Ashfield Cum Thorpe 2019 Recorder’s Report

Social

Community Council

One of the notable issues affecting Ashfield in 2019 was the future of the Village Hall and the implications of the possible loss of the hall. This was addressed at the Community Council AGM.

29th April The Community Council AGM

The Chairman, Malcolm Pease, Treasurer, Myles Hansen and Committee Member Sue Pease resigned from the Council. They felt that it was time to encourage new members with new ideas to get more involved with the running of the hall. Malcom and Sue had been members of the Council for 10 years and Myles for 9 years.

There were concerns that if village events were not organised and supported, the hall would not be maintained and could be lost, leaving the village with no meeting place. Consequently, there was a call for Ashfield Residents to attend the AGM, and in order to impress the importance of the meeting, letters were personally addressed, and hand delivered to every household in the village. The meeting was well attended with 43 people from the village present.

At the meeting, chaired by President Rupert Bouverie, Malcolm Pease reported that in 2018, events had included 2 gardening/tidying up sessions, 2 socials, wine tasting, the Harvest Supper, refreshments for2 cycling clubs and monthly meetings of the Ladies Group. The Treasurer Reported that the hall cost £1,500 per annum to run, met by income, of which £800 came from cyclists. Insurance was £400, no rates being payable, and the bank balance was £4,850.

There was support for the future of the hall and a new Committee was formed of 7 new members and 4 existing members: -

Rupert Uthwatt-Bouverie (President), Sam Thomas (Chair), Simon Garrett (Secretary), Geoff Henney (Treasurer), Elaine Marjoram (Bookings Secretary), Richard Ellis, Brian Towler, Mike Harrison, Ryland Thomas, Andy Pitts, Ann Langley

The new Committee quickly got to work and arranged several events: -

1st June and 16th November - Coffee Mornings

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Two Coffee Mornings were held at the Village Hall, both on a Saturday. The first gave villagers the chance to meet the new committee and coffee/tea was provided free with a small charge for cakes. The numbers attending were encouraging and £71.38 was made for Village Hall funds, even though fundraising was not the prime objective of the event. The second coffee morning was held on the 16th November when tea and coffee was served at 50p plus cakes/scones (at £1.50).

Saturday 22nd June - Village Hall general maintenance morning. Volunteers were rewarded with free and tea and coffee at the Hall.

Friday 28th June - Pop-up Pub. The new village hall committee also organised a pop-up pub, which required applying for a licence and purchasing stock. The event was well attended.

Sunday 21st July - A Table-top sale

Sunday 1st September - Summer Barbecue and Pop-up-Pub held at the Village Hall. The weather was fine, the food was good, and a pleasant afternoon was had by all. A profit of around £300 was made for Village Hall funds.

Saturday 26th October – Halloween Party (cancelled) A plan for a Halloween party was cancelled because October was “too congested.”

Saturday 7th December - Christmas Social/Pop-up Pub. A Christmas village social was held in the hall, with subdued lighting, and Christmas decorations. A good number came along to participate and sampled Mike Harrison’s home-made mulled wine. A profit of around £70 was made.

(Numerous dates) – Cycling clubs. Refreshments were provided in the Village Hall.

Questionnaire and Village Survey The Community Council circulated a questionnaire in December, to gauge opinion about the future of the village hall and preferences for its use. The response would assist in the financial planning for the running the hall and possible grant applications. Significant future expenditure, for the windows and the sinking floor were envisaged.

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Other Activities

Saturday 19th October - Ashfield Mystery Meal Organised by Mike Harrison again. Twenty couples were lined up to take part, but last-minute changes had to be made, due to illness, so some courses had 10 diners and some less than 8. The evening concluded with coffee at Kath and Colling Burton’s house. The weather was kind: the day before had been very wet and dreary, but Saturday was dry with clear skies and some moonlight. Traffic through the village was fairly light and many participants were able to walk from course to course.

Ashfield Ladies Group

The group continued to meet on the third Tuesday of each month, usually in the Village Hall, with an annual subscription of £25.

The hostelry visit was to The Crown in Snape and the Christmas meal was at the Dennington Queen. The theme for the Christmas present was yellow.

The Brenton Bash (Gentlemen’s Evening)

The annual outing, once again organised by Chris Sharpe, took the gentlemen of Ashfield and friends to the Kings Arms, Haughley, where good food and drink was consumed. The gentlemen travelled by bus from Ashfield and they were joined for the evening by former resident, Dick Knight, now of Thurston. Ashfield St Mary’s Church

Ashfield is in the Mid Loes Benefice and the Rector is The Revd. Dr. Stephen Brian, who lives in the Rectory in . Ashfield’s Church Warden, Secretary and Treasurer is Robert Grimsey and he lives in Ashfield. Church news is circulated in the monthly Mid Loes Benefice Magazine.

Services Services were held at St Mary’s throughout the year, usually twice a month for Evening Prayer and Holy Communion; as well as ‘festival’ services, and a Benefice Service.

14th September - Historical Churches Cycle Ride The church was manned for this event.

