Boughton News

A fscinating look at the many activities in Boughton over the past month.

Annual Village Hog Roast

The aim of the evening was to mellow and that was achieved by many people. Approximately 95 people gathered on The Green to enjoy Andy's Hog Roast and to chat and catch up with neighbours. It was good to welcome all the visitors. Early in the day there had been concerns about the wind, but that eased off and the rain held off. Several older residents were still present past 10 pm as well as younger residents taking advantage of the long warm dry evening. The relaxed evening raised over £300 for the church project to put in kitchens and toilets.

Our thanks must go to Andy Beeston and his wife Ann, for such lovely food. Andy has decided to retire from the hog roast business and will be really missed. We thank him for his support to the church and village over the years. Personally I will miss the smell of cooking pork as it floats over Church Lane usually on a Saturday, making everyone feel hungry.

Churchyard Tidy

What a difference. The tree man recommended that the trees had their crowns raised and a few minutes later they looked so much better. It took longer to load everything in the tractor and trailers that Paul and Geoff kindly provided. Thanks to everyone who helped in any way. The churchyard looks so much tidier now and it is possible to see all the headstones around the edge. It will be easier to keep the undergrowth down and perhaps see more plants and flowers growing. We are planning to have an area for the interment of ashes now that the churchyard is better maintained. If anyone wishes to spend some time tidying the help would be very welcome.

Norfolk Churches Trust Cycle Ride

Saturday 8 September. We welcome anyone who wishes to cycle for Boughton Church, or walk or travel by any means. Half of the money raised goes directly to the church, the rest to the Norfolk Churches Trust, which helped us when the tower needed urgent restoration. We would like to man the church for the whole day, so that visiting cyclists, etc can be welcomed with refreshments and have their forms signed. Those who sit in the church can also be sponsored. Please contact Pam Wakeling 500429 if you can help in any way.

Ten Pin Bowling.

Saturday 29 September. 7-9pm at Marham Bowl, RAF Marham. Cost Approx £4 to play. Food available for purchase. Contact Andrew Faherty 501335 for more details and to sign up.

Boughton start season with win!

Boughton Cricket team made their long awaited return to the field on Sunday 12th August 2007 with a game against West Raynham at Mundford.

Boughton won the toss and elected to field. West Raynham were soon on the back foot as Ashley Wykes produced some superb bowling to reduce the visitors to 37-4 after just a few overs. West Raynham recovered to post a total of 125-9 after some lusty middle order batting from Rutland. Barry Ovel was economical finishing with match figures of 1-15 off 6 overs.

Following another excellent Mundford tea, Boughton found scoring easy with both Koopowitz (Snr) and Faherty getting into double figures. After losing two wickets in quick succession Giles Luckett came to the crease and bludgeoned the West Raynham attack to all parts of the ground, he rode his luck to score an eventful 38! The outcome was touch and go for a while until the big hitting Verwey took control and enabled Koopowitz (Jnr) and Ovel to see Boughton home with 4 balls to spare.

The Boughton Man of the Match was awarded to Ashley Wykes for his match winning figures of 5-18. The game was played in an excellent spirit with both sides looking forward to next seasons fixtures.

A big thank you to all our spectators one of which was Rocky Bruce who played for Boughton many years ago and also to Paul Coulten who kindly and very ably kept score.

Andrew Faherty

Birds of the Southern Hemisphere and their habitats.

Saturday 6 October. Boughton Church 7.30 pm. Robin Blackall will talk and show slides of the birds seen on his tour through the southern hemisphere last year. This will include many colourful slides of places including Australia, New Zealand and South America. Entrance is free, but donations can be made on the evening. Refreshments served. More details from Moira 500955.

Harvest celebrations

Sunday 7 October. All Age Service 10.30 am

Sunday 14 October Harvest Songs of Praise, 6 pm. Let Pam know your choices.

Saturday 13 October. Group Harvest Supper. 7pm Beachamwell Village Hall. Tickets £7 from Pam Wakeling

Beetle Drive

Saturday 27 October. Join us at the end of half term for a bit of fun and activity. Remember the beetle game from childhood, where you roll a die to get the parts of the beetle. That is the theme of the meeting with participants changing tables during the session to play different people. Prizes for best scores. To be held at 3 - 5 pm Childrens session £2 a head 7 pm Adults £6 with ploughman's supper. Please bring own drinks. Monies raised for the church project. More details and to book contact Moira 500955 or email stephenjsaunders@btinternet.com.

