FREE - Issue Number 232 - March 2016

in digital & online at www.thebrecklandview.com

Wayland Men's
Shed Opening

Rev. Rodney John

Broughall 1932-2016

Wayland Mens Shed - 'a safe, friendly environment for local men,
of all ages, to socialise and skill share, whilst working on community
projects'. After some months of planning the Wayland Partnership
Development Trust is set to start the Wayland Mens Shed and its
doors will open at 10am on Wednesday 9th March.
As previously advertised it will initially be held within Wayland
House while a suitable workshop can be found in the area.
So if you fancy meeting like-minded people, socialising and
sharing skills come along to see what's on offer.
There is no need to panic for anyone who is not able to attend the
first meeting, regular updates will be on the website at
www.wayland.org.uk or you can ring Wayland House anytime to
get an update of what is happening and when.
Once started a regular newsletter will be issued for anyone who
registers their interest - email jez.b.jones.wayland@gmail.com or
ring 01953 883915.

Saham Easter Cash Bingo

Tuesday 29th March
Wells Cole Community Centre, Saham Toney
Doors 6.30pm Eyes down 7.30pm

The Wayland
Players head for
Spain and
Heatstroke

January is over, February nearly gone too,

Christmas is a mere memory and thoughts turn
to the delights of holiday brochures. Let the
Wayland Players put you in the mood with
their madcap farce set in sunny Spain.
Sam and Fay Spencer arrive for a peaceful
holiday in a luxurious Spanish villa expecting a
relaxing holiday. However, they are closely
followed by actor Howard and his girlfriend,
who have been double booked in the same
villa. Unfortunately, Sam and Howard have
matching holdalls which were mixed up at the
airport. The discovery of a third, identical
holdall, full of money, leads to a series of
mishaps and assumed identities all at a
breakneck pace in this hilarious farce by Eric
Chappell.
Heatstroke will be on stage at the Queens
Hall, Watton from Thursday 21st April to
Saturday 23rd April 2016. Tickets, priced
7.00, will be on sale at Adcocks in Watton
High Street from Monday 21st March.
Jenny Mann, Director of Heatstroke

Ovington Village
Hall Afternoon
Tea - 13th March

Book your places a.s.a.p. for the 13th March

and hear Mr Bryan Thurlow give a brief
history of the British Music Halls complete
with some favourite songs and monologues.
The entertainment starts at 3pm and will be
followed by a full afternoon tea at 4pm.
Tickets cost 6 per head and can be obtained
from 885848 or in person any Monday
morning at the village hall.

Rod Broughall was born in

October 1932 in Hertfordshire.
He left school in 1949 and
worked
at
a
chartered
accountants office in London
until he was called up for
National Service in 1950. He
served three years in the RAF,
two of those years in Egypt. On
leaving the RAF he worked at an
overcoat
and
rain
coat
manufacturers in St. Albans,
until 1966. He married in 1959
and had four children. In 1962
Rod was licensed as a Lay
Reader in St. Albans Abbey and
served in that diocese till the
family moved to Watton in 1970.
From 1966 -1968 he underwent
teacher training at Wall Hall,
Alderham.
Rod taught at Watton Primary,
later Junior, School until he took
early retirement from teaching in
1992. He was eventually
responsible
for
Religious
Education and Assemblies at the
school. Three years after retiring
from teaching he began training
for the Local Ordained Ministry

and was made Deacon at

Norwich Cathedral in 1996 and a
year later ordained Priest. He
continued to serve in the parishes
of Watton, Ashill, Carbrooke,
Ovington, Saham Toney and
later Threxton until illness forced
him to give up active ministry in
late 2015.
During his time as Reader he,
and the other two Readers at St,
Marys, often helped by taking
services in Watton Methodist
Church and other chapels in the
area when they were not needed
at St. Marys.
Soon after coming to Watton he
started a home Bible Study group
in the home of Geoff and Marian
Kittell. His skill as a Bible
teacher was very evident to all
who joined this group.
He began an Explorers Group in
the school and encouraged the
children to come to the Family
Service at St. Marys if they
were not already attending
another church in the town or
their home village.
(Continued on page 6)

The Wayland News Page 2

March 2016

The Wayland News Page 3

March 2016

Volunteers Welcome in Wayland!

Centre Susan, Arts & Events Manager with Volunteers Ali (left) and Jenny at the launch of the Wayland Tourism Brochure
Do you have time to spare? Are you tired
of daytime television and the daily
routine of housework and shopping?
Perhaps you are seeking a route back into
work now that your children are at
school, or perhaps you are newly retired
and want something interesting to do to
challenge and stimulate you or to make
new friends.
If so, why not contact the Wayland

Partnership at Wayland House, Watton?

We have a range of both regular and
occasional opportunities for volunteering
in the Gallery and Visitor Centre, at the
Dementia Caf, in the main office,
helping with projects and one off events
such as the Jobs Fair.
We also have opportunities for young
volunteers (aged 16 +) for IT and
Environment projects.

The Partnership currently works with

almost 60 volunteers, including Partner
Representatives and Trustees, young
volunteers, Gallery stewards and office
and project helpers from all age-groups
and backgrounds. By volunteering with
us, not only will you be able to share
your skills and learn new ones, but you
will be joining a fun team that actively
makes a difference to people's lives.

Watton
Evening W I

100 organizations with 15 million

supporters from the UK. The WI took up
the mantle along with the Friends of the
Earth back in 2009 when they
campaigned to lobby government to
prevent the decline of bees. In Paris last
December the United Nations Climate
Change conference committed to combat
climate change hence Climate Coalition.
We can all endeavour to conserve our
wonderful world with its diversities.
Who among us doesnt long to hear the
birds singing, the bees buzzing, the
pollinating of our flowers and vegetables
and conservation of our countryside and
beaches
for
our
children
and
grandchildren. Should you wish more
information
please
contact
www.showthelove.org.uk The Coffee
morning was well attended by residents
of Watton and surrounding area along
with WI members, husbands/partners
who enjoyed the cakes, laughter, chatting
and Guess The Name of the Fluffy
Bunny competition. Our grateful thanks
to all who attended making
it a
delightful morning.
Our February meeting had members
entering
their
earliest
childhood
photographs for a competition where
others had to guess who they were.

Much laughter and surprise emanated

from this and we all had fun.
Our speaker on this night was Claire
Putterill who gave a most informative
talk on Legal Advice for Later Years
which was definitely thought provoking
and well received by all. We also held
our first Bring and Buy Sale of the year
proceeds to WI funds. As usual a raffle
was held and refreshments were also
served. A most enjoyable evening.
On 10th March, Members will have a
night with the stars whilst visiting
Breckland Astronomical Observatory in
Great Ellingham. On our return to
Watton, notices will be given and
refreshments served at Saxon Court.
This is in place of our usual meeting.
A Pamper Day is to be held in March at a
members home where treatments have
been booked and are eagerly awaited by
all those concerned. A light lunch will
also be provided.
We are pleased to say we have had new
members joining our throng but there is
always room for more so should you
wish to visit, please telephone Hazel
Gillingham our Secretary on 01953
881510 for more information, or attend
one of our meetings.

relating that when he was serving as a

paramedic he always worked Christmas
day and New Years Eve, leaving these
free for paramedics with families. When
working night shifts John always rang
Ann to wish her goodnight. Ann also
revealed that, bizarrely, John had a fear
of needles! He needs a special needle for
injecting himself because of his diabetes.
They have continued with amateur
dramatics,
performing
open-air
Shakespeare every year. John also has
won awards as a published script writer.
Altogether an amusing talk and we wish
John a speedy recovery.
The No. 1 pub lunch group will be going
to The Waggon and Horses at Griston on
Thursday 10 March. The No. 2 pub lunch
group will be going to The Windmill at

Great Cressingham on Tuesday 29

March.
We will be holding our Annual General
meeting on Thursday 24 March when we
will be nominating the committee for the
coming year. Copies of last years
minutes and budget details will be
distributed at the meeting.
Any remaining membership renewal
payments will be collected at the March
meeting. The final date for renewing
your membership is 30 April.
Please
contact
our
Membership
Secretary, Anita Taylor on 01953
881110 if you would like to become a
member of the Watton U3A, or would
like further details.
For further details on the National U3A,
go to www.u3a.org.uk

Another month has flown by with

Members visiting Norwich theatre and
attending Craft Club where we were
shown new ways to recycle Christmas
and birthday cards.
The WI turned Valentines weekend green
at their Coffee Morning when members
across the country wore Green Hearts,
the symbol of the Climate Coalition to
combat the impact of climate change for
future generations.
The hall was decorated with green heart
bunting, tables festooned with flower
arrangements adorned with fluffy pompom bees, chocolate hearts and of course,
the renowned WI delicious homemade
cakes, raffle, craft items including green
felt hearts filled with lavender and
printed recipe sheets were also on sale
along with a book stall. Green Heart
badges were handed to all on arrival and
a collection raised 100, this will be sent
to the Cumbria-Westmorland WI
Federation following the recent floods in
that region.
The Climate Coalition is a group of over

Watton U3A
hears about
life as a wife of
a Paramedic
Ann Newmeir stepped in as speaker for
the January meeting in place of her
husband who was in hospital. She gave
an entertaining and informative talk
about her life as a wife of a paramedic.
She met her husband when taking part in
amateur dramatics and they have been
married for 28 years. Ann told several
anecdotes about their life together

The Wayland News Page 4

March 2016

What Watton Wants

WWW - Fighting the Over
Development of Watton
At their February meeting Breckland
Planning Committee have authorised two
further developments that affect Watton's
already weak infrastructure.
Abel Homes received approval to
construct 98 dwellings on their Watton
Green site and S.A Jones Developments
received permission to build 23
dwellings on the Old Carpenters Arms
site on Swaffham Road.
This now leaves a total of 600 dwellings
approved with a further 590 seeking
planning approval or are on Appeal. The
last WWW newsletter headlined Watton
Faces Population Explosion in 2016 .
We are now seeing the beginning of this.
Can we halt the flow? Yes You Can but
you must act NOW by voicing your
objections to this massive over
development of our town and
surrounding villages. Objections can be
sent to Breckland Council your local M.P
and to newspapers such as the EDP.
Another way of objecting is to attend the
Breckland planning meetings.
One important meeting will be held on
Tuesday March 8th at 10.00am when the
Planning Inspector will be hearing the
appeal by Gladman Devlopments on their
proposal to build 180 dwellings on the
Thetford Road site. An opportunity you
should not miss.
On Wednesday April 6th an appeal
hearing is scheduled on Hopkins Homes
proposal for 73 dwellings on the Saham
Road site. Further details to follow.
Breckland Council have now withdrawn
their objections regarding the density and
overlooking of properties on this site
following financial implications that
could be payable to Hopkins Homes.

