News archive
19 November 2019
Downtime
Apologies for Tuesday’s brief loss of service.
stanhoe.org was down for about half an hour this afternoon (Tuesday). Sorry about that. I don’t know what caused it, but we are back up and running now. This was our first loss of service since August, and generally the new server has been running very well.
I wasn’t going to bother to mention this, but now that I’m here I will: the transcript page for our newspaper clippings collection has improved a bit thanks to new technology for converting scanned documents to searchable text. A lot of the text is far from perfect, but it’s better than before. Have a read – there’s some fascinating stuff – and follow the instructions at the top of that page if you want to see the original clippings.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 19 November 2019
14 November 2019
Village gates
Stanhoe’s “gates” may help cut speeding, says the Parish Council.
Most sharp eyed drivers and other wanderers in recent weeks will have noticed the new “village gates” that greet motorists entering the village from either Docking, Bircham or Burnham Market, writes David Lord, Chairman of Stanhoe Parish Council. They carry the speed signs and also serve to signify Stanhoe as a “community” in the hope that more notice is paid to the speed limits in effect. We are not in favour of too many signs, but hope the effect will on balance be positive.
photo: Pamela Austin
The new gates on Bircham Road, just before Church Farm as you enter the village
The cost was partly borne by a contribution from Norfolk County Council under the Parish Partnerships Scheme, and a grant from our Borough Councillor’s office with technical assistance from the Highways Department of Norfolk County Council; the result being that the cost to Stanhoe was £1,182 out of £4,364 being approximately 27 percent of the total.
Stanhoe experiences a vast amount of traffic for its size; something of the order of 16,000–40,000 vehicles per month drive through. Invariably one or more of these each month get recorded at over 80 mph within the 30 mph limit! Your Parish Council has spent a lot of time and effort to try to ensure public safety. We are restricted by physical and financial constraints in that various types of pavements or rights of way are impractical, unfeasible or unaffordable.
The SAM2 speed sign does appear to be having some effect in discouraging speeding, and we hope the gates will help further. This is in addition to the invaluable work carried out by the Stanhoe Speed Watch Team.
We will report again on what effect the gates may be having.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 14 November 2019
12 November 2019
Another crash
Serious accident at the B1454 crossroads, Stanhoe, this morning.
An accident this morning (12 November) at the crossing of Bircham Road (B1155) and the B1454 Docking–Fakenham road, Stanhoe, left one car seriously damaged.
Pamela Austin reports that at 10:30 am an ambulance and three police cars were on scene and there was a queue of traffic. By 2 pm the only visible sign of the incident was the wrecked car, which was missing most of its front end.
photo: Pamela Austin
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 12 November 2019
11 November 2019
Parish Council Agenda
Parish Council Agenda - 14 November 2019
The Parish Council agenda for the meeting to be held on 14 November 2019 can be found here.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 11 November 2019
7 November 2019
Presidents’ plans
Sandra Carr takes over from long-serving Pamela Austin as Stanhoe WI President.
It was a momentous occasion at the November meeting of Stanhoe and Barwick WI, their AGM, when Pamela Austin retired as President after eleven years in the position. She was thanked heartily by members for her sterling work and wonderful ideas and for leading our WI forward in the past few years, as well as through our centenary year.
photo: Rosemary Brown
Outgoing WI President Pamela Austin
Our new President, elected wholeheartedly by members, is Sandra Carr, who also lives in Stanhoe and has been a committee member for several years.
During the meeting members received, and passed unanimously, a very detailed financial report from our treasurer, a positive and wide ranging report of our past year from the secretary, and an all-encompassing report from our president.
Several future outings were discussed, such as the forthcoming Christmas Lunch, a spring visit to the National Trust Textile Centre to see the conservation work outlined enthusiastically by a speaker last year, and a second visit to RAF Marham.
In December, the final month of our centenary year, members are to receive their individual Centenary Mugs, and will each be presented with a specially prepared book relating to aspects of Stanhoe and Barwick WI from its formative years.
