In Touch with Woodbridge - April 2016

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Volume 5 • Issue No. 12 • APRIL 2016

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The Old Tradesman’s Door

by Charmian Berry

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A WORD FROM THE EDITOR In a month when many of us will celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday I will also be thinking about another wonderful lady who has had an incredible impact on those who have known and loved her, my husband’s Grandma Ida. Sadly she is no longer with us but I think of her often and invariably find myself smiling when I do.

Ida wasn’t just a perfect grandma, she was the life and soul of the party. There are too many stories to recount here, but Daniel often talks about playing Sardines with his then 83-year-old grandma who deviously abandoned the search and hid herself away in the shower, patiently waiting for her grandchildren to realise the game had taken an unexpected turn!

Ida was the first older person I ever developed a genuine relationship with and I can honestly say she changed me for the better. She stirred both my curiosity and my respect. Meeting someone who was born 70, 80 or 90 years ago can be fascinating if you take the time to get to know them. In doing so you too will come to appreciate the fact that age in itself is a mark of achievement! Just imagine how many challenges and changes an 80-year-old has encountered and overcome, how many moments of despair and possibly even heartbreak they may have endured.

The technological revolution is one of the most significant challenges my generation has encountered. Ida faced and overcame far more serious challenges and still had a twinkle in her eye at 90. Perhaps we need to remind ourselves now and again just how lucky we are (most of the time) and to acknowledge that a lack of interest in or respect for older people speaks volumes about our own character.

Enjoy the celebrations and take a moment to consider how you might like to be treated when you ‘are old and grey and full of sleep’ (WB Yeats).

Melton In Touch &with Woodbridge In Touch with Melton & Woodbridge is published by: Mansion House Publishing (UK) Ltd, 20 Wharfedale Road, Ipswich IP1 4JP Editor: Sharon Jenkins Email: sharon@intouchnews.co.uk

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NEWS VERNON BLACKMORE TO HOST ‘POP UP’ RESTAURANT AT TIDE MILL

The Tide Mill as a pop up restaurant during the 2014 Woodbridge Shuck Shellfish Festival, by Simon Ballard

Local restaurateur Vernon Blackmore and artisan coffee roaster Paddy Bishopp are launching a new street food concept ‘Bubble & Squid’ at a fundraising pop up at Woodbridge Tide Mill on April 2.

The two-course supper of seafood delights is followed by an optional dessert and a warming Paddy & Scott’s coffee. The meal costs £25 a head which includes a glass of fizz and after-dinner coffee. Dessert is an optional extra. Meat and vegetarian options are available by prearrangement, and wine and soft drinks will be available to buy on the night. To book, contact Emma or Hugh on 01394 382428.

Vernon said: “The evening aims to offer something a little bit different for the foodie community. You can’t really beat dining in the Tide Mill, it is a truly unique and beautiful setting. We shall be using their famous flour to make bread and in at least one other dish we serve on the night. Plus, we hope to donate £5 per person to Woodbridge Tide Mill.”

Paddy added: “We see ‘Bubble & Squid’ as a fixture at popular summer festivals and outdoor events. The deliciously fresh combination of sparkling wines and champagne, along with some tasty squid dishes like calamari, potted prawn and squid and Spanish squid and chorizo stew, provides something a little different for the discerning outdoor diner.”

Nigel Barratt, miller and chairman of Woodbridge Tide Mill Trust, added: “We’re really pleased to be working with Vernon to bring people into the mill for a fabulous experience. We’re equally grateful that he’s helping us to raise the valuable funds needed to keep this iconic piece of local heritage in good working order.”

2016 HERO RIDE Is anyone interested in cycling to the Imperial War Museum for breakfast on July 3 as part of the 2016 Hero Ride? A group of us are leaving in the ‘wee small hours’ to be part of this Help for Heroes fundraiser.

As things stand at the moment we have a van and driver to return with the bikes (no cycling back unless you want to!) and some of the team are organising a return coach.

This is not a race but a social cycle with a few laughs chucked in along the way I’m sure, and regular grub stops to keep everyone fully fuelled.

Please contact me if you fancy the idea. It’s a special year for me as its 25 years since I was involved in the first Gulf War so I know what a difference organisations like Help for Heroes make.

Many thanks, Andy White 01473 830135 / 07854 876722 / wandywhite216@aol.com

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NEWS SUFFOLK COASTAL BUSINESS & COMMUNITY AWARDS 2016 The businesses whose sponsorship enables the Suffolk Coastal Business & Community Awards to continue to go from strength to strength gathered at Kesgrave Hall to celebrate the launch of the 2016 awards.

The awards recognise the contributions, initiatives and successes of businesses, groups and individuals within the Suffolk Coastal District over the past 18 months. This year’s awards categories cover teamwork, growth, services to the community and charities, environmental impact, customer service, health and wellbeing and tourism.

The line-up of 2016 sponsors includes EDF Energy, EB Carpets, Melton Day Nursery, Places for People Leisure, The Local Strategic Partnership, The Suffolk Coast DMO, Ufford Park and Suffolk Coastal District Council. Anglia Radio’s Town 102 and The Beach Radio Stations are also supporting as 2016 media partners.

The awards open for nominations on April 15 and close on June 30. The winners will be announced at a black tie awards dinner at Kesgrave Hall on September 15.

Nicola Cannon, owner of Melton Day Nursery, said: “These awards give local businesses and groups the recognition and encouragement they deserve and we are very happy to be a part of that.”

Tarnia Robertson, managing director of Ufford Park, said: “These awards are the perfect chance for us to acknowledge other local businesses and individuals within the local community and to give them the recognition they deserve. We are delighted to be part of them this year and we wish everyone entering the best of luck!”

For more information visit: www.scbca.co.uk The full list of awards and sponsors is as follows: • New Business of the Year sponsored by Suffolk Coastal District Council • Business Growth Award sponsored by Suffolk Coastal District Council • Services to the Community (group) sponsored

by EDF Energy • Services to the Community (individual) sponsored by Place for People • Innovation sponsored by the Local Strategic Partnership • Charity Champion sponsored by EB Carpets Felixstowe • People Development sponsored by Melton Day Nursery • Health and Wellbeing sponsored by Ufford Park • Encouraging Tourism sponsored by The Suffolk Coast DMO • Customer Focus • Great and Green Award • Team of the Year • Club of the Year

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A SUCCESSFUL CLEAN FOR THE QUEEN Transition Woodbridge, Woodbridge and Deben WI, Woodbridge in Bloom, Suffolk Coastal and other keen volunteers had a really successful community litter pick in March as part of the Clean for the Queen project.

From four different picking spots, we filled 26 rubbish bags in total. We made a big difference to some small parts of Woodbridge and Melton and hope that through publicity about the campaign, more people will be encouraged to take care of their litter.

The worst spots were under the steps of the railway footbridge, the short footpath from Warwick Avenue to Haughgate Close, short stretches of Woods Lane and the A12 verges between Bredfield Road and Haugh Lane and near Seckford Hall Road that we were able to get to.

There was a lot of litter thrown out of vehicles, lots of crisp packets, drinks bottles, cans, take away coffee cups and food containers and lots of neatly tied bags of dog poo left to decorate the hedges by dog walkers.

We would like to thank to all the litter pickers and Suffolk Coastal Norse for providing rubbish bags, hoops, litter pickers and gloves and collecting the bags.

HOME-START SNOWFLAKE BALL Come along to our Snowflake Ball on Friday, May 20 at Milsoms, Kesgrave Hall for a glamorous night of fine dining, music and entertainment. Tickets are £55 to include an arrival drink and three-course meal with entertainment provided by the band Soul Kitchen.

During the evening there will be the chance to win a beautiful cultured white freshwater baroque pearl pendant kindly donated by Woodbridge jeweller Chenevix. Bid for a holiday in the auction as well as many more exciting opportunities.

For tickets or further information please contact: 01473 621104 / office@homestartcoastal.co.uk You can also book your tickets online at: www.homestarteastsuffolk.org.uk

If you are a local business who would like to support this event sponsorship opportunities are available. Please contact: ella@homestartcoastal.co.uk The ball will have a snowflake theme as every child Home-Start supports is as unique and fragile as a snowflake. Home-Start supports families in the East of Ipswich and Suffolk Coastal areas for whom the pressures of family life have become too great to cope with alone this can be for many differing reasons such as bereavement, physical and mental health problems.

