Issue 100 Winter 2019

The Season’s Greetings to everyone!

We have had a good year in Melbourn! We celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Village College in September; a very successful institution with an excellent academic record. Our various clubs are doing well, including the BMX track at Grinnell Hill, which is visited by many people, and the many sports clubs. Walking Coast to Coast was successful and raised money for the church (see age 49) Our new care home on New Road will be opening in the New Year (see page 13).

Unfortunately, we no longer have a Post Office, making it more difficult to obtain cash, and sadly South Cambs Garage at the Cross is set to close after more than 65 years of excellent service (see page7).

It’s interesting to see the changes throughout the village since we published ‘Melbourn 2000’ twenty years ago, as sadly we have lost not only the Post Office, but also the Bank, the Bakery, several pubs, a restaurant, a police station and now one of our garages.

However, we are lucky, as many villages have lost much more and we are fortunate to have Leech’s butchers shop, the Co-op, Premier Stores, Sheene Mill and Esse, for eating and smart shopping, several garden centres which also have cafes and sell food and other goods. We also have a brand new coffee shop, Hot Numbers, next to Wright’s lawn mower centre. Not to forget our thriving Business Park on Back Lane, and Science Park with Prime Physio and the Dentist on the Cambridge Road. We are a growing village in size of population and have to adjust to changing life styles.

There are many exciting events taking place over the festive season including MADS pantomime, Mother Goose at Meldreth Village College, the Christmas Tree Festival at Holy Trinity Meldreth. Also look out for Carol Services, Nativity Plays and special services over the Christmas period.

We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!

Melbourn Magazine is Independent of the Parish Council

NO public money is used. We would like to thank TTP for their continued sponsorship of the magazine. 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.

If you would like to advertise in the Melbourn Magazine see inside back cover for details

Contents

Village news 5

Celebrating 25 years and 100 Issues of the Melbourn Magazine!

Melbourn Fete 20 June 2020

South Cambs Motors Melbourn Calendar

Nature

Stockbridge Meadows group Profile

Janet Green and Greenlow Kennels

feature

Libelle: From H.G. Wells to Langham Press! Education 25 Profile

Pat Vince 1932– 2019 Travelogue – Travelling the Himalayas 32

The revival of traditional paper making along the Himalayas Village information 35 Diary 36 Bin collection 38

Nature 39

Autumn at Fowlmere RSPB Nature Reserve

Review

Churches Together

Walking Coast to Coast

Volunteer drivers

Royston & District Community Transport

Sports & Clubs

What’s On 69

Mother Goose – Meldreth Village Hall Carols by Candlelight Christmas Door Decoration Workshop! Winter Tree Walk at Wandlebury

A Calm Creative Christmas with Vital Spark Holiday Bushcraft at Wandlebury

Melbourn’s Luxury New Care Home

A new Barchester care home in Melbourn officially

this winter, offering bespoke residential, dementia and respite care.

Springs will be a luxury 75-bed care home with

living spaces, a daily life-enrichment programme of activities and choice in delicious and nutritious meals.

friendly team would love to show you around.

Royston,

After EightsAfter Eights

Enjoy a variety of speakers and participate in a number of fun activities with Melbourn Women’s Institute

Enhance your health and well being by getting involved in YOUR community. Whether you’re looking to access practical support or activities in your area; have an idea for a community group; or would like to join our award winning volunteer programme, please get in touch!

For more information on accessing services or volunteering with Care Network take a look at our website https://care network.org.uk/ or call 01954 211 919.

We’re a friendly group and would love to see you there!

Meetings are on the 4th Wednesday each month at All Saints Community Hall 8–10pm

For more information please email melbournwi@gmail.com or find us on Facebook by searching ‘Melbourn WI’

Village news

The changing face of Melbourn magazine

The first issue in January 1995

Celebrating 25 years and 100 Issues of the Melbourn Magazine!

Well, here we are, celebrating the centenary issue of the Melbourn Magazine! Who would have envisaged it still going strong after 25 years?

There are many residents who remember, and have indeed collected, all the issues from the very beginning, and have seen the vast changes in design and development over the years.

Summer 1998, one of the last issues printed by Hales printers

Summer 2005, the first full colour magazine

Summer 2000 printed by the Burlington Press in two colours

The humble beginnings date back to January 1995, when an 8 page A4 leaflet was first produced, filled with information on the work carried out by the Parish Council and printed on the PC’s copier. The following April, Issue 2 came out, with the inclusion of advertising and contributions from clubs and residents. It had also increased in size to 22 pages. About 500 copies were printed and placed in the library, Post Office and Co-op for people to pick up.

Issue 3 (now called Summer Issue) was printed by Hales Printers of Royston. With a print run of 1800 copies, it was printed in black & white with a blue paper cover and delivered to every household and business in the village. At the time, the magazine was sponsored by the Parish Council and TTP at the Science Park.

The magazine became financially independent of the Parish Council in 1998 and has remained so ever since, although it still carries Parish Council information when available. Production costs from this point became totally financed by advertising and the continued generous support of TTP.

Hales continued to print the magazine until autumn 2000, when The Burlington Press in Foxton (later known as Langham Press, see page 21) took over. Colour was introduced for the first time, although just the front and back cover were in blue and black.

In 2005, to help publicise the launch of the history book “A Glimpse into Melbourn’s Past”, full colour was used on the front cover and a few pages inside. The following year adverts appeared in colour, proving very popular. Today the magazine is full colour throughout, with a print run of 2350.

We have a great team of volunteers on the magazine, many of whom help to deliver the magazines throughout the village.

Today the magazine is full colour throughout. The front cover of this issue shows many of the covers printed since 2015.

However, what has really made the magazine a great success are the interesting and varied contributions from residents and active local groups, and helpful advice and news from many important institutions throughout the county.

