Heacham school children take part in planting for Heacham In Bloom

Heacham In Bloom has received a welcome boost from The West Norfolk Public House in Heacham who are to be the sponsors of the plough bed on Redgate Hill which is planted with an ornamental mixture of poppies called Champagne Bubbles. A further donation of £30.00 has been received by the group from the Friends of Heacham Beaches, which will go towards the purchase of drought resistant perennials.

Heacham in Bloom Chairman, Susan Richardson was delighted with this new support and said: “We have also been in discussion with another group and hope to report more next month.  These donations are vital for our work and are a real boost to the team. There has been a great partnership with Heacham Infant and Nursery School and a huge difference has been made to an area of their grounds.  We also launched a Sunflower Competition at the school so that all the children can feel involved in the project.”

Susan went on to say that: “There is still plenty of time to enter The Best Blooming Caravan Competition, posters and entry forms have been sent to each caravan park in the village. Forms are also available at www.heachamparishcouncil.co.uk. We have had a great response from businesses in the High Street and planting out of wall baskets will take place this month.  Heacham Brownies have also helped plant up these wall baskets as part of their Jubilee Badge.”

Heacham In Bloom’s  Heacham Pride of Place Campaign which aims to encourage residents to take a fresh look at where they live, work or play and put into practise ideas which could improve the local environment.  This campaign is once again supported by Heacham Newsletter and the first areas or groups to register will be given a £10.00 voucher to spend on plants at Moulam and Horn in Heacham. If you are interested in taking part you must register at the Parish Council Office to receive your voucher.

Heacham will be judged by the In Bloom judges on Tuesday 10 July, so the coming weeks will be full steam ahead for Heacham in Bloom volunteers.  For anyone who is interested in taking part the group’s next meeting is 18 June at 7.00pm – Parish Council Office.

Posted by Stella Gooch

To get an overview of what is happening in this area click here.  If you have information about other local events relevant to the Jubilee that should be included please email: stella@hunstanton-on-line.co.uk.

Meet the Spice Garden team

No 14 High Street has gone through a few changes of ownership since the days of Rushmore’s Restaurant.  Now a long overdue breath of fresh air is here in our choice of local restaurant cuisine.  “Spice Garden” is Heacham’s very own Indian restaurant and will no doubt save many of us the journey to Kings Lynn in search of our favourite Vindaloo or Tikka Masala.  You can even get your favourite Indian Take Away delivered to your home free of charge within a 5 mile radius of the restaurant!

Welcome to Heacham's very own exotic taste of India

The evening before the “Spice Garden” opened to the public, a pre-opening event was held with friends, family and supporters invited to help mark the occasion.  Heacham-On-Line and Heacham Newsletter were included amongst the gathering of family, friends and supporters.  We were all treated to a starter of Onion Baji and Tandoori Chicken followed by Chicken Tikka Masala and a tasty lamb dish with Bombay Potato and, of course, the compulsory Naan bread and rice.

One of the guests proposed a toast in honour of our hosts and their future success.  All in all a very enjoyable first night for “Spice Garden” and the restaurant opens to welcome the general public from 29 March 2012.

“Spice Garden” is co-founded by Mohammed, Wendy and Raj who, in the past, have been owner/operators of “Spice Cottage” in Shropshire for many years which is now sold.  More recently, Heacham’s newest food operators, have achieved 10 years – and counting – at Wells Tandoori in Freeman Street, Wells-Next-the-Sea and three years at “Spice Heaven” Indian Takeaway in Fakenham.  Wendy and Raj are also known in Hunstanton having worked at the Northgate Indian Restaurant where they met.

Best wishes and thanks to all

Onion Baji Starter

The record breaking is well in swing

On 18 December 2011 over 280 people attended the Carol Service in St Mary’s Church, Heacham – part of the world record attempt organised by Premier Radio to break the record for the “Largest Group of Carol singers in Multiple Locations”.

On 20 March 2012 news was received that Guinness have ratified the record.  If you were there you are now part of a World Record: 18,100 singers at 196 locations in the UK and abroad.  Give yourselves a round of applause!

Following the wonderful Night at the Theatre show put on by Pocahontas Players in June 2011, our very own local theatre group are planning to give us another treat in May.  The wonderful success of Lion King during last summer’s show has inspired the troupe to put on “Another Night at the Theatre”.  Many of the theatregoers who saw that show will be delighted – and I count myself among them – to hear that a different story line from Lion King is part of the line up and the well loved “Mary Poppins” will also feature.

The show will once again be supported by Hunstanton Community Choir and will be performed on Friday, 25 May 2012 (curtain up 7.30pm) and Saturday, 26 May 2012 (curtain up 2.30pm and 7.30pm).  Tickets: £7 each (£2 discount for under 8s).  Ticket enquiries: 01485 570402 or 571267

I have already reserved my tickets, have you?

Members of the Heacham and Criteuil-la-Magdeleine Twinning Association enjoying the fun at their annual Barn Dance on Saturday 17th March.

Eighty members and guests attended the annual Barn Dance organised by the Heacham and Critueil-la-Magedeleine Twinning Association on Saturday 17th March in the hall of the Heacham Junior School by kind courtesy of the Head Mistress Mrs Nicola Darley.     Everyone present agreed that it was a very enjoyable evening and went home exhausted either due to participating in the various dances or just watching the efforts of those who ventured on to the floor.

An excellent and varied buffet was provided by members of the association.   The evening was deemed to be a great success not only as a social event but also financially raising over £600 towards the funds of the association which will be depleted this summer when over forty French visitors from our twinned village of Criteuil-la-Magdeleine arrive in July.

