Tribune Issue 94 West

Issue 94 – September & October 2015

Village Tribune

West Edition Serving the North Peterborough villages of Ashton, Bainton, Barnack, Helpston, Pilsgate, Southorpe and Ufford

Helpston artist takes pride of place - page 15

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Justice and Peace The Islamic State (IS), Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and Al Qaeda continue to threaten world peace and although some governments have reported modest success in dealing with them, new groups continue to arise.

The problem that currently claims the headlines is migration. The topic is disconcerting because it is difficult to discern a common view. Hardliners want the unfortunate aspirants sent back where they came from.

Soft hearts take them into their homes. The rest are baffled, especially in forming an attitude to people who risk everything to travel thousands of miles in search of a better life. It has been estimated that already 2,000 would-be migrants have been drowned in the Mediterranian having paid outrageous sums to unscrupulous boat owners. And yet some migrants are welcome if they can staff our hospitals or enhance the productivity of our industry and commerce.

Some of these migrants are fleeing persecution, often promoted by their home state.

Sudan is particularly intolerant.

Recently two Christian pastors visited a church which was feeling the weight of oppression.

Their purpose was to bring comfort and yet they were arrested and accused of undermining the constitution and waging war against the state. They are soon to be put on trial and could face the death penalty.

There are signs that the fanatical attitudes of some

Muslims are infecting Hinduism.

India is a secular state and the Constitution of 1950 guarantees freedom of religion. For many years, the country has been generally tolerant, with several religions existing side by side.

More recently a tendency has arisen in political circles to seek to regard Hinduism as a national religion. A specific term, Hindutva, has been coined to describe this attitude which has been gaining ground since the BJP party was elected only last year. In the first 300 days of BJP rule, to March this year, 168 incidents of violence against Christians have been recorded. Five of the 28 Indian states had already brought in local laws reflecting the Hindutva ideology. These are anti-conversion laws forbidding conversion to any religion other than Hinduism.

A bizarre situation has arisen in Ukraine, where politicians are shamelessly exploiting religion in that polarised country. In the east, the Russian Orthodox church is upheld and violence meted out to all protestant churches resulting in death, injury and theft. In the west, Russian Orthodox churches have been attacked. The country east and west, is in dire straits and in need of some sort of international solution.

Another divided country is Korea which was liberated from the Japanese seventy years ago. It was one country then and both North and South celebrate Independence Day on 15th August, the date of their liberation. This was swiftly followed by a struggle between a Communist backed North and an American led South culminating in the division of the country. Ironically, in the days of the Japanese occupation people moved freely about the whole country. Now Christians on both

Village Tribune sides of the border focus on Independence Day with prayers to return to that state.

On a happier note, there is encouraging news from Cuba.

This column has reported on the volume of religious freedom violations, 170 in the first half of 2014. The current negotiations surrounding the US intention to restore diplomatic relations have brought the religious community into the process.

Happily again, the charity Freedom from Torture, which provides treatment and rehabilitation for victims of torture brought to the UK from all parts of the world, has secured access to Manchester United FC facilities.Torture survivors attend the training ground to receive coaching from the club’s staff, playing on the pitch used by the Premier League team for this purpose.

One Afghan survivor has had an approach to join the Manchester United Academy.

Finally, at the same time that the nation is celebrating the activity at Runnymede 800 years ago when King John was obliged to defer to his barons, our Parliament is vigorously debating a proposed ‘British Bill of Rights’ in place of the Human Rights Act. Much of this will be above our heads but we should at least value the passion that continues to endure after eight centuries, bearing out the wise words, often quoted, “the price of freedom is eternal vigilence.”

The comedian Tony Hancock put it this way: Magna Carta, did she die in vain? Evidently not. Praise God. The Wednesday meetings that focus on the title Justice and Peace are currently in recess. They will resume on Wednesday 23rd September at Bainton Church at 6.30pm. This is a Benefice event. Everyone welcome.

John Tanner

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Village Tribune (West) contacts...

Village Tribune Editor: Tony Henthorn 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP Tel: 07590 750128 villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Ashton Distributor: Hilary Smith Thatched Cottage, Ashton, hilly. smith@virgin.net Bainton Distributor: Hilary Smith Thatched Cottage, Ashton Barnack Distributor: George Burage Opposite Millstone, Barnack Barnack Editor: Vacancy Owing to Zena Coles’ other commitments, we are currently looking for a volunteer to fill this role, please contact Tony Henthorn.

Helpston Distributor: Sue Young 1 Arborfield Close Helpston PE6 7DL Tel: 01733 252223 Pilsgate Distributor: Ellie Gompertz Westways, Stamford Road, Pilsgate Southorpe Distributor: Daphne Williams The Old Dairy Barn, Bottom Farm, Main Street.

01780 740511 Ufford Distributor: Frieda Gosling 2 Hillside Close, Ufford PE9 3BW Tel: 01780 740343 Advertising Sales Karen Atkinson Tel: 01733 253230 E-mail: tribads@aol.com Priest in charge Dave Maylor The Rectory, Millstone Lane, Barnack PE9 3ET Tel: 01780 740234 e-mail: dmaylor@btinternet.com

Villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

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Issue 94 Regulars

Tribune Contacts............................ Page 3 Advertising Rates........................... Page 4 School Report.............................. Page 12 Farming Diary............................... Page 16 Notice Board................................ Page 35 In my Tribland Garden................. Page 37 Letters to the Editor..................... Page 53 Church Services........................... Page 56 Parish Council & area news......... Page 57 Planning Applications................... Page 59 Local Contacts Directory............. Page 63

News & Features Justice and Peace.......................... Page 2 Safe Local Trades.......................... Page 5 Barnack Bowls Silver Jubilee......... Page 7 Lolham Crossing - One way ......... Page 7 VJ Day Commemorations.............. Page 8 Branch Piper appointed................. Page 9 Parking in Barnack......................... Page 9 Rabbit, rabbit............................... Page 10 Helpston artist recognition........... Page 15 Civic Awards................................ Page 18 Ashton Conservatives.................. Page 18 Sign up for Memory Walk............ Page 21 Crossing plans ‘on hold’.............. Page 21 Holy Terrors.................................. Page 22 Anna’s Hope fun run.................... Page 28 Chez Pierre................................... Page 29 Trib-land eateries......................... Page 30 John Clare Festival....................... Page 32 John Clare Cottage news............ Page 39 Preventing floods......................... Page 40 Brewery Tap review...................... Page 43 Classics on show......................... Page 44 FOCC - smiles all round............... Page 47 News from Etton.......................... Page 49 Saved by the bell......................... Page 50 Gigaclear updates........................ Page 54 In memory of Peggy..................... Page 55

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

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Barnack Bowls Silver Jubilee

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The Bluebell New customer at the Bluebell. Anyone know what it is?

Mark Williams It looks like a Swallowtailed Moth, or perhaps a rather tatty Lobster Moth.

Barnack club members arrived at the club to be welcomed by a Jazz band playing and a glass of Pimm’s on a warm Saturday afternoon to help Celebrate the clubs 25th Birthday, the afternoon was designed to repay the loyalty of all club members for their continued support for 25 years since it was formed by a group of villages all those years ago, with many still active members today.

Barnack still has one of the most admired greens and locations within the area.

Although the membership has grown and covers a wider area than just the Village today the friendly and competitive spirt is still strong within the club, members and their families and children enjoyed a range of fun fete style games from skittles to target golf and bowls and other games whilst enjoying BBQ sausages

followed by strawberries and cream.

The last few weeks have been very busy for all at the club with another successful mid-week Gala when the Club hosted 24 teams from various clubs in the wider Stamford area. Another enjoyable Garden buffet lunch was hosted by the Clubs Chairman and wife, and the positive results of our recruitment campaign for new members which has resulted in over 12 new members to the club so far this season.

Barnack Bowls Club is looking forward to another successful 25 years, we might not all still be here, but the club hope’s to grow and go from strength to strength continuing to play an active roll in the local community and as members of the Stamford Bowls league & Peterborough Bowls league, the Club still welcomes new members.

David Over Lolham Mill road is now one way. In the space of 10 minutes six cars ignored the no entry sign. I really hope no one is injured. Rail Track still has it’s cameras up and recording registration numbers

Copthill School Our little gardeners cutting lavender so we can dry it over the summer. We plan to make lavender bags for Mrs Hammond to take with her to Chernobyl for the children over there.

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Helpston Gala to return?

Following the surprise and disappointment that the Gala did not happen this year the Parish Council are keen to ensure that the Gala returns in 2016. The Gala is a very popular village event that provides a great opportunity to bump into friends and neighbours, pick up bargains and also raises several thousand pounds for good causes. The Gala could not be organised this year as the usual church committee were unable to get sufficient volunteers. Helpston is a big village with many talented and enthusiastic people of all ages who could make a bigger better Gala. Everyone who would like to help the Gala return next year is invited to a meeting in Botolphs Barn at 7:30pm on Wednesday 23rd September.

Hopefully there will be lots of ideas including the theme, programme and how the funds are distributed, leading to the return of a bigger and better Gala in 2016!

David Hankins It’s not uncommon to hear the skylark singing above our fields,but less common to see them parked up on the ground.

Village Tribune

VJ Day Commemorations On Saturday 15 August at 18.00 the Barnack and District Branch of the Royal British Legion held a very well-attended VJ Day Commemoration Service in St.Andrew’s Church at Ufford, the first service there since its reopening in July. On a beautiful sunny summer’s evening the Branch piper, Cameron Park, played as the congregation entered the church, with sunlight streaming through the windows.

The Rev. Dave Maylor welcomed everyone and the service began with the singing of “Praise My Soul the King of Heaven.” Following a bible reading by Peter Hudson, Elizabeth Young explained the little-known origins of The Kohima Epitaph which has become a familiar feature of annual Remembrance Day services. In his address Dave Maylor reminded the audience of the sacrifice made by the “forgotten army” in the Far East and of the responsibility of subsequent generations, including our own, to ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain and to strive for a better and more peaceful world.

Charles Clark of the British Legion revealed that his studies had only revealed four men from the Barnack area who had been involved in the Far East campaign, Sid Tuck being the best known because of the re-telling of his experiences in the History of Barnack.

Charles recalled how two of the four, including Sid, had been scheduled to be involved in the proposed attack to re-take Rangoon before it was cancelled with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan.

He reflected on how his view on the morality of dropping the

bombs had changed as he got older and how views generally of the Japanese people had changed over time and how he now enjoyed spending time with several Japanese friends.

Dave Maylor then offered prayers in memory of those who had fought and died in the Far East and in hope for a better world looking ahead.

After the congregation had sung “Who would true valour see,” Cameron Park played the lament “Pibroch” followed by a minute’s silence. Max Sawyer read the Kohima Epitaph and the branch standard was retrieved from the chancel steps and the standard bearer left the church followed by the piper.

The congregation then assembled outside to watch a fly-past of a Tiger Moth and two Austers – the pilots were Ray Guess (Pilsgate), Peter Grist (Ufford) and Phillip Shotbolt (Careby) – before being piped down to the White Hart where everyone enjoyed an evening of food, drink and convivial conversation with friends. All who attended would like to thank The Barnack and District British Legion for all their efforts in organising such an excellent commemoration of the real end of the Second World War. Keith Lievesley

Village Tribune

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Parking in Barnack

The Parish Council receives many complaints about inappropriate parking in the village and is asking drivers to consider the consequences of leaving their vehicles in locations that are obstructive and sometimes against the law.

Charles Clark (on left), Chairman of the Barnack & District Branch of the Royal British Legion, presents the newly appointed Branch Piper, Cameron Park, with his RBL member’s tie and badge at the July committee meeting. Cameron, an Old Stamfordian, knows the area well and is an Associate Director with local surveyors Barker Storey Matthews. He will next be in piping action at 1800 on Saturday15 August at Ufford Church for the Branch’s VJ commemoration .

Max Sawyer, Branch Secretary 01780 765507 audsaw@aol.com

Examples are: 1. Cars parked on pavements, how can pedestrians and especially those with prams and push chairs continue their journey?

2. Cars parked too close to junctions, especially near the Church and on Main Street at the bottom of Bishops Walk.

3. Cars parked across residents’ driveways.

Because the rate of incidents is increasing, the Council is forced to take the matter to the Police and City Council Parking Enforcement.

Please, for the sake of your fellow road users and more importantly, pedestrians, think before you park.

Barnack Parish Council

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Rabbit, rabbit...

The ancestors of Bugs, Roger and Peter Rabbit were probably legal immigrants, brought in by the Normans.

Rabbits were a luxury item, valued for their meat, fur and skins and many medieval manors and castles had a rabbit warren.

This was a small enclosure known as a coneygarth or coney gre which was often surrounded by banks and walls to prevent rabbits from escaping and to keep out predators. Sometimes there was also a ditch because rabbits don’t like swimming.

The rabbits were forced out of their holes by ferrets or dogs and were caught in nets.

The Luttrell Psalter which is based on a manor near Bourne and contemporary with Torpel, includes a lovely picture (above) of a grassy mound, with some rabbits disappearing down holes and others peeping out, while two rabbits sit on top appearing to be in conversation.

The most common archaeological remains of warrens are low mounds, usually rectangular but sometimes round, and known as ‘pillow mounds’. There was often a lodge or warren house where the warrener lived and worked and this also protected the warren from poachers. The carcases and skins were kept there.

We have no evidence of any poaching at Torpel but there must have been temptations when food was scarce.

According to a Charter of the Forest, about 1217, a poacher should not have his hands cut off and escaped with a fine, but his dog will lose a paw.

Over the years many rabbits escaped and spread over the surrounding countryside.

There is no clear evidence on the ground of a rabbit warren at Torpel Manor Field but there is a reference to warrens in the Victoria County History of Northamptonshire : “On the forfeiture of Thomas, Earl of Kent, the office of Parker of Torpel, with the warrens of Ufford and Upton..., was granted for life to Hugh of Northborough.” (the date was 1399) The right of free warren included the keeping of a pack of hounds and the hunting of foxes, hares, coneys and pheasants.

There is no documentary evidence that the warren was in, or close to, the garden of Torpel House. Torpel of course had a deer park and hunting was a popular pastime of the medieval lords and ladies.

We do not know where the warren at Upton was but we have documentary evidence that there was a rabbit warren close to Downhall in Ufford.