Without any of the above-mentioned volunteers, groups, clubs and individuals there would be no Melbourn Magazine. Thank you all for your support.

If you would like to help with the magazine, please email us using the address below or contact Ann Dekkers on 261144

continued on page 6

East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices

Could you Help at Home? East Anglian families need you!

Here at East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH) we thrive on the generous support of our volunteers across all areas of the charity. This Autumn, we are recruiting enthusiastic volunteers for our Help at Home programme. The families who receive support from EACH would often also benefit from practical support at home. For them, spending time together and making the most of every moment is more important than getting the ironing done or painting the garden fence. And that’s where you come in. The families need volunteers ready to step into their homes and gardens and relieve some of the burden by taking on these household tasks!

The Help at Home programme at EACH is such a valuable part of the support service we offer. Charlotte Redmond, EACH Volunteer Coordinator, says: “I only started working at EACH a couple of months ago and already I’m seeing what an amazing effect the Help at Home programme can have on the lives of families. I’ve no doubt we should be expanding the programme to reach more families who need simple practical support to make their day-to-day lives that little bit easier.”

The only thing that you need to get involved is time to give! You can get more information by contacting Charlotte at charlotte.redmond@each.org.uk or on 07889 251385. There are plenty of volunteering opportunities at EACH. You can visit the website www.each.org.uk to find out how you can support us.

New Melbourn Singers

100 editions of the Melbourn Magazine and still going strong. Well done!

The choir is currently holding practices in conjunction with the Comberton Choir at the Village College in Comberton, a good arrangement which suits both choirs. We are working towards our next concert in April when the main works we will be singing are Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and the Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein. Further details will be in the Spring edition of the magazine. (For an account of the origin of the new Melbourn Singers see page 28). Jane Stevens

Melbourn Fete 20 June 2020

The Village Fete returns on Saturday 20 June 2020 and will run from 1 to 5 pm at the village playing fields near the pavilion.

This year will be ‘Farm at the Fete’, an agricultural theme.

The regular favourites will return. A bar selling both alcoholic and soft drinks, a tea-room with quality sandwiches and cakes. Top quality food outlets including a barbecue with vegetarian options and hog roast. Stalls from commercial and volunteers’ groups. Lawn mower racing will return and also some farm machinery will be on display to add to the theme. A small fairground with bouncy castle and other rides will also be on the field.

Activities in the arena include a demonstration of sheep dog skills herding ducks! Of course, we will be also hosting our ever-popular egg throwing competition and also for this year we will be having a ‘wellie wanging’ (wellington boot throwing) contest too.

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 the mobility impaired in Melbourn, Meldreth and Shepreth 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

Going to the Post Office to pay your bills

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 £7.50 per week (a little more for couples).

Jeannie Seers (Mobile Warden)

Jane Cage (Deputy)

Melbourn Warden Scheme

a registered charity

The competition tent will also be back with lots of different categories and age groups available, details to be announced later.

South Cambs Motors

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we announce the impending closure of South Cambs Motors, on the Cross in Melbourn.

The garage has been operating from the site since the 1930’s, but has been in our family since the 1950’s when Bill Dash bought the business from Jack Wedd. The decision to close has not been an easy one as it will affect so many people. In recent years car technology has changed considerably with the digital age. We have been finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the main dealers, who have the latest digital software tools and updates that modern cars require.

We have been very lucky with such a loyal workforce, some who have stayed with us for years including the late Sid Hinkins and Fred Dye, Len Saunders, Bob Holcombe, and more recently Mick Diemer, Alistair MacDougall and Dave Day.

We are so very grateful to the Melbourn Community for the support, friendship and loyalty that you have shown to the garage over the years. There have been lots of good times and nice memories of the past.

South Cambs Motors will cease trading on Friday 20th December 2019.

Terry Dash (Owner)

The competitions tent will return

We will also have some live music during part of the afternoon from local groups.

As ever we will be making the day a high value, high quality, low cost event with entry fee and drink costs at very competitive prices. All profits will go to help charities and other groups within our village. We have been able to support local groups for the last 15 plus years with total donations of many thousands of pounds.

More details will be available in the next issues of the magazine and through social media and on line at www.melbournfete.co.uk

As ever if you feel like helping out on the day then visit our website, details above.

by joining 20 for 20 and raising as much as you can for Willow. By supporting our 20 for 20 appeal you will be helping Willow to reach our aim of offering a Special Day for every seriously ill young adult in the UK.

We’re inviting you to fundraise, donate and spread the word to support Special Days throughout our 20th Anniversary year. 20 for 20 can be done in your own way, in your own time and at your own pace. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Like, share and comment on 20 Willow posts to help shout about Special Days

• Throw a Roaring 20’s themed party

• Donate 20 preloved items to your local Willow charity shop

• Volunteer 20 hours in our shop or office

Whatever you choose to do, make sure you let the fundraising team know so we can support you – call the office on 01707 259 777 or visit the Willow website at www.willowfoundation.org.uk/20for20.

Celebrating 20 Years Of Special Days!

To mark Willow’s 20th birthday, we are launching our 20 for 20 campaign and invite you, our wonderful supporters, to celebrate with us.

You can make a big difference to seriously ill young adults

Melbourn & Meldreth

Women’s Group

We are a small friendly group and we meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month except in December; we vary our venue between All Saints Community Hall in Melbourn and Holy

A sheep dog herding ducks at the Fete in 2012

Trinity Church Meeting Room in Meldreth. We either have a guest speaker or in-house entertainment, followed by tea/ coffee and biscuits. There is a fee of £1 on the evening and a chance to make a donation to our charity of the year, which will be chosen at our AGM on 28th January 2020. At the AGM we will receive reports, appoint committee members and choose a charity to support for the year. This formal business does not take long and then we have a bring and share supper.

