www.sharrington.org.uk Adrian Allenby stood down as a member of the committee and was warmly thanked for his contribution. The remaining members of the committee were re-elected. Well darn it, we had to cancel our wild west evening as the expected stampede for tickets did not materialise. Such a shame as Robin Hyslop and Gary Grunwald had put so much effort into its planning. In issue 97 in 2014 I wrote a short piece on ‘ChickLit’, a film made by local filmmaker Tony Britten, parts of which were shot in the hall. Who would have thought that its general release would not take place until September 2016? Although the scenes featuring the hall were left on the cutting room floor we plan to screen the film in the hall on Friday 9th September following its premiere at Cinema City in Norwich on September 2nd. Stars include Christian McKay, Dakota Blue Richards, Miles Jupp, Eileen Atkins, John Hurt and Caroline Catz, with scenes shot in the Hunny Bell and Holt. Tony Britten has agreed to introduce the film and we plan to have a number of the ‘extras’ in the audience. Further details will be publicised on the village website and on posters nearer the date. RD
village. David Forrest donated extra gravel for the church path, Michael Kimmins supplied the charming drawing of the church for the cover of the service booklet and Rosemary’s Cantalina choir gave us a number of well loved choral pieces such as Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus, as well as leading the congregation in the singing of hymns. With a Welsh contingency Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer was a must choice and with a full church it raised the roof. Natural arrangements of blue and white flowers in jam jars decorated the window sills alongside formal pedestal and basket arrangements, ably organised by Pippa, Lesley, Rosemary, Anne and Françoise, not forgetting Poppy-India, Charlotte’s five year old daughter, who produced two arrangements herself. The church was beautifully cleaned and Ann Garwood ensured that all the necessary arrangements were in place on the day. Travelling to the church we were cheered on our way by Martin and Robin who raised a glass at their gate to offer a toast. Charlotte was given away by Roger and the service was taken by Ian Whittle with his usual aplomb. Charlotte was attended by Poppy-India as flower girl and all the children in the congregation behaved beautifully, especially Alexa who had to wait until the conclusion of the wedding service before her special moment when Ian conducted the baptism. The choir then sang a beautiful rendition of ‘Hush Little Baby’ before everyone left the church and made their way to Swanton Novers village hall to continue the celebrations. It was the perfect English country wedding and a day to remember. CD
WEDDING OF CHARLOTTE GROOM AND ANDREW DAVIES The day dawned fine but windy on May 21st, the day of our daughter’s wedding to Andrew Davies and the baptism of their baby daughter, Alexa Evie, in Sharrington church. Andrew’s relatives and some friends had made the long journey from Wales to be here and for many it was their first time in our lovely part of the country, quite a change of scenery for them. During the months of preparation beforehand we had met and used a host of delightful local suppliers from the florist to the caterer, printers, a new cake maker in Holt, Alyson Bash who runs the Sugared Rose Cake Company (highly recommended) and our own Jo Jordan the renowned hairdresser. Many are young people who are establishing thriving businesses and are in every way a match for what London can offer. We were also helped enormously by friends in the
HAVE WE LOST OUR COMMUNITY? The village had 124 inhabitants, not many more than we have today. But this was 1945. After Sir Dymoke White donated the land, a garden fete started the bank account off with £150. For three years villagers conducted sales of work, fetes in an empty cottage garden and dances in a farm barn. Christmas draw prizes were sent to Belfast and the Shetlands! By 1951 there was £1,500 in the bank but costs were rising. A cheaper building with a cut in some of the amenities proposed had to be made to reduce costs. A trust deed was completed and a management committee elected at a public meeting. Due to spiralling costs the village agreed there was only one alternative: they would prepare the site themselves
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