News Updates
Monday January 18th 2010
The Sports Club
Whilst the photo in the Bury Free Press last Friday of the Sports Club's treasurer is unlikely to stir the hearts of the ladies in the village, the report reflects the absence of the scheduled reporter that morning. Whilst it remains an ambition to secure the necessary funds to start work this summer on the new development, the reality is that we still have quite a bit of work to do.
All club members will receive a letter from me together with their notification of the AGM ( Monday 22nd Feb 8pm) outlining the financial target we have been set by our main funders to raise £40,000 ourselves as an indication to their judging panel of our capability to take the project through to completion. This money can be via fund raising events, donations or loans as have been given in the past by club members to enable projects to go ahead. We have already had good support from within the village as a result of the 106 planning agreements but will be hoping everyone will appreciate the potential benefit to our parish from this £400,000 project.
When I look at where I started my cricket life in 1971 walking out from the little pan tiled shed, still present on the playing field, I can’t help feeling proud of what the club has achieved over the last four decades. The proposed tennis court and floodlit artificial grass surfaced games area will provide so much more for all ages to enjoy adding to the benefits of living in a village that has so much going for it.
- Ian W. Campbell MBE
- Clay Cottage
- Clay St.
- Walsham Le Willows
- Bury St Edmunds
- Suffolk
- IP31 3BH
- 01359 259 452; 07771 923 354
Friday January 15th 2010
The annual Christmas Lights Competition
Handing over the Trophy
The 2009 Christmas Lights Competition was judged way back in December last year ! The final decision as to the eventual winner was once again very difficult as there were several displays that attracted the attention of this years judge. The choice from this years displays was once again the front garden in Wattisfield Road belonging to Ralph & Janet Hubbard. Ralph has always presented a huge display of lights, a panorama showing the well known scene of the manger etc. and the usual Father Christmas, reindeer and other populat festive figures, however for various personal reasons the 2009 display was just a little more restrained but it still managed to achieve the first 'prize'. The runner up was the display in Finningham Road on Cherry Tree Cottage put on by Mr. & Mrs. Shears, and finally the third place went to Mr. & Mrs. Mayhew in Townhouse Road.
It was particularly nice to be able to encourage other people apart from the Walsham 'regulars' and also to see these displays in different areas of the village. It was also noticeable that for various reasons, not necessarily connected with the atrocious economic climate, the number of displays appeared to be slightly less than in previous years, however there were several others that merited a mention, namely the lights in the gardens at Sideways, and others in both Wattisfield and Townhouse Roads, Staple Close, Oak Tree Cottages, Rookery Lane and Upper Meadow.
The 'rules' of these Community Council competitions mean that the winners of both the Christmas Lights and The Hanging Baskets become the judges for the following year, which of course opens up these competitions to a much wider field of competitors. Once again we look forward to some healthy competition in this current year, meanwhile we extend our thanks to everyone who helps to promote the beauty of our village.
January 8th 2010
CONGRATULATIONS - A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Today the 8th of January is the 100th birthday of Mrs. Maud Garrard and we, the residents of Walsham le Willows would like to add our congratulations to the many friends and relations who are honouring this huge milestone in the life of our oldest resident. Today Maude has already received her telegram from our Queen and will no doubt be receiving good wishes from her many friends from within this village during the rest of the day. We would like to add our best wishes for her continuing health and happiness, and Maud, wrap up and keep warm during this very cold spell!
January 2010
This is the very latest update on the Waste Treatment Facility as previously detailed
County Councillor Guy McGregor, portfolio holder for roads, transport and planning announced in the press on 29th October 2009: "We are
confident that four strategic sites will be sufficient for the treatment of Suffolk’s residual waste and, as Hepworth/Stanton was the weakest site, I will be recommending that Cabinet approves its deletion from the Waste Core Strategy."
Well, the Cabinet meeting of Suffolk County Council was held on 10th December 2009 and the recommendation that Shepherds Grove, Stanton site be removed from the list of 5 possible sites was successfully voted on. Many of us sighed a huge sigh of relief. In a meeting CAWS (Communities
Against Waste Site) had with Joanna Spicer, County Councillor for Stanton, she explained that it was the unsuitability of the roads that serve Shepherds Grove which was the main reason for the decision. But you can't help wondering, was it the sheer outrage against the proposal to build a 90 metre high chimney producing toxins which really affected the decision? In the second phase of consultation, between July and October 2009, there were 629 objections to the Shepherds Grove site registered on the SCC website, ---- and just one supporting! While Eye had 8 Objections, and Sproughton 14. We are of course sad to hear that the four other sites are likely to have incinerators built on them. They are Eye, Sproughton, and two in Great Blakenham.