On 25th February Una Cleminson will speak to us about The Royal British Legion, this will be in All Saints Community Hall Melbourn. All our meetings begin at 7.45pm. Do come along if you’d like to, or if you want to know more please contact one of the committee who at the time of writing this article are: Pat Smith (262575); Sue Toule (260955); Anne Harrison (261775); Angela Leach (262793); Pat Ames 261130 and Kimmi Crosby.

Library

The volunteers at the library all congratulate Melbourn Magazine on its 100th issue – a wonderful achievement.

At the library we have had a busy Autumn during which we had our medal presentation for the many children who took part in the Summer Reading Challenge. It is good to know that the printed page can still hold its own against the e-book. We hope that the children of Melbourn and the surrounding villages will occupy part of their Christmas holiday, when not opening presents or eating mince pies, in reading more books. The library will close for Christmas after the morning session on 21st December and reopen on 2nd January so remember to stock up on library books in good time.

As our many readers will know the stock of library books is constantly being renewed. As a Community Library we have access to all the resources of the Cambridgeshire Library Services but they do not provide books to stock our shelves. Through grants from local Parish Councils we are able to buy new books and for their generosity we are most grateful. We also accept donations of books from the public, which need to be in good condition so that they can have a long shelf-life. We monitor our shelves and remove books that have not been borrowed for several years. These are either taken to Meldreth Station where there is a rack of books for travellers to borrow or given to one of the many charity shops in Royston. They are never thrown away.

Library – LAP (Local Access Point)

Library opening times

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Melbourn Calendar

When appointments and invitations start arriving for 2020, or it’s proving difficult to think of a present which can easily be posted; it’s time to get a 2020 Calendar. Your chance is here: the Melbourn Calendars 2020 will be available from the middle of October with the usual A4 and A5 format, but this year there will be another A4 option allowing for two months to be viewed together which, hopefully, will make planning simpler. The A4 size will be £9.50 and the A5, £6.50. The new A4 landscape will be £7.50. I hope that you will understand that the prices of all the component parts have increased over the last year, but I have kept them as low as possible with all the profit going to SOAS (Supporters of All Saints)

Calendars will be on sale at Coffee Stop on Saturday mornings, at the Vicarage Close event in October and at the Autumn Fayre, or by calling Marjorie Shaw on 01763 220076. (Please leave a message if there is no answer.)

2.30 to 4.30 pm

2.30 to 4.30 pm

2.30 to 4.30 pm

2.30 to 6.30 pm

2.30 to 4.30 pm

Saturday 10.00 to 12.00 am

With the long Winter evenings being the ideal time to curl up with a good book we look forward to seeing many of you at the library which is so well situated in the Melbourn Hub right beside the café – the perfect combination!

Jane Stevens

Melbourn Women’s Institute

The After Eights

We have an exciting new programme lined up for 2020 and do hope that you will at least come along and give us a try. At our inaugural meeting two years ago there were over 60 people interested in forming a new WI group in Melbourn, so where are you all? What went wrong? Is the timing bad –we are restricted somewhat by other groups using the Hall and we deliberately pitched the meetings to include women who are at work during the day. I should say that we finish promptly at 10 p.m. and there are always people who will offer a lift home if that is a problem.

We have also started having an informal get together between meetings on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, mornings for coffee or evenings for a drink on alternate continued on page 10

months. This is purely social – it is just a friendly way of keeping in touch.

You will be warmly welcomed if you come along and join us, there is very little ‘business’ done and after the speaker or activity we have coffee, tea and cake and an opportunity to socialise. We meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month in the Community Hall at 8 p.m. Do come and join us.

Mavis Howard Telephone 260686

Lunch Club Drivers Needed

Lunch Club is a regular social event that enables elderly residents to get out weekly to meet and chat with others over a cooked lunch. The club was started many years ago at Vicarage Close in Melbourn and has been enjoyed by so many during that time. Many volunteers over the years have taken turns to run the club for a period, supported by volunteer drivers who transport those unable to get there because of mobility problems.

Lunch Club is still thriving and since February has been held at Melbourn Hub, after various complications meant that those previously running it at Vicarage Close could no longer do so.

Melbourn Hub was approached to see if it was willing to take the club over to save it from closure, as it was ideally placed and The Hub agreed. It has been great to see the members embracing the new venue and enjoying the lively atmosphere and varied menu. We are also delighted that many previous volunteers have continued to support the club by driving mobility impaired people to the Hub who otherwise would be unable to come, or to help serve meals and chat to the members.

Membership has grown in the last few months and we dearly need more drivers to take and collect people to and from the club who need transport.

If you would be willing to give up a few minutes of your time at around 11.45am and again at around 1pm to drive one or two elderly residents on an occasional Wednesday or more regularly, your help would be much appreciated. Please contact the Centre Manager at Melbourn Hub on 01763 263303 option 1.

The Hall For All – And Melbourn Cinema Event

I am pleased to report that all is well at the Community Hall and we have had a busy season with both regular and new bookings. We are constantly trying to keep on top of small repairs and improvements and have recently installed automatic taps in the cloakrooms to make sure no taps are left running, as has happened on one or two occasions. We also purchased new tea towels for the kitchen – small things, I know, but all of them make for a better experience for those who hire the Hall. As Trustees, we all work together to keep the Hall spick and span, re-fixing curtain rails when they are pulled off the wall (how did that happen? someone swinging on them?), scraping glue off the tables after craft sessions,

taking sellotape and blue tack off the walls! A Trustee’s life is quite a busy one!

It is hard to keep on top of the garden but we now have a very experienced gardener who comes and tidies up from time to time although this year the weather has been against all of us as far as gardening is concerned. Our funds received a boost again this summer when Jane and Mavis ran another successful Safari Supper in aid of the Hall.

