Denton a village in South Norfolk, England

Denton Village News Archive for 2012

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Bazaar Result

The Christmas Bazaar at the Village hall on Saturday raised a total of £637.33 for the Church in Denton. The organisers would like to thank all those who helped and supported the event in various ways.

Christmas Starts Here!

The Bar in the Village Hall will be open on Christmas Eve. Father Chistmas and his glamourous Elf have promised to take a break from their other duties so seasonal hot snacks will be served.

Borderhoppa is Back

They seem to have been keeping it quiet but the Borderhoppa dial-a-ride minibus service is now covering Denton again.

The service can be used by anybody, not just the elderly, but users have to become members and advance booking is required. Further information is provided on our Transport Page.

Open to All

The Gardening Club have announced that their meeting this week, on Tuesday evening, is open to non-members.

The subject is making Christmas decorations from natural materials — all welcome.

Denton Zoo?

Did you know there was a zoo in the village in 1860?

Well, perhaps not. But the list of Church Baptisms, now accessible from our History Section, includes the information that the occupation of the father of Elizabeth Emma Holland, baptised at St Mary’s 5th August 1860, was “Zoo Keeper”!

Notice of Poll

The Parish Clark has requested that the official Notice of Poll for the PCC election be displayed on the website. As usual, Denton’s Polling Station is at the Village Hall.

No Bugs at the Hall

A simple theme based on bedtime stories produced an excellent evening’s entertainment for those attending the Rising Stars show “Mind The Bugs Don’t Bite” on Friday and Saturday night.

The current shortage of children of the right age in the village has made it difficult to stage a Stars show in recent years. This year’s solution, providing the limited number available with adult support, worked very well, but it was the younger members of the cast who stole the show.

Eva Lamb, Toby Last, Grainne Oakes, and Alex Eley all did very well and were ably shepherded by the experienced Lydia Sida-Page. They were bravely supported by Denise Grant and Chris Whipps (actors are usually advised to avoid appearing with children or animals). The latter, obviously really enjoying his second childhood, stepped into the breach (or was it the bed?) at the last moment.

More adults provided singing support, with the audience joining in heartily, and the show rolled forward. As usual, great credit must go to writer and director Gill Hipwell but everybody involved in the production deserves thanks for a job well done.

One bonus, the number of toddlers enjoying themselves in the audience should mean there will be more children to take part in future years.

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“Do have one of my (poisoned) sweeties” says the Wicked Witch (Photo: Lisa North).

Problems in the Wood

As many people feared, the dreaded ash tree dieback disease, caused by the fungus Chalara Fraxinea, has reached Rogerson’s Wood.

Visits by the Woodland Trust, who manage the wood on behalf of the village, have confirmed the presence of the disease. The two people who liaise with the Trust, Anne Carden and Peter Hill, have issued the following statement:

“The infection is widespread throughout the wood. Since the infection is spread by air borne spores in the period June to September we are advised by the Woodland Trust that bio-security measures are of very limited value.”

“Plant health notices may appear in the next few days, but The Woodland Trust say the public are welcome to continue walking around the wood as usual. However, those likely to visit other woods, particularly in other parts of the country, should ensure their boots and the feet of animals are clean and free of any leaves which might harbour spores.”

Not So Pressing Business

Another village activity affected by this year’s weather has been the Cyder Club.

The conditions have severely affected many fruit trees and the apple crop has been the poorest for many years. As a result, the Club’s foraging and pressing activities took much less time than expected.

There was no need for a Friday evening pressing session and on Saturday it was all over by lunchtime. At least this meant that the excellent lunch, brilliantly hosted as usual by the Hipwells, was a very relaxed affair.

Production of juice was limited to 135 gallons, down by 75% on normal years. It is hoped that reserves will cover the Club members’s needs in the coming year.

Compost Changes

This summer’s unusual weather has affected the village’s Composting Scheme. As a result the arrangements for the last collections of the season have changed.

The collection planned for Sunday, October 28th, has been cancelled. There will be two more collections of the 4th and 18th November.

A Seedy Business

The Gardening Club held their first meeting of the new season on Tuesday and heard all about Saving Seeds from an excellent speaker — Charlotte Philcox.

Details of this year’s seed buying scheme, which entitles members to a useful discount on their purchases, were announced. Further information on the Club Page.

Mind the Bugs

Full details of this year’s Rising Stars production — “Mind the Bugs Don’t Bite” with performances on November 9th and 10th — are now on the DVC Page.