1100 people from in and around Walsham signed the petition against siting a huge treatment plant at Shepherds Grove; open meetings with
two MP's and several County Councillors were organised; there was a good turn-out at the 'drop-in' session laid on at the Memorial Village Hall; the Parish Council sought the opinion of the villagers which was passed on to Suffolk County Council. A very big thankyou to everyone who helped to achieve this level of protest. If it had not been for individual efforts, writing, discussing and expressing opinions in a reasoned way, we could have had the incinerator / waste treatment plant imposed on us. The next hurdle is to help those who live near the other sites. (We are not NIMBYs are we?)
And what is County Mulch up to ----?
Saturday October 31st 2009
The annual Pumpkin Competition
Once again the annual Pumpkin competition took place at mid-day in the grounds of the Six Bells.
The Trophy
Luckily the weather, which had earlier in the day looked very dodgy, turned out to be dry and reasonably warm allowing a number of local children to carve what has become the "essential" faces in their pumpkins. Meanwhile the grown-ups were able to enjoy the odd glass of refreshment whilst they cast their expert eyes over the 2009 home grown pumpkins.
Our genial host Gordon, fired up his barbecue and with his willing helpers he continued serving up the ever popular Sausage and Onion Baps until around 1.15pm when the traditional weigh-in took place. This year saw a total of 8 pumpkins to be weighed before finally announcing the evential winner. It soon became obvious that this years pumpkins were in general smaller and consequently lighter than those of previous years although the size did not always indicate the weight of the pumpkin - who knows what goes on inside that fascinating exterior ?!
Isn't it heavy!
Here are the weights in the order in which they were weighed! First was a worthy effort by Kathy Smart which weighed in at 42lbs, quickly followed by Gordons at 30½lbs, next was Carole Donaghy who was last years winner, with this year a 39½ pounder. Then we saw 2 pumpkins from Jenny Farrow, one being 49½ and the second 49¾, these were then followed by Jenny Blackburn with 43½ and then came the big 'uns, first Paul Farrow with 75lbs and then his wife Yolandi with 84¼lbs ! OK, not in the over 110's as in previous years but still a very worthy winner, and then keeping it in the family, with Paul in second place!
Let's face it, we didn't really have the best weather conditions for pumpkin growing this year did we?
Bob Bell hands the trophy to Yolande Farrow
It was then the turn of Bob Bell, Chairman of the sponsors of this competition, the Community Council to present the trophy to Yolandi, followed by choccy bars for the children. And so ended another one of Walshams regular annual events, next will be tha judging of the Christmas lights - See you then!
Thursday October 29th 2009
Old Mother Hubbard and Her Cupboard
Presented by Garlic Theatre www.garlictheatre.org.uk in association with Creative Arts East.
Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard to fetch her poor dog a bone, but when she got there, the cupboard was bear...(Whoops, was that a spelling mistake?) (No, actually, it wasn't !!) Not only was there Old Mother Hubbard, Oscar the dog and a very squeaky mouse in the cupboard, but also a bear and a puppeteer!!! Just how crowded can one cupboard get?! Well, the one in Walsham le Willows Village Hall. on Thursday the 29th of October, was pretty crowded!
...And that's without mention of the 40 adults, 45 children and Mrs. Hubbard (yes, a real live one!) in the hall to see this remarkable nursery rhyme journey unfold. Whilst the audience waited for the show to begin, they were accosted by a lady, with shopping basket, wanting to know if they made cakes, if they bought cakes, if they liked cakes, what they put in their cakes.. in fact a miscellany of 'cakey' questions. This lady was the first to admit that she was 'rubbish at making cakes'. Was this a clue to the theme of the story?
The audience was treated to a mix of pantomime, slapstick, suspense, audience participation, high humour and an occasional frisson of fear as the story unfolded. All of these ingredients were mixed with up-to-date topical jokes especially for the adults to enjoy..Credit Crunch Cereal; a postman delivering a party invitation to the accompaniment of "Oh, I thought you were on strike!" Then there were the golden oldies.. Old Mother Hubbard to her dog "Now how do you feel?"..."Ruff!"... and so on.
The gist of the plot centered around the fact that Old Mother Hubbard wanted to make a cake in order to go to a birthday party. But when a bear misappropriated her ingredients, the Puppeteer/performer went to buy more. The shopkeeper, knowing she was rubbish at baking, suggested she buy a ready-made version. What happened when the bear returned? Whose birthday was it? Well, all those who joined with gusto in the telling of the story, know the answers and more besides! Suffice it to say, the audience were treated to an amazing feast of puppets, hand, rod and shadow; a versatile 'performer'; musical accompanient; jokes spoken and visual; and the story of...
- Old Mother Hubbard (who)
- Found a bear
- In a cupboard
- And got quite a scare...
The real live Mrs.(Mother!)Hubbard hugging the puppet namesake!
