Easter already and it still cold; never mind, just curl up in the warm and read the latest news, views and forthcoming events from Forncett and the surrounding area.

The diary dates on the front page show just what a wealth of activities there are on offer in the next few weeks, including an intriguing mention of TAFRA; this stands for Tacolneston and Forncett Recreation Association, and is a new group of young mums dedicated to fund raising to improve the play area at Tacolneston (and Forncett End – to give it its proper name) Village Hall. So get out your shoulder pads and leg warmers for an 80’s night at the Jolly Farmers (see back page).

There are a couple of major weekends coming up, firstly Forncett St. Peter Church Spring Flower Festival, where all sorts of things will be happening; music, poetry songs and a concert; refreshments too. That’s at the end of April and on page 12

The other weekend is Diggers & Dibblers’s Open Gardens event, with art exhibition and open churches; page 11 and happening in July.

There have been two burglaries in Forncett over the past week which didn’t make it into the Forncett Flyer; details have gone out on the E-notice board, so if you are not registered for that, contact me and I will include you on the list. (unsubscribing is just one click – if you get tired of it).

Happy Easter, and don’t eat too many chocolate eggs!

Photos galore (25 actually); your autumn colours, a quiz by the ladies of the W.I., kids at the cathedral, a ‘100 pint’ blood donor, and a steam engine. God bless digital photography! In the olden days I used to have to send a photo to a professional photo-plate maker, and wait a fortnight for it; and then pay for it!

Sadly at least three submissions to this month’s edition ended up in my spam mail box by mistake: the report of the guides and brownies was one (and can be seen here instead).

The two women’s Institute ladies have been so busy that neither of them had anything to write about, but Tharston sent me a lot of photos instead. Also missing is the report on the recent Coppafeel fashion show which raised an incredible £1,000, to be split equally between Coppafeel and the Norfolk And Norwich University Hospital Cancer Care. Thanks are due to Tharston W.I. ladies and others who attended, and Artichoke for staging the show.

The new Art Group is up and running, details can be found on page 4.
The Village Hall’s new ramp for disabled users is proving to be extremely useful, and thanks are due to the chaps who built it.

A new ‘Music and movement’ for very young children is beginning at Forncett St Edmunds church, see page 4.

The (now) traditional carols by candlelight at Forncett St. Mary church will be repeated again this year (page 1) and there is also a new event of Carols under the Christmas tree at the Village Hall (page 2) with storytelling and singing for children and their parents.

What a lot!!!

Summer is over; all but the last unexpected warm, quiet, soft days that take us by surprise. The swallows have gone, and the robin sings sweetly from the apple trees.

So, what does the village have in store for the autumn? Well there is the usual Harvest Supper, the Halloween nonsense at the Village Hall and elsewhere (no doubt). There is the famous W.I. quiz with lasagne, and for those of you who have an interest in art  or craft or photography (you don’t have to be any good!) there is a new art group starting in October (see page 2).

Elsewhere we say goodbye to three local personalities who have died recently; and we wish many happy returns of the day to Joan and Brian Harvey on their 60^th Wedding Anniversary. There are dragons, snakes and donkeys to find, and a quick quiz with no prize.

Enjoy!

Well we nearly didn't have a Forncett Flyer this month! I had a 'whole bunch of trouble' getting it right: I won't bore you with the details, but I uploaded a really nice font from the internet, and it was a rogue font. The caption above the photo on the front cover said, ",,\ $2 [ & ftttttt@ ' or something like that; so be warned, don't mess with fonts, just use good old Arial.

I am truly amazed at those four old fellas on the front cover, they raised £6,000 for 'the nook': well done them. Tharston W.I. are pictured extensively – eating again! Judging by the tables of food, I think I may have to join their merry ranks. John Webster has sent in an old photo with a couple of dozen people going on an outing in .... When? ..... the 1940's possibly. Are you on the photo? Do you know anyone on it, or what the outing was about? Pam Thurtle and her friends are performing a concert (see page 4) and it's free, so that's nice. And did you realise that the Parish Council report lists all the local planning applications, so you can have a look at who's doing what to their houses. And finally, Forncett St. Mary church is having an open weekend in early July.

