October 2018 1 Issue 163 Grafham Gossip - Amazon Web Services · 2019-06-20 · Community Shop. Even better, why not buy the goods at the Shop and boost their sales - a double good

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 1 Issue 163

Grafham Gossip Issue 164 Deadline: Midnight Thursday 11th October

Editors’ note… The days are getting shorter as the

seasons change. The official start

of Autumn and end of Summer is at

the Autumn Equinox, which in 2018, falls on 23rd Sep-

tember. It is when daylight hours and night are equal in

length. The closest full moon to the Autumn Equinox is

known as the Harvest Moon. The name comes from the

time when farmers needed the bright light to extend the

working day when harvesting crops. This year, look out

for the Harvest Moon on the night of 24/25th September.

We hope you enjoy this issue, which includes several

good reads from our regular contributors on the odd pag-

es, with adverts, notices and other information on the

even pages.

Remember to send your news, views and gossip in good

time for the next deadline, midnight on Thursday 11th

October. Happy Halloween! Editors, [email protected]

Pop Up Pub with a full bar and a quiz Friday 5th October Grafham Village Hall

7pm-11pm

Grafham Calendar 2019

Do you have photos we could use

to make a 2019 Calendar?

We need good quality landscape photos - jpeg files

Please send by email to Grafham Community Shop:

[email protected]

Contents Church Services and View from the Pew..………..…...

Parish News/Parish Cllrs details/County Cllrs details…....

Notices/ Village Hall Activities………………….…..….…..….

Talking Shop/Halloween Word Search..…..………..…..

Has the bin man bin, Mam?.....................................................

Notices/ Useful Phone Numbers/ Library info.........................

Raise the Song of Harvest Home - Mike…………….….....

Times Gone By, Dave Anthony……………...…………….....

Adverts/Notices…………………...…………….…...…....…

Your Churchyard and its Wildlife………………………….…..

Adverts...……………………….………..…………….…...…

Record Temperatures and Local Wildlife - David Cudby.…

Local Activities………………………………….…………….

2

3

4

5

6

6

7

7

8

9

10

11

12

If you have timber that can be used for the bonfire,

please deliver it to the far side of the 5 - aside pitch,

Grafham Village Hall, at 3pm on Saturday 3rd November

where Simon will be in charge!

Or call Simon 07887 628528 who will collect it

on the morning of Saturday 3rd.

Please make sure that there’s nothing included that is explosive or that might give off noxious fumes.

Hotdogs

Jacket potato & cheese

Jacket potato & chilli

Tomato Soup

Mulled wine

Coke (Squash free)

Admission: Admission: Admission:

Adults £4Adults £4Adults £4

5 5 5 --- 16 years £216 years £216 years £2

Under 5s Free!Under 5s Free!Under 5s Free!

Saturday 3rdSaturday 3rdSaturday 3rd NovemberNovemberNovember

Food from 5:00Food from 5:00Food from 5:00

Fireworks 6:30Fireworks 6:30Fireworks 6:30

at the at the at the

Village HallVillage HallVillage Hall

Carousel for childrenCarousel for childrenCarousel for children

2018

Remember!

Coffee ‘Morning’ in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support

Sat 22nd September, Grafham Village Hall, 3 - 6pm

AGM of Grafham Shop, ‘Come and discuss the future’

Tues 25th September, Village Hall at 7.30pm

‘A Tale of Trees’ a National Wildlife Trust Talk

10th October, Brampton Memorial Hall at 7.30pm

Details on page 8

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 2 Issue 163

All Sunday morning services in the three churches of Grafham, Ellington and Brampton begin at 10.30

On Fourth Sundays, an ‘All Together’ Holy Communion Service rotates between the three churches .

For more information on church services and other events, visit www.eastleightonstone.com and click on Calendar

Grafham All Saints Services

Every Wednesday morning 09.00 - 09.30 Morning Prayer – a short service open to all

Please note the new time. Download the Daily Prayer app from

the Church of England website available for iOS and Android

join us in spirit from home if you wish! ----------------------------------------------------------

7th October (1st Sunday) 10.30 Harvest Festival Family Service - Lay led - followed by

Harvest lunch, all welcome

28th October (4th Sunday) 19.00 Taize service - Lay led (Read more about Taize services

below)

-----------------------------------------------------------

1st November (Thursday) 10.00 Holy Communion led by Mike Bigg (a fairly informal

service - details below)

4th November (1st Sunday) 10.30 Family Service - Lay led

Contacting the Clergy Revd Jason Taylor (Rector) Rectory, 15 Church Road, Brampton PE28 4PF

[email protected] 01480 453341 or 07807 118070

Revd Mike Bigg (Curate) [email protected] 07380 809377

Thursday Holy Communion Services in Grafham, once a month The (roughly) monthly, midweek service of Holy Communion at All Saints Church began on 20th September, led by

Mike. It is a fairly informal service with an opportunity to look at the Bible together, pray together and gather together

for Holy Communion. Afterwards there‘s coffee, cake and a time to catch up with news and socialise.