It was a very happy meeting.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 7 November 2019
1 November 2019
Wartime letters
Radio Norfolk highlights Stanhoe WI members’ sleuthing skills.
Listeners to Radio Norfolk on 13 October had the chance to hear Stanhoe and Barwick WI members Valerie Robson and Nicola Smith explain how they have been tracing the families of local servicemen and women who wrote to the WI during the Second World War.
Out of 14 letters thanking the WI for gifts at Christmas in 1943 and 1944, only two writers’ families remain to be contacted, Valerie and Nicola told Breakfast Show host Anthony Isaacs.
“To start with it was quite easy, since a couple of the families still live locally,” Valerie said. “After that, it got to be rather more of a search.”
Listen to Valerie and Nicola’s conversation with Anthony Isaacs on BBC Norfolk. “We went into the BBC studios in the Forum and did the interview live,” Valerie said. “It was interesting to see how it all works and especially what a tiny space the producers and programme hosts work in. We were rather nervous, but it was all over and done with quickly.”
Their tactics have included scouring electoral registers and phone books for likely-looking names. “On one occasion, just googling the gentleman’s name brought up his death notice from a local newspaper. That had the funeral director’s name on it, so I asked if they’d pass on a letter to the family.”
Back in March we explained how WI members were trying to locate the families of Stanhoe people serving in the forces to whom they had sent wartime Christmas gifts of ten shillings (50p in today’s money). The story came to light when WI historian Frances Ulyatt turned up thank-you letters from several of the recipients in the WI archives.
Now 12 of the letters have been returned to the families of the people who wrote them. Still to be tracked down are Robert E Goodman and D Mayhew.
Robert was probably the son of Albert Goodman, the blacksmith. He had sisters Evelyn and Beryl, but seems to have moved away from Stanhoe by 1943.
D Mayhew wrote from the Salisbury area, where she or he was a clerk for the RAOC. Valerie and Nicola suspect that this was Daisy Mayhew, but have no further information.
The journey has been emotional at times, Valerie said: “When somebody turns up on your doorstep and says, ‘I think it’s my brother that you’re talking about,’ it rather takes your breath away. I’ve had one lady sitting in my kitchen in tears, holding her father’s letter, and that got me going as well.”
“A lot of the families didn’t know anything about the wartime service of their parents, brother or whoever, let alone about these letters. So actually to be holding something written by Father all those years ago was was quite something.”
“Some of the letters are very much as you can imagine someone being taught in school to write a letter. Others are very personal. One man’s writing from his ship, apologising for his bad handwriting because the ship’s in bad weather. Another is talking about how they celebrated Christmas late because ‘they were a bit busy’. You can only imagine what that meant during wartime!”
Nicola knows that her family have served Stanhoe and Barwick WI for four generations, but was surprised and proud to discover that it was her grandmother who had sent out the letters in her role as Secretary. “So it was my grandmother who received most of the replies, and that was a lovely connection,” she said.
The WI’s Norfolk Federation has helped to spread the word about the project, and in due course the researchers hope to locate the Goodman and Mayhew families too.
Links
Our original story on the “ten-bob” appeal, with all 14 names
Stanhoe and Barwick WI Facebook page
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 1 November 2019
1 November 2019
Remember the RAF
Aircraft models scheduled for Bircham Newton’s 10 November open day.
The last open day of 2019 for the Heritage Centre at RAF Bircham Newton hopes to feature the famous Norfolk’s Model Air Force, built by Tony Nelson, whose centrepiece is a massive one-sixth scale model of a four-engined Sterling bomber.
The event takes place on Remembrance Sunday, 10 November. The Heritage Centre will be open from 10 am to 4 pm, and entrance is free, with parking, disabled access and toilets all available on the site.
Mr Nelson plans to be there, subject to weather and other Remembrance Sunday commitments.