Saturday 5th October - The Harvest Supper Jane Davidson was the main organiser for the harvest supper. There was Page 3 of 8 lovely soup made by Kath and Colling Burton, then cold meat, salad and homemade puddings. Entertainment was provided by the folk group Bristol Fashion who played music with a local connection. including tunes from local musicians, known to some members of the audience. Village Business

Ashfield is in the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Constituency, the Eastern Region for The European Parliament and the Ward for the District and Suffolk County Councils. In August, it was announced that plans to merge Mid Suffolk DC with Babergh DC had been ruled out until after the 2023 Council elections at the earliest.

Elections

The Village Hall was the Polling Station for three elections: -

Thursday 2nd May Mid Suffolk District Council Election. Councillor Kathy Guthrie was elected (Conservative)

Thursday 23rd May European Parliament Elections.

Thursday 12th December General Election. Dr. Dan Poulter, (Conservative), was re-elected with an increased majority.

Ashfield Parish Council

An election for Parish Councillors was due on 2nd May, but as six of the seven Councillors were up for re- election a contested election was not necessary. Councillors Anne Langley and Geoff Hazelwood retired after many years’ service. The AGM and the first meeting of the new council both took place on the 8th May.

The new Council - Myles Hansen (Chairman), Robert Grimsey (Vice-chairman), David Corcoran, Simon Garrett, Ruth Hart, Whayman and Simon Ashton, Parish Clerk.

Simon Ashton resigned as Parish Clerk in September and the vacancy was later filled by Sarah Clare, who was also Clerk for Worlingworth Parish Council. David Corcoran later resigned from the Parish Council.

11th September Parish Council Meeting

Matters discussed and noted included: -

• Vehicle Speed Indicators: two fixing-pole sites had been agreed; one on the East side of The Street just past 'The Poplars' going North from the A1120, and the other opposite the church. • Defibrillator: this had been installed at the village hall and was fully operational. A further CPR training session had been planned. • Dog fouling: It was noted that this situation with has improved somewhat after the fixing of signage.

October 29th Defibrillator Training Session

By May, funding had been found for a defibrillator, mostly due to the work of Parish Councillor Ruth Hart, including grants from The County Council and the Lottery. By October, the defibrillator had been installed, (by Ashfield resident Ryland Thomas), on the external wall of the village hall.

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The Parish Council then organised a training session in the Village Hall led by the Debenham First Responders Group and Ashfield’s two resident first responders. Participants were given an explanation about what to do in the event of a cardiac arrest and shown how to use a defibrillator. The new defibrillator was also on show.

Planning Applications

In October, District Councillor Kathie Guthrie notified residents of a planning application for the Anchor Storage site in Kenton for ‘up to 32 properties. There was little concern by Ashfield residents about the proposed development. It was perceived that there would be a slight increase in traffic through the village, but no major disruption.

Road Works

There were numerous road closures and diversions around Ashfield and the A1120, for road repairs and work to hedges. Some roads were closured overnight and some during the day with traffic diversions. Advance notice was given of road repairs in May. Overnight works also took place between Earl Soham and Cretingham in August.

For some time, the stretch of the A1120 by Ashfield had no white lines and or cats eyes and comments were made about the need for reinstatement before the dark winter nights and days of poor visibility. The white lines reappeared one morning in October and the cats eyes came back after that.

Bus Service

There was concern about the two bus routes 118/119, which serve Ashfield, when the bus company Galloways informed Suffolk County Council that it was planning to withdraw from the bus contract with effect from November. Fortunately, by September, it was confirmed that the services would continue for the foreseeable future.

Village Communications

In August, an improved email distribution system and list was created, which facilitated better communication around the village. In August, there were about 100 addresses in use, including a few non- residents with connections to the village. The distribution list is managed by Myles Hansen on behalf of the Parish Council.

The Community Council also started a Facebook page for Ashfield Cum Thorpe Village Hall. Other Matters

Crime - It seems that no crimes were reported for Ashfield. Numerous crime warnings were given by the police however, concerning suspicious phone calls, email scams and thefts from vehicles and outbuildings. The police urged members of the public to install crime prevention measures.

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Suffolk Trading Standards - alerted Residents about aggressive door to door selling and other scams.

Fly tipping - An incident of fly tipping was reported to MSDC in October after a pile of what appeared to be office furniture was dumped outside the gates of the pumping station at the south end of the village. There were concerns that if not cleared up quickly, more rubbish would be dumped. Mid Suffolk had the rubbish removed in November.

Damaged Electricity Pole - in September, a tractor clipped an electricity pole in a field not far from the junction with the A1120. UK Power Networks inspected the damage and advised that the electricity supply to the village was not in imminent danger of disruption. Weather and Countryside

The Winter in Ashfield in 2019 was relatively mild. There was a spell of warm and sunny weather at the end of February when temperatures of 17C were recorded on 26 February (nationally, the warmest temperature recorded was 21C at Kew Gardens). In February, blossom started to appear on the blackthorn and snowdrops had already flowered.

From April to mid-May, Ashfield was very yellow - many fields in the village had been planted with oil seed rape, including fields at the northern and southern ends of the village.

