Welcome… to the latest edition of THE STRATTON & TASBURGH BOOK… Summer is here - it’s time to get out in the garden and enjoy the fine Norfolk sunshine! Should you need any help in and around your property, you’ll find lots of thriving local business services inside this magazine. Give them a call and kindly let them know where you spotted their advert. Remember, when you choose to ‘Keep Trade Local’ you are directly helping our local economy“Thank you!”
As usual, there are lots of ‘Community Events & What’s On’ listings inside this magazine; we love hearing stories of local people getting involved and joining in - remember to email us details of any events you’re promoting, and we’ll do our best to give you some valuable FREE publicity!
The celebrity featured in this edition is popular TV personality Rob Brydon discover more about him in the centre pages. Enjoy June & July!...
Tracey
is 11th July 2025
To contact us: tracey@wacbook.co.uk Tele: 01603 717681
De-Abreu
Inside…
- Coming out; the other side 9 - Which Greek Island
- Beauty; Time for a Change? 14 - Health; Don’t dodge your doctor 15 - Children’s Puzzle Page; Roller Coaster 16 - Domestic Abuse Helpline 17 - Motoring; BMW 2 Series Gran Coupé
- Call the professionals... 20 - Celebrities; Rob Brydon 22 - Home & Interior; Outdoor Living
- Home Products; Swing Low
- Gardening; 8 Surprising facts about plants 28 - How much does it really cost
@BroadlandMediaLtd This magazine is one of 5,000 copies delivered to residents & businesses in: Long Stratton, Tasburgh, Newton Flotman, Hempnall, Morningthorpe, Fritton, Shelton, Hardwick, Saxlingham Nethergate, Saxlingham Green, Swainsthorpe, Tharston, Gt Moulton & Wacton.
Advertise your BUSINESS SERVICE in THE STRATTON & TASBURGH BOOK
Nurture your visibility to grow new local customers throughout 2025!
Lego club - Every Tuesday (Term Time) 3:45-4:45pm
Bounce and Rhyme - Every Tuesday 2-2:30pm
Stitches and Knitters - Every Thursday 2-4pm Norfolk Constabulary Police drop in sessions5th June and 3rd July both at 4-5pm From July 5th we will also be running the Summer reading challenge - Children locally will be having school assemblies on this by myself. It is a great event that runs over the summer holidays to help encourage children to read more books.
LOCAL CLUBS, GROUPS & ASSOCIATIONS
If you have a local membership to promote, and would appreciate some FREE publicity, you are welcome to use these glossy pages to share your message with 5,000 homes and businesses in postcode NR15.
Over in Wroxham, we publish a sister magazine to the one you're reading, and clubs, groups and associations have found local residents welcome reading local club news in their handy community magazine.
Over the past 19 years we’ve helped create valuable awareness and personal connections between clubs, groups, associations and their existing and potential new members.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Typically, a club secretary or organiser will email us details - words and sometimes pictures, they’d like our readership to be aware of. They adhere to the inclusion deadlines, and we do the rest. It’s that simple. If you’re interested, we can send you a onepage .pdf showing the forward dates too.
To see an ONLINE example, view THE WROXHAM & COLTISHALL BOOK at www.wacbook.co.uk - seek out the green button, take a look at pages 53-56 and go from there...
Community Events & What’s On...
You can use this page to send your FREE message to 5,000 households and businesses!
LONG STRATTON GYMNASTIC CLUB every Thursday evening and Saturday afternoon caters for girls aged 5 to 18 years. The club runs a disability session on a Saturday which is open to boys and girls at Long Stratton Leisure Centre, first session free. For more information contact Tina on 01379 740948.
TAS WELL JUNIORS - The last Saturday of every month 6-8pm at the Tas Well Social Club for children of all ages. Games, activities & lots of fun. More info: Mel on 01508 532146 or mel.large@btinternet.com
COFFEE MEETING - meet some old friends, make some new friends, have a chat, a cup of tea & a piece of cake at the Coffee Pot, every Wednesday 2.003.30pm in the Tasburgh Church Room.
CASUALTIES UNION NORWICH BRANCH - Meets at the Vauxhall Centre, Johnson Place, Norwich, NR2 2SA 7:30pm 9:30pm Weds new members welcome for details contact 01508 494492 www.casualtiesunion.org.uk
KIDDY COOK - Cookery workshops for 4-11 year old chefs held in Tasburgh. Held once a month on Saturday mornings and during school holidays. www.kiddycook.co.uk or call Fran on 07973 724870 for the latest schedule.
