The Dennington Queen

The Dennington Queen Food served 12-2pm and 6.30-9pm daily

*****

A two course lunch every weekday for £12.50

*****

Fish and chips takeaway available every Friday evening, 6-8pm

*****

Telephone 01728 638241 for more information, or see menu and details on our website: www.denningtonqueen.co.uk

www.denningtonvillagehall-sportsclub.org Page 3

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION

Firstly, Happy New Year to all our readers, I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas break and are ready for whatever 2020 brings.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to our survey. The feedback on what we’re including in the magazine was very encouraging, though people would like to see articles about the history of the area and more on activities suitable for children - so if anyone would like to contribute on these topics do please get in touch! Can I also remind everyone that the advertising helps pay for the production costs of the magazine - we’re at a bumper 44 pages this issue - so do please use our advertisers wherever possible.

As a Trustee of the village hall, I’m delighted to be on a new village hall committee (see article on page 5) with Dan Allison, Vashti Mouncer and Stephen Mortimer. Our remit is to make sure that the hall is kept in good condition and ready for events, as well as help ensure that events run smoothly. We’re also keen to raise the profile of the hall - now that we have this tremendous facility, we must ensure that it’s well used so we can cover the costs of running it. We are also looking for events that can be put on for the village, and we have lots of ideas! Please see the advertisement for a Burns Night being organised for the 25th January on the next page, and watch out for details of further events during the year.

Finally, there will be a public holiday on 8th May this year for the country to mark the 75th anniversary of VE day. We’d love to help commemorate this with some events and/or a display in the village hall, so if anyone has any ideas or would like to join an organising committee, please contact me as soon as possible on [email protected].

Jo Denton , Editor

dennington.suffolk.cloud Page 5

An exciting future awaits - the Hall will flourish in 2020

We have now received the final approval from the Lottery Fund— and the hall is drawing regular approval from so many of our visi-tors and users.

Don’t forget the car park is very slippery when frozen—we have put new signs up to alert everyone and will grit when possible.

We have now signed off with Carters, the contractors who undertook the renovations and we wish to thank both them and Hollins (architects and project managers) for their excellent work in doing a superb job. Thank you.

New Trustees and management— we welcome Dan Allison, Penny Evers and Kate Viscardi as Hall Trustees, Vashti Mouncer as our new Hall Manager and Stephen Mortimer, who is looking after the hall website and publicity.

A very big thank you to Binkie Andrews who has done an amazing job as Hall manager for the last 4 years. John Watterson has also stood down after many years as a Trustee and Hall manager. Thank you so much for all that you have done for us and for our young people in the village. We wish you both well in the future.

Keir Wyatt, Allan Dyne and Dave Dunnett have done so much over the last few years towards the refurbishment of the hall and I can honestly say we could not have done it without their amazing assistance. Thank you all so much.

There is still more to do. We will start on that in the New Year.

James Maberly

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mailto:[email protected]

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ST MARY THE VIRGIN PARISH CHURCH DENNINGTON: SERVICES

There was a lovely big congregation for the Harvest Festival and about 40 people went to White House Farm for the Harvest Supper afterwards. It was a wonderful evening and many thanks to Julie and Roy Steward and Penny and Nick Watts for all the organisation and plenty of cooking. The evening raised about £600, which was wonderful. Many thanks too to everyone who made the church look so beautiful. The school also had their harvest festival in the church and the produce from both services was taken to the Salvation Army in Woodbridge.

I am sure you would all agree that churchyard always looks so immaculately kept - with particular thanks to Jim Carpenter - but please could I remind all dog walkers to be extra careful to clear up any mess.

The service for Remembrance Sunday was well attended and the collection of £170 was sent to the Poppy Appeal. The district Poppy Fundraising total was £806.

As I write, the mince pies are cooking in oven for the Carol Service and by the time this newsletter is published Christmas will be over and the New Year begun – so may I wish everyone all the very best for 2020.

Dates for the diary: Easter Day – April 12th Plant Sale – April 25th

Regular timings of other services are: First Sunday of the month – 8.00am Holy Communion Second Sunday – 11.00am Elder-led Family Service or Matins Fourth Sunday – 11.00am Holy Communion

Veronica Maberly

SPORTS CLUB UPDATE

The sports club have had a successful year and would like to thank the village for getting behind our charity jumble sale and taking part in the sports the club offers. We are looking forward to the year ahead and hope to raise more money to improve our facilities.

We are sad to say goodbye to Doris Dearing as committee member. Doris has played a pivotal role in the sports club for many years, raising thousands of pounds along the way. On behalf of the chair-man and the committee we’d like to wish Doris all the best and thank her for all her hard work.

