The Mardler
A local parish magazine covering the villages of Thorpe Abbotts and Brockdish. Coming out every two months I will publish here the All Saints' contribution.
March Edition of the Mardler
Church News
Thorpe Abbotts Church News
All Saints suffered a partial heating failure over the cold period which as I reported last time resulted in a service in the Village Hall. After considerable scratching of heads we discovered that one of the power lines had come adrift from its pole. Amazingly once this had been reported EDF were out the same day and worked well into the evening to trim back the offending tree and reconnect us to the grid. So now the church is again warm and toasty for our services. Well it is as long as you have the benefit of a nice warm coat!!
The Annual Quiz was a great success with a full hall of contestants. The top teams, both from the village, were neck and neck all the way to the last round. Fortunately the finale proved decisive and Jan and Tony Maidment’s table came out the winners by a whisker, followed by Val and Steve’s table. Unfortunately I had misplaced the perpetual wooden spoon trophy so a small box of chocolates when to the team at the other end of the leader board. A thoroughly fun evening was had by all with many staying on after the finish to catch up and make fuller use of the bar. We were delighted that the evening made over £300 for church funds, with an extra game raising £50 for the Haiti Relief Fund.
Saturday 20th February saw us with another event, this time an historical film night. A discerning audience from the area enjoyed David Bryant’s film that he had made of Diss in the 1950’s. After a light supper we enjoyed a film made in the 1960’s of two young lads canoeing the River Waveney from its source at what is now Lopham Fen through to the sea. Clearly continuity was key and all wondered when the lads might change their shirts, even after an unscheduled swim!! Time constraints meant that we concluded the film at Beccles, but it was fascinating to see the towns and villages as they were.
On Saturday 6th March the PCC arranged an activity morning at the Village Hall to make gifts for Mothering Sunday. 7 children came along and after lots of fun they left with their home-made gifts of sweets, flowers and decorated topiary trees.
We are looking forward to our Mothering Sunday Service on Sunday 14th when we host the combined Brockdish and Thorpe Abbotts service. So then Easter is upon us. This is an important time of year in the Church calendar and Trevor has put together a variety of activities across the Benefice during Holy Week with a short Holy Communion Service at All Saints at 7pm on 1st April and then a half hour devotional on 2nd April at 1pm. Not forgetting of course our Easter Family Service at 10.00 on Easter Day. To my mind there is something there for most, so why not pop along if you can.
Planning is now just about complete for the Gardeners Question Time which will have happened as you read this so watch out for a report in the next issue.
Is Spring going to spring or will we go straight into summer??
When finishing off my last piece it struck me it might not be a wise move to make comments about snowy wastes being a thing of distant memory reinforced as I read my Mardler in front of the fire with a good few inches of new snow outside!!
We have all seen the effects, with Snowdrops normally out in January waiting till the end of February along with the Winter Aconites. I was beginning to think that someone had been into the church yard and made off with all our bulbs at one stage. Strangely though our small population of Turkish Snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) appeared bang on time in early(ish) January.
The cold weather resulted in many of the European populations of Fieldfare and Redstart visiting us but many have now returned home leaving us just with our normal winter population. The Fieldfare currently residing in our crab apple tree is still defending his patch with vigour so that the locals have now given up. With an eye to the approaching warm weather many birds are now beginning to nest with the likes of the Blackbirds and Tits building apace so will I am sure will shortly be sitting on a nest full of eggs.
So whilst it is still a little cold out there signs are there that spring might just spring on us and before we all know it we hope our daffodils will be in full flower, the sun will be warm and the summer wardrobe ready for use.
Simon
London Marathon 25th April
By Simon Beet; Secretary to the PCC and Webmonster
I was very lucky this year to have got a ballot place in the London Marathon and have as a result have been pounding the lanes recently. After much thought I have decided to run for Help the Heroes. As an ex Royal Marine I am very aware of the need to support members of our armed services who have been injured in the service of their country. It is a fact that modern battlefield medical support means that servicemen are surviving far more serious injuries than in the past so that modern conflicts will sadly result in many more individuals who will need support for the rest of their lives. Help the Heroes has taken on the role of raising the considerable amount of money that will be needed, much of which will go to the established service charities as well as financing new initiative such as the Recovery Centres. Pop along to www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ to find out more.
In the meantime I shall be getting a little hot, bothered and probably a mite tired and emotional to do my bit however small for a really worthwhile cause. If you would like to help and donate a little something I would be over the moon, so either go to my webpage at www.bmycharity.com/simonbeet or a cheque made out to “Help the Heroes” to No 23 Mill Road, Thorpe Abbotts would make my day. If in doubt drop me a line at sinsal@live.co.uk.
On On as they say, and thanks a million.
Yours aye
Simon