All welcome, whether you are a regular church-goer, come occasionally, haven't been in years or have never set foot

in a church before! In the months before Christmas we’ll be meeting on Thursdays 1st and 29th November at 10am.

New Monthly Taize Service From October we're starting a new monthly "Taize" service. These are quiet, meditative services

of singing, Bible reading, prayer and candles. Much of the singing involves short chants repeat-

ed several times and creates a wonderfully tranquil environment. The first one is at 7pm on

Sunday 28th October in the Church, and the next is planned for Sunday 25th November.

All are very welcome to join us - you'll be able to participate as much or as little as you like. Please contact Jill Tyack

if you'd like to know more!

View from the Pew

Attendances at our first Sunday Family services

have been increasing steadily with 21 people in

September. Jill, Heather and Hazel aim to make

these services an enjoyable time to

be together to worship. Our wonderful

musicians, led by John our guitarist

make superb music. We have a pianist, a violinist, a bass viol player and occasionally

a saxophonist.

We can expect to hear lovely music at our

Harvest Festival service on 7th October at 10.30. If

anyone would like to bring some non-perishable food

gifts these could be donated to the Foodbank at our

Community Shop. Even better, why not buy the goods

at the Shop and boost their sales - a double good turn! Our usual Harvest lunch will follow the service. All are

welcome to stay whether or not they bring food as we

always have plenty to go round.

As well as our Morning Prayers on Wednesdays

and our mid-week Holy Communion services, we

are planning Taize services once a month on Sun-

day evenings, the first of these being on 28th Octo-ber at 7pm. Taize is the style of Christian worship

practised by the ecumenical Taize community in

France and involves singing of simple tunes, readings,

prayers and lighting candles. See the article above.

It was a pleasure to welcome Dr Pat Doody in August

who came to advise us about bringing wildlife into the

churchyard. Have a look at the article on page 9. Jill

and Hazel will be in church on Saturday 6th October at

11am to talk about how this can be managed. We

would welcome anyone who may be interested in this

project and will be glad of your views on making a plan

of action. Some refreshments will be available.

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 3 Issue 163

Grafham’s County Councillor Grafham’s District Councillor

Peter Downes

07765 833486

peter.downes@ cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Darren Tysoe 01480 388310 [email protected]

Grove Cottage, Malting Lane, Ellington, PE28 0AA Follow me on Twitter@darrentysoe and twitter.com/darrentysoe Receive my updates on Facebook www.facebook.com/cllrdmtysoe

PARISH NEWS September 2018

Back again after the summer break, this month’s Council meeting was attended by the traffic watch team who brought an update to their activities. All their volunteers are now trained in using the speed-watch system and monitoring will commence asap. Watch for news of any meetings of the group if you want to take part. Alternatively, contact Chris Bulow at 6 Chestnut Close. The Parish Council agreed to pur-chase the required signs for the system (three signs at £75 each.) The idea of a convex mirror placed at the blind bend on Buckden/Breach Roads is not workable. These mirrors cannot be placed on the highway and are considered a potential glare hazard. Problems with insurance claims can result where the use of a mirror has been involved. The A14 group have not yet provid-ed details of the positioning of a camera, but we expect to hear an update within two weeks. The A14 is to be closed for the next 30 days. We now have signs con-cerning the unsuitability of our roads for HGVs and have seen some improvement to this problem. There are, however, still some large lorries coming through and there is some road damage as a result. This dam-age has been reported but the hole is not considered deep enough to require repair. The placing of diversion signs is still causing confusion as to what type of diver-sion is in place, when is the diversion effective and who is responsible for the placing of the signs. Anglian Water have indicated their willingness to offer any help we might need.

Members of the committee of the Trout at Grafham attended to request a grant from the PC S137 fund to cover the purchase of sanitary ware.

Cllr Darren Tysoe attended and discussed the HDC local plan which sets out the Council’s plan for housing growth in the area. There appears to be no massive impact on our village, but the plan is open for consulta-tion until 27th September. Please see the District Council website for further information. Changes are to be made in the way phone calls are taken by the Dis-trict Council. Calls will be taken via a menu system. Customer services will confirm any conversation to the caller and provide return calls. Other improvements are under discussion.

Cllr Peter Downes joined the meeting and advised of another round of spending cuts and a £7m overspend on children’s services.

Cllr Downes also mentioned that a self-help group from Brampton will be working in the Brampton Lane on 23rd September at 2.30pm to cut back dangerously overhanging trees. Anyone from Grafham who is willing to help would be very welcome. If you want to help, just turn up with a high-viz jacket, some seca-teurs and tough gloves.