Downhall is now only the name of a wood north of Ufford Farm, but in the 16th and 17th centuries it was the site of a

Village Tribune

mansion owned by generations of the Quarles family. We know that it had a yard, barns, stables, brewhouse and other buildings to store carts, ploughs and so on. At the time of the Hearth Tax, 1662, Downhall was the grandest building in Ufford with 12 hearths, but compare this with Burghley House which had 70 hearths!

In 1566 Francis Quarles of Downhall compiled a list called a Terrier of all his land holdings in Ufford, Bainton and Ashton.

There are no references to Torpel other than ‘the demesne of Torpell’ and the ‘parke greane’ and the ‘parke waule’ and no mention of a Torpel coneygreen.

However the Terrier includes several references to the Ufford warren or coneygre (spelt in various ways!). “The furlong on the southe side of the balke which goeth from the coneygrey pale to Walcot stile ... vij acres abotting upon the conygre pale... One acre of demesne land.. the parson of Ufford on the southe side and the Conygree pale on the north...”

The remains of this warren are still visible in a corner of the cricket field in Ufford Park. The wall or pale is still standing and is about 8 feet tall. I believe that the cricket club still has a rabbit problem!

Frieda Gosling

Village Tribune

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

School Report

Celebrating 50 years

Exactly 50 years after the opening of John Clare Primary School Helpston, on the 13th July and exactly to the minute of 2.30pm when the school had it’s original ceremony, Head Teacher, Rachel Simmons welcomed pupils, staff and friends to a celebratory anniversary film presentation, talks, tea and cakes. She said how honoured she felt to be the school’s current Head. What she was later to describe as “a fabulous occasion and amazing opportunity for the children to meet ex-pupils” was tinged with nostalgia as well as a chance for shared laughter, as grown-ups who once were children met their old Head Teachers on an equal footing. The afternoon followed a launch of balloons, one for each pupil, and a picnic,

Head Teacher at John Clare Primary School, Rachel Simmons with Andrew Gagg, son of the late Mr H.W. Gagg who was the first Head of John Clare.

Mr Gagg transferred his pupils from the old School in 1965, the children walking in crocodile up West Street, clutching their piles of books

An array of Heads! With Andrew Gagg (far left) representing the late Mr H.W. Gagg, first Head Teacher of JC Primary School, in order of tenure they are: Glyn Singleton, Andrew Brown-Jackson, Ian Sutherland, Ann Hampson, Martin Fry and current Head, Rachel Simmons. They absolutely refused to be pictured ‘Tall ones at the back, front row kneeling!

which, unfortunately had to be indoors owing to the weather.

A talk by former pupil, Maxine Crowson, illuminated the day in 1965 when 93 boys and girls removed their books from their desks at the old school and marched two by two up to the new building with villagers looking out from their doorways.

“We couldn’t believe how light and clean the school was,” she said. The present hall was a classroom and a hall and there were only two classes: the Top Class and the Bottom Class.

The playground was big with grass all round it. We could run and run!” She commented on how quiet the 2015 piano seemed as Fergus Black accompanied the children’s singing. “Mr Gagg – (‘Gaggy’, we used to call him) used to stand up and hammer really loud on the piano and go all red

Village Tribune

Former Pupils of both the old school and new, Maxine Crowson (left and Alison Bryson, find their names in the old registers in the face!” she recalled. An unwelcome recollection were the old school toilets, smelly and dark and never visited unless you were desperate, making the ones in the new school very much appreciated.

She remembered doing “lots of art” and pottery, which Mr Gagg was very keen on, having a kiln room in what is now the Group room.

“The highlight of the year was going to Peterborough Show.

We ran amok!”

As a little girl she had a good spot to keep her eye on the progress of the new building, living close by in Woodland Lea. “We used to play with the bricks and take the putty out of the windows,” she said. When they stopped us from doing it,

Former Heads, Andrew BrownJackson (left) and Glyn Singleton enjoyed meeting up

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Rosey Shackell and Janel Pike recall old times with former Head, Ian Sutherland

we knew it was nearly time for the move.”

Maxine was delighted to meet up with her old school friend, Alison Bryson, whom she had not seen for over 40 years. The two were excited to find their names in the old registers. She concluded by saying: “I am happy to be here today and tell you that the things I learned here I still use today – they were very happy years.”

Rachel Simmons had spent time over the past year delving into the school’s history and was responsible for putting together a souvenir booklet which features many b&w photographs of past pupils as well as an article on Helpston’s old schools by Dr Avril Lumley Prior (a similar version in our last issue of the Tribune).

You can read about Maxine’s experiences more fully if you manage to get one of these, which should still be available from school at £3.

Those present were treated to a film show where 1960’s pupils were pictured parading through the village on May Day with a doll enthroned on a chair decorated with paper-covered wooden hoops starring as May Queen (a diplomatic decision

so as not to upset any parents!)

There were numerous ‘still’ pictures of outings, residential trips, sporting activities, plays and (as Rachel commented), lots and lots of dressing up.

Schoolchildren sang an old song from the English Carol Book: ‘I Brought You a Bunch of May’ at short notice, a copy only just having been made available and a song which included a rap sequence and the words:’ We take a pride in the things we do, working together and having fun.’ Chair of Governors, Claire Spooner, thanked everyone and wished the school ‘Happy Birthday’.

Finalising the presentations, Rachel said she had noticed how the ethos of the school, with its original aims to enhance provision of arts/music/PE had been maintained and developed; the school, supported by the governors, Friends and whole community, remained at the heart of the village.

As many former Heads turned out for the celebrations, it was clear that they had some happy memories of their years there.

They were: Glyn Singleton, Andrew Brown-Jackson, Ian Sutherland, Ann Hampson, and Martin Fry.

villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Nurture. Celebrate. * Inspire.

These are the key words used

to encapsulate the ethos of the school. That ethos was very much in evidence on this very special day.

There was also a talk from Andrew Gagg, younger son of the late Howard Wheelwright Gagg. He has written up his recollections in great detail, a fine resource for future historians. We reproduce an extract on pages 50-52.

News from John Clare School

June and July saw the children of John Clare School celebrating 50 years on our current site. On Tuesday 23rd June the school was deserted, with Twin Lakes theme park near Melton Mowbray the setting for a fantastic, sunny, fun-filled start to the 50th anniversary celebrations.

The following week saw the school return to the 1960s and a range of psychedelic costumes taking over from school uniform, with Hendrix, the Beatles and Lulu very much evident - fab and groovy!

Monday 13th July was the official celebration day. The event started with a rather damp but tasty school picnic, and at 1 o’ clock, all the children released a balloon, to which each had attached a message. We await news of how far they ventured!

As always, the last halfterm of the school year is exceptionally busy. Big Arts week this year continued the 1960s theme, with the children re-creating art of the time, such as Andy Warhol’s pop art and Mondrian’s abstract pieces. The 60s theme at Music Evening included gems from the school choir, ukulele orchestra, boys’ singing and a range of solo and small group

performances.

John Clare Primary’s collective talent was again demonstrated at the Midsummer cushions event, part of the John Clare Festival.

The school choir and Torpel singers provided musical delights and as ever, the standard of work entered in the poetry competition was outstanding.

Our children have once more shown their resilience and positivity, competing in a range of sporting events. Key stage 1 took part in a football tournament at Fulbridge Academy, Year 1 have been to Northborough in a multi-skills tournament and Key stage 2 took part in Soke Athletics at AMVC. Year 5s went to Peterborough School for a science afternoon, where they watched a play, then carried out a number of scientific investigations.

The Eco club attended the Peterborough Eco Awards to display their plans for the

Village Tribune Wildlife Area, and were winners in the “Land Use and Wildlife Area” category. We will be continuing to develop the Wildlife Area during the coming academic year.

On Saturday 11th July the school choir opened our Summer Fete. As always, there were stalls and activities for everyone from the Barbeque and cake stalls, to face painting, hook a duck and “soak the Head”. Over £2,000 was raised.

It is with sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs. Smith. The quiz team and Art Club will miss her enthusiasm and leadership, along with her many other roles within the school.

We wish her a very happy retirement. We welcome Miss Hunt as the new Broadwheel teacher and are sure she will settle quickly into the John Clare family.

As we write, the children and staff are enjoying a welldeserved Summer break. The teachers will be busy preparing new and exciting activities for September.

Former pupils of Helpston Primary School who made the transfer to the new John Clare building, Maxine Crowson and Alison Bryson examine the registers for 1965 with Eileen Cumberpatch (right), former secretary and Teaching Assistant. Maxine gave a talk to the current pupils about her experiences moving into the new school as a little girl.

Village Tribune

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Helpston artist takes pride of place Quickly, get yourself to Lincoln! For, in pride of place beside Lincoln Castle, stands a sculpture by Helpston artist, Vanessa Glockling. It is part of a ‘trail’ of sculptures depicting the barons who signed Magna Carta and is in recognition of the 800th Anniversary of the document. Vanessa’s ‘baron’ has been a labour of love, but with much toil as well as it was the very first time she had attempted a work of this nature – basically a base statue standing 160cm high, 60cm wide which needed covering!

It was expected that the 25 artists whose designs were accepted would paint the sculptures, but Vanessa’s enthusiasm and skill with mosaics prompted her to cover her baron in tiny glass tiles, making it unique among the group. When you see the result, you can’t fail to be impressed, so the project was worth puncturing her fingers with the glass and worth the efforts of her diligent, supportive husband (Nick) with his endless cups of tea, juice and walking of ‘Pip’ the couple’s Jack Russell.

Vanessa chose to make her baron ‘The Baron of Riches’, representing Baron Henry de Bohun, and demonstrating the richness and riches of the Fens, the marshes of the Wash providing habitat for birds, flora and fauna and being the possible place where King John’s Treasure was lost; also the bounty of vegetables.

“Unearthing potatoes’” she says are like digging up buried treasure. It is certainly a sculpture rich in diversity, detail and colour and it contains clear pictures of an aerial view of the Wash and Fens. There is flora

and bird life represented and the jewels in King John’s sword.

Using so many tiny little tiles on a curved surface was intricate, painstaking, time consuming work. Vanessa is relieved now to get her head up and relax into a spot of gardening and painting. Her garden, a delight for bees and butterflies at ‘The Feathers’, West Street was open to the public on John Clare Day and she is as keen on gardening as her art work, having been trained in Gardening & Garden Design at Capel Manor, Enfield in 2003.

Her baron was one of 25 and is part of a trail where clues can be collected in the form of letters of the alphabet and a word made up, for which there are small prizes. The works of art were the idea of Lincoln Business Improvement Group and had to be related to Lincolnshire or Magna Carta.

Vanessa was sponsored by Lincolnshire CC. Her journey into mosaics (where she is self-taught apart from one two-day course), came about when she was a buyer for Argos and Homebase in Milton Keynes, in charge of a Tiling Project and became fascinated by the beauty and diversity of

tiles. What she produces now is a very long way from the kitchen and bathroom!

Coming from Yorkshire and living in Helpston for 5 years, Vanessa bears only a trace of her Northern accent. In the autumn she will attend an art course in order to develop her artistic practice to help with the mosaics. She is on the committee of Peterborough Artists Open Studios, local artists whose studios are frequently open to the public.

The trail has created a real ‘buzz’ in the city of Lincoln and is due to come to an end around the middle of September, so if you wish to see it you need to hurry. When the ‘barons’ are removed they will be auctioned to raise funds for the Trussell Trust (foodbank charity). A similar project near Salisbury resulted in £65,000 being realised for one piece (Wallace from Wallace & Grommitt), so who knows what Vanessa’s baron will make?

Whatever it fetches, and her work stands out well above many other pieces, the money will be going to an excellent cause and Vanessa Glockling should be very proud of her outstanding contribution.

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Rosemary’s Farming Diary – September 2015 By the time the Tribune is posted through your doors the cereal harvest will have been more or less gathered in – maybe some winter/spring beans still to be harvested as I write these notes; second week in August. I think this year’s harvest was the earliest start we have had (16th July) for many years and will be deemed to have been the earliest since 1976.

The good weather has been very welcome, we hope it holds out until harvest is finished, with commodity prices in most sectors at their lowest level for years, saving on drying the cereals in store less damage to the soil structure, cultivations etc. are vital to the survival of the farming business when faced with such volatility in commodity prices.

On the plus side yields of oil seed rape, winter barley oats and winter wheats off the heavier land have produced some good averages, quality possibly not up to last year’s standard but in some cases better than we were expecting given the dry May when growing crops were lacking moisture.

The last few weeks conversations between farmers and associated businesses has revealed a very depressing state of the industry – when it comes to some saying that the land may be better not sown and left fallow because they could predict the possibility of growing a crop or crops at a financial loss. I think it sums up the plight of the industry this also reflects to all business that relies on agriculture; such as the machinery sector, fertilizer,

agrochemicals, landlords and last but not least HM Customs & Revenue.

I think what is so frustrating to our industry – the low prices are not being passed onto the consumer – there is still room for a better deal for the family shopping basket each week – the middle man could improve on what they are doing for consumers, I think the word ‘greed’ comes to mind.

In this country our food producing standards are the highest in the world, yet our industry is faced with competition from countries which do not comply with the rules and regulations which they are supposed to.

Successive Governments with the EU acting as big brother imposing ridiculous rules on our industry is destroying the very purpose of what agriculture is all about.

Farming is a business which has to plan crop rotation soil structure, feeding the crop to be sown throughout its growing period, keeping disease under control all at the

mercy of the weather, this is just the basics of what input is required for each crop; a minimum of a five year plan is required, as farmers have to feed and cultivate not only for the present but for the future growing crops, this used to be known as good farming husbandry.

Agriculture used to be the back bone of business in this country, when agriculture was down most other businesses were in a poor financial position with some not surviving. Every business has to make a profit as we are all aware of, enabling reinvestment for the future not only to feed the nation but as custodians of the countryside keeping our villages and farm land proud to be involved with.

The visual appearance of both the countryside and our gardens remind us autumn is fast approaching with daylight hours decreasing and some nights and early mornings seeing a dramatic drop in temperature. Let’s hope we have a good autumn; with weather we can all enjoy.

villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

17

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Civic Awards nominations wanted Queenie Fendley Have fun by all means but not at the expense of others. After the accident nearby yesterday two ‘boy racers’ went speeding twice around the Maxey/Northborough roundabout and when someone beeped them all they got were rude gestures.