Parking News

We have been asked to circulate the following information about changes to parking charges in Bungay.

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1 hour free parking at all Bungay car parks from 1st October 2012, 2nd hour now only £1

Well Cooked

Thursday’s “cook-in” at the Village Hall organised by Hazel Brookes was a great success.

The “Ready Steady Cook” fundraising event, with help from Julie of the Pampered Chef, was well attended and much enjoyed by all. A total of £464.60 was raised in aid of the Anna Lewis Brighter Future Fund at the Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Weight Training at the Village Hall?

One of the outstanding exhibits at Saturday’s GC Show was the giant marrow entered by Brian Walker.

We understand that it is now on its way, via a certain well-known teacher, to be used in the gym of a local primary school, or was it botany lessons?

Our thanks to Bev Standing for recording the transfer.

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The giant marrow and its new owner

Denton (Village Hall) in Bloom

A highlight of this year’s Gardening Club Annual Show, held on 1st September, was the magnificent floral displays particularly in the flower arranging classes.

Given the “challenges” provided by the weather, the fruit and vegetable entries were also very impressive and, as usual, the domestic classes were very well supported.

Class winners were:

  • Overall Show Trophy – Ruth Cooke
  • Flower Classes (Grant Trophy) – Bridget Hill
  • Vegetable and Fruit Classes (Skinner Trophy) – Ruth Cooke
  • Domestic Classes (Carden Trophy) – Jean Whipps
  • Decorative Classes (Charnick Trophy) – Kath Hanner
  • Gentlemen's Class (Godsmark Trophy) – John Chapman
  • Children’s Class – James Mack

Further details appear on the Show History page.

Better Future Event

A special fundraising event is being organised in Denton to support a very worthy cause.

Hazel Brookes is running a “Ready Steady Cook” evening on Thursday 27th September to support a special project at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Further details on the Coming Events page.

Gardening for All

The Gardening Club have just released details of their coming Winter Programme.

As well as the more usual subjects like saving & storing seeds and using raised beds, topics for the Club’s monthly meetings include making floral Christmas decorations and growing herbs for health. There is something for everyone with an interest in gardening.

Full details appear on the Club Page. New members welcome.

A Family Affair

The final of this year’s Open Boules Tournament, held at the Mill Farm Bouledrome on Thursday evening, turned out to be a family affair with the Symonds defeating the Fitzgeralds A team in a closely contested match.

Twelve teams of three dragged themslves away from the Olympics to enter the competition (sponsored by Blackhand Cyder) and the standard of play was as high as ever. Play was interrupted by a heavy shower mid evening though it failed to extinguish the barbecue kindly provided by the hosts, David and Adele Godsmark. The rain did rather more damage to the scoreboard but Commisaire DG reduced the length of matches and kept the competition rolling forward. The cyder flowed and a great time was had by all.

Congratulations to the worthy winners of the Boule Remy Trophy, Jasmine, Lorraine and Jon Symonds. The winners of the Plate competition, for those eliminated at the pool stage, were “The Koreans” — Terry Hanner, Charles and Jane Christian.

News from Paris

Malcolm North has supplied this report of his recent charity cycle ride.

After 4 days and 320 miles we arrived in Paris on the afternoon of Saturday 21st July at around 3pm where we joined up with 2 other groups to form a “peleton” of around 300 cyclists who were escorted through the streets of Paris by our support vehicles and the Gendarmerie.

Our route took us around the Place de la Concorde before turning right onto the Champs Elysees and up to the Arc de Triomphe. All the pain for the last 4 days of cycling vanished as the crowds cheered and waved, then when we arrived at the Arc de Triomphe where the support vehicles blocked all 6 lanes of traffic as we continued on to the Eiffel Tower.

A truly amazing experience and capped off the next day with the first Brit in Bradley Wiggins winning the Tour De France; and of course in years to come we’ll be telling everyone that we beat Wiggins into Paris.

This whole event has managed to raise approximately £500,000 for Action Medical Research, and we have been told this money will be used for valuable research into finding out how to prevent some of the 3500 still births that happen every year in the UK.

I have been humbled by your generosity this far but it’s not too late to contribute if you have not already done so. You can go to my page on the Action Website.

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Malcolm North in front of the Eiffel Tower

Not the Olympics

The Olympic Games of 2012 may be the hot sports story at the moment but another great sporting event is attracting a lot of local interest.

In spite of the incredibly bad weather, members of the Black Hand Cyder Society have been honing their boule skills in preparation for the annual Open Championships to be held on Thursday, August 2nd at the Mill Farm Bouledrome starting at 7.00 pm.

