Posted by Stella Gooch
Back by popular demand for the fourth year running the Norfolk Brass will entertain once again at St Nicholas Church on Saturday 8th December 2012 at 7.30pm.
Tickets in Advance £7.50 (£8.50 at the door) (including refreshments) - ORDER TICKETS FROM 01485 544866, 01485 540081,01485 540865
Friends of St Nicholas Church – Registered Charity Number 1046540
Fantastic fun for children during the summer
The churches’ annual Summer Holiday Club (9.30am to 12.30pm) is on : Tuesday, 28th, Wednesday, 29th and Thursday, 30th August. This is for 5 – 11 year olds. It is at St Nicholas Church Hall/Church, Manor Road, Dersingham.
Older children (11 years and upwards) are very welcome to come as Young Helpers – please contact us and we would love to have you with us.
This year our theme is “On Your Marks”, and we will be building up a team with the children for our very own Global Games … there will be all sorts of activities, and things to make and take home.
We’ll find out too about how Jesus built up his team, and challenged them, and how we can stick with him as they did. Come and join the fun !
Ask for a booking form from your school office, or from Steve Lofts tel: 07425 145887 or Alan Crawshaw tel: 01485 543836 email: alanandjunec@tiscali.co.uk.
Booking forms to be returned by 20th August please.
Posted by Stella Gooch
Fun and games is the order of the day with Dersingham’s two childrens clubs which are held at St Nicholas’ Church Hall in Dersingham and it costs just £1 per person to cover expenses. Local youngsters, along with their friends, are welcome to attend either of the clubs and any enquiries should be made to Steve Lofts tel: 07425 145887 or Alan Crawshaw tel: 01485 543836.
Kidz Club members enjoy a parachute game
“Identity”, our newest club for local youngsters aged 10 – 14 years is now firmly established. We do an amazing variety of games, discussions, and time to be yourself – and learn about God too ! The forthcoming dates for your diary are:
Saturday, 16 June (10 am till 12 noon)
Saturday, 21 July (10 am till 12 noon)
In addition, dates for the regular Kidz Klub (aimed at 5 – 11 year olds) are fixed for:
Saturday, 9 June (10 am till 12 noon)
Saturday, 14 July (10 am till 12 noon)
The annual Summer Holiday Club (9.30am to 12.30pm) dates are also now confirmed for Tuesday, 28th, Wednesday, 29th and Thursday, 30th August. This is for 5 – 11 year olds – older children (11 years and upwards) are very welcome to come as Young Helpers – please contact us and we would love to have you with us. This year’s programme promises to be as exciting as last summer’s “Mission Rescue” which kept the children on the go over several days and taught them about God through the story of Moses.
This year our theme is “On Your Marks”, and we will be building up a team with the children for our very own Global Games … there will be all sorts of activities, and things to make and take home. We’ll find out too about how Jesus built up his team, and challenged them, and how we can stick with him as they did. Come and join the fun ! Ask for a booking form from Steve Lofts tel: 07425 145887 or Alan Crawshaw tel: 01485 543836.
We love making a mess
This is how its done kids
Easter Hot Cross Buns taking shape
My boys get in on the act
Posted by Stella Gooch
Photos by Stella Gooch
Spy mask
Three mornings of planned children’s fun and games, capably led by Brian Griffin and Steve Lofts, kept 40 local youngsters busy and laughing at Dersingham’s St Nicholas Church Hall. Monday, 1 August through to Wednesday, 3 August was filled with an active programme to keep inquisitive children occupied. The theme was based on spies and was entitled, “Mission Rescue”. The ultimate “mission” taught the children about the biblical story of Moses and Jesus over the course of the three days.
The youth workers and volunteers from Dersingham and the surrounding area – including Alan and June Crawshaw (who have each got 7 years of Holiday Clubs under their belts!) – put together an imaginitive programme to keep the children’s interest throughout the three days. Pretty much all of the children taking part were there for the full three days. Refreshments were also on offer every day.
