Home to FeltwellTour Feltwell Today Tour Old Feltwell See Feltwell's History Read Feltwell's History RAF Feltwell Memorial Pages Special Photo Sets
Feltwell's Timeline
Historical InfoLoops Photo of the Month Feltwellians Worldwide Feltwell Links

Written Records

July 2006

It is a glorious summer Sunday afternoon in Feltwell and I’ve just woken up from a little snooze in the shade. Not something I do very often but I could get into the habit!

I must give a massive thank-you to all those who sent me copies of Feltwellian newsletters following my PC breakdown last month. My archive is, once again, restored and complete. I am most surprised and grateful that so many of you retain my amateur ramblings.

The big news this month was triggered by member John Doyle in the USA some months ago when he mentioned Frappr maps. I had a brief look but then promptly forgot until now when I’ve had to go back through the 750 emails that I downloaded last month following my PC rebuild. Frappr is a site which allows you to build maps for any group of people e.g. your MySpace friends or even Feltwellians. It uses Google Maps as a base and adds location pins according to the address you type in. It also allows you to add a photograph. After exploring the functionality of the site I registered myself and have, as far as I know, set up a secure Feltwellians group. My fellow magazine editor, Susan Withers, has tested it for me and it seems to work. I will be putting a link to the Feltwellians map on the website but in the meantime I would like to encourage you all to join. http://www.frappr.com/feltwellians A photo of your good self/selves would be most appreciated as it is always nice to put a face to a name. When you have applied I am sent a message and must approve the application. There are other features that I could add to the Frappr Feltwellian map page such as a chat room but I’m far too busy to ever be in it and the main purpose of setting up this group is simply to map the world of the Feltwellians. I would be grateful if anyone can tell me what a "Shoutout message" is.

Building work has begun on RAF Feltwell of the new "toll gate" entry system. When it is completed I will provide a photograph. The intention is to get all the traffic off the Wilton Road quickly so as not to cause any traffic jams and to provide sufficient space for the searching of lorries and coaches. The new houses on the old British Legion car park are going up slowly and those down Barretts Lane now have their roofs on but, unfortunately, the sale of the allotment land for social housing has been held up because our Housing Association has been unsuccessful this time around in getting funding from the Housing Corporation. Isn’t bureaucracy marvellous? The Government announces we need X million new homes, many of them for first time buyers and yet it doesn’t give the Housing Corporation sufficient funds to meet the needs of the Housing Associations who have to buy the land on which these houses are to be built. My guess is that it’s the same world over but do tell me if I’m wrong.

You may recall that a few months ago I mentioned William Clarke’s Feltwell Tune Book. There is now a web link for those who wish to hear some of the tunes that your ancestors would have been dancing to around about 1830. http://eds.efdss.org/ Thanks to Lyn Laws for helping to put this together.

I wondered if it would ever happen and it has. Someone has applied to join who lived down my road and who I cannot remember. How embarrassing is that? Here’s the message, "My name is Victoria Cregar, and my family and I lived in Feltwell from 1990 to Sept. of 1993 as part of a 3 year tour while my father was in the US Air Force. I went to reception class and 1st grade at the local elementary school. I found your website in doing a search one day, and have frequented the site for about 2 years now. I enjoy looking at all the pictures and reading the history. I would like to find a way to see who is still living in the area that I might have known during the time that I was there. We lived on Falcon Road for the duration of our tour." My wife has a vague recollection of a little girl called Vicky but neither of us remembers her parents.

Before I close can anyone help this lady? "My name is Judith Marshall and I am researching my ancestors! I am looking for a Mary Marshall from Feltwell who married my father’s grandfather Thomas Marshall and I think they were perhaps cousins. Could you help me at all? Mary’s date of birth was around 1848 perhaps 1851. I have hit the proverbial 'brick wall'.