What's New?
It's a good idea to bookmark this page.
The following is a list of the changes to this website with the most recent changes
shown first:
- 5/3/11
- A shocking 2 years since I last made an entry here! Things have been quiet
and I'm now firmly of the opinion that anyone anywhere with an interest in
Feltwell has been in touch as requests for Feltwellian status have dropped to
about 3 a year, hence there has been no need to do regular updates. However, in
2010 I started a Parish Council
section and update this with Council minutes each month.
- 21/9/09
- Added Feltwell Web Family links, amended
others. Added Winifred Spinks'
life story.
- 22/9/08
- Photographs of RAF Feltwell between
1952-1957 from Ivan Reeman (M.T.D.).
Chronology page for 2008 updated.
- 7/9/08
- BIG PICS of St Nicholas Church plus some NEW St Nicholas photographs.
- 25/5/08
- The first of many BIG PICS added. These are high resolutions scans of
many of the existing photographs presented at full-screen size. Look out for the
.
Also even higher scans of detail are available in some pictures, indicated by a
additional Magnifier icons. Big Pics will feature on the Photo of the Month
page.
- 12/4/08
- New Google Site Search added as MS stop supporting Front Page Extension
and my hosting company withdraws support in turn. Favicon introduced. Began
rescanning of 'Historical Tour' postcards at higher resolution.
- 2/1/08
- RAF Feltwell Memorial listing now arranged alphabetically and minor
changes to the RAF Feltwell section. Feltwellians list updated.
- 7/11/07
- http://www.feltwell.org.uk
purchased after a period in limbo due to the fact that I missed the renewal
date!
- 28/9/07
- Site moved to its new home at
http://www.feltwell.net.
- 22/07/07
- New photo added to RAF Feltwell
Memorial pages, Feltwellians list updated and broken
links repaired.
- 10/06/07
- The first videos added to the site showing compass point pans from the top
of St Mary's Tower.
- 04/11/06
- Extremely rare photographs of the WW1 RAF
Feltwell station added. An interesting footnote added to the
Feltwell Doctors page.
- 30/09/06
- Anderson family page added.
New photos of 75 Squadron from
James Robinson
- 17/2/06
- Junior 2's play of the Wizard
of Oz from 1972. Two class photos added to
School Photos.
- 27/11/05
- Various photographs added to
Youth Organisations,
School Photos,
Individuals and Groups.
- 28/10/05
- Many broken links fixed. Three new pages added to RAF Feltwell articles.
One is based upon the recollections of "Chappie"
Chapman, a 75Sq pilot, the second is a letter from
Gwyn Martin to Stan Brooks
about his time with 75Sq. Both contains references to Jimmy Ward VC. The last
concerns some Luftwaffe Fighter
Aces at Feltwell post WW2. Links added to all those on the
RAF Memorial List. Also, Betty Brown
remembers coming to Feltwell in 1955.
- 20/9/05
- www.feltwell.org launched on an
unsuspecting world!
- 08/05
- www.feltwell.org purchased. All 3
sites amalgamated.
- 5/5/05
- St Nicholas detail pages added. Photographs from
inside
and additional detail
outside.
- 5/3/05
-
Air
Show Programme from 1952 added to RAF Feltwell site.
Inside
St Nicholas Church and
Extra
External detail pages finally completed. Toni Burr's photos inserted
appropriately. Story of
75
Squadron fitter added.
- 6/2/05
- Additional photos of the
RAF
Feltwell Air Show in 1956. Two
pages
of photos from Toni Burr, all requiring further details.
- 28/12/04
- New details added to RAF page. New photo of
Wilton
Road and one in The Beck from 1935. New
photos and articles on the
RAF
Feltwell include Feltwell Air Show c1956 and additional contributions on
Feltwell's Navy
volunteers. List of Lost Members removed.
- 30/08/04
- Two new photographs featuring the Post Office in
The
Beck. One from 1948-49 and one from 1935 which also features a
magnificent Bullnose
Morris. The St Mary's subweb completed by addition of
pages about Memorials, the
Rood
Screen, Tudor Pews and
Miscellaneous photos.
