barninghamgroup.co.uk
Š Geoffrey Harris
Orchids doing well in the parish this year
Village Diary & Newsletter
Community Information and Services Mobile Library Every fourth Thursday
Editor: Ian Summers, 14 The Knoll, Hempstead, Holt NR25 6TJ 01263 710702 editor@barninghamgroup.co.uk Sub-editor: Su Summers
Village Matlaske Plumstead Baconsthorpe
Village Correspondents: Baconsthorpe: Barningham: Hempstead: Matlaske: Plumstead:
Ro Hardingham 577262 Sara Buxton 577207 Vacant Florence Hunt 577363 Vacant
Hempstead
Old time 12:20 pm 13:00 pm 14:25 pm 15:45 pm 16:05 pm 15:00 pm 15:20 pm
New time 12:30 pm 13:15 pm 14:45 pm 16:10 pm Cut 15:20 pm 15:40 pm
Location Old Post Office Walnut Farm Council Bungalows Old Post Office The Street Hare and Hounds Telephone kiosk
See www.libraries.norfolk.gov.uk
Holt Library 9 Church Street, Holt NR25 6BB Tel: 712202 Mon–Wed, and Sat: 9:30 am to 1 pm Fri: 9:30 am to 6 pm Books can be dropped off out of hours in the letterbox labelled ‘bookdrop’ in the blue door.
Add your own content www.isdata.co.uk/cgi-bin/post.pl
Copy date 20th of the month preceding publication
Postal Subscriptions
Post Office Baconsthorpe Village Hall
£10 per year – Corinne Youngs 577263
Tuesdays Fridays
Advertising Annual: Contact: Mrs D Spalton 711117 One-off or special requirement: Payment by the copy date. Contact: The editor For Sale & Wants: £1 per 20 words (free if proceeds to Newsletter) Contact: The editor
12:30 pm to 4 pm 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
For a full range of services offered at this branch and all other enquiries call 712139.
Norfolk Constabulary 101 for non-urgent calls Holt Safer Neighbourhood Team e-mail: sntholt@norfolk.pnn.police.uk Police Community Support Officers: Baconsthorpe & Matlaske Keith Clarke Hempstead & Plumstead Stacey Barnetson Police Direct about crime and policing issues http://tinyurl.com/cra3u4j
Village Web Site barninghamgroup.co.uk Back numbers: barninghamgroup.co.uk/newsletter
Churchwardens Baconsthorpe: Tessa McCosh 577611 Barningham: Amelia Courtauld 577250 Hempstead: Ann Udale 713656 Su Summers 710702 Matlaske: Florence Hunt 577363 Thomas Courtauld 577250 Plumstead: John Durdin 577234 Eleanor Faulkner 577868
Dog Warden 516085 (out of hours 513811) ep@north-norfolk.gov.uk
Norfolk Carers Helpline – 0808 808 9876 Mon–Fri 8 am to 8 pm. Free and confidential listening, support and information for family carers. www.norfolkcarershelpline.org.uk
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views of the newsletter. The newsletter apologises if contributed material is not published due to space constraints. All facts are believed to be correct at time of publication. The editor reserves the right to amend material. 2
Change of editor’s e-mail address
Cover Pictures
Please note that as of now the e-mail address to post items to the editor has changed to:
I am pleased that more people are coming forward with pictures for the front cover of the newsletter. It is not an essential thing to have but I feel it sets the tone and maybe brings a smile to your face. What I try to have is a picture that is topical – both taken in one of the parishes and, if it is seasonal, that it is in season (no one wants to be reminded of snow in the middle of summer!) The most difficult thing is that it must be approximately square – so leave a lot of less-important bits round the edges so that it can be cropped to size. I stretched the background for this month but may not always be able to. Oh, and it must work well in black and white. Ed
editor@barninghamgroup.co.uk The old e-mail address will bounce your e-mail back to you as undeliverable.
