Village Tribune 108 by Dimension6000

YOUR FAVOURITE VILLAGE PUBLICATION

issue

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108

JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2018

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year

HERITAGE A WINTER’S WALK FINE FRENCH WINES GET AFLOAT FIT NOT THIN IN 2018 CHERNOBYL CHILDREN ROCKET MAN

tribune DIARY inside

Artist

JOHN MILLS

Art in the Cottage Exhibition

RECIPE • SCHOOL REPORT • CHURCH SERVICES • HERITAGE • FARMING DIARY • VILLAGE VIEWS

Serving the North Peterborough villages of Ashton, Bainton, Barnack, Castor, Deeping Gate, Etton, Glinton, Helpston, Maxey, Northborough, Peakirk, Pilsgate, Southorpe and Ufford

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Per issue 4 issues Issue Date £39 £125 109 Mar/Apr 18 £65 £208 110 May/Jun 18 £80 £256 111 Jul/Aug 18 £99 £317 112 Sep/Oct 18 £185 £592

Deadline 16/02/18 20/04/18 15/06/18 17/08/18

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3/3/018 5/5/018 30/06/18 01/09/18

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 Contributions & advertising: 07590 750128 or email: villagetribuneeditor@me.com

 Editor Tony Henthorn 35 Maxey Road, Helpston PE6 7DP T: 07590 750128 E: villagetribuneeditor@me.com  Barnack Editor Ian Burrows T: 01780 749554 E: ianberyl.burrows@btinternet.com  Schools Editor Kirsty Warn 22 High Street, Glinton T: 01733 252270 E: kirsty@warnfamily.plus.com  Priest in Charge Dave Maylor The Rectory, Millstone Lane, Barnack PE9 3ET T: 01780 740234 E: dmaylor@btinternet.com Rector in Charge Rev Mark-Aaron B. Tisdale The Rectory, 11 Lincoln Road, Glinton PE6 7JR T: 01733 252359 E: 9bridgesrector@gmail.com Distribution  ASHTON Hilary Smith Thatched Cottage, Ashton E: hilly.smith@virgin.net

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January / February 2018

 BARNACK NEW DISTRIBUTOR NEEDED Deadline for next issue: 16 February 2018

 HELPSTON Clive Marsh Clive Marsh, 34 Maxey Road, Helpston clive.marsh815@btinternet.com M: 07952 251680  PILSGATE New Pilsgate distributor required contact Tony Henthorn if you can help  SOUTHORPE Daphne Williams The Old Dairy Barn, Main St. T: 01780 740511  UFFORD Frieda Gosling 2 Hillside Close, Ufford PE9 3BW T: 01780 740343  ETTON Anne Curwen The Coach House, Rectory Lane, Etton T: 01733 253357 E: acurwen@hotmail.com  GLINTON Shirley Hodgkinson 30 Websters Close, Glinton T: 01733 252351 E: hodgkinsons@talktalk.net  MAXEY Peter Hiller (Cllr) E: Peter.Hiller@peterborough.gov.uk  NORTHBOROUGH Polly Beasley 15 Claypole Drive, Northborough T: 01778 380849 E: polly.beasley@btinternet.com  PEAKIRK Trish Roberts 9 St Pegas Road

REGULARS 2 Advertising / Deadlines 3 Contacts 4-11 News & Features 12-13 Environment 14-15 Write Away 17-24 Heritage 17-24 Tight Lines 26 Tribune Health 27-31 Village Views 35 Taste Buds 36-37 School Report 39 Young Tribune 40-31 Femail 43 Farming Diary 44-46 Tribune Diary 48-51 Church News 52-53 Church Services 54-55 In Memoriam 56 Consumer Advice 57-59 Council Corner 60-61 Planning Applications 62-63 Tribune Directory NEWS & FEATURES 4 John Clare Cottage 7 Men United In Song 2018: Supporting Prostate Cancer UK 8 Mustard Seed Project 9 This year’s new Chernobyl Children 11 Rocket Man issue

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108

ATION

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YOUR FAVOU

JANUARY

e a very Wishing everyonw Year Happy Ne

/ FEBRUARY

2018

ne tribu DIARY inside

John Mills exhibits at John Clare Cottage Artist

LLS JOHN MI

HERITAGE ition WALK Cottage Exhib A WINTER’S WINES Art in the CH FINE FREN AT GET AFLO IN 2018 FIT NOT THINCHILDREN YL E VIEWS CHERNOB • VILLAG G DIARY MAN GE • FARMIN KET HERITA ROC ES • H SERVIC RECIPE •

4,500 copies of the Tribune are distributed free of charge in Ashton, Bainton, Barnack, Castor, Deeping Gate, Etton, Glinton, Helpston, Maxey, Northborough, Peakirk, Pilsgate, Southorpe and Ufford.

T: 01733 772095 E: hello@dimension6000.com www.dimension6000.com

on the cover ... (see page 4)

of • CHURC n, rough villages Glinton, Helpsto North Peterbo g Gate, Etton, and Ufford Serving the Castor, Deepin e, Southorpe , Barnack, , Pilsgat Ashton, Bainton orough, Peakirk Maxey, Northb

REPORT SCHOOL

The views expressed within this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor. All copy is believed correct at time of print but no responsibility can be taken for errors and/or ommissions. No part of this publication and/or website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without prior written permission of the Publisher. Permission is only deemed valid if approval is in writing. The Village Tribune own all rights to contributions, text and images, unless previously agreed to in writing.

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NEWS & FEATURES

Clare Cottage

We are now planning for the 2018 season at the Cottage. This is the sixth year of the Acoustic Café which we run in conjunction with St Botolph’s Church. It has proved to be a very popular. Many thanks to all of the people who come to perform, and the supporters who come along to listen. The next Acoustic Café is on Thursday 25 January. New for 2018 we are hosting a John Clare workshop at the Cottage, “John Clare in Winter”, led by Carry Akroyd. Carry who is a well known local artist, passionate about Clare and is the current President of the John Clare Society. The workshop will consist of a day of presentations, readings and discussions Clare and his works. The workshop will be on Saturday February 3rd, it will start at 10:30, it will cost £14

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and includes a light lunch. The program has yet to be finalised, but if you are interested please contact the Cottage to reserve a place. The Art in the Cottage exhibition starting in January will show works by Deeping artist John Mills. John is a landscape artist inspired initially by the works

of Constable and Turner. His works includes scenes from Portuguese Islands, the Norfolk coastal towns and the broads. As the events for 2018 are confirmed the website will be updated to provide you with full details of the program as it developed.

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NEWS & FEATURES

Men United In Song 2018: Supporting Prostate Cancer UK

New Year, new you? Looking for a fresh challenge, new skills and a great social scene to boot? Then look no further… Following its phenomenal success over the last couple of years, Men United in Song is back for 2018, once again raising money for Prostate Cancer UK. Launching in February, the project will sign up a minimum of 40 local men with a range of previous singing experience (including none) to rehearse over 10 weeks for a charity concert at the Cresset Theatre on Saturday 14th April. To date the project has engaged hundreds of local men, raising many thousands of pounds for the charity – a fantastic result! “I’d seen the adverts for Men United in Song and finally plucked up the courage to give it a shot!” says Alex Smith, who participated in the project last year. “The first rehearsal was nerve wracking and nothing like I expected but there were lots of other guys there just like me and we ended up making a

really good sound. The final performance was such an adrenaline rush - having the chance to perform on stage in front of friends and family was something I’d never done before. If you’re thinking about signing up, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain – confidence, friends, trips to the pub – and the singing of course! Getting involved is one of the best decisions I have made.” “The whole experience was a lot of fun, extremely rewarding and exciting.” agrees Stuart Holmes, who also took part in the project last year. “You get to see what your voice is really capable of, which is usually a pleasant surprise! You get to socialise and share a few pints with a great bunch of guys, from all walks of life, who you might not necessarily meet otherwise - it broadens your horizons and you

• For further information contact Jo on 01733 425194 or email info@peterboroughmvchoir.org.uk • Introduction sessions will be at the Key Theatre, Peterborough on Thursday 1 February (6.30-9pm), Friday 2 February (6.30-9pm) and Saturday 3 February (10.30am-12.30pm). Please call/email to register.

can make some really good friends. It takes a certain amount of dedication and you have to put the work in, but the rewards and the sense of achievement when you finally get to perform in front of an audience at the concert are amazing! I couldn’t recommend it highly enough - even if you are apprehensive, go for it, what have you got to lose?” Men United In Song is not all about the singing, or even about the fundraising, there’s a fantastic social scene, too! Ultimately, it’s about a group of men getting together in a shared enterprise, which of course is the idea behind Prostate Cancer UK’s Men United campaign, and why the charity seemed such a good fit for the project. William Prideaux, director of Men United in Song, says “It’s a real privilege to work with such a cracking bunch of blokes. They take their

music making as seriously as their socialising. There’s a real camaraderie among them and a tightknit aspect to the group makes them a force to be reckoned with”. Men United In Song kicks off with introduction sessions at the Key Theatre at the beginning of February. Absolutely no previous experience is required to join, just a willingness to get stuck in and give it a go. “We’re not looking for a Gary Barlow or an Alfie Boe” says William Prideaux, “just guys who want to come along and enjoy singing together. Until you’ve tried it, you can’t understand the buzz singing can bring. We’re not looking for 100 percent in musicality, but 100 percent in enthusiasm. Come along to an introduction session and find out more, we’re convinced those who do will enjoy themselves and discover how great singing can be!”

• Rehearsals will be on Thursday evenings from 7.45pm-9.45pm at the John Mansfield Campus, Western Avenue, Peterborough PE1 4HX. •The Men United In Song concert will be at Peterborough’s Cresset Theatre at 7.30pm on Saturday 14 April 2018.

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NEWS & FEATURES

Mustard Seed Project

Geoff and Rita Fowler

Happy New Year, everyone! The ending of an old year often gives us cause to look back and, here at MSP, we have been doing just that: whoever would have believed, when we started our school eight years ago with just 17 children, that we would be where we are now with 275 children, 12 teachers and ancillary workers, all achieving such amazing results? And it’s all thanks to you, our supporters and fundraisers.

he school year is about to begin in Kenya and we shall have a Standard 8 class for the first time (last year’s Standard 7 pupils): they will be taking their Kenyan Certificate of Education exams eventually, which determine the school they will be able to attend if they have the money, shoes and uniform. Shoes are a big problem for our children. Many of them come to school in shoes with trodden down backs or cut out toes to enable them to get the last bit of wear out of them. Imagine our delight and the delight of many of our children in Kenya when we took out 50 pairs of shoes! Northborough Primary School donated the shoes they were growing out of at the end of the school year. They came to school in their shoes and went home in their trainers. Amazing! A big thank you to the children and parents of Northborough School. However, for our school to be registered for the children to take their KCPE exams, we must have adequate toilets and wash basins. With any luck, the ground floor of our school building, comprising the toilet block and kitchen, will have been completed by the time you read this. At the time of writing, the contractors had started work on the last section -

they were bringing water into the school, sorting out the lighting and starting the toilet block – but we didn’t have all of the funding in place: we are hopeful that matched funding offered by the ‘Big Give’ Christmas Campaign will have raised the shortfall. We are desperate to get the work done: it will save the children trekking across in the rain to the rented building for their dinner and also relieve the pressure on the two toilets shared by 150 boys and girls. One of the difficulties we have to face in Mgongeni occurs when parents come to the school with disabled children: we know that there is nowhere else they can afford to go but we also know that we cannot completely meet their needs. It is hard for most of us to imagine what it must feel like to live in Mgongeni and have to choose between food and education – and then, sometimes, to not have the money for either. For some like Johnny, who is very bright but profoundly deaf, getting the specialised education he needed was only a wild dream for his parents. It is not so difficult, however, to imagine their elation when they heard that one of our supporters had offered to sponsor his education at a school for the

deaf: they had been so worried about how they would manage to find the fees that they were completely overwhelmed – it was heart-breaking to witness. He will now attend the same school as Hope, another former pupil who is making fantastic progress: she should get the grades that will take her to the secondary school for the deaf. You may also remember that a donor has been paying the special school fees for Halima who has cerebral palsy. She is quite severely disabled but bright, so we were delighted to see that her school report shows amazing progress: she can now feed and dress herself and use sign language to communicate. And she is still smiling! We count our blessings that, through Mustard Seed charity, we have been able to make a difference to the quality of life of the community in Mgongeni. But we know that we could not have come so far without public support. So thank you, once again, for your generosity and please, if you can, consider making a donation: visit www. mustardseedproject.co.uk to find out how. With grateful thanks.

You can read the extended version of this article at www.villagetribune.org.uk 8

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This year’s Chernobyl Children

NEWS & FEATURES

Our annual visit to the Chernobyl Children took place in October this year and even so early in the year, we had a big fall of snow – very beautiful but tricky as we were visiting some of the remote Chernobyl villages in Belarus.

orag Sweeney, Nichola Keeble and myself visited over 30 families in the nine days that we were there, we saw the children from our groups and many more potential new ones too. Next summer we are looking for some new host families. The children stay with the family and attend a play scheme during the day. Could you look after one of these little boys? One of the children we saw was Dima, a sweet little boy who will be seven next summer. He lives in a wooden home with a kitchen and one big room which is divided by a curtain, Dima and his big brothers sleep in bunks in the dark area behind the curtain, Mum and

Dima lives in a wooden home where there is no sanitation. Could you host this little boy and change his life? Dad sleep on the sofa. There is no sanitation in the house and you can imagine the unpleasantness of using an outdoor toilet in both the cold and in the hot weather. All the children were thin and yellow looking, typical of children living in such a highly contaminated region. The fridge was empty apart from a few vegetables and some bones, however, under the floor boards, potatoes, carrots and many pickles were stored. In the spring and summer months after school the children help their parents to grow, pickle and store as much as they can because without this, they

won’t have enough money to feed the children over the winter. Both parents earn below subsistence wages, $225 between them, a loaf of bread costs a dollar so money doesn’t go far. When I asked Dima what he likes to eat, he replied everything and that his tummy is always hungry which of course melted our hearts. We gave his mum, Luda, a big food parcel, courtesy of the Helcats (big thank you!) and another package of vitamins, toiletries, medicines and items donated by many local people. Luda was overwhelmed and just cried. When every day life is such a struggle and finally there is our charity who helps, boosts her child’s health and takes just some of the heavy load from her shoulders, the relief much be huge. Could you host this little boy and change his life? Then there was Vlad who is seven, an extremely pale, skinny little boy, who lives with his granny and her young son. His mum is dead back following a terrible accident in the home, recently his grandfather died too and the little family are very alone and life is such a struggle. Vlad likes school and enjoys drawing and reading. He has two free meals at school each day, which is a God send for his granny. Like Dima, the fridge was almost empty, there were vegetables under the floor boards and they had grown the most enormous pumpkins which they use to feed the chickens and a pig. His Granny was so grateful for the food parcel and all of the wonderful toothpaste, vitamins, paracetamol etc. We are

Vlad lives with his granny. His mother is dead and the little family are very alone and struggling very keen to give this little boy 4 weeks away from the Chernobyl contamination to clean his immune system and after all that has happened to him to give him a few weeks of fun, but first we need a host family. Could this be you? Can you imagine the joy on this little boy’s face when he sees the sea for the first time, tastes ice cream and just enjoys being a little boy for a few weeks? We need sponsors for these boys too, it takes £500 to sponsor a child, if you could possibly join our Chernobyl Family as a

Everything we do for the children changes the lives of these families who live in areas of high contamination sponsor, that would be absolutely and totally fantastic! Everything we do for the children changes the lives of these struggling families who live in areas which are terribly contaminated because of Chernobyl, but without our wonderful hosts and sponsors, none of it would be possible, so we really do need you.