Signs concerning the exercising of unleashed dogs on the playing field have been renewed and placed promi-nently. We hope that people will respect these signs. Please also note that the fouling of the field by dogs is an offence, dangerously unhealthy and socially unac-ceptable. The Council will purchase a dog-waste bin for siting in the vicinity of the playing field and pay for the disposal of any contents.

The grant for the resurfacing of the all-weather court has been agreed and the PC will be considering three quotes for the work.

Following the public forum discussions on traffic safety, the Parish Council set up a sub-committee with dele-gated authority to act on behalf of the Council. The committee will involve Councillors Claire Hodder, Da-vid Russell and Roy Harold.

The Council will be looking at the possibility of drawing up a Parish Plan or Neighbourhood Plan. Cllr Ian Gar-dener will be arranging for an advisor to come and talk at a meeting and to discuss the pros, cons and costs of such a plan. St Neots, Godmanchester and Houghton and Wyton have formulated such plans.

Anglian Water has submitted an application to the Dis-trict Council (Ref: 18/01746/CLPD) which proposes the installation of solar panels around the wall under the dam around the water on the Grafham side. It’s not clear whether this is considered “Permitted develop-ment” or if it is a planning application. If you have an opinion on the visual effect of solar panels around the water, please take the time to express it on the District Council’s planning site. The Parish Council have not been involved at this stage and have not been request-ed to express a view.

The date of the next Parish Council meeting is sched-uled for 9th October 2018 at 7.30pm in the village hall. Please feel free to attend.

Margaret Life Parish Clerk

07780 119311 [email protected]

Grafham Parish Council You may contact your parish councillors through the parish clerk or directly.

Philip Allingham Chairman 01480 811516 [email protected]

Ian Gardener Vice Chair 01480 812821 [email protected] Jo Dunn [email protected]

Alastair Watson [email protected] David Russell [email protected]

Claire Hodder [email protected] Roy Harold [email protected]

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 4 Issue 163

Deadline Please send us all your adverts, notices, news, views and gossip

ASAP and

definitely by

midnight on

Thursday 11th Oct Thanks, Ed [email protected]

Playtimes Pre-school Ferriman Road, Spaldwick PE28 0TQ

Tel: 01480 890077 www.playtimesplaygroup.co.uk

We have spaces available for 15 and 30 hours free government funding!

We offer: Breakfast club 8 - 9am Preschool 9am- 3pm Out of school club 3.30 - 6pm

Grafham Village Hall

Activities & Classes 2018

Mondays Line Dancing 7.30pm

Tuesdays Pilates 9.45am

Art Club 1.30pm

Wednesdays Little Fishes (pre-school children)

10.00am

Yoga 6.15 - 7.15pm

Karate 7.30pm

Thursdays Kick Boxing 7.00pm

Saturdays Chinese Martial Arts

10.30am

For enquiries about classes and about booking the hall, please telephone 07711 769911

Read more about village hall activities on page 12

GRAFHAM YOGA GROUP

Village Hall

Wednesdays 6:15pm to 7:15pm

I’m please to tell you that we’ve managed to find a

new yoga teacher to take over from Mel who has

sadly decided to discontinue her weekly classes in

Grafham due to personal/work commitments.

We’re a small mix group who meet weekly to prac-

tise. Yoga is great for flexibility, in fact research

suggests that yoga outperforms aerobic exercise at

improving balance, flexibility, strength and pain lev-

els. It’s a series of poses (some I can do and some

I can’t ) and I’ve certainly felt the benefit since

I’ve been attending the classes.

It would be great to welcome some new faces so

why not come along and try a session, it’s £8 for a

single session with a reduction if you book several

sessions in advance, you’ll just need a yoga mat.

If you’d like more information please give me a call.

Jill Allingham

01480 811516

Parish of

East Leightonstone To join the mailing list and receive

the regular newsletter visit

http://www.eastleightonstone.com

and click News

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 5 Issue 163

Talking Shop So the children are back at school and the long hot spell is finally over. The nights are definitely drawing in and I’ve seen the first TV advert for Christmas (say it quietly!) We are promised a reasonable amount of au-tumnal sunshine to come so let’s hold on to that thought.

There are still many visitors to our village at this time of year but our thoughts are turning to the quieter months of the year when we rely on local residents to support our shop. Please pop in for a friendly chat and pick up a few things you didn’t know you needed! We are al-ways on the look-out for new items that we think will go down well with our customers so it’s worth a visit to see what we’ve got.

Our bacon and sausages from Grasmere Farm in Mar-ket Deeping have been very well received. We also stock their pies, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, pork pies, ham and a lot more.

Do you work from home and would like to stretch your legs and get away from the desk for a while at lunchtime? As well as the above mentioned products from Grasmere Farm, we also have a selection of lo-cally produced filled baguettes along with snacks and cold drinks in our fridge. That’s lunch sorted.

