Ideas welcome!

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Committee would welcome your ideas for spending the money raised during the Jubilee Year.  If you would like to make a suggestion please email needhamlink@gmail.com as soon as possible.  Please spread the word to your friends who may not have access to this site.

Needham in the Snow

Have you taken any photographs of Needham in the snow?  If so, please email them to me at needhamlink@gmail.com   Don't forget to include your name and any other relevant details, such as  the location, with the photo.

To start the (snow)ball rolling here's one taken from near the same spot as the cover photo on the most recent edition.

.... and a reminder to feed the birds during this icy spell!

"I'm glad I've got this woolly on!"

Ellis and Francis enjoying the snow.

What a lot of snow we had...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

www.needhamlink.co.uk

Needham Village Link

January/February 2013

The newsletter for the villagers of Needham

www.facebook.com/NeedhamLink

From the Editor

Happy New Year to all our readers!  Let’s hope that 2013 will be as socially successful in Needham as 2012 was. 

2012 ended on a high note with the Village Hall Christmas Dinner. The Village Hall was decorated with new fairy lights and a tree donated by White House Farm.  The atmosphere was very festive with almost sixty people celebrating with a delicious Christmas dinner cooked by John Broome. A big thank you to all the members of the Village Hall Committee who worked so hard to make this event such a success. The photos of the evening were taken by Helen Walker.

The bottle bank, which brings money into the Village Hall fund,  benefitted from the wine intake during the evening.  

The bottle bank, positioned outside the village hall, costs £589 to hire but ‘earns’ £822 thus making a profit of £233. So, good folk of Needham, do bring your empty bottles (they don’t have to have contained wine) to the bottle bank and help to earn some money for the village hall. 

Speeding through Needham continues to be a problem particularly in the early mornings and evenings.  There is a possibility of having the use of a speed monitoring device for the village.  This would require volunteers to operate it.  The volunteers would need training which is provided by South Norfolk Council.  If you would like to put your name down as a volunteer please contact Andrew Major through the Needham Link at needhamlink@gmail.com 

Helen

The Needham Village Christmas Dinner 

Needham Parish Council

The Parish Council met on Monday 26 November 2012

At the public forum held before the meeting the Chairman thanked the outgoing councillor, Sally Nicholson, for her support during her time as a parish councillor.

The meeting voted unanimously to welcome Rose Martin to fill the casual vacancy on the Council.  Paul Bird was unanimously elected Vice Chairman of the Council.

Thanks in part to the assistance of our County Councillor Martin Wilby, it was reported that Norfolk County Council had carried out repairs to the surface of the High Road.   A resident had reported to a previous meeting that heavy vehicles caused vibration when passing over the uneven surface.

It was also reported that new notice boards are being fabricated to replace the Parish Council’s boards outside the Village Hall and beside the Red Lion.  These boards will be exclusively for public notices.  A third notice board is to be installed for the Village Hall and will be accessible to residents.

No planning decisions were reported to the meeting.  The application for a new dwelling in Brook Lane considered by the Council at the September meeting had been withdrawn.

Dates for meetings of the Parish Council in 2013 were agreed as:

Monday 07 January

Monday 25 March

Monday 20 May

Monday 22 July

Monday 23 September

Monday 25 November

Meetings are held in the Village Hall.  They start at 7.30 with a public forum when Needham residents are welcome to raise issues with the Parish Council and with their County and District Councillors.

Old Fishmongers - part 2

I know very little of the house’s previous history, although I recall reading that it might have been built for a squire, as the ceilings are quite high on the ground floor and it was once said to have been called Needham House.  The Fishmongers Arms was a 16^th Century inn, which closed as a pub in 1932.  For those who do not know the story of its name, I understand fish was sold in the forecourt of the inn as that was as far as the fish could be transported in a day from Lowestoft. I cannot confirm if this is true or not but it ties in with the name ‘Fish Needham’. There is a cellar, where kegs of beer were rolled in and kept and beer was brought up in a jug to customers. After it closed as a public house, I understand there was a tannery business in the outbuildings and pigs were also kept. It is written in the Deeds that alcohol is no longer permitted for sale on these premises; however this doesn’t stop it being given away!  

I think this type of house is typical of its time and built to a format, rather like a new Wimpey home!  The timbers were cut elsewhere and assembled on site.  On one of the mullioned windows there are marks cut into the wood to indicate the order in which they should be placed; that is one to five.  The oak timbers may have been recycled  from another building but others could have been from a scrapped or dismantled wooden sailing ship as the geometry and rake of the roof or floor beams can give the impression of a deck where the water rolled off as it sloped to each side of the ship.  I like the thought of  this romantic association with the sea -  it is very appealing.

