THE CROWN INN

Home Cooked Food Served Daily

12noon—2pm

And 6pm to 8pm On Sunday and Monday

6pm to 9 pm Wednesday to Saturday

Closed all day Tuesday Senior Citizens 2 Course Lunch every Wednesday £5. 95

Alternate Wednesday Quiz Nite

Tel. (01366)727317

Page 12

Sandra’s Cards

Handmade cards for any occasion Made to your personal specifications at

very competitive prices

Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator Let me introduce you to, or enhance an existing hobby in

the comfort of your own home

with friends and family

Tel. 01366 728407 or 07806 616704

Dave’s Kitchen By Our Resident Chef David

Wheatley

Mini turkey meat loaves

Serves 4 ready in 30 min's

1 chopped shallot

15g of butter

2 cheap sausages regular size

450g of turkey mince

1 slice of bread made into bread crumbs

2 tssp dried herbs

1 large egg lightly beaten

a little oil for greasing

Preheat oven to 190c/170c fan

Cook the shallot in the butter until soft

and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Make a cut in the skin of the sausage

and peel skin off.

Add the sausage meat to the shallot with

the turkey mince, breadcrumbs,herbs

and egg.

Season, then mix together with your

hands.

Grease 8 holes in a muffin tray with the

oil and divide the mixture between

them. Bake for 20 minutes. turn out and

serve.

Baked leek and potato parcels 750g charlotte potatoes 1 large leek finely shredded 2 bay leaves 3 tbsp olive oil 30g butter Preheat oven to 200c/180fan Take 4 pieces of greaseproof paper 38cm x 60cm Lie them on the baking tray so they form a cross shape Part boil potatoes for 10-12min drain well cool slightly and cut in half. In a large bowl toss potatoes with leek bay leaves oil and butter and salt and black pepper Pile half the potatoes in the centre of the greaseproof paper and scrunch 2 pieces of the greaseproof papers edges together to form a moneybag shape, tie with string, repeat to form 2 parcels Bake in the oven for 20 min's to 25mins. Untie the vegetables are steaming hot. Remove from oven and bring straight to the table. Serve from the untied bags the kids will love them especially

Letter to The Editor

Having just received our annual Poll,

sorry, Council Tax bills I noticed that

as a resident of Whittington I am

obliged to pay a proportion for North-

wold.

As a frequent visitor to this charming

village. I wondered what my few quid

paid for. Stepping out from my mother-

in-law’s in said village I noticed the

abundance of 'free' gifts left by the

equine fraternity.

Week after week they, thoughtfully,

leave elongated piles of Rose fertilizer.

I don't even have to have it delivered! It

conveniently sticks to the tyres of my

car thus saving me a 'delivery charge'

Ah! "A four- legged friend, a four-

legged friend Northwold never lets me

down!

Steve Kershaw. Whittington Collect it up and, put it in a sack. Im-

merse the sack in a tub of water for a

few days and then feed the tomatoes

with the water. Sheep’s is just as good

Ed.

Issue May 2009 Copy date for the next issue is;

23rd May 2009 copy@northwold.net Tel. 01366 728233

Bucking The Trend

On Easter Saturday we saw the eagerly

awaited re-opening of the Village shop.

As reported in an earlier edition. Clair

and Jamie have spent a great deal of time

and effort in converting what was to be

honest a somewhat drab and dingy shop

into a very light and airy place, With the

smell of fresh paint still in the air, and

freshly red tiled floor, the place somehow

seemed to be much larger than it ever has

done before.

On the opening day we are still awaiting

the start of the newspaper business

which, hopefully will have begun before

this edition goes to press. Some newspa-

per titles are arriving from Monday,20th

the rest including magazines the follow-

ing week. The delivery service should

be operational around mid May at the

latest.

The Post Office should also soon be up

and running as a visit has already taken

place to establish what is required.

When this does take place the Post Of-

fice Counter will be at one end of the

general counter, and will be open for

business at any time that the shop is

open, even on Sundays. This is some-

thing new being introduced by the Post

Office, an arrangement which has freed

up the old Post Office to be used as a

store.

Clair specialises in home baked cakes

and to date they are apparently not long

in the cabinet before they are sold. All

meats, cheeses and savories are from

Gary Boyce of Methwold

Fresh fruit and vegetables sourced lo-

cally whenever possible supplied by

Mark the Greengrocer of Brandon

Freshly made icecream from Norfolk

Farmhouse of North Tuddenham

Jams, pickles and chutneys made to

order from Dereham

All cakes are freshly baked using only

organic flour, Norfolk preserves and free

range Northwold eggs!

Milk supplied by our village milkman,

Brian

Breads made in Downham Market

Fresh sandwiches made in Watton using

bread also baked in Watton

We have also stayed faithful to the larger

Norfolk producers, namely mustard from

Colmans of Norwich and Kettle Chips

crisps, also made in Norwich!

On the opening morning at the appointed

hour the shop was soon busy. It had not

long been open when some younger per-

sons entered and made a beeline for the

cake rack, led by the redoubtable Nathan.

Even then there were adjustments to be

made and “David the man with the

power” was busy one of the appliances.

By and large it would seem that things

are going quite well and can only im-

prove with the introduction of the news-

papers and Post office.

But this has been said before in Village

Life. It is up to the parishioners to sup-

port it. Go in and have a look for yourself

and if what you require is not there then

tell Clair so that it can be acquired and

put on sale. They have done their bit,

now it’s up to us, or to coin the well

worn phrase, Use it or lose it.