Our Cinema Nights have developed a cosy club-like atmosphere as we have quite a strong following of regulars but it is always good to see new faces and everyone is made welcome. There are some excellent films coming up, in January we are showing Yesterday, and there is Downton Abbey to come and I understand a remake of Little Women is about to be released, to say nothing of the film about Judy Garland.

Coffee Stop goes from strength to strength on a Saturday morning, with especially large numbers on the first Saturday of the month when Jane and Alan Brett run The Book Shelf, selling excellent books for 50p and £1. We had a couple of visits from a ‘petting dog’ back in the summer – needless to say she had a great fuss made of her. Any charity may hire a table on a Saturday morning – just speak to me or call in and see us on a Saturday – we regularly host the British Legion, Women’s Institute, Link Muranga etc. There is no charge but commercial hirers would be asked to pay a nominal fee.

The Hall continues to be very well used, with the meeting room and main hall often being used at the same time. If you are thinking of hiring the Hall, Saturday morning Coffee Stop (10.30am – 12noon) is a good time to come and meet people, explore the facilities and get a good cup of coffee for a pound! (Tickets from Brenda 261154, Cyndy 264189 or Mavis 260686)

Dementia Friends Cafe at Melbourn Hub

Melbourn Hub mentioned in the last issue of the Melbourn Magazine that it was planning to build on the work it is doing with local people and professionals to provide much needed support for those living with dementia and their families by starting a ‘Dementia Friends Cafe’ at The Hub.

Working with local resident Davina Biswell, who is championing Dementia Support with Melbourn Hub, medical and care professionals, the first Dementia Friends Cafe was held in September and has been bringing local people living with dementia and their family carers together to socialise, enjoy specially designed activities over coffee and cake and to support one another in a friendly environment.

Held once a month on Saturday afternoons within the Hub’s ‘Bookmark Cafe’, the last Dementia Friends Cafe for 2019 will be held on Saturday December 14th at 2.30pm and feature Christmas themed activities, mince pies and carols! Dates for the first part of 2020 will be January 18th, February 15th, March 21st and April 18th. Details can also be found on Melbourn Hub’s website calendar www.melbournhub.co.uk. Any family carer and their loved one living with dementia is welcome.

Melbourn Hub hosts a number of other support services

for the community including Relate, Citizens Advice, Mind

CPSL ‘Good Mood Cafes’ and ‘Open Door’ sessions, details of which can be found on the Hub’s website or contact Melbourn Hub on 01763 263303 option 1.

Artists line up to exhibit at Melbourn Hub Gallery

Since 2017, Melbourn Hub has allocated space within its Atrium for an art gallery which has proved to be so popular that it has been booked by artists continuously ever since!

Jeannie Seers Events Director at the Hub said “there is so much artistic talent in the area and the bright and airy space is ideal to showcase people’s work. So many people come to the Hub each day to use the cafe, meeting rooms or services at the Hub, that the artwork is seen by large audiences and the Hub is now recognised by artists as an established gallery”.

Artists can use several metres of wall space for one month free of charge to display their work and offer it for sale. The Hub asks for a donation of 20% of any sales made. The month of December features a joint exhibition by popular Melbourn artists George Meliniotis and Val Pettifer. Their exhibition starts on Saturday 30th November when the Hub presents its annual ‘Turn on to Christmas event’ and can be viewed by the general public Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm.

There are a variety of mediums and styles seen throughout the year including water colours, acrylics, lino print and photography and we have had artists in residence demonstrating their techniques to the public from time to time. The Hub was proud to have hosted an exhibition for ‘Rowan’, a charity in Cambridge designed to improve the lives of students with learning disabilities through art activities.

Artist Christina Pattison donated one of her original paintings for Melbourn Hub to raffle in October during her exhibition, to raise funds for The Hub in support the work the Hub does and one lucky winner is now enjoying Christina’s colourful work.

There are just a few spaces left to exhibit during 2020 and bookings are already being made for 2021. If you are an artist and would like to showcase your work at Melbourn Hub, please contact the Centre Manager on 01763 263303 option 1 or email centremanager@melbournhub.co.uk

What’s On @ Melbourn Child and Family Zone

Melbourn Child and Family Zone provides groups, activities and support for families. Our friendly and experienced Child and Family Centre staff offer a wide range of services and knowledge to help you and your family from pregnancy onwards.

We are located on Mortlock Street, adjacent to Melbourn Primary School.

All of our sessions are a chance to meet new friends and also to access support from Child and Family Centre staff.

Baby Group

A welcoming environment to help parents relax and enjoy their baby. For families expecting or with a child up to a year old (£2 charge per family). Tuesdays 10.00 to 11.30pm @ Melbourn Child and Family Zone

Fun for Ones

A group specifically for crawlers and children up to 24 months (£2 charge per family). Wednesdays 10.00 to 11.30am @ Melbourn Child and Family Zone

Stay and Play

Enjoy time together with your child whilst accessing a range of toys, crafts and activities (£2 charge per family). Thursdays 10.00 to 11.30am @ Melbourn Child and Family Zone Fridays 10.00 to 11.30am @ Bassingbourn Pre School

Melbourn Child and Family Zone

Mortlock Street, Melbourn, SG8 6DB Bassingbourn Pre School Brook Road, Bassingbourn, SG8 5NP

For further information:

Email: ChildAndFamilyCentre.South@cambridgeshire.gov.uk Phone: 01954 284 672

Facebook: search for South Cambridgeshire Child and Family Centres.

Artist in residence Vivienne Machell

Melbourn Parish Council

Water Levels – River Mel

Following reports of low, and in some cases, nonexistent water levels in the River Mel, I had a meeting with the environment agency with a view to better understanding the situation and what, if anything, could be done about it.

