January 2012

NEWS

The days Santa Claus came to town. . .

Santa was a busy boy in both Southwold (on 2nd December) and Reydon (on 3rd December), making prominent appearances courtesy of the RNLI and Fire Service respectively at the well-attended switching on of the Christmas Lights in both places, to the delight of the children on both evenings.

Both were spectacles of light, music and carols, with a dash of celebrity (this year, James Bolam and his wife Susan Jameson (Grandpa and Aunt Loretta in the hit CBBC series ‘Grandpa in My Pocket’, among many notable roles over the years) helped Santa Claus switch on Southwold’s lights).

As before, both Christmas Lights Committees maintained the standards of previous years and are to be commended for the efforts they have made. These two events are increasingly major highlights of the Southwold and Reydon year as a result, and a memorable start to the festive season (now sadly a fast-receding memory).

A Happy New Year to our readers!

Congratulations . . .

 . . .to Jenny Hursell. As many readers may be aware, she is now Jenny Hursell MBE thanks to the 2012 New Year Honours List. She was given this singular honour ‘For services to the community in Southwold, Suffolk’.

It is well deserved – not only was she Town Clerk for Southwold Town Council for 25 years, appearing many times in these pages and finally retiring last summer, but she has also been Secretary of the Millennium Foundation, Secretary and Treasurer of the Southwold and Reydon Corps of Drums (for 15 years), and a Governor of and a volunteer reader at Southwold Primary School for many years as well.

She said to The Organ: ‘I am touched that people considered me worthy of nomination, but also well aware of the numbers of people in town who undertake vast amounts of charitable work without due recognition and so there is a degree of embarrassment. Nonetheless, I am, of course, excited by the prospect of going to London to receive the award.’

Incidentally, Jenny has used her local knowledge in a book, Southwold Street Names – A Speculative History, that has just been published, and which is reviewed elsewhere in this issue.

We at The Organ salute you!

Jenny Hursell (left) and Town Mayor Teresa Baggott (right) during the Royal Visit of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2008

A website for Reydon

Work has started on developing a Reydon village website, with the launch planned for the early part of next year. A small working party, consisting of Reydon Parish Council members and local residents, has been working together on this exciting project. The website will contain local information, list Reydon organisations and businesses, and provide current village information for local people and visitors alike. Up-to-date Parish Council information will also be available, with information on meetings, minutes etc.

Items will be listed under various headings and at the moment we are seeking information for the following sections – Amenities, Events, Clubs and Groups, Services and Businesses. If you would like to be listed on the Reydon village website, please contact us with your contact information on reydonweb@gmail.com, by post to Mrs K Savage, 6 Greenside, St Margaret South Elmham, Harleston, Suffolk IP20 OPN, or in writing to Charlotte Clark at Southwold Library.

There will be no charge to be listed on the website, but please note that we will not be accepting advertising. If you have local information to share, for example Reydon’s history, we would also love to hear from you!

Chairman of Reydon Parish Council, Barrie Remblance, said: ‘The Reydon village website will be a way of promoting our village to a local and wider audience, and we hope that the local community will get involved and find it a useful resource.’

Watch out for further information in the New Year!

Amanda Humphry, Reydon Parish Council

Police front desk

Local crime for Reydon and Southwold

Crime in Reydon since 22nd November: Minor assault took place during dispute between neighbours. Local businessman suffered a fraud and, when police searched home address of resident who had committed crime elsewhere, a tablet was found, which was believed to be MDMA (known as ecstasy)

A man from Lowestoft has been charged with an offence of assault in relation to an assault on a young woman in Mount Pleasant Road in October. He will be attending court in January.

A 2.5-metre-long inflatable boat has been stolen from the Harbour area sometime between 28th and 30th November.

Overnight 30th November/1st December: an attempt was made to lever open a window at a unit on the Southwold Business Park.

Evening of 2nd December (Christmas Lights Switch On): A member of staff at a town-centre hotel had her mobile phone stolen from her handbag, which she had put in the cellar of the hotel. The phone is a HTC Wildfire touch-screen ‘smart’ phone in a red case.

A local resident was arrested for drink-driving after a road accident on the evening of Christmas Lights Swtitch On. He was almost twice the legal limit for driving and was due to attend court on 20th December.

During the night of Christmas Lights Switch On: someone vandalised a bicycle which was locked in a cycle rack at one of the town-centre hotels.

An altercation took place between three 15-year-old schoolboys on Mights Bridge around 8 pm on the night of Christmas Lights Switch On. Two of the boys assaulted the third boy. None of the boys concerned live in Reydon or Southwold.

