Page 8, At Sheringham paper, Norfolk UK

Sheringham & District Flower Club

This month members met for their annual general meeting at which we thanked two retiring committee members, Mrs Margaret Smith and Mrs Lydia Warner, for their hard work over the past few years and presented a parting gift to them. We then welcomed two new members to the committee, Mrs Linda Ownsworth and Mrs Alice Keating.

Our President, Mrs Meg Smith, then had great pleasure in presenting a cheque for £300 to Mr J Edghill of The East Anglian Air Ambulance - money raised at our Christmas Dinner. This was followed by an excellent supper and quiz.

Next meeting at Woodfields School on March 5th. Refreshments served at 7pm. Demonstrations by Darrell Swail a ‘Celebration of Spring’ at 7.30pm. New members always welcome, join us for Flowers, Fun and Friendship.

Rural skills make a come back at the Spring Workshops

A craftswoman from north Norfolk is reporting an increasing demand for her rag rug workshops since the recession took hold. Yvonne Autie, who designs and makes rag rugs at her home in North Creake near Fakenham, made her first rug as a replacement for an old bath mat and then realised this was a skill she could share with others.

“I can show people how to use their old clothes and recycle them into a beautiful accessory for the home” said Yvonne” they often last for years; I still have the rag rug bath mat I made fifteen years ago.”

Taking inspiration from animals, birds, books and sometimes friends Yvonne has created a wide range of designs and in March will be joining other Norfolk crafts people at the spring workshops in Blakeney.

Sheringham Horticultural Society

Primroses
To many people the first sight of our native primrose in flower is the signal that however long and dreary the winter has been, there is hope that spring and warmer days are just around the corner. It is therefore appropriate that the March meeting of the Sheringham Horticultural Society will be devoted to the primrose, the messenger of spring. The primrose was first valued for its medicinal properties, but during the reigns of the Tudors the primrose came to be widely grown for the beauty and interest of its flowers, for by then many variations of the wild primrose had become known. The double yellow form was found growing
wild in various parts of the country and there were also the dainty
Hose-in-Hose forms and the Jack-in-the-Greens.

Today hybridists are continually developing new varieties of primrose by crossing plants collected from all around the world to produce new colours, larger flowers and longer flowering periods and some of this work is being carried out here in Norfolk. The Society is pleased to welcome Mr Howard Lupton of Norwich to talk about his work and hopefully show the new varieties of primrose he has developed.

The meeting will be held at St. Joseph’s Parish Centre on Thursday 19th March at 7.30pm. The meeting is free to members and cost £1.50 to nonmembers.
Bob Wilkinson

Repossession advice published

Conservatives publish advice for homeowners facing the threat of repossession. As more and more homeowners in Norfolk face the prospect of their house being repossessed, North Norfolk's Conservative Spokesman, Trevor Ivory, is urging anyone worried about losing their home to seek advice. "The recession has left thousands of people facing the threat of having their home repossessed and often people do not know where to turn for advice. The worst thing to do is to bury your head in the sand and the sooner you get help the more chance there is that you can avoid losing your home." Trevor Ivory said. "That is why the Conservatives have published a helpful advice document for anyone concerned about losing their home. It is a good place to start it you are worried." The advice is available at trevorivory.com or you can get a copy by calling Trevor Ivory on 01263 512 117.
Trevor Ivory, Parliamentary Spokesman for North Norfolk

Action needed to tackle overcrowded trains and soaring fares Conservative proposals unveiled to improve Norfolks railways

Trevor Ivory, North Norfolk's Conservative Spokesman, has added his backing to new Conservative plans to make rail services across Norfolk and Britain better. The proposals include giving Norfolk County Council the power to work in partnership with train firms to help deliver local rail improvements and practical steps to increase investment in new trains and services. By contrast, under the current Government, overcrowding is becoming an ever greater problem on the railways, and National Express is increasing season ticket and leisure fares by 6% this year. The proposals, unveiled in a Conservative rail review, call for:

* Longer, better franchises: Short franchises discourage private sector investment in better trains. Instead, 15-20 year franchises should be the norm to give greater certainty and encourage investment in new and better trains.
* Innovation in local rail improvements: Funding for smaller scale capacity enhancements, currently dealt with by Network Rail, should be contestable and open to other providers, including train operating companies, local councils and Community Rail Partnerships.
* A moratorium on building on disused rail paths: Any disused railway lines still in public ownership should be conserved for the moment, to keep alive the possibility of reopening them to rail travel in the future. Protecting these corridors will also allow their use by pedestrians and cyclists in the interim.
* Setting the pace on high speed rail: There should be a new high speed line connecting Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Heathrow. This would be the first step in a national high speed network which would see the line extended to Newcastle and Scotland with further new lines linking up major cities across the UK.
* A new Passenger Champion: Passengers should have a one-stop-shop to complain to when things go wrong and to represent their interests; it would have the power to bang heads together to ensure that performance is improved, regardless of where the fault lies.

Trevor Ivory said, "The Government now has more control over the railways than in the days of British Rail. But after a decade of Labour, our railways are becoming more and more overcrowded and increasingly expensive, with fares soaring this year as inflation tumbles and the recession bites." "We desperately need new capacity on our trains, especially on the Norwich to London mainline. These practical proposals would give a greater say for local people and less for Whitehall bureaucrats."
Trevor Ivory, Parliamentary Spokesman for North Norfolk