Wereham News - March

MOBILE POST OFFICE will park near the village pond on the following days/times. Monday and Thursday 14.00 – 14.15 Tuesday and Wednesday 12.25 -12.55

VILLAGE HALL ACTIVITIES See Community Adverts. More details of all activities available are featured in the website www.werehamvillagehall.co.uk and on the Facebook page Wereham Village Hall.

Wereham Tots.

We are currently seeking voluntary help in the running/supervising of our thriving TOTS group which is held on Friday mornings ( term time) 10am-12.00pm in Wereham village hall. The positions currently being sought are; supervisor/ planner and a kitchen/general support ( prepare snacks etc). All enquiries please contact Angela on 07535399883.

WEREHAM OPEN GARDENS SUNDAY 21ST JUNE. Writing this in early February, Open Gardens in June seems a long way off but Mother Nature is already stirring. There are snowdrops, catkins and brave, fresh shoots as well as a couple of male robins on the lawn squaring up to each other for territorial rights! Each year Open Gardens is a major fund raising event which helps to maintain our Grade 2 Listed St. Margaret’s church. There is a dedicated group of gardeners and helpers who take part regularly but it is always great to welcome new gardens. Your garden doesn’t have to be a show garden and it’s not some kind of competition. Our friendly visitors are genuinely interested in what you have done or plan to do because they are gardeners too. If you would consider opening your garden or helping with the organisation I would be pleased to hear from you or give me a call if you’re not sure and would like to have a chat about opening. Thanks. Greg Baddock 01366 500233. Wereham VE Day commemoration 10 May 4-7 pm

The team that brought you the World War I commemorations are at it again! This time the Wereham Heritage group have got the Second World War and their sights with an event In the Village Hall to mark 75 years since victory in Europe day. We are excited to be able to bring you items including: • The home guard re-enactors (à la Dad’s army) Together with the land Army girls. • The Colin Mason jazz group • Wissey Players drama group sketches • The Andrews sisters tribute group • 40’s dancing • Community singing • And lots more!! Please bring your own food and drinks. 40s style costume is welcome but optional. There will be a prize for the best outfits. Tickets are available from the Village Hall and from Greg Baddock and Doreen Rolph. We would also welcome any other contributions to the entertainment. Please contact Debbie or Ian Rye (07863) 049677. This promises to be a brilliant community event , don’t miss it! Everybody welcome. Please buy your identity card tickets, £3 adults, £1 Children from the village hall, Doreen Rolph, or Greg Baddock

Wereham’s WW2 Dead

While the overall tone of Wereham Heritage Group’s planned event to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day will be upbeat, we cannot let this moment pass without remembering the two local men named on our village war memorial who lost their lives in WW2. It would be great to learn a little more of their short lives. I’ve been able to piece a little together from records, but it doesn’t amount to much. Maybe you knew their families or can throw some more light on their backgrounds? Dennis Clarence Matthews was just 22 when in 1944, he lost his life, alongside others from the 2nd Dorsetshire regiment, in some of the most bitter fighting of the Burma campaign. His grave at Kohima bears the inscription ‘Not just today, but every day, remembered by dad, aunty, Barbara, grandad’. On the CWGC commemorative certificate he is listed as nephew of Mrs L Rowe of Wereham. He was clearly much loved. The 1939 survey shows several households that include someone with the Matthews surname, but just one that also includes a Mrs Rowe (New Buildings, Stoke Road). Could this be where Dennis grew up? Alexander Herbert Bellamy died in 1940, aged 30. He was a Colour Sergeant with the 7th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and lost his life at Dunkirk. He is shown on several casualty lists as ‘missing’ and was only declared ‘presumed killed in action’ in 1942. Unlike Dennis, he has no grave, but is commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial. The 1939 survey lists his parents, Richard S. S. Bellamy, a retired shipping merchant and Ellen Bellamy, living at Row House, The Row, Wereham along with a younger sister, also Ellen Alexander was born in Cheshire, and there seem to be strong Cheshire and Rio de Janeiro family connections, so I wonder what brought them to live in Wereham? Please speak to one of the Wereham Heritage Group team if you can tell us more. Team members are Greg, Doreen, Wendy, Nicola, Paul, Debbie & Ian Rye and myself – faces familiar to the majority of the village. Alternatively, email me at sue.nutkin@gmail.com. Many thanks – Sue. Wereham Craft Group Our craft group continues to prosper. We welcome all new members who would be willing to make sewn, knitted or crochet items using fabric or yarn from our stock and then donate them to the craft stall to sell and raise funds for the village hall. Please contact Rosemary our craft group leader as I have all the fabric and yarn in my sewing room. We meet on the second Tuesday of every month in the village hall. Contact Rosemary on, 01366 501330, mob 07749 240606, e-mail rosemary.pease@btinternet.com. Short Mat Bowls. New members always welcome, no experience needed as we will show you what to do. We are not a serious group we play for pleasure and companionship. Tea and coffee with biscuits or cake are served during the evening. Please contact Philip 01366 501330, mob 07759 033492, e-mail rosemary,pease@btinternet.com. Car Boot and Cafe We continue to run on the last Sunday of every month except December. Bacon baps, Egg baps and sausage in a roll, tea , coffee and Hot chocolate always available. PLEASE NOTE THE CRAFT GROUP WILL HAVE A STALL AGAIN SELLING SURPLUS FABRIC, EMBROIDERY THREADS ETC, all at bargain prices. For more information and to book a table please call Philip on 01366 501330, mob 07759033492, e-mail rosemary.pease@btinternet.com Wereham Parish Council

