Rally Elan

This annual event is organised to raise money for Churches in Norfolk. In the past we started from Norwich Cathedral where, after a bacon roll and cup of coffee, the cars left via the Erpingham Gate (built in 1420), with the Bishop blessing the first few, waving to the next and then joining the rally after about 20. Then the Cathedral cafeteria was franchised out, the roll and coffee became too expensive and we started elsewhere; this year a local garden centre.
The route is about 65 miles and passes more than 20 Churches with scheduled visits to half a dozen most of whom offer tea and cakes – how can you refuse when its all in a good cause? Initially there were 25 cars but now its more popular and this year’s entry was 139 cars – any car will do but the majority are classics.
Our first visit within half a mile was Framlingham Pigot with its unusual minaret style tower.

Designed to look 14th century, it was built in 1859 on the site of a much older round tower church. St Andrews has a Commonwealth War Grave of a 31 year old local man who died in March 1918 – around the time of the Battle of the Somme. Commonwealth War Graves are found wherever the two World Wars had an impact and soldiers from the Commonwealth died; they are marked by a distinctive green sign.
In the next 5 miles we went past the sites of another 5 Churches, one just a few lumps in a field and another, like St Martins, abandoned in around 1550 and now a ruin with nature trying to reclaim it.
Our next visit was to Saxlingham Nethergate. The village dates from 832 and a Church was recorded here in 1086 in the Domesday Book. It was rebuilt over the years and the tower dates from the 14th century. A rector in the early 19th century installed 4 glass roundels dating from 1250 and the church is considered of national importance for its collection of stained glass.
St Mary’s Church Tasburgh was not on our list to visit but mentioned as a “drive by”. The area is bounded by ancient earthworks and settled by the Anglo Saxons in about AD 700. The Church dates from 1050 and the lower part of the tower is from that time, making it one of the oldest Round Tower Churches in Norfolk. Two miles down our route we found another St Marys with an attractive flint porch.
Missing the odd Church we came to Great Moulton where the Church is dwarfed by the Italianate splendour of the 1831 Rectory, designed by JW Donthorn, a founder member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. By the 1960’s the building was derelict but rescued and turned into two dwellings. Our next stop was a Church at Tivetshall, abandoned in 1949 when a jet plane’s sonic boom brought the tower crashing down. Burston Church also lost its tower – but due to a storm in 1753.
All Saints, Tibenham was our next stop and this Church was the first on our route to display the link between this part of East Anglia and many in the United States. It has a plaque remembering the 445th USAF Bombardment Group, one of whose commanders was film star James Stewart. In the 1940’s this countryside was a mass of airfields. Tibenham is now used by light planes and gliders; Snetterton is a race track and Hethel is the site of Lotus Cars. Others have museums or host air displays whilst others are industrial Estates or have reverted to farmland. Others never existed but were dummies to decoy German bombers on their raids.
In Old Buckenham (another airfield town), All Saints Church with an unusual octagonal tower and thatched nave was hosting a wedding whose guests had arrived on an old London bus so we hurried on to Banham – another St Mary’s Church but this time with a spire. The Church dates from the early 14th century, the roof beams bear the date 1622 and the interior was refurbished in the 19th century by the Victorians. We had passed a cyclist on our way here but after along chat to friends in a Triumph Stag thought no more of him until he appeared outside the Church and offered a prayer for the next part of the trip – he was the vicar for this group of Churches but maybe cycling along the route of 139 cars wasn’t his best decision!
The route continued down country lanes, pubs and Churches to its end in Bressingham – also home to a garden centre and a steam museum where the Dean of Norwich Cathedral gave a short “Pit Stop” service in which he faced the challenge of relating motoring to the realms of Scripture. Then we all headed home and hope that someone will take on the job of continuing this tradition as the current organisers are standing down. First choice – find a day which will be dry and warm!