HEMPNALL MILL CENTRE - The Mill in Hempnall is available to hire with a private bar and catering facilities. For bookings, please contact Sarah Batchelorthemillhempnall@gmail.com - 07504 699534www.hempnallmill.co.uk
THARSTON HISTORY SOCIETY regularly meets on the last Wednesday of alternate months. Everyone is welcome - admission is free but there is a retiring collect to help with Society expenses. For further information please see our website www.tharston-historysociety.com or email web@tharston-historysociety.com.
FITNESS CLASSES - Long Stratton High School on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening. Choose from circuits, HIIT or cardio blast. First session FREE. To book your FREE session or for more details please email: hello@timcourridge.co.uk
THE MILL HEMPNALL LUNCH CLUB - Thursday from £8. Tea or coffee served on arrival from 11am with a two-course lunch served at 12 noon. For more information contact Margaret Sparham ( Wed/Thurs 01508 499766 or 01508 499579 at other times)
SAXLINGHAM NETHERGATE BOWLS CLUB Come along and have a go at Bowls at our Green in a picturesque setting on the Playing Field. The club is running taster session and coaching for beginners on Monday
mornings at 11.00am. Experienced Bowlers are welcome too. Contact: Chris Lacey on 01508 499700
TASBURGH UNITED FOOTBALL CLUB - Our FA Charter Standard club won Norfolk FA’s Grassroots club of the year for 2019. We have FA qualified coaches who train boys and girls from age 5 to 15, and we have various teams playing in the Norfolk Youth Combined League. New players and volunteers welcome! For more info you can find us on Facebook, at www.tasburghunited.com or call Dan Edwards on 07813 045764.
MARTIAL ARTS - All Oriental Self Defence & Physical Fitness Techniques in One Art. Kuk Sool Won Martial Arts Club in Long Stratton and Tasburgh. TWO FREE SESSIONS. Ages 4-7 years; Lil Dragons Tasburgh Village Hall Monday 4.30pm. Ages 7 to Adult; Tasburgh Village Hall Monday 5.30-6.30pm. Classes also in Long Stratton see web www.kuksoolwongillingwater.org for locations, times and more information or call/text 07775 890359.
SAXLINGHAM NETHERGATE BOWLS CLUB Come along and have a go at Bowls at our Green in a picturesque setting on the Playing Field. The club is running taster session and coaching for beginners on Monday mornings at 11.00am. Experienced Bowlers are welcome too. Contact: Chris Lacey on 01508 499700
SINGING: IF YOU CAN SPEAK YOU CAN SING. Creative Singing Community Choir meets every Tuesday at Wacton Village Hall between 7:00 - 8:30pm. No Auditions. No Need to Read Music. For further information please contact Louise Tingley 07765 920390 or louise@lktingley.com
NEWTON FLOTMAN VILLAGE FETE - Sunday 24th August, Time 12noon to 4.30 pm at the Village Hall playing field. This will be an event for all the family with the usual games, stalls, food vans, bouncy castle, archery, dog show, children's fancy dress (12 years and under), classic cars, lawn mower racing and lots more. There will also be a licensed bar. So come along for a fun afternoon.
Local contact Email: Steven.halstead911@gmail.com 07427469157
...Your community event can appear be HERE in the next edition - just message tracey@wacbook.co.uk or visit www.wacbook.co.uk
Community Events & What’s On...
You can use this page to send your FREE message to 5,000 households and businesses!
LETT-UCE TALK! Keith Kent, who has been a keen gardener for many years, and co-judged the Tibenham Harvest produce show last year, is hosting a new meeting for gardening conversations – for all to join in. It will be held at Huggers Cafe, The Street, Long Stratton. This event will take place on the 1st Saturday of every month ( except Dec & Jan ) 10-11A.M. It is aimed at anyone who is interested in gardening and growing plants, whether you are just starting, or have been gardening for years! It's suggested you arrive approx. 9.30am to buy a coffee and meet fellow gardeners. For more information, please contact Keith via email: notenoughkeiths@gmail.com
Should you have an August/September 2025 Community Event / What’s On, let us know by e-mail (tracey@wacbook.co.uk) And we’ll share with 5000 homes & businesses on these glossy pages FREE-of-charge!
