Entry 30 pence includes a programme and is free to accompanied children. Approximately 160 paintings in watercolour, oil, pastel, mixed media and sculpture will be on view and represent a year’s work by the group and compete for a range of awards. Most works will be for sale. All members are enthusiastic amateur artists living in Beccles and its surrounding villages.

This year, the names of prize winners of the first Frank Delf Memorial Competition will be announced and the awards presented by the Mayor, Brian Woodruff, at Friday’s private view evening.

The competition is for 13-18 yrs. and has been organised in conjunction with the Sir John Lemon High School. Frank Delf was a founder member of the Society in 1969. His son Christopher left a legacy in his father's name to encourage and assist young artists, hence the competition. These paintings will also be on view from Saturday 30th July. The exhibition closes at 2pm on Saturday 6th August.

The 2011 Southwold Beach Sevens at the weekend was as memorable as ever. 

The tournament, now in its ninth year, attracted 50 teams from as far afield as Paris and Sheffield and with many of the teams bringing several dozen subs with them! The first beach severners arrived at the temporary campsite at 9am on Friday morning and most had pitched their tents by night fall. Just in time to attend the "Warm-up Party" where over 600 guests enjoyed hog roast and pizzas washed down with gallons of beer and countless shots.


Despite the inevitable hangovers the tournament kicked off at 11am the next morning on the beach. And though the sun didn't shine the rugby certainly did. The winner of the men's tournament was Burnham on Crouch who beat Lowestoft & Yarmouth in the final having only narrowly beaten the home team in a hard fought semi-final, which left some spectators wondering whether tag rugby was really a non-contact sport. The Ladies tournament was won by Saracens who beat Saracens in the final. With current and past internationals in both teams they dazzled us with their fluid rugby throughout the day.


One of the highlights of the tournament was the team and individual "Dance-offs" which provided both risque and amusing entertainment as a curtain-raiser to the finals. Sadly it is highly unlikely that we will see any of the participants in the next 'Britain's got Talent'.


The fancy dress theme for the Saturday night party was "Emergency Services" and was won by a proud though in-capacitated fire engine. The team prize went to the 28-strong french team, 'The Frogs', who were enthusiastic participants both on and off the field/sand.


The event was run by numerous volunteers at Southwold RFC and their collective efforts have raised significant funds for the club. All the proceeds have been ear-marked for our ambitious player development and pith improvement programmes.

Deposits have already been received by some of the teams for next year's 10th anniversary event. For more details visit www.southwoldrfc.co.uk

This short, silent film captures one of Britain's minor little railways: the Leek and Manifold Light Railway on the Staffordshire Moorlands. The railway opened in 1907, linking the villages of Waterhouses and Hulme End, and was built mainly for agricultural traffic, with a passenger service being a secondary consideration. Its route went through beautiful countryside in Staffordshire, and it is unfortunate that the intertitles state it as being shot in Derbyshire!

In 1934 the entire line was closed by the North Staffordshire Railway. There is little in the way of recorded film material of this quaint little train, so this gem gives an invaluable insight into the railway. (Stuart Smith, Midlands Railway Centre)

The Kessingland Sea Serpent, or may be an Oarfish?

A sea serpent reported to be up to 60ft in length and very fast moving has been sighted at least four times off the coast of Norfolk. The descriptions evoke classic sea-serpent characteristics of small head, long slim body and diamond-shaped frill along the back.

The earliest written report appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine in their December 1750 issue:

"The creature was about five feet long from what could be viewed of it above the water, with a head like a dog and a beard like a lion. The skin was spotted like that of a leopard. It passed in a leisurely fashion, finally disappearing beneath the waves to the great amazement of all those watching from the shore..."

In the mid-1800s there were more accounts of "a creature with a head such as a serpent might have with humps behind."

There is a well-documented account about the reported sighting by the daughter of Sir Henry Rider Haggard, the author, who owned Kessingland Grange in Norfolk. Rider Haggard, was working on a novel at his home in Ditchingham, when he received the following letter from his daughter Lilias, dated 20th July 1912:

"We had a great excitement here this evening, and we are convinced we saw a sea serpent! I happened to look up when I was sitting on the lawn, and saw what looked like a thin, dark line with a blob at one end, shooting through the water at such a terrific speed it hardly seemed likely that anything alive could go at such a pace. It was some way out over the sandbank, and travelling parallel with the shore. I tore into the morning room and got the glasses and though it had at that moment nearly vanished in the distance we could make out it had a sort of head at one end and then a series of about 30 pointed blobs which dwindled in size as they neared the tail. As it went along it seemed to get more and more submerged and then vanished. You can't imagine the pace it was going. I suppose it was about 60 feet long."

Rider Haggard went to Kessingland Grange and his daughter’s story was confirmed by the cook and the gardener. Rider Haggard decided to write to the Eastern Daily Press to tell the story and seek further information. On Wednesday 24th July 1912 the paper duly printed the original letter from Lilias to her famous father, together with this note from Rider Haggard himself asking for some clarification or further information. However none was forthcoming.


