Causeway Magazine April 2020 by Causeway Magazine Thorp Arch and Walton

CAUSEWAY APRIL 2020 Corona Virus - Community Care Volunteers Waltonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Highwayman Menopause Advice 1

Serving the communities of Thorp Arch and Walton Advertising Index Accountants Gillbeck Assoc Peter Howard Alarms PGK Security Animal Care Clifford Moor Farm Architects McNicholas Architects Bed & Breakfast Four Gables Building Materials Kirbys Carpet Cleaning Wetherby Carpet

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Cars/MOT Westmoreland Cars

Chimney Sweep Mooring Brothers Chiropody Boston Spa Chiropody

Contact: Emma Shellard, 07903 632590 emmashellard@outlook.com

Curtains, Furnishing Louâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Threads

Hardware Douglas Yeadon

Holiday Cottages Priory Cottages

Kitchens Aberford Interiors

Decorators Mark Hatfield Oliver Willard The Decorating Centre

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Elderly Support WiSE

Newsagents Supershop

Electrical Services P Collier Edmunds Electrical

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Opticians Andrew Morgan Cameron Beaumont

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Estate Agents Beadnall & Copley

PA/Secretarial Concierge David Bransby 27

Flooring Services Thorner Flooring

Funerals Tony Barker

Plumbing and Heating Peter Norman 30 Thorp Arch Plumbing 28

Gardening Lawn Keeper MK Landscaping

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Hairdressing Ian Blakey

Restaurants Fox and Hounds

Retail Parks Thorp Arch Retail Park

Tree Services Bardsey Tree Services

Front Cover - Cherry Blossom - Mark Gowlett Photography Causeway - Chair Ian Hall. Editors Lisa Sherratt and Victora Etherington. Designer John Pendleton Advertising Emma Shellard. Distribution (Thorp Arch) Jane Clayton (Walton) Gay Childe and David Spencer. Big thanks to the entire distribution team. Please refer to the Contacts Page for contact details. The Editor and Management Committee do not endorse any content of articles or advertisements in this magazine nor shall they be liable directly or indirectly for any damages which may arise from information or views contained in these pages. 2

From your Editors causeway.editor@gmail.com

Dear Readers

Many thanks to all those who have contributed to the magazine this month, it has been great to have people we haven’t heard from before sending us articles. One of the things we have realised over the last few months is that the pool of contributors to the magazine is one of quality but not quantity. Many of you will have areas of expertise or specialist knowledge; please consider sharing this with the villages. For example, with new legislation surrounding the use of logs on fires and wood burners it would be really good if anyone knows how to season logs, or even if it is possible at home. If the thought of writing a full article is daunting, (one page is around 500 words), we would be happy to publish shorter contributions on the news or the bulletin pages. Or even start a letters page! Another way that you can support the magazine is through the advertising. If you have a business in the area, this could be through advertising with us. Or if you use one of the businesses please let them know that you saw their advert in the Causeway, so they know advertising with us is effective.

Contents

Causeway has been a community magazine for more than twenty-five years, it would be great to see it continue serving the community for another twenty-five, as long as we can find new editors before then!

Editor’s Letter Thorp Arch and Walton YCA Ladies Group Talking to Children about Easter Clergy Letter Corona Virus - Community Care Volunteers Thorp Arch Parish Council Grocery and Meal Delivery Walton and the Highwayman

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If you have any contributions for the magazine or would like to join the team please email us at causeway.editor@gmail.com. Blessings

PostScript As we go to print with this edition the advice about Covid19 is constantly being updated. It is likely that the majority of the events and church services advertised will be cancelled, check with the organiser before attending anything. Please keep an eye out for your neighbours, self-isolation is going to be increasingly common and may be very difficult for those who live alone, are ill or elderly. The Fox and Hounds are offering a grocery and meal delivery service, we’ve included full details about this on page 11.

Walton News The Birds in your Garden Village Diary and Notice Board A Second Spring Tackling Climate Change Change Four Things Book review The Wilding Village Contacts

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Available online at issuu.com/causewaymag and LARGE PRINT VERSION - EMAIL CAUSEWAY.EDITOR@GMAIL.COM. Causeway is a community magazine produced and distributed by a team of dedicated volunteers which is published 10 times a year (monthly except for January and August). Contributions are considered by our Editorial Team and are invited to be emailed to causeway. editor@gmail.com by 10th of the month prior to publication. 3

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Local ladies group plans Thorp Arch and Walton YCA Ladies Group

on the local nextdoor app too or email tawyca@ outlook.com. We look forward to seeing you at one of our events soon.

The ladies group continues to go from strength to strength; we meet on the third Tuesday of the month at Boston Spa Methodist Church; members live throughout the Lower Wharfe valley and we enjoy getting together to catch up.

Upcoming meeting dates Tuesday 21 April - Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Quiz Night followed by the AGM. 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church.

In January we were treated to a history lesson on Wetherby by Mr Vic Hawkins from Wetherby Civic Society who took us on a tour of the Blue Plaques in the town. It was fascinating to hear the history behind the buildings and street layouts of the town we all know so well. The photos were great too, we have been inspired to book a Blue Plaque Walk to learn more about our local market town in the Spring.

Tuesday 19 May- Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Talk about Eckersley House (Sick Children’s Trust). 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church. Tuesday 16 June - Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Sing Along (all welcome). 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church.

In February, our speaker told us all about the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Deborah Mitford, led a colourful and fulfilling life and it was an appropriate follow-on to the Wetherby talk given the Devonshire’s used to own a lot of land and buildings in Wetherby.

