The Old King's Head

A message from The Old King's Head

A big thank you to all who have been so supportive for our first few months.  We have been totally overwhelmed by the many positive comments on the beer and food as well as the refurbishment of The Old King's Head.  We now finally have gas in the kitchen so will be slowly extending our menu over the coming weeks to include our House Burger, Rib-eye steaks, pan fried fish, meat and game dishes.  

We shall also be starting our Spice Road Curry Club Curry Night which will be on the first Wednesday of the month the first one being on Wed 3 June at 7pm.  You will have to buy tickets for this event as spaces are limited.  Tickets are £24 pp for a 5 course meal.

If you love to play Scrabble do come and join in with the Scrabble night on the last Wednesday of the month.  Tiles down at 7pm.

We are also delighted to have Andrew Vessey, artist and Reverend Canon, open an exhibition of his work here on Wednesday 1 July.  You are welcome to join him for a preview of the exhibition and a personal introduction to his work followed by lunch with Andrew and a short question and answer session at the end.  Tickets are £15pp. The exhibition opens on Thurs 2 July and runs until Sun 16 August.

Our list of real ales offered since we opened is extensive.  Do pop in and try them!

Our new website is closer to going live and we will have all the information about future events.

http://kingsheadbrockdish.co.uk

Twitchers!

You may be interested in this.  It's from the web cam on the spire of Norwich Cathedral where the peregrines have four young.

http://upp.hawkandowl.org/norwich-peregrines/norwich-cathedral-peregrine-live-web-cam-2015/

www.needhamlink.co.uk

needhamlink@gmail.com

Needham Village Link

May/june 2015

                                               A very good year for cowslips

The newsletter for the villagers of Needham

www.facebook.com/NeedhamLink

@needham_link 

From the Editor

Firstly, I should like to thank Celia Snaith for filling in as Editor for the March/April edition of the Link.  She did a sterling job and produced a really good Link for Needham. 

There is a very important piece of information on the back page of this edition about the village defibrillator.  Before you consign the Link to your recycling bin it may be worth cutting out the page and keeping it near your phone!

I was delighted to be at the March meeting of the Parish Council when villager, George Miller, was presented with his South Norfolk Community Award for ‘Inspiring Achievement’ by our District Councillor, Jenny Wilby.  Needham has a great deal to thank George for: for many years he was Chairman of the Village Hall committee on which he still sits and worked tirelessly to make the  hall the village amenity that it is. Through the Friends of St Peter’s, George also was instrumental in raising funds for the redecoration of the church.  It is a richly deserved award - congratulations George!

We are really pleased to report that ex -Needham residents, Jonathan & Vicky Townley have re-opened The Old King’s Head in Brockdish. Read about them in this Link.

PC Jim Squires, part of the Safer Neighbourhood Team, has attended PC meetings and been instrumental in getting traffic surveys done in the village.  He writes in this edition to introduce himself and his colleague.  If  you would like to contact them through the Link please either email me at needhamlinkgmail.com or pop a letter through my door at Mill Farm Cottage.

The footbridge that connects the footpath leading from the High Road down to the Mill in Mill Lane has been repaired and the footpath has now been re-opened.

Helen

Memories

After the end of World War 2 I lived in the South of France enjoying the warmth of the Riviera sun and the blue of the Mediterranean sea but I was unable to escape the aftermath of the German occupation.  Cycling in the French Alps, I came across many stone shrines adorned with flowers and inscribed with the names of male and female resistance fighter executed by the Gestapo.

I also cycled in Belgium with life beginning to return to normal but with roads ruined by bomb and shell craters. 

Derek Buttle

Shingles

shingles - are you eligible for the vaccine?

Shingles, also known as herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash caused by the reactivation of the chickenpox virus on people who have previously had chickenpox. Shingles can be very painful and uncomfortable and the pain can also linger long after the rash has disappeared, even for many years.

Between September 2014 and September 2015 the shingles vaccine is being offered routinely as part of the NHS vaccination programme for people aged 70, 78 or 79.  You become eligible for the vaccine on the first day of September 2014 after you turned 70, 78 or 79 and remains so until the last day of August 2015. The vaccine is given as an injection into the upper arm.  

