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Written Records

January 2009

 Dear Feltwell Family Member,

 Happy New Year!

 I’ve just realised that I only sent one newsletter last year which is very remiss of me but raises the question, where did last year go? I hope I do a better job in 2009, which shouldn’t be difficult.

 In a nutshell 2009 was a relatively busy one for the village as Chris Cock, the new Chairman of the A&H Society, reported in his annual report this month –

 “The museum has not been open this past year although some enquiries to its access have been made.

 The village continues to grow at a somewhat alarming rate, with new housing at the rear of the surgery on The Old Brandon Rd, the old school in the Beck and Whitehouse Farm in Long Lane. The Mission Hall disappeared in Hill St after many years of being unused. The Wine Lodge (formerly Barley Porters Shop and the Co-op) closed and the West End reopened.

 In Bell St at the house known as Roseneath (adjoining the Oak annexe) opened as Cooke’s of Swanton (previously Cooke’s of Swanton Morley) selling handmade luxury chocolates.”

 In addition to these changes new play equipment was installed on the playing field and the old swings etc removed as they had finally reached the end of their safe life. A new group called PFL, Proper Feltwell Lot, was formed to raise money for a new skatepark. This is a joint venture between Feltwell youth, the Youth Service, parents and the Parish Council.  A new youth shelter has already been installed by PFL with solar powered radio and an area of land on the playing field identified for the skate park.  PFL started in response to the Council’s wish to engage the young of the village in an effort to tackle the rise in Anti-social behaviour that we saw last year and to recognise that the majority of our youngsters were not involved. What has emerged is an organisation which is now opening a drop-in centre at the bowls club for young teenagers. May they go from strength to strength. Many Feltwellians will remember the youth organisations of the past, tales of which can be found on the website.

 Parallel with the positive action of the Council and PFL has been the increased engagement of the Police with the village and the establishment of a HomeWatch scheme.  This scheme has taken a long time to get off the ground but thanks to the efforts of a number of councillors it is starting to gain some momentum. 

 St Mary’s church, as you will realise from the website home page, is in serious need of large amounts of capital in order to do major work on the roof. The Friends of St Mary’s continue to do fund raising but, despite the promise of some grant monies, an awful lot of work is still required.  If you would like to support the appeal by purchasing a roof tile or tiles please email me for a donation form.

 On the website front I have still not been able to decide how to reorganise the RAF Feltwell section.  The BIG picture initiative is continuing, albeit slowly, but all of Chris’ collection and that of the A&H have been rescanned ready for uploading. It’s just a case of finding the time to edit the pages, process the photos and upload the changes. In addition I need to start work on the Parish Council website – government is putting the pressure on us!