Families are matched with a trained volunteer who supports them on a weekly basis enabling them to grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children, improve their health and wellbeing and widen their links locally.

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NEWS WOODBRIDGE TIDE MILL’S NEW LEASE OF LIFE When in 2004 Fred Reynolds moved on from the successful renovation project of Tide Mill Quay to thinking about improving the tide mill, no-one thought that it would be more than 13 years before the restoration project was completed. Fred worked incredibly hard in planning the project for four years up to the beginning of 2008 when the first bid for Heritage Lottery Fund assistance was submitted.

Unfortunately it didn’t attract support, so Fred continued to work on a new bid.

When he felt he was unable to continue the present chairman of trustees Nigel Barratt took over management of the project. Between 2008 and 2010, he substantially re-worked the project, wrote the second Heritage Lottery bid, and coordinated the raising of the additional funds necessary to secure lottery funding. By late 2010 this second bid with a fully funded project had worked through what had become a two stage bid process and in early 2011 the Heritage Lottery Fund let the trust know the good news that it had succeeded.

Nigel was sufficiently confident of success that planning had continued through the winter of 2010/11, so that the trust was able make an early start on the major part of the renovations This ensured that only the 2011 season was lost, and by Easter 2012 Woodbridge Tide Mill was re-opened with much of this work completed.

But it was a four year project and more needed to be done. Bringing it into use as an authentic working mill producing a healthy stoneground wholemeal flour meant learning the skills of milling with grinding stones, and building visitor interest meant a lot of additional work. Projects were planned with local primary schools and in 2015 alone upwards of 1,000 children visited the mill with more reached by taking talks about the mill into schools.

Bringing 225 year old machinery back into use, when much of it had last been worked around 70 years ago, brought its own challenges, and a fast learning curve into traditional millwrighting

by Nigel and the maintenance volunteers was needed.

None of this could have been achieved without

AT-HOME THEATRE FOR KIDS TO CREATE DRAMA Ideal for parties, sleepovers and rainy days

the support of the many active volunteers working in the mill. There are currently 42 such willing workers putting in their own time and effort to help keep the mill going from strength to strength. While this is a fantastic number, more are always needed. Foremost among these is Dr Robert Spillett, currently vice-chairman of the trust who also goes back into the early part of the project, developing, among other things, many of the activities that has helped make it a success.

An evaluation report has been lodged with the Heritage Lottery Fund which shows that everything that was set out to be done has been successfully completed; numbers of visitors have more than doubled from levels prior the restoration, and, at nearly 45,000 people to date, has comfortably beaten the projections at the time of the bid. Not only that, but the project has been brought in under budget, and the future of the mill is reasonably safe for the foreseeable future.

Nigel said: “Visitors tell us they come to Woodbridge because they’ve heard of the tide mill, and if we’ve ensured that this iconic building plays a big part in keeping Woodbridge on the map, then it’s an added bonus.”

A new Suffolk business is aiming to get more children involved with performing comedy and drama. Kidz Drama is a new, at-home theatre idea offering hilarious plays for kids who want to put on their own dramatic show.

Kidz Drama scripts are designed for ages six and up, but are suitable for the whole family to enjoy. The play pack encourages children to create and build different scenes as part of the preparation; they have rehearsal time to learn lines and the script is structured for around a 30-minute performance depending on ability.

Some non-acting roles are also suggested.

At only £6.99 each, Kidz Drama plays offer great value and are ideal for parties, sleepovers and those rainy holidays when the kids are bored and “can’t find anything to do”. They come with a parent’s planning schedule and an invitation template for selected guests.

The individual scripts are emailed to parents as a PDF so they can either be printed off easily or performed off mobile devices. The comedies are all loosely based on some of the kids’ favourite books, films and TV shows. Cinderolla is a cool re-telling of the classic fairytale; The Case of the Missing Pyjama Case features Baker Street’s favourite detective and Gift Wars celebrates Daft Vader’s birthday in outer space!

Kidz Drama also offers school plays and free drama resources designed for KS2 and KS3 learning stages. The plays – which feature a strangely-familiar Mars Man – are ideal for end of term class productions. The school packages come with scene backdrop imagery and sound effect files, so they are very simple to stage. There is also acting advice for teachers and pupils in the free resources section of the website.

Kidz Drama is a small, family project based in Woodbridge and run by Adrian Cory who is also a young adult author.For more information on Kidz Drama plays, visit kidzdrama.com or contact: team@kidzdrama.com

SOMETHING EXCITING HAS HAPPENED IN WOODBRIDGE Cars Smart taxi/private hire company opened in Woodbridge on February 22 under the leadership of David Jennings and his family who live locally and have done so for many years.

When new legislation came out last year Cabs Smart of Ipswich decided to give people the chance to operate in their own areas under the guidance of a larger company. David decided to take up that opportunity to serve the people of Woodbridge with the same reliable and dedicated service that Cabs Smart in Ipswich is known for.

The business will operate 24/7/365 and has managed to get an easy number for you all to remember: 01394 461 461 When we asked David why he chose Woodbridge he said: “My family and I have lived here for a number of years, my children go to school here and my wife works just down the road. I worked for Cabs Smart in Ipswich

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and have watched it become one of the largest companies in the town. It has always been difficult to get a taxi/private hire car in Woodbridge so I intend to duplicate the Cabs Smart offer in Woodbridge.

“Cabs Smart has always operated a fixed fare scheme in Ipswich and that is what I want to bring to Woodbridge. They also give back to the community by raising money for local charities and every couple of months they hold a social afternoon for the over 60s with a free buffet, entertainment, bingo and a raffle, which I also plan to introduce, but more importantly I wanted to give Woodbridge a 24/7 fixed fare service.”

Alongside their 24/7 service their fleet of vehicles will include minibuses, wheelchair accessible vehicles and hybrid vehicles.

Remember that number: 01394 461 461 In Touch online:

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13/09/2015 21:05:39

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OUT & ABOUT WOODBRIDGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL: FROM START TO FINISH, PART 2

CONCERT IN AID OF FAMILY SUPPORT GROUP A concert in support of Home Start East Suffolk will take place in Woodbridge Community Centre on Sunday, April 10, at 2.30pm, where the Community String Orchestra and guest choir Tutti Frutti Voices will present While in Music and Verse, a varied programme of orchestral and choral music by Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Purcell, and Gershwin.

Project No 3: Diamond Jubilee Bandstand, Elmhurst Park, Woodbridge – Opening ceremony, September 12, 2015 In recent years the community council ran a series of fundraising events to help top-up our depleted coffers to enable us to help fund other local projects. These included running stalls at the regattas and street fairs, an annual spring concert and our hugely popular New Year’s Day Viennese Concerts with a full orchestra and musicians and singers drawn from the local area.

Then in 1993 we started running the biggest fundraiser of all, our mammoth second hand bazaars. The bazaars raised many thousands of pounds over the years and £12,000 at our final sale in 2009 – all from second hand items collected by ourselves at our own expense from the town and near villages.

The proceeds from those events enabled us to make some spectacular grants to local causes and projects that were struggling to generate their own funds. We gave away many thousands of pounds, including donations to the Disability Advice Service, Woodbridge Skateboard Park, the Cedar House Trust, Melton Playing Fields and Parish Rooms, the Excelsior Band, Scouts and Sea Scouts and many other groups and with major funding (£26,400) to the Tide Mill Trust to help them to secure vital major lottery funding to restore this iconic and historic building, £25,474 to Woodbridge Town Council for essential repairs to the Shire Hall and help towards the costs of the mayor’s robes and more than £20,000 to a variety of community hall projects.

Recently we could not attract enough willing souls to support our events and to fill committee vacancies, with some committee members holding multiple posts to enable us to keep going. We found ourselves in an impossible position. We put the problems to our committee members and by unanimous agreement it was decided to dissolve our organisation in accordance with our constitution.

