Shouldham News Winter 2007

shouldham news |vol 6 • no 1 • winter 2007/08 | 1

Shouldham NewsVolume 6 No.1 Winter 2007/08

Christmas with all the trimmings

Welcome to the well-stuff ed Yuletide edition of Shouldham News. Th is issue will be the fi rst to be placed on the village web site, so make a note of the address (http://shouldhampc.norfolkparishes.gov.uk). Th en, after you’ve used your personal copy to make a festive paper chain across the living room, you’ll still be able to view its contents on a computer screen. Don’t worry though: we’ll still endeavour to distribute a copy of the newsletter free of charge to every house in Shouldham and Shouldham Th orpe, given enough volunteers.

Communal participation is a recurrent theme through these pages, with the need to support local amenities – the pub, the Bowls Club, the Village Hall, the school, the church and the Post Offi ce – increasingly important. ‘Use it or lose it’ is a particularly apt motto, especially in the case of the Post Offi ce, the fate of which will be decided in January. New volunteers are also urgently required if we are to have a fete and sports day as part of the Village Weekend next year.

In addition, new contributors to Shouldham News are always welcome. If you’ve any bright ideas on how to improve your newsletter (suggestions for features, a children’s page, a ‘build your own wind-turbine’ article, for instance), views on village life generally, or details of forthcoming events, send them to Phil Harriss ([email protected]); phone 347244/01844 238868; or pop a note through the door of ‘Dunromin’ on Th e Green.

Finally, we’d like to wish all Shouldham News readers a merry Christmas and a very happy New Year 2008.

2 | vol 6 • no 1 • winter 2007/08| shouldham news

Fete’s fate awaited

At the last Village Weekend Committee meeting, a donation of £150 from 2007’s funds was made to the Village Hall. It was also decided to hold the annual bike ride as usual on the Sunday before the May Day Bank Holiday (Sunday 4th May, 2008), with a lunchtime barbecue at the Bedingfi eld Arms in Oxborough. Th e summer barbecue and music evening was planned for Saturday 5th July, 2008.

However, no decision was made on whether to stage a fete and sports day next year. Th e fi nal decision was postponed until the next Village Weekend meeting, to be held at 7pm on Friday December 7th in the King’s Arms. Th e meeting is open to everyone, so if you would like to see a fete next year, be sure to attend.

New faces for a New Year

Th e Shouldham Village Weekend Committee is to have a new look for 2008, with Keith Matthews taking over as chairperson. A well-known fi nancial whizz-kid, Keith has deftly controlled the accounts of the Village Weekend for many years.

After his performance in 2007’s Silly Sports competition, adorned in a tutu as a Norfolk Black turkey, his motto might well be: ‘Th ere’s no accounting for taste’.

Keith is to be joined on the committee by new secretary John ‘Sunday Lunch’ Dovey. John has been one of the mainstays of the Village Weekend throughout this century (and much of the last). It is to be expected that his minutes of committee meetings will include repeated requests for roast beef and Yorkshires... and plenty of gravy.

Post Offi ce decision imminent

In January 2008, Royal Mail Group is due to announce a list of post offi ces in the East Anglian region that are scheduled to close. Closures will take place shortly afterwards. Many of us will be crossing our fi ngers in the hope that Shouldham’s post offi ce won’t be on the list. In the event of bad news, please write to Shouldham News if you would like to start a campaign to keep the post offi ce open.

In the meantime, please


remember that Shouldham Post Offi ce can meet most of your personal banking needs (including the withdrawal of cash using your bank’s cashpoint card). Sandra also sells a range of Christmas and other greetings cards – as well as stamps.

Your number’s up!

Th e street numbering for the village is now complete. To enable all the houses to be quickly and easily identifi ed by emergency services and Royal Mail, could everyone please ensure that their house number is displayed. Once numbers are issued it is a legal requirement that numbers be displayed.

King’s Arms Christmas news

As well as all the events listed in ‘Dates for your diaries’, the King’s Arms will be open on Christmas Day from noon to 2.30pm (the restaurant is fully booked). On Boxing Day, the restaurant will be closed but the bar will be open from noon until 11pm. Tickets for the Christmas Draw will be sold throughout December, with the draw itself taking place on Christmas Eve (prizes will be based on the pot collected: 1st prize 70%,

2nd prize 20%, 3rd prize 10%).

