A night for celebration. Stalham Farmers' Club will mark its 175th at Wednesday's meeting with a specially-themed meal. The team at the Norfolk Mead has designed a menu in the style of 1841 which might have served to the young Queen Victoria. Please support the chairman, Jonathan Deane, who will welcome all members and especially former club chairmen, with a welcome drink at 6pm. Supper will be served about 6.20pm and costs £20. Please let the secretary know if you'd like to attend - michaelbpollitt@btinternet.com or telephone 01603 486997 by 10am on Monday, December 12 at the very latest. Seven bookings have already been received. And if you've got an 1841 penny, bring it along! Entry added: 07 Dec 2016 |
A new strategy for rural policing for Norfolk will be outlined by Ch Insp David Buckley at Wednesday's meeting, which starts at 7.30pm. No doubt, the issues for law and order in the countryside were equally important when the club was actually established on December 17, 1841. All will be most welcome and proceeds from the 175th anniversary summer drinks party will be presented beforehand at the Norfolk Mead, Coltishall NR12 7DN. Entry added: 07 Dec 2016 |
Club writes to Minister of Agriculture-
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When root judging took two days and Stalham urged the Minister of Agriculture to allow the military to work on the land in an emergency. Four judges spent almost three days from October 17, 1916 judging the root competitions - looking at 27 mangold crops and 20 fields of swedes. And the secretary was instructed to write to Whitehall warning that a shortage of skilled labour was preventing farmers from producing more food for the nation. Could some of the "large number of military in the neighbourhood" be released to help farmers in an emergency? the club suggested.
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Read the Early Years section on the left to get the full report. Entry added: 06 Dec 2016 |
An early Christmas present.
Make sure sure of your copy by placing an immediate order- ahead of publication next month. A definitive history of Norfolk agriculture between 1914 and 1984 is being re-printed. Written by retired grain merchant, Alec Douet, who wrote a 360,000 word thesis for his doctorate, this is a fascinating summary of the major developments in Norfolk's food and farming industries. The 280-page book, Breaking New Ground, has been out of print since 2012 and although it does have some photographs, it is a detailed narrative and follows farming's fortunes from the onset of the great depression in the 1880s through the decades. If you like to order a copy, cost £25, contact the secretary - email Michael Pollitt on michaelbpollitt@btinternet.com or telephone 01603 486997. As it is about to go to the printers, speedy application is advised because only about 120 copies are likely to be produced. Entry added: 23 Nov 2016 |
Book your tickets NOW -
Place your bets. Well if you'd like to join the dog racing party at Yarmouth Stadium on Friday, December 9, please let Rob Norman or the secretary know as soon as possible please. The "de luxe" Christmas party package, £37 per head, includes plenty of food, drink etc. It starts at 7.30pm. The club has booked a limited number of tickets and paid the deposit, so if you like to join the evening, please, reply asap. Cheques or electronic transfer to the club's bank equally acceptable - contact the secretary for details on 01603 486997.
Entry added: 18 Nov 2016 |
Challenge to farmers - Farmers could play a major role in developing a new "greener" environmental strategy for the Broads, members were told at the opening meeting of the 175th season of Stalham Farmers' Club. John Packman, chief executive of the Broads Authority, told about 30 members that a solution to the 1980s Halvergate conflict had been developed in Norfolk. This pilot scheme, the 1985 Broads Grazing Marshes Scheme, had evolved into the ESAs (environmentally sensitive area) model - later adopted across Britain and then taken up in Europe. As Britain faced the challenge of developing new environmental support arrangements following the vote to leave the EU, he urged farmers and landowners to take up the challenge of securing funding to benefit the industry, landscape and wildlife. For report of opening November meeting - see minutes and reports (left)
Entry added: 17 Nov 2016 |
First supper meeting - A final call to join the club's chairman Jonathan Deane for supper at the Norfolk Mead Hotel on Wednesday, November 16. Our speaker John Packman, chief executive of the Broads Authority, will outline his thoughts on future strategy and policy. All members are welcome to the supper beforehand, meeting from 6pm for about 6.15pm. It cost £20 per head, includes a welcome drink. The meeting starts at 7.30pm. If you'd like to attend supper, please tell the secretary before 10am on Monday, November 14 - telephone 01603 486997 or email michaelbpollitt@btinternet.com Entry added: 11 Nov 2016 |
Standing room at Roger Beck's funeral
It was standing room only for a celebration of the life of former club president, Roger Beck, at St Peter's Church, Brunstead, on Monday, October 31. His son, Alan, gave a lovely summary of Roger's life - including his love of Case tractors and many were placed around the churchyard. And his address was then warmly applauded, which was fitting too. He had taken his father's coffin for a final tour around the farm on the Bedford lorry, which was exactly 70 years old, and used to take hundreds of thousands of tonnes of sugar beet to the Cantley factory. After a private burial in the churchyard, just yards from his former home, family joined friends at the Wayford Bridge for refreshments.
For a fuller obituary - see under The Club's Officers on the left-hand tab.
Entry added: 01 Nov 2016 |
Quiz success, well almost!
A three-strong team finished in third place at the inter-county quiz at Easton & Otley College on Monday, October 31. It was Stalham's best result for more than half a dozen years. Ken Leggett, who played the "joker" for double points on the "pot luck" round, helped to secure a maximum 20 points with Nigel Cooke and the secretary, Michael Pollitt. At half-way,Stalham led the scoring. For the first time since the quiz - involving all Norfolk's farming, livestock and farm machinery clubs - was revived in 2010, it was won by Dereham farm machinery club with 96 points; Easton College Staff were runners-up with 86.5pts and Stalham third with 84 points. Holt, four-time winners and the defending champions, finished outside the top three. Tim Nicholson, of Holt, was the question master and David Morton, a former Stalham member, set the questions with help from his wife, Janet.
Entry added: 01 Nov 2016 |
Booming demand for pasta and snack food ingredients has transformed the potential for Pasta Foods, which has operations at Great Yarmouth and Longwater, Norwich. Now the country's only specialist pasta producer, which does use a small tonnage of home-grown durum, has bold plans for further sales expansion as a 23-strong party of members heard on the opening visit of the winter season. Members last visited Pasta Foods' Waveney Mill at Great Yarmouth about 20 years ago. The full report can be read on the Minutes and Reports page. Entry added: 20 Oct 2016 |