Sometimes there is nothing more appealing at the end of a tiring day than to curl your feet up on the sofa and watch the TV or perhaps read a few pages of a book with a glass of wine.  I’m no different.  However, I also like to go along and support events that I’ve seen advertised in the Wensum Diary or seen displayed around the village.  On Sunday 17^th July I attended two such events; the grand opening of the children’s playground at Weston Longville and later that same evening a performance by the Cantilena Choir in St Mary’s, Gt Witchingham.

Despite the pitiful weather over the weekend a good number of people came along to the opening of the playground.  It was terrific to see so many children enjoying the facilities.  It was noticeable however that the children were not the only ones interacting with each other.  Many of the parents were doing likewise.  Earlier in the week I had taken my two children to the park after school and discovered five or six other families had had the same idea.  Seeing this sense of community spirit in action has spurred me on to make sure that Gt Witchingham has something similar in the not too distant future.  I also wanted to offer my congratulations to the Playground Committee and to say that your endeavours were well worth the effort.

Later that evening I attended the mid summer concert at St Mary’s Church to hear the Cantilena Choir.  It was a miserable evening (weather wise) and the final of The Apprentice was on at 9 so I could very easily have decided not to venture out.  However, it turned out to be one of those occasions when you say to yourself that ‘it was well worth the effort’.  The music was beautiful; the works of Mozart, Puccini, Strauss, Fauré and Elgar brought to us by conductor Rosemary Kimmins’ 13 member chorus and pianist James Laird, enhanced by the wonderful acoustics of St Mary’s.  Cello soloist Philip Trzebiatowski and Soprano Jayne May-Sysum treated us to individual performances of Rachmaninov and Gershwin that were of the very highest quality.  It was a performance worthy of a packed house, though sadly St Mary’s was but a third full.  Thank you to everyone who made this evening so enjoyable.  I’m so pleased I made the effort.

On September 21^st and 22^nd we are holding a public consultation in the grounds of the Bridge Public House to provide an opportunity, if you have not already done so, of seeing the plans for the new Village Hall in Gt Witchingham.   Although the preliminary concepts have been available at all of our fundraising events, the vast majority of those living in the village have still to see them.  My hope is that when you see the conceptual drawings in all their 3D glory you will get as excited as me at the prospect of a beautiful place to meet at the centre of our community.  It will require you to give just a little bit of your time but I am confident that you will consider it well worth your effort.

Finally, it is with much regret that the Committee have had to cancel the Village Hall Fete planned for August as only one resident of Gt Witchingham responded to our request for help.  These events take a monumental amount of work for which we simply did not have the resources to commit.  The Committee’s time over these past months has been dedicated to establishing contractual relationships with developers for the village hall and associated housing project.  More information will be available at the public consultation; alternatively you can follow the progress of the project on our website.