Issue 77 Spring 2014 by Melbourn Magazine

...editorial Very exciting developments are taking place in Melbourn! Many people will already have visited the Hub, admired the new village facilities and tasted the refreshments. For a write up and photographs see page 16. The pavilion on the recreation ground has also had a total refurbishment and is now accessible to everyone. Many people will be happy to make use of the new and improved facilities. See page 19. Our Parish Council has done us proud! We all congratulate Reverend Andrew O’Brien of All Saints’ Parish Church on his appointment as Rural Dean. Read about this appointment on page 4. We also congratulate Lucy Hanlon of MVC whose artwork (page 33) is now the official logo on the Facebook account of the Fitzwilliam Museum. The Fete Committee is working hard to prepare for the Fete on June 28th. Make sure that you have the date in your diary now, for a day of Fun and Fundraising! Everyone is aware of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The History Group plans to mount an exhibition showing how Melbourn families were affected, and how they coped with many men away. The Group asks you to look through your family memorabilia for items of interest to be displayed in the exhibition. Many men were killed during this dreadful time, but some came home again, like Private Sidney Webb of the Grenadier Guards. Does anyone know what happened to him subsequently? Read about his escape from the Germans on page 14. Of course women also were involved; and children had to help with farm work – do you know what your forebears experienced? If so we shall be very pleased to hear from you. Finally, the Brownies are also celebrating their centennial year and there will be many opportunities for them to celebrate, and also to learn what the Brownies did when the organisation was formed 100 years ago.

Melbourn Magazine is printed quarterly and delivered free to every household and business in the village. All work on the Melbourn Magazine, including layout and design is produced by volunteers. The cost of printing comes entirely from advertising and sponsorship.

Melbourn Magazine is independent of the Parish Council NO public money is used.

feature 4 Rural Dean for the Deanery of Shingay

Village News

Nature 13 feature 14 Commemorating the Outbreak of WWI

Melbourn hub

Council News

Profile – The Brierleys

Community Matters

Education 29 Village Information

Diary 36 Adult Education in melbourn

Church News

Sports & Clubs

feature 59 Easter around the World

What’s On

Thriplow Daffodil Weekend April 5-6th Cambridgeshire Choral Society March 22nd and May 31st Seventh Safari Supper May 31st All Saints Community Hall Spring Sale April 12th 2-4pm

Safer Melbourn

feature 65 Spring around the World

We would like to thank TTP for their continued sponsorship of the magazine. Front cover photograph by David L Hone LRPS

email: melbournmagazine@gmail.com

feature

Rural Dean for the Deanery of Shingay

I recently took on the position of Rural Dean for the Deanery of Shingay and was asked to say a little bit about my duties. As Rural Dean I am the Bishop’s representative for the Deanery, which takes in the parishes of the Shingay Group (Guilden Morden, etc.), the Orwell Group and Bassingbourn and Whaddon. This involves looking after the wellbeing of the vicars in those parishes, chairing the Deanery Synod and the meeting of clergy. It also involves meeting with the other Rural Deans, the Archdeacons and Bishop of the Diocese of Ely. Unusually, and I think I am the only Rural Dean to possess such a thing, the position in this Deanery comes with a seal on a ring! It is normally only Bishops who wear such jewellery! I won’t be wearing it! On the box containing the ring is the following inscription: The Bloodstone in this ring was found in the Garden of Gethsemane by Mr Hershon Missionary to the Jews who had it engraved in Jerusalem by a converted Jew. Mr Hershon gave it to W.C. Whitehead in 1855 who had it set as a ring and made it into a seal for the Rural

Deanery of Shingay, which was formerly a preceptory of the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem. The Rev’d William Chantler Whitehead was Rural Dean of Shingay from 1903 to 1906. Andrew O’Brien, All Saints’ Church

Rural Dean for the Deanery of Shingay Seal on the right. You will note that the Seal is reversed. When pressed into hot wax the text will read correctly.

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village news Village News

Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme

Melbourn Library News

Home Start

A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign

Improving access at Meldreth Station

Melbourn History Group

Melbourn Amateur Dramatic Society

Melbourn Village Fete

Meldreth Local History Group

Royston and District Family History Society

Royston & District Local History Society

Cambridgeshire Family History Society

Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme With continuing demand for our service, MMWS now has four wardens covering the village. We recently welcomed Jane Cage as our fourth warden; Jane will be sharing the load with the other wardens, as well as building her own member list. The Friends of MMWS is an independent group of wardens, members and committee members who raise funds for members to enjoy outings and social events free of charge. The Friends work hard throughout the year in addition to their day-to-day duties. Wardens, members and Friends manned their usual stall at the village fête in June and raised a substantial sum for the Friends fund.

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Melbourn Magazine is delivered free to every household in the village by volunteers.

If you would like to help with delivering the magazine, please contact Jose Hales on 221058

Susan Noon and Jeanette White on the MMWS stall at Melbourn Fete

Another stall at the indoor bazaar in the Village College on the 9th of November included knitwear and craft items made by scheme member Joyce Fyvie, who most generously donates the proceeds from selling her work throughout the year. A trip on the Captain’s Table Cruising Restaurant from Hartford Marina, Huntingdon was booked again by popular demand and thirty-two members enjoyed a roast beef lunch on board the narrow boat as it sailed along the river Ouse. Thirty-eight full and associate members were picked up from their homes by minibuses supplied by Royston & District Community Transport and taken to the Cambridge Motel on the 16th December for an excellent Christmas lunch with all the trimmings and a raffle for a host of prizes, donated by the Friends and the melbournmagazine

Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme Can we help you? Can we help a relative? Can we help a neighbour? Who does the Scheme help? The scheme is open to anyone who requests our help including those who live alone or with their families but need the extra support offered by our services. Couples too are most welcome. It is also open to those in sheltered housing, as the scheme offers different, but complementary services. Note: The scheme also offers its services for short periods to cover the temporary absence of relatives who otherwise provide this support.

We offer help with:

• Friendship and support via twice weekly visits and daily phone calls • Ordering and collection of prescriptions • Basic shopping • Collection of pensions • Setting up Lifeline service • Bereavement support • Advice on benefits • Going to the Post Office to pay your bills • Advice on getting repairs done in your home • Arranging transport to the hospital or other appointments

• Just coming round for a chat What will it cost? We do have to make a small weekly charge for the warden’s services. The fee is only £5 per week (a little more for couples). Margo Wherrell (Mobile Warden) 01763 260966 Mobile: 07935 315497 Email: tigress270549@aol.com Jeannie Seers (Deputy Warden) 01763 262651 Mobile: 07808 735066 Email: jeanseers1@ntlworld.com Joy Hyde (Assistant Warden) 01763 220139 Mobile: 07952 090089. Melbourn Warden Scheme is a registered charity.

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Captain’s Table Cruising Restaurant from Hartford Marina

Co-operative store in Melbourn. The Co-op is a wonderful supporter of the scheme and we are extremely grateful to its manager, Chas, for his help. The Mobile Warden Scheme has a limited number of vacancies. If you or someone you know could benefit from becoming a member, please contact Mobile Warden Margo Wherrell on 01763 260966.

Melbourn Library News We moved to the Hub during January with a great deal of help from the Hub Committee and the Centre Coordinator Yasmin Croxford. Thanks must go to the Parish Council for without them Melbourn would have lost its Library, which was kept running by Library volunteers in the old building for over 10 years. The Library service still supports us with the operational system, books on reservation a small number of large print and children’s books. We hope you like the new facility. We have had to downsize but have done so by removing books that had not been borrowed over the last couple of years. We have also cut our specialist books as these have also had relatively low usage. We have set up a book-buying group who study the latest releases and pick about fifteen new books every month. We are grateful for donations from library users. We need small quantities of good quality new books. Please restrict the numbers you give us as we have very limited space for storage in the new building. We intend to increase our opening hours. With the help of the Hub Committee we have recruited and trained several new Librarians. Initially we will increase our hours on Thursday from 2.30pm till 7pm. We expect that this will increase the number of books borrowed. We expect that the combination of the new facilities and our ideal new location will increase our usage. Books may be reserved from the Cambridgeshire Library system, which should arrive within about 10 days from ordering. These books can be ordered on line at: https://cambridgeshire.spydus.co.uk/cgibin/spydus.exe/MSGTRN/OPAC/ BSEARCH. In order to access the system you will need your Library Card Number and Password to access the system. If you need any help call at the library. We plan to restart the Children’s Story time. We need inputs from potential users so we can decide the best time to have story telling. So please tell us how many children you would like to attend and which day and time is best for you. We see this as a great chance not only to improve the library but also to bring an important element into the new Hub. We see the Hub as a meeting point for the people of Melbourn. It will be a place for us, the people of Melbourn, to communicate with one another. As it has so many elements it will attract a wide

range of people. We have worked for over ten years to reach this point and we will make every effort to achieve the success is deserves. The team will continue to work hard to keep a good library in our village. Our opening times are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 2.30 to 4.30pm Thursday 2.30 to 7.00pm Saturday 10.00 to 12.00 noon.

Melbourn History Group We have been looking through the local newspaper files at the editions between 1914-1918 and noting not only the sad references to the deaths and casualties, but also details of men ‘called to the colours’ as it was so called. There is one fascinating article about Private Sidney Webb of the Grenadier Guards who was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans, but by the simple ruse of hiding under a bed was able to escape and rejoin his regiment. See p 14. In the last edition of the magazine we asked for any residents having details of relatives who served in World War 1 to contact us with their details, photographs or other information. Disappointingly nobody has come forward although it is hard to believe that nobody in Melbourn has any record of grandfathers or other relatives that they can share with us. At some point in this year we are hoping to bring together an exhibition on this the 100th anniversary of World War 1. If any reader wants to share their family memories with us please let us know! Colin Limming, Chairman, Melbourn History Group 01763 260072 colin.limming@btinternet.com

A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign Less than a year since it was launched, the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign has seen remarkable success by tapping into Cambridgeshire’s central government Cycling Ambition Grant at just the right time. The new path connecting Foxton and Shepreth, which is designed to enhance cycle links to Foxton Station, should have been completed by the time you read this article. At the January meeting of the Campaign, held in Royston, it was reported that the Shepreth-Foxton project is coming in at below cost, and therefore it will be possible to extend the project in some ways. It was agreed that solar studs on the new path would establish an important standard. The second priority was to commence an extension of the path from Barrington slip road toward Harston. That stretch has now had vegetation cleared back but it ultimately the aspiration is to upgrade it to a 2.5 m wide path. A new crossing point over the A10, connecting the new path to Melbourn, will be positioned to join in with the old Dunsbridge Turnpike near the Weavers Shed, encouraging people to avoid crossing at the Frog End junction. Volunteers from the campaign group will be helping out to ensure that the verges around the new path are re-seeded to the best possible standard, with specialist advice and support from Cambridgeshire County Council. Tackling the Melbourn-Royston path, and crucially the A505 roundabout, comprised the main discussion at our January meeting. It is hoped that if the Greater Cambridge City Deal comes through this will allow a high quality off-road path to be constructed right up to the Hertfordshire border – and indeed the whole length of the A10 between Trumpington and Royston. The purpose of a City Deal would be to create the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the huge housing growth expected in the Greater Cambridge area, in line with exploiting the area’s economic growth potential (as the official announcements say). There would be an emphasis upon sustainable transport that would alleviate car congestion, and the A10 corridor is seen as ideal for a modal shift to cycling. While the Hertfordshire/Cambridgshire county border creates administrative

headaches, the campaign is determined to help tackle this as the demand for travel across that border is self-evident. The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership boundary extends into Royston and so we are thinking about whether we can find some funding hooks there. Hertfordshire County Council representatives who were invited to our meeting announced that a feasibility study will shortly be carried out for cycle and pedestrian links over the A505, not only at the A10 but at other points as well including the A1198 and Littlington crossings. It was agreed by everyone that the roundabouts presents life-threatening barriers to anyone not in motor vehicle. An update on the feasibility study will be requested at the campaign’s next meeting on 31 March. A provisional date for the group’s annual awareness ride has been set for May 18 – but please do check on our website, www.a10corridorcycle.com, for details. Everyone is welcome to join in the A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign, in whatever way they like, and we are always seeing new faces at our meetings. What is exciting is the rare opportunity to create something new, and this is being done with direct support and consensus from a campaign formed by local residents. Susan van de Ven, susanvandeven@ yahoo.co.uk, 261833

Improving access at Meldreth Station Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group At the start of the new year, the campaign to improve disabled access at Meldreth and Melbourn Station – including access up the steps from the Melbourn side – was re-launched with support of parents with pushchairs, students from Meldreth Manor School, people reliant on mobility scooters, and those who simply find it difficult to climb stairs. You may have seen coverage in the local papers, which have been very supportive of the campaign. We know it won’t happen next year or the year after, but if we don’t campaign now for ramps and lifts these

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items simply won’t reach the Network Rail radar and find themselves to the right waiting lists. As with everything we need to be able to anticipate opportunities and in this spirit the new transport strategy for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire does include mention of improved access to our rural rail stations along the A10 corridor, so we hope that this too offers some scope for possible support There is a great deal of information on the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group website (hosted by the Melbourn Village website) including an accessibility study spearheaded by Melbourn resident Janet Cottenden, to whom many thanks are due. Susan van de Ven, railusergroup@gmail.com or Tel 261833

MAD Melbourn Amateur Dramatic Society “ALADDIN” the 2013 pantomime following last years “Lost Slipper” was yet another huge success for the most talked about new group in Melbourn. Melbourn Amateur Dramatic Society whisked 4 full houses away into the magical, wacky world of panto-land with gusto professionalism and skill. The traditional story was adapted by the MADS writing team and included all the usual audience participation, local references and some clever modern comedy pieces. The laundry based version of the 12 days of Christmas was inspired, finished off the first half with plenty of audience participation and left the audience wanting more. The scenery in particular was quite outstanding and the “Cave of Doom” scene kicked off the second half with great excitement with spectacular lighting and special effects. Most of the players were old hands and Aladdin, Widow Twankey and the evil Abanazar played their parts with great professionalism and ease. However the MADS

team has almost doubled in size from last year and those joining for the very first time are also to be congratulated on their excellent performances. Behind the scenes were an amazing team of helpers. Some very slick scenery changes, effective lighting and great sound effects accompanied the on stage antics along with a spectacular array of costumes. The show ran for 2 matinee and 2 evening performances over 3 days and was attended by around 430 local people. Having such amazing support from so many local people for only our second pantomime is really appreciated. Congratulations once again to all of the MADS team and watch out for the next production a comedy show “Never Too Late” coming Spring 2014. Donna Sleight (Producer)

Home Start Employees of Johnson Matthey in Royston ensured a very happy Christmas to Home-Start families in Royston & South Cambridgeshire when they donated food hampers and presents for children. Twenty nine hampers and 60 individually wrapped presents were donated. Present tags such as ‘boy 5, girl 3 or baby’ were hung on the Christmas tree in reception at the Johnson Matthey offices in Royston. Members of staff then bought presents, wrapped them and attached the tags. These were added to the food from donated hampers and delivered to the

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All Saints’ Community Hall families in time for Christmas by HomeStart volunteers and staff. The families made a large thank you card and sent individual cards and texts to express their gratitude for the gifts. One family wrote “Thank you Johnson Matthey for my son’s present he takes his police station everywhere with him, including to bed and the hamper was lovely. Thank you again”. Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire are absolutely thrilled to learn that we are the charity that will benefit from the Thriplow Daffodil Weekend which will be held on 5th and 6th April, 2014. Please come and visit us on our stall, details of our activities can be found on www.hsrsc.org.uk or to find out more about the weekend go to www.thriplowdaffodils.org.uk

Melbourn Village Fete Further to my article last autumn the proposed visit by the Primary School to the Royal Albert Hall had to be cancelled, so the school no longer needed the funds to buy T-shirts for their pupils. However, the School asked that the amount be used to enhance the School’s library facilities, which the Committee were delighted to support. In addition, two late requests for funds were supported by a small donation. The first was towards the Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme (MMWS) Friends Fund, which through various activities pays towards the costs of outings for some of our village residents who have mobility

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needs. They visit local garden centres and other nearby venues and provide muchneeded enjoyable events for some of the village residents. The second request was from the Village College who wanted support for summer schools they run which helps those pupils making the transition from primary to secondary school. In both cases we were able to make a small donation. The committee hope that any requests this year can be fully supported and look forward to seeing the applications so they can be considered along with all the others within the normal timeframe. This year’s preparation is going well. We will be running the attractions on a theme for the first time this year, which will be Flight and Transport. We are planning on a spectacular opening display and lots of attractions and displays throughout the day to support the theme. Once again we are requesting help from volunteers who are willing to lend a hand for the weekend of the fete, whether it is a few hours on the day to help with some of the set up and activities, or in any other areas which you think could enhance the village fete. I have a list of people who volunteered last year with whom I shall be in contact with in the coming months but if you are able to help then please e-mail me direct (purnell@waitrose.com). Over the coming weeks we will be holding some recruitment drives around the village, so please don’t be shy, come and have a chat with us and get involved in your village and support your village activities. Find us on facebook or at www.melbournfete.co.uk Trevor Purnell

Meldreth Local History Group The MLHG will be holding another coffee morning on Monday 24th March at the Sheltered Housing Community Room in Elin Way between 10.00am – 12.00. These events are very successful as they enable people to meet old friends and share memories of village life. We also welcome new comers to the villages who are interested in local history. Chris Duguid will be speaking about the 108 bus, which was operated by the Eastern Counties Omnibus Company and ran between Royston and Cambridge

Melbourn

Community Pavilion Melbourn Community Pavilion is an ideal summer venue for events ranging from birthdays, family parties, club and corporate meetings. It will also be available to host a wide range of community events, non-profit making and fund raising, for local and community beneficiaries. The layout includes:

• Open plan meeting area with space for approximately 70 people. • Small kitchen (Equipped with basics). • Tables & chairs. • Male and female washrooms. • Disabled washroom with baby changing facilities. • Outside enclosed front porch area with ‘safe-space’ for younger children. • Large outside rear enclosed patio area with ‘safe-space’ for younger • •

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from the 1940’s. There are numerous stories and characters associated with the bus, some of which can be found on the History website www.meldrethhistory. org.uk. The 108 bus was the main form of transport if you had to go to school in Cambridge and Royston or shopping or a trip to the Cinema. We would welcome further recollections from anyone who used the bus. Please contact Chris Duguid on 01763 260802. Everyone is welcome to join us and be part of the on-going success of the Meldreth Local History Group 01763 268428.

