SOUTH KILWORTH NEWS February 2012
No. 417
DIARY Thur Fri Mon
2nd 3rd 6th
Tue Wed Thur Fri Sun Tue
7th 8th 9th 10th 12th 14th
Thur Sun Mon Tue Wed
16th 19th 20th 21st 22nd
Thur
23rd
Sun Mon Tue
26th 27th 28th
19.00 19.30 18.30 19.00 10.00 19.00 20.00 09.45 09.30 10.30 19.00 09.45 18.30 10.00 09.00 12.00 19.00 10.30 18.30 10.00
Art Club First Friday, White Hart Football, Playing Field Parish Council, Village Hall MaMites, Village Hall Mobile Library (School 12.00, Leys Crescent 12.30, North Road 12.50) Art Club Kilworth Korks, Village Hall Family Service, St Nicholas Church Weekday Holy Communion, St Nicholas Church MaMites, Village Hall Art Club Sunday before Lent, Holy Communion, St Nicholas Church Football, Playing Field MaMites, Village Hall Ash Wednesday with South Kilworth School, St Nicholas Church Mobile Library (School 12.00, Leys Crescent 12.30, North Road 12.50) Luncheon Club Art Club Avon-Swift Group Holy Communion, North Kilworth Football, Playing Field MaMites, Village Hall
ADVANCE NOTICE Wednesday 14th March Friday 13th April Friday 20th April Monday 4th June
Saturday 22nd September Saturday 3rd November Saturday 17th November Saturday 1st December Saturday 16th December
SK News AGM Fish Supper Edward Garnier MP Surgery Jubilee Party NGS Open Gardens Italian Evening Bonfire Night Safari Supper Annual Church Bazaar Children’s Christmas Party
The South Kilworth News is edited by Ann Saunders Please send copy for the March edition by 23rd February to Ann Saunders Smithy House, Welford Road Tel: 575 338
Croft Acre, The Belt Village Hall Village Hall Village Hall Croft Acre & Oak Tree Village Hall Village Hall Village Hall Village Hall Village Hall
Email: am.saunders@virgin.net
The South Kilworth News is printed by Colin Olle. Advertising enquiries to Colin Olle Croft Acre, The Belt Tel: 575 791 Email: colin.olle@tiscali.co.uk
VILLAGE HALL BOOKINGS Contact Michael Murphy on 01788 861877 or 0777 6065385
TEAM VICAR’S LETTER Leap-days and Lenten Angels During the month of February we shall enter again the season of Lent. It doesn’t seem long since we told of the Christmas angels and their promise of peace to all but I wonder whether you are aware of the Lenten angels? Both Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus was “waited on” by angels while he was in the wilderness (Matt. 4.11; Mark 1.13). During Lent, inspired by the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, we are urged to examine our faith and to turn back to God. Perhaps we may be inspired too by those angels, the messengers of God, and to make time to hear God’s message for us. Time is something we are often short of. In my last magazine piece I wrote about the gift of an extra hour in October. This month, we have the gift of a whole day – February 29th. We managed perfectly well without it for the last three years so we ought to be able to count it as extra time for us this year! Of course, everything won’t just stop on February 29th. Our routines at home and work will continue. However, we could divide up the time across the whole month. If we take off 8 hours for sleeping and 90 minutes for eating, that leaves us with 14.5 hours – and this equates (rather neatly!) to 30 mins per day across the whole of February. It is tempting to try to fill the time with things to do - to put ever more pressure on ourselves to achieve more and more. In our faith life, particularly in Lent, the pressures we put on ourselves may be about feeling we need to deny ourselves by giving something up, or to take something extra on, and running the risk of feeling ever more demoralised if we fail. It can seem sometimes a lonely business, choosing and sticking to a spiritual discipline. Of course, God calls us each by name, and our individual relationship with God is crucial. However, just as God calls us into a closer relationship with him, so he also calls us to be in relationship with each other. Faith is a journey made so much more possible, more real, more rewarding when taken in the company of others. This Lent, Chris and I invite you to join with us in exploring our faith together in attending