Bodham Wind Turbine Whilst the outstanding application to erect an 85m wind turbine in Bodham is awaiting a new appeal date, a new application to erect a smaller wind turbine (with tip height of 66m) with associated substation buildings, access tracks and crane hardstanding has been submitted to North Norfolk District Council for planning approval. You can make your opinion known to the planning department (quoting planning reference PF/14/0656) by 6th July: Mr G Lyon North Norfolk District Council Council Offices Holt Road Cromer, Norfolk NR27 9EN Tel: 01263 516226 Online: tinyurl.com/pondfarmwt
We love our dogs but... A number of people have contacted the newsletter to ask dog owners to be conscious of the need to always clean up after them.
Please clean up after your dog
Baconsthorpe Village Hall
Garden & Home Helpers
Ideal for Parties and Receptions
All basic help for you in your house or garden by husband and wife team from Matlaske. We can do the whole job or simply help you to complete a task. Hourly or fixed-rate prices from £10 per hour. References available.
Fully equipped Kitchen with Matching Crockery for 100 settings New Tables and Chairs Large Main Hall or Committee Room Charges: £8 per hour £25 deposit will be required to cover damages or breakages
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To book contact Mrs Doris Hill 01263 577489
T G L GROUNDWORKS Any outside work undertaken from concreting, digger/dumper operations, fencing, patios, bases, footings, oversights, drainage, treatment plants, soakaways, connections, trenching, some BT, electric, gas and water, kerbs and driveways, landscaping, hedges and grass cutting and turfing. Big Green Waste Bag: We deliver a 1 ton bag; you fill it with garden waste, give us a call; it’s picked up and exchanged if needed. Nettles/brambles/weeds/grass, hedge and tree cuttings. Why risk scratching and marking your car wasting time and fuel. Bags can be used for other things by arrangement only. £9 for 1; £16 for 2.
We also hold £5 million public liability and damage waiver; fully trained experienced operations. 7 Stonefield Road, Baconsthorpe NR25 6LP 01263 577746 or 07769 914335 tgl-groundworks@gmx.co.uk
New home-based salon now open in Plumstead
Spray tanning just £12.50 throughout July Spray tanning in your own home from £20 Call Mel on 07795 164410 For the latest offers please visit zazzibeauty.co.uk www.facebook.com/zazzibeauty 12 Cherry Tree Road, Plumstead NR11 7LQ
24 Gladstone Place, Briston 01263 860333
Family Butcher Poulterer & Game Dealer Licensed to sell Wines & Spirits In-town Butchery at Larners of Holt 01263 710000
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Fresh Bread & Cakes from our own bakery Weekly Deliveries in our refrigerated vans
Church Matters Church Services 29 Jun Trinity 2
10 am Matins Cancelled 3 pm Benefice Evensong
Matlaske Church North Barningham Church
Annual Patronal Festival at St Peter’s Service, North Barningham The service will be conducted by the Rev. Canon William Bestelink
6 Jul Trinity 3
10 am Communion
Baconsthorpe Church
Priest: Rev Julie Wiseman
13 Jul Trinity 4
10 am Matins
Barningham Winter Church
Priest: Rev Brian Faulkner
20 Jul Trinity 5
11 am Communion
Hempstead Church
Followed by Charity lunch for Venda (please note the service is at 11 am) – Priest: Rev Canon David Hoare
27 Jul Trinity 6
10 am Matins
Plumstead Church
Churchwardens
3 Aug Trinity 7
10 am Communion
Matlaske Church
Priest: Rev Canon Peter Hartley