One other thing. If anyone is wondering

why the flower pots have been placed

along the side of the road outside the

door. They have been put there in the

interests of safety it being thought that a

child might step out of the shop just as

someone is pulling up and get hurt.

Good thinking! And there is plenty of

room on the road once you get used to

it.

Clair And Jamie

Some of the first customers

Village Shop cover

Carnival Open Studios

Spiritualists

2

St Andrew’s Church Youth Club

Charities

Pram Race

3

Jonny Dolla 4

Parish Council

5

Dr Nisbet Bowls Club Draw

The Grange open gardens

6

River watch Pre School

7

Norman School 8

Pog 9

Methwold High School Fete Riding for the disabled children

Northwold WI

10

Classified advertisements

11

Dave’s Kitchen Letter to the editor

12

Inside this issue:

Page 2

The Village Life Team

Editor Michael Parfitt

copy@northwold.net Tel. 728233

Deputy Editor Graeme Whiting

graeme@northwold.net Tel 727425

Advertising

ads@northwold.net

Circulation Manager Mark Elwes

circulation@northwold.net Tel. 728795

Committee

Chair Carol Sharp Tel. 728227

Secretary Position vacant

Treasurer Geoff Bartram

Tel. 728673

The views expressed in submitted items are not necessarily endorsed by Northwold & Whittington Village Life. Whilst we endeavour to ensure that all information contained in the newsletter is correct, we cannot be held responsible for errors. The Editor reserves the right to refuse or omit items without explanation.

Derek Johnson PROPERTY & LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE

Interior & exterior painting, wood or UPVC facia boards

Guttering repaired, cleaned, replaced Roofing repairs, damaged tiles replaced

Chimney pots & cowlings fitted Chimney stacks and general re-pointing

Blocked drains & sinks cleared General plumbing & drainage

Roof, patio & driveway pressure washing Trees & conifers trimmed or removed

Hedges, bushes and ivy trimmed Fencing & decking, landscape maintenance

TELEPHONE 01842 810816

Northwold PFTA

Carnival on Satur-

day 13th June. From Roger Preston

The Programme for the Carnival has

now been finalised and is as follows:

Your Master of ceremonies for the day

is Mr John Fox

The Following times may vary be-

cause:-

We have successfully

been granted a Fly By,

by The Royal Air Force

Red Arrows. Without

doubt the greatest in

the World. 1.30 pm Floats assemble at Chalk Pit

Hill

2.00 pm Procession Departs accompa-

nied by The Marching Ambassadors

2.45 pm. Judging, Floats and Fancy

dress in the main ring

Judges for the year are Graham

Barnard and Karen Buchanan

from Radio Norfolk

3.10pm Mark Farnham’s Tae kwon

Do Group

3. 20pm The Ford and Slater Truck

Pull Contest

3.30pm Birds of prey (Out on a wing)

3. 55pm Vintage Bicycles

4.10pm The Marching Ambassadors

4.25pm The Ford and Slater Truck

Pull Contest

4.40 pm Mark Farnham’s Tae Kwon

Do

4.50pm Arroz’s Display Team

5.05pm Birds Of Prey(Out on a wing)

5.35pm All other results.

Final Event

The ever popular-

Gunge Tank

Unless you happen to be

the one who is in it Ed

Norfolk Open Studios

“All saints’ Painters” Five local artists invite you to an exhibi-

tion in All Saints Church, Stoke Ferry

from Saturday May 16th to Sunday May

31st 2009.

Daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Easy parking

and access.

Artists working on site – art for sale.

Something for everyone- Competitive

prices.

Exhibition by kind permission of Kit

Hesketh-Harvey.

Please phone Teresa Waller on

(01366) 501369 for further de-

tails

Also see page 6 April edition for

in depth information. Ed

Northwold Spiritualists

Meet every other Friday in the

Village hall and on certain

other days.

Friday 8th May Dorothy Cooklin

Friday 22nd May Pam Romero

Saturday 16th May Psychic Supper

Friday 5th June Peter Smith

Ray Gribble

Antique Restoration & Traditional Upholstery

All aspects of antique furniture restoration including French

polishing, cabinet repairs and traditional upholstery

-------------------------------------------

Traditional Upholstered Furniture Footstools, Sofas, Chairs made to commission

-------------------------------------------

Picture Framing & Mirrors

An extensive range of mouldings including hand painted

and gilded finishes

Antique and Reproduction Prints for sale

Vine House, Church Road, Wereham, King’s Lynn

01366-500387

www.raygribble.co.uk

Page 11

01366 385885

Local Runs Airports, etc.

PAUL’S TAXI’S

Classified Ads

Greenway Interiors

Kitchens, Bathrooms, Plumbing,

Carpentry Plastering Decorating

54, Cromwell Road, Weeting.

Tel 01842 812567. Mobi le

07766013485. Phone today for a free

quote

We're not just a company - we

care

Graham Smith & Sons

Pest & Vermin Control for homes,

farms and businesses. 24hr/7-day

service. Local family business

(Clover Farm, Mundford)

Tel. 01842 879904, Mob. 07946

733188

D W Services

Gardening and T V Aerials. Grass

Cutting, Hedge trimming, Tree

pruning and general garden work.

Also Digital TV aerials fitted,

CCTV, Signal boosters etc

Tel. 01366 728403

Mobile 07752 587111

D.E.T. T.V. Service - Repairs to

TV’s, VCR’s and Microwaves. Fast

reliable service. John Clifford. 01842

878486.

