One of those is when I turn on the television and see another part of the country featured for doing something that we in Hethersett have been doing for months or years as a matter of course.
Today on Breakfast TV on the BBC they had several minutes featuring litter picking groups in somewhere or other as if this is big news. Well the Hethersett Environmental Action Team have been doing this for years.
It makes me want to scream at the TV: "That's not new we started that in 20??" This happens time after time after time and I guess that's what makes our village so wonderful. I'm talking about community involvement in just about every area of life.
Pick up litter - we've done it for years. Supplying food to the elderly or those in need - we've done it since Lockdown started. We even had a Jackie Weaver parish council situation long before they did up north, but we won't go into that.
Hethersett is a hugely progressive village. There's always somebody doing something for the village, for the environment and for the good of others. That's what makes it a special place to live.
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I may have mentioned a few times that I have launched a podcast. Launching it was the easy bit thanks to some guidance about the use of a phone app. Recording episodes was equally easy. But the difficult thing is deciding 1/ which direction the podcast should go in and 2/ how to make it interesting.
There are two places I do my best thinking. The first is in the bath where a good old soak in some lovely hot water and bubbles seems to get the old grey cells moving. You wouldn't believe the number of ideas I have had in the bath (no tittering please).
The second place is in bed under the duvet on a cold evening or morning. The bath does have an advantage here as it's easier to keep awake and all too easy to go to sleep in bed in the middle of an idea (again no tittering please).
So there I was in bed last night trying to work out just what direction the podcast should go in. Like with many projects, it will take time for it to become established and also to find its own level.
I could use it to promote myself (no I dismissed that after a nano second as it would be wrong), I could use it to talk about my hobbies, I could use it to read my daily blogs. None of these seemed to give me the satisfaction I was looking for.
So I decided to use it primarily to talk about Hethersett where we live and to go out and interview local people on a whole host of subjects which I think might be of interest to listeners. I will sprinkle that with articles on the history of the village and anything else I think might be of interest and occasionally I will feature other things I am involved with an interested in.
My second problem was making things interesting. I have listened to a number of blogs that are absolutely appalling - people droning on about something they find interesting but which is dealt with in a very basic and childish way.
So I put together a couple of trial episodes of things of little consequence just to see how it worked. They are still available. Once I had got over the horror of listening to my own voice (everyone hates the sound of their own voice - apart from Piers Morgan of course) I realised that it sounded as if I was reading from a script (as indeed I was). To me this distracts from the flow of things. So I need to be able to talk about things without a script in front of me. Problem with that is that it leads to fractured speech, the inclusion of dreadful phrases such as "yeah know" and "I mean" and liberally sprinkled OKs (something I am very guilty of). So a bit of voice training is needed.
Ideally I want to come over as the person that I think I am (whatever that might mean). There are so many great people who just do not come over right when being interviewed. Two that spring to mind are from the world of sport - Kenny Dalgleish and Bob Willis. Sir Kenny is a much loved man, particularly in the Liverpool area where they have named a stand at Anfield after him. It is well known that he gave tremendous support to the families of the victims of the Hillsborough Disaster. But in front of the camera Kenny comes over as withdrawn and dull. Bob Willis (sadly no longer with us) wasn't comfortable in front of the cameras, always looking like a startled rabbit caught in the headlights. Off the field apparently he was a delight to be with and a music lover and man of great affability.
We do have a family Bob Willis story. My wife was at university and friends with Bob's first wife. They gave us a salt and pepper set one Christmas. I christened it Bob Willis' salt pot. I think it's long gone to the great salt pot in the sky.
But back to the podcasts. I am delighted that within a few minutes of recording the first one it was included on Spotify and I'm expecting it to be on a number of additional platforms over the next few days.
As another practice, I will be putting this blog on as well. Please do let me know whether you think village podcasts are a good idea.
Just some of the interviews I would like to do over coming months are:
Hethersett Environmental Action Team
Hethersett Parish Council - what does being a councillor involve?
Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway
Hethersett Queen's Head
The Future of Hethersett King's Head
Hethersett Parish Church
Home Farm Gin
and much much more.
I will also be doing a monthly podcast of Hethersett Herald - reading over some of the main content in the e-magazine.
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Was out and about yesterday to see whether there had been any overnight damage caused by the very strong winds. I think of all conditions, wind is the one I hate the most (no tittering please). It keeps me awake and can cause considerable structural damage. Thankfully apart from a few small branches there didn't appear to be any noticeable damage.
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Most days I watch Bargain Hunt at lunchtime on television. It's more a case of that being on whilst I'm enjoying a sandwich than any great wish to watch it. Was interested yesterday to see a man named Jimmy James from the Bodmin and Wenford Railway. He used to travel back to the area from boarding school in Norwich during the 1960s. As that could only have been Norwich School I looked him up and indeed that was the case. I don't remember him as it looks like he was five years older than me which means that when I was in my first year at the school he would have been in the sixth form or thereabouts i.e one of the great untouchables.
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Received a lengthy e-mail from Richard Bond from Hethersett Queen's Head outlining plans to re-open. It's really so good to be taking about re-opening. Also called in at Janey's Village Cafe and they are planning for the grand re-opening as well.
The Queen's will re-open on 12th April, serving meals and drinks outside on the patio and in the garden.
The venue has around 90 seats under cover outside with an additional 30 in the garden. The regulations will allow for tables of six or two families together outside with social distancing. No one is allowed to drink or dine inside although access to the toilet facilities will be allowed. The pub will be offering its full menu with all day dining on Saturdays and Sundays. They will also be open for drinks only and there is no stipulation for food with drinks.
The regulations ‘should’ change again on 17th May when tables of six or 2 families together will be allowed inside the Queen’s.
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A few years ago I did a DNA test with Ancestry. The results keep changing as they get more samples. My results are pretty dull with 79% England (Norfolk and East Anglia), 10% Scottish and 10% Germanic European (Germany and Switzerland). It is interesting that a few years ago I was certain that I had Welsh heritage but this is obviously not the case. But I have developed a love of Scotland and am very interested in that 10%. Also I have had a keen interest in Germany and German history and Switzerland is probably my favourite country in Europe. So I wonder if that's because there is something in my genes. Incidentally the remaining 1% is from Norway.