Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom
Emergency medical services in the United Kingdom provide emergency care to people with acute illness or injury and are predominantly provided free at the point of use by the four National Health Services of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Emergency care including ambulance and emergency department treatment is free to everyone, regardless of immigration or visitor status; the NHS commissions most emergency medical services through the 14 NHS organisations with ambulance responsibility across the UK. As with other emergency services, the public access emergency medical services through one of the valid emergency telephone numbers. In addition to ambulance services provided by NHS organisations, there are some private and volunteer emergency medical services arrangements in place in the UK, the use of private or volunteer ambulances at public events or large private sites, as part of community provision of services such as community first responders. Air ambulance services in the UK are not part of the NHS and are funded through charitable donations.
Paramedics are seconded from a local NHS ambulance service, with the exception of Great North Air Ambulance Service who employ their own paramedics. Doctors are provided by their home hospital and spend no more than 40% of their time with an air ambulance service. Public ambulance services across the UK are required by law to respond to four types of requests for care, which are: Emergency calls Doctor's urgent admission requests High dependency and urgent inter-hospital transfers Major incidentsAmbulance trusts and services may undertake non-urgent patient transport services on a commercial arrangement with their local hospital trusts or health boards, or in some cases on directly funded government contracts, although these contracts are fulfilled by private and voluntary providers; the National Health Service Act 1946 gave county and borough councils a statutory responsibility to provide an emergency ambulance service, although they could contract a voluntary ambulance service to provide this, with many contracting the British Red Cross, St John Ambulance or another local provider.
The last St John Division, to be so contracted is reputed to have been at Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire, where the two-bay ambulance garage can still be seen at the branch headquarters. The Regional Ambulance Officers’ Committee reported in 1979 that “There was considerable local variation in the quality of the service provided in relation to vehicles and equipment. Most Services were administered by Local Authorities through their Medical Officer of Health and his Ambulance Officer, a few were under the aegis of the Fire Service, whilst others relied upon agency methods for the provision of part or all of their services.” The 142 existing ambulance services were transferred by the National Health Service Reorganisation Act 1973 from local authority to central government control in 1974, consolidated into 53 services under regional or area health authorities. This led to the formation of predominantly county based ambulance services, which merged up and changed responsibilities until 2006, when there were 31 NHS ambulance trusts in England.
The June 2005 report "Taking healthcare to the Patient", authored by Peter Bradley, Chief Executive of the London Ambulance Service, for the Department of Health led to the merging of the 31 trusts into 13 organisations in England, plus one organisation each in Wales and Northern Ireland. Following further changes as part of the NHS foundation trust pathway, this has further reduced to 10 ambulance service trusts in England, plus the Isle of Wight which has its own provision. Following the passage of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, commissioning of the ambulance services in each area passed from central government control into the hands of regional clinical commissioning groups; the commissioners in each region are responsible for contracting with a suitable organisation to provide ambulance services within their geographical territory. The primary provider for each area is held by a public NHS body, of which there are 11 in England, 1 each in the other three countries. In England there are now ten NHS ambulance trusts, as well as an ambulance service on the Isle of Wight, run directly by Isle of Wight NHS Trust, with boundaries following those of the former regional government offices.
The ten trusts are: East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust London Ambulance Service NHS Trust North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS TrustThe English ambulance trusts are represented by the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, with the Scottish and Northern Irish providers all associate members. On the 14 November 2018 West Midlands Ambulance Service became the UK's first university-ambulance trust; the service was operated before reorganisation in 1974 by the St Andrews’ Ambulance Association under contract to the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Scottish Ambulance Service is a Special Health Board that provides ambulance services throughout whole of Scotland, on behalf of the Health and Social Care Directorates of the Scottish Government.
