News archive
5 August 2020
Stanhoe Parish Council Minutes
Stanhoe Parish Council Minutes - 9 July 2020
The minutes from the Stanhoe Parish Council meeting held on 9 July 2020 can be found here.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 5 August 2020
28 July 2020
Stanhoe Parish Council Accounts 2019/20
Stanhoe Parish Council Accounts 2019/2020 - Notice of Public Rights
In accordance with The Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the Accounts and Audit (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, the following Stanhoe Parish Council documents are made available: Notice of Public Rights 2019 - 2020, Local Authority Accounts - A Summary of Your Rights 2019 - 2020 and AGAR Section 1 & Section 2 - 2019 - 2020.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 28 July 2020
25 July 2020
RAF museum re-opens with care
RAF Bircham Newton Heritage Centre will open for a trial day on 30 August.
The Heritage Centre at RAF Bircham Newton near Stanhoe will open on Sunday 30 August for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown. This is a trial event, and if all goes well the organisers say they hope to open for selected weekends in September, October and November.
Car parking and entrance (10 am to 4 pm) will be free as usual, with disabled access and toilets.
“But please don’t all turn up at exactly 10 am, which would result in queueing to enter the Centre,” say the organisers. “Staggered arrival times would be more convenient for us all.”
The Heritage Centre has a unique collection of memorabilia from the former Royal Air Force station’s past service, which spanned more than 44 years, including two world wars and the Cold War. The display includes photos and personal memories of servicemen who served there. The Centre is run by volunteers, many of whom are ex-servicemen or children of service personnel.
The trial opening has required approval from the National Construction College where the Heritage Centre is based, explains trustee Avril MacArthur.
“We will open in compliance with current covid-19 guidance,” say the team. “Hand sanitisation will be required and face masks or some form of face covering will be recommended when you are inside the Centre. We are going to implement a one-way system with social distance markers similar to that found in shops and supermarkets.”
“We are also going to limit the number of family groups inside the Centre at any one time to a maximum of three. In addition, there will be a welcome desk outside where you can sit down and meet the staff in the open air to discuss any specific items of interest or to ask questions. Strict social distancing will also apply here.”
Location is the National Construction College, Bircham Newton, Norfolk PE31 6RH. The College is signposted off the A148 and the B1454.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 25 July 2020
19 July 2020
Virtual Open Gardens
Lockdown can’t defeat the keen gardeners of Stanhoe.
Undeterred by the coronavirus, Stanhoe’s gardeners have again come up trumps for the annual Open Gardens event.
Open Gardens is usually a great day for the village, with a good number of visitors coming – often from surprising distances – to see a range of garden styles and sizes, buy plants and enjoy cream teas. stanhoe.org has been proudly covering the event since 2009, a year notable for its bloom of colourful umbrellas.
This year, of course, we had no visitors, and no gate money in aid of All Saints’ church either. But our gardeners did enjoy some fine weather, and perhaps more time than they had expected to work on their gardens.
And so the idea of a virtual Open Gardens was born. It’s no substitute for getting up close with the sunshine and scents of early summer, of course, but we hope it will provide a memory of a unique time.
This year we had eight gardens – about the usual total, and an impressive figure in the circumstances. A feature not seen at previous Open Gardens is the notes telling us the story behind each garden. Scroll on down to see them.
Thanks to Pamela Austin for the idea and for most of the hard work collecting photos and stories, and to all the gardeners for their beautiful creations. We all miss the late Terry Patterson.
Stanhoe’s Open Gardens event dates to 1977. See the bottom of the page for more information.
The gardens:
Barwick House
The Coach House
The Flint House
Everitt House
The Grange
Isabel Lodge
Longwall Barn
Moray Cottage
Barwick House
“The long border on the north side of the lower lawn was originally a shrubbery which is now fronted by a fifteen-foot-wide herbaceous bed. Balancing this border is a line of three yew pyramids.
Border and pyramids edge a vista to a broad woodland walk terminated by a high dovecote as its focal point. The dovecote backs on to a long woodland path which in Spring is smothered with snowdrops followed by bluebells and a specimen collection of hellebores. An antique curved stone seat at its south end gives a wide view back to the lawns and house, shaded by mature beech trees and fringed with naturalised rhododendrons and beautiful magnolia trees.
The whole big-lawned garden in front of the house faces south, looking over a ha-ha flanked by grand Irish yew to the park. There is a huge copper beech tree, set away from the house, shading the west end of the garden.
Before the long south face of the house a matched pair of herb beds and a wall of figs at its west end precedes a white wisteria-covered loggia for outdoor dining, with a gravel walkway in front of the main eighteenth-century body of the house.
