Following the resignation of Alan Jeffery, the Needham Link needs a new editor.
If you are interested in taking on the editorship please contact needhamlink@gmail.com
Wednesday 22 December 2021
Monday 13 December 2021
Are you wearing your mask correctly?
https://www.pfizer.com/news/hot-topics/the_do_s_and_don_ts_of_wearing_a_face_mask
For your safety and that of others, make sure your mask covers your nose!
Friday 10 December 2021
Food bank - Christmas collection
The Hare family will be collecting donations for the Foodbank on Saturday (11th) morning (tomorrow) as they do and have been doing every second Saturday of the month. Don't forget to put out your contributions to the Foodbank.
Some Christmas treats would be most welcome!
Monday 29 November 2021
Lateral Flow Test
Use this link to order a free lateral flow test.
https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests
Keep safe!
Sunday 28 November 2021
Parish church Needham
The church service held last Sunday was a warming occasion, lots of singing was done by all.
Thank you to all who attended.
WELCOME
We welcome everyone in the village to join in the events planning and participation
This coming year many new ideas have been put forward, we would really like you all to be involved in our villages events and participate in as many of them as you can.
From Coffee and cake mornings to HIGH TEA in the village hall
barbecues, talks BINGO, games nights.
sing alongs.
Dont be shy to come forward.
Contact 07306546794. Lynn , I would love to meet you and listen to your ideas.
Monday 22 November 2021
Sunday 14 November 2021
Remembrance Sunday
St Peter's Church was almost full for the Remembrance Day service. The service was followed by the lighting of the Village Beacon by Harold Jefferson.
Eliot Walker, aged 9 years, played
The Last Post beautifully.
Thursday 11 November 2021
Remembrance Sunday
Please join your fellow Needham residents on Sunday evening in a service of remembrance and lighting of the village beacon.
Service of Remembrance at St Peter's : 6pm
Beacon Lighting : 7pm
Soup & rolls in the Village Hall
FOODBANK
The Hare family will be collecting donations for the Foodbank on Saturday (13th) morning as they do and have been doing every second Saturday of the month.
Monday 8 November 2021
Tuesday 19 October 2021
Keep in touch
A Needham Village WhatsApp group has been set up by Helen Walker.
If you would like to keep in touch with other Needham residents text Helen on 07880 733584 so you can be added to the group.
*Please note that others will be able to see your messages and your number but it's a friendly group of villagers.
If you need a hand, a hello or just to relay a message, then this WhatsApp group may be just what you're looking for. Feel free to add people to it to create a community. With winter approaching we may all need it.
This is a Village WhatsApp group with nothing to do with any specific committee or business within the Village.
Monday 18 October 2021
Broadband
Hurray!
County Broadband is in the Village and properties are being connected today and this week. The Village Hall will have internet soon.
Sunday 3 October 2021
Tuesday 24 August 2021
Needham Summer BBQ
If you would like to help at the BBQ or any future events please contact Georgina at georginalf13@gmail.com
Tuesday 17 August 2021
Sponsored Skydive
Helen Major of Mill Lane is having a change from asking for sponsorship for taking part in the Pink Ladies' Tractor Run this year by doing a Skydive in aid of Cancer Research UK.
If you would like to sponsor her for this very worthwhile cause please visit her JustGiving page at
https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/helens-skydive
The skydive took place on 19th August.
Thursday 5 August 2021
Meet our Policeman
07/08/2021 08:30 - 10:00 Needham - High Road by Village Hall & Church
Sunday 11 July 2021
St Peter's Tidy Up
Well done to the working party led by Robin Twigge for an amazing job in the churchyard. The churchyard looks amazing.
Friday 2 July 2021
County Broadband
Incompetence or scam?
We are still waiting for connection by County Broadband. The sales pitch was very persuasive and we, along with many people in our village, signed up eagerly. This was over 2 years ago and we are still waiting. Today I phoned the Director of Sales, James Salmon, but he could not give me any information about when we will be connected as he didn’t have the, quote ‘bandwidth’ to help me. He suggested I phone customer services. The Sales Manager, Tim Dagnell-Scott was not answering his phone so I spoke to a customer services agent but she could not answer my question either. Apparently, they are waiting for the ‘Build Team’ to complete the operation but do not have a clue when this will happen. Customer services don’t seem to be able to access any data from this team.
This delay is on top of unexpected additional charges being levied on connections to some of the properties in the village. We’re beginning to think this may be an elaborate scam. If not, it's sheer incompetence.