- 30/07/04
- Article about Feltwell's
Navy
volunteers during WW2 including a photograph of the crew of HMS Salmon.
Added more informative page number buttons to RAF site.
Blackdyke Road page completed. New photographs of
Wilton
Road, The Sanctuary and
Big
Sky replaced/added. Brief notes added on the origin of many
Feltwell streets and roads. The St Mary's subweb expanded by the
addition of several pages showing the stained glass windows in detail.
- 30/06/04
- Photographs from the inauguration of RAF Feltwell
golf
course added to RAF Feltwell site.
- 28/05/04
- Additional photographs relating to Harry Lawson and crew published on
the
RAF Feltwell
site
and some broken links fixed.
- 20/4/04
- Over the last month a major restructuring has taken place owing to
space limitations. A separate
RAF
Feltwell Memorial Site has been created and RAF material from sites 1
and 2 has been gathered together in one place.
- 31/12/03
- Major additions made to
Thor Missile
and RAF pages. New photos added to
High
Street, Short Beck and
St
Nicholas. Many new photographs added to various pages within the
Work
and Play section. The story of the RAF Feltwell badge added to
Written
Records
- 30/10/03
- Hereward Way,
Moatside,
Sparkes Way and
Western
Close pages added.
- 30/9/03
- Archers Avenue,
Camp
Close, Curtis Drive and
Leonards
Lane pages added to site 3
- 31/8/03
- Developments on St Mary's sub-site completed this month with detailed
images of the
Rood
Screen, Tudor Pew ends, Memorials, etc being added.
- 31/7/03
- Street name origins added to pages of
Site
3 together with new/improved photographs of Wilton Road, Blackdyke Lane
and Big Sky. Broken links repaired and other minor changes made.
Additions to RAF
Feltwell Memorial page. New article by Dan Engle about the 'Ventura
Men of Feltwell.' A series of photographs from Mr C. Ives of the
Royal
Visit to RAF Methwold. The third
RAF
Feltwell Memorial page started. The St Mary's sub-site finally started;
see the stained glass
here.
- 29/6/03
- New article by Dan Engle concerning a crash on RAF Feltwell during WW2
added to
Written
Records together with photographs. Photo of Old Tyme Dancing Club added
to Special
Occasions page.
- 3/5/03
- Elmer Lake's recollections added to Times Remembered. Some broken
links repaired.
- 1/3/03
- The first photograph of a class from the USAF school at RAF Feltwell -
Feltwell Elementary School - added to School
Photos. Also the winning team of the 1946-47 football season on
Sports
Teams. Please note that
undiscovered old photographs of the village are becoming increasingly rare.
- 25/2/03
- Feltwell
in the Snow page added.
- 31/01/03
- Two new photos of Remembrance Day 1956 added to 'Other
Events', also one of Alan Baxter, a village character, on the 'Individuals
and Groups' page'. The recollections of Brian Watts have been compiled
onto this
page.
- 31/12/02
- Second page added to
RAF
Feltwell Memorial section. Names required. Page of
Walden/Whistler
ancestral photographs. Minor additions to The Oak and
Bell
Street.
- 1/12/02
- Apart from three roads
Site 3
is now complete. When the sun returns in the Spring I'll go out with
the camera again! Additional detail added to
RAF
Feltwell page.
- 1/11/02
-
Site 3 updated with photographs
of Curtis Drive, Camp Close, Archers Avenue and Leonards Lane.
- 1/10/02
- For the first time ever, absolutely nothing!
- 1/9/02
- Several additions this month, most of them provided by Maureen
Reid. New photos of High Street incl. a
wonderful one of Barley Porter's General Store, of
St
Nicholas Church, Cambridge House,
East
Hall and the Fen Flood of 1915.
Also a new page on the
Palmer
family which Maureen is researching. Stephen Haxby has provided names
for the Lancaster Crew on the RAF
Feltwell Memorial page. The
Tithe
Map of 1837 has finally got digitised, the file sizes involved are large
due to the detail involved.
- 1/8/02
- The
RAF
Feltwell - Personnel page has now become a Memorial to all those who
served at RAF Feltwell during the war. Two small additions to
Written
Records and that's all this month.