Feeling Stressed? Why not treat

yourself (Or someone else) to a

relaxing massage by a fully qualified

The r ap i s t . Fu l l y BABTAC

recognised and insured. Gift

vouchers available. Body massage

£17.50 (1 hour), Back massage,

£12.50 (half hour). Contact Shelly

Farrow on 01366 328835 or 07881

904099.

E.G. Dack

Approved Electrician, 25 years

Experience. Small Jobs Electrical.

Tel . 01366 728118, Mobile

07766637077

Lose 2-5lbs a week using natural

products. Free telephone assessment

with an advisor.

Dietworks (0845) 1662157

Nash. 12 ft 2.25 Tc. £ 55. Phone

727018.

F E N L A N D G A R A G E D O O R S

The area’s largest range of manual & automatic doors.

Plus repairs to all doors, and spares.

Thetford 01842 880 008 Swaffham 01760 790 009 Or please phone our Southery SHOWROOM 01366 378481

www.fenlandgaragedoors.co.uk

Superb quality doors fitted by a professional, long standing company, with up to 10 years no quibble guarantee.

TPF P r o p e r t y Maintenance Services

Interior, Exterior Decorating, Carpentry, Wall & Floor Tiling, Wooden & Laminate

Flooring

Call Tim

01366 728 881

The Man With The Power

Handyman – No Job too small

Woodwork, Metal work Iron work

Design/Technical drawing

Gardening work/Labour and construc-

tions i.e. Pergolas gazebos and deck-

ing

House maintenance – Doors, locks

and painting

Phone David George on (01366)

727582

Ian Myers Bookkeeping

Self employed? Small business?

Fed-up with the hassle of

keeping your own ac-

counts?

Let me handle them for you.

Qualified AICB. Fully insured.

Tel: 01366 727141

Mob: 07979 947787

Email: ian.myers@hotmail.com

Page 10

The April meeting of the

Northwold WI was held on

Tuesday 14th and was attended

by 31 members.

Plans for the carnival float are

well underway and future

meetings arranged. The £5

challenge to raise funds for the Norfolk

room at Denman College was discussed.

It was agreed to gather together some of

our favourite family recipes into a small

booklet to sell around the village. The

village carnival would be the ideal place

to launch such a booklet and members

were asked to bring their recipes along

to the next meeting in order to meet this

deadline.

Members were invited to form a team to

enter the village hall quiz and volunteers

were sought to help with the Forget-me-

not lunch on June 16th.

The organisers of the Stradsett Hall Gar-

den Show, taking place in July, have

now asked that we supply two floral

displays for the church, Jenny Bunyan

and Brenda Ayres agreed to undertake

this task. Members were also reminded

that we have been asked to provide

cakes for this occasion.

The speaker this month was Mr David

Jessop who talked to us of his love for

Africa and it’s people. He told us many

interesting anecdotes of his frequent

visits to Africa and of the people he has

met and friends he has made there.

The competition was “An item from

Africa” and was won by Pauline Cundy.

Supper this month was provided by Jo

Norris, Beryl Quilter and Hilary Shar-

rington and was, as usual, delicious and

very much appreciated.

The May meeting will take place in the

village hall on Tuesday 12th May at

7.15, new members and visitors will be

most welcome. The speaker will be

Peter Bodle, who will talk to us about

‘Station 115 – the story of an airfield’.

Ann Howarth

Northwold W I

Horse Riding for Disabled Children At a church coffee morning at the end of last year, Maureen, Jane and I held a raf-

fle in aid of the Magpie Centre. We raised a total of £60.00.

I have received a postcard from Margaret and Jeffrey Carter and the centre manager

of the West Norfolk Riding for the Disabled Association containing their thanks for

the money raised and for the support shown. The very touching picture on the post-

card was of the disabled children and their carers.

Mary Hull

The Picture shows some of the disabled riders along with the helpers

showing their thanks for the help they receive

Page 3

BRIAN WATERS YOUR LOCAL MILKMAN

TEL : 01366 728024

DEPOT : 01284 754720

Northwold ~ Foulden

Feltwell ~ Methwold

Methwold Hythe

Mundford

MARK ROBERTS Plumbing & Heating

Plumbing & Heating • Boiler Replacement

Central Heating Installation

Bathrooms/Showers • Water Softeners

ALL WORK & MATERIALS GUARANTEED

REFERENCES AVAILABLE

Telephone 01366 727344 Mobile 07887 646587

N O R T H W O L D

YOUTH CLUB Just before the Easter break Maria

Kitchener kindly spent an evening

with our young members giving a very

interesting talk on all aspects of dogs,

their abilities and how to care for

them. Many of you will know Maria

either through her dog grooming ser-

vices or, indeed, from seeing her walk

her poodles in the village. You can

imagine the “oohs” and “aahs” when

Maria introduced her dogs to the

Youth Club.

Some members of the Club collected

towels and newspapers for the East

Winch Wildlife Rescue Centre ready

for their talk on 22 April but, due to

staff illness, the Centre had to post-

pone the presentation. However,

Bernie Bartlett has managed to deliver

the donations to the Centre on our be-

half – thank you to everyone who gave

to the cause.

We were fortunate that the weather

was kind to us and we were able to use

the Recreation Ground, so the children

were not too disappointed on missing

the talk that evening. A practice fire

drill followed by Quick Cricket,

rounders and obstacle courses using

space hoppers were the order of the

day. The screams and shouts from

members encouraging their team in

the races must have been heard all the

way to West End!

