Tattingstone
Village Recorder’s Annual Report for 2014
2014 was an extremely busy year inTattingstone with many events and changes taking place.
To set the scene, 2014 was both the warmest and the fourth wettest year on record. Thewinter was mild and wet with no snow for the first time in several years and hence an early spring. The verges and grass areas in the village had been planted with hundreds of daffodils, tulips and alliums the previous autumn and looked a picture by the end of March. Summer was hot and sunny until the schools broke up at the end of Julyand then most of August was cooler than average. There was however a long dry Indian summer in September, with the exception of the day of the village fete! It was a good harvest and a good year for localhome grown fruit and vegetables and also honey. Autumn started wet and other than a few cold spells in November and December the year ended fairly mild.
Events
New Year’s Eve Party in Village Hall 31 December 2013 (not covered in previous year’s report)
This was a marvellous evening organised by the Peninsular Pix Committee. This article appeared in The Tattingstone News January 2014 edition:
“New Year's Eve saw the Peninsular Pix team running a very successful dance at the Village Hall with over 60 of Tattingstone's partying crowd. The theme for the evening was 'James Bond' with many arriving as the hero in evening dress, while the wilder crowd came as villains such as men with golden fingers and water pistols. Among the wonderful and varied costumes of the gentler sex there was a bevy of lovely ladies dressed in cat suits all claiming to be the original Pussy Galore and who could deny any one of them? The hall was decked not only with holly but as a casino royale with intense guests gambling for chocolate guineas as others drank shaken-not-stirred dry lemonades. At the stroke of midnight the London scene appeared on the big screen, first with Gary Barlow followed by that fantastic display of fireworks along the Thames. All in all it was a great night and so we entered 2014 with a lot of joy and laughter. Peninsular Pix wishes all their patrons past, present and future a Happy New Year.”
New Year’s Day Paper Boat Race -1 January 2014
The paper boat race started soon after the reservoir was first built in the early 1980s. The originator was a village resident called Mickey Newman. He was a boat builder and carved the trophy for the best boat. He was very successful and won many of the early boat races and his name can be seen on the early years of the trophy. As well as building boats he flew micro-light aircraft and was unfortunately killed in a flying accident some years ago. Running of the event was taken over by another village resident David Moore who was the commodore for several years. Peter Bush has been the commodore for the last few years.
The boat race is run on New Year's Day and the only stipulation is that the boat should be constructed of paper and string (small amounts of wood are usually permissible, plastic is a no no). Boats should be no bigger than 18 inches in any dimension. The course depends on the wind conditions, sometimes it runs along the axis of Lemons Hill Bridgeand on other occasions it is run east to west across the little inlet close to the bridge. The entry fee is £2 and the money raised is donated to the RNLI.
The race seems to go from strength to strengthand in 2014 there were between 40 and 50 entries. Entrants had their boats checked at The White Horse before the race and everyone ended up there afterwards to mull over the morning’s sailing!
There is a second trophy called the Cracknell Trophy for the boat that looks good and looks as if it should have won but didnt! This trophy was created to honour another Tattingstone resident Robin Cracknell who tragically died in a car accident. His widow Jenny comes every year to present the trophy.
The 2014 winner was Annette Kilworth of Chedworth Place. Annette followed in her husband Garry’s footsteps as he had won in 2013!
Unveiling of Village Information Board – 22 March
During the latter part of 2012 and all of 2013, a project was underway for an Information Board to be erected in the village. The idea came from the writer (me!) after thinking that visitors to the village might wonder about the origins of the building now known as Chedworth Place. The idea was liked by the Parish Council who wanted to expand on it to include historical and environmental information about the whole of the village. With funding covered by the money won for being Suffolk Village of the Year in 2011 and topped up from the locality fundof the District Councillor, a small working group of three (myself, Andrea Mendel, Parish Councillor and Dave Woods, District and County Councillor), the project slowly took shape. A local artist, John Roberts of Top Floor Studios, Woodbridge, designed the artwork and an Ipswich company Signs that Capture manufactured and erected it. The artwork cost £1,200 and the supply and installation £1,182.
An event to celebrate the unveiling of the Information Board took place on the morning of Saturday 22 March. It is documented in the April issue of The Tattingstone News.
Solar Park Appeal – 23-29 April held in Stutton Village Hall
In May 2013 BaberghDistrict Council Planning Committee decided unanimously to reject an application from Hive Energy to build a solar farm on land to the south of Valley Farm, Cox Hall Road. Subsequently Hive Energy appealed against the refusal to grant planning permission and a Public Enquiry was held at the Sutton Community Hall on 23-25 April and 29 April - 1 May 2014.
