Well! Boys and girls, girls and boys . . . here we are, twenty months or so since my last What’s On and without indulging in too many clichés, what a time we’ve all endured.

Before I go any further, I apologise now to any of you who receive this and who no longer wish to: you may have moved house and no longer be local, or you may simply have had enough of my witterings to last you a lifetime.  In any event, should you wish to unsubscribe, it is a simple business: just tell me and your name and any other details held by me will be instantly expunged.  And you won’t hear from me again in this connection – promise!  Naturally, I hope you won’t unsubscribe, but my shoulders are broad and I can handle the disappointment.

The purpose of this communication is to bring you up to date with Hindolveston village hall and what has been going on, and to impart some news about plans for reopening. There is no digest of events this time.  In due course a digest will ping into your inbox, as in former times, and what a comfort that will be to one and all, I’m sure.

The village hall committee has had one overarching concern during this pandemic: the safety of all its users, hirers and its volunteers.  And that is the reason why our hall has not reopened yet.  It’s very close, but not quite yet.  I am quite sure that everyone can appreciate the risks involved in opening the hall too soon; I can absolutely assure you that at the monthly vh committee meetings (which have been held throughout) it has never been an easy decision to reach, especially once surrounding villages were known to have reopened their halls.  But safety is as safety does, as the saying nearly goes.

So what, I hear you ask, has been going on?  I hear and I answer.  Building works and redecoration  is the short answer.  You may recall that grants had been applied for in hopes that quite major work could be done to the hall.  Well, the major grant applied for fell through.  It didn’t actually fall through, simply the grant giver decided that although (in its own words) the application had merit, they weren’t going to fund it.  Nevertheless, other, smaller applications were successful and, together with extremely generous donations from residents, enough money was available to completely remodel the kitchen area and to redecorate inside the hall.  Other building work has been delayed time and again by the national shortage of building materials, but gradually, ever so slowly, the time is approaching when these remaining works can be completed.  What remains to be done is to create a new main entrance to the hall: it will greet you as you drive into the car park, rather than being tucked away out of sight round the back/side of the building.

I can tell you now, though, that the first regular activity to resume in the hall will be the Coffee Shop.  It used to be held every Monday morning from 10am till midday, and became known as the Monday Coffee Shop.  When Sanders buses changed their timetables and ran the bus from the village to Norwich on Mondays, instead of Tuesdays, it robbed the Coffee Shop of several customers.  So, now, when the Coffee Shop reopens (on Tuesday 16th November, is the plan) it will be as the Tuesday Coffee Shop.  And we look forward to welcoming as many of you (back) as can be there.  Although no dates are available right now, I am reliably informed that the regular Tuesday evening hapkido classes as well as the Friday morning exercise classes will also resume shortly thereafter.

I shall be back with more news for you in due course, but that’s about all I have to tell you right now.  We can all look forward to next year when, with a portion of good luck and a following breeze, other well-loved vh functions will resume.

Best wishes to you all . . .

Graham