The Saints & Sinners jams, marmalades, jellies, chut-neys and mustards continue to be very popular as these are not readily available elsewhere and make lovely gifts. There are some very imaginative flavour combinations to try.

The local honey from Barbara’s Bees in Kimbolton is back in stock and this time we have been able to get hold of some honeycomb which is a rare treat. Get yours while you can.

Thank you to those who have supplied us with home grown fruit and veg – we have some very impressive marrows in stock at the moment!

New on our shelves Jars of sliced gherkins @ £1.60 for 400g

A range of Hellman’s dressings @ £2.25

Brand’s A1 Sauce @ £2.00 “A deliciously tart and

tangy sauce”

DON’T FORGET if you’d like some local lamb for the freezer, pop into the shop to place your order. A half lamb typically weighs between 8 -11kg, needs about a freezer drawer and costs £6.50/kg.

October lamb - order by 28th September for 5

th Oct

November lamb - order by 26th October for 2

nd Nov

December lamb - order by 7th December for 14

th Dec

We look forward to seeing you in the shop soon.

Lynn and Paul

P.S. Also don’t forget that we are collecting local

photographs for our next calendar and if you

would like yours included please email good

quality JPEGS in landscape format to:

[email protected]

OPENING TIMES

Mon-Fri 8.00 - 6.30

Sat 8.00 - 5.00

Sun 9.00 - 2.00

Email [email protected] Website www.grafhamvillageshop.co.uk

R O J E E N B R U S L E C A

S A O N P H A N T O M E K S

P S T S O H G O R Y L I O B

O C A K T R L L E P S R T P

R R F E R E D I P S P E G H

L E S L H A L L O W E E N I

M E E E D G H O U L L H Y E

E C H T C A T B L A C K P S

W H C O B W E B L E C R E T

S N T N I V A M P I R E E H

E N I K P M U P T B L C R E

H O W L E D N S Q M W I C N

S I C I B A M T U O I G O O

A T S P O O K Y K Z Z A H O

V O T I O T G U R W A M W A

O P A R D M A C A B R L F R

V A B B R E A M D E D I M P

Halloween Word Search Can you find all the words listed below?

They may be horizontal,

vertical, diagonal,

forwards or backwards.

Halloween ghosts cauldron goblin broomstick toad bats spooky boo vampire witches cat black spider eerie wizard screech cobweb

RIP dark gory owl (x 2) ghoul pumpkin macabre magic phantom spell potion skeleton creepy zombie boil rat howl

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 6 Issue 163

The Labour Party in Huntingdon

Our next monthly meeting is Mon 15th October at 7.30pm

at The Medway Centre More details on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/HuntingdonLabourParty/

or via the website: http://www.huntingdonlabourparty.org.uk

Come along and get involved in helping your

neighbours and the community!

What’s on in Cambridgeshire libraries To find out visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/arts for details. Here’s a snippet!

Homework clubs From September we offer term time after school Homework Clubs in our larger libraries - including Huntingdon and St Neots on Wednes-days 4 to 5pm. Aimed at primary school children, but all ages are welcome. Parents/carers; please stay with children under 11. The clubs will offer:

free use of the computers and internet access help so you can find information free photocopies/print-outs for your homework space to do your homework sessions that are free and no need to book opportunity to stay as long as you like whilst the library is open

Do you want more from your library? Sign up to Library Extra Membership!

Library Extra Membership gives you the same borrowing rights and access to services as our free membership but with extra benefits. Your annual donation helps us to improve our service across all Cambridgeshire libraries, improving the space and facilities as well as offering more events.

Here’s an idea of what you can expect from your Library Extra Membership: An invitation to an exclusive annual event Behind the scene tours of our collections An exclusive visit to a partner organisation such

as Cambridge University Library or The British Library

Visit our webpage to find out more information and the Library Extra Membership option that best suits you.

Has the bin man bin Mam?” Wednesdays Blue bin (recycling) and Black bin (refuse) - alternate weeks

Every other Thursday - Green bin (garden waste)

If you require any further advice or information about waste and recycling services, call 01480 388640 be-tween 8.45am and 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and 8.45am and 4.30pm on Fridays or visit www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk/bins

If you can spare an hour once every few months to help dust and vacuum the church please contact:

[email protected]

Useful Phone Numbers All emergencies 999

Non-emergencies 101

Cambridge Constabulary HQ 01480 456111

Minicom for hard of hearing 01480 422493

Action Fraud 0300 123 2040

Crimestoppers 0800 555111 (anonymous)

To report anti-social behaviour in Grafham 01480 388379 or 387097 or e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

To stop unwanted phone calls 08450 700707

To stop unwanted mail 08457 034599

Power cut 105 or 0800 31 63 105 or text POWER and your postcode to 80876

If you’d like to write a ‘one-off’ article

or a regular feature for the

Grafham Gossip,

send it by email to

[email protected]

Send your news, views,

photos and gossip to

[email protected]

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 7 Issue 163

It’s harvest time again (although anyone who has tried

to grow anything this year will tell you that conditions

have been difficult!) It’s a time when we look back and

again give thanks that the earth has brought forth her

produce; that so many have put time, energy and love

into the production of our food; that God continues to

sustain summer, winter, springtime and harvest so that

the conditions are right for our crops to grow and our

livestock to flourish.

