News and Events in Bungay

LOCAL Bungay & Area Events

Please click on the links below to see details of events being held in the area over the coming months.  A link to what's on at The Fisher Theatre may also be found below.

January Events, February EventsThe Fisher Theatre  

JOYFUL VOICES - a New Singing Group in Bungay

Joyful Voices is a new singing group in Bungay, launched on 16th January when 65 people attended a very enjoyable taster session. The group is co-lead by Bridget Cousins and Helen Rolfe, two established and well respected local singing teachers, who between them also lead Halesworth Community Choir, Yox Vox, Gipping Valley choir, Wrentham Singing Group and more.

Bridget and Helen have a long history of working with people who think they 'can't sing' and in using singing as a therapeutic activity - apart from the sheer joy of having a good old sing! They are both 'natural voice' practitioners and belong to the Natural Voice Practitioners Network – this means they believe everyone and anyone can sing and use simple, gentle methods to help you find your voice.

Every session starts with simple warm ups for body, breath and voice; no one has to sing solo or read music as everything is taught by ear. If you enjoy glorious Gospel harmonies and want to have fun singing with others you will love this choir.

The demand for a regular opportunity to sing Gospel and other uplifting styles of singing in Bungay has grown following the hugely successful workshop led by international singer and workshop leader, Tony Backhouse, (who will be returning this November), at Emanuel Church Hall last October. Joyful Voices is a direct response to that wish.

WHEN: Twice a month, on 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month, 7.30 to 9.30pm

WHERE: Emmanuel Church Hall, Rose Lane, Bungay

DATES: January 16th and 30th; February 13th and 27th; March 12th and 26th

COST: £5 per session

VOTE FOR YOUR Favourite Bungay Celebration Logo!

Art students from Bungay High School have come together with the Bungay Festival Committee to design a new logo for the Town to use to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics and the 2012 Bungay Festival.  With 2012 being such a big year for events, the Committee felt that new a celebration logo would be just the thing to unite all the exciting activities that are already being planned for the summer.  

Eight of the students' entries have been chosen to be put to the vote, and these are now on display in Bungay Library.  Why not go along, take a look and register your vote for your favourite entry?  The closing date for your votes will be 31st January 2012. 

BUNGAY Film Club

Bungay Film Club's next screening, being held on Monday 30 January at 7.30pm at the Fisher Theatre, Broad Street, Bungay, is "Potiche" (15), a warm-hearted story of a woman's rise in a man's world. A housebound trophy wife or 'potiche' steps in to manage the factory run by her husband after the workers take him hostage. Catherine Deneuve and a fabulous supporting cast bring sparkle to this adaptation of a 70s farce. Great fun. A blend of boulevard farce, 1970s sex comedy and political satire. 'Deneuve responds to the challenge magnificently and with a glint of mischief', Jason Solomons in The Observer. Tickets - members £2.50 (yearly membership £10) - non-members £5.00 on the door. Licensed bar. Contact bungayfilmclub@hotmail.co.uk or see www.bungayfilmclub.com

  

COUNTRYFILE Magazine Recommends a Visit to Bungay

The delights of Bungay as a tranquil tourist destination have been discovered by Countryfile Magazine, the ultimate guide to the countryside.  Click here to find out out where Countryfile recommends you stay, eat and visit, and what makes Bungay such a 'picture postcard dream'!

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG Finds Iron Age Remains

An exciting suspected Iron Age find has been made a few miles from Bungay at Geldeston.  The remains of a road, which could have been used by the Iceni tribe before the Roman invasion, have been found following flood defence work.  The find will be featured on BBC Two's 'Digging for Victory' programme in September.  Further information is available here.

BUNGAY THROUGH The Seasons

Our new Town Recorder, Andrew Atterwill, has put together a wonderful photo diary of Bungay through a year. Click here to see our beautiful Town through all the seasons, showing Bungay is a wonderful place to live and visit at any time of year.

BUNGAY CHERRY Tree Angling Club Wins Lottery Award

Bungay's Cherry Tree Angllng Club has gained a Big Lottery "Awards for All" grant for work on its three-acre Earsham Lay-By Pit.  Nearly £10,000 will be put towards the replacement of 25 year old wooden platforms with strong new wooden stands.  A leaflet detailing holidays for the disabled will also be produced as part of this funding.  This, combined with £5,000 spent on stocking fish, means that the Club will be an excellent place for locals and tourists alike to visit.  For further information, see the Club's website here

LOCAL BUNGAY Firm Wins Countryside Alliance Award

Nursey and Son's sheepskin company in Bungay has won a prestigious section of the Countryside Alliance Awards 2010.  In the Best Traditional Business Award category, sponsored by the Daily Telegraph, Nursey's beat strong opposition from Mitchells Dairy in Aberdeenshire and Wildwood Coppice in West Sussex.  The company was founded in 1790 and still maintains today the same high standards it has always had.  To read more about the company, read the Daily Telegraph's article here.

THE GUARDIAN Newspaper Features Bungay

Bungay is the focus of an article in The Guardian.  Find out how best to spend a weekend in 'the perfect country retreat', as recommended by journalist Oliver Bennett.  Click here for the article.

JUSTICE can be seen again in Bungay

The historic figure of Justice atop the town's historic Butter Cross was officially unveiled by the town reeve, John Groom, following a £3000 makeover as a crowd watched from the Market Place. Mr Groom scaled the scaffolding to perform the ceremony, accompanied by the town crier, Les Knowles, who rang his bell from on high to announce the historic moment for Bungay as one of the town's most photographed figures was put on view again.

Afterwards he said: “The Butter Cross and Justice are a great focal point for Bungay, featured on every holiday brochure and promotion of Bungay. I have never seen Justice as close up as this before, and to see her actual sandals and the facial features the makeover has revealed is fantastic. “Once the scaffolding is down she will be fully revealed in all her glory and that is going to be good for the town.”

The unique figure, one of few anywhere in which Justice is not blindfolded, was cast in lead in the London workshops of Henry and John Cheere, and placed in position in 1754, secured on an oak base. Over the ensuing two and a half centuries maintenance has been carried out at regular intervals.

The latest major refurbishment saw 28 layers of paint stripped off, and she was repaired, with her sandals revealed for the first time for many years, re-primed and repainted by Carl Cook and Julia Nuttall, of AHH Scaffolding. Working under the guidance of experts, they used special paint stripper to gradually remove a 4cm layer of paint which had built up over the years.

The last big operation for Justice was in 1976 when the rotten oak base was replaced by Bungay carpenter Alf Plummer, of Garden Close, the figure having to be craned from her position to allow that to happen. Alf, now 90, was among those watching yesterday's ceremony, along with the Mayor at the time, Cll John Warnes, feoffees of Bungay Town Trust, which owns the Butter Cross, and many interested onlookers

News & Diary Dates 

Bungay Country Market
Re-opens 26th January
Every Thursday
9.15am - 11am
Honeypot Centre,
Upper Olland Street
    

Film: Potiche 
Monday 30th January

7.30pm, Fisher Theatre

Further info

Half Term Workshops
at the Fisher Theatre 
Monday 13th to
Friday 17th February
Further info

Happy Mondays With
The Community Kitchen
Monday 20th February
6.45pm for 7pm, The 
Community Centre
Further info

Bungay Garden
Street Market
Sunday 13th May
9am - 4pm

Bungay Antiques
Street Market
Sunday 8th July

Bungay Christmas 
Street Market

Sunday 2nd December