Tuesday 21 July - Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Talk about the Yorkshire Post’s Country Week Magazine. 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church. Sunday 2 August - Tockwith Show

March sees us host a speaker from York Gate Gardens and apparently they are bringing plants which will be for sale which has excited the keen gardeners in the group! Additional to our regular speaker programme we also have a number of other trips planned, including a visit to the Yorkshire Cancer laboratories following their visit to speak to us in late 2019 as well as a trip to Goodall’s Dairy to meet the “girls” and indulge in a spot of ice-cream! We’re also organising a few social events including lunches, afternoon and evening meals.

Tuesday 15 September - Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Talk about the Role of Women in the Great War. 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church. Tuesday 20 October - Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Talk on Drug & Alcohol Abuse. 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church. Saturday 7 November - Winter Fair at Boston Spa Methodist Church. 10am – 1pm.

In May we are also hosting a talk about Eckersley House, which is currently our chosen charity of the year. This charity provides home from home accommodation for parents with children attending the Leeds Hospitals as in-patients.

Tuesday 17 November - Thorp Arch & Walton (YCA) Ladies Group Talk on The Pendle Witches. 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church.

If you would like to get involved then don’t be shy, either just turn up at our next meeting or get in touch and we’ll look out for you. Chances are you’ll know at least one member already as we’re a big active group with lots of members! Check out our facebook page @tawyca or find us 6

Easter meaning & holiday club Talking to Children about Easter

Croissant dough - the wrapping of Jesus’ body or the tomb

Easter is at the centre of the Christian faith, but it is about death, which makes talking to children about it a particular challenge.

Oven - the tomb Cavity in bun - the empty tomb or the empty cloths.

According to Benjamin Franklin (or maybe it was Mark Twain), death and taxes are the only certainties in life, yet we talk about neither with our children! I can’t offer you advice about taxes, but sooner or later we will suffer a bereavement. Although this subject is hard and we often use euphemisms such as passed away, or gone to sleep, talking gently and honestly about death can be less frightening for children than pretending it doesn’t happen.

Ingredients 1 pack readymade croissant dough (you can make your own if you are keen!) 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 8 large marshmallows Melted butter

So, how can we talk to children in an appropriate way?

Instructions 1. Separate dough into triangles. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Dip each marshmallow into butter, roll in cinnamon-sugar and place on a triangle. Pinch dough around marshmallow, sealing all edges. Make sure to seal well or all the marshmallow will escape.

Be honest. Death is hard because it means we can no longer be with those we love, and that sense of loss is really difficult to come to terms with, no matter what our age. You don’t have to be Christian to take comfort from the thought that there is something after death, that eventually we will be reunited with our loved ones. Easter eggs are a symbol of the new life Christians believe Jesus offered. You can use this symbolism to explain the idea of life after death.

2. Dip tops of dough into remaining butter and cinnamon-sugar. Place with sugar side up in greased muffin cups. It helps to use jumbo muffin tins so that the juice doesn’t overflow. 3. Bake at 375 degrees for 13 to 15 minutes. Eat warm.

If a child asks you about death, instead of shying away, try asking them what they think. This will help them to talk about any fears they may have.

Easter Holiday Club Monday April 6th to Wednesday April 8th

Cuddle and reassure them whilst you are talking. Tell them you love them.

St Mary’s and the King’s Church are running a 3-day Holiday Club during the Easter Holidays at the beginning of Holy Week. This will be at the Village Hall in Boston Spa.

If your child has suffered a bereavement there are many organisations that can help support you and them. Try childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk, childbereavementuk.org or winstonswish.org

Would you like to volunteer as a helper? Could you come along on one day and help to set up and run a craft activity, or help with offering lunches to families at the end of the morning?

If you want to talk about the resurrection of Jesus with your children try making these yummy “Empty Tomb” Marshmallow Delights.

Even if you can only help on one of the days, we would love to hear from you.

Large Marshmallows - body of Jesus Melted Butter - embalming oils

To find out more, contact Kate Kennedy youthcoord.bramhambenefice@gmail.com

Cinnamon and Sugar Mix - spices used to anoint the body 7

Letter from the Clergy If COVID-19 leaves us any positives, I would like to think these would include an ongoing commitment to sensible health and hygiene practices.

to put an end to sin: but our part is to continue our washing – for the health and good of ourselves, our community and our world. That is the fullness of life which the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Day proclaims: flourishing, the fulfilling of potential: life with God for ever. Slowing and arresting the spread of sin in the world requires, like trying to arrest the spread of a virus, an ongoing commitment. Another verse from Psalm 51 to close: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (verse 10) Ask God daily to wash you and fill you with the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus who died that you might flourish and be clean.

The fact that washing hands after going to the loo, and before and after preparing food had to be insisted upon, makes us aware of something pretty gross. Washing is important, and, as we have recently learned, is a way of loving our neighbours as we take their health seriously and avoid spreading viruses through our carelessness. Washing comes into the picture in this part of the church year a fair bit. April is straddled by Lent and Easter. In Lent we call to mind our need for God’s forgiveness, the part we all play in making the world a less perfect and holy place. Among the psalms associated with this season is Psalm 51 in which we cry to God “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my faults and my sin is ever before me.” (v2)

Bless you all. Now, wash your hands! REV NICK MORGAN

Washing also comes into Holy Week (Palm Sunday 5th – Good Friday 10th April). Jesus washes his disciples’ feet on Maundy Thursday, a servant’s job made into an act of love. But a day later, Pilate washes his hands of responsibility for Jesus’ execution, bowing to the mob despite having no reason to sentence him to death. This kind of abdication of responsibility for our own actions is the very opposite of washing: we smear ourselves with our own sin. So what does sin look like?

