Latest News…
Derek Redhead – a personal tribute
Derek was a stalwart of local government and gave me a great deal of help and support when I was first elected to Suffolk County Council in 1997…
Pottery at the W.I. with Geoffrey Kay
Hands on evenings are always popular and so it proved when potter Geoffrey Kay came to talk and demonstrate his skill with clay. He willingly admitted that he is addicted to making anything, using a variety of clays from around the world but especially from his own garden.
Councils secure additional temporary accommodation and further outreach support for vulnerable people
West Suffolk councils have secured the use of additional temporary accommodation and has taken on new outreach workers. The councils have invested to gain the use of a 12 bedroom hostel and flats owned by the Home Group in Bury St Edmunds…
News from Wickhambrook Carnival Committee
Well, once again we held another successful carnival day last year, enabling us to help out with village activities. We held the Children’s Christmas Disco in November, which was attended by 60 children, who were entertained by the brilliant DNA Kids, always a good job from them. The children all visited Santa in his grotto and each child received a present. This event is open to all children living in the village or attending Wickhambrook Primary Academy, aged 11 years and under…
Bygone Wickhambrook
Some time during 2017 we were contacted in relation to an article that was being written about Wickhambrook and as to whether it would be ok to include some of the wonderful photos from our website that have been donated by Wickhambrook Residents and their families. You may be interested to know that this article has now been published in the April 2018 edition of the Suffolk Norfolk Life…
Memories of WI Life by the late Ivy Haygreen
Wickhambrook WI years ago was rather different to what it is now. Mrs Helen Medcalf remembers when it was held on Wednesday afternoons . Of course, mothers were at home in the daytime, so that made sense…
New campaign encourages smokers to ‘Take it Outside’
A new campaign is raising awareness of the health and fire safety risks of smoking in the home. ‘Take it Outside’ highlights the health harms to family and friends of second hand smoke, and aims to reduce the devastating impact of house fires as a result of smoking. It is a joint campaign between Suffolk County Council Public Health, Trading Standards and Fire & Rescue Service…
The Premier Protestant Printer, John Dye and his connections to Little Bradley
If you visit Little Bradley church, I am sure you will be struck by the monument to John Daye, his wife Alice le Hunte and their thirteen children. But who was John Daye? Wendy Barnes has been researching the history of Little Bradley for thirty years and keeps discovering more, thanks to the internet…
The Suffolk Wildlife Trust
For the March meeting we were joined by Will Cranstoun, manager at Lackford Lakes for The Suffolk Wildlife Trust. He took us through the charities conversion of a commercial quarry site in the sixties to the 400 acres of man-made lakes, reed beds, meadows and breckland now providing pockets of many diverse habitats for wildlife today…
Stroke survivors club to launch new choir
Stroke survivors are being encouraged to join a new choir which is being launched with the support of St Edmundsbury Borough Council funding. The Second Chance Stroke Survivors Club was set up eight years ago to provide social and emotional support to stroke survivors in the Bury St Edmunds area…
East Anglian Almshouses
February saw the return of Sarah Doig, to talk about the history of almshouses. Beginning with the monks in the Middle Ages, there has been an obligation on Christians to look after the less fortunate, whether they are old, ill or disabled…
Parish Clerk’s Report for March/April 2018
Wickhambrook Parish Clerk Report for March/April 2018 including public access defibrillator, play area improvements, storm damage, Parish Councillor appointment, March litterpick, Annual Parish Meeting, Recent Planning Applications and next Parish Council meeting dates…
Reminiscing back in the 1970’s
One of my memories was the Carnival back around 1970, when you had the dodgems set up along with lots of other things, it was SO exciting!, and I stood on the edge of the “rink” with my friend Jeanette listening to “The world is just a great big onion”, at 13 years old it was like the world was our oyster! Any information would be lovely…
Gallery – Flower Show
See photos of our previous Flower Shows…
Cacti of Desertworld
Our first meeting of the New Year was held on Monday 22nd January. It seemed a long time since our December meeting. There were a lot of members present and Barry Gayton from Santon Downham had come to talk to us about “Cacti of Desertworld”…
Gallery – Carnival
Take a look at the photos of our previous Carnival Days…
Gallery – History Society
Take a look at the Local History Society – Wickhambrook Views photo gallery…
1st Wickhambrook Cubs need your help!
