The Link Magazine

(We are grateful to Jean Hardman of Willisham for this letter)

CHURCH FLOWER AND CLEANING ROTA

Somersham
Aug: 1, 8 Christine Jarrold
15, 22 Frances Southgate
29 Sept 5 Judith Newman
Sept 12, 19 Angie Osborn
26 Oct 3 Pat Woolhouse

Cleaning: Aug: Team B Sept: Team C

Flowton
Aug: 1 Mrs. Ward
8, 15 Mrs. Munson
22, 29 Mrs. Laflin
Sept: 5, 12 Mrs. Fawcus
19, 26 Mrs. Grimwood
Oct: 3 Mrs. Ward

Cleaning: Aug: Mr. and Mrs. K. Grimwood
Sept: Mr. and Mrs. Ward

Offton
Aug : 1 Mrs. Leita Minns
8, 15 Mrs. Maartje Rondeboom
22, 29 Mrs .Sue Pryke
Sept: 5, 12 Mrs. Anne Chapman
19, 26 Mrs. Silke Pinson-Roxburgh
Oct 3 Mrs. Sheila Pinson-Roxburgh

Cleaning: Aug: Mrs. M. Rondeboom
Sept: Mrs. S. Pinson-Roxburgh

Willisham
Aug: 1, 8 Mrs. E. Hodson
15, 22 Mrs. J. Somerville
29, Sept 5 Mrs. T. Southall
Sept: 12, 19 Ms. J. Hardman
26 Mrs. M. Fisher

Somersham Church Notes

There may be changes to the normal pattern of services through August, so please check at the back of the magazine or contact the churchwarden.

A very big thank you to all who helped in any way at the Summer Fete and to everyone who supported the event. The amount raised will be in the next Link.

Folk Evening Friday 22nd October - we are so pleased that our local talented folk singers are putting on another concert in the church. The church is always packed at these concerts so do make sure you get your tickets in good time, from Christine's Haircare, Somersham Garage or Pat Woolhouse.

Summer Quiz sheets are on sale for £1, from Christine's Haircare, Somersham Garage or Pat Woolhouse. You have until the
beginning of September to complete it.

Christmas Tree Festival and Bazaar 27/28th November - please contact Christine Jarrold if you or your organisation would like to get involved in helping with this. The bazaar will be on the Saturday afternoon and the festival will be in the church over the whole weekend.

The Prayer Group mentioned by the Vicar last month is to be held at the Rectory at 7.30pm on September 15th, October 13th, November 17th, and December 15th. Further details available from Revd Bernie Rose

From the Registers:
Christening:

Poppy Erin George on 18th July. Daughter of Sarah Jarrold and Stephen George.

Confirmation

Phillippa Payne and Jo Hakes were confirmed by the Right Reverend Jeremy Walsh in Needham Market church on 4th July.

May they continue to grow in faith

Farewell to:

Maureen Goodess who funeral took place on 9th June followed by interment in Flowton Churchyard.

Lilian Hnatiw who died on the 9th June and was buried in Somersham on 17th June.

May they rest in peace

The Police to say that there is to be a slight change in the faces we see around the area.
PC255 Tina Fairness will still be our Police Officer, but PCSO3090 Matthew Brown will be keeping an eye on Somersham, Nettlestead, Offton, Willisham and Barking,
and PCSO3183 Vince Whitrow will be around Bramford, Flowton, and Little Blakenham.

Somersham Gardening Club

Monday 9th August

Members visit to CHILLI FARM, MENDLESHAM
BY KIND PERMISSION OF DENISE NUTTALL
COST £4.50 per head Including tour and refreshments

For further information
Contact Pamela Mclennan
01473 658152

Monday 13th September

7.30 pm - CHINESE GARDENS EXPLAINED AND ILLUSTRATED by IAN SEAGER: GARDEN DESIGNER
In Somersham Village Hall, Members free
Visitors and guests welcome. Entrance £1-00
Raffle. Refreshments available

Chernobyl Children Life Line

The final total for the Trash, Treasure and Jumble Sale is £1348.07.
Once again Angela and Heather would like to say Thank you to everyone that helped in any way.