How about the corpse of Jesus? That is what sin looks like. Shocking, isn’t it? Jesus: innocent but betrayed, the victim of mob justice, tortured and then executed for the sake of political expediency. When we gaze upon depictions of Jesus, dying on the cross, then dead in the tomb, we gaze upon the embodiment of sin. Dead Jesus. That is what sin looks like, and it’s the result of human iniquity and weakness: a failure to be godly in thought, word and deed. Jesus died once for all 8

COMMUNITY CARE VOLUNTEERS COVID-19 (Coronavirus) response in the Wetherby Ward. If you want to volunteer and support vulnerable people in the coming weeks then we want you to do so in a way that safeguards you and those in need. A dedicated volunteer network has been established and we’re looking for two types of volunteer (both should sign up online).

TIER 1— DBS-checked assistance

TIER 2—Neighbourly assistance

Volunteers who have a current DBS and would be willing to volunteer to carry out non-personal care tasks to assist people with care and support needs. Such tasks might include: shopping, collecting prescriptions, preparing a meal, assistance with laundry, just checking/ reassurance by visit or phone call, sitting with someone for a while. This list is not exhaustive. We would support volunteers with training where appropriate and they would be issued with an identification badge.

People looking out for their neighbours who may be in some way or another vulnerable but not in receipt of formal care whether self-funded or state supported. This might be about supporting people who choose to self-isolate. It will also include the deployment of volunteer community leaders to support community cohesion related activities.

If you want to volunteer, sign up at www.doinggoodleeds.org.uk

CLLR ALAN LAMB

CLLR NORMA HARRINGTON

CLLR LINDA RICHARDS

e alan.lamb@leeds.gov.uk

e norma.harrington@leeds.gov.uk

e linda.richards@leeds.gov.uk

Thorp Arch News Thorp Arch Parish Council Bulletin March 2020

wine, beer, and soft drinks. Please save the date!

The following is a summary of some of the work the Parish Council (PC) has undertaken over the last few weeks. Please see our website for more information about the Parish Council, including minutes from meetings: thorp-arch.org.uk

Newsletter Sign Up The Parish Council now produce their own electronic Newsletter. This can be accessed via our website: www.thorp-arch.org.uk If you would like to receive the newsletter and other information directly from us, then please sign up via the website. The Newsletter sign up box can be found on the Homepage.

Police Report One crime reported for February: An attempted break in to a garage on Rudgate Park, which was unsuccessful.

Refurbished Benches

Register for a community alert: For daily crime updates in your area please register for community alert. Here you will receive updates about crime in your area, and crime prevention advice. Please visit wypcommunityalert.co.uk

Four of the Parish Council’s six benches have now been refurbished. The final two will be completed in April. Furthermore, the PC are now gathering quotes for another bench which would be placed next to the bus stop outside of The Pax.

Crime Reporting

Dementia Awareness Training

Please ensure that you report all crimes. For nonurgent issues and to pass on information, call West Yorkshire Police on 101. In an emergency (if a crime is in progress or you think the offenders are nearby), call 999.

Parish Councillors have attended a Dementia Awareness training session. They found the session invaluable. Dementia is not a part of ageing, it’s a disease and having an awareness about it can help those suffering from it and their carers.

Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired people can use textphone 18001 101. Go to the West Yorkshire Police website - westyorkshire.police. uk Click on the ‘Contact us’ button and a range of ways to report will appear including the 101 Live Chat System. Or click on the ‘Report it’ function and numerous types of crime which you can report online will appear. Contact your local Neighbourhood Policing Team to speak to a local officer about community issues:

For more information or advice, you can either phone the national dementia helpline: 0300 222 1122 or visit www.alzheimers.org.uk Report a Problem Residents can report a range of problems online to Leeds City Council concerning potholes, street lighting, dog fouling, blocked drains, footpaths, bridleways, fallen trees and street signs. Please make a note of the link and report problems directly at: leeds.gov.uk/parkingroads-and-travel/report-an-issue-with-a-road-orpavement

Email: nel.npt@westyorkshire.pnn.police.uk Facebook: facebook.com/WYPLeedsNorthEast Twitter: twitter.com/WYP_LeedsNE

Website

To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

A reminder that minutes and more details about the work of the Parish Council can be found on the website. Please visit at: thorp-arch.org.uk

Annual Parish Meeting This year the Annual Parish meeting will be held on Monday 27th April – 7.00-9.00pm at the school. Please join us for a summary of work and projects undertaken by the Parish Council and other organisation in Thorp Arch. As it will be an evening of celebration, so we will be serving

Date of Next Parish Council Meetings The next meetings will be held on Mon 20th April – 7pm at LEH School. The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Mon 27th April – 7-9pm at the school. 10

Thorp Arch and Walton News Grocery & Meal Delivery Service - The Fox and Hounds, Walton Dear Neighbour,

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Ready meals (list being finalised)

Like all individuals and businesses, we are considering how we can best support our community during the Coronavirus outbreak.

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We can prepare meals for you to heat at home or put in the freezer or even deliver you a take-away meal straight from our kitchen.

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We can also buy bulk cleaning products and refill containers for you

We are receiving daily updates from our professional bodies and the local council and will follow any advice they give us. We are open for food and drinks as normal and this will only change if we are advised to do so. •

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We’d need to know what you’d like by about 6pm in the evening and we can deliver at a convenient time the next day.

Sunday – 12 noon until 6 pm for food (we usually close in the evenings when the last diners have left)

We won’t be strict about the cut off time and there is no minimum order, we’ll gladly drop off a carton of milk if that’s all you need.