Support Your
Local Pharmacy
We Need Your Help
In December 2015 the Government
announced a number of plans for pharmacy
which include the national NHS budget for
community pharmacy shrinking by 170
million in 2016 (a reduction of six percent)
with further cuts expected beyond that. The
government also believes there are too many
pharmacies in certain areas and expects
between 1,000 and 3,000 to close.
These plans have caused huge concern
amongst community pharmacies at a time
when the NHS is increasingly encouraging
people to go to their local pharmacy for
advice about healthy living and minor
ailments in order to relieve pressure on
doctors and emergency services. Community
pharmacies are paid by the NHS to dispense
prescriptions and deliver a range of other
essential
services
including
some
commissioned by local councils but your
pharmacy also provides a variety of services
that are free and intended to make healthcare
easier for you to manage. There is always a
pharmacist on duty and available without an
appointment to talk to you and give you
advice.
The Government clearly recognises the
important role of pharmacy as the NHS
struggles to cope and the Wayland area has a
strong network of local pharmacies
providing excellent services and a high level
of care to their local communities.
How These Cuts Could Affect You
At the moment your prescriptions are
dispensed within your pharmacy by a trusted
team who you have an existing relationship
with and who understands your healthcare
issue being able to help if you have any
concerns. The government are proposing that

Breckland recently withdrew their

drainage objections for similar reasons.
This now only leaves the Councils
objection to the change in character of
the area to influence the Inspectors
decision. This must raise the question Is
our local Council Powerless to Stop Any
Development in the future.
Breckland Planning recently held their
final consultation meeting at the Queens
Hall (not well publicised) on the
Breckland Local Plan covering the period
up to 2036. A statement board at the
presentation showed that all of Breckland
towns needed to cumulatively deliver
597 new dwellings per year for this
period. It could be argued that Watton is
supplying the lions share. To see further
details on how this plan effects Watton
go the Breckland Planning web site/
emerging plans.
WWW is actively looking to increase its
base with professional expertise in
related fields. If you can assist please
contact us via our web site. Have your
say in making Watton a better place to
live.
Full details on Planning Applications can
be found on Breckland Council website
www.breckland.gov.org Go to Planning
Search-----Search
for
Planning
Applications-----Enter
Application
Reference No--------Press Search. Letters
should be sent to: The Chief Planning
Officer, Elizabeth House, Warpole Loke,
Dereham NE19 1EE
E Mails to planning@breckland.gov
Telephone Planning Office 01362 65212
All correspondence MUST quote the
relevant Application Reference Number.
Letters to Local M.P George Freeman
should be addressed to 8. Damgate Street
Wymonham NR18 0BQ
For further information or you wish to
help our group go to
www.whatwattonwants.co.uk
your prescriptions are dispensed off-site in a
dispensing hub meaning that your usual
friendly and helpful service will be replaced
by a faceless click and collect service.
Your pharmacy provides lots of helpful
services many of which are free including
prescription and medicine delivery services,
monitored dosage trays to help you to take
your medication correctly and on time and of
course, the free and accessible advice to help
protect and care for your family.
As a result of the cuts these services are
likely to suffer and may even stop.
It is vital that we raise our concerns about the
potential loss of these services before it is too
late and persuade the Government to
reconsider their policy.
How Can You Help? There are a number of
ways in which you can help safeguard our
services
1. Please sign the petition against these
funding cuts at
www.petition.parliament.uk/petitions/116943

We need 100,000 signatures for these cuts to

be considered for debate in Parliament. This
is a nationwide issue so talk to your family
and friends, wherever in the UK they may
live and encourage them to sign the petition
too.
2. Write to your local MP to express your
concerns that they will support their
communitys healthcare interests in
Parliament. To find out who your local MP
is
enter
your
postcode
onto
www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/
mps
For the immediate Wayland area, your MP is
George Freeman who can be contacted
locally
as
follows
emailing
george@georgefreeman.co.uk or writing to
him at George Freeman MP, 8 Damgate
Street, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 0BQ.
His website is www.georgefreeman.co.uk
3. Get involved in the social media
campaign. Visit the website . . .
www.supportyourlocalpharmacy.org

With Hearts
and Soles
In a suitably decorated Queens Hall, a large
crowd of enthusiastic dancers gathered to
enjoy the now traditional Valentines Barn
Dance organised annually by the Inner
Wheel Club of Watton. Walls and tables
were bedecked with hearts, balloons, red
roses and candles and thus the mood was
set for a lovely evening. Music was, as
usual, provided by the ever-popular band
Shinanikins with their good-humoured
Caller, George, giving the instructions and
trying to ensure that the dancers had some
idea of what they were supposed to be
doing. This year he was very impressed
with their efforts; the words excellent and
very good falling from his lips more than
once during the evening! At half time the
ladies served a Ploughmans Supper
followed by mini heart-decorated cup cakes
after which the seemingly inexhaustible
dancers continued to spin, swing,
promenade and dozy-do until the end of the
evening. It is fair to say that a great time
was had by all thanks in no small measure
to the people attending who joined in with
such amazing energy, aptitude and
exuberance. In addition, it is good to report
that a profit of 222.29 was made for
charities supported by Inner Wheel.
At the February Club meeting nominations
were received and votes cast for Club
Officers for the year 2016-2017. Upcoming
events include a Lunch time concert on
February 24th and another on March 30th .
These begin at noon and include a light
lunch. Tickets available from Mullengers.
There is also a Coffee Morning from 9:3011:30 on Saturday March 5th at which the
ladies will be serving hot drinks and
delicious home-made cakes and pastries.
Lesley Cowling. Club Correspondent.
and follow them on Facebook for regular
updates and to share their information.
4. Share your experiences of how your local
pharmacy has helped you. No matter how
big or small the issue your pharmacy may
have helped you in some way. We want the
government to understand how important the
local pharmacy network is to communities.
If you have any stories or comments then
direct them to Healthwatch Norfolk, an
independent body with statutory powers.
They can be contacted as follows;
www.healthwatchnorfolk.co.uk Telephone
0808 168 9669 or Email
enquiries@healthwatchnorfolk.co.uk
Local pharmacist Geoff Ray from Total
Health Pharmacy in Watton said These
cuts are a deeply damaging move at a time
when the Government itself recognizes the
important role of pharmacy as the NHS
struggles to cope. Pharmacy is the only
healthcare profession that suffers year on
year cuts despite the fact that the number
of prescriptions issued each year continues
to increase and will continue to do so.
Pharmacies have made efficiencies to be
able to manage the increasing workload
but such a drastic cut in funding is going
to put the service at risk and may require
job losses or even pharmacy closures.
These cuts will deliver a terrible and long
term blow to the support community
pharmacies can offer to patients and
public. I urge everybody to get involved in
the campaign either with us or your local
pharmacy to challenge the Government to
change their policy
Total Health Pharmacy at 14 Gregor
Shanks Way, Watton is open 7 days a
week from 8am until 11pm Monday to
Friday and 8am to 8.30pm Saturday and
Sunday offering the community pharmacy
services plus other services and healthcare
advice. To find out more about the
campaign call in or phone 01953 881157

March 2016

The Wayland News Page 5

In Your Garden
with Lotta Potts

So here we go again, marching into

March so to speak. I wrote the
following paragraph for March 2014
and as we approach the deadline for
the March 2016 Wayland News I
decided to have a look back and was
startled to see how appropriate this
was: This year it's difficult to know
where to start with March. Mild
winter with huge amounts of rain and
strong to gale-force winds. That
seemed to start in autumn and was still
going along in the middle of February.
If it continues the gardening season
will be put back weeks for many of us.
Those unfortunates who have been
flooded will be advised to forget the
whole thing until a bit of restoration
may be possible, even until next year.
That sounds truly awful but if the
water table has risen or rivers
overflowed with the additional hazards
of damaged drains then keep off it.
Take advice from experts, not
amateurs like me with no experience of
flooding.
The main difference from two years
ago is that although that winter was
mild I didn't see any reason to note the
early appearance of any bulbs or
plants. This year maybe it's been even
milder as we have seen many early
flowering bulbs flowering even earlier
than they should, and with the several
hard frosts in mid-February one has to
wonder how much damage has been
done. Hard frosts and snow are all
very fine and large in the official
winter months, of which we are
approaching the end, and really would
be happier with a white Christmas.
So forget gardening to the calendar and
see how things develop. If you have to
leave tasks due to the weather get on as
soon as possible. Once it dries as all
will catch up and leave you standing.
Looking through my go-to reference
book I see there are various plants that
should be at their best this month. It is
a monthly feature and I will return to it
again. For March the daffodils and
crocus should be at their peak,
depending on varieties. Also lily-ofthe-valley (not in my garden they
don't! They wait until May), botanical
tulips, the small ones such as Tulipa
tarda,
greigii,
fosteriana
and
kaufmanniana. These naturalise well,
grow on rockeries and in well-drained
soil. The big species are regarded by
the experts and growers as annuals but
these early little beauties will appear
year after year and spread.
Magnolia stellata should be at its best
March-April. This is a wonderful
'doer' as it grows about the size of a
shrub 6' x 6' in just about any soil and
isn't as demanding of special
conditions of some of the larger ones
that come into their own starting April.
Flowering quince is another old
favourite, grown against a wall as
otherwise they are untidy. That's the
only drawback but they're easily
trained if you watch out for the spiny
bits. They do produce fruit but are
more for spring show than their
autumn fruits. Nlw we come to some
of my all time favourites. Amelanchier
lamarckii which is a right mouthful but
a wonderful tree. It comes in several

sizes but tends to be recommended for

smaller gardens. It's pretty much bomb
proof, always reliable on any soil apart
from chalk. On top of that it's wind
tolerant (make sure it has a bit of
support for the first year or so after
planting). It's slow-growing and, like
the autumn-flowering cherry, produces
small white to palest pink flowers on
bare branches. The leaves start off
bronze like some of the spring cherries
then it has terrific autumn colour. It
does produce small fruits in summer.
Blackbirds love them so let them have
them. These fruits are allegedly edible
but although the tree was frequently
recommended by the late great John
Cushnie on Gardeners' Question Time
he never recommended trying to eat
them. My last offering for the month
is forsythia. All that can be said of this
amazing shrub is that it will put up
with all sorts of pruning lovely
hedges as well as normal shrub-shapes.
Prune 2/3rds after flowering and it will
smile at you again year after year. If
you have one that has been neglected
and has turned into a snarl of branches
with sparse flowers at the top, over
three years completely remove a third
of the old branches after flowering
each year. During this period prune
the 2/3rds of all flowered branches and
remove any dead, dying, diseased
wood. It will come back but if you
don't feel like doing this they are
remarkably cheap for the value they
give in some of the darkest days.
Even if the ground is too wet to walk
on, if you can reach from a path prune
the roses. If you half pruned in autumn
now is the time to finish. This is not
rocket science. Many people, even
experienced
gardeners,
get
collywobbles about pruning anything,
roses in particular. Forget climbers
and ramblers unless they need a little
tidy at this time of year. They are
normally pruned in late summer after
flowering. As a general rule for shrub
roses first of all find any dead wood
and prune it out to healthy wood. If
you aren't sure, gently rub a finger or
thumb nail down a bit of bark. If the
exposed surface is green it's alive. If
it's brown it's dead. Simple as that. So
now the dead wood has gone, look for
any crossing branches. If left they will
rub the bark off and cause wounds
allowing disease to enter. Now have a
look at the shrub. Don't panic if it
looks a bit bare. You have done
nothing but good. The aim is to let air
and light into the middle, vase or
goblet shape if you will. If all the
dead, dying and diseased material has
been taken out it should be fairly easy
to spot the desired shape. Look at each
branch and see if there's an outward
facing bud. Cut the stem on the slant
slightly above the bud so that the cut
slopes away from the bud to prevent
water getting in. The buds are slightly
swollen areas on the surface of the
stem or branch. If none are visible it's
perfectly acceptable to shorten the
stems or wait until some leaves appear.
If all else fails there are books on the
subject but don't be put off by a lot of
technical stuff. Some professional
gardeners with large rose beds sheared
the lot with hedge trimmers and the
shrubs came to no harm. This works
on a domestic level but only for two or