Northborough Village Hall Tickets now available for Handful of Harmonies. Following their success at the Theatre Royal they will perform a variety of songs from shows on Saturday 17th October 2015 7.00pm, £6.00 Adults, £3.00 children to include 2 course supper. Please Ring 01778 345143, 01778 34746.

John Holdich Excellent A Level results have been achieved by our year 13 students this year at Arthur Mellows Village College 100% pass rate at A2 for A* to E grades. 51% of students achieved A* to B grades.

Peterborough City Council launched its annual Civic Awards last month to recognise residents, groups, organisations and businesses who have made a real difference to their local community.

The council is asking people to nominate individuals or groups they think deserve to be recognised for their efforts and achievements. The categories for the awards are as follows: l Young Person l Lifetime Achievement l Community Involvement l Business l Environment l Contribution to Art and Culture l Contribution to Sport Anyone can nominate a resident, group, organisation or business within the city for an award as long as the nominee meets the criteria for that award.

Nomination forms are available to download on the council’s website, www.

peterborough.gov.uk, from the Town Hall reception, or by emailingCivicAward@ peterborough.gov.uk The closing date for nominations is 5pm on Friday, 30 October 2015.

Nominations should be emailed to CivicAward@peterborough. gov.uk or posted to Danielle Wright, Civic Awards, Governance Department, Peterborough City Council, Town Hall, Peterborough, PE1 1HG. Following the closing date all nominations will be passed to the Honours Panel which will meet in November 2015 to draw up a shortlist of finalists and select the winner of each award category.

The winners of the Civic Awards will be announced at the Council meeting on 9 December 2015.

Winners will be presented with awards at a Civic Award ceremony in February 2016.

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Sign up for Memory Walk Around 225,000 people develop dementia every year – that’s the equivalent to one person every three minutes. The effects are more than just loosing your keys, as Alzheimer’s progresses, patients suffer severe problems with memory loss, communication, reasoning and orientation. Leading sufferers to develop out of character behavior such as agitation and aggression; in the latter stages even difficulty walking and eating unaided. There is a temptation to think ‘it will never happen to me’ however one in six people over 80 are victims making it increasingly likely that either you or a loved one will be affected.

This September, Memory

Walks will be taking place across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to raise money and awareness for a world without dementia. The Peterborough Memory Walk is taking place at Ferry Meadows Country Park on Sunday 20th September. We would like to encourage as many people as possible to join up and start fundraising today! If more incentive were needed research shows that people who adopt a healthy lifestyle, especially from mid-life onwards are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, so sign up today and make a difference to your life and the lives of suffers all over the UK. More info and registration details can be found at www. memorywalk.org.uk

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21

Peter Hiller A further meeting with Network Rail’s executives in charge of ‘Route Investment’ last week - wherein it became apparent the much heralded and consulted-upon planned East Coast Line crossings closure programme (affecting Tribland crossings in mine and Cllr David Over’s wards) is now very firmly on a back-burner at the far end of their York HQ canteen. I would be suprised if anything happened within ten years, if at all.

22

Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Holy terrors!

by Dr Avril Lumley Prior

Objects of Curiosity, Vice and Virtue Please, do come and see our ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ collected during my travels across Tribland. Here, you will find the quirky, the macabre and the absolutely outrageous – and almost all contained within the confines of your local church or its graveyard. Most were planted there centuries ago when the region was a more-superstitious place and everyone held a healthy fear of the Afterlife.

For the uneducated medieval peasant struggling to pay his dues and keep his family fed, the parish church was an oasis of entertainment, magic, mystery, bells and smells, bringing a splash of colour to his otherwise drab existence.

There, he could praise his Heavenly Father, pray for the soul of his earthly one and be at peace with himself and with God. Yet, at the same time, this sanctuary could be a house of horrors, populated by dastardly demons, baying beasts, grisly grotesques, cheeky builders and

lewd ladies.

Upon entering via the south door, he would inevitably be welcomed by an image of St Christopher on the opposite wall, re-assuring him that Glinton’s infamous ‘mooning’ he was unlikely to die that gargoyle day. Venturing further into All all-seeing informant who Hallows’, Peakirk, he could not encouraged, then gleefully fail to notice a devil interloping logged parishioners’ on two gossiping women, peccadilloes on his scroll in three grandly-dressed kings preparation for Judgement and three surprisingly-sprightly Day. (I suspect that Father skeletons. Thus, the illiterate Christmas’ elves, who spy down were reminded that Temptation chimneys on naughty children and indeed, in plague-ravaged during Advent, are Tutivellus’ fourteenth-century England, descendants.)

Death were always ominously Like demons, women (apart close at hand. Averting his from the Virgin Mary and gaze towards the chancel female saints) were regarded arch, our peasant would as temptresses by clerics. After have been confronted by the all, they were the progeny of terrifying spectacle of Christ’s Eve, Adam’s weak-willed mate, Final Judgement (The Doom), whose disobedience led to showing pious, obedient, the couple’s banishment from ‘suffering servants’ being Eden and the unleashing of the fast-tracked to Heaven, whilst unrepentant sinners were swiftly woes of the world. In 1123, a papal edict had decreed that dispatched into the mouth of all priests should be completely Hell (God’s repository for the celibate. Those who were wicked), where a pitchforkalready married had to ‘put their wielding Satan lay in wait. wives away’ in a nunnery or ‘live Across Tribland - and together as brother and sister’ throughout Christendom (which, of course, was virtually medieval stone-carvers were impossible to police). Therefore, obsessed by demons. It is to promote self-discipline, ladies thought that they represented were cast in a bad light, hence Tutivellus, a busy, all-hearing, Etton: Sheela-na-gig

Peakirk: A warning to gossips

Village Tribune

Village Tribune

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their profusion in Doom pictures and the whispering Peakirk scandalmongers.

At Etton, a hatchet-faced hussy bares all beneath the parapet of St Stephen’s tower. She is a sheelana-gig (the name meaning ‘old hag’), a widespread phenomenon across Europe from the eleventh-century onwards. Sheelas usually adorned Romanesque (Norman) churches and castles, though it has been proposed that they their roots lay in pre-history as an ‘earth-mother’. Why then, were such ungodly creatures tolerated around Christian churches? Some scholars conjecture that they were installed to warn against Lust, one of ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’, and to distract evil spirits but it is equally-feasible they were to ensure the fertility of the soil, animals and humankind. This would not be the first time the Church and its parishioners hedged their bets!

There may have been a sheela at Barnack too. Set into the north wall of the Walcot or Lady Chapel is a gaping-mouthed, bulging-eyed, beetle-browed face that bears a startling resemblance to the so-called ‘earth mother’ which stands in Braunston-in-Rutland churchyard. I wonder if any ‘rude bits’ on the Barnack sculpture were hacked off out of respect for the Virgin Mary, when the head was

relocated during the chapel’s construction, c.1508, or afterwards during its renovation.

In contrast, there is nothing particularly feminine about the eight fifteenth-century gargoyles that grace the nave of St Benedict’s, Glinton, spewing water from the gutters away from the church walls. On the north side, there is a cowled monk, a demon, a dragon and what has been interpreted as the church’s master mason.

On the south face, the brazen builder re-appears accompanied by two griffins and a second demon. This time (according to local folklore) he’moons’ at Abbot Richard de Ashton of Peterborough (1439-71) who, it is said, was exceedingly-slow at settling his bills.

The word ‘gargoyle’ is derived from the Latin ‘gargula’ (‘throat’) and the French, ‘gargouiller’ (‘to gurgle’), which describe their actions exactly. Like sheelana-gigs, the concept probably was introduced to England by the Normans, who were prolific church builders. You will find a gargoyle re-sited in an early nineteenth-century gatehouse, in Ufford, and at St Mary’s, Bainton, in the shape of a piglike character, the sole survivor of a squadron of eight. But beware! Never stand beneath a gargoyle on a rainy day. Most of them still fulfil their duties, 600 years after they were was ensconced.

The Glinton case of ‘builder’s

Barnack: Earth goddess/ sheela-na-gig?

Bainton: Gargoyle

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bum’ is noteworthy, since most gargoyles presented the heads rather than the rumps of humans, animals or mythical beasts. In fact, distorted heads, known as ‘grotesques’ or ‘chimera’, loomed large in medieval churches. They include the Green Man or Jack-in-the-Green, whose face peers from and/or sprouts foliage, possibly symbolising spring, rebirth, the Woodwose (‘wild man of the woods’) and, from the Christian perspective, Jesus’ Resurrection. Yet, they also may have served as a warning that Satan lurked in many guises.

In reality, the term ‘green man’ did not emerge until 1939, when Lady Raglan deduced that they dated back to IronAge or Roman times and were revived by post-Conquest stone-carvers, who still upheld some pagan traditions, such as Maypole dancing and welldressing. So-called green men are common-place in medieval churches from Jerusalem to Ireland on pillar capitals, roof bosses, bench ends, fonts, grave-slabs and even in borders of tenth-century French manuscripts. However, there is no hard physical evidence to indicate that they existed in pre-Christian Britain and it appears that green men, too, were introduced to English architecture by the Normans.

Although Mike Harding’s delightful little book on the

*

Maxey: Balding green man

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

cites earlier examples in * subject Borneo, India, Nepal, Lebanon

Village Tribune

and Iraq, their true origins are lost in antiquity.

Closer to home, you will find two splendid green men on the capitals of the pillars in St Peter’s, Maxey. They are so similar to their Castor counterpart that they add weight to the argument that both churches were the work of the same master mason, c.1120. There is another green man high in the chancel of the newly-restored St Andrew’s, Ufford, whilst fascinating faces stare from shrubbery on the ends of the pews; some are benign, some comical, others down-right menacing but all deliciously-different. These pew-ends are Victorian, inspired by their fifteenth-century predecessors, which survive in the western corner of the north aisle. Wonderful though they are, the earlier heads have no foliage, so cannot strictly be called ‘green men’.

In the chancel of St Botolph’s, Helpston, a frightful spectre rides a salivating Hell-hound. It appears to be a skeletal monk whose deep eye-sockets had been drilled to hold glass replicas. How eerie they must have seemed, glinting in the flickering candle-light, especially if the figure had been painted! It is one of a pair, whose badlyworn companion sits directly

opposite, signifying that they may have been the arm-rests of a stool used by a priest, visiting dignitary or lord-of-themanor. Alternatively (though less likely because they usually were associated with monastic churches), they could have flanked a row of misericords, shelved, tip-up seats which allowed elderly clergymen to rest their posteriors during long services. Up-market versions were often carved with demons, squabbling spouses, drunken men, pot-bellied brewers, wanton women or voluptuous mermaids (notorious for luring lecherous sailors onto the rocks). A multitude of publicans and sinners!

Corbels (stone structures supporting roof timbers) and label-stops (terminals for window- and door-mouldings) gave stone carvers’ and their patrons’ imaginations another opportunity to run riot. Inside St Benedict’s, Glinton, three demons gurn and growl at three smartly-clad ladies and two angels holding the shields of SS Peter and George, marking the line of an earlier roof (replaced in 1817). At Ufford church, two roaring lions act as label-stops on the tower arch, complementing the lion-masks on the bowl of the fifteenthcentury font and pew-end below, whilst hiding behind a curtain in the Claypole Chapel, in St Andrew’s, Northborough,

is figure thought to be Sloth, another of ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’.

Ufford: Victorian green man

Helpston bench-end

Ufford: Re-sited gargoyle

The War on ‘Holy Terrors’ In 1533, Henry VIII (150947), seeking a divorce from Katharine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and declared himself head of the new state religion, The Church of England.

In 1539, he suppressed the monasteries and raised cash for his coffers by selling off their assets. Although Henry robbed Cathedrals and parish churches of their portable treasures, he tended to leave the buildings intact. It was not until the reign of his son, Edward VI (1547-53), a Protestant fundamentalist, that all forms of religious imagery were proclaimed idolatrous and distractions from devotions. Consequently, saints’ statues were defaced or destroyed, stained-glass windows smashed and wallpaintings (‘the poor man’s scripture book’) whitewashed over. Now, congregants were instructed in the Christian faith through the written-word rather than ‘story-telling’ and the use of eye-catching visual aids.

Meanwhile, former priests and closet-Catholics were rooted out and ordered to recant on pain of execution. Thus, a new form of holy terrorism had evolved.

In the 1650s, Oliver Cromwell

*

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Protector of England * Lord (1653-58) thrust Puritanism,

an even more-extreme brand of Protestantism, upon his subjects. All forms of merrymaking, including the celebration of Christmas, Easter and May Day were strictly forbidden and any vestiges of what was perceived to have been pagan or ‘popish’ trappings such as altars were targeted. The only sculptures that remained intact were out-of-reach or on crucial elements of church fabric, such as corbels, pillar-capitals and gargoyles. As we have seen at Ufford, the fifteenth-century pew-ends endured because adequate seating was essential in an era when lengthy sermons were the norm.

Nevertheless, some lost ‘graven images’ have been recovered. The Braunston ‘earth mother’, which had been pressed into service as a church doorstep, was rescued c.1920. At Peakirk, part of a preConquest cross-shaft, carved with intertwining beasts, was used to fill a gap in a farmhouse wall and then subjected to a more-ignominious fate as a paving-stone in the crew-yard.

It was purchased by Reverend Moore, Rector of Spalding (1866-89) and returned to the village, in 1880.

Peakirk’s wall-paintings were whitewashed over during the mid-sixteenth century, at roughly the time that All Hallows

Northborough: ‘Sloth’

was rededicated in St Pega’s honour. They were revealed, in 1844, by Edmund Tyrell Artis of Durobrivæ and Castor fame, who whitewashed them again in order to preserve them for future generations. In 1950, Edward Clive Rouse removed the protective covering and unwisely coated them with wax, trapping moisture from the masonry. As a result, they are now in dire need of moresympathetic and horrendouslyexpensive restoration.

There are still discernable vestiges of wall-paintings at Barnack and Glinton too. In fact, before Edward VI’s purge most of the interiors of our churches would have been covered in them. Some, including those at Peakirk, Castor, Nassington and at the high-status secular residence, Longthorpe Tower, undoubtedly were the work of experts, whilst others may have been executed by the parishioners themselves. It all depended on how much the church’s benefactor was prepared to pay. Now, with the exception of Peakirk, the Tribland wall-paintings probably are beyond redemption. The glimpses of Hell that once terrified God-fearing, medieval mortals into striving to save their souls have gone forever.

