For any new readers, back in March when we went into lockdown, I started a series of walks around Hethersett and the immediate area, extending them a bit when lockdown was eased. The walks had various names including Gove Ganders, Hancock Hovers and a few more before becoming Steward Strolls which seemed more to the point.
I took hundreds of photos as I went and posted them on my blogs. They are all still available on my web site at www.peterowensteward.weebly.com and there is a section dedicated to all the lockdown pictures.
People were very kind in sending me hundreds of messages saying how much my photographs meant to them. It was very heart-warming and humbling.
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Sandwich Super Heroes what a wonderful name that is. The Hethersett duo of Hannah Harrison and Sarah Lawrence really stepped up to the plate (isn't it strange how we use an American baseball term to describe that point of being. I suppose it sounds better than stepping up to the crease (cricket) or stepping up to the penalty spot (football). Anyway Hannah and Sarah have risen to the challenge of local children and families going hungry during the school holidays. Local companies and individuals really rose to the challenge and supplied a huge amount of food which is now being distributed.
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At times I didn't think I was going to make it with the latest edition of Hethersett Herald. It seemed to take forever to put together and then certain parts had to be re-written after things changed. It all led to quite a rush this week but I made it. I wanted it to come out before the end of the month so that it was in time to promote the Hallowe'en children's trail before it ended on Saturday.
I hope you enjoy this edition which weighs in at 143 pages and is one of the largest to date. Mid month I was struggling for news but then, as usual, it all came flooding in. I already have many ideas for features for the next edition.
People occasionally ask me how long it takes to put each edition together and I keep meaning to keep a count of the hours. Towards the end of the month as publication time approaches it's pretty much a full time occupation. I would guess over the month it takes about 60 hours work. That's approximately two full working days a week. And so I'm asked "why do you do it?" Well there are two main reasons. Firstly I love writing, I love designing publications and I love the involvement it gives me in village life and secondly it is a service I want to provide for the community and something, I hope, the village can be proud of. I like nothing more than telling prospective new residents about the Herald and how it will give a flavour of the marvellous vilage in which we live.
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I have just nominated Hethersett for the Stars of Norfolk/Waveney Valley awards in the village/town category. I believe a few other people may have done the same. A few days ago there was a comment left on Facebook from somebody hoping to move to the village who were concerned about negative comments on social media about the village.
The answer to that is simple - like every other village or town in the country we have our problems. But our problems are more than made up for by our community spirit and the wonderful army of people that make Hethersett such a great place to live.
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It's now just seven days until the re-opening of the King's Head (lockdown rules allowing of course). The opening has been delayed by a few days from its original date but it will be so good to have the venue back with us.
I have many happy memories of evenings at the King's in the past including playing the keyboard for carol singing one Christmas.
I am very grateful to Justin Harvey for permission to reproduce his photographs at the top of this blog.
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When it comes to journalism I get all the good jobs. Yesterday I went to see a pile of dirt.
Remember those adverts saying "This isn't just a chicken it's an M and S chicken?" Well this wasn't just a pile of dirt, it was a pile of top quality granite dust and it had come all the way from Scotland and is destined for the cycle speedway track to provide a new top level.
Like so many organisations and groups, Hawks have struggled for income since lockdown. Chairman Mel Perkins estimates that they have lost about £1,400 since lockdown thanks to being unable to hold fund-raising events etc. For a relatively small club, £1,400 is a lot of money. Ironically during lockdown the club has had a flood of new youngsters coming along and is thriving.
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A few days ago I mentioned I would talk about a songwriter who has meant a great deal to me over the years. We often use the phrase "he/she speaks to me personally." I have heard that said about Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen and many more.
My particular hero is an American singer-songwriter by the name of Harry Chapin. One of my most prized possessions which adorns the wall of my study is a personally signed letter from him.
Back in the day he had a fan magazine entitled Chapinfo which was printed in New York and covered his concerts, his thoughts and messages sent in by fans. I reviewed a copy of his then latest album for a pop/rock column I was responsible for in the Eastern Evening News (now Norwich Evening News) called "Here and Now."
I gave the album "Sequel" a five star rating as it was one of his best. Somehow that review made its way to the USA and I was asked by the person who put Chapinfo together for permission to reproduce it - a permission I was absolutely delighted to give.
Back came the personal letter from Harry with the following words:
"Thank you again for being such a loyal fan. It really is a beautiful feeling to know my songs have given such pleasure to people."
Sadly my review never appeared as shortly afterwards Harry Chapin was killed in a car crash. I felt devastated as if I had lost a dearly loved relative.
There were two aspects to Harry Chapin that I admired. Firstly (and obviously) his music and secondly his stance as a human being. His rapport with his fans was second to none. He would meet everyone at the end of a concert and chat and sign autographs. He once invited everyone back to his house in New York and over 200 turned up and slept on his lawn. I believe he provided breakfast for them.
Harry Chapin fought world hunger (and how relevant is that today). Every year he would do over 300 concerts, half of which were for a variety of charities.
"Every year I make more money and every year I give more away," he said on one of his live songs. His mantra was "one concert for me and one concert for the other guy."
But it has primarily been Chapin's songs that have resonated with me. Many years ago I wrote an entire essay on this, but it has been lost although I'm hoping it may lurk in some computer file somewhere.
There are probably only three of his songs that one could say are reasonably well known. The first is "Circle" which was a hit for the New Seekers.
"All my life's a circle,
Sunrise and sundown
Moon rolls through the night time
Till the daybreak comes around."
This song has the wonderful lyric:
"No straight lines make up my life;
And all my roads have bends;
There's no clear-cut beginnings;
And so far no dead-ends."
Probably his best known and loved song which he wrote with his wife Sandy is "Cats in the Cradle" which has been recorded by a number of people including Judy Collins, Ugly Kid Joe and Johnny Cash and which has been used in many American television shows from the Simpsons and Family Guy to Shrek 3rd.
It tells the story of the relationship between a father and son where the father is too busy to spend time with his son. It ends with a hugely poignant last verse where the tables are turned and the son is too busy to spend time with the father and those final devastating lines.
"And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me."
Many years ago I went to a series of audio visual lectures on relationships and parenting and it used the song as a base for the talks. Apparently it has been used hundreds of times in America as part of church services.
The third relatively well known song is the story of an aged DJ entitled WOLD - "I am the morning DJ at WOLD."
Many of Chapin's songs talk about lost chances and opportunities and the sadness of life and many of his phrases are pure poetry. One day I will re-write my essay bringing out the themes of what the writer always referred to as story songs. I will leave you with a couple of my favourite lyrics.
The first comes from WOLD and is simple but very deep:
"sometimes I get this crazy dream
that I just drive off in my car
but you can travel on ten thousand miles and still say where you are."
In other words you can chase happiness but it doesn't matter how far you run chasing it, it is within you.
The other is just a few lines that I find to be very poetic.
"So we talked all through that afternoon
Talking about where we'd been
We talked of the tiny difference
Between ending and starting to begin.
We talked because talking tells you things
Like what you really are thinking about.
But sometimes you can't find what you're feeling
Till all the word run out."
This comes from the song Sequel which is a follow up to the much earlier song Taxi about the love affair between a taxi driver and an actress.