earlier in Stradbroke

As you approach Hoxne from Stradbroke on the B1118 there's now traffic calming giving priority to traffic coming the other way.

Back to back T20 (limited over) cricket in Stradbroke this afternoon with visitors Rumburgh and Saxmundham.

♫ More muso pleasure coming tomorrow in Stradbroke with what we think is the fourth Stadisphere festival.  Opening the main stage this year the local and youthful Red Glass.

The Stradbroke Jazz Festival has had a break but it returns tomorrow and in Debenham.  Entertaining again are the delicious Nicola Farnon and her musicians (she's Robert Farnon's great niece). ♫

Kim and Wally on air at Radio Stradbroke last Sunday.

It was Cricket Force day at Stradbroke CC yesterday when a good turn out started preparing the ground for the first match of the season on the 29th.  Cricket Force is a cricket promotion involving NatWest and Jewsons which we didn't quite understand but we did get a very fine home made sausage roll.

Radio Stradbroke fund raiser tomorrow night in Syleham and Wingfield village hall (a new venue to us) with rock/indie/covers band Red Glass and a cheap bar ... sounds brilliant.

Gemma, Katie and Ellie have started a JustGiving page to fund bringing Stradbroke's two play areas up to standard.

On a Long Stratton corner opposite the Shell garage the smaller open all hours Co-op is now Funeral Services so on Sunday nights useful the Stradbroke Spar is open for travellers returning to near the coast.

Not only was the Saturday morning cafe in the Stradbroke Court House open yesterday but it was also the launch of the Geoffrey Smith archive.  Geoffrey Smith (not the gardener) was Stradbroke's John Self making photos of local life and people in the 1950s to 1980s and a good part of his massive archive is now online.

Stradbroke has a new parish clerk and half the village can now get fast fibre broadband.

The two stages at this year's highly organised (as last year) Stradbroke Stadisphere face each other and run alternately.  Last night admirably OTT rock'n roll histrionics from Little Red Kings, interesting if confusing (to us) stuff from Alfie Snoggaa (what an unfortunate name) plus youthful and impressive pizza throwing, gates open at 11:30am today. ♫

YES Yes yes, roller derby in Ipswich this Saturday ... we might faint ... and Friday and Saturday the second and very organised Stradisphere music festival though from the band list time runs backwards in Stradbroke ...

We might have to review our opinion that everything is happening near the coast this Saturday the fourth, the Saturday after the 11th is getting pretty busy.  Cretingham fete is on the 11th though we're not sure where.  In Stradbroke Stradisphere is back with loads of local bands.  Last year it was extremely well organised, let's hope this year they're rewarded with a better turnout.

The Stradbroke parish clerk has resigned, if this happened in Framlingham only the chairman would be left with permission to provide oral or written statements to the press .. mind you the remaining councillors would still be free to communicate by the medium of dance or mime ... can't wait to see their walking against the wind

10:17am  The Framlingham poll officer is already having to poke ballots in with a ruler, it does matter just bloody VOTE!

03:23pm  We're hoping to see proxies (when a person nominates someone else to vote for them) of the emergency kind in use in Stradbroke.

06:50pm  Earlier we spoke to prospective parish councillor Richard Pierce-Saunderson outside the Stradbroke poll.  He was about to vote as an emergency proxy on some one else's behalf, we found it exciting.  There was a steady stream in out of the Stradbroke poll, very quiet in Wilby, quiet in Brundish and steady in Dennington.

08:21pm  Queue back to the door in Framlingham polling station.  You have to be in the queue by 10pm to get a ballot paper ... not long to go.

10:19pm  Too late now, Riverside Framlingham.

Difference of opinion between Dr Dan Poulter (MP for much of near the coast  and a Stradbroke councillor and a prospective Stradbroke councillor.

♫ Radio Stradbroke 8-11pm tonight Kim Bannon admits We ♥ the 80s.

Saturday morning there will be a drive through scrap metal collection at Stradbroke High School, a girl guides' coffee morning and sale in the St Mike's Rooms Framlingham and in the evening comedy The Affair is at The Centre Bury St Edmunds.

 JOBS  The A board outside the Stradbroke Ivy House is still advertising for staff.

There are 122 parishes in Mid Suffolk and only nine will bother with an election this May.  Stradbroke looks particularly lively with 18 candidates for the 13 seats.  It's unclear what Stackton Tressel will do as they don't seem to come under either Central or Coastal Suffolk.  Stackton community leader Hamish McEdbanguh commented Sorry, I'm in a hurry.

12:00am:  Just firing up now and until 3pm the Radio Stradbroke with past live sessions and judging by the webcams its Huggy and Marty. ♫

This coming May Stradbroke will have a contested parish council election, around near the coast most places probably won't bother ... don't know about Stackton Tressel.  Surprisingly applications to be a parish/town councillor have to be delivered to the district council by hand, in Stradders the parish clerk will deliver it for you.

Before High Ongar in Essex was bypassed we used to pass the newsagents and sub-post office at seven in the morning.  Though they were open to get to the papers delivered they'd sell you papers, sweets and cigarettes but they couldn't conduct post office business until nine because it would be unfair competition for the main post office in Chipping Ongar.  So we were very impressed to find that not only is the Stradbroke library open on a Sunday but so is their post office counter.  But big organisations like the Royal Mail have a genetic need to cock it up and in Yoxford are insisting that the shop can only have a post office counter if it does open on a Sunday.

JOBS  There's an A board outside the Stradbroke Ivy House advertising for full and part time staff  01379 384634

Barn blaze in Hoxne (thanks Bunty).

The East of England co-op has withdrawn it's planning application for what was the garage in Stradbroke.

Today we snapped in Stradbroke and Otley near Norwich but that can wait while we try and wrap up pleasing Mr Google.

Having been distracted by Stradbroke's community run library and post office being open on a Sunday we made it to Radio Stradbroke in time for the last fifteen minutes of Kim Bannon's show.  This Sunday 10am-1pm it's Richard and Huggy with another punk show.

Life Skills 5:  If you find yourself in Long Stratton on a Sunday after 4pm the big Co-op is shut but the little one on the corner opposite the Shell/Lotus garage is open.  This knowledge is particularly valuable if you're travelling back to near the coast and haven't realised the new Spar in Stradbroke will be open.