Village Afternoon Tea
On a wonderfully warm and sunny afternoon, the Parish Room looked its best for the 26 villagers who could tear themselves away from the footie, even though England had clearly won by our 3.00 pm start time and the tv coverage was over by 3.30. It was their loss as all guests had a really great time; there was a superb spread, old friends met up again, new friends were made and the conversation flowed, just as trustees had hoped for.
With very many thanks to everyone who helped, whether on the day, baking cakes or making quiches / sandwiches - it was a real team effort. Lastly, £30.00 was raised for the Bridge Project in Sudbury, a charity set up in 1995 to assist disadvantaged adults within the community - a great result all round.
25th June 2018
What a spread
Yummy or what?
Carrots anyone?
A lovely Dundee cake
A superb Victoria sponge
Clear proof that it was great fun
Two very happy new residents of the village
An interesting platefull - cream cake on top of scones and sandwiches - it didn't last long!
Old friends enjoying each other's company
Clearly a great time was had by all.
Deep in conversation
More conversation, even when leaving.
Parish Council Discussion of the plans for The Swan
The full planning application for development and refurbishment of The Swan is now available to view on the Babergh DC Planning site - see also below. These plans will be considered by the Parish Council at their meeting on Thursday 11th April 2019, in the Parish Room at 7pm.
Interested parties are urged to attend, to give their views on this important development for our village, both positive and negative, so that the Parish Council can take them into account before submitting comments to Babergh.
SWAN PLANS NOW ON BDC WEBSITE
To access, please click HERE
By clicking on the 'Documents' tab at the top of the page, 14 documents become available to view - simply select a document (or more than one) then click 'Download Selected Files' (the green button at the bottom of the page) to download; alternatively just click in the extreme right hand column any items you wish to view.
In summary, the existing lettings building is to be converted into a new dwelling, with a second completely new dwelling to be built at the rear. The pub itself will be extended at the rear, creating space for many new dining tables; despite appearances to the contrary, Justin Grainger has assured me that there will no significant reduction to the car park, for two reasons:
- The access to the two dwellings primarily goes over what is now a small garden in front of the coach house, which will be accessed from the rear; and
- The r/h side of the car park garden border will be reduced in size to accommodate the same spaces and bike racks.
The document entitled 'Block Plan' gives an overall view of the proposed development on the whole site, details of which are then provided on the other documents - this is probably the best place to start.
This will be a significant development and I strongly recommend interested parties go through the proposals in some detail. The Parish Council is a mandatory consultee on the plans, so will be discussing these plans, presumably at their next meeting, to which all villagers are welcome to attend. Residents are also free to send their comments directly to BDC as well if they wish.
THE SWAN
I have today received an email from the purchaser of The Swan, which I have shown below, in full:
I note the plans are not yet on the BDC website - click HERE to access - and suggest that all readers check them to ensure there is nothing that would upset you - please type 'Little Waldingfield' as the search keyword, and when available, the plans should then be the first item displayed.
I am very pleased the plans have at last been submitted, and fingers crossed we will all soon have a bigger and better pub in the village.
9th March 2018
Proposed Development at Enniskillen Lodge. Meeting in the Parish Room Tuesday Oct 16th from 15:30
Here is the letter to some residents from the developer - all villagers are warmly invited to attend the meeting / drop-in session.
And here is the outline site plan
Please come along to share your views, both positive and negative.
Village Sale Trail - Saturday 1st September 10.00 am til 1.00 pm
We already have a number of garages / gardens signed up for this great event, along with some tables in the Parish Room, but there is always room for more, so if you would like to sell your unwanted items without leaving home, please contact Sue Sheppard via:
- Phone: (01787) 247980
- Email: sheppard.susanm@gmail.com
- School House, Church Road
There is a small £5 charge for advertising, signs, maps and a donation to Parish Room funds. Each house that signs up will receive its own special sign and be noted on the map so punters can easily find you - we had hundreds of attendees last year and are hoping this year will be even better, so give it a go - its really easy.
Donations for the tombola will also be gratefully received, also to Sue Sheppard.
Calling All Dog Walkers
The observant will have noticed that dog fouling sadly remains an issue in the village, despite free dog poo bags (in the telephone information point) and many notices from the parish council, as well as a recently introduced initiative with bio degradeable spray paint to mark offending piles.
It seems that dog walkers are at last generally using these bags to pick up after their dogs, though sadly filled bags are often simply dumped rather than taken home for disposal or placed in one of the dog poo bins strategically placed around the village (with collection paid for by the council).
Sadly I have just been contacted by a concerned resident and advised that a filled dog poo bag has recently been discarded on the top of her hedge; an unpleasant surprise which she then had to remove and dispose of appropriately.