The numbers joining and attending the

Youth Club continue to grow and, as a

result, we have to closely monitor the

numbers, particularly in relation to

child/adult ratios. We now have to ask

that anyone wishing to join the Youth

Club contact Sharron prior to attend-

ing their first club evening so that a con-

tact and medical information sheet can

be completed and available for their first

attendance. (On one evening we had 7

new members enrol!)

On reading this, if there are any adults

who are willing to give 1½ hours every

other Wednesday to the Youth Club we

would love to hear from you as it would

certainly help the Volunteers manage so

many children during their varied activi-

ties! Please contact Sharron on 727675

if you would like further information.

Planned activities include table-tennis/

pool/team games (dependent on the

weather), athletics and a visit from an

international champion ... watch this

space!

Steve Freemantle

St Andrews Church

Annual Church Spring Clean Volunteers needed on the week May

11th to May 16

If you can help please come to the

Church for coffee on May 7th at 10. 30

am to discuss and plan work to be done.

Or phone Betty on 727478

St. Andrew's Flower Festival

Weekend

27th and 28th June If anyone would be interested in doing a

flower display, on the theme of "Songs of

Praise" in church for this event, please let

me know by SATURDAY 16th MAY at

the latest. Further details available. Jackie Elliott. Tel. 728571.

Services for May and Early

June

3rd May 10.30 am Holy Communion

Rev A Nicoll

10th May 11 am Matins

Keith McCleod

17th May 8am Holy Communion

Rev A Nicoll

21st May 6.30 pm at Hockwold

Rev Joan Horan

24th May 11am Holy Communion

Rev Joan Horan

31st 9.30 am Benefice Service at St

Mary’s Weeting. Rev J Horan

June 7th 11am Holy Communion

Rev A Nicoll

Post of ‘Clerk to the

Northwold Charities

Trustees’ The above post will shortly become

vacant.

Anyone interested in knowing more

about this varied and interesting job

should contact either Mrs. Rosemary

Crisp – Chairman of the Trustees on

01366 728300 or the present incum-

bent Mrs. Beryl Quilter 01366 727472.

Don’t forget The Great

Pram race on Sunday 17th

May at 1 pm.

Have you entered your Pram

yet?

Page 4

PR. Bowers & Son Funeral Directors

24 Hour Service

Tel 01366 727432 Upholding Traditional Family

Values of Dignity & Respect

Memorials .

Floral Tributes .Funeral Plans

Easy Jet

It’s only a 1 hour and 50 minute flight

from Stansted to Lake Garda in Italy!

By the time we left home it took me

eleven hours!

The flight departure was at 8.00 am so

you can check in at 6.00am. You’ve got

to leave home at about 3am, yes I know

it’s only an hour and a half journey, but

there might a hold up on the M11,

(Notorious for hold ups and accidents)

caused by Thousands of people leaving

early to catch their flights). Well as it

happened it was a clear drive to the Air-

port, in fact we got there in one hour and

ten minutes, funny that, it’s the third time

that has happened to me ! I was surprised

how quiet it was at that time in the morn-

ing. Anyway we arrived at the Terminal

in plenty of time, in fact our flight details

weren’t on the departure screen, so we

went and had some breakfast. £9. 50p for

the “Full English Breakfast”, one fired

egg, one tomato, 12 baked beans, two

slices pf streaky bacon, and a tired

looking sausage! Oh, and a rock hard

slice of fried bread. The Service was

terrible, we waited 20 minutes for the

bill! When we got to the check in there

was a big queue, so much for leaving

early. I blame my wife for that. She

insisted that she wanted to go to the

toilet. I was sure she could have held it

until after the check in. Any way we

eventually got on the plane, I was the

first one to be let on, How did that hap-

pen? Well before the holiday, I went on

to E Bay and bought a collapsible pair

of crutches! So when boarding time

came and they call out for anyone who

needs help to go first, I quickly un-

folded the crutches and away I went,

right to the front of the queue, Yippee, I

always wanted to do that. I had to sit on

my own, as my wife and daughter

would not follow me, and wanted to do

it properly and stay in the queue. The

flight was delayed for 45 minutes, ap-

parently “Some trouble with the en-

gines”, great, that’s all you need. We

eventually took off, but I was sure that

the starboard engine didn’t sound right,

but after a few drinks all my fears

seemed to disappear, funny that…

The hour and 50 minute flight took 2

hours 20 minutes! Something about a

strong headwind, I’m still convinced it

was the starboard engine. When we

landed I was quite surprised to see Fire

Engines and Ambulances on the Tarmac.

We were told that it was a practice emer-

gency drill, and quite “Normal proce-

dure”. A few of the passengers said that

“They thought they could smell burning”

Anyway by that time I didn’t care, be-

cause my Daughter had kept having

drinks sent to me, I didn’t want to offend

her, so I accepted them. I knew straight

away that this would be a great holi-

day…. We took a taxi from the airport

and arrived at our hotel at 12.00 noon. A

total of 11 Hours! About the time it takes

to fly across the Atlantic to America, if

you’re lucky.

Why is it when you’re on holiday and

you try to speak the language, they pre-

tend that they can’t understand what you

are trying to say! They can understand

you alright. I always find Shouting gets

some sort of response.

Maybe you’re thinking, What sort of

holiday did we have. Well that my

friends is another story….