A catalogue of terrors If you have enjoyed this article and would like to learn more, there are numerous lavishly-

Tansor: Cat-in-a-corbel

Village Tribune illustrated publications on grotesques, gargoyles and green men, including Mike Harding’s and the Shire series.

Perhaps, you would like to compile your own inventory of holy (and unholy) terrors.

Once you have exhausted Tribland’s churches, you could visit Castor with its photogenic, early twelfthcentury capitals displaying wild beasts and warriors and the wall-paintings describing St Katharine’s martyrdom.

There is a lovely little tearoom in the village, where you can take refreshments after your exploration. I also recommend Fotheringhay’s fabulous gargoyles and portrait of a stern-looking skeleton beneath the tower. At Yarwell, you will find a gargoyle standing on-end in the south chapel and a ‘Woodwose’ on a memorial in the north. In Tansor chancel, there are misericords (originally from Fotheringhay) and a facepulling cat-in-a-corbel, whilst in Warmington chancel a figure of ‘Wrath’, yet another ‘Deadly Sin’, stabs herself reiterating the self-destructiveness of anger.

Time and space prevent me from adding to the list for most medieval churches contain ‘holy terrors’ in some form or other.

Besides, it would be more fun to discover them for yourself.

Before you set off, do make sure that the buildings are open and don’t forget your camera.

Happy hunting!

Braunston: ‘Earth goddess’

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

27

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Anna’s Hope 5k fun run Carole Hughes, founder of local children’s charity Anna’s Hope is calling for families to run or walk and have fun together in the Anna’s Hope 5k Fun Run in the Perkins Great Eastern Run this year on October 11th.

You could even dress up a fairy like Carole and many of the supporters of Anna’s Hope.

The charity has been involved with the run for the last 8 years and thanks to those who have raised funds through sponsorship, the charity is now making a real difference to local children diagnosed with a brain tumour through the Anna’s Hope Therapy which supports a pioneering neuro-­‐rehabilitation service called Brainbow.

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29

From the Kitchen of Chez Pierre Fumé Paté de Maquereau ‘Allo good people of Tribland I hope you are all well and enjoying this summer we have been having lately in our villages. We recently had the pleasure of some friends’ company as guests for supper at Chez P and I decided to create an easy quality menu, both simple in food and to prepare.

Our guests included a farmer well-known for discerning tastes, for his fine wine certainly, but perhaps more rustic leanings for his food.

Knowing he likes to drink only the finest of wines I asked him to bring a very special bottle from his cellar for our collective pleasure and I would please him with his plate in reward.

Even though I do say it, it is not often our food is eclipsed by the fabulous quality of a guest’s wine and this occasion was no exception.

My entrée was smoked mackerel pāté. This is not everyone’s first choice but I have created a recipe which, over the years, has never been eschewed, even by the ‘too fishy’ camp.

This abundant fish is the dandy of the seas; available readily and fairly cheaply in most supermarkets and providing much healthiness from its oiliness. You may want to make this pâté as a starter as I did or as a light lunch with a green salad, both with ciabatta rolls halved lengthways, toasted and sliced into fingers. Buy the vacuum sealed packs of fish - with one fillet per guest for a starter course.

For four: 4 smoked mackerel fillets, 150g ordinary cream cheese (not ‘lite’ rubbish) 100g crème fraîche, 4tsp hot horseradish sauce, a quartered lemon to squeeze and a small handful of finely chopped dill. Skin the fillets and check for bones (unlikely but not unknown) Flake the fish finely (discarding the tough end tail tips) and add the cheese, crème fraîche and horseradish. A grinding of black pepper and lemon juice to taste then fold through the dill.

After an hour or so in the fridge, serve in white ramekins on oblong dishes with sliced toasted ciabatta arranged at one end – in a crisscross.

Simple, non? I strongly advise making too much, as it is very moreish and your guests will almost certainly want extra.

Certainly, our guests liked it very much.

They gave a 10 of 10 for taste and wished for the recipe that is now here in your magazine. Unfortunately,

although normally one of France’s finest offerings, our wine gift was not as good as it no doubt once had been, and so we relied on the Chez Pierre House White, an unpretentious yet consistently reliable Sauvignon Blanc we have served here for many years and source from Southern France.

Bon appétite mes amis.

Pierre To Janet at Glinton: tinned potatoes are very cheap and fine for your corned beef hash. In France we are able to buy jars of new potatoes from the ‘Reflets de France’ company, of Normandie, which are very good for this quick and easy supper.

askchezpierre@gmail.com

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Trib-land eateries are star pe of Monday June 1, 2015.

Top marks for Granary at Willow Brook Farm Data from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has found the some 141 eateries in Peterborough failed to meet satisfactory food hygiene standards at the time of their last published inspection.

A total of seven eateries gained zero stars meaning “urgent improvements needed”, 64 only gained one star, meaning “major improvements” were needed, and 70 got two stars, meaning “improvements necessary.”

The good news is that most businesses preparing food in Trib-land were ranked three or above. Eateries are judged on

three criteria: l How hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored. l The condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities. l How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.

The scheme is run by local authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales in partnership with the Food Standards Agency. The information published here is from the Food Standards Agency website as

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One Star (Major improvement necessary) Jade Garden 2 Skaters Way, Werrington, Rated 1 on 09-Mar2015 The Millstone Inn Millstone Lane, Barnack, Rated 1 on 20-Apr2015 Werrington Traditional Fish & Chips 1282 Lincoln Road, Rated 1 on 29-May-2014 Two Star (Improvement necessary) Newborough Groceries & Off Licence (Costcutters) 1 Fenside Drive, Rated 2 on 06-Jan-2015 Three Star (Generally satisfactory) Helpston Post Office & Store 1 West Street, Helpston, Rated 3 on 18-Jun-2013 The Banyan Tree 9 Church Street, Werrington, Rated 3 on 08-Apr2015 Four Star (Good) Barn Garden Centre Gunthorpe Road, Newborough, Rated 4 on 27-Feb-2014 Barnack School School Road,

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performers

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Barnack, Rated 4 on 10-May2013 Cherry House Restaurant 125 Church Street, Werrington, Rated 4 on 03-Dec-2013 Garden Lodge 37a Lincoln Road, Glinton, Rated 4 on 11-Nov2014 Glinton Service Station, Lincoln Road, Glinton, Rated 4 on 25-Jul-2013 P L Phoenix Butchers Ltd. 41 Guntons Road, Newborough, Rated 4 on 11-Sep-2013 The Ruddy Duck 12 St Pegas Road, Peakirk, Rated 4 on 25-Feb-2015

Five Star (Very good) Arthur Mellows Village College, Helpston Road, Glinton, Rated 5 on 19-Mar-2013 Barnack Pre-School School Road, Barnack, Rated 5 on 12-Dec2014 Barnack Village Hall School Road, Barnack, Rated 5 on 31-May2013 Clare Lodge 104 Welmore Road, Glinton, Rated 5 on 06-Jan-2015 First Steps Nursery, West End Road, Maxey, Rated 5 on

28-Jan-2014 Glinton Friendship Club Glinton Village Hall, High Street, Rated 5 on 11-Jun-2012 Glinton Post Office 15-17 High Street, Rated 5 on 27-Jun-2012 Happy Faces The Crown Inn, Lincoln Road, Glinton, Rated 5 on 24-Feb-2015 Helpston Playhouse and Under Fives John Clare Primary School, West Street, Rated 5 on 20-Mar2014 Helpston Scout & Guide Association West Street, Rated 5 on 02-Jan2013 Helpston Village Hall, West Street, Rated 5 on 02-Jan-2013 John Clare Heritage Centre Woodgate, Helpston, Rated 5 on 15-Sep-2014 John Clare Primary School West Street, Helpston, Rated 5 on 16-Sep-2013 Lake Lodge Maxey Rated 5 on 06-Nov-2014 Maxey House Residential Home Lincoln Road, Deeping Gate, Rated 5 on 12-Jun-2014 Maxey Village Hall, West End Road, Rated 5 on 03-Jan-2013 Mcdonalds, Lincoln Road, Glinton, Rated 5 on 25-Nov2014 Northborough Village Hall, Cromwell Close, Rated 5 on

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25-Feb-2013 Northborough PO & Gen Store 1-2 East Road, Rated 5 on 17-Aug2012 Northborough Primary School, Church Street, Rated 5 on 11-May-2015 Packhorse, 4 Lincoln Road, Northborough, Rated 5 on 30-Nov-2012 Peakirk Cum Glinton Primary Sc, School Lane, Glinton, Rated 5 on 04-Oct-2013 Robert Plant Eggs Waterside, Ufford Road, Bainton, Rated 5 on 06-Feb-2013 The Blue Bell,10 High Street, Glinton, Rated 5 on 04-Mar2014 The Bluebell, 10 Woodgate, Helpston, Rated 5 on 29-Oct2014 The Golden Pheasant, 1 Main Road, Etton, Rated 5 on 19-Jun2013 The Granary Scotsmans Lodge, Stamford Road, Helpston, Rated 5 on 13-May-2015 The White Hart, Main Street, Ufford, Rated 5 on 19-Mar-2014 Ufford Village Hall, Main Street, Rated 5 on 14-Feb-2013 Willow Brook Farm, Scotsmans Lodge, Stamford Road, Helpston, Rated 5 on 11-Feb2015

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

John Clare Festival fun A scorching summer’s day, sunhats and sandals, ice cream and beer, a cool church and a shady green, gentle words spoken softly and of gentler times, gave a restful feeling to the John Clare Society Festival, held in July to mark the Helpston poet’s birthday in 1793. An annual event, the festival seems somehow enriched year by year, giving Society members and not least residents of the village, some time and space to slow down and relax.

Those who commute long distances to work each day or have a job which entails long

John Clare Society President, Ronald Blythe, plans to retire next year after 30 years. This was very disappointing news for members who regularly pack the venue for his annual address and it is hoped that like pop stars on their ’last tour’ he will appear again!

We doubt that anyone can talk about the countryside in such an erudite, yet listenable way as Ronnie, always coming back to John Clare and his wonderful observational nature poetry. You may be growing older, Mr Blythe, but you will never run out of words to inspire us

Hurrah for Peterborough Morris! They ALMOST managed to stop the traffic in Woodgate on JC Festival Day. Refreshed by the specially brewed Golden Drop ale on a scorching day, they gave an energetic and entertaining performance outside the Bluebell. These lads are always looking out for new members and winter practice sessions start at Fletton in September so call 01733 235817 or look at the website www.peterboroughmorris.co.uk or follow on Facebook hours, find that village life can almost pass them by. They could be living in the heart of the city, only seeing their front door at 6.30 in the morning and 7 o’clock at night. There is shopping and gardening and outings and schoolwork and the bins to put out and take in – a seemingly never-ending string of events that clog up people’s lives. TAKE THIS ONE DAY THEN HELPSTON. BOOK IT FOR NEXT YEAR 16TH JULY 2016.

The reason is that this festival is a microcosm of village life in days gone by. You may miss the weekends but you CAN grab this day as a taster! No driving? NO. Get what you want from the village shop, eat sumptuously at the Village Hall, eat AND drink at the Bluebell, where you will meet up with other villagers and make your own history, or at the John

Clare Trust Cottage. What no TV? NO. Listen to LIVE music - the ballads of the past – some tragic, some rousing, some to make you laugh. No tablet? NO. Pick up a book from the booksellers, some of whom have volumes that take you back to your childhood and before – lovely books that feel inviting in your hand – books that smell of mustiness and leather and time – books with inscriptions to make you wonder – what were these people like whose inky names are inscribed with such care? (‘The Study Prize Presented for All Round Merit Awarded to Diana Hunter Presented by S.O.G.A. 1930’).

‘Seeds of Change’ was the theme of this year’s celebrations. John Clare lived in a time of rapid change when he had witnessed the enclosure of what had been common

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land and worried that the coming railway would threaten his woods and pathways. He hated change. The devastation of the woodman’s axe tore at his soul. No wonder he was unable to cope with the brief fame when it came, the moving of his family to Northborough (and moving house so high on the stress scale and John so sensitive and mentally fragile). No wonder he hated the incarceration at the asylum and thank God and those who looked after Clare that they had the wisdom to let him out to walk in his later years.

We, too, live in rapidly changing times. Our cars and computers are out of date before we know it. We tend to feel swept along in some sort of race and we don’t know where the finishing line is. No wonder mental illness is everywhere and doctors find themselves prescribing more and more

anti-depressants to keep us balanced and able to keep our jobs and homes. To cope with all this change, we need to take time out and rest, and truly a day spent with the ipad and smartphone left at home, staying IN the village for just one day, is a free gift.

Ronald Blythe spoke of how John Clare would be drinking in the Bluebell, often with his pocket full of flowers. He talked of the poet, Edmund Blunden, who, in his book ‘Sketches in the Life of John Clare’, described Clare as ‘a poet of the purest kind,’ adding:’ It will be a long time before a voice speaks from a cottage window with this power.’ Blunden had read some of Clare’s work in the trenches. He wrote: ‘Clare blew open cottage life of the period, telling what it was really like.’

Time spent walking led to some of the material used in his verse

Country crafts in the village centre brought back some memories and gave a nostalgic feeling to the ‘Seeds of Change’ theme for the John Clare Society Annual festival. Jane Frost is pictured weaving a basket from willow. Jane explained that as an ME sufferer she was advised to get more daylight and has benefitted from taking up weaving in the open air over the past 15 years. The stems are bought from Somerset, where the moist air is idea, an improvement, apparently from our Eastern climate. Does anyone know if willow is grown more locally for weaving anymore? It would be interesting to know

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A good humoured grimace from Head Teacher of John Clare Primary School, Rachel Simmons, as Claire Spooner ‘tidies her up’ with a nice cold wet sponge while a fresh bucket of icy water is fetched. It was a hot day, but even so getting cold, wet sponges in the face, some thrown with force, was no joke. Well done Rachel!

– ‘the way they got lost, made love, stole things.’

‘No one’, said Blythe, ‘has written about Clare with such love and understanding.’

He finished his talk encouraging those present, as they continue to meet in his birthplace once a year not to be critical, but to make an attempt to understand the man who was part archaeologist, part botanist, but was above all an acute observer of the natural world who recorded what he saw and felt with a passion, leaving a legacy in his work that everyone should take time to explore.

