Isolation has its compensations. At least we have the internet to share seasonal greetings, decorations etc.
Re the latter, two Denton groups, the Art Group and the Gardening Club, have been using their skills to provide some great examples of visual decorations, celebrating this magical time of year.
These can be seen on their respective pages on the Village Website -
The Art Group's Collage a great team effort, and
The Gardening Clubs winning entry in the Alburgh Church Christmas Tree Festival.
Congratulations must go to the two teams who braved the cold last night and ensured, despite the current difficulties, and the cold weather, that the long-standing Denton tradition of Carol Singing on the last Monday before Christmas was maintained.
Perhaps not surprisingly, numbers were a bit down on previous years, but they were given their normal welcome everywhere, and they raised over £400 for their annual charity - the Bwindi Orphanage in Uganda.
All very much part of the Spirit of Christmas!
With the very sad loss of Rae Stribling, (Her Obituary has now been added to the History Section) our much valued Thursday morning Post Office at the Chapel has been suspended.
Our local SNC Councillor, Chris Brown, has circulated a letter he has received from the PO explaining the situation and stating that they hoped to be able to reinstate the service. The letter can be seen
Here.
Further information will be circulated in due course.
As Denton life gradually returns to normal (fingers crossed!) it was good to see a special fund-raising darts tournament held at the Village Hall last Friday.
The competition was based on the target of achieving the highest score with three darts. The winner was David Godsmark with a score of 95.
He very generously donated his prize to the fund, which meant that £12 will go to the Big C and £12 will go to Greyhound Rescue.
Thanks must go to Karen and Paul for organising the event.
As Denton social life gradually emerges from the horrors of the COVID restrictions, it is great to see some of the normal celebrations of the festive season re-appearing.
Readers of the EDP may have spotted the inclusion of "A Walk Around Denton" in last Saturday's Weekend section of the paper, collated by Sue Walker of the Norfolk Ramblers Association.
The latest in a regular series of Norfolk walks, it describes a six mile trip starting and and finishing at the Village Hall. It includes a map, which is just as well as, in places, the text is rather confusing. However, it also has some interesting details of some of our buildings.
The article has been scanned-in and can be viewed from the
Rights of Way
Page.
UPDATE
Checking the descriptions of some of our buildings, they seem remarkably similar to those already in place on this website. We wonder why?
Members of the Blackhand Cyder Society were presented with a fresh challenge at last Saturday's Pressing event.
They were invited to estimate, or guess?, the total number of gallons pressed over the 20 years since the Club was formed.
Answers ranged from 1,722 to 20,000, with the winning entry, from Adam Lascelles, at 6,500, quite close to the correct total of 6,823 gallons.
He was rewarded with a bottle of vintage craft cider, what else!
Well, of course, gardening in Denton is always on the go. But the great news is that, after a long break, caused by you-know-what, the Gardening Club is up and running again.
The first meeting of the new Winter season is due on Tuesday 19th October. Full details of the Club's programme can be seen Here.
Perhaps best news of all - no subscriptions will be charged to existing members this year. As usual, new members will also be most welcome.
Coffee was served at the Village Hall on Saturday morning and a significant sum of money was raised.
For some years a special Coffee Morning has been held in Denton, organised by the Hanner family, in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. This is part of what is claimed to be the "Biggest Coffee Morning in the World" to support a great Cancer Charity.
Needless to say Denton residents, and their friends, attended in large numbers, bought tickets in the raffle etc., and had a good time. It was wonderful to see the Hall so busy once again.
However, the real objective of the event, to raise funds for such an important charity, was certainly realised. A total of over £1,000 was raised.
Cider-making is returning to Denton. After a year off, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the
Blackhand Cyder Society is back in business.
The autumn programme will start with Foraging on Saturday, October 9th, followed by Pressing on Saturday, October 23rd. It is hoped that the club's normal monthly meetings will then resume. Can Wassailing be far away?
Current members of the Society will be invited directly, but new members are always welcome.
Last weekend the delayed celebrations of Denton Chapel's 200th Anniversary, held over since June, went very well.
Organised over three days, with a Flower Festival and a special service at the Chapel itself, the event was blessed with good weather and much enjoyed by all those who joined in. It included the annual Village Fete at the Village Hall on Saturday. This raised over £1,000 for Church and Chapel Funds.
Alburgh Tennis Club, which has many Denton members, is organising an Open Tennis Tournament on Saturday, 8th August.