Friday 4 June 2021
Tuesday 25 May 2021
Sunday 16 May 2021
Thursday 13 May 2021
Editorial
Welcome to the Spring edition of the Link. As you will see, there has been much going on in the village so I shall keep my contribution mercifully short! The tree planting in the Nook is a milestone and congratulations to all concerned. We are still living with COVID, although its impact is decreasing so we can start to plan for the future.
Our hearts go out to Sue Simmons and family who recently suffered a devastating fire at their home, the Old Fishmongers, but the reaction of villagers has been magnificent at this time of personal crisis.
Alan Jeffery
Geocaching in Lockdown
Lockdown 3.0 has been a lot harder than the first two lockdowns. Could it be lockdown fatigue or the fact that the days have been short, dark and cold?
Indoor activities continue to focus mainly on jigsaws. We have completed over a dozen puzzles of varying degrees of difficulty but all with 1000 pieces. At the time of writing we are attempting our most challenging jigsaw: a puzzle of 3000 pieces measuring 144cm by 68cm depicting Picasso’s masterpiece, Guernica. This is by way of compensation for our cancelled trip to Madrid last year where we had hoped to see the real thing.
Outdoors, we have been more adventurous. We’ve continued with our government authorised outdoor activity of walking, although with reduced enthusiasm until we discovered Geocaching. Geocaching is an outdoor activity using GPS on a mobile phone to look for hidden containers at specific locations. We’ve found it has given us an incentive to find new routes in the area and is a fun way to exercise both mind and body. Geocaching is a hobby with caches hidden worldwide. There is, however, no need to travel far as there are at least fifty hidden within walking distance of Needham and even some in the village. If you have a bicycle then there are hundreds to find locally. It’s like a treasure hunt except instead of a map where X marks the spot you use an app on your smartphone and your powers of observation. Instead of buried treasure you’re looking typically for a small waterproof container containing a ‘log’ and sometimes a pencil with which to sign and date the log as evidence of your find. It’s best to take one’s own pencil or pen though. Once you have found 20 caches you are then allowed to hide your own cache which we did at the beginning of April. We await with excitement reports of it being found by other cachers! It's an activity for all ages; friends of ours have found that it is a really good way to encourage their children to get extra exercise.
or download the app on your smartphone.
River Waveney
REDUCING POLLUTION IN THE RIVER WAVENEY
At the River Waveney Trust, we are currently undertaking a campaign to deliver advice and guidance to homeowners on best practice septic tank and sewage treatment system management, to help address pollution in the River Waveney catchment. Due to a lack of mains sewerage, Needham is one of the target villages for this project.
I hope many of the villagers will have received a leaflet introducing the campaign we are running in collaboration with Groundwork and the Environment Agency. While Covid restrictions remain in place we are limited in the further engagement we can provide, however we are currently able to test watercourses (drains, ditches, main river) for ammonium, and we hope to soon be able to visit each village to deliver information in person to the community.
Emily Winter 07788 419475
Web: https://www.riverwaveneytrust.org
Needham Parish Council
A meeting of Parish Councillors was held by Zoom on Monday 29 March. James
Macmillan was unanimously voted onto the Parish Council to fill the casual vacancy that had arisen.
The Parish Council had received complaints from several residents they had been asked by County Broadband to pay for the fibre connection to their home that was always understood would be free. Some of these charges were considerable. County Broadband were therefore asked: why had these charges been levied; would there be further charges to bring cable into the home; and who benefits from the Gigabit Voucher Scheme?
It has taken a lot of persistent questioning but County Broadband eventually supplied the following information: they provide a ‘standard’ installation that includes 15 metres buried fibre cable in soft ground and an additional 2 metres in hard ground or 55 metres overhead cable. Anything above that incurs a charge. However, County Broadband informed us they have recently improved their rates.
Of the 37 customers they have written to 9 are subject to excess installation costs. Five of these are overhead and will receive a reduced rate and three will be free. The Gigabit scheme is designed to cover the cost of a ‘standard’ installation. However, excess installation fees are still chargeable. It was confirmed that the whether free or charged for, there is no further fee for bringing cable into the house.
It was disappointing to learn that, despite assurances that every house in the parish could be connected, County Broadband have decided that some outlying properties will not now have that option.
County Broadband was left under no illusion that their manner created considerable ill feeling in the village. However, our approach to them seems to have made them change their attitude and any residents that turned down the option of being connected due to the charges being levied are urged to contact County Broadband to agree revised rates.
In other discussions it was reported that eight fruit trees have now been planted at the Nook. Also, the swing has received a safety check and can be used and the goal posts are complete.