Monday – closed (we will monitor our answer machine and email if there’s anything you need)

We can take payment over the phone. If there’s something you need that we can’t get we’ll happily go to the supermarket to pick it up for you.

Tuesday to Saturday – 12 noon until 2pm for lunch, 5.30pm until 9pm for dinner (we stay open for drinks until 10pm at the very earliest).

This is a time for communities to pull together. We are one of a handful of businesses in our community and we are ready to do anything we can to help.

Groceries & Meals Delivered to Your Door

If there are any other errands we can help with if you are self-isolated for a period, please don’t hesitate to ask.

We get deliveries of fresh produce, meat, dairy, fish, dry goods and can also get frozen and tinned goods 6 days a week.

Please call us on 01937 842192, drop in to see us or email - basil@thefoxandhoundswalton.com for anything you need.

For the coming weeks and months, we will happily provide a next day delivery service to you or you can collect from us.

Best wishes,

We can supply the following. •

Fresh fruit & vegetables

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Meat, fish & deli items

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Milk, cheese, butter & general dairy items

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We bake fresh bread every day as well as cakes, pastries & desserts

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Tinned goods & store cupboard items such as pasta & rice (we always buy in bulk but can easily fill up reusable containers or jars for you and charge by weight)

ALAN & GARETH LAMB

Ye Olde Walton News! Walton and the Highwayman

wish; believing that doing so would give them a magical charm. William Nevison was believed to have regularly frequented a local dwelling close by. It was on a warm summer’s eve that he was seen, by a Walton native, sleeping against a tree near the wishing well. Thinking it would be easy to carry out an arrest on the sleeping highwayman a local mob quickly assembled and armed with pitchforks and other makeshift weapons marched to where William was taking forty winks. As the mob approached Nevison was disturbed, waking from his slumber he produced a gun and threatened to shoot into the crowd of Waltonites. As legend has it the locals turned on their heels and ran back to the village in fear of their lives. For this ignominious defeat the villagers earned themselves the title of the “Walton Calves”. An expression used by Nevison to describe any male born in the Village.

In the early 1600s a notorious highwayman called William Nevison, terrorised the Great North Road (now roughly the A1) between York and the south of England. Born in Wortley or Pontefract sometime around 1634. By age 13 he had run away from home, most probably to London and by age 24 he had fled to Holland to escape from the authorities in London. Here he enlisted with the Duke of York’s army. It was following his discharge from the army that William is thought to have become a highwayman. William was known as the Gentleman Highwayman, as he never used violence and was always polite to his victims. Although I am not convinced it is polite to have a pistol pointing in your general direction while a masked robber takes all your valuables.

As a disclaimer the jury is still out on the meaning of this phrase, is this the source of the poem? More research is necessary. But what of William Nevison? His luck finally ran out on 6th March 1684, when he was arrested. He was convicted and hung for his crimes in York on 4th May.

Not only was Nevison a gentleman rogue but he must have been a very accomplished horseman. In around 1676, after committing a crime, he rode from Rochester (Kent) to York in 15 hours. Now that is around a four hour car journey today, but on horseback and on unfinished roads without sat nav that’s quite some feat. On arrival in York at 8pm he was greeted by the Lord Mayor, with whom he placed a wager on the outcome of a local bowls match.

MARK GOWLETT

Later, when appearing in court William produced the Lord Mayor to confirm the wager, using the defence that he couldn’t be in two places at the same time…and it worked! He was acquitted of the crime as it was thought to be impossible to travel such a long distance in such a short period of time. Obviously he hadn’t passed through the speed camera on the edge of Walton/Wetherby road! This daring feat earned him the nickname of “Swift Nick” from the king, so perhaps not everyone was fooled by the alibi. So where is the Walton connection I hear you ask? In the 1600’s there was a place called St Helens or the Wishing Well near Rudgate. Here young lovers would hang pieces of their clothing from the roots and branches along the treelined path. As they did this they would make a 12

Walton News QUIZ NIGHT

Artists Around Wetherby ‘Open’ this spring.

This was the 3rd Quiz Night, but the first one to be held in Church and what a great success this was!

Artists with studios within a 6 mile radius of Wetherby will open their studios again this May for the public to visit.

With tickets sold out well before the night, resulting in a full Church. The category questions were compiled by Andrew and Nicola Lister with the Rev’d Trish acting as question master. Phoebe Lister did an amazing job selling raffle tickets and overseeing the draw. The half -time interval when the food platters were served to each team were very well received and enjoyed by all.

Artists Around Wetherby (AAW) Open Studios will take place in 2020 on the special VE Day Bank Holiday, Friday 8 May, then all weekend (Saturday 9 May and Sunday 10 May) plus the following weekend (Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 May) from 10 am to 5 pm each day. This year several new artists are joining AAW so there’s lots of new work of all sorts to enjoy. Paintings, pottery, sculpture, glass, handmade books, prints and cards will be for sale and you can meet and chat with the artists and see them at work in their own studios.

The small working committee at St Peter’s were delighted with a final profit of £840.00. and would like to thank every-one for their support on the night. Final comments at the end of the evening were “When are you doing the next one?”

A special event on 11 April at Wetherby Town Hall will be a chance to preview and buy work from a selection of artists taking part in AAW this year. Refreshments are available in all studios with donations to the British Legion in recognition of the 75th Anniversary of WW2 Victory in Europe. Leaflets with artist profiles and a map will be found nearer the time in several local shops and businesses including Castlegate Stationery and Touchwood in Wetherby plus Yeadons and Costcutter in Boston Spa. Look out for the orange signs and balloons that mark the location of participating studios. See artistsaroundwetherby.com for information and follow the AAW Page on Facebook for events and examples of the artists’ work.