At its east end a pattern of box hedges reflects the shape of the Gothic-arched stoop and a chequerboard lawn bounded by short blocks of clipped beech sit in front of this early twentieth-century Arts and Crafts extension. A magnificent Banksiae rose spreads over this end of the house, flowing with yellow blooms in May.”
The Coach House
“According to the particulars of the 1932 sale, when many properties in Stanhoe were sold, including the post office and the Crown inn (now the Duck), our garden was the:
‘Enclosed kitchen and flower gardens and orchard” for the house next door. There was “a small range of glass houses comprising: peach house, cucumber house, tomato house, 2 vineries containing 11 established vines with stoke hole and heating apparatus’. Also ‘a 21ft conservatory, range of brick pits, excellent fruit and potato house with large soft water cistern’.
Sadly only one of these structures remains and it is in rather a sorry state, but does contain two very healthy vines.
When we took over the garden in 1991 it had been laid out as a formal rose garden. We had three young children and needed more play area so we took out the central rose beds and laid that down to grass.
The current layout remains a formal one, and we are lucky to still have a few of the original espaliered apple trees, but the planting is now very random, varied and informal.”
Everitt House
“A small cottage-style garden with borders surrounding a lawn with a few interesting specimens dotted throughout. The new addition of the Summer House Studio adds another feature to the garden this year. We don’t have a gardener and we both work full time, so things like edging the lawn get dropped down the list of priorities!”
The Flint House
“When I bought the house in 1999 and Terry and I moved in, the garden was all lawn, front and back. I never “designed” it: it happened quite gradually, and I’m astonished how few cardinal errors were committed. I deliberately planted trees I love – Davidia and Ginkgo – which a successor must remove before they reach full height. All the rest, including the arbour, which Terry’s brother made, just happened. I hope you like it.”
The Grange
“The garden was redesigned in 2009, building on my mother-in-law’s earlier design. The walled garden is the most important feature.
Roses are an important part of the garden especially climbing roses. The third photo shows Paul’s Himalayan Musk, planted by my mother-in-law, climbing through an apple tree over the wall. It looks like apple blossom in June.
This year Brian has redesigned the vegetable garden by putting in raised beds. They seem to be working well.”
Isabel Lodge
“For two non-gardeners, creating a new garden for Isabel Lodge has been a great pleasure. Starting with the former kitchen garden of the Old Rectory we were very fortunate to start with a special site, beautifully situated opposite Stanhoe’s Grade 1 All Saints’ church, with superb established trees and wonderful views and sunsets to the west.
As rank amateurs we were keen to build a house that was a credit to such special surroundings, and only belatedly woke up to the fact that this very much needed to include the garden surroundings for Isabel Lodge. With the vision and help of our landscape gardener Bridget Diggens, driveway and paving of appropriate scale formed the basic ingredients to which were added a formal “Lutyens” lawn, flower beds and vegetable garden with raised beds, as well as a tree and hedge planting programme.
Much of the new planting is now coming into its second year, and the response of the local insect and bird population has been tremendous! With All Saints’ founded by Sir Hervey de Stanhoe in the 13th century we very much hope his wife Lady Isabel will approve of our new garden.”
Longwall Barn
“The barn conversion was completed in 2002, and we bought it in 2003, when both the main garden and the east-facing ‘morning’ garden were both basically lawn, surrounded by borders. The main garden was planted with six trees and a row of shrubs along the fence.
We set about increasing the planting, beginning with a large number of items – including several tree seedlings – which we had brought with us from our previous house. In 2011 we had the raised bed built in the main garden, and the morning garden hard landscaped so that the old sunken patio, rockery, and lawn were replaced with a planted central and gravel surrounded garden carried out by “Shades of Green”.
Another five years on, in the interests of reducing the labour intensity of the main garden, we had about half of the lawn removed, and a new gravel garden constructed and planted by “Perfect Surroundings”, to which we have added many more plants since. We originally planted eight trees in the main garden, which, now mature, give us shade and privacy, and the entire garden and drive area is planted with more trees, shrubs and perennials.”
Moray Cottage
“I designed the garden 15 years ago with help from the local garden designer Tim Lees. Roses are my passion.”
Stanhoe’s Open Gardens tradition “one of the first in Norfolk”
Stanhoe people have been opening their gardens in aid of All Saints’ church every year since 1977.
A small newspaper clipping from the Stanhoe Archive collection records the first event, which involved six gardens and raised £500. A later undated clipping says that the village was one of the first in Norfolk to open its gardens to the public.