SOMERSHAM PRIMARY SCHOOL

It seems strange to be writing this piece today in early July, knowing that when you read it in August the school will be closed for the summer break. I think all of the staff and pupils feel very ready for the holidays, it's been a busy year and after receiving our long-anticipated visit from Ofsted last week we're all about ready to slow down a little! The
inspectors, quite rightly praised us for the many great things that go on in the school, they thought our field was great and especially liked our raised beds full of vegetables!

They picked up straight away on the happy and relaxed atmosphere and commented on the good relationships between staff, pupils and families. These things are very important to us, children can't learn unless they're happy and healthy and providing for this is a big part of our School.

The hardworking FOSS committee contribute so much to our school, and we'd like to thanks them for putting on such a fabulous fete this year! We must also thank you for attending as we raising an amazing £1800 which will make a big difference to our school in this time of tightening budgets!

I must also thank everyone for saving various Sainsbury, Tesco, Morrisons, and cereal 'Box Tops' vouchers for us, we have managed to order all kinds of resources for the school from these, from wooden spoons, to gardening gloves, tennis balls to bamboo water-play pipes!
Having another year of good SATs results has put the icing on the cake of a successful year here.

We are all looking forward to welcoming our new pupils into the school in September and seeing the pupils already here continue to go from strength to strength in their new year groups. In September if you would like to visit us to share some skills, look around if you're thinking of applying for a place at the school (either for reception, or a move from elsewhere), or you'd just like to nose around, do call Mrs Maguire in the office on 1473 831252 or email admin@somersham.suffolk.sch.uk

Lynette Allison: Head Teacher

Somersham Community Shop

The latest news from the steering group is that progress is being made, albeit slowly, towards obtaining planning consent.

Good news! We will be receiving funding from the Rural Economy Scheme and the Economic Development Project . Also we would like to say a big thank you to a local resident who has very generously donated £100 towards the funding.

Progress is also being made by solicitors who are drawing up a lease on behalf of the Community Association for the area of land on the playing field where the shop will be built.

Please contact any of the steering group members who are listed below if you have any questions or comments regarding this
project.

Gavin and Janet Hodge - 832296
Terry Fordham - 831529 Geoff and Barbara Tottle - 830867
Richard Browne - 831321 Anne Macfadyen - 831288
Stephen Bullard - 831439 Graham Amis - 834094

FRENCH CONNECTION - SOMERSHAM/CHALLAIN-LA-POTHERIE VILLAGE LINK
Visit to Challain-la-Potherie 2010
(Apologies that this was omitted from the June Link -Ed)

A large bright and airy coach was waiting for us when 36 local people of all ages met at Somersham village hall for the start of our 10th anniversary visit to our link French village in the Loire Valley.

A warm welcome awaited us as our hosts and friends gathered for our arrival. Big smiles, hugs and 'bonjour' all round, and refreshing drinks in the village hall before back to our hosts homes for an evening meal and a chance to practice our smatterings of French and English on each other. Sign language, dictionaries and laughter also helped the communications along.

Our hosts had planned an action filled weekend for us. Saturday morning and afternoon were spent with host families exploring the region. Then followed a visit to the village sports centre where Vincent and others had organised hilarious team games instead of our regular tug-of-war. The evening was a celebration of our 10th anniversary year in the village hall when more than 100 people sat down to a traditional French meal of coq-au-vin. Short speeches followed and two of our young teenagers gave a speech in fluent French, very well done Melissa and William! Somersham presented Challain with a bench to mark this auspicious occasion, Kate and Steve sang English folksongs and got our entire contingent to sing a celebratory song which they had composed. A slide show of photos taken by Rene-Luc over the last ten years brought back many happy memories. Dancing to music played by a local Challain group went on well into the small hours of the next day.

On Sunday two coaches full of hosts and visitors took us to a beauty spot beside the River Loire, then on to lunch at a Crêperie. Later at the beautiful Château de Serrant we were given a guided tour by the English speaking guide, who we later learned was the owner of the château. Then back to the village to spend the evening with our hosts.

All too soon the visit was over and Monday morning had us back in our coach for the return journey. A brilliant weekend, thanks to all who organised it and to those who came along and made it all so enjoyable and worthwhile. We look forward to receiving visitors from our link village here next year. If you would like to join us on these exchanges please get in touch with:

Gill Fordham: : tel: 831529; David Haughton:tel: 831511;
Janet Hodge: tel: 832296 Pat Woolhouse: tel: 831080

Somersham Parish Council

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2010

Forthcoming Parish Council Meetings

Wednesday 1st September 2010
Wednesday 6th October 2010
Wednesday 3rd November 2010

All meetings commence at 7.30pm in the Village Hall and the press and public are welcome to attend.