Parishioners may well have noticed very low levels at various locations nearby. Particularly by Sheene Mill, the new recreation ground by the community pavilion, and at Stockbridge meadows where it had completely dried up.

The environment agency produces regular, and very comprehensive reports that set out the local positions with regard to rainfall and river levels in general. Interested readers can obtain them for free at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/watersituation-local-area-reports

The current situation in Melbourn is caused partially by a mild winter, followed by a scorching summer. If the weather patterns going forward follow a similar path, then the situation is likely to deteriorate.

Although average rainfall in September was higher than the long-term national average (131%), it did not wipe out the deficit. River flows are low across the region (It’s not just Melbourn), and both reservoir and groundwater levels continue to be low.

The environment agency has been operating pumps, In the Melbourn area and elsewhere in an effort to replenish levels. In most cases, the water has just sunk straight back into the ground again.

A wet winter, in the context of river levels, will be welcome.

Parish Council Vacancies

The Parish Council welcomed a new Parish Councillor in September (Welcome Cllr Kent). There are still vacancies for further Councillors. If you would like to get involved in making local decisions, please contact me – parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk.

Development at New Road

As I write, the first residents have moved into the Hopkins homes development at New Road, and I’m told that the care home are looking to welcome its first residents during December. On behalf of the Parish Council, I would like to welcome all new residents to Melbourn.

Christmas Tree Recycling

The Parish Council will once again be providing a Christmas Tree recycling point (in the village car-park). Look for the signs nearer the time.

Please do feel free do drop your tree off (real trees only please). They will be shredded and the resultant chippings used around the village.

Simon Crocker Parish Council Clerk

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

Can you give a family the most precious gift - your time?

Our volunteers are all parents or grandparents who can give a few hours a week to help families who are finding it difficult to cope.

All parents need emotional and practical help to get through the first few years, but not everyone has friends or family nearby.

This is when Home-Start volunteers can help! For more details contact Sarah or Jackie at: Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire, Unit 6, Valley Farm, Station Road, Meldreth, Royston, Herts, SG8 6JP Tel: 01763 262262 or e-mail admin@hsrsc.org.uk www.hsrsc.org.uk Registered Charity No 1105385

RDCT

more volunteer drivers in Melbourn.

From your County and District Councillors

Here are some of the headlines from our recent work. Understandably, lots of concerns about highways issues, though traffic congestion and noise seem to have overtaken pot holes as the top concerns. Concerns about demands on local health services are another –please see the ‘NHS Big Conversation’ item below, and please do respond. Most positive has been working with MVC students on a variety of projects.

Zero Carbon Communities application: We’ve been very fortunate to have the chance to work with students from Melbourn Village College, via the Melbourn Practical Solutions Group: this a truly inspirational group comprised of Head Boy and Head Girl, and Head and Deputy Prefects, who have set forth with gusto on improving recycling and introducing public water fountains at MVC, the latter to include areas accessed by the public for sport and other activities. They’ve attended Parish Council meetings at Meldreth and Melbourn, as well as a meeting of the MVC Governing Body, and hit the ground running with a grant application to the South Cambs District Council Zero Carbon Communities fund.

A10 noise following resurfacing: Eighteen months ago, the A10 was given a surface dressing, for the purpose of extending the life of the road by about ten years. The grade of material used was deemed the most advantageous for an A-road, but this has resulted in higher noise levels for drivers and nearby residents. We’ve received complaints especially from people living near the Melbourn bypass, but also from parts of Shepreth. The same exercise has been replicated on about a dozen roads around the county, and two have resulted in noise complaints, including at Papworth.

We raised the matter with County Highways, who asked their contractor Skanska to carry out detailed noise monitoring – this took place in July. Because noise levels were not measured before the surface dressing was applied, it’s difficult to measure any change in noise levels so far. Nevertheless, County Highways accept that there is a problem, and have agreed to return in March to ascertain whether, with further bedding down, there has been any improvement. If noise disturbance remains problematic, the remedy would be a new ‘dressing’ with a different material (which would initially cause renewed noise disturbance before it beds down), or a more permanent type new surface layer. Any remedy would cost money, and would have to compete with the many demands on Highways’ limited budget. A noise barrier is not an option because County Highways cannot afford maintenance costs.

So, Highways accepts there’s a problem and will ask their contractor to monitor it; and they are willing to consider a remedy if required, but can’t guarantee funding.

NHS Services in Cambridgeshire: ‘The Big

Melbourn Springs Care Home

On 21th September Barchester Healthcare opened the marketing suite and show rooms at the company’s brand new luxury care home in Melbourn – Melbourn Springs. Royston Town Mayor, Councillor Robert Inwood and District Councillor Jose Hales cut the ribbon to the completed part of the home.

The marketing suite at Melbourn Springs provides the local community with an opportunity to see what the finished 75-bed care home will look like when the home is complete.

At the launch, the General Manager of the home, Karen Allen and Home Services Advisor, Dan Amis welcomed visitors to see the Marketing Suite for the first time. The suite features spacious en-suite bedrooms, a lounge, a lifestyle enrichment room – all designed with the comfort of residents in mind.

When it opens, the home will also feature activity cafés, cinema, spa bathrooms, large dining areas with life-skills kitchens, an in-house hair salon, luxury en-suite bedrooms and a choice of quiet relaxing lounges with garden access. A daily life enrichment programme with an array of tailored activities including a state of the art Magic Table, a concierge service, as well as delicious and nutritious seasonal meals will also be provided services at the home.

Pictures of old Melbourn, gifted to the home by Peter Simmonett and Ann Dekkers of Melbourn Magazine and History Group who attended the launch, will feature in the rooms of the first Melbourn Springs residents. The pair also donated a history of Melbourn presentation currently on display at the home.