Springwatch I’ve just watched my last Springwatch of this year – BBC2’s Chris Packham and team’s presentation of the hidden delights of the RSPB bird reserve at Minsmere in Suffolk. After three weeks of absorbing viewing my sense of loss is real. The highlight for me was the bittern. The live cameras showing us something of the hidden world of those secretive and timid creatures, whose nest amongst the reeds was the place of nurture for two young offspring. It was a privilege to see and to learn something of how those creatures are cared for and grow in a world so close to us, yet removed from view. In looking at the wildlife in my own garden, I hope in days to come to see amongst familiar things glimpses of that fuller picture. If that hope holds good for the natural world of plant and bird and animal, how much more our place in this world as children of God. Where our very humanity in all its joys and pains is not a closed book, but an ever-present voyage of discovery. Do those of us who profess a Christian faith approach that faith as a life-giving adventure? Do those who reject God, have the humility to question the basis of that decision? In this we all have much to learn. The Revd Brian Faulkner (who is taking the service on 13 July)
ed to
vit Y ou are in
All Saints’ Church, Hempstead
Charity Lunch at noon, after the 11 am Service on
Sunday, 20 July 2014 at Hempstead Village Hall
Just come at noon if you prefer
NR 25
5
6 TL
RSVP
Su Summers 01263 710702 su@linaria.co.uk
Donations to the charity Norfolk Venda
Elv’s Wood Burner Installation
Servicing and Chimney Lining For all enquiries please call: Tel: 01263 824665 Mobile: 07919 201665
STUART’S TAXI TRAVEL
John Perry-Warnes Your North Norfolk District Councillor
Sheringham: 01263 824444 Holt: 01263 710088 Freefone: 0800 734 44 44
Please contact me if I can be of Service concerning the following issues
stuartstaxitravel@btinternet.com
Housing Council Tax
www.stuarts-taxi-and-travel.co.uk
Waste Collection Planning Matters
FRIENDLY & RELIABLE
Tel: 01263 715577 perwar33@gmail.com
SHORT or LONG DISTANCE
C. H. MATTHEWS Plumbing and Heating General Repairs Welding Servicing Recovery Free Courtesy Car Car Sales MOT Test Centre Tyres Supplied and Fitted Juniper Lodge, Hempstead, Holt, Norfolk NR25 6TW Tel: Holt 713374
Norwich Road, Edgefield NR24 2RL
Contact Ross on the new number 6
01263 587970
Letter to the Editor .
Isaac & Sarah Pentney c1885
(Farmer ) any relation to Peter and Anne I wonder? One name I do recall, however, is William King; without a doubt an ancestor of Billy King a farmer who my father worked for as a boy. Mr King’s name survives (I hope) in a field named after him going up the Bodham Road. Of some seven acres it was a always known as ‘Billy King’s Long Field’. And how about this other farmer? Was John Philippo any relation to that infamous William Skinner Philippo who farmed at Barney and who fell foul of the game laws of the day and ended up ‘in clink’ for contravention of same? Finally, the writer’s great-grandmother was Sarah Everett born in Baconsthorpe in 1834. Maybe a relation of the Stephen Everett, yet another farmer and licensee of the Jolly Farmers mentioned in Whites directory. The picture above was taken in a studio but they actually lived at Ramblers Cottage, The Street, Baconsthorpe. All interesting stuff I’m sure you will agree. Athur Pentney