Vehicle Activated Speed Sign outside Village Hall

Initial impressions received by the parish council are that this new speed sign is effective in reducing the speed of vehicles entering Somersham in a westbound direction. The parish council would welcome any feedback from parishioners on your views of the effectiveness of this sign, particularly from those who frequently exit Church Lane and turn right and for which complaints have been received on the hazards caused by speeding vehicles from this direction. The parish council has continued to seek speed management and traffic calming measures at the other end of the village.

Community Speedwatch Scheme

It is now looking more hopeful that Somersham will be able to set up a Community Speedwatch scheme in partnership with some neighbouring parishes. Discussions are taking place relating to financial implications and funding possibilities, but in the meantime we are still looking for a few volunteers who can help with the scheme. Three volunteers are located at agreed sites and a record is made of speeding vehicles. There is no contact with any drivers. The objective of the scheme is not to catch as many speeding drivers as possible but to reduce speed in areas of concern and address the concerns of local residents about cars speeding through their neighbourhoods. The 30mph speed limit is there for a purpose and these schemes are proving to be successful in other parishes by deterring motorists from speeding through villages. If you are interested in further details please contact the Clerk who can forward more information.

Vacancy for a Parish Councillor

Somersham Parish Council currently has a vacancy for a parish councillor and has permission to co-opt. Parish council elections take place in May 2011 when all parish councillors are up for re-election. If you would like to be involved in protecting and enhancing your local community using the powers of local democracy please apply in writing to the parish clerk. If you would like to know more about the role of a parish councillor please contact any of the current parish councillors.

MSDC Skin Piercing etc Byelaws 2010

MSDC has issued Byelaws which take effect from Monday 2nd August 2010. The Bylaws cover acupuncture, tattooing, semi-permanent skin colouring, cosmetic piercing and electrolysis. A copy of the Byelaw will be posted on the parish council notice board by the end of July.

And Finally
A reminder that the parish council does not meet in August.
Everyone at Somersham Parish Council wishes you a very happy summer holiday and hopes the weather stays good.

Janet Clarke Tel. No. 01473 830398
Clerk to the Council
E-mail: janetinclaydon@aol.com

Flowton News

Thank you to everybody involved with the Flower Festival and Gardens Open Weekend. You are a wonderful team!
At the time of writing I still do not know the final total but it looks to be near £3000.

As we prepared for the weekend we heard of the death of former Flowton resident Jack Flowers on June 14th. His funeral took place in Truro on June 28th. Our thoughts are with Marjorie at this sad time.

Telephone kiosk:

The purchase of the Flowton Telephone Kiosk has been completed, and it is now owned by Flowton Parish Meeting. After re-decoration and refurbishment it is hoped to use the kiosk as a Parish Notice Board, where parishioners can peruse the notices in the dry!
We hope all parishioners will approve and make good use of it.

Just to let you know that the Village Coffee Drop-in will be open as usual from 10 am on the first Wednesday of August and September.

Looking ahead:

Saturday September 25th there will be a harvest workshop for children at 10.00am

Our Harvest Festival is on September 26th at 4.00pm, followed by the Harvest Tea at 4.45pm

The annual Harvest Supper will be on Friday October 8th at 7.30pm at Flowton Hall by kind invitation of Graham and Diana Fawcus.

Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve at 6.30pm

OFFTON CHURCH NEWS
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2010

Recent Events

Our annual Fete was held on Saturday 12 June. We were blessed with beautiful weather, which made this traditional village event such a pleasure. Many people, too many to list here, gave their time and energy to organising this event, and to all of them we say a very special 'thank you'. Of course, we are no less grateful to the many people in the parish that came and enjoyed what is accepted as such an important annual occasion in the village's life, and for spending their money so wisely. Over £1,100 was raised for the church Fabric Fund to help keep this very special medieval church in such lovely condition.

Future Events

As an aide-memoir for your diary, these events and special services are being planned.

Sunday 12 September at 5.00 pm - Harvest Festival Service

On a date to be confirmed - Family Quiz in the village hall

Saturday 9 October at 7.00 pm - Supper-in-Church. Limited space on a first come basis. Cost £12.50 each. Contact Mike Bolton on Tel: 01473 658304 for further information or to reserve a place.

