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June 2004
It's the 1st June and the sky is covered in cloud, yesterday it was glorious sunshine! But that's British weather which,I believe, is described as a maritime climate. In 5 days time it's the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings and I've been wondering over the last few days how many, if any, of those on Feltwell's Roll of Honour were involved in the D-Day landings? I've also been wondering what they would have thought of the recent enlargement of the EU. And the war in Iraq. And the rise in terrorism. Sometimes we remark, as my wife did to me the other day whilst we were out for a walk, "how peaceful the village is and isn't it better than living in a city. Well, frankly, it is on both counts, but just as the World Wars impacted upon the village so the events of the daily news, whilst seeming remote, also impact on Feltwell today. The war on terrorism causes unrest about traffic problems caused by increased security, the war in Iraq generates anxiety in our friends who have sons and daughters in the Army and the enlargement of the EU will, I'm sure, impact upon the farming community as subsidies get redirected elsewhere. Some even talk about the USAF uprooting from the area and moving to one of the former states of the Soviet Union! However, if you could see the amount of building work going on on both RAF Lakenheath and Feltwell at the moment then you'd be very, very skeptical about this idea. The runway at Mildenhall is being replaced as I type and a new multi-million dollar school on Feltwell is currently being outfitted for opening in September. The present USAF school, as many of you will know, currently occupies several of the old RAF buildings.
On a more parochial note I've just been looking through the June issue of the village magazine and it makes me very proud to be a Feltwellian (despite the occasional moan!). I know I contribute to the magazine but I never get to see the articles provided by my fellow editors until it's printed. In fact, for this issue I was involved in delivering it to many of the distributors, as our chief distributor is suffering a trapped nerve in his back. It was terrific to meet the unsung heroes of the magazine who go out in all weather to deliver their magazines for no pay. What a great thing they do. Before I return to the content of June's issue I must report that the magazine, last financial year, raised £2,529.96p for St Mary's Church. Something else I'm very proud of. One regular feature of the magazine is the Village Noticeboard and for June it advertises the Bowls Club Car Boot Sale, the Patronal Service at St Nicholas Church (6/6/04 in the afternoon for those who can make it), St Mary's Coffee Morning, St Mary's Strawberry Tea and Gift Day and, finally, Feltwell Primary School Summer Fete and Car Boot. And this is on top of the regular events held by the WI, the A&H, the Social Club, Mottlers etc, etc. The mag contains a regular column by the Doctor, the third instalment of Barry Davies RAF Feltwell memories (see the RAF Feltwell section for the full text), contributions from St Mary's Church and the Methodist Chapel, sports news (Tom Hobbs is playing his first match in the Norfolk under-25s singles knockout competition), a cookery page, an article from the primary school debating the pros and cons of the proposed affordable housing project, an article celebrating Richard Hunt's London Marathon run (he raised £2,600 for the charity Sense), a regular poetry contribution, a report from the Parish Council and the regular Feltwellian column.
What a brilliant place I live in!
