Welcome to the Westleton website

To contact the webmaster please send an email to                             Westleton webmaster.

The village of Westleton situated some 2 miles in from the Suffolk coast is roughly mid-way between Ipswich and Lowestoft and approximately 100 miles from London.

It is set in a landscape of Outstanding Natural Beauty and within the parish lies the internationally renowned Minsmere Reserve, owned and managed by the RSPB.

Westleton Heath National Nature Reserve and parts of Dunwich Forest also lie within the parish.
The majority of the 500 or so inhabitants live close to the B1125 Blythburgh to Leiston road, the remainder living in scattered cottages and farmhouses in this otherwise agricultural landscape.

Photo by Hilas Smith

The Village Hall and St Peters Church are the focal points of village activities, whilst the White Horse and The Crown are the main social centres.

The parish of Westleton is bounded by the parishes of Dunwich, Darsham, Middleton cum Fordley and Theberton cum Eastbridge.

The placename Westleton (or Westledestuna as it appeared in the Domesday Book of 1086) is believed to derive from the Old Norse Vestlithi (a personal name) and Old English tun i.e. Vestlithi's homestead.

FLY TIPPING WARNING

 NOTICE

Westleton seems to have succumbed to the problem of fly tipping which has unfortunately been on the increase and blighting wide areas across Suffolk.

Recently a truck load of soil/construction material was dumped on the edge of The Common at the entry point to the track/footpath link known as 'Black Slough' between Mill Road down to the B1125. The right of way has effectively been blocked. This also follows an incident in May where a chemical drum & electrical wiring was dumped in the Reckford Road lay-by.

The District Council are responsible for clearing public sites [but not where private land is involved].

Please can everyone in the village be extra vigilant to any suspicious activity - do not though put yourself at risk by directly challenging the perpetrators but instead try to record any vehicle details so that these can be passed on to the authorities.

The Parish Council will look to monitor the situation and obviously we hope these are ‘one-off’ instances and won’t be repeated but clearly if particular sites do become 'targeted' then we will have to look at possible deterrence measures.

Thank you for your co-operation.

 Westleton Parish Council

June 2020

Coronavirus - Covid-19

Local Information for Self-Isolation

To see the latest update of local advice and information please read Useful Local Information 3rd July 2020

Westleton Food Bank

A Westleton Food Bank has been established. If you want to know what to donate and how donations can be made help is available.

Emergency Frozen Meals

Annie has included a note in the "Useful Local Information" about frozen meals, which are available from  the village hall in an emergency.

Emergency main meals (premade, frozen for microwave or oven) are available from the Westleton Community Carers Network. Call Annie on 01728 648354 or email centremanager@westletonvillagehall.co.uk  No immediate payment required; on a donation-only basis at a later date. 

The WCCN has purchased the following frozen meals, stored at the village hall for emergencies.  Do contact me if they are required by anyone (the hall phone is diverted to me 24/7) and please promote their availability.  No cash on delivery, to be paid once restrictions are lifted if people can/want to donate (£3 suggestion). If you have any queries please contact me.  Available are:    

• Lamb Moussaka
  Lamb mince & capsicum in a tomato, mint & red wine sauce.
  Topped with sautéed potato, béchamel & roasted aubergine.
• Chicken Korma
  Chicken breast pieces in a mildly spiced almond & coconut curry sauce.
• Cottage Pie
• Fish Pie
  Salmon, smoked haddock, pollack & prawns in a creamy leek sauce.
  Topped with mashed potato & toasted breadcrumbs.
• British Beef Lasagne
  British beef & Italian pasta
  with a cheesy béchamel.
• Vegetable Lasagne
  Tomato, capsicum, courgette, mushroom,
  aubergine, & pasta with white sauce. Vegetarian. 

Make your own (and other people's) face mask

Visit the Masks of Love website for instructions on how to make a face mask.

Here is the pattern for making a face mask. 

A "Thank You" from Annie

"Many thanks to all the Westleton village residents who have been supporting the Leiston Food Bank so generously.  You are doing a great community service.  The numbers coming to the Food Bank have doubled in recent weeks and we anticipate  further increased need as the furlough scheme ends and school holidays begin.  So please continue your good work, keeping in mind meals that might be appealing to children.  Drop off is on Thursday at the Village Hall.  Just a tin or two of non perishable food would be gratefully received. Well done Westleton!"

Thanks,

Annie 

Annie Groves

Centre Manager, Westleton Village Hall

Contact Annie by email at centremanager@westletonvillagehall.co.uk

or telephone 01728 648354

Case-Sera Wines; Eve & Richard Berrill

Eve's latest wine list is available. Please order directly from Eve via their website, by email or by telephone 01728 638395.