The bank holidays of Easter weekend and April 21st were very warm in Ashfield. Good Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, had record temperatures nationally.

The start of May was cold, with a few showers. The weather continued to be cooler than normal for the time of year. On 10th May, there was a heavy shower with thunder and hail.

Over spring bank holiday, there was some sunshine, but it was cooler than Easter, with a few showers.

Summer was dry and warm with record temperatures nationally. The start of September was dry, then became more unsettled, with moderate to heavy rainfall.

Autumn was very wet. In November, there was some local flooding, in particular Low Road from Ashfield to Earl Soham and the road through Kenton. October and November were fairly dreary, with only a few sunny days, although still relatively mild. Ashfield had no significant frost until November and generally December was another mild month.

Rainfall totals for Ashfield by month in 2019, in mm. (recorded by Geoff Henney)

Jan 13.6 Apr 12.5 Jul 61.5 Oct 92.5

Feb 22.3 May 56.9 Aug 30.5 Nov 77.1

Mar 48.8 Jun 73.1 Sep 52.6 Dec 76.3

Total rainfall for 2019 was 617.7 mm.

Given that the average rainfall for this part of the world is 625 mm pa, 2019 was actually slightly drier than normal, with an exceptionally dry first 4 months of the year followed by a very wet second half.

During the summer, many hedges and trees around fields were “trimmed” by a tractor. Many hedges had not been trimmed for some time and had become overgrown.

On 28th November, a tree fell onto the drive of Church Farmhouse, but was quickly removed, and disruption to power and telephone lines was minimal.

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In May, Chris Webb spotted what he believed to have been a pole cat in the village, not far from The Avon and Mulberry Tree Cottage. Property/House sales and moves

Blacksmith Cottage came on the market in February for £500,000 and was sold in June. The cottage had been empty since 2018. It had been the home of Sharon Bennett since 1979 when it was a small cottage, since when it had been substantially extended.

Pilgrims Rest came on the market at £695,000. “A large mature and level plot of ground 4 acres and an 18th Century period cottage , colour washed with a thatch and tile and slate roof, 3 bedrooms, 4 reception rooms, bathroom and 1 ensuite, double garage, stable block, tack room and workshop, inglenook fireplaces”. By the end of the year, the asking price was 650,000.

4 The Ashes was sold, and Nigel Farley left the village. Nigel was the driving instructor who had taught many young Ashfield Residents to drive.

High Row Lodge - The new house recently built next to High Row Farm, was given the name High Row Lodge, and by the end of the year the building work had been completed, the grounds had been tidied and turf laid in the front garden.

Sou-less - In October, a 1 bed apartment at Sou-less was advertised for rent at £500 pcm.

Acresfield - an extension was added.

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People

Maureen Minter. On May 11 Maureen and her daughter Michelle Hammond took part in The London “Moon Walk”, for the third year running, to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. They walked a full Marathon of 26.2 miles.

Another baby was born to Jonathan and Nicole of The Cottage.

Lyn Storer died on 24th April age 73 from cancer, diagnosed in 2018. Many Ashfield residents went to her funeral in Ipswich on 8th May. Lyn and her husband Norman moved to Ashfield in the 1970s and lived at Apple Tree /Mulberry Tree Cottage. They had two children, Elizabeth and Alison, and the family took an active part in village life. Norman built a thatched extension to the house. Norman and Lyn moved to Wetheringsett some years ago but kept in touch with Ashfield and Lyn continued her membership of Ashfield Ladies Group having been a member since the group started in 1983.

Lynda Watts of Sunnyside, died on Sunday 9 June and her funeral was held at Seven Hills Crematorium, Ipswich, on Friday 5th July, at 12:00.

Anne Bailey In November, Anne Bailey, a former resident of Ashfield died. Anne and her husband lived at Downham Cottage for many years. Her husband died whilst they were in Ashfield. Anne had a large friendly Boxer dog. She moved away to Bury St Edmunds to live nearer to her family, but still kept in touch with her friends in the village.

Steven Ibbs – the second son of Susan Hansen, and a former resident in the village, Steven died in his sleep on December 8th at the age of 45. He had not been ill, and his death was a tremendous shock for his family and friends. Steven had lived in Ashfield since the age of 7, attending Earl Soham Primary, Debenham High School, and Thomas Mills 6th Form in before going on to university in Birmingham. Steven lived in Malvern with his wife Carol and their two young children. Susan still lives in Ashfield, with her husband Myles. Other items of note

A Mystery

In September, this item was found by Pete Raffell in an Ashfield hedgerow. The general opinion was that it was a billhook, designed and used for hedging and may have originally had a longer handle. It was about 52cm long and appeared to have the initials “DON” stamped on the blade. This led to a theory that it might have been owned by the late Don Rowe, an agricultural worker, who lived in Ashfield for many years.

With the agreement of the finder, it was given to Paul Whayman who lives in the house in Ashfield where Don had lived. Paul carried out some sensitive restoration and found that “DON” was in fact part of “HEDGEHOG” a trade mark of the manufacturer Cornelius Whitehouse & Sons, and so its history will remain a mystery.

Anita Sharpe, Ashfield Village Recorder

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