NORDELPH COMMUNITY WEBSITE: July 2009
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The matter of the bridges of Nordelph just won't go away -- this month's update consists of very little else! For starters, we were sent the following newspaper cutting:
Our correspondent comments that the date (1969-70) "...seems about right from the age of the children- two on left are Lorraine and Marion Clingo, and two on the right are Jane and Julie Sooley, daughters of Mary and George Sooley who used to be landolds at the Chequers".
We were of course sent this clipping because of the picture we posted back in April of the current bridge being built:
Our correspondent goes on: "Your picture of the constuction of the new bridge was "thought to be from 1972". So if dates are right, the "First Bridge" was demolished before the new one was built! Is this why a temporary footbridge was installed? how long was it there for? Where did the road traffic go across for a couple of years?"
Some time passed, during which our correspondent was busy researching among the longer-standing residents of the village. He wrote again: "... the conclusion is that the dates on the picture of the "footbridge" are wrong. The new (current) bridge was built before the old one was knocked down. The footbridge was just a temporary structure used by the workmen demolishing the old bridge. The centre span was removed, and the abutments made safe and left as they are today. There was of course another temporary crossing near Birchfield Farm in the late 1970s when a section of the creek was filled in as part of the dredging works to reopen the creek to boat traffic, but that is another story."
Conversation about the old bridge led to the fact that a pipe was inserted in it during WW2 so that it could be filled with explosives and blown up if there was an invasion.
You may feel by now that Well Creek at Nordelph is crossed and re-crossed by more bridges than its modest population deserves. However, there are more! "Not to mention Glady Dacks' swing bridge...which was just beyond the western start of the video cruise near the landing stage named after her. Are you aware of this one? Glady Dacks lived in the derelict house on the outskirts of the village on the same side of the Creek as Newton's Farm. The house is still there, and if you approach by boat you can still see the base of her bridge. It apparently was like a footbridge you sometimes see over canals, pivoting on her bank, and she would push it round to walk across and pull back with a rope."
[This is a reminder, by the way, that last month we uploaded a number of speeded-up videos showing what our village looks like from the Creek. And although we've provided the link above to the videos page, remember that, via the 'Back Numbers' option in the index panel to the left, you can easily access any story posted on the web site in months or years past.]
But we're not done with bridges yet, not by a long way! In our last update, we posted a copy of a lthograph of the bridge that crossed Well Creek at Norelph in the 1830s; we said then that the Norfolk Museums Service had confirmed that it was derived from a watercolour by Francis Stone (you can read the details in our Nordelph Past section). We also said that the original watercolour was in the Castle Museum (although not on open display). We couldn't resist making arrangements to see it -- and the 90+ watercolours that accompany it. The Nordelph image is below, but there's also an interesting journey awaiting you in The Bridges of Clackclose Hundred.
Memories of 70 years living in Nordelph
Our next item also refers to the bridges of Nordelph! Back in 1977, on the occasion of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, the present village sign was unveiled:
Performing the official dedication, in the centre of the photograph is Reg Newton -- selected for this honour because by then he had held almost every significant position in the life of Nordelph. Shortly after this photo was taken, Reg was persuaded to set down his memories of life in Nordelph from 1893 onwards and this account was (we believe) published in the Bardolph Magazine. Now the typescript of this 30-year old document has resurfaced: or at least four of its five pages have! They've been passed on to us from the Reverend Alan Bennett and you can read these memories for yourself. They contain stories of people falling off improvised bridges, bridges that were so badly built they had to be rebuilt, and much much more!
President passing
The only way in which we can work 'bridges' and 'Nordelph' into this next item is that the photograph is taken from a bridge in Nordelph!
In 1909 the vessel that you can see here towing its 'butty' past Nordelph staithe was built in Saltley, Birmingham (for a total cost of £600!). Originally steam powered, but later converted to an oil burner, the 'President' went the way of many working canal boats in the last century, and by 1973 was up for sale as a derelict hulk. Fortunately, the desire for restoration took priority over less altruistic motives, and the result is shown above. President is now owned by the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley and makes regular trips around the waterways system. See for example: www.nb-president.org.uk/index.php.
The photo above, which appears in the July 2009 issue of the magazine, is reproduced by courtesy of Waterways World www.waterwaysworld.com. It shows President last year, on July 20th. One problem that's also 100 years old and hasn't been fixed is that the steersman has no direct control over the engine, and has to communicate with the 'engine room' by signal. And towing a butty doesn't help maneouvrability either!
Racing for Life
The Nordelph Ladies will be taking part in Cancer Research UK's 'Race for Life' at 1900 on Tuesday 21st July at Houghton Hall (Full details: www.raceforlife.org/choose-your-event/kings-lynn--21-jul-09-1900.aspx). As well as your support, what they'd really like is your sponsorship and donations; you can make these to any of the four: Lucy (The Dell, High Street), Pauline (1, Birchfield Road), Sue (Bruff's Lodge, High Street) or Jean (Ashlee House, High Street).
Raft Race 2009
One of the great traditions of Nordelph has always been its summer raft race. Although the event seems to have fallen into abeyance in the near past, during its relatively short life this website has chronicled the 2004 race and the 2006 race. In 2006, the race itself was accompanied by a village fun day.
It's time to reinstate the race for 2009 and Andrew Marshall, Vice-chair of the Parish Council is the organiser. It will be on Sunday August 16th at 2.30. As Andrew says, there's an additional reason for celebration this year:
Here we go! Lets get some rafts in the water this year and have some fun and afterwards in the village hall. The parish of Nordelph is now the proud owner of the village hall, which has been so kindly donated to us.
Many Nordelph residents have not seen the hall so here is your chance, the hall is a great venue, spacious heated kitchen, toilets and flat, probably one of the nicest halls around. This means it has to be used, there will be a table on the day and we would like you to suggest which functions you might like to do in the hall, e.g. darts, yoga, badminton, parties. Put your ideas or requests in the box so we can digest them all. We lost our shops, pub, post office, church lets not let it be the village hall, imagine it all boarded up.
There will also be at 3pm the raft race, prizes, children's fancy dress competition, cake stall, raffle, refreshments. Any help, cakes, raffle prizes etc would be greatly appreciated.
The raft race will start at 2.30pm from opposite the village hall to the bridge, then all back to the village hall for a bit more fun at 3pm ish.
Entry fee will be £2 per head to help towards insurance and the trophy engraving. There will also be other attractions, not least a bar and table sale; all proceeds will be shared between the Air Ambulance and the RNLI -- both especially pertinent undertakings that affect lives of locals in a very positive way.
You can pick up entry forms and rules from Andrew at Mill House, Birchfield Road, Nordelph, PE38 0BP Tel: 01366 324488, or you can download your entry pack from this website; the pack (which is in PDF format) will open in its own window. It includes a poster that you're invited to display, the rules and an entry form; if you can't use the poster, just print out pages 2--5 of the document, and if you can print double-sided you'll save a bit of paper!
All that and ...
There's a lot more in this update to the website: another rant for example, this time about our local railways.
There's another contribution to our survey of Fen Food -- the 'space invader' that is the kohlrabi (or should that be kohl rabi?). We've also had an invitation to participate in the Downham Market & District Heritage Day on Saturday 12th September. This is an invitation to any group with something to say or show (or even sell!). You can find out more by inspecting the invitation. And the Parish Council minutes for May 6th have been posted. As always, you can be taken on a tour of all the pages mentioned this month by the repeated use of the 'This Month' button at the top of each page.