January Update

It does of course go without saying that we all wish you a Happy New Year.

One of the impacts of Tier 4 status has ben he decision to cancel Services for the time being. Whilst the current legislation allows services to take place it does rather go against the rest of the regulations when it concerns meeting up, we were also mindful of the need to heed the “Stay at Home” message. Be assured that we will be back once the dust has settled a little.

Whilst we were not permitted to have a Carol Service we did manage a Festive Service of Evensong. So although we had to jump through a few hoops which included reducing capacity by some very considerable way we had a lovely service and were almost full to capacity.

Some time ago when the team arrived in the Church to clean they found two large flints and other debris on the floor at the back of the Church. Clearly they had come off the western end of the Nave but close inspection with binoculars failed to spot their origin. Whilst we always welcome visitors and worshipers, we felt that we should not add the prospect of personal injury by the appearance of any further debris, so needed to find out what was going on. On investigation it was discovered that the falling items had come from the top of the Nave wall. The Nave roof was replaced in 1880 (I have the cost somewhere) but the tops of the wall were left as loose rubble rather than being cleaned off and secured with mortar. Happily, we found someone locally who could not only get up there and investigate but most importantly could effect the necessary repairs. I can now assure all visitors that there is no risk of injury from flying flints etc when visiting All Saints.

The Church yard very sensibly is in sleep mode but delighted to spot the early Daffodils at the front which always precede our Snowdrops and Aconites.

Our very best wishes to you all and our thoughts are very much with those of you who have suffered as a result of the weather before Christmas.

Simon

The team at work repairing the Nave Wall

Life on the wing

To my mind the highlight of the summer in both Brockdish and Thorpe Abbotts are the Swifts as they scream around the houses. They can fly up to 800km (500 miles) a day on migration. Swifts spend their life almost entirely on the wing and even feed, sleep and mate in flight. They feed exclusively on insects and only come to land when nesting, hunting for insects over a range of habitats from meadows, open water and over woods, to the skies above towns and cities.

An abundant supply of insects is critical for their survival. Parent swifts collect lots of insects to take back to their chicks – up to 1,000 at once, which make a big bulge in their throat. When they have chicks to feed, swifts can gather up to tens of thousands of insects a day.

‘Our’ swifts fly across the Sahara desert in autumn and some even go as far south as South Africa. Others don’t go quite as far and stay around central Africa. It’s a long journey but they don’t hang around: one young bird left its nest in Oxford and flew all the way to Madrid in just three days.

As a group, swifts are the fastest birds in level flight. The peregrine is officially the fastest bird but only in a steep dive called a stoop. Our swift holds the record for the fastest proven flight, recording an impressive top speed of 69.3mph in a recent study. A large Asian species of swift, the white-throated needletail, has been reported to reach over 100mph, but this is yet to be officially proven.

Good neighbours

Sharing your house with swifts is a great privilege. They are unobtrusive when nesting and make perfect, quiet neighbours. Previously more commonly found nesting in cliffs and caves, swifts make use of roof spaces in buildings where they construct a simple nest. These can be hard to locate because swifts enter and leave quietly through a narrow opening (usually measuring 25–35mm by 60–70mm) and leave few, if any, droppings below the entrance.

Is there a problem?

I am sure that we have noticed that there are not as many Swifts around as there used to be, why? Most importantly they nest in old buildings, locally often at the bottom of the roof under the lowest row of tiles. Sadly many of these old buildings are being knocked down or re-roofed with nice modern tiles and any knooks and crannies repaired. New builds will have none of these knooks and crannies so do not provide nest sites. Once a pair are established they faithfully return to it year after so when they return from Africa to raise a new family and find their old site “improved” or absent they are homeless. Add to this insect food loss from over-use of agricultural insecticides, increasingly hostile weather on migration, long-term droughts, agricultural intensification and deforestation in their wintering grounds in Africa, all are pushing their populations to the brink. So we have to help them survive.

There are lots of ideas out there on how we can help and a good place to start is by Googling “Swift Conservation”

Simon

Easter at All Saints

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Sunday and Compline Services 2023
12 March	9.30	Morning Prayer All Saints
23 March	6.00pm	Compline St Leonards
9 April                    Easter Service	9.30 am	Communion All Saints
27 April	6.00pm	Compline All Saints
14 May	9.30 am	Morning Prayer All Saints
25 May	6.00pm	Compline St Leonards
11 June	9.30 am	Communion All Saints
22 June	6.00pm	Compline All Saints
9 July	9.30 am	Morning Prayer All Saints
27 July	6.00pm	Compline St Leonards
13 August	9.30 am	Communion All Saints
24 August	6.00pm	Compline All Saints
10 September	9.30 am	Morning Prayer All Saints
28 September	6.00pm	Compline St Leonards
8 October	9.30 am	Communion All Saints
26 October	6.00pm	Compline All Saints
29 October     Patronal Service	TBC	TBC
12 November Remembrance Sunday	9.20 am	TBC
23 November	6.00pm	Compline St Leonards
10 December Carol Service	TBC	TBC

Life at All Saints

Let me start with a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you living in Thorpe Abbotts for your very generous support of our Food Bank Christmas Appeal. Many families will have been struggling over Christmas so your support will have helped many. The Trussel Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks (including Harleston) and together they provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaign for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.  Your generous donations went to the Trust’s Warehouse in Eye, additionally thank you so much Anne for dropping it all off.