In August 1923 a survey ship, H M Kellett, was taking observations off the Norfolk coast when Captain F E B Haselfoot and the navigator Lt Commander R M Southern observed something strange . Captain Haselfoot wrote:

"The time was about 9am. It was a summer day and the weather was calm and clear. I am not sure whether the sun was actually shining. I then observed rising out of the water about 200 yards from the ship, a long, serpentine neck, projecting from six or seven feet above the water. I observed this neck rising out of the water twice, and it remained up, in each case, for four or five seconds. Viewing with the naked eye only, I could not make out precisely what the head was like."

In July 1978 a holidaymaker walking on Kessingland beach was moved to write (although he asked to remain anonymous) to the East Anglian Magazine:

"The sea was quite calm when my attention was suddenly drawn to what I can only say looked like the head of a seal on a long neck sticking up out of the water. There seemed to be some humps behind the head, but the creature only remained visible for a matter of a few seconds before diving beneath the surface. I would be inclined to think that I had imagined everything if I had not read the story of the Kessingland Sea Serpent."

There appear to be no other recent sightings. However in the 1978 sighting by the anonymous man, he does state he knew about the story, which means it could have influenced what he saw. The men on the ship, however, if they were seasoned sailors, would surely have recognised any known sea creature, yet did not recognise this one. It does sound like a ribbon fish, except ribbon fish do not swim like that and do not hold their heads out of the water . Another interesting story for the archive and to ponder over.

A series of new weekend classes are set to launch on Saturday 10th September 2011, The Young Persons Theatre Project has two purpose built professional studios, plus a theatre situated in the performing arts block at the Suffolk New College in the heart of Ipswich.

The course is aimed to tutor young people between the ages of 6 and 19 years old, and train them in the key areas of the performing arts. Classes have been created to enlighten the student’s energy, passion and motivation within this sector to expand their skill sets.

TYPTP program includes instruction from nine skilled tutors who come with a wide range of experience and professionally trained actors, dancers and theatre coaches. They will cover a range of topics including dance, TV coaching, voice training, mime and stage fighting amongst other various techniques, all within purpose built facilities.

Two international sponsors have agreed to support the projected, by providing financial support for four young students by paying for their tuition for 12 months.

The project has been back by lead patrons who include Neil Morrissey, star of the TV series ‘Men Behaving Badly’, and actress Jenny Agutter, who has appeared in such films as ‘The Railway Children’ and ‘An American Werewolf in London.’

TYPTP also have on board a National Theatre and TV agency (Mr Producer) they have agreed to be involved from day one and will monitor students throughout the year the potential to offer representation to those students who show real potential.

To top it all off at the end of the summer term there will be show case at the theatre in front of parents and casting agents to show off the young people, ability, talents an potential.

For more information contact Tim Allsop on mail@typtp.co.uk or visit the website www.typtp.co.uk.

Andrew and I faced Sunday 17th July 2011 with some trepidation, as we were due to attend, for the second year running, a bygones and fun day at Ufford, near Woodbridge. 

This is the time of year when everyone is holding their summer fairs, working on the assumption no doubt that the weather in July and August is likely to be hot and sunny. Yes, well the forecast for this particular day was not only rain, but gales and thunderstorms to boot.

Still, the show must go on and we arrived at the Sanctuary at the crack of dawn to load up the vehicle kindly donated to us for the day by our sponsors Jeffries of Bacton. Occasional volunteer Tony was on hand to help us with the hefting about and be our chauffeur for the day (very decadent) so we were soon ready to set off, keeping a watchful eye on the darkening clouds above.

As is quite usual for Andrew and I, we managed to not quite correctly follow the directions and were just debating a slightly uncertain left or right turn, when a rather beautiful classic car appeared on the scene. ‘Follow that car’ we cried in true English fashion and sure enough we were soon at our destination!


With us, we took Nightshade our beautiful Barn Owl and Auckland the Boobook Owl, seasoned campaigner at the ripe old age of three and phased by absolutely nothing. Although Nightshade has been out to schools with us before, this was his first time at a big show, with all the sights, sounds, smells and other animals that naturally entails. We kept his travelling box close at hand in case he needed to have some quiet chill time, but he seemed to take his cue from Auckland and was quite relaxed perched on Andrew’s fist enjoying the admiration from visitors.


Although, certainly in East Anglia, Barn Owls are a relatively common sight these days, it’s very rare to see them up close enough to really appreciate their fragile beauty. In flight, all you really see from a distance is a gliding white shape. Up close, people are always amazed by the delicate patterns of grey and gold that adorn the Barn Owl’s outer feathers.


Weather wise the day turned out to be a mixed bag, with some lovely warm sunny spells, followed by a handful of torrential downpours. But the visitors were undeterred and, fortunately, our spacious gazebo encouraged people to come and take shelter when it rained. Auckland and Nightshade were stars throughout and we had a very successful day despite the erratic weather.


Suffolk Owl Sanctuary Blog