John Norris Remembers...
Maintaining the Village Infrastructure
IT IS SOME TIME AGO that the improvements were made to the old part of the village, but many visitors still comment on the change. We must be grateful to the East Cambs Council, and their highways department for all that they do, both to the roads and the church yard.
It is several years ago that the day to day upkeep of the ground surrounding the two churches was taken over by the Council. We were lucky in that the area was declared a closed church yard as far back as 1929, when the two schools near the road were replaced by the present one on Station Road, and a new cemetery provided by the Parish Council to the East of the old grave yard. This meant that the area was now a public place, and could be maintained by the local authority.
The new footway is a great benefit to those using wheels as a form of transport, as it is almost level, just enough camber to run off the water. I well remember the difficulty I had when my wife needed a wheel-chair. It was a constant battle to stop running into the road, down the slope caused by the sinking road. The pavement in front of Anglesey House was level with the road surface, but now, after the improvements it is the six inches above the road surface required by the regulations. It will be much safer for the children too, when this end of the village starts breeding again. When I came here in 1959, most of the houses had children of school age living in them, but as time passes they grow up !!
All the old patches caused by water and electricity repairs have gone, and the new surfaces both to the footway and the road have a pleasing appearance. It is a pity that the yellow and white line have to be there, but it would be chaos without them. Indeed it is sometimes chaos with them.
The area surrounding the churches is not easy to maintain, as it is far from being level, but Malcolm is a dab hand at working round the hills, and the un-level ground The trees too need constant attention as they are very mature, and grow very quickly. I am please to see that the Allix plot has had some attention, and now looks cared for. This site was taken from Anglesey House garden for private burials, and is not part of the churchyard
All in all we have had a useful makeover, so I felt it appropriate to thank on behalf of the residents and visitors, the Local Authority for their interest in our village. I know we all pay for it in our rates, but it has been done, and not put off for another twenty years, well done and thank you.