Contact Cecilia Hammond on 07779 264591 or focc_helpston@msn.com

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Rocket Man

The Helpston Rocket Club was founded in March 2017 and has grown to a sizeable group of friendly enthusiasts (of all ages) interested in all things that have to do with rocketry.

NEWS & FEATURES

In October the club held its largest event yet, with the focus of this specific event introducing newcomers (both young and old) to rocket building and assembling. The participants were provided with kits and assistance to assemble their own rockets that were launched in the afternoon. The rockets are made from lightweight materials, propelled on specialist black powder rocket motors and eject a parachute at the highest point of their flight for a slow descend such that the rocket can be re-used. An important aspect of a successful flight is the selection of the most appropriate motor to match the rocket and prevailing

weather conditions to ensure the parachute ejection is timed correctly. This particular day was a great success with enthusiastic participants, favourable weather and a 100% retrieval rate (a rocket descending on a parachute can get carried away a long distance by unfavourable winds!). Rocketry is a very safe, fun and educational activity, involves all kind of STEM aspects (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), and is suitable for anyone who wants to learn, explore or simply have a great time doing something very different. So if this sounds of interest, the club is very informal, open to anyone and membership is free!

If you are interested in taking part in a workshop/launch or would like to see a launch, please take a look at the clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s facebook page (Helpston rocket club) or email helpstonrocketclub@gmail.com.

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ENVIRONMENT

Volunteer with CPRE Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is our local branch of CPRE, a national charity. It was set up over eighty years ago, to ensure the countryside is protected for all to enjoy now and for future generations. We speak up for the English countryside to protect it from the threats it faces, and to shape its future for the better. As newsletter editor, you will help us spread the news about our work in Cambridgeshire. The newsletter also includes articles about housing planning, events and general interest stories about the Cambridgeshire countryside. As newsletter editor, you can develop existing skills and learn new ones while supporting our goal of protecting the countryside.

Skills / Qualifications Required:

The following opportunity is currently available:

4. An interest in rural issues and the work of CPRE is desirable.

Volunteer job title: Newsletter and Annual Review Editor The role: We are looking for a volunteer who will be able to compile, design and edit our newsletter (two issues per year) and our Annual Review. Both documents, produced using Publisher, are currently 8 pages with colour photographs. Printing and circulation is arranged by our office. Tasks: 1. Liaise with Branch Administrator to obtain copy/photos 2. Format and design newsletter using Publisher (Publisher software will be provided if necessary) 3. Edit copy where required - checking for consistency, accuracy and readability and tweaking as needed. 4. Be proactive in suggesting improvements to the newsletter

1. Editorial experience, preferably with a similar publication, is essential 2. Expertise in Publisher or another DTP package 3. Good organisational and time management skills â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you will need to work to tight deadlines to ensure the newsletter is produced on time

Time commitment: The newsletter takes approximately 2-3 days to put together, and a little additional time will be needed for liaising with the Branch Administrator. Conditions: Volunteers can work from home and/or (by arrangement) at our office in St Ives, which has a PC, printer/ copier, and telephone. Reasonable out of pocket expenses will be met for appropriate travel expenses and administration costs (i.e., telephone, postage, photocopying). All expenses claims must be accompanied by relevant proof of expenditure. Support: All volunteers have access to IT facilities, telephone etc at our St Ives office. The Branch has a Branch Administrator who can help with administrative work. Volunteers will be invited to attend an induction course at National Office and will be able to attend other relevant CPRE workshops and seminars.

Who to Contact: For an informal discussion about this post or CPRE Cambridgeshire more generally, please contact Tracey Hipson (Branch Administrator) on 01480 396698 or e-mail us at office@cprecambs.org.uk. www.cprecambs.org.uk 12

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ENVIRONMENT

The Langdyke Countryside Trust aims to promote nature conservation and the local community’s enjoyment of the wonderful natural world of Trib land. The Trust currently owns or manages five nature reserves between Glinton and Bainton and has over 160 local members all of whom share a passion for the countryside and nature.

A winter’s walk T

here is plenty to see if you get out and about over the colder season. You really don’t have to travel far to enjoy beautiful and fascinating sights and sounds. As a great place to start try a walk along the Maxey Cut on a winter’s afternoon. The Cut itself is worth taking the time to stop and wait for nature to come to you. If you want to see a kingfisher locally, this is the place to go – particularly the stretch between the green bridge and the Helpston Road. The first sign of a kingfisher is usually is a high-pitch, piping call and once you hear that keep your eyes on the water channel. You could be lucky enough to spot the bird itself flashing by, before alighting on a willow tree and perhaps even hovering above the water before diving on its

unsuspecting prey of small fish. The Green Bridge too is a good spot to stop at dusk and watch the starling roost assemble over the reedbeds behind the carp pond. We’ve all seen these ‘murmurations’ on the TV I am sure, as vast numbers of starlings sweep and turn across the sky, making amazing smoke like patterns in the sky, but we have our own to see right here – well worth wrapping up for, although sadly like most things in nature, you can’t guarantee that they birds will be swarming every evening. Sometimes they just rush into the roost in the reed-bed and don’t indulge in their display, particularly if there is a bird of prey such as a Sparrowhawk hanging about, waiting for its evening meal.

Other birds to look out for along the Cut are the little egret, a small all-white heron, which when it flies reveals its bright yellow feet and the goosander – a large duck that visits us only in winter and comes complete with a serrated bill, all the better for catching fish. And if you stay till the light finally fades there is also a chance of catching up with a barn owl hunting over the farmland or along the banks of the Cut. Wherever you walk in our area there is always something to see and hear and if you would like to learn more about the nature that is all around us then come on a Langdyke walk or join one of our conservation days. Our next events are in the Tribune Diary on pages 42-44.

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WRITE AWAY

Write Away

Local plans for local people ...

As you might imagine, having been the council’s Cabinet member for Growth, Housing and Planning Services for a good number of years, I am acutely aware our Local Authority is tasked with providing opportunities to construct the myriad new homes our expanding City will need over the period of our next Local Plan (LP) and beyond. An important element of the new LP had PCC’s planning officers evaluating many existing and new sites put forward by land owners and now, by a comfortable margin, we have sufficient allocated to satisfy Peterborough’s government-set growth target of 21,315 new homes to 2036. I’m very pleased to report, surely to the relief of many Tribland residents, we’ve managed to remove the 2,500 houses allocation north of Castor, Ailsworth and Marholm from the proposed submission and hope this will be further endorsed by the Inspector. I have presented this weighty document to the council’s Growth Scrutiny Committee, Planning Committee and Cabinet and it has been accepted for submission on each occasion. If accepted at Full Council in December this LP Proposed Submission will go out to further public consultation for 6 weeks before being submitted for approval to the government Inspector in 2018. More locally and significant to our rural Tribland area, in November I had enormous pleasure in being able to present to my Cabinet colleagues our ward’s newest Neighbourhood Plans, from Castor and Ailsworth. Like our first from Peakirk, these detailed and superblywritten Plans are the culmination of much research, commitment and hard work by a few dedicated residents and Parish Councillors for the benefit of their villages and will be used and referenced in making decisions on relevant planning applications within their respective areas, alongside the policies in the wider Development Plan for Peterborough. In accordance with the Localism Act 2011, all three Plans had been subject to much consultation during their lengthy preparation before independent examination, and were supported overwhelmingly by those residents taking part in the respective villages’ Referenda. Cllr Peter Hiller, Glinton and Castor Ward 14

The news and views of Tribland residents as seen through the eagle eyes of social media alongside your letters to the Editor ...

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A big ‘thank you’

You may recall in the last issue I mentioned our Grandson James’ ploughathon in aid of cancer research. He would like to say a big thank you for the generous donations which are as follows: Cancer Research - £1655; Cash donations through donation boxes and from food and refreshments over the 24 hour period £1000. £500 of this has gone to the Oncology ward and the remaining £500 to the Breast Cancer Unit at PDH. His cousin Ben has generously made a DVD available of the ploughathon which will be available in the Farm Shop from the New Year on receipt of a donation for cancer research. We’d like to say a big thank you from all the family for supporting James. Rosemary Morton, Willow Brook Farm

WRITE AWAY

David Hankins Warning. Having taken my dog to 9 Bridges this morning we were met by the Alsatian normally tethered on the caravan site. As I walked back along the South drain he ran across the field accompanied by one of the two little dogs alway running loose. The Alsatian could easily get onto the Maxey Cut bank. Peter Hiller Well, it's now official folks - the application for a housing estate of up to 78 dwellings (in open countryside outside the village envelope) south west of St Benedict's Close in Glinton has been submitted by developers Larkfleet and promoted by Athene Communications, their PR firm. As your ward councillors both John Holdich and I request that all interested residents please make their feelings known via the Peterborough City Council website - planning page. You type in the application reference: 17/02274/OUT and there's all the relevant documents to see, and also a link to make your comments direct to the planning officers. Please make the effort to comment by using the link below: https://www.peterborough.gov.uk/…/plan…/searchapplications/ Emma Bridget A great big massive thank you to everybody who donated to my sock drive. People’s generosity this year has been overwhelming.

I delivered the items to the Salvation Army today, who tonight, along with other Peterborough churches, started a night shelter. The shelter operates at a different church premise each night of the week for 12 weeks. The socks and other donated Items will be distributed amongst the night shelter clients.

Maxey Village Well done to the ladies of the village hall committee for putting on a marvelous Christmas luncheon today. Emma Watts Does anyone know what is happening at the old Peakirk Wildfowl and Wetland Trust site? I walked past there today and I am curious as to who owns it and what is going on. My Father ran the gatehouse for many years until it closed. Peterborough Telegraph Group’s dismay as historic pub is set to be sold The Exeter Arms pub at Helpston, where the famous poet John Clare used to drink and play the fiddle is on the verge of being sold. But the decision by the John Clare Trust to offload the derelict Exeter Arms in Helpston has been met with dismay by the Friends of the Exeter Arms community group, which wants to purchase the property as a community asset. The group’s aim was to re-open the building as a familyorientated pub which would also serve as a new village hall and a place for the young people of the village to meet. Jay Gearing said: “We’re incredibly disappointed with the way the trust has treated this situation and the effect it has on the community. They purchased this historic building in order to protect and preserve it, but instead it is now a mismanaged wreck and a shell of the great building that John Clare would have loved. Returning it to the community would be the decent thing to do.” But this was categorically disputed by Barry Sheerman, the trust’s chairman, who said he had every sympathy with the group. Mr Sheerman said his dream when the trust bought the pub was to open it as a centre for English folk singing, but that a difficulty in raising money had left the trust with no option but to sell the pub. He added: “We can’t sell the pub for less than the best price, otherwise the Charity Commission would not be happy at all. If at this late stage anybody matched the offer we have we would sell it to them. “I understand the person most likely to purchase it told us it was to be a private residence. Any profit we get from selling the Exeter Arms will be ploughed back into the charity.”

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HERITAGE

Recycling the Past: A New Sign from Old By the time you receive this issue of The Trib. the dilapidated and redundant Wildfowl World board, will have been removed from St Pega’s Road (at the Glinton end of Peakirk) and its rusty frame will have been refurbished and given a second lease-of-life in Chestnut Close. It will support a new panel relating to The Car Dyke, a Roman watercourse which ran through Peakirk and bisected the present village green, where it is still visible as a slight depression.