The Jonny Dolla

Column. observations on life

Page 9

Our Past

According To

Pog Aka Mike Coley

A lot of the stuff that I fill these pages

with ( although not all by any means ) is

from that time that I remember person-

ally. Well that’s not always the case as

can clearly be seen on this occasion at

any rate.

We should not forget that we, the Eng-

lish people, later the British, have been a

conquered race more than once in the

past, thanks in no small part to the Ro-

man Invasion as well as that of the Vi-

kings amongst others. They all left us

many technological legacies, some of

which remain with us to this very day.

Some actually brought changes to our

language, place names are a good exam-

ple of this. For instance, where a thor-

oughfare crossed a substantial river the

place name invariably included the word

Ford, as in Thet-ford, where the main

road crossed the river Thet.

It’s not always that straight forward

however, take one of our neighbouring

communities, that of Mundford. There is

no river Mund to give its name to the

village but the word Ford is definitely

apparent, so in fact the village got its

name from the fact that the river cross-

ing there was something of a stronghold.

The word ‘mund’ alludes to this and

together with the word ‘Ford’ means ‘ A

fortified river crossing ‘

Today we are appalled by the ever in-

creasing number of deceases that have

become commonplace amongst us now,

so much so that our hospitals have be-

come places to largely avoid nowadays.

Rather like that dreadful place where

my dear old Grandfather ended his days.

It was at St James hospital in Lynn

( that had at one time been the Work-

house there ) something that the old boy

never forgot until his dying day. Hang

on together, keep a stiff upper lip, we

have to realise that it was ever thus. It

seems dreadful for us now to realise that

we simply haven’t got a ‘Pill to Pop’

that can counter every affliction that

confronts us every time we visit the doc-

tor, but in the past there were seemingly

numerous lethal afflictions that our for-

bears were subject to, many that were

viewed with absolute dread. Some of

those were the certain killers of yester-

year, though many have become little

more than minor inconveniences for

us today. None the less, as one thing

becomes easily conquered, so another

terrible affliction rears its ugly head to

take it’s place.

Cancer ( of one sort or another ),

seems to be everywhere today, but

then there are so many treatments

available that we tend to largely dis-

miss our problems in the expectation

that we can always overcome virtually

anything now. There are things that

were prevalent years ago that are vir-

tually unheard of in our country today,

one such complaint that we always

thought of as being most frightening

and very much a foreign disease, was

that of the Leper as told to us in the

Bible. In fact we had instances of that

disease very much closer to home,

many of our own churches in reality

were equip with openings where lep-

ers could approach without coming

into direct contact with other members

of the congregation. Just along the

road from Mundford, at Ickburg, there

was said to be an actual ‘Leper Hospi-

tal’. God only knows what treatments

were offered to the patients back then,

although I imagine that so terrible was

the affliction that anything would be

gratefully received by patients at that

time. .

In our own time, and long before that I

hasten to say, we have struggled to

cope with rheumatic problems such

Ostio and Rheumatoid Arthritis, al-

ways bravely referred to as the

‘Screws.’ I imagine that most people

will realise how devastatingly painful

and disabling the disease will be, al-

though it has to be said that unless

you have experienced it first hand, it

is quite unimaginable. I speak from

experience here because I am the

proud possessor of a replacement hip

myself, and it actually appeared on

the death certificate of my dear old

Mum ( Alice ) at the end of her days.

Another extremely crippling disease,

‘Polio’ was still rife here until very

recently ( it still is in some poor coun-

tries of the world ) Prior to that it was

diseases of the respiratory system that

afflicted us most. Just look at the

grave stones and memorial tablets in

our churches to see that entire genera-

tions of our ancestral young were un

explainably wiped out. The clergy were

no strangers to such losses as their me-

morials vividly recount. It’s hardly sur-

prising then that children who died

young became referred to as ‘Little An-

gels’. I well recall that a great many of

the older people in our community suf-

fered from what they called the

‘Bronicals’,

( bronchial ) hardly surprising when

you remember how damp and draughty

peoples homes were at that time.

When I was young it was V,D. ( cava-

lierly referred to as ‘ The Pox, ‘ used in

another time to mean something entirely

different ) that was the scourge of, es-

pecially of the young, would-be sexu-

ally active population of the day. The

treatment for this was usually to have

Mercury tipped down your nether re-

gions, ( which was ‘Surprise, Surprise’

an absolute waste of time, and No, it

didn’t even offer the opportunity of us-

ing your Willy as a thermometer ) To-

day, even that condition is easily

brushed aside with antibiotics or some

other readily available potion. V.D in its

turn has now been superseded by H.I.V

and AIDS of course, terrible afflictions

no doubt, but no more deadly than what

had proceeded them when visited upon

an unwitting, largely uneducated popu-

lation.

Amongst my very vivid recollections

are the signs that were prominently dis-

played in the public loo’s in Kings

Lynn, that boldly proclaimed that ‘ V.D

can be cured.’ I also remember that

invariably some wag would have written

beneath it ‘So can kippers’

Well my dears, that’s yet another bit of

squit that’s hits the dust for another

month, I hope you approved of my ef-

forts so that I’ll feel free to write to you

again next time. I imagine that there’s

plenty more to come for a while yet so

hang in there together, keep yew a

troshhun bor and we’ll fill these pages

by hook or by crook.