Christmas in Thorpe Abbotts is marked on an early weekend in December by the lighting of the festive lights and Tree at the Pump on the Saturday which was preceded this year by a procession of lanterns made by the youngsters at the Crafty Bombers in the Village Hall. The highlight of the evening was you know who appearing from a yellow Taxi. Sunday saw a lovely Carol Service taken by Lynda Mansfield at All Saints. We were delighted to have a number of young readers, Robert, Adam, Rosie, Jack and Mabel were all absolutely amazing, a huge thank you to all those who read. Much festive fair was consumed we believe about 4 doz mince pies, 2 stollen cakes and finally at least 3 lts of Glühwein.

We have as you will have seen over the years an illuminated star on the Church Porch in the lead up to Christmas which has been mains powered. Ever mindful of electricity cost and doing our bit for the environment we have converted it to battery power with two new sets of lights very kindly financed by the Parish Council. Additionally and perhaps more importantly we have found a safer way of securing it when in the past it has required yours truly to teeter off the top of a ladder at height, it can now be done from ground level.

Simon

All Saints gets inspected

All Saints carries a Grade 1 listing as does St Peters and St Pauls of Brockdish. What does this mean? If a building is listed as Grade I, this is because it is of exceptional national, architectural or historical importance and only 2.5% of listed buildings carry this grading. All Saints was mentioned in the Little Domesday survey (which covered only Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex) so a church of some form will have stood on the same site in 1086 when the parish belonged to the Abbott of St Edmundsbury, hence the name Thorpe Abbotts (the settlement of the Abbott). As an aside the parish changed its name to Thorpe Cornwallis when the estate was owned by the Cornwallis family of Brome. I think it came back to its original name when the estate was sold in the mid 19 Century.

What is the impact of having a Grade 1 listed building to look after? Firstly and most importantly the responsibility for the upkeep of the building lies entirely with the Parochial Church Council (the PCC). Secondly, whilst the local authority is responsible to Historic England for sites carrying a Grade 1 or 2 listing the responsibility for churches has been devolved to the Diocese meaning that we have a 5 yearly inspection (the Quinquennial) which in our case happened in October.

The Quinquennial Inspection involves a specialist architect going over the building with a fine toothcomb. Taking a full day we always await his report with some trepidation. Delighted to say that he was very pleased with what he found with no items requiring immediate action and just couple requiring action within the next 12 months. Of course, when dealing with a building, parts of which are over 1000 years old, it is important to have regular inspections by a specialist and they are always very helpful.

Turning to the Churchyard delighted to see our Turkish Snowdrops out, which are always the very first to appear. Galanthus Elwesii was identified by the British botanist Henry John Elwes on a visit to Turkey in 1874. He came across “the fine large snowdrop” which now bears his name. Our more “normal” snowdrops (Galanthus Nivalis) are native to Europe were most probably brought to this country by the Romans and generally appear early in February. Also appearing this early in the year are the bright yellow Aconites, I always love to see their bright yellow faces brightening up the yard as harbingers of a Spring to come.

A big thank you for all those who have had the lights on celebrating or remembering over the recent months, it is so lovely to see the church lit up. It costs just £5 a night and the money goes straight into our Maintenance Fund from which we draw frequently in the upkeep of this Grade 1 listed Church. If you would like the lights please contact Sue Williams at williams876@btinternet.com  or 07855414941. Payment will be needed before the night if you could please.

Simon

The Scythe and Churchyard

 As you will all know we have been managing all the church yard at All Saints for Wildlife for the past 15 years. Over the recent past we have increased the area under management so that probably 80% is now left for the wildlife. In reality what this means is that the areas under management are left to grow with the sward taken down and removed mid to late September once all the wildflowers have set seed. 

This year in June we undertook a survey of the area and found well over 150 different plant species. This would have just been a snap shot since many of the species such as Meadow Saxifrage, Yellow Aconite and of course the three species of Snowdrop had already been and gone, but what was of course included was the stunning display of Pyramidal and Bee Orchid of which there were over 100 plants!! Quite why they were so good this year I am not sure but it may have something to do with our damp spring.

Whilst most of the sward is removed by a local contractor, I have always done one area with my trusty scythe. Up till the 1830’s when the first lawn mowers came into existence scything was the only way to get in cereal crops and make hay. Even the lawns of the great estate houses were done this way or grazed by sheep. The most common scythe in use today is the Austrian version which is lighter and a slightly different shape to the traditional English  and it is the one I have used. Amazingly it is faster cutting than a strimmer; not only does it leave the cut grass in a winrow down one side of the cut making it easier to collect, but also it is simply faster. I have included a URL of a clip of a competition between strimmer and scythe at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsfIHiBB6xE. I will have to say the scythes man in the video was the UK champion to be fair but nevertheless you can see which wins by some way. Now I cannot say that my technique is as good as his but as they say practice makes perfect! Whilst the main area to be cut by scythe has now been done, I will be up there again to do those areas where we cannot get a mower.

