As information is fed to us you will be able to find Reports upon the various events held in our villages.  To provide information Contact Us

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LINSTEAD SUMMER FETE

Malcolm Heath reports:

CATS PROTECTION COFFEE MORNING

The Coffee Morning and Bring and Buy event was held at the Chediston Schoolroom on Tuesday 29th July and was a success.  Principal organiser was Maxine Martin.

The photo shows a typical scene at the event.



Maxine thanks all those who attended. The event raised £176









CHEDISTON OLD TIME FARMING DAY

What a great occasion this was!  Bridge Farm (Graham and Veronica Downing) was the host for this, Chediston's second, Old Time Farm Day on Saturday July 19th.  The event was held in aid of the Chediston Church Project. The weather forecast was not particularly friendly and indeed despite some very sharp showers and some strong winds, the event was also blessed with periods of blue skies and warm sunshine.





The sumptuous cakes in the refreshment tent ready for the visitors.  As you may imagine there were almost none left at the end of the day.  Thanks to all of those super cooks who donated such a marvellous variety!










The line-up of historic tractors for all to view.  Later these took part in a grand drive in the Parade Ring and drew much interest and applause. Wonderful!













There was a marquee selling local fresh produce.  Needless to say these sold quickly. Photo shows Jill King who ran the stall with her husband, Bill












Hand bell demonstrations went like the clappers!













Many of the dispays were so interesting that our heads were spinning!











This was the nerve centre of the Event and included promotional information about the Chediston Bells Project. Pictured in the photo is Harold Rogers who used to ring at Chediston and is,with his family, a sponsor and supporter
of the Bells Project.









Ahhh! The sight, smell and sounds of a fabulous Traction Engine.  Traction in Action!  We were later treated to the Traction Engine joining the Tractors in the Parade Ring.











Jane Burroughes in the Sponsors' Gazebo.  Jane had obtained a great deal of sponsorship for the OTFD from local companies.  The raffle was also very successful. 









We know that you have seen one of the shire horses on the Home Page but here is another photo.  This is Traction Action with different visuals, smells and sounds to the Traction Engine! Wonderful and great demonstrations in the Parade Ring.

Other events in the Parade Ring included Terriers and also an interesting demonstration of loading and firing historic guns.









And after all that walking, watching and enjoying where better to go than the very popular Refreshment Area. Drinks, hot dogs, ploughman's, cakes, ice creams - all requirements ably catered for!











There was a vegetable and fruit competition, ably masterminded by Julia Morten.  This attracted a large number of entries and classes. The overall winner was Mike Hateley of Rumburgh with David Mantell of Chediston just pipped to the post.  Here is Mike with his engraved glassware - Well done Mike!

Julia Morten reports:

Thanks to all who attended the event and particularly to all of those who put so much effort into making the Day a huge success.




CHORAL EVENSONG AT HALESWORTH

It was an inspirational thought that led Jane Burroughes to write to the Dean of St. Edmundsbury Cathedral to ask for support for her fund raising efforts to repair the tower of St. Mary’s Church Chediston. To her delight the reply was ‘yes’ – they send their choir into the diocese once a term to sing Evensong in a parish church and they would be happy to do this for Chediston, suggesting that the collection at the service could be put towards the tower appeal. Sunday 15^th June at 4.30 pm was booked and careful thought was given to the venue. We would have welcomed them to Chediston but Jane decided that if the choir sung in St. Mary’s Halesworth more people would have the pleasure of hearing them. We were grateful to Halesworth PCC for agreeing to this. Jane communicated with the Choir’s Musical Director, James Thomas and with The Reverend Canon Michael Hampel, Precentor at the Cathedral to make all the necessary arrangements and she is very grateful to Jason Busby for his help along the way.

On the day we were indeed treated to a spiritually uplifting traditional Evensong and visually pleasing procession of fourteen Choristers in their robes and ruffs and fourteen gentlemen members of the choir. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimitus were unusual settings and it was a great joy to hear Handel’s Zadok the Priest.

The Precentor’s sermon reminded us of the tradition of Evensong with some amusing tales of John Betjeman’s experiences at services.

For those of us who had the pleasure of serving ‘tea’ to the choristers it was fantastic to see how lively, mischievous, normal but extremely polite the boys were when out of robes. The chorister who gave us a vote of thanks said “Tea was just super! We often visit other churches and sometimes the tea is awful or we don’t get any at all. So thank you very much”. They hadn’t even waited for us to remove the cling film from the food!

It is somewhat of a sobering thought to us who profess to be Christians that these young boys were enjoying their singing and worship and it was their third service that Sunday! Whereas we all too often drag ourselves reluctantly to church!

Enormous thanks must go to Jane for organising the choir’s visit but also for being so enthusiastic – about 150 people came and really enjoyed it, some of whom rarely go to church. Perhaps now they will come again! Our grateful thanks go too, to all the helpers, Church Wardens, sidespersons, those who provided and helped with the refreshments, teas, and wine and nibbles and those who tidied up afterwards.

The offerings, many of which were gift aided, are going to the Tower fund and members of St. Mary’s Church Chediston are very grateful. ‘Thank you’ too to those of you who came to the Evensong and enjoyed it, and gave generously.

Maggie Pepper



CHEDISTON OPEN GARDENS

The rain stayed away on Sunday 1st June for Chediston's Open Garden Day. Fifteen brave households opened their gardens for viewing, ooohs, aaahs and wows and much appreciation!  Can you recognise the gardens that we photographed?  