On Thursday 5th March, Dennington Sports Club are hosting an evening with the amazing Ryan Gooding at Dennington Village Hall. Ryan Gooding is quickly becoming one of the most talked about psychic mediums in the UK and recently appeared on Celebrity Haunted Mansion on W Channel as resident medium. Ryan was seen on the show carrying out paranormal investigations alongside celebrities including Alison Hammond, Katie Price, Simon Gregson

and Simon Webbe. He has also appeared on C4’s The Circle and ITV’s Loose Women.

Doors open at 7pm and the evening begins at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12.00 plus booking fee and can be purchased via Eventbrite on this link: http://bit.ly/2PKrTfe. All proceeds will go to Dennington Sports

Club to fund replacement of some of the playground equipment for the children.

We hope you all had a lovely Christmas and best wishes for the year ahead.

Elaine Felton, Secretary


PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION!

Are you a super snapper? If so, do get your camera out and about around the village around the year! We are planning a calendar for 2021, with village pictures for each month of the year. There will be a competition in November to choose the shots the judges feel best capture

the spirit of Dennington throughout the year.

So first off please, December. There should be plenty of choice with the Christmas tree, parties and nativity scenes. Then into next year. Some months might suggest obvious scenes – Easter, Midsummer, harvesting, Harvest Festival, Hallow’een, Guy Fawkes – others less so. So please keep your eyes open and use your imagination. Inside shots are great too – the church pews? If we have too much choice for a month we could decide to make montages, so don’t feel limited.

Prizes: there will be a small prize for the best photo by someone under 16, whether the photo is used or not. For everyone else, we hope the glory will be enough.

Some technical details: We won’t be able to use photos where there are children who can be identified unless we have written permission from their parents. It’s not a legal requirement to tell adults in a public place that you are taking photos for publication but it’s good manners to respect any requests not to be shown.

We shall need the best possible quality images for reproduction, so please make sure you keep the original digital images or negatives when you send your prints. We shall have to work fast to choose the shots and get the calendar printed in mid-November, so we’ll be accepting entries throughout the year, and if you’re happy for people to see them ahead of judging will show those in a private

Facebook group. Final deadline for photos is 7th November 2020.

The Facebook group is called Dennington Views, which you can join and upload your photos direct to, or send via private message. You can email photos to us at [email protected] or deliver them in person via the Neathouse, marked to Dennington Views. However you submit, please tell us whether you’re happy to show them off or would prefer to keep them private for now.

Kate Viscardi

VILLAGE HALL 100 CLUB

A reminder that the New Year subscriptions for the 100 club, which continues to support the village hall, are due by the end of March. Monthly results are displayed on the hall notice board and new members are always welcome.

Jenny Dyne.

EVENTS AROUND DENNINGTON JAN-MARCH 2020 (kindly provided by AboutFram)

Until 18th January Eastern Angles (see article on page 26) return with their musical comedy alternative to the Christmas panto in The Famous Four and A Half Go Wild in Thetford Forest in Ipswich and Woodbridge

Barb Jungr, the jazz and cabaret star, sings Bob Dylan and Jacques Brel at the Britten Studio in Snape Maltings, 25th January, £20

Film@Fram, Unitarian Meeting House, Bridge Street at 7.30pm, £4 members, £6 guests: 8th January - Blinded by the Light 5th February - Knives Out 4th March - The Farewell 1st April - The Good Liar



Brothers Colin and Stephen Moore, together with their sister Kate Eagle, took over the running of the company when their parents, Janet and Derek Moore, retired in the late 1990s. Colin, Stephen and Kate have many years’ experience and can offer help and guidance through all the funeral arrangements, providing the highest standards of service and care to families during their time of grief.

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VILLAGE PERSONALITIES: GERALDINE SCHOFIELD Born in Heywood in Lancashire Geraldine, an only child, attended a convent school before Dad, who like his father had worked in the cotton industry, and Mum, a secretary with most of her training with the RAF, moved to Nottingham and then to the Gower in South Wales. From the local grammar school she went on to the University of Wales Cardiff and then to Newcastle University to complete a doctorate in microbiology. It was the beginning of a hugely successful career in academia.

At 25, Dr. Schofield moved to the university in Cologne to take up a Senior Research Fellowship in

microbiology, a post she held for five years. As a member of a truly international team of scientists, she also learnt to speak German. A visiting fellowship in Milan followed; since then, Geraldine has been back to Italy on a regular basis and travelled extensively around the whole country. She returned to the UK – to Salisbury – as a senior microbiologist and a specialist advisor to the OECD. Headhunted by Unilever, more research followed with residential stability in Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire. Geraldine enjoyed 20 years with the company, travelling globally as their Head of Food Regulatory Affairs, Research and Development, defending the role of science in the production and presentation of foodstuffs. She met the Queen twice in her capacity as non-executive Director of the Bedford Hospital.