On the night of Christmas Lights Switch On: a young woman was assaulted by another young woman in one of the town-centre pubs.

A ‘road rage’ incident occurred between two motorists in York Road, Southwold on Saturday, 10th December. One of the motorists committed a minor assault upon the other.

A man who works in Southwold has had his car vandalised on a few occasions recently. Police are investigating the matter.

PC Chris Sadler

Contents of Reydon Hall top £500,000 at Bonhams

New world record set for work by Edward Robert Smythe

Over £500,000 was raised and 85% of the lots were sold when the contents of Reydon Hall, Suffolk went under the hammer at Bonhams in Knightsbridge, London on 6th December.

The sale included one of the finest ever collections of Suffolk School paintings, which made a total of £350,000. The star pictures were two monumental works by Edward Robert Smythe, who, with his younger brother Thomas, became famous for charming and beautifully observed depictions of rural and domestic Suffolk life during the second half of the 19th century. An 1865 painting of ‘The Master, Hunt Servants and Hounds of the Suffolk Hunt in the Parkland Before Euston Hall’ sold for £23,750. A similarly large-scale work showing ‘Wool Pit Fair, Portrait of Mr R E Lofft Esq’ made a new world record price for the artist at auction of £39,650. Both pictures had been estimated at £15,000–£20,000.

There was also a world record price of £3,500 for a pastel by Edward Robert Smythe. Other highlights included £8,125 for a pair of Edwardian silver candelabra and a 19th-century French life-size terracotta model of a turkey, which was gobbled up for £2,500.

Bonhams Regional Director for East Anglia, Michael Steel, said: ‘It has been a pleasure handling this collection and it is greatly encouraging that we were able to achieve such strong prices in yesterday’s auction. There continues to be a healthy appreciation for the quality of works by Edward and Thomas Smyth, with a number of the best pictures bought privately in the region.’

Reydon Hall, a large 17th-century country house near Southwold, was home to the Le Grys family, who established and ran a turkey production firm in northeast Suffolk, which was sold to the well-known entrepreneur Bernard Matthews in the 1970s. Raymond Le Grys and his brother John had a passion for Suffolk art.

Results of Southwold bus survey

A survey just completed by the East Suffolk Travellers’ Association (ESTA) shows concerns by many local bus passengers about services to and from Southwold.

The experimental ban on buses in Southwold High Street since July is shown to be unpopular, with 87% of respondents to ESTA’s questionnaire calling for them to return to the Market Place.

Buses now turn round at the Kings Head, where there is also criticism of the new bus shelter. The report states: ‘At the Market Place bus passengers enjoyed a solid weatherproof brick-built shelter providing protection from the elements... The replacement shelter does not nearly provide the same degree of protection. It also involves shoppers having to carry their purchases for a considerably longer distance, a disadvantage to elderly people.’

Cuts in bus services to and from Southwold have also led to fewer passenger journeys according to the ESTA survey. Sometimes this has resulted in people travelling less often and in some cases not travelling at all. The ESTA report comments: ‘There was a trend to visit the town less in July compared with January this year, when an opposite trend would be expected.’

Lowestoft, Halesworth and Beccles, in that order, were the most popular destinations for Southwold and Reydon people, but the numbers travelling by bus to these towns fell by between 16% and 20% between January and July according to replies to the ESTA questionnaire.

Passengers were also asked how often they used Halesworth or Darsham rail stations. 24% said they did, but many complained that fewer buses now connected with trains at Halesworth and that connections there were less reliable.

The survey report has been sent to relevant local councils, public transport operators and politicians.

ESTA Chairman Trevor Garrod commented: ‘Ours is the first-known survey of bus passengers to and from Southwold in recent years. The local authorities and bus operators need to reconsider the level of bus services to and from Southwold and where they stop. Can we look forward to improvements in time for the 2012 summer season? If so, we in ESTA will be pleased to help promote them.’

Southwold’s Miss Slinky

In the run up to New Year, a slimmer from Southwold was ready to celebrate in style after losing an amazing three stone, nine-and-a-half pounds, and winning a slimming competition in the run up to the most indulgent of all festivities.

