one spot in town which should bring a smile to the faces of passing motorists.

As the group is still in its infancy we felt to try and get an open garden day was too ambitious for this year, so instead we will have a ‘Best Container’ competition. This can be any type or size of container, and will be judged in situ. Classes to include under 16s, residential and retail.

Ali is undertaking a wildflower project at Doddalies pond, where she hopes to be able to attract a broader range of wildlife. Hugh made a very kind donation to assist with the purchase of some wild flower plants rather than seeds which should help with an instant impact and maintain interest in the area as a section of grass will need to be removed and if seeded would look rather bare.

We all agreed the date of the next meeting will be after the Brandon Garden Club AGM where Annette will hopefully be able to outline our plans with the hope of the 2 groups being able to help each other in projects or events.

We also hope to create a sunflower display at

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Forest Academy U11s Girls Football Team Sporting Success: This tournament was a very special one for both Forest Academy and our partner school Elveden C of E Primary Academy as it was our first joint team. Eleven girls from Forest and one special guest from Elveden have been training with a coach from Norwich City Football Club, perfecting their skills and building their confidence. We were fortunate enough to have blue skies this year and it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. The girls played incredibly and made their way to the semi-finals.

future dancers, so we took the children to Jerwood Dance House to see a performance called Chalk About by professional dance artists. Some of our children were invited to be a part of the performance, which made us very proud.

It was a very tense match that could only be decided after penalties. The girls gave their all and both schools were so proud to see the girls secure 3rd place. Celebratory fish and chips all round!

This was followed by a short taster-class with a dance artist in one of their dance studios; they were kind enough to let us take a mirror “selfie� in the Red Shoe Studio which was great fun!

As always the school was complimented on many occasions for the wonderful behaviour, impeccable manners and impressive dance skills during the workshop. Watch this space for further updates as the project develops.

Dance East: Once again Forest Academy has been successful in securing a place on the Dance East District Project. This year will also see our friends at Elveden C of E Primary Academy join us for this excellent opportunity. The first step was to inspire our

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FEBRUARY

gardening

I sit writing this article in the calm before another storm. Yesterday’s gales brought down power lines at Weeting and the road to the shop was closed whilst power was restored. The weather can play havoc with our garden plants and strong winds can easily uproot plants, especially newly planted bare root roses and trees. Wind rock causes the root system to become unstable, tearing new roots which consequently slow down development and establishment. Newly planted trees can take a couple of year to anchor firmly in the ground so stakes are essential. If any plant roots have become exposed, cover with top soil and tread down firmly to eliminate air pockets. If any stems are broken by wind, there is no choice except to prune cleaning beneath the break.

Whilst we wait for spring bulbs to begin flowering colour can be lacking in the garden. Primulas are without doubt the best and most cheerful flowering plant in February. Primula is the botanical name for a range of species including primroses and polyanthus. I am often asked what the difference is. All primroses are derived from the native primrose (Primula vulgaris) and these have lots of flowers on individual stems growing from the crown of the plant. Polyanthus have a thick stalk with a bunch of flowers on it, standing much taller than primroses. All Primulas are descended from woodland and grow best in a neutral or slightly acid soil, humus rich soil (that does not dry out) in a partially shaded position. To ensure Primulas thrive in your garden, incorporate as much humus into the soil as possible, and feed the plants with a weak solution of high potash fertiliser such as tomato feed every ten days from when the buds start to form until the flowers open.

The primula family also includes Auriculas.

Auriculas are the alpine cousins of our wild primroses. They have smooth fleshy leaves often covered with powder (called farina), to protect them from the intense solar radiation of the

high mountains. They are broadly split into two categories: Garden and Show.

Garden or Alpine Auriculas These are intended for the garden and are fully hardy. Grow them in pots or in the ground, but make sure they have good drainage in winter. Protect from slugs and vine weevil.

Show auriculas are split into 5 distinct types. All have a distinct circle of white at the centre of the flower. The show auriculas need a little more attention if you are to succeed in producing top quality flowers. Keep them in pots, either in a well ventilated and shaded alpine house, or under some sort of protection outdoors. They don’t mind the cold, only excessive wet and the rain on the flowers can wash the farina away. They may be grown easily outside on a north-facing window-ledge or in an auricula theatre!

On the next bright winter’s day why not pot up some primulas in empty pots, they’ll cheer you up on the darkest, coldest days and they’ll keep flowering until you are ready to plant up with summer flowering plants. As Primulas are perennial, once your display is over simply plant them into the garden (in conditions described earlier) ready for next year’s display!