The ‘Where am I?’ about Plumstead in 1937 made me clip out a copy for Baconsthorpe from Whites Directory 1845. A few little queries come to mind: How much would Thomas Newman’s generous gift to the poor of £5 per annum in 1698 be worth nowadays had it been inflation-linked? My father was a trustee in the 1950s of this charity together wuth Walter Hazelwood (Copperhole). At that time £5 split up into multiples of around five shillings each was still a useful sum for some residents to receive, compared to today when the whole £5 will not even buy a gallon of petrol!* And now one for our friendly ‘Rambling Farmer’ – how is it that twelve acres of Glebe Land in 1845 can increase to thirtyodd by the next century? Did the Church Commissioners buy (or steal) land with that tithe money extracted from the farmers? Trying to find any link with the village of today has not born fruit. Was John Seaman
* £5 in 1698 has spending power of about £570 today and £25 in 1955 ( source http://tinyurl.com/cjbnnu) Ed
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What’s On Weekly Events Mondays * 7:30 pm Tuesdays 10 am Tuesdays † 10 am Tuesdays * 7:30 pm
Baconsthorpe Line Dancing Hempstead Drawing Sessions Baconsthorpe Diocesan Play Van Baconsthorpe Indoor Bowls * Not on Bank Holidays
711320 711282 07918 027092 711320
† During school terms
Monthly Events 10 Jul Thu @ 12:30 pm Mobile Library See page 2 for times 11 Jul Fri @ 10:30 am Hempstead Coffee & Gossip All Welcome Special Events 7 Jul Mon @ 7:30 pm
Hempstead PC Meeting In the Village Hall There has been a planning application from Pond Farm, New Road, Bodham, NR25 6PP for the erection of a wind turbine with a height of 40m and blade tip height of 66m with associated substation buildings, access tracks and crane hardstanding. This is a lower structure than the one they previously wished to build. The planning reference is PF/14/0656. This application will be discussed at the next Hempstead Parish Council meeting. Please join us to make your views known and/or go on line to voice your opinion tinyurl.com/pondfarmwt Mon @ 7:30 pm Baconsthorpe PC Meeting All welcome
7 Jul 9 Jul Wed @ 7:30 pm 10 Jul Thu @ 7:30 pm
Matlaske PC Meeting In St Peter’s Church Baconsthorpe VH AGM
Please come along and have your say about how your Village Hall should be run and maintained at our AGM. Any Nominations for Officers to John 711320 or left at the Hall.
CAST IRON COOKERS
Car Valeting Service Fed up with queuing at the car wash? Let me come to the location of your choice and clean your car. From a basic car wash to a full valet.
Service & Repair
Example: Wash, hoover, dust and air freshener for just £12.00 (within a five-mile radius of Holt)
Dales House, The Street, Baconsthorpe NR25 6AB
Jon Cooper
Phone Dave: 07825 544045 01263 711850 (evenings)
01263 577527 or 07767 494369 98
11 Jul Fri @ 7 pm
Baconsthorpe Quiz
Fun Quiz with a Jacket Potato supper with variety of fillings, bread roll, tea/coffee. There will be a raffle. Bring your own tipple. Teams of up to four persons but please come along on your own as there is always a team that needs you. £5 per person.
20 Jul Sun @ noon
Charity Lunch
At Hempstead Village Hall in aid of Norfolk Venda Educational Trust. Michele and Ceri Holmes from the charity will be attending the church service in the morning and then joining us for lunch. All welcome from all villages – a really good meal in return for a donation.
26 Jul Sat @ 2:30 pm
Matlaske Fête
The Matlaske Fête will be held under the trees inside the Matlaske entrance to Barningham Hall. A huge thank you to everyone who has offered to help and for those who would like to get involved there is still time. Please ring Thomas Courtauld 577250. Please come and support us and have fun! There will be delicious teas served from Mrs Hook’s garden, a raffle, cake stall, bric-a-brac, tombola, books and plant stall as well as all the fun traditional fête games all set to music provided by the wonderful organ. It would be lovely to see you there – Monies to go to St Peter’s, Matlaske and St Mary’s, Barningham Winter.