In 2016, PAST [Peakirk Archaeological Survey Team] conducted a geophysical survey to plot its route, with surprising results. We shared our findings at the Annual Parish Meeting, where PAST member, Bob Randall, suggested that there should be a permanent display relating to this all-important landscape feature. Peakirk Parish Council liked the idea and graciously offered to fund the project. Our next step was to commission

Recycled: the redundant Wildfowl World Board

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artist, Hilary Coulthard, to produce a conjectural drawing of how Peakirk may have looked in c.120AD, whilst my wife, Avril Lumley Prior, compiled the text and planned the lay-out. Finally, we took our designs to Isigns, in Peterborough, where Andy Buckingham, Sandra Graham and their team were the epitome of patience and professionalism, a real pleasure to work with. Here is a preview of the magnificent job they have done – but, please, do go and look for yourselves. The new sign

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HERITAGE

Taxes How we love to hate them!

uring the Roman occupation there was a levy on each province payable by the governor, the Anglo Saxons paid a land tax or geld as well as tolls on trade to pay for mercenaries, some paid protection money known as Danegeld to keep out the invaders. One of the first actions taken by the Norman Conquerors was to send scribes to every corner of England and they produced an inventory of all the settlements, fields and ploughs, woods, mills, people and their status, all recorded under land owners. The result was the Domesday Book and, not surprisingly its purpose was taxation. Taxes, including tithes or church taxes, were sometimes collected in kind, and some of the old tithe barns for storing grain still survive. Others, such as the medieval Lay Subsidies, levied village by village, were paid in money and only by those who could afford to pay. In 1334

It would be depressing way to spend a wet afternoon adding up the taxes we all pay in a lifetime. Start with Income Tax, VAT and National Insurance which we all pay and add to that some of the additional taxes, Corporation tax, Car Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Stamp Duty, Council Tax, Inheritance Tax and no doubt one or two more. It is small consolation that taxation has been around for a very long time. Frieda Gosling

Helpston had 38 payers, Ufford had 27, Barnack had 22 and Bainton had 16. The poll tax imposed to pay for the war in France was one of the causes of the Peasants Revolt in 1381. The trigger was an attempt to collect unpaid poll taxes and an army of peasants from Kent and Essex marched on London. There were many odd ways of extracting people`s money in the 18th century; the window tax which led to windows being bricked up; there were even taxes on printed wallpaper, hats, playing cards and dice, glass, and to pay for the wars in America, a brick tax. The first income tax was in introduced in 1799 as a temporary measure to pay for the Napoleonic wars. The Hearth tax was imposed in 1662 to support Charles 11 after the restoration of the monarchy. One shilling had to be paid twice a year for every fire hearth. Tax inspectors had the right to enter every house to

check the number of hearths. If a chimney had been stopped up the householder had to pay double. Houses with only one hearth would have been occupied by farm labourers. The hearth would have been in the downstairs room and used for cooking and heating. Houses with three or more hearths would have had two downstairs and one or more upstairs. They would have been occupied by the more prosperous yeomen farmers and craftsmen. In Helpston, Bainton and Ufford over half of the houses had only one hearth. Ufford had one house (Downhall Manor no longer in existence) which had 12 hearths , and another, Ufford Rectory, had 9 hearths. The Earl of Exeter had to pay for 70 hearths in Burghley House. The Hearth Tax was abolished in1689. Meanwhile the Chancellor of the Exchequer would welcome your suggestions for some exciting new taxes in 2018-19!

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HERITAGE

St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall

A Saint for every Sinner:

Dedications, devices and demises by Dr Avril Lumley Prior

A Cradle of Christianity On a recent trip to Cornwall, we were intrigued to find the county awash with places named after Celtic (ancient British) saints. They were associated with early-Christian missionaries and miracle-workers from Wales and Ireland who came to convert the indigenous population or to live as recluses emulating Christ’s period of fasting in the wilderness. Some died for their beliefs or through self-imposed deprivation; others may have never existed at all. Inevitably, a cult sprang up at the site of their perceived martyrdom or hermitage, where their relics (earthly remains) could be visited by the curious and those seeking a cure or to witness a miracle. Often, a settlement developed around the shrine taking its name from the incumbent, just as Peakirk is derived from St Pega. In Cornwall, you will find Perranporth, after Piran (died c.480AD), the patron of tin-miners, St Mawes (c.450), the protector of fishermen and guardian against headaches and worms, Gwinear, who was

murdered by the heathen King Tuedar, Mevagissey [St Meva and St Issey], St Mewan and his soulmate, St Austell (c.550). Some of these saints’ exploits were so bizarre that they beggar belief. For example, there was the foolhardy St Ia, who sailed from Ireland on a leaf to become the foundress of St Ives (not to be confused with St Ivo who was re-interred at its Huntingdonshire namesake). We also have a St Neots in both counties, claiming the bones of an ascetic ex-monk of Glastonbury. Seemingly, Neot was so unhappy with his Cornish resting-place that he posthumously petitioned to be relocated to The Fens (or so the monks of the second St Neot’s claimed). We cannot tell whether his relics were bought or stolen by the Huntingdonshire brethren or if they were two people with the same name, who were enshrined at two different places. Many of Cornwall’s sacred sites are in the tranquil, ‘hermitfriendly’ settings, like St Just-inRoseland alongside a picturesque creek, or St Nectan’s chapel, in splendid isolation outside

Lostwithiel. Yet, the most spectacular sight of all must be St Michael’s Mount at Marazion, named not after a Cornish saint but the Archangel Michael whose churches are synonymous with high places and water. It was linked with its equivalents, Mont St Michel in Normandy and Sacra di San Michelle in the Italian Alps, through a sunburst of pilgrim paths and sea routes that converged on St James’ shrine at Santiago de Compostela, in North West Spain. Archangel Michael was deemed a first-rate companion for the journey to Heaven, although St Peter (the gatekeeper) ultimately decided who was allowed in. Even if the worst happened, Michael had the power to rescue the repentant sinners from Hell. Since St Michael had no grave, a feather from his wing became a much sort-after keepsake.

Consecrating Tribland After the evacuation of the Roman legions in c.410AD, Tribland had to wait until 654 before it was re-Christianised by >>

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HERITAGE

>> Peada, client-king of the Middle Angles, and four Northumbrian priests. In 655, a monastery was created at Medeshamstede (Peterborough) and consecrated in honour of St Peter. Gradually, a network of churches and chapels were established across the region, with priests to administer to the spiritual needs of their flocks and prevent them from lapsing. Each one had its own patron saint, who could act as an intermediary between God and the petitioner or penitent, and each encapsulated his/her bodypart, supplied by its benefactor as physical evidence of the saint’s presence in both Heaven and on Earth. Sadly, unlike Cornwall, there is a local-saint deficiency in Tribland with only Kyneburgha (Castor), Pega (Peakirk) and, if we stretch the boundaries, Guthlac the hermit (at Market Deeping and Crowland) and Suffolk’s St Botolph (at Helpston). There is a shortage of ‘high places’ too, although we do have a St Michael and All Angels at Sutton set on an incline overlooking the River Nene; but it cannot be compared its Cornish, Normandy or Alpine counterparts. Moreover, Sutton’s is a later dedication, for St Michael did not take root in England until the end of the Middle Ages. In fact, a will of 1528 bequeaths three shillings and four pence [17p] ‘to the chapel of Sent Giles in Sutton’. Contrary to the immortal St Michael, St Giles (who died c.710) was a contemporary of fellowhermits, Botolph (died c.680), Guthlac (714) and his sister, Pega (719), and the less-abstemious Queen Kyneburgha (c.680). An Athenian by birth, Giles chose a spot close to the mouth of the River Rhône, near Nĩmes [Provence] for his anchorage. Folklore dictates that King Wamba of the Visigoths accidently wounded him with an arrow 22

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whilst aiming at a hind that he was sheltering. Mortified that he had crippled a holy man, Wamba gave him land upon which to build a monastery, known after his death as Saint-Gilles. His shrine became another convenient stopping-place on the pilgrim trail to San Santiago de Compostela and Jerusalem, with numerous miracles allegedly occurring there. Giles became the patron of lepers, the disabled and Crusaders, many of whom returned from the Holy Land maimed and disease-ridden. In England, 162 ancient churches were consecrated in his honour and approximately 24 hospitals, including St Giles in Edinburgh and Cripplegate in London. He usually is depicted as a monk with a staff and a deer. Early sixteenth-century wills tell us that St John the Baptist’s church at Upton was formerly St Helen’s, one of 135 medieval places-of-worship in England dedicated in her honour. St Helen (c.250-330) was born in Drepanum (later Helenopolis), in Asia Minor, to an innkeeper’s wife. She wed the Roman general Constantius Chlorus, who divorced her when he became emperor to marry into the nobility. Therefore, Helen became the patron of abandoned wives and those locked in unhappy marriages. However, her son, Constantine [the Great], stayed devoted to her and restored her to glory after he was proclaimed emperor in York in 306AD. In 312, Empress Helen declared herself a Christian, converted her son and persuaded her him to make Christianity the official religion throughout the Roman Empire. She is accredited with discovering ‘The True Cross’ or ‘Holy Rood’ upon which Christ died and this became her emblem. Hers is one of the earliest of English dedications, first appearing in York [Eboracum] in

the fourth century, probably at the site of the present St Helen’s on Stonegate. Each ‘Helen’ church traditionally contained a fragment of The Rood (believed to have liferestoring properties). It has been calculated that, if all the supposed pieces of ‘The Rood’ in England were placed end-to-end, they would stretch from Canterbury to Calvary, the hill in Jerusalem where Christ was crucified. Both St Giles/St Michael’s and All Angels Sutton and St Helen’s Upton were originally chapelsof-ease to St Kyneburgha’s, Castor, the earliest of Tribland’s parish churches. Here in c.664, a ‘double monastery’ for monks and nuns was established by King Peada’s sister, the widow of Alchfrith sub-ruler of Northumbria. She was joined by their sister, Kyneswitha, and, perhaps, their relative, Tibba of Ryhall. Curiously, as late as 1545, the building was consecrated in the honour of all three. Obviously, Kyneburgha’s convent originally had a different

Castor: Kyneburgha, saint & queen dedication, possibly honouring The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ and patron saint of all humanity, frequently chosen for seventh-century nunneries. The triple dedication came after

HERITAGE

Peakirk: St Peter the royal ladies had died and remembrances of Queen Kyneburgha were perpetuated in the tenth-century place-name, Kyneburghe cæstre. St Mary was by far the most popular of Tribland dedications with churches at Bainton, Marholm and chapels at Deeping Gate and Maxey. Her status may have been due to the belief that Christ’s Mother, ‘The Queen of Heaven’, was the most influential person to plead your case on Judgement Day. In the east window of Peakirk church, a twentieth-century stained-glass image of The Virgin Mary stands shoulderto-shoulder with ‘St Pega the Virgin’ amidst a gallery of saints. And well she might, because when the church was rebuilt in 1014/15 by Earl Sigeferth on or near the site of an earlier structure, it was consecrated not to Pega but to The Mother of God, The Holy Trinity and All Saints. Thus, Sigeferth could rely upon the entire Company of Heaven to intercede on his behalf throughout his precarious voyage to the Afterlife, rather than St Pega, an obscure fenland anchoress. Nevertheless, the very placename, Peakirk, tells us that there undoubtedly was an early cult of St Pega, here, which, from the late tenth century onwards, was being suppressed by the monks of Crowland Abbey, four miles away. Their objective was to deflect pilgrims and (moreimportantly) their revenue to St Guthlac’s shrine, close to where Pega had supposedly lived until her brother evicted her. I suspect that the Crowland

brethrens’ obsession with her death and burial in Rome in 719, was a medieval ploy, sending the message that there were absolutely no relics of Pega survived in Peakirk. Even her hermitage chapel bore the name of St Bartholomew, Guthlac’s ‘heavenly helper’. Indeed, Crowland Abbey outshone Peakirk in its veneration of the saint, keeping her feast day on 8 January and even composing an anthem in celebration of her affiliation to their establishment. Hence, Pega can be considered the patron saint of anchoresses, displaced persons and misplaced mortal remains. Of course, the prototype of the ‘Christian hermit’ was John the Baptist (died 30AD), who lived in the desert, wore animal skins and dined on locusts and wild honey. His role was to prepare the way for Christ, his kinsman, whom he baptised in the River Jordan. Unfortunately, he criticised King

Music for St Pega, c.1240 (British Library) Herod Antipas and his wife, Herodias, who cast him into prison. John was martyred when Herodias’ daughter, Salome, demanded his head on a plate in return for dancing at her step-father’s birthday party. The besotted and weak king agreed and kept his promise, after which Salome presented her trophy to her mother. St John the Baptist rose to prominence during the medieval period with 496 churches honouring his name. He enjoyed the patronage of the Knights Hospitallers (who guarded the Holy Sepulchre and protected pilgrims en route to

Peakirk: John baptises Jesus

West Deeping: St Andrew Jerusalem), stonemasons and later freemasons. Coincidentally, the oldest, visible church masonry in Tribland is at his church at Barnack, where the tower dates back to c.975 and is thought to have been used as a baptistry. John died before Christ’s disciples had founded his Church, so the title of first Christian martyr goes to St Stephen, a Church Deacon, who was stoned to death in 35AD. He

St Pega and The Virgin Mary too had a wide appeal during the Middle Ages as the patron of stonemasons, coffin-makers, horses and 46 churches, including Etton. His name is immortalised in the Christmas carol, ‘Good King Wenceslas’, who was charitable to a pauper ‘on the Feast of Stephen’ (Boxing Day). Despite SS Mary’s, Stephen’s and John the Baptist’s seniority, >> the most favoured of all

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HERITAGE

>> dedications was in the honour of St Peter (died c.64AD), to whom Christ entrusted the Keys to Heaven and called him ‘The Rock on which to build my Church”. Peter carried out his Master’s instructions courageously, converting Jews and criticising the ruling elite for their ungodliness, which led to his imprisonment. Eventually, he enraged Emperor Nero and, according to legend, was crucified upside-down, though there are no reliable records to substantiate this. Peter is regarded as the first bishop of Rome and was enshrined beneath a church in what is now the Vatican City, the very first St Peter’s. In England, there were early ‘Peter’ dedications at York (c.627), Lindisfarne (634), Whitby (657), Wearmouth (674), Ripon (678) and Peterborough (c.655), in all 1,129 pre-Reformation churches. Peter is the patron saint of fishermen, sailors, shipwrights and net-makers and is usually portrayed with keys but occasionally with fish, ships or a cock to signify his denial of Christ. Peter is often associated with his former persecutor, Roman citizen and fellow-Jew, St Paul (Saul of Tarsus) who reformed after being blinded by a vision of The Resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus and took His message to the Gentiles (non-Jews). For 30 years, he travelled throughout the Mediterranean world, founding churches in Asia Minor and Europe, suffering great adversity and writing letters of advice and encouragement to various Christian communities. It is claimed that he was beheaded in Rome on the day of St Peter’s crucifixion, which may explain why they share the same festival (29 June). Paul was buried on the Ostian Way 24

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beneath the present Basilica of St Paul-without-the-Walls, after which he became the patron of missionaries, writers, saddlers and rope- and tent-makers. The earliest purpose-built church in England since the Romano-British period, SS Peter’s and Paul’s at Canterbury, was instigated by St Augustine, who evangelised Kent in 597. Other well-known ‘Peter and Paul’ churches were at Dorchester (c.635), Winchester (648), Glastonbury (c.700) and, Maxey (c.1100), in all 283 ‘ancient’ joint-dedications. St Andrew, Peter’s brother, was also a fisherman and another of Christ’s companions who, it is claimed, was martyred in Rome on a saltire cross, c.60AD. ‘Andrew’ dedications were a particular favourite of St Wilfrid of Northumbria, who was operating in the area in the late seventhcentury. We know that Wilfrid built St Andrew’s Monastery at Oundle, where he died in 710, but it is impossible to prove his presence in Tribland, despite ‘Andrew’ churches at Northborough and Ufford. Still, the Northborough dedication may be early for there was a high-status seventh-century to eleventh-century complex to the west of the present church. St Andrew was not only the protector of fishermen but of fishmongers, singers, spinsters, expectant mothers, sufferers from gout and sore throats - and Scotland, where his relics reputedly made their way to St Andrew’s, Fifeshire. St Botolph is just as remarkable for his after-death adventures as his life-time achievements. Like John the Baptist, Giles, Guthlac and Pega, he was a hermit but also a missionary, who built a monastery at Icanhoe (Icken), which was destroyed by the Danes

in 870. In 973, whilst gathering relics for his new churches, Bishop Æthelwold of Winchester ordered Botolph to be exhumed, only to find his skeleton entwined with that of his equally-pious brother, Adolph. So, both were extracted and untangled. Botolph’s bones were spread far and wide, including Ely, Bury St Edmund’s, Westminster and Thorney Abbeys, with a tiny fragment reaching Helpston. Afterwards, Botolph became the patron of travellers. His name survives at Botolph Bridge in Peterborough, where his cortege crossed the River Nene, as well at 50 ‘ancient’ churches, mainly in Eastern England, such as Helpston, Thorney and ‘Boston Stump’.

