March Editorial

Our editor expresses one or two non polical views ...

Hello again,

Erstwhile readers will note in the following pages, a further chastisement of your Editor in his criticism of Princess Tony and his laboured (sorry) New Labour Government. Mia Culpa. I must admit I do fume at the waste (£ billions on 110 un-elected QUANGOs, £9M on chauffeured cars etc, etc) and their complete disregard of the view of us the great un-washed English public. Please note; I said ENGLISH. On no less than three occasions this year, just 6 weeks old when I write this, I have changed an official form to state that my nationality is ENGLISH and not British!

And whilst on the subject of nationality, can someone please tell me why we ENGLISH continue to be governed by a majority of Cabinet Ministers who are Scottish when SCOTLAND has its own National Assembly? It is interesting to note that there is a sea-change in evidence in WALES where the Welsh wish to terminate their own ill-fated National Assembly and the NORTHERN IRELAND process has ground to yet another predicted halt. So much for devolution.

But I must agree that Ron has a point. It is all too easy to point an accusing finger at whichever party is the government of the day and the Village Pump is not really the appropriate vehicle for such comment.

As I write this, two old friends have just left us to return to the less convivial surroundings of the London suburbs. It is always a pleasure to see them and they frequently surprise us by their delight in our beautiful Norfolk countryside. Their pleasure at the sight of the massed ranks of winter aconites and snowdrops on the West Dereham road and the early birds among the host of daffodils at Watlington reminds us of just how easy it is for us all to take our local surroundings for granted. This time, we were able to give them a special treat; a wonderful Chinese New Year banquet at the Duke's Head in the village of my birth, West Rudham. Neither of them, despite their travels around the world, had ever been for a formal Chinese meal so everything was new for them. But they got stuck in with gusto and we even managed to persuade the male partner to try chopsticks which, to his credit, he managed very well.

We did miss out, sadly, on the many aconite and snowdrop walks; mainly because of the weather and too little time to do everything we had planned. But if like me you failed to complete a springtime walk, do look at the wonderful programme being offered by Oxburgh Hall. They have numerous walks and trails plus more formal events such a Concert by the Downham Swing Orchestra, the Importance of Being Earnest and a formal Trafalgar Day dinner. And throughout the month of August they will provide special children's events each afternoon at a very reasonable cost to help out all you fraught mums and dads.

There have recently been a number of events in our community which have not been included in the Pump. Please, if you are planning event, do let us know so that we can give you some free publicity. And don't forget to provide us with a write-up after the event; people do like to read about local activities.

Ray Thompson