As General Manager Karen Allen raised a glass to the guests she said, “We’re so pleased to meet so many lovely people for the first look around of the home. Our marketing suite is a wonderful way for people to come and see the high quality environment that we are creating, and meet the friendly team who will be caring for our residents. Personalised care really is at the heart of everything we do.”

Home Services Advisor Dan Amis added, “It was lovely for so many of our new friends from the community to join us for such a special occasion. The feedback has been amazing and all of our guests said that they were extremely impressed!”

Melbourn Springs Care Home will provide residential and dementia care for older people in and around the Melbourn community for short breaks to long term stays.

The marketing suite is open between 10am–5pm Tuesday to Sunday and from 12pm–8pm on Thursdays. The team are always on hand to answer any questions about the services at the home, and will be able to discuss the care options available when the home is ready to welcome residents in early 2020.

For more information about Melbourn Springs or for assistance with any care enquiries please contact Home Services Advisor Dan Amis on 07435 692 018 or email daniel. amis@barchester.com

Mistaken Identity

“I’m cold Timmy”, Sam whimpered “I told you, be quiet, they’ll hear us upstairs”, hissed her brother, “he’ll be here soon”.

A shaft of moonlight had pierced through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the fireplace on the opposite wall. Suddenly, they heard a shuffling noise. Both children peered out from their hiding place behind the sofa and stared across the room; their eyes widening as a pair of black boots slowly appeared.

“Bloomin’ ‘eck”, came a muffled voice from within the chimney, “I’m getting too old for this lark”. Sam and Timmy jumped up and watched unbelievingly as a stout figure scrambled out from the fireplace. The strange man’s clothes were black, as was his bushy beard and moustache. He groaned as he raised himself to his full height.

Sam hid behind her brother who couldn’t take his eyes off the visitor. “Wh, who, are y’ you” stammered Timmy, trying hard to act bravely in his role as Sam’s big brother. “Don’t you know who I am?” growled the big man, “I’m Father Christmas, isn’t it obvious?” He sounded a little hurt at not being instantly recognised.

“But you are supposed to have a red coat and white beard, not be all black”, replied Timmy, becoming bolder as the conversation progressed. “You’d be black if you had just climbed down a chimney, especially one that hadn’t been swept properly for years”, retorted a very grumpy Santa.

“So, where are they?” said Father Christmas looking back at the fireplace, “You’re meant to leave out mince pies and a glass of sherry”. “Well” replied Timmy sheepishly, “we waited so long we ate the mince pies and Daddy forgot to buy a new bottle of sherry – sorry”.

“Tell you what”, said Santa, “we’ll do a deal, I’ll still give you your presents if you show me where the front door is, I really don’t want to have to climb up your bloomin’ chimney to get out. Mrs Claus said I should lose some weight and I think she’s right, it gets harder every year to clamber up and down millions of chimneys.”

And so it was that Timmy and Sam received exactly the presents they had written and asked for and Father Christmas got arrested by the police who mistook him for a drunken burglar as he wandered down Acacia Avenue with his sack full of parcels. It was his own fault; he never should have stopped the patrol car and asked them for directions to the North Pole – especially after an evening drinking all that sherry.

David Sansom

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We are a war m, friendly, f amily r un home conveniently situated close to the station and town centre of Royston.

you would like to f ind out more about St George’s, please call us for a brochure or drop in for a chat.

Kneesworth Street, Royston, Herts. SG8 5AQ Telephone: 01763 242243

site: www.stgeorgescare.com

Conversation’: The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical

Commissioning Group has launched what it is calling ‘The Big Conversation’ – not a formal consultation, but a discussion on how to proceed in buying health services for our area, against the reality that it is currently spending considerably more than it can afford. You’ll recall a mention in our July parish council report about likely CCG cuts, especially to the voluntary sector; this was pulled back and the Big Conversation is a relaunch of the overall attempt to decide where ‘difficult decisions’ need to be taken.

There are some positive initiatives, too. You may have read in the local press about the initiative for the Royston Hospital site to be reconfigured to provide various specialist services, to help meet demands on GP services in our area (three Royston GP practices sit under the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG umbrella).

This exercise runs until December 20th – please do respond. Here’s the link (or just google Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG Big Conversation): www.cambridgeshireandpeterboroughccg. nhs.uk/get-involved/the-big-conversation/ Beechwood Avenue Traffic: Thanks to everyone who has taken the trouble to feed in to our call for thoughts and ideas on Beechwood Avenue traffic. By the time you read this, a public meeting will have taken place with residents of Beechwood Avenue, Elm Way, Maple Way, Ash Grove and Cedar Close. There are no easy solutions to problems currently faced, but the meeting will have considered possible options, with the help of County Highways. Meanwhile, Susan has spoken with one of her predecessors, Margaret Hunter – county councillor for Melbourn many years ago – who grappled with the same issue (as many of you will remember).

Melbourn Greenway and a bridge to Royston: A decision on the Melbourn Greenway scheme, which includes a walking/ cycling path along the A10 and bridge over the A505 connecting to Royston, was expected in December, but this has now been pushed back until March. The scheme scored very positively in the overall group of 12 proposed Greenway schemes, and has topped the charts in terms of consultation responses. Some of our most passionate and articulate campaigners continue to be young people from Melbourn Village College. Congratulations to Yunus and Sambor, who were featured in a video for the October Greater Cambridge Partnership Citizens Assembly – you can see them, together with Iris from Meldreth Primary School, here: https:// youtu.be/9lHe0_0LNuQ

Cambridge Ice Rink: It’s time to get your skates on as the new ice rink in Cambridge is now open. The company building this had quite a lot of money from the University, but SCDC was able to make them a large loan when they overran their budget due to finding lots of unexploded bombs on the site (which is on the old military airfield run by Marshalls in Cambridge). South Cambs District Council made the loan because we felt that this would be a significant attraction to the residents of South Cambs. Let us know what you think of it.

