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You are here: home > 2004 Powditch Gathering > Friday 17 September 2004
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 Morston Church
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Friday 17 September 2004
Early-morning and RegistrationFriday morning, 17 September, saw us up bright and early, and being at
The Anchor Inn (Morston) by 8.00am for an interview by BBC Radio
Norfolk; the three persons chosen, being Patricia and Peter Powditch
from Adelaide, South Australia, plus myself. The interview went very well
indeed, although I’m sure that everyone would have echoed Peter’s reply
to the question of “Do you think that you are going to get on with all the
other Powditch’s attending?” when he replied that he “didn’t know” but
that they were “all members of the same family and therefore should do”.
After the interview, it was time to open the doors to what The Anchor had
named “The Powditch Room”. Having ensured that the desk was ready,
and that the folders, and everything else had been laid out and was
accessible, at 9.00am we ‘opened for business’ and soon members of
the Powditch family were entering the room.
Pat Powditch ensured that all who signed the Visitors’ Book and
received their folders, badges and other material, were photographed.
By the time of the next item on the agenda, all family members had
arrived, and were either looking at the various display boards which
highlighted a small fraction of the Powditch Archive, trying to answer the
questions to a picture quiz, or just standing, chatting to family members
who they had never met or spoken to before. By the time that we moved
to our next venue, the BBC Radio Norfolk interviewer’s question to Peter
Powditch had been more than adequately answered, for by then everyone
was speaking to each other as though they’d known each other for years.
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Family Meeting (Morston Village Hall)
Our next meeting involved everyone walking from the
Anchor Inn to Morston’s Village Hall. Once inside, a welcome was
given to all, together with our thanks for their attendance.
Following the preliminaries, the main
topic of the meeting revolved around whether the Powditch family
wanted to have its own Family History Society, together
with other related issues.
Joc spoke regarding his involvement with the Wingfield Family
History Society, and provided details of the benefits, the fun
that can be had by members, and showed various publications
that had been produced by their society over several years.
With the aid of overhead projector slides, I spoke about Family History in
general, whilst Joc further enlightened everyone with some of the
more-fun aspects, including the making of a whisky cake!
The meeting ended soon afterwards, and with questionnaires
(about a Powditch F.H.S., collective comments re the deposit
of the Powditch Archive after my death; and whether
family members would like to have
a Gathering in future years) having been handed out,
we all trooped outside to a waiting Coach, ready to go
on our first excursion.
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| Afternoon visit to North Creake Church, Creake Abbey and Creake Abbey Farm
(with an unexpected visit to Binham Priory en route)
Our coach was early, and our destination not too far away, at North
Creake. The driver was most helpful, and before we set off, we looked
at a couple of possible routes to take, but in the end, decided on the one
that passed through Binham. With everyone on board, and the obligatory
counting of ‘heads’ completed, we began our journey, passing through
some lovely verdant countryside.
Passing through Binham, everyone marvelled at the ruins of the Priory,
and as we were running about half-an-hour ahead of schedule, the coach
driver kindly stopped for an unscheduled - but much appreciated - visit.
Besides the afternoon being bright, if windy, the warmth from both the
interior of the building as well as the ladies hosting a spectacular display
of floral exhibits (it was the Binham Flower Festival) was most welcome;
soon however we were on our way again.
At North Creake, the coach was parked and we all went inside North
Creake Church. We were greeted by a wonderful turnout of PCC members who had most kindly attended to bid us welcome and to show
us around the Church. Besides their being available to answer questions
and point out various attributes and memorials within the Church, they
had also been able to move one of the pews to the rear of the north aisle,
in order for everyone to be able to more easily see some of the
much-worn Powdich graveslabs.
Of great interest to all, besides the many pots of home-made jams and
pickles on display and for sale, were the two Powdich graveslabs in the
main North aisle, near to the side chapel. Although I had seen these slabs
on several occasions in the past, the majority of Powditch’s in our party,
hadn’t, and so they, like many before them, were able to marvel at the
clarity of the inscriptions and the wealth of some of their forbears.
After some time at the Church, we took our leave, with many thanks to
the PCC, and returned to our coach, for the next part of our journey; to
North Creake Abbey.
