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Latest News in Diss
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March
8th March - Diss Farmers and Continental Market Update
The Market in Diss dates back to the times of Henry I when a charter was granted to the Lord of the Manor. There has been a market held in Diss ever since. Today, the market is still an important part of the week in Diss with Friday being one of the busiest days in the town. People come regularly from within the town and surrounding villages to visit the stalls and shops, meet up with friends and enjoy the hustle and bustle of a busy market town on market day.
For several years, the people of Diss and surrounds have also enjoyed the successful monthly Farmers’ Market held on the second Saturday of each month in the Market Place. Fresh local food and crafts are available to buy direct from the producer reducing food miles and offering an alternative to supermarket shopping. To support the Farmers’ Market and assist the traders, a support group was set up which has been active in promoting the market to attract a greater variety of stalls and more customers. They have organised live music at the market, hold a regular raffle, provide information on other activities happening in and around the town and put out and remove roadside signs. There are vacancies for volunteers on the group and we are currently looking for more people to volunteer to give up a few hours each month to help keep the Farmers’ Market in Diss vibrant and successful. If you would like to get involved please contact Suzanne Kayne on 01379 641388 email suzannekayne@yahoo.co.uk for more details.
After an absence of a year the Continental Market returns to Diss again on Saturday 20th March 2010. Again organised by Brunomart, it will provide a variety of stalls selling a large selection of continental delicacies. The Continental Market has proved to very popular in previous years with many people coming to the town centre to experience the exciting tastes and aromas of Europe right here in Norfolk. Add this date to your diary to be sure you don’t miss this exciting event.
Submited by: Suzanne Kayne.
Contact number: 01379 641388
January
22nd January - Diss Museum
Perhaps the most enigmatic woman in the history of Diss is Ethel Le Neve, who became notorious a century ago.
She was born Ethel Neave (the Le was a later romantic addition of her own) in a cottage in Bryar's Lane in 1883. She was baptised in St. Mary's Church by one of the Mannings..
Her father, Walter, worked as a clerk on the railway. Ethel was a tomboy and liked to climb trees, play leapfrog and dress as a boy, something prophetic of her later life.
She had a frog foot deformity and suffered pain in learning to walk properly.
The family left Diss when she was about seven. In her twenties we find her working as a typist at Drouet's in London.
She was something of a hypochondriac; and, because of her habitual response to being asked how she was, earned the nickname 'Not Very Well, Thank You'.
Her health and happiness improved greatly when the unhappily married and henpecked Crippen took an interest in her.
Hawley Harvey Crippen was a medical man from Michigan, who came to manage the firm where Ethel worked.
He was married to Cora, a woman of Russian, Polish and German extraction, who wanted to be a music hall artiste, calling herself Belle Elmore.
Ethel became Crippen's mistress. At some point, it is said, Crippen poisoned his wife and buried her mutilated remains in the cellar and made off across the Atlantic with Ethel, dressed as a boy. This was 1910.
Captain Kendall of the Montrose thought that 'Mr.and Master Robinson' were suspicious and sent a message to London, having an eye on the £250 reward. History was made, as this was the first time a criminal had been caught by the use of wireless.
A detective caught a faster ship and the fugitives were apprehended off the coast of Canada.
Crippen was brought back, convicted and hanged. Ethel was tried as an accessory after the fact but acquitted.
F.E. Smith (later Lord Birkenhead), who defended her, felt that she was 'innocent in every sense of the word'. But you must wonder how much she knew.
She is said, in the weeks before Cora's death, to have frequented the Royal College of Surgeons, looking up works on toxicology. So she may have been behind the whole thing.
David James Smith, in Supper With The Crippens, cites several occasions when she lied to her teeth..
But the whole case has been thrown into confusion by the DNA discovery that the remains in the cellar were not those of Crippen's wife. So what did Ethel know about that?
Amy Gibbons will read Ethel's autobiography at St. Mary's Hall, Diss at 7.30pm on Friday 26 February.
