St Edmund's Fete 2017

Written by John Webster.

Owing to a torrential thunderstorm the afternoon session came abruptly to an end!

The Ice Cream 'van' with Sonia and Philip (SL)

for more pics click the one above - photos by Su Leavesley (SL) and John Webster (JW)

Nevertheless the skies brightened and visitors began to gather for the evening session, eventually exceeding 150 to hear various performers: Elliott’s group ‘MODE’ making their last public appearance as the sun set in a clear sky and the full moon rose. The show ended on cue at 10.30 pm. Full details and acknowledgements will be published in the next Forncet Flyer. 

Murder Mystery Feb 17

Written by Brian Frith.

Photos of the Murder Mystery play 'Murder at the Village Hall' on Saturday and Sunday 18th and 19th February 2017.  

The full cast (see main text for names etc)

Photos by Anne Frith and John Wilde

Click pic for slide show

Full cast list (from first photo):

Back Row: Sheila Gale (Prompt); John Wilde (Inspector Halfpenny); Sarah House (the late Lavinia, Lady Forncett, Chair of the Committee)
Front Row: April Carlin (Peggy); Peter Schmidt-Hansen (Norman); Gill Starkie (Saffron); Brian Frith (Reg); Jackie Smith (Millicent); Graham Gale (Hugo, Lord Forncett)

Carols by Candlelight & Step into Christmas

Written by May Prior.

photos by May Prior
Click pic for more

A packed church enjoyed a lovely carol service in St. Mary's Church on 4th December. Philip Aldred and 'Dolce' choir performed 4 pieces, including everyone's favourite 'O Holy Night.' John Metcalf's stunning displays in the windows and font much admired by everyone. Mulled wine and mince pies were served in the village hall after the service.

For a few days in December, St Mary's Church was transformed into a mini theatre, with spotlights, coloured lights, mist and snow machines, for two performances of 'Step into Christmas.'  Produced and directed by Paul Blake, (originally from Forncett), and his cast of 16, who have all previously performed in local amateur dramatic groups, most recently the Tasburgh Players before they folded in 2012.

Delighted packed audiences enjoyed a varied and fast moving show: from traditional carols and readings, to ' Santa Baby', 'Mistletoe and Wine' , 'As long as there's Christmas', and everyone's favourite, 'White Christmas'. A rousing finale of 'I wish it could be Christmas every day' had the audience clapping and singing along.

Solos and duets performed by Paul, Trevor, Sharon, Laura, Wendy, Sonia and 15 yr old Katie, readings by Sharon, John and Lenny, and the 'Tech Team' of Paul Smith on lighting and Neil Pitcher on sound made sure it was a perfect festive atmosphere.

A big thank you to them all for their hard work rehearsing in the weeks leading up to the performances, and setting up the church with all the equipment and decorations. All proceeds from the performances will go towards the restoration fund. Thanks to the Tas Well bar for being open for refreshments.

We look forward to the next show! 

St Edmund’s Summer Fête number 6

Written by Margaret & John Webster.

Click pic for more
photos by John Webster

Now into its sixth year our local fête at Forncett End again proved a popular venue for locals and their families, keen to experience a traditional gathering where folk picked up real bargains at the extensive bric-a-brac stall, chose from a super selection of home-made cakes and pastries, as well as indulging in games of skill and chance, while listening to live music performed on the stage from afternoon to evening. Of course, refreshments were at the top of the menu: tasty burgers and sausages from local butchers, cream teas, and soft drinks or alcoholic ones – wine and beer.

All this on a really fantastic summer’s day and evening, when Elliot’s varied programme of musical items culminated with his vibrant group MODE performing with panache till the very end accompanied by a beautiful sunset. The committee will soon meet to discuss the event and verify the amount raised after deduction of the many expenses.

Margaret & John Webster

Forncett Art Group Exhibition

Written by .

Some photographs of the exhibition held 9th and 10th July at St Mary's Church, Forncett. 

In addition, the Forncett Great War Timeline has been updated to end 2016. 

photos by Richard Ball
Click pic for more

Forncett SAM2 Sign - Is it effective?