In 2000, following a horrendous car accident which left Geraldine terribly injured, she returned to part-time employment and was invited to lecture at Harvard University on ‘Science and Society’. A scarier moment followed when she delivered a lecture on the topic to the Royal Society. She was appointed as a consultant to the Oxford SAID Business School, and awarded an MBE by Prince Charles in 2002 for services to biotechnology and industry. Leaving Unilever in 2005, Geraldine was visiting professor in microbiology at Exeter University between 2007 and 2013 while running her own consultancy and acting as non-executive director of the Milton Keynes Community Health Trust and CE of a microbiological academic society based in Bedfordshire. Living in a beautiful barn conversion in Yardley Hastings, which she built, Geraldine had her first taste of village politics as Chair of the Parish Council there.

Geraldine arrived in Dennington in late 2012. A magistrate since 2006 on the Northamptonshire circuit, she now became a member of the Suffolk bench, from which she has just resigned, and has the highest regard for Suffolk’s magistracy. Geraldine strongly feels that the closure of courts in Lowestoft and Bury St. Edmunds has been a big mistake. With only one court in Ipswich now it makes it difficult for many of limited means to travel to court hearings.

Geraldine fell in love with Baytree Cottage, as it then was as home to the Fosters, on first sight. She had the property’s name changed to Church Cottage, its historic nomenclature since 1560. Geraldine has extensively renovated the house, which has a thatched roof, numerous beams, a floor from the former National Archives in London, a swimming pool, a lovely garden and a pond. There is a fine view to the church while inside it is surprisingly quiet, even with the sharp road bends on two sides of the house. Overlooking the cemetery, ‘the neighbours are very quiet’, quips Geraldine.

Geraldine is Chairman of the Board of Northampton College of FE for those between 16 and 25 years. The institution is particularly strong in supporting apprenticeship schemes and those with

Sketch at

Bruisyard Barn

By Jillifar Amor

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Please telephone if you wish to visit

the Studio to view any other works

disabilities, often giving them a second opportunity after formal schooling to maximize their potential. Under Geraldine’s aegis, the College has moved from 123rd in the Further Educational colleges’ ranking table to 11th.

Geraldine found Dennington a very welcoming place to settle after travelling so often and so widely. She has enjoyed WI functions and church’s activities such as the Spring plant sale, while she always sends her frequent visitors to look around St. Mary’s, while she’s a regular visitor to the pub when dining out with friends. Otherwise Geraldine busies herself in the garden, reads widely, and visits the Royal Opera House and British Museum in London – as a Friend of the latter. She is a member of the Royal Horticultural Society and our local group, the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, and enjoys pilates in the village hall. Geraldine continues to enjoy trips up to Northampton for her leadership role there, although she will be stepping down as Chairman of the College after four very busy years at its helm. Keen now to spend more time getting involved in local affairs, she talks of being ‘a mad old bag in Wellingtons’, rather under-selling her multiple talents and strong sense of public duty. We are very fortunate to continue to attract such vibrant, talented and free-spirited personalities to the village.

As told to Mark Kendall Photograph by Angela Kendall


DENNINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

Since the last newsletter was published, we have had a change of Councillors. Robert Rous has sadly resigned after 37 years of being on the Parish Council, as both a Councillor and as the Chairman. We are very grateful to Robert for all of his time, enthusiasm and knowledge that he has given for the benefit of the village during this long period.

At our November meeting, we welcomed Sam Steward as a Councillor. Sam will be a familiar face to many of you, and we are pleased to fill our Councillor vacancy so quickly. We look forward to working with Sam and hearing his ideas.

We would be very interested to hear your opinions on carrying out a Neighbourhood Plan - please see the article on the next page about this.

The vehicle activated speed sign has arrived and we are awaiting a site meeting with the Highways Department to determine suitable locations for it to be moved between. Thank you again to Councillors Burroughes and Cook for their grant contributions for the sign.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Shirley Cunningham for all her hard work ensuring we have an up-to-date village website, and for uploading all Parish Council documents to share with residents. The website is a very useful resource and we are grateful to Shirley for continuing to carry out this work.

As we have increasingly expensive repair bills for our tractor mower, the Parish Council will be considering mowing options at our next meeting and considering quotations to replace the mower, using reserved funds that have been built up for this purpose. We would like to thank Robert Wardley and Adrian Neill who cut the sports field voluntarily, and the Steward family who provide diesel for the mower, saving the Parish Council - and rate

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payers - a significant amount of money every year.