Due to the remote nature of many areas of Scotland compared to the other Home Nations, the Scottish Ambulance Service has Britain's only publi
Brampton, Norfolk
Brampton is a small village and parish in the county of Norfolk, England, in the Bure Valley, east of Aylsham. Brampton station is an intermediate halt on the Bure Valley Railway, its parish church, St Peter, is one of 124 surviving round-tower churches in Norfolk. Its Norman tower has a 15th-century brick octagonal top. Although now one of the smallest communities in Norfolk, Brampton has a rich history. In particular it was the site of a Roman manufacturing centre from where goods were exported by boat along the river Bure. During archeological excavations in the 1960s, evidence of a Roman bath house was found, along with more than 140 pottery kilns; the village sign reflects the Roman past: it depicts a double-headed fish copied from a Roman brooch found here some years ago. The brooch is now displayed in the Norwich museum; the village sign is inscribed with the name Bramtuna to reflect this Roman history. Website with photos of Brampton St Peter
Norfolk
Norfolk is a county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the northwest, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest, Suffolk to the south, its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea and, to the north-west, The Wash. The county town is Norwich. With an area of 2,074 square miles and a population of 859,400, Norfolk is a rural county with a population density of 401 per square mile. Of the county's population, 40% live in four major built up areas: Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Thetford; the Broads is a network of lakes in the east of the county, extending south into Suffolk. The area is not a national park, it has similar status to a national park, is protected by the Broads Authority. Norfolk was settled in pre-Roman times, with camps along the higher land in the west, where flints could be quarried. A Brythonic tribe, the Iceni, inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD; the Iceni revolted against the Roman invasion in AD 47, again in 60 led by Boudica.
The crushing of the second rebellion opened the county to the Romans. During the Roman era roads and ports were constructed throughout the county and farming was widespread. Situated on the east coast, Norfolk was vulnerable to invasions from Scandinavia and Northern Europe, forts were built to defend against the Angles and Saxons. By the 5th century the Angles, after whom East Anglia and England itself are named, had established control of the region and became the "north folk" and the "south folk", hence, "Norfolk" and "Suffolk". Norfolk and several adjacent areas became the kingdom of East Anglia, which merged with Mercia and with Wessex; the influence of the Early English settlers can be seen in the many place names ending in "-ton" and "-ham". Endings such as "-by" and "-thorpe" are common, indicating Danish place names: in the 9th century the region again came under attack, this time from Danes who killed the king, Edmund the Martyr. In the centuries before the Norman Conquest the wetlands of the east of the county began to be converted to farmland, settlements grew in these areas.
Migration into East Anglia must have been high: by the time of the Domesday Book survey it was one of the most densely populated parts of the British Isles. During the high and late Middle Ages the county developed arable woollen industries. Norfolk's prosperity at that time is evident from the county's large number of medieval churches: out of an original total of over one thousand, 659 have survived, more than in the whole of the rest of Great Britain; the economy was in decline by the time of the Black Death, which reduced the population in 1349. By the 16th century Norwich had grown to become the second-largest city in England, but over one-third of its population died in the plague epidemic of 1579, in 1665 the Great Plague again killed around one-third of the population. During the English Civil War Norfolk was Parliamentarian; the economy and agriculture of the region declined somewhat. During the Industrial Revolution Norfolk developed little industry except in Norwich, a late addition to the railway network.
In the 20th century the county developed a role in aviation. The first development in airfields came with the First World War. For the local army regiments the Royal Norfolk Regiment and the Norfolk Yeomanry please click on the links. During the Second World War agriculture intensified, it has remained intensive since, with the establishment of large fields for growing cereals and oilseed rape. Norfolk's low-lying land and eroded cliffs, many of which are composed of chalk and clay, make it vulnerable to weathering by the sea; the most recent major erosion event occurred during the North Sea flood of 1953. The low-lying section of coast between Kelling and Lowestoft Ness in Suffolk is managed by the British Environment Agency to protect the Broads from sea flooding. Management policy for the North Norfolk coastline is described in the "North Norfolk Shoreline Management Plan" published in 2006, but has yet to be accepted by local authorities; the Shoreline Management Plan states that the stretch of coast will be protected for at least another 50 years, but that in the face of sea level rise and post-glacial lowering of land levels in the South East, there is an urgent need for further research to inform future management decisions, including the possibility that the sea defences may have to be realigned to a more sustainable position.