The Birds in your Garden By now, the nesting season is well in swing, and you may well be able to see evidence of (some!) birds’ remarkable workmanship taking place around you.

You can leave nesting material out for birds in many ways: maybe using a peanut or suet feeder, or leave it in piles around the garden, or hang it from trees. Try several different methods to find the best for your garden.

Most birds only take a few days to build a nest, instinctively building them to a design that is unique to their species.

Avoid using any material whose source you are not sure of, or anything that has been treated with pesticides or fertilisers. Be careful too with pet hair – don’t use after flea or worm treatments. Moss raked from your lawn is good too, as long as you have not treated it first. If you put out wool or cotton, cut it into lengths no more than a couple of inches long, to avoid entanglement. Never put out any plastic materials, they can harm both birds and the environment in many ways.

Rooks, have been building for a while, and you may have seen their untidy nests at the top of various still-bare trees. They start by collecting sticks and dropping them on the branches they have chosen as their home, often the remains of a previous nest. To begin with some twigs will drop through, so look out below, but gradually they lodge in the tree and a rather unruly nest begins to form. Being larger, they can afford to nest where they can be seen, but most birds are much more secretive about it.

House Martins, Song Thrushes and Blackbirds use mud in the construction of their nests, so a small, wet, muddy patch in your garden, may make it easier for them, particularly if it has been dry.

Most birds are quite cautious when approaching their nest site, and you may see them stopping to check they are not being watched before they plunge into a hedge, bird box or shrub. However, there is a limit to how subtle a bird with grass and moss in its beak can be!

If you find the lives of our garden birds to be of interest, and would like to join in and count the feathered occupants of your garden, please contact me or visit the BTO Garden BirdWatch website (www.bto.org/ gbw). If you know of an organisation no more than 30 miles from York which would like a talk on garden birds call: Mike Gray 07596 366342 or gbwmike@gmail.com.

Blackbirds, Robins and Song Thrushes build nests in the ‘classic design’ – neat cups of woven grasses and small twigs, camouflaged with moss and lined with mud. Chaffinches nest in tree forks and use cobwebs to stick it in place. You may see them flitting around fences and window frames, picking off webs. Spiders are of great importance to birds in spring, not only are they food for adults and chicks, but their webs are an essential ingredient of many nests. Long-tailed tits make the most intricate and delicate of all our garden birds’ nests – which they couldn’t do without spiders. They spend three weeks creating their pouch-shaped luxury home, beginning with a cup and dome of moss stuck together with cobwebs; next comes lichen on the outside for camouflage, and finally a filling of feathers for insulation. Studies have shown that they can use up to 2,000 feathers in a nest, and in collecting all their materials, need to fly some 600 miles!

JOHN HARDING

Village Diary

Things change so please check with the organiser before setting out. Have you an event? Please send brief details (preferably following the format below) to causeway.editor@gmail.com in plenty of time!

APRIL

01937 842561 - kilbyanne@googlemail.com Closing date for entries Sunday 21st June.

22nd April 8pm Thorp Arch Village Society AGM

JULY

The Pax, All Welcome.

10th – 12th July – Boston Spa Festival

JUNE

More information to come, or check out the Facebook page for Boston Spa Festival.

6th June - Boston Spa Gala

OCTOBER

Sunday 28th June 10am - 6pm. Scarecrow Trail And Strawberry Tea

Friday 2nd October Harvest Supper in the Village Hall.

St Peter’s Church. This year’s scarecrow theme will be characters from children’s musicals/ films. As last time the Trail will be along the village Main Street with lots of space available in the church yard for anyone wishing to enter a scarecrow. This is solely for road safety reasons.

NOVEMBER Saturday 7th November Walton Village Hall 3rd Annual Bonfire and Fireworks Night

Strawberry Teas will be served in the Church along with a cake stall (baking donations welcome). Various activities will include Splat The Rat, Guess the name of the scarecrow, children’s tombola, and more. Free admission to the trail. All entry details for the scarecrows to Anne Kilby

Thursday 12th November - Fashion Show St Peter’s Church.

Notice Board CAN YOU HELP WETHERBY TRANSPORT GROUP?

kept unclimbed as a shrine to the Dragon God. The national sport being a jovial kind of archery contest with much joshing between the participating teams. Yet here modernity has crept in, the bows being the modern compound type. It led one member to ask if Bhutan accepted immigrants!

The Wetherby and District transport group has been meeting for some time and is trying to obtain funding for improved bus services locally particularly to York. Local people’s experience with bus services and difficulties they might have attending hospital appointments for example or students attending college are powerful tools in actually getting our local politicians to take action.

We meet again on the 11th March when John Clithero will present The Music of Rogers and Hammerstein. Starting in Clifford Methodist Meeting Room at 9.30 for a warming cuppa and the talk starting at 10am.

If you have any personal experiences we could use can you email nmidgleytapc@outlook.com. All information will be anonymised.

