I did get one ride in earlier this week. I went with one of my less regular pilots, Engineer Colin and his friend, another Michael, remember him from the first time I ever went out.

We took in around 34km which included a stop at a new coffee experience for me, the Fring Estate, it is worth a try, excellent cinnamon buns were there for the taking.

Mind you, you need the stomach the size of a house to eat one. Not only was it large it was very, very tasty. Coffee wasn’t bad either. Michael is a true inspiration, and I am sure he won’t mind me mentioning this but is 85 years young. Proof if ever it was needed, if you don’t use it, you will lose it.

Returning to the other Michael, Jay, he and I are now planning on taking in the 100km rehearsal on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st August.

As usual, the churches are listed below although, it has to be said, we won’t actually be calling in to them, simply passing through the villages. Don’t forget, if you fancy it, you can join us on the day for the entire journey or, for that matter, any section you like.


Here is a reminder of the churches we are taking in on the day. 1: King’s Lynn – St Margaret (The Minster), 2: West Lynn – St Peter, 3: Clenchwarton – St Margaret, 4: Terrington St Clement – St Clement, 5: Tilney All Saints – All Saints, 6: Terrington St John – St John, 7: Tilney St Lawrence – St Lawrence, 8: Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen – St Mary Magdalen, 9: Watlington - St Leonard, 10: Runcton Holme – ST James, 11: Stow Bardolph – Holy Trinity, 12: Wimbotsham – St Mary the Virgin, 13: Downham Market – St Edmund, 14: Denver – St Mary, 15: West Dereham – St Andrew, 16: Wereham – St Margaret, 17: Boughton – All Saints, 18: Barton Bendish – St Andrew, 19: Narborough – All Saints, 20: South Acre – St George, 21: Castle Acre – St James, 22: Rougham – St Mary, 23: Great Massingham – St Mary, 24: Harpley – St Lawrence, 25: Little Massingham – St Andrew.

Remember, we are raising funds for two great causes. One, as mentioned above, St Andrew’s who will receive half of the 60% you are donating to the Norfolk Churches Trust, and 40% for Vision Norfolk, without whom I would not be cycling again thanks to its amazing partnership with the West Norfolk CTC.

I would be really grateful if you could find it in your hearts to dig deep, in these financially stressful times, to donate to these two incredibly worthy causes. We have now established a “Give Wheel” account where you can donate. You can search for “Robert’s Blind Bike Ride,” but here is the link anyway:
Donate Here
You can delve deeper into both the Norfolk Churches Trust and Vision Norfolk at the below:
https://www.norfolkchurches trust.org.uk
https://www.visionnorfolk.org.uk
BIKE RIDE FACT:
Last week I featured a little piece about Thoresby College, our starting point. This time I will go to the other end of the bookshelf and look at St Andrew’s Church in Little Massingham, or Massingham Parva as it used to be known.

I think it a sad loss to radical linguism which has continuously dumbed-down our language. I think the Latin, Parva, gives a romantic lilt to the location, making it sound like it is shrouded in mystery. Come on, let’s do it, if we are going to preserve history, we must continue to honour the past.

I was only going to provide one small fact about a few of the churches, including the subject of this article. You will recall that Rosemary, mover and shaker extraordinaire, is behind anything good that happens here.

We have been holding discussions during the past week and, I have to say, this tiny little church is crammed full of so many snippets of information that I am struggling to know where to begin and where to end.

The deeper I dug, the more I uncovered. I am, therefore, going to make this the main feature this week, Tattershall Castle will have to wait for another time. As usual, I will take the truth, as much as it can be relied upon, and place my own spin upon it.

Sit back and enjoy exploring this fascinating building. It also proves that you do not have to go off, flying around the world for a historical adrenalin rush, simply wander down the road.

Interestingly, an exact construction date cannot be pinpointed. It seems to have evolved, possibly on the same site as a wooden Saxon church. The Domesday Book of the late eleventh century indicates a church here and, indeed, Norman glass can be found within the fabric of the building.

That is truly remarkable, someone clearly had a bit of cash, for glass was expensive to produce back then. The bulk of the building seems to date from the 14th century.

It is not clear who provided the funds to build it or who decided it should be dedicated to St Andrew, although it was not uncommon for the local Lord of the Manor to come up with the readies and, therefore, he probably had a huge say in the naming. It appears that all fingers are firmly pointed in the direction of the L’Estrange family.

I was furnished with some facts about this important structure in our heritage. At one time its vicar was a fellow named William Nelson. Any ideas who he might be? Let me put you out of your misery, he did not have a change of career and become the country singer of nearly the same name, Willie.

BTW, RIP Dolly Parton. No, and this is as amazing a fact as I can hope to find given my fanship of Norfolk’s favourite son. He was, in actual fact, the cousin of the, not so faraway, vicar of Burnham Thorpe, one Edmund Nelson, Horatio’s Dad. Indeed, vicaring seems to have been a bit of a family trade, coming from a long line of Anglican clergymen as they did. I like that one very much.