Natural England have contributed some research into the impacts on the environment of various realignment options. The draft report of their research was leaked to the press, who created great anxiety by reporting that Natural England plan to abandon a large section of the Norfolk Broads and farmland to the sea to save the rest of the Norfolk coastline from the impact of climate change. In 1998 Norfolk had a Gross Domestic Product of £9,319 million, which represents 1.5% of England's economy and 1.25% of the United Kingdom's economy. The GDP per head was £11,825, compared to £13,635 for East Anglia, £12,845 for England and £12,438 for the United Kingdom. In 1999–2000 the county had an unemployment rate of 5.6%, compared to 5.8% for England and 6.0% for the UK. Data from 2017 provided a useful update on the county's economy; the median hourly gross pay was £12.17 and the median weekly pay was £496.80. The employm
Harvest festival
A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. Harvest festivals feature feasting, both family and public, with foods that are drawn from crops that come to maturity around the time of the festival. Ample food and freedom from the necessity to work in the fields are two central features of harvest festivals: eating, contests and romance are common features of harvest festivals around the world. In North America and the US each have their own Thanksgiving celebrations in October and November. In Britain, thanks have been given for successful harvests since pagan times. Harvest festival is traditionally held on the Sunday of the Harvest Moon; this is the full Moon. The celebrations on this day include singing hymns and decorating churches with baskets of fruit and food in the festival known as Harvest Festival, Harvest Home, Harvest Thanksgiving or Harvest Festival of Thanksgiving.
In British and English-Caribbean churches and schools, some Canadian churches, people bring in produce from the garden, the allotment or farm. The food is distributed among the poor and senior citizens of the local community, or used to raise funds for the church, or charity. Harvest festivals in Asia include the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the most spread harvest festivals in the world. In Iran Mehrgan was celebrated in an extravagant style at Persepolis. Not only was it the time for harvest, but it was the time when the taxes were collected. Visitors from different parts of the Persian Empire brought gifts for the king, all contributing to a lively festival. In India, Makar Sankranti, Thai Pongal, Uttarayana and Magh Bihu or Bhogali Bihu in January, Holi in February–March, Vaisakhi in April and Onam in August–September are a few important harvest festivals. Jews celebrate the week-long harvest festival of Sukkot in the autumn. Observant Jews build a temporary hut or shack called a sukkah, spend the week living, eating and praying inside of it.
A sukkah has a semi-open roof to allow the elements to enter. It is reminiscent of the structures Israelite farmers would live in during the harvest, at the end of which they would bring a portion to the Temple in Jerusalem. An early harvest festival used to be celebrated at the beginning of the harvest season on 1 August and was called Lammas, meaning'loaf Mass'; the Latin prayer to hallow the bread is given in the Durham Ritual. Farmers made loaves of bread from the fresh wheat crop; these were given to the local church as the Communion bread during a special service thanking God for the harvest. By the sixteenth century a number of customs seem to have been established around the gathering of the final harvest, they include the reapers accompanying a laden cart. A play by Thomas Nashe, Summer's Last Will and Testament, contains a scene which demonstrates several of these features. There is a character personifying harvest; the scene is inspired by contemporary harvest celebrations, singing and drinking feature largely.
The stage instruction reads: The song which follows may be an actual harvest song, or a creation of the author's intended to represent a typical harvest song of the time: The shout of "hooky, hooky" appears to be one traditionally associated with the harvest celebration. The last verse is repeated in full after the character Harvest remarks to the audience "Is your throat cleare to helpe us sing hooky, hooky?" and a stage direction adds, "Heere they all sing after him". In 1555 in Archbishop Parker's translation of Psalm 126 occur the lines: In some parts of England "Hoakey" or "Horkey" became the accepted name of the actual festival itself: Another widespread tradition was the distribution of a special cake to the celebrating farmworkers. A prose work of 1613 refers to the practice as predating the Reformation. Describing the character of a typical farmer, it says: Early English settlers took the idea of harvest thanksgiving to North America; the most famous one is the harvest Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims in 1621.