In 2020, the Parish Council will hold 6 main meetings, as well as extra meetings to discuss planning applications as necessary. Our next meeting is Monday 13th January at 7.30pm. All are welcome to see what happens at a Parish Council meeting and to have their say during the Public Forum.

Finally, on behalf of all on the Parish Council, we would like to send all very best wishes for 2020.

Robert Wardley (Chair) Lydia Kirk (Clerk)

DENNINGTON QUEEN CRIBBAGE TEAM

It is now half way through the season and we are currently in 10th position in the league. We have reached the semi -finals of the Knock Out cup and have finalists in other competitions.

New players are always welcome. Please contact Allan Dyne on 01728-638166 for further information.

Allan Dyne

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HELPING PREPARE A NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN?

East Suffolk Council has proposed a Final Draft Local Plan that will be adopted in early 2020, subject to any amendments required by the Planning Inspectorate’s independent review. The Local Plan affects all communities within East Suffolk and may propose the development of new housing within Dennington. Neighbourhood planning is not a legal requirement but a right which communities can choose to use. Preparing one would require the Parish Council to establish a sub-committee to appoint local people (who need not be parish councillors) to work on a neighbourhood plan.

What are the benefits of a Neighbourhood Plan? Neighbourhood planning enables communities to play a much stronger role in shaping the areas in which they live and work and in supporting new development proposals. This is because the Neighbourhood Plan sits alongside the Local Plan - decisions on planning applications will be made using both the Local Plan and the Neighbourhood Plan.

Communities that have a valid Neighbourhood Plan will benefit from 25% of the revenues from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) arising from any development that takes place in their area (up to a maximum of approximately £25,000). Communities without a Plan can receive up to 15%. In the case of Dennington this could result in an additional contribution of up to £10,000.

The Neighbourhood Plan also provides an evidence base of infrastructure needs, to help prioritize how the CIL is spent.

What does this involve? There are 6 stages involved in producing a Neighbourhood Plan: collecting a range of evidence; developing, assessing and shortlisting options; producing a draft plan; public consultation and submission to East Suffolk Council; independent examination; and


finally a local referendum as to whether to adopt the final draft plan. The process typically takes 3 years to complete and thus requires significant commitment from the people involved.

How do I get involved? This is a real opportunity to help influence the future development of Dennington, so if you have views as to whether we should seek to develop a Neighbourhood Plan, wish to get involved and help form a sub-committee, or have any suggestions as to how any future CIL revenue should be used to improve the village, please contact the Parish Clerk ([email protected]) before the end of January 2020. The Parish Council will then discuss the responses received and decide whether to form a sub-committee.

Further information can be found at: http://bit.ly/2M34wwK.

Matt Lunn. Parish Councillor

Appointments available



At the November meeting of the Horticultural Club, members and guests were treated to a honey tasting and a talk on bee-keeping and planting for bees by Marian Cannell of the Leiston and District Beekeepers’ Association. The honey being tasted all came from the same area in Suffolk, including Marian’s own honey made by the same bees but at different times of year and therefore drawing on different types of plants - and so tasting completely different. Although there are 250 types of bees in the UK only one, the honey bee, makes surplus honey that can

be collected. Marian stressed that it’s important to plant bee-friendly flowers for year round colour so that even in late autumn (if it’s warm enough) bees can continue to collect nectar. The first meeting in 2020 will be held on Wednesday, 22nd January and the speaker will be Howard Jones of Orchards East speaking on the history of orchards. Orchard East also offer fruit tree management courses for free which members are encouraged to sign up to now for some practical advice on pruning! Please note this meeting will start at 7pm instead of 7.30 followed by a glass of wine - new members and guests welcome. For more details, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Jo Denton

Dennington Horticultural Club

PHOENIX SINGERS’ SPRING TERM EVENTS

Maybe you’ve made a New Year resolution to take up something you’d enjoy, or maybe you just want to beat the January blues. Come and join us! We’re a choir of about sixty mixed voices based in Framlingham. Led by Geoff Lavery, our music director, we per-form three concerts a year.

Our rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings from 7.30 to 9.30 pm at Sir Robert Hitcham Primary School, Framlingham. The first rehearsal of the Spring term is on 8th January 2020 when we’ll be preparing to sing J S Bach’s St John Passion. This will be performed on April 4th 2020 at St Michael’s Church, Framlingham, with professional soloists and an orchestra.

We welcome new members. Phoenix Singers is not an auditioned choir. Please email [email protected] for more details and to discuss membership. You are also warmly invited to join us for a choral workshop on Saturday 18th January - please see below.