Further Ahead 2 Aug Sat @ 2 pm
Plumstead Mini Fête
Until 4:30 pm at Carpenters Cottage and the Church in aid of Church funds – Strawberry Teas, Stalls, Plants, Book stall (in Church), Cakes/Produce, Raffle Sun @ 2 pm Hempstead Fête See Hempstead Panel
10 Aug 16 Sep Tue @ 2:30 pm
Matlaske PCC Meeting
Further Afield 19 Jul Sat @ 8 pm 27 Jul
Holt Festival Festival Box Office: 711284 Until 27 July. Lots of events to suit everyone – some free. Sun @ 4 pm Holt Debate Festival Box Office: 711284 A rare opportunity to hear Richard Dawkins, Britains most famous (or notorious) atheist, debate the existence of God with the agnostic Melvyn Bragg at the Holt Festival. When Dawkins, whose book The God Delusion has sold more than two million copies, debated the motion ‘Organised religion has no place in the 21st century’ with Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, at the Cambridge Union last year, he lost by 374 vote to 126. But he seldom engages in public debate. Bragg who wrote a chapter on Dawkins in his book on the King James Bible, The Book of Books, is relishing the opportunity to challenge Dawkins. ‘Richard Dawkins’ lack of faith is not difficult to understand or to share’, he says ‘His lack of curiosity about Faith is bewildering. His attacks on it are strange from such a brilliant scholar.’ 9
Baconsthorpe News
Hempstead News
Events in Baconsthorpe
Events in Hempstead
7 Jul 7:30 pm PC Meeting 10 Jul 7:30 pm VH AGM 11 Jul 7 pm Quiz More details on centre pages
7 Jul 7:30 pm PC Meeting 11 Jul 10:30 am Coffee & Gossip More details on centre pages
Hempstead 200 Club
Village Hall News
£25 J Hurrell; £10 R Matthews; £5 S Parker, M Williams and G Harris.
We enjoyed a lovely evening of socialising at our Bring and Buy sale. Everyone who supported the evening helped us raise £200 which will be towards our Insurance.
Welcome Andy and Carolyn Lantaff to Snowdrop Cottage.
Farewell and Thank You
Butterflies and Moths
To Keith Mayes who is leaving the village to gaze at the skies from Field Dalling. Thank you for your contributions in the newsletter.
As usual, Hempstead Church will be putting on an exhibition on Fête day, Aug 10th. This year’s theme is Butterflies and Moths. We would be very pleased to receive anything relevant to this to add to the exhibition. All items would be carefully supervised at all times. Help also for supervising in the church for a little while during the afternoon would also be appreciated. Please ring Irene 711527 or the Churchwardens (see page 2).
Baconsthorpe 200 Club £25 Yvonne Laws; £10 Andi Hutchinson; £5 Bill East and Jane Warner.
Barningham News Congratulations Our very best wishes and congratulations go to Gemma Spinks and Ben Radley of The Keeper’s Cottage, Barningham Winter who were married with the sun shining on the beach surrounded by their friends and family in Cyprus on the 9th June. We wish them every happiness.
Plant and produce I hope that you have started nurturing plants for the fête plant and produce stall. Collection can be arranged in the week beforehand if necessary, otherwise delivery to the field on the morning would be ideal. Many thanks. Su 710702
Matlaske News
e Th
Events in Matlaske
Krafty Knitter
9 Jul 7:30 pm PC Meeting 26 Jul 2:30 pm Fête More details on centre pages
Wool, knitting supplies & gifts
Events What events would you like to see take place in Matlaske? We would love to have your ideas so we can host what you, the residents and members of the 100 club would like. Please contact either Marion 577521 or Cherry 577827 with your suggestions.
Come and see us at Downtide Centre, Cromer Road, Alby NR11 7QE 07570 762658 thekraftyknitter.co.uk
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Welcome
s nt e v
Welcome to Emma, Jason and their two dogs Peggy and Henry who have moved into Oakdene, we hope they will be very happy here.
at
E
Hempstead Fête
Thanks Many thanks from the PCC to Freda for your outstanding commitment to cleaning St Peter’s. A replacement is needed!! FH
The Village Hall Committee would be delighted to welcome participation from those who have previously helped and also from new-comers to the village. Expect a call or volunteer now – contact Peter Quin 712831 or Mike Thody 711282. Contributions to Bric-a-brac and book stalls – details in August edition.
Congratulations Ted and Vera Norman would like to thank family and friends for their good wishes and gifts on the occasion of their 65th wedding anniversary on 6th June 2014.
100 Club £25 Inigo Westgate; £10 Freda England; £5 Ollie Legge
Plumstead News Mini Fête on 2nd August Contributions for the stalls (see What’s On section) would be greatly appreciated. Eleanor Faulkner 577868
Maggie McTwitcher is worried about the Tyto Alba nesting in the Green Barn. Find out what this is all about at this year’s Follies on Dec 6th.