A longer article from 1978 carries photos of Jean Barber and Ken Beckett in their gardens. In its second year the event had grown to nine gardens and £651 raised (that’s about £4,000 in today’s money).
Th earliest village-wide open gardens days seem to date to the early 1970s: Cerne Abbas in Dorset, for instance, started its tradition in 1974. These days you can find Stanhoe in the National Directory of Open Gardens.
Pen Roche guessed that our event began in 1979 or 1980, but Rosemary Brown and her sister Jenny were able to suggest 1977 – as confirmed by the newspaper reports.
Rosemary said: “Jenny also reminded me that the spark for opening came because Gillian and Ken Beckett started to open their garden as a Yellow Book [National Garden Scheme] garden and it became an integral part of the Stanhoe opening.” You can read more about Gillian and Ken’s garden at Bramley Cottage in newspaper clippings here (main article) and here (photo).
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 19 July 2020
6 July 2020
Stanhoe Parish Council Agenda
Stanhoe Parish Council Agenda - 9 July 2020
The agenda for the Parish Council meeting to be held on 9 July 2020 can be found here.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 6 July 2020
10 June 2020
Stanhoe Parish Council Minutes
Stanhoe Parish Council Minutes - 21 May 2020
The minutes from the Stanhoe Parish Council meeting held on 21 May 2020 can be found here.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 10 June 2020
2 June 2020
Terry Patterson
Nigel Wickens remembers Terry, who died last month.
Terry Patterson
Terry, who shared my house in Stanhoe for 21 years, was a marvellous companion and friend. He worked hard for our church and was always ready to help. Professionally he was a carpenter, a builder, a lecturer, a man of the Fens, and he was a very talented artist too. His sudden death from a heart attack on 10 May has left a huge gap in the village and an awful emptiness in me and when the Covid lockdown has eased we shall have a major memorial service in Stanhoe church, where his paintings will be shown. Meanwhile he is painfully missed by his family, my daughters and by me.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 2 June 2020
27 May 2020
Lunch delivery
Wells day care centre offers hot lunches to your door.
Heritage House day care centre in Wells offering a lunch service to anyone who may be having difficulty in accessing good nutritious home cooked meals. A two-course lunch costs £7. Lunches are cooked freshly each day in the Heritage House kitchens and delivered to the door at around midday, Monday to Friday.
To book lunches or for more information contact Steve Cheshire on 01328 711333 or email .
Since 1985, Heritage House has been running as a day care centre for isolated, elderly and vulnerable people in the Wells area.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 27 May 2020
20 May 2020
Temporary Road Closure in Stanhoe
Temporary Road Closure in Stanhoe - 4 June 2020
NORFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL proposes to make a Temporary Traffic Order affecting the B1155 Bircham Road from a point 200 metres north east of its junction with the U22195 Church Lane for a distance of 50 metres north eastwards in the PARISH OF STANHOE because of periodic pole testing works.
The road will be temporarily closed (except for access) between 09:30 and 15:30 hours on 4th June 2020 for the duration of the works, expected to be 6 hours within the period.
Alternative route is via: Bircham Road, Fakenham Road, Stanhoe Road, Docking Road, B1155 (Docking, Stanhoe).
(If necessary the restriction could run for a maximum period of 18 months from the date of the Order).
Penalty: £1000 maximum fine on conviction and/or endorsement for contravention.
In the event of the start date being delayed the new start date will be displayed on site in advance.
The person dealing with enquiries at Norfolk County Council is Adrian Stout (Community and Environmental Services) Telephone 0344 800 8020.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 20 May 2020
19 May 2020
Hoste history
Local historian’s daughter reveals the inside story of a naval biography.
Laura Pocock
You’ll probably have heard of the Hoste family of Burnham Market, not least from their monuments in All Saints’ church, Stanhoe. You might remember their connection to Horatio Nelson through his friend Captain Sir William Hoste. But do you know the link between modern Stanhoe and a local biographer of both Nelson and William Hoste?
Laura Pocock Faulks, chairman of the MEHM Trust, is the daughter of Tom Pocock, who lived at Burnham Overy Staithe and wrote many books about the life and times of Nelson. In a fascinating new article in our local history section, Laura explains how her father decided to write a biography of Captain Hoste, and how the project nearly came to grief. Thanks to an unexpected postcard and the generosity of a stamp dealer, however, Tom was able to write “Remember Nelson: The Life of Captain Sir William Hoste”.
Although Laura claims to be no expert on Nelson, the story had a powerful influence on her decision to move to Stanhoe. Read the full article here.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 19 May 2020