A Pilgrimage to Tribland At Helpston, Tribland’s epicentre, we conclude our inventory of the region’s saints from John the Baptist (died c.30AD) to St Pega (died 719). With the exception of Castor and pre-1014/5 Peakirk, it is unlikely that any of their churches became centres of pilgrimage, though folk may have been allowed a peek at the relics on holy days and encouraged to leave donations. That is until Henry VIII’s arch-Protestant son, Edward VI (1547-53), denounced such practices and religious imagery as idolatrous. Consequently, shrines and statues were destroyed and wall-paintings white-washed over so that worshippers were not distracted from their devotions. Despite this, the buildings where generations of Christians have worshipped endure, beautiful in their simplicity, and, like the majestic St Michael’s Mount and the quintessentially-Cornish churches at St Ives and St Just-inRoseland, each is well worth a visit. 

Get afloat

TIGHT LINES

by Mark Williams

I have an abiding love of boats. Or more precisely, fishing from boats.

aybe the fact that I was born within sight of a harbour, and climbed aboard boats from the age of 12 onwards, has some bearing. But I have never knowingly turned down a chance to be afloat, whether at sea or on a lake.

a palaver, uprooted bank sticks and negotiating fences and hedges with 11 feet of carbon rod tangling at every opportunity. On a cold day, there’s a natural tendency to stay put and see what comes along. And on a cold day, nothing much does.

In winter conditions, many fish group in one area, conserving energy while there’s not much to eat. The pike which prey on them also end up clustered nearby. What I haven’t experienced except for one memorable day on the Bure with former Norfolk piking guide John Watson is fishing rivers from a boat. Until recently, it had seemed to me that as most rivers are narrow enough for me to cast to every spot from the bank, what would be the point? Then I had a dull day on the Nene piking without success, and realised that what I needed, above all else, was more mobility. The reality of bank fishing, particularly with sit-and-wait methods, is that every move is

With the water frigid, fish are less mobile, especially pike. If you don’t drop a bait virtually on their noses, you don’t catch them. That’s a generalisation, but it’s also true that in winter conditions, many fish group in one area, conserving energy while there’s not much to eat. The pike which prey on them also end up clustered nearby. During a recent day’s piking on a Peterborough gravel pit (just one 5-pounder that day) my buddy and I decided a boat must be on our joint shopping list. Past

experience suggests anything over 14 feet will be too big, so we’re keep an eagle eye open for something with a sound hull to which we can affix an electric outboard. I was once a bit sniffy about electric outboards. I suffered countless hours in a pall of twostroke fumes and din fishing then, one day, went afloat on a trout fishery with a man who’d brought with him an electric outboard. For one thing, it was light and easy to carry. Yes, the battery was pretty hefty, but the overall weight of engine and fuel would be more. Then there was the experience of being shoved silently along at a surprisingly urgent pace. I realised then that for freshwater fishing, you need nothing more powerful than an electric outboard. In my latest fishing dream, I’ve rigged up two leisure batteries in parallel in their own locker space – enough for a full day – and I’m sneaking silently up the Nene, exploring little coves and corners which bank anglers never fish. A boat’s too big an ask for Christmas. But when the New Year comes, maybe I’ll find that ideal cockleshell vessel and make my dreams a reality.

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TRIBUNE HEALTH

Fit not thin in 2018

Sarah Davey

Many people will make a resolution to lose weight in 2018. To be fair lots of us made the same resolution on January 1st 2017...and 2016... What if we’re looking at it all wrong? What if a better resolution was to get fit in 2018? Fit not thin. I’m not saying you shouldn’t aim to lose weight. If your knees buckle when you try to stand up and you have a family history of cardiovascular disease maybe you should. But maybe that family history of cardiovascular disease should prompt you to think more strategically. Obesity is linked to cardiovascular disease but that’s not the whole story. Lack of fitness also plays a role. Tackle the fitness and a side effect may be that you also tackle the obesity. And seriously, getting fit is way more fun than dieting. A friend once told me about the shift in her mindset when she decided to focus on fit not thin. “As I got fitter I became more than I was before. Whenever I’d tried to lose weight in the past I’d focussed on being less. That was the main difference for me.” Personally I think that if society paid more attention to fitness rather than weight loss, we’d actually have less obesity. If we (especially women) focussed on how far we could run or cycle, or how many push-ups we can do, we would naturally be more active and less obese because focussing on fitness actually makes weight loss easier. The fitter you get the more you view food as fuel and the more you want to eat high

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quality nutritious food because it helps you get fitter. It’s positive reinforcement. And let’s be honest, society is horribly biased against fat people. But if fitness was the Holy Grail we wouldn’t automatically assume that not-thin equates to not-healthy. We need to stop being obsessed with weight-loss and thinness. If we get involved in more conversations about fitness rather than how to lose extra pounds, our fat-bias would diminish and maybe more overweight people would feel comfortable joining the gym or that exercise class they always fancied. Both fat and thin people would be healthier if they aimed for fitness rather than thinness. Even if overweight people stay overweight weight, they still get all the protective benefits of exercise. And there are many thin people who are terribly unfit and are at risk of cardiovascular disease. Thin does not always or even often equate to healthy, in spite of popular myth. It’s not an either-or situation but if you only aim to end 2018 thinner you might succeed, you might not, but you’ll still be unfit. If you aim for fitness you will probably lose weight, gain confidence, friends, a new skill or two, and in the words of my friend be more than you were by the end of the year. I know which route I’m going to take.

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VILLAGE VIEWS

Book release Brian Palmer has produced an excellent book entitled “The Men Who Went to War” from the Parishes of Barnack and Pilsgate, Southorpe, Bainton, and Ufford. The book details the lives and deaths of so many parishioners during the Great War, it is beautifully illustrated with many original photographs of the men and the places in which they fought, and with maps of both the Western Front and the Dardanelles. The book is available from Brian (01780 740988) or from Walkers in Stamford at a cost of £5, all proceeds going to charity.

READ MORE at www.villagetribune.org.uk

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VILLAGE VIEWS

GLINTON

Glinton Friendship Club Happy New Year to all Tribune readers and followers of Glinton Friendship Clubs many adventures... The club has experienced a refreshed lease of life with a lovely influx of new members who are mixing well with our established members and bringing new ideas. Welcome to you all. We have had talks and singers and sales of gifts and books and introduced new games and quizzes over the last few weeks to entertain and engage our members. The volunteers also took the opportunity for a meal together at City College. Over the festive season weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had our special occasions to celebrate. A huge in-house buffet and gorgeous Christmas lunch at the Bluebell. A visit from the local school children singing their seasonal songs and special free Raffle and Bingo with super prizes ends the season with a break until January 8th when we start our New Year meetings. We will be looking forward to a talk by our Sally on her travels, and a singalong with Trudie Mason. Plus a members craft day and a talk by Shaws tours. Â At this time of year we remember our members and their families who are unwell and suffering. Our thoughts are with them and our hopes for a better time to come. For a little information we are a group run by local volunteers for more elderly people who meet at Glinton Village Hall each Monday from 10 till 2 with drinks and lunch and all sorts of entertainments and outings. To find out about costs and membership requirements contact Barbara on 01733 253078. Pam Kounougakis.

Pictured above is the Beaujolis Night which was held at The Bluebell in Glinton. 30

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PEAKIRK VILLAGE VIEWS

St Pega’s Cafe Brunch St. Pega’s Cafe held another successful Brunch on 5th November in Peakirk Village Hall. What an amazing response, the village hall was absolutely packed and for two hours the kitchen was buzzing producing breakfasts. There was great support with a fantastic team of helpers, including seven young people who worked hard serving breakfasts and washing up. For your information, 84 eggs and 10lbs of bacon rashers were cooked, raising £369.10 towards St. Pega’s Church funds. Many thanks to all the good folk who attended. Our next Brunch will be held on Sunday, 4 February 2018.

Community Defibrillator Saturday 2 December 2017 proved to be a landmark day for Peakirk village. For several years we have been trying to raise funds to install a Community Defibrillator

Peakirk Village Hall Quiz The ever-popular Peakirk Village Hall quiz produced another tight finish with Bill and Chris Lyon along with Fran & Kevin Baker emerging as the eventual winners. The picture shows the victorious team with the quizmasters, Stan Houchen and Robert Moss. Stan and Robert have been compiling and presenting the quiz for 30 years and they

have now decided that it is time to take a well-earned rest. In addition to testing our general knowledge they have entertained us with their quips and interesting questions. Brian Lever, on behalf of the Village Hall Committee, thanked Stan and Robert for all their efforts which have raised £8,000 for Village Hall funds.

Sally Jackson and finally with the help of the Community Heartbeat Trust we have achieved our aim. The training was provided by Wendy from the CHT who went through the basics of what to do in an emergency and how to get help. She explained how the machine works and gave us all confidence to handle it. It is fully automatic and will not let you do anything that might damage the patient further. Anybody who wants to look at the machine or speak to us about it is welcome to contact me at jackson.sallyann@gmail.com The amount of support in the village for this project was evident in the large turnout of people who gave up their Saturday afternoon to learn how to save a life. Thank you all, let’s hope we never have to use this knowledge!

VACANCY Parish Clerk Owing to retirement, Peakirk Parish Council is looking for a Parish Clerk. The job is part time at 4 hours per week, mostly from home, with meetings in the village hall in the evening on the 3rd Monday of the month. Experience of parish council administration would be an advantage but training will be provided if required. For further information please contact Henry Clark on 01733 253203 or henryclark@iee.org or see www.peakirkvillage.co.uk

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TASTE BUDS

from the kithcn of

Chez Pierre “Non, Je ne regrette rien…”

ello to you Triblanders in your nice villages, and the season’s greetings to you all. Here at CP we are very busy with guests and friends to create a welcome and festive fare to offer. Yes, we too are enjoying the traditional foods and festivities and we make no excuses to having secured some really very good wines to enjoy too. Now this brings me to the subject of this issue’s CP – wine. Not for our guests the minefield of a complicated list of offerings from unknown, fancy-sounding Chateaus or purported ‘regional award-winning’ vintages; non, life is too short to drink bad wine so we provide a few very good CP House French Wines to enhance the experience of our home cooked food. Simples, as your amusing bobcat says. In French supermarkets I’ve enjoyed many long romantic walks down the wine aisles seeking both old friends and new liaisons, and at CP we stock and serve four basic types of good, well-chosen and much tasted table wine: Bordeaux red and white, Burgundy red and white. If you are aware of the character of these four you can decide what to order in a restaurant or what to serve your own guests, for almost all other wines fall into these same groups. If you are eating Italian food and wish to drink their wine ask the waiter to suggest one of his own wines to correspond. It is a mistake I think to order the best wine with your food, as the dish may well overwhelm the delicate

wine flavour; so, often it’s better beef, casseroles and game. A halfto order the ‘house’ wine to bottle of fine Nuits-Saint-Georges ‘compliment’ not compete. is a better experience than a White Bordeaux: The ‘ordinary’ half gallon of cheaper wine! The bottle shape, so you can finest red wine I have ever tasted recognise before you see the is a Burgundy: a shared bottle of label. Some very dry but mainly Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Les mellow to sweet – at CP we Champeaux 2003 – Domaine serve lightly-chilled Graves and Denis Mortet. An experience Cabernet Sauvignon from the never to be forgotten. northern banks of the Gironde White Burgundy: A prettyriver. Dry, white Bordeaux wine is exclusive group of wines and quite versatile due to its freshness rarely found on your British and flavour and I invariably serve dinner tables. Inimitable, the with my chicken, pork and fish 3 Burgundy whites are never cheap: menus. A favourite with many of flavourful and very dry they can our guests as an aperitif before go anywhere and accompany eating too. any meal in my humble opinion, Red Bordeaux: Among the although perhaps best served finest and best known of French with shellfish, oysters and lobster wines, France has produced some for examples. To induce silent staggeringly good vintages over awe from your guests serve a the years (including one of my lightly-chilled Domaine Leflaive, personal favourites: Pomerol) but Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru also as everyday wines they are 2014 or to just impress present difficult to better. Usually drier any good Chablis, Pouilly Fuissé than the whites because they or Mâcon. include the skin in the production, It will most probably be these reds are called clarets and regrettable to assume a cheap they are generally lighter and French wine bought on your thinner in body than the Burgundy day-trip ‘booze-cruise’ will be a reds. At CP we serve with pasta fine wine at an affordable price and any meaty dish but especially (if indeed it is French!). Yes it may the more delicate meats like veal, well be drinkable, which may be pork fillet, lamb or duck. Clarets all you want from your wine, but ought to be the backbone of your please I ask for you to pay a little cellar. bit more and enjoy the better Red Burgundy: Always with wines from France? As our most tapered neck bottles, the finest famous little chanteuse Édith Burgundy reds are peerless and once sang: “Non, Je ne regrette of incredible price, but more rien…” and she was also famous everyday affairs are readily for her love of fine wines! available and affordable for us Bon Chance mes amis x - Pierre mortals. These can be drunk with heavy foods such as steak, roast askchezpierre@gmail.com

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SCHOOL REPORT

Unsung classroom heroes

Helpston Playhouse

Angela Taylor, co-opted governor, John Clare Primary School.