to God as those angels attended to Jesus. We encourage you to begin Lent by coming to church – on Ash Wednesday (22nd Feb) you can join the school services at North or South Kilworth in the morning or come to our Benefice Holy Communion Service at Gilmorton in the evening. There are our usual Benefice midweek times of prayer (see details with service schedule), and also a Lent course on Tuesday mornings at Walton Baptist Chapel. And, throughout Lent, you are invited to Swinford Rectory on Mondays at 1.30 pm (hunger lunch from 12 pm) or Gilmorton Vicarage on Thursdays at 7.30 pm to spend an hour or so together looking at the gospel reading for the Sunday following. No depth of theological knowledge is required at all! All that is needed is a desire to listen to God and to each other. We look forward to seeing you and to journeying with you. Emma Davies
Lent 2012 You are invited to share in a whole range of worship and times for reflection as together we prepare for the great celebration of Easter. Ash Wednesday Services – 22 February 9 am – South Kilworth Church (with South Kilworth School) 9.15 am – North Kilworth Church (with North Kilworth School) 7.30 pm – Holy Communion at Gilmorton Church Reflections on next Sunday’s Gospel reading Emma welcomes you into her home for the opportunity to gather together around the Gospel reading for the following Sunday: from 7.30 to 9 pm at Gilmorton Vicarage: Thursday 23 Feb & every Thursday in March. Chris invites you into his home to do just the same at Swinford Rectory from 1.30 to 2.30 pm on Monday 27 Feb, every Monday in March and 2 April. These are informal and relaxed sessions: no degree in Theology required for attendance, so just come along and enjoy!
Bread and soup and a glass of water is all you will get if you come to the Hunger Lunches at Swinford Rectory 12 to 1.30 pm on 27 Feb to 2 April inclusive. Bishop Christopher, the Assistant Bishop of Leicester, will be with us on 27 Feb. You will be able to give what you would have spent on a meal, or what you can afford and the money will go to the Christian College in Kiteto, part of our diocesan Tanzanian link. Those staying on after lunch for the Bible reflection (see above) might possibly get a cup of coffee! Lent Group at Walton Baptist Chapel “Handing on the Torch – sacred words for a secular world” on Tuesday 28 February and all Tuesdays in March - 10am-11am Coffee/tea, an inspiring talk on CD and time for discussion. All enquiries regarding Church matters should be directed to:Revd Canon Chris Oxley, The Rectory, Kilworth Road, Swinford, Telephone: 01788 860445 Revd Emma Davies, The Vicarage, 5 Church Lane, Gilmorton, Telephone: 01455 556573
W.I. This month we had a session drummer, Dougie Wright, entertain us with recordings of many hit songs that he played the drums on. He played for artists such as Adam Faith, Englebert Humperdink, Jeff Beck in the 1960's and Cilla Black, Alvin Stardust and The Bay City Rollers in the 1970s. He also played live on TV and told us some interesting tales of playing the club scene in London when the Kray twins were around. We welcomed about a dozen visitors which is always nice, gaining 2 new members. In February we have a talk on the science of underwear from Dr Audrey Matthews at 8pm. Visitors always welcome. W.I. Diary of events for 2012 21st February Dr Audrey Matthews from De Montfort University. The Science of Underwear 20th March Alison Chapman Kilworth House. An insight into Kilworth House and Theatre 17th April Music Hall Goes To The Seaside with Janet Courtney 15th May Resolutions Meeting 19th June Sallie Hooper, Leicestershire Food Links. A look at local foods 17th July Armchair Yoga with Sue Winstanley 21st August Outing 18th September David Clarke, Sparkenhoe Farm Leicestershire Cheeses 16th October Nila Lodia. Lets experience India, its culture, food and traditions 20th November Janet Courtney's Victorian Lady at Christmas 11th December Christmas Party Louise Boffey
BOWLS CLUB TOTE January 2012 winners £50 Pat Swinfen No. 55 £40 Carole Fleming No 10 £30 Reg Mollis No 51 £20 Pat Schofield No 91 Thank you for your support. To join the monthly tote please ring Mrs Rita Pickard 01858 571167. Rita Pickard
