Alde Valley Suffolk Family History Meeting


IN March the Alde Valley Suf- folk Family History Group returns to Leiston to hear David Phelan’s talk on St Audry’s Workhouse/Asylum, Melton. This talk covers the history of St Audry’s from 1765 when the Melton Workhouse (House of Industry) was opened. The Workhouse closed in 1826 and reopened in 1829 as The Suffolk County Asylum for Pauper Lunatics. In 1993 the site was closed and redeveloped for housing, and is now known as Melton Park. What were Houses of Indus-


try? Why were they established and how were they run? What was it like to be an inmate? David Phelan examines the Vic- torian attitude to poverty. Asy- lums are regarded as being grim places, and many were. But it was different at St Audry’s, which was one of the biggest employers in the area. St Audry’s had a reputation for being a progressive regime - why? What caused it to be dif- ferent? Asylums gave way to Care in the Community. Has it worked? David Phelan spent his career


in banking in the UK and in Spain. On moving to Melton, he


Reproduced courtesy of Felixstowe Museum


became a volunteer at Sutton Hoo, then a guide, then the National Trust speaker for Sut- ton Hoo. He lives at St Audry’s. The meeting will be held at


7.30pm on Monday 20th March at Leiston United Church (URC/ Methodist), High Street, Leis- ton, IP16 4EL. Entrance is not at the front of the church, but on the left hand side as you face the building. Parking is available in the Co-op/Solar car park which adjoins it, but you must sign


your vehicle in at the tills in the supermarket or face a charge of £60. Visitors welcome. Admis- sion: members £1, visitors £3, incl tea/coffee. The Group will continue evening meetings in Leiston until next winter. For more info, see our web-


site: http://aldevalleyfamilyhis- torygroup.onesuffolk.net/ or contact Angela Skelcher on 01728 830949.


Something’s Coming …


Swap and Mend Interior of the Longshed (Bryan Knibbs)


SOMETHING’S coming, some- thing good … to the river wall in Woodbridge. Walkers will have noticed the path beside the old boatyard near the Tide Mill has been closed off for some time whilst work on the flood wall has been carried out. The wall has been rebuilt and strengthened. Concrete tracks for the sliding flood gate are com- plete now. This very special gate has glass-topped panels, so that river views will not be obscured from the waterfront development inside it. Come surge or storm, the gate can be winched across on its tracks to seal the community- space behind it from the rising waters. This is good news, but not yet the end of the work, for the ancient crumbling slipway is to be refur- bished to make the launch and recover of craft possible again. The time will come when the reconstructed 90ft Anglo-Saxon longship that is to be built in the community’s 32m Longshed will slid down that slipway. The shed’s roller doors are now installed and the internal walls are being con- structed. Woodbridge Riverside Trust is the charitable organisation of local people who oversee the community interest in the build- ing development on the water- front. As the date for access to the buildings approaches, the Trust has some interesting opportuni- ties for local volunteers to become


involved. Craftspeople will be needed to help fit out the build- ings. A social media manager is required to coordinate and com- municate developing informa- tion. Some spaces are available for helpers with the Trust’s long- boat ‘Sae Wylfing’ that travels to entertaining events, around the county. A major musical production called The King’s River involving a specially commissioned story with music, singing and dance about the town’s historic links to river is scheduled for early sum- mer and local people who will be happy to assist with all aspects of its staging in Woodbridge should contact the Trust now. With your help something good will soon be … whistling down the river. Could it be? Yes it could … that after years of inactivity on the old boat yard site, something’s com- ing and there’s not long to wait. Around the corner, the floodgates and the waterfront project are on track to deliver some very excit- ing times for the people of Wood- bridge … and you could be part of it. Websites: WaterfrontWood- bridge.org WoodbridgeRiver- sideTrust.org WoodbridgeWaterfront.co.uk A dedicated website will be launched by the middle of Febru- ary: www.thekingsriver.co.uk Facebook site: thekingsriver Paul Constantine.


Volunteer working with WRT.


FUTURE Swap and Mend dates: Saturdays 11th March and 8th April, 9.30am-1pm at The Unitarian Meeting House, Framlingham. Recycle your unwanted toys, clothes, kitchenware, household items, books, electrical items etc. and save plenty of treasures from going in a landfill. (This is a child and dog friendly event too!) You are welcome to drop


FUNDING from Suffolk Coast- al’s Enabling Communities Bud- get has helped a local youth char- ity secure accommodation in Woodbridge for the next five years. Together, Councillors Geoff


Holdcroft, Patti Mulcahy and Colin Hedgley gave £5,500 from their Enabling Communities Budget’s to support Just42’s pur- chase of a newly refurbished cabin to use as a main base and office. The charity which provides


kids clubs, youth clubs, mentor- ing and support to children and young people in the Woodbridge area moved into the £6,000 cabin in December 2016. Cllr Geoff Holdcroft, said on


behalf of the councillors who pro- vided the funding: “We wanted to join together to support the local charity because their work has a positive impact not only on the young people it supports but also the wider community. Just42 is a valuable resource for young peo-


items off, take items home and bring broken items along to see if our team can fix them for you. There are no strict rules, and if you have nothing to swap, you are welcome to make a no-pres- sure donation. Website: greenerfram.co.uk Twitter: @greenerfram Facebook:https://www.face- book.com/greenerfram/


Funding supports new base for youth charity


ple in this area by giving them support and guidance as well as helping them develop into later life. We hope by securing this new office space they can concentrate on the work they do so well.” Caroline Rutherford, Just42


Manager said: “We were strug- gling to find suitable office space in Woodbridge that we could afford, but we felt it was key to stay in Woodbridge as we’ve built up a network of volunteers and contact with young people here. It’s great that by buying this con- tainer we’ve secured a base for us to hopefully stay in for a few years. It’s now one less financial headache not having to fundraise for our accommodation and it’s fantastic that we can now focus our fundraising on delivering our work to children and young peo- ple.” Just42 is always looking for


support from volunteers, if you would like to get involved or find out more about their work, visit: www.just42.org.uk/get-involved


Great Bealings Neighbourhood Plan


ON Thursday 9th February the Great Bealings Neighbourhood Plan was voted on in a referen- dum - the last stage in a four


Whip Street Motors Ltd


year process that has been achieved through the hard work of a dedicated group under the auspices of the Parish Council. Suffolk Coastal District Council have been supportive through- out, and the Plan is designed to enhance the existing Local Plan by adding detail at the local level - exactly what a Neigh- bourhood Plan is intended to do. A list of Non Designated Her-


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itage Assets has been drawn up, supported by design guidelines for such limited development as would be allowed in a rural vil- lage under the Local Plan. Five Landscape Protection Areas have also been designated, evi- denced by a comprehensive sur- vey of the parish written by Suf- folk Wildlife Trust. The Plan has been developed based on sever- al Open Days and a detailed Questionnaire that was circu- lated to every household in the village, achieving a two thirds response rate. The working group were then able to develop the Plan and the supporting policies based on this local feed- back. All this was achieved at no cost to the Parish Council, since the work was either done by members of the working group for free or paid for by grants. The Independent Inspector


who examined the Plan to ensure that it complied with the relevant requirements was very complimentary about the Plan and recommended that it should proceed to a Referendum. Great Bealings is proud to be the first small rural village to reach this stage, and to have put forward a Plan that can hopefully be used as a blueprint by other small communities in Suffolk.


FRAM 2/WOOD 2


MARCH 2017


271530


401102


107100


171338


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