The same evening I will give a dramatic presentation of The Flush Hall Murder, a case in which my family was slightly involved in 1915. (£2 to Friends of the Museum, £3 to others.)
The following week, Saturday 5 March, at the Utd Reformed Church, Diss (opposite Somerfields) at 7.30pm, David James Smith, Sunday Times journalist and author of Supper With The Crippens, will talk about the case. (£2.50 at the door.)
Basil Abbott
Submited by: Lucy.
Contact number: 01953 456789
21st January - Diss Town Council Noticeboard
Diss Town Council Notice Board February 2010
Following a decision by Diss Town Council to lease the Corn Hall to the community group, the Friends of Diss Corn Hall, plans are now in place to make it a venue with a lively programme of events which will appeal to a wide range of ages and tastes. From music and film, theatre and comedy, to art and the spoken word, from 2010 onwards, something will be going on at the Corn Hall two or three times a week.
The dawning of this exciting new era in the life of the Corn Hall begins with a three-day launch between 18th and 20th February. It will feature the live broadcast of BBC Radio 4’s most prestigious topical discussion programme Any Questions? on Friday 19th February. The previous evening will be devoted to comedy with a visit from Norwich’s famous Red Card Comedy Club, whose stand-up evenings with top comedians regularly sell out at their Carrow Road venue. Saturday night will be music night and our line-up will feature the hottest young indie band in the area Vanilla Kick, the popular rhythm and blues outfit The BBs, and singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
The Old Stables adjoining the Corn Hall will serve as the box office and will also feature regular exhibitions. In February, the work of John Piper, one of Britain’s most popular post war artists, will be launched and acclaimed biographer Frances Spalding will give a talk about her new biography of Piper and his wife Myfanwy on 26th February.
The Corn Hall is a very special venue and the Friends plan to reinstate it at the heart of Diss but will need volunteers to help in all aspects of the running, from manning the box office to stewarding events. The new Corn Hall Manager, Angela Sykes would love to hear from anyone who is interested in helping to create a vibrant arts centre. She can be contacted at the Corn Hall box office on: 01379 652241.
Details of the full Diss Corn Hall programme may be found at www.disscornhall.co.uk where you can also buy tickets.
In addition to the new programme the Corn Hall will continue to host a variety of community and charity events. Coming up in March, country singer Raymond Froggatt returns to Diss on Saturday 6th as part of his 2010 Fields of Rock & Roll Tour, for ticket enquiries phone 01379 644013. This a charity event in aid of the Help for Heroes Fund.
On Saturday 13th March the acclaimed local singing group ‘Merely Divas’ will entertain at a cabaret evening in aid of the Town Mayor’s Charities. This will be an opportunity to enjoy an evening of songs from stage and screen performed by singers Lisa Adamson, Sally Arnold, Kate Dann, Pippa King and Karen Stephenson, with compere and musical director Michael Dann. Tickets are priced at £10 for adults, £7.50 for concessions and are available from Diss Town Council Offices. Tel: 01379 643848, email: towncouncil@diss.gov.uk.
Submited by: Lucy.
Contact number: 01953 456789
13th January - Rackhams help children in Uganda
Rackhams Help Children’s Home
Rackhams Funeral Service in Diss recently sent 100 kg of children’s clothes to a children’s home in Uganda. The home, run by The Cogwheel Trust, was set up by Mr Kevin Hammond who formerly lived in Stoke Ash.
The home, in Namugongo, was purchased in 2005 and can accommodate over 100 children including its own separate baby unit. Most of the children have lost parents through A.I.D.S. and were either part of an extended family or being cared by grandparents.
Education is important in African life and great emphasis is put on encouraging the children by providing daily tuition. With the provision of mosquito nets, a healthy diet and good medical care, the children’s health and happiness has improved considerably.
Kevin is pictured here with Andrew Fairweather, the funeral director at Rackhams, who is hoping to go to Uganda next year for two weeks to see the work and assist there himself. For more information on the work of The Cogwheel trust you can log on to their website: www.cogwheeltrust.org.
Submited by: Jan Mayor.
Contact number: 01328 829659