MAY 2019 About Thetford magazine

MAY 19

YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDENT COMMUNITY MAGAZINE ISSUE

162

Euston Rural Pastimes Event

CIRCULATION 12,500

A fun, family day out in the beautiful surroundings of Euston Park.

Tract ion engines

Sunday 9 June 2019 • 10am-5pm Euston Park, Euston, IP24 2QH

Dog shows

Guido Louis - Equestrian Stunts

Scur ry and Trials

www.eustonruralpastimes.org.uk Sheep show

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IN THIS ISSUE

RURAL TIMES COMPETITION

BEERHOUSES UNCOVERED

OPEN GARDENS UPDATE

FIRE RISK FOR SMOKERS PLUS LOTS MORE!!

Source: Property portal data IP24 1/1/19 - 10/4/19 and www.getagent.co.uk

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Spoilt For Choice In Thetford

Inside this month...

magazine this month full We bring you, as ever, a packed of interest. In fact, we Page 5 - History Of Beerhouses ies stor and s of local events, new this month spread across Page 7 - Euston Rural Pastimes Comp have over 40 different articles scious effort to include Page 8 & 9 - Leaping Hare the 48 pages. We make a con increasingly we have to Page 10 - Calendar Competition but t sen everything that we are rything fit.

Page 12 & 13 - Out And About Thetford miss or delay a few to make eve al Pastimes, Page 15 - Smokers Urged To Cut Risk Rur ton Eus ude incl n soo up Events coming Hall Open Days and of Page 19 - Ancient House Museum Thetford’s Gin Festival, Euston just around the corner. Page 21 - Access The Crossing is s den course Thetford Open Gar great stories from local Page 22 - 60th Birthday For Inner Wheel We’re got some particularly g the Parkrunner of the Page 23 - Silver Social Mosaic Treat sports clubs this month includin d Dolphins, Thetford’s Page 24 & 25 - Thetford Faces tfor The Month feature. Read about day at Feltwell Golf Club Page 27 - Breckland Cats Protection 5k Easter Bunny Run, a taster Stage School of Dance. Page 29 - Women’s Pension Campaign and recent successes at Centre Page 31 - Garden And Allotment Club any of our advertisers or As ever, when responding to Page 32 - Open Gardens Set To Go ut Abo you saw it in the contributors, do mention that Page 33 - Flower Club Speaker Review the read l wel know how Thetford magazine so that they Page 35 - Sparrow’s Housing Crisis port us. magazine is and continue to sup Page 37 - Chimney Sweep’s Campaign Page 41 - Centre Stage Success , hes wis t Bes th! mon t Have a grea Terry Jermy Page 43 - Thetford Easter Bunny Run

e Page 45 - Local Sports News Editor, About Thetford magazin

Page 46 - Parkrunner Of The Month

Do you waste hours of time on paperwork you loathe?

Or do you loathe it so much that it’s not getting done at all?

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01842 754005 Simark Accountants Belmont House 20 King Street Thetford Norfolk IP24 2AP

E-mail address for all articles, adverts etc:aboutthetfordmagazine@googlemail.com Contact us: 075404 63662 Office Address: C/o Charles Burrell Centre, Staniforth Road, IP24 3LH Publisher; In And About Thetford Ltd, C/o Charles Burrell Centre, Staniforth Road, Thetford IP24 3LH Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information contained within this magazine, the publishers take no responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by its contributors, in any advertisements or for any loss arising from non-publication of any advertisement. Reproduction of any part of this publication without permission of the publishers is strictly forbidden. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher

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PRESENTS

THETFORD’S

GIN FESTIVAL

Featuring “The Rum Shack”

Plenty of Gins…and a few Rums too!

Saturday 1st June 2019 4pm - 10pm Charles Burrell Centre

With Live Band and Acoustic Music Hot Food Tickets £5.00 (adults only) price includes your first G&T! From Leaping Hare

Call 01842 751975 or

book online: www.leapinghare.org 80’s Party Night Sat 14th Sept

Halloween Kids Party Fri 25th October

Halloween Thriller Night Sat 26th October

NYE with ABBA Chique

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History of Thetford’s Beerhouses Uncovered The Beerhouses Thetford, is the fifth book in a series by local historian and author, David Osborne. After the introduction of the Beer Act in 1830, up to 46,000 Beerhouses opened nationally with 20 in Thetford. At one point beerhouses outnumbered pubs in the town.

Only selling beer and cider under a certificate from the local excise office, beerhouses operated as on sales (drinking on site) or off sales (buying beer or cider to take away). With relative ease a kitchen or parlour could be turned into a beerhouse, often in the poorer areas or back streets of the town. Many of these beerhouses were often seen as houses of disrepute attracting poachers and low level criminals.Speaking about the book David said, “The evidence is always much harder to find with beerhouses, although when I’ve been researching pubs I’ve come across references in parish records and newspapers.”

There are several of the old beerhouses still standing in Thetford today. Amongst them are The Globe in Earl Street, The Coach and Horses in Station Road, The Red Cow in St Nicholas Street (originally Back Street) and the Flower Pot in Mill Lane (originally Flower Pot Alley).

The Flower Pot was one of the more notorious beerhouses in the town, well known for being a haunt of poaching gangs in the mid 19th century. Poaching was rife due to the abundance of game in the area.

David’s book also touches on Thetfordians such as Jimmy Nichols aka Emperor Nichols of St Mary’s Row. After 1902, posters featuring mug shots and a general description were distributed to warn publicans not to serve any known habitual drunkards. Jimmy’s poster was sent as far as The White Horse in Wymondham.

“It’s exciting as a researcher because you just don’t know what you’re going to find.” David continued, “I think people will be surprised to find out not only how many beerhouses there were but also how popular the Temperance movement was in Thetford. From the 1840s until right up to the turn of the 20th century the Temperance movement put on a lot of events in the town. It started with the Methodists before moving across to some of the other churches in the town.”

For David the Spread Eagle in Old Market Street is the one that got away. Originally on the site of the car park of number 23 (formerly Gerald Jones & Co), David has only ever seen an image of the pub sign but not the

Local historian and author David Osborne with his latest book, The Beerhouses Thetford - A History

building.“I looked for images of Old Market Street for years hoping to spot the actual building that was the Spread Eagle. I’ve enjoyed researching this one as much as my other books, I’m pleased that I’ve managed to cover most aspects of beerhouses. There are only two beerhouses that turned into pubs left in the town now. The Ark on Norwich Road is now closed and The Albion on Castle Street. The Albion was the last beerhouse to turn fully licenced in 1957 and is the only one trading after all those years.”

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All The Fun Of The Country Fair

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To win a Family ticket simply answer this question: What is the name of the horse whisperer who is appearing in this years show?

Send your answer by email with your name & full contact details to our partners at Leaping Hare by Monday 20th May: info@leapinghare.org The winners will be drawn from a hat by May 24th Normal In & About Thetford Ltd T&Cs

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Sunday 9 June marks this years’ Euston Rural Pastimes Event. Held in the wonderful setting of Euston Park on the Duke of Grafton’s Estate, the event has something for all of the family.

The organisers are very pleased to have truly exceptional horse whisperer and stunt rider Guido Louis who will provide two displays in the “Norfolk” ring. Also appearing will be the ever-popular pony scurry and driving competition.

Catch Guido Louis in action at this year’s Euston Rural Pastimes Event

Another new feature this year is a family dog show, kindly organised by renowned dog writer, David Tomlinson. All well-behaved dogs are very welcome on the site if kept on a lead. For those more interested in mechanical things there will be a massive display of classic and vintage cars. Also, there will be a big showing of classic and vintage tractors and stationary engines along with a selection of steam engines. There will be trailer tours of Euston Farms to see livestock, crops, and wildlife.