It’s a fairly common misconception that God is a deity

who operators along the lines of a divine puppet-

master, constantly pulling strings and making things

happen here below. However, God is probably better

thought of as “the ground of our being” (as Paul Tillich

put it) – that ever-present divinity that provides the bed-

rock for all that is good. It is in this sense that many

find it appropriate to give thanks to God for providing

such an environment that enables such abundance.

But Harvest is also a time for self-reflection. There is

quite a lot of imagery in the Bible about God as gar-

dener and human beings as flowers or crops. Jesus

describes God as the gardener (John 15) who tends to

us and sometimes needs to prune us back (which

sounds rather uncomfortable). There is

a sense in which, at the last, we are all

like plants to be harvested. It’s easy to

ask yourself “Am I any use?” or “When

my time comes will God be harvesting a

beautiful flower or a useless weed?”

The beauty of Christian faith is that it takes the empha-

sis away from us and puts it on Jesus. In the same

passage as above, Jesus describes himself as “the

vine” while we are the branches. When God looks at us

he sees not various plants, some useful, others use-

less, but part of the vine of Jesus in whom he delights.

So take some time to be thankful for the food you eat

over the next few weeks. Perhaps you could make an

extra effort to thank the person on the checkout at the

supermarket, or why not write to a local farmer to say

thank you? And while you’re at it, perhaps you could

give thanks for the “harvests of goodness” in your life

in recent months and think about the kind of harvest

God might be hoping to see from you over the coming

year.

Mike (Contact details for Mike can be found on page 2. Ed)

Raise the song of harvest home

Times gone by! More memories from Dave Anthony, following the last

instalment (September 2018 Grafham Gossip,) when Dave was posted back to the UK, August 1966, to

Sennybridge.

I only spent a few months at Sennybridge, but they were very eventful and mostly enjoyable. The most diffi-cult part of the work was getting the civilian workforce to understand that they were there to work and not skive. They were extremely good at skiving but having learned those lesson I found a good number of ways to get them going. Some of their antics were hair raising at the best of times. I caught one young lad throwing stones at an unexploded bomb which we were search-ing for. My blood ran cold when we saw what he was doing; it went from cold to boiling hot blood in a nano second. Thank God his aim was bad!

When the weather turned cold and snowy, the work-force would split up and find the nearest range hut and it was not easy to get them out after they had lit the stove. That was until I found that by standing on the front of the Landrover I could reach the top of the stove pipe. A few blank 7.62 cartridges dropped down onto the fire below worked very well. It was remarkable how much smoke was caused. It made a lot of noise, and smoke blackened faces would emerge with a fit of coughing! When the roads were covered in ice and snow, often we were called to pull someone out of trou-ble.

One of the civvies was a real character. He only re-sponded to the name of ‘Sailor,’ why, I do not know. He

was identical to Freddie Davies the comedian, even down to the bowler hat. He would work as late as you wanted him to, if you gave him a few cans of cider! If they were lucky enough to find an injured sheep, anoth-er trick was to split the reward between themselves and the farmer, or shepherd.

I often volunteered to man the firing point as supervisor, that way I got many opportunities to hone my shooting skills and make some really good friends amongst the various units. The Ghurkas were very helpful and great at their work. Another good unit was 2Para from Brec-on, also the Welsh Fusiliers. Wendy's brother later joined the Welsh Fusiliers when the unit name became the Royal Welsh Regiment. If 22 SAS were due on range I kept well away! They were well known at play-ing pranks which were decidedly risky! The safety ex-change was sited alongside the main track, but well inside the area. It was very hard to find it sometimes in the fog which came down very suddenly. We obviously knew what time the various units were due to arrive, but, as soon as they attached a wire to the telephone point it sounded on the hut exchange board, a quick twirl of the exchange handle would give a short sharp shock to whoever was at the other end. A lesson I soon learned.

Wendy and I got married whilst I was at Sennybridge, but before that event, something happened which had a very long lasting effect on us. October is the 52nd anni-versary of that; I hope to include that in the next instal-ment of ’Times Gone By.’