An innovation at this year’s festival was a trail and quiz devised by Society member, Anna Kinnaird of Annakinn’s Gallery. This proved popular, taking visitors from the church to Botolph’s Barn, the Exeter Arms, The Golden Drop (Eastwell Spring), The Nook, Buttercross, the Old Vicarage, the Bluebell, Savage’s Barn

*

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Sales at the Bookstall at the festival made a good start early in the morning. Pictured (l-r): Peter Leverington, Mavis Leverington, from Glinton, who are responsible for sales, Stephen Sullivan, Peter Moyse and Sylvia Sullivan of course, John Clare’s * and Cottage. Newcomers to

the village must realise that when Clare lived there, this building was FIVE cottages for a long time. The trail led on to Bachelor’s Hall at 17 Woodgate, where Clare and his friends famously sang, played the fiddle, told ghost stories and drank, to Woodhall Manor, the second oldest house in Helpston, Rice (Royce) Wood, Crossberry Way and Helpston House, finishing at the John Clare memorial. Those who completed the course –(and the quiz!) must have been footsore and very well informed and we understand two people got all the questions right except one!

Following tradition, the Festival began with the lunchtime Midsummer Cushions ceremony, when the children from John Clare Primary School brought their turves decorated with flowers to lay around the poet’s grave in the churchyard, Friday evening saw events at the Torpel field with the Langdyke Trust and a folk evening at the Bluebell with Pete Shaw. On Saturday, Botolph’s Barn was the venue

for the booksellers, where there was an additional display from the George Borrow Society and an exhibition of photographs by local photographer, Clair Wordsworth. Dr Robert Heyes gave an informative and lively talk, while Jane Frost demonstrated weaving willow on the Green. Throughout the day there was folk and Morris dancing. Vanessa Glockling, local artist, opened up her beautiful garden, and Hilary Dunne showed off her artwork at her home. On Saturday evening Chris Harrison, a guitarist and singer/songwriter entertained members and friends with ‘Songs from the Coalfields’.

Trade was brisk at the Bluebell and the two locally named beers, ‘Woodgate’ and ‘Golden Drop’ specially brewed by the Star Brewing Company, Market Deeping, were soon sold out. Landlady, Lesley Newitt said: “I thought the whole day went very well, with many more visitors to the pub than last year.” Customers were able to pick up unique beer mats designed for the occasion by

Village Tribune Carry Ackroyd.

Members were welcomed to the AGM by Chair, Linda Curry, who announced that she would be standing down and that Valerie Pedlar would be her replacement. A slight decline in membership and new ways of encouraging younger members was discussed and a Facebook group is thriving. Several committee members, including Linda, Valerie, Ann Marshall and Treasurer Norman Lee had spent long hours dealing with some financial and membership problems and were applauded for their efforts. Fortunately these had been satisfactorily resolved, enabling everyone to go off and enjoy the day.

On Sunday Rev Dave Maylor led a service to give thanks for Clare’s life and celebrate the gift of Creation, a fitting conclusion to a wonderful weekend.

Strawberry jam scone anyone?

Sue Will prepares the jam pots at Helpston Village Hall which was busy on John Clare Festival Day, with members and friends of St Botolph’s Church serving lunches and teas. It’s the start of a long day in this picture but many hands are known to make light work and with a shift system in place, those working hard managed to have some fun as well

Deadline to receive articles for next issue: Friday 16th October

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Tribune Notice board...

Saturday 5th September 2.00pm Northborough Community Association Horticultural Show Village Hall For schedule/entry form please ring 01778 345143, 347464 or 343126 Wednesday 9th September 5.30pm onwards Classic Car Evening Willowbrook Farm Saturday 12th September Noon - 3.00pm John Clare Primary School’s Ground Force Day Please come and help us with our new project,‘John Clare Where the Wild Things Are!’ We are going to be developing the wildlife area on our field with help from Froglife.

The tasks that we need help with are: digging, painting fences and the changing rooms, weeding, cutting through hedges and bushes. The Friends of John Clare School will be selling drinks and a delicious BBQ If you think you can help, please email or call John Clare Primary School on: email: office@ johnclareprimary.org Phone: 01733 252332 Saturday 19th September Glinton Horticultural Society 72nd Annual Show - Held at Arthur Mellows Village College. Open to the public from 2.00pm. For entry form and schedule see: ‘Show Schedule 2015’ on website.

Sunday 27th September 10.30am Harvest Praise St Andrew’s Church, Northborough: Harvest gifts welcome for Peterborough Food Bank. Teddy Bear Parachute Jump will follow the Service. Everyone is welcome.

Saturday 3rd October 11.00am Dog Walk To raise funds for St Benedicts

Church, Glinton. Cost £5 per dog email churchdogwalk@yahoo.com or telephone 01733 253591 - includes dog treats, soup & rolls and raffle prizes.

Saturday 10th October 7.30pm

By Popular Demand!!

An Oomph Evening of food and good company with a German theme.

Helpston Village Hall Tickets: £15 each for a 2 course home produced meal In aid of the Village Hall’s Maintenance and Re-building Fund Obtainable from: Tammy Tushingham on 01733 253770 or Caryn Thompson on 01733 252232.

Sunday 11th October All day event Classic Car Sunday Last meet of the year.

Willowbrook Farm Friday 16th October Glinton Horticultural Society Talk: ‘Happy Vegetables’ - Presented

by Joseph Whitehead, starting at 7.30pm in the Glinton Village Hall For more information visit www. glintonhorticulturalsociety.org.uk or call 01733 253591 Saturday 17th October Handful of Harmonies Songs from shows and popular songs at Northborough Village Hall 7.00 pm Tickets £6 adult, £3 children to include 2 course supper. Bring your own drinks and glasses.

Tickets available from 01778 345143, 347464 or 343126

Village Tribune Art Exhibition Maxey Art Group and Deepings Art Club joint annual exhibition of paintings Friday 10am – 8pm, Saturday 10am – 5pm and Sunday 10am – 2pm at Maxey Village Hall, Maxey. High quality paintings and cards by local artists for sale over the three days. Entry is free and refreshments will be available to purchase. Disabled parking, access and facilities.

Sunday 1st Nov 9.30am - noon St Pegas Cafe Brunch Peakirk Village Hall.

Friday 27th Nov St Andrew’s-tide Quiz Northborough Village Hall.

Organised by Friends of St Andrew’s.

Quiz master Gavin Duff, £5pp, teams of 4, includes light supper, bring own drinks, plus raffle.

Book your table by ringing either Hayley on 01733 252525 Or Celia on 01733 252938 St Botolph’s - Helpston Church invites everyone to the regular monthly Coffee Mornings held in the Church from 10am until 12 noon.

The next ones are on:Saturday Sept. 26th Saturday Oct. 24th Saturday Nov.28th

notes...

Saturday 24th October Coffee & Cake Morning From 10 am - 12 noon Northborough Village Hall Proceeds to Sue Ryder Thorpe Hall.

Friday 30th October Sunday 1st November

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In my Tribland garden Greetings to all Tribland garden lovers. Since the last column (July and August edition) there have been large changes in our gardens. The rain we had in late July freshened up the gardens but we are now back to the warmer and drier conditions (mid-August). In spite of the weather this is the time to enjoy the results of all the work we have carried out over the garden year.

The vegetable garden has produced a bountiful harvest, onions, shallots and garlic planted last October produced a bumper and very early crop.

The onions and shallots have been dried out and their skins removed, the onions are now in storage and the shallots ready for pickling. A good crop of garlic has almost all been used.

Sweet corn, planted out in late May has produced some very strong plants with a promising number of cobs, which we shall enjoy very soon. Early potatoes have now well and truly been eaten and enjoyed and the main crop potatoes are ready to lift and store for winter use. We expect the main crop potatoes to last until January/February.

Peas, runner beans and broad beans have all cropped heavily and have provided some very tasty meals. All the brassicas

Onions galore!

have done well and there are some fine Brussel sprouts and red cabbage still to enjoy.

Another crop for the winter are leeks which are thickening up nicely.

In order to thwart the carrot fly and to ensure long clean carrots, I grow them in raised beds, with a row of salad onions on either side. This method has worked very well in my garden. My next project is to order the autumn planting onion sets, shallots, garlic and broad beans. I favour the broad bean ‘Aquadulce Claudia’ for autumn sowing and will protect the young plants against the severe winter weather using cloches.

My biggest disappointment this summer has been the soft fruit, for which I blame the very dry conditions in June. Some of the strawberry plants have past their best so time to dig them up and replace them with some newer varieties. Careful preparation of the site and a selection of early and late fruiting varieties should ensure a better crop next year. The raspberries fared better than the strawberries. Old canes have been cut down and a limited number of new canes have been tied onto the support wires.

As I travel around Tribland I have spotted some very promising apple and pear crops, some very tasty treats for later in the autumn. It will soon be time to start clearing the vegetable plots and to start digging over these areas ready for next year’s planting, careful preparation now will get your crops of to a good start.

In the flower garden we have enjoyed some lovely displays, roses and star lilies have been particularly good. Some fine displays of annual and perennial

Lovely Lillies in full bloom bedding plants have been observed around Tribland.

Lawns are slowly recovering after the hot, dry conditions.

Setting the mower blades higher will help the lawn to recover more quickly.

Keep a lookout for details of the annual Glinton flower show (19th Sept), enter your best produce or go along and be inspired to produce flowers and vegetables of show quality in your own gardens.

Jobs to do this month: as we get to October the main task will be tidying up the garden, collecting the fallen leaves is a priority, storing them in black bin bags will rot them down to valuable leaf mould, a good source of humus for your soil.

As we reach October the rough digging can begin, little and often is kinder on your back than a long stint. Digging in good garden compost or well-rotted manure will help to maintain your gardens fertility. Leave the soil in large clumps so that the winter frosts can break it down, this will make for easier soil preparation in the spring. Autumn feeding of lawns and while the grass is still growing keep on mowing. Keep an eye on the RHS web site for more seasonable jobs to do, there is never a shortage of work in your garden. Happy autumn gardening.

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

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39

John Clare Cottage News

A good turnout for Open Craft Day at the Cottage - over 200 visitors July and August have been very busy at the Cottage.

In July we had a successful day at the John Clare Society Festival with many visitors to the Cottage and Café. The July Acoustic Café was one of the popular so far with 13 acts performing during the evening.

A packed garden was entertained by the Pantaloons, the outdoor theatre group with their performance of Pride and Prejudice. Our Art in The Cottage exhibition with pictures

by Heather Mizen was a great success.

August started with the Pantaloons with Treasure Island in the Cottage Gardens. We also had an Open Crafts Day where we had 11 stalls of differing

‘Treasure Island’ brought to the Cottage by the Pantaloons - watch out for report on their adaptation of Much Ado about Nothing in the next issue of the Trib’

A great crowd turned out to see Pride and Prejudice

crafts people demonstrating and selling their goods. We had over 200 people visit the Cottage during the day and all the stall holders had a good day as well. This may be repeated at a future date.

By the time that you read this article the local folk group, Pennyless, will have played at the Cottage, there will have been a hog roast from Willowbrook Farm and also had the Pantaloons again with

Much Ado about Nothing in the Gardens.

The August Art in the Cottage consists of pictures from local artist Ann Ardron and her cards are on sale in the shop. This exhibition will continue into September.

Our future events include an exhibition of embroidery and needlework in the Dovecote with works from the local group Calico, this will start on Monday September 21st. The Acoustic Café music evenings will continue on the fourth Thursday of each month and we look forward to seeing you there.

Photos by David Dykes and Tracy Bullen.

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Jeannie Revell Beautiful visitor to my garden. I have discovered that this is the Banded Demoiselle and is male as the females are green!

If you have any news, views or comments that you would like to share with other readers, please contact the Tribune editor, Tony Henthorn at: Villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

I was very pleased to be invited (as a member of the neighbouring IDB) to the Welland and Deepings IDB annual asset tour yesterday by board member, Glinton councillor and Leader of PCC John Holdich OBE. A truly fascinating morning being shown the methodology used by IDB’s to clear weed and reeds from our Tribland waterways to prevent flooding and effectively manage the flow of our rivers and drains. We were also shown their immaculate, superbly maintained pumping stations’ massive pumps and huge water pipes and given demonstrations of the many and varied machines they use out in the field. Peter Hiller

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

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Max Gastro’s Restaurant Review Standing alone, unyielding to the myriad changes which have taken place around it over the decades, Peterborough’s former Municipal Labour Exchange is an imposing building on the edge of the City centre; alongside the Queensgate car parks and opposite the glitzy new Waitrose.

Sure it’s changed over the years in what it offers but, after a fairly uncertain recent past (threatened with demolition), seems to have established its identity as a well-patronised bar, live music venue and eatery and now an integral element within the recently submitted new regeneration plans for the City’s North Westgate Quarter.

It’s an incongruous place to find Thai food: I imagined the work-seeking flat-capped former patrons of my grandfathers’ generation walking through the ‘Workers’ designated door and being offered a plate of ginger and garlic-infused rice noodles with chilli fried chicken on a bed of sweet basil….? Sadly, not a whippet in sight when Mrs G and I sought out a quick supper after attending an early evening meeting in town.

The interior couldn’t be more opposite to its façade. Although the dim lighting initially hides the scruffiness of some of the furniture, there’s no doubt it’s a large and impressive place but also full of cosy, tucked-away tables and sofas to eat, drink and socialise on the non-live music nights they regularly hold to great acclaim. The Brewery Tap name is expounded by the enormous gleaming vats displayed inside, best viewed from the mezzanine floor

The Brewery Tap

stretching the length of the vast room. Their website www. thebrewery-tap.com proclaims ‘The Brewery Tap is a truly unique experience; coupling Authentic Thai cuisine with hand-pulled Real Ales by the acclaimed Oakham Ales’ and the many Trip Advisor contributors agree, placing it within the top ten percent of places to eat in Peterborough.

Simply, the food here is good, in fact it’s very good. Like a lot of people nowadays we’ve spent holiday time in Thailand eating the authentically prepared dishes of that wonder-filled country, and marvelled at how their swift cooking style using simple ingredients creates a unique taste unlike Chinese or even the food of its near neighbour Vietnam. The Tap’s chefs got very close to this experience for me. Our food was fresh and seasoned properly with just the right zing of chilli, just the right ginger undertone, a delightful sweetness of basil and lemongrass, and garlic enhancing rather than overwhelming. The rice noodles particularly – so easy to cook badly – were spot on with tender grilled pork and sweet basil

accompaniment. All that said, it’s not at bargain basement prices and we were a little underwhelmed to have to handle worn and sticky menus and sit at a slightly sticky table on tatty chairs. I think a degree of investment in this direction would be worthwhile but I guess the patronage might not be ‘high-end diner’ demanding enough to warrant the expense, although I don’t think J-Cloths and spray cleaner are hugely expensive, even from Waitrose over the road?

