Saints Alive: Stanhoe and Barwick Newsletter

May 2011

WI activities:-

• The Quiz at The Lord Nelson, Burnham Thorpe, will be the third Tuesday of the month. The cost of £1 goes to charity. The quiz is open to everyone

• Crafts:The next meetings for the craft group will be on Wed 11th May 2–4 pm in the Reading Room. A contribution to the hall hire is payable on the day. The theme for May will be card-making and quilting (or you are welcome to continue with individual work). All members are welcome, full instructions on the day or in advance from Chris Drysdale.

• Film: “The Kings Speech” at Syderstone, on Sat 16th April (tickets are already booked). Transport to be arranged.

• Tour of private gardens at Holkham: Sunday 29th May. Advance booking is necessary, the time is to be arranged.

Contacts for any of the above: Geraldine (518025) or Pamela (518033)

Some reminders from previous issues of Saints Alive:–

1. Helen Shapiro Gospel outreach:-

This is to be held at St Mary’s Church, Docking on Saturday 30 April at 7:30 pm. Tickets cost £5 and can be obtained by phoning 01485 517172 or emailing andrew@thehollands.co.uk.

2. Annual Flower Show:-

The 2011 Stanhoe Flower Show will take place on Saturday 6th August. The new schedule has been delivered to village residents. Contact Rosemary Brown for any further information.

Stanhoe Gardens Open Day – Saturday 21st May

The annual Stanhoe Gardens Open day has more to offer this year. From 12 Noon there will be a Special “Gardens Open” Ploughman’s and Strawberry Lunch at the Duck Inn for the cost of £12 per head (£1 from every lunch will be donated to All Saints’ Church, Stanhoe) Booking advised: 01485 518330.

This year eight Gardens will be open from 2–5.30pm. Stalls include;– Tombola, Raffle, Teas at The Old Rectory and a Stanhoe Archive Exhibition in the Village Hall.

Entrance to all of the gardens is £5, children under 12 free. All profits in aid of All Saints’ Church, Stanhoe

Sing for Joy – a message from Pamela:-

Some of you will have been invited before to come and listen to our harmony singing group “Sing for Joy” at the annual concerts. We sing unaccompanied harmony, and a mixture of short pieces: traditional, gospel, ethnic, pop, religious, and fun!

The first concert will be at Salle church again, at 4 pm on Sunday 22nd May; there will be a repeat performance at Gresham church at 7.30 pm on Friday 24th June, and another in Binham Priory on Monday 25th September. Unfortunately this year I will not be singing in any of these, because of prior arrangements, but it will sound just as good (or better) in my absence (particularly in the spectacular surroundings of Salle and Binham), so if you’ve enjoyed it before, or been unable to attend in the past, do give it a try!

The cost of attending is modest, and proceeds are for a local charity. I hope you can make it to one of them.

Thanks:-

John Seedhouse would like to thank everyone for their kindness and good wishes following his recent operation

Bonfires a timely reminder from a Stanhoe resident:-

“I would like to remind people that bonfires should only be lit between dusk and dawn. Now that Spring is here and we all like to get out in our gardens, whether to garden or to relax, we do not want to be smoked out by the nuisance of people lighting bonfires during the daytime. Please will everyone have consideration for their neighbours and refrain from this practice. Many thanks.”

Thursday no 31 bus service, a message from Pamela:-

“I have talked to Norfolk County Council about the withdrawal of the bus service to Fakenham, and they tell me that the Norfolk Green bus is not within their control, but that the County Council is going to fund a second West Norfolk Community Bus. Whilst this is not ideal, as it has to be booked 24 hours in advance, it will mean that there is more availability of transport on market day for those wishing to travel to Fakenham. I was told at the end of March that the bus would start operating ‘after’ two weeks’ time. I have also written to Norfolk Green, and have received a response to the effect that the service is unviable primarily because the payment that they receive from the County Council for carrying bus pass users has been substantially reduced this month, just as fuel costs are rising significantly. Their response to the suggestion of diverting the Coasthopper service was that the experiment of diverting it through Sedgeford and Docking was, “to their surprise and disappointment, a complete failure”, and will not be repeated: their view, which is probably reasonable, is that a diversion to Stanhoe would have the same result.

According to the West Norfolk Community Transport Project website, available services at present are fortnightly on Mondays, weekly on Tuesdays, and weekly on Saturdays to King’s Lynn, and weekly on Wednesdays to Hunstanton; Stanhoe to Fakenham is not listed, but Docking to Fakenham is weekly on Thursdays, so presumably this will be the route for the additional bus.

Bookings may be made by telephoning 01553 770310 or 01553 776971–

Community Information Point-

The Borough Council’s computer in the Reading Room continues to be used mostly for computer training at present, which the Borough is quite happy with. Because of the lack of regular users, and a shortage of volunteers to “mind the shop”, the CIP will, from the end of April, cease to operate on Tuesday mornings, and the Friday evening session will now be re-timed to run from 5 pm until 6.30 pm.

This will considerably reduce the commitment for the volunteers who set up and supervise the operation, and reduce the cost to our Parish Council which funds the hire of the Reading Room, whilst allowing users, now that the evenings are light, to attend and to be back home in daylight. The situation will be reviewed again in the autumn.

This facility has the potential to be a great help to residents, particularly those who are unable to drive, for all kinds of transactions – and the volunteers are there to show you how it can help, and to assist with making it work for you, whilst allowing you complete privacy. Anyone with their own computer or Smartphone can access the broadband signal free of charge at the Reading Room

And finally:-

• May is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days

• The first day of the month of May is known as May Day. It is the time of year when warmer weather begins and flowers and trees start to blossom. It is said to be a time of love and romance. It is when people celebrate the coming of summer with lots of different customs that are expressions of joy and hope after a long winter

• May you all have a happy, warm and sunny month of May!