Holly Cammarata-Hall

In my thirty years as a teacher I have seen the role of the classroom teaching assistant change beyond recognition. Gone are the days when mums volunteered to hear readers, do a bit of painting and eventually became part of the furniture. Nowadays, our teaching assistants are highly trained and have an integral role in the quality delivery of all aspects of the curriculum. They are very adept at identifying where in a class additional input is needed and they work together with teachers to optimise our children’s learning. However, it is not just about supporting in the classroom. Their role is diverse and demanding covering everything from delivering interventions to running extra curricular clubs, staffing residential trips, administering first aid and generally providing TLC (to pupils and colleagues alike!) In short, our classrooms would not run as efficiently or effectively without them and on behalf of teachers, pupils and parents everywhere I would like to say a very big “Thank you”.

The children returned to the Playhouse after the half term to find a new mud kitchen in the garden. The mud kitchen had been kindly made by a parent and the children were very excited and eager to explore and get busy ‘cooking’ in the new kitchen straight away. Shortly afterwards a new bouncy see-saw was also installed in the garden so there’s lots to keep the children busy outside when the weather permits this winter. Security for the children and the setting in general is always top priority and has been improved further by the recent addition of 3 new security cameras on the Playhouse

site and 1 new camera on the John Clare site. These cameras work in conjunction with those already in situ and allow excellent, state of the art, infrared, HD coverage of the setting 24 hours a day. Fundraising continues with earnest in the new year with the return of the popular Helpston’s Got Talent. We are looking for acts to take part so if you or a group of you and your friends have a hidden talent get in touch with staff at the Playhouse or a member of the committee to enter. It promises to be a fantastic night – tickets £10 to include a drink on arrival.

Vacancy Due to a growing interest and an increase in numbers across both the Preschool and the Out of School Club we are in the process of recruiting a new Pre-School & Out of School Club Practitioner. More details at: www.helpstonplayhouse.org Dates for the diary Saturday 3 February 2018 – Helpston’s Got Talent Saturday 24 March 2018 – Easter Fayre

Open all year, inspections always welcome ● ● ● ●

Vaccinated cats only Cats on special diets and medications welcome Rabbits and guinea pigs also boarded Collections & delivery service available Spacious individually heated chalets to suit all ages from active youngsters to golden oldies

Tel: 01733 575300 1346 Lincoln Road, Werrington, Peterborough PE4 6LP

www.homefromhomecattery.co.uk

Exciting news!

£130,000 raised and £90,000 left! Planning permission has been granted for our new build in 2018! Sunflower Seed Pre-school and Before & After School Club in Northborough 01733 253685

SCHOOL REPORT

John Clare School

Torpel (Year 5 and Year 6)

Buttercross (Reception and Year 1)

Our topic this term has centred around the book ‘Bedtime for Monsters’. Giant footprints were found in Buttercross Class and some leftover bread (that we

had made the day before) was stolen!!! We all had a go at being ‘investigators’; measuring the footprints, comparing them to animal footprints and writing crime reports for Mrs Simmons. We now have a monsters’ cave in the classroom and our class alien monster, Alphon, is taking it in turns to visit each child’s home at the weekends. It’s been a fabulous opportunity to learn about the importance of bedtime routines and getting enough sleep! Woodgate (Year 1 and Year 2) What a wonderful term in Woodgate! We have been very excited about our new book ‘The Fox and the Star’ following Fox’s journey to find Star, his only friend. We made a class Fox Fact book with lots of information about Foxes to share in our library. In Science, we have been learning lots about animals: sorting them into

different groups, exploring their habitats, learning about life cycles

and food chains. Mrs Smith has been teaching us about Vincent Van Gogh. We explored making marks and strokes in the style of his paintings and created our own versions of his painting ‘Starry Starry night’. Over this term we have been very lucky and spent time in our wild life area each week with our Eco Parent Leaders. We made; dens, Autumn crowns and most recently bird food for our bird feeders for over Winter. Another great term in Woodgate Class! Broadwheel (Year 3 and Year 4) We have had a very busy half term in Broadwheel. Our power of reading book this term has been Varjak Paw by S.F Said. We have enjoyed finding out about the young kitten’s adventures as he escapes his home and ventures out onto the street meeting gangs of other cats. We have also created shadow puppets and performed to each other as part of our Science topic on Light and Shadows. Broadwheel were asked to set up and run a games room at our

Christmas Fayre. We planned an exciting range of Artic inspired games including Peg the Penguin’, Penguin Skittles, Name the Penguin and Find the North Pole.

Torpel Class have been very busy over the last half-term. We have been participating in a range of fun activities, such as the Halloween Disco and getting ready for the Christmas Fayre.

Each year, Torpel Class organise and run the school’s Christmas Fayre. This year we had a Frozen Planet theme as this has been our topic and we wanted to raise money for the WWF to help them save polar bears. We wrote persuasive letters to local companies to ask if they could donate resources, which we could use on our stalls. We followed these letters up with telephone calls and were very pleased to receive donations from: Riverside Beads (Market Deeping), Tesco (Werrington/Market Deeping), Morrisons (Stamford), The Friends of John Clare School and Beads Direct. These donations enabled us to make lots of products to sell and we had a variety of stalls, including: face painting; lucky dip; ice-creams; decorations; jewellery; cakes/biscuits and sweets - these all proved very popular and we were extremely busy. Broadwheel Class helped us too by organising a Christmas Games Room. So far, we think that we have raised over £300 after deducting our expenses. We would like to thank all the businesses and our customers for supporting us.

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YOUNG TRIBUNE

1st Glinton Rainbows 25 years ago, in March, 1st Glinton Rainbows was established as an important local community group for youngsters aged 5-7 prior to their joining the local Brownies and hopefully continuing their journey through the Girlguiding family. The group has had a number of wonderful leaders over this time and I am proud to be their current unit leader (Vixen).

ainbow’s challenges incorporate four main themes: Look, Learn, Laugh and Love. Through these themes the girls are encouraged to look at the world around, be observant of others, learn about their environment, consider their place/role in it and to uphold the core elements of their Promise: to be kind and helpful. Currently, the girls complete Rainbow Roundabouts which allows them to work as groups (as well as individually) to enhance their teamwork, to give them a voice and build their confidence This term, the Rainbows have just completed a regional ‘Under the Sea’ themed badge. The girls chose the activities that they wanted to do and over the term they have made an ‘Under the Sea’ model, made Rainbow flat fish and had flat fish races, had a visit from a scuba diver, sung ‘Under the Sea’ themed songs, played Octopus tag, had a ‘My Little Mermaid’ Movie Night, did a ‘Farm to Fork’

visit to Tesco and our celebrations culminated with our Under the Sea themed party. The current Rainbows group meets early evenings on a Tuesday in Glinton. We will have 13 members in January with two new members waiting to join after Easter. Once a Rainbow has had her 7th birthday, she works towards her move onto Brownies (this is usually 1st Glinton Brownies) . The move ideally takes place at the end of a full term. Four of our Rainbows will undertake this transition at Easter (leaving us with 2/3 spaces for new Rainbows). If you would like to find out more about the group please contact me; Sally Nash on scollop_95@yahoo.com. To register your daughter and have her added to our waiting list please visit www.girlguiding.org. uk/information-for-parents/registeryour-daughter/. 25th Birthday Celebrations On Saturday 3 March 2018, 1st Glinton Rainbows will celebrate their 25th birthday and we hope

The internet is not for children

that Trib readers will support us with this. The Parish Council has been kind enough to give us a Community Grant to purchase some specific items for the unit but this afternoon will also be an important fund raising opportunity. We will be having afternoon tea and cakes at The Village Hall from 2 - 4pm with all proceeds going into unit funds. There will also be a tombola stall or two. We will have a display of some of the models/items made by the current Rainbows and information about the programme and how to join us. I would like to create a display of previous uniforms, activities, leaders etc so if you (or your daughter) was a member of 1st Glinton Rainbows in the last 25 years I would love to hear from you (scollop_95@yahoo.com). If you have any items you would be prepared to lend me or photos you can scan and send, I would be very grateful We look forward to seeing you. 1st Glinton Rainbows.

John Farrow johnfarrow@outlook.com

Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, John Sherrington, has said, "Inventors of the internet never intended that their creation would one-day be easily accessible for many millions of children around the world. The global method of instantaneous communication was intended for adults. Bishop John spoke as English and Welsh Catholic leaders officially endorsed a call by Pope Francis for governments and internet companies to betterprotect children from 'multiple dangers' posed by the internet. Following a three-day meeting in Leeds, the bishops announced their support for the Declaration of Rome which was issued by the Vatican in October. They said in a statement: "We challenge internet providers to take account of their responsibilities and to invest in measures to limit and control the deeply damaging ways in which the internet is used." Leaders warned that 'damaging consequences' have arisen from 'unthinkingly' making the internet available to children. Their statement continued: "We now see so many people acknowledging that they are addicted to its use and to the pornography which is so readily available there. The internet has also become a major means of the abuse of children, of blackmail and new forms of degrading slavery."

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FEMAIL

Glinton WI

Ladies lunch for Peterborough City Hospital Breast Care Unit Staff at Peterborough City Hospital have been presented with an £11,500 boost for the Breast Care Unit – raised by businesswomen attending a charity lunch. Now in its third year, the event attracted 330 women at the Holiday Inn West, where guest speaker was best selling international author, inspirational speaker, TV presenter and charity campaigner Katie Piper. Carol Collier, herself a former breast cancer patient, again organised the lunch as a way of saying thank you to the unit for the fantastic care she received.

This latest donation brings the total raised so far to £30,000, with money used for clinical room makeovers and specialised theatre equipment not available within NHS budgets. Carol, who won a Pride in Peterborough award for her fund-raising achievements, said: “The Ladies Lunch was supposed to be a one-off event, but the guests who attend enjoy it so much that they request another year after year! “I am delighted to say the recent lunch was a huge success, and my huge thanks to everyone who supported it.” The cheque was presented to Carol’s surgeon Mr Abdullah and members of the PCH Breast Care team. Sponsors of the Ladies Lunch were; Buckles Solicitors LLP, Alwalton Hall, Rawlinsons Chartered Accountants, EDF Recruitment, The Larkfleet Group, Premier Kitchens and Holiday Inn Peterborough West And a date has already set for next year’s event – October 12 – with a waiting list already in place! 40

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by Ann Pettitt

The members of Glinton WI would like to wish all Tribune readers a peaceful and enjoyable year in 2018. Ladies, if you are looking for something different to do in the New Year why not pay a visit to one of our monthly meetings and discover what we are about. More details a little further into this report. Firstly, a look back at events at the end of last year. November saw us having a very positive AGM. We said farewell to our outgoing President, Margaret and thanked her sincerely for leading us through a friendly and productive year. Margaret was presented with a voucher. We were delighted to welcome Sarah as our new President. We are sure she will guide us with dedication and humour. Speaking of which, after the business, our evening finished with much laughter as Paul Vickers, magician, bamboozled us with sleight of hand, ably assisted by some of our own members. December was marked with a Faith Supper, handbell ringers, wine, sausage rolls, mince pies and other festive treats. We voted that our Christmas charity 2017 would be the Glinton Friendship Club. Highlights of our programme for 2018 include:A talk on historic costume by Stuart Orme  An auction An opportunity to try Tai-Chi  Challenging resolutions  A beetle drive  A continuing programme of Sunday lunches in a variety of venues  An August outing  Further entertainment from the talented Bondi, (to name but a few).  

We meet in Glinton Village Hall for a 7.30pm start on the second Tuesday of the month. You will be made most welcome. There is no pressure to join. Visitors pay a small charge of £3.50 to include supper. To find out more contact Jenny, our secretary, on 01733 254252.

FEMAIL

Helpston WI Our November meeting was the AGM, and Jean Mead, our President gave a lively report of the year’s activities, expressing her thanks to Eileen for running the trading stall, Gill for the website and to Vicky for sick visiting. She also thanked Ann and Jan for their work on the committee, which sadly they are leaving. There were special thanks to June for her hard work in ensuring that our WI runs smoothly. Carol gave us a succinct Treasurer’s report and June announced that Eileen and Barbara had attended every meeting this year! We are pleased that our membership has increased to 41 and were delighted that Jean is willing to continue as our President. The evening continued with a welcome opportunity to socialise with old and new friends. Later in the month we had a very successful felt-making workshop with local artist, Eve Marshall. It was good to be joined by friends for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, creating a flock of Christmas robins with individual personalities. Eve is an excellent teacher, coping

Helpston WI Diary smilingly with broken needles and rescuing wonky beaks and feet so that we each went home with a finished bird and many of us were inspired to take advantage of the colourful wools and kits Eve had brought. For this year’s Christmas meeting we had a festive meal provided by Elegance caterers in the village hall. Dressed in seasonal finery we all enjoyed the generous portions of delicious food, with each course punctuated by lively games. The evening finished with an entertaining version of pass the parcel, with the beautifully wrapped ‘white elephant’ gifts we had each brought being swapped around as we tried to follow the rhyming instructions to much merriment. We expressed our appreciation to the caterers and, on behalf of the members, Janel thanked Jean and June for organising our entertainment. We are all looking forward to another enjoyable year in 2018, and if you would like to make new friends and become involved with our wide range of activities, you will be made very welcome at our meetings.

W meet in Helpston Village Hall at 7:30pm on on the first Thursday of each month. Jean Mead, our president on 01733 252025, or June Dobson, our secretary, on 01733 252192 will be happy to answer any questions you have, or follow the links on helpston.net, village organisations, to see this year’s programme.