The Brewery Tap 80 Westgate T 01733 358500 info@thebrewery-tap.com Max’s 5-Star Rating Service **** Value *** Food **** Atmosphere ****

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

14th Maxey Classic Car, Bike a

The 14th annual Maxey Classic Car, Bike and 4x4 show was once again a great success, with over 300 exhibitor vehicles bought along to be shown off by their owners. The sun shone and the beautiful array of shiny vehicles all gleamed and looked their best.

This year’s show attracted a greater variety of exhibits than ever before. Along with the usual fascinating selection of classic cars from pre-war through to modern classics, there were significantly more motorbikes , more fire engines and some lovely old tractors to add to the mix. Deeping-based Prentice Brothers also bought along a number of classic commercials for the first time at the show, all generating lots of interest.

Visitors relaxed in the

sunshine, enjoying live music by the excellent Shades of Green, alongside the real ale bar, hog roast and coffee stand. The perfect relaxing Saturday afternoon.

As ever, our team of national motoring journalists, who kindly come along and judge the entries, had a difficult task deciding the winners from such a high standard of entries. After a great deal of deliberation the following winners were announced at the show’s prizegiving ceremony: Local enthusiast Keith Wise not only won the 1970s category with his immaculate Ford Escort Mk I RS2000, but he took the coveted Best in Show award.

1934 Austin 7 Brian Dunn, 1957 Chevrolet Belair Peter Tebbs, 1960 Rover P4 100 Philip Copperwheat,

Ford Escort Mk1 RS 2000 Keith Wise, 1996 Fiat Barchetta Dave Sharpe, 1949 Dodge Pick-up Mick Dearing, Tornado GT40, Robert Garford, Bedford CA Van Philip Mills, Land Rover Series IIA Jai Robinson, Norton Commando 750 Steve Kilby, Land Rover Series IIA Carmicheal Fire pump William Baker I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors, supporters and volunteers who make this such a great annual event. They enable the Maxey Charity Club to top up its coffers to continue making its contributions to local charities.

Photo courtesy Richard Gunn

Photo courtesy Richard Gunn

Photo courtesy Richard Gunn

Photo courtesy Richard Gunn

Pat Summers Maxey Charity Club

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e and 4x4 Show

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Photo courtesy Peter Hiller

Photo courtesy Peter Hiller

Photo courtesy Peter Hiller

Photo courtesy Peter Hiller Photo courtesy Richard Gunn

Photo courtesy Peter Hiller

Photo courtesy Peter Hiller

Photo courtesy Peter Hiller

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

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Smiles all round at FOCC

Losha’s last visit

Feasting at AMVC Thirty Chernobyl Children visited Tribuneland this summer, the sun shone, the hosts smiled and the kids had a whale of a time at the many lovely activities provided by our supporters.

Such a joy to watch the face of a child visiting the beach, trying out face painting or playing on a bouncy castle for the first time ever. The children loved their visits to local schools, such as AMVC where they cooked and made their own lunch of pizza, salad and cookies – it always amazes us how much they eat!

Several lovely people dropped fruit into the play scheme, all consumed with gusto.

The children come from the regions which are heavily contaminated by the Chernobyl Disaster, where their health is threatened, making them vulnerable to cancer and leukaemia. The families live in remote villages with very few opportunities in life. It is such a joy to watch them have so much fun. The children love all the activities and they also really enjoy just being at home with their host families or the simple

pleasure of having another child from the group over to play.

Margarita, our young carer, was thrilled by her experience of face painting, she just laughed and played throughout her visit.

Sadly, we said goodbye to eleven children who have finished their time with the charity but that means that there will be new children who will have their first visit next year, so we will be looking for new host families. If you are interested in hosting then we need to know as soon as possible so get in touch!

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the visit possible, our hosts and sponsors, our committee and all of our supporters. If you would like to know more about the charity you can visit www.focchelpston.com/ or if you would like to make a donation towards a food parcel for a needy family or for the children in general, please go to: www.justgiving. com/Helpstonchernobyl2015/ or contact me directly on 07779 264591 or focc_helpston@msn. com.

Cecilia Hammond

Face painting fun

Bouncy Castle capers

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

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News from Etton

Over 80 people visited the Langdyke trust open day at the Etton/ Maxey reserve. There were guided tours spotting insects, bees and birds. (I had no idea there are so many species of bees!) The children particularly enjoyed the pond dipping and grass sweeping.

Visitors expressed surprise that such a rich diversity of wildlife was thriving on their doorstep.

Within the village, Kevin has done a splendid job of refurbishing our bus stop. The photo shows the progress so far. Kevin has replaced and painted the weatherboard, fitted

new guttering but tells me there are a few things to finish. I think it looks very good. Thank-you Kevin!

I’m delighted to report that Kevin has successfully bid to take on the refurbishment of the village sign plinth. Work will hopefully commence on that in the Autumn. Once the base is completed we should have the long awaited space for a memorial and a neater and more easily maintained structure.

During the next couple of months work should start on the church porch roof and

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repairs to the spire. The Builder is Nick Evans in case you think someone is stealing tiles!

The clean up at the church will be taking place on Sunday 27th September. I will send a note around the village with details.

Finally, it will be Joan Otley’s 98th birthday on 22nd September. Joan continues to make slow progress recovering from her two broken hips. She is still living at Lavender House, Broadway, Peterborough.

Anne Curwen 01733 253357

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Saved by the bell...

If you attended Helpston School between 1943 and 1972 the name, ‘Mr Gagg’ will be firmly imprinted on your memory. Howard Wheelwright Gagg was a forward- thinking educationalist with a love of art, crafts and music. He is remembered with affection by those who came under his care and were given a firm, confident foundation in learning which would stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives. When he came to take over the school in 1943 he brought with him his wife, May and two young sons, Michael (10). and Andrew (3).

Andrew has researched those years and recorded what he has remembered or found out.

There follows an extract from what he describes as ‘Random Memories’.

The Queen’s Coronation in 1953 was a good opportunity for celebration and creativity: “Using the beautiful papers we were privileged to get from Arborfield Mill,” he writes, “we made decorations. Between the six front windows of the school, we hung wooden hoops borrowed from the games basket, filled in like those in a circus with maroon paper.

Around the edge of each we created a wreath of white heartshaped paper sculpture and in the centre the letters ER in shiny embossed gold card, alternating with similar golden crowns. The letters and the crowns were readily available at Coronation time of course – probably from Woolworths in Peterborough.

In the remaining odd one of the five I stencilled a rose, thistle, daffodil and shamrock using commercially produced stencils.

Andrew Gagg with the old school bell, given in thanks to the original school after WW2, during which staff and pupils supported the crew of the trawler, Sandringham, based at Grimsby by sending fresh fruit and vegetables in partnership with the WRVS It was all very tasteful, and not a trace of red, white and blue to be seen! I was thirteen years old at that time, so I cannot have been a pupil at the school by then, having gained a scholarship to the King’s School, Peterborough.

“The toilets were known as ‘The Offices’. Both the boys toilets had heavy wooden screens in front and the urinals within were just black painted walls (perhaps tarred) with a gutter below – no stalls. At one stage there was one for Seniors and on for Juniors.

For the girls, both seniors and juniors had three cubicles each. In the earliest days of my Dad’s regime, the kids’ toilets were converted from ones all giving onto one common cess pit which presumably had to be dug out from time to time, though I only remember it being

cleared and concreted over when it finally ceased to be in use. They were soon changed to ‘bucket’ lavatories, using not earth or ashes but a tarry black product known as Elsan to keep ‘em a bit sweeter! These, like the one for School House were emptied weekly by a chap with a specially designed two-wheeled cart (a curvedbottomed iron tank, designed for easy dumping) drawn by a horse in the early days and a tractor latterly – that was a little grey-painted Ferguson I think. The man’s name was Jim Roberts and he was something of a legend in the village of course. Naturally in out of school hours the playground was personal territory for my brother Michael and me. After a rather unsuccessful attempt in Ned Blyton’s field at flying a control-line triplane he had

Village Tribune

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built, my brother decided that maybe four wheels might be less demanding for a while.

He fitted his ED Competition Special model diesel engine into an aerocar, inverted and facing rearwards, the regular propeller pushing the car forward at some speed. Later he built a more conventional model car, with a clutch which engaged fully when you hit a vertical rod as it went past. The engine was fitted with a flywheel this time, and need to be started by holding it against the tyre of my brother’s bike, inverted and resting on its handlebars. Both these machines were tethered with a wire, running in a circle around a broomstick in a socket in the middle of the Seniors playground. I could find no trace of the hole when I revisited the school the other day, but I bet it’s still there somewhere!

“I spent many happy hours on my own in the playground, riding my red Tri-Ang scooter round and round, or my tricycle (second-hand and lovingly refurbished for me one Christmas). My brother learned to ride a grown-up bike in that playground too, but it was many years later that I finally mastered two wheels instead of three.”

He recalls losing his new upper front teeth on a metal scraper door mat at the entrance to the playground “probably through over-excitement at the prospect of going to Silverstone the next day!”

“Lots of different school trips were organised from time to time. Transport was invariably in one of Ted Shaw’s brown and cream Bedford buses and we went to Whipsnade Zoo, where Mum got bitten by a zebra and to Regent’s Park Zoo and there were other visits to London.

Parents were invited along too, and I remember one or two admitted that they had never

51

Helpston’s old school and schoolhouse.

Inset: Ex-Headmaster Howard Wheelwright Gagg

been as far as London until then. It was at Regents Park Zoo that we discovered choc ices.

Individual plain vanilla briquettes in a printed greaseproof wrapper had been back for a while after the war, but there was great excitement over Mr Walls’ chocolate-coated ones. They were just the same as the others, only with a coating of chocolate, and wrapped in silver paper!

I wasn’t all that keen myself – being cold, the chocolate was hard, and fell off in flakes, which you might lose altogether if you weren’t careful!

“There was a trip around the Co-Op bakery in Peterborough, where we saw the machinery for mixing, proving and baking those hundreds of loaves. Was it I wonder before the days of the first sliced bread, in its redprinted wax wrappers? I don’t remember seeing slicing and wrapping, but they may have been there. Afterward we were required to write an essay about our visit, and the Co-Op gave a prize of a fine iced cake to the best account. As it turned out it was a joint win between me and a girl named Jill Wedge, and there was a row over the names that were iced on the top, so it had to be sent back to the bakery to be re-written!”

Andrew recalls the Library

Van visiting and an enamel sign bearing a flaming torch and ‘County Library’ being outside the school. One still exists at Bainton’s Reading Rooms. He tells of visits by the ‘nit nurse’, the dentist, the chimney sweep, a blind man and a black man.

Andrew took the leading role in ‘St George and the Dragon’ performed at Christmas.

“I can’t for the life of me remember for what the Turkish Knight wore, but the Doctor had a top hat and a Gladstone bag, in which to carry his ‘Little Bottle of Elecampane. “ I can hear Dad now, reciting the lines he found such fun“ ‘I have a little bottle of Elecumpane – Here Jack, take a little of my flip-flop – pour it down thy tiptop – rise up, and fight again!’

“I have an almost stereotypically sentimental memory of going around the village carol-singing – grown-ups and kids together. Yes there was snow, and lanterns, and mufflers, and it seemed almost timeless.

“Much closer to real life, I also remember my father telling us that during a school carol service, while he was belting out “Shepherds, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep...” on that piano, he could clearly hear an infant voice close by singing an alternative lyric: ‘Shepherds

*

52

Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

off your trousers quick’! * take We could never decide whether

this was original thinking on the part of this tot, plain miscomprehension, or a bit of mischief passed on by an older child...? I do however know that an alternative version of While Shepherds Watched... ran: ‘While shepherds watched their turnip tops, all boilin’ in a pot, a lump of soot came tumblin’ down and spoilt the blessed lot!’”

Remembering Christmas and school parties, Andrew writes: “There was always plenty of food at these festivities – I remember Mum’s jellies and usually there were some of her sponge cakes, with ‘cream’ on - this was a post-war concoction, based on cornflour paste and margarine I think, and like the sponges themselves was a product of our Kenwood mixer, a vital tool in Mother’s kitchen. Dad used to pipe the cream onto the cakes . He was also pretty good at icing rich fruit cakes with proper ‘royal’ icing, and I remember one he made for my birthday (which is very near to Christmas) with a yellow and red clock face on it, the hour hand denoting my age (whatever it was then – maybe ten). This was to be the centrepiece of the school party feast, as usual. I also remember being particularly miffed that they were so busy getting the party ready that morning that they had temporarily forgotten my birthday! I lay in bed, very upset, until eventually it dawned on them, upon which they were both absolutely mortified. The day improved rapidly after that!

“Post war, everyone was still practising ‘Make Do and Mend’, and my Mum used to run classes for adults on dressmaking, sewing and alterations, as well as other crafts. Little floral prints and

yards of bias-binding come to mind, used for making pinafores and the like. There was only one sewing machine in the school – a hand cranked Singer, neat and tidy in its light oak cover – but it weighed a ton!

Mum had a treadle machine at home, which stood in the best light, by the kitchen window.

I particularly recall beautifully made felt stuffed toys from patterns published by ‘Dryads’.

Mostly hand-stitched and especially charming was the monkey, clutching his miniature felt banana!”

Health and Safety was not the ‘bugbear’ it has become in recent years. But children and adults still took care and were sensible. Pupils including Andrew recall the cast iron cylindrical stoves 5 feet high glowing red, wet scarves and gloves hanging on the fireguard. No fancy interactive whiteboards in those days, just the blackboard on its easel held by a couple of pegs and if the teacher used coloured chalk it was quite an occasion!

Desks with lift up lids replaced the old ‘bench’ type seats and the children were told firmly not to slam the lids at the end of the lesson. We think LOTS of people will remember those instructions wherever they went to school. Music and Movement radio programmes from the BBC were enjoyed in the playground when the weather was fine as the radio could be put outside the window.

“The standard reading text books were the Beacon readers.