Dave Anthony, 1 Breach Road

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 8 Issue 163

BRAMPTON CHURCH LAND CHARITY

(Did you see this last month? There’s not much time left to apply - Ed)

This charity meets twice each year to consider grant applications, and typically supports applications for grants from £250 to £750.

The next Trustees Meeting will be held in October, so if you have a project which needs financial support and relates to the Church of England or another charitable cause in the parish of East Leightonstone (Brampton, Grafham and Ellington) or the adjacent parishes, please contact:

the Clerk to the Trustees at 31 Cranfield Way, Brampton, Huntingdon, PE28 4QZ or

email [email protected] for an application form to be completed and submitted prior to the meeting.

Brampton Wood Logs For Sale

All hardwood, seasoned 12 months

Mainly Oak and Ash, all from Brampton Wood

£90 per cubic yard processed ready to go on your fire

£45 per cubic yard unprocessed you will need a chain saw and a log splitter

Price includes local delivery

Phone George Cottam, Voluntary Warden 01480 450809

Email: [email protected]

Please support your local wood

To advertise, email: [email protected] Community notices are free.

Business adverts are priced according to size, payable in advance.

They start at £3.50 for a small box. The money pays for the printing of the newsletter and any profit is donated to All Saints, Grafham

and its Restoration Fund.

Grafham Oil Syndicate The syndicate continues to grow, keeping more money in the village.

It’s FREE to join and we must keep a bulk order attractive enough to receive a discount, so simply email Simon:

[email protected] or call 07887 628528

Thank you for your continued support!

Good quality paperback books in clean condition

We love to receive your paperback books to stock our church bookstall. Please leave them in the

church porch.

Paperback books in good condition

The book stall is a fantastic fund-raiser for our village church, but we‘ve found that we can sell only good quality, clean paperbacks and find it difficult to lift, carry and dispose of other items.

No x

Hardbacks x

Manuals x

Magazines x

Encyclopaedias x

Other items x

Yes

A Tale of Trees, the Battle to Save Britain’s Ancient Woodland

Indoor Talk at 7.30pm

Wednesday 10th October

Brampton Memorial Hall,

Thrapston Rd, Brampton PE28 4TB

The Huntingdonshire Local Group of the Wildlife Trust invites you to a presentation on ancient woodlands, delivered by Derek Niemann, a renowned nature writer and Guardian coun-try diarist.

Derek will look at how the destruction of up to half of the county’s mature trees happened 40 years ago and will explain what has been done in recent years to ameliorate their loss.

This should be a fascinating talk and anyone interested is most welcome to attend. Booking is not necessary. The entrance charge is £2.50 (accompanied children free).

For more information please contact Tim 01480 457795. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Registered Charity No: 1000412

Bedfordshire

Cambridgeshire

Northamptonshire

Mon-Fri 8.00 - 6.30

Sat 8.00 - 5.00

Sun 9.00 - 2.00

Bank Holidays 9.00 - 2.00

Grafham Community Shop Opening Times

Tel: 01480 810119 Email:[email protected]

See page 5

for the latest

shop news in

‘Talking Shop’

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

October 2018 9 Issue 163

Your Churchyard and its Wildlife On 23rd August Hazel and Jill were pleased to meet Dr Pat Doody a retired Ecologist and Chair of the Hunts. Fauna and Flora Society who advised us about how to manage the churchyard for the benefit of wildlife. At present it has been a case of keeping the grass mown and the weeds strimmed but some areas have become out of our control and this is what prompted us to have a re-think.

We know that most people would like to see a tidy, mown area around the church where people congre-gate at events such as weddings and funerals. This will continue. However, Pat has advised us that for the ben-

efit of wildlife and for ease of manage-ment it would be good to have some areas unmown to encourage natural vege-tation and wildflowers. Pat suggested this could be around the boundaries where people do not generally walk. The grass could be allowed to grow and be cut once in mid July. Does anyone have a scythe? This would be the preferred way to cut, but strimming or by hand would suffice. The ride-on mower will not cut long grass.

Pat looked carefully at the wildflowers we already have growing and it is quite an impressive list: ribwort and hoary plantains, autumn hawksbit, herb robert,

ladies bedstraw, hoary willowherb, creeping cinquefoil, pellitory-of-the-wall, bulbous buttercup, yarrow, meadow cranesbill, meadow vetchling and many more.

We have some lovely trees too including elder, lime, wild cherry, rowan, dogwood, field maple, blackthorn.

There are some very overgrown areas be-tween the older graves which cannot be mown and here the brambles, saplings and small trees can be removed and the grass strimmed down to the ground until next year when we will see what comes up. More wildflowers can then be introduced.

Pat also suggests we could identify one small controlled area where we take off the turf and wait and see which plants emerge naturally.