LOSS OF A REGULAR READER Freda Nichols’ niece has asked that we inform villagers that her aunt passed away peacefully in Northampton hospital on 13th December. Her funeral service was on 3rd January
NEWS FROM THE SCHOOL The new year has got off to a good start. We now have 6 hens through our Food for Life Partnership and the children are busy caring for the hens and collecting eggs. It really makes us appreciate where our food comes from! Year 5/6 had a very interesting visit from 2 magistrates last week. They set up a courtroom in the classroom and helped the children to re-enact a court case. The children took on different courtroom roles and "the bench" had to decide on the verdict. It gave the children a real insight into how our justice system works. If you would like to see photographs please visit our website on www.southkilworthschool.org.uk We have a RAGTEX visit on 21st February, if you have any old clothes, soft toys, paired shoes handbags, curtains or bedding please bring them down after school on Friday 20th February or on the morning of 21st February before 9am. Thank you. Angela Dewes Headteacher
LPG AND OIL - UPDATE LPG Please let us know if you use LPG and would like to know more about the fixed rate deal with Calor. Oil We’re now only a couple of hundred litres off hitting the 100,000 mark – not bad for 5 month’s work! Thanks to everyone who is ordering through us and making this a great success. There’s clear evidence that ordering as a non-profit making group is saving us a great deal of money, particularly for those who can only order 500-800 litres at a time. The typical saving on a 500 litre order is around 5p per litre, which is likely to result in savings of around £100 per year – well worth it! The latest two orders saw great savings for our members: Order date: 9th December 2011 Dearest competitor price : 62p per litre (Total Butler) Cheapest competitor price: 57.69p per litre (YOBCO) KOIL price: 57.6p per litre Order date: 5th January 2012
Dearest competitor price : 61.66p per litre (Total Butler) Cheapest competitor price: 57.9p per litre (YOBCO) KOIL price: 56.95p per litre Please note that all quotes from other suppliers are based on ordering 1,000 litres, so the savings for the majority of people, who order less than 1,000 litres, is far greater than those stated. The next order after publication is scheduled for 10th February, so get in touch if you want to get involved. P.S. We’ve got 97 members now so that cake for the 100th member is still available!! Sarah Langeveld & Amanda Edge Email: sarah@360degreebusinesssolutions.com / Tel: 575227
LUNCHEON CLUB
The next two Luncheon Club meetings will be in the Village Hall on February 23rd and March 15th. David Burd
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
There will be no football on 13th February (half term). Help will be needed for football on Mondays from 9th July to prevent this football evening from stopping. Commitment is needed for 40 Mondays in the year. Adult male and female are needed. Please come along on a Monday to discuss the help you can give to make it workable for the children. Michael Murphy
KILWORTH KORKS – PROPOSED EVENTS FOR 2012 Date
Event
Details
Friday 10th Feb
Champagne & Sparkling Wine Tasting Evening
Friday 23rd March
Pamper Night at The Coach House, Wolvey
8pm at South Kilworth Village Hall. £20 payable in advance to Eileen Burd or Frankie Scott by 3rd Feb £20 for ½ hr treatment and hot buffet. Detailed email will be send out to all Korks shortly
April May June July August Sept Oct Nov / Dec
DIY – Bring a plate! Greyhound Racing Pub Walk Ladies Day – Races Clay Pigeon Shooting Rounders & Picnic Supper Night Party Night
If any more ladies would like to join the Kilworth Korks please e-mail Claire Hubbard (Email to chris_hubbard8@yahoo.com) so that you can be included in future Kilworth Kork communications. E-mail addresses will only be shared amongst other Kilworth Kork members
FIREWORKS WARNING
There will be fireworks let off at Kilworth House on 3rd March at 21.30.
