2nd LOHP Spring Plant and Craft Fair a great success

LOHP's 2nd Spring Plant and Craft Fair was held on Sunday 12th April at a new venue Lophams Village Hall. The new venue provided a flat field for the outdoor stallholders and with the added benefit of inside space for more stallholders, refreshments and toilets.

LOHP Spring Plant and Craft Fair 2026 - Lophams Village Hall - © Rowena Langston - 12-04-26 i

There were over 14 plant sellers, 23 craft stalls, a couple of information stalls, LOHP's nature table and tombola. Along with refreshments hot and cold, including hot dogs, ice creams, beers and homemade cakes, there was something for everyone.

LOHP Spring Plant and Craft Fair 2026 - Lophams Village Hall - © Rowena Langston - 12-04-26 ii

It stayed dry and the sun even came out. The LOHP donated plant stall was really popular along with the LOHP tombola which was quite a favourite, thanks to all the stallholders for donating prizes.

LOHP Donated Plants Stall - Lophams Village Hall - © Rowena Langston - 12-04-26

The indoor space allowed us to invite more craft stalls who could not be outside and was somewhere for us to provide our own refreshments.......

LOHP Spring Plant and Craft Fair 2026 - inside hall - © Rob Robinson - 12-04-26

..... like the huge variety of homemade cakes on offer.

LOHP Spring Plant and Craft Fair 2026 - LOHP Refreshments - © Rob Robinson - 12-04-26

A huge thank you to all of the LOHP volunteers who helped out not only on the day but with all the preparations before and after the event, and all the stallholders who came along and made the day a great success. Not forgetting the over 500 visitors that joined us - thank you.

All donations raised from the event have gone towards the Prince Freddy's Meadows Appeal.

See you in 2027 for the next one.

Countryside Champion Award

We were invited to attend Diss Museum's Opening Day on Saturday 14th March. There was a parade with everyone dressed in 1926’s costumes, there were singers and speeches to mark the 100 year anniversary.

Palgrave Players singing about the General Strike

Gislingham Variety Group singing 1920's tunes

It also marked a century of championing Norfolk's countryside by Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). A trustee from CPRE Norfolk presented certificates of recognition to local environmental volunteer groups, celebrating some of the local people who work so hard to protect and care for Norfolk's landscapes and wildlife.

LOHP was one of the groups and we were given a 'Countryside Champion Award', in recognition of: Championing the Little Ouse headwaters – protecting fragile river habitats and helping communities understand, value and safeguard the landscape. The certificate said 'Thank you for looking after where the river begins, it matters more than most people realise'.

LOHP's Conservation Manager Ellie Beach receiving certificate from Trustee of CPRE

LOHP's Conservation Manager with certificate

Countryside Champion Award

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CPRE Trustee giving award to LOHP

LOHP's Newest Reserve

With the purchase of Prince Freddy’s Meadows, 27 acres (11ha) of pasture and woodland beside the infant Little Ouse at Blo’ Norton, the Little Ouse Headwaters Project has taken on by far its most ambitious project yet. The meadows are named after Prince Frederick Duleep Singh, who lived at nearby Blo’ Norton Hall from 1909 to 1926. This fascinating piece of land would also have been familiar to Virginia Woolf, who stayed at Blo’ Norton Hall in 1906, and who wrote affectionately of the area and even swam in the river.

Aerial view of riverside land in Blo' Norton © Strutt and Parker

Over the years the land, and the flow of the river, has been much altered, so the LOHP faces the formidable challenge of restoring it to its former glory. It has interesting wildlife, with otters and water voles, breeding mandarin ducks and visiting red deer, but has the potential to be much richer. 

Mandarin Duck © David Tomlinson

Ellie Beach, LOHP’s Conservation Manager, warns that “It will require a year of intensive study of the topography and existing flora and fauna before any work on the land is undertaken. Our aim is to eventually restore the old meandering course of the Little Ouse and to bring back the rich biodiversity that the meadows must have once had.”

Chair of Trustees, Rob Robinson, commented "LOHP was started by volunteers 23 years ago with the aim of improving the habitat along the headwaters of the Little Ouse, which is nationally very rare. This land is a vital piece in the jigsaw and its restoration, although daunting, has the potential to become a real haven for wildlife."

There is currently no public access to Prince Freddy’s Meadows, but LOHP plans to provide access points where there are good views of the river as part of its plans to restore the site. Join us at our AGM on Friday 5th December to hear more about Prince Freddy's Meadows, or come along and visit on Sunday 11th January 2026 - See Events page for more details or visit Prince Freddy's Meadows webpage.

Donations to help restore Prince Freddy's Meadows can be made to LOHP at JustGiving.