Stowlangtoft Village News               Autumn 2023

The weather has turned, and autumn is certainly upon us with her growing carpet of leaves, mushrooms, and toad stalls aplenty, the fresh cleansing breeze and the smell of woodburning smoke with the occasional wiff of sugarbeat in our nostrils! And there’s rain!! Wellingtons are again the chosen footwear for walking our tracks and ways, nights by the fire in front of the tv will be the norm and planning for the festive season will begin.

 

A rallying call:

Crime Prevention Talk – October 31st 7.30pm
Stefan Henrikson our Community Police Officer will offer us some professional advice on how to best protect our homes and properties.
The venue will be determined once numbers are confirmed so if you would like to attend, please contact Rob Cuff via telephone, email or WhatsApp.

Final request for images for our Village Calendar:
We are planning a Stowlangtoft Village Calendar for 2024 and would like to hear from anyone who has a special picture of the village which could be used as part of the calendar.  Cut off for submission will be November 5th with printed calendars being available before Christmas. A sample of the calendar will be available to view at the Christmas Fayre on Saturday 2nd December. All preorders will need to be received by 2nd December.

Village Events


The friends of Stowlangtoft held a very successful Harvest Picnic at No.2 Church View Stowlangtoft on Saturday 9th September. Another pleasant afternoon spent with both new of old residents of the village. All contributed various items of home-made cooking and baking and together with a glass or two of preferred alcoholic beverage made for a very enjoyable village social.

Christmas Art and Craft Fair (see back page for details)
Volunteers are required for cleaning the church prior to the Fair and for those that are willing and able please contribute to the event by baking Cakes, Mince pies, tray bakes etc.. All will be gratefully received.

Church Services at St Georges

Remembrance Service – Sunday 12th November at 10.45am

Village Carol Service - 10th December at 3pm.

Another Village Walk
A village walk was held on Saturday 26thth August and we have another on Saturday 21st October. Thank you to Ruth for organising.
These are becoming a regular feature with good company and real fun not to mention the necessary exercise!!

All are welcome on the next village walk which will be advertised in due course. It’s a great opportunity to meet your fellow residents.

Book Club
The Stowlangtoft book club meets on a monthly basis on the first Friday of the month with the members taking it in turns to host the meetings and choose the titles. New members are always welcome. Please contact Julie on her email julesbury@aol.com should you wish to join.


Visit to Stowlangtoft Hall
An open day was held at Stowlangtoft Hall on Tuesday 19th September. Ruth together with help from John Catchpole gave a very interesting and entertaining talk on the history of the Hall to a full and fascinated audience followed by tea and some very special cakes.  

Stowlangtoft Hall Christmas Fayre
Saturday 18th November 2pm – 5pm
Raffle, Craft Stalls, Refreshments and more!

Other news….


Village Lottery (100 club)
There are plans to launch a village lottery in the new year. It is a great opportunity to win a monthly cash prize whilst also contributing to the community. Tickets will be available to all with draws made every month.
More details to follow but please register your interest by contacting Rob Cuff.

Highways Matters
The re-siting of the VAS signage at the Hunston end of The Street has now been completed and hopefully will be successful in warning motorists to slow down as they approach the village.  Highways have confirmed that they will conduct a traffic survey from September along Kiln Lane with the survey location by the Post Box.  This will help any future discussions about speed and HGV use along this road.

Speed Awareness Scheme:
Many of you will have noticed that the village Speed Awareness Scheme is continuing with a group of 9 volunteers working together to monitor vehicles passing through the village. Doing this on a regular basis helps build up a picture for both Suffolk Constabulary and Suffolk Highways, the presence of volunteers in Hi-Vis jackets alerts and reminds drivers that they are being monitored and, in most cases, has an immediate effect of speed reduction. In fact, evidence has shown a clear reduction in the speed of vehicles through the village since the start of the scheme.  It can be reported that our neighbouring village Hunston is setting up a Speedwatch Scheme very shortly too.

Should you be willing to join the speed watch volunteers for the odd hour a week/fortnight then please contact Rob Cuff on the email below.

Have your say…..
As you may be aware, Stowlangtoft has a Parish Council which is responsible for managing many of the village affairs and has direct links with Mid Suffolk District Council and Suffolk County Council. We also have a Parochial Church Council (a group set up to manage the running of St Georges Church).
In addition to the Parish Council and the Parochial Church Council there is now a group called “Friends of Stowlangtoft”, a group set up with the prime objective to organise community and fundraising events for the village.  Whilst these three groups have differing priorities, they are not mutually exclusive and the intention is for all to work together for the benefit of our village.


STOWLANGTOFT CHRISTMAS CRAFT AND GIFT FAIR

SATURDAY 2nd DECEMBER
10.00am -4.00pm

Fine local crafts and gifts for sale including pottery, stained glass, soaps, art greeting cards, woodturning, gin, local ales, cakes, christmas decorations, wreaths and so much more

St Georges Church, Stowlangtoft

Refreshments
teas *coffee* soup* mulled wine *homemade bakes

In aid of Friends of Stowlangtoft fundraising for a community space and toilet facilities.