Sunday 6th May 11am Holy Communion
Tuesday 8th May 8am Matins
Sunday 13th May 2.30pm Rogationtide Procession & Service at Baptist Chapel
Tuesday 15th May 8am Holy Communion
Sunday 20th May 6pm Evensong
Tuesday 22nd May 8am Matins
Sunday 27th May 11am Holy Communion
Tuesday 29th May 8am Matins
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Great & Little GiddingParish Council Clarion – Spring 2012 |
ELECTIONS of District and Parish Councillors will take place on Thursday 3rd May – see noticeboards
BLOOM IN GIDDING – following on from the successful Anglia In Bloom Silver Award of 2011 we are looking for volunteers to co-ordinate the 2012 entry. An excellent start was made last year in this community initiative and many hands make light work. If you are interested in helping in anyway please let the PC office know and we will put you in touch with each other.
ALLOTMENTS – there is a half allotment available from the 10 new ones provided last year Full plots are £15 per year (£20 from 2013) and subject to a tenancy agreement.
JUBILEE WOOD – a new pond has been excavated in the Jubilee Wood and it is hoped to have it established for the Diamond Jubilee. Fourteen new trees have been planted including mulberry, pear, peach, nectarine, plum, cherry and apple. There is to be a JUBILEE Coffee Morning (and activities) in the wood on Sunday 3rd June.
RECREATION GROUND – our application for Queen Elizabeth II Field Status has been accepted and a commemorative plaque will be unveiled at the JUBILEE lunch being held on 4th June. The idea behind the Big Lunch is to get as many people as possible to join with their neighbours for friendship and fun. All you need to do is turn up with your picnic and for the energetic amongst you games will be available!
VILLAGE HALL – a textile recycling bank has been located in the car park. The District Council is trying to encourage residents to recycle clothing and shoes. The materials put in the textile banks are sorted and sent to Africa, any clothes not suitable are cut into rags for industry. A small income may be generated from this (£150 per tonne) for the village.
A group are organising a 1950s dance night in the hall on Saturday 2nd June to celebrate the JUBILEE and the Parish Council have allocated funding to support this community event.
The AGM of the Village Hall & Recreation Ground committee will take place on Monday 16th April at 7.30pm in the Village Hall – please do go along and show your support.
VILLAGE WEBSITE -The Lottery Funding received by the Parish Council has funded the new village website including the newt trail.
AFFORDABLE RURAL HOUSING SURVEY – This has been organised by ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) in consultation with the Parish Council and distributed to all houses within the village. The details of results will be presented at the Annual Parish Meeting on 17th April.
STREET LIGHTING – the County Council have changed to a white light source which should not impact upon the visibility on the street.
THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING will be held on Tuesday 17th April at 7pm prior to the Parish Council Meeting.
THE PARISH COUNCIL meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month in the Village Hall at 7.30pm – members of the public are very welcome to attend but if you would like to speak on a particular subject, please let us know prior to the meeting.
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With an east wind howling down Main Street, villagers scurried along to the warmth of the Village Hall to do battle once again at the Quiz & Chip Night. Quiz supremo Lois Jordan set the tone of questions that would sort the wheat from the chaff. Fortified with liquid refreshment from the bar, the contestants sorted themselves into their respective teams. It was immediately obvious that this would be a two way scrap with the remainder fighting for the minor places. Our host and question master John Deval laid down the rules and the quiz commenced.
After three rounds of brain exertion we reached the midway point, time for fish and chips which were duly served up piping hot and very enjoyable. After another three rounds of yes, no, yes, that’s not right, put anything down, its errr… the quiz concluded. Its amazing how much you think you know when the answer has just been read out.
Thanks to all concerned for an entertaining evening.
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- Lois and Bruce reflecting on their fiendish quiz questions
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- John, running through the answer sheet
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- Half time score board
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- How not to have your pint poured
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- Team – Courage but no brains, oh yeah!