You don’t ‘catch’ shingles - it comes on when there’s a  reawakening of chickenpox virus that’s already in your body.  The virus can be reactivated because of advancing age, medication, illness or stress. It’s estimated that one in five people who have had chickenpox go on to develop shingles.  

You can have the shingles vaccination at any time of the year so it might be worth your while contacting your doctors’ surgery.

Health Editor

Needham Coronation Village Hall

Annual General Meeting to be held at 7:30pm 

on Monday 18 May 

The Village Hall AGM will take place in the Village Hall Annexe on Monday 18 May 2015 at 7:30pm.

The committee look forward to welcoming villagers and hall hirers to the meeting.

** Should you wish to make use of the Village Hall, lettings are co-ordinated by Jean Youell (854819) and Pauline Spinlove (853033)

Open Farm Sunday

Sunday 7 June at Shotford Hall Farm , Harleston, Ip209QT

11:00am - 5:00pm 

free entry

Visit Shotford Hall mixed farm for a day of fun and discovery.  Meet and touch the animals, take a close look at farm machinery, enjoy a tractor and trailer tour, take a leisurely riverside walk, meet some food producers and find out where your food comes from.

Refreshments available.

For more information, contact Tim Lewis on 07767 708106

St Peter's Church

  3 May     Evening Service  6pm

10 May     Holy Communion  11:00am

17 May     Morning Prayer  11:00am

24 May     Holy Communion  11:00am

31 May     Benefice Communion at St Mary’s Redenhall  10:30am

 7 June      Evening Service  6:00pm

14 June     Benefice Holy Communion at St John’s  10:30am

21 June     Morning Prayer  11:00am

Messy Church 16 May in St John’s Harleston at 2:00pm.  For primary school aged children.  Have messy fun with crafts & activities.

Free of charge refreshments available.  Remember to bring an adult.  If you would like more information contact the Church office - details below.

Brockdish Church PET SERVICE is on Sunday 7 June at 3:00pm.  Bring your pets and celebrate God’s love for them.  For more information contact Revd Sue Auckland 01379 740327

Rector: Revd Nigel Tuffnell
Tel: 01379 308905 Email: rector.redenhallscole@hotmail.co.uk

Office: Lucy Cooke (Mon - Fri 9am to 1pm)
Tel: 01379 851148 Email: redscole7@gmail.com

FACEBOOK - facebook.com/redenhall.scole
TWITTER - https://twitter.com/RedScole
WEBSITE - http://scole-reden5.webplus.net

The church is unlocked daily from 9:00am until 4:30pm.  Numbers on the PCC have depleted - if you are interested in joining the PCC, please contact Sylvia Miller on 01379 852059.


Friends of St Peters Church will be holding their Annual General Meeting Friday 15^th MAY at 7 pm.It will be held in the Village Hall.The A G M is open to anybody interested in the village church and keeping it open.We raise money for the up keep of the building,we have been holding events since the Friends was formed in 1997,We hope to keep it going but we do need new members.

Needham Parish Council

A subject that is invariably raised at Parish Council Meetings is concern at the speed of traffic passing through the village.  At the previous Parish Council Meeting PC Jim Squires undertook to arrange for measurements to be made of the speed of vehicles over a period of time.  This was done with two parallel tubes fastened across the road surface.  Recordings were made between Tuesday 17 February and Thursday 26 February, and the findings were somewhat surprising.  

Travelling towards the A143 the average speed readings between 0700 hours and 2000 hours were 30.7 mph lowest reading and 36.8mph highest reading.  This increased to 38.8 mph if taken over a 24 hour period.  The total number of movements was 5,088 and the percentage of drivers not exceeding the posted speed limit of 30mph or exceeding it by so small a margin so as not to attract prosecution was 67%.  Of the remainder 11.7% exceeded 41mph.

Travelling towards Brockdish  the average speed readings between 0700 hours and 2000 hours were 28.7 mph lowest reading and 36.4mph highest reading.  This increased to 37.0 mph if taken over a 24 hour period.  The total number of movements was 5,060 and the percentage of drivers not exceeding the posted limit of 30 mph or by exceeding it by such a small margin as not to attract prosecution was 79%.  Of the remainder just under 5.8% were travelling over 41mph.

It was noted that there were a number of high readings but no set trends and they occurred throughout the day in both directions but the overall result is that there is 73% compliance with the speed restriction.  However these are averages and it does show that during this period there were 887 vehicle movements that exceeded 41mph. 