The decision to hold the Public Enquiry in Stutton was very contentious as many local people thought it should be held in Tattingstone. However our village hall was not deemed adequate because it did not have a “break out” room or anywhere for the Inspector to securely store documents.
The appeal was supported by Hive Energy (the Appellant) and opposed by the following parties; Babergh District Council, The Stour and Orwell Society (SOS), Tattingstone Parish Council and a local pressure group ‘No Alton Water Solar’ (NAWS). The appeal was heard by an Independent Planning Inspector, Elizabeth Ord.
Tom Hill QC, a member of The Stour and Orwell Society and a resident of Bentley, agreed to represent SOS, the Parish Council and NAWS at the Public Enquiry at no cost. However, the need for junior counsel and expert witnesses meant that the three parties still needed to raise £20-25,000 to fight the appeal. The money was raised by individual pledges, a fundraising “Night at the Races” event in the Village Hall and Griff Rhys Jones a nationally well known comedian and TV presenter (and Honoury Chairman of SOS) who lives locally,put on a one man show entitled “One Man in Three Boats: Yachting for Beginners” in the Ipswich High School for Girls Theatre at Woolverstone.
The Inspector delivered her report in early June. She stated that she had reviewed all of the evidence and examined the site very carefully. Her conclusions were that the proposal “would cause substantial harm to a valued landscape and to the visual amenities of the area” and would result in the loss of best and most versatile arable land for 25 years, when the Appellant had not shown this to be necessary (contrary to Government policy, which has now moved comprehensively away from large scale ground based solar on agricultural land to focus on buildings and previously developed land). Accordingly, she dismissed the appeal and refused planning permission for the development.
It was subsequently discovered that the outcome of the Tattingstone Inquiry set a precedent for other similar solar farm proposals to be shelved.
NAWS had a victory celebration dinner in the Village Hall at the end of June. In recognition of his personal contribution and achievement, Tom Hill was asked to open the village fete.
Further documentation is with the Village Recorder’s records for 2014.
The Alton Water Fun Run – 11 May
The Alton Water Run took place on Sunday 11th May. As usual there were 10k and 5k races to provide competition and challenge and a 2k fun run. The route which started and ended at the Alton Water Visitor Centre came through Tattingstone. This wasthe 7th year of the run which is organised by a charity set up by Holbrook,Stutton,and Tattingstone Primary Schools and Holbrook Academy.
Village Centenarians – August and September
100th birthday celebrations for Ruby Cullingford and Charlotte Elsmore. Ruby was the first to reach 100 on the 1 August with Charlotte close behind on 2 September. Separate parties were held for both ladies in the village hall and reports and photos can be found in The Tattingstone News for September and October respectively.
Sadly Ruby died not long after in November.
Village Fete – 20 September
In what was otherwise a good month for warm, pleasant weather this particular day started very wet and was disappointing for the organisers, and probably put off many visitors. Despite this the programme was packed with fun activities and there are many photos in the October edition of the Tattingstone News. The fete featured a WW1 theme and this was very successful with people in fancy dress and some stands and exhibitions in the theme. The final amount raised was £1,100 shared between the village, the British Legion and First Responders.
Felling of beech tree at Chedworth Place – September
Following concerns about the safety of a very large, beautiful old beech tree in the corner of the car park at the back of Chedworth Place (west) and Samford Court (north), the tree was examined and scanned by a tree expert. The verdict was that it was infected by a fungus Kretzschmariadeusta and while there was no immediate danger of the tree falling in time it would and possibly without warning. The expert did not consider pruning an option so between 25-25 September the tree was felled. Photos are available of the various stages. The resulting logs were shared out amongst those residents of Chedworth Place and Samford Court who have woodburners and the rest were taken by the Alton Water Volunteers to sell in aid of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Photos are with the recorder.
2nd Prize Babergh Village of the Year – September
Following on from successfully winning Suffolk Village of the Year in 2011, the Parish Council entered Tattingstone again in 2014 as the competition for our size of village comes round every three years. Judging took place on 13 June but sadly we did not make it through the first round this time being pipped to the post by Whatfield. It was reported as being a close contest leaving the judges with a hard decision.
Ms J Beever of Babergh District Council presented Tattingstone with 2nd place prize of a cheque for £200 and a plaque to be displayed in the Village Hall.
2nd Prize Council of the Year for Support to Older People
Josephine Stanger of the Parish Council entered Tattingstone for Council of the Year for Support of Older People and we came 2nd.
Accidents on A137
As an indication of the increase in traffic in recent years through Tattingstone on the A137 there were some serious accidents during 2014.