Royston and District Family History Society Why do I find family history interesting? A request received by RDFHS may shed some light as it raises all sorts of questions about how our forebears lived. Dot Rayner wrote “In my PhD studies, I have discovered that between the census dates of 1881-1891, Royston Poor Law Union sent 20+ girls from the Workhouse to Halifax, where they were worked as unpaid ‘apprentices’: they were provided with board & lodging and a small amount of pocket money. Some of the girls stayed in Yorkshire but others returned home” The girls were all born between 1870-80 and I have included their place of birth. Bassingbourn: Mary Ann Christmas, Harriet Jane Sadler, Agnes Baker Sell, Edith Rose Sell Royston: Alice Bass, Alice E. Burrows, Kate Burrows, Alice Elizabeth Dilley, Emma Enetta Griffin, Elizabeth Ann Miller, Mary Alice Degg (or Pegg/Pigg?), Kate Mary Miller, Martha Ethel Newell, Maud Florence Newell, Mary Parish, Sarah Ann Sears, Frances Sim. Programme March 17th What people had in their houses? – Dr Shirley Wittering April 14th *‘Introduction to Heraldry’ for a family and local Historian – John Tunesi

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NB The third Monday in April is Easter Monday this date is changed to 14th All our meetings, unless otherwise stated, take place on the third Monday of the month at All Saints Community Hall, Melbourn with doors opening for chat and a look at the bookstall at 7.30 pm and talks commencing at 8pm. You will be most welcome Projects Report. RDFHS is continuing to record the Orchard Road Cemetery, Melbourn. Our publications are available at our meetings, from our website www. roystonfhs.org.uk or from www.parishchest.com. Various new projects, some with the Royston and District Local History Society, linked to the commemoration of WW1 have started including the VAD hospital in Queens Road Royston, reviewing the information on the names on the Royston War Memorials and listing the Births Marriages and Deaths in the Crow from 1910. Pam Wright Journal Editor

Royston & District Local History Society website: www.roystonlocalhistory.org.uk Our meetings are held in the Heritage Hall, Royston Town Hall on the first Thursday of the month (second Thursday in May) starting at 8pm. Annual subscription is £5 (under 18’s £2.50). Visitors £2 per meeting. March 6 Suffragettes, illustrated. Mary Dicken April 3 Everyday Life in the 18th century, illustrated. Dr Ken Sneath May 8 AGM 7.30pm followed by The Woman Who Saved the Children: Eglantyne Jebb 1876-1928, illustrated. Clare Mulley Our website shows all the books we have for sale. Many of these result from the considerable work undertaken by our Publications sub-committee. The books are available at our meetings or may be ordered by post from David Allard (01763 242677). They may also be purchased at the Royston Museum & Arts Gallery in Kneesworth Street and some are available at the Cave Bookshop in Melbourn Street.

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The society is responsible for the opening of Royston Cave, Melbourn Street, Royston which will be re-open on Saturday, 19th April www.roystoncave.co.uk

Cambridgeshire Family History Society Would you like to learn more about your family history? Cambridgeshire Family History Society will be at the Central Library, Cambridge on the third Saturday of each month, from 11.00-3.00, to offer advice and do lookups on family history websites. There will be a different talk each month, from 1.30-2.30pm, that will explain the types of records you can use to trace your ancestors. The Society will also be selling a wide range of CDs of transcribed parish records that will help you take your research back even further. Free to attend at the Cambridgeshire Collection Rooms, Third Floor, Central Library, Lion Yard, Grand Arcade, Cambridge, CB2 3QD. The Society also holds regular meetings in Girton and March and offers research advice at March Library, Ely Library, Bar Hill Library, Cambourne Library and Cottenham Library. See www.cfhs.org.uk/pdfs/newsletter.pdf or follow on Facebook www.facebook. com/CambridgeshireFHS for further details.

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Nature Stockbridge Meadows Volunteers

Stockbridge Meadows is a 13-acre site just off Dolphin Lane that is owned by Melbourn Parish Council. This Local Nature reserve provides a mix of habitats, including meadows, ponds, scrub, and orchards. This diverse habitat provides a home to a wide variety of species including birds, lizards, grass snakes, and butterflies. The River Mel runs through the nature reserve and there is a boardwalk which takes you through the reed beds to the river. The water vole, whose population has declined by 95% over the last few years across the country, can also be seen here if you are very lucky The River Mel Restoration Group looks after the wetland management on the reserve, while a separate volunteer group meets on an ad hoc basis to support the Parish Council’s staff in the implementation of the remaining tasks identified in the nature reserve’s five year management plan. Previous work has involved building “houses” for the snakes and lizards in the invertebrate area. These are made from logs and covered with corrugated iron to keep them dry and provide basking areas for the lizards. While contractors carried out the initial tree planting and the erection of the deer and rabbit cages. volunteers were heavily involved with mulching the ground around the young saplings to inhibit weed growth and continue to top this up on an regular basis. This winter the volunteers have been improving the wildflower meadow habitat by sowing yellow rattle seed. The wildflower meadow is a wonderful sight in the spring and early summer and to ensure that the flowers continue to have the right conditions we need to keep the soil “poor”. Yellow rattle is particularly effective as it weakens the grasses and opens up opportunities for greater wildflower diversity. For the same reason the meadow needs cutting and raking.

The volunteers do not meet on a regular basis, as the bulk of the tasks tend to be undertaken from autumn through spring to minimise the disturbance to wildlife within the nature reserve. Our volunteer sessions are task orientated based on the management plan. If you would like to know more about volunteering in Stockbridge Meadows contact Maureen Brierley on 01763 262752

Underground overground It seems as though the Garden is waking from its winter sleep, as bulbs push through the soggy ground to paint it white, gold and blue, with a smattering of mauves, as the snowdrops, early narcissus, scilla and crocus of our spring bulb belt come into rapid flower, to be followed by the rich Venetian colourings of the tulips. But while above ground the branches have been bare, there has been much underground, unseen activity-taking place over the winter months. The great majority of spring-flowering bulb species require a warm-cold-warm sequence to complete their continued on page 15

The race is on for narcissus and scilla

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feature

Commemorating the Outbreak of WWI

Given below is an interview with Private Sidney Webb from the Royston Crow November 6th 1914 . We know, from the names on our War Memorial, who was killed in ‘the War to end all Wars’ and Sidney Webb’s name is not among them, so we assume that he survived and returned home. Does anyone have any photographs or information about the Webb family? We also have a photograph of Private Charles Dodkin, who was killed at the age of 21. There is an account of the 1914-18 War in the village history ‘’A Glimpse into Melbourn’s Past’, with a few photographs, and a complete list of the fallen, namely: Edgar R Abrey, Edgar E Brown, John Burton, Arthur H Carter, William G Catley, Henty B Day, Frank W Day, Charles Dodkin,Charles Fordham,Lionel B Frost, Ernest J Green, Jesse Guiver, Thomas Guiver, William C Harper, Albert Holland, William C Howes, Charles H Huggins, William T Jacklin, Arthur King, Frederick J King, Walter Lee, Walter A Littlechild, Alfred Negus, Samuel Northrop, George Pateman, Frederick C Pepper, William H Pullen, John W Reed, Robert H Reed, Louis Robinson, Harold E Rumbold, Frederick Saunderson, James Saunderson, Alfred H Smith, Joseph Smith, Harry Squires, Job Stanford, Frederick Throssell, Stanley J Waldock, Percy Wedd, William Willings, Rydal SL Wing, Alfred J Winter, Fred Winter. One name was missing from the Memorial, that of Edward L Hall Royston Crow November 6th 1914

Melbourn Man Escapes from the Germans Private Sidney Webb, of the Grenadier Guards, in an interview with a representative of this Paper, gives an interesting account of his fight in the sharp action on Sep 1st in the neighbourhood of Compiegne, an action that was entirely satisfactory to the British, and in which the Guards Brigade, and a British Cavalry brigade took part. Private Webb was wounded and taken prisoner by the Germans. He tells how he hid under a bed and was overlooked by the Germans when they took away their prisoners. “On September 1st my Company”, said Private Webb, “were at a place called Villers Cotterets, a few miles southeast of Compiegne, acting as rear guard to our regiment, when we heard there were some German scouts in a wood, and we got ready to turn them out, but we found there were about 6,000 of them. We were ordered to retire, and some of our fellows were left in the wood to cover our retreat. About twenty minutes afterwards we saw the Germans about 120 yards away on our left flank. We were not sure at first whether they were our own men or not.

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They Ran like Rabbits Our officer gave the order to retire in formation, but about 20 yards further on we saw a body of Germans, and we charged them with fixed bayonets. When they saw us they turned and ran like rabbits. We then lined a ridge and commenced firing. We made another rush but could not get near them. Shots were flying all around us, and I was struck in the left arm, and at the same time something struck my tongue and my mouth was full of blood, but I kept on and presently came to some more of my mates who had taken cover along some ridges.

His Mates on his Right and his Left were killed. I laid down and commenced shooting as fast as I could, although my arm was very painful and bleeding. I had to keep spitting the blood out of my mouth as well. I spoke to my mate ‘Ginger’ he was called. I said Ginger, I’ve tasted a German bullet.” He said “Stick it mate, we’ll soon pop some of them over.” He spoke no more for a bullet had crashed through his head. I then called to another pal and told him to keep his head down. He replied, “No fear, I’m going to have a go at ‘em.” He soon afterwards fell back dead with another bullet through his head. I kept on firing until I could hardly hold my rifle, the barrel had got nearly red hot.

Taken Prisoner by the Germans I was still firing away when I happened to look round and saw a German about to stick his bayonet into me. There were suddenly Germans in front of me, behind me, and all around me. I was too completely done and exhausted to show fight. He took my rifle away and told me to get up. A lot more Germans came up, and I had no chance to do anything. One bandaged my arm, a Red Cross man, who could speak English quite well. He said it had been a hot fight, and it was bad for both sides. He told me he had lived in England for fifteen years, and used to work in Camden Town before the war. About 120 of our fellows were missing, and 70 or more, lay dead. The Coldstreams and the Irish Guards were in it as well.

A Meal of Billposter’s Paste A German officer came along and looked at us. He said “You are not gentlemen. Hands up or we fire!” I thought we were going to be shot then. The Germans were having a meal then, but all we got was the ‘smell’. We had heard they were starving, but this lot were doing it all right. They had with them cart loads of fowls and sheep, and they were driving lots of bullocks along. Even with all this they took away my tin of bully. When they had finished their meal they marched us to a village and put us in a Church,

and after about an hour they sent in a bucket of what looked like billposter’s paste. I don’t know what it was and it hadn’t much of a taste either. We were, however, hungry, and glad to get anything. They didn’t bring us any spoons, and we grabbed what we could with our hands. There were about 50 of us, so we didn’t get much. We got nothing else but water that night. There were shocks of corn about the Church for us to lay on, and we rubbed the grain out and ate that. Next day the wounded, I amongst them, were removed to a big house, but we were given no more food. There was a big garden at the back in which were plenty of apples, and we existed on them for five or six days. Then the Germans sent us some bread and half-a-sheep. We dug up some ‘spuds’ in the garden and made a fine stew. We were there for about a week and then we heard the French were coming, and that the Germans were going to take all of us chaps who could walk away with them.

Hid Under the Bed I heard them coming for us and ran into the house and slipped upstairs into a top room, and hid under a bed. I was up there for about an hour when I heard someone coming up the stairs. They came into the room, and I saw they were Germans by their boots. I thought it was all up when they came into the room, but they never looked under the bed. I lay there for about an hour-and-and-a-half.

Not in There – Sir I crawled out and took a look out of the window, and saw the Germans and our chaps disappearing out of sight. I then went downstairs and found they had left a lot of our chaps behind who were unable to walk. There was an English doctor in the room. He looked surprised when he saw me and said “What are you doing here? You ought to have gone with the other prisoners.” I said “Not in these – sir.” He laughed, and asked me where I had been. I told him “Under the bed.” He walked away laughing. About three hours afterwards the French came into the town. They told us we were the first English thay had seen since the war began. The French Artillery were busy all that night. We were later sent down to an English Hospital. On the way the people gave us anything we wanted. I was afterwards sent to England and taken to the Military Hospital in Vauxhall Bridge Road. I was there a fortnight and came home on Tuesday, October 27th.”

Nature continued from page 13

lifecycle and in fact, the flowers we see emerging this month had their genesis last summer, when flower meristem tissue began to differentiate in response to the higher temperatures. The bulbs then lose all above ground photosynthesising parts, then cease root growth to go into a dormant state for late summer, just right for retailing at the garden centres! Breaking dormancy in spring-flowering bulbs is influenced by, among other factors, the drop in temperature over the winter which induces the underground shoot and flower stems to grow and elongate through the soil, powered by the starchy reserves in the bulb. This is why when you find a net bag of forgotten fritillary or iris bulbs in the shed in January, you will find they have nevertheless produced green shoots in response to the cold, despite being out of the ground. This does make late planting a ginger salvage operation - damaged young bulb shoots will be a great deal more vulnerable to disease and damaged flowers. As the shoot emerges from the dark soil into the spring light, the plant is able to detect the increased light levels and corresponding changes in growth and metabolism occur. (We also can respond to light without using our eyes: think of how we tan in the summer sun – the result of skin cells producing more melanin in response to increased ultraviolet light intensity.) The leaves unfurl, position themselves for maximum light capture and begin to photosynthesise. As overhead, the trees begin to leaf up and the colour and density of light changes on the woodland floor, spring bulbs respond with rapid growth and the spectacular floral displays of spring, which really are the plant equivalent of the 100m sprint, as they compete for available sunshine and resources before the canopy knits over for a summer time out. Flowering and seed set is the equivalent of crossing the finishing line! The Botanic Garden is open 10am-5pm through February and March and 10am – 6pm April – September. Admission is £4.50, Giftaid admission £4.95 or join the Friends, get free admission and help the Garden grow! For news and events, detailed information about the Garden or to discover this week’s Plant Picks, please visit the website at www.botanic.cam.ac.uk.

Melbourn

Amateur Dramatics Invite to you their next comedy production

“NEVER TOO LATE” A group of fading showbiz personalities, who share the same celebrity boarding house, draw on their talents to save their home. Spectacle and hilarity ensue! a great night of escapism and fun in MADS unique style that will send you home smiling! Meldreth Village Hall Friday 2nd May & Saturday 3rd May 7.30pm For more information and to book tickets, go to our website at www.melbourn.org.uk/amateur-dramatics/tickets/ or call our box office on 07513 457845

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Melbourn Hub finally opened to the public on 1st February. Over a period of five hours at least 500 people of all ages came to look around and sample free home made cakes, coffee and tea. So, if you missed this, come along now and experience this much-needed improvement to village life, a central meeting point for all to enjoy!

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

These pictures indicate the range of different functions now available from the Melbourn Hub. The Library Access Point has reopened following transfer from the Melbourn Village College. The cafĂŠ will be open every weekday between 9.00am and 4.00pm, and between 9.00am and 3.00pm on Saturdays. The cafĂŠ offers a range of light snacks and lunch options as well as a friendly meeting point with free Wi-Fi. Three high quality meeting rooms are also on offer to local residents and business users.

Melbourn Hub 30 High Street Melbourn SG8 6DZ Telephone 01763 263303 info@melbournhub.com

Photographs by David L Hone LRPS

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MELBOURN PARISH COUNCIL 30 High Street Melbourn SG8 6DZ Telephone: 01763 263303 ext. 3 e-mail: parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk The Parish Office is open Monday to Friday 9am to 4pm (the office is closed between 1p–2pm

Minutes of Parish Council Meetings and Planning Committee meetings are available on the village website

Council news www.melbournpc.co.uk

Chairman Bob Tulloch 25 Hale Close, SG8 6ET Telephone 221373

Vice-Chairman Maureen Townsend 32 New Road, SG8 6BY Telephone 260959

Chair-Conservation Rosemary Gatward 94 High Street, SG8 6AL Telephone 261225

Chair-Cemeteries Mike Sherwen 3 Hale Close, SG8 6ET Telephone 260070

Michael Linnette 11 Chapel Lane, SG8 6BN Telephone 262534

Irene Bloomfield 78 Russet Way, SG8 6HF Telephone 222558

Val Barrett 2 Station Road, SG8 6DX Telephone 261227

Christopher Stead 70 Russet Way Telephone 260743

Chair-Highways Jose Hales 23 Elm Way, SG8 6UH Telephone 221058

Chair-Play & Recreation Peter Simmonett 42 Greengage Rise, SG8 6DS Telephone 220363

Chair-Planning Kimmi Crosby 20 Norgett’s Lane, SG8 6HS Telephone 261283

John Regan 10, Little Lane, SG8 6BU Telephone 264154

Julie Norman 31 Station Road, SG8 6DX Telephone 263462

County Councillor Susan van de Ven 95 North End, Meldreth, 261833 susanvandeven@yahoo.co.uk. District Councillors Val Barrett, 2 Station Road, 261227 Jose Hales, 23 Elm Way, SG8 6UH, 221058 cllr.hales@josehales.me.uk

From the Parish Clerk – Peter Horley Saturday, 1st February was a momentous day in the history of Melbourn with the opening of the new Community Hub: hundreds of residents came through the door to have tours of the building and enjoy hospitality and experience the delights of the café. Everybody seemed delighted with the building and excited about its potential to enhance the facilities of the village and to provide a meeting place for community groups and businesses alike. It was pleasing to hear people enquiring about the hiring of rooms and making suggestions for their use. If you have any suggestions, please contact the Hub. It is exciting to see the library up and running and I am sure the numbers using the library will rise. I am particularly delighted to have a new parish office in the building and I hope more residents will call in to see me and discuss parish matters: the new phone number is 01763 263303. Parish Council committee meetings will now be held in the upstairs meeting room in the Hub on the first three Mondays of each month. Meetings of the Full Parish Council will continue to be held in All Saints’ Community Hall on the fourth Monday of each month. All are welcome to attend. It should not be forgotten, however, that there is another important development in the village: that of the pavilion on the New Recreation Ground. This is being completely refurbished to create an exciting venue not only for sporting groups but families and community groups eager to meet together for private or public functions. This is due for completion in March and I urge residents to go along and see it and enquire about its use. Both of these projects demonstrate how the council as a whole, and certain councillors, can make a difference to the development of the village especially when working with committed members of the community: this year, you could be a person making a difference as elections for councillors will take place on 22nd May and the process for nominations will soon be published. If you want to find out what it takes to become a councillor then please contact me and I’ll be quite happy to talk to you. Melbourn needs 15 councillors and it would be nice to see all places filled as a result of the May election.