Wednesday morning walks Meet outside the village shop at 9:00am Thursday morning walks - meet outside the village shop at 9:00am contact June Dobson on 01733252192 for more details Knit & Natter at Botolph’s Barn, Helpston. Come and join us to finish your knitting, start some crochet or plan your next craft project. We meet fortnightly on Wednesdays from 2pm – 4pm (3rd, 17th & 31st January; 14th & 28th Feb.) Beginners’ Line Dancing Every Tuesday from 10:00 -11:00 in the Village Hall. Contact June as above, or just come to the hall. Thursday 4 January We’re starting the New Year in the Village Hall at 7:30pm with a talk by Gavin Sugden about his ‘Travels in Burma’. Please contact June Dobson on 01733252192 if you’d like to join us as we need to make catering arrangements. Thursday 1 February Sophie Driver will talk about Good Nutrition, which should provide us with a boost to our new year resolutions! You are very welcome to join us at 7:30 in the Village Hall – ring June as above or just turn up on the night.

John Farrow johnfarrow@outlook.com

This is the worst disease (These words are attributed to Mother Teresa) I have come more and more to realise that being unwanted is the worst disease that any human being can ever experience. Nowadays we have found medicine for leprosy, and lepers can be cured. There’s medicine for tuberculosis and consumption can be cured. but for the unwanted, except there are willing hands to serve and there is a loving heart to love, I don’t think this terrible disease can be cured.

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Rosemary’s Farming Diary

owing winter cereals was still in progress in mid-October, along with winter beans, but by the end of October all was completed with only the sugar beet land to sow - this will depend on the permit allocation for delivery of our sugar beet to the factory. The four remaining factories have not been running trouble free – loads have been lost due to slow processing, coupled with high sugar content which has also added to problems, unfortunately, it is the grower who is left counting the cost if the weather takes a turn for the worse with frozen beet in the clamp or in the field awaiting to be harvested, the latter having a dramatic effect on the soil structure and consequently, next years crop. If the land gets too wet, long campaigns are not in the grower’s best interests, as many years ago one well respected farmer said to me “All sugar beet needs to be out of the ground by the end of November – with that in mind, it still rings true and I think factories need to invest more to be able to shorten the campaign. However, at the moment they are indicating lengthening it, which I, along with many growers think this is the wrong move, so we await the outcome of this with interest.

With the warm weather this autumn crop establishment and growth has enabled crops to grow away from bird and insect damage, the problem with the warm autumn has been the need to constantly keep the sprayer busy with insecticide application. I think it has been the busiest I can remember. Hopefully the cold weather we had at the end of November will have helped elevate this insect problem. One advantage of the warmer weather is that we have been able to leave the cattle out in the fields for longer than some autumns. This has helped reduce the time spent on them when they are in their winter housing where they have plenty of straw bedding to lie on. They eventually came in from the fields in the last week of November, just before the weather turned bitterly cold. The cattle have done extremely well this autumn, having benefited from the warmer weather and are all in very good condition. The weather which I mentioned earlier has such an impact on our industry (which of course we can do nothing about) Politics comes very close behind, I think now possibly more than ever before. Agriculture is a long-term industry, whether it be selecting your cropping rotation or with livestock, selecting breeds to suit your farm and how it needs to function in the environment. That is why greater stability needs to be brought into our industry. Remembering war lessons on food production, someone wrote recently ‘when every acre that could be ploughed to produce food was ploughed and cultivated’, as a country we leave ourselves open when relying on imported produce which creates more food miles and is surely more detrimental to the environment. With Christmas only two weeks away it is a race against time to be ready for the big day both on the farm and in the farm shop. I think

FARMING DIARY

we are all hoping the weather will be more seasonal, but not too much snow and ice to contend with over the holiday as it makes life more difficult with livestock to look after as well as getting about on foot or car. 1947, 1962 and 1979 come to mind – winters we would rather forget. 1947 was the winter when the snow started to thaw the bridges over the ‘Maxey Cut’ were swept away (Nunton, Etton and Peakirk as I remember) with the roads closed for about eighteen months until new, bigger bridges were built and the ‘Maxey Cut’ as you see it today made much bigger to take the flood water away from the Welland when necessary. This has seen a massive improvement to avoid the flooding in this area, with better drainage the land has been made more productive, we have been able to farm to a higher standard, with the best will in the world you cannot produce crops if the land floods and is water logged. I think the wildlife (the small birds) are back in the garden and are telling us winter has arrived. The foxes come into the back garden to feed on whatever they can find. The barn owls are busy catching mice and our cat helps out when she can – the problem is she likes to bring them into the house to show us what she has caught, not a popular cat when she does this! I see the spring bulbs are coming through the ground and on a more uplifting note it is only about four weeks before the daylight starts to increase, albeit very slowly for a start, but by about the 10 January it becomes more noticeable and the old saying goes “as the day lengthens the cold strengthens” is usually very evident with a noticeable drop in temperature. But spring is only around the corner with the gardens waking up from their winter dormancy period to give us all a much-needed brighter start to the New Year.

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TRIBUNE DIARY

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DIARY JANUARY

 Monday 1 January LLANGDYKE TRUST NEW YEAR’S DAY WALK Starting at 1pm from Helpston Post Office  Wednesday 10 January

DEEPING ADULT ART WORKSHOPS: ‘WATER-COLOUR PEN & WASH’ 7pm – 9:00pm Focusing on experimenting with a variety of drawing pens which give a beautiful sense of shadow and instant tone. Once happy with your work, you’ll be encouraged to apply a water-colour wash.Cost £10. Includes all materials and tutoring. Relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Adult learning (age 18+) Venue: The Deepings Community Centre. Text/ call Clare: 07762434204 Email: paisley-art@outlook.com Facebook: Paisley art  Saturday 13 January

NENE WASHES WALK Searching for owls, birds of prey, swans and cranes, leaving Helpston Post Office at 1pm  Wednesday 17 January

DEEPING ADULT ART WORKSHOPS: ‘ACRYLIC PAINT ON WOOD’

7pm– 9:00pm You will be encouraged to paint in a gestural style to create your own acrylic on wood painting. No prior painting knowledge needed. Cost £10. Includes all materials and tutoring. Relaxed, friendly atmosphere.Deeping Adult Art workshops Adult learning (age 18+) Venue: The Deepings Community CentreTO BOOK: Text/ call Clare: 07762434204 Email: paisley-art@outlook. com Facebook: Paisley art 44

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 Friday 19 January

TALK - “GARDENING INSIDE” - Greenhouse Gardening by Geoff Hodge Starts at 7.30pm in the Glinton Village Hall. For more details call 01733 253591 or see website.  27 January

KARAOKE EVENING AT PEAKIRK VILLAGE HALL 7.30on – 11.30pm “Music through the Decades” - A Karaoke evening with host Paul Ouzman. Bring your family and friends for a great night out; come and join in and sing or just listen to the music. Free entry by ticket, with Bar and nibbles available. Raffle. Order your tickets from: david.hankins2009@btinternet.com or 01733 253397  Monday 29 Jan MEDITATION AND MINDFULNESS RETREATS The illusion of loneliness: It’s common to feel disconnected, isolated or lonely. On this practical course, with talks and guided meditations, we’ll discover how this perception of ourselves as separate from others is an illusion, for in truth we are all naturally and profoundly interconnected. The classes will be taught by Buddhist nun Kelsang Rak-ma who has taught Buddhism and meditation for over 16 years. She demonstrates the benefits meditation can bring to our busy modern lives.  Sunday 28 Jan 2.30-5pm. £15

INNER PEACE: ONE BREATH AT A TIME - Join us on this short course to discover peace from within. Guided meditations and practical advice to help let go of the busyness of life and reconnect with the natural stillness and positivity of a tranquil mind. Everyone welcome - no experience needed For more information please visit www.drolmacentre.org.uk NEW YEAR LECTURE 7pm for 7.30pm, Barnack Village Hall. Subject - “Bomb Disposal” by Sqn Ldr (ret’d.) Alan Swan, MBE, QGM.Alan is a hugely experienced former RAF Bomb Disposal Officer who has dealt with conventional weapons and IEDs during his long career. £5 each (includes a welcome drink). Profits to the RBL.

TRIBUNE DIARY

 Wednesday 31January

DEEPING ADULT ART WORKSHOPS ‘USING DRAWING INKS WITH STICKS & TWIGS’ 7pm – 9:00pm You will be experimenting with various drawing/ mark-making techniques and inks to create an illustrative image. Cost £10. Includes all materials and tutoring. Relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Venue: The Deepings Community Centre. Text/ call Clare: 07762434204 Email: paisley-art@outlook.com Facebook: Paisley art

FEBRUARY  Saturday 3 February

HELPSTON CHURCH NIGHT OF MUSICAL WARMTH Revd Dave and friends invite you to forget your winter blues at a night of musical warmth featuring songs - old not so old and some you may not know yet! At Helpston Church at 7.30pm Tickets £6.00 (first drink and nibbles inc.) from Kate Hinchliff at kate.hinchliff@gmail.com Clive at clive.pearce7@btinternet.com

 Wednesday 28 February

DEEPING ADULT ART WORKSHOPS ‘USING OIL PASTELS’ 10am – 12:00 Working from a variety of imagery, you will learn how to use oil pastels or to further develop your existing skills. Learn how to apply, blend and mix oil-based pastels. Cost £10 Includes all materials and tutoring. Relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Cost £10. Includes all materials and tutoring. Relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Venue: The Deepings Community Centre Text/ call Clare: 07762434204 Email: paisley-art@outlook.com Facebook: Paisley art  Friday 16 February

TALK - “WILD NEW ZEALAND” by Colin Ward (Swines Meadow Nursery) Starts at 7.30pm in the Glinton Village Hall. For more details call 01733 253591 or see website.  Sunday 25 February 2.30-5pm. £15

INNER PEACE: ONE BREATH AT A TIME with Buddhist nun and principal meditation teacher, Kelsang Rak-ma. Stamford Arts Centre. Everyone welcome - no experience needed For more information please visit www.drolmacentre.org.uk

REGULAR EVENTS  Saturday 6 January and Saturday 3 February BENEFICE PRAYER BREAKFAST

Benefice Prayer Breakfast in Botolph’s Barn every 1st Saturday of the month.  Saturday 27 January & Saturday 24 February MONTHLY COFFEE MORNINGS

St Botolph’s - Helpston Church invites everyone to the regular monthly Coffee Mornings held in the Church from 10am until 12 noon.  Every Thursday 1-2pm

WEEKLY MEDITATION CLASSES at Stamford Arts Centre with Buddhist nun and principal meditation teacher, Kelsang Rak-ma Stamford Arts Centre £5 per class Everyone welcome - no experience needed For more information please visit www.drolmacentre.org.uk

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TRIBUNE DIARY

Looking further ahead  Friday 2 March ‘18, at 7.30pm

ST ANDREW’S ANNUAL QUIZ NIGHT ‘Off to the seaside’ with Peter Kemp Northborough Village Hall. Teams of Four. £7pp to include Supper. BYOD. Please call Polly 01778 380849 to book your table.  Friday 2 March at 7.30pm

ST ANDREW’S ANNUAL QUIZ NIGHT ‘Off to the seaside’ with Peter Kemp. Northborough Village Hall. Teams of four. £7 pp includes supper. BYOD. To book, please call Polly 01778 380849  Saturday 3 March

1ST GLINTON RAINBOWS 25TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS Glinton Village Hall. 2-4pm Afternoon tea and cakes  Monday 5 March

WINTER SUPPER (Barnack RBL) Barnack Village Hall. 7pm for 7.30pm. Details tba.  21 March - 8 April

M.A.D. GOES TO STAMFORD The ever-popular Maxey Art Group & Deepings Art Club (M.A.D.) Art Exhibition showcases the work of many talented local artists and will be at the gallery in Stamford Arts Centre from 21 March - 8 April 2018. Most of the exhibits are for sale.  Saturday 19 May

HELPSTON GALA Calling all charities and organisations in Helpston Would you like to promote your charity or organisation at the Gala by having a stall to tell the village about you and what you do? (No selling please just selling yourself) If so, please contact Revd Mike Matthews on frmichaelmatthews@btinternet.com to book a space Again in 2018, the profits will be shared with village charities and organisations, so look out in the March/ April Tribune for details of the share-out”.  Monday 28 May

NORTHBOROUGH OPEN GARDENS ‘18 Northborough is holding an afternoon Open Gardens Event in aid of St.Andrew’s Church Funds. If you would like to open your garden for the afternoon you will be most welcome - the more the merrier to give our visitors a range of gardens to see. For further details please call : Gill 01733 252981, Clare 01733 253291 or Polly 01778 380849. Please also see Helpston WI diary on page 41 and church services on pages 50-51 46

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CHURCHNEWS NEWS CHURCH

Glinton Christmas Tree Lights Switch On On the morning of Thurs 7 Dec, Lee Titman got up early to check on the Village Christmas Tree. Thankfully the Tree still stood proud in its special socket having survived the overnight storm force wind and rain and awaiting the switch on later that evening. The rain stopped just before 6:45pm & over 200 parents and children including children from the Primary School, Rainbows and Brownies assembled outside the church to sing carols accompanied by Marie Hayes on the school keyboard. The countdown to the switch on at 7pm was joined by all and as the lights lit up the bells were rung. The rain had restarted during the countdown and this encouraged everyone to head into the church for mince pies and hot mulled wine or a hot non alcoholic berry punch. There were also soft drinks and biscuits available. This was the 10th year that the Village Christmas Tree had been lit up outside the church and on behalf of the village our thanks are due to the following people: Glinton Parish Council who provided the funding and support. Lee Titman who organised the event with the help of his “tree erection crew”. St Benedict’s Church for hosting the event and serving refreshments. The Bell Ringers, the Glinton Brownies/ Rainbows. the Primary School and everyone who volunteered and took part. All helping to make this a joyful occasion.