We would love to be able to bring Cubs back to the Village, so we need some leaders who are ready to lead the adventure…
Snapshots of Syria
There was an excellent turn-out for our first meeting of the year. One of our members, Antony Foreman, gave a talk entitled ‘Snapshots of Syria’ which was based on a trip he had taken there in the 1990s…
Community public access defibrillator
We now have two community public access defibrillators that can be used by anyone located at Wickhambrook Fire Station and the Memorial Social Centre (MSC) – you don’t need to have received training in its use as the machine talks you through what you need to do – step by step!
Making Jewellery
The new W.I. Year started off with such creativity and concentration for our members thanks to Sikander Jadd and the jewelry workshop she led for us recently. The objective was a beaded bracelet, made by ourselves from scratch…
Zipwire – Wickhambrook Play Area Improvements
Discussions on a project to provide a Cableway (Zipwire) for the youngsters of Wickhambrook has been ongoing for a couple of years and finally we have made it…
Gallery – W.I.
Take a look at the W.I. photo gallery…
W.I. Christmas Party
It was a lovely way to end the year and get into the Christmas spirit joining together to enjoy a festive evening organized by our hard-working committee. A welcoming drink and beautifully decorated tables, greeted our arrival…
Parish Clerk’s Report for January/February 2018
Wickhambrook Parish Clerk Report for January/February 2018 including Steps Clearance, Parish Councillor Resignation, Remembrance Sunday, Litterpick, ‘Ziphambrook’, Memorial Garden, Recent Planning Applications and agreed dates for Parish Council meetings for 2018…
Thank You – World’s Biggest Coffee Morning 2017
I would like to send a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who attended and so generously supported our 26th annual Coffee Morning recently. The event was part of Macmillan Cancer World’s Biggest Coffee Morning and was a wonderful morning, with over 160 people attending…
Giles and his adopted town, Ipswich
As a child, I well remember looking at cartoons in the newspaper and an annual compilation by Giles. Like most of the audience at History Society in November, I had no idea that he lived in Ipswich and that many of the people and places were familiar to the locals.
Astronomy for Beginners
It was a chilly, dark, evening as we met to discover the wonders of the astronomy BUT unfortunately it was too cloudy above to see anything of the planets or the stars and their constellations!!!
Notice of Vacancy
UPDATE 17 Jan 2018 – this is now closed for Applications. Notice is hereby given that there is a vacancy on Wickhambrook Parish Council. The vacancy has previously been advertised, and no election has been requested. The Council is now able to fill the vacancy by co-option…
Medieval Woollen Cloth Industry in Suffolk
Dr Nick Amor was our October speaker and his subject was the Medieval Woollen Cloth Industry in Suffolk. We already knew the importance of Suffolk in the rearing of sheep and the making of cloth but one of the most interesting pieces of new (to us)information was that in 1483, Richard Broun, a woolman of Wickhambrook was sued in the courts for £40, the equivalent of many thousands today…
Parish Clerk’s Report for November/December 2017
Parish Clerk report for November/December 2017 including Public Access Defibrillators, Telephone Kiosk, VAS Machine Project Success, Zipwire, Hedges, Recent Planning Applications, Dates of Next Meetings and Christmas…
The Trafficking of Women
Our guest this month was Pam Bowen from the Crown Prosecuting Service, based in London, but travelling around the UK, Europe and sometimes beyond in her work investigating and bringing to justice those involved in trafficking of women and modern slavery…
Suffolk’s Most Famous Cavalier
Thomas Blague of Horringer was rightly described by John Sutton , our speaker for September, as Suffolk’s most famous cavalier. He was born at Little Horringer Hall in 1613 and his early life is a mystery. He was probably a mercenary in Europe, as his military skills were evident in his later life…
Soft Power Education
Our guest speaker at our September meeting, filling in at very short notice due to illness was Margaret McAlpine from Bury St Edmunds to give us an insight to her volunteering work with Soft Power Education based in Uganda at the Amagezi Education Centre near Jinja…
History Society Summer Outings
During the summer the History Society went on two excellent outings with fine weather, interesting locations and good company. The first was to Lincoln Cathedral and Castle where we had guided tours by two guides who brought the past to life and spent lots of time chatting, answering questions and generally making us feel very welcome. We also visited Gressenhall Workhouse and Museum of Norfolk Life…
Garden Meeting
Our members meeting for this year took place recently under leaden skies with the threat of rain by invitation of Trustee Joyce Draycott and her husband Philip at their home Ashfield Green Farm. Despite the August evening weather, a very warm welcome awaited all from Joyce and her band of member helpers greeting us on arrival with either an Elderflower or Pimms…
Oil Buying Group
One of the actions requested in the Parish Plan was to set-up an oil buying scheme for Wickhambrook…
Are you finding it difficult to use Public Transport?