Melbourn Community Pavilion Improvements to the village have certainly progressed at an incredible speed over the past few years. Residents will have witnessed the resolving of an age-old problem of flooding at the north end of the High Street, the upgrading of a run down play area at Clear Crescent, the protection of many of our ‘open green spaces’ throughout the village and the coming to fruition of the long-awaited community centre (HUB) and library in the heart of the village, which was opened on the 1st of February. Included in all this positive development, is the upgrade to the Sports Pavilion on the QEII New Recreation ground. For those who regularly visit the Recreation Ground, either to walk their dog, take some exercise or participate in sports, the dramatic changes taking shape to the Pavilion will have been obvious; a drab and dreary eyesore is now blossoming into a

new, modern Community building and will now be completed ahead of expectations. When the project began in 2012, the original concept was to secure the building from the constant damage it was receiving. It soon became apparent that with these initial ideas in place, there was a greater opportunity to develop the building and make it more accessible to everyone. From the designs presented to the Parish Council, it was initially agreed that it would be upgraded in stages over a number of years. The Council agreed to use £65,000 from community funds to help finance the first phase of the upgrade and that for further phases, other avenues of funding would need to be explored. The Parish Council has indeed been extremely fortunate in all the help it has received in funding. In 2013, Sport England (a part of the National Lottery) was approached and successfully received match funding of £50,000. In addition, in January of this year the Council also approached the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation who administer the Amey Cespa Community Fund and were again, very fortunate to receive a further £33,100. These funds, together with the match funding from the Parish Council, have now allowed the upgrade to the building to be completed in just one phase! In addition to funding, we have also received a generous gift of ‘work-in-kind’ from two companies. Fosters have installed an Air-Source heating system. This cost effective method of heating will ensure the Pavilion is heated economically throughout the colder months and hot water is available for the showers throughout the year. Borras have replaced the existing kitchen with a modern makeover by installing new units, an extractor-fan, new flooring and have completely redecorated the kitchen area. The changes have undoubtedly been dramatic. Comments have been overwhelming and gratifying from those who have previously used the Pavilion and can now see the transformation-taking place. With French doors and sidelights at the front of the building, a large glass wall at the rear and large opaque glass panelled internal doors, the main meeting area has become a very bright and cheerful space. Lighting in this area has been replaced with low energy LED lighting. All other ‘user’ doors in the building have also been fitted with the opaque glass panelled doors, which give extra light and the flooring throughout has been replaced. When finally complete, the building will contain disabled toilets with disabled alarm and baby changing facilities; improved ladies and men’s toilets and updated disabled friendly changing/shower rooms. Access to the building has been improved and made completely disabled friendly and the path from the car park to the Pavilion will be widened in line with disabled requirements, with new lighting along its length. Entrance to the Pavilion will be by a slight incline on either side of the building. With the exception of the kitchen, ladies and gents toilets, all doors are of disabled standard. The front and rear of the building have been designed to offer a safe-space for young children. Work on the Community Pavilion is expected to be completed by 29th March

More than just a Sports Pavilion The modernised Pavilion will take it far beyond its original function of just a sports facility. With a large, bright meeting area able to accommodate approximately seventy people, a small fitted kitchen, economic lighting both inside and outside, a secure ‘safe-space’ at the front and rear, safe access and the large open space in which it is positioned, the Community Pavilion affords an ideal summer venue for family parties and club and corporate meetings. The Youth Club is already looking forward to transferring its venue to the Pavilion in the spring, giving the younger members of Melbourn and surrounding villages access to a facility surrounded by open space. The Parish Council would like to thank all those who have helped to make the Sports Pavilion a ‘Community building’, especially Bridget Smith for her invaluable help in raising the necessary funds, Anita Goddard from South Cambs District Council for her help in obtaining the work-in-kind from Fosters and Borras, and

of course these two companies for their very generous gifts. PAS building Services with their sterling work on the upgrade to the building, Prestige Glazing for their help in replacing the front and rear windows, R&N Engineering for the excellent shutters and balustrade at the front, which can only be described as a work of art and Ashton Renovations for all their help in upgrading the changing areas. Of course thanks must go to Sport England, Cambridgeshire Community Foundation and Amey Cespa Community Fund for the funding that has allowed the building to be completed. For more information on the Pavilion, please contact the Parish Council on 01763 263303 Peter Simmonett Chair Play and Recreation committee

District Councillor Jose Hales A lot is happening in Melbourn these days, some things more obvious than others. The smashing new Community Hub not only looks great but has attracted a whole new group of village volunteers to join others who have been supporting ventures like the Library Access Point for many years. One of the most rewarding things about being a councillor is working together with all of those people and making new friends across the community. The new Hub telephone number is 01763 263303, which whilst offering access to the Hub, will also connect you to the Library and Parish Council. A less visible piece of work is further investigation to improve the High Street drainage network, with the area between Kay’s Close and Back Lane getting a good look in, hopefully to be followed by remedial action. Melbourn has built up a very good relationship with Highways and there is a true partnership, which makes problem-solving a bit easier. Most of my time is spent on projects in Melbourn itself. But there is loads happening at South Cambs District Council and I will aim to bring you up to date on things there. As the saying goes these are very difficult times and so new ideas are needed – a few of which are explained below. melbournmagazine

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South Cambridgeshire Ltd

Pippins Children’s Centre

South Cambs has set up a company, which will buy properties and then rent them to you and I – at market rates. These are not the same as Council houses; the Council is in effect becoming a landlord competing with all the other property management companies locally. It does have two significant advantages. Firstly it can borrow at a discounted loan rate and secondly it already has an in-house housing management team. So it will borrow £7million (enough to buy about 100 properties they say) and lend this money at an increased rate to the new company as well as a management charge for running these homes. The whole purpose is to raise revenue to spend on public services. Councillors have asked to be involved as part of an advisory group planning this project to which there was agreement.

In January I met several Melbourn parents at a consultation focusing on how individual Sure Start Children’s Centres will navigate through the budget cuts. The trend in all areas of council cuts is to try and amalgamate services where possible, and to target first those in the greatest need. Like most South Cambridgeshire villages Melbourn has a low index of deprivation when compared with other parts of the county. Within South Cambs, because deprivation and population are highest in Cambourne, it is there that children’s centre resources seem likely to be migrating. While decisions won’t be made for a little while yet it would seem that Cambourne is most likely to end up as the hub for a wide area of South Cambs, including Melbourn, Bassingbourn and Caldecote. In reality this is an unmanageable distance for many parents with small children, and those who rely on public transport would be well and truly stuck. It is helpful to look at what ideas have been tried and tested elsewhere – for example Gamlingay has drawn some children’s centre services to its community hub. It is also critical that the County Council takes account of our own pockets of deprivation, and the evidence demonstrating the long-term beneficial effects of support to children aged 0-5. So we need to be staying in close contact with what is under consideration and provide as much as possible in the way of support to families with young children Please let me know if you have any queries or concerns.

Black Bin rubbish – now recyclable The Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant at AmeyCespa’s Waterbeach site is once again processing all the county’s household waste following it breaking and catching fire. Very good news to note “throughout this time the authority and local council tax payers were protected from any additional costs incurred because of the breakdown due to the robust contract we have in place”. Just FYI the plant processes waste put out in black bins using a range of processes to remove any recyclable materials before sending the remaining waste to biodegrade. This reduces the amount of household waste going to landfill by at least 50 per cent. South Cambridgeshire Councillor Computers You may have read in the local press that all South Cambridgeshire District Councillors are to be given iPads. This is not the case. Currently the Council supplies a Laptop and printer with which to perform the role of councillor and that’s all ending. Now iPads will be available but charged from the Councillor’s allowance. This is said to cut about £41,000 in IT costs, moving SCDC to becoming a ‘paperless council’. As I understand that some 35% of Melbourn residents do not have an internet connection let alone a computer, I will still continue to use both the pen, computer and in person to represent resident’s needs.

South Cambridgeshire Five Year Housing Land Supply An update on the Council’s Five Year Housing Land Supply has been published on the website: www.scambs.gov.uk/content/annual-monitoring-report This confirms that the Council can now demonstrate a five-year supply of housing land for the period 2013‑2018 and more than a five-year supply for every subsequent 5-year period to 2031. This means that developers who had plans to submit applications for sites that were not allocated in the Local Plan can no longer rely on getting them through on this previously slightly deficient policy. District Councillor Jose Hales. Mob: 07703 262649. Tel 01763 221058 jose@josehales.me.uk

County Councillor Susan van de Ven As ever the role as your representative at the County Council is trying to get the best possible support for our community, while trying also to offer constructive challenge to the council when things that aren’t working as well as they could be. The council is a huge organization and like all local authorities is experiencing cuts on an unprecedented scale, so the demand for creativity and resourcefulness is acute. I am lucky to be representing a village that has these qualities in abundance, and with so many teams of people who are active on behalf of the whole community. Congratulations to everyone who has made the Hub turn from an idea into reality. Given the gaps in public transport that exist in South Cambs (for example, as mentioned in the item below on Children’s Centres), what seems particularly exciting about the Hub is that it will bring services like housing, planning and Citizen’s Advice to Melbourn, whereas before some people would find it nearly impossible to travel to Cambourn or elsewhere to seek help. I’m looking forward to holding councillor drop-in advice surgery there, on the first Monday of the month at 2:30.

Supporting Young People As many of you will know, a youth club supported by Melbourn and several surrounding parish councils was reconstituted when County Council support fell away several years ago. We were lucky to find an outstanding team to run the club and attendance numbers have been on the increase, up to about 25 per night. Unfortunately the lead team member has had new opportunities come his way and so we are now looking for a new team to take over. At the time of writing this article, the Melbourn Area Youth Development committee, which continued on page 25

melbournmagazine

Profile The Brierleys

You will all be familiar with Maureen and Leslie Brierley from the articles we run on the Mel Restoration Group, but I thought it would be interesting to look beyond the pond, so to speak. Both originally from Essex, they moved to Cambridge when they got married in June 1973. Leslie spent all his working life with the GPO telephone service and Maureen had trained as a nurse at the North Middlesex Hospital. They have one son David, who is married and lives with his wife and two small sons in Royston – he works in Human Resources at Guys & St. Thomas’s Hospital Trust in London. Maureen worked at Addenbrookes as a surgical nurse then transferred to Royston Hospital where she was a Ward Sister. Both spoke passionately about the need to keep Royston Hospital open and support the Save our Hospital campaign. Later she moved into community nursing and became a Health Visitor in Stevenage and then Director of Nursing at Primary Care Trust. In their working years they took part in village life, with their son being educated in the village Maureen was on the PTA and Leslie worked with the cubs and scouts and both helped with the Village Fete. But it was when they retired in 2006 that they got involved with the restoration of the River Mel, which had started in Meldreth the year before. They had both always been interested in rivers, Leslie was a fisherman and in fact they celebrated their Silver Wedding by doing a fly fishing course in Devon. Maureen was the only girl on the course and the only one of the group to fall in the river! She was wearing waders and lost her footing on the rocks, but she gained ‘respect’ by climbing out, stripping off her fleece, emptying her waders and going straight back in! Locally they would fish in the St. Ives area. The constitution of the MRG covers the whole length of the river Mel from its source at The Melbourn Bury to where it joins the Granta near Malton Golf Club – a length of about 5 kilometres. It is a chalk stream, very rare as there are a mere 161 in this country and only 3000 worldwide. It is springfed, running on a clear chalk bottom and is host to a very special kind of wild life and vegetation. Or at least, it should be on a chalk base, but underneath the A10 bridge it had been over-widened and deepened, scouring away the chalk base. In an effort to restore a firm bed to the stream the group have recently deposited some 135 tonnes of gravel in that area. Maureen and Leslie were keen to join the group and to get the scheme working in Melbourn as well. To this end

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they had a stall at a village fete and 40 volunteers turned up at the next meeting! With support and advice from Rob Mungoven, the Ecology Officer at SCDC, they meet every 3 weeks throughout the year, alternating between the two villages. However, during the winter months they do not do river work but concentrate on the banks. This is because they are trying to re-introduce trout into the stream and from mid December to March the fish will hopefully be moving in. After the 1953 floods, all councils were anxious to avoid further crises so many rivers and streams were widened – unnecessarily so in the case of the Mel as it is fed from a spring. Add to this the fact that there were no fewer than 4 watermills (Sheene,Topcliffe, Flambards and a mystery fourth) which further eroded the chalk bed and caused the flow to slow down and deposit silt. If the firm bed can be re-established the Mel will flow freely and will self clean. I asked if there had been any interesting finds, but apart from an unwanted PA system, various footballs and stone bottles, a Cambridge Sodawater Company bottle seems to be the most exciting find so far. However, flora and fauna abound and the Wildlife Trust were very excited when they did a survey on water voles and discovered a very strong colony of them. They are one of the most endangered small mammals. Look East have also visited the Mel to film a report. Very satisfactorily, within 10 minutes of setting up the cameras the cute little creatures appeared on cue and performed beautifully. Maureen commented that Kenneth Graham did water voles a great disservice when he named his riverbank vole ‘Ratty’ Voles have nice little round noses and fat round bodies whilst rats have a pointed nose and are more sort of, well, ratty. They also regularly see kingfishers, goldcrests, wagtails and many other birds. Frogs they have only seen on Stockbridge Meadows, and here I learned that they head up another group of volunteers to manage the wild flower meadow. Wild flowers flourish on poor soil, so when the meadow is cut they go in and clear the hay otherwise it would rot down and make the earth too rich. They have recently sown Yellow Rattle, a parasitic plant which attaches itself to grasses preventing them from spreading and crowding out the wild flowers. We should see a spectacular meadow in a few years time! Maureen and Leslie have always been outdoor types taking camping and walking holidays, they have done the 185 mile Offa’s Dyke walk and walked from Barcelona to the French border. Maureen also swims and does Pilates and Leslie plays golf.

As director of the Board of Trustees for Home Start Royston, Maureen is kept busy as there is a great need for this service in the area. Both men and women are accepted for this work and great pains are taken both to train and monitor the volunteers and to match them to the families they are helping. Apart from all these good works, the pair are in high demand as grandparents and thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the fact that the family are only three miles away. Just as I was about to leave I admired their curtains – ‘made by Leslie’ I was told, I also discovered at the last minute that he paints in watercolours and is mad about music – he described himself as a ‘vinyl freak’. Then I spotted Maureen’s knitting, a project on vintage knitting she is doing for a friend. There seems no end to this couple’s interests, it just confirms the fact that when you retire you wonder how you ever found time to go to work! Mavis Howard

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30 Station Road Melbourn Cambridge SG8 6DX Telephone: 01763 261000 Email: info@esse.uk.com

Foster Property Maintenance Ltd (FPM Ltd) was founded in 1976 and provides property maintenance, renewal and refurbishment services. The majority of their clients are housing associations and social landlords. FPM Ltd also have a wide breadth of experience working with local authorities. This encompasses everything from a minor repair for Cambridgeshire County Council to a £9m three-year contract with Mid-Suffolk District Council to replace kitchens and bathrooms. FPM Ltd mainly work in the social housing arena but also have a number of commercial and public authority clients. The services FPM Ltd offer are extensive and range from construction projects, alterations and remodelling, to landlord compliance services, new build social housing, planned improvement works and response repairs, maintenance and voids. But as important as it is for FPM Ltd to grow successfully in the sectors they service, so to is putting something back into the communities that they operate in. This is why FPM Ltd are committed to supporting projects such as the Melbourn Pavillion upgrade, and in 2011 they set up The Community Fund Project, specifically pledging to donate five per cent of their EPC Internals Contract profits to various worthy causes put forward by community organisations.

As a responsible neighbour Borras are committed to local community development and recognise that through the nature of our work we are gifted an opportunity to positively impact on the social, economic and environmental prospects of the communities we operate within. Part of this commitment is actively searching for, and consulting with community organisations to discover if there is any way we can lend a helping hand. The Melbourn Pavilion regeneration was chosen as a project whilst working on our Social Housing contract to upgrade kitchens and bathrooms across Cambridgeshire. As well as the Pavilion, Borras engaged in a number of other initiatives last year throughout Cambridgeshire, these included: Refurbishing parts of Wood Green Animal Shelter in Heydon, providing them with a new kitchen, potting shed and chicken coops; Refurbishing the staff area complete with a new kitchen at Sawston Nursery, Sawston. Examples of other initiatives we have completed in the past include: Donating food, drink and funds to Centre 33, a local dropin centre where homeless and socially or materially disadvantaged people can go to relax and enjoy a meal or shower; Refurbishing the kitchen for Mind UK who have an office in St Albans minutes away from the Borras Head Office; Establishing a relationship with the Willow Foundation for whom we have raised over £50,000 through several activities including our annual staff hike.

is chaired by Jose Hales, has been meeting with ‘Groundwork’, a well-established community development charity. Groundwork offers all sorts of support relating to young people, including training in how to find employment, various practical, community activism such as gardening schemes, and running youth clubs where some of these skills are taught. Fingers crossed that by the time you read this we’ll be getting ready to start up again. We’ll post details on the Melbourn Village website as soon as we have them. Community Navigator You may have heard about the Community Navigator service that is being rolled out in Melbourn. This free service is funded by the County Council but is manned by very experienced and well-equipped volunteers. Its aim is to support older people to remain living happily and independently in their own homes by providing a ‘One Stop Shop’ for advice and information. It might be information about activities that you can join in with, or help with transport, cleaning or shopping. Maybe you need advice about benefits to support you as a carer to look after a relative. Whatever you need they will know where to go. Contact them on Community.navigators@care-network.org.uk or ring 01954 212100. Street Lights: Yes, well over a year since the street light replacement project commenced we’re still battling for improvements. It was good to see one lamp put back into a dark patch at Dickasons but we’d hoped for more. Jose Hales and I have been keeping up our contact with Balfour Beatty and are still hoping that a couple of other neighbourhoods in Melbourn will see a light or two put back. We’ve not given up yet. Lastly, please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time. My phone number is 261833, or you can reach me at susanvandeven@yahoo.co.uk. Susan van de Ven, susanvandeven@yahoo. co.uk, 261833

Questions for your Councillor? We hold a drop-in advice surgery at Melbourn Library Access Point on the first Monday of the month2:30-3:30. The Library Access Point has now moved to the new Melbourn Hub in Melbourn High Street, opposite the High Street public car park. As always please let us know if you’d like to make an appointment to meet at any other time or closer to home. Cllr Susan van de Ven Tel 01763 261833 www.susanvandeven.com Cllr Jose Hales Tel 01763 221058 jose@josehales.me.uk melbournmagazine

Community matters

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Free advice at Melbourn Hub When you pop into the Hub to buy a coffee or borrow a book, you might wonder what the new touch screen machine in the entrance hall is all about. Well, it’s part of a project funded by the Big Lottery which is running in South Cambridgeshire to help people find information and advice quickly and easily. Care Network is working with Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), the team at the Hub and other partners to help you get the advice you need. The Advicehub kiosk is provided by Cambridge CAB, who offer free, independent, confidential and impartial advice. Areas of advice they can help with include legal, money, benefits, relationships, employment and housing. The kiosk offers answers to common problems on these issues through its website, which has been specially adapted by the CAB to give local advice information wherever possible. The best way to find out more about the kiosk is to go and have a try. It’s straightforward to use, guides you through common issues and questions and takes you to safe, accurate information and advice. We are constantly trying to improve the service our Advicehub kiosks offer. If you use the one at Melbourn, please remember to fill in the short survey and give us your feedback - you could be in with a chance of winning a £50 supermarket voucher. There will also be advice outreach sessions at the Hub from March, offered by North Herts CAB. If you want help for those more complicated issues, a trained CAB adviser will be available at the Hub on the first Monday and third Tuesday of the month, from 9.30am onwards. We are also looking for people who can help others use the kiosk. If you’re interested, or have any questions, please contact Lynne McAulay at Care Network on 01954 211919 For more information visit www.advicehub.org

‘Relate’ In Melbourn! Relate is approachable, accessible and affordable. Seeking help should be ‘the next step’ – not a last resort. Relate will be offering relationship support at the new hub in Melbourn in 2014. We can help people who present with a whole range of issues from communication difficulties, a history of failed relationships, an affair or relationship breakdown. Many of us experience relationship or family problems at some point and may need help, but we don’t always know

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where to go. Not only that, but there is a huge amount of fear and trepidation about asking for support in the midst of a relationship crisis. So often we will simply battle on – in many cases for years – and we can be left feeling weighed down and emotionally exhausted. The pain and stress that relationship difficulties causes can be minimized significantly with the right sort of help and support. Skills and strategies can be learnt which, together with understanding and encouragement from a trained relationship counsellor can make a huge amount of difference to anyone who is struggling with their relationships.