Gill Clare, Phoenix Singers

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WHAT’S HAPPENING TO OUR BUS SERVICES?

The recent cuts to local bus services was the subject of discussion at the Parish Council meeting in November, and a letter to clarify the situation was then sent to Suffolk County Council. Council money for funding rural bus routes has been reducing steadily since 2010, and in early 2019 the council established a cross-party working group to determine how to make best use of their limited budget. All contracts were assessed on several criteria, including who was using the service. It appears that use of the 482 bus has been declining and the service was only carrying 2-3 people per trip across the week at a subsidy of over £11 per return journey. It was therefore deemed not economically or environmentally sustainable to continue running the service and the contract was terminated as at 1st November. The council are still looking to find alternative funding sources to reintroduce some form of service on the Framlingham – Dennington – Eye – Diss corridor but have not been successful as yet. In the interim, travel from the village can still be achieved through their Connecting Communities services, which can offer transport from 0700-1900 Monday to Saturday. More information can be found at communities.suffolkonboard.com. If anyone wishes to follow up on any of these points, do please write to: Customer Rights, Suffolk County Council, Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road, Ipswich IP1 2BX, or email [email protected] or telephone on 0345 2661821.


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CRAFT FAIR AND NEXT ART EXHIBITION

Thank you to all the folk that helped with the craft fair in November, selling raffle tickets and serving in the kitchen, and to those who made the cakes – and thanks too to all those who came to support us. And thanks also to all the stallholders who had such a

wonderful display of wares for sale. We had fewer stalls than we were anticipating but it meant that everyone had room to spread out, and there was plenty of space for folk to sit with a cup of tea and cake and meet up with friends and acquaintances, old and new.

Pauline Wardley was delighted to win the luxury hamper in the raffle, especially when she discovered all the goodies underneath that weren’t visible. It was also encouraging to meet people who hadn’t been in the hall since it has been refurbished, some of whom were interested in hiring it - so it was an ideal opportunity to promote our wonderful hall too!


We have set the dates for the next art exhibition which will be held in the village hall over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend – that is Saturday, Sunday and Monday 11th-13th April. Come along and see what artistic

talent Dennington has to offer! Entry is free and there will be delicious refreshments available again.

We also plan to have a second art exhibition in 2020, as well as another craft fair in November. Watch this space!

Maggie Archard

FOOD WARS

Scanning the Village Hall website events calendar in mid-September we noticed an entry for 26th September for a booking entitled “Theatre Production”. We had not seen any publicity in the village but luckily found out at the village coffee morning that it was for a performance by the well-known local theatre company Eastern Angles, founded in the early 1980’s and regularly producing works based on East Anglian history and folklore.

The performance was of two short plays on aspects of the supply of food during and after the two World Wars. The plays had been presented during the summer at a number of schools, local community facilities and care homes; in the last, of course, some residents would well remember rationing! Both plays were achieved with a very limited, but extremely talented, cast of three, with changes of character mainly achieved by different hats and coats from hat stands at the side of the podium.

The first play, “Oh What A Lovely Food War”, was a series of music hall sketches giving a flavour of what it must have been like when the country depended on food imports and rationing was introduced. The establishment of National Kitchens as places where people of all classes could meet and enjoy nutritious meals, and the exhortation to the average man or woman to “grow their own”, was very well presented. One of the highlights of the play was the sketch of a WI meeting where Joseph Phelps,

playing the part of Madam President, appeared in an extremely flowery hat and in a high falsetto voice gave a spirited rendering of “Jerusalem”.

Cast of Food Wars: Hayley, Sally, Joseph

Saxmundham Mobile Library Route 5

The Saxmundham library van stops at Dennington Square every 4 weeks on a Tuesday between 10.35-11.05am. If you miss it, the van

also stops at the Brundish Crown on the same day between 11.20-11.35am.

FORTHCOMING DATES: 14th January, 11th February, 10th March

Please send all stories or items to be included in the next issue,

which covers April-June 2020, to the Editor no later than 9th

March 2020. Send via email to [email protected] , or

via post to Spring Farm House, The Street, Dennington IP13 8JF.

Please send pictures as LARGE jpeg attachments.


“Saving our Bacon”, the second play, dealt with the effect on young men, often just married, joining the navy to combat the threat of U-boats on the food convoys from abroad. The highlight was when Sally Ann Burnett, playing the part of “Winnie”, appointed Lord Woolton to instigate the “Dig for Victory” movement and the creation of the infamous Woolton Pie.