In the sitting room the heavily smoked huge oak beam, extending the length of the inglenook fireplace, is called a bressumer and it is supported by thick outer brick walls. Horizontal ripples have been cut into the timber and there is also an X along with several other strange marks, whose purpose is said to be that of warding of witches to stop them coming down the chimney! Now, apart from the early eeriness probably created from imagination and the black beams, the house has never felt creepy to me and has always had a wonderful atmosphere of warmth especially when the candles are lit and the fires are ablaze.  But there is just one incident to recount when an internal curtain, separating two bedrooms, flew horizontally into the air late one night despite there being no breeze and no windows open! 

Some external and internal changes took place before we moved in. I believe the front door was originally more towards the middle of the house and not where the steps are now.  The original spiral staircase was also taken out and replaced by a new one, which had the effect of changing the layout of the sitting room. Upstairs the low ceiling timbers and door frames make it difficult to pass through if one is not accustomed to lowering one's head.  I wonder how many souls have bloodied their heads throughout the centuries?  

I have loved living here. The house is my refuge and I have been very happy . One can only ever be a custodian of a historical house and try to ensure the house’s survival, I hope we’ll succeed in this.  It has been been a privilege.  

Sue Simmonds

Village Hall Committee

Some of the money that was raised by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Committee has been allocated to pay for a new noticeboard to be located outside the Village Hall.  Residents are welcome to use this board for notices for specific village events.  Please be considerate and remove them after the event has taken place.

They do things differently over there!

In multi stage day cycle racing, like the Tour of Britain, accommodation is arranged and booked.  In one continental event after an exhausting mountainous stage we were directed to an hotel and greeted by a radiant receptionist who handed me a key and enquired would I like my room with or without a woman?  My first thoughts were that it was a very well organised race but I was so ‘knackered’ I could hardly climb the stairs!

My charming fiancée, later to be my wife, Sheila, thought it was disgusting!

Booking into a hotel at home one is invariably asked “with or without a full English?”  I’m inclined to say “Continental!”

It seems that what happened to me is not unusual on the continent.  A recent newspaper report tells of a Japanese man who booked into an hotel and asked for a ‘lady of pleasure’ (not to be confused with a lady of leisure!) to be sent to his room.  Later there was a knock on the door and  on opening it he found his daughter standing there.  It was such a shock that he had a heart attack, collapsed and died.  Stick to the continental breakfast is my advice!

Derek Buttle

Harleston Information Plus...

.... is a friendly information office based in Harleston offering support and information to the local community and surrounding villages in both Norfolk and Suffolk.

Along with our partner organisations, we offer services that would not be otherwise available to local people.

Pop in and see us for local information and advice, carers support, jobs club, encouragement  for independent living, social activity for the over 60’s, volunteering opportunities, healthy lifestyle promotion, bereavement support, support for those suffering domestic abuse, local enterprise, Bus Pass and Railcard applications and renewals, Citizens Advice Bureau and a main contact point for District and County Council.

We are located at 8, Exchange Street in Harleston and are open Mon-Fri 9.30am-3.30pm and Saturdays 10am-1pm.

If you can’t call in, why not use our telephone or e-mail service. You can call us on: 01379 851917 or mail us at www.hip@harleston-norfolk.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you soon, our friendly and helpful volunteers will always be happy to help.

Friends of St Peter's

   

Our grateful thanks to the very hard working volunteers who tackled our village churchyard - St Peter's in November. Do have a look when you pass by. Also, thanks to Gillian who fed the troops.

St Peter’s Church Services

Sunday:
  6 January   at 11:00am   - Holy Communion
13 January   at   6:00pm   - Evening Service
20 January   at 11:00am   - Morning Prayer
27 January   at 11:00am   - Morning Prayer
  3 February at 11:00am   - Holy Communion
10 February at   6:00pm   - Evening Service

St Peter’s Lent Groups

Rev Clive Hudson is planning to run a group in Needham for five weeks during Lent. George & Sylvia Miller have kindly agreed to host the Group at their home Ivy Farm House, 44 High Road. 

The material we will base our conversations on is a CPAS publication  entitled "First The Blade," and is specifically for rural areas, like Needham. We are meeting on Tuesdays 26th Feb, 5th March, 12th March, 19th March and 26th March at 2.00 pm. for about an hour (plus refreshment time!) and everyone, and their views, will be very welcome for all or some of the sessions.