Bubbles on the Green

Despite initial concerns over the weather - would we need to beat a hasty retreat to the church? - the sun shone and it was a warm and pleasant evening on the village green. Giles Luckett was, as usual, hugely entertaining and informative, giving a brief history of Champagne (all due to us Brits, of course!) with only minor heckling from the ducks. A near capacity crowd enjoyed a variety of Sparkling Wines and Champagne, accompanied by strawberries and brioche, ably served by Carol, Andrew, Angela, Kevin, Debbie and Ollie - Many thanks to them all.

Peter & Jane Kilian

Dates for the diary.

Wednesday 31 October Church open for quiet contemplation 6.30 - 8.30 pm

Thursday 1 November. All Saints Service, Boughton

Saturday 15 December The PCC of Boughton Church invite the village to a party in the church from 7 pm.

Tuesday 18 December Carol service

Romanian Shoebox Appeal 2007. The Shoebox Appeal has been running since 1992. It's a simple idea: anyone can pack up a shoebox to send as a personal Christmas gift to a desperately poor Romanian family. Over the years, more than 300,000 have been sent. It is virtually impossible for us in the West to envisage a Christmas with no presents. But for them, it is just another bitingly cold winter's day, with extreme conditions and the need to find the basic essentials of life, to keep the family going until tomorrow. So, if you are tired of all the commercialism and hype here is the perfect antidote!

Shoebox appeals have been run from All Saints' Boughton for 2-3 years now, and we would like you to support us again this year. Leaflets can be obtained from Pam Wakeling 01366 500429 (email robet1@tiscali.co.uk) and the shoeboxes need to be ready by early November. A more precise date will be given as soon as it is known, but we are hoping to have at least sixty boxes and qualify as an area collecting point.

Researching the History of Boughton

As part of an ongoing interest in the long history of Boughton, Kevin Fisher, Tom Edwards and I visited Norwich Records one sunny Saturday in late June to explore their archives. It was like being in Aladdin's cave with amazing original records over here! over there! in fact everywhere. We soon learnt that we had to focus on specific records and explore them fully otherwise we would be flitting all over the place.

We first viewed some micro films of births Marriages and Deaths dating from 1729. Unlike today all these records are in one book recorded as they occurred. It was interesting to see names from the more recent past appearing in the records. Two gems we viewed were the timetables for the village school dated 1935 and 1943. They reflected the emphasis on Mathematics, English, History as well as Religious Studies and Physical Exercise. We noted Occupations as well as Country Dancing on the timetable. It is interesting how the timetable reflected a different age.

Some of the maps we viewed proved particularly rewarding as there were some that pre-dated the Enclosure Maps (which we could not view due to their poor condition) and revealed some wonderful detail of the village. A new discovery from a map of 1802 was the existence of a Toll House at the junction at the far end of Oxborough Road by the Fen. A good location for a Toll House as there is a road junction between villages, a river and it is surrounded by Fen. No passing without paying!

We are hoping to reproduce some of the items we discovered for the benefit of the village and to visit the Records Office again and increase our knowledge of this lovely village.

Peter Agate

Pride in Norfolk Awards 2007

Confirmed as one of the five finalists in the under 500 category, Boughton eagerly awaited the arrival of the judging panel. Given little notice they arrived on the 29th May and were greeted and hosted by a varied selection of villagers representing the main interests of the Parish, including the Council, Church and Boughton Village Caravan. Boughton were the first village to be visited and it was difficult to be sure what differentiators the panel were actually looking for, however all were agreed that the case put forward for Boughton was a good one.

The results were formally announced at the end of July and unfortunately Boughton were not successful, the winner was Stokesby and the runner up Flitcham. The Parish have received a letter of recognition and certificate to mark our achievement in 2007 and a copy of this can be viewed on the website at www.group4news.co.uk. Boughton can be very proud of the success in reaching the final, and to mark our achievement the Boughton Village Caravan are looking at the possibility of commissioning a commemoration plaque to be placed on the village sign. It is planned to enter the competition again next year and any thoughts or comments on how we might improve our chances of success will be gratefully accepted.

Kevin Fisher.

Boughton Parish Church Registers

Following on from the success of the Parish Meeting Minutes computer CD, a companion disc is now available containing the records of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials for Boughton from the early 1800's to around 1974. A 'user friendly' menu system and a searchable index are used to enable quick and easy selection of a record of interest which links to a scanned image of the original entry. See how the dominant family names have flourished and declined over the years, see how the size of a family unit has decreased, find out the real facts about Smith Churchill and the passing of his children in the 1862 scarlet fever epidemic. Many more interesting facts are available for the bargain price of £10.

Please contact Kevin Fisher on 01366 502224 to order your copy. All proceeds to Boughton Parish and All Saints' Church.

Pam Wakeling