Speaking to members of the company after the performance they were most complimentary about our village hall and would very much like to use it for future productions. We did not recognise many village people in the audience, although Eastern Angles have a very loyal following who never fail to support their productions, so there was a good audience. We had a very enjoyable evening and feel that the rest of the village missed a real treat!

Neil Hannon Photographs by Mike Kwasniak, courtesy of Eastern Angles.

Sally as Churchill


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A wet Autumn We began loading sugar beet lorries on the fields as it was so

dry and the harvester was breaking the sugar beet in the ground as it was so hard. Then it started raining on September 24th and it has hardly stopped since. We had 1500 acres of wheat to drill and a 100 acres of sugar beet to lift. The beet is now all out and the wheat is in the ground, but not in ideal conditions by any means. But we are better off than some parts of the country. We might hope that a low yielding harvest, which we are certain to get next year, will lead to better prices but in a world market it rarely happens.

Now that the Autumn work is completed, we concentrate on machine maintenance, hedge cutting and tree trimming. The roadside hedges are trimmed every year, while those within the fields less frequently. The flail hedgecutter is a wonderful machine that we would never manage without. We have over

60 miles of hedge and have to cut both sides. Hedges that are cut after two or three years look unsightly but they soon regrow. The regularly cut hedges suit some birds for nesting and make a tight hedge while the bigger hedges have more berries and are appreciated by turtle doves in particular.

www.denningtonhallfarms.co.uk | Tel: 01728 638712


WEST WOOD - A SUFFOLK GARDEN

Forty years ago this autumn saw me cycling from Southwold to Walberswick to the garden of West Wood, the home of the late Mea Allan and her friend Grace Woodbridge. I had graduated in June in horticulture and had come to work as a gardener at West Wood. Mea Allan had written various biographies, including that of the Tradescants, father and son, plant collectors and then gardeners to Charles I.

In this garden I first came across Oleaster, Elaeagnus angustifolia, a large shrub with silvery leaves and scented flowers.

Another new plant to me was Carpenteria californica, the 'tree anemone', an evergreen shrub for a sunny site producing large white flowers with golden anthers in July.

Mowing the lawns could be a frustrating job as the lawnmower ran (or didn't) on a 12 volt battery! I developed a small area of the garden as a vegetable plot, adopting the practice of bed growing as advocated at the time by Joy Larkcom. The soil was light and free draining, very 'workable'. The addition of spent hops as a mulch, brought in sacks in the back of my mini van from Adnams brewery, helped to suppress weeds, retain moisture and imparted a certain fragrance. Mange tout peas and vegetable spaghetti were particular favourites.

'Workable' is not an adjective I would use to describe our heavy clay soil here in Dennington. By now, both garlic and broad beans should be in the ground but conditions have been too wet. Let's hope the New Year will be drier.

Andrew Stansfeld, Stansfeld Garden Design

West Wood garden in the 1980s


ALLOTMENT NEWS

We had our Christmas Get-together in the Dennington Queen on 2nd December, which was well-attended and a great success. Can we wish everyone a Happy New Year and we look

forward to welcoming new members in 2020!

Pamela Turner, Secretary

DENNINGTON BOOK CLUB NEWS

The book club was formed a few years ago and grew out of the coffee mornings. Our first book was a disaster; having taken a recommendation from the WI Magazine, the book was truly awful, and we were reluctant to continue that path!

However, we have now taken advice from each other, friends and relatives and have read many books, good, bad and indifferent. The discussions are sometimes short, often lengthy but always lively and we have all gained from the variety of books we’ve read.

The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker was our book for November. A very well written whodunit with many twists and turns, it oscillates between 1975 when a girl disappeared and 2008 when her remains were found. Almost every character is a possible suspect. An excellent read and a real ‘page turner’ – thoroughly recommended.

Janet Wyatt

Cookery Corner: Festive Jalousie

If you have any mincemeat left over from Christmas, here’s a very adaptable and easy recipe to use it up. All you need is the mincemeat and some ready-rolled puff pastry (and to make it extra special, some grated marzipan…I bet there’s some left over from icing the cake!). I make my own mincemeat, but if you buy it, you might like to add some grated apple, some spice and a glug of brandy.

There are no fixed quantities of ingredients:

• Heat the oven to 200 C

• Unroll the puff pastry and cut in half lengthways

• Place one half of the pastry on a greased baking tray and leaving ¾ inch all round, spread mincemeat on top (and grated marzipan if using) and dampen the edge all around

• Lightly fold the rest of the pastry in half lengthways and make a series of cuts from the folded edge to within 1 inch of the cut edge, and open it out again

• Place it on top of the mincemeat, sealing the 2 layers of pastry together and crimping the edges (freeze at this point if you want to)

• If liked, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar

• Bake for 25 – 30 minutes (I like to cook it near the bottom of the oven for half the time to avoid a soggy bottom!)