All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon during the half term holiday, yet another event provided by the Community Council!
September 5th 2009
The Play Council
The Play Council held their opening ceremony for the new Playground on Sunday the 30th of August and they were deservedly blessed with excellent weather, sunny with just a gentle breeze. The opening ceremony commenced at 3.00pm with various speeches which outlined the process undertaken by the Play Council Committee to achieve the design and construction of the new Playground, and this was followed by the cutting of the tape which signified that the Playground was then officially open.
The speeches took place in front of an invited audience within a small marquee and then, after the cutting of the tape this was follwed by another cutting ceremony, this time involving a very impressive cake! After this formal opening ceremony everyone carried on using the new equipment and also they began to take advantage of the many activities as previously advertised, for example there was a very popular Punch & Judy show and Face Painting, and then there was the barbecue, the ice cream van etc. This was a very successful event and thanks must go to that committee who, as well as creating this new play area they also organised this whole two day extravaganza, which incidentally coincided with the annual Open Gardens weekend.
On the second day, the Bank Holiday Monday, the fun continued with the face painting, the barbecue etc., culminating in the Balloon Spectacular when some 500 colouful balloons were released on the MUGA site and they then made their way up into the air - naturally! and headed off to the North towards Wattisfield, and everyone is now awaiting to see whose balloon managed to cover the longest distance, and thereby win the £50 prize. It should be noted that the balloons are all bio-degradable and should not cause too much damage to the environment, especially compared for instance with cars, no doubt you will have all seen many dead birds, rabbits and even deer on our roads, and don't even mention CO2 !
Since the opening last weekend there has been a constant stream of children enjoying these new facilities and they also seem to be very popular with quite a large numbar of the parents! A mention must also be made regarding the artwork which now exists on the Skatepark equipment, yet another improvement organised by the committee, a vast improvement on the Graffiti which has appeared over the years!
You can see more pictures and comments on The Play Council 'Blog'; to view this just click onto Playground Blog
August 26th 2009
The Hanging Baskets Competition 2009
The hanging basket trophy.
The Annual Hanging Baskets competition was judged during the last few days of July and once again the decision relating to the winner was as difficult as ever. The first three or four places always tend to be divided between the same few residents and this year was no exception.
Bob Bell handing the trophy to Dennis & Pam Seeley.
The Winning display was at the bungalow of Dennis and Pam Seeley which can be seen and no doubt admired, by anyone approaching the main street of Walsham from the Finningham direction. Although the judging is based on hanging baskets that can be seen from the road it must be pointed out that the rear garden of this bungalow is, as always, an absolute riot of colour and the owners must be commended on the amount of work that they must put in to achieve such a display. The second position was awarded to Terry and Dianne Jackson who have also been successful winners in the past years.
The next position invariably gives the judge more of a headache as at this next level are several properties that are all very much on an equal footing with each other. This year that third place was shared between two residents in Palmer Street and it must be said that there were another four or five other displays that were very much in contention, and then mention must also be made to our newcomers in Oak Tree Cottages where there was also a very nice display. Our thanks must go to all of the residents who help to give such a colouful display to our village - whatever the weather!
August 26th 2009
The 2009 Annual show of the Walsham le Willows Horticultural Society took place on August 8th in the Village Hall. where the expert local gardeners once again fought for the various places in the usual categories. This is another area where the first prizes tend to find their way around a comparitively small number of competitors. Once again the village hall was alive with a buzz of conversation whilst everyone, and that includes the non-gardeners of the village, were admiring the handiwork of our keen gardeners, plus a bit of work from Mother Nature!
The overall winner was Neil Donaghy who also won first prize for Flowers and Vegetables, with second place going to Eric Hubbard and third to Hubby Frost. Best-in-Show went to Eric Hubbard with his tomatoes and the Domestic class was won by Ruth Frost. Next comes Carole Donaghy who won the Flower Arrangement and who also won the Wildlife Photographic class. You may notice a little bit of 'Keeping it in the Family here'! 2009 has seen yet another successful year for this annual event and it will be interesting in the coming years to see some of the newer, and may I say younger residents, taking part in this annual show.
March 23 2009
Victorian Walsham – A reflection of 19th Century Life in a Suffolk Village
The Walsham History Group is pleased to announce the publication of a new book by James Turner. This is the second of two accounts of life in Walsham during the 19th century (the first, which appeared one year ago, covered the years 1800 – 1850, and is still available, price £3.50).
This new booklet, of 57 pages, is illustrated with Victorian photographs. Like the earlier booklet, it is based on contempory press reports, in this instance from the 1850s to the end of Victoria's reign.
Victorian Walsham is available for £3.50 tel:01359 258535.
Donation to the Memorial Village Hall.