A suggestion received that the Parish Council should organise a litter pick was warmly supported. Details of a date and a request for volunteers will appear in a future edition of the Link once the Covid restrictions have been lifted.
During lockdown Councillors have been able to meet successfully through Zoom due to legislation that was passed to allow this. This temporary legislation ends on 7 May. It was therefore decided to bring forward the date of the next meeting and the Annual Parish Meeting to Wednesday 28 April in order that it can again be held by Zoom.
Andrew Major, Chairman
The Needham Nook is complete
On a grey day in March, 12 members of the community gathered for a socially distanced tree planting day, creating Needham’s very own Orchard at The Nook. Eight fruit bearing trees can be seen in the Western most part of the field, lovingly planted and mulched in to give them the very best start. Some of those present have agreed to ‘adopt a tree’, committing to take care of it over the coming year or two, ensuring it has enough water during dry spells and nurturing it towards maturity. There are still a few trees that have not been adopted, so if you would like to take part, its not too late! Please contact Fairlie on greenigloos@gmail.com to arrange this.
Having a community Orchard was an important part of the original vision for the Nook, providing community food and adding a mixed environment to the project for all of the community to enjoy. The bench has been moved to achieve a better view of the area, and since the last edition, a pair of football goals and a large swing have also been installed.
With the completion of the installation stage of The Nook, Needham Action Group can now truly hand it over to the community to take care of and have pride in. It is extremely gratifying to see it so well used and enjoyed by many both from within the village and beyond, and many thanks for all of the encouraging comments and expressions of delight about it.
We hope that when the time comes for community outdoor events to be once again permissible, we will be able to hold a celebration event of this immense achievement for the whole community. If you are interested in helping to put on this event, please contact me at the address below.
Fairlie Winship: greenigloos@gmail.com
Please get in touch if you would like to Adopt A Tree
Fairlie
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's James in a Paramotor!
If you’ve heard a strange buzzing sound over Needham recently, you may have thought that we’re being invaded by a swarm of mosquitos or even the dreaded Asian hornets, but there’s a simpler reason and it’s closer to home.
James MacMillan so loves the scenery of the Waveney Valley he regularly takes to the sky in his
Paramotor which is essentially a parachute with an engine strapped to James’s back. He says that the view of Needham from the air is stunning and has shared with us two of his aerial photographs.
James has recently joined Needham Parish Council as a councillor. He said the he joined because he “would like to be more engaged in my local community. Sometimes we feel a bit out of it where we live on Upper Burnt House Lane. I was fortunate to grow up in a village where my mum was involved in lots of things. As a result it would sometimes take 45mins to buy a loaf of bread from the bakery 100 metres from our house. I miss that”
James has lived in Needham for over 11 years in what can be described as a multi-generational and multi-species household which comprises his parents and parents-in-law and includes Rose Martin (mother-in- law), a former Needham Parish Councillor. He is married to Gemma, has 2 children as well as 3 horses, 2 dogs, 4 cats and 2 ducks. COVID has made them realise how lucky they are living together, and are able to support one another through these times.
When he’s not Power Gliding James can be seen running, usually with his running partners – Bertie, a Border Collie and Nellie, a Jack Russell (shown above). He also swims and paddle boards down the Waveney. As a Business Development Manager for an Anglo/Swedish Company he travels around the UK (in non Covid times) and sometimes abroad. James is a very welcome and valued new member of the Parish Council.
The Environment
Hedgehogs
You may have noticed the sweet hedgehog signs in the High Road asking drivers to watch out for and avoid hedgehogs in the road. They are nocturnal so will be out after dark. They will be foraging along the verges and can cross the road at any point. As their numbers are declining rapidly it would be great if we can help them.
Birds
It is lovely that the swallows have arrived back for the summer, swooping over the water meadows to catch flies.
A kestrel dived into our garden the other day trying to get a sparrow but they were too quick for it. The kestrel chased them into a shrub but came out with nothing. I think we often take the birdsong for granted but it is such an important part of the countryside. We hear the skylarks, buzzards, robins, blackbirds, wrens, tawny owls and lots more, many of which are difficult to identify. There are some good links on the RSPB website. Have you seen any unusual birds?
Litter
Another litter pick in the village is planned for later in the summer when we have more clarification on the Covid restrictions. Some of you joined the last one which was over a year ago, when we collected quite a lot of litter, made up largely of drinks bottles and cans, sweet and crisp wrappers. It was part of a county wide scheme and we won £20 for the village, to use communally.
In the meantime, please look after our environment and do not throw out litter.
Georgina Frost
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