Look after one another everybody and

like me, until the next time keep Look-

ing Forward to Looking Back at a past

that was our very own,

Best wishes

Pog

Page 8

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There has been some great work in all classes recently. I have enjoyed watching Class 1 con-tinuing to get to grips with the tricky business of learning to read, write and use number as well as pro-ducing excellent hand puppets as part of their DT work. Class 2 have been working on Healthy Foods producing delicious soup and smoothies (which of course I had to qual-ity check – delicious!) and using this work to produce super Literacy work. Class 3 have been engrossed by their work on World War 2, and as a result we have a classroom full of Anderson Shelters. They have also been making paper and writing some explanation texts on the sub-ject of recycling machines. Class 4 have been producing biographies and excellent atmospheric writing as well as preparing dance routines for a festival in King’s Lynn. Alongside this, the junior children and some parents went to King’s Lynn to hear a lecture by Johnny Ball. Even though he is some 70 years of age, he still spoke with great passion, and was as entertain-ing to our children as he was for those of us who remember him fondly in the 1970s and 80s.

The sporting calendar has woken up after its winter snooze and our Year 3/4 Netball team were in action, narrowly losing to Methwold in a close game. We have resurrected the Northwold Football Tournament and had an excel-lent time recently. Eight teams played a series of matches with an excellent spirit of fair play and both Norman School teams acquitted themselves very well, with the A team securing the runners up spot after an incredibly close final tie which was decided by a single goal. The PTFA did another marvellous job providing drinks and a range of refresh-ments and raising a great deal of money in the process. Red Nose Day was a very enjoyable and productive day. By wearing non-uniform (in many cases pyjamas – in-cluding most of the staff!) we raised £259 for Comic Relief, including the money raised from buying Red Noses and other merchandise. Our Charities Morning was very successful as well, helping to raise £110.28 in aid of The Little Normans Pre School. Finally, Classes 1 and 2 sang a song in Friday Celebration Assembly and raised a fur-ther £56 for the ‘I Can’ charity. A re-markable result! We have also spent a lot of time work-ing with different groups of people, all

of whom have the common bond of being associated with our school. During the past few weeks all our governors have been involved in committee and full gov-ernors meetings, working diligently to keep us running in the right direction. I have worked with various people from the local authority looking at various aspects of school life. Three committed parents have started ‘Film Club’ which is proving a hit after school on a Thursday, and we recently welcomed Norfolk Museum Ser-vice to school as they put on a workshop ‘Awe-ful Archaeology’ for parents and children organised by Anna Foster, our Extended Schools Co-ordinator. All this goes to show just how much is being done as part of an enormous team to educate our young people and give a won-derful variety of experiences to them. This allows us to add so much to the wonderful opportunities that parents can give their children and I must confess to being in-spired recently as I drove home when saw a family group from this school, having a lovely time taking advantage of the spring weather and setting out on a bike ride through the forest surrounding the village. Perhaps it is the spring weather, but I don’t think life gets much better than that.

Rob Hothersall

Page 5

Parish Council The April Parish Council Meeting was

chaired by Councillor Booty and nine

Councillors were present together with

two members of the public. Apologies

were received from Councillor L.Day.

The matters arising from the Minutes of

the March meeting were dealt with first.

The EDP Pride of Norfolk award of £400

needs to be dealt with and suggestions as

to what the money should be spent on

would be welcome. So far a suggestion

for a Saturday Cinema Club has been

received but Parishioners are asked to

please put forward further ideas of bene-

fit to the Village.

The two cottages in Pinfold Lane be-

queathed to Northwold and its environs

were at first thought to have been sold,

but there is now some doubt about this

and further developments are awaited.

Mr.Booty had attended a West Norfolk

Partnership meeting entitled “Dream for

the Future of West Norfolk” held at Ry-

ston Park Golf Club Councillor Freeman-

tle also attended and they both felt that

this had been focused wrongly and that

other businesses and parties would have

been more beneficial.

Various accounts were produced for pay-

ment such as hiring of room at Village

Hall, Street Lighting, Water rates etc. and

there then followed a detailed discussion

as to the financial position of the Council.

As had been reported in March in

2008/2009 there had been an overspend

of approximately £3000 which necessi-

tated a cut back in the Council’s expendi-

ture for 2009/2010. After careful con-

sideration and discussion and with regret

Councillors voted for the following cut-

backs namely we would have to manage

without a Litter Warden and Pest and

Vermin control for this year Councillor

Mrs.Crisp voiced appreciation of the

work done by Mrs. Everett and this was

endorsed by all present.. No further

work on eradicating the Chafer bugs on

the Recreation Ground will be under-

taken nor will any other work be carried

out unless of necessity.. The Chairman

felt very strongly that our Council

should not have to pay two lots of

charges for the Annual Audit. As the

law stands the Council has the Books

audited on their behalf, paying the Ac-

countant’s fees and later these have to

be submitted to the Audit Commission

and another fee paid. The Clerk was

requested to write to the local M>P>

Mr.Christopher Fowler on the matter .

With regard to the Water Rates paid by

the Parish Council in respect of the

Recreation Ground it was agreed that in

fairness to the Sports and Social Club,

who already pay 25% of these, the

other users namely The Bowls Club and

Cricket Club should also contribute and

they are therefore being asked to pay a

further 25%each which ultimately

means a fourway split with the Council.

In past years the Council had made a

donation to the Bowls Club who al-

lowed the Foolhardy Circus use of their

toilet facilities at the Recreation

Ground, but no payment can be made

this year. Unfortunately we will be un-

able to make a donation to either the

Northwold or Whittington Churches.