We are also pleased to announce a further donation of £500 to the Memorial Hall for the refurbishment programme. In total the History Group has donated £1,000 to the hall fund. This has been raised by sales of publications by James Turner and Audrey McLaughlin who asked for the proceeds to go to the Memorial Hall.
November 12th 2008
The Walsham le Willows Hedgerow Survey
Over the last two or three years there has been a hedgerow survey carried out across Suffolk by various Parish Councils - it should be realised that all Parish Councils (And perhaps also Town Councils!) were invited to participate. In our own parish this was undertaken on behalf of the Walsham Parish Council by Mareen Turner, who then encouraged a small team of local residents to assist her in this task, who were then usually working in ' teams' of just two people. It must be appreciated that this survey could only logically take place during the late spring to early autumn period as leaves are a pretty important factor when identifying various hedge plants!
The Walsham survey has now been completed and the results have been duly passed to the Chairman of the Suffolk Hedgerow Survey and here is a quote from his letter of appreciation, " Your master map is clear and accurate and immediately tells the story of the parish, that is, one of a predominance of species rich hedgerows right across the parish, from East to West and an exceptionally low distribution of low count species hedgerows, (only 5 in total)". And here he makes a simple analysis of what that actually means!
| Species category |
Number |
Age (%) |
Normal (%) |
| 4 and less species |
5 |
2.1 |
17.8 |
| 5, 6 and 7 species |
66 |
27.5 |
31.7 |
| 8 and above species |
169 |
70.4 |
50.4 |
| No hedge |
79 |
|
|
He then goes on to say " As can be seen, your parish has a very high incidence of species rich hedgerows, way above the 'norm' for the statistical 'average parish" so far recorded. This is influenced by the very low incidence of low species count hedgerows and the mid range balances between, with only a 4.2% variation, which is nothing. I have not kept a running total of 'no hedge' results but your status is in the order of 79 out of a total of 319 boundaries or 25%, which is high. This may well be due to the Whitehall agricultural policy of the 60's and 70's when so many hedgrows were demolished and ditches filled in to facilitate the use of larger machinery. Larger field sizes are in evidence on your map to possibly illustrate this theory."
"I think that your survey has been conducted very professionally and accurately and I have to give my grateful thanks for all of your hard work....... and the contribution that they have made to the heritage and inheritance of the landscape hedgerows in the parish. This is what the Rio ethos is all about and they hopefully enjoyed the exercise and experience of getting round the entire parish which is normally a pleasurable experience." He did note, "It is a pity that you were denied access to the eastern area north of the Finningham Road but, judging by the results of hedgerows surveyed south of this road, the distribution of species rich hedgerows could well be mirrored in the north."
The above shows only the relevant extracts from the letter already mentioned, as to reveal the whole of the text would only really relate to those people who actually undertook the survey, all of whom already have copies of the whole letter.
March 22nd 2008
"A Story of Walsham Folk" - 1800-1850
This booklet is yet another publication from the pen of James Turner. This time he has recorded various items about some 145 people who were living in Walsham le Willows during this 50 year period or else their family were here during that time. These snippets of information have either been gathered from Bury Record Office Archives, from the Walsham Quarterly Reviews published by our own History Group,contemporary maps and press accounts. From page 1, which reports an order of bastardy against a Walsham farmer, to the final pages about a local burglar transported in 1848, it shows the village to have been a lively, sometimes lawless, place. It was by no means miserable; public festivities at young Victoria’s accession show that folk knew how to enjoy themselves.
The fascinating information in this book also includes items relating to the social climate of the period and here I will quote just one example taken at random; "Among village tradesmen were 4 butchers, 4 boot/shoe makers, 12 carpenters, 4 blacksmiths, 5 dressmakers, 5 beer sellers, 2 rope makers, 1 cutter/grinder, and one watch and gun maker. Those working on the land totalled 157 and a further 99 worked as servants. There were 114 with the name John."
Thank you James, we look forward to the sequel to this book, could it be 1851-1900?
The price of this most interesting book is a mere £3.00 (introductory offer until the end of May 2008). Copies are available from the Coffee Shop or by telephone from 01359 258535. £1.00 from each copy sold will be donated to the restoration of the Village Memorial Hall.
October 2009
There is currently a development site in Finningham road where Hopkins Homes are in the process of building over 50 houses, which will also include a number of "Affordable Homes". Details of this development can be seen in the Amenities/Aaccommodation pages.
For only £12.00 per year anyone can become a "Friend of the Memorial Hall" and they then become eligible to be entered into the monthly draw to win:-
- First Prize £20.00
- Second Prize £10.00
- Third Prize £5.00
The first draw took place in January 2007. The number of Friends are strictly limited to 100, hence the "100 Club".
Anyone wishing to join should contact Mike Wills on 01359 258982
All profits will go towards the restoration of the Village Memorial Hall.