All retired gentlemen from Boston Spa, Thorp Arch, Clifford and Braham welcome. ROY HOLLINGWORTH

BOSTON SPA MEN’S FORUM On Wednesday 26th February Geoff Queen gave a most interesting talk about his trip to the mountainous kingdom Bhutan. This country, a buffer state between India and Tibet came together in the early 1900s as a monarchy and is still ruled by a descendant of the first King. It has a constitution which calls on all those engaged in the country’s service to conduct their duties for the wellbeing of the nation and the happiness of the people. Health care is free for all at the point of use, up to and including travel to its neighbour India, if treatment is not available in Bhutan. Education is also free up to and including university. It is governed by the “Dhzong” system, each town and village having an office split into a monastery (Buddhist) a school and a civic administration. All its officials wear colourful national dress whilst on duty. It is financed by the export of hydroelectric power to India and a tourist tax of $200 per day (now $250) for each visitor. It has embraced much of modern electronic life but has managed to avoid such excrescences as road side advertising hoardings, indeed with the views Geoff showed us of the Himalayas to the North who needs such eyesores? One of which is 17

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Women’s Health Menopause - The Second Spring

and bloating. The way she feels about getting older and the loss of her ability to reproduce will greatly depend on her individual circumstances and any physical, mental or emotional stresses she has can exacerbate the symptoms.

You may well be dreading this phase of your life, but if managed well with time taken to look after and nourish yourself you could find that when you come through the menopause you feel wiser, calmer and healthier.

A few women will sail through this period with no symptoms whatsoever.

The average age a woman in the UK begins her menopause is 52. The menopause can be defined as a transition from the reproductive to the non-reproductive state. It’s important to recognise however that the menopause is not a disease but simply a natural progression to a different stage of life. Just as a woman progressed from girl to womanhood in her teenage years with the hormonal and emotional changes that entailed.

With all of this to contend with is it any wonder that women have swept the subject under the carpet and not talked about it? Well the good news is that women are starting to support each other and have discussions around all things menopause. There’s a long way to go but many employers are becoming aware that women need to be supported in the workplace and partners and families are more knowledgeable. If you’re an employer reading this or have a woman in your household around this age take note!

Menopause is another opportunity in a woman’s life to make a real difference. Some women struggle with their periods or were exhausted with little help during pregnancy and childbirth. Chinese Medicine works in 7 year cycles and states that a woman has three opportunities to really make a difference to her health. These are when she begins her periods, during pregnancy and childbirth and during the menopause. And so here the opportunity to create a second spring presents itself.

Well we’ve certainly come a long way from the days when women would be sectioned and locked up in a mental institution and diagnosed as ‘mad’. No wonder we never spoke about it! The actual menopause is defined by not having had a period for a year. However, there is simply no way of knowing when a woman’s last period will be. Post-Menopause is described as not having had a period for two years.

Peri-menopause is the transition period into the menopause. This is the time women may start to notice changes. There may be changes in the regularity and length of her periods. Maybe they are a little further apart, or closer together. They could be heavier or lighter and she may even miss a complete period. Any combination of these factors is likely. During this phase many women also start to experience low mood, joint pain, hot flushes and insomnia. The flushes could be particularly bad at certain times of the day or night and she could even feel quite cold after the flush. Fuzzy thinking, the inability to concentrate and poor memory can be particularly challenging, especially if her job expects her to be on top of her game. Additionally many women experience emotional symptoms such as stress, anger, anxiety, guilt and shame as well as headaches, panic attacks, bladder problems and issues with digestion

So what can we do to make the transition easier and minimise the symptoms? Most importantly the time to begin preparing is NOW! You can start by: • Making sure your diet is packed full of essential nutrients. • Reducing or cutting out caffeine and alcohol (these could be likened to pouring fuel on a fire). You may well notice hot flushes and headaches increase after consumption of these products. • Not overworking. • Exercising regularly. Some exercise that makes you break a sweat is great as it helps to release heat. Weight-bearing exercise to 20

Women’s Health support your bones is also important and yoga or tai chi to balance mind, body and soul will also be beneficial.

Together, we deliver menopausal workshops for women at Boston Spa Acupuncture Clinic which is based on the High Street in Boston Spa.

• Rest and Relaxation. Taking a little time out of your day to relax and replenish. Maybe having a candlelit bath or listening to some gentle music or just relaxing with a book.

If you’re interested in learning lots more and would like to come along and see how we can help you help yourself then please get in touch. The workshops will begin in April and will be delivered in two parts. We plan to run them throughout the year.

• Breathing techniques and Meditation. The breath really has the capacity to calm the entire nervous system. As for meditation I recommend the Headspace App.

For more information on joining one of these courses, or to book an acupuncture, nutrition or yoga class please contact Donna:

• Appropriate supplements - through the advice of a qualified nutritionist.

Mobile 07984408939 info@boston-spa-acupuncture.com www.boston-spa-acupuncture.com

HRT or not? You may want to take HRT or you may want to make the transition naturally. Or you may want to do both. Either is perfectly fine but before you make the decision you will probably want to know a lot more about both options. At Boston Spa Acupuncture and Yoga, Donna Erodotou is an experienced acupuncturist trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine and holds an honours degree in acupuncture. Her special interest is Women’s Health which encompasses periods, endometriosis, PCOS, Fertility and Infertility including IVF, pregnancy and menopause. She is also a yoga teacher trained with the British Wheel of Yoga, Yoga Alliance and is a Womb Yoga Teacher delivering gentle practices throughout the different stages of a women’s life. She teaches Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga Yoga and Gentle Yoga for Relaxation at Boston Spa Village Hall, runs Healing Gong Sound Baths and Music for Meditation evenings all in Boston Spa.

DONNA ERODOTOU

Jenny Thewlis is an experienced nutritional therapist who runs a successful nutrition clinic, delivers corporate wellbeing workshops and also teaches nutritional therapy skill to Masters students in York. Jenny specialises in addressing women’s hormonal issues through sustainable diet and lifestyle changes. 21

JENNY THEWLIS

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Environmental Action Tackling Climate Change; Nurturing our Environment

of local sewage overflow sites and a discussion followed about the responsibilities of Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency to monitor and limit raw sewage outflows into the river. Mark Barrow and local politicians are meeting Yorkshire Water and others to take the matter further and will report back at the next meeting.