Tony Nelson’s Model Air Force at a previous RAF Bircham Newton open day
The Heritage Centre at Bircham Newton 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. On display are photographs and personal memories of servicemen who served there and other related items from its fascinating history. The Centre is manned and run entirely by volunteers, many of whom are ex-servicemen. Close by there are two stone memorials to remember those who served at Bircham Newton and its main satellite airfield near Docking.
Links
RAF Bircham Newton Memorial Project website
EDP article on Tony Nelson and his amazing models
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 1 November 2019
21 October 2019
Parish Council Minutes
Parish Council Minutes - 26 September 2019
The Parish Council minutes from the meeting held on 26 September 2019 can be found here.
Posted by: Wayne
Posted on: 21 October 2019
5 October 2019
Wonder dogs
Stanhoe WI members are fascinated by the abilities of medical detection dogs.
The October meeting of Stanhoe & Barwick WI saw members transfixed by the role and abilities of medical detection dogs, about which previously we knew nothing. Our speaker Norma Howell, ably assisted by her husband and technological operator, gave us an immense amount of detail of the dogs, their training and operation, and the wonderful life saving work that they carry out.
The Milton Keynes based charity Medical Detection Dogs, whose patron is the Duchess of Cornwall, was founded in 2004 by Dr Claire Guest, a scientist, whose breast cancer was detected by a dog. Dogs have 300 million sensors in their noses, compared to a human’s 5 million, and 40% more brain capacity than us for processing the information detected: dogs can also use their nostrils independently of each other! The dogs never interact at the diagnostic stage with humans, but breath or urine samples from patients are mounted on an apparatus which enables the dog to circle round and sniff each sample: as soon as they detect the unique odour produced in the body’s cells by disease, the dog will sit down in front of the relevant sample, as we saw in video clips.
There are 35 working dogs at Milton Keynes, and 125 across the country. It takes 4 to 6 months to train a dog, at a cost of £11,500, and the cost of supporting working dogs is £600 per month. Bio detection dogs have a 98% success rate at diagnosing a problem, and are primarily used for cancers and diabetes, with research now being carried out on lung infections and cystic fibrosis; another potential use in the relatively near future is for dogs to enter hospital wards and identify ‘superbugs’ – MRSA and C. difficile being examples. Dogs are also now being trained for research into detecting malaria.
Once a client is supplied with his or her own Medical Alert Assistance dog, the dog can obtain medical supplies for them, fetch help, attract attention, or alert the patient to changes in his or her condition. One patient, prone to needing help while asleep, credited her dog with alerting her 4,500 times in five years, and we saw a video of her dog pawing at her to wake her when an abnormality in her condition was detected. It takes 18 to 24 months to train a living-in dog fully, at a cost of £29,000.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 5 October 2019
2 October 2019
Cinema success
Red Joan is showing in Stanhoe on Friday 8 November – with excellent new equipment.
New audio-visual equipment installed by Stanhoe Village Screen is giving cinema visitors a better viewing experience – and making life easier for hard-working volunteers Peter and Jane Coates.
“Our first film, Fisherman’s Friends, using the new equipment was on Wednesday 2 October and attracted an audience of 32 people,” said Peter. “The film was a great success and Stanhoe Village Screen plans to continue showing monthly films.”
“We are grateful to the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, the Geoffrey Watling Charity and the Mary Ester Hollway Memorial Trust for their financial support.”
Fisherman’s Friends on 2 October was the first public showing of the new projection equipment
Stanhoe Village Screen continues the autumn season with Red Joan (12A) on Friday 8 November at 7.30 pm.
The film tells the story of Joan Stanley, who was exposed as the KGB's longest-serving British spy. it is directed by Trevor Nunn and stars Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson and Stephen Campbell Moore.
Tickets: £5 on the door to include a complimentary drink
Date: Friday 8 November
Time: 7.30 pm, doors open 7.00 pm
Place: The Reading Room, Cross Lane, Stanhoe PE31 8PS
More info: Jane and Peter Coates (tel 01485 518191)
Next film: To be announced
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 2 October 2019