Next Meeting Date - Tuesday 17 March 2020 at 7.00 pm in the Wereham Village Hall (Note one week later than usual) Agenda items must be received before the end of the month prior to each meeting, items received after this time will not be possible to discuss. Please send to the Parish Clerk at werehampc@gmail.com. The Agendas for meetings are always published on the Wereham Village Notice Board three clear days before the meeting, on the Wereham Parish Council Facebook Page and on the websitewww.werehamparishcouncil.co.uk You will also find minutes of all meetings here too.

Public Consultation – Open Space Funding and Improvements The Parish Council would like to hear from as many residents in Wereham as possible including any users of the playing field and play area. They would like to hear views around whether there should be improvements to the playing field and play area and what that might be. For example there might be options for funding to extend the age range of the play equipment in the play area to include 8-13 year olds and relocate the goal posts to the back of the field; or outdoor keep fit equipment; or a zip line; outdoor adult gym or any other ideas or simply the view that we should leave it as it is. The Parish Council has identified that the existing play area flooring requires work and has agreed a grass matting overlap, but there is a funding opportunity that has been identified that we may be able to link this and other improvements. Please make your views known to the Parish Clerk as soon as possible on the contact details below on all of these ideas and also anything else you can think of. Please email werehampc@gmail.com Thanks for your help.

Dog Walkers There has been instances of dog waste not being removed from outside people’s properties and pathways in the village by dog walkers. There are five dog bins available at the playing field; off Cavenham Road, Lamas Lane; End of the Row/Wretton Row and on Church Road. So this is plenty of points to deposit their waste plus the option to take it home. Please respect the village and clean up after your dog.

Wereham Cemetery – Memorials Next of Kin Please could any members of the public known to be the next of kin for memorials within the Wereham Cemetery please contact the Parish Clerk to agree to share their contact details. We need to ensure that our contact database for the purposes of contacting next of kin, where we need to discuss memorials is as up to date as possible. Memorials that have been laid down for safety reasons can be reinstated by commissioning a stone mason to install what is called a NAAM bar.

Streetlights The streetlights in the village are owned by the Parish Council if you notice they are out please report it to the Clerk who can arrange for a contractor to maintain it. The contact details are below.

Highways – Paths and Roads – Defects Please report anything that you see verges, trees, pot holes, main holes, drains to Norfolk County Council Highways via their defects page of their website. You need to set up a login, and once on the site you can easily report issues and upload pictures of the issue. They will then arrange inspection. You are also able to track the report. Should a report not be resolved as you wish please then contact the Parish Council. The Parish Council will report issues that it finds, but if residents do this also we can increase the repairs that we notice need doing. https://apps.norfolk.gov.uk/HighwaysDefect/

Helen Richardson Wereham Parish Clerk and Finance Responsible Person Email werehampc@gmail.com or Phone/Text: 0779 500 6811

Wereham Neighbourhood Watch

The AGM of Wereham Neighbourhood Watch will be held on Monday 16th March at 7.00 pm in the Village Hall . All interested are invited to attend .