Red Lodge By Election

 Congratulations to Robin Millar, pictured here with Councillor Sarah Stamp from Bury St Edmunds, on winning the  County Council by-election in Red Lodge near Newmarket.  Robin was 150 votes ahead of the next candidate.  The seat came vacant as a result of the resignation of Lisa Chambers who has moved on to pastures new.  Robin is a Forest Heath District Councillor, and I have worked with him on the West Suffolk Community Safety Partnership of which he is Chairman.  I am now looking forward to working with him once again.

I went over to the Division last week to deliver a few leaflets and enjoyed the time I spent in and around Newmarket.  It was lovely to see the horses setting out for the gallops, walking in single file along the roads of the town and disappearing up the hill in the morning mist.

I was dispatched to do some delivering in the very pretty village of Dalham, pictured below.

Although home to only around 150 adults, the village contains some 50 listed buildings. It is spread along a picturesque waterway which wends its way between the houses.  Of particular interest in the village is a Victorian malting kiln.  These used to be ubiquitous in Suffolk but now only two survive.  The village also has an attractive church that dates from the 14th Century and a fine 18th Century Hall which is one story smaller than it was due to a fire in the 1950's.  It was once owned by the Rhodes family, which, of course, has been in the news recently.   The village has an interesting website, here and I certainly hope to return to take another look at Dalham when not being required to deliver envelopes!

Victorian malting kiln