Quotes for the upkeep of the Village

amenity areas had been received and

the lower of the two from Lewis Land-

scapes was accepted.

The Parish Clerk is to obtain Insurance

quotes for comparison before we renew

our existing policy.

A letter has been received from

Mrs.Meredith, the owner of the dilapi-

dated Manor House assuring the Council

that she was considering her options with

regard to the property and would be mak-

ing a decision shortly. It is understood

that The Borough Council is also dealing

with Mrs.Meredith direct.

A letter had been received from a Resi-

dent in Normandy Close querying the

ownership of the public footpath running

from School Lane to the A134.Although

the Parish Council has responsibility to

see that the right of way is kept open, it

does not own the land.

Plans received from the Borough for ap-

proval were:

Amendment of plans for conversion of barns at Pooley Farm - Approved.

Boat Moorings on the Wissey at Whit-

tington - Approved ed.

Highways. The Clerk was instructed to

contact Highways on the following mat-

ters :

The need for Methwold Road from High

St to A134 to be gritted during icy condi-

tions.

With resurfacing of School Lane the

manhole gratings are now considerably

lower in places than the road causing

problems for traffic and need raising.

A Street light is permanently on in Whit-

tington

Cars have been racing up Hall Lane. The

Police have been informed and Highways

are considering erecting bollards.

The ditches in Inghams Lane and Com-

mon Drove need clearing out to allow the

drainage water from the road to run down

to the river.

The next full Council; Meeting will be on

Tuesday, 5th May. At 7.30. The Annual

Parish Meeting will be held on the same

evening but at 7p.m. when any residents

of the Village are welcome to attend to

raise any concerns that they may have.

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Page 6

WHAT DOES THE DOCTOR

THINK THIS MONTH?

Gender neutrality and the tes-

ticulators

“What is he on about now?” I hear you

shout. Well about a month ago, there

were reports in the press that the Euro-

pean Parliament had issued a “Gender

Neutral Language” pamphlet recom-

mending that MEPs address female

members by their full names only. Mrs,

Miss, Ms, Frau, Fraulein, Senora and

Senorita are all banned. Not content

with this, the authors of the pamphlet

tell members to call sportsmen

“athletes”, statesmen become “political

leaders” and man-made becomes

“synthetic” or “artificial”. Other banned

terms are fireman, air-hostess, headmas-

ter, policeman, salesman, cinema usher-

ette and male nurse. The MEPs are al-

lowed to use the terms “waitress” and

“waiter” as no gender neutral term has

been proposed for these. Similarly, the

pamphlet can devise no male version of

“midwife”. So, here we are, the finan-

cial world as we know it is going to Hell

in a basket and these testiculators are

spending time, effort and money sorting

out gender neutrality of all things!

What is a testiculator? In previous arti-

cles, we have discussed the following

dictionary definitions:

“Gesticulate – To make gestures, as in

speaking” (The Modern Standard Dic-

tionary)

“Testiculate – To make gestures while

talking b*ll*cks”(Nisbet’s Common

Dictionary)

“Testiculator – One who testiculates, as

in MEP” (Nisbet’s Common Diction-

ary)

The above set me wondering. I can un-

derstand some females not wanting to

be known as a man, as in “salesman”

but I have problems seeing why females

should object to being called by the title

“Mrs” or “Miss”. In fact, when I have to

reply to a lady who has written to me

and has ended the letter with just their

name, eg. signed over a typewritten ti-

tle-less “Joan Smith”, I have always

made a point of finding out whether

they are Mrs, Miss or Ms because I

consider it discourteous to address a

letter to a lady without the dignity of a

title to their name.

If you look on the worldwide cobweb

Gender neutrality websites, you will

see just how wrong I am. “Many gen-

der-specific words and usages imply

male superiority and denigrate

women. For example, words that de-

note positions of power and authority

are often associated with men, such as

“chairman” while words denoting

more lowly positions are often associ-

ated with women, eg “waitress”. The

title “Mr” is used of men regardless of

marital status, while the titles “Miss”

and “Mrs” indicate a woman’s mari-

tal status and thus signal her sexual

availability to men in as way that

men’s titles do not. Many books have

been written, advising how to use gen-

der-neutral or “non-sexist” language. I

have canvassed dozens of female pa-

tients and friends and I have yet to

find one who objects to being known

as “Mrs, Miss or Ms”. If you want a

real laugh, look up gender neutral toi-

lets on the web. These are used at con-

ventions for gay, lesbian and trans-

gender people and you will be amazed

at what is written about these WCs.

The problem with normal male and

female WCs is that many of the above

agonise at length over which toilet to

use and many become constipated.

The gender-neutral toilets were de-

signed to solve this problem. The idea

failed miserably and you should read

about it!

Some females are not “buying in” to

gender neutrality. Increasing numbers

of actresses are calling themselves

actors and Canadian, Australian, Brit-

ish and Irish fishers (the gender neu-

tral version of fishermen) are demand-

ing to be called fishermen. Similarly,

many female horse-riders prefer to be

called horsemen.

I was at a medical conference and I

put forward the idea of gender neutral-

ity. Ophthalmologists thought the

whole idea short-sighted, the obstetri-

cians felt that the whole thing was a

misconception, the psychiatrists

thought the whole idea was madness

but the radiologists could see right

through it. The gastroenterologists

thought it was a bitter pill to swallow

and had a sort of gut feeling about it,

the neurologists thought the propo-

nents had a lot of nerve, the podiatrists

thought it was a step forward, the plas-

tic surgeons felt it put a whole new

face on the matter and the urologists

declared themselves p*ssed off with

the whole idea. The surgeons decided to

wash their hands of the whole thing and

the rectal surgeons decided to leave the

matter to the anally retentive a*s*h*les

who were dealing with it.