Any questions or concerns? Please get in touch any time – we’re always very happy to try and help.

Jose Hales, District Councillor, jose@josehales.me.uk, Tel 01763 221058 | Philippa Hart District Councillor, Philippajoyhart@gmail. com, Tel 07811323571 | Susan van de Ven, County Councillor, susanvandeven5@gmail.com, Tel 07905325574

Community spirit of BMX club members

I’d like to share a random act of community spirit I saw today in Melbourn.

On an evening dog walk near to Grinnel Hill BMX club in the village, I saw the club members busily removing waste that had been fly-tipped on the farm track that joins London Way and the A1O adjacent to their club ground.

The rubbish had been illegally dumped there about two weeks ago. Alongside a mattress and an old TV, most of the rubbish seemed to be the result of a kitchen refurbishment.

What impressed me was that, even though the rubbish did not directly impact the club members’ use of their facility, they still took time to tidy up our village – no doubt costing them precious daylight hours which they could have spent pursuing their hobby.

Thank you to the Grinnel Hill BMX Club members for taking it upon themselves to tackle an issue they might have easily ignored.

Russell Foulger – Royston Crow August 8th 2019

Relate Cambridge services in Melbourn

Relate is the UK’s largest provider of Relationship Counselling

Counselling services available at the Melbourn Community Hub, 30 High Street, Melbourn, SG8 6DZ

For enquiries or to book an appointment, please call 01302 347 866.

Phone lines are open Monday – Friday (09:00 – 17:30).

Christmas leftovers and squash Risotto

This brilliantly indulgent recipe is a great way to use up any Christmas leftovers while staying beautifully on-plan in

Christmas and New Year. It’s creamy, filling and free!

it’s one of those great standby recipes that’s so versatile that you’ll want to make it over and over again.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 butternut squash, deseeded and cut into small chunks

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

• 300g dried risotto rice

• 1.3 litres boiling stock made using 2 stock cubes

• 400g cooked lean turkey, ham, bacon … whatever Christmas leftovers you’ve got!

METHOD

1. Cook the squash in a saucepan of boiling water over a high heat for 10–15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften and brown slightly, then add the rice and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add a little water if it begins to stick to the pan.

3. Reduce the heat to low and stir in a ladleful of the stock. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been absorbed by the rice. Add another ladleful of stock and keep cooking in the same way for about 20–25 minutes or until the stock is nearly all used up.

4. Stir in your leftovers, cooked squash and the remaining stock and continue cooking until the leftovers are hot and the rice is cooked to your liking, adding a splash of boiling water if the rice looks dry. Season to taste and serve hot.

Ready in 45 minutes, serves 4.

You can watch the video for this and plenty of other Slimming World recipes on our YouTube channel at youtube. com/slimmingworld

Carpet

A few points that make us stand out,

has been in business since 1993

an honest local family firm

large truck mounted machines mean

cleaning & drying power

Members of both the NCCA and TACCA.

move the furniture.

Nature

Stockbridge Meadows group

If you have ever visited Stockbridge Meadows, did you find yourself wondering what, if any, small animals live there?

Muntjac deer are often heard making their harsh barking call, buzzards and other birds can be seen, but what about the animals that live in the undergrowth?

An opportunity to find out about these secretive mammals came at the beginning of October. The Cambridgeshire Mammal Group, having gained permission from the Parish Council, undertook a survey of small mammals such as mice, shrews and voles in Stockbridge Meadows.

Volunteers from the Mammal group who are trained in the use of live-capture traps and the handling of small mammals started their survey in the early afternoon on a wet Saturday. The traps they use are Longworth live-capture traps, which are designed to minimise the discomfort of the animals and to provide a safe warm place for them until they are released. The nest box part of the trap, where the animal spends their time before release, is filled with bedding material and food. This ensures that the animal is comfortable and able to feed until their release.

Thirty-nine of these traps were placed within the various habitats in Stockbridge Meadows. Each trap was marked with either a cane or biodegradable tape and noted down.

Early on Sunday morning the traps were located, and the small mammals captured were identified, weighed, sexed and released. Thirty five of the thirty-nine traps had captured a small mammal, giving an 89.7% success rate. The volunteers informed us that this was one of the highest success rates that they had seen. Although uncomfortable for the people undertaking the survey, apparently a high success rate often occurs in wet weather. The theory is that the small mammals are seeking refuge from the rain and find these traps a lovely warm refuge supplied with food.

It was a privilege to be allowed to watch this team of volunteers undertake the survey. The professional manner in dealing with the traps and the sensitive handling of the caught mammals, ensuring they were returned to the capture area, was exemplary.

The survey demonstrated a very healthy population of small mammals on site. The findings were: 30 wood mice, 4 bank voles and 1 shrew

Why is this important? Small mammals form a vital part of our ecosystems, both by contributing to overall biodiversity

and by providing prey for carnivores such as owls and weasels. Their presence will encourage other wildlife to the reserve. It also shows that we are providing the right habitat for them to thrive.

The last ecological survey for Stockbridge Meadows was undertaken prior to its development into a Nature reserve. This latest finding will now help to build up our knowledge of the reserve ten years on. It is hoped that in the Spring the same wildlife group will undertake a bat survey and the Cambridge and Peterborough Amphibian and Reptile group will survey our grass snake and lizard population.

However, it was noted by these volunteers that people were walking their dogs off the lead. This is very detrimental to the wildlife in the reserve, as the free roaming of dogs in undergrowth will frighten the very animals we have just surveyed and also disturb the Munjac who lie up during the day in Stockbridge Meadows.