We will be offering the following services: Relationship Counselling: We can provide counselling for you and your partner or for you on your own. We can help if you are having problems and want to work them out, or if you want to separate, or if your relationship has ended. Single Sessions: These will enable you to look at solutions to address difficulties, and ascertain whether longer-term counselling would be helpful, rather than look in depth at problems. Couples Relationship Course: This will prepare you for - or help you cope with – any transitions in your relationship such as: moving in together or cohabiting, marriage, becoming parents, a career change, a new life stage, bereavement or “empty nest” syndrome, to name just a few. Relate Cambridge offers confidential relationship support in Melbourn for individuals and couples who are experiencing relationship problems. A full range of services is available at our Cambridge centre in Brooklands Avenue. These include sex therapy and other adult and family services.

Relate Business Solutions offers the following: • Training solutions delivered by relationship specialists and expert trainers at competitive prices • The design of bespoke training solutions taking your workplace practices and policies into account • Improvement of individual and professional performance • Increased productivity and business performance • Increased retention and reduced absenteeism • Enhanced and development of professional and team skills • Improved communication and relationship skills • Improved work/life balance

For more information or to book an appointment, contact Relate Cambridge on 01223 357424 Mon-Thur 8am-10pm, Fri 8 am-6pm, Sat 9am-5pm (confidential answerphone at all other times). www.relatecambridge.org.uk.

Befriending & Family Support Schemes Would you like to make a difference to the life of a child or young person with learning disabilities in your area? Cambridgeshire Mencap is looking for volunteers for its Befriending & Family Support Schemes. Our Befriending scheme matches volunteer young people with learning disabilities, to enable them to socialise, doing fun things like bowling or going to the cinema. It only takes a few hours of your time and it really does change lives. Our Family Support scheme provides extra help for parents and carers when and where they need it most by providing a trained volunteer to regularly visit the child or young person and provide practical help to the family. We think our volunteers are exceptional and you could be too! We give training and support, but it’s the young people who make it all worthwhile. Rob said “I’m so glad I got in touch about volunteering. If you’re thinking about volunteering; just do it, you’ll never regret it.” Like to know more? Contact Marika Newman on 01223 883141 or email volunteer@cambridgeshiremencap.co.uk

Community Lifeline Service Residents are being reminded of a valuable community lifeline service run by South Cambridgeshire District Council. The service provides alarm equipment to help anyone of any age to feel safer, more protected and independent in their own home. The equipment gives people peace of mind by offering the reassurance of 24-hour emergency assistance at the touch of a button on a pendant or wristband. When activated, the button raises an alarm and connects the user directly to trained staff who speak to them via a small unit installed close to their telephone. Those staff will instantly know the name, address and health details of the user, raise the relevant help and, where requested, notify friends, family or neighbours The pendant and wristbands work within a 50 metre radius of the unit so are very effective within properties as well as gardens. This equipment supports a host of additional telecare technology, including smoke detectors, fall detectors and bed sensors, and cost as little as £20 to install and £4.26 a week. For more information visit www.scambs.gov.uk/communitylifeline-service, email lifelines@scambs.gov.uk or call 03450 450 500.

Adult social care needs YOU!

this, the County Council is recruiting compassionate and caring people to start a career in care through a unique apprenticeship programme that enables them to “earn while they learn” by supporting them to get a job with a local homecare provider whilst being paid the standard rate of a care worker. If you want to make a positive difference to people’s lives and would be interested in a career in care, contact Emma Laskey-MacRae, Apprenticeship Project Coordinator on 07917 615360, email Emma.Laskey@cambridgeshire. gov.uk for more information about this unique apprenticeship programme. Your age and background doesn’t matter, if you are looking for a career in care somewhere in your community there’s a job you can do to help others.

CATalyst A Happy New “volunteering” year to everyone. Was your New Year Resolution to volunteer locally? If so why not think about becoming involved with the following

Luncheon club The diners at the Community Luncheon Club enjoyed a pleasant Christmas dinner and raffle. Thanks must go to Tesco and their Community Champion, Mandy Jinkerson, for their kind donation of mini boxes of chocolates for all the diners and two bottles for the raffle. There are now only 4 vacancies for anyone over 60 years of age and preferably able to come by themselves to Vicarage Close Community Lounge on a Thursday from 11.30am. Please do contact CATalyst if you or someone you know is interested. Transport may be available but is not guaranteed. Read what Luncheon Club volunteer- Joan Humphris has to say My Husband and I decided to move to Melbourn in 2010. We knew the village very well visiting our daughter and her family on several occasions. My Husband has Parkinsons Disease, so we found it difficult to find a social life within the village. When my husband went into residential care in January 2013 I found I needed a new social life for myself. There was an article in the Crow newspaper, Meet in Melbourn and this is how I discovered CATalyst. I have now become involved with the Community Luncheon Club, volunteering to help with the weekly lunch, gaining my Level Two Food Hygiene qualification and where I have met and made many new friends who have made me welcome. I have also become a Committee Member and am looking forward to helping to organising new events for the coming year. Joan Humphris. New volunteer helpers and drivers always needed and made very welcome!

Homecare workers required

*Meet-in-Melbourn

More older and vulnerable people are requiring homecare to ensure they feel safe, happy and independent. To achieve

Meet–in-Melbourn continues to highlight events and social activities for those looking to make new friends and melbournmagazine

acquaintances. So if you are looking for someone to go to the cinema, theatre or exhibition with or just to get together for a chat then please get in touch. New suggestions are always welcomed, one recent one was a local “Tortoise & Snail” walking group! A very enjoyable Christmas meal was held once again at the King William 1V in Heydon. A visit to the beautiful winterlights woodland walks in Anglesey Abbey also took place. Diane – CATalyst Treasurer and M-in-M organiser. Email: dianelou@hotmail.co.uk or phone: 0774 953 0112 *New social group for Carers’-2nd Wednesday of the month. 1.30pm-3.30pm URC Church Hall The first meeting of the Carers’ social group was held in January. Comments from carers who came were very positive. If you are a carer do come along if you can or if you know someone who is and might like to come along please pass on the information. For further information on any of the above please see the CATalyst webpage on the village website or phone CATalyst on: 0774 953 0112 email: communityactiontogether@hotmail.co.uk

Accessing adult social care services Who to contact, where to find information Social Care is personal and practical support to help people live their lives by supporting them to maintain their independence and dignity and ensuring they have choice and control over the support they receive. Many people don’t think about social care until they or someone they know need support, and then find they are unsure about where to find information or how to access the services they need. The first step to accessing services is to arrange an assessment by adult social care to establish your specific needs. This is free, irrespective of your income, and available to all. It will determine if you are eligible for a Personal Budget – an allocated sum of money with which to plan the support you need. Alternatively, your circumstances may mean you are classed as a ‘self-funder’ with the means to pay for your care. Adult social care customer services are the initial point of contact for all social care enquiries. The trained staff knows about the services available and can offer advice on whom else may be able to help. Call 0345 045 5202. If you think you may need help with mental health issues you should contact your GP in the first instance. Making decisions about the types of help, support and care that you require can be daunting, particularly if you’ve had no involvement with social care before. Your Life, Your Choice (www.yourlifeyourchoice.org.uk) Cambridgeshire’s adult social care website provides a wealth of information about adult social care for anyone looking for information for the first time. If you need to speak to someone about your adult social care needs you should contact customer services between 8.00am and 6.00pm Monday to Friday, and 9.00am to 1.00pm on Saturdays on the telephone number above, or email referral.centreadults@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

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Little Hands is a Private Nursery School specialising in quality education for the under fives and offers Flexible hourly booking - open 08.30 to 16.30 Term time bookings with optional holiday club Bumble Bee room for children 12 – 24 months Ladybird room for 2 year olds Butterfly room for children 3-5 years With optional “ready for school sessions” Holiday club for children aged 12 months to 8 years All sessions have a high staff to child ratio and are available for funded 2 year olds and funded 3/4 year olds with no extra charges Categorised as “Outstanding” by Ofsted For further information please contact Anne McCrossen - Nursery Manager : 01763 260964 e-mail lh-melbourn@btconnect.com Little Hands is also at Bourn, Linton and Newton visit the website at www.littlehands.co.uk

Little Hands Karen

MVC EDUCATION

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PLAY SCHOOL NOTRE ECOLE PLAYGROUP

PRIMARY SCHOOL LITTLE HANDS VILLAGE COLLEGE

Melbourn Playgroup

01763 260964

Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford 07842 151512 Notre Ecole Janet Whitton

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Pippins Children’s Centre Alison Wood

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Primary School Headteacher Stephanie Wilcox 223457 U3A (Univ. of Third Age) Chairman George Howard

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Village College Principal Simon Holmes 223400

We have had some very exciting visitors this term, Pudsey bear came in to visit us and we made Pudsey bear cakes, these were very yummy! The Reception class were learning about transport and vehicles and as part of this a tractor came to visit! It stayed all day so we took a trip to the playground and we all had a sit inside. This was super exciting. Father Christmas came to visit us on his sleigh on the afternoon of our amazing Christmas concert. The children were very excited and all received a gift. The concert was held in the school hall and was a huge success; the children sang beautifully and made everyone feel very festive. Well done to all the children involved. As part of preparing the older children for big school we have been making regular trips to the reception class and listening to stories read by the reception teachers. We have also visited the dining hall for lunch and will continue to do these things to make the transition to big school much easier and more comfortable for the children who will be starting school in September. Contact Jane Crawford on 01763 223459 or email office@melbournplaygroup. org.uk or even visit the website on www.melbournplaygroup.org.uk

Pippins Children’s Centre If you are a parent or carer of a child under 5, your local Children’s Centre would love to meet you! The Centre office is open 9.30am 12.30pm every weekday, and groups and activities run from Monday to Friday. Call in, telephone, email or check our website for details of our current programme, or see our notice board outside the Centre next door to the Primary School on Mortlock Street. We look forward to meeting you. 01763 223460 melbournchildrenscentre@ cambridgeshire.gov.uk The link to Pippins Melbourn’s page on that website is www.cambridgeshirechildrenscentres. org.uk/melbourn

Oscar and Pudsey

Arthur on the Tractor

Melbourn Primary School Spring Fayre This year, the Fayre will be held in the afternoon of Saturday 10th May, with fun to be had for all. Come along to bounce on the castles, enjoy our fun games, ride the steam train, hook a duck, try your luck in our grand draw and much more. For a well-earned rest, you can sample the delights of our barbecue, cake stall, refreshments and ice creams. melbournmagazine

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We’re in the early stages of planning and so if you’d like to take part in any of the following ways, please get in contact with us. We’re currently looking for people who would like to: Bring your own stall to the Fayre Donate a prize for our Grand Draw Advertise in our programme Help out on the day (run a stall, help with the BBQ, man the gate, anything!)

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If you would like to help out, or bring an attraction/stall, please get in contact at PTFA@melbourn.cambs.sch.uk Spring Fayre is Melbourn Primary School PTFA’s main fund raising event of the year and regularly contributes over £3,000, which goes directly back to the school. The money is used to add to the facilities and opportunities available to all pupils, enhancing their learning and enjoyment of school life. Educational funding cuts from central government mean that South Cambridgeshire schools are the most poorly funded in the country. The PTFA is working closely with the school governing body to open up new fund raising channels to give our children the best possible educational opportunities. We’re taking our first tentative steps into the world of grants and lottery funding. If you have experience of fund raising and would like to become involved with your local primary school, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact Julie Norman, our Chair of Governors at chair@melbourn.cambs.sch.uk We look forward to seeing you in May.

Melbourn Village College Core Excellence At the end of December the College received the annual report which compares our results with those of all other schools nationally. Once again this gave us cause for celebration. In terms of GCSE passes we were significantly above the National average but it is the progress measures that gave us the greatest satisfaction. For the fifth year in a row the progress of students at the college places us in the top 30% of schools nationally. In the core areas of English and maths the story is even more encouraging. The progress made in maths places the department in the top 10% nationally; English are in the top 5%. These are truly excellent results, which benefit all the students at the college. There is no secret to this success – it is high expectations backed up by high quality teaching. This is at the heart of all the work both of MVC and our partners in the Comberton Academy Trust – ‘Excellence for All’ is our continued aspiration.

Anglia Ruskin trip On 13 January, all of Year 9 went on a trip to Anglia Ruskin, a local university, called Eyes on the Prize. The point of the trip was to help us make good choices in life, for example GCSE options, sixth form, A-levels and more. First there was an introductory speech, which we were slightly late to because our coach broke down before getting to MVC, so we set off a bit late. Then we went round the careers fair. There were representatives from many organisations including Long Road Sixth Form and Hills Road Sixth Form and some

local universities, including Anglia Ruskin and UCS (University Campus Suffolk). I thought that the most interesting place was Hills Road sixth form who had information on what GCSEs you need to do well in to get into certain A-level courses. Then, we listened to a speech on college life at local universities by some of the students there. It included what halls life is like and how it differs when you leave halls in your second year. They also included some information on the social side of university and what it’s like living away from home (the importance of knowing how to cook!). After that we had a tour round Anglia Ruskin campus. The showed us: some of the labs they use for forensic science; a room which they use for exhibitions (it had nine huge TVs); the display wall of the work that the people on the photography course had taken, and the gym with its neighbouring cafe. Finally we had a concluding speech and then we drove back to Melbourn. Overall it was a very informative day.

Dance at MVC On Wednesday 18th December, 26 GCSE dance students travelled to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in Angel, London, to see the critically acclaimed Swan Lake, by Matthew Bourne. This was a fantastic opportunity to see another of his works, as the students are studying his adaptation of Nutcracker! for their exam. The performance was beautiful, danced by a stunning cast, whereby all of the swans were performed by male dancers. The students were a credit to the school, returning back to Melbourn to perform in the school’s Christmas concert! Despite it being such a long day, the girls still managed to give an excellent performance. The students were also lucky enough to speak to Matthew Bourne himself, who was sitting watching in the audience. Melbourn’s GCSE Dance group look forward to another performance soon!

Patience Wins Out … Congratulations to Lucy Hanlon Year 11 for the exciting success of her art - today in use by the Education Department of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge as the official logo on their face-book account. melbournmagazine

Home cooked food using only the best local ingredients. Individual care and support for each and every child and their families. Large, fun outdoor playgrounds and fields for the children to explore, to run, skip and jump.

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A loving family environment created by qualified happy staff. 98% have a professional childcare qualification and they all love their job. twitter.com

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Lucy’s logo was created when she was in Year 8 in 2011 after a visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Students were asked to make their own interpretation of the Museum architecture. Following a display at the museum three works were chosen as possible logos and earlier this year it was announced that Lucy’s colourful and creative art design was to be used as the website logo from October 2013. Lucy said “The challenge was to produce a piece of artwork based upon the view of the front of the Museum and the sculpture exhibition being displayed in the grounds around the entrance. Mrs Heeks and Mr Juett subsequently arranged for the artwork to be exhibited publicly at the CAM Williams Art Gallery in Gwydir Street alongside the work of several professional artists. I visited the gallery myself and was proud to see my art on display.” After some considerable time Lucy was contacted by the Museum who said they really liked the image as it was clear and carefully constructed and original and felt it captured the essence of the education work of the Fitzwilliam Museum. The Museum’s facebook and twitter pages can be found at: www.facebook.com/fiteducation – https://twitter.com/ FitzMuseum/Educa

The German Exchange A group of year 8 and 9 students from MVC took part in a joint German Exchange run by Comberton Village Collage, spending a week with a German family in Bad Hersfeld, Hessen. The students involved were Theo Windred, Alderney Smith, Matthew Taylor, Adam Grove, Amy Selby, Rebecca Bystry and Oliver Martin. Before leaving on Thursday 5th December most students had already been in contact with their German partners via Facebook and Whatsapp, allowing them to get to know each other and to practise their German a little before living with their partners and their families in Bad Hersfeld. After a long bus journey students were met by their German families on the Thursday evening, and were made to

feel very welcome. The next day, whilst the German partners were in lessons, we were given a tour of the school and the town and were lucky enough to have some snow, making everything, including the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market), feel particularly ‘Christmassy’. The rest of Friday and the whole of Saturday were spent with host families, most of whom took our students on visits to see the local area. On the Sunday our group visited and had a tour of Wartburg, a medieval castle, which stood impressively high up on a hill with excellent views. On the Monday students were in lessons with their partners, which they found most interesting. The following morning was spent doing project work with the German teachers, involving making Weihnachtsdekorationen and Weihnachtskarten as well as Weihnachts-biscuits, which everybody seemed to enjoy eating. On Wednesday we visited Erfurt, a medieval town, where we were given a two-hour tour and time to go around the large Weihnachtsmarkt. Our final day was spent visiting the salt-mines of Merkers, not far from Bad Hersfeld, where we went 500 metres below ground-level and saw, amongst other things, a huge underground concert-hall. Everybody seemed to thoroughly enjoy the trip and there was an impressive amount of German spoken. Our students are now looking forward to having their partners stay with them and their families in March, and will perhaps continue to stay in touch once the exchange is over. All in all students had a most positive experience and learned a great deal. We hope to have more MVC students take part in next year’s exchange.

melbournmagazine

Free Weekly Advice Clinic at the Melbourn HUB Thinking of Making a Will? Need to provide Financial Protection for Family or Business?