When talking to a call-centre, to a per-

son whom I have never met, I am al-

ways irritated to be called by my Chris-

tian name. I usually ask “Do I know

you?” which leads into “I was just won-

dering why you were using my first

name”. My friend Paolo, who has run

some very prestigious hotels in his time,

such as the George V in Paris, and who

upset Spanish newspapers recently by

refusing to install contraceptive vending

machines because “my guests have al-

ways been perfectly happy to use the

shower cap”, always asks the call centre

operator “Have I slept with you?” when

she used his Christian name. I am not

sure he would do the same to a male

operator!

Best wishes to you all

Ian G. Nisbet

Northwold Bowls Club 100

Club draw for march 2009 Gavin Cater £20 Stan Kilby £ 15 Roger Eyles £ 10 Numbers drawn this month by

Mr John Haylock

The Grange Open

Gardens in August. Robin and Carole Hood are opening their gardens again this year on Sun-day 9th August. This event which was

hugely successful last year is done in aid of Kidney Research, If anyone has any unwanted books or jig saws would they please let carole and Robin have them by the beginning of August. Also if anyone would like to donate a tombola prize or make a cake it would be much appreciated and gratefully recieved

Page 7

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Riverwatch

By Ivor Hook

It is mid morning and the sun is climb-

ing. All is peaceful and quiet. The cast

of winter is a distant memory and longer

days bring the expectation of real sum-

mer. The hedgerows are full of thick

green. Daffodils are spent and bluebells

all but exhausted and a host of riverside

growth is ready to burst and display.

The willows draping the water are al-

ready perennial yellow and wave and

watch the river Wissey run its meander-

ing course.

Above the first swifts, with their high-

pitched squeaks, perform acrobatics

with wide circles and loops. At intervals

they break formation and dive. They

gently touch the water and rise again.

Rings of disturbance spread but quickly

disappear into the main flow. No one

else is about. All is serene and it is easy

to be at one with nature.

Under the water numerous nymphs float

to the surface. Their change and trans-

formation throughout the winter months

is complete. The larvae rise up towards

the brightness and warmth whereupon

the final miracle takes place as they

shed their skins to transfer to beautiful

flies. The insect life adds welcome col-

our to the riverside but alas some only

have a life span of mere hours. After

waiting so long to join the world it is

surely cruel that all is over so quickly!

Thankfully other lives are longer and we

must enjoy the beauty and glory of all

around and not question every reason.

Dark specks in the distant sky grow big-

ger and clearer and become a further

wave of swifts arriving from far away

Africa. Their journey is great but their

stay is only short. It is said, they return

to the same area, the same village and

even the same nest year after year.

They immediately join their fellow

pilots by way of celebration. Their

energy is boundless and is another

signal that summer is nearing.

As the heat increases more larvae and

nymphs are awakened. More float up

from the depths and soon the surface

of the water is afire with flies. They

weave invisible shapes, they flit and

flap, up and down and across, without

stopping for breath. New colours ap-

pear amid the blues and yellows and

greens. Reds and whites mix the

whole array into rainbow patterns. The

fascination is endless.

As the number of flies multiply and

the colours intensify the birds lower

their flight once more and dive repeat-

edly to enjoy the newfound feast.

Their accuracy is uncanny and the

process becomes faster and faster as

the nymphs and flies keep appearing

and cannot stop. Nature’s cycle of pro-

ducing and providing can never be

faster than this!

Perhaps there is a limit as to the

amount of flies a bird can devour or

does boredom set in. Anyway, soon

the swifts find a more exciting air

pocket and in a sweeping cloud they

disappear across the next field and

beyond. Meanwhile the insect hatch

has ceased until another day but as

always the river Wissey never stops

and just keeps coming and coming.

Ivor

As we enter the new term we say a fond farewell and Thank you to Karen Muir our Administrator and wel-come on board Nik Sham-rock, who replaces Karen , with Nik’s vast knowledge, experience and enthusiasm we look for-ward to having a fresh input into the run-ning of the Pre-school. Thank you to everyone who had a clear out and donated bags of old clothes for our ‘bag2school’ collection, weighing in at 660 kilo’s raising a grand total of £264 for the pre-school. We will be having another collection in November but de-sparately need a barn or shed to keep the bags in as we collect them for a few weeks leading up to the collection date, if anyone could help please contact Holly at Pre-school . The Childrens Spring Disco was very successful, Mickey mouse, Goofy, Minnie and Donald duck helped us raise over £200. The children really enjoyed it, there was dancing and party games. Due to it’s popularity with the kids (and adults!) they have been booked again for a Halloween Fancy Dress Disco later on in the year, so see you there! This term we are going to be looking at life cycles, growing and our bodies. We have started planting our seeds including carrots, and lots of flowers, and getting really dirty in the process! But it’s all fun to see the children get green fingers, they all really enjoy joining which is nice to see and hopeful for their future! We are also starting to prepare for our Carnival float, which is of course going to be absolutely amazing again!!! Fundraising is still on going, please keep an eye out around the village for new posters whilst strolling around the village in the sun!! Till next month, Love all the Staff and Children xx Holly