23rd November 2025

 

           Dear All,

10 Turning Points in European History this week covered 1709 the conflict between Russia and Sweden. Sweden was the major power in Europe at the time with an excellent but warlike ruler Charles XII and Peter the Great was Czar of Russia, he was also energetic 6’ 7” tall and a man of the people travelling widely to try and understand the world. There was a Great Northern war in 1700 which Russia lost but in a return match in the coldest winter for 600 years at Poltava Russia won and Sweden was never a major power again.

I booked flights to Moldova again on Tuesday this time accompanied by Kate and Geoff leaving 5^th March. I have also been chasing seed to send out for the seminars.

The Local History meeting was on “Elizabethan Grammar Schools” by Mike Mancaster who was subject to one in his youth. The schools came about because of the need to encourage Protestantism, because the government needed administrators and because rich individuals were keen to show their philanthropy. Senior pupils were only allowed to talk in Greek or Latin and were punished for speaking English. Mike went to Ashby School as a border aged 11 and hated every moment. He rebelled as often as he could by running away, smoking etc and as part of the rebellion kept a meticulous diary of the teacher’s cruelties. He revisited it during lockdown and friends encouraged him to publish his experiences so a book is coming out next year.

We went to Coton Garden Centre on Wednesday morning to buy some plants for the aquarium and also collected 6 Cardinal Tetra’s.

Group discussion this week was on the town of Colossae. After I booked a property in Wrabness for a week after Easter to celebrate my 80^th birthday with family and maybe friends.

Geoff Pake was the speaker at the Garden Club on Wednesday evening talking about his life as a Fen Farmer which went down very well.

The walk on Thursday had a chilly -4C start from Ingham, north of Bury St Edmunds and took in Timworth, Fornham St Martin and the River Lark. It was an excellent walk and warmer once the sun came out but quite long as we detoured through the grounds of Culford School - so the “Short” walk was 9.5 miles.

 

 

Timworth church

 

 

Ice & Water

 

 

Irrigator Line-up

 

 

River Lark

 

 

Entrance to Culford School

The Biography topic this week was Cardinal John Henry Newman who was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest, and after his conversion to Catholicism, became a cardinal.

 

 

Cardinal Newman

 

We had a Men’s Breakfast at chapel Saturday morning where the speaker was David Wyatt who was a pharmacist heavily involved with the introduction of asthma inhalers. He is also married to a previous vicar of Over.

I watched football Saturday afternoon in rather damp and chilly conditions. It was a hard battle with Over winning 2 v 1. Ely Reserves.

Best wishes

 

Mike & Kate