Enjoy!

May looks set to be a busy month , judging by the Diary Dates column. There is a Drama workshop followed by a performance, and then a Beer Festival and BBQ, all on May 2nd. Don't forget the election at the Village Hall on Thursday 7th; as Bob McClenning says, "We have three elections: Parliamentary ,District, and Parish Council elections. Sadly the voting figures can be disappointing as they are in the low 20% sometimes, so please exercise your civic privilege and make the effort to turn out."

Other than that, this newsletter is an election-free zone. In early July St Mary's church is having an open weekend to celebrate the continuing restorations. Our local Leisure centres are having an overhaul too, so check whether they are open before travelling.

Above all, make the most of this lovely weather. Su

As usual there is more content in this month’s issue than ever. The centre pages are given over to the schedule of Diggers & Dibblers’s forthcoming (September) Village Produce and Craft Show, so that you can start planning your entries now. It’s not only carrots and flower arrangements, there’s knitting, crochet, poetry (a limerick) and photography - so don’t be shy, give it a try!

The other half of the pull-out is an information sheet and map, designed primarily for newcomers to the village, but also for some of us who don’t know all of what’s available in the village. Thanks to Anne Rayner - your Parish Clerk - for putting that together.

A recent set of traffic diversions was in place temporarily: something to do with a water main on Low Road, near David Barnes’s place. This explains why cars had to go down Tabernacle Lane and Gilderswood road again. Or not. The only good news is that this is for a very short time.

If you are easily offended you’d better avoid page 9. I have had good support for this article.

There are quite a few articles in this edition, about events and people outside the village; Forncett news will always come first in the Flyer, but when there isn't very much, we like to tell you about what’s happening in neighbouring villages, and towns. Hope that’s O.K. with you,

FLOSSY  is back again, for those of you who like a flutter - and a chance to help the Village Hall.

And the Defibrillator launch is 6 pm on Monday 30th March, photos will be taken, so be there.

Somebody get me a shoehorn!!

Just when I think it’s all in there, up pops another email with some interesting item or photograph that I think ought to go in. John Webster sent me a photo of the Lych-gate at Forncett St. Mary church, and Pudding Night squeezed in by the skin of its teeth – only photos for now, maybe a bit more information next month. Terry Henderson took the photos with the wrong lens on his camera (a telephoto) and had to almost go outside to get folks in shot. Thanks Terry! My husband has shown me how to put pictures in oval frames, so expect to be seeing more of that. On the subject of pictures, someone complained (gently) that it’s always the same people in the Forncett Flyer! Well, if you don’t join in with village events, you won't get your photo in will you?

There’s loads of activities coming up; get yourself down there, and have fun! You may notice that all the people in the photos of Village Hall events have enormous grins on their faces; now why is that?

And finally, my apologies to the gentleman who appears SEVEN times in the Photo Gallery; I just can’t resist!

Quizzes, quizzes! Where would we be without them? The report of the hastily arranged Quiz with Lasagne is all over this month’s flyer. The teams were made up of interest groups in the village, and it was so popular that the room was filled to capacity.

Those of you who really missed the diary dates on the front page will be pleased to see them back again. This month we are missing the church services table; does anyone mind? Let me know how you feel about this; there is always the Church’s own magazine to refer to.

And then there are the road closures. What a flippin fiasco. I guess the powers that be think that Ponderosa Corner is in the middle of nowhere: well that may be so, but being in the middle means that traffic is coming from all directions; school run being the most obvious. Let’s hope when the gas pipe finally gets to the bottom of Overwood Lane we can forget all about it.

There are some ‘programmes / schedules for the year’ and just a tiny bit of orange sport – they have been at it again, and are recruiting for this year’s Village Games.

If you want to avoid the sight of W.I. members in their jim-jams, ignore page 11, it’s not a pretty sight.

The photo gallery on the back page is all about headgear. Enjoy!