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Brandon School of Dance Classes in ballet, tap, modern, freestyle, street, contemporary & cheerleading Principal: Kerry Shoop Please call Kerry on 07864 025041 or visit our website for more information:

www.brandonschoolofdance.com

(Ballet from 3 years, Tap from 4 years, Street/Modern/Freestyle from 5 years, Contemporary from 8 years, Cheerleading from 5 years)

Brandon School of Dance Our Choreography competition, which was held on 13th December, produced some very talented dancers. Everyone that took part came away with a medal and 1st, 2nd and 3rd places were awarded to all classes who were presented with trophies.

performed at the Apex in Bury St Edmunds on June 28th. The theme this year is ‘A Night At The Movies’. This will be a full costumed show and will include ballet, tap, modern, freestyle, street, contemporary and our latest venture, cheerleading.

There was an overall trophy for the best dance of the day and this was presented to Danny Skipper and Phoebe Krieger. They received top marks on behalf of the dance school with a very creditable 19/20 awarded for their choreographed pieces. They both won with their modern/freestyle/street pieces. The whole school danced fantastically and both myself and Miss Lyndsay were very proud of all the students. A big ‘well done’ to them all.

Please visit our website at www. brandonschoolofdance.com to see the classes we teach.

We are now working to come up with ideas for our next two big shows. Both will be

If any of your children are interested in joining the school please text me, Kerry, on 07864 025041 and I will reply back.

We are proud to announce that the school has now grown to over 300 students which is truly amazing. It is great to see the students keeping active whilst learning new dance skills and making new friends.

© Jessica Monk

© Jessica Monk

© Jessica Monk

© Jessica Monk

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IES Breckland From the Principal: Our focus remains on maintaining the rapid improvements that are being made within our school. The EDP headline at the start of this term summarised our continuing efforts with “IES Breckland Free School Praised by Ofsted inspector in new report”.

Year 11 holiday revision schools: These are taking place over February half term (16th – 20th February) and the school Easter break (30th March – 10th April). With the exam season fast approaching, accessing these opportunities to boost students’ knowledge, understanding and confidence is imperative.

This term we welcomed some new members of staff – Mrs Macullum (teacher of English and lead coach), Mr Holt (teacher of mathematics), Mr Lade (teacher of design and technology), Miss Gentry (teacher of ICT) and Miss Dransfield (teaching assistant).

During the half term break last October a large number of students attended the English catch up sessions and this has had a very positive impact on Year 11 student achievement in English as seen in the improvement in the grades achieved during the November mock examinations.

Safer Internet Day: On Tuesday the 10th of February, as part of Safer Internet Day (SID), we are holding an information and advice session for parents and carers. The session will be from 5-6pm in the school hall. This is aimed at raising awareness of how children use the internet, the risks that children face online, and what parents can do, in partnership with the school, to keep their children safe from the risks of the internet.

Safer Internet Day is an annual event to promote the safe and responsible use of technology among children and young people and we would like our parents and carers to be a part of this event.

Year 11 Information Evening: On the 10th of February, 6-7pm, we have invited parents and carers of our year 11 students to an information evening. We will provide advice, hints and tips on how they can support their child as students prepare for their GCSE exams in the summer. There will also be further information about the holiday revision schools.

Valentines Disco: On Thursday the 12th of February, 6.30-8.00pm there will be a Valentines Disco for year 7 and 8 students.

Proceeds from the event will be split between Cancer Research UK and the school. Our guest DJ, Harry Carr, is also donating his fee to Cancer Research UK! We are also inviting year 6 children as part of our transition process.

Year 6 Transition: The year 6 transition days are on the 13th, 14th and 15th of July. This is an invaluable opportunity for year 6 children to experience student life at IES Breckland prior to their start in September. In addition, there are a number of activity sessions scheduled prior to the transition days.

There are some limited places available for September and parents are welcome to contact the school office, on 01842 819501, to arrange a tour of the school.

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St Valentine and the ‘Spanish Fly’ February, of course, sees the shops adorned with hearts and flowers to celebrate Valentine’s Day. However, the story of St Valentine is not one of just romance. Valentine lived in roman times under the leadership of Emperor Claudius. Valentine was a priest at a time when Claudius persecuted the church and the sanctity of marriage. Claudius prohibited people to marry believing that the young men of the time hoping to become soldiers would fight better without the burden of a wife and family. Some what ironic as Claudius himself is believed to have had four wives.

