2nd Dec - Wayland Tales - Storytelling Event Postponed till after Christmas

I am very sorry to say we have had to postpone the storytelling event this Thur, 2nd Dec – ‘Wayland Tales’ till after Christmas. The weather forecast for the night is too unpredictable to risk running it. We have a wonderful line-up of traditional tales from the Wayland area waiting for you, we will be advertising the new date as soon as we can.

The Project Focus Group Meeting on Tuesday 30th Nov has been Cancelled.

The Project Focus Group Meeting on Tuesday 30th Nov has been Cancelled due to the bad weather forecast for the night.

13th Nov - Saham Toney Heritage - Craft Fair & Annual Exhibition

There will be a history exhibition including the new illustrated Saham Time-Line and Local Crafts Fair at the Wells Cole Community Centre, Bell Lane, Saham Toney from 10am-4pm. Entry is free and refreshments will be served all day.

Wayland Tales - Free Storytelling and Writing Workshops and Event in Nov, Dec & Jan

Come and join us research, tell and listen to curious tales of Wayland. Bring your traditional local tales of all kinds and share them with others.  As long as the stories are connected with the Wayland area they can range from tales of ghosts, legends, crime, funny events too tragedy. We are not looking for new short stories created by you, but versions of true events or tales that have been passed down the generations.

Wed 17th Nov - Afternoon 2pm, Wayland House, Watton
Event 1. Join in with the research and planning workshop for the ‘Wayland Tales’ story telling event. 

Wed 24th Nov - Afternoon 2pm, Wayland House, Watton
Event 2. Workshop with storyteller and researcher of Norfolk Folklore - Theo Fanthorpe.

2nd December - Evening Storytelling Event ‘Wayland Tales’  at The Chequers Inn, Thompson. A winter evening of tales, told by members of the projects workshops and the well known storyteller - Theo Fanthorpe.

Places will be limited to 25, you will need a ticket priority will be given to those who have been researching local tales and/or taking part in the workshops.

The tales will be recorded at the event to form the base for a DVD that will be bound into an illustrated book of the 'Wayland Tales'.

There will be also be 2 Writing Workshops to help with the production of tales for this 2nd book stage, on the evening of Tue 11th Jan and the afternoon of Wed 12th Jan, both at Wayland House, Watton. These workshops will also be useful for those involved in writing their 'Village History' with the project.

If you would like to book a place on the above workshops, and take part in the Wayland Tales, please contact us saying which workshops you would like to attend email: sue@wayland.org.uk, tel; 01953 880216 or pop-in to Wayland House and speak to the Heritage Officer, Sue White.

Evening Talk - Nov 10th 7.30pm Wayland House, Watton 'Getting Started on Your Village History' the next stage of the project

 Following on from the project Focus Group meeting on 2^nd Nov, we have taken the direction followed by the meeting to set out a framework for the next stage of the project. We are now looking for written submissions from project  members for inclusion is a series of publications supported with multimedia DVD or CDs.

The following is the starting point based on the list of suggestions put forward by those attending the Focus Group meeting. We have broken down the suggested topics into manageable chunks:

1. Produce a written portrait of your village as it is today, e.g. types of houses, population, trades, employment, school, village hall etc
2. Geology and Prehistory in brief of your parish.
3. Early settlement pre Domesday
4. Origin of the village name.
5. What does the Domesday survey tell you about your village  

Bron’s Tyler's evening talk 'Getting Started on Your Village History' on Nov 10^th 7.30pm Wayland House, Watton will provide guidance for those terrified at the prospect. We are here to give help and back up with sources of info etc, just ring or email. 

The above sections will need to be written by the end of Jan. There will be two writing workshops to help you on your way and give guidance on the evening of the 11^th Jan 7-9pm and afternoon of the 12^th Jan 2-4pm both at Wayland House, Watton, please email me to book a workshop place.

Hope to see you on the 10^th Nov as we feel this is an important chance to discuss any issues you may have. We are hoping that members of the Focus Group will have their first drafts of the 'Village Portraits' ready for the next meeting on 30th Nov.

Wed, 3rd Nov - 7.30pm Evening talk 'Recording Archaeological Finds in Norfolk'

Wednesday 3rd Nov 7.30pm at Wayland House, evening talk by Dr Andrew Rogerson on 'Recording Archaeological Finds in Norfolk'.
Andrew runs The Identification and Recording Service at Gressenhall, which exists to record all archaeological finds made by members of the public in Norfolk.

They rely on the public to bring us what they find, to increase everyone’s knowledge of Norfolk’s past.

Thousands objects are taken to them every year, mostly from areas where there has been no archaeological excavation. Many of these objects are brought to the surface by agricultural machinery, which destroys their archaeological context.

They record the objects for posterity on the Norfolk Historic Environment Record, which is also based at Gressenhall. They range from Palaeolithic flint tools (up to half a million years old) to 18th-century lead cloth seals. They record flint, pottery, bricks, tiles and objects made of glass, bone and metal, and the finder receives a copy of all the information that is recorded.

Wayland Earthwork Field Trip - Sat, 30th Oct - Fully Booked

This field trip is now fully booked all those who applied up till 1pm on 27th Oct have a place. We will be meeting in Gt Cressingham church porch at 10.30am. Please bring your wellies it could be very wet underfoot.

Wayland Earthworks Field Day on Sat 30th Oct, with Brian Cushion surveyor and author of 'Earthworks of Norfolk. The field day will visit sites at Gt Cressingham and Carbrooke. It will start at 10.30 at Gt. Cressingham looking at earthworks relating to the medieval village of Great Cressingham. Medieval fishponds, Moats, tofts, house platforms and hollow ways are all visible as earthworks. Stopping for lunch at the Windmill Inn at 12.30pm then on to earthworks at Carbrooke, a medieval site of the preceptory of the Knights of St John (a military monastic order similar to the Knights Templar). The site is represented by a series of well-preserved earthworks.