Nowadays the festival is held at the end of harvest. Sometimes neighbouring churches will set the Harvest Festival on different Sundays so that people can attend each other's thanksgivings; until the 20th century most farmers celebrated the end of the harvest with a big meal called the harvest supper, to which all who had helped in the harvest were invited. It was sometimes known as a "Mell-supper", after the last patch of corn or wheat standing in the fields, known as the "Mell" or "Neck". Cutting it signified the end of the work of harvest and the beginning of the feast. There seems to have been a feeling that it was bad luck to be the person to cut the last stand of corn; the farmer and his workers would race against the harvesters on other farms to be first to complete the harvest, shouting to announce they had finished. In some counties the last stand of corn would be cut by the workers throwing their sickles at it until it was all down, in others the reapers would take it
Acle
Acle is a small market town on the River Bure on the Norfolk Broads in Norfolk, located halfway between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. It has the only bridge across the River Bure between Great Yarmouth. There is a high school in the town; the civil parish has an area of 9.46 km2 and in 2001 had a population of 2,732 in 1,214 households, increasing to a population of 2,824 in 1,285 households at the Census 2011. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the area of the district of Broadland; the name "Acle" means "oaks lea". In Tudor times, hundreds of oaks were felled here for timber to construct Elizabeth I's warships. In Roman times, Acle was a port at the head of a large estuary named Gariensis. Acle is mentioned in the Domesday Book, in 1253 it was granted a market charter; the livestock and local farmers' market persisted into the 1970s. In 1382, Acle received the right for a "turbary". Acle beyond are possible; the Acle Straight is a turnpike road connecting Acle to Great Yarmouth.
It opened in 1831. Acle railway station, built in 1883, lies on the Wherry Line from Norwich to Great Yarmouth. In 1892 a foundry was constructed that specialised in building windpumps for land drainage, including the last windpump built for the Broads, at Ash Tree Farm; the three-mile £7.1m dual-carriageway A47 bypass opened in March 1989. Since the turn of the century, a walkway running from the station to the Boat Dyke has been constructed by local volunteers. On the Damgate walk, there have been repeated sightings of a kingfisher, locally known as Henry, said to fly under the abandoned railway bridge around mid afternoon; the church of St Edmund is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk. The round stage of the tower is the oldest part of the church, thought to be Saxon in origin and of a date between 850 and 950 AD; the octagonal stage was added in the 13th century when the roof was raised. The battlements are from 1472; the tower houses six bells, five of which were cast in Norwich and date from 1623.
The tower is reinforced with a metal frame to enable the bells to be rung safely. Entry to the church is by a porch on the north side, built in 1495; the dressed flints are in contrast with most of the walls. The main body of the church, the nave, is thought on the evidence of the measurements and wall thickness to be Norman in origin; this is not obvious as no Norman doorways or arches remain. In 1927, when ivy was being stripped from the outside walls, one of the buttresses collapsed revealing a find of Norman-worked stones, which were reassembled for safekeeping in the roof stair space, it is probable that all the Norman doors and archways were demolished when the floor level was raised to prevent flooding, in the 13th century. It is reasonable to assume; the main nave windows are 14th century, one near the pulpit is Tudor. The walls were painted at one time – a small fragment of a dragon or a serpent-like creature still exists on the wall of the old rood staircase; the stone font in the nave is dated 1410.
A 15th century wooden screen separates the nave from the chancel. It was not made for Acle church, may have been brought from St Benet's Abbey or the Augustinian priory at Weybridge; the 14th century chancel replaced an apse. Nowhere Acle Village Website Information from Genuki Norfolk on Acle. Website with photos of Acle St Edmund, a round-tower church Acle windmills from the Norfolkmills website Acle in the Domesday Book
Attlebridge
Attlebridge is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated about 8 miles north-west of Norwich; the civil parish has an area of 5.27 square kilometres and in the 2001 census had a population of 122 in 50 households, increasing to a population of 223 in 96 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Broadland; the mediaeval parish church of St Andrew is a grade II* listed building. The village is named after Ætla and the nearby bridge he is credited with constructing. Between the 1880s and 1950s the settlement had its own Attlebridge railway station offering direct trains to Norwich and Kings Lynn, it was closed as a cost-cutting measure by British Rail. During World War II a nearby airfield, designated RAF Attlebridge, was used as an airfield for launching Allied aircraft missions against Axis targets in Europe. Media related to Attlebridge at Wikimedia Commons Information from Genuki Norfolk on Attlebridge.