It seems that by and large we are law abiding, but rightly or wrongly there is a perception at Norfolk Highways Authority that much of the speeding is done by local residents, so this is a timely reminder that it is our village and we should all respect our fellow residents and keep below the limit.

The public forum heard from Alastair Brice, the owner of the company that has bought the egg farm in the village.  Alastair has submitted a planning application for an agricultural dwelling for a farm manager and described why there is a need for a full time presence on the site.  We also heard from the applicants for a temporary four year permission to live on a site that falls outside the village development boundary.  The Parish Council meeting unanimously supported both applications.

We once again welcomed our District and County Councillors Jenny and Martin Wilby and also PC Jim Squires to the public forum.  The next Parish Council Meeting, which will also be the Annual Meeting, will be held at 7.30 on Monday 11^th May.  It provides an excellent opportunity to meet representatives of Local Government and the Police.

Andrew Major (Chairman)

Needham Carpet Bowls

The Winter League has been completed but unfortunately we didn’t have much success.  

In the Knockout Cup we played Barnham Broom home and away.  In the away match we won 3 games and lost one and the home match ended as a draw but we were the overall winners. We then lost the away match to Kenninghall but drew the home match, losing overall.

It was decided not to enter the Summer League but we will be entering the Winter League again.

We shall be competing for our club singles and pairs trophies shortly and we will be inviting Cratfield Bowls Club for a friendly match.

Recently, eight members competed in a bowls drive organised by Occold.  This was a very enjoyable evening.

On 25 May most of our members hope to attend the Winter League presentation and social evening to be held at Shelfhanger village hall.

Our club was formed in 1998 and we are pleased today that we still have four original members

The AGM was held on 1 April and was attended by all members.  The committee was elected for the coming year.

Chairperson:         Francis Burton

Vice Chairperson: Delwyn Snaith

Captain:                Harold Jeffries

Vice Captain:        John Kuzmic

Treasurer:              Jean Youell

Our club evenings are held every Wednesday starting at 7:30pm in Needham Village Hall.  New members are always welcome.  Fees are £1.50 which includes tea/coffee and biscuits and equipment.

Do come along and have a go!

Nudger

New venture for ex-Needham residents

Jonathan & Vicky Townley have swapped their home in Needham for the Old King’s Head in Brockdish.  Together with Jonathan’s sisters they are bringing a new dining experience to Brockdish.  At the moment they are serving stone baked pizzas using authentic freshly sourced Italian ingredients but very shortly they will introduce their new menu which will feature rustic Mediterranean foods, again with in-season and fresh ingredients. Freshly baked bread is for sale from early mornings.

Jonathan, who has a life long interest in fine food,  started working in kitchens at the very early age of 12 and his sister Louise’s CV is equally impressive as she was one of the  first prize winning team  in ITV’s ‘Taste the Nation’.  They describe themselves as ‘foodies without snobbery’.  

Vicky is leaving the cooking to Jonathan and Louise as she will be promoting the gallery which features local artists.  

They have worked hard to give the pub interior a fresh and contemporary feel but without compromising  the character of the old building.

The Townleys have exciting plans for the Old Kings Head but are introducing them in stages.  They hope to have regular acoustic music sessions (the first was on 23 April) and there will be Scrabble evenings on the last Wednesday of the month as well as art events throughout the year. 

We wish them ‘Good Luck’

For up to date information visit: www.kingsheadbrockdish.co.uk 

Follow them on twitter: @OKHBrockdish

Or ‘be friends’ on Facebook: 

May in the Garden

• Watch out for late frosts - protect tender plants.
• Earth up potatoes and promptly plant any still remaining.
• Plant our summer bedding at the end of the month
• Collect rainwater and investigate ways of recycling water
• Regularly hoe off weeds - don’t let them get on top of you!
• Open greenhouse doors and vents in warm weather.
• Mow lawns weekly.
• Check for nesting birds before clipping hedges.
• Lift & divide overcrowded clumps of daffodils & other spring flowering bulbs
• Watch out for viburnum beetle and lily beetle grubs.

Gardening Editor

Safer Neighbourhood Team

harleston SNT

PCSO Pete Williamson & I would like to introduce ourselves as your local Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT).

We are hoping to post a regular article in your village magazine to keep you up to date with what’s going on in Needham from a policing perspective.