27 March - A paramedic treating a seriously injured motorcyclist who crashed into a tree on the A137 was hit by another car and taken to hospital. The drama unfolded when a motorcyclist collided with a tree on the A137 at Tattingstone at around 5am. The motorcyclist suffered serious injuries and was also taken to hospital in the incident which forced the closure of a large stretch of the road for three hours that morning. It is thought the incident took place during a freak hailstorm.
13 May – one man died following a two car collision near Jimmy’s Farm at Wherstead.
11 July - Two cars collided and the drivers of both cars were injured in the crash and had to be freed from their cars by emergency services on the A137 between Tattingstone and Wherstead.
Roadworks
In October there was a burst water main near the Rectory Cottages which meant Church Road was closed for several weeks.
Over Christmas 2014 and into the New Year there were roadworks on the A137 caused by a sewage leak. Anglia Water had problems locating the sewer until Janet Ward, the former Parish Clerk, of Applecroft was able to produce the original plans.
Crime
There were a few reported crimes in the village which included:
- February – two reported crimes in the White Horse area of the village
- July - Theft of pool equipment
- Five offences in August and one in September – thefts from outdoor buildings and offences on Lemon’s Hill Bridge
- October - Theft of a motor vehicle parked in Alton Water car park
During the summer months the police had been called to Lemon’s Hill Bridge on a number of occasions regarding anti-social behaviour. As the police did not always attend Parish Council meetings to report on crimes, etc, there may have been others.
Christmas Illuminations at 29 Church Road
Yet again the Browns put on a magnificent display outside their home and this year raised £213.91 for the St Elizabeth Hospice.
Organisations
The Parish Council
Following the resignation in January of Brandon Plumbly the Chairman, Albert Collins became acting Chairman until the Annual Parish Council meeting in May. Mark Butler was co-opted to fill the vacancy. Janet Ward, the Parish Clerk, had resigned with effect from the end of May and was replaced by Jane Connell-Smith, after which the line up of members of the Parish Council was:
Mr Albert Collins - Chairman
Miss Josephine Stanger - Vice Chairman
Mrs Jane Connell-Smith-Parish Clerk and RFO
Mr David Wood - District & County Councillor
Mr Mark Butler (resigned December)
Mr Bob Self
Mrs Sue Kerswell
Mrs Linda Smalley
Mrs Caroline Hurley
Ms Andrea Mendel
Key issues throughout the year have included:
- Dog fouling on the playing field which continued to be a problem so at the March meeting the Parish Council resolved that dogs must in future be kept on leads when on the playing field.
- Opposition to the Solar Farm appeal by Hive Energy at Public Inquiry at the end of April (as above). This is also documented in the April and May issues of The Tattingstone News.
- Opposition to Anglia Water’s proposal for a caravan site at their visitor centre in Stutton. At a meeting in the Village Hall in September, representatives of Anglia Water came to meet the Parish Council and members of the public. It was an opportunity to discuss the anti-social behaviour problems being experienced in and around Lemons Hill Bridge in the summer months. Much of this is documented in the September edition of The Tattingstone News in a public letter from Sue Myers of Samford Court. An immediate outcome was that the car park on the south side of the bridge was closed by volunteers between 8am and 8pm daily, 6pm in the winter months. In the event the caravan site application was approved by Babergh District Council. The Parish Council also considered exploring the idea of a voluntary warden.
- Opposition to the plan to erect a wind turbine at Pannington Hall, Wherstead which was unanimously rejected by Babergh District Council Planning Committee in December.
- Requests to Anglia Water to paint the railings on Lemon’s Hill Bridge have so far been refused.
- Complaint to BT about the poor Broadband service in the village.
- BT was approached and agreed to repaint the telephone kiosk near The White Horse in Spring 2015.
St Mary’s Church
Rev Annette Shannon
Rev Don Mehen
Benefice Administrator – Lyn Tomlinson
Churchwardens – Linda Smalley (until end April), Alison Hobson (from end April) and Albert Collins, who is also the organist.
Baptisms / 26 January / Isla Mandley23 March / Blaize Cook
9 August / Isabella Chittock
28 September / Samuel and Eliza Webber
5 October / Lily Smith and KhiaLolotte
Weddings / 6 Dec / Kieron Donovan and Elizabeth Spillane
Funerals / 26 February / Ivan Chittock
3 December / Kathleen Page
Memorial service / 28 November / Ruby Cullingford
On 18 January there was a breakfast meeting in the Village Hall where Peter and Pam Green of Nine Oaks gave an illustrated talk on their missionary link between Durham University and Lesotho, South Africa.