St Genevieve’s Church, at the heart of the event, will host a Flower Festival, nearby there will be a tea tent and a bar, as well as a good selection of food outlets and trade stands spread throughout the site.

The event is run by volunteers, to raise money for charities which include St Nicholas Hospice Care and the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Over £500,000 has been raised since the event's inception in 1991.

Ticket information can be found at; https://stnicholashospice.org.uk/ news-community/events-listing/ euston-rural-pastimes/ Tickets can also be purchased on the day

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Our Box Office offers a great range of events and it’s so easy to get your tickets - call into our shop or buy on-line www.leapinghare.org 20 King Street Thetford IP24 2AP leapinghareorg 01842 751975 or 07802 701911 leaping hare

Thetford Business Awards

Leaping Hare CIC was nominated in this year’s Thetford Business Awards. We gained a highly commended in the tourism category Photo: Neil James Arial Photos & Videos coming second to the Dad’s Army Museum.

Congratulations to them and a big thank you This photo was a finalist in last year’s to our great team, customers, partners we Calendar Compeition. Don’t forget you only work with and all that support what we do. have until Friday 31 May to get your entries in for this year. Email info@leapinghare.org New Stock We have new stock in from our regular or you can deliver hard copies to the shop. artisans and this month we welcome three What’s on in and around Thetford. Check our new suppliers. Thetford River Group have on-line events calendar at leapinghare.org very kindly made Leaping Hare some for full details or call into our friendly shop. juggling sacks - just £3.95 for 3, learn to We have tickets for all those in bold. juggle and help us at the same time!

Sat 4 & 19 May Spring Foraging Courses Janice Fossey makes these beautiful Sun 5 May Charity Skcin Jazzercise Mandalas from £9.50 and we have new Mon 6-Sun 12 May Euston Hall Open Days greetings cards by Doreen Taylor from Iceni Tue 7 May Working to Entertain You Talk Botanical Artists.

Fri 10 May Life of Thomas Paine Play More coming soon!

Fri 10 May Dads Army Radio Show Sat 11 May Open Garden Plant Sale Sat 11 May Just Whitney Tribute Sun 12 May Dog’s Trust Fun Day Snetterton

Norfolk & Punjab Festival

Celebrating the life and achievements of the Duleep Singh family and their contribution to Norfolk and Punjab through talks, exhibition, music, dance and theatre taking place from June 15th to 3rd August 2019. Look out for more details in next month’s About Thetford.

Sun 12 May South Suffolk Show Tue 14 May Biggles & Snarehill Airfield Talk Wed 15-Sun 19 May Russell’s Circus Fri 17 May Alton Wahlberg Album Launch Sat 18 May Sports Fest & Climbing Wall Sun 19 May Dad’s Army Walking Tour Mon 20 May Make A Mosaic Workshop Fri 24 May Thetford Folk Club Sun 26 May Soapbox Challenge Sun 26 May The Real Middle Earth Tour Mon 27 May Euston Hall Open Day Thurs 30 May-Sat 1 June Red Rooster

Sat 1 June Thetford’s Fourth Gin Festival

Sat 8 June Evening of Country Music Sat 30 June Mersey Legends Fri 12 - Sat 13 July South Pacific Fri 19 July Thetford Peace Party 26-28 July Norfolk World Music Festival

News for Singers

Thetford U3A

Thetford Voices is getting ready for its summer season.

Spring is the time when grant applications are decided and the generous support of local donors Thetford Town Council, Shadwell Community Fund and Cynthia Della Hoy’s Croxton Charity has helped guarantee the Voices Singing Programme for children and young people for another year. Key dates coming up are Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th August for the Summer Open Workshops. Intriguingly billed as the Strong Song Sing, we shall be featuring not only big show stopping anthems and rousing chorus numbers but songs which celebrate the heroic and the brave and those which support the show of strength and courage - work tunes, protest anthems and songs of personal inspiration.

Interested in learning a new language? Liz Aguilar is our group leader for Spanish Conversation, a fairly new group trying to establish themselves and would welcome new members who ideally would have a reasonable level of Spanish.

The main programme is chosen to appeal across the range of 6–16 year old singers and is supported by extra sessions for Toddlers and 15+ part-singers. All are welcome.

For further details and booking please visit: www.thetfordsingers.org.uk/thetford-voices John Weeks, Thetford Singers

If you are interested in joining the group there are opportunities to learn and improve your level of the language. The group is headed by a native Spanish speaker who will be delighted to help where or when necessary, they alternate between open conversation and specific topics with a small amount of homework.

This group meets every Wednesday at the Bell Hotel Thetford between 11am – 12noon. If anyone requires more information Liz would be pleased to hear from you, her telephone number is 01842 803049.

On May 23rd Corinne Fulford from Leaping Hare will be speaking to us, covering the beginning and the starting of her business to present day. This will be at the same venue and time as the AGM. For more information on joining Thetford U3A please visit: www.u3asites.org.uk/thetford/home Lesley Braund

Thetford Calendar Competition 2019

Final call for entries - closing date Friday 31st May How to enter Thetford Calendar Competition

Don’t forget, you only have until Friday 31st May to get your entries in. If you haven’t had time to get out and about you may already have photos that are suitable, don’t delay, enter today! You can enter up to 3 photos in each of the 4 categories (i.e up to a maximum of 12 in total). All must be in a landscape format, a size of at least 1MB & taken in Thetford (within 2 miles of the Parish boundary).

The four categories are:

A) Nature - wildife, landscapes B) Architecture - landmarks, interesting buildings C) People - events, community activities D) Heritage - what is Thetford famous for?

Winning entries will appear in the 2020 Thetford Calendar, with full accreditation and the overall winner will take pride of place on the front cover. Email your images to info@leapinghare.org (hard copies to Everything Thetford at Leaping Hare) until Friday 31st May 2019.

Full terms and conditions are available from info@leapinghare.org. Printed paper versions are also available.

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Agony And Humour All Part Of The Job For PC Cornwall As a retired police officer, Graham Cornwall had plenty to recount about his experiences in the service when he spoke at Thetford Probus member’s April meeting.

It was the second time he had given a talk to the club, the first being on his period as a police dog handler.

On this occasion he explained how he joined the Norfolk Constabulary after jobs ranging from farming to metalworking and paint spraying. He admitted that much to his surprise he passed the entrance exam and this took him on to training college followed by roles in many aspects of policing. Like others, his probationary period was spent mainly ‘on the beat’, which was such a key part of policing in his early days as a constable.

“I remember feeling very nervous the first time I went out on patrol, but I soon gained confidence to deal with all the different things a police officer is called upon to do. The only thing I never got used to was having to give distressing news of an accident or fatality to next of kin.

It was always agonising.”

But to offset this there were many humorous incidents.

“The first time I had to detain someone, it was a feisty Irish lady who had a little too much to drink and she managed to knock my helmet off.”

Probus members viewing the wall paintings at St Mary’s Houghton on the Hill

The club’s monthly lunch took on a different format to include a visit to St Mary’s Church at Houghton on the Hill where, in 1996 during restoration work on the then derelict building, very rare wall paintings from about a 1000 years ago were discovered. After visiting the church, lunch followed at Great Cressingham’s Olde Windmill Inn. The deadline for inclusion within the June 2019 edition of About 15th May. Send content10:14:53 to: AboutThetford Thetford adisJune 2018.pdf 1 25/05/2018 aboutthetfordmagazine@googlemail.com

He recalled only having to draw his truncheon on two occasions, one of these being when it was necessary to control rowdy football supporters of a visiting team to Norwich City. Graham’s approach to his job was to be firm, but always fair and to show kindness, something that brought him commendations and made him proud to be a policeman. He retired in 2006 after 30 years service. The talk was enjoyed by members who then had the Taxis opportunity to ask the speaker any questions.