Groups of children built a “den” out of cardboard, toilet rolls, string and other recycled items. The children enjoyed playing the ever popular parachute game and designed their own eye catching spy masks. Smaller groups were created for the children to make their own frogs from felt. This meant they were introduced to simple sewing techniques, as well as the standard gluing and craft skills. Once the frogs were done it was time to do some code cracking using a code wheel. Guided singing and dancing was also a feature with Helen from Music and Movement taking the lead and they did sound wonderful and their moves were designed to make them look like real spies too!
Agents line up
Startling news
Piecing it together
Mole is revealed
Baking cakes with secrets hidden inside was another exciting activity enjoyed by the children. I hope all the parents were on the look out for the secret sweets within! The children were assisted in making their cake mixes, hiding their “secrets” in the mix and decorating the tops. The cakes were actually baked in the oven by the adult supervisors to avoid any accidents. Fun was had by all in playing explode the bomb games using balloons but there were also quieter games such as noughts and crosses, checkers, ten pin bowling and catch the mouse. There was even time to play active games in the glorious sunshine in the grounds of the Church Hall.
Secret cakes ready to take home!
Relay racing outside Church Hall
The little ones play an active game
Relay races outside St Nicholas Church Hall
Each morning concluded with sections of a three part play/sketch called “Who is the Mole?”. The youth workers and volunteers played the roles of Agents, M, O, S, E & Z, with each of them displaying very different characters. Agent M was the lazy boss who thought he was so very clever but wasn’t; Agent O was a very strict operator who played fully by the rule book and kept things in order; Agent S was a gadget genius who designed all the technical equipment needed to complete their missions and Agent E was the not so popular clown who kept getting it wrong and was only trusted to make the tea. Finally Agent Z was a very kind and generous person who everyone loved. Unfortunately it was soon apparent that Agent Z was indeed the mole! I managed to watch the first two parts of this play and it was highly amusing indeed.
The hard work put in by all those involved was very worthwhile as the children obviously enjoyed themselves immensely and the parents had a welcome break too and all at a very low cost.
Mission rescue song and dance
Sewing the frog's body
Making the frog's body
Here is my frog
Posted by Stella Gooch
Photos by Stella Gooch
Mayor addresses lunch guests
The July Dersingham Community Lunch, held at Dersingham Social Club, got off to an unusually early start this time due to the nature of its programme. At the entrance to the lunch, I found Tony Bubb, Steve Davis and volunteers from Prior’s the butchers in attendance at a well set up BBQ. They were hard at work tending our lunch as they greeted the arriving lunch guests from 11.30am. Guests were invited to choose a named table to sit at with each table representing a local charity. Those joining each table made up a quiz team ready to compete to raise funds for the named charity.
Bob Tipling, President and founder of Dersingham’s Community Lunch welcomed everyone to the July event and introduced Mayor Colin Sampson (and his wife Sue) of Kings Lynn. Mayor Sampson talked eloquently about his staunch support for the work of Tapping House Hospice and what a fantastic job they do in supporting terminally ill patients and their families through a very difficult time.
There was a real buzz around the room as we all put our heads together (and scratched very hard!!!) to puzzle over the searching questions about Dersingham over the years. It was soon revealed that the quiz questions were compiled by Dick Melton and Dersingham Parish Council.
Dersingham Children's Club team
I was not surprised that Dick Melton had inspired many of the questions and I had no clue at all but I did my best to help my team, although I fear they may have been better off without me. My fellow team members (including staff from Swains and Hayes & Storr Solicitors) seemed to feel much the same as myself. We all appeared to be aged around 40, give or take, and we all feared we were not old enough to recall most of the necessary facts which would win the day. Our fears were justified when we were announced as being in last place with just 51/2 points out of 20. Personally, I was amazed we achieved that many points as the quiz was amazingly difficult as you will see by the questions (and answers) below …
Q1. In the 1800s what bird would you have seen on Dersingham Heath?