All present at that meeting agreed that we should fund one final major recreational project for the town. We had earlier attended a public meeting in our Shire Hall run by our town council in October 2011 to consider proposals to commemorate our Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012 – where we put up three proposals

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for consideration including a permanent bandstand for the town. We then all agreed to pay the full purchase price of £45,720 for a Victorian-style all-metal bandstand to sit on an existing raised brick platform in Elmhurst Park with the town and county council jointly paying for delivery and assembly. The bandstand was duly constructed and opened to the public on September 12, 2015. The cost of the bandstand almost cleared our coffers and we divided up the remaining £2,000 between other charitable organisations in this area.

I have considered it an honour to be the chairman of Woodbridge Community Council during such a highly successful period of its life – so being at the helm when we have had to close down our operations has been a devastatingly cruel blow to myself and the remaining members of our committee. We feel though, that we have met the terms of our 1966 mandate many times over.

In conclusion – we thank everybody who has supported us over the years at our concerts and events and to the hoards of friends who just turned up to help at our bazaars. We could not have managed without you. Our grateful thanks too to the members of our executive committee for their long term loyalty and hard graft helping to make our organisation such a huge success for the benefit of thousands of local people. We thank in particular those almost forgotten very early members who had the foresight, vision and tenacity to set up our community council way back in 1966 – the town owes you all a huge debt of gratitude.

Our journal From Start to Finish records all of our important activities from 1966 to dissolution in 2016. We have lodged copies with Woodbridge Town Council, Woodbridge Library and the Public Records Office in Ipswich where they can be viewed by the public and I will retain a copy at my home for future reference.

We hope you have enjoyed our contributions to life in this area and we sincerely hope that our efforts will not be lost in the sands of time.

Peter and Georgina Bacon, chairman and hon treasurer respectively.

The conductor is Andrew Fairley and the choir leader is David Lewis. Tickets costing £8 are available on the door or in advance from the Box Office on 01394 279005.

Home-Start East Suffolk support families in the East Ipswich and Suffolk Coastal areas for whom the pressures of family life have become too great to cope with alone. This can be for many different reasons such as: poverty, physical or mental health problems, isolation, drug or substance misuse, bereavement and many more.

Home-Start matches each family to a trained volunteer, who builds a trusted relationship with them, offering them a professional friendship enabling them to grow in confidence, strengthen their relationships with their children, improve their health and well-being and widen their links locally.

Also see Home-Start Snowflake Ball on page 4

WOODBRIDGE MUSEUM DISPLAYS OUTLINED The February talk was given by Bob Merrett who outlined plans for the new museum displays. With the use of excellent photographs Bob took the audience through the story of Maritime Woodbridge which will form the theme of the first half of the museum.

All those who steward at the museum will have a chance to view this on a virtual museum to be set up during the season. We always need more stewards and anyone interested would be fully trained and supported on their first session. Bob can be contacted on 01394 385572.

The museum on the Market Hill opens on Easter Saturday, March 26, 10am-4pm.

Entry for Friends of the Museum is £2.50 and visitors £3.50.

The talk in May will be Workhouse to Asylum when David Phelan will talk about the history of St Audrey’s, Melton.

All talks are in Woodbridge Community Hall at 2.30pm.

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OUT & ABOUT JUST 42

NEW HORIZONS

Just42, local youth and children’s work charity, has announced fundraising plans for the year.

Just42 is supported by a number of local individuals and organisations who donate money each month to help the charity deliver its valuable work supporting children and young people in and around Woodbridge. In addition to applying for grants from local and national fund holding bodies, Just42 also plans a number of fundraising events each year.

New Horizons, the club for older people in the area, is going from strength to strength. In the six months since our happy band reformed, our membership has increased from 14 to 29 which is nearly full capacity. One member, Jean Woodhouse, said: “We have a happy time each Thursday with lovely company. And we always have a hearty home-cooked lunch.”

“I enjoy the art club,” said Irene Hannatt, and Hilda Potter wishes the day went on longer.

In 2016 Just42 is planning a range of events most of which have been held before, but has added a new idea for 2016 to get supporters to hold a coffee morning themselves at home, in church or their place of work. The idea is to bake some cakes and put the kettle on and invite your friends, neighbours or work colleagues to come along and enjoy some time to talk and catch up together, but also to donate what they would have spent on a coffee and cake from a cafe to Just42. All the money raised will support the work that Just42 does with local young people.

These coffee mornings can be held whenever you like throughout the year. Just let us know when you are planning to hold one and we can send you posters and invitations.

Aside from doing art, others play scrabble or dominos. Some just enjoy a good chat.

Many appreciate the volunteers who go out and do a bit of shopping if they need something or just fancy a treat.

On Wednesday, June 8, Just42 is holding a golf event at Seckford Golf Club. We nvite golf players to come and play 10 holes of golf for charity. We tee off at 4.30pm in teams of four.

Don’t worry if you can’t put a team together, we can make up a team for you. After playing golf you can enjoy a meal together, all this for just £25 a person. Just42 is also looking for local businesses to sponsor a hole at this event, contact us if you can help.

On Friday, June 10 is our annual ladies’ event.

This year we are meeting in the beautiful surroundings of Great Bealings Hall for a craft night, where you can chill and chatter while making a simple craft, with a glass of bubbly

and a delicious pudding. Tickets are £15 each or two for £25, so find a friend to come with you and enjoy a relaxing girly night out.

On Friday, July 1 Adnams Kitchen shop is again hosting a wine tasting evening for us, where we will taste some wine accompanied by some nibbles with the expert guidance of the Adnams shop manager Andy Baker. This is a fairly small event so get your name down for a ticket ASAP. Our last and biggest event of the year is on Saturday, November 12 and is being held at the Abbey Hall in Woodbridge. This is our annual fundraising dinner, which includes a four-course meal, light hearted entertainment, a raffle and silent auction. The night raises about £6,000, a significant amount towards our fundraising target. Tickets cost just £35 each or £60 for two.

To find out more about supporting or attending any of our events please visit www.just42.org. uk or www.facebook.com/Just42Ltd or call our office on 01394 380992.

Email info@just42.org.uk to reserve places at any of the events.

MELTON LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY Val Dudley, April 6 When Val talks about Hollesley in the Middle Ages you feel you are there – you can virtually see it, hear it and smell it. And it certainly isn’t the kind of story most of us heard at school.

Val has spent many years researching and she transmits her excitement and the thrill of discovery to her listeners. Some of her findings are truly unexpected; the picture she paints is vibrant and colourful. You might even find yourself interested in looking more carefully at the beginnings of our own community.

This is an illustrated talk to fascinate you with the social and economic idiosyncrasies of village life on the Suffolk Coast, the political shenanigans, and the remarkable development of social security.

All welcome. Non-members ₤3. Wednesday, April 6 at 7.30pm. St Andrew’s Church Room, Station Road, Melton. For more information contact: geof@butterwicks.com

TUESDAY EVENING BINGO Bingo every Tuesday evening from 7.45pm at the Community Hall, Station Road, Woodbridge.

Run by Action Medical Research.

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The group has a couple of special dates to look forward to. We will be holding a coffee morning on April 14. Please come along and enjoy some refreshments... and perhaps more importantly, a friendly chat.

On May 3, we will be decamping to The Hut at Felixstowe for a day by the seaside complete with a fish and chips lunch. The venue has an excellent position right on the promenade and we have usually been blessed with good weather. There will be plenty of volunteers on hand to make sure everyone gets a turn along the prom (there are plenty of wheelchairs available if required).

New Horizons meets weekly on Thursdays from 10am-2pm at St Mary’s Church Hall, 11 Market Hill, Woodbridge IP12 4LP. The cost for the day is £8 with an additional fee if you require transport. People over 55 are invited to come along and join us. For more information and to make arrangements, please phone 07514 364752 and speak to one of our leaders.

C O F F E E

The East Anglian Committee of the eve appeal

Saturday 16th April 10am - 12.30pm

The Shire Hall

Market Hill Woodbridge

eveappeal@nealshouse.co.uk

M O R N I N G 11

OUT & ABOUT WOODBRIDGE LIBRARY PLEASE NOTE: Owing to current building work in the library, the events listed below are subject to change. Please call 01394 446510 to check that an event you are interested in is still going ahead.