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Out and About Thetford

Out of This World! Helen Sharman OBE, Britain’s

first astronaut and first woman to visit the Mir space station in 1991 visited the town to talk about her great experience as part of Norfolk Science Festival in Thetford. Originally a chemist working at Mars the chocolate manufacturer, by chance on her way home from work one evening Helen heard an ad on her car radio asking for budding astronauts, no experience required. Despite deciding she had no chance, Helen applied and sailed through the selection process, beating 13,000 other applicants Helen said, “I was the girl who started out at the school down the road, I didn’t have any space connections at school or in the family and as there hadn’t been a British person in space it wasn’t on my agenda at school. But I liked science, languages and music at school and the ad asked for someone with a science background, who could work with their hands was good with languages and physically fit.” Helen explained that she Helen Sharman with an image of herself in 1991, thought it was a great opportunity to go to Star City in pictured during her talk at the Carnegie Russia and train with the cosmonauts. She explained to the audience that her tiny frame helped with the G Force and motion tests, and she really enjoyed the selection process. Once at Star City she had to learn Russian from a teacher who could only teach in French as they spoke no English! Helen said she wasn’t afraid during her mission because she had trained in a Soyuz simulator for every eventuality including how to survive at sea for 3 days. Her favourite part of the training was the simulated weightlessness. Describing her flight into space as ‘lumpy and bumpy’ and kept the audience enthralled as she described feeling weightless at 400km form the earth’s surface. Helen described life on the Mir space station, the effects on her body, how she managed day to day life including going to the toilet (her most asked question!) and the experiments she was tasked with. Helen then brought space exploration up to date with a story about an Italian astronaut who recently wanted to make espresso coffee in space and some of the food they’ve discovered is not possible to eat on the space station. Helen also said that the current International Space Station used today is more like a 5 star hotel compared to what she experienced nearly 30 years ago! Today’s experiments are now aimed at getting people to Mars, “We think the first person to set foot on Mars has been born and is probably at school now, could it be you?” remarked Helen to younger members of the audience. “We have the technology and are now working on the radiation issue. Our main problem is that you can’t grow fruit and veg like apples and potatoes in space at the moment only salad leaves like rocket and basil.” Helen added that astronauts find their sense of taste often changes in space and they want stronger flavours or spicier food. Finally Helen finished her talk by saying that using science we are pushing forward our boundaries and international collaboration was the way forward.

The audience were then offered the opportunity to ask questions, some of the younger members asked questions about life in space, or how Helen felt about her experience and whether Helen expected to find aliens, Helen’s answer, “I believe they are there but I couldn’t see them, I don’t know what they look like but it would be interesting to meet one.” Older members of the audience asked about commercial interests in space, to which Helen replied that she found it very exciting and hoped it wouldn’t be long before people are on commercial space craft. She also thought that there would be space factories manned by robots at some point in the future. The Science Festival was organised by Kinetic Science and Thetford Grammar School.

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Spring Concert Success For Singers A captivated audience enjoyed an evening of spectacular music in Thetford Methodist Church. Joined by Eboracum Baroque and led by Musical Director Chris Parsons, the choir was at its best again. The collaboration between the two groups brings out the best in Thetford Singers, who continue to go from strength to strength. The performance also showcased some of the younger members who sang solos during the performance. A change of venue allowed Thetford singers to play with the excellent acoustics that the Methodist Church provides. Throughout the performance the audience were treated to a first class experience, beautiful orchestration had the audience spell bound during William Corbet’s Suite in D Major.

Chris Parsons brought the music alive by sharing anecdotes about the composers before each piece was performed.

The first half of the programme finished with a rousing rendition of ‘let their celestial concerts all unite’ from Handel’s Samson. The second part of the programme was Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with a libretto by Nahum Tate; performed over 3 Acts, this was Purcell’s only Opera. Working together both Eboracum Baroque and Thetford Singers brought the story of the tragic love story to life. Speaking about the performance Thetford Singers member John Weeks said, “Chris works us very hard on every bar, but the hard work pays off.” Thetford Singers is a local community choir for people who love singing, they rehearse on Wednesday evenings during school term time at The Methodist Church Hall. For more info, please visit: www.singers.org.uk Quiz Raises Much Needed Funds Over 14 teams enjoyed the Rotary@CBC Easter Quiz in aid of Diss,

Thetford & District Citizens Advice at the Charles Burrell Centre. Teams enjoyed a thought provoking quiz designed

by Quiz Master Ricky Jermy and Stuart Terry. First prize went to the Scrambled Egg Heads who won a visit to the Light Cinema complete with refreshments. The Beccles Bunnies won the best Easter Team name competion and took a large Easter egg home each. The raffle and quiz raised £602.75 for Citizens Advice. The money will be used to provide additional support sessions focussing on Universal Credit applications at the Abbey Neighbourhood centre in town. Rotary@CBC have supported Thetford Foodbank and Starfish Lounge over the past year, who along with Citizens Advice have found an ever increasing demand on their services since the introduction of Universal Credit locally in the past year. Rotary@CBC would like to thank all their sponsors for their support.

Easter Quiz winners - The Scrambled Egg Heads If you have an event or activity you would like Karen to feature in her Out & About Thetford column please email; karen@aboutthetfordmagazine.co.uk or call 07540463662 Tuesday to Friday 9am - 5pm

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Smokers Urged To Cut Risk Of Home Fires Smokers are being warned about the deadly dangers of the habit - especially when tired – as Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service joins forces with other services for the Fire Kills campaign.

Cigarettes and other smoking products cause just over a third of all accidental fire fatalities in the home.

Smoking is also the single biggest cause of accidental fires in the home, often because of careless behaviour such as smoking in bed or not taking care after drinking alcohol. And when smokers fall asleep with a lit cigarette in hand, their proximity to the resulting fire seriously lowers their chance of making an escape.

Smokers are advised to ‘Put it Out, Right Out’ whenever they light up; to install smoke alarms on every level of the home and to test them regularly. Without a working smoke alarm you are at least seven times more likely to die in an accidental fire in the home.

These simple steps can help prevent a cigarette fire in the home: Never smoke in bed. Take care when you’re tired – it’s very easy to fall asleep while your cigarette is still burning and set furniture alight. Never smoke when under the influence of drugs or alcohol. If your lit cigarette starts a fire you could be less able to escape.

Put it out, right out! Make sure your cigarette is fully extinguished. Fit a smoke alarm and test it weekly. A working smoke alarm can buy you valuable time to get out, stay out and call 999. Never leave lit cigarettes, cigars or pipes unattended – they can easily overbalance as they burn down. Use a proper, heavy ashtray that can’t tip over easily and is made of a material that won’t burn.

Norfolk’s Chief Fire Officer Stuart Ruff said: "Every five days, someone dies from a fire caused by cigarettes

or smoking materials in the UK. Despite a fall in the overall number of fires caused by these products, it’s still the biggest cause of accidental fires in the home.

Bad habits such as smoking whilst in bed or under the influence of alcohol increases the risk of falling asleep before you ‘put it out, right out’. Make sure you have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home and test them regularly. A working smoke alarm can give you the extra time you need to escape if the worst should happen.”

Dr Louise Smith, Director of Public Health at Norfolk County Council, said: “As well as being a fire risk, smoking remains one of the most important causes of early death and health inequalities in Norfolk.

“We have specialist services that can help smokers to quit – Smokefree Norfolk will discuss the best method of quitting with you, come up with a plan and support you throughout your quitting journey. You can contact Smokefree Norfolk by calling 0800 0854113 or via the website; www.smokefreenorfolk.nhs.uk And if you are not quite ready to quit, we recommend switching to vaping, which is better for your health and reduces the risk of fires.”