Truly Traceable Pies and Sausage Rolls

The Truly Traceable Pies & Sausage Roll Company are now delivering to villages including Westleton.

Their menu and price list is available and more information and details about how to order is available on their website.

There is also "A quick guide to safe shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic" produced jointly by the Charted Institute of Environmental Health, Environmental Health Association of Ireland and Irish Global Health Network. To read this see A quick guide to safe shopping.

Annie has also attached a document she was sent from school regarding well-being for families during this pandemic; some useful information and links for you. Please read Coronavirus - Wellbeing Tips for Families (help and advice from Southwark Educational Psychology Service).

The Westleton Community Care Network co-ordinator is Annie Groves, Westleton Village Hall Manager. Annie can be contacted on  01728 648354 or centremanager@westletonvillagehall.co.uk , or contact your local co-ordinator  who is named on the leaflets which were distributed to all households.

Note from Philippa Dent, Editor Yoxmere Fisherman

During the Covid-19 pandemic the Yoxmere Fisherman is only available in a "virtual" on-line version. 

To read the current edition see Yoxmere Fisherman June 2020.

There is also a link to this edition, and earlier editions, on the Church pages.

Weekly Online Coffee Social

Starting on Friday 10th April from 10.30am to 11am, will be a weekly online coffee social via Zoom for anyone in Westleton.  Do sign up with Annie on centremanager@westletonvillagehall.co.uk for the link so you can join in, and please promote it to any of your Westleton contacts.  All are welcome, and you don't need to be on Zoom already -  we can help people set it up - it's really easy! Thanks to Judie Shore for creating this social; we look forward to seeing whoever would like to join in on Friday! 

Westleton White Horse

Take-Away Service

The Westleton White Horse is offering a Take-Away Service for delivery or collection. The White Horse menu will tell you what is avaiable and how to order. 

Update from The White Horse Inn

Dear all,

Firstly can I say a massive thank you to everyone that has been supporting us in the last 11 weeks. We have quite honestly been overwhelmed by all your support and desire for The White Horse to continue to play its part in Westleton life.

We have been closely following the news with regard to Covid 19 and the possibility of pubs being allowed to reopen soon, and have had regular Zoom meetings with Adnams about the best ways to move forward with this. The current information we have is that July 4th is a real possibility and with that in mind we need to be spending some of our time concentrating our efforts on ensuring that the pub is ready to welcome you all back safely. 

We are also aware that people are beginning to meet with each other again, obviously following social distancing guidelines. With this in mind we have looked at how the pub might be able to play its part . With the green in such close proximity to The White Horse we are going to be opening our serving window Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings so people can collect drinks and takeaway food and should they wish, consume it there. Food and drinks will be served in sealed disposables, we urge you all to use the bins to dispose of them. We are able to do this as long as people refrain from consuming items in the beer garden and car park areas. This option is still available for people to collect food and drinks and takeaway to their homes. 

Moving forward to hopefully The White Horse being in a position to reopen on July 4th we will be changing our operating hours to the following:

Monday and Tuesday Closed

Wednesday and Thursday food and drinks for collection and delivery 17:00-19:30 Friday Food and drinks collection only 17:30-20:00 Saturday Food and drinks collection only 17:30-20:00 Sunday Food and drinks collection and delivery 12:00-14:00  drinks collection only 17:30-19:30

When we have any clearer information from the government on guidelines as to how our pub will be able to reopen we will send out further information as to how this will work..

Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Amy and Matt

Community Update from Suffolk Police

There is a Community Upate on Covid-19 issued by Temporary Assistant Chief Constable David Cutler.

HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE & LOCAL FLOODING ISSUES

 NOTICE

The Parish Council have been pressing County Highways to deal with the many potholes and water surface issues which unfortunately seem to blight the approach roads to Westleton. We recently met with an Engineer on site and visited a number of locations to identify specific problems. Improvements are being directly taken as a result but we have been informed that limits on budgets and spending mean some larger works, where new drainage measures are required, will have to take their place in a long line of other priority schemes earmarked across the county.

In the meantime, if you come across flooding on any road and it poses an immediate danger or safety issue to the public do please report this yourself by contacting the authorities on the emergency line number – 0345 606 6171.  This will at least prompt a call out and hopefully mean that signs are placed on the approaches to forewarn motorists.

We would also encourage residents to visit the County Highway website reporting tool www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/highway-maintenance/report-a-highways-issue/ to directly log other defects such as potholes etc.  This is a very straightforward process to follow and the more people who go online to report a problem then the greater impact/credence will result prompting an inspection and for a repair to be prioritized.

Thank you for your support.

 Westleton Parish Council

February 2020

A Railway Carriage by the Common.

Read Tony Ingram's article; A Railway Carriage by the Common.