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- Team – All sorts
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- Team – theoptimists
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- Team – The Last Table
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- Team – Comfortably Dumb
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- A man and his fish and chips
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- Half time scores
Every few years on a rolling programme most the roads in the parish receive a new surface coating of stone chippings, rather than explain the finer details of the process take a look at The Idiots Guide To Highway maintenance, a really excellent and detailed web site about how our roads are maintained.
This series of photographs were taken on 22nd July 2010 as the B660 was being resurfaced from the Lutton crossroads to Great Gidding.
We all know something is imminent when the signs appear and the road sweeper starts hoovering up beyond the village boundary. Above we see the convoy of vehicles proceeding down the hill. Traffic management is by stop/go boards and radio communication.
The bitumen or tar lorry as they were known is always a site to behold, clouds of water vapour emerging from the spray applicator as the hot bitumen meets the cooler atmosphere.
This is the crunch part of the operation, the bitumen emulsion being sprayed out on to the road surface quickly followed up the stone spreader with an 8 wheeler tipper keeping the spreader topped up. The rate of application of bitumen and the stone chippings will have been predetermined in the contract. The idiots guide to highway maintenance will inform you of these things in greater detail. Click the link and have a read.
The stone spreader operator has a commanding view of the operation, he has to judge forward speed and the width of spread whilst keeping an eye on the hopper load.
The job has several hazards, passing traffic, moving machinery, hot liquids and obstructions to deal with such as overhanging branches that get hooked up on the passing tipper lorry.
Immediately following the first stone spreader another one follows on putting a finer layer of chippings down.
To make sure that the chippings adhere to the bitumen base layer, road rollers are used to compress the two elements together. Road rollers have evolved from the first steam rollers, diesel powered rollers, multi tyred rollers and now site rollers. Another useful reference site is the Road Rollers Association
Finally as the convoy makes its way to Great Gidding we see some of the work force in a lighter moment. These chaps are the stop /go board operators for traffic approaching from behind. Now the road has been resurfaced it takes on the feel of a skid pan as loose stone chippings accumulate. This is where drivers always observe the speed limit signs and drive diligently according to the road conditions. A road sweeper will follow up this operation with two or three passes in the forthcoming weeks.
A short photo essay on the creation of the latest tranche of allotments.
With householders facing increased bills for fresh food, pressure was put on the Parish Council to facilitate some extra allotments near the Jubilee Wood. The land had always been allocated as allotment ground but it required that the caretaker tenant to relinquish the area of land which he graciously did.
A contractor was organised to create the allotment layout.
The previous crop had been mown down and work began using rotovator to break up the surface.
Quite unusual to see a tractor mounted rotavator in good condition. Most have been consigned to the farm scrap heap as they have been superseded by alternative types of mechanical soil cultivation.
The work nearly complete. Although it looks like an instant seedbed the new allotment holders will tell you its tough digging. Tractor mounted rotavators are notorious for creating a pan just below the surface. The only remedy is the traditional double digging and incorporation of organic matter.
Within a few months some of the allotments are in full production.
Creating a new pond
After mulling over the idea of how to bring another environmental benefit to the Jubilee Wood
it was fairly obvious that a new pond was called for. The site was quickly identified within
the wood, the wettest part ! So on a hot September day our local digger operator, Jeff turned
up with his JCB and was told to create an interesting shaped pond.
Nothing startling was unearthed as the dig commenced only the usual Hanslope series top soil
overlying the standard chalky boulder clay below.
In an average year when you dig in this clay the soil will stick inside the bucket. Not this time
round, its as dry as it could be.
The final shape of the pond follows best advice in that you need a deep area sloping sides and
a gradual slope to a shallow area.
The excavated clay soil was shaped into a stockpile and then covered with top soil and was
immediately sown with grass seed.
The job done, now we awaited the rain and we’re still waiting 6 months hence.
Taking a lead from our other recently cleaned out ponds we added stones to create a firm base.
Five months on and the 2011/12 drought is borne out by the low winter rainfall and the struggle to naturally fill the pond.
Remarkably over the weekend of the 28th and 29th of April 2012 a deluge of 30mm of rain topped the pond up to the shelf on the subsoil level. It may fill even more as the wood is fairly well flooded.