Green Gripes On Saturday Plumstead Green was strewn with schoolchildren with backpacks, two minibuses and two cars for a while. When they left, the grass by the hedge was strewn with litter. What’s wrong with people???? Answers on an old sweetie wrapper… A returning predator in the area is the notorious Public Path Pooper which preys upon the unsuspecting Public Path Mower (or ‘Moaner’ as is probably best known). Oblivious Chatting Walkers should also beware! On the other hand...
Bed & Breakfast
Have you seen of late the pond that rose like a Phoenix from the ashes? The Lesser Spotted TLC has been amongst the rushes! A welcome sight for those who might like to sit there! DL
Ann & Richard Brooks welcome you into their quiet and comfortable home where guests have the use of the whole house and garden which has a tennis court and croquet lawn. Your hearty breakfast can be served anywhere from the beamed oak-furnished dining room to a shady spot in the garden.
Also Self-catering Cottage Church Farmhouse, Edgefield NR24 2AF Tel: 01263 587208 Fax: 01263 587814
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WILL’S Property Maintenance Inside and Out
Bed and Breakfast Blacksmith’s Cottage Baconsthorpe
General DIY Jobs, Tiling, Pressure Washing, Mowing, Hedging, Strimming, Guttering, Paths, Patios, Fences, etc.
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11a Avenue Rd, High Kelling NR25 6RD Email: lloyddurham1933@aol.com Funeral Director: Helen Wickes BSc, dipFD NAFD
Thereby Hangs a Tale
This picture of the little church in the Park, Barningham Winter, was painted in 1946 by a young German POW of 18, only son, Lorenz Hafner, of Juist bei Nordsee, Friesland Islands while at Matlask POW Camp (the huts on the Park, lately occupied by the RAF and for a short time by the US forces). The painting is in the possession of the Courtaulds at Barningham Hall and has these words written on the back. Lorenz Hafner was painting this picture one Sunday morning as we came out of Church using cartridge paper and a child’s paint box, and told us his father was an artist, mostly of flower paintings and had illustrated a book of flowers. Lorenz has some tuition from his father but, being called up straight from school, had not studied art. I was able to supply him with some better materials and he painted in his spare time (Sundays or dinner hours on whatever farm he was sent to work): ploughed fields and flint churches against the grey skies of that very wet summer (the POWs must have thought it always rained in England). He let me show his work to Horace Tuck, the retired Norwich Art School master, who gave him some useful hints. He painted
another small picture of the Park church for my autograph album with himself in the foreground, khaki battledress with the POW diamond patch on his back. He was repatriated early, the Frieslanders having never been wholehearted Nazis. The Bavarians also claimed this and that they would not change their customary greeting of ‘Grüss Gott’ for ‘Heil Hitler’. In fact, the Matlask camp contained no Nazis element that we could detect and the Rector (the Rev Cyril Wilson) had much conversation with them, being a German scholar. Later on, when ‘fraternisation’ was allowed, they were frequently guests at the Rectory sitting in the garden while summer lasted; then round the open log fires blown up with bellows which intrigued them as being primitive compared with their closed stoves. 13
The tailors among them were kept busy making Baden Hosen (bathing shorts) from the blue RAF curtains from the huts; so much so that one young tailor made his on the Rectory sewing machine. Those on the camp being in full use, they told us the curtain material was not very strong but it was all they had. The camp blacksmith, Alfred Menger, who could make most things, was busy putting old bicycle parts together from wherever he could salvage them, for cycling to the sea (this was their second summer). Norfolk bluebells are now growing in Juist bei Nordsee as Lorenz wrote that his father had never seen any and asked whether I could send a few bulbs. The following spring I received a beautiful Ex Libris plate for my autograph album; a watercolour of bluebells from the resulting flowers painted by Herr Lorenz. These few details about our ex-enemies who worshipped in the Park Church (also in Matlask Church); and came to love Norfolk more that they expected may add to the interest of this little watercolour. R Wilson