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Thetford Society Our March guest speaker was Frances Hart, who in full period costume told us some fascinating tales of Celia Fiennes the pioneering English traveller.

Born in in 1662 into a wealthy family, Celia spent much of her adult life journeying around Britain on horseback with an entourage of servants and companions. Frances recited many accounts of places Celia had visited, including a number of towns and cities in East Anglia.

In 1702 Celia began to write her memoirs in to a travel journal as an alternative conversation piece for ladies in her family, whose usual after dinner topic was their children. 70 years after Celia’s death extracts of her book were published and then another 70 years later the first complete edition appeared under the title ‘Through England on a Side Saddle’. Today her book can still be read and her family name lives on in her distant descendent Sir Ranulph Fiennes the world famous explorer. The speaker for April was Andy Malcolm from the Fisherman’s Mission talking about the ‘The True Cost of Fish & Chips’. The evening was enjoyed by all who attended. The Thetford Society have a full schedule of events booked for 2019, all members, family and friends are welcome to attend.

Trawlermen were the subject of April’s talk

Thursday 6th June – a two hour boat trip on the river Deben and a visit to Woodbridge, £20 per person.

Saturday 13th July – Evening BBQ at Riversdale, £6.00 per person and Thursday 8th August – Cromer Show, £31 per person. Saturday 12th October - Quiz night at Cloverfield Church £6 per person (including a light supper) in aid of Parkinsons Disease. Teams of four please. Please contact Wendy Raphael on 01842 755962 or email; wendyraphael@gmail.com The guest speaker for May will be Peter Cresswell, whose talk is entitled ‘Working to Entertain’. Please join us at the United Reformed Church on Earl’s Street on Tuesday 7th May at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start.

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Past & Present

The past photograph of the Town Cage or lock-up was taken in 1962 by a 14 year-old David Osborne.

The Town Stocks were exhibited inside the Cage but were placed elsewhere when in use. The Town Cage was last used as a minor form of punishment in the 1880s and was demolished in the mid-1960s to make way for the Carnegie Room that opened in 1968. The Town Cage stood where the car is parked.

Past photograph courtesy of the David Osborne Collection, Norfolk Heritage Centre.

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Support Your Local Museum, Join Friends Of Thetford Museum Ancient House Museum of Thetford Life is very fortunate to have the support of its Friends organisation.

The group brings together like-minded people who are passionate about Thetford’s past and future and is always open for new members.

Thousands of people visit the Ancient House each year to admire its rich and diverse collections, some of which have been generously purchased by the Friends for the museum. The Friends have also supported our learning programme, including our clubs for children of all ages.

Becoming a Friend at Ancient House comes with a great package of benefits, including free admission to the museum all year round, free access to the museum’s Tuesday talk programme and discounts on events and activities. Ancient House Friends are also entitled to a 10% discount on admission to all the other museums in Norfolk Museum Service and in their shops and cafes.

of Lynn, housed in Kings Lynn town hall, where visitors can learn about the people that have shaped the town.

Tickets for this trip are £10 each including coach travel, admission to Lynn Museum and the South Gates.

(Payable at time of booking). Entry to Stories of Lynn is payable on entrance. Places are limited so early booking is advisable. Annual membership to Friends of Thetford Museum is £7.50 for adults and £3.00 for children. Save more money with family membership, just £15.00 for 2 adults and up to 3 children. This is a great value way to enjoy the exciting displays, events and activities the museum has to offer. Application forms are available at museum reception. For further information on joining the Friends, about the museum, our children’s clubs or to book onto our talks programme or the King’s Lynn trip please contact the museum.

Ancient House Museum Opening Times:

Tues to Sat; 10am - 5pm. Telephone: 01842 752599

Summer Admission Fees Adults £4.50 Conc £4.25 Child £3.80 Family 1 adult £11.80 Family 2 Adults £15.85 Free admission to Museum Pass Holders, Friends of Thetford Museum, Children’s University, MA & Art Fund members, 1 carer for each registered disabled visitor, Under 4s.

Enjoy a trip to King’s Lynn heritage quarter with the Friends this summer

This year the Friends are also organising a trip to the museums in Kings Lynn. Steeped in history, 800 years ago, King’s Lynn was awarded a Royal Charter by King John, which granted Lynn its borough status giving it self-governing powers and eventually becoming known as Bishops Lynn in the 13th century. In 1537 King Henry VIII took control of the town and it was renamed King’s Lynn. The trip will include a visit to Lynn Museum, which is housed in a former Union Baptist Chapel and school room, where there are rich displays of the history of King’s Lynn. The bronze age timber circle known as Seahenge can also be found here. Friends will also have the opportunity to visit the South Gates, an impressive 15th century gate. There will also be a visit to Stories

Pop in for £1.50 everyday 1 hour before closing Follow us on FaceBook or Twitter @AncientHouseMus www.facebook.com/AncientHouseMuseum/

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News From Access The Crossing

Thetford Lions Club

The Crossing (above Tanner Street Pharmacy) offers a wide range of services, from help getting back into employment, recovery from substance misuse to support with housing issues. Support is offered by our friendly staff and volunteers so why not pop along and see how the team can help you.

Thetford Lions Club recently celebrated the forty-sixth anniversary of their community service with a lunch at the Mulberry Restaurant. District Governor Mandy Hawksley was in attendance.

We have regular groups each week: Art Group: held on Mondays 1:30PM – 3:30pm. No experience necessary, this is a very relaxed group, so don’t worry if you don’t think you are very good at Art, come along and surprise yourself!

A street stall at the beginning of April raised £92 for our community fund and further stalls are planned for June 22nd, August 17th and October 5th. We always have a good supply of books and other items and look forward to meeting and greeting those who stop-by the stalls in King Street.

Ron Wade, Club Member

Thetford Lionesses Thetford (Breckland) Lioness had their Easter Raffle draw. The winners were 1st - Chris Hall , 2nd - John Wood and 3rd - Jenny Carter.

Forthcoming Events: May 18th - Coffee Morning at Kings Court June 24th - Ladies Quiz and Pudding Evening Community Work Club: held on Thursdays 10am – 3pm.

This could be IT related support such as job searches, applications and updating your CV, or help developing interview skills.

For further information or to book for the Quiz evening please contact Dorothy on 0845 833764

Maths and English Support: held on Fridays 10am – 12pm. In partnership with West Suffolk College we offer support with Maths and English without the worry of an exam at the end of the course.

We are hosting a two day workshop run by Voluntary Norfolk on 21st and 22nd May for anyone interested in volunteering in their community. Why not come and join the fully funded course which provides an introduction to volunteering, helping develop skills and experience.

To register interest or to book a place, contact Laura Holland at Voluntary Norfolk on 01603 883820 or email: laura.holland@voluntarynorfolk.org.uk The Crossing is open 9:30am – 4pm Monday to Friday and drop-ins are welcome so no need to book an appointment in advance. The community space provides a warm, safe environment offering free tea and coffee, laptop use and WiFi. You can also contact us by calling 01842 751471 or find us on Facebook : @AccessTheCrossingThetford and Twitter: @AccessCrossing where you can keep up to date with all our activities, events and news.

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Club Celebrates 60th Birthday April was a very busy month for the Inner Wheel Club as we celebrated our 60th Birthday. We were pleased to welcome our Association President Ann Acaster who travelled from York. After a very pleasant dinner, President Jenny Childerhouse introduced our guest speaker Ms Caroline Jarrold, the Community Affairs adviser to Jarrold & Son, who gave us an interesting history of the family firm. Thetford Rotary presented each lady present with a gift and the Club a special badge to put on the chain of office to commemorate its 60 years. We ended the evening with a delicious birthday cake made by one of the members.