At the Abbey, we were met by Joc. Here, after a general look around,
and after several group photos had been taken,
 (Photo taken by Lyn Harcourt-Webster; copyright John C Algar 2004)
as well as of the ruins,
 Creake Abbey
(Photo © Pat Powditch)
we were met by the present owner of the adjoining house, and led into
the area of its nearby gardens, where we were treated to an informative
history of same.
The gardens, like the house itself, were magnificent, all the more
surprising for the property had been empty and neglected for nearly
seven years, until the present owners had made their purchase in 2003.
What they had achieved in just over 1 year had been wonderful, and it was
a real pleasure for everyone to be able to walk around the grounds which,
back in the 1670-1771 period had been in the occupancy of the Powdich
family.
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Afternoon tea at Creake Abbey Farm
Although we had been invited for afternoon tea on the lawns,
in the event, with the weather not being too warm, and rain constantly threatening, we were instead all invited to partake of
afternoon tea actually inside the house.
Needing no second bidding to be able to walk inside
their ancestral home, and to walk (possibly) on the same
flagstone floors as their forbears, as well as to enter the rooms
that their ancestors knew so well, all the Powditch family members
trooped into a very large room, where a lovely log fire was burning
in the firegrate, the warmth pervading the whole room,
and being most welcoming for everyone,
both young and old.
Whilst we were all being warmed by the heat from the fire,
our host most generously had provided hot beverages and a veritable feast for us, and this was served by two really
lovely and friendly members of staff.
With everyone chatting to each other and being excited
by both the location and afternoon’s events, the opportunity was taken to thank our host, and to make a presentation on behalf
of the Powditch family for being allowed to revisit the family home.
Joc recounted the story of how he had met and arranged
the visit over one year ago, and after many more conversations
and many thanks, we took our leave, having been advised
that a return visit sometime would be possible.
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| Powditch Family Meal at The Anchor, Morston
Our route back to Morston was, as you can probably imagine, one of
much chatter about the day’s events, and of what was still to come, so
that by the time we arrived at The Anchor, many were raring to start the
next event! Having provided a ‘comfort hour’ however, most went back
to their places of accommodation, to have a little snooze, to dress and to
be ready for the evening’s family meal. For those who had agreed to take
various roles in the special Church Service the following afternoon, their
comfort hour was somewhat curtailed however, as Joc wanted to ensure
that all knew what they were to do, where they were to stand, and when
they were to move from their seats etc, so an in-depth rehearsal was
performed by those involved.
By 7.00pm everyone had returned to the “Powditch Room” at The Anchor.
After a number of short speeches and presentations had been made by
the Powditch family to those who had helped to put the Gathering
together, and who had also helped to make it the success it already had
been, the Powditch family members settled themselves into the various
places around the two long tables. As the meals had been pre-booked,
the evening was able to proceed fairly quickly, and Sara passed
between the tables, selling raffle tickets for later that evening - during
which time, many drinks were, and much chatting was, enjoyed by all.
For those who had ordered the starter (“Soup Valparaiso chilly-chilli”) it
was anything but chilly, and there certainly was a very large amount.
Prior to visiting The Anchor, we had been told that it was famous for its
‘signature’ dish, that of locally caught fish, so that when the main meal
appeared, no-one could believe their eyes; the fish was absolutely
gigantic and what’s more, tasted extremely delicious! Being of the
greedier nature (!) I had ordered the full three courses, but must admit
that I was already well contented with the two I’d already had. The
dessert of “Pancake Apowdiche” (being 2 crepe with Canadian maple
leaf syrup) was not only enjoyed by all, but meant that I had to greatly
slow down for the rest of the evening!
Both during the meal and afterwards, everyone was so busy eating, and
then hoping that they had won a prize in the following raffle, and next
bidding for the wonderful items being auctioned (to raise funds for the
upkeep of Morston Church), I don’t think that anyone noticed that there
was an absence of a guest speaker. Following the meal however, we
were all treated to some wonderful renditions by the Old Wild Rovers,
a local group, who sang shanties and other songs, some of them
endowed with a Powditch flavour, and some on Norfolk subjects.
Besides their own singing, it was wonderful to look around the room and
watch all of the family members not only joining in, but also swaying
side-to-side with many of the traditional (and those especially
commissioned) songs.
At the end of the evening, all left, if reluctantly, although knowing that the
Saturday promised another full day, most hoped to have a good night’s
sleep.
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You are here: home > 2004 Powditch Gathering > Friday 17 September 2004
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