Written by Phil Whiscombe.

sam-2We’ve been asked if the use of the sign actually has any effect on the speeding behaviour of drivers but this is difficult to prove conclusively without comparative data being obtained when the sign is not operating. However, the manufacturer advised that the sign could be put into ‘stealth’ mode which sounds sinister but simply means the vehicle numbers and speed data can continue to be logged without the speed display working. So when the sign was located on Mill Road in early June it was operated normally for the first week and in stealth mode for the second week. I won’t claim this to be a highly scientific exercise but the results are interesting. In the first week 48% of all vehicles were exceeding 35 mph and in the second week when the display was turned off this increased to 55%. So it does seem reasonable to infer that the sign does have a positive impact on driver behaviour — unfortunately this doesn’t disguise the fact that over the two weeks 78% of all drivers, some 7,459, exceeded the 30 mph limit with 219 exceeding 50 mph! This location remains the worst for speeding and clearly isn’t a particularly good place to be a pedestrian. 

For details and tables of the results please 

Forncett celebrates the Queen's 90th birthday

Written by Brian and Anne Frith.

photos Su Leavesley
Click on pic for slideshow

On Sunday 22d May, thanks to a grant from South Norfolk Council, about 100 residents joined our celebration of The Queen’s 90th birthday.

The children enjoyed a variety of entertainment from Frances, JMS Catering (Jan and Mike Smail) provided a fabulous savoury buffet; Jackie and Gill produced lots of beautifully decorated ‘fairy cakes’; Barry supplied all that was needed from the Bar and thanks to Andrew for the PA system.

We all enjoyed near perfect weather on Jubilee Green and the chance to meet old friends and make new ones. Thanks to all who helped get everything ready in the morning, who came along to join the celebrations in the afternoon ... and helped clear up in record time at the end.

St Mary's font comes home

Written by May Prior.

Click pic for slide show
photos by Richard Ball

When St. Mary's was closed in the early 1980's everything from the interior was removed or vandalised. The medieval font was given to the Roman Catholic Shrine at Houghton St. Giles, North Norfolk, where it remained for many years. After hearing of the restoration work and the 'Angels' Award last year the font was offered back to St. Mary's, being surplus to their requirements.

It was removed from the shrine in late 2015, and repaired and restored by stonemason Bruce Riley. On 27th May 2016 he installed the font back in the church. It is probable that the marble plinth is of the same type used in Norwich Cathedral.

Currently (June 2016) there are still many people alive who were christened in the font before it was removed.

The New Forncett End Defibrillator (in the phone box by St. Edmunds Church)

Written by Keith Fromings.

On the 28th April at St Edmunds Church in Forncett End, an awareness training Seminar for the newly installed Defibrillator, the second for our village, was given by Martin Render from The Community Heartbeat Trust. This was incredibly well attended and a great success. It was also good fun, very informative and, possibly, motivational. Light hearted and very serious in equal measure to make the important points that needed making. This was an opportunity to understand what a defibrillator is, how it can save lives and most importantly dispel any fears and myths about using these incredible devices.

For those that were unable to join the session, I would like to pass on the 4 crucial things that Martin wanted us all to remember from the evening.

1. When a person has a Cardiac arrest, the heart doesn’t pump blood around the body as it should and without intervention from somebody, that person IS going to die. So the option to do nothing isn’t really an option.

2. If the heart has gone into a rhythm known as fibrillation, a Defibrillator is needed to try to get it working again. These new defibrillators are so easy to use that you don’t need any training; ours even has a video display showing you what to do.

3. Using a defibrillator on a person CANNOT DO ANY HARM and will not deliver a shock to the patient unless he/she needs it.

4. You are not going to be sued or be in trouble for trying to save a life with a defibrillator and it is unsuccessful 

I would like to thank all those that attended the session for coming and hope that you did find it helpful. If anyone who attended has any comments or feedback about the session I would be very pleased to hear from you (). We would like to arrange further sessions, maybe on an annual basis, so keep a look out for details. More details from the evening cab be seen on the Forncett website.

Thanks also to Martin Render and Community Heartbeat Trust and to John and Margaret Webster for the use of the Church.