We are inviting anyone interested in this project to come and walk round the churchyard with us (Hazel and Jill) with a view to forming a churchyard maintenance group to encourage wildlife in this lovely area for the benefit of all. If you would be interested in taking part, come along on Saturday morning 6th October at 11am and meet us in the church for coffee and cake when we can discuss plans. We would be very pleased to see you.

Hazel Powell and Jill Tyack

October 2018 10 Issue 163

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

Paul's Private Hire and Chauffeur Service Van Diemens Way, Grafham,

Huntingdon, Cambs. PE28 0GB

Tel. 01480 811594 Mobile 07795 296281 Email [email protected]

Travel in style via Mercedes cars to your destinations

GRAFHAM WATER (NEXT TO THE VISITOR CENTRE)

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OPEN WEDNESDAY- SUNDAY 09.00-17.30 TEL:01480 819730

FREE PARKING & FREE DELIVERY

PET & WILD BIRD FOOD

www.petfoodsdirect2u.co.uk

Free back door, when ordered with 5 or more windows

For a free, no obligation quotation please contact your local representative Jon Goodchild on 07825 238240 or email

[email protected]

WINDOWS DOORS ROOFLINE

CONSERVATORIES

GARDEN ROOMS FLAT ROOFS

www.gaphomeimprovements.co.uk

JEZ ASHCROFT LTD All your decorating needs including:

Coving, Internal Decorating

Drylining & Plastering

FREE ESTIMATES

Please Call

Tel: 01480 812461 Mobile: 07708031493

Kevin Hutchinson • Reliable Local Carpenter and Joiner

• All carpentry work undertaken

• Fitted kitchens, new doors, wood flooring and much more

• No job too small

Tel: 01480 811863/07889 414274

BSM BSM Driving Instructor DSA Approved, Pass Plus Registered Living locally in Grafham

Call John Sisseman for details

Tel. 07806 941675

Grafham Plumbing and Heating Ltd

Oftec registered technician

High efficiency condensing boilers fitted

Oil tanks fitted complete with bases

All boilers serviced

All plumbing undertaken

Vaporising appliances fitted and serviced

Service and maintenance plans available Professional, friendly and reliable

[email protected]

01480 812590

07799 640476

Cinnamon Bar and Indian Restaurant Open 7 days a week 5pm to 10.30pm Also lunch time if pre-booked for 5 or more people

Call 01480 812211/811316 Thursday Night is 'Banquet Night'

1 starter, 1 main, 1 side.

Any rice or any nan £13.50 King prawn or duck £1.50 extra

http://cinnamonhuntingdon.co.uk/

October 2018 11 Issue 163

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected]

A word of caution we ask you to share

As mentioned previously, we are now surfacing new sec-tions of the road, so please treat with caution any offers for the sale of excess materials claimed to be from the A14. No one associated with the project will be selling surfacing materials to the public or local businesses. Please pass this message on to as many people as possible.

Volunteering

The A14 team is always on the lookout for local volunteer-ing opportunities. If you or your parishioners have any community projects where we could provide some people power to help, please call our helpline on 0800 270 0114 or email [email protected]

A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Improvement Scheme By the end of this year it is proposed to ask the Planning Inspectorate to amend the road status for a specific

section of the A14 – the section between Ellington and Girton – from trunk road designation to motorway.

You can find out more about this proposal and about the progress of the A14 Improvement Scheme as well as the planned road closures, diversions and the latest news by visiting www.highways.gov.uk/A14C2H

or stay updated by following https://twitter.com/a14c2h and https://en-gb.facebook.com/A14C2H

There is also a dedicated A14 Public Helpline 0800 270 0114

You can also find the planned road closures and diversions on the village web site www.grafham.org.uk and also the Grafham Village Friends facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/Grafhamvillagefriends/

Also, remember the word of caution, repeated below, from the A14 Integrated Delivery Team. Ed.

Last month I promised that I would say a bit about how the new honeybee colonies have progressed since we brought them home. I will do that in a moment but first a few words about the summer just ending.

There were several weeks this summer when we were legitimately preoccupied with the weather forecasts. We quickly moved on from the exceptional cold and wet to watching the drought increasingly impact on our gardens. Now temperatures have returned to nor-mal and lawn mowing has resumed. Farmers on the other hand have to live with the impact of abnormal weather on their animals and crops – they will live with the consequences of this exceptional summer well into the winter while we worry about Christmas and New Year. Temperatures, be they high or low in degrees, have consequences. The Met Office has confirmed that it has been another record summer in UK. It’s be-coming very difficult to deny that something is happen-ing to our weather and longer term our climate. De-pending upon your profession and interests, climate change will be difficult to ignore.