We came to know all their circumstance, names of their children. Most of the married men had a child they had not seen and did not see ’till two or three years of age. One had a photo of a beautiful wife and child killed in one of the saturation raids, and one never felt these men could be held guilty of their country’s crimes. When their own pastor was absent the Protestant element would attend our service (the YMCA printed the C of E service in German so that they could follow) and the Rector would say a few words in German at the end and ask the congregation to stand while he led the prisoners in the Lord’s Prayer in German (then in particular one would feel these men had never in spirit been enemies). When their pastor was present (at first Dr Hans Leitner and, next, Pastor Gunter Heusen) they had their service in the Park Church before ours with their organist Hugo Panthel and choirmaster Hans Pfeiffer. The leader of the Protestant element was a nice lad, Willy Hellmann, who asked whether we could get him a mouth organ to lead hymns when no other music was available. His father and sisters were refugees who had fled with only what they could carry, but his father saved Willy’s Bible. The leader of the R C element was HansGuntor Rosenkranz who seemed surprised that he was equally welcome at a Protestant Rectory! They had two strong Irish Catholic Commandants in succession at the Matlask Camp who said that the Catholic prisoners had transport to Sheringham on Sunday mornings where they found the service much the same as their own. When permission was given to go swimming they were still forbidden at first to travel by bus or to go in cafés so would have come off badly but for the good offices of the Salvation Army who led the way in seeing they had some sort of refreshment. Later, the Methodists helped but the C of E lagged behind!
Note: The alternative spelling of Matlaske used here is as it is in the original text.
Puzzles A cube is a number found by multiplying a number by itself three times. We write 43 meaning 4 x 4 x 4 or 64. Can you find three cubes that add up to a fourth? Hint: You need not consider numbers larger than 10 But you may not use 0!
Last month’s answer P E A T E A V E A V E R T E R N
Quote of the month
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The key to successful ageing is to pay as little attention to it as possible. Judith Regan
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Bertie’s Ramblings Ignorant Peasants I was born in Wymondham in my grandmother’s house, Wattlefield Hall but was brought up in Brundall to the east of Norwich, so I got to know the area about the River Yare fairly well. I am guessing that the year would be 1960 when my mother and I decided that a nice walk round Breydon Water would be a good idea. One could take the train from Brundall to Barney Arms and finish the walk at Yarmouth and get the train home. So we took the dog and caught one of those new-fangled diesel rail cars which were rather exciting as you could sit right behind the driver. We arrived at Barney Arms which is an isolated marshland hamlet with a total population of six people. In other words, the back of nowhere. As we drew up to the single platform there seemed to be an awful lot of people there; some of whom were fairly obviously television camera crew.
Complete chaos as we got out to hear someone shout ‘Hold the train while we move the cameras over to the other side.’ We had to wait until this was accomplished. Standing nearby was a distinguished-looking gentleman with a beard. I thought I ought to be a bit friendly so I eased over to him and enquired, ‘What programme is this going to be?’ The answer ‘Tonight ’ surprised me somewhat and I was about to say: ‘You stupid idiot; I didn’t ask you when...’ at which moment the bearded gent realised a) I had never heard of the programme Tonight; and b) I had no idea who this famous personage was. He let rip in a ripe Scottish accent: ‘You are just like the fuddyduddies that refused to read newspapers when they were introduced in the seventeenth century.’ It was really quite unpleasant – but the train departed and we enjoyed our walk. What had we done wrong? It turned out that Fyfe Robertson was a well-known TV presenter (no, we did not have a TV then) and we had ruined his opening scene when two people and a rather nice golden Labrador had got off the train at this lonely station. As I never saw the programme I don’t know if we appeared in it – but think not. On the other hand, he might have improved it by interviewing two of the awful peasants who were there. Bertie Harmer 15
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