Boston Spa, Wetherby and Villages Green Group held another very well attended meeting on Tuesday 28th January at Boston Spa Methodist Church.

Suggestions were made about other urgent environmental issues: poor air quality, home energy, public transport, organic farming and repair shops.

The group was formed in June 2019 by Penny Stables and others as a non-political local environmental action group committed to reducing carbon emissions, increasing biodiversity and reducing waste here in our local area. Four lively meetings have now been held and the group goes from strength to strength with members from Wetherby, Thorp Arch, Walton, Clifford, Collingham, Bramham, Bardsey and other villages as well as Boston Spa.

The level of enthusiasm, commitment, knowledge and interest shown at the meeting was impressive. Anyone wishing to get involved, please email pennystables@gmail.com or get in touch via the website. Alternatively, come to the next meeting which is on Wednesday 25th March at 7.30pm at Boston Spa Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome. JUDITH DAHLGREEN

Eco tips for April – In the bathroom

The group now has over 114 members, a website www.bostongreengroup.co.uk and a facebook page. Five sub groups have been formed to collate information, increase local knowledge and organise environmental action here on our doorstep. These groups are: safer cycling, reducing food waste, promoting recycling , protecting and planting trees and promoting wildlife corridors. Each sub group has a leader and the meeting included updates from each group. There were lively discussions on a range of interesting issues including a campaign to get the Walton Gates to Wetherby cycle track resurfaced, local anaerobic food waste digestion, accreditation of Boston Spa as a plastic free village, a ‘Mass Unwrap Day’ at a local supermarket, an appeal for land for tree planting , collection of saplings and a visit to a local recycling plant.

Spend less time in the shower. Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £7 off your energy bills each year, per person. www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energyefficiency/energy-saving-quick-wins Turn off the tap while cleaning your teeth. Drinking water uses energy in many stages of processing and transport before it gets to the tap. If your toilet cistern holds more than 6 litres of water, put a Hippo Water Saving device (or a brick) in it to save water each time you flush. (www.hippo-the-watersaver.co.uk/) If your shower takes hot water straight from your boiler or hot water tank, fit a water efficient shower head. This will reduce your hot water usage while retaining the sensation of a powerful shower.

Mark Barrow, local filmmaker, presented an excellent underwater film of the River Wharfe showing horrific amounts of plastic pollution, general litter and raw sewage present in the river locally. Tests have shown that the level of E Coli present in the water has been up to 43 times the limit for bathing. The group were surprised at the lack of local monitoring of water quality in respect

Switch to eco cleaning products which biodegrade in the sewerage system and don’t damage aquatic life in our rivers and seas. 24

Change Four Things

As I write it’s 1st March, the beginning of autumn, and I’m sitting in a shady corner of the garden here in Scarborough.

conservation in the village. Hidden out of sight among the dunes is their recycling area where they make compost out of garden waste, have created dog poo wormeries and make eco-bricks from plastic bottles stuffed with waste plastic. Their war on pollution even extends to light pollution and we are politely asked to switch off our outside lights after 9.30pm so as not to interfere with the flight of night birds.

No, not that Scarborough, this one is 5,000 miles due south of the other one, half an hour’s drive from Cape Town, on the western coast of the Cape peninsula. I don’t wish to gloat, but the sky is endlessly blue, the beach is endless and white and the Atlantic rollers are mesmerising but icy, bringing cold currents from the Antarctic. Little lizards dart up the posts of our step, and tortoises graze in the garden - oh, no they’ve eaten all the spinach again!

When I first came to South Africa I didn’t know what to expect, but for some reason I thought it would be hot and dusty, if not dirty and smelly, and I expected litter. Well, we’ve walked miles and miles on beaches this holiday and without exception they have been pristine - with barely a scrap of plastic, not a bottle top or cigarette butt. This may not be true of the country as a whole, but it does show that every person in every little community can make a difference.

Scarborough is a self-proclaimed Conservation Village, about the size of Walton and Thorp Arch together. The locals are committed to looking after this lovely place and their mission statement is to have the lightest possible footprint on their planet.

We saw this notice in a local shop window - how I wish we could do this back home!

Life revolves around the Village Hub where, at Foragers’ Restaurant, you can have delicious smoothies and predominantly wholefood dishes, while the children play on the amazing tree/ adventure playground. They have a grocery shop well stocked with whole grains and fresh fruit and veg, and they sell toiletries and cleaning products all of which are eco-friendly. But, the thing which I liked best was that the residents bring their own containers to be refilled with washing-up liquid and shampoo which is dispensed from big containers. People also bring their glass containers in to be recycled here and receive a 4 rand deposit (about 20p) which is a good incentive. There is a strong emphasis on cycling and the Hub rents out bikes - there’s no shortage of bronzed sinewy people in Lycra refuelling on all the good food on offer.

PAULA LETTS #changefourthings

There are committees, and teams and a youth squad all dedicated to furthering the pursuit of 25

Book Review Wilding, by Isabella Tree

Along the way, the author shares a wealth of knowledge and information and manages to debunk a number of myths and misconceptions about nature as most of us know it. For example, she deems it unlikely that England was once covered in dense forest. The dread ragwort isn’t nearly as dangerous as we have been led to believe; a horse would need to eat something like its own weight of the stuff to be poisoned by it. It was also fascinating to learn how trees communicate with each other.