three years when they have to be

pruned properly.
I have heard it said, with some truth,
that March is the time to spring clean
the garden.
Being no fan of
housework I take exception to the
expression but off we go. Tidy the
beds (!), divide perennials and remove
weeds whilst doing so. If you are
fortunate enough to have large clumps
of snowdrops this is a good time to
divide them. If not, now is the best
time to buy them 'in the green'. All
that means is that they still have their
full complement of leaves and maybe a
few ragged flowers. Plant them so the
white part is fully buried. This will
appear much deeper than you thought
necessary but is important if you want
them back next year. The same goes
for bluebells if you want them. Do
bear in mind they want to take over the
world and people do complain they are
difficult to get rid of. It takes all sorts.
Do buy both from reputable sources as
it is illegal to remove either species
from the wild. This also ensures that
you get native bluebells not Spanish
ones. The easy way to tell is when
they are flowering. The natives have
their bells on one side of the stalk only
and have that heavenly scent. The
Spanish ones have sturdier stems and
bells all round and have no scent. If
you find some please take them out
and bin them. Not often I say that but
they will pollinate with the natives to
produce a rather unpleasant scent-free
hybrid and the natives will eventually
die out which would be a crime.
The lawn will now be growing if it
wasn't already during the mild
winter. There may be worm casts
and molehills if you are really
unlucky. This soil is wonderful and
fine so either brush it into the grass
for topdressing or lift it to use in
compost. If it is dry enough there
may be some moss to remove but if
it is wet it might be better to leave it
until the spring maintenance of weed
and feed in April or May. Again, if
it's dry it can be cut. Just a little with
the mower blades on the highest
setting. Tidy up the edges if
necessary. Turf for new lawns can
be made but do it before the end of
the month, otherwise wait until
autumn.
It's a good time to sow seeds: hardy
annuals and wildflowers can be sown
outside but for things like sweet peas
and some annuals it's best to plant in
pots in a cold greenhouse. If the
weather isn't wonderful save your
time and money (not to mention
temper) for next month when it's
probably going to be possible to sow
outdoors. If you are fortunate to
have either a heated greenhouse and/
or propagator you can sow merrily.
Some folk will brag that they got
their peas, beans, sweet peas and
goodness knows what else growing
away in January. They will have
leggy pale shoots unless they are
very fortunate so patience is the
watchword. If you do get seeds
away in March do remember that if
they get to pricking out size you'll
need somewhere for the trays and
pots they will need.
On that cheery note there's just one
other thing keep weeding.

March 2016
(Continued from page 1)

He was Chairman of the Watton

District
Christian
Aid
Committee for many years until
pressure of other work forced
him to hand this over in 1978.
He served on the Committee of
Watton Churches Together,
with a time as Chairman of that
Committee.
He was a member of the Watton
Society and the Norfolk
Wildlife Trust; had served on
the Carnival Committee and
supported Wayland Players and
the Watton Festival.
He was instrumental, with
others, in founding the Norfolk
Autistic Society and working
hard for the opening of the
residential home for autistic
adults, where his daughter
Helen still lives.
For three years in the mid 1970s
Rod, with two other lay leaders
from St. Marys and one from
the Methodist Church, led week
long clubs for under 11s during
the summer holiday.
Two young peoples groups grew
out of this venture: Explorers for
7 to 11 year olds and Pathfinders
for 11-15 year olds. Rod lead the
Explorers group.
During a long vacancy in the
1980s
Rod
served
as
Churchwarden as well as
Reader. He took many funerals
during that time. Not a few of
those were for the parents of
children he had taught.
Always ready for a challenge and
willing to try new ways of
reaching out with the love of
Jesus Christ to the surrounding
community, Rod joined in the
Super Hero Sundays last summer.
Late in 2014 he had walked from
Watton to Carbrooke, Ovington
and Saham Toney, caught a lift
back to Watton Methodist Church
then walked back to St. Marys
and home via the Pentecostal
Church. He did admit to a fellow
walker as they went down Lime
Tree Avenue that he was getting
tired and looking forward to
home and a hot bath!
Not many can say they have
taught a child, married that same
child and baptised and later
taught its child: but Rod could.
To do him justice would take
the whole paper but the Editor
would not permit that!
Rod will be missed by so
many. May he rest in peace
and rise in glory.

The Wayland News Page 6

A Quick
Look Round
By ORBITER
As we leave February, and
hopefully the winter, behind us,
we stride forward towards what
could be the most important part
of the millennium to date, with
the country gearing up for the
referendum on the question of
our continued membership of the
EU. Already the mood of the
Press has altered since this time
last year, when nearly all our
daily newspapers referred to the
Prime Minister as Dave, for
nowadays his full name, or at
least Mr.Cameron is in general
use, which must be of some
significance.
For the last couple of months
we have enjoyed the luxury of
lower prices at our petrol
stations, though the boon of
reduced oil prices has reflected
badly on trade as a whole, with
constant
warnings
from
throughout
industry
and
commerce that job losses on a
large scale are imminent. The
current unemployment figures
are said to be the best for years,
so any recession now will be a
sad blow, and with coal mines
and steel plants closing weekly
the prospects are not good.
Just to deepen the gloom, Mother
Nature has chosen to launch yet
another assault on the human
race, with the latest of the
plagues that she looses against us
from time to time, and this one
we have named Zica. This
rampant disease has swept across
the Americas, with odd cases
already reaching Europe, and it
apparently originated among, and
is spread by mosquitoes, and of
course laboratories everywhere
are battling to discover how to
deal with the matter.
This outbreak is a grim reminder
of the constant war we have to
wage in order to keep diseases at
bay, as no sooner does it seem
that one success has been
achieved, than another threat
appears. Thus our old enemy
influenza keeps re-emerging ,
and even this winter it was feared
that the anti-virus jabs being
distributed might be defeated by
a new strain. And, as sometimes
has occurred in the past, an
apparent cure for an illness, has
resulted in unforeseen side
effects, that can prove disastrous.
On the local scene, it has been
announced that Norfolk is to be
used to trial a scheme whereby
white lines are to be removed
from many roads, which surely
must herald an increase in
accident figures, for while they
might well not be greatly missed
from some of the more major
roads, the existing white lines are
certainly an essential requirement
on most of our highways and
byways, which are hard enough
to drive on as it is in broad
daylight, while in the dark it they

are often the only things that

enable one to keep to a safe
course. While country roads
rarely have clearly defined
borders, what there are are
usually cratered with potholes, so
to be able to know with
confidence where the centre line
exists is a vital necessity. Since
our law-makers must them-selves
travel on our roads from time to
time and are thus aware of the
hazards, one suspects that the
reason behind the proposal is a
desire to save money, which in
this case would really be a sin.
Hardly a week passes without
some reference to obesity, and it
has been suggested that an extra
tax should be put on such things
as the fizzy drinks and fast foods
that are a great factor in causing
the condition. But why should
those of us who only consume
these items in moderation be
punished with such extra
charges ? And anyway punitive
taxes would have little effect on
those who could benefit most
from a reduction in the
consumption of these harmful
items, for, as has been seen in the
case of cigarettes the desire for
them makes the increased price
simply a nuisance.
Actually we all spend far too
much un-necessarily, as for
instance on our cars. If we were
all satisfied with just a
comfortable vehicle, with a
reasonable provision for safety
and comfort we would be pounds
better off. Every time a new
model is released it will have
some fresh feature that is very
probably in no way essential, yet
makes us want to buy it. Leaving
aside the prestige factor, whereby
the owner of a 30,000 limousine
will feel superior to his neighbour
who has to make do with a
12,000 car, I would warrant that
we all have vehicles that sport
features we have never used, or
dont really need.
It is just a gimmick to have a
wind-screen wiper that comes on
by itself at the onset of a few
drops of rain all very
impressive, but not essential, for
we are all quite capable of seeing
if it is raining. Yet this little extra
all adds to the price of the car, as
do the myriad facilities contained
in the hi-fi system, for the great
majority are never used, even if
their existence is noted when
browsing through the handbook.
Even
the
little
chrome
embellishments that tell the
world the name of the model of
our car, add several pounds to the
price, but we accept these as a
matter of course.
Possibly the biggest money
wasters are football fans, with
minimum admission prices to
Premier Divisions matches rarely
being less than 25, though
usually several pounds more,
while it costs money to get to the
match, and refreshments take up
more. Fortunately fans have
recently woken up to the fact that

they are being overcharged and a

bit of a revolution has been
taking place, particularly now
that the commercial TV contracts
are swamping the clubs with
money and the supporters have a
good case for fairer treatment.
Probably the difficulty young
people experience in getting
mortgages these days, thus
making the prospect of ever
getting their own house a remote
one, has withdrawn the incentive
to save, so that spending large
sums on entertainment does not
such an unwise thing, but it
seems a pity that their cash is
used by the clubs to indulge in
such stupid outlays of millions of
pounds to constantly buy in new
players in the search for success,
not only for exorbitant transfer
fees, but for silly salaries that
result in players earning as much
as 2000 every time they kick a
ball !
At the other end of the football
scale,
certain
education
authorities have banned the
practice of schools publishing the
results of childrens football
matches
in
their
school
assemblies, as it is suggested that
this would make the members of
a losing team subject to
depression
or
inferiority
complexes. What nonsense ! I
remember the very first time I
represented my school. We lost
13-2, but were proud to have
scored the 2, and far from
depressed, we could hardly wait
for the next game.
Nearly every week, by the very
nature of things, we lose friends
or read about the passing of
favourite personalities, and of
course we mourn their passing to
various degrees, but never has
there been such a re-action as
there was a few weeks ago when
Sir Terry Wogan left us. There
surely can rarely, if ever, have
been such warm feelings roused
between an entertainer and the
general public and fellow
broadcasters alike, and this was
reflected by the fact that within
an hour of the news breaking, all
the schedules on B.B.C. Radio
Two had been scrapped and
replaced with tributes from all
sides. Being one of Terrys Old
Geezers (a TOG) I know that he
will never be forgotten by those
of us who shared our breakfast
times with him for so many
years,
while
others
will
remember
him
through
television. Thank you Terry.
As we pass towards Spring, I feel
sure we will all look back on this
winter as being the most
colourful in a long time, with the
beautiful sunrises that decorated
our early morning skies, not just
once, but time and time again
throughout the months that are
usually at their most drab. Fine
sunsets we are used to, but
picturesque dawns were an
unexpected treat,
so not
everything is bad these days,
after all. Good afternoon.

Dance Away at
The Queens Hall
Ballroom, Latin and Sequence
Dancing 8pm to 11pm Admission 4
March 5th, then April 2nd, May 7th

March 2016

Tuesday
Afternoon
Fellowship

Toy dog, photo, cough mixture,

playing cards, abacus, cushion,
book, hot water bottle, sea shell,
long playing record, and world
globe. These were just some of
the items Rev. Gerry Foster from
St Mary' s Church displayed on a
table at our January meeting.
What on earth was she up to?
Was she having a clear out? Or a
jumble sale? No, none of these.
Her idea was to give us an
interesting afternoon recalling our
memories. Shielding them from
us, she removed one item at a
time and invited one half of the
group to guess what had been
removed .Then the other half
were invited to give us memories
based on that item. This resulted
in some hilarious recollections as
one might imagine. For example,
for one member, the toy dog
reminded her of her rescue dog
which escaped from her garden
and was found over a mile away
trying to get on a train at the local
railway station.! His Name was
BIMBO!
For others, the foul taste of
cough mixture brought back
bitter childhood memories.Then
we had memories of alternatives