Information from Broadland District Council on Attlebridge. Attlebridge in the Domesday Book
Aylsham
Aylsham is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Bure in north Norfolk, nearly 9 mi north of Norwich. The river rises near Melton Constable, 11 miles upstream from Aylsham and continues to Great Yarmouth and the North Sea, although it was only made navigable after 1779, allowing grain and timber to be brought up river; the town is close to large estates and grand country houses at Blickling, Felbrigg and Wolterton, which are important tourist attractions. The civil parish has an area of 4,329 acres and in the 2001 census had a population of 5,504 in 2448 households, reducing to a population of 3,999 in 1,591 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of Broadland. Archaeological evidence shows. Aylsham is just over two miles from a substantial Roman settlement at Brampton, linked to Venta Icenorum at Caistor St Edmund, south of Norwich, by a Roman road which can still be traced in places - that site was a bustling industrial centre with maritime links to the rest of the empire.
Excavations in the 1970s provided evidence of several kilns, showing that this was an industrial centre and metal items being the main items manufactured. Aylsham is thought to have been founded around 500 AD by an Anglo Saxon thegn called Aegel, Aegel's Ham, meaning "Aegel's settlement"; the town is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Elesham and Ailesham, with a population of about 1,000. Until the 15th century, the linen and worsted industry was important here, as well as in North Walsham and Worstead and Aylsham webb or'cloth of Aylsham' was supplied to the royal palaces of Edward II and III. John of Gaunt was lord of the manor from 1372 and Aylsham became the principal town of the Duchy of Lancaster. Although John of Gaunt never came to Aylsham, the townspeople enjoyed many privileges, including exemption from jury service outside the manor and from payment of certain taxes; the village sign depicts John of Gaunt. In 1519 Henry VIII granted a market on Saturdays and an annual fair to be held on 12 March, the eve of the feast of St Gregory the pope.
Aylsham markets have always been an important feature of the town, businesses developed to meet the needs of the town and the farming lands around it. Besides weekly markets there were cattle fairs twice a year and, in October, a hiring fair; the historic Black Boys Inn in the Market Place is one of Aylsham's oldest surviving buildings, has been on the site since the 1650s, although the present frontage dates to between 1710 and 1720. There is a frieze of small black boys on a good staircase and assembly room; the Black Boys was a stop for the post coach from Norwich to Cromer, had stabling for 40 horses, employed three ostlers and four postboys. A thatched waterpump was built in 1911 at Carr's Corner in memory of John Soame by his uncle, a wealthy financier. An artesian well 170 feet deep, its canopy is thatched in Norfolk reed; as with many of the other market towns in the county, the weaving of local cloth brought prosperity to the town in medieval times. Until the 15th century it was the manufacture of linen, the more important, Aylsham linens and Aylsham canvases were nationally known.
From the 16th century linen manufacture declined and wool became more important, a situation that continued until the coming of the Industrial Revolution. Thereafter the principal trade of the town for the 19th century was grain and timber, together with the range of trades to be found in a town which supported local agriculture. Records show that Aylsham had markets and fairs from the 13th century; such weekly and annual events were important for the trade. Annual horse fairs would bring many other traders to the town, the weekly market would be the occasion for more local trade; the rights of the stallholders in the market place today date back to the rights established in medieval times. In medieval times the parish of Aylsham was established as four manors, the main manor of Lancaster, Vicarage manor, Sexton's manor and Bolwick manor; the ownership of the Lancaster manor changed hands many times, before James I assigned it to his son, the future Charles I. In the course of the events which lead up to the English Civil War Charles I had to raise as much money as possible, mortgaged Lancaster manor to the Corporation of the City of London.
The Corporation sold it to Sir John Hobart, through him it passed to the ownership of the Blickling Estate. The current lords of the manor are the National Trust. Part of the South Erpingham Hundred, Aylsham was, for administrative purposes, absorbed into St. Faith's and Aylsham Rural District Council in 1894 and became part of Broadland District Council in 1974. Local issues come under the jurisdiction of Aylsham Parish Council. In 2018 it was decided that Richard Strange would become the King of Aylsham in a public referendum despite allegations of mass voter fraud; the Market Place and surrounding area is dominated by the tower of the parish church of St Michael and All Angels, a fine example of Gothic architecture of the Decorated style. The small spire on top of the 98 ft tower is a landmark that can be seen for miles around; the nave and chancel were built in the 13th century. The tower and ground floor of the south porch were added in the 14th century; the north transept was built under the patronage of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster around 1380.
An upper floor to the porch was added in 1488. The lower part of the rood screen survived the destruction visited by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, although some of the painted panels were disfigured; the ancient
Media related to Belaugh at Wikimedia Commons