Competitors will form pairs but switch partners after every five-game match. Scoring will be based on the number of games won with prizes awarded to those who win most games.
Full details, including how to enter, can found on the official Notice.
A new book about the History and Folklore of the Waveney Valley has just been published.
Written by Denton resident Charles Christian, and entitled "Shuckland", it is the first in a series intended to cover different parts of the UK. It provides some fascinating details of local history, real and mythical. Denton church and castle are featured.
A review of the book appears in the August edition of the Denton and Alburgh Parish News. Copies are available from Charles at a discounted price of £10.
What a great weekend we had! It could have been warmer but all the Jubilee events went well, the food and drink was excellent and a good time was had by all.
From the Beacon lighting on the Thursday to the Village Photograph on the Sunday, everything ran smoothly. It was wonderful to see so many villagers involved. A full photographic record of the events is planned but, for the moment, this picture of Hilda Thomas cutting the Jubilee Cake, will suffice.
Congratulations and thanks must go to the many people who contributed so much. As usual in Denton lots of residents were happy to contribute in various ways but the key people, the organisers, did an outstanding job.
UPDATE - Due to Covid restrictions etc. these celebrations have been postponed until September. Further details will be published in due course.
It is not often that Denton, or any other parish for that matter, can celebrate a 200th Anniversary, but that significant milestone is nearly upon us.
July this year celebrates 200 years since the current Denton Chapel was constructed. It stands on the site of a much older building, details can be found in the
History Section
of the website, but ever since it has been one of the village's architectural gems, as well as serving as a centre for religious observance..
Various events are planned, details on the
Church in Denton page,
but it is hoped that all members of the local community,, church/chapel-goers or not, will want to join in.
It looks as though things may be returning to normal - if slowly.
One of the worst aspects of the Covid19 crisis has been the impact on community life here in Denton. For more than a year we have all missed the many opportunities we normally enjoy to meet and socialise.
Now, at last, there are signs that things may be returning to normal. In so many ways one of the best things about life in Denton are summed up in the regular Friday night sessions at the Village Hall. These, like everything else, have been on hold apart from a few, very limited, sessions. But now, following a test run on 21st May, it seems that regular Friday bar-openings may soon be with us.
The next session will take place on Friday, 4th June. Some restrictions will still be in place, but, hopefully, a return to normal operations will not be far away. Keep your fingers crossed!
Latest news - 1st July
It is hoped that the bar will be open every Friday evening from 7 pm from now on.
The latest report on speeding traffic statistics in the village underlines recent discussions on this topic on DentonTalk.
On 13th April at 10 am our speed monitoring system, located on Trunch Hill near the junction with Middle Road, detected a vehicle going up the hill at a speed of 70 mph! This is the second highest speed ever recorded by the system.
The latest speeding statistics and older records are available on the Monitoring Page on the Website.
We are delighted to announce that Denton's Post Office is to re-open at The Chapel at 9 am on Thursday, April 1st.
N.B.This is NOT an April Fool message!
Denton is supporting Harleston. The Parish Council has agreed to make a donation to Harleston Town Council to assist them with the cost of providing free car-parking in the town.
At its meeting on March 9th Denton PC responded to a request from Harleston and agreed to pay them £100. This recognises the use Denton residents make of the town's car parks which are paid for from the Town Council's precept.
At the same meeting DPC agreed to make representations about the current traffic restrictions in the town centre.
At its January meeting the Parish Council adopted two new policy statements on Complaints and Planning.
Hopefully, the former will never be required, but the Planning document provides some very useful guidance on how the Planning Permission system works. This includes details of valid and irrelevant reasons for opposing an application. Well worth a read.
Residents have responded to the limitations of the Coronavirus restrictions in different ways. For some, almost anything to ease the pain of lockdowns and isolation.
An excellent example of what is possible has been provided by the members of the Denton Art Group who have responded to the challenge of an art competition with the theme of "Lockdown" and produced some excellent work.
Further details and the winning entries can be seen on the
Group's Page on the Website.
The first snowfall of the year generated a new competition for Denton residents. Anything to divert us from the miseries of the Covid-19 lockdown!
The Best Snowman competition generated twelve entries. They can all be seen
Here.
To decide the winner residents were invited to vote, by email. This produced the following result :-
First Place, and Champion Snowman Builders of Denton, - the Barretts,
Second Place - the Willimonts,
Third Place - the Batchelors.
