Borderhoppa

2012 was a busy year for Borderhoppa. In April we became a flexibly routed service, this meant that anyone, any age could now use our service, not just our members. 

Also, Norfolk County Council joined Suffolk County Council in allowing free transport on our buses for concessionary pass holders after 9.30am. 

On Mondays throughout the year, we’ve continued to run regular outings. These are for members only but membership is free; you just pay for the outings. Members have enjoyed visiting towns & cities for shopping, trips to the seaside, boat trips, pub lunches & visits to local gardens & garden centres.

In the Autumn, Borderhoppa launched a ‘new bus club’ which is a lottery open to everyone to help raise funds for a much needed new bus (although due to the weather recently we’d be better buying a boat!)  It also gives people a chance to win a share of the funds each month for just £2 a number. This has proved to be very popular & the first lottery draw in Decembers saw prizes of £57.50, 2 x £23 & £11.50 being won.

If you would like to book a journey for shopping, doctors, hairdressers etc, become a member to enjoy our outings, book a place on an outing, hire one of our buses or take part in our monthly bus lottery, then please call: 01379 854800 between 8.30am – 5.00pm Mon – Fri.

Outings coming up:

Mon   4^th March:    Bury St Edmunds £12

Mon 18^th March:    Stowmarket & lunch at The Black Horse, Thorndon £12

                              (lunch extra)

Needham Carpet Bowls Club

This is the first report for 2013.  We have played home matches against Brockdish and Kenningham both of which we lost  but we were the winners against Syleham.  The return match against Syleham on 11 February was lost.

We have an away match against Debenham on Wednesday 13 March so, unfortunately, there will not be a club evening on that day.  

Our annual dinner and presentation evening will be held on Saturday 9 March at 7:00 for 7:30 at the Red Lion.

The AGM will take place on Wednesday 20 March at the Village Hall starting at 7:15pm.  This will be followed by our usual club evening.

We have been invited to enter the Annual Bowls Tournament at Debenham on Friday 12 April at 7:00pm.  This is usually a very enjoyable evening and we do hope some of our members will attend.

We are pleased to welcome John and David as new members of our club.

The club evenings are every Wednesday evening at the Village Hall starting at 7:30pm.  The fees are still only £1.50 which includes tea/coffee and biscuits.  Equipment is provided.  Do come along and join us - new members are always welcome!

Nudger

New Arrival in Needham

Jasper

We are pleased to announce the 

arrival of Baby Jasper Huxley Q Miller born in Needham on February 1st, at 6:10am weighing in at 7lbs 14oz, joining the clan of big sister Gaia and big brother James (also a Needham baby) and proud parents Fariba and Stephen.

The birth was very quick; so much so  that the midwives didn't make it on time and dad delivered him in the front room at home on his own.

Phhewwwww!

                                                         Well done Stephen - and Fariba!

Mill Farm

Does anyone in the village recall the names Mill Meadow, Helwys at Crosse or Fulls Gap?  These are all names of properties that appear on nineteenth century title deeds for Mill Farm.  What seems certain is that the farm was built in the 1790’s possibly in response to the demand for wheat created by the Napoleonic wars.  It ceased to be an operational farm when the buildings and land were sold off separately in 1972.

The last family to farm here were Godfrey and Mary Newcomb who purchased the farm from a Mr Leist in 1950 for the sum of £4250 including £500 for the stock and crops and £1000 for the house.  On this basis the land was valued at £55 per acre.  Leist in turn had purchased the farm from Miss Bullivant who purchased the farm in 1942 for £1100.  Going back to the nineteenth century, the farm appears to have been the property of a large landowner James Drane. 

Mary Newcomb is now remembered as an  outstanding artist and her work is in many collections. Her daughter Tessa, who grew up on the farm, is now an eminent artist in her own right and still lives locally. 

A tractor is just visible in the photograph of Mary and Godfrey parked in the shed that is now our living room and in the photograph of Tessa in a pony trap, taken from the same view point but at a later date, steps can be seen leading up to a loft where Mary had her studio.  Amongst other enterprises, Godfrey used the barn below as a pottery studio.  The threshing barn can be seen in the background of the photograph of Tessa, this time on a donkey.

When the farm was broken up, the large threshing barn, now known as the Tithe Barn, was sold to Mr and Mrs Kempstone and their son Jake.  It was subsequently sold to Gill Levin and many will be familiar with the barn through the concerts that she holds there and from the Waveney Valley Art Trail open days.

Mill Farm itself, which is the small cottage next to the lane, was bought by Natalie Oliver, the wife of the band leader Vic Oliver.  (His first wife was the daughter of Winston Churchill, much to the great man’s displeasure!).  