The committee would like to thank everyone who helped with the organisation of the event including all those who contributed food for the buffet and prizes for the raffle and especially all who bought tickets or made donations.   The association was formed with the aim of fostering good relationships between the peoples of our two communities by encouraging exchange visits between them.    During the year we organise various social events, not only to raise funds but primarily to enjoy ourselves.

New members of all ages are always welcome.  If you are interested in learning more about the association why not come along to one of our committee meetings or social events.  For more information or to apply for membership please contact our membership secretary on 01485 579465 or email twinclub@hotmail.co.uk.

Date : Wednesday March 28th 2012 at 7pm

Venue: St Mary’s Parish Church, Church Lane, Heacham PE31 7HH

Conductor:  Max Dolby (St Edmund’s, Hunstanton)

Organist:     Adrian Flower (St Mary’s, Heacham)

Soloists:      George Braun – Bass                      John Benet – Tenor

On the North Norfolk coast are numerous churches – about a score in our Deanery, we also have a long, long history of Christian belief, now practised in a full range of churchmanship from Anglo-Catholic to Evangelical and all stages in between.

What we have not done for many a year is to unite in expressing our common, essential reliance on Christ’s crucifixion. The late Desmond Greef MBE (organist at St Mary, Old Hunstanton) did so much in years gone by to unite churches in our area through music. We would like to celebrate his legacy through the performance we are planning.

So, come on, we need your help, and you may have your heart and your faith touched in ways you thought you had lost. ‘The Crucifixion’ will be sung in St. Mary’s Church, Heacham at 7pm on Wednesday 28th March.

The concert is free but a collection will be taken for The Bishop’s Lent Project.

Heacham in Bloom: Best Blooming Caravan Trophy

March has been very busy, the majority of our bedding plants have been ordered. The first weeding of the year has taken place and a huge step towards the creation of a butterfly garden at Heacham Infants and Nursery School.  A very big thank you to all those who came along to the School on 10 March especially to Nick Cawthorne without whom we would have struggled to get the work done in a day.

Lots of things are happening in April. This month we launch our two local initiatives. The first of which is The Best Blooming Caravan  and Caravan Park Competition 2012.   We have circulated posters and entry forms to each caravan  park in the village, but forms are also available on the Parish Council website www.heachamparishcouncil.co.uk.

For the winning Caravan Park, there will be the stunning trophy and for the winning caravan owners, a meal for two courtesy of the Fox and Hounds Public House.  The second is the Heacham Pride of Place Campaign where we hope to encourage you to take a fresh look at where you live, work or play and put into practise ideas which could improve it. Heacham Newsletter have again sponsored this Campaign and the first areas or groups to register will be given a £10.00 voucher to spend at Moulam and Horn on plants.  Ideas can be as simple as troughs or planting round your street name sign.  Heacham in Bloom is about our community and taking pride in making it lovely or should I say lovelier. Last year, Sunnyside who signed up for Pride of Place were shortlisted by the judges for best community project.

We have organised our usual Spring Coffee morning on 14 April in the Church Hall, so you can come and talk to us about our 2012 Pride of Place campaign, Best Blooming Caravan park competition  or how you can help us in the run up to Judging. Last, but not least we hope you are enjoying the crocuses, daffodils and primulas.

Our next meeting is 16 April at 7.00pm – Parish Council Office.

Come along and enjoy an Easter Fun Day on Monday 2nd April (10.30am till 2pm).

There will be a raffle, tombola, cake stall and books and lots more so come along to Piece of Mind in Poplar Avenue in Heacham to join in the fun.

Heacham Sports & Social Club - home of Heacham Bowls Club

2012 will be the centenary year of the Heacham Bowls Club.  The immaculately groomed green, surrounded by carrstone buildings and trees is understandably concidered by many to be the emerald in Heacham’s crown. It is a truly picturesque scene to see and is a joy to play on.  Mentioning Heacham to some people I met in Cyprus, they replied.  “Oh, tha’ts where that lovely bowling green is isn’t it?”

Bowling is an ancient game played all over the world in various forms.  Equipment for bowling has been found in Egyptian tombs dating from 5,200 B.C. and is known to have been played in Italy at the time of Julius Ceasar.  ‘Bowles’ was played in Britain as early as the eleventh century A.D.  Henry III passed a law forbidding it and it was banned by Edward III, Richard II and Edward IV because it distracted the men from their archery practice.

The use of biased bowls is said to have begun in 1552, when the Duke of Suffolk split one of his bowls asunder during a game.  Rushing into his mansion he sawed the ball from the bottom of the stair bannister thereby creating a flat on the side.  Continuing his game he found that his new bowl could curve around other bowls that blocked the way to the target.

These early bowls were likely to have been fashioned from oak with heavier lignum vitae coming into use much later.  This was followed in the early 20th century by the German vulcanite bowls, then the composites such as Henselite.

If you look on bowls as old mens marbles, just watch the competitions on T.V. and you will see that the young guns rule in a similar manner to those in snooker.  The great David Bryant was given an old set of bowls by his father Reg. before he was seven and went on to become one of the icons of international bowling.  Tony Alcock of  Leicester, encouraged by his parents,  began as a child  rising to international stardom.

Whatever your age, why not come along and join the club, or just enjoy the odd afternoon in the sunshine as a casual member.  As our membership is growing, we formed a third team in 2011.

Membership costs just £30 this year with the season begining on Saturday April 14th at 1pm.

This being our one hundredth anniversary, we are hoping to arrange a full calendar of activities and weekend games.  The groundsmen have been working hard on the green and it is looking fabulous already.

Appropriate footwear is a must, but young or not so young, residents or visitors, experienced or novice, you can be sure of a warm welcome.