The Wayland News Page 7

to hot water bottles, One
member telling us that they
wrapped heated house bricks in
a towel when she was a girl.
The abacus provided with us all
with a problem. No one knew
how you used them for
calculations. The book brought
a number of recollections. One
having a bible printed in the
welsh language, another was a
bible
signed
by
George
Cadbury, the founder of the
chocolate company, for Sunday
School attendance given to the
grandfather. As you can see, it
was
a
very
entertaining
afternoon, Finally, Rev. Gerry
revealed the small globe,
reminding us that we are all
members
of
the
world
community and to try and leave
good memories for those who
follow us. Naturally, we all
followed that with tea and chat!
What do you do when your
eighth child arrives and you
can't think of a name for her?
This was the dilemma facing Mr
& Mrs Hill in 1838. Name her
Octavia of course! This was just
the start of a very interesting
talk given by Hazel Gillingham
on February 2nd. Octavia, born
in Wisbech, moved to London
when she was 12 following the
collapse of her father's bank. To
help with family expenses,

along with a sister started

making and selling toys.
Business expansion meant that
she was able to employ others
from poor backgrounds. Her
artistic talents came to the
notice of John Ruskin who
employed her as a copyist.
Sometime later, mindful of the
bad housing conditions, she
borrowed 3000 from John
Ruskin to purchase a tenement
block. An incentive for these
tenants to look after their homes
was to allow a reduction in rent
if they attended education
course, and therefore get better
jobs. Soon she was able to pay
back this loan.
These forward thinking ideas
flourished. Many other properties
were purchased. This was
Christian Socialism in practice,
These and other ideas reached
many local authorities throughout
the country. A number of them
had her as what we would today
call a 'management consultant" to
set up similar schemes. During
this period, Octavia also found
time to set up pension schemes.A
keen lover of the countryside, led
her to evolve various plans to
protect open spaces. Among
them, being instrumental in the
innovation of what we would now
call a "Green Belt" around cities.
This idea too spread, and in the

late 1800s, she was able to

influence many land owners to
either gift, or sell land for the
recreational use of the nation as a
whole.
This, in turn, led to the
formation of what Octavia's best
known achievement. In 1895
she gathered around her a
number
of
likeminded
individuals who wished to
preserve open spaces for
everyone to enjoy.
Together they founded The
National Trust. Octavia died in
1912, but the fruits of her
forward thinking are still with
us. In 1937 legislation was
passes to enable landowners and
other public benefactors to pass
on property to The National
Trust free of Inheritance Tax.
Her birthplace in Wisbech is
now open as a museum and it
featured in a recent edition of
Antiques Road Trip on TV.
You are welcome to join us. On
Tuesday March 1st we will have
Lois Gill to tell us about the
"Blossom & Yarn" festival
event, and Tuesday March 15th
it is "Here be Dragons - The
Norwich Trail" with Brian &
Anne Lawrence.
We meet at the WCCC on the
first and third Tuesday of the
month at 2.30pm
See you there!

Dance-Away &
Phoenix Pipes
and Drums

Dance-Away is organised by a
committee of volunteers who hold
monthly social dances at the
Queens Hall in Watton.
The members are keen to support
local groups, and this year, have
chosen the recently formed Phoenix
Pipes and Drums as a worthy
recipient of this years donation of
100. Stan Hebborn, the Band Pipe
Major, has informed us that they
will use the donation to buy a piece
of equipment for the group.
The Pipes and Drums are keen
supporters of local community
events and have offered to play at
one of our dances, which is much
appreciated. The Dance-Away
committee wish them continuing
success.
Dance -Away have a programme of
dances for 2016, which are held on
the first Saturday of most months.
Ballroom, Latin and Sequences
dances, to the music of Nina & Bob
Matsell, are enjoyed by a friendly,
loyal group of dancers of all
abilities.
The next dance is on Saturday 5th
March, so why not join us. You
will be made very welcome.
For more details contact Val &
Kevin Simpson on 01953 882790.

32 High Street, Watton. IP25 6AE 01953 881 248 www.adcocks.co.uk

The Wayland News Page 8

Rocklands
Village Shop
March sees the Easter weekend
and on Easter Monday, the Easter
Bunny will be in the shop to meet
the children and dish out easter
eggs. So do please bring any
children along.
The opening hours over Easter
will be as follows:Good Friday - 8.30am-4pm
Saturday - Normal 7.30am5.30pm
Easter Sunday Closed all day
Easter Monday 8.30am 4pm
Our normal plea for more
Volunteers to come forward
remains as ever. We are pleased
to say that we have welcomed
several new members just
recently. If you have a few hours
to spare in a week, not necessarily
every week, please enquire at the
shop and you will be welcomed
with open arms. Volunteers are
absolutely vital to the running of
the shop, training is on hand and
they usually find it an enjoyable
experience.
A reminder that the Post Office is
open all the hours that the shop is
open, including Sundays.
If you would like a personalised
card for any occasion, please ring
01953 488567 and speak to
Shirley who will be pleased to
make up one. Especially for you.

March 2016
They are made 100% in aid of the
shop.
Normal
Opening:
MonFri:7.30am-6.30pm, Sat:7.30am5.30pm, Sun:8.30am-1pm

Breckland
Harmony a bit about us

The choir was formed in 1994 as

the result of an evening class which
escalated. We sing a variety of
accompanied and unaccompanied
pieces in 2, 3 or sometimes 4 part
harmony, from Simon and
Garfunkel and the Beatles to
madrigals and folk. The ability to
read music is not essential, but it
would obviously be helpful if you
can sing in tune!
Rehearsals are on Monday
evenings 7.30 - 9.30 pm in
Ovington Village Hall, Church
Road, Ovington. If transport is a
problem it may be possible to
arrange a lift - we have members
from Hingham to Thompson!
Membership is currently by
subscription of 10 per month,
regardless of the number of
rehearsals in that month or how
many you attend. This money goes
towards covering our costs: mainly
hall hire and expenses of our
conductor, Julia Grover. We have a
short AGM at the beginning of the
year.

We perform several concerts each

year within the Breckland area,
usually by invitation for a good
cause.
Although we are an amateur choir,
we like to give the best
performances possible and to this
end we request that members attend
the final three rehearsals before any
concert. If a member is unable to do
this, she should discuss it in
advance with Julia. This ensures
everyone knows what they are
doing on the night.
Our concert dress consists of black
(either top and long or longish skirt
or trousers, or dress) with a
coloured scarf, cream top for
summer concerts.
Concerts are spread over the year:
Spring, Summer and Christmas.
We also visit residential homes to
sing carols between the last concert
and Christmas.
The second Monday in January is
reserved for our 'Christmas' Dinner
as we are too busy before then! In
summer, weather permitting, we
like to organise a BBQ as our
second purely social event of the
year, if any member is kind enough
to host it in their garden.
We welcome new members. For
further information please contact
Julia on 01953 483654.
Chair: Hazel Bingham - 01953
483771. Secretary: Heather Juby 01953 850228. Treasurer: Sara
Riley - 01953 850808

Diabetes UK

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen

circumstances, our speaker was
unable to visit us in February. We
are hoping that she will be able to
come and see us later in the year.
So we had one of our coffee and
chat meetings instead and the
"Watton One" started the ball
rolling with an observation about a
certain
aspect
of
Diabetes
treatment, which in turn lead to
other topics of discussion about
Diabetes. The meeting was
concluded with a reminder that our
next meeting will be a shorter one
because of our annual lunch.
We will still be meeting at the
Pentecostal Church, whom we
thank for the generous use of their
facilities. The date of the meeting
will be Monday March 14th and we
will start at 10.15am, but we will be
finishing at 11.30. Please contact
me (Helen) on 01953 884713, leave
a message and I will return your
call. Alternatively you can email
me rjwhrt56@btinternet.com for
details of any of our meetings.

members turned up with lots of

items for sale. Business was brisk
and a reasonable sum was raised
for club funds. A big thank you to
everyone who participated. The
raffle and tea break was followed
by a surprise bingo session with
several winners. The letter of the
month was "F" and our members
did not disappoint with the variety
of items brought to the table. From
fascinators to fluff!
Surprisingly the fluff was the
winner. This was entered by Mrs.
Sheila Follows from Attleborough.
Next month the letter will be "G."
On the 9th of March the entertainer
will be Simon White from Peter
Beales Roses whose subject will be
the Gardens of East Anglia. Usual
time 14:00 hrs to 16:00 hrs. New
members welcome and there is no
age limit. Contact: Allyson
Blandford 01953 488103

Shellrock
Circle Club

For Rocklands and the surrounding

districts. Venue: The Village Hall.
The Street. Rocklands NR17 ITP
For our "Bring & Buy Sale" on the
9th of February 2016 about 20

32 High Street, Watton. IP25 6AE 01953 881 248 www.adcocks.co.uk

The Wayland News Page 13

Extracts From
My Scrapbook
By Ken Knowles

Great moments in History

MOUNT HOREB, EGYPT,
YONKS B.C.
And Moses saith unto the Lord Lord,
didst thou nor create heaven and
earth, the darkness and the light, the
plants, the trees, the animals and the
birds ?
Aw shucks, He replied, One does
ones best.
And art thou not omnipresent ?,
continued Moses.
Yes, my son, I am with thee in the
fields, in the tabernacle, yea, even in
thy tent. I am indeed omnipresent.
Then why is it, Lord, that whenever
thou wishes to speak to me, thou
makes me traipse all the way up this
rotten mountain ?
SAME PLACE, DIFFERENT DAY
And the Lord saith unto Moses Hast
thou prepared the sacrifice ?
Yes, my Lord replied Moses, Its
all ready for you here in the
tabernacle in accordance with your
Holy Covenant.
Well done my son saith the Lord.
Then OH NO ! ! Not fatted calf
AGAIN !
EGYPT, NOT QUITE SO YONKS
B.C.
Two great lovers meet in their
palace bedroom. The girl, Delilah,
takes one look at Samson, and cries
Get your air cut, you orrible little
man !
WESSEX. 885 A.D.
King Alfred gathers his henchmen.
Stop henching a minute, and pay
attention, he cries. Now you
know that lately, in between Kinging, I have been taking cookery
lessons. Well, today is my birthday,
and I have baked a cake, which you
can all share. At that moment the
sun-dial strikes four. Good
heavens, is that the time ? I should
have taken it out of the oven ages
ago. He opens the oven to be
greeted with clouds of smoke and a
charred cake.
Never mind , lads cries the King,
Heres one I prepared earlier .
HASTINGS. 1066 A.D.
An agonised cry from King Harold
Anyone know a good Optician ?
DEVON. 1580 A.D.
It was rather stormy when Sir Walter
Raleigh met Queen Elizabeth, and at
a crucial moment the wind blew his
cloak off into a puddle, and the
Queen stepped on it gratefully.
Here, cried Raleigh, watch where
youre putting your great feet thats
my best cape !
ENGLAND. 1719 A.D
Daniel Defoe had taken a farm in
the country. He used to like hearing
the song of a robin that usually
perched outside his window, but
one day he found the robin dead,
next to a little chick that had been
orphaned. To his surprise he found
that the tiny bird had been adopted
by
the
farmyard
rooster.
Unfortunately as the little bird grew
in his newly found environment it
learnt to Cock-a-Doodle-Doo
instead of singing, and it persisted
in doing this all day long, until at
last Defoe could stand it no longer.
He packed his bags and returned to
London.
And all because his robins son crew
so !
TRAFALGAR 1805 A.D.
Admiral Nelson lay prostrate on the
foredeck of H.M.S. Victory. He

March 2016
called to his friend and comrade,
Kiss me Hardy. Hardy replied
Dont you think it would be better to
wait till you are wounded or
something ? You know how these
sailors do talk !
MAFEKING 1900 A.D.
Well, General, I fear we are down to
our last loaf of bread, and the
ammunition is all spent. I dont think
we can hold out much longer.but
wait- look on the horizon, a troop of
cavalry is coming !
Well, said the General, Thats a
relief !
KITTY HAWK, U.S.A.. 1903 A.D.
Well, Orville, how are you getting
on with that new motor-car you have
designed ?
Actually, Wilbur, there still seems to
be something I cant quite get right,
with the front mud-guards. Every
time we get up a good speed, the
wretched car leaves the ground
completely !
EVEREST A.D. 1953
Edmund Hillary says to Sherpa
Tensing Are you sure we are on the
right mountain, only it seems to be a
funny place to find a double-glazing
company ?
Remember that todays future is
tomorrows history, or something.
Now a few of the new books now
available in the Library
The Insomniac By Beanaway Cages
Childrens Ailments By P.D. Attricts
Chinese Cooking By Chris. P.
Noodles
The Ostrich By Edna Sand
The Secret War By Topsy Curity
The Other Way Up By R. Suppards
The Beatles Story By Tristram Shout
A Great Cathedral By Awesome
Wells
Darwin Explained By Eve Olution
Engine Failure By Peter Doubt
The Pussycat Tragedy By Wee Don
Mccarpet
Enjoy your reading!

