HISTORY RE CORD ER 'S REPO RT F OR THE VILLA GE OF HAW ST EA D MAY 20 10 The H isto ry Rec order's repor t covers the tw elve months f rom 1 st May 200 9 to 31 st April 2 010 and is prepared a s part of the Parish C ouncil's c ommitment t o the Suffolk Local History Co unci l. Copies of this docume nt will , in due course , be s ent to the Re source Centre in Ipswi ch and t o the Bu ry Recorder 's Office . Co pies of the Hawstea d Journ al and th e Benef ice St . Edmund Way Maga zine ar e als o lodged with the Reco rds Offi ce . PARISH COUNCIL The Ann ual Gene ral Me eting of the Par ish Cou ncil w as held on Th ur sda y 21 st May 2009 in t he village hall , with the se ven Parish councilors and the Parish Clerk , Marilyn B otto mley p rese nt . Previously there ha d b een a lively d iscussion at the annua l Pari sh Mee tin g conce rning the screening an d positioning o f the bott le b ank . The Chairman agr eed to dis cus s the matt ers at co min g m onthl y Parish Council meet ings . Comment w as als o m ade about t he ratificati on an d publ icat io n of m in ute s in advance of th e AGM . In th e AGM itself, the chairman r evie wed th e w ork under taken by t he Counci l over the pre vi ous yea r a nd outlined are as o f co ncern for the coming y ea r, incl ud ing the p ar king in Whepstead Ro ad and Bu ll L ane , where a b rok en drain was c au sing prob lems. In the a ut umn, concerns were raise d about over -flow parking on th e roa d at well attended villag e ha ll function s. T he local police offic er g ave a sh ort pr es entatio n, re port ing that a ne w serge ant and a new insp ector had been appointe d, based at Cla re. From the f loor, com ments w ere made on t he spe ed of traff ic through the village a nd th e use o f mi ni four wh ee l quad bikes on the road and also , seve ral c omplaints w ere made o n the cond ition o f the roads . Repres entatives from St. Edmun ds bury Boro ugh Cou nci l spo ke of their wo rk in th e area s of transport and planning. The Bor ough Counci l a nnounce d its in tent io n t o open ne w offic es at West Suf folk House as a one stop f or al l servi ce s to th e area . During t he y ear , a review of the s cho ols lo oked at the viabili ty of a two tier syst em . The B oundar y C om missi on is mo vin g slowly forward wit h i ts deliber ations for the r e-organis atio n o f l oca l go vernment in the co unty. The West Suffolk option ha s been e lim inated and the one Suffol k optio n with a unita ry aut hor ity for Ipswich b eing proposed . The par lia mentar y boundary h as bee n r edra wn such t hat H awstead is now included in the West Suffo lk s eat , tran sfer red fro m Bury S t. Edm und s. Th ere was a genera l electi on o n May 6th 2010 , with the Vi llag e Hall u sed a s a pol ling stati on . A proposal fo r a Haw stead v illa ge e mergen cy p lan w as circulate d o n 13 th July 200 9 and i n October this was follo wed up by a lette r and quest ionn aire . Con tra ctors were giv en the go ah ead to deal with rabbits and mole s on the village gr een an d the con dit ion o f the Millen niu m F ield became a cause for concern d ur ing the yea r. By th e autumn , th e qu est ion o f the s iti ng of the bottl e bank was r esolved . Its colour no w became ca use of cont ro versy. Followin g a resigna tion i n Apri l 20 10 , a vaca ncy fo r a Par ish Coun ci lor h as ar isen . On Friday 31st July, th e co unci l t arred and g ritted Churc h Road , Pinf ord End . I n A ugu st, Whepstead Road surface wa s gr itted . In No vemb er, Angl ia W ater work ed on th e dr aina ge pr obl em at the Pinford End junction o f Bu ll La ne and Chur ch Road . M any p otho les ap pea red in loca l ro ads after the winter. VILLAGE H ALL Local p roduce sales outside Hawstead vill age hall starte d o n the 1 3th June a nd continued on the 2 nd and 4 th Saturdays o f the month u ntil the e nd of Sep te mb er, 2009 . The installatio n of a ph one li ne and broadban d pac kage for the Village Hall fro m the Vil lage Connect Scheme was announce d in June . Six I BM compute rs and mo ni tors w ere do nated b y a village resident. Cream teas were availab le o n th e vill ag e gree n on Sunda y 5th July. The villa ge green was cut f or ha y on 20 th June 2009 and Barry Couls on, w ith his tractor/di gger , was clearin g brambles f rom the villa ge green cor ner opposite the bottom of the junctio n of Whepst ead Road on 11 th August 200 9. A w ork ing par ty was organized for Se pt embe r 2009 to clear rag wort and on S aturda y 6th Mar ch to clear scrub aroun d the village gree n. Furth er vi llage green mainte nance wor k was carried out by a local contractor. In November, footpaths up to the woods were cleared. Th e vi llage Fl ower Sho w an d Fete was held on Sunday 6th September. The village lottery, which played a part in the funding to build the hall, was wound up in November after raising over £4000. The Christ mas l unch fo r v illage pens ioners was given o n Thursday 1 7th Dec ember 12.30 . A Chris tm as tree was put up outside the hall for the first time in many years and another was placed inside the hall. Burns Nigh t was ce lebrated with a s upper in the v illage ha ll on Saturda y 23 rd Ja nuary 2 01 0. CHURCH BENEFICE The Rev Martin Thrower held his last service in the Benefice at Lawshall on 31 st May 2009 and left to take up a new appointment as Rector of Hadleigh. The Rev Annette Shannon as Assistant Curate assumed his duties in the Benefice. The Reverend Simon Hill, the Rural Dean for Lavenham Deanery, wrote in December that the vacancy at St. Edmunds Way, which did not attract any applications when advertised a couple of months ago, will be re-advertised nationally in January. The Benefice continued to be in interregnum until April 2010 when the Rural Dean wrote in the Newsletter and on the website that “I am delighted to announce that the Reverend Jane Buckles has accepted the Bishop of St. Edmundsb ury and Ips wi ch invitati on to be incum ben t of S t Edm un d Way Benefice . Ja yne wi ll be mo ving from Wa les with he r h usban d De rek to La wsh all in the summe r; the date of her induction will be announced i n d ue course. " A detailed record o f all gra ves in Haw stead ch ur chyard is b ein g prepa red b y T on y H ill man and Angela Rushen . Th e e xercise is being und ertaken becau se th e c hurc hyard i s likel y to be closed for an y ne w burials in the com ing yea r. In fut ure , all buria ls w ill be in t he churc hyar d extension . A space for interment of cremated rema ins wi ll be set asid e in the old church yard. The death of Syl vi a Miller (for many yea rs sec retary of the Commun ity Counc il) occurred on 6 th July 2009 , and a funeral ser vice was held on Mond ay 20 th Ju ly . Ma ude Co rnw ell died on 16 th Ju ly 20 09 ; her fu neral s er vi ce was in Hawstead Church on 30 th July 2009 .