Sunday 14 November at 6.30 pm - Remembrance Day Service

Sunday 19 December at 10.00 am Christmas Carol Servic

A very big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the success of the Offton Fete on June 12th, we raised £1100 which was a great total, and it will help to keep your church in good repair. The people who contibuted in some way are too numerous to mention individually, but the team effort is amazing. It never fails to astound me on Fete day, what people can accomplish when they all pull together in the same direction, all the different strands of involvement wove into a beautiful and memorable afternoon .

The supporters who came to enjoy what was on offer were of course the yeast in the dough! So thank you to all of them too; it was nice to see several canine companions enjoying themselves as well, I noticed that they were particulary partial to the icecreams !

The band who set the traditional scene for us were advertised as 'The Ipswich Hospital Intermediate Band'; they have changed their name to St. Peter's Band ( after the church where they practise ) not such a mouthful!

Please put forward any fund raising ideas that you may have, the Fete does not cover the total upkeep of the church; and now that the church no longer has an income from the MMM concerts we must find new ways to supplement income to keep Offton's oldest building open and in good repair for future generations to enjoy.'

OFFTON & WILLISHAM VILLAGE HALL

We are pleased to report a total of £96.00 raised from our recent Picture Quiz. Our thanks to Jessica Tappenden for her hard work in compiling it; and congratulations to the winner Mike Southgate from Somersham.

WILLISHAM CHURCH NOTES

Services

Please note that there will be no Evening Prayer service on Sunday, 8th August.

Over the past two years, as a result of donations made in memory of loved ones and grants received from various agencies, we have been able to replace several items and to improve the fabric of the church. The Rev. Bernard Rose will dedicate these items at our evening service on Sunday, 12th September at 3-00 p.m. Those who have made
donations will be invited to the service and we extend a warm welcome to anyone who would like to join us on this occasion.

Our Harvest Thanksgiving Service will be on Sunday, 10th October at 3-00 p.m.

Looking even further ahead, our Carol Service will take place on Sunday, 12th December at 3-00 p.m.

Events

At the time of writing, the fete is yet to happen and a full account will be given in the October edition of The Link.

Willisham Church will be open on Saturday, 11th September between 9-00 a.m. and 5-00 p.m. for the Suffolk Historic Churches Cycle Ride.

The Bonfire Evening will be held on Friday, 5th November, at Crow Hall Farm

Offton and Willisham New Village Hall - Status Report July 2010

I am pleased to report that progress is very good on the new site. The foundations and base slab are now in position and ready for the building manufacturer to start prefabrication off-site.

A difficulty has been identified getting power safely delivered because of the proximity of the existing high voltage lines. This is being worked through with EDF and I am hopeful that a solution agreeable to all parties has been found.

The funding position remains 'difficult'. The delay in completing the sale on the old hall means we could not start work as soon as we had originally hoped meaning the original building quotations needed to be revisited leading to some inevitable increases reflecting those in the raw materials. Against that, we have received notification in the last month of another successful grant bid and we still have several applications in for consideration.

The original intention was that the roof of the hall should be terracotta to match the nearby houses and the barn at Castle Farm. MSDC have refused permission for this and it will now be mid grey as in the opinion of their landscaping officer, this merges better into the scenery especially when viewed from a distance. While this decision can be challenged it would cause an three month delay in the build.

By the time this update lands on your doormat, we should be seeing real signs of construction starting. Please come up to take a look but ensure you observe the warning below. As always, any questions or problems (or donations!), please contact myself or any committee member.

Robin Derriman 657431 7 Lower Coney Grove.
(Next door to the site)

WARNING
[New Village Hall]
Residents are reminded that the land is now a 'building site'. No-one should attempt to cross through the barriers unless escorted by the contractor. Hard hats and protective clothing will become compulsory. Please stress to children that building sites may look safe and interesting, but are very dangerous and full of hidden hazards. We do not want a child to be hurt while this is being built.