Immediately after the event the Association President left for Cardiff where the 95th Annual Conference was held. Over 1600 members attended from all over Great Britain and Ireland. The Rev Kate Bottley (of Gogglebox fame) took the service and then entertained us later with a very amusing synopsis of her life as a vicar. I suggest you look her up on Youtube! We also heard amongst others from Ed Pratt who had unicycled around the world for ‘School in a Bag’ charity. We also heard from Lesley Schatzberger from Jessie’s Fund. This is a charity which takes music to profoundly handicapped

President Jenny Childerhouse (L) and Association President Ann Acaster cut the cake

children to help them engage and express themselves.

The Conference ended 3 days later with The Blues Brothers who were amazed to see so many women dressed with a hint of pink (to recognise Jessie’s Fund’s colours) dancing. Three encores were played before they were finally finished. Inner Wheel members know how to enjoy themselves as well as raising £1,1000,000 this year for charities here and abroad.

More information and pictures can be found on the website: www.thetfordrotary.org.uk Marian de Bass, Club correspondent

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Leading Artist To Provide Free Workshops For Thetford Residents An artist with over 35 years’ experience working with varied organisations including Madame Tussauds will be sharing her secrets with Breckland residents as part of an ongoing series of art workshops.

Maggie Campbell will be delivering the workshops in May and people taking part will be guided through the creation of a mosaic pictures or place mat. The art workshops are the latest element of Breckland Council’s Silver Social Project, bringing arts to those in isolated communities with particular focus towards the elderly.

The first workshop will be presented on 20th May in Thetford Library. All art materials will be included in this free workshop, along with lashings of tea and cake! Free transport can also be arranged as required. Workshops will follow throughout the week in Dereham, Swaffham, Attleborough and Watton Libraries.

The Silver Social Project is managed by Breckland Council, with strategic touring funding from Arts Council England. Places are limited on this workshop. To book a place or arrange transport, call 01362 65687 or e-mail; community@breckland.gov.uk, or visit the website ; www.thesilversocial.com

Thetford Rotary Club At the Club’s business meeting in late March members attention was drawn to the major disaster in Southern Africa caused by Cyclone Idai, affecting Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. After some discussion, it was agreed that a donation of £1,000 should be made from the Club’s Community Service Fund. The money is to be split between the purchase of a Shelterbox which contains canvas sheeting, tools, and other equipment to provide urgent shelter, and the remainder to go to a fund for the later rebuilding of the devastated areas.

The next meeting, at the beginning of April, would normally have taken the form of a dinner with a speaker but instead was defined as a scatter week, when members visited other neighbouring clubs.

The second meeting in April, a lunchtime meeting, hosted a visit from the District Governor. District is a grouping of about 70 clubs from the area, chiefly from Norfolk and Suffolk but also from parts of adjoining counties. This was an informal meeting with round the table wide-ranging discussions on a number of subjects.

For more information about Thetford Rotary, or to join, please email; secretary@thetfordrotary.org Next Sunday Mix May 19th 10.30am

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This month’s Thetford face is Derek Antrobus. Derek experienced the heavy bombing of Salford during WW2 as a young boy which left him with damaged hearing.

He is also the oldest and longest serving volunteer at the Charles Burrell Museum.

When did you move to Thetford? We moved here in 1974, my wife’s friend got married in Brandon, so we had a week’s holiday and visited Thetford. I happened to walk past Smedley’s main gate and saw a job for an electrical fitter, so I applied, got the job and Maureen, my daughters and I moved here from Oldham.

What was it like working at Smedley’s? It was hard work, but I had a really good foreman, Alan. His wife Yvonne was in charge of the packing ladies. We were a bit of a motley crew from all over, Albert from Hetherset, Jock McGowen from Glasgow and a guy from London – there was a right mix of dialects there! Eventually I worked at Hayson European, building machinery that packaged everything from frozen peas to chrome bumpers. My favourite product was liquorice allsorts, we had drums of the product so I could test the machine I built and the whole factory enjoyed that!

Derek Antrobus loves the historic buildings and environment that Thetford offers its residents

How quickly did you get involved in community life? When we bought our first home in 1976 on the Admirals Estate I became a committee member of the resident’s association during that year. The group used to help any residents’ with the builders and lobbied for an open space which is now the school playing field.

Whilst my daughters were young I spent most of my time doing what families do, and most of the time I was busy working hard to provide for them. My family were involved in the community such as Guiding.

X Derek, 4th runner from the left taking part in a Pancake Race outside The Dolphin February 1980 Please mention the About Thetford Magazine when responding to advertisements 24

How did you get involved in the Charles Burrell Museum? In 1989 David Osborne placed an ad in the Thetford & Watton asking for committee members to set up a traction engine museum. The building was pretty derelict after Smedley’s had left. As soon as I looked at the ceiling I noticed that it was a Belfast roof, and once I mentioned this to David, he said I was on board!

I’ve been involved ever since. I don’t think the museum gets the recognition it deserves, 4,500 engines were built in Thetford and exported all over the world. I’ve researched some of the engines and the Living Van. Derek (C) next to Captain Mainwaring enjoying Village at War with Dads Army Museum

painting and decorating. The counter that I helped to build in Marigold’s Tea Room originally came from Moss & Potter’s shop in White Hart Street.

Derek in 1995 with a minature engine at a Charles Burrell Museum event

What do you do at the museum now? I’ve stood in as Manager at times, I worked alongside Corinne Fulford, John Waple and Janet Turner when they managed the museum. These days I help with school and group visits, greeting visitors and helping where I can. I try really hard to engage with the local community, if I see a group going past I always try to find out who’s in charge and offer a visit.

How do you see the future of the museum? I really want to see the Burrell Museum building renovated and returned to its former glory. We get comments in our visitor book that people didn’t think the museum was there because it looks derelict. English Heritage is now interested in the state of the building so I’m hoping things will move forward. It would be a real achievement for me to see the building done up as it should be in my lifetime.

How has your interest in local history driven your community work? At one time or another I’ve helped all the museums in town. I first came across Dads Army in Thetford when I watched the ‘Captain’s Car’ episode being filmed outside the Guildhall. In 2004 I started getting involved in the Dads Army tours and helped to set up the museum. I worked on the maintenance side,

How else have you been involved in the community? I’ve been Father Christmas for all the villages around Thetford, Thetford Garden Centre and for Thetford Brownies over the years. I started in the mid 1990s, my poor costume is getting a bit thin now!

It can be hard work because you have to be interested in every child you see and make it special for them.

I really enjoyed being Father Christmas for disabled children, some of those moments stay with you forever.

What’s your favourite thing about living in Thetford? I like it because you’re in the countryside, I live near Nun’s Bridges and it’s so different from where I grew up in Salford. Thetford has open spaces and is nice to walk around, there’s so much history here for people to learn. You only have to look at the buildings around us. I loved history at school, and I love it here.

For more information about the Charles Burrell Museum, please visit www.thecharlesburrellmuseum.com

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Breckland Cats Protection Diabetes mellitus affects the control of blood sugar levels and usually occurs in middle-aged and older cats particularly those that are overweight. There may be some genetic predisposition to the condition.

When a healthy cat eats, the food is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. Glucose, a form of sugar is one of the essential products that results from this digestion and provides the body with energy. As the glucose level rises after a meal, the pancreas releases a hormone called insulin into the blood. This allows glucose to leave the bloodstream and enter the body’s cells where it is needed as a source of energy. As the levels of glucose in the bloodstream drop back to normal, the body stops producing insulin until the next meal. Being diabetic means the the body either does not produce enough insulin, or does not respond to it properly. Therefore after the glucose is absorbed as normal into the bloodstream, it is unable to enter the body cells, leaving the bodies with abnormally high levels of circulating glucose. The body is forced to use other substances such as fat or muscle protein to provide energy as the glucose cannot be used.