It must be emphasised that this is Open event so non-members of the Society are most welcome to join in. It is a knock-out contest for teams of three though there will be a plate competition for first-round losers. Entries must be notified to David Godsmark, 788352, by Tuesday 29/07.

As with all summer meetings of the Society, a barbecue will be available on a “bring-and-cook” basis and suitable quantities of the members’ favourite tipple will be provided. May the best team win.

On Your (His) Marks

As the article from the Eastern Evening News reports, Malcolm North is about to set off on his sponsored bike ride from London to Paris. Further details appear on our Sponsorship page.

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Eastern Evening News report

Denton's New Councillor

The Parish Council have filled the vacancy caused by the resignation of Liz Cargill.

Last night’s Council Meeting was told that only one nomination had been received to fill the vacancy; that of Kerry Norfolk who lives in Skinners’ Meadow. Members were delighted with the nomination and proceeded to co-opt Kerry by a unanimous vote.

Access Threatened

A serious threat to public access to the countryside was one of the topics discussed at last night’s meeting of the Parish Council.

The Council were told that changes to the farmland stewardship scheme, which were due to come into effect on October 1st, could lead to major changes. Many fields in Denton could be affected.

Under the current scheme many farmers are paid to leave a 6 metre wide uncultivated strip round their fields to encourage wildlife and allow public access. Under government cutbacks this will change in the autumn and some of the land involved will be returned to cultivation and/or access will be restricted. Unfortunately, without financial support, farmers will not be able to leave the land unused.

The meeting also discussed the problems on some local footpaths which are no longer cleared by the County Council and agreed to take action themselves.

More Stars Required

The challenge of organising this year’s Rising Stars performance was one of the issues discussed at the Variety Club AGM on Friday.

Last year’s production for young people had to be cancelled due to the small number of children available. It was agreed to start recruitment earlier this year and spread the net slightly wider.

The meeting heard that, in spite of the cancellation, the Club had another successful year. Gill Hipwell was thanked for her sterling work as writer and director of the adult production, Aladdin. Julie Oxley was elected to take over from Peter Grant as Chairman of the Club with her daughter Laura taking the Secretary’s role.

Olympic Spirit

Denton got into the Olympic Spirit today when a group of residents went to Wrentham on the A12 to watch the passing of the Olympic torch.

The village was packed with enthusiastic spectators celebrating their opportunity to get involved in the games, if only in a very minor way. Four “runners” were involved in carrying the torch through the village on its way from Norwich to Ipswich.

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Waiting for the torch
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Passing on the flame

Tractor Run

At least four local ladies took part in yesterday’s Charity Tractor Run.

These pictures, from Jules Greenway, show Julie Oxley and Helen Cook passing through Harleston but two others, Fleur Guyton and Lisa Mayhew were also participating. A total of 136 tractors took part.

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Julie Oxley
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Helen Cook

Successful Tea Party

The Strawberry Tea at Wayside, Trunch Hill on Sunday was a great success.

In spite of the cricket match on the playing field there was an excellent attendance who enjoyed excellent refreshments. A total of £810 was raised for Breast Cancer Care. This would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. The organisers would like to thank everyone concerned.

Your Parish Needs You!

Denton Parish Council need a willing volunteer to take the place of Liz Cargill who recently stepped down as a member of the Council.

The period during which people can request a by-election to fill the vacancy has now expired so it is up to the members of the Council to co-opt a replacement.

They will be doing this at their next meeting on July 10th. Anyone wishing to be considered for the vacancy should contact the Parish Clerk by July 6th.

Great Singing

Following their impressive first performance at the Jubilee celebrations the Denton Warblers are now reaching a wider audience.

On Satuday they appeared at the Sylehambury Music Festival at Syleham near Bury St Edmunds. Not quite as big as Glastonbury perhaps and thankfully not as muddy as the Isle of Wight, but all went well and their accomplished singing and playing received a very good reception. Dentonbury next perhaps?

A Tense Finish at the Denton Oval

From our cricket correspondent.

Nobody could claim that the overall standard of cricket was particularly high at the Denton Oval on Sunday afternoon, but there were some excellent individual performances and the numerous spectators enjoyed a nail-biting finish to the game.

Such was the interest in taking part in this special match, dedicated to the memory of the late Craig Whipps, that there were enough players to make up three teams and a round-robin format was used with each team batting once.