• Dredge with sifted icing sugar before serving

Maggie Archard



CONCERT WITH CHRISTINA JOHNSTON

After her sell out concert at St Michael’s church last September, internationally acclaimed coloratura soprano Christina Johnston returns to Framlingham on the 25th January to perform Miracle of the Voice in the chapel at Framlingham College. A former pupil, Christina has since risen to fame with performances for several Heads of State, including Miloš Zeman, President of the Czech Republic, and Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China. Christina has also performed many leading roles including the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Prague State Opera and Adele in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. She was also chosen by José Carreras to perform alongside him at Kenwood House on his farewell tour earlier this year.

The concert starts at 7.30pm, with the bar open for pre-concert drinks from 6.30pm. Ticket prices are £10 for under 19s; £15 for adults; £45 for a family of two adults and 2 under 19s.

To purchase tickets, visit eventbrite.co.uk - Christina Johnston, email [email protected] or buy in person from Sarah at The Neathouse Cafe, Village Green, Dennington, IP13 8DD.

All proceeds from the concert will go to The Beehive Charity, Kenya, for the running of the two Beehive homes. These homes are dedicated to the rehabilitation, education and loving support of vulnerable child-mothers and their babies. It isn’t an orphanage or

an institution, it’s a family home. Some girls stay with its founders, Jane & Alan Hutt, who left their family home in Rendlesham to set up the charity in 2014, until they are adults. For more information go to www.beehiveafrica.org.

Sarah, aboutmedia

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http://www.beehiveafrica.org

PILATES 2019

NEW COURSE DATES!

Location: DENNINGTON VIL-

LAGE HALL

FRIDAY - 7 Week Course (£40)

Every Friday from 1st November – 13th De-

cember

9:15am-10:15am

Pilates encourages better posture and helps indi-

viduals to become more body-aware whilst pro-

moting functional movement and core strength.

Pilates is also beneficial for those suffering with

low back pain, muscle tightness or other muscle

aches and pains. Classes are taught by a fully certi-


DENNINGTON WI

The WI has enjoyed another very successful year maintaining a full membership. The annual WI Christmas dinner was once again well attended by members and partners and enjoyed by all. Steve Hambling provided a delicious supper, but it was tinged with disappointment as it was to be the last time he would cater for us. (But fear not, arrangements are already in hand for next year.)

The tables looked very festive with some lovely floral arrangements supplied by members and the raffle produced a seemingly endless

supply of prizes. Entertainment was provided by Frosty the snowman (aka Angie), relating some of the hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings of children’s nativity plays. (Did anyone else feel the ghost of Joyce Grenfell?) The evening finished with a hearty rendition of carols…and nobody seemed to mind that the singers at one end of the hall were 2 bars behind the others!

Thanks and gifts were given to the committee, who work tirelessly on our behalf throughout the year. A peek at the list of speakers for the forthcoming year showed we have a lot to look forward to:

8th January: Life as a children’s author, illustrator and independent publisher. 12th February: The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. 11th March: Ernest Hemingway

Jenny Dyne and Maggie Archard

THE TRAIN NOW FINALLY ARRIVING…

New trains and improved services are finally coming to our dear old East Suffolk line, and not before time. Enough of trundling up and down with filthy seats and carpets, diesel fumes and broken toilets (if the trains even make it in the first place and with more than one carriage!); the new trains should make all the difference - but will these new Swiss trains match the performance and timekeeping of Swiss Rail? We can only hope…

The new Stadler units were due to arrive in early December on the East Suffolk line and as they are bimodal/dual-powered by a diesel unit and a 25kV electric motor at least two trains a day will travel between Lowestoft and Liverpool Street direct each way, avoiding the change at Ipswich. The best news is that there are four car units: no first class but providing an improved travelling environment all round, including the latest wi-fi access and mobile device sockets

The initial planning for the redevelopment of the Saxmundham station and its carpark has now been approved by East Suffolk council, with a view to starting works in Spring 2020 (just two years after the fire!) – although there are rumours that improvements to the weather-proofing of the station shell (and hopefully platform 1’s canopy) will have taken place before winter really sets in.

As ever with these curate’s egg situations, there is good and bad. The rebuilt station will look much like the old one but will now be only single storey. The plans also show a large storeroom only for use by Network Rail and there are no toilets or café as currently planned – so once again Saxmundham falls way behind some other places like Wickham Market. However, we can all still lobby Greater Anglia and the council bodies involved.


