Mostly for Joce

[Feltwell]

Don't get any ideas Joce, a Grantham roundabout full of chickens doesn't sound like a receipe for a long and happy life for them!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20093122

 

[middi]

I had to laugh at the " in 2000, Norfolk County Council had to remove the chickens ....to ensure public safety".

What about the poor things being mushed up under the wheels of articulated lorries.
( unless the motorists were aiming for them for their evening meal creating a public safety motoring hazard :wink: )

Middi

 

[Feltwell]

It all sounds very Normal for Norfolk to me Middi!

 

[Penners]

We live only a few miles from Chicken Roundabout, and drive around it several times a week. When we moved here something over 3 years ago, there were lots of chickens to be seen wandering about on and near the island, but in that short period the flock has dwindled to a paltry* number.

It is rumoured that their demise is due to Sunday lunches - immigrants are, of course, blamed.




* Geddit? Paltry.....? Oh well, please yerselves.

 

[Feltwell]

immigrants are, of course, blamed.

Ahh, that'll be Suffolkers then.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

I'd read about this roundabout before; how sad that it's passing into the stuff of legend! I didn't realise the last few birds had been taken in in by the RSPCA. Still, I can't imagine they had a very easy or comfortable life there so maybe it's a good thing. Statues are a lovely idea, will look for that on FB and support. Thanks for posting Feltwell, it's a wonderful story.

 

[Penners]

immigrants are, of course, blamed.

Ahh, that'll be Suffolkers then.

Or would be, if Ditchingham wasn't already in Suffolk.

Didn't they teach you anything important at school, boy? :roll:

 

[Feltwell]

:?: I'm sure Ditchingham is on the right side of the border, just - though I'm not sure about the roundabout itself it's true. That BBC report starts with:-

For 60 years dozens of chickens roamed free on a Norfolk roadside, drawing curious glances from passing motorists.

And to quote that wonderful authoritative source that never has any mistakes ever, Wikipedia:-

Ditchingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located across the River Waveney from Bungay, Suffolk

So it might be D- and extra geography homework for Penners - or perhaps A+ for Penners and D- for the BBC if the chickens were in fact over the border on the other side of the Waveney from Ditchingham.

 

[Penners]

In truth, I've never kept my eyes open for the county boundary sign, when driving that route. But I shall do so next time!

If I'm right you can be sure that you'll hear about it.

If you're right I shall go curiously silent on the subject....

 

[Flyfisher]

Ditchingham's location seems to be a close-run thing, though I fear we may never hear from Penners on the subject ever again . . .

http://www.visitoruk.com/historydetail.php?id=27710&cid=592&f=Lowestoft
Ditchingham is a real border village, about 10 miles west of Lowestoft, lying on the Norfolk bank of the river Waveney which divides Norfolk from Suffolk. This location makes it a bit of a 'no-man's-land' as so many of its residents owe their working and social allegiances to the little market town of Bungay on the Suffolk bank.

 

[robgil]

They have roundabouts in Norfolk?

 

[Feltwell]

Yes - in fact traffic congestion has reached the point where my relatives no longer point and stare when they see a car.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

The chicken roundabout is entirely in Norfolk. The boundary with Here Be Dragons is about half a mile away. I've never heard of this Suffolk of which you speak.

 

[robgil]

Its a place south of noorfolk, where the grass be greener and the maidens fairer, well ,not so much fairer just less farmery than Noorfolkians, they still mostly look like blokes and can pull ploughs all by them selves.

 

[middi]

If this roundabout full of chickens is so well known a preservation order should have been " slapped" on it, and the chickens.
I am sure it is the best way to to get " an acquired taste" for history. ( :wink: )

Middi

 

[robgil]

But nobody like preserved chickens , they are much much better eaten fresh.

 

[Penners]

Can you list a chicken? I've carried out some significant alterations to a considerable number of them in my time - I hope I'm not in trouble.

 

[middi]

Can you list a chicken? I've carried out some significant alterations to a considerable number of them in my time - I hope I'm not in trouble.

Cowboy !!! ( obviously used the incorrect pickle jars )

Middi

 

[Keithj]

I know that roundabout well: it's a couple of miles down the road from our Norfik hideaway. There used to be hundreds of chickens there, of all shapes, sizes and colours.

Then an illegal traveller site appeared not far away, and the chicken population dwindled rapidly. No connection, obviously. Now, when we drive past it's very sad and lonely (and chickenless).

 

[JoceAndChris]

I've got two spare boys...

Though actually no. Too beautiful and can't bear to part with Major Benjy and the Pride of Poonah.

Picking off the birds on that roundabout was a despicable act! It could be people, or it could be the evil orange foe. I've tried to trap one of his kind in the last two weeks, baiting my fox trap with nice bits of raw chicken. He must have put his paw in through the mesh and gently pulled the meat up to it, without going inside. The meat shrunk down, with age, and his nibbling and licking through the mesh, and he was at last able to hook the bone through it and carry it away. I didn't see him, but I watched what was happening to the meat over the days.

There's no way to fight this kind of intelligence.