The remaining farm outbuildings, now Mill Farm Cottage, were purchased by an architect Jean Condor, who went on to marry Jacko Moya, one half of the architectural practice Powell & Moya, best remembered for designing the Skylon at the Festival of Britain.  By coincidence Jean was the sister-in-law of Natalie Oliver. Jean Condor converted the buildings to provide a kitchen, bathroom and living room.  The total cost of the work was estimated at £4028 for which she received a grant of £1000.

Mill Farm Cottage was then sold in 1985 to John and Audrey Valentine, who many in the village will remember.  Helen and I purchased Mill Farm Cottage in 2004 when the Valentines moved to be closer to family.   Sadly, John died in 2009.

We should be fascinated to hear if anyone has any recollections of the previous owners of Mill Farm, or indeed of the days when it was still a working farm. I am grateful to Tessa and her sister, Hannah,  for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs and for the loan of documents relating to the sale of the farm.

Andrew Major

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday in the UK falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent which this year will be on 10 March.  We have celebrated Mothering Sunday which was also known as Refreshment Sunday, Pudding Pie Sunday or Mid-Lent Sunday since at least the 16^th century.

It was a day in Lent when the fasting rules were relaxed in honour of the Feeding of the Five Thousand.  No one is absolutely certain how the name Mothering Sunday came about but one theory is that the celebration could have been adopted from a Roman Spring festival celebrating Cybele, their Mother Goddess.

Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in England worship at their nearest parish or 'daughter church'.  Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or 'mother' church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their mother church - the main church or cathedral of the area.

Inevitably the return to the mother church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.

Most historians think that it was the return to the mother church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.  They might also take a gift of a cake, traditionally a Simnel Cake.  

Eventually, this religious tradition evolved into the Mother’s Day tradition of giving gifts to mothers.

A Simnel cake is a fruit cake with two layers of almond paste, one on top and one in the middle. Different towns had their own recipes and shapes of the Simnel cake. Bury, Devizes and Shrewsbury produced large numbers to their own recipes, but it is the Shrewsbury version that became most popular and well known.

The name Simnel probably comes from the Latin word simila which means a fine wheat flour usually used for baking a cake.  A popular legend attributes the invention of the Simnel cake to Lambert Simnel but this is clearly false since the Simnel cake appears in English literature much earlier than Lambert. 

There's also a Shropshire legend that a man called Simon and his wife Nell argued over whether the cake for Mothering Sunday should be baked or boiled. In the end they did both, so the cake was named after both of them: SIM-NELL!

The cake is made with 11 balls of marzipan icing on top representing the 11 disciples. (Judas is not included.) Traditionally, sugar violets would also be added.

Recipe for Simnel Cake

Ingredients

• 100g/4oz glacé cherries
• 225g/8oz butter, softened
• 225g/8oz light muscavado sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 225g/8oz SR flour
• 225g/8oz sultanas
• 100g/4oz currants
• 50g/2oz chopped candied peel
• 2 lemons, grated zest only
• 2tsp mixed spice
• a little apricot jam

Method

• preheat the oven to 150C/280F/gas mark 2
• grease and line a 20cm/8in cake tin
• cut the cherries into quarters, rinse under running water and dry well
• place the cherries in a bowl with the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, sultanas, currants, candied peel, lemon zest and mixed spice and well well until thoroughly mixed
• pour half the mixture into the prepared tin
• take one third of the marzipan and roll it into a circle the same diameter as the tin and place on top of the cake mixture.
• spoon the remaining cake mixture on top and level the surface
• bake in the preheated oven for about 2 and a half hours or until well risen, evenly brown and firm to the touch.  cover with aluminium foil after an hour if the top is browning too quickly.
• leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.
• when the cake is cool, brush the top with a little warmed apricot jam and roll out half the remaining marzipan to fit the top. Press firmly on the top and crimp the edges to decorate.  Make a criss cross pattern on the marzipan with a sharp knife.  form the remaining marzipan into 11 balls.
• Brush the marzipan with beaten egg and arrange the marzipan balls around the edge of the cake.  Brush the tops of the balls with beaten egg and carefully place the cake under a hot grill until the top is lightly toasted.

Very Important Notice

Some very angry residents have contacted The Link to protest that, despite repeated requests, a few inconsiderate dog owners are continuing to allow their dogs to foul the pavement and verges and not clearing up afterwards.  This is really anti-social, dangerous and an offence. According to http://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public/dog-fouling  if you don’t clean up after your dog you can be taken to court and fined up to £1000.

People will be on the lookout to identify the culprits! 

Village Hall Committee

Annual General Meeting

Needham Village Hall committee which is responsible for the running of the Village Hall is holding its AGM on Monday 15th April at 7.30pm in the hall. The meeting is open to the village. We welcome your ideas and suggestions about how the village hall is used for the benefit for all of us. This meeting will include elections to the committee for the forthcoming year.  We have several new members on the committee and we would welcome anyone who wants to be involved with running and fundraising for the hall.  We look forward to seeing you. 