I don’t remember how many there were in the series, it may have been six, but I do recall their printed buckram covers, and their characteristic smell when new. (A great privilege and pleasure it was, to be issued with a brand new copy!).

Some of the stories from Book

Village Tribune Five were: “The Shoemaker and the Elves, The Wolf and the Seven young Kids, Tom Thumb, Cinderella, The Four Friends, Briar Rose, The Baker Boys.”

He also remembers the musical instruments including a cuckoo whistle with which he teased the resident cuckoo in Ned Blyton’s field, the eleven plus papers and the soggy scrapbooks made from cuttings about the Festival of Britain.

Andrew concludes his reminiscences thus: “In the playground, there grew, for a time, an ash tree, sprouting up tall and straight, forcing its way through the old asphalt. I never knew this tree alive, but I have seen a photo of it, and its stump is huge – a mature tree more than thirty years old had seeded itself, grown and been cut down in the long years I was away from the old school... But a few yards away, in the garden of the School House when we first moved in, there used to be a pear tree, right outside the back door – a leaning crabbed old thing like something from a Japanese painting, but which produced a crop of excellent fruit every autumn.

That second tree is there still, more crooked than ever, but still producing good fruit year after year.

Some things then, like my many vivid childish remembrances of the old school in Helpston, still have the life to endure a while longer...

The full version of my reminiscences is available to anyone who asks to see it, though in truth it is far overshadowed by my father’s truer and more concise account of life at Helpston School – the many volumes of Howard Gagg’s diaries are kept in the Huntingdon Records office for anyone who wishes to read them.”

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Letters to the Editor

53

All views and comments made in this section are those of the individual contributors and are not necessarily shared by the Editor or any other persons associated with the production of the Tribune

Big uptake of ‘No Cold Callers’ stickers...

Dear Editor, Both Glinton ward Cllr John Holdich and I have been encouraged by the response to my ‘letter to the Editor’ within the last issue, in which I asked that anyone wanting a house-personal door sticker to contact me for one. I have personally delivered my initial batch to the many residents in my Northborough ward who requested them over the last couple of months. These householder stickers have replaced the generic area-wide notices which used to be mounted on lamp posts to warn door to door traders they were not welcome.

They actually inform the seller that the resident neither wants nor has invited him/her to knock on their door and to leave the property. Failure in them to do so is a criminal offence.

John would like more households to have the opportunity to display these and has asked me to obtain more for both our wards and the rural villages further afield. I’ve asked Cambs Police Crime Reduction Officer Carol Aston if she would kindly source these without delay in order we might satisfy a further demand.

Cllr Peter Hiller Northborough Ward

Helpston Speedwatch clocks 53 mph ...

Dear Editor, The Speedwatch volunteers recently had a couple of sessions on Heath Road and the results

were disappointing. A number of vehicles were clocked at over 40 mph and the maximum was 53 mph! This is a truly scary speed within the village on roads being used by children, horses, walkers and cyclists. Over a quarter of the 150 vehicles measured were travelling over the 30 mph limit and many of these were from the village - including a couple of very high profile residents.

Alex Driver

At the Annual General Meeting of Barnack Village hall on 21 May, a plaque presented in memory of Peggy Sindall was unveiled by her son Peter. In her will, Peggy asked that a plaque should be donated in recognition of the work carried out by Bill Harris and his team of helpers in upgrading the Village Hall in readiness for the 21st Century. Peter thanked the Barnack Community Association for inviting him to unveil the plaque and said “Mum loved Barnack and loved the Community. She always wanted to celebrate anyone who enhanced the Community.

Bill (Harris) was one of these. She continually said that Bill and his workers should be recongnised – she has got her wish, it is just sad that Bill and Mum are not here to see her dream come true. Bless them both and dear Marie and her family.” Marie Harris and her family were present at the unveiling and pictured are Marie and Peter

Letters to the Editor: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

54

Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Gigaclear progress anyone who has been outside recently, can’t have helped but notice orange barriers everywhere - with workmen digging up the roads and installing pots outside everyone’s houses - Gigaclear Broadband is here.

An open day is planned for 19th September in Ufford Village Hall, so please bring your equipment along to see how fast it really can go without the limitation of copper wires.

With the villages of Southorpe and Barnack (south) connected to the Ufford cabinet which went live early in August, residents can now request their installation from Gigaclear. The 7km spur from Ufford to Marholm will be finished soon - linking up with the work already completed in Marholm.

The rest of Barnack (with the exception of Uffington Road for a while) and Pilsgate will be connected shortly to the Barnack cabinet which will go live very soon. Customers are being contacted by Gigaclear

or Boxcom for their installation slots now.

In Bainton, Ufford Road was completed recently as the works went to the village of Ashton which has now been completed. A revised route out of the village to Helpston has caused a slight delay as the new route goes near Bainton Green level crossing and complex traffic lights are required on the corner. Once complete, this fibre route will continue into Helpston via West Road (Tallington).

The first Helpston fibres were laid in Heath Road before continuing down to the main road towards the Helpston cabinet which is expected to go by the bus stop. The rest of the village will then fan out from that to meet up with the link from West Road.

The Bainton cabinet has had the electrics put in and now awaits the fibre feed to come along the road from Barnack.

Meanwhile, work has started at the Bainton level crossing to come into the village from

Village Tribune

that end, Church Lane was completed on the 19th August.

The rest of Bainton should be complete by the time this article is published. That just leaves Tallington waiting for Network Rail to allow the fibre link to go under the Bainton level crossing to the village.

Villagers who haven’t yet signed up for this new broadband and telephone service please look at our local Broadband Champions website www.

UltrafastPeterboroughVale. info and contact Gigaclear if you want to join the rest of us getting the fastest broadband in the UK (and put the value of your property up by at least £5,000 - according to the Daily Mail). The BBC InsideOut program on September 7th will be showing edited highlights of the August launch of the Gigaclear Broadband service from Ufford Village Hall.

Ken Otter 07761 452030

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Pause for thought

I am a fan of the Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn. A few people know that. Now, a lot more people know it!

Last year, through the post, I received a copy of his memoirs – “Rumours of Glory”. It wasn’t cheap, and I hadn’t ordered it, so I suspected one of two people as my likely gracious benefactor. The trouble is, neither of them admitted responsibility for the gift, so I am left without someone to thank for it. What someone did for me with Bruce Cockburn’s book was an act of grace – anonymous grace.

So, whoever you are – thank you!

This kind of anonymous generosity is not too common these days. People want recognition for their giving. I can remember giving someone in need an anonymous cash gift.

I posted an envelope with cash in it through their letterbox and crept away. It gave me a good feeling.

But what is grace, and why does the popular hymn say that it’s amazing? Philip Yancey in his book “What’s so amazing about grace?”, talks about the words which come from the root ‘grace’. They include ‘grateful’ ‘gratified’, ‘congratulated’, ‘gracious’, ‘gratuity’. Also those of us who are musicians will know of ‘grace notes’ which are ‘gratuitous’. We talk of ‘fall from grace’, ‘persona non grata’.

Grace is a rich word and a beautiful word.

Grace is also a key word in the New Testament. ‘Grace’ – undeserved favour - reminds us that we do not earn or deserve friendship with God, or even our continued existence, but rely on the grace of God towards us.

As St Paul says in Ephesians 2 - For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Sometimes we get too hung up on the idea of being a meritocracy – a fine thing in itself, but where does that leave grace? There is a line in the Book of Common Prayer Communion Service which asks God to deal with us in this way -‘not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, through Jesus Christ our Lord’; I find ‘grace’ quite amazing.

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am aware of God’s grace shown towards me. I’m part of the church community not because I am trying to win merit in God’s sight (a sort of salvation by works), but because I am responding to my experience of God’s grace towards me. I hope I am able to be gracious towards others. I think the world would be a much better place with more acts of grace – anonymous or otherwise.

I will sign off with a gratuitous quote from Bruce Cockburn’s song ‘Lovers in a dangerous time’. I pray that there will be more ‘spirits open to the thrust of grace’.

Rev Dave Maylor

55

St Botolph diary updates Helpston Church Coffee Mornings: Helpston Church are now holding regular monthly Coffee Mornings with extras! Everyone is very welcome Saturday September 26th at 10am until 12 noon; Coffee and the famous Bric-a-Brac stall very kindly run by Ros Sowinski and Lesley Lovelace.

There will be books too.

Contributions gratefully received - please ring Kate Hinchliff on 01733 253192 Saturday October 24th from 10am Coffee but also have a guided tour of your parish Church.

Go up the Tower led by the knowledgeable Chris Topper – all while having some coffee or sandwich lunch which will go on until 2.30pm.

Alastair Peat and Rachel Peat Happy naming day little Charlotte Rose.

JT Fencing - Northborough

All types of fencing supplied and fixed. FREE estimates and advice. Phone

07711 726834 (days) 01733 253438 (evenings)

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

September 2015

6.00pm Alternative Service

Barnack (DM)

Sunday 6th September

October 2015

Sunday 13th September

Sunday 4th October 9.00am Parish Communion

Bainton (DM) 9.00am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Barnack (CV) 10.45am All Age Praise

Helpston (DM)

Sunday 20th September

9.00am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Barnack (DM) 10.45am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Helpston (DM) 6.00pm BCP Evensong

Bainton (DM))

Sunday 27th September

9.00am Parish Communion

Bainton (CV) 9.00am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Barnack (DM) 10.45am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Helpston (DM)

9.00am Parish Communion

Bainton (TBC) 9.00am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Barnack (CV) 10.45am All Age Praise

Helpston (CJ)

9.00am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Barnack (DM) 10.45am Holy Communion

with Children’s Church

Helpston (DM) 6.00pm BCP Evensong

Bainton (DM))

9.00am Parish Communion

Bainton (CV) 9.00am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Barnack (DM) 10.45am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Helpston (DM)

10.45am Holy Communion

with Children’s Church

Helpston (TBC) 11.00am All Age Praise

Barnack (DM) 6.00pm BCP Evensong

Bainton (TBC)

Sunday 11th October

Sunday 18th October

Sunday 25th October

10.45am Parish Communion

with Children’s Church

Helpston (CS) 11.00am All Age Praise

Village Tribune

Barnack (DM) 6.00pm BCP Evensong

Bainton (TBC) 6.00pm Alternative Service

Barnack (DM)

CS Canon Smart, CV Canon Venables, DM Dave Maylor, LE Linda Elliot, MH Mark Hotchkin

There will be a Justice and Peace service held in St Mary’s Church, Bainton every Wednesday at 6.30pm.

This is a series of services for PEACE and JUSTICE, with prayers, readings and discussion on worldwide issues.

8.30am – Prayer Breakfast in Botolph’s Barn every 1st Saturday of the month

Funerals

Eileen Alexander 13/07/2015.

Christine Crookes 07/08/2015.

Roy Linford 12/08/2015.

Church addresses

Bainton St Mary’s, Church Lane, Bainton PE9 3AF Barnack St John the Baptist, Main Street, Barnack PE9 3DN Helpston St Botolph, Church St., Helpston PE6 7DT Wittering St John the Baptist Church, Main Street, Barnack, Stamford. PE9 3DN

R S Stimson

Domestic heating systems, cookers, showers, & bathrooms installed.

Gas appliance servicing, & repair, landlords gas safety certificates issued.

13 Ashburn Close Glinton Peterborough PE6 7LH

Tel/Fax 01733 252418

Mobile 07751446433 Email richardstimson@hotmail.com

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Barnack & Pilsagte PC Summary of meeting of Barnack Parish Council held in The Village Hall, Barnack, on Monday 10 August 2015. l Open Forum – for the Clerk to address issues raised

by Residents. a) Bonfire of wood and waste materials on Millstone Lane/School Road development. Could we write to the City Council to object? b) Vehicles parking on pavements in the Village, can we do anything about it? c) Field at rear of Payne’s field, what is happening? At the moment it is outside the Village Envelope and, additionally, as we are limited growth village, the Payne’s Field estate ensures we have met our future development commitment for the next few years. l Outstanding Items. a) A1 dangerous junction at Barnack Drift. Highways have agreed to erect a new sign. b) Lolham level crossing. One way signage put up but vehicles still using north bound route. c) Gigaclear update. Gigaclear say, ‘South Barnack’ is due to go live by the end of August. d) Pilsgate to Burghley Footpath, Litter Bins. Have been installed but Clerk has contacted Amey to point out that labelling needs changing so that ‘General Litter and Dog Poo’ may be put in them as well as recyclable matter. e) Traffic Calming of B1443 – feasibility study quotations. Quotes are being obtained and will be ready for next meeting. l Correspondence. a) Woodland off Allerton Close.

Carter Jonas email. In response to the Peterborough Diocesan Board agent’s letter prohibiting use of the wood, it was agreed to write and explain the Council’s position. The Council

feels that young people should be able to use the wood as a recreational facility and, to this end, would be prepared to manage or perhaps, lease the wood and take responsibility for its use. l Burial Grounds. a) Cemetery – new path. Quotations are being sought for consideration at next meeting. b) Holly tree in churchyard opposite Church View is dead and must be felled. Noted. l Reports. a) Ward Group. By David Over: Lolham northbound closure, will put more traffic on other routes (particularly on school days) Trees in Orchard Road need pruning. Lamp posts throughout the Parish should be black because it is rural conservation area. b) Police Panel. By Eddie Barker: During May and June, there were 3 burglaries in Barnack.

A new method of stealing fuel oil involves using pumps stolen from portable toilets.

Speedwatch is still the best way of controlling speeds on our roads. c) Neighbourhood Plan: Outline scheme by Margaret Palmer (Details available from the Clerk) it was agreed to await a consultation with other villages in the Ward and a meeting of the Barnack Ward Group before making a decision on whether to embark on the lengthy process of formulating a Plan. l Village Matters a) School grounds during the evening: there is excessive noise coming from the School hard play area, with balls bounced against the wire surround making very loud noises. In a recent survey by a neighbour, on 8 out of 13 days there was disturbance on - one occasion until 11.30pm. Young people have been seen on the roof of the School. Governors say, the School is not their responsibility after hours.

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Margaret Palmer has contacted Brian Howard, PCC Head of School Infrastructure, who suggested a meeting between PCC, Barnack School and Barnack Parish Council. This was welcomed. l Date and time of next meeting. Monday 14 September 2015 at 7.00pm.

