They used to call them by their full title of soap operas which I never quite understood because there's no singing in them although Hilda Ogden used to warble a bit in Coronation Street but it wasn't Puccini.
I only watch two soaps. Coronation Street because I've been with it from episode one when I was eight and Doctors which is a lunchtime soap that I find engaging and which fits in nicely with my day.
It follows the news and lunch and gives me a bit of down time between the morning and the afternoon activities. I'm actually more hooked on this than Coronation Street which now has plots bordering on the sensational with ridiculous storylines that get more and more extreme and more and more silly. I wouldn't want to live in Coronation Street as there's a very good chance I would end up having to fight for my life or in prison. Doctors is much more gentle and fun and that's probably why the BBC is planning to kill it off.
I want to live in Leatherbridge and go for a pint with Al and Bear. I want to work at the health centre and to be mates with Rob the police sergeant who is always so solid and dependable.
But I hear you shout - these are fictitious characters. Well yes and no. They may not be doctors but they are actors and they do work together, so I would love to find out whether their working relationships are the same as their soap ones. Who amongst the cast would I like to be friends with in the real world. Is Dr Dr Vere as wet in real life as his character suggests (probably not) and is the character who plays Dr Haskey really into Star Wars in real life? Is Bear as genial as he comes over and how do the cast get on? Are they mates when filming stops? Do they go out socially in the real world? So many questions and so few answers.
I used to watch a lot of soaps - Neighbours, Home and Away, Brookside, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, EastEnders, Albion Market, Eldorado. The last two didn't last long. Most Soaps seem to have a shelf life. I gave up on most of them years ago as they outlived their usefulness for me and I loathe EastEnders (sorry Chris Ross). But I still watch Corrie more out of habit now than anything else and I will see Doctors through to its demise. I just hope they don't have a massive explosion and kill everyone off. They deserve to live. Perhaps the characters could find places in other soaps and there's always Casualty if they feel like working in accident and emergency!
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A few years ago I found a stash of nitrous oxide gas canisters round the back of the village Methodist Church. I immediately recognised what they were and was concerned that people were hanging around and using them on church property and in a car park which is regularly in use.
I reported the matter to the then Methodist Minister who didn't seem overly concerned and I believe I had to explain that they were being used for illegal highs.
Nitrous Oxide is better known as laughing gas and it's ingestion can lead to serious health issues. Buying Nitrous Oxide isn't illegal as it is used on refrigerators in shops and restaurants to keep produce cold. It is illegal, however, to use it as a drug. A few years ago the small canisters, not much bigger in length than a finger, were readily available on the internet for about 50 pence each.
Now a more sinister side has come to light. Much larger canisters are turning up. These are the size of a Thermos flask. They are being used and then dumped and a spate of them have turned up in our village and I'm sure we aren't alone.
So how easy is it to get hold of these canisters? Well they are still openly advertised on the internet and there appears to be little or no control over their purchase.
The fact that the canisters being ingested have increased considerably in size is super worrying and when these canisters are found around the village it is a costly process to dispose of them effectively as our district and county councillor David Bills pointed out at the parish council meeting on Monday. It can cost £14 to dispose of just one. Sounds as if certain companies are making a packet here.
In a fit of frustration shared by many of us, Councillor Bills showed concern about the effect ingesting the gas will have on health issues.
"It is crazy what these people are doing to themselves. It really beggars belief," he said.
I have written about this problem before and I'm sure I will write about it again. I doubt that this is something that's going to go away any time soon.
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Another big problem in the village is another one that isn't going to go away. I talk about capacities.
Our schools are becoming full, our surgery is at bursting point so where do we go from here? That is the question I was asking myself after Mondays parish council meeting. It was a question the council was asking as well.
Families moving into the village are finding that their children cannot attend the local schools because they have already reached capacity.
Apparently there are at least another 750 homes to be moved into as the North Hethersett development is only at 50 per cent capacity.
I have highlighted this problem in Hethersett Herald on numerous occasions. To me the answer is simple. Development shouldn't be allowed to take place until the necessary infrastructure and facilities are in place but I'm not naive enough to believe this will ever happen. Indeed it's just going to get worse.
So in effect people are moving into village new builds and finding that they have to travel for miles to get children onto schools. I bet they don't tell parents that when they are trying to sell houses.
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What about the farce that this year's Premier Division is becoming. Teams being deducted points for breaking financial rules (whatever they are), teams appealing and having the deduction changed, more appeals in the pipeline and more cases to be reviewed
We are getting to the point where the actual football is becoming a secondary consideration and the whole thing is threatening to dissolve into farce and a farce that football fans cannot and don't want to understand.
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Most of the above was written yesterday before we went down to our twice monthly Forget Me Not cafe which is held at the Methodist Church Hall.
We got to the car park to find the glass in the front door had been smashed. Not just smashed but broken into tiny pieces - an obvious act of vandalism.
Last time I posted a comment using the word young people with reference to vandalism of a table tennis table in the local playing field I got into hot water. "How do you know it was youngsters" I was asked? And "Why are you saying it was vandalism when it could have been an accident? The table was virtually destroyed and had to be taken down. It was without doubt an act of vandalism as was what happened at the church. I have included photographs of the damage and also the gas canisters mentioned above. I couldn't help but wonder if there is a link between the two. I did have a look round the back of the church to see if there were any canisters. There weren't but I did find a couple of vapes.
The damage has been reported to the police and the door boarded up. And for anyone thinking that this was an accident I say poppycock. A considerable amount of force was used to smash the glass as shards were found well inside the door.
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I did like the way one young man has brought his local council's attention to the number of potholes in his local road. Firstly he organised a round of pothole golf for local residents and then he was pictured fishing in the potholes!