A FOCUS ON CHAPEL FIELD - Part 2
by Chris Weston
Discoveries of suspicious activity here came to the fore at Christmas, 1772, when a Customs and Excise officer seized a large quantity of smuggled foreign brandy. Smuggling was common then, due to high import duties and many contraband goods arrived via the east coast. Another suspicious incident came in 1821, when businessman John Thurtell claimed he had been mugged in Chapelfield of 1,508. It was a false claim as Thurtell was bankrupt and fled to escape his creditors. Only a few years later, he was hanged for murder! By the mid-18th century Chapelfield had come into the hands of the city when John Hobart, Duke of Buckingham, granted a 500-year lease to a number of Norwich’s Aldermen.
Then during 1792, Norwich gained a new feature when City of Norwich Water Company built a large reservoir. Measuring 88 yards by 50 yards, it was owned by the Norwich Waterworks Company. In the late 18th century, it burst, and 50,000 barrels of water were lost. After rebuilding, it was used as a public baths and a skating rink. Unfortunately, two 13- year-olds Charles Stiles and James Nudds fell through the ice in separate fatalities in the early 1800s. The reservoir’s end came in 1849, after an outbreak of cholera in the city. After its site had been filled in, the City Corporation laid out the whole area as ornamental gardens. And it seems very likely that thousands who annually visit the gardens wouldn’t even know of the reservoirs existence or know what was once beneath them! I would guess the nearest structure in Norfolk today resembling the appearance of the Chapelfield Reservoir might be the Mere in Diss, given its location in the town and what surrounds it.
During the 1840’s, Chapelfield became 'a resort of loose and idle boys and part-occupation by washerwomen in great measure, thus causing desertion by respectable citizens'. But this didn’t last, for during 1852, the Waterworks Company agreed to give up their lease, if the city Corporation would lay out the land as a public garden. An elaborate plan prepared by the company was subsequently simplified and in 1866 the Prince and Princess of Wales planted a Wellingtonia to mark the council’s agreement to lay out the gardens.
In 1867 an iron palisade was erected to enclose the site, a Drill Hall was erected, replacement planting in the elm avenues took place, and several dignitaries planted trees. In 1880, the gardens were opened
LOCAL HISTORY
and remain in much the same format today. During the opening year, a pagoda designed by Barnard, Bishop and Barnard was also erected. Later, this became known as the pavilion. Since 1886 garden boundaries have changed with removal of the grounds on the outside of the old city wall to the west, and loss of the north-west corner on construction of the inner ring road. Pedestrian entrances to the gardens are at each of the three corners with another central of the Chapel Field Road boundary via a subway below the inner ring road.
By 1899 a bandstand and children's play area had also been added. When the Pavillion became unsafe through rust and neglect, it was dismantled in 1949 to be replaced by a tearoom, which would later be known as the popular Pedro’s, Mexican style restaurant which closed in 2022.
In the 19th century Albert Jarman Caley 1829-1895) was the owner of a small chemist’s shop in London Street. He expanded to Bedford Street, and then took over a factory in Chapelfield Road. To keep his workers busy in winter he started making cocoa in 1886. Caley’s Marching Chocolate was used as rations for soldiers during the first world war. The factory was destroyed by second world war bomb-
-ing during 1942; rebuilt, it was later taken over by chocolate makers Rowntree Mackintosh, then Nestle, before closing finally in the 1990s. For some years derelict, the site now forms part of the new shopping mall.
During the early 20th century, the elaborate serpentine walks were simplified, and the pagoda /pavilion was restored before demolition in 1949. When the city’s inner ring road was built in 1963, the Drill Hall was demolished and the corner of the gardens where Chapel Field Road meets Chapel Field North was lost. The site has since remained a public garden in City Council ownership. Norwich was once described as the city of gardens for its many green spaces. The need to build housing has put paid to that, but Chapelfield Gardens is still a reminder of the past. It remains a popular spot for city people to relax in, as well as hosting annual fun fairs.
Chapel Field Society to protect the site. A striking modern sculpture in the gardens commemorates an Elizabethan character named Will Kemp. An actor, comedian and contemporary of Shakespeare, in 1599 he set out on his Nine-Day Wonder, when he morris-danced his way from London to Norwich accompanied by musicians. Must have seemed a good idea at the time.
are still there. Perhaps the first thing today’s audience probably think of when hearing mention of the name, is the indoor Intu Shopping Centre which opened on Wednesday 21st September 2005. Several thousand visitors go “intu” it each year to explore the wellknown brand names!