Thinking about climate change and the environment I am reminded of a favourite quotation. Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little - Edmund Burke

1

With this in mind here is a little tale. On the develop-ment where I live the Developers planted many trees in 2010. Their plantings included almost 50 Ash trees. That predates the emergence of Ash Dieback in UK so they did not anticipate a problem. The majority died. In 2017 the dead Ash were replaced with beautiful stand-ard Hornbeam. Proper trees not just whips like you might use for hedging. The Developer paid the site maintenance contractor to plant them but would not pay for watering to get the trees established. Inevitably they died (at which point money was made available to water them). This past spring they in turn were re-placed with Hornbeam (shrub size) and we raised the issue of watering. Rather than have the latest plant-

ings die I offered to water them every week from May to September. A small contribution but at least I wasn’t guilty of the sin referred to by Edmund Burke. I could do a little to ensure the future of these trees and given the weather we have had I am so pleased that I didn’t make the mistake of doing nothing.

And finally, the bees - the hot dry weather meant there were fewer flowers, wild or garden in bloom for several weeks. In a normal year beekeepers are aware of something called the June gap. This is a period of very little nectar and pollen forage for bees because the spring flowers are over and summer flowers, wild and cultivated are just getting going. This year those that did flower conserved water by making little or no nec-tar. So I have fed my new colonies sugar syrup right through the summer. No honey crop this year, but I do have three strong colonies despite the adverse condi-tions. Still feeding to ensure they have good winter stores. Who knows what the weather will throw at us between now and the spring flowers.

David Cudby

118th Century Politician and Philosopher

Record temperatures and local wildlife – degrees, trees and bees

Grafham Water 15/09/18 Recovering from the drought Ed

Website: www.grafham.org.uk E-mail: [email protected] Opinions expressed in the Grafham Gossip, including past issues, are those of the writer and not the editors.

October 2018 12 Issue 163

Printed by Easiprint 01733 602302

Across the Churches Bible Study We are a small group meeting twice a month (Tuesdays 7.30pm) for Bible study, prayer and fellowship. We come from different churches and are always happy to welcome new members.

For more information, please contact Rob or Jean Clark 01480 890033.

Babysitters Bryony 22 yrs 812354 experienced with newborn to 14yrs

Mya 15 yrs 819326 Nicci 17 yrs 811279

GRAFHAM VILLAGE HALL has a Public Entertainments Licence for music, dancing, performing arts and can accommodate 92 guests seated in rows or 150 at a dance/disco - an ideal venue for children's and family parties. There is a playing field for sports activities and the hall has small changing rooms with shower facilities.

For details or to book, tel: 07711 769911

Grafham and Ellington Art GroupGrafham and Ellington Art GroupGrafham and Ellington Art Group http://grafhamandellingtonart.weebly.com/ Grafham Village Hall, Every Tuesday 1.30-4pm Calling all who want to meet and paint with like minded people on a regular basis.

Beginners and those with more skills are all very welcome.

Cost: About £2 to cover hall hire/refreshments. Come along with your paints and equipment!

Please ring me for more details.

Jackie Woods 01480 890279

Grafham Church Flower Club We are available to decorate the church for weddings and other church occasions.

Floral arrangements for: pedestal,

altar, font, windowsills, pew ends, pillars.

Please contact Hazel Powell on

01480 810326 for details and quotes.

If anyone in the village has foliage in their garden that they would be willing to donate for church decoration for festivals, please let us know, we would be very grateful.

The Mobile Library Route H24 visits Breach Road, Grafham on the 4th Wednesday of every month from 10.40 to 11.00. Next visits - 24th October

For renewals/ enquiries call 0345 045 5225 or click here

YOUR COUNTRYSIDE NEEDS YOU

www.gwcg.btck.co.uk/

Regional winners of the British Trust for Conservation

Volunteers Green Award 2006 & 2007

Join Grafham Wildlife and Conservation Group

Call Sam Malt on

01480 811654 or 07849 082870

[email protected]

.Come and join the

GRAFHAM LINE DANCERS Beginners are welcome

Monday evenings in the Village Hall

7.30 – 9.00pm

For more information ring Julia 01480 811613 or Text Penny 07986 509481

Coffee Morning Grafham Social Committee invites you to Coffee Mornings at 10.30am on the third Wednesday of the month:

17th October - Philippa Patel, 3 Field Close

This is an informal social occasion for residents of the village. Please come along for a cup of coffee and a chat.

Ellington and Grafham WI

meets on the first Tuesday of the month in Ellington

village hall. Membership is £41 per annum but you

are most welcome to come as a visitor.

The programme for 2018 is varied and interesting

with speakers or events every month.

October Indian spices and how to use them

November AGM and supper

If you would like any more information please contact:

Sue 01480 896139 [email protected] or Ann 01480 891192 [email protected]

Grafham Little Fishes Toddler and Baby stay and play session

All Welcome

Wednesdays 10.00 to 11.20 term time only

Grafham Village Hall

Free play time followed by a short bible story, action songs and simple craft.

Just turn up on the day