Saturday, April 2, 9am-5pm & Sunday, April 3, 10am-4pm: Sale of ex-library children’s books including non-fiction. Come and grab a bargain!

Saturday, April 16, 9-11am: Suffolk County Councillor Caroline Page will be holding her surgery at the library.

Monday, April 18, 10am-noon: NSFT Mental Health Modern Matron Roadshow Suffolk’s Mental Health Modern Matrons are holding a series of roadshows visiting locations across Suffolk in 2016.​ This is a drop-in session for service users and carers who receive care from mental health services to provide information and receive feedback.They would like to hear about your experiences of using mental health services and any ideas you may have on improving services.​​​​

Wednesday, April 20, 10am-12.30pm: Healthwatch Information Point Session Healthwatch Suffolk helps local people to get the best out of their local health and social care services, improving them for today and helping to shape them for tomorrow. Come along to talk to your local representative.

Thursday, April 21 (time TBC): FOWL (Friends of Woodbridge Library) AGM If you are interested in becoming a member of our group, please come along to the AGM to find out more. Ian Andrew, author of A Time to Every Purpose, will be the guest speaker. For more information please either come along or contact: 01394 446510 / woodbridge.library@suffolklibraries.co.uk

Saturday, April 23: World Book Night

April 1-30: ArtLib April’s ArtLib exhibition will be of traditional paintings of Suffolk by Karen and Roger Mead.

Karen and Roger have a cottage in Woodbridge and love the Suffolk coast, river estuaries, countryside and big Suffolk skies. They both paint in watercolours, pastels, oils and Inks, and love to try and capture the essence of Suffolk scenes.

Booked Out is the book and film review show hosted by Woodbridge Library staff.

It is available at www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/ bookedout and SoundCloud. This month’s topic is classic horror and guests will be discussing books such as Frankenstein and Dracula.

If you’d like to get involved, come on the show and talk about a book or film you’ve borrowed,

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or have a suggestion for a future theme, please contact the library or leave a comment on our Facebook page.

Book Group: meets the first Thursday of the month at 2pm On April 7 we will be discussing The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer. This group is led by a member of staff. Please come along if you have read this title and would like to join in the discussion.

different aspect of drawing. No experience necessary but numbers are limited and this group is currently full. A voluntary contribution of £2 goes towards the Friends of Woodbridge Library.

Free computer help and advice – now available Contact the library to book a session, or to find out more. Includes information about buying and getting connected, computer/tablet setup or re-configuration advice, help with specific tasks for more experienced users or taster sessions for absolute beginners. Remember you can now bring in your own device to access WiFi at the library.

Play Reading Meets on the third Thursday of the month at 2pm. Come to listen or join in for an afternoon of light-hearted drama, comedy or mystery. All welcome.

New services We now sell first and second-class postage stamps, can scan to email or USB for 30p, copy A4 documents in colour for 30p and you can print in the library from your own device: 10p black and white and 30p colour per A4 sheet.

We also have Chromebook laptops that you can use anywhere in the library free of charge for two hours and we sell 4GB USB cards for £5 that can be used on our new Chromebase and Chromebook computers.

Citizens Advice Bureau Someone from the CAB is available for help and advice every Tuesday, 10am-noon.

Flagship Someone from Flagship is available for help and advice every Tuesday, 10am-noon.

Writers’ Workshop Meets once a month on Tuesdays at 5.30pm.

Interested? Please email jeannie@butterwicks. com to open doors to creative writing.

Woodbridge Novelists’ Group Meets twice a month on Wednesdays from 10am-noon. This group, for ‘committed writers aiming to be published’, wants to recruit an extra member. It aims to provide friendly feedback on members’ writing and explore topics related to creative writing and publication. If you are interested please contact Lawrence Richardson at: woodbridgenovelwriters@gmail.com Knitting Club Every Friday at 2pm. For all types of knitters, expert to beginner, come and share your knowledge or pick up some tips Drawing Group Meets the second Tuesday of the month at 10am. Each month this group explores a

Arts and Crafts Group Meets second Wednesday of the month at 10am. Enables older people and their carers to take part in activities such as collage, card making, printing and modelling.

Games Club Meets on the fourth Thursday of the month at 2pm. Now includes dominoes.

Improve your vocabulary and exercise your mind muscles with Scrabble or practise strategy or balance with dominoes.

Woodbridge Area Gamers Meets on the second Saturday of each month from 1-5pm in the library Meeting Room. This group plays modern strategy board games (Carcassonne, Powergrid, Caylus, 7 Wonders, Hey! That’s My Fish, Blokus and many more).

For more information contact nigel@foden. me.uk / 07740 173091 or see details on: www. boardgamegeek.com/guild/1150 ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN Every Wednesday 10.30-10.50am: Bookstart Baby Bounce – soothing songs and gentle nursery rhymes for babies and their grown-ups.

11.15-11.45am: Bookstart Tot Rock Rhyme and Rhythm – music, songs and action rhymes for toddlers with their parents and carers.

Every Friday 10.30-11am: Bookstart Story and Rhyme Time Stories and more for young children accompanied by an adult.

Every Sunday 10.30am-noon: Kids’ Club Craft Activities

BINGO NIGHTS AT WOODBRIDGE TOWN FC April 3 and 17 from 7.30pm. Just turn up or contact John for more information: 01394 385308 The hall is available free for parties, weddings and other events on Fridays and Saturdays in June/July 2016. Maximum capacity 120. Contact Richard Scott: 01394 385308/380187

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OUT & ABOUT WHAT’S COOKING AT DEBEN ROTARY? The district final of the Rotary Young Chef competition took place on February 27 at Suffolk One Sixth Form College in Ipswich. The finalists were all from Rotary District 1080 and the senior judge, Peter Senior, also known as the Master Chef of Melton, was a member of Woodbridge Deben Rotary Club. An extremely high standard was evident in all the dishes produced, and one of the two winners was Richard Mayhew of Farlingaye High School. Richard will now go on to the regional final in Harlow in April, and we wish him all the best.

The college also hosted the district final of Youth Speaks where teams of young people aged 11 to 17 spoke eloquently on subjects as diverse as: Is technology affecting our health? and Feminism: a dirty word?

MEMORY CAFÉ The February session of the Memory Café was particularly successful and we were pleased to welcome several new visitors. A reminder that the café welcomes all dementia sufferers and their carers and takes place at Woodbridge Football Club on the last Wednesday of every month. Our next sessions are on March 30 and April 27. If you would like to know more about this or any aspects of Rotary please contact Rotarian Martin Kenyon: 01394 386933

ORWELL DECORATIVE AND FINE ARTS SOCIETY Our next meeting is on Wednesday, April 6 when Dr Sam Newton (of Time Team fame) will be telling us all about the Easter Festival in Early England, how significant it was and how it was celebrated.

In March lecturer Ian Swankie took the audience through the story of Grayson Perry. With wonderful illustrations Ian recounted how Turner Prize-winning Perry progressed from Chelmsford punk to become a veritable national treasure. His wonderful creations (pots, frocks, tapestries and even a holiday home in Essex) highlight his individualistic take on art. A great lecture about a unique, multi-talented character.

Why not come along and enjoy some good company and an interesting talk? We meet at Tower Hall, Broadlands Way, Rushmere St Andrew on the first Wednesday of most months and we also organise interesting day visits. The wonderfully illustrated lectures which are presented by national and international lecturers start at 2.15pm, but we advise people to arrive by 2pm if possible. Guests and non-members are welcome, provided we have available space. A £5 donation is asked.

For more information contact Jean Bradberry: 01473 710921 / odfasmemsec@btinternet.com. www.orwelldfas.org.uk

MARTLESHAM HISTORY SOCIETY The next meeting is on Monday, April 11 when Paul Constantine will present a talk about Sutton Hoo Longship Reconstruction Project.

This heritage project is based on the redeveloped site of the former Whisstock’s Boatyard in Woodbridge. The talk will cover the Sutton Hoo Mound 1 ship itself, its significance in Scandinavian boatbuilding, and the relevance of such boats to the Anglo-Saxon migration. Recent developments with the replica longboat Sae Wylfing will also be discussed.