Bainton and Ashton PC Chairman, Graham Fletcher 01780 740034 Vice Chairman, Richard Harris 01780 740886 Councillor, Nicola Clough 01780 740043 Councillor, Wendy Jackson 01780 749154 Councillor, Helen Watts 07719 134858 Clerk Catherine Franks, 01780 765984

Barnack PC Chairman, Harry Brassey 01780 740115 Vice Chairman, Councillor, Margaret Palmer 01780 740988 Councillor, Phil Broughton 01780 740379 Councillor, Ivor Crowson 01780 740430 Councillor, David Laycock 01780 740267 Councillor, Eddie Barker 01780 740427 Councillor, Martin Bloom 01780 740966 Clerk Robin Morrison 07944 054546 barnackparishcouncil@ outlook.com

Ufford PC Chairman, Keith Lievesley 01780 740679 Councillor, Marian Browne 01780 740062 Councillor, Frieda Gosling 01780 740343 Councillor, Peter Grist 01780 740973 Clerk Catherine Franks, 01780 765984 uffordparishclerk@live.co.uk

58

Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Bainton & Ashton PC The latest meeting of the council was held on 7 July. In addition to regular financial matters and the noting of three planning applications, key matters discussed were: l Police and crime: Councillor Wendy Jackson reported that outdoor items had been stolen from a property in the village but not reported to the Police.

She believed that this was one of several recent incidents and asked for residents to remember that all incidents must be reported direct to the Police so that they can build a full picture.

In addition two suspicious, probably drug-related incidents had been noted within the parish, of which the Police were aware. l Village maintenance: Independent risk assessments carried out on the Washdyke were noted and it was agreed to implement recommendations to improve safety for contractors and the public. It was noted that repairs had begun on the collapsing stone wall on the south side of Barnack Road.

Councillor Nicola Clough was given the go-ahead to organize repainting of playground equipment and Ward Councillor David Over had reported broken road surfaces to the Highways Department. l Other key items: The council approved in principal the purchase of a defibrillator, following a recent anonymous donation for the purpose. It is hoped to have this in place in the near future. David Over reported that the Network Rail proposals for East Coast Mainline level crossing closures had been put on hold indefinitely. Separately however, and due to serious safety issues, the northbound closure of Lolham Bridges from Helpston Road to Maxey High

Street was being implemented in the next few weeks. There was some discussion about how this would impact on traffic flow through Bainton.

Finally, village matters raised at the meeting included an ongoing problem with churchgoers parking their vehicles lose to the junction of Tallington Road and Barnack Roads which was blocking visibility for other road users. It was also noted that there had been a worrying increase in vehicles using Church Lane as a cut-through, which will be monitored.

Full minutes and councillor contact details can be found on village notice boards or by contacting the Parish Clerk on 01780 765984 or at bainton. ashton.clerk@live.co.uk. Any correspondence can be emailed to the Clerk or dropped in the council’s new post box at the rear of Bainton Reading Room (PE9 3AE). The next Parish Council meeting will be held in Bainton Reading Room on Tuesday 1 September 2015 at 7.30pm.

Ufford PC The council met on 14 July, starting with the sad news that past councillor and chairman Ian Snaith had passed away.

Chairman Keith Lievesley led councillors in offering condolences to Ian’s family.

The next business of the evening was to appoint two new councillors to fill an existing vacancy and following the resignation of Peter Grist. Graham Bowes of Newport Way and previously a councillor, along with David Chadwick of Walcot Road and a resident for over 30 years, applied and were duly co-opted.

A lengthy discussion was held over issues with the

Village Tribune Gigaclear ultra-fast broadband installation which had created havoc in the village ranging from poor re-instatement of the groundworks, through contractors not using their proper toilet facilities to traffic lights being on red for both flows of traffic. Ken Otter, who had instigated project and had attended a meeting with Gigaclear on the day of the meeting, reported back to help answer residents’ concerns.

Two particular comments were surrounding Ufford’s experience as a ‘guinea pig’ for the installation locally as it is geographically early in the project and in the difficulty Gigaclear has experienced in translating its previous experience into a much larger, multi-parish installation. Three planning applications were discussed, for alterations as part of the work at Ufford Hall, tree maintenance at Brampton, Main Street and a revised application for Highlands, Marholm Road. All received no objections but an issue over enforcement of conditions made as part of previous planning approvals was raised, specifically with regard to Compass Barn. A query was also raised over a planning application at Field End that had not been notified to the Parish Council and this will be investigated with the planning department.

Councillor Frieda Gosling reported on progress with a major project to purchase playground equipment for the village, initiated and driven by local resident Karen Howard.

It was agreed in principal that the council would take responsibility for delivering the project, with the first stage to apply for funding to Mick George via Grantscape. It was agreed that the legacy donation from the Aidan Patrick Fogarty

*

Village Tribune Will Trust would be * Deceased used for the local contributory

funding required.

Other business focused on financial and procedural matters and reports from Chairman Keith Lievesley on the reopening of St Andrews church and recent meetings of the Rural Scrutiny Committee and Ward Group. Councillors

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com were reminded that the new website still needed populating and Lisa Chadwick was in attendance to offer her help in uploading content.

Full minutes and councillor contact details can be found on village notice boards or by contacting the Parish Clerk on 01780 765984 or at uffordparishclerk@live.co.uk.

59

The website can be found at www.uffordparishcouncil.org. uk.

The next Parish Council meeting will be held in Ufford Village Hall on Tuesday 8 September 2015 at 7.30pm. Residents, media representatives and members of the public are all welcome to attend.

Planning applications made in our villages...

Barnack

Construction of three dwellings at land at the junction of Millstone Lane and School Road Decided Two storey rear extension and single storey front porch extension Resubmission at 16 Bainton Road Decided Single storey rear extension and alterations at 1 Paynes Field Decided Minor internal alterations to downstairs WC and creation of new back door at Close House, Jack Haws Lane Awaiting Decision Demolish existing rear extensions and new two and single storey rear extension at Sandall House Stamford Road Decided Internal works and external vent at The Millstone Inn, Millstone Lane Decided Extension to house and alteration to outbuilding at Bramley House Main Street Awaiting Decision

Bainton Form an opening between the kitchen and dining room at Bainton House Tallington Road Decided Erection of 25 linear meter run of 1300mm high black interlaced

bowtop fencing along grass verge at land adjacent To 1-6 Allington Close Decided Construction of storage building at Plant Eggs Waterside Ufford Road

Decided Single storey side extension at Paddock View, Barnack Road Decided

Helpston Internal and external rear alterations to form new internal layout and walkway to existing public house at 3 Church Lane Awaiting Decision Construction of 34 dwellings at land to the West Of Woodland Lea Decided Insertion of window in gable wall, 1 Temples Court Awaiting Decision Single storey extension and internal changes to ground floor and first floors of west wing at 2 Heath Road

Awaiting Decision Loft conversion with two dormer windows and rooflights at 2 Heath Road Awaiting Decision Single storey side extension to form garage, front porch, render to external walls and replacement doors and windows at 51 West Street Awaiting Decision

Pilsgate Proposed pitched roof to existing flat roofed attached garage at The Barton, Pudding Bag Lane

Awaiting Decision

Southorpe Conversion of barns into single garage and one bedroom annexe Grange Farm Main Street Decided

Ufford Partial demolition of existing single storey side extension and rebuild new two storey side extension with new cladding/render to front and rear elevation at Hightrees 2 Walcot Road Decided Construction of 3 bed cottage at land to the rear of Field End, Marholm Road Decided Demolition of existing conservatory to the rear and addition of two storey side and single storey rear extension, and extension to existing stable/outbuilding (resubmission at Highlands Marholm Road

Awaiting Decision Glazing to colonnade, reinstatement of doorway into Garden Cottage and minor internal alterations at Ufford Hall Main Street Decided

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

We will remember

Remembering our local soldiers

Private Percy Betts 1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment and Sergeant William Watts 8th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment were killed at the Battle of Loos which began on 25th September 1915 and involved 54 French divisions and 13 British divisions along a fifty six mile front. The death toll was greater than in any previous battle of the war, the British suffering 50,000 casualties.

Five separate attempts were made to dislodge the Germans before this initial attack was called off on September 27th.

The British used chlorine gas on September 25th, but a change in wind direction blew the gas back causing many casualties among our troops. The Battle of Loos continued until October 14th.

Percy Betts was killed on the first day of the battle. He was 32 years old and is buried in St. Mary’s cemetery, Haisnes. He was an agricultural labourer and lived at 10, The Terrace, Barnack, with his wife Henrietta and their two sons, Charles (8) and Arthur (7).

William Watts was killed on the second day of the battle aged 27. He lived in Main Street, Barnack, son of Benjamin and Emma. He was an electrician and played for Stamford FC. His body was never recovered and he is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. (Rudyard Kipling’s son Jack was killed at Loos on 27th September, aged 18. His body was never found).

Private Charles William Reedman (Billy to his friends) 4th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment was killed on 13th October 1915 aged 20. He was last seen in the fighting at the Hohenzollern Redoubt, a heavily defended German fortification, the day before the Battle of Loos ended.

He was a member of the

Private Percy Betts

Sergeant William Watts

Over the course of the next four years, the centenaries of the deaths in the First World War of the fifty-four men from Barnack, Pilsgate, Southorpe, Bainton, Ashton, Helpston and Ufford, will be marked by this In Memoriam notice in the Tribune.

These men either came from or worked in the villages, or had close connections with the district. Britain declared war on Germany on 4th August 1914 and by December of that year ninety two local men had enlisted.

Village Tribune Barnack church choir and an enthusiastic Boy Scout. He had been appointed Scoutmaster a few months before enlistment.

His name is recorded on the Loos Memorial.

Billy’s brother Private Robert Chester Reedman, who is buried in Barnack cemetery, was Barnack’s first casualty of the war. He had died of pneumonia in a Lincoln hospital on the 11th February aged 18.

Billy and Robert were the only sons of Charles and Florence Reedman of 19 Uffington Road, Barnack.

The months of September and October 1915 saw one known death of a man from Helpston William Franks, a member of the family who still live in Helpston and the area.

He was born in Helpston, living at Church Farm, the son of Martha Franks and the late William

Private Robert Chester Reedman

Private Charles William Reedman

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

Franks. He worked on the farm and enlisted in Peterborough but was a Private - G/7888 in the 9th Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment.

He possibly landed with his Battalion at Boulogne 1 on September 1915 but was killed in action on 25th September 1915.

He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial, on panels 69/73, which forms the sides and back of the Dud Corner Cemetery in the Pas de Calais near Lens.

Dud Corner Cemetery stands almost on the site of a German strong point, the Lens Road Redoubt, captured by the 15th

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(Scottish) Division on the first day of the battle. The name ‘Dud Corner’ is believed to be due to the large number of unexploded enemy shells found in the neighbourhood after the Armistice. Private Franks is remembered on the memorial in Helpston Church.

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Woodgate Barn, 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP

Village Tribune

Based in Helpston

Village Tribune

email: villagetribuneeditor@mac.com

63

The Village Tribune Directory

Mike Sandeman Richard Hardy John Wreford Graham Fletcher Richard Harris Nicola Clough Wendy Jackson Helen Watts Catherine Franks Graham Dunn Julie Stanton Phil Collins Neil Fowkes John Ward David Laycock Roy Chowings Ted Murray Elaine Ward Debbie Martin Jill Unsworth Harry Brassey Margaret Palmer Eddie Barker Phil Broughton Ivor Crowson David Laycock Martin Bloom Robin Morrison David Over Adrienne Collins Kerrie Garner Rachel Wright Kate Hinchliff Max Sawyer

Tony Henthorn Cecilia Hammond

AMVC Head Bainton Church Churchwarden Bainton Church Churchwarden Bainton Parish Council Chair Bainton Parish Council Vice Chair Bainton Parish Council Bainton Parish Council Bainton Parish Council Bainton Parish Council Clerk Barnack Baptist Church Barnack Baptist Church Barnack Bowls Club Barnack C of E Primary School Barnack Church Churchwarden Barnack Church Churchwarden Barnack Community Association Barnack Community Choir Barnack Darby & Joan Club Barnack Horticultural Show Barnack Methodist News Chairman Barnack Parish Council Vice Chair Barnack Parish Council Barnack Parish Council Barnack Parish Council Barnack Parish Council Barnack Parish Council Barnack Parish Council Clerk - Barnack Parish Council Barnack Ward Councillor Barnack Village Hall Bookings Barnack Youth Club Benefice Administrator Botolph’s Barn - Helpston British Legion Citizens Advice Deepings Practice (main line) (Appointments only) Delaine Bus Services Editor Tribune Friends of Chernobyl’s Children

A happy occasion at Helpston Church in August, when little Bryndis Ella Smith from Bainton was baptised into the church family. Pictured are: Godmother Amanda Morgan with Bryndis’ big sisters Solveig and Fjola, Dad, Stefan, Mum, Esme, Kim and Rev Dave Maylor (Dave officiated and he and Kim are also Godparents), and Godmother Amy Gibson

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Morag Sweeney Carol Jones David Packer Sarah Owen Joe Dobson Sydney Smith Rosemary Morton Kirsty Prouse Roz Sowinski

Margaret Brown Nick Drewett Caryn Thompson Pat Jackson June Dobson Rachel Simmons Richard Astle Mary Gowers

Karen Dunn Craig Kendall Maureen Meade John Holdich OBE

Lorraine Moore (PCSO)

Dave Maylor Al Good

Susan Jarman Keith Lievesley Marian Browne Frieda Gosling Peter Grist Catherine Franks

Glinton Surgery Helpston Brownies Helpston Church Treasurer Helpston Lawn Tennis Club Helpston Cub Scouts Helpston Parish Council (Chair) Helpston Parish Council (Clerk) Helpston Parish Council (Vice) Helpston Playhouse pre-school Helpston Playhouse Before and After School Club Helpston Rainbows Helpston Scouts Helpston Village Hall Bookings Helpston WI (President) Helpston WI (Secretary) John Clare Primary Head Langdyke Countryside Trust Lay Pastoral Minister, St. Mary’s Church, Bainton Little Lambs P’cum G’ Primary Head Peterborough Adult Learning Peterborough City Council Peterborough City Council Peterborough City Hospital Police - emergency calls Less urgent crimes Power Failure Priest in Charge Rotary Club Samaritans Train Services Ufford Art Society Ufford Parish Council Chairman Ufford Parish Council Ufford Parish Council Ufford Parish Council Ufford Parish Council Clerk

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