Finally, Dave wants to remind everyone that the restaurant provides homemade meals using locally produced meat and fresh vegetables. Why not try the Sunday roast lunches, with the main course very good value at £6.95?

Calendars for sale in aid of the Cinnamon TrustTh e Cinnamon Trust helps elderly and terminally ill people look after their pets at home, and can off er fostering should they need to go into hospital for treatment. Th e Trust will also make arrangements for a pet to be looked after should it outlive its owner. Th e 2008 calendars are priced at £6.50 (or two for £10) and are available from Mary White, who created them, on 347710.

A seat for sore eyes

A grand new seat has now been sited on the village green. Th e Parish Council would like to thank Paul Collison for very kindly taking the time to make the seat and donating it to the Parish.


Church bells and bell-ringersWhile our bells have been undergoing restoration, Shouldham

ringers have not been idle. Several have assisted in treating the Victorian oak bell-frame with preservative and the recesses have been cut to receive the two steel girders to strengthen the installation. Th e bells have been re-tuned at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and are now back in Oxfordshire to be matched with their new fi ttings and rebuilt wheels. It is anticipated that the whole work will be fi nished during January/February 2008.

Owing to the kindness of nearby churches, the ringers have practised elsewhere on Th ursday evenings. Shouldham retained the Wisbech District Ringers’ trophy in the annual ringing competition held at Denver in September. When the bells are returned early in the New Year, it will be possible to see them, along with their new fi ttings, before they are lifted back into the tower. A service of rededication will subsequently be held.


Special Christmas Services Friday 14th December Carol Service 7pm Shouldham

Sunday 16th December Carol Service 4pm Fincham Tuesday 18th December Carol Service 7pm Boughton

Wednesday 19th December Carol Service 6pm Marham

Th ursday 20th December Carol Service 7pm Shouldham Th orpeFriday 21st December Carol Service 7pm Wereham

Saturday 22 December Carol Service 4pm BeachamwellSaturday 23rd December Carol Service 6pm Barton Bendish

Monday 24th December Crib Service 4pm BoughtonChristmas Eve Crib Service 5pm Fincham Midnight Mass 11.30pm Shouldham Midnight Mass 11.30pm Wereham

Tuesday 25th December H.C. with Carols 9am BeachamwellChristmas Day H.C. with Carols 10am Shouldham Th orpe H.C. with Carols 10.15am Barton Bendish H.C. with Carols 11.30am Boughton

Monday 31st December Watch Night Service. 11.30pm Wereham Blessing of the restored clock and bell and ringing in the New Year

Past glories

Shouldham’s rich history has been related across Norfolk these past few months. At the Stoke Ferry Festival, held in the autumn, a play was enacted that featured a Prioress of Shouldham, who, in the Middle Ages,

tried to prevent the villagers of Stoke Ferry building a bridge across the river, in order that the Priory might continue to receive the income from the ferry crossing. Also, a feature in a Dersingham magazine has detailed the history of Shouldham Priory in greater depth, >>>


New yoga fi tness classes in ShouldhamStarting Jan 2008

Yoga is a fun and dynamic way to increase your strength, fl exibility and energy levels, leaving you with a more toned and supple body.Yoga can also calm the mind, reducing stress levels and helping with a more restful night’s sleep.Don’t worry if you’ve never tried yoga before, Madonna, Geri Halliwell and Gwyneth Paltrow were all once yoga novices and look at what it did for them!The classes are suitable for all ages, beginners to intermediates.Wednesdays 9.45 – 11.15am Shouldham Village Hall.Wed 9th Jan - fi rst session FREE – come & see if yoga is for you.

For more info or to book your place contact Amy 01366 380121 [email protected]

Booking essential.

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>>> explaining that it was built in the reign of Richard I by the Earl of Essex. ‘He was buried there but his tomb has disappeared and a farmhouse now stands where the Priory stood. It was a Priory of the Gilbertine Order. St Gilbert founded a Monastery in 1135 when he formed labourers into a monastic order and also founded a nunnery for destitute girls. As with Binham Priory, Christiana de Mandeville, Countess of Essex, gave lands and property from Dersingham to this order and so Shouldham Priory Manor was established here. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was granted to John Dethick who

subsequently transferred it to John Pell of Oldhall Manor and his heirs. Th is John Pell died in 1554 and an inquisition was taken at Lynn and described the property of Shouldham and Brookhall thus: 6 messuages [dwelling houses], 320 acres of land, 120 of meadow, 40 of pasture, 50 of furze and heath in Dersingham, Shernbourne and Ingoldisthorpe. Most of the Pell property was eventually willed to Robert Walpole, the father of Sir Robert Walpole.’