Watton Country
Market

Nationwide the Country Markets

are in decline and unfortunately
Norfolk is by no means immune to
this trend. Over the years we have
tried various methods of self
publicity with only limited success,
so it is a cedit to our stalwart
producers, helpers and loyal
customers that we are still trading.
As mentioned in this column
previously, we are always pleased
to welcome new producers particularly anyone who could
supply baked goods and seasonal
produce. In some cases we are down
to one main producer for certain
items and to ensure we continue to
have a wide selection of locally
sourced things for sale we are in
urgent need of additional stock. If
you, or someone you know, might be
interested, please call in to see us. We
are in the Christian Community
Centre in Watton every Wednesday,
from 8.30 until 11.30am.
We offer a selection of handicrafts
including greetings cards, knitwear,
candles and jewellery plus farm
fresh local eggs, sweet and savory
bakery. Fresh fruit, vegetables and
plants are also on offer - when in
season. Pop in to see us and maybe
relax in the adjacent room where
hot drinks and cakes are available
courtesy of the Church volunteers.

Streetwise

Place. The monogram ES can

be seen clearly at their centre.
Stevens also donated a clock to
be housed in the tower which
was originally built as a town
memorial to the Great fire of
1677. This was not, in the first
place, a Clock Tower. It had a
bell called the Ting Tang
which was to be rung in the event
of another serious fire breaking
out in the town.
Thomas Crawshay Frost was
born in 1846 in Thorpe St
Andrew where his father was a
clergyman without care of
souls. He was still living there in
1861 but the 1881 census shows
him living alone in Brewery
House (now the PACT charity
shop) having purchased and
extended the Brewery a few
years earlier.(1877) He continued
to live alone there for the next 10
years or more, but in 1894 he
married Drucilla Fortescue at a
ceremony in London. There is a
lovely story of Thomas Frost
when he was living alone
apparently, on Valentines Day
he would collect 100 new
pennies from the Bank, heat them
on a dustbin lid over an open fire
and then throw them from an
upstairs window of his house for
local youngsters to scramble for.
He died in the Wayland area in
1909 at the age of 63. His initials
can be seen near the top of the
old Brewery building in the High
Street
Sources: Watton through the
Ages. George Jessup
Watton in an Earlier Age
WEA
National Archive Records &
Parker School Saham Website.

Look after your

health with the
help of your
local
Pharmacist

many people are unaware of the

services that exist on their
doorstep. According to research,
1 in 4 people unnecessarily visit
their GP or A&E as a first port of
call when suffering from flu and
only 1 in 5 make use of their
local pharmacy despite long GP
waiting times.
Pharmacists are highly trained
professionals and can advise on
minor ailments. There is always a
pharmacist on duty and you don't
have to make an appointment to
see them. But your pharmacy can
help with more than just seasonal
sniffles and upset tummies.
Total Health Pharmacy in Watton
is a Healthy Living Pharmacy and
is open 7 days a week including
late into the evening, Saturday and
Sunday and offers many NHS and
other services including;
NHS health checks
NHS Stop Smoking Service
Help with managing and taking
your medication
Emergency
hormonal
contraception and other sexual
health services
Pregnancy testing
Free blood pressure testing
Private travel clinic and yellow
fever
centre
for
travel
vaccinations
Disposal
of
unwanted
medicines
Annual NHS flu vaccinations
Cholesterol testing
To find out more about how your
local pharmacy can help you to
look after your health, visit Total
Health Pharmacy, 14 Gregor
Shanks Way, Watton, or call
01953 881157

This month we are looking at the

roads which lead off Sharman
Avenue : Goffe Close, Stevens
Close and Frost Close. The
origins of these names go back a
long way and open another
window onto the history of
businesses and philanthropy in
our town.
Edward Goffe was born in
Threxton and he must have been
a man of considerable means as
in 1611 he had 4 almshouses
built in Watton on the site which
is now the car park at the Watton
Christian Community Centre.
There is a stone to commemorate
this in the wall at the rear of the
car park. The almshouses were to
be for 4 poor and aged widows
and the rent was 5 a year.
Edward Goffe also established an
endowment for a Free School in
Saham in 1612 the year of his
death.
Edward Stevens was also a great
benefactor in the town. He was a
brewer by trade and in 1831 he
built part of the Brewery which
still stands in the High street and
is now used as a base for
ManorCourt Care. This was
extended by his son Robert in
1838 and managed by him until
his death in 1866.Possibly
inspired by the much earlier
work of Goffe, Edward Stevens
also built almshouses and in a
similar style. These were to be
for 4 married couples aged 60
years or more who had lived in
the town for at least 30 years and
they are, in their modernised
form, situated at the west end of
the High Street, next to Vincent

Norfolk's Public Health is

encouraging people to have a
free NHS health check to better
understand
their
risk
of
developing certain illnesses or
being at risk of a heart attack or
stroke later in life.
Aimed at people aged 40 to 74
not already diagnosed with heart
disease, diabetes or a stroke, the
health check takes approximately
30 minutes and is free of charge.
The NHS health check is
available locally from Total
Health Pharmacy in Watton and
senior pharmacist Geoff Ray said
"The health check is 30 minutes
of your time worth spending to
understand how you can make
vital changes to your lifestyle.
Some health issues can be
addressed by simple changes to
your diet or increasing your level
of activity but other issues need
medical intervention to keep
them under control; high blood
pressure for example. Taking the
health check is a bit like giving
yourself an MOT and I would
urge people to contact us to make
an appointment".
Your local pharmacy doesn't just
offer the NHS health check
service. With 96% of the
population able to get to a
pharmacy within 20 minutes,

The Wayland News Page 14

March 2016

Dr Deric
Daniel Waters
Ed: It is wth great personal
sadness that I record the passing
of Deric 'Dan' Waters in Hong
Kong. Deric, pictured right in
2009 on what was his last visit to
Watton, was a great friend to
many old Wattonians and I am
pleased and proud to say that he
taught me so much about the past
history of Watton in recent years.
In July 1998, George Jessup, then
a regular contributor to the
Wayland News wrote the
following about the man for
whom he had the highest regard.
George referred to him as
'Watton's least known famous
son' and this was his tribute to
Deric at the time.
DERIC DANIEL WATERS
By George Jessup.
In
1853
Daniel
Waters
established a building business in
Watton that was destined to last
over one hundred years. Little
could he have thought that he
would be the first of five
generations to carry on the
business until 1954, with each
generation of the family having
the name of Daniel as one of their
Christian names.The business was
started in the High Street where
Sample's Butchers shop is now,
later moving to larger premises
where the Breckland Funeral
Directors are situated. In 1875
Kelly's Directory shows "Waters,
Daniel" as a "Plumber and
Glazier", but The Watton
Almanac of 1891 shows "Waters
and
Sons"
as
"Plumbers,
Decorators, Painters, Grainers,
Writers, Guilders, Paper Hangers,
Gas and Hot Water Fitters,
Ecclesiastical
Glaziers
and
Sanitary Engineers Etc.", with
works in the High Street and
Norwich Road. In the 1920's the
Waters family still owned the
High Street site and Miss
Elizabeth
Waters
had
a
confectioners shop there which I
remember very well. When the
firm moved from the Norwich
Road site it was to be their final
move to where their living
accommodation was at what is
now number 40 Thetford Road
and the Builders Works covering
an acre of what is now Donald
Moore Gardens.In 1897 a new
carved oak Reredos was fixed in
St Mary's Church and the ceiling
of the Chancel was enriched, both
to the designs of Thomas Waters,
a local artist. To carry out this
beautiful work on the ceiling
Thomas laid on his back on
scaffolding boards and everyone
who goes to Watton Church now
will realise that the ceiling is still
resplendent,
testifying
to
Thomas's workmanship. Thomas
was the Great Uncle of Deric
Daniel Waters who is the subject
of this article. Robert Waters,
another member of the firm and
Deric's grandfather built the

present Post office and most of

the houses between the Griston
Road shop and Garden Close
more than a hundred years ago.
He was also the Captain of the
town's Fire Brigade for many
years during the late 1890's and
the early 1900's and he also had a
brother who was a member of the
Fire Brigade at that time. At one
time Robert lived in Willow
House and was a member of the
parish council and like the rest of
the family did much community
work and fund-raising for the
town.
He also had four brothers, Daniel
(yet again), Tom, Harry and
Walter, who all worked in the
business when it was greatly
expanded. They also had three
sisters, Elizabeth, Maryanne and
Charlotte. At the time the house
was built, it was the furthest out
of the town on the Thetford Road
and Robert, being a forward
looking man installed a bathroom,
thought to have been the first
dwelling in Watton to have one.
The firm also had the first
telephone in the town, a private
one, which ran from their High
Street premises to 40 Thetford
Road, but before it would operate
one had to crank a handle. After
Robert's death the business was
carried on by his sons Dan and
Harold. As a boy of 6, I can well
remember the firm having what I
thought was the first dual-purpose
lorry in the town. During the
week it was used in their business
and at weekends was converted
into passenger transport by
having wooden forms placed
along the sides and a tarpaulin
fixed over the top and was used
for conveying Watton United
football team on their away
matches and also to take
passengers to other social events
including the annual Fat Cattle
Show at the Agricultural Hall and
the Chrysanthemum Show at St.
Andrew's Hall in Norwich and

many a bumpy journey I had in it.

There are still several people in
Watton aged sixty or more who
will remember Deric Waters as he
was known when a pupil at
Thetford Grammar School in the
1930's, also when he became the
fifth generation of the family to
take over the business when his
father, Dan Waters, died in
February 1952, but in later years
he was perhaps better known as
Dan and later still as Doctor D.D.
Waters.
During the war he was one of the
famous "Dessert Rats" and for
over four years served with the
Eighth Army in Africa and Italy,
being wounded three times and
Mentioned In Despatches. He was
also very keen on weight lifting
and became the Eastern Counties
Champion and only missed being
the British Champion by a
whisker. After the war Deric
returned home and re-joined the
family business at Watton and
when his father died he took over
the running of it. But he also
studied and later taught Building
Science at Norwich City College
and having passed all his
examinations he decided to sell
the business and apply for a
teaching post in Trinidad, one of
fifty two dependant territories he
could have gone to. After the
interview he was told, "This job is
at Secondary level and we think
you would probably be more
interested in a job in Hong Kong
at Post Secondary Level".
"I did not know much about Hong
Kong but after reading about the
place I accepted the job" said
Deric, "although at the time Hong
Kong was a down at heel British
Colonial Outpost where a bed
would have one person sleeping
in it at night and another during
the day and several were going
about bare footed.
"Soon after arriving in Hong
Kong he met a fellow English
Civil Servant who told him,