- 1/7/02
- Only
Site 3 upgraded this
month with photographs of the roads on St Nicholas Estate added - Rawlins
Way, Munsons Lane, St Nicholas Drive and Lamberts Close.
- 31/5/02
- A small upgrade this month mainly to
Site
3. New photos of Hall Drive, Newcombe Drive, Green Lane, Paynes
Lane, Short Lane and Crabbes Close. New photo of the Old Forge in
The
Beck and one of High Street added to Site
1. Home page redesigned.
- 28/4/02
- Two new pages, both from newspapers, on 'The
End of Feltwell Hall,' from 1972 and added to the 'Clough
Family loop' and 'The last Fen House.'
Details about the Sparke Family Crest
with photo from Don Gray and words from John Sparks. A new cricket team
photo added to
Sports
Teams. Two new sepia tinted photographs, one of the
Windmill
and the other of Bell Street which shows the
beautiful barn and no Oak annex. A photo showing Mrs Pryer, Blanche
Hicks, Lil Banham, at work in the gardens of Newcombe Hall in August 1916 is
on the 'Tradesmen'
page on Site 2. The story of 'St
Mary's Stained Glass' has been newly revised by Monique Newman and I've
started a new page entitled 'Postcards from Feltwell'. This one should
build slowly. Mrs Sheila Wilcoxson, nee Harrison, has
provided the names to a photo of some WRAFs on the RAF
page. Photos of Lodge Road, East Hall cottages and Munsons Lane added to Site
3
- 31/3/02
- New 'Times Remembered' article by
Mrs
Catherine Orange (recently discovered in the archives!) Quite long
but fascinating recollections of a life in Feltwell dating from 1899 to
1970. Also some
aircrew
pictures and two new photographs on the RAF Feltwell
page, all from Derek Routen. Photographs added to the
Addisons
Close page on Site 3.
- 28/2/02
- Chris has let me at his new photographs! New page on
Hare
Coursing with lots of photos, but only of people and dogs, nothing
gruesome. A new Times Remembered page with stories about the
1952/3
fen floods and a new page about 'The
Black Hoods'. a local band on RAF airmen. Additions and changes to
St Mary's/War Memorial page (this is the Conducted
Tour start page), Lodge Road,
Bell
Street, Feltwellians,
Munsons
Lane and Fen Flood. Nothing new
on Site 3; the weather has not been conducive to taking photographs!
- 2/1/02
- Lots of new photographs from RAF Feltwell during WW2 added to the
airfield
page. A new page on RAF Feltwell as a
Thor
Missile Base added to Site 1. Also new photos added to
High
Street, The Beck, Munsons
Lane and Oak Street. To Sports Teams,
Youth
Organisations and
Individuals
and Groups on Site 2 also. The new road on
Site
3 this month is Clough Drive, also extras pics of Oakfields Estate
entrance and a couple on High Street. An article derived from original
correspondence surrounding the design and purchase of
St
Mary's stained glass windows added to site 2, very interesting.
- 30/11/01
- A very busy month elsewhere so not much done to the sites except for some
photographs of Nightingale Lane added to Site 3. Links through to
Millennium
Feltwell activated.
- 31/10/01
- Having finally finished converting images I've been able to get started
on the backlog! Lots of new photographs added to Site 2 -
Individuals
and Groups incl. sports teams,
Parties
and Plays,
Class
Photos,
Youth
Organisations etc. Several
new
articles on Site 2 include an
Open
Letter to Feltwell from Mrs O'Rorke on the death of her husband, the Rev
O'Rorke, an article from Mr Charles
Dear on his time flying in bombers during WW2 and the entire text of the
Welcome
booklet for RAF Feltwell to name but three. Also added some
recently rediscovered photographs of past
Rectors.
New photos also added to site 1 - Lodge Road,
High
Street and Fen Flood. Also, two
new roads added to
Site 3.
Even found time to update the Chronology! Added
Vincent Close.to site 3
- 28/9/01
- Have spent most of the month checking the Feltwellian list in my
Address Book and am now quite confident that all email links are
active. Have decided to keep a keep a list of 'lost' members on the
same page - just in case. Conversion of photographs continued this
month on site 2 so no new stuff added here or there. Only new pages
are on Site 3.