A1. Great Busted
Q2. How many councillors are allowed to make up Dersingham Parish Council?
Q2. 18
Q3. Where is the chalk pit and car stone pit in Dersingham?
A3. Shernbourne Road
Q4. What day and time in the month does Dersingham hold their full council meeting?
A4. Last Monday in each month at 7pm at the Dersingham Infants and Nursery School in Saxon Way
Q5. What was washed up on Dersingham beach in 1972?
A5. Whale
Q6. Where is the old shop that for many years was called Parker’s Stores?
A6. Manor Road – the bottom of Sandringham Hill
Q7. Who is the Norfolk County Councillor for Dersingham?
A7. John Dobson
Q8. There were two blacksmith shops in Dersingham – which roads were they in?
A8. Manor road and Post Office Road
Q9. How long is the time allowed for public questions at the start of full council meetings?
A9. 15 minutes
Q10. Where is there a sandpit in the village?
A10. Near the George Pratt Roundabout
Q11. Where was there once a 1,000 yard rifle range in the village?
A11. On the fen
Q12. How many windmills were there in Dersingham in 1910?
A12. Three
Q13. What can be found in Mountbattent Road, left over from the Second World War?
A13. Bill Box
Q14. How many public houses/hotels were there in Dersingham before 1920?
A14. Six
Q15. How many borough councillors represent Dersingham?
A15. Two
Q16. In what year was the Dersingham bypass opened?
A16. 1990
Q17. How many chapels did there used to be in the village?
A17. Three
Q18. Where was the Dersingham village rubbish dump before 1948?
A18. On the Shut-up Common, Heath Road
Q19. In 1960 how many garages in Dersingham sold petrol?
A19. Four
Q20. Where was there an auction centre in Dersingham?
A20. The Old Hall
Heacham Community Transport team
The charity teams included: Heacham Community Transport, Dersingham Army Cadets, Dersingham Brownies, Dersingham Scout Group, Friends of St Nicholas Church, Army Benevolent Fund Soldiers Charity, Dersingham Day Centre, the Royal British Legion and Puddle Ducks Play Group. However, there could only be one winner and the winning result of an outstanding 14 out of 20 correct answers (I defy anyone to get 100%) was achieved by Puddle Ducks who were awarded the £105 raised from the raffle draw (which seemed to go on forever as there were numerous prize donations from the generous guests).
The July lunch was sponsored by Dersingham Parish Council and they were extremely generous with the food with an ample BBQ of chicken, burgers (of different varieties), copious salad and sumptuous strawberries and cream toppings on meringue or shortcake biscuit bases (just check out the photograph!). Prior the Butchers helped by pre-cooking the meat to ensure that everything was cooked through.
Appreciation was expressed towards Priors the Butchers, the volunteer cooks and lunch guests for attending. Dersingham Social Club was also warmly thanked for allowing us use of their facilities which included a large and comfortable main bar area.
Bob Tipling announced that Dersingham Data was currently under revision and requested that all organisations present check their entries for accuracy and advise any changes before 25 August 2011. Bob also announced the the September Dersingham Community Lunch would be sponsored by Budgens Supermarket with exact date and venue details to be advised at a later date.
A work of art in strawberries
For anyone interested in knowing more about Dersingham Social Club their facilities include:
large main bar
smaller lounge bar
beer garden with children’s playground
2 x pool tables
mens/ladies darts
crib
dominoes
snooker (a full size snooker table in a dedicated snooker room available to hire for just £2 per hour)
regular free live entertainment and music for members
family fun days and BBQs
big screen TV for televised events
MEMBERSHIP RATES: Adult single £10 – couple £15 – over 60s £5 – Junior (16-18) £5
Enquiries: 01485 543380 or 07756633043
Friends of St Nicholas supporters
Tony Bubb & co get stuck in to creating a great BBQ
Posted by Stella Gooch
Monday, 1 August - 9.30 – 12 noon
Tuesday, 2 August - 9.30am – 12 noon
Wednesday, 3 August - 9.30am – 12 noon
Mission Rescue – Booking Form
Dersingham St Nicholas Children’s Holiday Club has some great activities planned for this summer, keeping our kids busy all morning on 1, 2 & 3 August.