Expedition to Ethiopia Mr Walker and Miss King are delighted to be leading some of our current Year 11s on an expedition to Ethiopia, with World Challenge in July 2014. This is an extremely exciting adventure for the students, who will have the amazing opportunity of gaining valuable life skills, experiencing a new culture and way of life, whilst helping to improve the lives of others. The expedition will include: Learning about the application of permaculture to rural African communities as a way to generate long-term food security and develop community empowerment. A four day project phase, in which the students will help to build a bread oven so that the local children can supplement their diet with carbohydrates. The students will also have a chance to interact with the children by bringing with them: games, songs, lessons and a football! A cultural activity day, in which the students will get the chance to see how beautiful Ethiopian cloth is made; visit the local Chega house to learn how the local staple is made; and practise their haggling skills, when picking up food supplies from the buzzing local market. The students will also visit the Konso museum to learn about the tribal history of the Omo Valley and see a fantastic collection of ancient Waku statues. A three day trekking phase. The students will get the opportunity to take in the views of picturesque valleys; eat traditional injera; enjoy an evening of star-gazing; visit a local shama medicine man to learn about the traditional tribal medicines; and visit a local blacksmith’s to see how traditional clay pots are made, even having a go at making their own! Travel back through the Rift Valley to Addis Ababa. For the last two days, the students will have the opportunity to take in the views of the landscape, made up of lakes surrounded by mountains; head to hot springs; haggle for weavings and tapestries in local villages; and finish with a celebratory meal out in the capital, before heading for home. The students are all very excited to embark on their lifechanging adventure; they are looking forward to, ‘giving something back,’ and making a difference to the lives of the people they will meet. The students have all been working very hard to organise fund-raising events to raise the money to enable them to go. They have done their fund-raising independently and should all be very proud of themselves as we, at MVC, are! Please do visit our website in September, to read about the students’ memorable experiences and view the wonderful pictures that they will no doubt bring back with them!

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Why not drop in at the Hub for a chat with John Gibson of Giddings Lane Will Writers, or Mark Graddage of Beacon Wealth Management Ltd. They can discuss your needs and provide you with important information to assist with your financial objectives. Every Tuesday 10am–3pm

ARCHITECTURAL DRAWINGS FOR PLANNING & BUILDING REGULATION APPLICATIONS EXTENSIONS, ALTERATIONS, LOFT CONVERSIONS ETC CONTACT US now to arrange a FREE on-site meeting at your convenience to discuss your project. 01353 649649 mail@elydesigngroup.co.uk ELY DESIGN GROUP ‘Architecture by Professionals’ www.elydesigngroup.co.uk!

Village information IMPORTANT NUMBERS Orchard Surgery Appointments 260220 Dispensary 261246 For repeat prescriptions send email: prescriptions.orchardsurgery@nhs.net Hospitals Addenbrooke’s Royston

01223 245151 01763 238020

OUT OF HOURS EMERGENCIES Camdoc 01223 464242 NHS Direct 0845 4647 (queries 24hrs) 101

Police (non emergency)

Fire & Rescue Service 01223 376217 Crimestoppers Freephone

0800 555111

Education

Royston Family History Society Pam Wright

Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford

07842 151512

Library LAP Mike Stapleton

269956

Little Hands Nursery School

260964

Out of school times

01223 503972

Notre Ecole Janet Whitton 261231 Primary School Headteacher Stephanie Wilcox 223457 U3A (Univ. of Third Age) Chairman George Howard

260686

Hon Sec Hilary Docwra

222486

Mem Sec Arthur Alderton 260399 Village College Principal Simon Holmes 223400

Health Age UK Cambridgeshire Blood Donors

01223 221921

0300 123 23 23

Neighbourhood Watch 261520 Steven Cambery s.cambery@ntlworld.com

Chiropodist Dentist

262034

Cambs Registered Trader Sceme 01223 221921

District Nurses (Primary Care Trust)

01223 846122

Telephone Preference Service www.tsponline.org.uk 0845 070 0707

S Cambs PCT 35 Orchard Road

Dial-A-Ride CAB Royston

Services Anglian Water Gas emergency Electricity South Cambs District Transport British Rail Enquiries Stagecoach Cambus

Home-Start

262262 262861

Car Scheme

245228

01223 506335

Osteopath Kath Harry 261716 St John Ambulance Robert Jakubiak 220507

0800 1111 08457 909090

The Press Royston & Buntingford Mercury Media Centre, 40 Ware Road, 01992 526639 Hertford, SG13 7HU Royston Crow 6, Melbourn St, Royston, SG8 7BX

07557 232154

Cambridge News 3 Melbourn Street, 249144 Royston, SG8 7BP Fax 244502

Melbourn Magazine Committee Editorial Ann Dekkers Advertising Jan Simmonett Distribution Jose Hales Eric Johnston Information Anne Lambert Parish Profile Mavis Howard Production Peter Simmonett Proof reading Brenda Meliniotis Colin Limming Village Diary Brenda Meliniotis

261144 220363 221058 220197 261480 260686 220363 261154 260072 261154

260009

RSPB Doug Radford

208978

SOAS (Supporters of All Saints’) Doreen Johnston 220197 St George’s Allotments Assoc. Bruce Huett

brucehuett@compuserve.com

Women’s Group Pat Smith 260103

Places of worship All Saints’ Church Rev Andrew O’Brien Melbourn Vicarage

260295

Curate Mary Price

261569

Churchwardens Roger Mellor 220463

260127

Mike Galley

Community Hall booking Sandie Springall 223320

hallbookings@live.co.uk

Baptist Church Rev. Stuart Clarke Secretary Guy Manners

261650 01223 872298

Secretary Peter and Eirwen Karner

262346

Hall booking Beryl and Barry Monk 246458

sport

248774

Bowls Elaine Cooke 221571 249156

Croquet Janet Pope

248342

Tony Kelly Mon & Wed evenings 7 – 9.30 p.m.

Jazzercise Sarah Howard

07703 422394

Bellringers Barbara Mitchell 261518

Judo Derek Coult

225004

Bridge Club Howard Waller 261693

MADS (Melbourn Amateur Dramatics Society)

1st Melbourn Rainbows 08457 484950 08706 082608

221398

Royston Lions Janet Daniels

Badminton Steve Jackson

LOCAL clubs Air Cadets 2484 (Bassingbourn) Squadron

08457 145 145 0800 111 999 08007 838838

frierly@ntlworld.com

United Reformed Church Minister Rev. Duncan Goldie 260747

Child & Family Nurses

08456 889897

Childline Samaritans

263260

Royston and District Round Table

Abigail Roberts 261505

Donna Sleight

232622

Brownies 1st Melbourn Stephanie Clifford 220272

Melbourn and District Tennis Club David Liddiard

Brownies 2nd Melbourn Samantha Pascoe (Brown Owl) 261400

Cambells (Handbells) Eira Martin 261221

Melbourn Dynamos FC Gordon Atalker 07770533249

CATalyst

Melbourn Football Club Simon Gascoyne 261703

0774 953 0112

Dramatic Society Kathy Wholley

223805

email: k_wholley@hotmail.com

07508 995781

Melbourn Sports Centre Graham Johnson-Mack

263313

Meldreth Tennis Club Sue Davies

220174

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Stuart Morris 208634

Swimming Club Jenny Brackley 244593

Gardening Helen Powell 245887

Squash Club Nick Sugden 261064

Guides 1st Melbourn Hilary Marsh 261443 Mothers’ Union Pauline Hay 260649

Warden & sheltered housing schemes

Melbourn History Group Colin Limming 260072

Dial-A-Ride

Melbourn Mushroom Club John Holden

Mobile Warden Scheme

01223 506335

email: frog.end@virgin.net

Warden – Margo Wherrell 260966

01223 207307

Deputy – Jeannie Seers 262651

Melbourn Pottery Club Maggie

Meldreth Local History Kathryn Betts 268428

Assistant – Joy Hyde

National Trust Colin Limming 260072

John Impey Way Jeanette Holland 269596

New Melbourn Singers Adrian Jacobs 243224

Southwell Court

262121

Photographic Club Bruce Huett

Moorlands Denise Taylor

260564

Ramblers Dave Allard 242677

Vicarage Close Warden Eileen Allan

263389

Royal British Legion Women Elizabeth Murphy 220841

Lead Sheltered Housing Officer - Monday to Friday 9–1.30

Royal National Lifeboat Institution Jean Emes 245958

Vicarage Close, John Impey Way & Elin Way

Royston and District Local History Society

Eileen Allan

David Allard

232855

242677

220139

Mobile 07876 791419 / 245402

Every other week. 9–5 Monday to Friday

melbournmagazine

March Saturday 1

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Sunday 2

Holy Communion All Saints 8.00am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm URC Service 11.00am Baptist Communion 6pm Monday 3

Drop-in Surgery with Councillors at The Hub 2.30-3.30pm Melbourn Bridge Club every Monday Vicarage Close contact Howard Waller 261693 Tuesday 4

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Melbourn & District Photographic Club Foxton Village Hall every Tuesday 7.30pm contact Bruce Huett 232855 Wednesday 5

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Ash Wednesday Service All Saints 7.30pm

Saturday 15

Coffee Stop 10.30am ASCH The Bookshelf Sunday 16

Holy Communion All Saints 8.00am Family Service All Saints 11.00am URC Service 11.00am Baptist Communion Service 10.30am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm Monday 17

Royston & District Family History Society ASCH 7.30pm ‘What People Had in their Houses’ Dr Shirley Wittering

April Tuesday 1

Toddler Plus 9.30-11.30am Baptist Church (TT) Melbourn & District Photographic Club AGM Foxton Village Hall 7.30pm contact Bruce Huett 232855 (runs September to April) Wednesday 2

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Thursday 3

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Royston & District Local History Soc. Royston Town Hall 8pm ‘Everyday Life in the Eighteenth Century’

Thursday 20

Friday 4

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Coffee URC 10.30am Melbourn Bowls Club Whist Night 7.00pm End of Term

Tuesday 18

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30 (TT) Wednesday 19

Friday 21

Coffee URC 10.30am Melbourn Bowls Club Whist Drive 7pm contact Arthur Andrews 261990

Saturday 5

Saturday 22

Sunday 6

Friday 7

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Cambridge Choral Society Concert, West Road, Cambridge

Coffee URC 10.30am Melbourn Bowls Club Whist Drive 7pm contact Arthur Andrews 261990 Women’s World Day of Prayer All Saints 2.30pm

Family Communion & Sunday School All Saints 9.45am URC Service 11.00am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm

Thriplow Daffodil Weekend Holy Communion All Saints 8am Holy Communion URC 11.00am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm Baptist Communion 6pm

Thursday 6

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm Royston & District Local History Society Royston Town Hall 8pm ‘Suffragettes’ Mary Dicken

Sunday 23

Saturday 8

Monday 24

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Meldreth Local History Group Coffee Morning Elin Way 10am-12noon

Sunday 9

Family Communion & Sunday School All Saints 9.45am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm URC Service 11.00am Tuesday 11

Tuesday 25

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30 (TT) Women’s Group Meldreth 7.45pm Lent Reflection Mothers’ Union 2.30pm Soham Lady Day Service

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Mothers’ Union 2pm Wendy contact Pauline Hay 260759 Melbourn & District Gardening Club ASCH 7.30pm ‘Roses’ Peter Jackson

Wednesday 26

Wednesday 12

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am URC Reflective Service 7pm CATalyst Carers Social Group 1.30-3.30pm Thursday 13

Holy Communion All Saints 10.00am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm Friday 14

Coffee URC 10.30am

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 7pm Thursday 27

Friday 28

Coffee URC 10.30am Saturday 29

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am SOAS Royston Choral Society All Saints 7.30pm Sunday 30

Holy Communion All Saints 8.00am URC Service 11.00am

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Bible Soc. Plant Stall Thriplow Daffodil Weekend

Monday 7

Drop-in Surgery with Councillors at The Hub 2.30-3.30pm first Monday in the month Melbourn Bridge Club every Monday at Vicarage Close contact Howard Waller 261693 Tuesday 8

Mothers’ Union 2pm Bassingbourn Church Hall contact Pauline Hay 260759 Melbourn & District Gardening Club ASCH 7.30pm ‘Bees & the Gardener’ Wednesday 9

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am CATalyst Carers Social Group URC hall 1.30-3.30pm Thursday 10

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Friday 11

Coffee URC 10.30am Melbourn Bowls Club Whist Drive 7pm Saturday 12

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Roy. Brit. Legion Easter Egg Tombola ASCH Spring Sale 2-4pm in the Community Hall contact 261154 for details Sunday 13

Family Communion & Sunday School All Saints 9.45am

Palm Sunday Service URC 11.00am Palm Sunday 3pm Walking with Noah the donkey. Meet at Meldreth Recreation Ground Evensong All Saints 6.30pm

Thursday 31

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

May

Monday 14

Royston & District Family History Society ‘Introduction to Heraldry’ Wednesday 16

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Thursday 17

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Maundy Thursday Service All Saints 7.30pm Friday 18

Good Friday Good Friday Service followed by Hot Cross Buns 10.00am Good Friday Led devotion All Saints 1-3pm Baptist Open Church 1-4pm with activities for children Saturday 19

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf Easter Even – Service of Light All Saints 6.00pm

Coffee Morning Melbourn Bowls Club 10.30-12noon Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Friday 16

Coffee at URC 10.30am Saturday 17

Thursday 1

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Christian Aid Cake Stall

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Coffee Morning Melbourn Bowls Club 10.30-12noon Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly

Sunday 18

Friday 2

Coffee at URC 10.30am MADS ‘Never Too Late’ Meldreth Village Hall 7.30pm Saturday 3

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am MADS ‘Never Too Late’ Meldreth Village Hall 7.30pm

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Family Service All Saints 11.00am URC Service 11am Communion Service Baptist Church 10.30am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm A10 Corridor Cycling Awareness Ride Melbourn & District Gardening Club Annual Outing Monday 19

Sunday 4

Royston & District Family History Society ASCH 7.30pm

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Holy Communion URC 11am Communion Service Baptist Church 6pm Evensong All Saints 6.30pm Melbourn Bowls Club Open Day 2.30pm

Tuesday 20

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Royston & District Family History Society ASCH 7.30pm Wednesday 21

Monday 5

Sunday 20

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Bank Holiday

Easter Sunday Holy Communion All Saints 8am Family Communion All Saints 9.45am Easter Day Baptism 10.30am Easter Day Communion Service URC 11.00am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm

Thursday 22

Tuesday 6

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Coffee Morning Melbourn Bowls Club 10.30-12noon Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Friday 23

Monday 21

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Thursday 8

Saturday 24

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Coffee Morning Melbourn Bowls Club 10.30-12noon Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Royston & District Local History Society Town Hall Royston 8pm AGM followed by ‘The Woman Who Saved Children’

Coffee Stop at ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf

Friday 9

Bank Holiday

Easter Monday Tuesday 22

Women’s Group 7.45pm Meldreth ‘Arthur Rank Hospice’ Wednesday 23

Summer Term begins Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30 (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Royal British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 7pm Thursday 24

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Melbourn Bowls Club Coffee Morning 10-12noon Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm Friday 25

Coffee URC 10.30am Saturday 26

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Sunday 27

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am URC Service 11.00am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm Tuesday 29

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Wednesday 30

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Wednesday 7

Coffee at URC 10.30am Saturday 10

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Link Murang’a Tombola Melbourn Primary School Spring Fayre Sunday 11

Family Communion & Sunday School All Saints 9.45am URC Service 11am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm Tuesday 13

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am Mother’s Union contact 2pm Meldreth Pauline Hay 260759 Melbourn & District Gardening Club ASCH 7.30pm ‘Vegetables for Value’ Wednesday 14

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Reflective Service URC 7pm Thursday 15

Holy Communion All Saints 10am

We shall be pleased to receive contributions in any form, articles, poems, drawings, photographs, letters etc., pertaining to Melbourn. Please send any contributions to the Editor, at 110 High Street, Melbourn, marking them ‘MELBOURN MAGAZINE’ or you can email them to mag@melbourn.org.uk

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Sunday 25

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am URC Service 11am Evensong All Saints 6.30pm Monday 26 Tuesday 27

Women’s Group ASCH 7.45pm Games Evening Wednesday 28

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Royal British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 7pm Thursday 29

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Coffee Morning Melbourn Bowls Club 10.30-12noon Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Friday 30

Coffee at URC 10.30am Saturday 31

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Cambridge Choral Society Concert St John’s College Chapel

t for the nex te a d g in s lo The c April 2014 th 8 1 y a d issue is Fri , ear in June p p a l il w h whic e, July and n Ju in ts n listing eve 4. August 201

Village information continued Orchard Surgery Dispensary Monday to Friday 8:30 – 1pm and 3pm – 6pm Phone 01763 261246 Telephone requests are not accepted For repeat prescriptions you can: Fax 01763 262968 or email: prescriptions.orchardsurgery@nhs.net

Melbourn Health Visiting Team Drop in clinics for parents and babies are held as follows: Melbourn clinic every Wednesday between 9.30am and 11.00am at: 35 Orchard Road, Melbourn. Telephone 01763 262861

• Allow at least 48 hours (two working days – excluding weekends and bank holidays) for repeat prescriptions to be ready. • Do not leave your request to the last minute. Prescription/medication depending on eligibility can be collected from the

Surgery

Co-op

Tesco in Royston

Please let the dispensary know where you wish your prescriptions to be sent. This will remain your choice until we are informed otherwise.