Connecting Communities is a new service – bringing the traditional community transport services such as Dial a Ride, Suffolk Links and Community Car service under one new single identity…
Parish Clerk’s Report for September/October 2017
Parish Clerk Report for September/October 2017 including Lay Members of the Parish Council Estates Committee, July LitPic, Youth Football Club, Hedges, VAS Update – speeding in the village, The Hidden Perils of Strimming by Colin Bird, Recent Planning Applications and Dates of Next Meetings…
A Hundon Walk
This route which takes you from Hundon to Poslingford and back is just over five miles and if you wish for a picnic midway there are several seats in Poslingford churchyard. The walk is one of undulating contrasts with one particularly long cross-field path which should be clearly indicated, good views and several short sections of great interest. Enjoy…
The Spy who loved
At the July meeting, Clare Mulley of Saffron Walden, a writer and historian, came to talk to us about her book, ‘The Spy Who Loved’. The subject of the book is Krystyna Skarbek, a Polish countess who changed her name to Christine Granville when she became a British spy during the first World War…
Flower Show 2017
It was a lovely day for our Flower Show on the 8th July. Not too hot, but cloudy and sunny all day. The numbers of entries this year were a little down compared to last year, but we still had entries in nearly all the categories and the hall looked lovely and colourful…
Belly Dancing
At our open meeting in June we had several visitors attracted by the opportunity to see and find out about Belly Dancing from teacher and expert of 13 years Victoria Strudwick of Sudbury…
W.I. Literary Lunch 2017
Those attending the annual 9th Literary lunch hosted by the ladies of the two Wickhambrook W.I. Reading Groups enjoyed a delicious buffet including some yummy home baked desserts in the company of author Rosy Thornton, author of Sandlands from East Suffolk…
Carnival Day 2017
On Carnival Day, Saturday 8th July, Oscar and his two attendants will ride in an open top car and lead a Disney themed ‘Walking’ procession, along with the Sawston Youth Group Marching Band, Fire Engine, and classic cars…
Parish Clerk’s Report for July/August 2017
Parish Clerk Report for July/August 2017 including Annual Parish Council Meeting, LitPic, Annual Parish Meeting Report from 18 May, Biscuit Barrel, Memorial Garden update, Bury Road Playground, VAS Update – speeding in the village, Recent Planning Applications and Dates of Next Meetings…
Churches and Chapels since the Reformation
The May meeting saw a welcome return of Tony Kirby. His talk “Churches and Chapels since the Reformation”, illustrated by slides of East Anglia, was full of interest. The period 1530-1560 saw a 1,000 years of religious building destroyed with the destruction of abbeys and monasteries…
AGM, Resolutions and Yum Yum Tree Fudge
We started the meeting with a sugar rush, which kept us awake and lively for the whole meeting! The business of the monthly meeting was swiftly concluded. Future events were publicised including the Literary Lunch with Rosy Thornton on 16th June (tickets from Dorothy), an ice-cream tasting and a breakfast walk…
2017 Recipient of the Alf Hicks Biscuit Barrel Award
Maggie Elers was the unanimous choice by the Parish Council for the award this year and the photograph shows Chairman Paul Couzens with Maggie who will hold the Biscuit Barrel for twelve months and have her name added to the list of previous worthy holders of the award…
History Society AGM – History and the Printed Cartoon
At the AGM, the committee and office-bearers were re-elected to serve for another year. The secretary, Gillian Cooper, unveiled the new programme and gave details of summer outings to Lincoln Castle and Cathedral and Gressenhall Workhouse Museum and Farm. The speaker for the evening was Martin Roper and his subject was History and the Printed Cartoon…