Helpers from Heacham and Snettisham, in conjunction with Dersingham St Nicholas Children’s Holiday Club have created an exciting theme entitled “Mission Rescue” to amuse the children. The theme embraces everything to do with spies so that has got to capture young imaginations. I know it will excite my 8 and 10 year old boys. Naturally, as the organisers are working through St Nicholas’ Church, there will be a religious element in the fun and games.
The Holiday Club has been running some 7 years and can cater for up to 40 children at a time.
For just £1 per morning the activities lined up include:
- games
- exercises
- crafts
- DVD & stories
- singing
- refreshments
Booking forms should be completed and sent with full payment - by 27 July 2011 – to:
Alan & June Crawshaw
47 Old Hall Drive, Dersingham, PE31 6JT
Email: alanandjunec@tiscali.co.uk
Tel: 01485 543836
PLEASE NOTE: CHEQUES SHOULD BE MADE PAYABLE TO “DERSINGHAM PCC”
Posted by Stella Gooch
Photo by Dersingham Kidz Club
Children play the parachute game at Dersingham Kidz Club
Shrove Tuesday in Dersingham was celebrated in style with a Pancake Day Party for the local children. There were egg and spoon races, pancake tossing, a parachute game and colouring activities to keep the youngsters busy for the evening.
The event was very much a family event designed for everyone to get to know each other as a community and to encourage involvement in other church events. There was a great atmosphere amongst the children and parents who attended and everyone visibly enjoyed the tasty pancakes and the children loved the games too.
The event organisers were Rev Michael Brock, Diane Hall and Alan Crawshaw, ably assisted by June, Ron, Olive and Ann. Diane was the celebrated Pancake Chef (a title richly deserved) and the yummy pancakes were topped with a variety of toppings including caramel, lemon, sugar, Golden Syrup, cheese and home made tomato sauce.
Alan Crawshaw is also very active in the regular Kidz Club and said that Kidz Club always welcomed new children aged 5 years – 11 years on the
second Saturday of the month 10am – 12 noon in the St Nicholas Church Hall, Manor Road, Dersingham. The club offered fun, games, prizes, drama, crafts, singing and more – and all for only £1.00 per family!
NB: Another event taking place in St Nicholas Church Hall are Lent Lunches which are available from 11 March every Friday (12 – 1.15pm) throughout Lent. Lunch cost £3.50 and puddings £1.00.
Posted by Rosie Kitchen
Friday 21st January 2011 was the first Dersingham Community Lunch of 2011. This lunch was sponsored by A A Massen Ltd, and was as well-attended as these popular events are, with over 80 people attending.
After a welcome by Simon Massen, Managing Director of the sponsors, there was a short presentation by Alison Thorne of Dersingham Library. Though suffering with (almost!) loss of voice, she managed to get her message across clearly about the library: ‘use it or lose it’! And all were encouraged to join and make used of this valuable village asset.
The editor of Dersingham’s Village Voice – and organiser of the popular Village Voice Live events – made a plea for more local groups to send their reports to the Village Voice, and for all to come along to the ‘Live’ monthly events.
Richard Shaw, Chief Executive of Norfolk Hospice Tapping House in Snettisham then explained the work of the hospice, and how it was enhancing so many people’s lives in such a vital way. He explained that the Hospice relied on donations to carry out its work and appealed to all to give what they could to help.
We all enjoyed a delicious lunch, efficiently provided by the skilled St Nicholas Church Catering Team, and the raffle raised well over £100 which this month was shared between the St Nicholas Church Hall Committee (with thanks for the free use of the hall for the lunches), and the Church Heating Fund.