A big thank you for all those who have had the lights on celebrating or remembering over the recent months, it is so lovely to see the church alight. It costs just £5 a night and the money goes straight into our Maintenance Fund from which we draw frequently in the upkeep of this Grade 1 listed 900 year old Church. If you would like the lights please contact Sue Williams on 07855414941 or email at williams876@btinternet.com . Payment will be needed before the night if you could please.

On the Church front we have had a couple of very nice Compline services one at Billingford and then this month at All Saints. We also welcomed John Taylor who took our monthly Sunday Service this month. October will see us celebrating our Harvest on 10^th and we also are delighted to have a wedding planned. Looking forward to November we have our Remembrance Service on Sunday the 14^th

Simon

The All Saints Churchyard this year

You may have seen earlier in the year the “Churches Count on Nature” initiative. This involved walking the Churchyard to try and identify the wildlife and plants living there. Flower-rich lowland meadows and pastures were once a feature of every farm, but only a tiny fraction remain today. Much of the loss has been recent (97% since 1935) and is due to changes in farming, including the use of artificial fertilisers, changes in cutting regimes (with a move from summer hay to earlier silage cutting) and drainage, as well as abandonment. Churchyards are often a local remnant having been largely undisturbed. All Saints is a typical example, with the recent survey finding over 100 plant species, added to which are a wide variety of insects including the likes of Long Horn beetle which was photographed during the survey.

The Churchyard at All Saints has been managed for wildlife for well over 20 years with the area under management slowly increasing to about 80% today. I am a regular visitor so have the delight to watch it over the seasons with aconite and snowdrops as the first players in January then a succession of flowers including the pretty white Meadow Saxifrage, and we are lucky to have a thriving population which was once common in fields but now is only to be found in the main in Churchyards. 

Then comes June/July and the orchids!  This year has been a real surprise! Where once we would have about 10 plants, this year it is over 100! The vast majority are the Pyramidals but also a few Bee Orchids as well. 

Another resident once common is the Harebell. Itsdelicate, nodding bells are one of the prettiest additions to our grasslands. Flowering between July and September, the harebell mostly grows on dry, undisturbed ground, which is very typical of the ground of the All Saints Churchyard.

I have been on the Village Facebook page about the Orchids which have been an absolute delight this year. I have no idea why these flower populations vary quite so much from year to year but I am sure that the weather over the winter and spring has an effect and I wonder this year if our cold wet spring might be responsible for the orchids. 

There are not just great displays in the church yard of course. Those of you who regularly travel the A47 around Norwich will have seen a wonderful population of the yellow spikes of Hoary Mullein, whilst often growing there, but have never seen in such numbers.   Ten years ago it was only found locally on the A14 around Bury St Edmunds.

The church yard at this time of year is a real treasure trove of wildlife from the huge variety of wild flowers, to bug life and birds. So well worth a wander around as there is always something new to be seen or heard.

Simon

March Update

ALL SAINTS

As with many things the Church has been bereft of visitors since our Christmas Service apart from the team who did the repair work on the West Nave wall………. BUT there is a little light at the end of the tunnel and we are very hopeful that we will be able to run a service of some form at Easter, of course that does rather depend on the rules at the time, but fingers remain firmly crossed. As soon as we know we will let everyone know. You have no idea what a pleasure it will be to welcome you all to a church service again.

The next event that will happen is our AGM on 21^st April at which will review the events and achievements of last year, it will most probably happen by Zoom (what isn’t at the moment!). Again more details nearer the time.

CHURCHYARD

As I write the church yard is ablaze with Aconites and Snowdrops particularly around the north side. Daffodils are coming through before our Meadow Saxifrage makes their annual appearance in May/June. June is a very good time to have a wander around the church yard which you will know is managed for its wildflower population. Every year I am surprised by the appearance or even non-appearance of various flower species there. Please do feel free to pop up there, many of our wildflower species are in decline and church yards offer havens of which All Saints is a very good example. Some peeps think that just because the Church gates are closed means that you cannot go in, nothing could be further from the truth, these gates whilst physically together are never closed to those who wish to enter, a gentle push is all it needs. Additionally, the church will be open at weekends and Bank Holidays after Easter if regulations permit. 

CHURCH LIGHTS.

A big thank you for all those who have had the lights on celebrating or remembering over the recent months it is so lovely to see the church alight. It costs just £5 a night and the money goes straight into our Maintenance Fund from which we draw frequently in the upkeep of this Grade 1 listed 900 year old Church. If you would like the lights on please contact Sue Williams at allsaintsta@btinternet.com . Payment will be needed before the night if you could please.

All Saints Alight!!