Bin collection MELBOURN

7 March

Green & Blue Bin

14 March 21 March

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

28 March 4 April

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

11 April 19 April**

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

26 April** 2 May

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

10 May* 16 May

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

23 May 31 May*

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

7 June 14 June

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

21 June 28 June

Black Bin Green & Blue Bin

*Saturday Collection **Due to Easter, please check website below for conformation. Changes to dates on SCDC website were changed after the winter edition of the magazine was printed, please check the website below to be kept up-to-date For an update on collections visit: www.scambs.gov.uk/content/friday For more information and collections of large household items Telephone 03450 450 063

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

8a Romsey Terrace, Cambridge. CB1 3NH Office Mon-Fri 9.00am-12.30pm. Telephone 01223 416 141 answerphone out of these hours admin@camtadcambs.org.uk

A drop in advisory session is held at Vicarage Close Community Room, the 4th Thursday of the month from 2pm to 4pm

See the website for more information www.cambridgeshirehearinghelp.org.uk Battery exchange and retubing. We do not do hearing tests

camsight Cam Sight’s Rural Support group meet in Melbourn to provide help, and friendship. The group provide enjoy speakers, music, information, events and trips and a chance to try out new equipment. They meet monthly on a weekday morning or afternoon. For further information Call 01223 420 033

Notre Ecole At the request of the children, in the lead up to Christmas pupils at our Wednesday after school club learnt some vocabulary and phrases around the ever popular theme of food. We practised a range of new words enabling us to talk about what we like and don’t like to eat. We were also able to talk about food that is healthy and that which is not so good for us. Children at our Thursday after school class, who are slightly older, also worked around the theme of food but developed their knowledge slightly further describing food and using a wider range of vocabulary. Then, in both groups, just before Christmas the children learned about the South of France tradition of eating 13 desserts with the festive meal. They enjoyed sampling the different types of fruit, nuts and sweets while learning about the significance of each of the dishes and creating a collage showing all the types of desserts. Since returning after the Christmas break children in both groups have sampled an Epiphany cake and learnt about the traditions associated with the cake in France. We are now looking forward to learning new words related to transport on a Wednesday and the weather on a Thursday. Members of the Wednesday evening adults’ class have spent some time learning vocabulary to do with clothes. They practised colours, numbers and other phrases to enable them to purchase clothes. Then as the festive season approached they learnt some Christmassy words and completed some seasonal quizzes and puzzles. Adult attending the conversational group discussed a range of topics, for example colloquialisms and everyday language, abbreviation and the derivation of words but also had time to perfect their grammar, particularly the subjunctive and conditional tenses. If you or your child are interested in joining one of our Talking about the weather.

groups please get in touch. Notre Ecole, led by a native speaker and a graduate of European Studies with French, has been teaching French to pupils of all ages for more than ten years. Call either Marine on 07533 443153 or Janet on 07791 853448 for further details. If you prefer e-mail, contact marineboulter@yahoo.fr or janet.whitton@tiscali.co.uk . We look forward to hearing from you. Learn French in a friendly atmosphere *French for Children – Games, role-play, songs etc. Every Wednesday from 3.45pm to 4.30pm Every Thursday from 4:15pm to 5:00pm *French for Adults – All levels, Conversation Every Wednesday from 8.00pm to 9.00pm GCSE lessons available by arrangement. Individual lessons also available. Telelephone Marine 01763 222876 or Janet 01763 261231 mob-07533 443153 mob-07791 853448 Email marineboulter@yahoo.fr or janet.whitton@tiscali.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you. (Enhanced CRB clearance recently completed)

U3A University of the Third Age What are your feelings about retirement? The chance to do all those things you’ve promised yourself? The prospect of empty days and peace at last? Or a certain trepidation about how you’ll fill your time? Whatever your thoughts, it’s a good idea to start planning before it happens, because moving in a single day from hard work and stress to an empty future is not the best way to stay healthy and happy. Some people make it a gradual process, cutting down their hours in stages, and that seems to work well. If you can’t, then have a look around before you retire and see what’s available. Voluntary and community work can be not only rewarding but also fun and interesting. An allotment or a motor home or a new sport will get you out and about. And of course joining a club will ensure you make new friends and keep the mind active. Don’t imagine, though, that a club for older people needs to be all bingo and biscuits. Melbourn U3A is waiting for you when you retire. Over the last few months members have enjoyed music from the Messiah to Flanders and Swan, walked the footpaths around Wrestlingworth, Weston, Ickleton and Shepreth, learned about orchids and nanotechnology, played bridge and Scrabble, and engaged in a host of other activities. If you’re interested, visit the website at www.u3asites.org.uk/ melbourn.

Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) – Royston The next courses will start in September but the details are not available yet. Details in due course from Carol Bradshaw 01763 268678.

melbournmagazine

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Adult Education at Melbourn Village College Melbourn Village College joined the Comberton Academy Trust in September 2013. As part of this new collaborative working it is hoped to offer an adult education programme in Melbourn from September 2014. In the meantime, the Adult Education department at Comberton would love to hear from Melbourn residents with ideas for possible future programmes. If you have ideas of courses you would like to see on offer, please email Diana Cook (Adult Education Manager) commed@ comberton.cambs.sch.uk.

Adult Education at Comberton and Cambourne 2014

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Mon 7.15-9.15pm Mon 9.30-11.30am Tues 7.00-9.00pm Wed 7.00-9.00pm Mon 7.30-9.30pm Wed 7.00-9.00pm Wed 11.30am-1.30pm

Comberton Comberton Cambourne Comberton Comberton Comberton Comberton

Dance, Fitness, Music Ballroom & Latin, Beginners Ballroom & Latin, Improvers Choir & Singing Workshop Get Fit (in Fitness Suite) Golf – Getting Started (6 weeks) Over 65’s Keep Fit to Music Over 65’s Keep Fit to Music Pilates various levels and times Pilates

Mon 7.00-8.00pm Mon 8.05-9.35pm Tue 7.30-9.00pm Tue 1.00-2.00pm Wed 7.00-8.00pm Wed 10.00-11.00am Thu 9.40-11.00am Mon & Weds eves. Mon 10.35-11.35am

Comberton Comberton Cambourne Comberton Maldon Golf Club Cambourne Toft People’s Hall Comberton Comberton

Day Schools Bicycle Maintenance Malaysian Cookery Summer Floral Gifts Workshop

Sat 10.00am-4.00pm Sat 10.00-4.00pm Sat 10.00am-2.00pm

Comberton 10.5.14 Comberton 10.5.14 Comberton 7.6.14

Employment Skills First Aid for Child Carers (2 Saturdays)

10.5.14 & 17.5.14

Comberton

General Interest Beekeeping (7 weeks) Gliding (3 weeks) Indian Cookery (5 weeks) Woodwork & Carpentry Skills (6 weeks) Writing Children’s Fiction

Tue 7.15-9.15pm Mon 7.30-9.30pm Wed 7.00-9.00pm Wed 7.00-9.00pm Mon 7.15-9.15pm

Cambourne Comberton Comberton Comberton Comberton

Languages English for Speakers of Other Languages Tue 6.30-8.00pm French Beginners term 3 (8 weeks) Tue 7.30-9.00pm Spanish Intermediate Fri 9.30-11.30am

Cambourne Cambourne Comberton

Alfred Sargent

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Melbourn United Reformed Church November and December were busy months as usual at the church. ‘Shoebox Sunday’ saw the wonderful total of 147 shoeboxes, filled with goodies and a lots of caring thoughts, sent off to children in the Ukraine through the Samaritans Purse ‘Operation Christmas Child’. Thanks to all those in Melbourn who prepared a shoebox and also to the many individuals and groups in the surrounding villages who continue to support this charity year after year. In addition to bringing joy to those who receive the boxes, it is a fun way to start off your Christmas present giving. So do please consider joining us in our shoebox preparation later in the year. The ‘Big Christmas Card’ raised a total of £95 this year. It was a good way to send greetings to friends locally, with the proceeds being sent to the Philippines Disaster Appeal. Our new venture of ‘Tastes of Christmas’ in early December saw our hall filled with lots of happy people enjoying the tastes (and smells) of mulled wine, waffles, all manner of seasonal baked goods, Christmas curries and bratwurst. To name just some of the goodies on offer! We had apple and apple juice tasting and Christmas greenery and wooden decorations on sale. This new format will be repeated in 2014, so mark your diaries early for the first Saturday in December for ‘Tastes of Christmas 2’! As part of our ‘Homelessness Sunday’ service on 26th of January, items collected for Jimmy’s Night Shelter were blessed before being taken along to the shelter in Cambridge. These included clothing and dried goods and a number of handmade hats and blankets. Those who joined us at the Village Fete last year to knit squares should know that their handiwork is now part of one of the blankets at Jimmy’s.

Don’t forget that there are ongoing projects and a warm welcome for new people and ideas at our Craft and Chat afternoons. These are on Thursday afternoons, 2-4 pm in our hall. Contact Anne Field 01763 220869 for more information.

Looking forward We will be holding our usual Good Friday Service followed by hot cross buns and coffee in the hall. Our Easter Sunday Service will be a communion service at 11 am and a warm welcome is extended to all. To check for additional details of Lent and Easter activities and services please see our Church noticeboard and notices in the church hall. Last year we instigated the making and decorating of an Easter tree where people were invited to decorate eggs with suitable prayers or artwork. This will be made again this Easter. If you would like to decorate an egg or add a prayer, drop into the Craft afternoons in the 2 weeks before Easter or contact Eirwen on 01763 262346. Friday Morning Coffee, every week, in the Church Hall from 10.30am.

Why not a fixed date for Easter? Every year about January or February when snow or ice plays havoc with the football season the old cry goes up, “Why not a winter break for footballers?” Almost every year it’s the same and yet no action is ever taken. The same can be said of the Easter holiday. It’s either too soon and the bad melbournmagazine

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The Country Pub is a singularly English phenomenon, a well stocked bar, ale from the hand-pump, wholesome, hearty food are the hallmarks of a great country pub. The Dolphin, nestled in the pretty village of Melbourn, offers all of these plus a warm friendly welcome. Refurbishment only a short time ago, business is brisk with new managers at the helm making the Dolphin one of the best hostelries in the area. An all new ‘Flamegrill’ menu is due to be launched in the early spring, featuring an array of classic pub dishes, including juicy steaks, flame-grill burgers, oak smoked belly pork and much, much more! Sunday lunch is our specialty, succulent roasts with fresh seasonal vegetables, why not treat the family and leave the washing up to us! Food is available all day every day from 12 noon until 9pm Monday – Sunday. With warmer weather just around the corner, the Dolphin is the ideal place to relax following a country walk. Enjoy a pint of real ale, a glass of something sparkling or a hot cup of coffee! With ample parking and a large well kept garden, there really is something for everyone at the Dolphin.

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weather is still with us, or too late and too near the May Bank holidays. The question is asked every year, “why not a fixed date?” The answer is not so simple. The events of the first Easter are inextricably entwined in the Jewish Feast of the Passover. The New Testament of the Bible is quite clear on the subject and the Passover has for centuries been governed by sonar and lunar cycles and that means the dates are movable and the dates shift from year to year. It’s all rather difficult and the arguments for a fixed date go on. But ask yourself if a date was fixed would it suit everyone? There would be many saying “too soon” and others “too late”. Perhaps it’s better to leave it alone and when the snow falls on Easter Sunday think to yourself “it might just snow if we moved the date to a later date”. And another point. Many people, including the BBC, who should know better, refer to the Saturday before Easter Sunday as Easter Saturday. In fact it’s Easter Even or Holy Saturday. You can’t have Easter Saturday until you’ve had Easter itself. So what ever date Easter falls on “have a Happy Easter” Colin Limming

What have I to be thankful for? All through the Bible we hear of people giving thanks to God and in the New Testament we are repeatedly told to be thankful. Why? Why is it so important? Without gratitude we can so easily take everything and everybody for granted. It is so easy to become blind to all the blessings we receive day by day, even though we see people in other parts of the world lacking even clean water to drink. Selfishness and greed can ruin life, as the young man in the parable of the prodigal son discovered to his cost. Instead of finding happiness, it took suffering to make him come to his senses and realise that he had lost everything that he had taken for granted. If we could make gratitude a part of each day, what a difference it would make to our view of life and our relationships with others. Some might say ‘that’s all very well, but try dealing with my problems – what have I to be thankful for?” Yet, strangely enough, it is often those experiencing the greatest difficulties who seem to be most aware of their blessings. The wife of England cricketer and one time Bishop of Liverpool, David Sheppard, was diagnosed for the third time with cancer. In an interview she described how she coped with the fear of terminal illness. She said “There is a huge power in gratitude – once we start to itemise what we are being given, then it becomes a habit to say and to be thankful. I don’t have to look miles away to see things that I am thankful for. I see photos of my grandsons and my daughter; flowers that someone has brought me; a drink that will quench my thirst – all these little things and they mount up and you think aren’t I blessed and to me these are all gifts from God and it does help the suffering, helps you do the hard bits”. In James 1 v. 17, we read “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father”. Instead of seeing good things being given to us by God, we so often pass them off as a strange coincidence, a stroke of genius, a lucky chance – prayers answered, problems solved, anxieties lifted. What a difference it would make to our outlook on life if instead we saw them as gifts from God. Andrew O’Brien, All Saints’ Church

Supporters of All Saints (SOAS) The Orlando Singers, under the capable direction of our Parish Clerk Peter Horley, performed an admirable programme of Christmas music to an appreciative audience in All Saints Church in December. Compared with the previous year our numbers were down but we were competing against the final of “Strictly” and those who did come along were possibly seeking sanctuary! Despite a smaller audience we were able to add about £400 to our bank balance and out of that total to donate £100 to

the Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme. Our membership is composed not only of members of the congregation but also residents who are not always regular worshippers but are concerned about the maintenance of the church. With this in mind we are planning an afternoon of guided tours of the church on Sunday 22nd June, not only for SOAS members, but for anyone who would like to know more about the church. Tours will be followed by cream teas in All Saints’ Community Hall. Booking will be necessary in view of possible numbers involved. Details will follow. A modest outlay will enable you to join in our activities by becoming a member and membership forms are always in church or can be obtained from myself. Colin Limming, Membership Secretary. 01763 260072 colin.limming@ btinternet.com

SOAS 100 Club The November draw was made by Rev Andrew O’Brien on 9th December. There were 71 members. The first prize of £23.66 goes to Mavis Howard (10) at 23 Station Road and the second to Doreen Haddrell (4) at 11 Dickersons. The December draw was made by Chris van Vliet (SOAS committee member) on 7th January. There were 71 members. The first prize of £23.66 goes to Hilary Docwra (65) at 3 Cross Lane and the second to Hilary Warboys (79) at 4 Beeton Close. The January draw was made by Mr Mike Rawlings on 1st Feb at Coffee Stop. There were 76 members. The first prize of £25.40 goes to Pat & Edlef Oppen at 1 Chapmans Close and the second of £12.70 goes to APC Dekkers at 110 High Street. The Word of God - from David Burbridge Christ appeared in the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. As it is appointed unto men to die, but after that, the judgement, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto those who look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Hebrews 9. 26-28.

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Bowls Malcolm Davey 262704

Bridge Club Howard Waller 261693 1st Melbourn Rainbows Abigail Roberts 261505 Brownies – 1st Melbourn Stephanie Clifford 220272 Brownies – 2nd Melbourn Samantha Pascoe 261400

Croquet Janet Pope 248342

Football Club Andrew Edwards 223109

Dynamos Football Club Les Morley 07739 593771

Gardening Club Helen Powell 245887

Guides – Ist Melbourn Hilary Marsh 261443

Judo Derek Coult 225004 Melbourn Karate Club Peter Khera 07866 374674

Melbourn Sports Centre Graham Johnson-Mack 263313 Melbourn and Meldreth Women’s Group Pat Smith 262575 Sue Toule 260955 Anne Harrison 261775 Photographic Club Bruce Huett 232855 Ramblers Dave Allard 242677 Royston and District Round Table Michael Seymour 221398 Squash Club Nick Sugden 261064

Swimming Club Jenny Brackley 244593

Tennis (Melbourn) Dave Liddiard 07508 995 781

Tennis (Meldreth) Sue Davies 220174

1st Melbourn Rainbows Melbourn Rainbows busied them selves in the Autumn Term raising money for the Hedgehog Hospital at Shepreth Wildlife Park. The girls learned all about hedgehogs when staff from the Wildlife Park very kindly brought one along to our meeting and then they busied themselves collecting newspapers for bedding and doing a sponsored reading challenge. Their challenge was to read in as many unusual places as possible - and they certainly did! We had photos of Rainbows reading in the bath, at Harry Potter world, in some stocks, up a tree, in a dog cage and in the middle of London - to name but a few! The Rainbows raised an impressive £259.90 and we are now the proud sponsors of our very own hedgehog - Henry! Well done Rainbows - and thank you Shepreth Wildlife Park. Other evenings included a science night when we made our very own lava lamps and turned milk into butter and a Bonfire night where we sang our favourite songs around a campfire. Christmas was then soon upon us and the Rainbows made some collage Christmas wreathes and term ended with a very special visit from Santa.

1st Melbourn Brownies Moving towards Christmas, the Brownies baked and decorated individual Christmas Cakes, and created their own Christmas Stockings. Who would have thought that a baked bean tin could be used to bake a cake! They looked fabulous, and were all really well decorated by hand with Christmas trees, snowmen and other festive images.

Very thoughtfully, the MADS (Melbourn Amateur Dramatic Society) asked the Brownies if they would have a small participation in their pantomime this year, and several of the girls were extremely excited to become a part of this. I’m sure those of you who were lucky enough to have tickets to the sell out performances were very impressed by the whole show. It was a lovely end to the year, showing real community spirit with such a lot of hard work having gone into that, so I would like to thank MADS for involving a few of the Brownies. Finally, a Christmas party ended the term, so that the Brownies had the opportunity to come in their glitz and glamour rather than their usual uniforms. A lot of fun was had by all. Welcoming in 2014, the Brownies are this year celebrating a whopping 100 years! Each term the girls in this particular unit play a huge part in choosing which badges they would like to work towards and, by now, will have chosen their challenges for the “Brownie Birthday Badge”. What a privilege to be able to earn this badge. Not only will they be working hard towards achieving their Birthday Badge, but they will also attend a Brownie Centenary Birthday Party. It is also likely that there will be an outing involving getting together with other Brownie units from around the county for a formal celebration. As spring approaches and we say goodbye to the winter months, the days draw out and evenings are lighter, giving way to outdoor possibilities on the regular Brownie meeting evenings. This means that along with other activities already planned, there are numerous outdoor pursuit opportunities. Just a small sample of what has already been chosen to do is the Making and Swapping of Thinking Day cards, “top secret” crafts, and Easter Parade Party and Games. A Pack Holiday or Brownie Camp is currently being discussed so any forthcoming news of that happening into the Summer Months will be excitedly received by the current Brownies! As a parent writing this, rather than the dedicated team who make up the Brownie Leaders and helpers, I can melbournmagazine

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see that without them the unit would cease to exist. I’m sure other parents, grandparents and carers are equally proud of what their own little Brownie has already achieved (and is still yet to achieve) as they progress through the unit. The whole team involved in running and coordinating the 1st Melbourn Brownies all enjoy what they do, but I am wholeheartedly behind them to grow the unit and continue to provide the fun, education and overall experience that the current Brownies have come to love, enjoy and expect. Unbelievably, 1st Melbourn Brownies still have space to take on a few more Brownies! If you have a daughter, niece, granddaughter, or even a neighbour that might enjoy the experience and would love to join in all the fun, games and activities then please do get in touch with Brown Owl, Steph Clifford at stefclifford@ hotmail.com or on 01763 220272. And finally, a very special acknowledgement and thank you needs to go particularly this year to Steph Clifford (Brown Owl) for her amazing 20 years with the 1st Melbourn Brownies! J. Pluck, Brownie Parent.