Team A, “Chris’ Cowboys”(?), batted first against Team B, “Ruth’s Roustabouts”(?) and after a slow start managed to achieve 71 runs in the allotted 15 overs. Richard Palmer, 16, and Robin Godsmark, 15 were the main contributors.

Next up it was Team B’s turn to bat against Team C, “Emma’s Experts”(?). They got off to a good start thanks to a rapid 24 from Simon Hipwell and Justin Smith followed him with another 24 runs. To achieve these figures, batsmen were required to retire once past 20, they both signed off with a six hit. Jonathan Hanner finished 16 not out to leave the team total on 95.

Finally, it was Team C’s chance to demonstate their batting skills against Team A’s bowling and fielding. Opening, Andy Hipwell scored a rapid 15 before two batsmen achieved the maximum; Paul Bliss scored 21 and Dave Godsmark 22. Representing the senior players, Mike Fitzgerald contributed a quick 11 runs but, pressing on, he did manage to run out two of his partners. One of these was his captain Emma Whipps who scored a useful 6 runs, but the overs were running out.

Enter another veteran, Mr Cool — Mike Goater. It was the last over and three to win! The intrepid batsman kept his nerve and blocked the first three deliveries before hitting the fourth for a four to win the match with two balls to spare.

As well as watching the very entertaining cricket, the spectators enjoyed some excellent refreshments — the cakes were just amazing — and a good time was had by all. It was a very fitting tribute to the much-missed Craig.

More Jubilee Celebrations

Following their exertions at the Ball, village residents were allowed a day off on Sunday to recover before further celebrations were completed on Monday 4th June.

Activities began with a parade of old tractors, tractor-drawn floats and other interesting vehicles. This started at the Church and proceeded up Trunch Hill and round the Candlestick before finishing and parking on the Playing Field. All vehicles were suitably decked with flags, bunting etc.

The floats included an impressive Olympic theme, a real historic boat and a Land Rover pretending to be a boat. A “Black Hand” mobile cyder house did a great job refreshing all the participants. However the winner of the prize for the best display went to the Lambert/Whipps royal trailer, complete with corgis, with a guest appearance by Her Majesty herself. Several people commented that she looks more like Doris L every year.

After a short shower, games of rounders followed but everybody was really waiting for the tea party at 5 o’clock. Enormous piles of sandwiches, cakes and other delicacies had been prepared and at the appointed hour the locusts descended. While the food was consumed those in the marquee were entertained by the first ever performance by the village’s new Barber-Shop singing group accompanied by Simon Winter and Ken Ashton. And they all sang very sweetly.

Later, the result of the parade competition was announced by the judge, the Chairman of the Parish Council and the Loyal Toast was proposed by Eddie Winter.

Even later, a barbecue was laid on for those who had not eaten enough sandwiches and cakes and a television set up in the Hall so that revellers could watch the Jubilee Concert, the lighting of the final beacon and the firework display.

More photographs of the event by Lisa North can be seen at her Website under Client Proofing and Sales with the password “Celebration”.

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The floats
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The parade
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Singing in the marquee

Having A Ball

In spite of the cold weather, eveybody attending the Jubilee Ball on Saturday night had a great time.

More than 170 people of all ages turned up in their finery and enjoyed: “interesting” red white and blue cocktails, an excellent two-course meal and a great band; Hot Stuff indeed! The bar did a roaring (and ale pouring at times) trade.

A new attraction this year was the “Olympic” table football tournament with some closely contested matches. The winners were Team GB (of course) — Karsten Kollov & Peter Foulger who beat the Korean Republic — Michael Webb and Mason English in the final.

The, unofficial, prize for the best turn-out went to the Porter Clan — see photo. Thanks to Lisa North for this photograph. More can be seen at her Website under Client Proofing and Sales with the password “Celebration”.

More thanks and congratulations to the organisers of the event.

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The Porter Clan

Rector Departing

The Rector of Denton has announced that she will standing down at the end of July.

Linda Butler, who has been Rector of Denton, plus Alburgh, Broome, Ditchingham, Earsham and Hedenham, for the last six years has announced that she will be leaving Norfolk and taking up the position of Priest-in-Charge of St Luke’s in Hartlepool, County Durham.

It seems family connections in the North have prompted the change. We wish Linda all the best for her move to “fresh waters”.

Ladies in Action

Denton ladies turned out in force to support a good cause on Sunday.

No less than eight local ladies turned up, with their bicycles, to participate in the 50 mile Charity Bike Ride from Norwich Cathedral to Blickling, and back, in aid of the British Heart Foundation.