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Then, there are the seven Commonwealth war graves that can be found in the graveyard. One belongs to Flight Sargeant John Wilson, a Kiwi from Auckland. On completing his training, he was posted to RAF Great Massingham where he joined 107 Squadron – Bomber Command. On 21st May 1941 he took off on his 13th mission, the number hasn’t been lost on me, in his Bristol Blenheim bomber and was the onboard observer/navigator.

The crew had been part of a group that raided shipping in the Heligoland Bight, off Germany’s north-west coast. The bomber was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and Sgt Wilson was killed. He was 27 years old. The pilot managed to bring the damaged plane back to base.

This story resonates with me, and please forgive my indulgence, as my Uncle Charlie was a navigator in Blenheims too. The pilot would later receive the Distinguished Flying Cross, DFC.

The pilot, in case you are interested, was Kenneth Wolstenholme. He went on to utter the now legendary words whilst commentating on the 1966 World Cup Final, between England and West Germany, “Some people are on the pitch, they think it’s all over… it is now.”

Alas, it was all over for John Wilson and hundreds of his compatriots. I wonder if Kenneth had a tear in his eye as he said those immortal words.

Unfortunately, those particular victories spawned the moronic football chant, “Two world wars and one world cup!” It was used to antagonise Teutonic followers during Anglo-German clashes.

Those morons, seriously devoid of any mush between their ears had failed to realise that if it hadn’t been for, sort of, a German army we would probably be all speaking French now. The 72-year-old Field Marshal von Blucher led his Prussian troops onto the battlefield at Waterloo, ensuring the French were routed.

And no, despite Abba’s claim in its 1974 hit, “Waterloo,” Napoleon did not surrender immediately after the battle. It amazes me how ignorance can lead to ultimate success.

The local pub with rooms, the Dabbling Duck, now has a room named to honour the man who terminated as an Acting Squadron Leader in 1946. You can stay in the Wolstenholme Room. I think that is a rather nice tribute.

The other heroes who were laid to rest in Little Massingham were: Squadron Leader Hugh Lindsaye, Flight Sergeant Thomas Poole, Pilot Officer Arthur Lockwood, Flight Sergeant Gordon Relph, Flying Officer Charles Romayne and Flying Officer Joseph Watkins. Please, if you are in the area, go and pay your respects. Lest we forget.

Now, we touched on the L’Eastrange family earlier so let’s go forward a couple of hundred years. John the Stranger, that is the literal translation of the French L’Estrange, died in 1517 and his tomb is now housed within the church tower.

I am not quite sure why this is considered so remarkable given that he was probably a big noise, if not the biggest, in the village during his lifetime. The family were certainly not strangers by then, they appear to have been Lords of the Manor for a long time.

I am intrigued, not by the fact that he is interred in the church tower, but how he came to be there. He decreed that if he died within five miles of Little Massingham he should be buried in St Andrew’s. Why would you do that?

I could appreciate it if he had died on a foreign battlefield, he might just be tipped into a mass grave the next day, after all of his valuables were stripped from his person.

It might prove a bit of a stinky job to transport him back to Norfolk. I mean, where would he have been laid to rest had he kicked the bucket, let’s say, six miles from the village. Would that have precluded him from spending eternity in the parish of his choice? I am truly baffled. What’s more, would anywhere else have had him?

It appears he got his wish and he was originally entombed in St Mary’s Chapel within the building. He was later moved to the tower. I assume, but this is a guess, to accommodate some later improvement works. I am honestly intrigued by this and would love to know the answer.

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Another mystery is the face in the pulpit. During major works carried out in 1857 the parish splashed out on a new pulpit. The works were carried out under the direction of Norwich architect, Mr Jekyll, who oversaw the carving of a face into the Caen stone and marble preaching perch.

There is a thread of thought that thinks this is of the architect himself. I wonder if it was his fancy way of branding. When trying to sell future clients his products he could say that they can view this or that stone edifice and can be sure it is one of his by matching the carved face with his own fizzog. Either that or it is a mid-19th century example of narcissistic vanity on display in this part of Norfolk.

I am captivated by the stories associated with this, one of my local churches. I would thoroughly recommend that you go along and take a look on Heritage Day, 12th September, when, purely by chance, you will be able to cheer Michael and I over the line as we, hopefully, complete our 100km bike ride. A couple of bottles of Ghost Ship would help mark the occasion, should you be so inclined.

As I have mentioned before when carrying out research, I often journey down many rabbit holes. The church is about to undergo a huge reroofing after some lowlife wastes of space stripped the lead from the building some years ago. What on earth has this got to do with anything above?

Well, one rabbit hole took me all the way to Australia, they were busy little beavers those rabbits. Here I discovered that there is a singer, a tenor, by the name of, you wouldn’t credit it, John L’Estrange.

Now this is a huge jump to imagine, but I wonder whether this particular fellow could be persuaded to come and perform at the reopening of the church. If you want my opinion and, I do not profess to be an expert in the classical music field, he sounds blooming good. A bit of synergy, wouldn’t you say.

Find Out More
St Andrew’s Church: https://www.littlemassinghamchurch.org.uk