1st Melbourn Guides Guides in the 21st century have a huge range of programme themes and interest badges at their disposal, but given the choice they usually opt for crafts, cooking and putting on a show! For three weeks in November the girls formed groups to do their choice of interest badge. The crafts group enjoyed tie dying, salt dough modeling, and origami. The performing

arts girls made sock puppets, and props for a mini Cinderella show, which they performed to the rest of the unit. The girls who chose Independent living used basic sewing skills to make a drawstring bag, practised first aid, learned to read a bus timetable, made up a quiz on kitchen hygiene, and cooked a simple healthy meal. All the girls enjoyed a Christmas crafts evening, at which they made a table centrepiece from fresh foliage and flowers, and some also made a door wreath from natural materials, whilst other made cards and crackers. We also participated in the seasonal village activities, attending the Remembrance day parade & service, running a stall at the All Saints church bazaar, helping with the Christingle

service, and making decorations for our tree at Meldreth’s Christmas tree festival. We currently have a full unit and a waiting list, and would welcome another adult leader. If you would like to know more about becoming a Guide or a leader, or if you have any skills or hobbies which you would like to share with us, please contact me on: 01763 261443 or email: melbournguides@gmail.com Hilary Marsh

Melbourn and Meldreth Women’s Group The Women’s Group is a comprehensive organisation open to all women who, sharing in the Church’s worship, wish to meet together for further opportunities of study, friendship and service. The Group

Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire are looking for Home Visiting Volunteers

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calling into our offices: Unit 6, Valley Farm, Meldreth, SG8 6JP, or contacting us on 01763 262262 and talking to Sarah or Jackie or e-mailing admin@hsrsc.co.uk Registered Charity No 1105385

A home visiting volunteer would normally have parenting experience with an understanding of the problems and pleasures of family life. We link this well-supported and trained volunteer to the most suitable family referred, offering home visits, usually for 2–3 hours a week. Our volunteers support families in a huge variety of ways which can include: offering a non-judgemental listening ear, helping parents to manage their children’s behaviour, providing practical help around healthy eating, accessing other community services and supporting parents in keeping their children safe.

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Don’t call the Brownies “Rosebuds” The mention in the last issue of the Melbourn Magazine of the 100th anniversary of Brownies within the Guide Movement reminded me that when the idea was first started they might have been called by another different name. In 1910 at the first Boy Scout Rally at the Crystal Palace girls turned up and demanded, “We want to be Boy Scouts like our brothers”. Robert Baden-Powell turned to his sister Agnes and asked her to start organising a movement for girls. She did her best but sadly her ideas bordered on sewing and knitting and housekeeping and that is not what the young ladies wanted! Fortunately Baden-Powell’s wife Olave had better ideas and gradually such activities as camping and hiking became the norm. When a demand for a similar section of the Guides for younger girls was heard somebody thought of the title “Rosebuds”. Baden-Powell rather wisely suggested that it was not the best title and came up with the idea of “Brownies” and a 100 years later they are still going strong! Colin Limming Hertfordshire Scouts History & Heritage Team. is for all women of any age. Meetings are held at 7.45 p.m. on the 4th Tuesday of each month, except in December and we vary our venues between Melbourn and Meldreth. We charge £1 on the night to cover expenses and there is an opportunity to make a donation to the chosen charity of the year. We usually have a guest speaker or some in house entertainment followed by a chance to have a chat over tea/coffee and biscuits. At the time of writing, we are still looking forward to our AGM when will conduct our formal business and hopefully elect some additional members to the committee. It is also the time we choose the charity we will support for the year followed by a ‘bring and share’ supper. We usually try and support The Women’s World Day of Prayer, which will be on the 7th March at one of the Churches in Melbourn. Alan Hay will give us a Lenten talk on 25th March at Holy Trinity Meeting Room, Meldreth. On 22nd April we shall be at Meldreth again to hear a talk on Arthur Rank Hospice, which was the charity which we supported last year. 27th May sees us back in Melbourn for a games evening, some old favourites will be out but why not bring one of your own games and have some fun and games! We are a very informal group so do feel free to come along and join us for an evening if you want to see what we are like! If you would like to ask anything else

then please contact Pat Smith 262575 Sue Toule 260955 or Anne Harrison 261775.

Melbourn and District Gardening Club Are you interested in gardening? Why not join the Melbourn and District Gardening Club on a regular or occasional basis. New members and visitors very welcome. We meet at 7.30p.m on the second Tuesday each month, at All Saints’ Community Hall, behind All Saints Church (near traffic lights, lane by telephone box) For more information - ring Helen 01763 245887 11 March 2014 – Roses – Peter Jackson horticultural director and gardening guru from Scotsdales Garden Centre. 8 April 2014 - Bees and the gardener – Stephen Poyser bee keeper, will help with ideas on how to choose plants to attract bees into the gardens and all the benefits this brings. 13 May 2014 - Vegetables for value – Rodney Tibbs is a regular visitor to our gardening club and will be looking at the most rewarding vegetables to grow and the many different ways of growing them. The pictures will illustrate all methods from allotment growing to cultivation in a growbag.

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Annual Coach Outing Sunday 18th May 2014 Hampton Court Palace, Gardens and Maze (not to be confused with the annual flower show held later in the year) Discover the magnificence of this former royal residence, once home to King Henry VIII. Marvel at the two distinct and contrasting Tudor and Baroque architectural styles and soak up the atmosphere in 60 acres of stunning gardens Pick up at Melbourn and Royston - Non members welcome, if seats available For more details ring Helen 01763 245887

Melbourn And District Photographic Club For the first time for many years Melbourn and District Photographic Society have reached the final of their own competition: the Melbourn Trophy. This will take place on Saturday 15th March at Foxton Village Hall in the evening. The final is between the last four clubs surviving previous knockout rounds. It consists of a projected image competition. Prints from the club competitions during the year will be on display and refreshments will be available. This is an ideal opportunity for photographers who think they may want to join the club in September 2014 to get an idea of our activities and meet our members. The club meets weekly from September to April at Foxton Village Hall and local photographers from Melbourn and local villages are welcome. Meetings are from 7.30 to 9.30 on Tuesdays. The programme for March to April comprises: March

»»4th Competition: Three Counties Cup »»11th Competition: Projected Image »» »» »»

of the year 15th Competition: Melbourn Trophy Final 18th Competition: Print of the year 25th Club evening

April

»»1st AGM melbournmagazine

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For further information please visit our website: www.melbourn-photographicclub.co.uk, email to melbournphotoclub@ hotmail.com or ring Bruce Huett on 01763 232 855

Ramblers’ Association Royston and District Group Our walks programme continues right through the year. For details visit our website www.ramblers-hertsnorthmiddlesex.org.uk or contact David Allard (01763 242677). Email: david. allard@ntlworld.com or Lesley Abbiss (01763 273463). There is also a poster displaying walks for the current month in both Melbourn and Royston libraries. We have walks on Sundays, which are normally 5-7 miles in the morning and a similar or shorter walk in the afternoon. Occasionally Sunday walks are Figures of Eight making it possible to do only the morning or only the afternoon. Half-day walks are held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and there are evening walks on a different day each week from 28th April until the end of August. Prospective new members are welcome and may come on three walks before deciding whether to join. www.ramblers.org.uk to join.

Melbourn Bridge Club The annual Bridge Club Christmas Party was enjoyed by 31 members in December. It was played with random pairings, drawn on the night, and the winners this year were Paul Kemp and Jean Watson. As well as a liquid prize they had first choice of the “Secret Santa” wrapped presents brought along by all participants. Now into its fifth year the Club continues to attract a good turn out on Monday evenings with usually seven or eight tables though on one occasion we managed ten. Duplicate bridge is played and anyone turning up without a partner is always guaranteed a game. This year we also played two friendly matches against Royston Bridge Club involving players of all abilities and, equitably, the results were one match each. Anyone interested in playing or

learning bridge in Melbourn should contact Howard Waller on 01763 261693

Melbourn Dynamos Football Club For Boys and Girls aged 4 – 18 years old All welcome! www.melbourndynamos.co.uk Melbourn Dynamos F.C. is a friendly community youth football club that gives boys and girls the opportunity to play regular football regardless of their experience or ability at all ages from 4 through to 18. We are now well into our season and have almost 200 players registered to the club to play league football. This is in addition to the many of our youngest players (age 4&5) who have fun and develop their skills through the Dynamites’ pay and play sessions on Saturday mornings. So far this season, the weather has been kind to us with just a few matches cancelled because of waterlogged pitches. This spring we are hoping to host Football Festivals at under 7 and under 8 for Cambridgeshire FA and the Royston Crow Youth Football League, building on our successes last season. This reflects well on the club, the many volunteers who make it all happen; and of course MVC and Melbourn Parish Council whose support is essential to the club. It also helps that we have such a beautiful place to play in the heart of the village, something which is easy to take for granted until reminded of it by our visitors. We are very pleased with the success of our youngest players, the Dynamites, who you may have seen demonstrating their skills in the arena at last year’s Fete. They are coached by a leadership team led by Dee Patel who was Cambridge FA’s coach of the year for 2013. These players, aged 4-6, have fun and develop their skills before deciding whether to play league football as the club’s under 7s team. This fun preparation and skill development through the Dynamites has undoubtedly brought more success to our current under 7s and Under 8s teams and in time will benefit all

of our age groups. These players train with level 1 FA qualified coaches in a Saturday morning fun session for 4 and 5 year old boys and girls. Our Details are: Saturdays 10.30-11.30am, Melbourn Sports Centre. All are welcome to the Melbourn Dynamites so why not bring your children along so they can check it out. Sessions feature lots of short activities aimed at improving individual skills, concentration and the ability to be part of a team. Children are welcome on a ‘pay as you play’ basis, the one hour session costs £2 (first session is free). We are looking forward to holding our presentation day at MVC this June when with families, we have the chance to recognise and reward the achievements of all our players and to highlight the voluntary work that is at the heart of the club. Finding a date this year is not easy with the potential conflicts of summer tournaments and the start of the World Cup. Last year Simon Holmes, MVC Principal, and Peter Simmonett, Melbourn Parish Councillor, kindly accepted our invitations to attend and present key awards. Andrew Whiteley, also attended to talk about the Charity - Tom’s Trust - set up in memory of his son, who played for the club. During the event, participants donated almost £300 to Tom’s Trust (www. tomstrust.org.uk) for the care of children with brain tumours. The photograph shows Andrew presenting the club’s newly created Tom Whiteley Award to

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Darienne Chesham in recognition of her excellent voluntary work in supporting, coaching and developing the skills of our youngest players. All of our coaches are CRB checked and qualified to a minimum of F.A. Level1 standard. We are also recognised as a Charter Standard Club which means that we have all the correct people and practices in place to operate in line with government requirements. All are welcome and if you are interested in finding out more about MDFC and the opportunities to play football with us, please contact Nicky Patel on 07951 590139 or email her at nikki-dip@ ntlworld.com.

Melbourn Bowls Club Whilst there has been no activity on the Bowls Green during the winter apart from its care and renovation many of the members have been joining together socially with our Whist Drives every other Friday. In addition about twenty of the current members meet at the Coombes Community Centre in Royston on Monday and Wednesday afternoons to enjoy a friendly game of Short Mat Bowls. Anyone who would like to try their hand would be welcome. It provides a good introduction to the game and enables you to meet many of the existing members of the Bowls Club. If you are interested please contact either Arthur Andrews 01763 261990 or Malcolm Davey 01763 262704 who can give you further details. Please note, however, that these sessions will finish at Easter as we will be returning to our Outdoor Green straight after Easter. During the winter we are continuing with Whist Drives every other Friday at 7.00pm in the Clubhouse, which will continue until Easter. The dates are listed in the Diary Section. This is a friendly sociable event and prospective new members would be made very welcome at these evenings. For further details contact Arthur Andrews 01763 261990. Open day this year will be on Sunday 4th May starting at 2.30pm and we would invite any experienced bowlers who might be interested in joining the club to attend on that day. We would also particularly welcome anyone who might be interested in taking up the game of

Bowls. Tuition and equipment will be provided for complete beginners (those who have never played before), and anyone who may have played before and would like to take up the game again, just bring flat shoes. If you are interested but cannot attend on 4th May, or would like more information, please contact Arthur Andrews on 01763 261990. We would emphasise that Bowls is a game for all age groups from nine to ninety, and even beyond. Don’t be put off by any perception that bowls is a game solely for the retired; it can be enjoyed by all age groups equally and the younger you start the better the standard you are likely to achieve. It is a very sociable game and gives you a chance to meet a friendly group of people and take some gentle exercise. Parents or Grandparents, why not bring your children with you? Bowls is a game where different generations can take part on fairly equal terms. For example, at the World Indoor Bowls Championships the winner in 2012 was in his fifties while the winner in 2013 was in his twenties. For existing members we will be holding a Roll Up on Monday 21st April (Easter Monday) as we have matches on Wednesday 23rd April (Foxton League), Thursday 24th April (Meldreth League) and Friday 25th April (C & D Div. 5). We will be holding our popular Coffee Mornings every Thursday Morning starting on 25 April 2013 from 10.30am to 12.00 noon in our Clubhouse and also outside if the weather is suitable. We especially welcome non-members who can be sure of good company and have the chance to get to know existing members, and also perhaps watch some of our internal competitions, which often take place on the Green on Thursday mornings. You will see then that you do not have to be an expert to enjoy the game and be a member of the Club. During the summer season there will frequently be matches played in the evenings on our Green at The Moor starting at 6.30pm and also on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons usually starting around 2.30pm. The actual dates of our home matches are in the Diary Section. Spectators are always welcome; just turn up, watch and

socialise with our members. There are always some of our members coming to watch and support the teams. They will make any newcomers welcome and will be happy to explain what is going on.

Melbourn Karate Club In December the first member of Melbourn Karate Club took part in his first grading with Kamaete Schools of Traditional Shotokan Karate Regional Grading examinations at Knights Templar School Sports Centre in Baldock. Ewan Cameron was successful in achieving 10th Kyu (Blue Belt). In this quarter (March, April May) members of the club will be preparing for the Spring Grading and Association Championships to be held in May at Wodson Park Sports Centre in Ware. Melbourn Karate Club - Melbourn Village College Sports Centre on Sundays 12pm www.kstsk.co.uk or 07866 374674. Peter Khera.

Melbourn Sports Centre For those of you who don’t already know, we have:

• A state of the art fitness suite offering • • • • • • •

a variety of membership schemes A 20 metre swimming pool (kept ever so slightly warmer than most!) A comprehensive swimming lesson programme, catering for all ages and abilities Upgraded multisports courts for hire including tennis, football and squash courts Water sports courses and activities Traditional and modern exercise classes Access to Melbourn Village College sports hall and gymnasium for activities such as trampolining, badminton and basketball Supervised sports and pool parties

March It’s a universally accepted fact - Mums are great! So this Mother’s Day how about treating her to her own gym membership or purchasing a gift voucher for our other activities here at Melbourn Sports? Make this Mother’s Day one she’ll never forget! March 2014 also sees the return of our charitable Swimathon, with all melbournmagazine

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participants raising money for the Marie Curie CancerCare Trust. We’d love to have as many entrants as possible; teams of up to five are welcome as well as individual swimmers. The Swimathon takes place on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd March. For further information, please see reception or visit our website at www. melbournsports.com. April We’ve got a bumper bag of Easter activities this year, including our OFSTED registered Play Scheme, where children will be treated to trampolining, swimming and creative crafts. Other holiday activities include Swimming Crash Course and Trampolining Taster sessions. May We welcome back the outdoor sports and tennis season. For all you budding Wimbledon stars, courts can be hired mid-week and at weekends. We are also pleased to announce that we have joined up with Melbourn and District Tennis Club based at Melbourn Sports Centre. Membership ranges from £10.00 (minis) - £120.00 (families). For further information please contact Melbourn Sports Centre reception 01763 263313 or Claire Norman 07545334805 or E-mail: Claire@claireelizabethtennis.co.uk Later this month, we will be running our children’s holiday activities once again, with Play Scheme and a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities available. June For something a bit different this Fathers Day, how about treating your Dad to his own gym membership or purchasing a gift voucher for our other activities here at Melbourn Sports? It’s a great way to help a loved one get fit! Plus why not start planning your summer sports early, with our holiday courses like the Children’s Pentathlon and Swimming Crash Course? Bookings taken from June onwards. Other activities on offer this spring and summer include:

• Friendly Fridays, where members of the public can come down • • •

with an existing fitness suite member and try out the gym for free! Our usual popular swimming lessons, both group and private A range of exercise classes including Zumba, Pilates, SwimClinic (pool training session) and Traditional Aerobics Indoor and Outdoor Court Hire

For further details on these or any other activities, please drop in, call 01763 263313 or go online at www.melbournsports.com. We look forward to seeing you this season! Graham Johnson-Mack / Melbourn Sports Centre Manager Melbourn Sports Centre, The Village College, The Moor, Melbourn, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, SG8 6EF 01763 263313 www.melbournsports.com info@melbournsports.com

The Easter Bunny wasn’t always the pink or white bunny that hides chocolate eggs in your house or garden. Long ago, he was called the Easter Hare. Legend has it, he was a large, handsome bird that belonged to Eostre, the Pagan Goddess of dawn, fertility and new beginnings. She changed him into a rabbit, which explains why the Easter Bunny now builds a nest and fills it with coloured eggs. melbournmagazine

Hair Salon

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Colouring Tint £38 High/Low Lights Full Head £53 Half Head £48 T-Section £32

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Styling Dry/Wet cut Adult – ladies/gents £13/£11 Children (under 16) £9 Cut & Blowdry £19 Blowdry £12

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Cambridge Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning

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MFurnitureM A N D

Lumen Rd, Off Mill Rd, Royston SG8 7AG 01763 256722 07528637021

Large Selection of Antique, Good Quality Secondhand/Character Furniture, Collectables and Curiosities New Beds, Mattresses, Furniture and much more