- 8/9/01
- Photographs of Wallace King Furniture Store and Lazy Daze
Beauty Parlour added to High Street.
Roads in site 3 completed this month -
Falcon Road,
Lime Kiln Lane,
St John's Way and
Mulberry Close.
- 22/8/01
- Added some fascinating
letters
from Lucy O'Rorke, wife of Rev O'Rorke, about an agricultural strike.
Splendid insight stuff. The Parish Councillor
list
is now up-to-date.
- 30/6/01
- Photographs of the newly reopened West End
Public House and additional photos of the Bowling Green and British Legion
Hall added to Long Lane. Photographs of
De
Moundeford Road, additional Big Sky,
Wilton
Road and part of Paynes Lane added. New colour
scheme now on all Site 3 pages.
- 31/5/01
- Started to link through to C21 Feltwell website. Photographs added to
High
Street 2 and Inside St Mary's.
New pages on Inside the Methodist Chapel,
Big
Sky Country, RAF Feltwell.
- 31/3/01
- A rare photo of Rose Villas in Long Lane added also
one of Denton Lodge. Added photos of
Hill
Street, Short Beck,
Bell
Street High Street. Added
Inside St Mary's.page.
- 3/3/01
- Lots of material moved between sites to make space available for new photographs.
Hopefully the gaps don't show. Rare photo of Hill House
added. Too many new photos of people added to
Site 2 to link to from
here - just go and explore. Started a redesign of Site 3 as I decided that it was
too garish!
- 30/1/01
- Site 3 -
A Tour of Feltwell
in the new Millennium - launched. I hope to grow the site at a 'road' a month.
- 30/12/00
- Membership reached the target of 100 by the New Year. Had most of
the month off! Happy New Year.
- 30/11/00
- Added a search engine from Pico Search, otherwise no other significant
additions. Storage space for Site 1 is now full!
- 29/10/00
- Only one new item this month, a poem about the Feltwell Murder, added to
Written
Records. Two new members added to the family list.
- 30/9/00
- The final part of the
Howlett
family history added together with a new 'InfoLoop' about
St Mary's Church and a new page about 'The Blackjacks',
Feltwell's first Rock and Roll group! A couple of pictures of the
Control Tower at RAF Feltwell to complement the
Harry Lawson
story. Complete reorganisation of the 'Written
Records' and 'Times
Remembered' sections as well as the 'Work and Play' Gallery.
I hope the changes make using the site easier.
- 29/8/00
- Part four of the
Howlett
family history added. Several photographs of school classes and event audiences
added to the
Work and
Play Gallery . A photograph of John Brewington, a survivor of 'The
Charge of the Light Brigade' added to this section also. A new
Feltwell
Ghost story added together with detailed research concerning
Harry Lawson
of 57 Squadron and his time at Feltwell.
- 26/7/00
- The Feltwell family reaches 82 members! Thanks go to Doreen Gineil
(nee Sparrow) for this months update as she has provided most of the new photographs which
can be found on 'In Their
Youth', 'At Play'
and 'The Oak' pages. I must also thank Toni Burr, who used to
live at the Oak Hotel, for lending some of the photos to Doreen. Thanks also go to
Geanie McManners for some pictures (on 'At Play'), plus others for site 3. Part 3 of
the Howlett
family history added.
- 25/6/00
- New colour photographs from Mr Gott added to the
Bell
Street, Long Lane, The Oak and
Wilton Road pages. These were taken in the 1960s and
make for interesting comparisons with their older neighbours. Also one added to the
Old Rectory page which I thought I had on put on last year! The
Special Photo of the Month is worth a look for its
'human interest' angle. Part 2 of the
Howlett
family history added together with an account of the Feltwell Murder Trial.
- 27/5/00
- A very busy month for new Feltwellians
including the entire Carroll family. Only two new photographs this month in the
Tour, one of cyclists in The Beck and one of the old
Chequers Inn. The latter is from Mrs Pearl Mann who has
kindly sent me the history of the Howlett family. As this is being serialised in the
magazine I'm going to do the same on the website. It is well worth a read.
Click here.