Untreated this process will eventually create toxic by-products that can make the cat extremely ill. The clinical signs of diabetes can be similar to a number of other diseases and include: Increased thirst and/or appetite, passing more urine, weight loss, lethargy/ weakness, vomiting and being more prone to other infections e.g. skin or urinary tract infections. To diagnose diabetes, your vet will want to take blood and urine samples from your cat to assess his glucose levels. Your cat will not be allowed any food for several hours before the blood test is taken. Your vet may also want to monitor how much your cat drinks over a period of time. If your cat is diagnosed with diabetes your vet

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is most likely to prescribe insulin which must be given by injection, requiring one or two injections a day. Some cats require insulin for the rest of their lives. It can take some time to find the correct dose of insulin for your cat and it may be necessary for your cat to stay at the vets to allow them to monitor his glucose levels at regular intervals while starting and stabilising treatment.Staff at the vets will demonstrate injection techniques for you as well as explaining other aspects of looking after your cat. A small percentage of cats respond to a combination of oral drugs, which lower the blood glucose and a weight reducing diet. After diagnosis and once your cat is stabilised, your cat will need check-ups with your vet so they can monitor the condition. The bulk of treatment and monitoring will take place at home. If excessive drinking, eating and urination have improved, it is a strong indication that the diabetes is under control. Providing the necessary treatment is received, there is no reason why a diabetic cat should not enjoy a relatively normal life for many years.

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Women’s Pension Campaign Gains County Council Support

Eileen Retires After 22 Years As Church Warden

Norfolk campaigners adversely affected by pension reforms have gained the support of Norfolk County Council to help them keep their plight on the agenda.

At the end of a joyous Easter Sunday Holy Communion service at St Ethelbert, led by the Rev Tony Heywood, Wretham church warden Eileen Kitson retired after 22 years of faithful and hard working service.

Members of the Norfolk Broads – PAIN (Pension Action in Norfolk) Group met the Leader of the Council Andrew Proctor at County Hall to hear that the Council had almost unanimously passed a motion to back more than 45,000 women in the county who were born in the 1950s and 1960s and have had their state pension age increased twice, from 60 to 66 by 2020. Mr Proctor will now write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to call on the Government to reconsider transitional arrangements for affected women.

The Norfolk Broads do not expect the state pension age to go back to 60 but they do claim women were given insufficient personal notice by the Government about the changes. Many have been left in financial hardship as they were unable to make alternative pension plans in time. The Group’s leaders, Lynn Nicholls, Lorraine White and Annette James, thanked Judy Oliver, County Councillor for Sheringham and Chairperson of the NCC Pensions Committee, for her help and for putting the motion forward to the Full Council. They said “We are delighted to gain this support. It helps keep the pressure on the Government to right a wrong affecting not only us but our children and grandchildren in the future”.

The group, which has over 200 members, campaigns against the increase in state pension age for women born in the 1950s and 1960s. A judicial review into statepension changes is due to be heard in London on 5th and 6th June.

To find out more search norfolkbroadsPAIN on Facebook or email: norfolkbroadspensions@gmail.com

A congregation of 50 saw her presented with a very substantial cheque, masses of flowers and a very special painting of St Ethelbert’s church, produced by Wretham Lodge owner Gordon Alexander, who has taken up the pastime in retirement. There was a special cake and sparkling drink to add to an occasion where church treasurer Julian Gibson offered warm praise for the hard work and beneficial effect that Eileen has brought to the church over so many years.

Before three rousing cheers, Eileen thanked all the members of the church, especially husband John, for the hard work and support that had enabled her to do the job successfully. She also paid tribute to the three church wardens with whom she has worked, Elizabeth Ann Haynes, Ann Stronge and Ian Salter. She prayed that the current difficulties would pass and the church Maid2Clean 1/8 congregation AD.qxp_Layout 1 carry 18/04/2019 and its close knit could on in the11:24 Pa very same way.

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Garden And Allotment Club Notes

At last the world is green and full of life! In the veg patch, sowing and hoeing will be the order of the day. If you find you have seed potatoes still unplanted, get them into the ground quickly and you will still get a crop. Runner and climbing French beans will need supports to climb and bamboo sticks are fairly cheap and easy to drive deep into the soil. If you have the space you could grow your own bamboo.

Hazel stakes have been employed for centuries and you can still buy them at Suffolk Wildlife’s coppiced woodland at Bradfield Woods near Bury St Edmunds.

Bee linocut print by local artist Christine Sanderson, The area has been managed with traditional coppicing available in Leaping Hare, King Street Thetford since 1252; there are pathways through the wood and it is interesting to see trees in various stages of leaves to develop; the mature stems produce long management. narrow leaves that are not nearly so attractive, and the plant will eventually turn into a tall tree. Since World Bee Day is the 20th of May so think about making we mostly want to keep eucalyptus as a shrub your garden more insect-friendly, add something rich in or bush it needs to be removed once it is getting nectar to attract bees and butterflies. We’re increasingly difficult to manage. In fact any tree or bush that becoming aware of just how essential bees are to our cannot be kept to an appropriate size for its location well-being. If you look in local shops, you will see small needs to be moved or removed. It can be hard to take out supplies of Thetford honey from time to time – snap it something you have planted and nursed along but think up as a special treat! of it as letting in light to other plants in the area and As you walk round the garden, snip out any plain an opportunity to treat yourself to something new… green shoots developing on variegated shrubs such as The monthly meeting on Thursday May 30th should be euonymus; put in supports for perennials; pull up entertaining with Rodney Tibbs talking about ‘Restoring forget-me-nots that have finished flowering and shake a Cottage Garden’ and the usual table show and the seed heads over empty ground. Once spring refreshments. Come along at about 7.15pm for a flowering shrubs like forsythia and japonica (quince) 7.30pm start to the United Reformed Church in Earl have faded it is time to get pruning. Forsythia is best Street – non-members very welcome. Happy gardening! grown where it can put up long arching stems which Sue Pilgrim can be left to bloom next year after this late Spring pruning. If you need to cut it back later, you will be Deadline for inclusion in the June 2019 cutting out the flowering stems. This is also the time About Thetford magazine will be the 15th May. Betts ofaboutthetfordmagazine@googlemail.com Brandon 1/8 AD.qxp_Layout 1 09/04/2019 16:38 to pollard eucalyptus, allowing new shoots with round E-mail;

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New Project For The Forge

Get Set For Open Gardens 2019

The Forge at the Charles Burrell Centre is opening a pop up plant and garden centre from May to September offering a wide range of quality plants and garden products. The plant and garden centre will create a fantastic opportunity for Full Steam Ahead participants to add additional skills to their CVs maximising the potential for future employment.

What’s in store for Thetford Open Gardens? Well, we start with our popular plant sale on Saturday May 11th from 9am to 12 noon outside St Cuthbert’s Church on the market place. We work with the Thetford Garden and Allotment Club, who generously provide plants and give their time to help sell on the day. We know we will have a wide variety of plants including some lovely grasses, Japanese anemones and heritage tomatoes.