Every once in a while, a book comes into your hands that challenges your thinking in such a way as to rattle your cage and make you see things in a different way. Wilding, by Isabella Tree, is such a book. In 2001, when the realisation hit Isabella Tree and her husband Charlie Burrell that their 1,400 hectare farm on land of heavy clay at Knepp in West Sussex was no longer viable, when they had exhausted every possibility of squeezing anything productive out of the land, they decided to return their ancestral holding to nature. It was a huge leap of faith, but it has paid off spectacularly. In just over a decade, the introduction of freeroaming cattle, ponies, deer and pigs – proxies for the large animals that once roamed freely in Britain – has resulted in an extraordinary increase in wildlife and plant diversity.

As Caspar Henderson writes in The Guardian (June, 2018). “Wilding is more than the story of a single project, however ambitious. Tree is a trenchant critic of the intensive agriculture that has led to soil degradation and erosion. She questions the goal-driven frameworks of much conservation work: when there is no preferred end state, formerly rare and even vanished species tend suddenly to reappear…. She also makes the case that it is possible to feed 10 billion humans on this planet while also leaving more space for the wild.”

Species that have decreased to dangerous levels elsewhere in the country are thriving at Knepp, including turtle doves, nightingales and blue emperor butterflies. All by itself, and in the space of only a decade, the Burrells’ clapped out agricultural land has become a functioning ecosystem again, with formerly common plants, as well as some rare ones, returning in profusion, together with insects, bats and other organisms. Scrubland, wetland and other habitats are gradually rewiring themselves as herbicides and pesticides disappear.

What the ‘Knepp experiment’ reveals is how we might regain that wilder, richer country. It shows how rewilding works across Europe and its many benefits for the land (and us), and how it can generate economic activity and employment. Most of all, Wilding is an inspiring story of hope. ANNE WATTS

The process was not an easy one, with resistance from local folk and delays and obstructions in obtaining necessary funding; it is also a heroic battle against the English addiction to tidiness in outside spaces. One of the most moving chapters was the one about the profusion of thistle, which took over a large area, much to the chagrin of local folk… until it was covered by a “blizzard” of painted lady butterflies. “The sound of a single butterfly is imperceptible,” she writes. “But tens of thousands have a breath of their own, like the backdraft of a waterfall or an accumulating weather front. It feels as though the oscillating susurration of their wingbeats, pounding away on their supernatural wavelength, might dissolve the world into atoms.” 26

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For any detail changes, please contact Lisa Sherratt or Victoria Etherington, Causeway.Editor@gmail.com

CONTACTS FOR THORP ARCH & WALTON ORGANISATIONS THORP ARCH All Saints’ Church Rev. Tricia Anslow 844789. Priest In Charge for Bramham Benefice, Rev. Nick Morgan 849471, 07387 728009, revnjmorgan@gmail.com. Parish Office 844402

WALTON St Peter’s Church, Village Church Council Clergy: See All Saints’. Church Wardens: Doreen Lister 842344, Bill Kilby 842561. Secretary: Anne Kilby 842561. Treasurer: Fiona Robinson 843338, fionarob@outlook.com. Flowers & Cleaning: Liz and Geoff Harrison 845978

All Saints’, Parochial Church Council Church Wardens: Kathleen Sanderson 844818. David Spurr 842772, david@mulberrycroft.me.uk. Secretary: Georgina Squires 849747, Treasurer & Covenant Secretary: David Spurr 842772. Flowers: Margaret Smyth 841181

Walton Cricket Club Chair: Caroline Hobson 07860 615154, caroline.hobson@btinternet.com Walton Parish Council Chairman: David Aspland. Vice Chair: Brodie Clark CBE. Clerk: Helena Buck, secretary@walton-pc.gov.uk. Members: Stephen Sharp, Edward Simpson, Mark Wake, David Taylor.

Lady Elizabeth Hastings School Head: Michele O'Donnell, secretary@thorparch-leh.co.uk Friends of the School Chair: Hayley Cullen 07712 175178

Walton Village Hall Booking: Brian Eldred info@waltonvillagehallwetherby.org

TABS Cricket Club Chair: Adam Gough 07725 047555 Thorp Arch Community Association Secretary: Ian Hall 842665, ian.m.hall1@gmail.com

THORP ARCH & WALTON Wetherby Ward Councillors Norma Harrington 01133 788 557. Alan Lamb via The Fox and Hounds. Linda Richards 0113 3788557 linda.richards@leeds.gov.uk

Thorp Arch Parish Council Chair: John Richardson, Clerk: Tina Wormley 0113 289 3624, clerk@thorp-arch.org.uk. Members: Ian Grainger (Co-opted), Steve O'Loughlin, Nicola Midgley (Co-opted), Andrew Peacock (Co-opted)

Causeway Magazine Chair: Ian Hall ian.m.hall1@gmail.com. Secretary: Jane Clayton 843153. Editors: Lisa Sherratt and Victoria Etherington causeway. editor@gmail.com. Design: John Pendleton jlp@proportionmarketing.co.uk. Advertising: Emma Shellard 07903 632590 emmashellard@outlook.com.

Thorp Arch Tennis Club Chair: Neil Brooks. 07960 934497, brooksneil@hotmail.com. Secretary: Jill Tarr. 07709 893046, tarrhigh@hotmail.com. Treasurer: Rob Seldon 541797

Yorkshire Countrywomen’s Association (YCA) Chair: Judith Symonds 541799. Sec: Fiona Spence 520271 tawyca@ outlook.com, Treasurer: Fran Bowers 01423 880112

Thorp Arch Village Society Chair: Gaby Morrison 843376, gaby.morrison@outlook.com. Secretary: Sue Clayton 843181. Treasurer: Shirley Davies 541976.

Leeds City Council general.enquiries@leeds.gov.uk

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