Meetings are held at the Pavilion on Martlesham Heath at 7.30pm. The admission fee is £2.50 and meetings are open to all.

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OUT & ABOUT WOODBRIDGE FARMERS’ MARKET Our spring markets will be held on April 9 and 23, 9am-12.30pm at Woodbridge Community Hall. All the food we sell is grown, reared, baked, roasted, harvested or cooked within 30 miles of Woodbridge usually by the stallholder. We’re always happy to answer your questions and to give information and recipe ideas. We have a fine range of produce which is seasonal, tasty and real.

For more information visit www.woodbridgefarmersmarket.co.uk / email Cordelia at woodbridgefarmersmarket@gmail.com / or follow us on Twitter @WoodbridgeFmMkt We’re always interested in hearing from new stallholders so do get in touch if you think you can offer something special.

Local flavours, familiar faces.

THE ART CLUB AND THE TIDEMILL One of the annual events in Woodbridge Art Club’s calendar is the Chairman’s Challenge when members are challenged to produce a painting on a theme chosen by the chairman. This year she decided we should paint an ‘alternative’ tidemill, a tidemill as you’d never seen it before. You can see the results, mostly amusing, on display at the tidemill from Easter. Well worth seeing if you want a smile. And if you’ve never visited the tidemill here is your chance to see one of only eight surviving such mills in the country. If you’re lucky they may be milling flour.

Good Friday also sees the start of the art club’s summer exhibition. It will be open every Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday Monday from Easter till the end of September. It’s very easy to ‘do’ both venues at the same time as they are almost opposite one another.

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WATCHDOG SEEKS VIEWS ON DIABETIC FOOT CARE SERVICES IN SUFFOLK Healthwatch Suffolk is working with a leading Consultant Physician of Diabetes and Endocrinology at the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust Diabetic Centre to explore local experiences of using diabetic foot care services in Suffolk.

Good foot care is essential for people living with diabetes because it can prevent complications caused by high blood glucose levels including damage to nerves and blood vessels. In fact, active foot disease is a leading cause of amputation in the UK. That is why Healthwatch is keen to explore whether people at high risk of developing foot disease in Suffolk are receiving appropriate care. It is interested in your experiences about the full range of services that may care for your feet and this includes those accessed in GP practices, hospitals and in the community.

Andy Yacoub, Chief Executive of Healthwatch Suffolk, said: “Our aim is to ensure that these essential services are shaped by the experiences of people using them. This survey will help us to independently check that patients are receiving the right messages to help them manage their condition and that there is fair and appropriate access to foot care services across the county. If you have diabetes or know someone that does, please take part. It only takes a moment and your views could make a positive difference to care in Suffolk.”

To take part, visit: www.surveymonkey.com/r/suffolkdiabetes You can also contact Healthwatch Suffolk on 01449 703949 or by email to info@healthwatchsuffolk.co.uk to request a hard copy survey.

This survey will close on April 30, 2016.

We meet on the fourth Thursday of each month in Rushmere Village Hall, 7.30-10pm. We are a craft club for people who like to try different crafts in a lighthearted atmosphere with refreshments.

Our next meetings are: Thursday, March 24: Beaded Bracelet (Jill) Thursday, April 28: Needle Felting (Emma) The 2016 monthly projects list is now available and other projects are always available.

New members always welcome. For more details contact Jill (01473 713534) or Emma (01787 373850).

EAST SUFFOLK NATIONAL TRUST ASSOCIATION Our next meeting is on April 19 when Veronica Bennett, a volunteer speaker for the National Trust, will tell us about Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk.

Begun in the early 17th century, Felbrigg surprises and delights visitors with its architectural variety, wonderful rooms and beautiful garden. We look forward to Veronica’s fascinating and insightful talks.

May 17 sees the return of one of our regular speakers, Peter Lawrence, with a talk entitled From the Krays to the Crown. Peter is an ex-London policeman and this promises to be a fascinating insight into crime from the 1960s through to the 1980s.

As a member of, or a volunteer for, the National Trust, you can get more out of your membership by joining the East Suffolk National Trust Association which meets (September to May) at Kesgrave War Memorial Community Centre (Twelve Acre Approach, Kesgrave IP5 1JF) at 7.15pm.

Visitors (even if not National Trust members) are welcome for a £2 entrance fee. National Trust members/volunteers can join the association for £8 per year (£12 per couple at same address).

For more information contact our membership secretary – membershipesnta@gmail.com / 01473 723761 – or visit: www.membershipesnta.btck.co.uk

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OUT & ABOUT ROTARY CLUB OF WOODBRIDGE Congratulations to Rotarians David Houchell and Robin Pivett on receiving The Paul Harris Award for Exceptional Service to Rotary.

The Paul Harris Fellowship originally acknowledged individuals who contributed, or who have contributions made in their name, of US$1,000 to The Rotary Foundation to help fund Rotary programmes around the world. This still remains a criteria, but in more recent years it has also come to be associated with Rotarians who have given exceptional service. David and Robin fill both criteria.

DAVID HOUCHELL David has a long history in community service within Woodbridge – Round Table, 41 Club and a member of Woodbridge Rotary Club for 22 years. David attended the Abbey and Woodbridge Schools and is still very much involved in the Old Woodbridgian Association. He was made a Freeman of the town of Woodbridge a short while ago in recognition of his services to the town.

David was president of this club in 2010-11 and served for many years as chairman of the fundraising committee. Since the turn of the millennium the club has raised approaching a quarter of a million pounds for good causes, and while by no means all down to David, it is certain that his untiring efforts have ensured that recent years have seen great successes in this area. There are too many fundraising projects to mention, but as a keen golfer, the annual Rotary Charity Golf Day certainly attracts a lot of people for a hugely enjoyable day as well as raising significant funds, and is largely down to his energy. When the Woodbridge Carnival was resurrected recently and he offered his and the club’s services, there must have been a sense of déjà vu, as he was part of organising the carnival in the 1980s with Round Table.

2004 so while he can only boast half David’s service he had crammed a lot into those years. Robin first came to Woodbridge’s attention as its community policeman and has worked for Suffolk Police both as an officer and as part of the civilian staff for 37 years. For the last few years with the police service he has concentrated on substance abuse, serving with distinction as the Substance Misuse Officer on the District Community Service and Vocation Committee. In this capacity he has helped raise awareness around the 70 clubs in the district, visiting and talking to many of them.

In the Woodbridge club, we remember Robin as the 2013-14 president, but more importantly for the huge efforts he puts in both for the community and our own social calendar, as well as fundraising.

There are lots that could be mentioned in this latter regard, but the most successful must be his latest project, raising around £7,500 almost singlehandedly for the Woolverstone Project to provide a state of the art chemotherapy centre at Ipswich Hospital.

Possibly the best story around Robin’s community service was in 2008 when his home in Kesgrave became a temporary depositary of 40 bags of rubbish. Volunteers from the club had given up their free time to support the Keep Suffolk Tidy fortnight, but in attempting to leave it at Foxhall Waste centre were told it was the “wrong type of waste”. Robin looked after it until SCC applied a little common sense. (r-l) Robin Pivett, Nigel Barratt and President David Houchell

ROBIN PIVETT Robin became a member of Woodbridge Rotary in

INNER WHEEL CLUB OF WOODBRIDGE The Inner Wheel Club of Woodbridge would like to thank all those who supported our recent charity quiz. Twenty-two teams competed on the night with team ‘Wheel Meet Again’ emerging the eventual winners. Including the proceeds from the raffle a grand total of £1,054 was raised for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. Thanks are also due to club member Deirdre Griffin and husband Tom for organising the event, setting the questions and ensuring everything ran smoothly.

District 8 chairman, Catherine Forsdike, was the speaker at our March meeting. Catherine was made aware of Rotary in her youth through family connections and held several positions within Inner Wheel before becoming district chairman. She has an impressive CV having had a career in nursing and midwifery and is also an ordained priest. It was easy to understand why she has been dubbed ‘Superwoman’ by those who know her. During her working life Catherine had experience of working

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with those experiencing mental health issues and has chosen to support MIND during her year in office. To raise money for this charity she has set herself Cath’s Challenge. Each Inner Wheel Club she visits is asked to donate 3lbs of fruit which she makes into jams, preserves and chutneys. These are sold at district events and club meetings and the jars on sale were quickly snapped up, demand exceeding availability. Catherine was given a presentation pack of Tidemill flour with a recipe book as a memento of her visit.