Open Mon - Fri 9.30 – 4.30 Sat 9.30 - 4.00 House Clearances undertaken We also buy books, collectables, furniture etc. Tel: 07596 990660

feature Easter around the World Ancient Spring Goddess In the 8th century, the Christian scholar the Venerable Bede, claimed in his book, De Temporum Ratione, (The Reckoning of Time) that Easter was derived from the Saxon Eostre (Northumbrian Old English) or Ostara (Old High German). In Northern Europe, at the time of the Spring Equinox, Saxons worshiped the Goddess Eostre who represented the sunrise, spring-time and fertility and the renewal of life. Painted eggs and white rabbits were said to be sacred to the Goddess. It’s possible that by the second century A.D., Christian missionaries seeking to convert the tribes of northern Europe noticed that the Christian holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus roughly coincided with the Teutonic springtime celebrations, which emphasized the triumph of life over death. Christian Easter gradually absorbed the traditional symbols. In 722 B.C. a Chinese Chieftain gave painted eggs as gifts in celebration of a spring festival. Throughout the World, Easter is celebrated in different ways. Children in Finland go begging in the streets with sooty faces and scarves around their heads, carrying broomsticks, coffeepots and bunches of willow twigs. In some parts of Western Finland, people burn bonfires on Easter Sunday, a Nordic tradition stemming from the belief that the flames ward off witches who fly around on brooms between Good Friday and Easter. Pouring water on one another is a Polish Easter tradition called Smingus-Dyngus. On Easter Monday, boys try to drench other people with buckets of water, squirt guns or anything they can get their hands on. Legend says girls who get soaked will marry within the year. The refreshing tradition has its origins in the baptism of Polish Prince Mieszko on Easter Monday in 966 AD. In the southern French town of Haux on Easter Monday a giant omelette is served up in the town’s main square. The omelette uses more than 4,500 eggs and feeds up to 1,000 people. Apparently Napoleon and his army were travelling through the south of France, they stopped in a small town and ate omelettes. Napoleon liked his so much that he ordered the townspeople to gather their eggs and make a giant omelette for his army the next day. On the morning of Holy Saturday, the traditional ‘Pot Throwing’ takes place on the Greek island of Corfu: People throw pots, pans and other earthenware out of their windows, smashing them on the street. The custom is said to come from the Venetians, who on New Year’s Day used to throw out all of their old items. An Easter Monday tradition in many Eastern European countries is for men to spank women with handmade

whips made of willow and decorated with ribbons. According to legend, the willow is the first tree to bloom in the spring, so the branches are supposed to transfer the tree’s vitality and fertility to the women. On Holy Thursday in the Medieval town of Verges, Spain, the traditional ‘dansa de la mort’ or ‘death dance’ is performed. To reenact scenes from The Passion, everyone dresses in skeleton costumes and parades through the streets. The procession ends with frightening skeletons carrying boxes of ashes. The macabre dance begins at midnight and continues for three hours into the early morning. ‘Sprinkling,’ a popular Hungarian Easter tradition, is observed on Easter Monday, also known as ‘Ducking Monday.’ Boys playfully sprinkle perfume or perfumed water on girls. Young men used to pour buckets of water over young women’s heads, but now they spray perfume, cologne or just plain water, and ask for a kiss. People used to believe that water had a cleaning, healing and fertilityinducing effect. In Germany the summer day parade, or Sommertagszug, is celebrated three weeks before Easter. The Easter market (Ostermarket) also takes place, where people can pick up Easter-themed products and crafts. The ‘egg dance’ is often played – eggs are laid on the ground and people dance among them while trying not to damage them. The crucifixion of Christ is reenacted in the Philippines at Easter time. This practice is not encouraged by the church, but takes place on Good Friday and involves the real-life nailing to the cross of volunteers. Hawaiins believe that the world was created from a giant egg and that the sun was the yolk of the egg. The ancient people of Hawaii thought that this giant egg burst and its pieces formed the Hawaiian Islands. In Papua New Guinea at the Easter Sunday church service a small tree is placed at the front of the church with sticks of tobacco and packets of cigarettes hung on the branches. After the service, these are distributed amongst the congregation. The people then return to their homes for a feast of leftovers usually from the Friday feast. Children in Finland with their sooty faces and scarves around their heads

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Pool Parties at Mel-Bourn2swim 1 Hour in a warm pool with slide and various toy floats A choice of hot or cold food after your fun swim Individual float jackets available All this for £150.00

For more details go to www.mel-bourn2swim.com

or call Dawn 01763 262344/07891655398

Burn up to 600 Calories in each 60 minute total body workout!

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Wednesdays 7.15pm Jazzercise

Royston - Greneway School, Garden Walk Tuesdays 6.15pm Body Sculpt, 7.00pm Jazzercise

Thursdays 6.40pm Body Sculpt 7.30pm Jazzercise Saturdays 9.00am Jazzercise

For more information text or call Maxine on 0796 316 1246 or email jazzercise_royston.melbourn@yahoo.co.uk

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What’s on Thriplow Daffodil Weekend 5-6th April 2014

Cambridgeshire Choral Society (includes the New Melbourn Singers) 2014 Concerts March 22nd at West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge Brahms ‘Ein Deutsches Requiem’ `Opus 45 Piano accompaniment Maurice Thania Hodge Conductor Andrew Parnell May 31st at St John’s College Chapel Rutter’s ‘Magnificat’ Parnell’s ‘Dew of Heaven’ Organ Jonathon Lilley Conductor Andrew Parnell

Thriplow welcomes visitors from all over the country to enjoy a celebration of Spring. With hundreds of stalls and attractions ranging from Heavy Horse rides to Morris Men and from Open Gardens to a ‘Taste of Thriplow’, this popular local charity event has something for everyone. The village is closed to traffic for the weekend, allowing visitors to enjoy the paths and verges swathed in thousands of daffodils.

Seventh Safari Supper The Seventh Melbourn Safari Supper Saturday 31st May The cost will be £13 per person A Safari Supper is a travelling dinner party, with courses eaten in different houses.

Adults £5 Children £2.50 Under 5’s Free

For more information telephone Mavis Howard on 260686 or Jane Brett 260306.

Website: www.thriplowdaffodils.org.uk If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

This is a charity event and all the money raised goes towards improvements in the Melbourn Community Hall.

Dan Murton Thriplow Daffodil Weekend Committee

All Saints Community Hall Saturday April 12th 2-4pm Spring Sale of unwanted items in good condition Bric a Brac - Books - DVD/CDs Kitchenware – Toys (Clothes and exceptionally good quality items may be sold on a 50/50 basis) Please bring donations of items for sale to the Community Hall on Friday 11th between 2-7pm All proceeds to the improvement of the Community Hall Contact: Brenda Meliniotis 261154 or Mavis Howard 260686 for further information. melbournmagazine

LOOK GOOD, FEEL GREAT! Potential benefits of a holistic facial treatment include: • Correcting and rebalancing the skin • Stimulating the regeneration of skin cells • Relaxing and uplifting facial muscles • Softening lines and wrinkles • A healthy and youthful glow • A general sense of health and well-being • With this leaflet receive a free eye lash tint Julie Newby, Beauty and Holistic Therapist Time for You Salon based in Fowlmere Check out www.julienewby.co.uk for more details or email julie.newby@virgin.net or call 01763 208387 and I’ll send you a leaflet

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cambridgeshire

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk/safermelbourn/

Cambridgeshire Fire And Rescue Service In Cambridgeshire there are over 400 accidental fires in people’s home each year. These have resulted in homes and treasured possessions being destroyed, people being injured, and tragically, in some cases people have lost their lives. Most people are aware of the dangers of fire but often think ‘it won’t happen to me’. The reality is that it could happen to anyone. The majority of accidental house fires could have been prevented by people taking a little more care to minimise the risks of fire in their home or by being more careful. In many cases, damage could have been reduced if smoke alarms had been present or working properly, as an earlier warning could have meant fire crews were alerted earlier.

• A correctly installed and working smoke alarm can

• • • • • • • •

give you and your family those valuable extra few minutes to make your escape as it will give you an early warning to a fire. Fit a smoke alarm that has the Kite mark or British Standard Number 5446. Test the smoke alarm once a week by pressing the test button and know the life expectancy of the battery. Mark the calendar to remind you when to replace the battery. A FREE Home Fire Safety Check may be available to you call 0800 917 99 94. Requests are prioritised according to individual risk. It will help if you have planned and practised your fire escape route in advance, rather than waiting until there is a fire. Get everyone out as quickly as possible and try not to panic. Don’t try to pick up valuables or possessions. Leave pets behind. Firefighters will rescue them when they arrive. If possible, close the door of the room where the fire is and close all doors behind you as you leave. This will help delay the spread of fire and smoke. Before opening a closed door, use the back of your hand to touch it. Don’t open it if it feels warm - the fire will be on the other side. Smoke rises so stay low where it is easier to breathe. Telephone 999 and ask for the fire Service from a mobile phone, a neighbour’s house or a telephone box. Clearly state the address of the fire. The operator will ask

•

questions to find out as much information from you as possible so the firefighters can be briefed while they are on their way and know what to expect. Never go back into the house until a fire officer has told you it is safe to do so.

Get Out - Stay Out - Call 999 If you are cut off from your escape route by the fire: If you are unable to use the door because of flames or smoke, close the door and use towels or bedding to block any gaps at the bottom of the door. This will help to prevent smoke and any fumes from spreading into the room. This should hold back the fire and smoke long enough for the fire service to arrive and rescue you. Make your way to the window. If the room becomes smoky, crawl along the floor where it will be easier to breathe because smoke rises. Open the window and attract the attention of others who can alert the fire service. If you are able to, stay by the window so firefighters can see you as soon as they arrive and can rescue you. If you are in immediate danger and your room is not above the first floor, drop cushions or bedding to the ground to break your fall from the window. If you can, get out feet first and lower yourself to the full length of your arms before dropping.

•

• • • •

Take action today, and don’t be left asking ‘why me?’

Spotlight on scams and mis-selling Recently the national press have covered the story of Sylvia Kneller, a pensioner who lost over £200,000 to scam letters over the past 56 years. Friends and family warned her that these were scams, but she didn’t want to believe them, ever hopeful that a big windfall would soon be hers. At Trading Standards we sadly come across residents in Cambridgeshire who have lost significant amounts of money, for some their life savings, to such scams. These scams are operated by career criminals who use sophisticated tactics to persuade you to part with your money. We hope the article below will help you to avoid many of the most common types of scam. continued on page 67 melbournmagazine

The Black Horse welcomes you … Steve, Kerry and all the staff would like to welcome you to

The Black Horse, Melbourn A traditional country pub which serves real ales, with a friendly atmosphere. Whether you’re looking to have a quiet drink, a bite to eat or you’d like to watch televised sporting events, a warm welcome is guaranteed. Dining Food is served Wednesday–Sunday 1200-1400hr & 1800-2030hr. Parking The Black Horse has it’s own private car park and there is also ample local street parking available. Outdoor Facilities We have a large Beer Garden to the rear comprising a decking patio area overlooking an fully-enclosed garden with children’s play equipment. Smokers Smoking inside the bar areas is not permitted by law but in addition to the outdoor patio/garden we also have a substantial permanently covered and partly enclosed decked seating area which, although open-air, offers very effective protection from the elements.

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Children We aim to provide a family-friendly environment. Children accompanied by an adult are welcome inside the bar lounges. At the moment we only have one high-chair available, but customers are welcome to make their own arrangements. For baby/toddler feeding just ask if you need any water or anything warmed. Dogs We recognise that some of our customers like to include the pub on their dog walk, and we aim to accommodate them but do ask that in consideration of our other patrons dogs must be kept on a lead at all times. Particularly inside the premises the lead needs to be short enough to keep your dog close to you. Private Functions The Black Horse is available for private functions, for further details just give us a call.

The Black Horse 63 Orchard Rd, Melbourn, Royston. SG8 6BP Telephone 01763 262136 email: info@theblackhorsemelbourn.co.uk

feature

Spring around the World Baba Marta Day Bulgarians celebrate spring on March 1st with the fun holiday Baba Marta Day, or Grandma March Day. According to folklore, Grandma March becomes so angry with her mischievous brothers, January and February, that the weather breaks and spring arrives. On Baba Marta, Bulgarians exchange ‘martenitsi’ with one another. These red and white trinkets and charms come in many forms, but are most often bracelets or the little string dolls known as Pizho and Penda that can be pinned to one’s clothes. They symbolize rebirth and are supposed to bring health, happiness and luck to the wearer. Martenitsi should be worn until the first signs of spring appear, usually blossoming trees or the return of storks. They are then often tied to trees to encourage healthy blooms and plentiful fruit

Mother’s Day In Egypt and many Arab nations, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the first day of spring. An Egyptian journalist introduced

the idea, and it became an official holiday in 1956 and soon spread to other nations in the region. Mothers receive cards, flowers, chocolates and presents on this day

Holi India’s Holi Festival is a colourful celebration of spring. Businesses shut down and the streets are filled with people throwing red pigment powder and water at one another. There is singing and dancing in the streets, and the day is topped off with evening bonfires and visits with loved ones. Holi is celebrated across religious and socioeconomic lines, and it is said that this joyous, messy celebration can turn enemies into friends.

Nowruz Nowruz, or The Persian New Year, is celebrated in Iran and across many other countries in Central and South Asia and the Middle East. The holiday begins on the first day of spring, which marks the first day of the Persian calendar, and is observed for two weeks. Before Nowruz begins, homes undergo an extensive spring cleaning, and new clothes are purchased to wear in the new year. Families gather around a symbolic table setting called a Haft Sin, or the Seven S’s. The table setting includes seven items that begin with the letter “S” from the Persian alphabet. Each item represents different hopes and virtues for the coming year such as rebirth, love, health and patience. Families exchange gifts at the exact moment of the vernal equinox, and the following days are spend visiting extended family.

Shunbun no Hi and Higan The first day of spring is a national holiday in Japan known as Shunbun no Hi, or Vernal Equinox Day. Many Japanese people spend Vernal Equinox Day enjoying family reunions and paying respects to their ancestors by visiting family graves. Vernal Equinox Day coincides with Higan, a Buddhist holiday that falls twice a year during both the spring and autumn equinoxes. Japanese Buddhists spend this time evaluating and renewing their efforts to practice their faith and reach Enlightenment.

Chichén Itzá Chichén Itzá is an ancient Mayan city in central Yucatan, Mexico. Every year on the spring and fall equinoxes, the ancient city is flooded with tourists who come to witness a centuries-old shadow show. The temple in the centre of the city, known as El Castillo, has a staircase lined with great sculptures of the Mayan serpent god Kulkulcan. In the late afternoon on the equinox, a snake-like shadow appears to slither down the steps of the temple. It is an amazing display of the ancient Mayans’ knowledge of astronomy.

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Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,

Timber • Aggregates Fencing • Paving • Bricks Blocks • Sheet Material Insulation & much more

Fish direct from Great Yarmouth, Bread and Cakes, Cheese & Cold meats (Wednesdays only) Flowers and Plants, Jewellery (Gold bought for Cash), Picture Framing, (Saturdays only)

Phone: 01763 261740 Email: sales@norburys.com www.norburys.com 1 London Way Melbourn, SG8 6DJ (Just off Back Lane)

Kitchenware, Antiques, Pet Supplies. Ladies Wear (Wednesdays only) Golf Equipment (Saturdays only)

New Traders Always Welcome Contact Market Manager 01763 245484 or email: markets@roystontowncouncil.gov.uk

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Scam letters

• Always meet the puppy in its home environment with its

Commonly these claim you have won a prize and ask for a small payment in advance … and then another, each time requesting a larger sum. No prize is ever forthcoming. We also frequently uncover letters from supposed ‘clairvoyants’ who claim they can bring you luck or protect you from harm in exchange for payments. These are all scams and once you send money to one, you will be inundated with more.

• Ask where the puppy was born. If it was born abroad, it

Telephone scams Beware of callers who claim to be calling about the non payment of telephone bills and threatening to disconnect you unless immediate payment is made. Check the facts and contact your provider on the number provided in your paperwork. Ensure there is a dialling tone before calling them in case the fraudsters have remained on the line ready to pose as your service provider. If there is not a dialling tone, try again in 5 minutes. You may experience a series of silent calls, followed by a call from a company offering to help prevent silent calls, for a fee. This call is made by the same fraudsters who were making the silent calls.

Door-to-door callers With regards to house alarms, beware of telesales calls (often followed up by a house call) offering an alarm system at virtually no cost. The catch is the annual service charge which amounts to thousands of pounds. Beware of any trader who knocks at the door offering to do home improvement or gardening work for you, no matter how friendly they seem or how cheap the job appears. This is the prime way rogue traders find customers. Be cautious of door-to-door callers who claim to be ex-convicts who are trying to turn their lives around by selling domestic products such as dusters. Their story is untrue and once you buy from them they will call on you again and again. For further information or to report a scam, visit Action Fraud’s website www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 1232040. If you feel that you are trapped in a cycle of responding to scam letters/calls and are sending frequent payments, we can provide you with support to help you break the cycle. Please contact us via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline, on 0845 4040506.

Buying a puppy from someone you don’t know? Advice from Trading Standards At Trading Standards we have seen an increase in puppies being imported for the purposes of being sold online or via newspaper advertisements but which have not been properly vaccinated against Rabies. Aside from the potential risk of them bringing the disease into the UK, a rabid dog would pose a serious health risk to its owner, their family and anyone in close proximity at the time the symptoms became apparent. In this article we offer advice on what to look for when buying a puppy from someone you don’t know, helping you to ensure you get the healthy dog you want.

mother and the rest of the litter, and try to arrange to visit the puppy more than once. We would always advise that you take someone with you. should either have a pet passport (if it came from Europe) or a Veterinary Certificate (if it came from elsewhere in the world). Ask to see this. Check that the description in the passport or certificate matches the puppy, particularly its age, and check it has been vaccinated against rabies and treated for tapeworm. Usually a rabies vaccination will not work on a puppy that is younger than 3 months old, so check on the documents that the puppy was older than this at the time it was vaccinated. If you have any concerns at all, speak to a vet before buying it. If possible have the puppy’s microchip scanned to check it matches its passport.

• Advertisers will not always make it clear that a puppy has been imported but telltale signs are a low price, the language used in the advert (which may suggest the advertiser is not English eg describing the puppy as ‘potty trained’) and the way the puppy is photographed (often importers accessorise puppies in the photographs). Also be cautious is a puppy is described as having a passport, Europass etc as this indicates it has been imported. Points such as these should lead you to ask extra questions of the seller.

• If they are advertised as a pedigree, ask to see their pedigree

papers and ensure the breeder’s name is on them. Make sure you are handed the papers at the time of purchase.

• You could use an RSPCA and Animal Welfare Foundation’s

Puppy Contract (www.puppycontract.org.uk). It requires the seller to record detailed information about the puppy and its parents eg parental screening and how the puppy has been prepared for re-homing, and all information provided in the contract is legally binding. In exchange, you commit to meeting the puppy’s future health and welfare needs.

• If you suspect the seller is operating an illegal puppy farm,

please contact the local district council. If you suspect animal cruelty contact the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999. If you suspect a puppy has been imported without vaccination or a valid passport, report it to Trading Standards advice partner, Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline, on 08454 040506.

• And finally, remember that puppies should not leave their mothers until they are at least 8 weeks old.

For more detailed advice and guidance visit DEFRA’s website www.gov.uk/buying-a-cat-or-dog. Local Businesses: Please note major changes to the law are taking place in June 2014 If you are a trader selling goods, services or digital content to consumers it is likely these new regulations will apply to you. It will depend on how and where you enter contracts with your customers. The new Regulations are called Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations. Guidance is available on the BIS website http:// tinyurl.com/qfwz7rf.

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