Pearl also sent some photos to illustrate her article, they can be found in the
Work and
Youth sections on site 2.
Also added pictures of members of the
Lemmon family.
- 30/4/00
- A very quiet month: no new Feltwellians but several new photos in all
sections of the Work and
Play Gallery including one of Mr Stanley Hopkins and the newspaper article concerning
his retirement. Better versions of some photos from the Tour came to light and I
have replaced the old copies with these. Have updated the
Parish
Councillor list and am now up to 1981! Many Feltwellian names for the
genealogists.
- 25/3/00
- I was delighted to receive a spectacular photo of the end of the WW2
celebrations on Feltwell Base - see
Photo of the
Month on site 2. Added a page of
Payne Family photos that came
to me via a long and tortuous route. Ownership acknowledged. Names added to some
sports team photos and a bit of probably unnoticeable tidying up done! Page of
War
Graves detail added, also a date-by-date history of
RAF Feltwell
from the RAF Museum in 1980. Three new
Feltwellians.
Registered with Villages Online. Busy month!
- 29/2/00
- Split the airfield photo collection into 'Personnel' and
'Buildings/Planes'. For those interested in 75 (NZ) squadron click
here and to see the
damage done to the Sergeants mess during an air raid
click here. Two new articles added to site 2; one on
the
Moundefords
taken from a newspaper report from January 1976 and one about the
War
Memorial Dedication Service. Also found, at last, a
photo of 'Pip'
Orange, the founder of the Feltwell (H&A) Society. Several new Feltwellians have
joined.
- 30/1/00
- Very little new this month, only a few additional names added to photos on
the At Work and At Play pages and some new photographs of
Feltwell
Hall.
- 3/1/00
- A few more Feltwellians have made themselves known this month. Some
extra photos on the Feltwell at Work page on Site 2 and some
corrections on In Their Youth thanks to Bridget Hall.
- 4/12/99
- A few small additions this month to the Tour including some new shots of
High Street, a good one of St Nicholas from
The Borough, a rare one of Tower Mill
with sails and one of Wilton Road and of Pear Tree Farm house,
now Shortlands Hotel. The Pear Tree cottages page has
finally been added to the Tour. A collection of amusing Pension claims has been added to
the Written Records section of site 2.
- 1/11/99
- A few new photographs added to the 'Photographic Tour' and lots of new ones added to
the 'Work and Play'
gallery. A special 'Blessing of the
Plough' page added. Several minor improvements which you are unlikely to notice but
they make me feel better!
- 2/10/99
- Several new photographs added to the 'Work and Play Gallery' this month as
well as a few additions to the 'Photographic Tour'. I've also introduced a 'Photo of the Month' feature and to start things off we
have a rare and most interesting view of St Mary's Church. A very short 'history' of
The Chequers has been added to the
Landlords page.
- 31/8/1999
- An absolutely huge upgrade this month as I missed the one for July due to
being on holiday and the pressure of work. Many, many new photographs, plus better
versions of existing ones, added all over the place; you'll just have to go on the
Tour again to see them as there really are too
many to list here. I've still got a few left for next month and, hopefully, I will
have added any necessary detail by then! Regular viewers will note that an entirely new
section, Feltwell at 'Work
and Play' has been added. This contains photographs, not of Feltwell, but of Feltwell
folk from yesteryears and will, hopefully, grow rapidly. In fact, the site has now become
so large that it is being housed in TWO separate places. I hope that the seams don't
show but if they do, please let me know. I've got the
Inside
of St Mary's sorted, added a page of flood photos and
Doreen Giniel has sent me a 'Times Remembered' about her time at
Hopkins Butchers.
I've also added AJO's Chronology of Feltwell
pre 20th century.
And finally, I've added all the orphaned
Written
Records from AJO that I could find!
- 26/6/1999
- Together with Mr Ken Stowell I began the potentially very long job of
transcribing the unpublished notes of Arthur 'Pip' Orange (AJO). Pip wrote 6, 200+
page books detailing all aspects of the village history. Some of the notes have been
published (in print and on this site) but it is known that he planned at least one
additional book. This month I have begun the task with his notes on the
village doctors.