Local chef, Lucy Bartlett has dropped 4 dress sizes, going from a size 20 to a 12 since joining the Southwold Slimming World group, and she’s looking forward to slipping into a slinky party dress for the festive season after being aptly named the group’s ‘Miss Slinky’. And even better, her weight loss and win have put her in the running to bag a whole new wardrobe for her new figure

The 32-year-old mother of two has slimmed down from 15 stone, six pounds to 11 stone, ten-and-a-half pounds since January 2011. After winning the title in her group, now she’s waiting to hear if she’s scooped the national title and the £2,000 shopping spree prize. Slimming World’s annual ‘Miss Slinky’ competition recognises members who have undergone a huge transformation by becoming slimmer and more confident – and look great in their party outfit too!

Lucy says: ‘I couldn’t believe it when everyone voted me as “Miss Slinky”. I’ve never felt “slinky” before but – thanks to Slimming World – I am now, and it feels great! I’ve always struggled with my weight – being around food every day as a chef certainly didn’t help! Shopping for clothes was a trauma and usually ended up with me in tears and I always used to cancel nights out. Now I have a newfound love of clothes, shopping and shoes, and now I know I’ll have lots of fun finding that perfect New Year’s Eve outfit. Before I used to avoid certain shops or styles because of my size, but now I can go anywhere and still find something that not only fits but looks and feels great too! That’s something worth celebrating all year round.’

And Lucy’s confident that with the help of her Slimming World group and Consultant Denise Durrant, who runs the group, her new ‘slinky’ self is here to stay. ‘With Slimming World, I don’t feel like I have been on a diet: I can still eat lots and have little treats. I’ve got a completely new lifestyle now, I fill up on delicious healthy meals made from scratch with fresh food and I’m much more active. I can’t imagine not going to my Slimming World group because we have such a laugh together. I know this is me from now on.’

Denise says Lucy’s achievements make her a role model for other people in the Southwold area: ‘There are 14.6 million overweight or obese women in the UK and that picture’s no different in our community, Being overweight puts you at greater risk of suffering from illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and even cancer. I think that makes what Lucy’s achieved even more staggering. I hope she inspires lots of other people to improve their health by losing weight and shows them that whether you’ve got a little or a lot to lose, slimming down can make a huge difference to your confidence and self-esteem.’

If you’re inspired by Lucy’s story and you’d like to drop a dress size or more, come along to the Southwold Slimming World group, which runs every Wednesday at 7.30 pm at Cardinal Newman Hall, or for more information, call Denise on 01502 528505 or visit www.slimmingworld.com.

Before

After

The Better Broadband For Suffolk campaign

Businesses in east Suffolk are being urged to take a few minutes to add their support to the Better Broadband for Suffolk campaign which wants to see superfast broadband implemented urgently, helping local businesses to compete for work in the future.

The county has one of the poorest broadband networks in the country, with an average speed of under five megabytes per second, but an ambitious £41.7-million project supported by local councils, businesses and national government is set to bring the area into the 21st century.

‘There is already significant cash backing for this vital project, with up to £10 million set aside by the County Council and £11 million from the Government, while our Local Strategic Partnership has also put in funding. But the next vital step is that we have to prove the demand is there and that is where we need our businesses to go online and give their support,’ said Cllr Ray Herring, Leader of Suffolk Coastal District Council.

‘We have over 5,000 VAT-registered companies in our district alone, and we need as many of them as possible to take a few minutes to add their names to the fast growing list of those who are saying that superfast broadband is vital for their current and future business needs. Resources are limited and we need to show that we not only deserve them here but that the demand is here to make it worthwhile for the investment to come our way,’ added Cllr Herring.

The County Council, on behalf of the Better Broadband For Suffolk campaign, has set up a quick and easy broadband survey which does not require companies to make a firm commitment, but will help show the level of demand and likely take up of superfast broadband services in Suffolk. The survey can be found on www.suffolk.gov.uk/broadband.

‘I would urge all companies to take part in this survey because successfully delivering the £41.7-million project will help local businesses grow, improve educational attainment and make it far easier for all companies, councils and other public-service organisations modernise and improve their services. It will also make Suffolk a more attractive place for businesses to move in to,’ said Cllr Colin Law, Leader of Waveney District Council.

‘We all know far too well the frustrations of having intermittent broadband speeds in our part of Suffolk. It is difficult enough for us to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the country because of some of our poor road links, which makes it even more important that we get as good and as fast an access to the information superhighway as quickly as possible. We cannot afford to be on the wrong side of a great digital divide that could see us left behind in the fight for jobs and investment,’ added Cllr Law.

The Better Broadband For Suffolk campaign has identified five main benefits of improved broadband access, and is working with the public sector and local businesses to deliver superfast broadband to Suffolk.           

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