"There has never been a Chinese

cross my threshold as a guest.
They have come in as tradesman,
or servants, but never as guests."
He also said, "I have been here
twenty years and can't count
beyond three in Cantonese." One
of the first things Deric had to do
when he arrived in Hong Kong
was to pass fluency tests in
Cantonese as many of the classes
were conducted in that language.
Having passed the first two
successfully he decided to
continue learning this language.
But his superior was astonished
when Deric chose to take his final
government examinations in
Cantonese, saying, "What on
earth are you doing, only cranks
and policeman bother to learn
Cantonese", to which Deric
replied, I think I must be one of
the cranks", although during the
1956 riots he also spent some
time on the beat as an auxiliary
policeman. His first position in
Hong Kong was at the Technical
College where he rose to become
Vice-Principal
before
being
appointed Principal of the new
Morrison Hill Technical Institute,
a new six-storey building that was
officially
opened
by
the
Governor, Sir David Trench, on
October 12th 1970.
There he was in overall charge of
technical education. The college
catered for one thousand three
hundred full time students and nine
thousand part time, in business
studies, construction, electrical and
mechanical engineering, as well as
training teachers and instructors.
Deric continued his studies in his
spare time and became a Fellow of
the Institute of Building, Fellow of
the Royal Society of Health,
Associate Member of the British
Institute of Management and
Fellow of the Institute of Scientific
Business. He has written a great
number of papers and articles on
construction management, technical
education and vocational training
which have been published in the
UK and elsewhere as well as in
Hong Kong. He has also written ten
books and one of them,
"Understanding
Technical
English", which he wrote many
years ago, sold over a million
copies. The glowing reviews on all
his books and articles are far too
numerous to mention. He has also
been on study tours of technical
education and vocational training
institutes in many countries
including Japan, USA, France,
Belgium, Holland and the USSR.
When it became apparent in 1972
that technical education was
particularly vital to the prosperity of
Hong Kong, Deric was posted to
Education Headquarters to oversee
developments. Between 1974 and
1980 he played a vital role in the
establishment of four additional
technical institutes - Kwai Chung,
Kwun Tong, Haking Wong and
Lee Wai Lee - and saw enrolments
jump from 8,700 to more than
23,000.In 1956 Deric met a young
lady named Vera Chang who

worked in the Chartered Bank of

India, Australia and China as it was
then called. They were married on
the Queens Birthday in 1960, a year
after Vera's father had died. He
never
accepted
inter-racial
marriages and was bitter that his
wife could only bear daughters and
did not accept Chairman Mao's
saying, "Women hold up half the
sky." To have no sons, along which
the family line passes is to have
failed. The fact that her father
considered "Girls no use and
money invested in them was
wasted", spurred Vera on and in
1965 she set up her own business of
"Vera's World Of Beauty Ltd." to
prove that women were as good as
men any time and in 1974 with her
business thriving she was selected
as one of the "Ten outstanding
young persons of Hong Kong", an
event organised annually by the
Junior Chamber Of Commerce in
countries around the world. Having
worked in the Chartered Bank of
India, Australia and China it was
natural that like countless Hong
Kongers, she should be influenced
by Western management methods.
Hong Kong in the 1950's was very
different - not only in terms of the
architecture or the wealth of the
city, but also in terms of social
attitudes, said Dr Dan Waters,
when he and his wife were married
both his ex-patriot friend and her
traditional Hong Kong, Chinese
families expressed doubts, but
when he wrote his book, "Faces Of
Hong Kong" in 1995 he dedicated
it "to all cross-cultural marriages
and to Eurasians everywhere".
They had been married for 35 years
and as he says, their marriage has
stood the test of time.
On retirement Deric went back to
school and obtained both a
Master of Philosophy and a
Doctor of Philosophy. Previously
he had obtained a Black Belt in
Karate at 57, but on retirement he
had more time to continue his
physical training and in his mid
sixties ran marathons (42.2Km).
At seventy he set the Hong Kong
and All-Comers records in both
the 800m and 1600m in the over
70's group these times could have
won the Australian 800m and the
South African 1500m. Deric's
motto is "Education is for life"
saying "the brain is similar to a
muscle, you train it like an athlete
trains his body. If you do not use
it it becomes addled and you
finish up with the fairies at the
bottom of the garden", and with a
glint in his eye, goes on to climb
more peaks, swim more rivers
and watch more sunsets.Since
retiring he has also been able to
serve the community more, by
among other tasks, sitting on the
Antiquities Advisory Board and
as a council member of the Royal
Asiatic Society. He also served as a
Justice of the Peace and the
Imperial Service Order was
conferred on him by the Queen in
1981, but he regrets that he did not
go to Buckingham Palace for the
Queen to pin it on his chest, instead

March 2016

The Wayland News Page 15

Recipe of
the Month
Tipsy Chicken

deciding to save a journey by

having the Governor of Hong
Kong, Lord McLehose present it to
him.A journalist by the name of
Mrs Matthews said that after 1997
comes and goes, when China had
taken over Hong Kong and
everyone had settled into it, it
would be a shame if there was
nothing left to remember the past.
So she interviewed a "star-studded"
cast of forty to relate their various
experiences from the days when it
was a run down British Colonial
Outpost to the thriving place it is
today with more Rolls-Royces
there than in any other city in the
world and Dr. D.D. Waters was
one of the forty to be interviewed.
Following the "take over" of Hong
Kong when it returned to China in
1997 a number of friends asked
Deric how you in the Territory
were getting to grips with the new
Hong Kong and if he would be
staying there or taking his Chinese
wife to his ancestral home at
Watton in England. Deric's reply
was that they planned to stay in
Hong Kong and he is convinced
that the communists in China will
change. He has no doubt at all that
they will get a much milder form
of communism and Hong Kong
will still be a good place to live and
goes on to say that, "I will probably
leave my bones here, but not for a
while yet I hope, as I want to see
what goes on in the Territory after
1997. This is the only place I want
to be. My friends are here and I
regularly receive cards from former

pupils and staff at the Morrison

Hill Technical Institute - proof that
East and West can get along
together".
Now Deric has made it known that
he has decided to stay in "far away
Hong Kong", I just hope that he
will not be forgotten in his home
town, as together with Sir Percy
Vincent who was elected Lord
Mayor of London in 1935, they
are, in my opinion, Watton's two
greatest sons and how sad it would
be if his life was allowed to pass
unnoticed and unrecorded into
oblivion. I sometimes think that
more thought might have been put
into the naming of Donald Moore
Gardens, as with five generations
of the Waters family having lived
and four generations having had
their business there the exception
being Deric's son Barry, who was
born there, but left when he was
seven and is now working in the
European Parliament. I therefore
think it would have been more
appropriate if it had have been
named after Betty Waters, Deric's
mother, who did so much good for
the town, especially The Royal
British Legion organising the
Poppy Day Appeal for about fifty
years and was awarded a Gold
Broach by the Legion for her
efforts, having been proposed for it
by the previous Lord Walsingham.
Bessie was also a committee
member of the Watton Cottage
Hospital and organised many
events from 1927 to the start of
World War Two, when Watton had

an annual Hospital carnival Week

that was considered the best in
Norfolk.
One of the highlights in the two
mile long Carnival Procession
every year was the Waters family
all dressed as Romanies and
playing a Barrel Organ (Pictured
above with Deric second from
right) which not only created much
fun but greatly added to the funds.
Those still living in the town who
remember
those
wonderful
Carnival weeks will wish that all
today's townsfolk could get
together and recreate so much fun
and raise large sums for charity,
but I do realise that it would be
much more difficult today with so
many more attractions.
Having mentioned about the
naming of Donald Moore
Gardens I would add that I was a
close friend of Donald for over
fifty years, so I do know of all the
great efforts he did for Watton, as
a Parish and District Councillor,
his splendid gifts to St Mary's
Church, the hard work he did in
tidying up the Churchyard and
Church Walk and very many
more good deeds and he certainly
should have had his name
commemorated, but I just feel its
a pity it was not elsewhere in the
town. Deric has a sister Olga,
living in Norfolk and like him is
a great writer under her married
name of Olga Sinclair. She has
written many books also many
articles. Ed: Sadly, Olga died
about 4 years ago.

Prepared by Brenda
Bracewell
Dont worry, you dont
actually get tipsy from this
because the alcohol is boiled
first!
This recipe serves 2.
Boil pint draught cider in
a shallow pan. Add a pinch
of thyme and salt and black
pepper. Plunge two skinless
chicken breasts into the cider
and cover the pan. Poach the
chicken gently until cooked
through. Drain the meat and
wrap each chicken breast in
a thin slice of cooked ham.
Place the wrapped chicken in
an ovenproof dish and
sprinkle with a tablespoon
of grated Parmesan. Put
under a hot grill until the
cheese is golden brown.
Sounds quick, easy and
delicious dont you think?

Women's
World Day
Of Prayer
On Friday 4th March,
Come and join us for coffee
from 10.00am onwards at
Watton Methodist
Church, before the annual
Women's World Day of
Prayer Service beginning at
10.30am. All are most
welcome.
The service this year has been
written by Christian women in
Cuba, translated into over 60
languages and 1000 dialects.
In the British Isles alone over
6,000 services will be held.
The theme Receive children,
Receive me reflects St
Marks Gospel, chapter 10
verses 13-16 which is the
focus of the service and a
reminder that everyone is a
child of God and equally
worthy of our love and
respect.
This is not a day of prayer
just for women - everyone is
welcome to attend the
service, for more information
contact Margaret Cator
01953 881252

The Essence
of Spring

The Dragonfly Gallery, Wayland House,

High St, Watton, IP25 6AR is launching a
new Exhibition for the start of the 2016
season
'The Essence of Spring' - Mixed Media Art
Exhibition Saturday 27th February - Saturday
12th March
Coffee Morning - Saturday 27th February 10
- 12.30 - Homemade Cakes
Opening Times: Monday to Friday 10.00am 4.00pm, Saturday 10.00am - 1.00pm
Contact Susan Hollingworth Arts & Events
Manager 01953 880205

The Wayland News Page 16

Watton Churches Together

St. Marys Church, Watton
www.stmaryswatton.org Follow us @StMarysWatton
If I can be of help to you please do not hesitate to contact me, on 01953
881439, I shall be available at church on Tuesdays between 10.30am
and 12 Noon - Gerry Foster
1st, 3rd & 4th Wednesday at 9.30am Holy Communion 2nd
Wednesday Morning Worship. Tuesdays 7.30am - 8am, Thursdays
5pm - 5.30pm Saturdays 9.30am - 10am Parish Prayers. 5pm - 6pm
Pray & Praise . Church Office opens Tues, Wed & Thurs 9am-1pm
Tel: 01953 881252 margaret@churchadm.freeserve.co.uk
Sun 6th
Mothering Sunday
8.00am
Holy Communion
10.00am
Holy Communion
Sun 13th
8.00am
Holy Communion
10.00am
Informal Holy Communion
Sun 20th
Palm Sunday
8.00am
Holy Communion
10.00am
Palm Sunday Service
4-5.15pm Caf Church - Blenheim Centre
6.30pm
Choral Evensong
Thur 24th 7.00pm
Maundy Thursday Five Parish Holy
Communion & stripping the Altar followed by Vigil
Fri 25th
10.30am
Good Friday Silent Procession
leaves St Marys Church for
11.15am
Service at The Methodist Church
7.00pm
Taize Service
Sun 27th
Easter Day
8.00am
Holy Communion
10.00am
Holy Communion
12.30pm
Holy Baptism

Watton Methodist Church

www.wattonmethodist.btck.co.uk
Every Wednesday the Church is open for quiet
reflection and prayer between 10.15am & 11.30am
Its your quiet place. At 10.30 there is a half-hour Midweek Service in
the Large Vestry led by the Minister or a Church Member. Minister
Rev E Reddington 01760 720858
From 6th March we are changing our Morning Service to a
10.30am start. This is a permanent change.
Sun 6th
10.30am
Mr A Warby
6.30pm
Rev B Trinder
Sun 13th
10.30am
Rev E Reddington Holy Communion
3.00pm
Songs of Praise at Thursford
Sun 20th
10.30am
Mr R Cunningham
6.30pm
Mrs J Roebuck
Fri 25th
10.30am
Good Friday Silent Procession
leaves St Marys Church for
11.15am Service at The Methodist Church
Sun 27th
Easter Day
10.30am Rev B Winner Holy Communion
6.30pm
Rev E Reddington Holy Communion