The theme for the final beer and skittles, local ales, did not disappoint.
- “Duck!”
The Cambridge Brewery, Oakham Ales, Bateman’s, Elgoods and the Pot Belly brewery all featured along with Thwaites outpost brewery in the Sawtry hinterland. Citra and JHB from Oakham ales was well received along with Bateman’s Combined Harvest. All the beers were eminently drinkable apart from the one that Mr Hodson thought tasted of a bonfire, wether that was standing in or down wind we’re not sure.
The Ale’d and aimless award was unanimously awarded to Michael
On the skittle front, Mr Garner and Mr Crank showed how the game should be played, fast and furious. The Ale’d and aimless award was unanimously awarded for the uncanny ability to throw one cheese without hitting any skittles, unique!
Don’t forget the Port supper at the end of the month, Andrew will do a circular e mail if he requires any extra goodies. Mrs T has volunteered a fruit cake.
Thank you everyone for your support during the winter, the yard of ale still makes me smile
Great Gidding Baptist Church
Our Purpose – Love God Love People Serve the World
The Baptist Church is in fellowship with Grace Fellowship Little Stukeley; Grace Fellowship is part of the International Baptist Convention (I B C) and affiliated to Baptist Union of Great Britain
My Wife and I first came to Great Gidding some 30 years ago as a guest speaker for the day returning from time to time to worship or preach, then we moved to Great Stukely. That’s when Pastor Albert asked me to take care of the Church while he was away in Uganda. During this time we have seen many changes to the Church. When Albert was so ill Penny and I were regular visitors both to the hospital and the home, on their Return to Bristol they asked us to take on the church.
Work to do
There has been much work to do as we redecorate the manse and clear up the rubbish that has been gathered over the years and we are still working at getting the grounds and sheds dealt with, it will take time to do all we have in mind.
The first service we will take is to be held on Easter Sunday At 3pm.
We welcome you all to come and join us for the service and share a cup of tea or coffee after the service.
Further details of regular meetings will be announced soon.
Polio is a terrible crippling disease. It was once the major cause of disability. Before 1988 there were over 350,000 cases reported per year worldwide. Now it is down to about a 1,000 cases per year. India use to have more cases than anywhere else. Now it has reported only one single case in the last 18 months.
This is down to 25 years of hard work on the part of Rotary International and other agencies. For years the programme has depended on charitable giving and the precious time of individuals prepared to go out and help, at their own expense, in vaccination clinics. At last we are on the brink. One final push is needed to get rid of this dreadful disease once and for all. If we don’t make that effort now and leave off it will come back. That final effort will cost money. Bill Gates has generously contributed $355 million but there is still a need to raise a further $200 million world wide to see it through.
During national immunisation days in India, as many as 65 million children are immunised. Volunteers hold these days every six weeks, visiting remote villages and slum areas to deliver the life-saving vaccine. Although polio is nearly wiped out, work has to continue through this next generation of children to be sure to eradicate the disease for good. Booths are set up in major cities, attracting school children and families, who will travel for miles to protect their children. After vaccination each child has a finger dipped in purple dye for control purposes.
In order to bring your attention to the vaccination programme purple crocuses have been planted all over the UK. It is hoped that the 500 bulbs planted in front of the church last autumn will eventually multiply to make a magnificent springtime display. When you look at them please think about all the children walking around with purple “pinkies” who will now have a better chance in life. It will be wonderful when the day comes when no one else will ever have to suffer from polio. This can be a real success story! Will you please help?
Donations to the “Rotary Club of Kimbolton Castle” can be handed to Tony Scott, 15 Mill Road, Great Gidding or to Jed and Aruna at the village shop.
Welcome to Pete and Penny Bourne
“If you see us working at the Manse please stop and introduce yourself to us. We are hoping to hold our first service Easter Sunday 3pm please come and join with us”
Pete Bourne
For the time being the contact details are as follows
Pete and Penny Bourne
Phone 01480432207
Penny’s Email penny.bourne@sky.com
Pete’s Email bourneagain58@yahoo.co.uk
Read more about the Great Gidding Baptist Church