Police warn of a scam

Th e Trading Standards Offi ce is making people aware of the


Dates for your diary

Wednesday 5th December, from 7.30pm, Shouldham Bowls Club: CHRISTMAS BINGO. Very good prizes, followed by mince pies. All welcome. Friday 7th December, 9.30am-11.30am, Outside Tesco, Downham Market: CAROL SINGING. Parents and children of St Martin at Shouldham School will be raising money for the school’s Harvest Appeal. Friday 7th December, 7pm, King’s Arms: VILLAGE WEEKEND COMMITTEE MEETING. An important meeting to decide the fate of next year’s event. Followed by annual dinner at 8pm. Friday 14th December, 9.30am-11.30am, Outside Tesco, Downham Market: CAROL SINGING. Parents and children of St Martin at Shouldham School will be raising money for the school’s Harvest Appeal. Friday 14th December, 7pm, All Saints’ Church, Shouldham: SERVICE OF NINE LESSONS & CAROLS. Th e traditional service of carols and readings, to which everyone is cordially invited. All Saints is also staging a ‘Festival of Decorated Christmas Trees’. Come and see the church in its festive glory and enjoy

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following scam (Royal Mail has also been notifi ed). A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that it was unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact it on 0906 6611911 (a premium-rate number). DO NOT call this number, as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £15 for the phone call.

One version is legally not a scam. It’s a very cleverly worded card that just stays within the strictest interpretation of the law, because they do have a parcel for you (usually a pen worth about 3p). Th e ‘scam’ part comes when you reply to the card, and pay around £5 to receive a pen, thinking it’s a parcel that you’ve ordered. If you do receive a card with these details, please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 0207 239 6655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.ukMany thanks.

Stefan BuntingPCSO 8284 Watlington SNTDownham Market Police Station


seasonal refreshments with mulled wine afterwards. Friday 14th December, King’s Arms: COCKTAILS & CANAPES EVENING. Wednesday 19th December, 7.30pm, King’s Arms: PSYCHIC EVENING WITH RACHEL (booking required, phone 347819), PLUS CHEESE TASTING. Friday 21st December, 7pm, Shouldham Village Green: CAROLS AROUND THE TREE. Th ere will be a collection for a local charity, should you wish to give. Saturday 22nd December, from 8pm, Shouldham Bowls Club: CHRISTMAS DRAW NIGHT. Light refreshments and entertainment will also be provided. All welcome. Free night. Christmas Eve, Monday 24th December, from 8pm, Shouldham Bowls Club: SOCIAL EVENING. Playing our own music. All welcome. Free night. Christmas Eve, Monday 24th December, King’s Arms: CHRISTMAS EVE DISCO WITH FREE BUFFET. Th e Christmas Draw will also take place. Christmas Eve, Monday 24th December, 11.30pm, All Saints’ Church, Shouldham: MIDNIGHT MASS. Th e fi rst time this service has been held at Shouldham for

some years. All are most welcome. Th ursday 27th December, 8.30pm, King’s Arms: SPECIAL CHRISTMAS QUIZ NIGHT. New Year’s Eve, Monday 31st December, 8pm-1am, Shouldham Bowls Club: DISCO. Hot and cold buff et provided. Tickets £10 available at the bar, or phone Elsie on 347636. New Year’s Eve, Monday 31st December, King’s Arms: NEW YEAR’S EVE DISCO WITH FREE BUFFET. Saturday 26th January, 2008, meal served at 8pm, Shouldham Bowls Club: LLOYD E MOON. Vocalist. Tickets £7.50 including food (steak and kidney pie with suet crust, potatoes, two vegetables and assorted desserts). Tickets at the bar or phone Elsie on 347636. Sunday 2nd March: SHOULDHAM NEWS DEADLINE. Send your writings, musings, announcements and pronouncements to Phil Harriss ([email protected]); phone 347244/01844 238868; or pop a note through the door of ‘Dunromin’ on Th e Green.

Lastly, many thanks to all of you who have contributed to this issue.

Chief Hack - Phil HarrisGlue and Scissors - Jim Ross

Printing - www.leachprinters.co.uk

Dates for your diary(continued from page 7)

Documents

Shouldham News Winter 2007