The Hethersett Remembrance Day Parade and service both around the war memorial and inside St Remigius Church is one of the most poignant events in the village calendar.
But this year it will be very different. There will be no church service and no parade and a very small ceremony around the war memorial.
I was watching Look East news on Friday on the BBC and they had an item about the war memorial at Old Catton and research that had been carried out to find out about those featured on it.
It is important to remember that there are real people behind the names. On our own memorial there are names of people with families and people who lived in Hethersett and probably have descendants still living in Norfolk.
I am very pleased to have carried out my own research on those featured on the Hethersett War Memorial, based on a booklet produced many years ago by Bea Ewett and Bob Andrews.
At the top of the page you can see a cutting from the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News. On a personal level I find the wording rather embarrassing, but it does highlight the website I put together a number of years ago. This gives details of the men featured on the war memorial, along with details of the memorial itself and two rectors who recorded their views on the wars in the village Good News magazine.
You can visit the website at www.hethersettatwar.weebly.com. I called it Hethersett - A Norfolk Village at War which, on reflection, might not be the greatest title as it rather suggests residents were at war with each other - which was obviously not the case!
Please notice that I'm the one in the picture sitting down (must be my advanced years).
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Get lit up for Christmas. That's the message from one of the leading Hethersettians Adrienne Quinlan. Adrienne is really keen that as many people as possible enter into the Christmas spirit this year to help brighten up our lives in what has been the most difficult year imaginable. It's hard to reflect that when we went into lockdown way back in March it wasn't so long after Christmas 2019.
Adverts are already appearing for Christmas. Normally this would get my hackles up as being excessively early. But this year I guess we can allow some latitude and just point out that we are now just 47 days from Christmas Day.
Anyway back to Adrienne. She normally doesn't dress her home up for Xmas but this year will be putting lights up and she is urging others to do the same.
The good news is that once again Great Melton Close and Park Green will be lit up like the "proverbial Christmas Tree" at Yuletide. Last year the switch on of the lights was one of the highlights of the year. Obviously this year it will all be very different but the important thing is to make Hethersett colourful and festive. As Adrienne said "It's Hethersett doing what Hethersett does."
It's also important to stress that the lights in those roads will be raising funds for the Finnbar's Force charity which raises money for research into childhood brain tumours and also supports families with children suffering from the disease.
I was having a chat a few days ago with Tony Dunton in Firs Road. Over the past two decades Tony and Margaret have had a magnificent display in their front garden and raised thousands of pounds for local good causes. Tony said that he was considering not having the display this year but then realised that people need something to cheer them up. I believe he's already considering putting the display up earlier than usual. My grandchildren always refers to Tony's as the Christmas House even when they walk past in the middle of summer.
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Yesterday should have seen the re-opening of Hethersett King's Head. But once again the virus intervened. Originally the pub was due to re-open last Sunday but there was a temporary delay. The date was pushed forward to yesterday and now we are all hoping it will be third time lucky and the King's can be back in action before Christmas.
I had a chat with new licensee Justin Harvey and he said he was feeling frustrated but still excited and is confident that the pub will re-open well in time for Christmas.
Photographs below are from the latest Steward Strolls. One was about four miles around the village and the other a stroll across the fields at the back of the church.
I couldn't help thinking about what social animals we are and how much we are missing social interaction with others once again during this lockdown.
My spirits are lifted by having a walk and speaking to people - even if it's just a quick good morning as we pass. Having a chat with somebody brightens up the day (keeping to the lockdown rules of course).
Mind you the warm weather is proving to be a bonus. It was so warm across the fields that I had to take my coat off and walk in just a Tee Shirt.
Thankfully Café Kin was open for takeaway coffee which was a bonus. As I walked back into the village a number of thoughts went through my head.
Buses passed us - once again empty which was in contrast to last Tuesday and Wednesday when they were pretty full (or as full as they were allowed to be). Then I had a random thought as a van came to a halt. In the past we might have expected the window to be wound down and the driver to ask for directions. Now with sat nav and GPS this very rarely happens. I kind of miss confusing people with the likes of "take the third on the left and you will go past a plastic sheep. Then take the first right by the bus shelter and the second left by the house with the giant ladybird on the wall."
I had lots of comments about my wrestling reminiscences in a recent blog. It certainly rang a bell with many. I particularly liked the comment from Anne Edwards who posted:
"Wrestling on TV was a Saturday afternoon tradition for my family when my sister and I were young. Dad would be lying on the floor watching and we would practice our moves out on him - until little sister broke his nose with a punch! As a 20-something I interviewed Mick McManus and Big Daddy and they were the most civil, gentle men. Ordinary men doing an extraordinary job!"
Dad's broken nose certainly made me laugh. I couldn't help but think of the "violence" that my own sons inflicted on me and which the grandchildren now repeat.
The greed of big organisations never ceases to amaze me. Like councils who have free car parks and then decide that they are going to implement charges. But rather than charge 50p or £1 for the day they get greedy and charge £1 per hour. Car parks at Southwold charge this and, most of the time, their car parks are empty because there is plenty of on street free parking. I'm sure at £1 a day they would have more people use the park. It's better to have 200 people paying £1 than 50 paying £2!
Final thought as I crossed the Memorial Playing Field was the lack of impromptu football games nowadays. When I was young in the Victorian era I would just pitch up at my local Rec in Hellesdon and wait for others to appear. Sometimes that meant two a side games and sometimes it was 20 a side. Now everything has to be organised. Can't help feeling today's youngsters are missing out.
That's certainly enough for today (probably too much I hear your cry).