We will inform you of the crimes that have occurred in your area, offer crime prevention advice and answer any questions you may have.

If there is any information you would like to see from us on a regular basis please let us know and we will aim to include it.

March saw no crimes recorded in the village.

To contact Norfolk Constabulary Dial 101

Always dial 999 in an emergency

PC Jim Squires

Open Space Theatre

Four local actors are preparing to appear in a classic drama which is being toured in May by the locally based Open Space Theatre Company, which rehearses in Needham Village Hall.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee - a play adapted for a memorable 1960s film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton - will have eight performances in May at theatres in the Waveney Valley.

The cast include Yves Green, an experienced actress who has lived in Needham for the past 20 years and is a trustee of the theatre company.

Also acting in the play will be Peter Sowerbutts, who lives in Harleston, has a long and distinguished career in the professional theatre and is a former artistic director of the Maddermarket Theatre in Norwich.

The play is set on a university campus where a naive young couple, Nick and Honey, find themselves marooned amidst the vicious, humiliating and cynical battlefield of George and Martha's marriage.

Yves and Peter will taking the roles of Martha and George. Nick will be played by Mike Davison, who is director of the Harleston Players youth group.

Honey will be played by Emma Martin who lives in Diss and is marketing manager of the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds.

Performance details and box office numbers are:

Friday, May 8 -             The Bank Arts Centre, Eye, tel. 01379 873495

Saturday, May 9 -         Fisher Theatre, Bungay, tel. 01986 897130

Wednesday, May 13 - St Edmunds Hall, Hoxne, tel. 01379 855101

Friday, May 15 -           Wingfield Barns, tel. 01379 384505

Saturday, May 16 -      Seagull Theatre, Lowestoft, 01502 589726

Tuesday, May 19 -       Diss Corn Hall, tel. 01379 652241

Thursday, May 21 -     Beccles Public Hall, tel. 01502 770060

Tickets are £10 and £8.50 (concessions). All performances start at 7.30pm

Harleston & Waveney Art Trail

16/17 May  23/24/25 May

Visit local artists’ studios & workshops

Needham artists will again be opening their studios/workshops. Be sure to visit Gill Levin in the Tithe Barn, Mill Lane; Rose Martin in Skeetsmere House, Upper Burnt House Lane and Vicky Townley in The Old King’s Head in Brockdish

Borderhoppa

do you, or someone you know, need help with transport?

Borderhoppa is a local community transport charity operating a door to door service in this area.  We currently have funding from the Big Lottery to provide transport for 16-24 year olds for travel to and from job clubs, job interviews, skill training etc.  If this applies to you please call 01379 854800 so that we can help.

Our Dial a Ride service is also open to anyone who does not have the use of other transport facilities.  To use our service you need to become a member & pay a membership fee.  Fares are then priced depending on distance travelled.  We can take people to local appointments at doctors, dentists, hairdressers, vets, to work, to visit a friend or relative or anywhere they wish to go within our catchment area.

We provide group hire for not for profit community groups & organisations with our 16 seater mini buses.  We also operate outings for our members throughout the year to pub lunches, seaside, boat trips, garden centres, shopping etc.

If you would like to make a booking or would like more information on any of the above, please call 01379 858800 or visit our website

www.borderhoppa.org 

Needham/Brockdish Defibrillator

Village Emergency Telephone System (VETS)

If you need to call for emergency assistance requiring the use of the defibrillator, follow the procedure shown below -:

ALWAYS call 999 ambulance first

Make call to VETS village helpers on 

01379 844005

(The caller is played a simple message before

VETS village helpers answer - 10 lines ring simultaneously)

VETS village helpers collect and bring the

defibrillator to patient

VETS Village Helpers

Andrew Major

Clive Read (Brockdish)

Del Snaith

Gill Powell

Helen Walker

Jackie Spooner (Brockdish)

John Morrish

Michael Massey

Scott Coleman

Yvonne Coleman

NOTE:  It is worth reiterating the information given in the last edition of The Link, advising that the system can also be used for any other non-999 emergencies, where family/neighbours/friends are not on hand to assist.  In this instance, ring the same number -  01379 844005 - to make contact with the VETS village helpers.

NOW IS THE TIME TO PUT 01379 844005 INTO YOUR TELEPHONE MEMORY.