NOTICE OF AGM
Offton and Willisham Village Hall Management Committee
The 2010 Annual General Meeting will be held at 8pm on Thursday 9th September 2010 in the Village Hall.
ALL WELCOME

OFFTON AND WILLISHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Reinforcing its determination to combat antisocial behaviour, SCC has appointed a special phone number: 08456 034715, under the 'Play Your Part' initiative, for the public to report such behaviour. More information is available from Alan Keely: 01473 265159 alan.keely@suffolk.gov.uk

Suffolk Constabulary will close the Public Enquiry Desk at Ipswich Town Hall, effectively from towards the end of 2010 and reduce the number of opening hours at others. The nearest one is at Stowmarket.

People suffering from breathlessness can attend six week rehabilitation courses to assist them. Contact your GP or Practice Nurse. More details on the notice boards.

MSDC have issued byelaws covering Skin Piercing. They are placed on deposit at MSDC Offices.

The Parish Council welcomes PC Matt Brown who has been appointed for our villages. He replaces Sian Uttley who has moved to Elmswell and leaves with our best wishes.

The road closure of the B1115 in Bildeston High Street, scheduled for July, will now take place on 22/23 August. See Notice Boards.

Pip Sands: Parish Clerk
01449 721173

OFFTON AND WILLISHAM CARPET BOWLS CLUB.

The summer league fixtures are well under way, with almost half of the matches played. We started the beginning of May with a home game against Martlesham, we made a good start with three teams playing well, and the visitors, apart from one team, found the mats difficult, at the end of an enjoyable evenings bowling, Offton and Willisham took the match by three games to two, and with a superior shots total, we won by 8 points to 2.

Our next match was away at Old Felixstowe, they are a tough team to play against, especially on their own mats, once again there was some good play by both sides, one of our teams played really well and managed a win, the final score being a reverse of the first match, and we lost 2 points to 8.

We finished the month by entertaining Claydon at home, another team we find hard to beat, but this time we just managed a win, it was a hard fought match with good bowling by both teams, and at the end we shared the games two each, but Offton and Willisham had the greater number of shots by a small margin, the end result was 6-4 to us.

We began June with a visit to Tuddenham, another club were we find adjusting to the mats very difficult , and we normally don't win a game, but one team had a good night and bowled well, and managed to win their game, we lost the other three, and went down 2-8.

Our last match in June was the return game at home to Old Felixstowe, again there was some good bowling by both teams, and the visitors managed to adapt to our mats, better than we adapted to theirs, it was a close match, with the visitors winning two games, the home team won one and one was drawn, O/W were fortunate to have a greater number of shots, by a small margin, and so the points were shared 5-5.

The club are looking forward to the new village hall being completed, and we hope it might encourage some new members to join. We welcome anyone who would like to have a go at playing at our club nights on Wednesday and Friday at 7.30pm, for more information contact Valerie on 01473 657023, or any club member.

Somersham Baptist Church

Celtic Evening
Saturday October 2nd 7.30 - 10.00pm
Celtic Band Lorica are playing at the Village Hall for us, this promises to be another fine event. Please book with Mark (see contact numbers below).
£2.00 includes Sausage and Chips.

Regular Sunday Morning Programme

(You are welcome to join us for all or part of the morning).
10.00-10.30 Prayer Meeting
10.45-11.15 Bible Study (Communion 1st Sunday)
11.30-12.00 Worship
12.00-12.30 Sermon

Other Meetings

Children and Young People
(During term time) Wednesday Club: 6.30-7.30pm for primary school children; 14+ Friday's: 8.00-9.30pm Year 9 upwards.

Meetings for Ladies:
Resuming after the summer break
Women's Fellowship 2.30pm Friday 10th Sept
Friends and Neighbours 7.45pm Monday 20th Sept.

Contact Mark or Ed if you need transport.
Meetings are held at the Baptist Chapel, Chapel Lane,
Somersham IP8 4QE.
Pastor Mark Newcombe, 01473 831940, mobile: 07958 830103,
email: m.newcombe940@btinternet.com
Elder; Edwin Mayhew 01473 658100

Services during August and July in our eight linked parishes
Services during August are usually fewer in number - enjoy your holidays

CHURCH SERVICES in our 8 linked parishes

If you think there may be a mistake in the rota please contact your Churchwarden.

Please contact a Churchwarden if you think that there is a mistake in the listing. Thank you.

Services in our eight linked parishes

1st August Trinity 8

8th August Trinity 9

15th August Trinity 10

22nd August Trinity 11

29th August Trinity 12

5th September Trinity 13

12th September Trinity 14

19th September Trinity 15

26th September Trinity 16