Valentine did not approve of Claudius’s thinking and secretly performed many marriage ceremonies. This was to become his downfall as he was eventually caught, imprisoned and tortured on the command of Claudius.

In 269AD, Valentine was sentenced to an horrific execution that involved beating, stoning and finally, decapitation.

During his time of imprisonment he was said to have restored the sight to the daughter of his jailer, a man called Asterius. It was said that Asterius’ daughter received a hand written note from Valentine containing the doomed mans’ last words and a final line saying ‘from your Valentine’ . This is said to be the inspiration for the valentine missives of today and thus, St Valentine has become the patron saint of lovers.

With regarding food to be eaten on Valentine’s Day, you immediately think of delicacies that have aphrodisiacal qualities. Unfortunately there is very little evidence that these foods, bought from our local shops, in the hope of heightening sexual interest, actually work. The only products that test positive in the aphrodisiac stakes are gained from animals by dubious means. Amongst those is Spanish Fly. This little green beetle contains an irritant called Cantharidin which actually is toxic and comparable in strength to strychnine. Use of this beetle is documented as far back as roman times when Augustus Caesar’s wife used it on her guests whom she later blackmailed after they had committed sexual indiscretions.

Medically, the ground, dried beetle was used as far back as Hippocrates.

As a poison it would go unnoticed when added to food. Mixed with arsenic and added to wine, death could be delivered within a few hours. This was a favourite poison of the Medici family, a wealthy Italian banking family in 15th century Florence.

If you enjoy Moroccan food you may have come across a popular North African spice mix called Ras el Hanout. Up until the 1990’s this blend of spices contained cantharides, but has now been banned. Pre 1990’s, Ras el Hanout certainly would have brought meaning to the phrase ‘spice up your life”!

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Creamy Chocolate Cheesecake Valentine’s Day always bring to mind some sort of chocolate confection so, not to disappoint you, I have shared my very indulgent chocolate cheesecake recipe with you.

If you have never made a baked cheesecake before, I promise, if you make this, you will never make a no-bake one again. The topping is optional.

INGREDIENTS 250g digestive biscuits 75g butter, melted 500g crean cheese 250g mascarpone 2 tbsp cornflour 200g caster sugar 2tsp vanilla extract 3 medium eggs, plus one extra yolk 250g dark chocolate, melted FOR THE TOPPING (optional) 300ml soured cream 50g sugar 1tsp vanilla bean paste 1tbsp cocoa powder Whizz the biscuits in a food processor to make crumbs. Add the melted butter and stir well.

Press into a greased 23cm spring-clip tin and chill.

Heat the oven to gas mark 1/140 ÂşC. Beat the cream cheese, mascarpone, cornflour, caster sugar, vanilla and eggs until smooth and thick. Stir in the melted chocolate until combined. Pour into the tin and transfer to a baking tray. Bake for 1-11/2 hours until firm; leave to cool.

For the topping, mix the soured cream with the sugar and vanilla paste.

Pour on to the cheesecake and bake for a further 10 minutes. When cool, dust with cocoa powder.

If you chose not to put this topping on then just give the cheesecake another 5 minutes cooking time.

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We need you today You may need us tomorrow To donate £5 text heli to 70500

East Anglian Air Ambulance Did you know?

Our life saving service is operational 365 days a year Our highly trained, specialist medical teams bring doctor-led emergency care to the incident site, bringing the emergency department to the patient We are the first in the UK to fly night time HEMS missions with almost 50 missions flown in the dark since the end of May 2013 We’ve attended over 13,000 life-saving missions across Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire The majority of incidents we attend are serious road traffic collisions, people suffering cardiac arrests and horse riding, motorbike and cycling incidents We have a wide range of volunteering opportunities available - take a look at our website for latest positions

www.eaaa.org.uk 08450 699 999 Registered Charity No: 1083876

Follow us on Twitter: @EastAngliAirAmb ‘Like’ our Facebook page: East Anglian Air Ambulance

Chilterns’ Triple Award Win Chilterns in Brandon took home three prizes at this year’s Estate Agency of the Year Awards, in association with The Times and sponsored

by Zoopla.

They were awarded silver as best agent in the east of England (small agency), bronze for customer service nationally and gold for the best manager of the year nationally.

competition, these awards have become widely recognised as the most prestigious and difficult to win. With more entrants than ever before, over 5,000 offices were represented this year, but only the very best of the best were crowned as winners.