Our club is currently collecting haberdashery items for Tools with a Mission (TWAM) and donations of tinned food, squash and a ride on toy were collected for Lighthouse Women’s Refuge to mark International Women’s Day on March 8.

For more information about Inner Wheel please visit: www.woodbridgeinnerwheel.org.uk

U3A MOVES INTO SPRING AND BEYOND WITH MORE TALKS AND IDEAS U3A (The University of the Third Age) hopes that the many recent visitors to the talks and website are finding the information inspiring and have now joined in with some of the many groups that flourish in the East Suffolk area. At the last count there were more than 145 groups with several additions in the pipeline. Whether you wish to learn something new or brush up on talents you thought you had left behind when there were so many other claims to your time, U3A could be that breath of fresh air for the future.

The Woodbridge talks take place at Woodbridge Community Hall, Station Road, Woodbridge, IP12 4AU at 10.30am with refreshments available from 10am.

On Monday, April 4 Mark Beesley will be giving a talk on The Art of Leonard Squirrell (1893-1979) who is a nationally known Suffolk artist.

His pictures of historic buildings, villages and landscapes were familiar to thousands due to reproductions in calendars, travel posters and books.

U3A members and visitors would also be welcome at any of the other three locations in Felixstowe, Saxmundham and Kesgrave. The campus coordinators at all locations will be delighted to give visitors more details of how to join U3A (the University of the Third Age) which is an organisation for retired and semi retired people.

For information on venues, dates and subjects call 01473 273395 or visit: www.u3aeastsuffolk.org.uk Spring is a good time to decide on new activities whether they be music, reading, poetry, history or outdoor activities such as petanque, walking or something with less exercise like a social lunch club. U3A can be a good starting point for everyone.

We hope you can join us.

In Touch online:

www.keepingintouchwith.com/woodbridge

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OUT & ABOUT WOODBRIDGE WI QUARTERLY REPORT Spring has arrived but Woodbridge WI has enjoyed a varied and enjoyable winter programme including fascinating snapshots of a Royal Year reminding us of the hard work undertaken by HM The Queen. Governor Moore of Hollesley Prison proved an inspirational speaker who spoke with passion and humour. The March meeting gave a sobering yet informative insight into dementia – it’s profound effect not only on the suffer but also their family.

Members attended various federation events including the AGM at Trinity Park which ended with a vote of thanks to Gill Denny and office staff together with hard working committee members. The Cream Tea Chemistry event proved facinating if not a little fattening.

A group convenor meeting offered the opportunity to exchange ideas with other federation convenors and was followed by delicious homemade soup and cake.

We thoroughly enjoyed the tea party held by Ufford WI where much needed funds were raised in aid of Lighthouse, the women’s refuge The refreshments were delicious, well up to the best WI tradition!

A guided tour of Woodbridge Library was a great success introducing us to the amazing services on offer. It’s not just a place to borrow books/films and music – far from it. Why not pop in and have a word with a member of staff?

The international group organised a lunch, with readings and music, to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 with proceeds to ACWW. We joined in the Clean for the Queen event with great enthusiasm, moving forward with pretty rubber gloves and regal purple waste bags embossed with the Clean for the Queen sign. We filled bags and bags with rubbish while engaging locals in why/what we were up to.

This proved interesting with many asking if ‘Her Majesty was aware of our efforts’ and with us also using the opportunity to hand out leaflets explaining the advantages of becoming members of the WI. A £10 note found under the railway bridge was donated to Transition Woodbridge for purchase of seeds for the garden in front of Woodbridge Library.

A good time was had by all.

WOODBRIDGE CAMERA CLUB

LIONS CLUB OF WOODBRIDGE & DISTRICT We have had an encouraging response to the launch of the Young Leaders programme for 2016, with a number of young people expressing an interest in taking part in community activities. There is still time to join, so if anyone between the ages of 12 and 18 is interested, please call Lion Pat Carter on 01473 614728 for a no-obligation chat about the scheme and the recognition we can offer.

Our programme of events for the summer is taking shape, with another of our popular art shows, helping at Woodbridge Horse Show, litter picking as part of the Suffolk Coastal Spring Clean and our now famous Duck Dive at Woodbridge Regatta. On the social side, we look forward to an event to mark the handover to incoming officers in late June and celebrating our 34th anniversary later in the year.

At a number of events we will be promoting the Lions’ Message in a Bottle, a simple way to ensure that medical details such as allergies, medication and long-term health conditions are readily accessible by paramedics in the event of an emergency. A simple idea, but potentially a lifesaver. We heard recently of an elderly resident in a care home who collapsed and fell into a coma; nobody was aware that he suffered from diabetes, but thankfully this was recorded in a Message in a Bottle and paramedics were able to treat him appropriately with the minimum of delay. If you or someone you know might benefit from this scheme, please don’t hesitate to give us a call: 0845 8332820

MARTLESHAM WI

Ploughman by Philip Hill Monochrome competition − February 16 Our monochrome PDI competition, which attracted 53 entries from members, was judged by John Wrigley, whose comments were both helpful and entertaining.

The winning image was the sepiatoned Ploughman by Philip Hill, and entries from Charmian Berry, Trevor Boyd, Richard Brown, Sue Garrod and Brian Trayner were also awarded high marks. It was good to see entries from so many members and the standard was very high.

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New venue From January 2016, our monthly club meetings have been held in the meeting room at Woodbridge Quay Church, Quay Street, Woodbridge IP12 1BX. This is a larger venue, to accommodate our ever-increasing membership; we no longer have to finish our meetings by 9pm and have facilities to provide refreshments for members. We are a friendly club and new members and guests are always welcome. If you are interested, just turn up at one of our meetings. For further information visit: www.woodbridgecameraclub.co.uk

If you are looking for a WI that meets in the afternoon rather than the evening, or if you are looking for a smaller group where its easy to get to know one another and make friends, then Martlesham WI could well be the one for you.

We usually meet on the third Friday of the month for a convivial get together, with competitions, a second-hand book table and interesting and amusing speakers, followed by refreshments.

Outside of this, we have a monthly lunch club where we try out various local hostelries and have several outings planned for this year, although we’d love more suggestions. Plus, it’s our 70th birthday in August so our party planner hats are very much on.

Our next meeting is on Friday, April 15, 2.154.15pm, at Martlesham Heath Pavilion (next to St Michael’s Church). Our speaker will be Chris Parfitt who will present an illustrated talk entitled Himalayan Journey – Darjeeling, Sikkhim and Bhutan If you would like to try us out you would be made very welcome. Please either just turn up on the day or give me a call if you’d like further details.

June Parkin: 01473 625382

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OUT & ABOUT WOODBRIDGE FLOWER CLUB Our meeting for March followed a different format to usual. Instead of a demonstrator, the committee entertained the members with their own version of Cinderella.

Our president, Peggy Albertini, opened proceedings by showing everyone how to do a dried arrangement, which was to depict Cinders by the hearth.

Peggy first developed an interest in flower arranging when helping her mother as a child and she won her first prize in the 1950s.

Peggy later became a NAFAS area demonstrator and judge. She helped to do a national exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she won a gold medal. She also won a gold medal at Chelsea with her club in Burnham. Peggy also taught flower arranging before semi-retiring to Suffolk.

Other committee members then added their arrangements to follow the story. One design was formed inside a shoe, while another was arranged around a pumpkin. Our past and present chairmen, Lyn Eatwell and Rosemary Digby, acting as the ugly sisters, did two contrasting designs.

The final arrangement was to depict the ballroom and this was formed

by Mary Lawn, our president last year. Mary was also a NAFAS area demonstrator. She qualified in 1968 and demonstrated for 18 years. Mary taught various classes and entered the Chelsea Flower Show, where she received a highly commended.

Mary was asked to arrange flowers at Westminster Abbey, where she met the Queen, and at Ely Cathedral, where she met Princess Diana. Mary also demonstrated on TV in America before retiring 30 years ago.