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CHURCH NEWS

New Sunday Service

DRH

The fourth Sunday in January will see the inauguration of a new style of worship at St Benedict’s in Glinton and also at St Pega’s in Peakirk. Entitled Parish Worship, it is designed to be service for everyone. It is intended to be rather less formal than the services currently given in these parishes and with the accent on enjoyment in worship. Each month the service will have a theme – January’s is “New Beginnings.” So if you have been thinking about coming to church, or if

you used to attend, but have not done so for a while, this could be the service for you. If you have never been a regular churchgoer, but have wondered what we are about, then why not come along and give it a try? The first of the new style services will be on Sunday 28 January at 9.30am at St Benedict’s and 11.00am at St Pega’s. We look forward to seeing you at either service where you will be assured of a vey warm welcome.

Time for a smile . . .

A couple in the church received a lovely vase to celebrate 50 years of both of them being involved in a variety of church activities and holding a number of important positions. Unfortunately the wording on the card suffered from a lack of punctuation and on looking at it when they returned home, they discovered it read, “With our thanks to you both and may the Lord bless you and keep you from the Rector and members of the Parochial Church Council.”

Peakirk’s Christingle (Pictured left) Villagers and friends enjoyed the Christingle service at St Pega’s church on Sunday 3rd December which concluded with alcohol free mulled ‘wine’ and home made biscuits and the traditional Christmas lights switch on.

ANNOUNCEMENTS FUNERALS Harold Croft (21/11/2017) Barnack Church Ewan Brown (22/11/2017) Barnack Church Maria Wilkinson (24/11/2017) Bainton Church Madeline Dyson (24/11/2017) Helpston Church BAPTISMS William Edward Browne (22/10/2017) Barnack Church Aria Jayde Rosie Flindall (22/10/2017) Wittering Church Millie Georgia Hobson (22/10/2017) Wittering Church James Kinsella Spencer (05/11/2017) Helpston Church

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CHURCHNEWS NEWS CHURCH

Pause For Thought

Mike Mills

Isn’t it interesting that it’s always the same at the start of January? We’ve had the carol-singing and excitement of celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas; presents have been opened and family members visited; at least some of us have managed to stay awake and welcome in the New Year; and decorations are being taken down after the holiday season. And then there’s the issue of those New Year Resolutions!

adly the resolutions tend always to be the same too: eat more healthily, lose some weight, exercise regularly, improve the finances, watch less TV, read more books, sort out the garden and get the tax return done on time etc. But the sad truth is that few of them get honoured for long. Apparently only 8 percent of people actually keep their New Year’s resolutions for any length of time; or as the joke goes, “a New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other!”. But it’s not as if people haven’t been trying to keep

New Year Resolutions for ages. Three thousand years ago, the Babylonians made promises to their gods at the start of each year that they would return borrowed objects and pay their debts (that’s a good resolution to remember!). Then a thousand years later, the Romans were at it too: they began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named. In more recent times here in England, medieval knights took the “peacock vow” at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry. But I am not sure that any of them had a better record than us at managing to keep to their resolutions! So, for many of us, the question is how can we strengthen ourselves to do better with our personal challenges and annual

resolutions. But for those of us who are Christians, the perspective is quite different. We too are called to reflect and look at our desires, motives and actions; but we know that we are, and always will be, weak in ourselves and far from perfect, and that our real strength can only come from faith in God. Fortunately He is patient and kind, not wanting to condemn us, but rather encourage and transform us. We may still have those excess pounds of weight to shed, those books piled up waiting to be read, the garden to be cleared and the accounts to be reconciled. But we know that what really matters in our lives is our journey of faith. That’s a tremendous encouragement for me as we start off the New Year.

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CHURCH NEWS

JANUARY JAN

Sun 7

Sun 14

Sun 21

Sun 28

St John the Baptist Barnack

9am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

9am Parish Communion with Children’s Church 4pm Messy church at Barnack Village Hall

9am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

11am All Age Praise

St Mary’s Bainton

6.pm BCP Evensong

9am Parish Communion

6pm BCP Evensong

9am Parish Communion

St Botolph’s Helpston

10.45am All Age Praise

10.45am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

10.45am All Age Communion 6pm Informal Service

10.45am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

All Saints Wittering

NO SERVICE

10.30am Second Sunday Fun

NO SERVICE

10.30am Morning Praise

St Stephen Etton

10am Family Service Mark Hotchkin

NO SERVICE

8am Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron

NO SERVICE

St Peter Maxey

9am Holy Communion Canon McCormack

9am Holy Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron

10am Family Service Village Hall Mark H & Freda S

9am Holy Communion BCP Rev’d Mark-Aaron

St Benedict Glinton

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron

10.30am Morning Praise Mark Hotchkin

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron

9.30am Parish Worship Derek Harris

St Andrew Northborough

9am Holy Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron

10.30am All Age Praise Freda Skillman

9am Holy Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron 6pm Evensong Derek Harris

10.30am Family Communion Rev Mark-Aaron & Freda Skillman

St Pega Peakirk

6pm Patronal Evensong Rev’d Charles Brown & Rev’d Mark-Aaron

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d Mark-Aaron

11am Morning Prayer Derek Harris

11am Parish Worship Derek Harris

CHURCH ADDRESSES: St John the Baptist Church, Main Street, Barnack PE9 3DN St Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Bainton PE9 3AF St Botolph’s Church, Church Street, Helpston PE6 7DT All Saints Church, Church Road, Wittering PE8 6AF St Andrew’s Church, Main Street, Ufford PE9 3BH St Stephen, Main Rd., Etton PE6 7DA | St Peter, Main St. Maxey PE6 9HF St Pega, Chestnut Close, Peakirk PE6 7NH | Glinton St Benedict, High St., Glinton PE6 7JN St Andrew Church St., Northborough PE6 9BN 52

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FEBRUARY FEB

Sun 4

CHURCHNEWS NEWS CHURCH

Sun 11

Wed 14

9am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

9am Parish Communion with Children’s NO SERVICE Church 4pm Messy Church at Barnack Village Hall

St Mary's Church Bainton

6pm Taize Service

9am Parish Communion

St Botolph’s Helpston

10.45am All Age Praise

All Saints Wittering

St John the Baptist Barnack

Sun 18

9am Parish Communion with Children’s Church 6.00pm Informal Service

Sun 25

Sun 4 Mar

11.00am All Age Praise

9am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

7.30pm Ash Wednesday Service

6pm BCP Evensong

9am Parish Communion

10.45am Parish Communion with Children’s Church

NO SERVICE

10.45am All Age Communion

10.45am 10.45am Parish All Age Communion with Children’s Praise Church

NO SERVICE

10.30am Second Sunday Fun

NO SERVICE

10.30am Morning Praise

NO SERVICE

10am Family Service Mark Hotchkin

NO SERVICE

8am Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

NO SERVICE

10am Family Service Mark Hotchkin

St Peter Maxey

9am Holy Communion Canon McCormack

9am Eucharist Rev’d MarkAaron

NO SERVICE

10am Family Service Village Hall Mark H & Freda S

9am Holy Communion BCP Rev’d MarkAaron

9am Holy Communion Canon McCormack

St Benedict Glinton

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

10.30am Morning Praise Mark Hotchkin

7pm Ashing Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

9.30am Parish Worship Derek Harris

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

10.30am All Age Praise Freda Skillman

12pm Ashing Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

9am Holy Communion Rev’d MarkAaron 6.00pm Evensong Derek Harris

10.30am All Age Praise Rev MarkAaron & Freda Skillman

9am Holy Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

10.30am Holy Communion Rev’d MarkAaron

NO SERVICE

11.00am Morning Prayer Derek Harris

11.00am Parish Worship Derek Harris

6.00pm Evensong Rev’d MarkAaron

St Stephen Etton

9am Holy St Andrew Communion Northborough Rev MarkAaron

St Pega Peakirk

6.00pm Evensong Rev’d MarkAaron

6pm Taize Service

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BARNACK

Armistice Day Commemoration

Max Sawyer, Secretary Barnack RBL

On Saturday at 1050 a short commemoration for Armistice Day was held at Barnack War Memorial, where the Garden of Remembrance had been laid out a few days previously. An introduction to the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae was given and then the poem was read. This was followed by the remembrance of Rifleman Eli Alfred Hensby of the Rifle Brigade as part of the Royal British Legion’s “Every One Remembered” project, then the Legion Exhortation, Last Post, 2 minutes’ silence and Reveille. The Remembrance Sunday commemoration began at 0945 with a service in Barnack Church, conducted by Branch Chaplain the Rev. Dave Maylor, during which the Branch Standards and that of the Stamford Endowed Schools CCF were presented to the Altar and a wreath was laid on behalf of the Royal British Legion. At 1040 the congregation moved to the War Memorial in bright sunshine (and a rather cold wind!) to join many others already there - attendance this year was close to a record. The

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names of those to be remembered from Barnack and the surrounding villages were read out, CCF cadets read the Exhortation and the Kohima Epitaph, Last Post and Reveille were played either side of the two minutes’ silence and wreaths were laid on behalf of the Royal British Legion, RAF Wittering, Barnack Parish Council, the Stamford Endowed Schools and the Falklands Islands Association. In addition, there was one personal wreath laid. Thanks to the generosity of the congregation, the Church collection raised £250 for Legion funds. One feature of both days was that Branch Trumpeter Lawrence Hayes (of Stamford School CCF) used a bugle presented to our late chairman Charles Clark when he was an OTC cadet at Warwick school, which Charles’ son Jonathan presented to Lawrence after the memorial service earlier this year.

IN MEMORIAM

February 1918 L.Cpl. Charles Watson 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers was killed on 21st February, 1918 on the St. Quentin – Cambrai line, aged 27. He is buried in the Villers-Faucon cemetery near Péronne. He enlisted in Ireland where he worked as an Excise Officer. He was the son of William Samuel and Elizabeth Ann Watson. His father was born in Barnack and lived in the Old Corner House on Main Street but later in life moved to London where Charles and his brother Ralph were born. Pte. Ralph Watson 7th Battalion Leinster Regiment died of wounds on 4th September, 1916 aged 24, during the Battle of the Somme. He is buried in La Neuville British cemetery at Corbie, east of Amiens. Sometime after Ralph’s death the records show that William and Elizabeth moved back to the Old Corner House in Barnack. William was known in the village as ‘Turner’ Watson presumably because he was a skilled wood craftsman. The two tall standard candlesticks in the church were made by him and presented to the church probably in memory of his sons.

Pictured here are some pictures of the poppies being laid by the Glinton War Memorial during a service (made by Year 5 children during their ‘Battling Britain’ topic studying World War 1 and 2.

GLINTON

Sarah Clayton, Peakirk cum Glinton C.E. Primary School

Glinton Remembrance Service Written by Maisy and Kai (Year 5)

To take part in the Remembrance Service in Glinton church felt very exciting but at the same time respectful and quite sad to hear about all the soldiers who were killed in the war. Year 5 have been making clay poppies at school and we got to plant them on the grass in front of the War Memorial during the service.

The Men Who Went to War 1914 – 1918

from the parishes of Barnack, Southorpe, Bainton and Ufford Brian Palmer This book has recently been produced as a tribute to the fifty five men from our district who lost their lives in the First World War. It contains pen portraits of every man lost, along with a list of the one hundred men known to have returned from the fighting. There are 48 pages containing over forty illustrations and numerous extracts from the Stamford Mercury of the time. The book is on sale at £5, with proceeds going to charity. Copies are available from the author on 01780 740988 at bmpalmer@aol.com and at Walker’s bookshop , Stamford.

Pte Percy Hill My son and I visited WW1 cemetery at the weekend where Pte Percy Hill is commemorated at Tyne Cot war memorial. His centenary was in November 1918 I believe. Will Thompson

HELPSTON Helpston appears to have had no losses in the first two months of 1918

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CONSUMER ADVICE

Tried and tested professional services at the touch of a button For almost a decade, Safe Local Trades has been championing consumers through an online service providing thousands of customers with easy access to reliable and reputable tradesmen. Consumer confidence and working tirelessly to force out rogue and cowboy traders across the Peterborough area, Safe Local Trades and its director Eileen Le Voi have received a number of awards for the communityfocussed service. And now Eileen has launched a sister company to the service which has seen over 11,000 local reviews being left for tried and tested traders. Safe Local Services – which will offer recommended and vetted services from accountants to dog groomers and hypnotherapists to tattooists.

Despite being in the early stages, a number of services – which Eileen is currently limited to three per category for the first year of business – have already signed up, these include financial advisers, HR consultants, beauty therapists and many more. Eileen explained: “Since Safe Local Trades was established in 2008, we have been asked for recommendations on dozens of different services outside the remit of tradesmen – hence we are now delighted to be able to launch Safe Local Services. “The aim is again to provide consumers with professionals by offering peace of mind when instructing a service. “Each service will undergo a stringent vetting process, have its own profile, gallery of images and a chance for consumers to leave

their own feedback and reviews. We have found over the past nine years that consumers trust our recommendations. “However the benefit is twofold, as professions becoming a member of Safe Local Services will benefit from an already trusted and highly respected service - as well as a reputable brand name. Gaining the Safe Local Services seal of approval will provide instant consumer confidence and trust in them and their business, and ultimately win more business.” Spaces for services will be limited to a first come first served basis, and anyone keen to be featured on Safe Local Services within the PE postcode can register their interest now at (www.safelocalservices.com/ service-providers)

DEEPING & BOURNE PODIATRY At The Deepings Community Centre

Chiropodists diagnose, treat and offer advice on all manner of foot care problems, such as athlete’s foot, ingrown toenails, verrucae and plantar fasciitis. Alison Staines has been in practice for 17 years providing her with extensive experience and plenty of post graduate training. She enjoys a good local reputation with many patients travelling from Stamford, Spalding, Peterborough and Grantham for treatment. Having left the NHS, Alison now works exclusively in Private Practice. Alison is an expert in complex nail surgery as well as the more common foot treatments.Michael has 21 years experience and numerous postGraduate qualifications and is an Advanced Podiatrist in diabetic foot conditions As members of both the Health Professions Council (HPC) and the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatry, you can be assured all her work is certified and carried out to the highest standards of professionalism.