Published this month is the start of a
Parish
Councillor list. (1894-1937). Introduced 'quality' backgrounds to all sections
except the Tour. Reworked High Street and added photos
so that they progress "directionally".
- 27-05-99
- Maps is the theme for this update. Added a
Tour
map and two maps showing the locations of past village shops -
western
end, eastern end. These took much longer to do than
anticipated but were brought forward in response to a special request by Larry.
Lists of the Owners and Landlords of The
Chequers and
The
Oak were discovered this month and added. Three new
Feltwellians joined this month. Keep spreading the word.
- 24-04-99
- Added photographs from the collection of Mr. Chris Cock to the pages
below. The Tower Mill page contains a new, rare photo
kindly loaned by Thetford Museum. Several new Feltwellians added this month. Also
check out the new Feltwell Museum
Site being built by Susan Withers, our local Greengrocer. It's good to be able to share
the work.
bell street,
chequers inn, oak hotel,
St. Nicholas church,
high street, wilton road (new page),
almshouses, Feltwell hall,
enterprise band,
the beck, crosshill,
munsons lane, lodge road,
feltwellians
- 03-03-99
- Added photograph of some Harrows to the
Airfield
page. I believe this was taken in '37/'38. Can anyone confirm or correct
this? Amended the names of the
Methodist
Church cleaning ladies.
- 26-02-99
- In order to accommodate new photos from Robert Walden and Thomas Padrick,
the Chapel Street and
Methodist
Church pages have been altered. I'm particularly interested to see if anyone can
name the unknown ladies in the photo on the Methodist Church page. Keep the old
photos coming - anything pre 1960 gratefully accepted, particularly pictures of people.
Robert also sent an abridged version of 'A History of three
Feltwell Brothers'. I urge you to read it.
- 11-02-99
- I continue to be encouraged by your responses to the site, so much so that
I have taken on board, with some amendments, a suggestion that Robert Walden made
(actually he made it to the school but I've adapted it!).
Feltwellians Around the World will, I hope, become a directory
of just that.
Some corrections and details added to
Munsens Lane.
- 24-01-99
- A Mr Robert Walden emailed some old photos of Feltwell, some of them very
rare. Many thanks Robert. These have been added to 'The Oak', 'The Beck' and and a new page has been inserted into the tour - 'Paynes Lane'. Additional photos added to 'Tower Mill' and a large (220K) photo of the
Home Guard has been
attached to the thumbnail of same. A full list of names has been obtained and added ,
thanks to Mr Ken Stowell. A new photo of the
Enterprise Band
and the names of the members courtesy of Mr Eric Secker has been added. And to all
that have emailed, many thanks for the encouragement.
- 05-01-99
- Recovering from the flu so thought I would do some work on the site
between coughing fits and to relieve the boredom! The
Ancient
History page is now done - covers Feltwell from the Stone Age to the Iron Age.
Added 'Pips' description of the (original)
Village Sign and
all that is represented on it.
Added a page on Feltwell's
Mills and
Millers
Added
Peter
Jordan's T.R. on his time as a POW guard plus two
photos
and a map.
- 27-12-98
- Discovered a problem with some photographs, when the thumbnail is clicked
the larger version comes through sometimes, apparently incomplete but a click on refresh
and it's all there! Added a message to click on Refresh.
- 23-12-98
- Uploaded a new version of the site to a new location.
- Site is 300%+ larger and includes many new sections - Photographic Tour,
Written Records, Chronology etc.
- 29-01-22
- I can hardly believe how long it's been since I last added
anything to this page. I'd actually forgotten that this page existed! A few
things have been added in the intervening years but finding new material is
becoming increasing rare. However, today, I've added a page on the
removal of the ancient
Feltwell Oak Tree with a terrific photograph, a rare image of
Lodge Road and a page on the
stone-laying
ceremony for the Methodist Chapel (1935)
- 06-01-2023
- Another long gap between updates. Added three new
Feltwellians and superb aerial photos showing the caravan
park (from James mahoney)
Author: Paul C. Garland. E-mail
garlandpREMOVE@btinternet.com
Copyright © 1998-. All rights reserved.
Revised: January 06, 2023.