It would be appreciated if all dog walkers collected and appropriately disposed of the waste their pets create so that the village becomes a more pleasant place for all.
Should any reader have any ideas of further steps the council could perhaps take, or if you see a dog walker either not picking up or not disposing properly of dog waste and don't wish to confront the perpetrator, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Many thanks.
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10th April 2015
Village Litter Pick
Yesterday morning a dedicated band of willing volunteers braved the elements to conduct the annual litter pick of all the roads into and out of our village; most happily, there was a great turnout, and a hearty thanks to all involved, including Mary who organised everything so well and provided a most welcome and delicious cup of Yorkshire tea at the end - superb.
Like me, a number of pickers believed there was less litter than in previous years, but as you will see from the photo, this was not the case as sadly a mountain of rubbish was once again collected. The very obvious large object was a collection of four used car tyres (which I truly don't understand as the cost of new tyres includes removal and recycling by the fitters, so how were these left behind?); however, we also collected three sets of front car lights and multiple wheel trims etc, so it seems we are well on the way to assembing another car. Sadly, this perhaps reinforces just how dangerous the minor roads are around our villages with frequent comings together - there have been three potentially very serious accidents in the past 6 to 9 months alone, thankfully with just two injuries, though these have had lasting consequences unfortunately.
I live in hope that car and lorry drivers (mainly) desist from chucking rubbish out of their windows and into our verges, but expect to be back again next year for yet another pick - hey ho!
Our next litter pick will be on Saturday March 14th at 10.00 A.M. so please join us for this most worthwhile activity that really does help keep Little Waldingfield as neat and tidy as we like it.
Meet at the Parish Room from 09.40 to collect your heavy duty plastic sack, picker and Hi Viz banner and join an enthusiastic group of litter pickers.
Please wear stout shoes / boots and sturdy gloves.
21st February 2015
A veritable mountain of rubbish
A well earned cuppa after the hard work (and yes - everyone is pretty exhausted)
Silver Jubilee Bench Rebuilt and reinstated
With grateful thanks to Mike Langford and Ivan Carter, the wreck of a bench which sat outside the Swan Inn has been completely disassembled, new wood replaced where necessary (quite a lot) and joints etc generally repaired. The bench was then reassembled, treated and is now back in place in the small border next to the car park.
This was no mean feat, as it required considerable skill, dedication, patience and effort, - well done lads.
Village Carol Singing
A merry band of enthusiastic carollers went round the village last night with their equally enthusiastic collection box shakers and I am delighted to advise that £201.49 was raised for that most important of charitiies at this time of year - CRISIS - a hearty thanks to all who took part and who donated so generously.
Thanks must also go to:
- Pam and Ray, who opened The Swam Inn doors specially for us, and additionally cooked dinner for us when we returned;
- The lovely couple with the moving Santa Claus in the bedroom window (sadly I don't know your names) who came out with mulled wine and mince pies to keep us all going on a cold night - really appreciated and we loved your light show; and
- Margaret who invited us all into her beautiful home where an incredible spread was laid out before us.
Who says the Christmas spirit is a thing of the past because it was much in evidence last night as the total raised clearly demonstrates. Sadly we ran out of time so completely missed Grove Avenue and the lower part of Church Road; we must work our way round the village quicker next year, or perhaps start a bit earlier, but if anyone we missed would like to contribute, please see Barbara Campbell (Appleton House) or Andy / Sue Sheppar (School House), both in Church Road.
Merry Christmas to everyone
16th December 2014
Village Signpost Rebuilt
It is with considerable pleasure that I can pronounce that our lovely village sign is now back where it belongs, rather than languishing broken in my garage after a car demolished it in July, and it is looking lovelier than ever.
Local tradesman Phil Scott has overseen all of the work, from groundworks to setting the new green oak post on its foundation and repainting the sign itself. To ensure the brick plinth could properly incorporate new knapped flint detailing, Phil also utilised the services of expert local bricklayer and friend Lee who did a superb job as the pictures attest.
Thankfully neither the driver nor passenger in the car were injured, despite their airbags not going off, and we fervently hope that the newly restored post, sign and plinth have a very long and uneventful life.
18th November 2014
New plinth detail
Repainted sign
Village Sign Reinstated
It is with considerable pleasure that I can advise the plinth was rebuilt yesterday around a new green oak post ready to hold the repainted village sign in about a weeks time, after allowing time for the lime mortar to set.
The structure already looks superb, and is a great improvement on the previous stump and assorted broken bricks that have been in situ since the accident that destroyed it. I can't wait to see the finished product.
The wreckage of the old sign and post
The wreckage of the old sign and post
Two rightly proud workmen