Any questions please contact Caroline carosdear@yahoo.co.uk  or via Facebook ‘Needham Village Hall’.

Caroline

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Committee

The committee will be meeting to discuss how best to use the money raised during the Jubilee on projects which would benefit Needham. There has been one suggestion of a boules pitch for the village. If you have any ideas please contact:

the Editor at needhamlink@gmail.com 

or Caroline at carosdear@yahoo.co.uk

                   

Parish Council News

The Parish Council met on 7^th January in the Village Hall. The meeting was preceded by a public forum with County Councilor Martin Wilby and District Councilor Jenny Wilby present.  Villagers are reminded that this is an excellent opportunity to meet your Councilors who are able to offer authoritative advice and support.

A parishioner reported that the Highways Authority are to carry out repairs to a brick culvert under the High Road taking water from the north side of the road and discharging in to a ditch on his property.  He enquired if there was any financial or practical help that he could be offered to assist in clearing the ditch to ensure that the water drains efficiently to the Waveney.

The meeting was told that the maintenance of ditches is the sole responsibility of the landowner.  Unfortunately, although as in this case the culvert is draining from another property, each landowner is responsible for their part of the drainage system.

It was also reported that roadside hedges are obstructing sight lines close to Skeetsmere Farm.  It was agreed to report this to the Rangers for action.  Should parishioners have similar concerns over everyday maintenance of the road side, the Parish Council are able to report these to the Rangers who visit periodically to carry out street cleaning.

The date of the Parish Council meeting had been brought forward in order to meet a dead line imposed for setting the Precept. This is the money that the Parish Council receives from the Council Tax.  It was agreed that there should be no increase in the Precept.  This means it has remained unchanged now for three years.

It was reported that two new notice boards, paid for by the Parish Council, and a further board for the use of the Village Hall and paid for from funds raised during the Jubilee year, had been delivered.  

Andrew Major (Chairman)

Friends of St Peter's

March

Sunday              3rd March        11.00am   Holy Communion

Sunday             10th March        6.00pm   Evening Service

Sunday             17th March       11.00am   Holy Communion

Palm Sunday     24th March       11.00am   Morning Prayer

Wednesday       27th March      10.30am   Morning Devotions

Good Friday      29th March      11.00am   Devotional Half Hour Easter Sunday    31st March       11.00am    Holy Communion

                                                      April

                                                      Sunday               7th April           11.00am   Holy Communion

                                                      Sunday             14th April           6.00pm   Evening Service

                                                      Sunday              21st April          11.00am  Morning Prayer

                                                      Sunday             28th April          11.00am  Morning Prayer

Stop Press!

The Friends of St Peter’s A.G.M. is planned for Friday May 17^th, 7.30 p.m., Needham Village Hall. David Cunliffe, who has been our treasurer since the Friends were formed, will definitely not be standing for re-election to the Committee. Clearly he will be a great loss. Without his enthusiastic contributions, especially these last few years, the Friends may well have folded. None of the present committee is prepared to take on the treasurer role and, not to put too fine a point on it, if we cannot find a replacement treasurer, sadly we will not be able to continue as an organisation. I am happy, if elected, to continue chairing the Friends if we have a treasurer, but if there is a Needham resident who would like to take the chairmanship on I am equally happy to simply serve on the Committee if required. The Friends exist to raise money for building repairs and improvements to St Peter’s. Church attendance is not a precondition of being a Friend. If you feel that St. Peter’s building is worth preserving do please give this serious consideration. If you would like to find out more please contact me on 01379 853284, or email clive.hudson@talktalk.net,       

Reverend Clive Hudson

Ramblings from the Rectory

March can be cold but it can also be when the first signs of spring can be seen. If we get some mild March weather, I will start to see my bees out and foraging once again. The cold may not have gone in March but at least there are likely to be signs that warmth and light are on their way once again. Hopefully, March will see me out on my motorbike more.

March ends with  Easter day (March 31^st). A time to celebrate new life and light to the world. Jesus is risen from the dead to show that even death is not the end. Easter is a time of hope and happiness. So at the end of March I hope you enjoy your chocolate eggs and rabbits and remember the gift of new life that they symbolise.

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!   God bless you, now and always,

Nigel.

March /April Edition

The March/April edition of The Needham Link will be available to read online from 28 February.

Deadline

The deadline for articles to be included in the March/April edition of The Link is 15 February.  Make sure you don't miss it!
Email: needhamlink@gmail.com or post your contributions through the letter box at Mill Farm Cottage.

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.

Christmas Evening Dinner Tickets

The tickets for the Needham Village Christmas Evening Dinner on Saturday 15 December are selling fast.      
Avoid disappointment and get your tickets NOW!
needhamlink@gmail.com