Winners, Chilterns were delighted to receive the awards.

On Friday 5th December, over 650 leading estate agents from throughout the UK attended a glittering ceremony at The Lancaster London Hotel, opposite Hyde Park, where the winners of the most highly regarded awards in the estate agency industry were revealed.

The winners were presented with their awards

by Michelle Mone OBE, one of the UK’s most successful female entrepreneurs and founder of international lingerie brand, Ultimo, with renowned journalist, author and newsreader Penny Smith acting as compere.

Award winners were decided following a rigorous and thorough judging process by a panel of 19 industry experts who assessed initial entry submissions before conducting an extensive review of the entrants, which included over 150 hours of telephone interviews and mystery shopping exercises.

The whole of the judging process was overseen by The Property Ombudsman, Christopher Hamer, and Mark Hayward, Managing Director of the NAEA acted as Arbiter.

Now in its twelfth year as a dedicated

Director, Yannis Prodromou commented “Chilterns have had a record year in 2014 and this could not have been achieved without the hard work and dedication shown by our sales and lettings team.

“Winning these awards is a great honour and reflects our commitment to clients and customers needs and aspirations and sets us apart in a competitive industry.”

All the winning companies with comments from the judges as to why they won can be found at www.estateagencyoftheyear.com

Brandon Town Team The Brandon town team would like to thank the local residents and businesses who donated to the hanging baskets and to Mark Skinner for all his help.

Some of those we would like to thank for their funding are Poppins, Tilly’s Tombola,

Bear raffle, Pat Cummins, Alice Day, D & S J Nutt, J & M Hawkins, G & B Evans, Brenda Nelson, Helen Godfey A J & P Batts, The Meatmarket, Tramps, R Winwright, Brandon Baptist Church, Recruit and Shires along with a number of anonymous contributors.

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CAR PARTS & ACCESSORIES • Body & Exhaust • Brakes • Cooling & Heating • Electrical & Lighting • Engine Parts • Lubricants & Fluids • Service Parts • Suspension & Steering • Transmissions

FREE WEEKDAY DELIVERY

TO HOUSEHOLDS AND BUSINESSES IN BRANDON OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK

Brandon Town Youth FC As in past issues of the Brandon Magazine, we would like to take this opportunity to thank two companies that have supported the club in the 2014/15 season. We could not offer grass roots football to the local community without the continued support of our valued sponsors.

The first company we would like to thank has been sponsoring Brandon Town Youth for many years and this season they have kindly sponsored the U15 Lasses with a fantastic yellow & royal blue home kit. WEETING TYRES – we would like to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU for your support over the years and especially from the girls you’ve supported this season.

After wining the League cup last season, the girls are hoping to repeat their success in the League as they are flying high with some great performances so far in the SGWFL this season. There is no doubt that they have been helped on by a sharp looking kit giving them that little bit extra!

offered to sponsor the U8 Lads home yellow and royal blue kit too! So we would like to say another MASSIVE THANK YOU to BLADE LOGISTICS for their very generous support and hopefully for many years to come! Both the U8s and U15s are newly formed for this season and are both playing in the SNYFL.

The U15s were very successful with their recruitment this season; the U8 Lads are keen to add new players to the squad so please get in touch if you are interested!

Holland 2015: With the clubs annual trip to Holland in May getting closer, there are still a few places remaining at the U11/12 and U16 Lad’s age groups; if you fancy a few days in Centre Parcs and a couple of games get in touch!

If you are interested in any if the above please contact our club Chairman.

The girls are always looking to add to the side so if you are interested please get in touch!

The second company we would like to thank is in their first season sponsoring the club; after sponsoring the U15 Lads they then kindly

Along with players and volunteers we are continually looking for sponsors and local companies to support the club, so if you are interested in seeing your name on the front of one of our kits or hoodies, please contact our Chairman Gary Rampley on 07716 1888000.

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Brandon Community Union The Brandon Community Union is fighting against what they are calling ‘opportunist plans’ put forward by developers.

The group, made up of Brandon residents and which formed following the launch of a consultation into the plans, are standing up to battle the proposals.

Whilst not agreeing with the developer’s proposals, the group are working towards a resolution that will enable development in the town at a suitable level for the infrastructure currently in place.

amount of roundabouts and a sharp right angle turn, this ‘relief road’ is the only reason these outrageous plans are being considered.