Roman Catholic Community

Each Sat 5.30pm Mass at Watton Methodist Church
All Holy Week Services at Our Lady of Pity Swaffham
Thur 24th Maundy Thursday
7.30pm
Mass of the Lords Supper
Fri 25th
Good Friday
3.00pm
Celebration of the Passion of the Lord
Sat 26th
Holy Saturday
8.00pm
Solemn Vigil of Easter
Sun 27th
Easter Day
8.30am
Morning Mass
10.30am
Morning Mass

St. Nicholas Church, Ashill

Tuesdays at 10.00am Holy Communion
Sun 6th
Mothering Sunday
9.30am
Lay Led Worship
Sun 13th
9.30am
Family Holy Communion
Sun 20th
9.30am
Palm Sunday Service
Tue 22nd
10.00am
Holy Communion
Fri 25th
2.00pm
Good Friday Meditation
Sun 27th
9.30am
Easter Day Holy Communion

March 2016
Breckles, Caston, Great Hockham, Griston,
Merton, Stow Bedon, Thompson
Christ died for our sins, was buried
and was raised on the third day.
Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

SEASON OF LENT
Sunday 6th March - 4th Sunday of Lent
(Mothering Sunday)
9:00 am: Mothering Sunday All-Age Service, Merton
10:30 am: United Holy Communion, Griston
Mothering theme, posies for ladies, and refreshments
Sunday 13th March - 5th Sunday of Lent
10:30 am: United Holy Communion, Thompson
(Not at Stow Bedon as its closed for repairs)
HOLY WEEK
Sunday 20th March - Palm Sunday
9:00 am: Matins (BCP), Gt. Hockham
10:30 am: United Holy Communion, Thompson
Holy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - 21st to 23rd March
7:00 pm: Compline, Gt. Hockham
Maundy Thursday24th March
7:00 pm: Feast of the Institution of the Lords Supper,
Gt. Hockham
Good Friday25th March
10:00 am to noon: Messy Church, Gt. Hockham
Creative activities for children aged 4 to 11 and their families,
brief worship, refreshments
12-3:00 pm: Church to Church Pilgrimage
12:00 Thompson, 12:20 Merton, 12:40 Griston,
13:00 Bring your packed the lunch to the Rectory;
14:00 Caston; 14:20 Breckles; 14:40 Gt. Hockham
(No stop at Stow Bedon church due to repair work)
2:00 pm: Silent meditation and prayer, and
last station of pilgrimage, Gt. Hockham
Holy Saturday - 26th March
8:00 pm: Service of light on the Eve of Easter, Breckles
SEASON OF EASTER
Sunday 27th March - Easter Day
9:00 am: Holy Communion (BCP), Merton
10:30 am: United Holy Communion, Caston
Sunday 3rd April - Second Sunday of Easter
10:30 am: United Holy Communion, Breckles
Monday 4th April The Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin Mary
7:00 pm: United Holy Communion, Caston
(Transferred, as 25th March was in Holy Week)
Youth Groups (ages 11+)
Sunday 13th March, 7:00 pm: The Way (Caston Rectory)
Friday, 18th March, 7:00 pm: Connect (Caston Rectory)
www.wgp.church
Enquiries Revd. Bob Nichols
Tel. (01953) 483222; Email revbobnichols@gmail.com

All Saints Church, Threxton

Sunday 27th March at 11a.m.
Easter Day Holy Communion. Everyone Welcome
WATTON BEREAVEMENT SUPPORT GROUP MARCH
Wed 2nd 2pm Tea and chat at Watton CCC
Mon 21st 12 for 12.30pm Lunch at Griston Waggon & Horses

St. Georges Church, Saham Toney

Sun 6th

Mothering Sunday
11.00am
Lay Led Worship
Sun 13th
11.00am
Family Holy Communion
Sun 20th
11.00am
Palm Sunday Service
Fri 25th
10.00am
Procession of Witness leaves
Wells Cole CC for
10.30am
Good Friday Meditation
Sat 26th
7.00pm
Easter Eve Group Service of Light with
Renewal of Baptismal Vows & blessing of all Paschal Candles
Sun 27th
11.00am
Easter Day Holy Communion

S.S. Peter & Pauls Church, Carbrooke

Sun 6th
Sun 13th
Sun 20th
Mon 21st
Fri 25th
Sun 27th

Mothering Sunday
10.30am
Family Holy Communion
10.30am
Morning Worship
10.30am
Palm Sunday Service
7.00pm
Holy Communion
2.00pm
Good Friday Meditation
10.30am
Easter Day Holy Communion

St John the Evangelist Church, Ovington

Sun 6th
Sun 20th
Wed 23rd
Sun 27th

10.30am
10.30am
10.00am
9.30am

Mothering Sunday Service

Lay Led Palm Sunday Service
Holy Communion
Easter Day Holy Communion

WATTON PENTECOSTAL CHURCH

MARCH SERVICES
6th & 13th March 10.30am: "Foundations of our Faith"
Sunday School during the morning service
20th March 10.30am: Egg Hunt Family Service
25th March 11.00am: Good Friday Service
27th March 10.30am: Resurrection Communion!
*Everyone Welcome*

Thought for the Month

By Rev Eleanor Reddington, Watton Methodist Church
Looking out of the window at the dusting of snow, Im reminded of
something that happened when I was at school. After 3 years on the
west coast of Cumberland (now Cumbria) and 3 years in Co.
Durham, we moved down to Cornwall. During one of my school
lessons in Newquay I glanced out of the window, noticed it was
snowing and simply carried on with whatever I was doing. A few
minutes later someone said Its snowing and the classroom
erupted. The person next to me repeated Its snowing and I replied
Yes, I noticed that about 5 minutes ago. I was then asked why I
hadnt said anything, and said well, its just snow. In a longsuffering tone my friend said Eleanor, we dont get snow in
Cornwall! The best bit was that we all got sent home from school
early. The school Headteacher had rung the weather station at RAF
St Mawgan and been told that the forecast was for more, and heavy,
snow. The school took in from a wide area, and buses had to go
down some steep hills, and then up the other side of the valley, and
as snow would make these roads dangerous we were all sent home.
Unfortunately for us, the forecast heavy snow didnt arrive!
Moving around the country has made me realise that each move
means I have to learn new weather patterns and new customs. In the
northeast as a child and later as a minister I had to learn not to plan
certain things during the winter months, because plans could easily
be disrupted by the weather. In various parts of the country which
are tourist hotspots Ive had to learn to leave extra time for journeys,
because visitors drive more slowly to take in the scenery and the
sheer volume of traffic can cause long delays.
Its the same with people we dont all respond to situations in the
same way. We may respond to a situation one way, and then when a
similar situation arises we may respond in a totally different way.
We may have learned from the way we reacted, so that we can do
better next time, or we may simply have been taken by surprise and
reacted in a particular way.
One of the joys of being a Christian is that I know God will always
react in the same way. If I send up a quick prayer for help, Hell
always answer. If I make a mess of things and go back to Him and
say Sorry Hell always welcome me back or, just like the parent
of a small child learning to walk, Hell pick me up, dust me down
and set me back on my feet again. Easter is a reminder of how much
God loves us He sent His Son to die on the cross for us, and then
raised Him to new life. Thats awesome! Someone we dont know
sending their Son to die for us, and then offering us a new, deeper
and enriching life thats incredible, mind-blowing love.
May you know His love for yourselves. Eleanor

Green Hearts at the

Watton Evening WI
The Green Hearts symbol shows support for the Climate Change
Coalition, an organisation the National WI belongs to together
with over 100 organisations representing some 15 millions
people across the UK.
At Watton Evening WI's coffee morning during the Valentine
weekend last month, many people were asked to note the things
that they love. Of course families and friendships were important
but the first snowdrop or daffodil or snow covered fields to walk
on on a crisp frosty morning were mentioned.
As summer comes the joy of wildflowers or the smell of
lavender and rosemary were popular whilst a walk along a river
or by the sea reminds us of the clean water we all take for
granted.
Some enjoyed a walk in Snowdonia or the beauty of the
Yorkshire Dales.
The buzz of the honey bee, bird song and the birds in our
gardens all gave pleasure as did the re growth of the forests after
their winter sleep.
The sunrise in the morning, the warmth of the sunshine during
the day and the beauty of the sunset in the evening were all
noted.
Simple pleasures but are they threatened by the change in the
patterns of weather?
A notice board at the event showed the range of endangered
species both in this country and abroad. Whilst many factors
contribute to the loss of birds, animals and plants, climate
change is one of those factors.
Climate change affects our environment, our food production,
our access to water and energy our nature's habitats, our sea
levels and our land, air and sea temperatures.
Climate Change affects everyone but we can help in small ways
and encourage our government to work towards a solution with
other countries of the world.
We can reduce our carbon footprint, make sure our houses are
well insulated saving energy and reducing our bills. Grow bee
friendly plants, save power, turn off lights in unused rooms,
drive fewer miles, use public transport, take fewer flights and
waste less food.
We can all do our bit!

March 2016

The Wayland News Page 17

Watton Rotary
Roundup

It was good to receive some feedback

on our piece last month about the
reducing numbers using our on-theday Father Christmas delivery
service. It all helps with the annual
review of our activities.
The deadline to submit this piece was
a little too early to be able to report on
Rotary Day (23rd February) and our
Presidents planned attempt to scale
the Millennium Dome with other
Rotarians from around Great Britain.
Or, indeed, whether our crocuses,
symbolic of the End Polio campaign,
were actually in bloom on or near the
appointed day, also Rotary Day.
These reports will have to wait until
April but it would be good to have
readers notes on any sightings of the
crocus. It is a particular type, called
Ruby Giant (see pic), which, although
not as big as its name suggests,
represents the colour of the dye used
to on a finger to show that a child has
been
immunized.
Incidentally,

Shipdham & District Book Group

Congratulations to those who noticed last months omissions!

The title was One Plus One and the author Jojo Moyes
discussed on 21st January
On 17th February we discussed Amy Snow by Tracy Rees.
This tells of a baby found on a bank of snow by Aurelia
Venaway, the child of a well to do middle class Victorian
family. Her parents and servants prove cold, unwelcoming to
the point of cruelty. Aurelia welcomes Amy as a playmate and
companion despite this but has an illness which will prove fatal.
Amy is thrown out when her friend dies but Aurelia has left her
a bundle of letters containing the key to a treasure hunt which
only she can follow. This provides travel to many places,
glimpses of high society, money and the truth about Aurelias
life and ultimately love.
This was an interesting meeting as opinions of this book were
divided. Roughly half of the members present loved it, couldnt
put it down whilst others couldnt wait to finish it and move on.
It was agreed that it was a fairly light read not to be taken too
seriously. Those in favour pointed out that it was written as
fiction not an accurate text book on Victorian social history.
Those against found some of the devices used to fill in
background and move the story on irritatingly unlikely. This is a
prize winning first novel and even its detractors showed interest
in what Tracy Rees produces next. It did have a happy ending
and a revelation in an epilogue helped to account for the
hardened attitude of Aurelias mother and evoke some
sympathy for her. For the March meeting we are reading The
Road Home by Rose Tremaine.