They were well supported with lunch laid on at Blickling by Kath Hanner and Ken Ashton i/c “logistics”. The latter included taking the picture below.

From left to right — Julie Oxley, Nikki Wright, Jean Whipps, Jenny Crowhill, Liz Cargill, Sarah Hanner, Lucy Hanner, Doris Lambert.

At the same time two gentlemen, Kevin Hanner and Malcolm North, were completing a 100 mile circuit in aid of the same charity. Well done everyone.

The team, who also raised funds by laying on puddings at the latest “Last Friday” event, have already collected over £200. Further contributions to Doris or Jean please.

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Julie Oxley, Nikki Wright, Jean Whipps, Jenny Crowhill, Liz Cargill, Sarah Hanner, Lucy Hanner, Doris Lambert

Better Late Than Never

A long-awaited time capsule has finally been buried in Denton.

When the new Affordable Housing was finally completed in August last year Saffron Housing announced they would be burying a time capsule on the site to record the success of the project. Yesterday, May 21st, the burial was carried out with a suitable, if not well publicised, ceremony.

In future years some confusion may result from the wording on the plaque (which is already showing its age) placed above the burial site which claims that the capsule was buried in August 2011. However most residents will be pleased to have a second capsule to go with the one buried in the Millennium Wood 12 years ago.

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The plaque

Deserved Recognition

A Denton resident has received a prestigious award from his professional association.

As reported in Saturday’s EDP, Jules Greenway of Middle Road has been recognised by the Guild of Television Cameramen with a special Award recognising his achievements during a lifetime in the industry.

Jules started at the BBC in 1963 and over the years worked on a vast range of television programmes. He retired last year after 14 years supervising Channel 4’s horse-racing coverage. He received his award a week ago at the Guild’s 40th anniversary celebrations in Birmingham.

Congratulations Jules!

A "Special" Cricket Match

A special Cricket Match, in memory of the late Craig Whipps, is to be held on Sunday June 24th.

Participation is open to all and spectators will be able to fit in a visit to the Strawberry Tea taking place nearby at the same time!

New Man at the Helm

At last night’s Annual Meeting the Parish Council elected Peter Hill as Chairman, succeding Liz Cargill. Terry Hanner continues as Vice-Chairman.

Vacancy Announced

As reported last month, Liz Cargill has resigned from the Parish Council. The formal notice explaining how the vacancy will be filled has now been published and can be viewed in the Parish Council Section.

Road Closure

County Highways have announced that Manor Farm Road will be closed, except for access, between Misery Corner and the junction with Chapel Hill for two days, the 16th and 17th May, to allow Openreach to carry out cabling work.

The Sheriff Did It!

Local detectives failed miserably at last night’s Murder Mystery Evening at the Village Hall.

Despite intensive questioning of the seven supects, nobody correctly identified the murderer. This turned out to be the Scout Master; Terry was obviously far too nice to have committed such a dastardly crime and there were just too many red herrings placed (or should it be plaiced?) to confuse us.

It was all great fun with the actors, all DVC stars of course, playing their various roles very convincingly (but Ken as a vicar?) and laying many false trails. An excellent meal was laid on to refresh the sleuths. Congratulations to Emily Winter and her team for providing such an enjoyable evening.

Several other pictures, taken by Lisa North, can be seen on Flickr.

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One of the suspects under interrogation
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The guilty scoutmaster

Change at the Top

Tonight’s meeting of the Parish Council was told that the Chairman of the Council would be stepping down from the Annual Meeting next month.

Liz Cargill, who has led the Council for five years, informed her colleagues that, for personal reasons, she would be resigning from the Council with effect from the Meeting on May 8th. Other members thanked her and paid tribute to her outstanding work.

This means that the council will be electing a new Chairman at the AGM and that a new councillor will be needed to take Liz’s place.

New Boundary Proposed

Next Monday, March 26th, South Norfolk Council’s Cabinet will receive a report which proposes a new Development Boundary for Denton. This, effectively, includes the planning officers’ response to the six potential development sites put forward by various landowners last year.

Further details can be found in the latest update to the Planning Page of the Features section.

Summer in Sight

Rather appropriately after the previous news item, the Gardening Club are pleased to announce the details of their Summer Programme.

Compost Kick-off

The new season for Denton’s very successful Compost Scheme starts on Sunday 15th April.

This will be the Scheme’s ninth year. Anyone wishing to join for the first time should contact one of the organisers.

Volunteers have done sterling work over the past 9 years to collect and process garden waste and have raised almost £5,000 for village projects. However, time has marched on and they are getting older!! They we would therefore welcome any offers of help to keep the scheme running.

