Layham Parish Council
The main matters discussed at the meeting of Wednesday 24 January were:

• There is continuing concern at deterioration of the building fabric at the Marquis of Cornwallis and the fact that the roof may not now be watertight after the attempted theft of tiles;
• It was agreed that assistance should be sought from Babergh District Council Planning Department that may have a responsibility to secure the roof of this Grade 2 Listed Building;
• It was agreed to remove the displaced tiles to a safe location;
• It was agreed to reimburse the Clerk for 50% of the cost of a printer;
• Information is still being gathered about the financial and manpower implications of taking part share of a Speed Gun with Hadleigh Town Council;
• Anglian Water engineers have looked at the drains of 39 Brett Green and will report back if the roots of a nearby tree are a problem;
• The precept of £8,500 for the year 2012-13 was agreed;
• A small change was made to the Parish Councils Financial Regulations to tighten up the arrangements should any future Council apply to take out a loan;
• Anglian Water had not been charging the Parish for water used on the allotments for six years since the tap was provided. This oversight has recently been discovered and a bill for the past three years (the maximum time possible for retrospective charging) has been received. It was agreed that it would be unreasonable to charge this to allotment holders for the period prior to 2011-12. Bills are being raised to recover the liability for the last year;
• It appears that the annual bill for allotment water will be between £60-£80, with each gardener paying one sixth of the sum;
• It was agreed to approach the user of allotment 5, who appears not to be using the whole area, to see if he would like to share with the next person on the waiting list;
• It was recognised and recorded that the small group of people representing the village on the national Grid Community Forums are working hard and making progress as they argue for the undergrounding of the new power lines planned to cross our Parish;
• Planning. It was noted that the two-storey side and rear extension to Holly Cottage, Upper Street has been approved;
• A meeting with an officer from Suffolk ACRE will meet with councillors on Monday 16 January to discuss the possibility of the Council producing a second Parish Plan.
The next meeting of the Council will be at 7.30 on Wednesday 25 January 2012 in the Village Hall. Information about the Parish Council together with full minutes is on the village website: www.layham.org

The Clerk to Layham Parish Council is Jane Cryer who can be contacted on 07920 713940 or layhampc@gmail.com

St Andrew's - your parish church
Services for February
5th 10.30 am Family Worship
12th 9.15 am Sung Eucharist
19th 9.15 am Said Eucharist (BCP) 10.15 am Cafe Church
26th 9.15 am Family Eucharist

Advance Notice of Annual Meeting
The APCM (Annual Meeting ) will be on 22 March 2012 at 7.30 pm Layham Playing Field

TAKE NOTE - TREE FELLING - SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY
There are three willow trees on the field that are outgrowing the space available. One of the three is shown (growing at an angle) in the picture. They are to be felled on Saturday 11 February when anyone using the playing field will be asked to enter the field from the Brett Green entrance and keep away from the work in progress. Thank you

Playing Field 100 Club
December was the BIG DRAW and the winners were:
£100 Ticket No 38 Alderson
£50 Ticket No 27 Aldous
£15 Ticket No 15 Bynoe
£10 Ticket No 77 Webber

Do you NEED a full-size black bin?
Help Layham to become one of the greenest parishes in the district. If you are not filling the large standard issue black bin (240 litres) then you may be pleased to know that Babergh District Council will exchange it for one half the size (120 litres) at a small handling charge of just £5. There are three advantages:
• The smaller bin takes up far less space and is less weighty to handle;
• It is easier to hide from permanent view;
• It encourages users to minimise waste sent to landfill. In the new financial year, charges may rise for administering such a change, so take advantage of the present conditions and contact the Babergh Waste Management Team by phoning 01473 822801 and asking for the department that deals with waste bins.

Goings-on at the Marquis
One morning in early January men climbed ladders onto the roof of the Marquis of Cornwallis from the rear – in broad daylight. They worked quickly and carelessly removing hundreds of whole tiles and breaking others. It may be that they thought they would be regarded as bone-fide workmen and nobody would question their presence. They stacked the tiles neatly on the ground and then, leaving behind the tiles, their ladders and their carrying hod, disappeared in their white van. The police were called and were on site quite quickly but too late to find anyone. Three members of the Parish Council and Richard Groom have moved the tiles to a place of safe storage and Babergh District Council has been asked to ensure the building (Grade 2 Listed) is made weatherproof before there is too much damage from water. It will help if those who live near-by can keep an eye on the building and report anything suspicious immediately on 101 to our Safer Neighbourhood Team.

Pizzey’s / Stiff’s Market Garden
Some months ago we published a request for information on the market garden that used to be on the land now the site of Brett Green. As a result of some local enquiries we have been loaned a photograph of an early solid-tyred flat-bed lorry loading up on the land behind Brett House. Close examination shows strawberries growing in the foreground. Picture of Alfred Pizzey’s lorry The nursery owner, Alfred Pizzey, is seen with his daughter May sometime before his death in 1914. His wife died the same year which may be why he is wearing a black arm band. Alfred had a son Hugh who was a Private in the 1st / 4th Bn.York and Lancs Regiment and who was killed aged just 19 in Belgium in 1917. He is buried at Tyne Cot Memorial Cemetery in Belgium. May remained living at Brett House and in 1920 married Cecil Stiff with whom she ran the business for many years. After their deaths, the market garden remained in the hands of the Stiff family and continued in production until 1963. Postscript : It is very satisfying now and then to have communication with someone who has moved away from the area but still has an interest in the village and reads ‘Letter from Layham’. A telephone call from Robert Stiff (80), who now lives in Whitstable, adds a little colour to the article above although it was actually in response to the article about Layham’s war memorial in the November issue of HCN. Robert telephoned to say that when he was born in 1931, his mother and father were given £5 to start a savings account for him by his Aunt May and Uncle Cecil Stiff. The condition was that when he was christened, one of his Christian names should be Hugh to perpetuate the name of Hugh Pizzey referred to above. Thus he was named Robert Hugh Charles Stiff.

A closer look at interesting photographs
If you are interested to look closely at a photograph that appears in these columns you can call up the Hadleigh Community News Website where all pictures can be doubled in size at the click of a mouse!