Thanks were given to everyone who helped in the afternoon, with special thanks to Mary and Peggy for sharing their considerable knowledge.

Each year the club gives a donation to charity and Lyn Eatwell, our chairperson for 2015, chose Headway. This is a charity for all those who suffer from brain trauma. Lyn chose this in memory of her neighbour Oliver Clarke.

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WOODBRIDGE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY Richard Ford, past president of Woodbridge Horticultural Society and author of Hostas an Essential Guide, gave a talk entitled My kind of garden and other Photography on March 10.

Richard explained he has been passionate about photography for over 60 years and took his audience on an illustrated journey from early cameras similar to the box brownie to the latest digital technology found in mobile phones Having an eye for composition is the difference between a photograph and a picture; a garden path can be either a focus point for your picture or a distraction from the intended subject.

Photographers often quote the rule of thirds to make sure your picture looks in proportion, but as with many rules, sometimes they need to be broken for the best effect.

Richard continued to guide the audience through framing your subject and the use of a point of interest to catch the viewers eye, a good example being a figure in the distance. The best weather is often not what people imagine. Bright sunshine can hide the colours of leaves and foliage, which is brought out by duller light conditions.

Even fog and snow can produce interesting pictures.

Lighting your subject from behind is more difficult though grasses in flower can be shown off using this technique.

Richard encouraged the members to use their camera to follow their garden through the seasons to create

Richard Ford and WHS Chairman Ruth Ingham their own personal picture record, which can include wildlife as well as flowers and trees. His advice when choosing a camera was to buy the best you can afford.

The next meeting is on April 14: Bugs − Cohabit, Conserve or Control? a talk by Dr Ian Bedford, Head Entomologist at John Innes Centre Competition: Vase of three flowering trees/shrubs

SUFFOLK WILDLIFE TRUST / WOODBRIDGE WILDLIFE GROUP Operation Turtle Dove The turtle dove takes centre stage at Woodbridge Community Hall on Thursday, April 21 at 7.30pm when Samantha Lee from the RSPB presents an illustrated talk entitled Operation Turtle Dove.

The talk is organised by Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Woodbridge Wildlife Group, and chairman Phil Smith said: “This dainty dove is the UK’s fastest declining bird, whose migratory route takes it from wintering grounds in West Africa to breeding grounds in the south east of England. It is going to be fascinating to find out more about this project, which has been set up to reverse the decline of this farmland bird.”

Admission to the talk is £2.50 for adults, with children under 16 free. Light refreshments will be served during the evening and there will be a draw.

For further information contact: 01473 625630 / swtwoodbridge@outlook.com

EVENTS AT FOXBURROW FARM Wednesday, April 6, 2-4pm: Family activity Feathered friends: Easter chicks, hunting hawks and farm birds. £2.50 per person Thursday, April 7, 2-4pm: Family activity: Spring discovery: Explore for meadow minibeasts and search for signs of spring. £2.50 per person Friday, April 8, 10am-2pm: Children’s activity Homes and bones: Wild tracking and shelter building. Age: 6-10 year olds / £6 Foxburrow Farm, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, Saddlemakers Lane, Melton, nr Woodbridge IP12 1NA. Please book activities at: 01473 890089 / www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org

DIABETES UK IPSWICH SUPPORT GROUP The next open meeting is on Thursday, April 14 at St Augustine’s Church Hall, Bucklesham Road, Ipswich IP3 8TH. Instead of having a speaker, we going to have a quiz night on knowing your diabetes. This is nothing special, just some fun, but there will be some interesting answers.

This is a free event and there is no charge.

The groups is a social gathering of people who have Type1 or Type2 diabetes, but anyone interested in diabetes can attend.

Refreshments will be available free of charge and there will be a draw to raise funds for the group.

For further information please contact our vicechairman Peter: 07799 607951

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OUT & ABOUT / SCHOOLS BEALINGS ANNUAL PLANT SALE Saturday, April 23, 10am-noon – Bealings Village Hall, IP13 6LJ With an entry fee of just £1, there will be the usual vast array of plants including perennials, shrubs and vegetable plants to delight gardeners and stalls with produce, cakes and fruit to delight everyone. In aid of Great and Little Bealings Churches, the sale has become a major event in the annual Bealings calendar. There will be a raffle with great prizes and refreshments will be served all morning.

FARLINGAYE STUDENT’S SUCCESS Verity Poulston, a Year 13 student at Farlingaye High School, has been offered a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Verity started learning the violin at the age of four, took up the French horn at eight, singing lessons at 11, and piano and saxophone at the age of 12. In November 2015, she gained Distinction in her Grade 8 violin, French horn and singing exams, and Grade 5 in piano. She is currently working towards her Grade 8 jazz saxophone.

A very special offer has come in and will be raffled separately – a flight experience in a small light aeroplane, a Piper PA28 Warrior, which will be piloted by a qualified pilot.

The flight will last about an hour and transport to the airport is included. This would make a wonderful present for someone special – or for yourself!

We look forward to seeing all our regular supporters as well as welcoming new ones.

The children’s playground at the back of the hall is ideal for the children to let off steam and you will find good parking facilities Further information from: 01473 735565

WICKHAM MARKET FLOWER CLUB February is traditionally our hands-on meeting so we were pleased to see so many members keen to try their hand at making a small floral parcel.

There will be a change to our meeting date for June because of the EU Referendum. We will now be meeting on Thursday, June 30 in the village hall. All other details remain the same.

The quiz night is now booked for Friday, May 20 at Wickham Market Village Hall. Tickets are £8, and include fish and chips. Bring your own nibbles and drink. To book tickets contact June: 01394 384803 OPEN MEETING, THURSDAY, APRIL 28 Tickets are now available for our 50th celebration open meeting on Thursday, April 28. This is at Wickham Market Primary School with doors opening at 6.30pm. Tickets available from Geraldine Thompson on 01728 746697. These are priced at £12 for non-members and include a ‘show plate’ of food and a demonstration by Nigel Whyles entitled Magic of the Musicals. There will be a raffle and other stalls for you to enjoy also.

Book early to avoid disappointment as numbers are limited.

Mandy Pryke

DEBEN FLOWER CLUB QUIZ NIGHT Deben Flower Club is holding a quiz night on Saturday, April 23 in Kirton Church Hall, Church Lane, Kirton IP10 0PU, 7 for 7.30pm. Once again this will be a light-hearted fun evening and will include a ploughman’s supper.

Why not join in the fun and bring along a team of six/ If you don’t have six people for your team you may be able to share a table with other club members.

Tickets need to be purchased in advance and are £6.50 each including supper. Please bring your own drinks and glasses.

For further information and tickets contact: 01394 411422 / wa@sandlings.co.uk

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Verity Poulston as Sally Bowles In December, she auditioned for Music College in London, and was offered a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study Jazz Vocals. This is one of the most prestigious places to pursue her musical talents.

Verity has had a lot of performing opportunities in her time at Farlingaye: singing with the big band, senior choir and chamber choir; playing first violin in the school orchestra and first horn in concert band. She has been in many of the school productions, including being cast in the lead of Sally Bowles in this year’s school production of Cabaret.

Verity says: “Music has always been a prominent part of my life. The school’s music department has been incredibly supportive and has helped and encouraged me throughout my time at Farlingaye.”

Bright Stars is open to all babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers to come along to with their parents, grandparents and/or carers. Each session is full of fun children’s activities, for example singing and Bible stories for children, plus crafts and games.

We meet 10.30am on the second and fourth Mondays of each month during term time at St Michael’s Church Centre, Martlesham Heath IP5 3PL. The half hour sessions are free and are followed by refreshments and a chance to chat and play until approximately noon. Why not come and visit us? You are welcome to just turn up on the day at any of the sessions, but if you would like further information please give us a call.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Our session dates for the summer term are: April 11 and 25, May 9 and 23, June 13 and 27 and July 11.