But it’s merely an access road for the houses.

A new road is needed if the houses are built.

But to act as a relief road it only needs 2 roundabouts, a minimum of 3 lanes and a smooth curve in the North West corner. Also be set well away from the housing.

A spokeswoman for Brandon Community Union said “With Brandon’s high levels of traffic over the last 25 years, residents fought for a government sponsored by-pass with a South Eastern route deemed most effective.

“However, predictions the new A11 would remove 20-27% of Brandon’s traffic are being realised and a rethink may be appropriate.

“Far from ‘regenerating’ Brandon, these opportunist plans take advantage of the reduction in traffic and introduce more vehicles by way of 1600 houses. 730 houses are already allocated for Brandon between 2012-2031 by the FHDC. This means 2330 extra houses, most built on green field land.

This green field land is also within 400m of the Breckland SPA, home to several breeding pairs of Stone Curlew, an internationally protected species which won’t nest near housing.

“By including a limited capacity ‘relief road’ (not a bypass) with only two lanes, an unnecessary

© BrandonSuffolk.com

“Do we now need a relief road? Does it justify the environmental damage it will cause?

“Time assessing the impact of the new A11 on Brandon is vital.

“Many residents are concerned with this proposal and fail to see any ‘regeneration’ for the existing town. Our stretched resources are not being improved and there is still a risk the level crossing will close if a ‘relief road’ crossing is built. This would be devastating for our town. This plan isn’t the way forward for Brandon.”

Tesco Brandon 15 Year Celebrations On 22nd March 2015, Tesco Brandon will be celebrating 15 years of opening. We will be holding events during the week of Sunday 22nd March to Saturday 28th March.

We are asking for your input on your memories of Brandon from 2000 and over the last 15 years.

Throughout February there will be a box at

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our Customer Service Desk for you to put in your thoughts.

These can be funny memories, changes you’ve seen in the town or even interesting facts about our community.

Please pop your ideas in the box during February and we look forward to seeing you at our celebrations.

PUZZLE PAGE Sudoku

Code Word

Enter numbers into the blank spaces so that each row, column and 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 to 9.

Each letter A-Z is represented by a number 1-26.

Can you crack the code and solve the crossword?

Every letter of the alphabet us used at least once.

Number Pyramid Fill every box in the tower with a number. The value in a square is the sum of the numbers directly beneath it.

Word Wheel

Solutions can be found on page 31

Find as many words as you can. Words must be at least 3 letters and must use the central letter. No letter can be used more than once.

There is a 9 letter word to be found.

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Your website for our town

news • businesses • events • information • more

READ YOUR TOWN MAGAZINE ONLINE WHENEVER, WHEREVER

DELIVERERS WANTED Reliable people wanted to deliver town magazine • Rounds available now • Good rates paid • Must be over 14 Contact us on magazine@brandonsuffolk.com

Useful Telephone Numbers Councils Brandon Town Council (Town Clerk)

01842 811844

Forest Heath District Council (Main Switchboard)

01638 719000

Suffolk County Council (Public Enquiries)

0845 606 6067

Health Services Doctor - Brandon Medical Practice (High Street)

01842 810388

Doctor - Forest Group Practice (Bury Road)

01842 810206

Dentist - Apex Dental Care (Bury Road)

01842 812276

Dentist - The Dental Surgery (High Street)

01842 812381

Hospital - West Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds)

01284 713000

NHS 111 - Medical Help (Less urgent than 999)

111

Help & Advice Citizens Advice Bureau (Brandon Office)

01842 811511

Social Care Services (Customer First)

0808 800 4005

Suffolk Constabulary (Non Emergency)

101

Utility Companies Electricity - UK Power Networks (Fault Line)

08007 838 838

Gas - National Grid Gas (Emergency Number)

0800 111 999

Water - Anglian Water (24 Hour Leakline)

0800 771 881

Puzzle Page Solutions Sudoku

Pyramid

Code Word

Word Wheel 9 letter word: artillery

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The Times/Sunday Times

The Times/Sunday Times Judges’ Report

“Best Small Agency East of England”

“Chilterns works smart and hard for its clientele; they will always go the extra mile.”

“Use of social media is excellent with the result that consumer engagement has increased, especially amongst first time buyers who view this business as an authority”

Proud winners at The Times / Sunday Times Estate Agency of the Year Awards 2013

... call your local award-winning estate agent

Do your homework ...

2014 .

Chilterns

01842 813466