The Forge will be offering all types of plants from bedding to hardy shrubs along with compost, fencing and paving. In addition to the shop the Forge will also be offering a range of garden services including Fencing, Lawn laying, paving, garden clearance and landscaping services. As part of the Charles Burrell Centre, 100% of the profits from the garden centre will go back into community projects supported by the CBC. For more information call Paul on 07494752273

Our programmes should be on sale by then, so you will be able to start planning your day. We have 11 new gardens to delight you in areas of town we haven't visited before. The Horticultural Industry Scheme will be showcasing its work in the community and should look amazing with its edible flowers in bloom. Last year the Norwich Road Estate Residents Association showed off their work in town and this year it is the turn of the Barnham Action Group who are rescuing a small garden in Staniforth Road. Just a taster of what is in coming up in June. If you would like more information you can email; thetfordopengardens@gmail.com or find us on Facebook. All we do, and the money we raise, is entirely in aid of St Nicholas Hospice Care, who look after everyone in need in our community and beyond.

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Open Evening Success For Club Graham Harmer, Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medallist and flower arranger for Southwark Cathedral dazzled his audience at Thetford Flower Club’s Sapphire anniversary Open Evening last month.

The evening titled ‘Be-Dazzled’ was a huge success.

Alongside the fabulous demonstration by Graham, the club enjoyed drinks and a finger buffet and the opportunity to browse through a selection of craft stalls.

The Carnegie was packed full as Graham demonstrated over 20 amazing arrangements. Graham entertained the audience with tales of his flower arrangements for the recent Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey which were enjoyed by members of the Royal family. Graham started flower arranging when he was 16 years old and has also created arrangements at Kensington Palace, St James’ Palace and Mansion House in the past and is well known both nationally and internationally for his demonstrations.

engaging demonstration and the committee and club for all their hard work raising money which will go towards future demonstrations and donations to charity.

This year the Flower Club have chosen to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Society. Thetford Flower Club meet each month (except August and December when there is an outing and Christmas lunch) and visitors are always welcome. Club membership is £23, and visitors are charged £5. As a member you can see some amazing arrangements, participate in workshops and visit other clubs along with an outing.

Committee member Pat Fuller also created two pedestal arrangements which were raffled alongside For more info about Thetford Flower Club please visit: Graham’s arrangements and other prizes during the 15:48 Page 1 www.nafas.org.uk/clubs/ The Forge HP Advert.qxp_Layout 1 21/03/2019 evening. Chair Lorraine Scott thanked Graham for his thetford-flower-arrangement-club

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Naturediet: Local, Eco Dog Food Drive down the A1065 from Mundford to Swaffham and you will find one of the last remaining independent dog food manufacturers in the UK. Naturediet Pet Foods is a company that is proud and passionate. The company has an ethos for honest labelling and promotion of valid claims and they are now on a mission to ditch single use plastics and reduce their carbon footprint. At the Pet Industry Federation Awards last November they received the Sustainability Award in recognition of their efforts.

The Packaging: Think of tomatoes and orange juice – the recyclable cartons that are lightweight, super sturdy, strong and best of all, they stack neatly in the cupboard.

Tetra Pak® is a great alternative to traditional dog food packaging (such as trays, pouches and cans) as it is eco-friendly, allows for a gentler cooking process and keeps the food inside fresher.

The Food: Over 45% of Naturediet’s fresh and natural ingredients come from Norfolk and Suffolk. They don’t use chemicals, artificial preservatives, colourants or flavourings, broth or stock to boost protein levels, and you won’t find any fillers of bulking agents. All the ranges have a high, pure meat or fish content, and all are freshly prepared. The recipes are complete meaning all the essential vitamins and minerals have been added that your dog requires for a healthy balanced diet.

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If you want to shop local and support a local business, visit www.naturediet.co.uk or call 01362 822320

Croxton Road Community Association The next meeting will be on Monday 13th May, 7.30pm at the Church of the Nazerene.

Food Bank Donations welcomed.

Refreshments available, sold in aid of Harriet Martineau Play Area project.

For more information, contact: Ian Dixon Chairman on 01842 765890.

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Housing Crisis What is probably one of our most familiar birds, the House Sparrow, is in trouble. Once widespread and considered by some as a pest, its population has fallen by a third in the last 25 years – if we go back further we have lost 70% of our breeding House Sparrows since the late 70s. This dramatic decline wasn’t on anybody’s radar and caught ornithologists by surprise.

So what might be driving this fall in numbers? It has been suggested that pollution might be one of the main causes. As a result of our urban air becoming dirtier House Sparrows have found it more difficult to raise a family. Although the House Sparrow is largely a granivore, feeding on the seeds of a wide variety of plants, during the first week or so of the chick’s life they need high-energy, high-protein insect food. This helps them rapidly develop from helpless, featherless, almost embryonic lifeforms to fully formed sparrows in around 14 days. Urban pollution seems to be partly to blame for the decline in Britain’s insects.

Loss of nesting places probably isn’t helping either.

House Sparrows have been living alongside us as long as anyone can remember, building their fairly unkempt nests in the nooks and crannies that our dwellings provided. However, more recently we have been blocking up many of those spaces in a drive to make our homes more energy efficient but in doing so, we have also been depriving House Sparrows of them too. We can all help by putting up a nest box – or even better, two or three nest boxes side by side. House Sparrows are social birds and like nothing better than to nest in small colonies. The most important thing about these nest boxes though in the size of the entrance hole – it should be no smaller than 32mm in diameter, as House Sparrows are quite chunky birds. It’s not all bad news: BTO data show that the House Sparrow population

House Sparrow by John Harding / BTO

is beginning to show signs of recovery and here in Thetford small chattering flocks of them can often be encountered in several parts of the town. They aren’t the only sparrow on the block though: the Tree Sparrow, a close relative of the House Sparrow, can be found just down the road in Livermere. How to tell the two apart?

As a simple rule the Tree Sparrow has a chestnut crown and a black spot in its white cheek. The crown of the male House Sparrow is grey, with that of the female being a sandy brown and both sexes lack the black cheek spot.

Paul Stancliffe, British Trust for Ornithology

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Stove Campaign Championed Locally A local chimney sweep is backing a national campaign to help reduce pollution and keep flues safe. Bryan Cater Ltd, of Northwold, has signed up to the Burn Right campaign. It was formulated by chimney sweeps and professionals in the solid fuel industry in an effort to educate people on how to use their woodburners and multi fuel stoves correctly. If not properly operated, appliances can not only pollute the atmosphere, but also pose a risk to life and property.

Gavin Cater said, “The Burn Right campaign has come at a critical time, as the government is looking closely at emissions from domestic fires. The root of the problem is that the wood is often not burned at a high enough temperature. If it’s not hot enough then unburned fuel vapours travel up and out of the chimney causing unnecessary pollution. There is a real lack of awareness with some of these issues and most people who use a stove don’t even know there is a problem, let alone think that they might be a part of it.” Burn Right seeks to help people who use stoves to get it right and make a difference to the air quality where they live. “Not only is this good news for the environment, but users will save money, their chimney will be cleaner, and therefore safer and the chimney and the stove will last longer too.

The campaign is being spearheaded by professional chimney sweeps across the country, and I’m pleased to be one of them. We have a unique perspective of the stove, the fuel, the chimney and the customers burning habits and can advise accordingly.”

For a full guide, go to the Burn Right website - complete with video demonstrations which explain everything.

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Discover New Eco Design Woodburners Norfolk Woodburners, one the largest suppliers and installers of wood stoves and log burners in East Anglia have recently launched a woodburner scrappage scheme to help clean up the environment in Norfolk.

With the government looking to clean up the woodburner industry, and reports from the Stove Industry Alliance (SIA) showing that new stoves produce far less emissions than old stoves or open fires, Norfolk Woodburners are taking the lead in offering a scrappage scheme to incentivise customers to change their old polluting woodburners and open fire grates.

Managing Director at Norfolk Woodburners, Kerry Walpole said,“The new super-efficient Eco design Woodburners, such as those produced by companies including The Hunter Stoves Group and Termatech, installed by a HETAS professional, used correctly with the correct fuel produce far less emissions and are substantially better for the environment than old woodburners or open fires. We are trying to take the lead in the marketplace and offer a scrappage scheme, similar to those offered in the past for old polluting cars and central heating boilers. We hope this will go some way in helping to clean up the air in Norfolk.�

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Centre Stage Celebrate Success!