For further information please contact: Jennie Fidler, 07584 420729 Sonya & Maureen Burrows, 01473 625196 Sue Lambert, 01473 624130

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SPORTS IPSWICH RAVENS VOLLEYBALL After a slightly disappointing result in February’s sixa-side Indoor Series tournament, in March we were delighted to put in our best performance to date finishing overall third with three good wins out of four games. Being below only Norwich Towers and Diss, this meant we were the highest placed of all the Suffolk clubs – not bad for a club which started only two years ago! Our players are really gelling together well now and benefiting from some excellent support work behind the scenes by our coaches, who work with all players from the most experienced down to complete beginners.

Later in Division 2 our second team put in another sound performance with two comfortable wins and two close defeats in the round robin.

Division 2 continues to provide an ideal level of competition for our improving beginners where they can gain their first taste of tournament play, while being supported by players with more experience.

And last but by no means least, we’re proud to say we have now started a Ravens ladies team. We have just played our first match which was a resounding 4-1 sets victory against SCC Seagulls. All but one of our ladies have joined the club within the last 12 months so it’s a great start and we’re hoping for much more to come.

Why not give volleyball a try yourself? It’s a lively team sport, it will help with your fitness and coordination, and it’s a lot more fun than going to the gym! Ipswich Ravens hold club practice sessions every Saturday from 2-4pm at St Alban’s School, Rushmere. We are actively seeking new members and will welcome anyone, male or female, experienced or complete beginner and any age from 11 upwards. Qualified coaches run the sessions with a mixture of training drills and friendly games.

If you are interested in joining this growing sport, visit: www.ipswichravens.org.uk or call/text 07508 351875.

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SPORTS MELTON BOWLS CLUB Melton Bowls Club will be opening the 2016 season on Sunday April 17, at 1.30pm. The first bowl to officially open the club’s bowls green for the new season will be delivered by the club president Gavin Abbott. This will be followed by a drive for club members, weather and green condition permitting. Anyone interested in joining the club is welcome to come along on the day.

The club has a full programme of events arranged for the season, having entered five mixed leagues, one men’s league, several county and national cup competitions as well as having club competitions, friendly games and social events.

Entries are now full for the club’s four invitation

DEBEN YACHT CLUB

Sailing the Deben by Robert Simper Local author Robert Simper treated the club to a very entertaining talk on The Day the Deben was the Star for Channel Four Television.

Robert gave us a behind the scenes glimpse of what was involved in making an episode of Time Crashers TV series on the River Deben.

The programme revolved around the recreation of a Victorian fishing village.

The Deben was the chosen location because it is still so unspoilt. After eight months of detailed research and planning, the filming took place in one day when there were 10 camera crews, four boats under sail and 140 people in Ramsholt.

The club supports local charities. This year these are East Coast 50 and the Woolverstone Project. We also host fundraising events for other charities, the first of which will be the RNLI Fish and Chip Quiz on Saturday, April 23 at 7.30pm.

Tickets cost £8.50 and include supper. This is a popular event so contact Tony Wilman on 01394 386867 to book your team’s place, please don’t just turn up on the night.

Club racing started at Easter and training courses for beginners and improvers dinghy sailing are in full swing.

There are exciting plans for later in the season including a Pirates of the Deben pursuit race to capture Captain Jack, and a Sole Star Run − a challenge to transport a mini-keg of beer from Southwold to the club.

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Players enjoy a game at Melton Bowls Club tournaments to be held on Sunday, May 22 (Colin Carter), July 31 (Woodbridge Cake Shop), August 28 (Happy Haddock) and September 18 (Greenkeeper).

BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR Winter news from Woodbridge Bowls Club

The last time I wrote, in the autumn, I talked about putting the green to bed.

Well, just as the body uses sleep periods for minor repairs, so the green is Picture: Sarah repaired and cosseted by Bynom Malcolm Ord and his band of volunteers during the winter months. The clubhouse too gathers no cobwebs as there is a social programme for members including our famous Christmas quiz, whist and beetle drives and regular committee meetings. In addition East of England Co-operative Society have included Woodbridge |Bowls Club in their Community Chest scheme, for the months of February, March and April, so if you are shopping at the Co-op please put your green tokens in our box.

The opening drive this year will take place on

There will be an open day on Saturday, April 30 at the clubhouse in Dock Lane from 10am to noon. Coffee and tea will be available, together with tombola, cake stall, and raffle.

Everybody is welcome to come and try their hand on the club green free of charge (equipment and coaching will be provided).

All abilities catered for and beginners are very welcome.

Further free coaching sessions will be available for anyone interested in playing bowls each evening the following week.

For more information or anybody interested in joining the club, see the Melton Bowls Club Facebook page or contact Ray Andrews on 01394 450725.

April 17 and the opening league matches are on April 25. On May 7 we have the club open day when all are welcome to visit, have a cup of tea or coffee and try your hand with some bowls. There will be a qualified coach on hand to assist newcomers to the game. Before that, on May 5, we inaugurate our club night when members get together for some social bowls, giving them the chance to practise and improve without the pressure of a league game. We hope to set aside the first open night of each month as a time when interested members of the public can come along and find out about the club and the game of bowls. Again we hope to have our qualified coach on standby, ready to assist.

One more highlight. We are going to Windsor on August 13 where we will play a friendly against the Royal Household Bowls Club.

If you require any further information about the club please visit our website: www. woodbridgebowlsclub.co.uk Alternatively you can email me, Anthony Bynom, at malfrazy@yahoo.com

WOODBRIDGE CRUISING CLUB Woodbridge Cruising Club heard from Haidee Stephens of the conservation and management work being undertaken around the river estuaries of Suffolk. The talk was widely illustrated with a revealing selection of photographs and the interest of members were heightened by the numerous questions.

Later in the month, member David Dodds spoke of his experiences aboard the 72ft sailing ship Arethusa. Built on the Deben in the 1980s she has undergone various refits and name changes and is now berthed on the Orwell. Her purpose has been to give underprivileged children an opportunity to discover their talents and abilities and David’s involvement has extended from cabin boy to first mate.

The club’s cruising programme for the coming season was unveiled at the March 5 meeting.

It’s difficult to find a new slant on cruises

to venues well trodden over the years but it was clear that cruise leaders have used their ingenuity and imagination and come up with some interesting ideas and much of the organisation is well advanced. It seems that in many cases the only aspect left to arrange was the weather and one of the leaders was confident he could do that.

By the time these notes are published the annual fitting out supper will have taken place and boat owners will be crawling under their boats to rub down the hull and apply anti-foul.

They say pain is transitory and soon forgotten and this can be the only explanation as to why we put ourselves through this ritual year after year.

Details of club activities together with membership information can be found at: www.woodbridgecruisingclub.org

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ON THE GRAPEVINE

LOCAL SERVICES

EXCITING NEWS FOR PETS IN EAST ANGLIA A brand new service became available to pets in our region when a state-of-the-art CT scanner with an IRIS Imaging System was installed at Ipswich Veterinary Centre. One of the best tools in diagnostic imaging, a CT scan is non-invasive and once the patient is anaesthetised it only takes a few minutes to perform a scan, considerably reducing the amount CT Scan: Buddy, the of time the pet needs to be kept three-year-old golden Labrador under a general anaesthetic.

A number of pets have already benefited from this fantastic new service at Ipswich Veterinary Centre, including Buddy, a three-year-old golden Labrador who had been suffering with intermittent lameness in his front leg for quite some time. On the advice of their veterinary surgeon, Buddy’s owners booked him in for a CT scan at Ipswich Veterinary Centre.

The scan immediately revealed a small fragment of bone loose within his elbow joint, which had been causing considerable pain and discomfort.

This would have occurred as a result of a developmental growth defect or weakness in the head of the ulna known as fragmented coronoid process, which is a feature of a condition called elbow dysplasia.

Once this diagnosis had been established, Buddy had surgery to remove the fragment of bone. Using the reconstructed 3D image of Buddy’s elbow, veterinary surgeon Tom Webster was able to see exactly where the fragment was within the joint, allowing this complicated surgery to be planned to give the best possible outcome.

The CT imaging service at Ipswich Veterinary Centre is available for all pets in the area through the Stowe Veterinary Group of practices or by referral from other veterinary practices. For further information or to arrange a consultation, pet owners should contact Stephanie Williams: imaging@ipswichvetcentre.co.uk / 01473 555000

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