Posted by Stella Gooch
Photos by Stella Gooch
Royal British Legion entry
The 6th Christmas Tree Festival at St Nicholas’ Church in Dersingham looked like it was organised by a team who knew what they were doing. A lot of dedication and detail went into some of the trees and I had to go round several times to try and take them in.
The Festival began on Friday, 3 December with a coffee morning. There were the traditional selection of stalls, including home made cakes, almost new clothing, handcrafted cards and second hand books and a range of refreshements.
Prayer Tree
Saturday, 4 December saw the theme expanded into a Christmas Fayre to also include gift stalls, children’s novelties, tombal and raffle etc. The highlight was of course for the children to visit Father Christmas in the church during the course of the day.
Sunday, 5 December was more low key with tea, coffee and mince pies available at the back of the church for those wishing to browse among the magical display. Normal Sunday services took place too.
The 22 Christmas trees on display had been decorated by various Dersingham groups and there were decorations at the entrance, in the windows, at the font, in the choir stalls and even the pew ends. There were a number of Christmas tree contributions from some handicraft groups such as The Flying Geese Patchwork and Quilting Group and Lavender Lacemakers. The patchwork ”baubles” were lovely as were the lace “baubles” but my favourite has to be the entry by the St Nicholas Knit & Natter Group which followed the 12 days of Christmas theme. Each “bauble” had been handknitted by the group to an amazing effect. This Festival was the fourth contributed to by the Knit & Natter Group and I am sorry I missed the others now. I am also sorry that my photos don’t really do the scene justice but hope you like the few I post here.
View from back of the church
12 Days of Christmas by Knit & Natter
Dersingham businesses also got on board too: Flowers by Yvonne were also part of the event and decorated one of the trees. Yvonne and her team help St Nicholas throughout the year and lent great support during the summer Flower Festival which was stunning. Thaxters arranged the supply of the Christmas trees and the Sandringham Estate made a gift of the church tree too.
Tree decorated in musical notes
Front (left) of church
The children’s groups were also busy with the Beavers, Scouts, Guides making many of the decorations themselves. There were also entries from the Dersingham schools, churches and ladies and gentlemen’s groups. The atmosphere in the church was really lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing with a good cup of tea and a slice of cake whilst soaking it all up. Thank you to all who helped make it happen. A really great way to launch into the festive season.
Choir stalls
Nativity scene at rear of the church
Flag flies
The headlines of the brochure advertisement read:
Tuesday, 27 July at 7.30pm
In the presence of their Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall
ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
PAUL WATKINS Conductor
ALEXANDER ROMANOVSKY Piano
Wednesday, 28 July at 11am
ALEXANDER ROMANOVSKY Piano
Wednesday, 28 July at 7.30pm
YSAYE QUARTET
Programme Sellers at the church door
Details in the brochure revealed that Music in Country Churches celebrates its 22nd year in 2010 and the charity was set up in 1989 with active support from HRH The Prince of Wales (who is the charity’s patron). The aims of the charity are:
1. to arrange weekends of music in rural churches of exceptional beauty and interest; and
2. to raise funds to assist those churches with their maintenance costs.
I had personally never heard of Music in Country Churches but I thought I had to buy tickets and treat my husband for his birthday as it was just the thing he would especially enjoy. I succeeded in getting two tickets to the first concert on 27 July.