This event proved very popular with some 80 people buying tickets to enable them to inspect and compare other gardens with their own.  It was obvious that those opening their gardens had put a lot of effort into manicuring their lawns, borders and vegetable plots.  Many who opened their gardens said that the day had forced them into putting in that extra effort that might otherwise not have been made and they were pleased that they had been galvanised into additional action!





The car park adjacent to the Schoolroom was jam packed (as were some of the cakes available inside the Schoolroom) most of the afternoon as people purchased their tickets, had some refreshment and chatted prior to setting off with map in hand to see the horticultural delights that Chediston has to offer.

Travelling around the village it was clear that this was a well thought out event and a most enjoyable experience. 










Once again Chediston has enjoyed another great social occasion. 


 

It was obvious that despite the recent heavy rain, gardens reflected the hard work that had been put in by householders and all those who opened their gardens should be justly proud of their efforts and are to be commended for the high standards shown. The variety of gardens





was amazing, from large estates to small patio gardens, lovely lawns to heavily filled flower borders, regularly spaced planting to cottage flower borders, exciting ever-changing gardens to the peaceful and tranquil, ornamental planting and neat box hedging, rustic garden sheds to high-tech garden rooms.
 
  













There were lots of things to look at - some lovely ponds with beautiful planting, wild flowers, fish and black swans.





For those interested in weed-spotting, I'm afraid that one would be disappointed - just how come there were precious few in sight!









Owners took the time to chat and inform.  When do they get the time to look after their gardens? 










Where better to chat about the delights of Chediston than in the Schoolroom accompanied by a cuppa and some delicious home-made cake!









It is understood that the Day raised approximately £470 towards much-needed Church funds.

Thanks to all those who opened their gardens (and knew the names of their plants!), to those who helped with ticket sales, refreshments etc and particularly to Sally Aldous who conceived the idea and put so much effort into the day.  When is the next one?



GREAT LINSTEAD TREASURE HUNT

11^th May was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, ideal for the Great Linstead Treasure Hunt organised by Derek and Pauline Keable. Clever clues took us on a 17 mile route through nearby villages, including Metfield, Cratfield and Fressingfield. Everyone returned within the allotted two hours, including the cyclists who had followed a slightly shorter route. Mike and Carol Hume won the cycling section and Davis, Cecilia and Duncan Metherall won the motorised section.

On our return to the Village Hall we all enjoyed a superb barbecue – it was a lovely way to end a really enjoyable afternoon.
The Sands Family had generously provided





the meat for the barbecue and the whole event raised £80 towards the Village Hall Funds.

ACTION AID LUNCH

The weather for this event was superb with blue skies and warm sunshine- can this be England?  A super menu of light lunches were available with scrumptious desserts and coffee or tea. Apart from the excellent food, this was also a great opportunity to socialise with many sitting outside the Schoolroom basking in sunshine (certainly much more relaxing than mowing lawns!).

The event was held to raise monies to support Chediston's Action Aid child Suguna in India.  We understand that a final total of £128.65 was raised - an excellent result!

Organised by Janet Mantell who thanks all those who helped on the day and cooked and donated food.

QUIZ NIGHT IN CHEDISTON

All t he brains of Chediston (with visitors from Rumburgh) turned out on Saturday 26th April to the Schoolroom (very apt!). Approximately 70 people crammed into the Schoolroom and with 60watts a person there was no need for the heating to be switched on!




Well we were tested by schoolmaam Judy Fossett who was dressed for the part as you can see in the photos.  We were lucky to escape without detentions!











An entertaining quiz was held which also sorely tested our knowledge of the locality (have I really been through the doors of the Rumburgh Buck and The Angel and never noticed what they look like? - probably too keen to enter). 







We enjoyed an excellent ploughmans supper and a raffle was also held. All proceeds go towards the Chediston Fireworks evening and the New Years Eve bash.









The worthy winners were the Warehams and the Keeps (see photo of smug winners) with runners-up Mantells/Hateley/David & Amy Fossett (no David did not know the questions beforehand!).


The event raised £310 which will go towards the Chediston Firework event and also the New Year Eve bash.

Thanks to the organisers for a great evening.









RED CROSS COFFEE MORNING

A very successful coffee morning was held at Chediston Schoolroom on April 26th. Coffee, tea and biscuits were available together with some sumptuous cakes and homemade produce.  A very convivial atmosphere together with good company and excellent refreshment made for a relaxing way to spend part of a busy Saturday morning!

LINSTEAD LITTER ACTION CAMPAIGN

This was a campaign organised by Suffolk Coastal District Council and taken forward locally by the Parish Council. Volunteers in Chediston and Linstead collected the litter that was strewn along the roadside and placed it in bags supplied by the Council. Clear plastic bags were for recyclables and the black bags for the rest. Crisp packets, plastic bottles, beer and soft drink cans formed the bulk of the litter, but there was also the odd vodka and whisky bottle.

Litter is certainly in the news. The headline in ‘The Times’ on Saturday 12^th April read ‘Fines for litterbugs caught on camera’ and the article continued by saying that ‘Ministers are considering whether to extend the powers of local councils to help them tackle the problem that is blighting Britain’s by-ways and lay-bys’. The B1123 and the small country lanes in our villages are certainly not immune as can be seen by the photograph showing the amount that was collected during our local campaign at the end of March.

Thanks must be extended to all those who gave up their time, donned the gloves supplied by the District Council and set about tidying our locality.

The Parish Council hopes to make this an annual event and will again be looking for volunteers.