Compost for sale — with Spring on the way we have finished compost available. Further details are available from the organisers: Liz Cargill Tel: 788862 or Anne Carden Tel: 788279.

Denton TT Results

From our Table Tennis correspondent – Boris

There were three new competition winners at the Denton Table Tennis Tournament on Friday 2nd March.

The junior girls’ event was won by Lydia Sida-Page in convincing style against a visitor, Isobel. With last year’s ladies’ winner out of the country, Jo Crowhill, another visitor and Charlie’s sister, took the opportunity and overcame strong resistance from Emma Whipps to take the Open title; score 21–16. The men’s title was won by Steve Whiteman in a closely contested final against Chris Whipps; 21–19.

The organisers would like to thank all the competitors and spectators who threw themselves into the spirit of the evening for their annual feast of “whiff-whaff”.

Murder Most Foul

Look out! A dastardly deed is shortly to be committed in the village. For further information, and details of how you can play your part, go to our Coming Events page.

Show Success

There was a good turnout last week for the three performances of this year’s DVC production, Aladdin. The cast and production crew had a great time and the audiences appeared to enjoy themselves as well.

Two reviews of the performance plus details of the cast etc now appear on a This Year’s DVC Page.

A number of other pictures, taken by Lisa North, can be seen on Flickr.

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Aladdin

Anyone for Tennis?

The annual village Table Tennis Tournament will take place on Friday March 2nd.

Further details under Coming Events.

Oil Change

DABOS, the local oil bulk-buying syndicate has been reorganised.

Katrina Cattermole who has been running the scheme since its founder Julie Oxley stepped down, has now handed over to Robert Banbury from Alburgh. Further details are in the services section.

Question Time

This year’s Village Quiz, held on February 4th, was, appropriately enough, a great example of the Olympic spirit in action. Taking part was far more important than winning.

This was demonstrated by the two teams that contested last place and achieved the same score, 58 points. A tie-breaker “What is the length of the Nile?” was needed to separate them and decide who took home the coveted wooden spoons. “Norfolk and Chance” who were closest to the correct answer — 4,132 miles! — achieved this notable distinction.

Ten teams took part and enjoyed a great evening with an excellent meal at half time. The winners were “Poppy’s People” aka “The Hanners” with 83 points but it was a close run thing with 5 points covering the top three places.

Thanks must go to all those who contributed to the event but particularly to the question-mistresses, Denise and Julie, and to Kath who did a great job organising the food.

In the Picture

Saturday’s Photographic Exhibition “A Year in the Life of Denton” was a great success.

Attendance to see the results of Lisa North’s labours was excellent and the pictures were outstanding. Profits to date total £760, to be split as follows: East Anglian Air Ambulance £500, Denton Village Hall Funds £160, Denton Church £100.

Well done Lisa (and Malcolm) and everybody else who contributed (the refreshments were great too!).

Lisa has provided some pictures of the event which can be seen in the 2011 Archive.

Alternatively, all the pictures on display can be viewed on Flickr.

Good Food and Good Fundraising

The fundraising lunch organised by the Thomas family at the Village Hall on Sunday was a great success; the Hall was packed.

The food was excellent – roast beef with all the trimmings followed by an amazing choice of puddings. Some people, who will remain nameless, insisted on trying several of the latter.

In thanking everybody for attending Chris Thomas paid tribute to the many people who had contributed to the event. His mother later announced that nearly £900 had been raised for the cancer ward at the N&NU Hospital.

Good News for Middle Road

There was good news for most Middle Road residents at Tuesday’s meeting of the Parish Council.

It was announced that the long battle over the use (or misuse) of farm buildings at Grove Farm was finally over. The owner’s appeal against a refusal to allow a change of use to residential occupation has been lost.

For many years (since 1996!) the owner has rented out one of the buildings for residential use after converting it without planning permission. Following enforcement action by South Norfolk Council a planning application was sumitted in 2008. This was turned down early in 2009 and further enforcement action followed. Eventually, the owner appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.

A public enquiry was held last year and the inspector has now ruled in favour of the Council. Residential use must cease within six months.

As Middle Road residents know all too well, the planning system sometimes “grinds exceeding slow”, but it gets there in the end.

On Terra Firma

Back on the ground after their very successful Skydive in September the Thomas Family are continuing their cancer fundraising efforts with a Sunday Lunch event at the Village Hall on 22nd January.

Further details appear on the Coming Events page.

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