News from Wereham

Our monthly update from Wereham.

Parish Council Meeting

Please support your local Parish council by attending meetings held on alternate months in the Village Hall at 7:30 pm throughout the year. The date of the next meeting is: -

Tuesday 12th September

Wereham Festival Day

Once again the weather was almost too hot to handle for our Festival on 16th July but we made the best of the day and we hope you all enjoyed yourselves.

The winners of the 3 age groups for the Painting Competition were: - Jack, Jess and Molly, so very well done to you three and also well done to all of you who entered your masterpieces. The judge had a difficult time making her decision because of the very high standard of all the entries.

The Turnip Prize was a great success with many of you entering some great ideas; the winner of this year's Turnip Prize was Sue Smith with her 'give peas a chance' entry - well done Sue.

Of course events such as the Festival would not be possible without the volunteers plus a few friends and family from outside the village who help organise and then run the stalls - my grateful thanks go to you all.

The church was again expertly decorated by Ivy and Sheila, depicting 'Wereham in Past Times' so thank you to Ivy and Sheila and also Tom who played the organ for us throughout the day, although I believe he had a little bit of competition this year from Thomas who also played for us. The photographs and artefacts that came out of some dark corners of your cupboards, sheds and lofts etc. were quite amazing and of course made the display possible.

An arrangement of plants from Quaymount nursery complimented the display - the blue hydrangeas were especially striking. Thanks to Paul Markwell for making these available for us all to enjoy.

The children (and some of the adults) had great fun on the open top bus, which was expertly driven round the village by Trevor.

The day came to an end with a 'Songs of Praise' service in the church, where we sang hymns chosen by visitors to the church during the day.

As always it is you, the people who come and support the festival by competing in the various activities and spending your hard earned money, who help to raise the much-needed funds for the restoration of the village church. This year we raised approx. £1330.00. Very well done everyone and thank you for your support.

Patricia Evans

Festival Display

Thanks to everyone who kindly lent photos, newspaper clips and memorabilia for the Church Festival display of 'Wereham History' on July 16th. We were so very pleased that all who promised came up with items that provided us with such an array of nostalgia. Ivy worked hard at digging into the archives to find trades and businesses that existed in the late19th Century and early 20th Century - it was surprising how self-sufficient Wereham was then! Many of the photos supplied gave us an idea of how Wereham once looked: - trees lining the road, the buildings (some no longer standing), and the pond a popular gathering place for people and animals alike. I think there was a tear or two in the eyes of a few of our older residents as they remembered times past, and we hope that our new residents found it a point of interest too.

Thank you to all who contributed and supported by visiting the display and to our organist who gave us music to accompany our walk through history.

Sheila Heavens

And Finally...

I can't draw a line under this year's Festival without highlighting the considerable input, over several months, of Patricia Evans and Philip Norris. We were very fortunate to have Patricia working behind the scenes, (assisted by Philip), co-ordinating the numerous elements which make up Wereham Festival Day. This included making sure that the rest of the team knew what they are doing, organising publicity, sorting and storing prizes and managing the many different aspects of the day that make everything run smoothly. Well done and thank you both!

Sue Smith