These specific concerts were arranged for the financial benefit of The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Anmer and were being held at St Nicholas Church in Dersingham. This often occurs with Music in Country Churches to enable larger attendance numbers when the Church receiving the funding was too small. St Mary the Virgin is located in the west of the village of Anmer and overlooks many acres of farmland where it has sat through 700 years. In 1374 the Chantry Chapel was added to the main building of St Mary’s by Sir Oliver Calthorp who appointed one of the Canons from the Priory at Flitcham to officiate. Memorials in the church show that between 1566-1792 three Rectors served for a period of 153 years: Richard Parry (a Welshman), William Houghton and Charles Buckle. It also shows that Robert Hailes was a Patent Customers and Formerly Collector of His Majesty’s Customs in the Port of Kings Lynn. The Coldham family came to the Manor in 1678 and they retained it through many generations. In 1885 the Church of St Mary the Virgin and the Chantry Chapel were restored by Henry James Coldham and his wife, Agatha Geraldine. In 1889 the Tower was restored in memory of Henry James Coldham by his friends. The church tower houses two bells which rang out through many centuries but are now silent. Hopefully they will one day ring out again.
At the end of the 19th century, Anmer was incorporated into the Sandringham Estate which belonged to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The King and Queen restored the Baluster Font in the Chapel at the west end after it was discovered by the Rector in an outhouse in 1921. Queen Mary gifted the church a beautifully embroidered Florentine altar frontal and two Jacobean embroidered chairs. Three religious paintings by Sir Noel Paton were presented by King George V and Queen Mary and these are now on show in Sandringham Museum. In 1949 an Altar Service Book was presented to the church by younger children of the Coldham family: Agatha Maria, John Hamilton, Lucy Maud and Alice Rachel. This continues to be used for the service of Holy Communion today. Over the years the Church fell into disrepair resulting in the Norfolk Churches Trust becoming involved with its restoration in 1999.
PC Martin Didwell and Police Dog "Max"
In my capacity as “press” I arranged to be on the spot early on and talked to some of the behind the scenes people who helped make the visit of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to the concert a smooth one. PC Martin Didwell and Police Dog “Max” smiled for the camera whilst their colleague PC Adrian Vincent looked on. The two PCs said that the police team had been drawn from various parts of Norfolk for the event and they were responsible for ensuring Max did a thorough search of the church and grounds as part of security measures. Max was a 3 year old Springer Spaniel and he had been working with the Police for 2 years.
Philip Neal and Louise Hawkins from St John Ambulance
Whilst concert goers drifted into their seats, I also got to talk to Philip Neal and Louise Hawkins from St John Ambulance who were on standby at the event. Louise said she had served an amazing 36 years for St John Ambulance. Whilst Philip, the Member in Charge at the Hunstanton branch, had completed 19 years service. Since Philip barely looked 20 years old I had to question how? Apparently, Philip is carrying on a family tradition started when he was not long out of the cradle – his father, Michael Neal, held gave 29 years service to St John Ambulance in Hunstanton and was also the Member in Charge there for many years. They were both attending the concert to provide the usual first aid back up on behalf of St John Ambulance and were due to also attend at the Sandringham Flower Show the next day.
I talked with the programme sellers as the clock ticked on and soon The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall were pulling up outside St Nicholas where groups of well wishers had waited for a glimpse of them. The Mayoress of Kings Lynn, Zipha Christopher and the recently appointed Chief Constable of Norfolk, Philip Gormley welcomed our royal visitors and the royal couple greeted a line up of many local people on their journey through the doors of St Nicholas Church.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall arrive
The concert itself was really stunning. The English Chamber Orchestra and Alexander Romanovsky performed the Overture from The Marriage of Figaro (Mozart), Concerto No 24 in C minor for piano and orchestra (Mozart) and Symphony No 4 in B flat (Beethoven) faultlessly to my inexperienced ear and the acoustics in the church were second to none. The close of the concert saw our illustrious entertainers receive resounding and unending applause from their appreciative audience.
At the interval my husband and I followed the crowd to a large marquee on a tennis court located at the home of Richard and Anna Stanton who kindly allowed the Music in Country Churches organisers to set up a refreshment reception there. The setting was very appropriate and the wine flowed freely amongst the concert goers.
The next concert for Music in Country Churches is set for 3 and 4 September at The Church of St Michael, Framlingham, Suffolk Enquiries: 01603 528319.