Cat Fostering

Unfortunately, this year some of our

long term fosterers are having to give
up fostering for a variety of reasons.
Therefore we are short of people who
are willing to foster cats or kittens for
us indoors. You need to have a
dedicated spare room or conservatory,
as Cat Protection cats and kittens must
be kept separate from the resident
animals in your household. Ideally the
floor in your cat room should be
washable and be able to be disinfected.
Cats Protection pay for litter, food and
mileage when you need to take your
foster cat or kitten to the vet. All our
cats and kittens are checked by a vet
and will need to be vaccinated,
mircrochipped and possibly neutered, if
the cat is old enough. So being a driver
would also be an advantage. We use
Eastgate Vets in Thetford and
Mildenhall, so ideally you would be
able to get to either vets practice. No
payment is needed, as any treatment
goes on our bill, which is settled by our
treasurer each month. You should not
be out of pocket and the only thing you
contribute is your time. You should

President Pauls Dome-walk can be

sponsored through Just Giving, which
enables the receiving charities (in this
case End Polio & Water Aid) to
reclaim tax on taxpayers donations;
visit our website
www.wattonrotary.org.uk for details.
Important fundraising events take
place on 2 consecutive days in this
month of March. The clubs first of 2
annual Jazz evenings in the Queens
Hall is on Friday 18th March, as
presaged last month and advertised
elsewhere in this edition. Tickets for
DixieMix are on sale in Adcocks. The
second event, on Saturday 19th
March, is a Grand Quiz Evening at
the Wells Cole Community Centre to
raise funds to enable the Friends of
Chernobyl Children to bring the 10
children from Belarus to Breckland
for their 5th, and final, year of a
month-long recuperative visit. Teams
of up to 4 persons are invited to take
part; the entrance fee is 8 per person,
which includes a fish & chip (or
alternative) supper. To register or
reserve a table call 01953 498164.
Martin Anscombe
also be willing to allow members of the
public, who have been vetted by our
Homing Officer, to come and view the
cats or kittens. An appointment will be
made that is convenient to you.
You would have the choice of whether
you want to foster adult cats, or mum
and kittens, or just kittens. However if
you opt for kittens you would need to
be at home for most of the day as they
need feeding at least 4 times during the
daytime. Litters are seldom mixed, so
it maybe one litter of kittens that are
weaned, or a single adult, or maybe
two adults if they are related. We can
provide cat beds, litter trays, feeding
bowls, toys, a scratching post and a cat
carrier.
So if you think you would like to try
fostering for us and if you think you
can part with a cat or kitten that you
may have had for some time (there are
always others waiting to come into our
care), then give us a ring. It is a very
rewarding way to help us and the cats
of course.
Call Ann on 01953 681092 or Jackie
on 01842 754670.
Rita Thompson, Breckland Cats
Protection.

Can You Dig It?

Comedy songs about
growing your own
Sunday 13th March 7.30pm
Ashill Community Centre
Hale Road, Ashill
Tickets 8
Box Office 01760 441196
or 01760 441374

March 2016

Thetford Singers
Easter Concert

The Wayland News Page 18

Three Memories for Wattonians

The choir is excited to be joined by a chamber orchestra and four

excellent soloists for its performance of Mozarts Coronation Mass,
Ave verum and Haydns Te Deum. The Music Director Chris
Parsons has worked hard to prepare the choir for this performance at
St Cuthberts Church on 19th March.

Archie Manning and Chummy in the High Street - Picture by Ruth Dwornik circa 1970

Adcocks Window Display - Picture by Ruth Dwornik circa 1970

Pharmacist Garnett Mitchell at work dispensing - Picture by Ruth Dwornik circa 1970

March 2016

The Wayland News Page 19

Andrew Evans A Level Student and Pete Bates Technology & IT Head, Iceni-Academy, Methwold

Meet The Author

Joan Khurody whose memoir, No-one Mentioned Bandits,

has been bought and borrowed by many people locally is
publishing a novel at the end of March entitled Into the Night
with a Stranger Joan will be available in Watton Library on
Wednesday April 13th to chat informally about her books and
to sign copies for anyone interested in buying them.

Ashill and Holme Hale

Gardening Club

For the first meeting of 2016 domestic gardening took a back

seat when Prof. Wendy Harwood, from the John Innes Centre
at Norwich Research Park, talked to members about
'Developments in Crop Genetics'. With the assistance of visual
displays Prof. Harwood explained the background and,
without baffling the members too greatly, the technicalities of
the research.
Improvement in yields is essential if we are to feed the world's
population which is currently 7billion and expected to rise to
9billion by the middle of this century. Genetic modification
occurs naturally and there are many examples of this but
research has now found a way of accelerating this.
The first GM crops were grown commercially in 1996 and are
now grown by 19million farmers in 28 countries. Such crops
include soya, cotton and maize. Sadly, the member states of
the European Union cannot agree on a policy and therefore the
only GM crop grown in Europe is maize which is insect
resistant. Surprisingly, although we cannot grow GM crops
here we can import them and it is almost certain that we eat
processed food and meat from animals fed on imported GM
soya as now 82% of soya is genetically modified.
For the future, research continues into drought tolerant barley
and blight resistant potatoes. Also, the technical processes
which this research has created can help in the development of
new medicines. Prof. Harwood ended her talk by answering
members' questions and was able to dismiss some of the myths
surrounding this subject and also, I believe, allay many fears.
What's on for the next three months:
March 24th Simon White (Peter Beale's Roses) - 'Singing the
Blues'
April 28th Ian Roofe - 'Summer Baskets'
May 11th Coach outing to Helmingham Hall, Stowmarket

Our Community Our Church

St John's Ovington restoration
Plans and progress made with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF)
to repair, restore and reinvigorate St Johns the Evangelist church
in Ovington, Norfolk, into a community asset were well received
by a large group of local people at recent an Open Meeting. The
project has two linked parts to itChurch Restoration: The architect, Ruth Blackman, presented
the repair work that was described and identified by the
Quinquennial Inspection report in 2009 and the HLF monies
have been allocated as a result. The report identified that severe
drainage problems were causing damage to the fabric of the
church and tower. Discussion took place about linked proposals
to modify the inside of the church to increase opportunities for
community access, such as moving the font, two rows of pews
and improving kitchen facilities. These plus the suggestion of
having a toilet in the church sparked good and lively debate at
the meeting. The architect advised that plans for various designs
would be available for public consideration and it was agreed to
take concerns to a future meeting with the PCC. It was
acknowledged that these needed to be village involvement and
transparency about what was happening.
Community Project: Part two is the Community Project and
this was well received with representatives of some of the
participating schools in attendance. Sali Martin, Head of
Vocational Studies at Wayland Academy has two groups of Year
10 students who are keen to be involved providing physical
assistance in helping to restore the graveyard and working with
the architect on exam based projects. Andrew Evans, an A level
student from the Iceni Academy, demonstrated the HLF church
website that he and a fellow student Luke Heys have constructed
from scratch. They have provided the website structure which
will facilitate a discussion forum and news feed to allow us to
contribute and monitor the progress of project. Their hard work
and skill, over a short time, was recognised by all.
Overall the project was enthusiastically received. Further
meetings will be held to clarify the points already raised and to
address boundary and access queries. This will allow the HLF
application to progress and release further money.
John Hardy thanked everyone for coming and for their
involvement and support and said that there would be another
Open meeting in March to look at progress of the Our
community Our church project.
For further information please contact John Hardy on 07938
599232 or 01953 889920.

The Wayland News Page 20

March 2016

Great Hockham
Gardening Club
This month we had 28 people attending our
meeting, an increase of six over last month.
From Pig Farming to Packaging: We were
given a very interesting talk by Richard
Wright (pictured right) from Langley with
Hardley. Richards talk was about his
journey from being a farmer, the son of a
farmer, to the (unlikely?) business he now
runs.
Richard began by outlining his fathers
start in farming before the Second World
War. After the war he progressed from
being a farm labourer, to renting, then
finally owning two farms outright. His
main areas of farming were pigs and
poultry. When Richard left school he
joined his father, personally taking over the
pig side of the business in the 70s.
Then, as we know, a series of problems
began to seriously affect farming. Over
production led to the cutting of subsidies.
Then, diseases like BSE and foot and
mouth put farmers under additional
pressure. Eventually, Richards business
became unviable and he was forced to seek
an alternative source of income. The Job
Centre could only offer him employment
stacking supermarket shelves, but a chance
encounter in a garden centre gave him the
idea of creating a business by
manufacturing, and selling direct, lamps
made by filling bottles with oil and dried
flowers.
This business started by selling at farmers
markets and was doing so well that he soon
expanded into sales over the Internet. Then,
one day, Richard ran out of packaging
materials, in particular the polystyrene
peanuts so commonly used to protect
fragile items. The consignment had to go
out that night and there was no way of
securing fresh stocks. Fortunately, he
noticed his daughter sitting in front of the
television eating popcorn! Out of
desperation he quickly cooked up some

Join Ashill
Bowls Club

Ashill Bowls club welcomes new club

members for its start to the new
outdoor season open day is 17th April
for new and existing members.
We run a male league, two mixed
leagues. EBF league and two over 55s
league plus competitions. Play in one
or all. We welcome both men and
ladies In particular we are short on you
Ladies.
In some circumstances transport can be
arranged. Interested then contact Brian
Smith club secretary on 01953 885472
or ashillbowlsgmail.com.

more and used this to cushion his lamps

during transit.
This worked so well that he continued to
use popcorn, but then began to add dried
flowers in the mix. Richard began to get
positive feedback from buyers of his lamps
- about the packaging material. People
were feeding it to wild birds and adding
perfumes to make their own potpourri. It
was going so well that he wanted to market
the packaging, but needed to find a trade
name and came up with idea of POPFIL.
When trying to register this name the only
company to object was Microsoft, as they
felt that they had a registered product using
a similar name. This was eventually
resolved and Richard began to manufacture
and market his new product.
At about this time the interpretation of new
regulations forced Richard to wind up the
bottle lamp business. He now concentrates
on the production of his innovative,
practical, recyclable, carbon neutral and
very beautiful, packaging materials, and all
constituents being sourced from his own
farm.
For those wishing to know a little more you

can visit the website at www.leavspackaging.co.uk.

This months competition results
Floral: First: Chris Dalton. Second: Matt
Cunningham. Third: Joice Hutcheson.
Fruit / Vegetables: First: Matt
Cunningham. Second: Sue Thomas. Third:
Hazel Dunn.
Seasonal Photograph: First: Ed
Szczepanowski. Second: Chris Dalton.
Third: Tom Thurston.
Its really good to see the numbers of entries
increasing. Well done everyone.
Other Business 1 May The Horn Fair.
This helps with Club funds. We ask
members to supply cakes and plants to sell
and to give a little time to do the selling.
One thing I remember from last year:
someone gave us a plate of sandwiches
instead. These sold very well. Our next
meeting will be on Wednesday 9th March.
This will be a talk by Martyn Davey
entitled Propagation.
The table competitions (flowers/vegetables/
photos), coffee and biscuits available.
Doors open at 13:30 (help required to set
up please), proceedings start at about 2pm.

Whats on at St
Marys Church,
Watton

per month) with the chance to win 50.00

in the monthly draw. Tickets may be
purchased by mid March for the first draw
on 17th April. If you are interested please
telephone Cath on 01953 885811 for
further details.
Wed 23rd March 3.30 - 4.45pm Stop Gap
at the Blenheim Centre, Tedder Close,
Watton. An after school Club for all the
family.

Easter Coffee Morning with Easter cakes to

buy or eat. Saturday 19th March 9.30am
12 noon. Make an Easter Bonnet and bring
it along, both Adults and Childs will win
a prize. Activities for the children.
Sunday 13th March 4-5.15pm Super Hero
Sunday. Fun, food friendship and a
Superhero Story. Optional to come dressed
up!!
St Marys Church Watton 100 Club
St Marys Church are starting a 100 Club.
Tickets are 12.00 for the year, (i.e. 1.00

Junior Bowls

Dereham Indoor Bowls Club. Within the

Leisure Centre, Station Road, Dereham
hold Junior Bowls lessons every Friday
from 4pm til 6pm ages 9 to 17.
Equipment supplied first lesson free. For
more info Terry Hunt 01362 525042

THE WAYLAND NEWS

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If you do not, the item will NOT be published.
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Views expressed in articles in The Wayland News are those of the
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views of the publisher or printers.
While every care and effort has been taken to ensure accuracy,
the publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions.

This issue of the The Wayland News was published by:

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