SUFFOLK GRITTING LORRYS GET THE PERSONAL TOUCH

On 14 October, SprEd Sheeran, Benjamin Gritten and Grit Rhys Jones joined the ranks of Suffolk’s gritting service as Suffolk Highways announced its newly named gritting fleet. During the summer Suffolk Highways asked attendees at the Suffolk Show to suggest names for its 41 gritting lorries as part of its first ever Gritter

Naming Competition. They received over 500 suggestions for names which were then judged by a panel including BBC Radio Suffolk’s Mark Murphy.

Suffolk’s gritters now have their names proudly displayed on their cabs and are ready to grit the roads when the weather gets cold. Residents will be able to follow the gritting activity on Twitter at @Suff_Highways, and if they spot one in action they can tweet a picture to Suffolk Highways at @Suff_Highways#WinterReady.

Jo Denton

It also appears that NCP will be in charge of the parking. While this might stop residents and overnight campers (sic) using the car park, NCP is one of the most aggressive car park operators so it might force many regular commuters to buy a season ticket for ease. Yikes! But if the carpark is resurfaced and marked out properly, this might be cheaper than losing your exhaust system or engine sump on the old building foundations in the rear car park!

Onwards and upwards – and, if you do have any problems (or even great experiences) on our Greater Anglia network, be sure to tell its MD, Jamie Burles ([email protected]), as if he doesn’t know, nothing ever changes, in my experience.

Tim Roberts, Kelsale-cum-Carlton Parish Council


DENNINGTON VILLAGE HALL COFFEE

MORNINGS

The fortnightly coffee mornings have been running for

over 5 years. A chance to get together for chat, coffee

and home-made cake!

Future coffee mornings are on the following dates:

January 9th / 23rd

February 6th / 20th

March 5th / 19th

April 2nd / 16th / 30th

May 14th / 28th

June 11th / 25th

July 9th / 23rd

August 6th / 20th

September 3rd / 17th

October 1st / 15th / 29th

November 12th / 26th

December 10th

All of the dates are Thursday mornings and start at

10.30am. Please put the dates in your diary and join

us if you can.

For further information, please email us c/o the

Dennington News: [email protected]


Disclaimer: Dennington Village Hall produces this newsletter in good faith from articles submitted by

local organisations and individuals. Dennington Village Hall can accept no responsibility for any

inaccuracies contained therein, which must be taken up with the relevant organisation or individual.

NEW LOOK TO FRAMLINGHAM CO-OP

The Framlingham Co-op – as surely most people will have noticed! – has undergone a substantial refurbishment. As part of that up-date the store now offers a refilling station for customers to top up their bottles with washing up liquids, laundry liquids and all-purpose cleaners. This is a pilot scheme to try and reduce waste which, if successful, could be rolled out to other East of England Co-ops.

To mark the supermarket’s brand-new look, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 6, with East of England Co-op Vice-President Belinda Bulsing, East of England Co-op colleagues, representatives from the Framlingham Business Association and the headteacher and pupils from Sir Robert Hitcham Primary School.

The refit also includes installing new checkouts, in-store recycling facilities for batteries, carrier bags and other plastics which are difficult to recycle at home, new low energy high efficiency LED lighting and an improved product range. The most significant

increase is in the fresh food section, with an additional 84 metres dedicated to fresh and chilled produce, including products such as fruit, salad and vegetables, yoghurts, cheeses and meats.

Jo Denton

Printed by Tuddenham Press Tel 01473 785154 www.tuddenhampress.co.uk

DENNINGTON DIARY FOR JANUARY-MARCH 2020

7th January - school term starts

8th January – WI meeting: Life as a children’s author, village hall, 7.30pm

9th January - coffee morning, village hall, 10.30am

13th January - Parish Council meeting, village hall, 7.30pm

18th January - Phoenix Singers Choral Workshop, Thomas Mills High School

22nd January - Horticultural Club: History of Orchards, village hall, 7.00pm

23rd January - coffee morning, village hall, 10.30am

25th January - Burns Night event in the village hall - tickets from the Neathouse

25th January - Miracle of the Voice Concert, Framlingham College, 7.30pm

By end January - join the Neighbourhood Plan Task Force

6th February - coffee morning, village hall, 10.30am

12th February - WI meeting: RABI, village hall, 7.30-pm

17th-21st February - half term

20th February - coffee morning, village hall, 10.30am

5th March - coffee morning, village hall, 10.30am

5th March - Ryan Gooding, village hall, 7.30pm

9th March - cut off date for articles for April-June issue of Dennington News

11th March - WI meeting: Ernest Hemingway, village hall, 7.30pm

19th March - coffee morning, village hall, 10.30am

The Dennington Queen

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