Boughton Newsletter

A report on the monthly activities in Boughton

The Second Annual Boughton Jazz Picnic Triumphs!

Notwithstanding the awful few days beforehand, once again Boughton was blessed with great weather on the occasion of the Second Annual Jazz Picnic held on the well-manicured lawns of Rectory House on the last Saturday in August.

Over 200 people, including numerous children, enjoyed the sounds of Barry Tyler's Original Dixieland Jazz Band enthral us with three ours of superb music. Jazz may not be your bag, but I have to say the afternoon was exceptionally enjoyable, and the company great.

Having a picnic in such a setting whilst being entertained by high-class musicians on a sunny Saturday afternoon was just wonderful! Guests started arriving an hour before the event, setting up gazebos (to ward off the sun this time, not the rain), and to lay out their picnics tables and chairs. Clearly the band have a good following as I estimated 75% to 80% were from out of the local area, which was wonderful, as they had the opportunity to see how lucky we are to live in Boughton!

The afternoon flew by as we enjoyed the sounds, saw the umbrella parade, (well done Bill for keeping up!) and soaked up the sunshine. All too soon we were packing away and reflecting on the enjoyment by all.

I would personally like to thank Paul Coulten and his family for allowing this event (now a fixture in the Boughton calendar!) to take place in their gardens, for all the hard work they put in both before and on the day, to make this such a great success. Paul also played in the band, and they even did another gig that evening, and again the following lunchtime... phew!

Paul raised £850 towards Parish Funds, no mean feat, and we have asked for suggestions from within the village on what items we should spend the funds on for the benefit of parishioners.

Can't wait for next years picnic! Peter Agate

Harvest in Boughton

All Saints' Church will be celebrating harvest over two services. October 5 will be an All Age Harvest Festival at 10 am. We would love to see the children join us and those who have not been to church for a while. It is an informal relaxed service, of 45 minutes followed by refreshments. We will be collecting dry goods and tins for Lily House, a refuge for abused women. Any donations of clothes for Lily House are welcome. They are interested in women's clothes over size 16 as well as smaller sizes. Also children's clothes aged 6 upwards. Often the families will leave home with rest the clothes that they are wearing and the organisation helps them make a new start. Everything will be delivered the first week in November. Contact Moira if you have any questions. In addition, a monetary collection will be held for Snehalaya Childrens Home in India and we hope a short presentation of pictures will be made at the service. This was visited by Teresa Payne as part of her gap year. On October 12 join us for a Songs of Praise at 6 pm. If you wish to make choose a hymn please contact Pam Wakeling.

Hope to see you at one or both services. Moira Saunders

Decorating the church

We will be decorating the church for Harvest celebrations on Saturday October 4th from 9.30 am onwards. All offers of help, flowers or foliage will be gratefully received. Pam Wakeling

Beer tasting

October 25 at 7.30 pm in All Saints' Boughton. There will be the chance to sample eight different beers with a short introduction to each one led by Tony Hook of Wissey Valley Brewery. There will then be the chance to buy further glasses of those beers you have enjoyed. Numbers are limited to 50 so please get your tickets soon. Contact Moira on 500955.

Congratulations to Alex Saunders

Alex has just completed his A levels gaining 4 A's in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Physics. Alex is now off to Bristol University for 4 years to study for a Masters in Chemistry. This summer Alex completed his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award, finishing with a five day expedition to the lake District where they have to carry everything they will need including food, bedding and tent. He also had to complete a residential course which has to be without parents or course leaders. Alex went to Long Mynd Gliding Club where he had some excellent solo flying from a ridge, very different to flat Norfolk..

Congratulations to Jade Whing

Piece to come - don't know how long, but allow for the same as above?

RAF Tanker Navigator

There are many talented and skilled people in our villages. I have on a number of occasions asked in church 'do you know someone who......' and a name or two are suggested.

Tony Gold has just become a first time published author and is excited about the fact. On the first day, the book written with Peter Bodle of Stoke Ferry was taken up by 663 distributors worldwide. The book is the story of Tony's life as a RAF tanker navigator and concentrates mainly on his time in the Valiant and Victor Tanker fleets at Marham. Peter sat and listened to Tony's stories and then turned them into print. When completed, it had to be cleared by the Ministry of Defense at PCB (Air) at Bentley Priory because of the nature of some of the flying operations Tony had been involved with and the need for care with material of a security sensitive nature.

It is published by the prolific Military and History publishing house Pen & Sword who identified Tony of holding a number of World records as a navigator in tanker aircraft: He flew the highest, 57 500ft, in a pressurised aircraft - Canberra - with only a mask, his operational jet hours total 4200. He has flown in more types of Canberra including the America B57 (but not the PR9) other than test pilots and has been in five war zones.

RAF Tanker Navigator. Peter Bodle FRAeS and Tony Golds.

Pen and Sword Aviation.

ISBN 9-781844- 157440

180 Pages 16 pages of B/W photos

£19.99 Available from all good bookshops (Waterstones at King's Lynn Norfolk St., who carry stock), Amazon et al on the net, or direct from the publishers.

Boughton Pumpkin Challenge Update - October 2008

The weather has not been very good for pumpkin growing. A number of growers have lost their prize assets to mould and rot due to the damp conditions and lack of sunshine. The Pumpkin Police are very impressed with the ingenuity of one contender; a little shelter has been constructed to keep the best exhibit from the rain - very clever, and within the rules. Also David Cooper has hired a forklift truck to get his best Pumpkin to the weigh-in, provided that he can keep it from rotting. So if you see a marquee in his garden it is not for a wedding reception it is for a pumpkin!

It takes more than a drop of rain to dampen the spirits of the good people of Boughton and we are sure you will turn up to the weigh-in and presentation with something. If you are contemplating buying one you need to get to the market quickly they are apparently selling out rapidly. We are considering changing the challenge to the person who can buy the heaviest pumpkin.

So good luck with this final critical stage of the challenge and well done for persevering through very difficult conditions - maximum respect !!!

Please note, the Weigh-In is at Winward, Saturday 11th October, 10.00am to 4.00 pm

Presentation of Trophies: 5.00pm on the Village Green or in the Church depending on the weather.

Please come along even if your pumpkin hasn't survived and have a bit of fun.

This is the Pumpkin Police - signing off. See you at the Weigh-In.......

Frank and Geoff

Dog Fouling

We seem to have a problem again in the village. Most people in the village are careful to clean up after their dogs, but please be vigilant about this. It makes life unpleasant everyone, as well as giving dogs a bad name.

Pam

We also have an advert, and the Fen presentation ad as last time. Mark wants it to go in as before, with a box round it. I think.

Pam Wakeling