Students at Centre Stage Studio are celebrating a fantastic set of dance exam results. An incredible 134 children took exams on the 16th and 17th March and achieved a phenomenal 100% pass rate! In fact all the students old enough to take graded exams not only passed but achieved a Merit or higher, with 50% achieving the top grade, Distinction.

Kim Ritchie (Principal Teacher) said, “We are so proud of everyone’s achievements. It really is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the children. We do everything we can to make exams fun so that our students see them as an opportunity to shine and they certainly have this time.”

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The students and staff at Centre Stage have been working hard since their sold out shows in October to prepare for the exam sessions and they are already getting ready for their next exams in July. Centre Stage, located in the Charles Burrell Centre, offers dance classes for ballet, tap and jazz as well as acrobatic dance, musical theatre, drama and Boogie Bounce (a trampoline dance, exercise session).

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“We are really passionate about offering opportunities to dance and perform to everyone in and around Thetford.” says Kim, “The Centre Stage team work very hard to make sure we offer quality classes for all ages and abilities. As soon as someone can walk we have classes for them and we have really popular adult classes as well. This means we have a superb, supportive community feel at Centre Stage and this helps our students make progress and achieve amazing results.”

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Thetford 5K Easter Bunny Run On Sunday 14th April, 150 Bunny Runners and volunteer marshals hit the streets of Thetford for an Easter-themed 5K Run. The Run, which started and ended at Thetford’s Guildhall, had a route that took in King’s House, the Priory, Abbey Meadows, Riverside, Butten Island, Coffee Mill Sluice and Castle Park. Councillor Roy Brame, Thetford’s Mayor, joined in with the warm up, started the run with an enthusiastic shout, and then presented medals to each runner as they finished, assisted by the Mayoress, Karen Brame.

David Loomes was first male home, in 18 minutes 25 second, and Carri Vendy the first female, in 24 minutes 26 seconds. Graham Wade was tail running (!) and after wrangling all the runners home, returned himself in 53 minutes, 33 second. Prizes were awarded for the best fancy dress, and the Bunny Runners did not disappoint.

There were, of course, Easter bunnies, with chicks and chickens a close second. However, we also had a banana in pyjamas, and a hard boiled egg!

There was also a fundraising raffle, which raised £67.

Many thanks to High Lodge, New Saffron, Thetford Garden Centre, Anglia Karting Centre, Sportlink and Adnams, to name but a few! The proceeds from the event, including the raffle, came to just over £600. All funds raised were donated to the Mayor of Thetford’s Charity Fund which supports a variety of charitable organisations.

The Bunny Run itself was organised by Run Breckland, a local community group that puts on running events to raise money for local charities and good causes.

For more information about Run Breckland please visit the ‘Run Breckland’ Facebook page.

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Overall Fitness

Thetford Dolphins

No matter what your fitness goal, having a strong and healthy heart is key to your development in training. The heart is the organ that helps keep everything working as good as it should and needs to be looked after.

Thetford Dolphins Junior swimmers visit to Wisbech for the Patterns Trophy Gala proved another successful evening where they kept up their good early season form by returning home with the winners trophy.

All of us will look in the mirror and pick little flaws in ourselves. We’ll pinch our muffin tops or love handles, we’ll shake our belly and legs and we’ll try and hide our double chin and then we’ll try and focus on those ‘problem areas’ when we train.

Targeting a problem area is fine but you need to look at the bigger picture, for example; If you’re 220ibs, holding extra weight in your belly, breasts, love handles and arms but your main problem area is bingo wings then hitting an all over body workout will be much more effective than just training your arms. Of course, over time this will help tone but training those small muscles only burns a small number of calories. Adding some arm exercises in to some HIIT training then becomes so much more effective, you get so much more out of the time you are using and burning extra calories and fat. Unfortunately, we can’t just focus on one problem area and become super toned there, even though that would be great! The only time this may be possible is if you’re already in a good condition and are training quite aggressively to build in that particular muscle group!

Doing fully functional moves in your training will help keep your ticker working effectively, help you burn that unwanted fat in and out of your problem areas and help tighten and slim you down to a more flattering figure.

Send me a message if you’d like some more info on fat loss and increasing your fitness – Rich

Thetford Dolphins at the Patterns Trophy Gala

Sarah Fleet 50m free (Pb), Harriet Denton 50m breast (Pb), Jack Smith 50m free (NT), Nathan Ruggles 50m fly, Ellen Beckwith 25m fly (Pb), Oran Campbell 50m back (Pb), Samuel Wilkinson 50m fly (Pb), Jessica Wilkinson 50m breast (Pb) and Ellie Buckley 50m back (Pb) were the victorious Dolphins while Lukas Gardeikis, Willow Grimmer, Reggie Britcher, William Neill-Gourlay, Ella Patrick, Dominic Trowell, Christian Payne, Thomas Ridding, Tiffany Clucas and Rowen Ives achieved personal bests. Ilana Whitehead, Kodee Ives, Danielle Myers and Ellen Beckwith were also part of the team.

Are you a member of a local sports group?

Is there a story that you would like featured in About Thetford magazine?

If so, send content, including an image to; For more information about Tiger Fitness, visit; Sullivan 1-8th Advert_Layout 1 14/12/2016 08:28 Pageaboutthetfordmagazine@googlemail.com www.tigerfitnessclub.co.uk

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Parkrunner Of The Month We would like to introduce you to three generations in one family who are regularly seen enjoying Thetford Parkrun together.

Jane Smith, aged 75, her daughter Laura Lawrence, aged 46 and her lovely grandson Riley Lawrence, aged 5. Laura and Riley joined Thetford Parkrun in January 2016 after a friend introduced them and Jane joined in April 2016. The family have now completed over 100 parkruns between them.

Jane, who celebrated her 75th birthday during April, has completed 81 Parkruns. Her slowest 5k time was 52 minutes and 46 seconds and her fastest 5k was 37 minutes and 49 seconds. Laura has completed 52 Parkruns, her slowest 5k was 61 minutes and 30 seconds and her fastest 35 minutes and 20 seconds.

Riley was just over 2 years old when he made his first appearance at Parkrun and used to go around in his buggy then a few shoulder carries before getting strong enough to walk, jog and then run. Riley did manage to complete the full 5k when he was just 3 years old.

On his 4th Birthday, Riley received his Parkrun athlete barcode and became an official member. Riley is passionate about running and hopes to join Thetford Athletic Club when he turns 7. Riley has completed 39 Parkruns, his slowest 5k was 49 minutes and 52 seconds and his fastest 5k was 27 minutes and 51 seconds. Riley, joined Thetford Bulldogs in September 2018. The family also are regular volunteers at Parkrun.

Laura has volunteered over 40 times and Jane over 10 times. Riley, also known as Roo, was often seen giving ‘Hi 5s’ to participants when he was just 3 years old, has now officially volunteered 6 times. Laura and her mum regularly complete races together, for example the Snetteron 5k and Run Breckland Family Forest 5k.

Riley now also takes part in races with his mum and

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Jane (L), Riley and his mum Laura enjoying Thetford Parkrun

grandmother. More recently, Laura has started to increase her mileage and has completed her first 10k event and she is now aiming to complete her first half marathon. The family started to improve their fitness and reach goals they never thought possible.

Deadline for inclusion in the June 2019 About Thetford magazine will be the 15th May. Footcare AD May 2019.qxp_Layout 1 18/04/2019 09:0 Contact karen@aboutthetfordmagazine.co.uk

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