Due to the delayed reopening of the Fox & Hounds and a late harvest, the Aunt Sally Tournament is on hold and will be played ASAP.
Back Lane between Chapel End and the B660 at Oak Tree corner has taken a bit of a battering recently. Improvement works at Great Gidding sewage farm coupled with the wettest summer and autumn of recent times has meant that the minor road has been subject to some heavy erosion and surface degradation. The contractors have assured the Parish Council that the road will be reinstated on completion of the works. As to the improvements at the sewage farm, new filter beds are being constructed to deal with phosphates in the foul water.
Update
Work has moved on, new structure have appeared in the Sewage Farm compound. The access road has been widened at the entrance after all the tipper lorries and plant equipment had finished the heavy work !
Update 2
Partial repairs to Back Lane have been carried out, that would be the big hole by the junction with the B660. There is still a an area of poor road surface against the entrance to the Sewage Farm.
If you are staying in Gidding for the Jubilee weekend come along to the Recreation Ground on Monday 4th June. Starting at 1PM, we are hoping that people will bring along a picnic for a Big Lunch Jubilee Celebration.
The Big Lunch is a very simple idea from the Eden Project. The aim is to get as many people as possible across the whole of the UK to have lunch with their neighbours in a simple act of community, friendship and fun.
All you need to do is turn up with food and drink and anything else that you need to enjoy a picnic, but if you would like to bring something along to share, we are sure this would be much appreciated.
To keep the energetic amongst us entertained, we are hoping to have a game of rounders and look forward to other games being organised throughout the day.
- The event will start at 1.00PM, but you can join in throughout the afternoon.
- Bring along all that you need to enjoy a picnic – food/drink and all the equipment too
- If you would like to bring food to share, it will be appreciated
- We are celebrating the Jubilee, so wear a crown or a tiara, if you wish
- Make a metre of bunting to decorate the Recreation Ground and the pavilion
- There will be games throughout the afternoon – some with prizes to be won
COME ALONG AND JOIN IN THE FUN
Don’t forget it will also be a Celebration of the Jubilee too.
From the Village Hall and Recreation Ground Committee
Just a reminder of the Jubilee events planned for this Jubilee weekend.
Saturday, June 2nd
Diamond Jubilee Dance
Village Hall Ticket event
Sunday, June 3rd
Jubilee Wood Coffee Morning
Jubilee Wood 10.30 – 12.30
Monday, June 4th
The Big Picnic
Recreation Field 1pm
Rounders Match
Recreation Field 2.30pm
Last chance for tickets!
We invite you to join us on June 2nd from 7.00pm onwards to mark, in true Gidding style, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
The Diamond Jubilee Dance in Great Gidding Village Hall should be a night to remember and hopefully for all the right reasons……We have a fantastic swing band called The Five Star Swing whose great reviews include Sheila Tracy from the BBC [check out their website on fivestarswing.co.uk if you want to listen for yourself] and they will be playing great sounds from Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and the Glen Miller band amongst others. Included in the price is a hog roast, delicious pudding and coffee as well as excellent wine and beer, so when you’ve danced all you can dance, you can replace a few of those calories whilst you listen to the band play on.
Dress code – posh frocks and best bib and tucker [head scarves optional]
Contribution – £15 per head including hog roast and cocktail on arrival
There are still a few tickets left so to reserve your tickets for family and friends please contact Sue Shepherd, phone: 01832 293479 or mailto: shepnsue@btinternet.com
We hope you will be able to help make this a very special night and join us at the exclusive Great Gidding Village Hall!
Sue Jarvis & Sue Shepherd
This one comes courtesy of the Woodland Trust.
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http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/
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.