SOUTH KILWORTH BIRDS New Year has come and gone and as I write this we are already well into January. Before getting on to an update of some recent sightings I thought it would be good (in true New Year tradition) to reflect on some highlights of 2011. June - South Kilworth draws a crowd Without doubt the highlight of the year bird wise was the arrival of the hoopoe in June 2011. First sighted by Ian Eperon and his daughter whilst out running on the morning of 4th June, I can still remember the phone call informing me of the sighting - followed by me racing frantically out of the house like a mad man (the family are used to it but I am sure Andy Reynolds, who was in the garage servicing my lawnmower, must have thought I had gone stark raving bonkers). For someone who is a very keen county birder, any new bird for the county list in a year is met with much excitement and anticipation. I would expect to add no more than 2-3 new birds each year to my list. Therefore, you can definitely call it a bonus when one of these turns up in your own village! Putting this into perspective this was the first hoopoe that more than a single observer had seen in Leicestershire since 1977. Therefore the crowd of 30+ county birders were all delighted to add this to their county list. I would say that this was one of the top three birds of 2011 in Leicestershire, mainly due to its lack of appearances in the last 35 years. Autumn - Visitors Abound Away from the hoopoe the reservoir has really come up trumps this year. Helped significantly by the low water levels from around July onwards, the reservoir became a stop off point for many wading birds on their autumn migration. Many people have commented on the extremely low water level and this is certainly unprecedented in recent times (you have to go back to the ‘90’s to remember it this low – there are some really good photos from the 90’s on the Stanford Ringing Group website (www.stanfordrg.org.uk ). I can’t imagine that the anglers have been too happy but the birdwatching community have been delighted! The final count of wader species was above the 20 mark. In rarity terms birds like black tailed godwit, knot, grey plover, curlew sandpiper, wood sandpiper and pectoral sandpiper are all high quality birds for a land locked county. The autumn was capped off with a brief visit of a great white egret in October –
following on from up to 15 of its close relatives, the little egret which were present on off throughout the autumn. Recent news The reservoir is relatively quiet although there are still birds to be seen. There is at present a good number of goosander (a large, colourful diving duck) and at the weekend there were two smew (uncommon, very smart looking black and white diving duck). The water levels are still pretty low and I am really keeping my fingers crossed that this continues into April in readiness for migrating waders returning to their breeding grounds. If levels do remain low I would anticipate some interesting visitors as we move into the spring! The garden and surrounding area has been alive with birds. The mild weather over the past few weeks has certainly fooled many birds into thinking it is early spring. Despite the mild weather, natural food is still scarce and the feeders have attracted the normal array of finches, tits, great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch Drake Smew and a male reed bunting a couple of days ago (the first of 2012). A few days ago there were 8 collared doves in the garden which is not that surprising as they are fairly common. However, an interesting fact about the collared dove is that they only arrived from Asia in the early 1950’s. Since then their numbers have sky-rocketed to make them one of the top ten most common garden birds. The invasion of Europe from Asia began in the mid-20th century and once they'd arrived, farmyards full of fallen grain and plentiful animal feed were the springboard for a rapid population expansion. Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to those who have commented (mostly politely) about this article over the past few months and for the many sightings people have told me about. Some of these conversations have taken place over a few pints in the White Hart on a Friday evening or in passing at various village events. I am always keen to hear about sightings of common and uncommon birds so keep the records coming! It is great to hear what people are seeing around the place – I genuinely think we are very lucky to have such a fantastic array of wildlife on our doorstep. For those of you bored already, I’m afraid to report that there will be more articles to come throughout 2012! Chris Hubbard
EDITORIAL I thought the year was being hastened along when I saw Easter eggs and chocolate in the supermarket before the end of Christmas but now it’s nearly February and the church are talking about Lent. I’m still resisting the Easter eggs for now but am not sure if I will manage to do that until Easter Sunday. The month has gone surprisingly quickly for January and that must be my excuse for missing the WI meeting with a session drummer (I had intended to go). I hear however that it was a good meeting with everyone trying a little drumming. The Kilworth Korks had a well supported planning meeting in January and now have a schedule of events for 2012 which promises to be varied and enjoyable. I recommend all qualified villagers (the requirement is to be a resident female) to join in getting to know each other and having fun. I have enjoyed reading about the Wasok’s meetings and tastings but am saddened (and intrigued) that there is no report of their last meeting. Did they loose track of their thoughts in a surfeit of tastings or were they too distracted by planning the Burn’s supper to drink and make notes? A Luncheon Club report is also missing from this month’s News and I know that there are a number of cult followers who will be disappointed by this. I expect that their meeting was too close to our copy date and that next month will bring us up to date. It’s good to have an article from Chris Hubbard, the bird man, again and the promise of more from him as the year goes on. As ever though, further contributions from you are always welcome. Ann Saunders