Treatments offered for: Ingrowing toenails Athlete’s foot Corns & Calluses Verrucae Chilblains Fungal toenails Foot ulceration and wounds Cracked heels Hard skin and nail cutting Flat feet / Fallen arches Plantar fasciitis Bunions & joint problems

Alison Staines BSc (Podiatry). MchS Michael Staines BSC (Podiatric Medicine) MchS DpodM

For appointments at Deeping or Bourne - 01778 342110 www.deepingpodiatryandchiropody.co.uk 56

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COUNCIL CORNER

Northborough Parish Council Northborough Parish Council held its annual Christmas Tree lights “switch on” by the One Stop shop on Saturday 2 December. The event was attended by around 100 people who were served with mulled wine, soft drinks and mince pies. The mince pies were kindly donated by Sharon and Yogi from the shop. Jane Knott led the Carol singing, providing music on her piano accordion.

John Dadge, Chairman - Northborough Parish Council Northborough Parish Council would like to thank all the helpers who made this event such a success, with special thanks to Lyn Steen and Margaret Sleet. It’s all change on the Parish Council with John Dadge taking over as Chairman. John is hoping to promote some interesting new initiatives in the coming year and is actively seeking new Parish Councillors to expand the small team.

Any Northborough residents with enthusiasm and ideas for the local community and village matters are invited to contact any Parish Councillor. Either visit the website, www.northboroughpc.co.uk , or look on the notice boards for contact details.

NORTHBOROUGH PARISH COUNCIL Information about the Parish Council, including meeting agendas and minutes can be found on the Parish website:- www.northboroughparishpc.co.uk and on the parish notice boards. Please direct general queries to the Acting Clerk at clerk@northboroughpc.co.uk Cllr Lyn Steen (Chair) Cllr John Dadge (Vice Chair) Cllr Catherine Cavanagh Cllr Margaret Sleet Cllr Malcolm E Spinks Cllr Brian Spriggs Cllr Alex Pickering Acting Clerk – A Benfield

01778 345662 07917 340900 01733 254145 07802 702908 01778 348299 01778 347180 07768 743870 01778 343585 07870 343562 01778 342502 01733 252880 07710 419638 01733 223002

mrslgs@btinternet.com j.s.dadge@hotmail.co.uk katehew@john-lewis.com mesleet@btinternet.com shinger@tiscali.co.uk Alex_P27@hotmail.com clerk@northboroughpc.co.uk

Deeping Gate Parish Council Christmas Sing Along Thank you to everyone who, yet again, supported the carol singing on Sunday afternoon, 17 December. Special thanks to our great musicians and to Isabella, a young parishioner who designed this year’s invitation.

footbridge, Riverside noticeboard and new bin on Sutton’s Lane are the most recent to have been targeted. Spring Litter Pick

Graffiti

The date for our next Spring Litter Pick will be confirmed in our noticeboards and on our Facebook page.

Unfortunately, along with neighbouring villages, we have seen a rise in the incidence of this unacceptable behaviour. Our

Any concerns over strange activity should be reported to Cambridgeshire Police on 101.

Suspicious vehicles

eCops This is the emailing messaging system from Cambridgeshire Constabulary about the area in which we live. Once registered, residents will receive regular updates on crime and antisocial behaviour in Peterborough and the surrounding villages, as well as crime prevention advice. Sign up for this free service at www.ecops.org.uk

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COUNCILCORNER

Glinton Parish Council

Cllr John Holdich, OBE, Chairman

At a recent meeting of the Parish Council, National Grid honoured their promise to brief the Council on its final scheme to refurbish the gas compressor station south of the village. A team of five presented, and stood up well, to a series of searching questions. Work should start in January 2018 and should be finished by the end of 2020. They also agreed that instead of the imitation trees, they would now plant mature proper trees in their landscaping scheme. For the Glinton Christmas tree light switch-on held last December, in conjunction with the Rector, the Council agreed to fund alcoholic and non-alcoholic mulled wine, to be taken of

course with mince pies and soft drinks. TESCO’S at Werrington, thanks to Sue Lane, agreed a generous donation, and Sue for getting a discount on the mince pies overall. The cost should be somewhat the same as in previous years. GRANT AID. The rainbows applied to the Parish Council for a grant to buy equipment to increase their range of activities. A grant of £300 was approved. A grant was also approved for the Patients Transport Service, should Lincolnshire withdraw its’ funding. The double yellow lines around the church should have been re-instated by the time you read this. For general enquiries please contact the Clerk.

Thanks to three of your Parish Councillors, the fridge which some kind soul dumped on the dyke bank was put on top of the dyke by them, ready for collection. Following a ‘health and safety gone mad’, AMEY the contractors wanted a crane to do it. Free bulky waste collections have started for a three month trial, from 4 December 2017 until the first week in March 2018, for up to 10 items and one free collection for these items within that period. Please ring 747474 for your free pick-up. The Parish Council are sourcing planters to place around the village, as you requested in the local plan. The Horticultural Society are engaging in planting and maintaining them. Good village stuff!!

Cllr RW Randall 253276 Cllr PD Skinner 252591 Cllr E Spendelow 252524 Cllr DC Wragg 253047 Mr J Haste - Clerk 252833 E: clerk@glintonparishcouncil.org.uk

Hope you had a good Christmas and on behalf of your Councillors and the Parish clerk, we wish you all the very best for the forthcoming year.

GLINTON PARISH COUNCIL Cllr JFW Holdich OBE - Chairman Cllr RW Johnson - Vice Chairman Cllr DJ Batty Cllr CB Bysshe (Mrs) Cllr DJ Lane Cllr Gerry Kirt

253078 252743 252749 253164 252593 252839

More information including can be found at www.glintonparishcouncil.org.uk

NAIL&PASTE All aspects of property maintenance  Bathroom Installations  Tiling  Kitchens  Painting (inside & out)  Gardening 

Fencing

 Patios & Decking  Sheds (erecting & repairs) 

Carpentry

Warren Sangiorgio 07905 062092 / 01778 344164

www.nailandpaste.com 58

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COUNCIL CORNER

Bainton and Ashton Apple & Cider Day

Bainton & Ashton Parish Council Council Meeting The council met on 7 November. Crime issues dominated the early part of the meeting, following a disappointing response from police in recent months to reports of harassment and potential violence close to Ashton. The council has followed up with meetings but is increasingly concerned at the low priority given to rural policing and the consequent rise in incidents. On a happier note, councillors received the Chairman’s report of a highly successful first Apple & Cider Day, held for the first time and planned as an annual event. More news on this elsewhere in this issue. The next meeting of the council will be held from 7.30pm at

Bainton Reading Room on Tuesday 2 January. Bainton and Ashton Apple & Cider Day Bainton and Ashton’s first Apple & Cider Day got off to a great start with a crisp, sunny day following a night of stormy winds. Held on Sunday 29 October in the paddock of a generous resident, this event was the brainchild of parish Chairman Graham Fletcher and the result of hard work by councillors and a core group of residents. The event was an opportunity for people to come together to celebrate the local apple harvest and have fun outdoors before winter, so eating and drinking were important, with a delicious Willowbrook Farm

hog roast, and of course, a cider bar. Around 200 people enjoyed music and morris dancing, with games for the children (and adults) and stall, with many happy to just relax and chat in the enormously popular tea tent with home-made pies and cakes, Residents were invited to bring their own apple harvest for pressing in the parish council’s new apple press. Vice Chairman Richard Harris may have needed a few days to recover after pressing around 5 gallons of juice by hand. The council is grateful for enormous amount of hard work from local residents that made the event possible. Another Apple & Cider Day is planned for 2018, towards the earlier part of October.

Minutes of each meeting and phone numbers for councillors Graham Fletcher, Richard Harris, Cliff Stanton, Susie Lucas and Anita Phillips can be found on village notice boards and the village website www.baintonandashtonlocalcouncil.org.uk. The Clerk welcomes all enquiries, at bainton.ashton.clerk@live.co.uk.

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PLANNING APPLICATIONS

 BARNACK

Single storey rear extension and associated flue at 1 Orchard Road: Permitted Proposed conservatory at rear (part-retrospective) at 18 Paynes Field: Permitted Holly - Reduce 2 facing branches by 2m max, reduce east facing side back into the main crown approx 1-2m, crown raise to 3.5m at Blacksmiths Cottage Main Street: Permitted Proposed replacement of 4no windows with timber box sash windows to front elevation at Westcroft The Square: Awaiting decision

 BAINTON

Fell Grand Fir at 1 Meadowgate Bainton: Permitted Two storey extension to include garage, carers room and extended bathroom facilities at Vine Cottage Green Road: Awaiting decision

 CASTOR

Raising of boundary wall at 23 Peterborough Road: Permitted Installation of dormer windows front and rear in conjuction with a loft conversion at 3 Port Lane: Permitted Removal of single storey porch at 3 Village Farm Close: Permitted Willow - Repollard to previous pollard points at 1 Church Hill: Permitted Removal of an existing internal partition wall at 4 Clay Lane: Awaiting decision

 DEEPING

GATE

First floor rear extension at 102 Lincoln Road: Permitted Demolition of existing brick garage and outbuildings and construction of replacement outbuilding at 47 Riverside: Permitted Proposed single storey side and rear extensions at 97 Lincoln Road: Awaiting decision Front extension to form porch at 17 Suttons Lane: Awaiting decision Fell Apple tree at Fairfax House 31 Riverside: Permitted

 ETTON

Pollard previously pollarded Willow tree at Church Farmhouse 21 Main Road: Awaiting decision Increase height of chimney. Erection of fencing around site, summer house, shed and outbuilding to rear garden (retrospective) at 10 Main Road: Permitted 60

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 GLINTON

Refurbishment of restaurant with alterations to elevations to include the construction of rear extensions. Reconfiguration of the car park and patio area and the minor relocation of the drive thru lane with associated works to provide side by side ordering with a new island for signage. Relocation of 1 no. Customer Order Display with installation of an additional unit to match existing with 2 no. new associated overhead Canopies at McDonalds Lincoln Road Glinton Peterborough: Permitted Relocation of 1 no. internally illuminated existing yellow “golden arch” symbol and installation of 1 no. internally illuminated yellow “golden arch” symbol. 2 no. white “mcdonald’s” letterset signs to be retained as existing at McDonalds Lincoln Road: Permitted Variation of Condition C6 of Reserved Matters application 16/02264/REM at 30B Lincoln Road: Awaiting approval Proposed single storey rear extension at 14 Peakirk Road: Awaiting decision First floor side extension at 2 Scotts Road: Permitted Single storey side and two storey rear extensions at 8 Neaverson Road: Awaiting decision Demolish existing pergola and construct new veranda at 40 Welmore Road: Awaiting decision Proposed single storey side infill extension and two storey and single storey rear extensions at 3 Lincoln Road: Awaiting decision T1- Walnut Tree - crown lift to maintain approx 5.2 m clearance above road and drive ,selective side prune to maintain approx 2.5 m clearance from building and remove epicormic growth on main stem at 15 North Fen Road: Awaiting decision

 HELPSTON

Installation of an air source heat pump at 5 Church Lane: Permitted

Demolition of existing conservatory and construction of single storey rear extension at 18 Temples Court: Permitted

Removal of existing gabled dormer window and replacement with new flat-roofed dormer window to rear at 6 Heath Road: Awaiting decision Installation of an air source heat pump at 5 Church Lane: Permitted Proposed detached dwelling at 2 Church Lane: Refused

Weeping Willow - Pollard to suitable growth points on the main limbs at Old Vicarage 3 Woodgate: Permitted

PLANNING APPLICATIONS

First floor extension at rear of property at 33 Maxey Road: Permitted

First floor rear extension with balcony, and car port to side elevation at 24 Glinton Road: Withdrawn

 MAXEY

House type substitution on original approved 14/01833/FUL (Plot 2) at 21 Castle End Road: Awaiting decision Non material amendment (change of stone material and centralise the front door) of planning permission 17/01046/FUL at Plot 3 21 Castle End Road: Awaiting decision False acacia - Reduce upper crown by 2m and outer crown 0.5-1m, Walnut - Reduce crown by 2-4m at 19 High Street: Permitted T1 Oak - Overall crown reduction by 2m, T2 Yew Reduce height by 2.5m and lightly pull in sides to balance at 15 High Street: Permitted Proposed creation of a new window to the ground floor rear elevation at 51 High Street: Awaiting decision

 PEAKIRK

Construction of 14 new homes include 4 self-build plots with access secured and all other matters reserved (appearance, landscaping, layout and scale) at Land To The East Of 29 Peakirk Road: Refused Single storey side extension at 10 Rectory Lane: Awaiting decision

 UFFORD

Single story rear extension at Aubrieta Cottage Main Street: Withdrawn Non-Material Amendment (Removal of existing front dormer and replacement of existing rear dormer) pursuant to planning permission 17/00853/HHFUL at Robins Acre 7 Walcot Road: Awaiting decision Single storey rear extension with flat roof at Orient House Main Street: Awaiting decision Replacement front porch at Quarry House Walcot Road: Permitted Single story rear extension at Orient House Main Street: Awaiting decision

 NORTHBOROUGH

Childrens nursery building to consist of three classrooms, ancillary accommodation including kitchen, toilets, office, staff room and outdoor space at Northborough Primary School Church Street: Permitted Single storey rear extension, raise ridge to form loft conversion with rear dormer at 49 Church Street: Awaiting decision Construction of ground floor front extension at 24 Claypole Drive: Awaiting decision Non-material amendment (dwelling position) to planning permission 16/01826/FUL at 40 Church Street: Determined Demolition of existing garage and construction of two storey side extension, single storey rear extension and new pitched roof over existing front single storey element at 46 Granville Avenue: Permitted Non-material amendment (garage length and dwelling position) to planning permission 16/01826/ FUL at 40 Church Street: Awaiting decision Replace existing front door with a solid oak door at 10 Church Street: Awaiting decision Proposed first floor side dormer window at 29 Pingle Lane: Awaiting decision Single storey flat roof extension at St Andrews Church Church Street: Permitted Single storey rear extension with a flat roof at 2 Crowson Crescent: Awaiting decision

& Eat, drink enjoy

It’s all

new for 2018

 New à la carte menu  New light lunch menu (£12 for two courses)  New gin tasting trays  and more!

There’s lots going on at The Bluebell Inn. Call in and enjoy a warm welcome, some delicious food and good company.

01733 252 394

bluebellhelpston.co.uk

10 Woodgate, Helpston, Peterborough PE6 7ED

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