The notice in the car park informing that dogs should be walked on leads has been broken and is in for repair. The Parish Council will be replacing this notice. To avoid disturbance to wildlife please walk your dog on the lead. Thank you.

I would also like to thank everyone involved in the survey who braved the very wet weather. We look forward to welcoming the next wildlife surveyors in the Spring.

Maureen Brierley

Weighing wood mouse

Profile

Janet Green and Greenlow Kennels

Janet and John Green have lived in Melbourn for 29 years, running the friendly boarding kennels at the southern end of the village.

As a young girl Janet was obsessed with animals – her mother Gwen bred and showed Keeshunds and Great Danes – and whilst still at school she worked part time at Mr. Staton’s Veterinary Surgery in Wood Green, North London. She started her formal training at the prestigious Bellmead Kennels in Old Windsor, and they had a contract with Cunard to provide kennel services on the QE2. Janet was fortunate enough to be chosen to make the Atlantic crossing on a number of occasions, looking after the pampered pooches of the wealthy passengers. The kennels occupied a special place on board which even boasted a bench and a lamp post to make the dogs feel at home! Of course, provided the animals were vaccinated on arrival in New York they could just trot off the boat, but on returning to Britain the poor animals had to spend six months in quarantine!

When Janet had completed her training at Bellmead she returned to Mr. Staton’s surgery in Wood Green, where she worked as an animal nurse. It was whilst on a surfing holiday in Cornwall that she met her future husband John (yes, they are a Janet and John couple), a car mechanic who also came from London. They married in 1986 and their first child Jamie was born in 1990. Jamie was a very premature baby, born with cerebral palsy, and they became set on the idea of moving to be close to Addenbrookes Hospital where Jamie could get the specialised care he needed. Realising that they would need a good deal of help and support as he grew up, Janet’s parents Gwen and Ron Lambert decided to join them.

Both couples sold their homes in Wood Green and started looking for somewhere to start a small business together just at a time when the kennels were up for sale. Ron was a builder and took on the task of upgrading the kennels and building new pens, Gwen organised the paperwork and Janet was hands-on with the animals. John continued to work at his trade although he is now semiretired and works part time in Royston.

Jamie was followed by Matthew and Rebecca, and all three children went to Meldreth Primary School and then to Melbourn Village College. The children still live at home and work locally – Matthew is a carer at Meldreth Manor School and Rebecca (Becky) is a personal trainer at Wilmotts, although she really wants to pursue a career in the Air Force. She has belonged to the Air Cadets since she was fourteen and is now a staff member at Bassingbourn. I did not meet her but she is apparently a tiny, 5’2” bundle of energy!

Years ago the team were joined by Tammy, a friend from Royston, who acts as Kennel Maid. They can accommodate 38 dogs and 22 cats, judiciously housed in different parts of the property. I learned that some owners arrive with the animal on a lead, hand it over and walk away happy in the knowledge that their beloved pet is going to be well cared for. Other owners, however, arrive laden with special bed, blanket, toys, feeding bowls and a multitude of instructions and fancy diets. Indeed, they have had to install a freezer as some dogs have their own special meals frozen into portions. There was a huge pile of stainless steel bowls in evidence and large bins of ’ordinary’ pet food as well as tubs of treats.

Janet said that 99% of the dogs settle down and accept the kennel life for a couple of weeks but that cats can be a bit more tricky. They are proud of the fact that they have a safe enclosure for the dogs to run around and play on grass and socialise with other boarders.

Some years ago the small dwelling on the plot next door to Greenlow came up for sale (does anyone remember Wilf, who lived there?) and it was bought by one of Janet’s sisters. They built a beautiful bungalow into the hill which is completely wheelchair friendly so that Jamie, their nephew, can negotiate all the rooms. I went onto the Greenlow

website and there is a link to a fascinating pictorial record of the building of the bungalow – I recommend it.

Janet’s father sadly died in 2012, but Gwen continues to help in the office and she looks after the very large garden and vegetable plot. I suspect also that they all enjoy Mum’s cooking. Dad was a drummer in his spare time and his group was called The Elastic Band!

I asked if they ever have instances of pets being left at the kennels and then not being reclaimed and, sadly, for a number of reasons, it does happen. It seems to me that the collective family just incorporate the pets into the fold! Janet did say there was one instance when some Arab gentlemen booked their two dogs in for three months whilst they travelled abroad, but they never returned. Tammy is not immune to the big soulful eyes of an abandoned pet either: she adopted Elizabeth, the English Bulldog, and later took on a kitten left on the doorstep one day.

Janet and John really enjoy travelling, and she told me that, shortly before Jamie was born, they went on holiday and met two other couples, one from Nottingham and one from Wisbech. They formed an instant bond and have holidayed together ever since. At the moment they are looking forward to their first cruise – to the Caribbean. Janet and Tammy also had fun recently when they were treated to a day acting as Zoo Keepers at Banham Zoo; it was a tremendous experience but on the whole they both thought they preferred looking after domestic animals!

I should mention that Jamie is a comedian. I don’t just mean he is funny, he is a proper comedian, doing gigs at The Junction and at local pubs, and recently did a big charity fundraiser at the Black Horse. At the moment he is in London for a week doing a theatre course; maybe one day we shall see him on our screens!

Of course, Boarding Kennels are hard work and very demanding – the animals must always come first, but the rewards are great when families bring their treasured pets back again and again to be looked after whilst they are away. Greenlow Kennels is truly a family affair run by folks who really love animals.

Mavis Howard

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

WEDNESDAY

SATURDAY

feature

Libelle: From H.G Wells to Langham Press!

Langham Press

Of the many comments the magazine has received over the years, the most frequent is in praise of the quality of the printing and the glossy, colourful appearance. Well, credit must be attributed to Langham Press – and the former Burlington Press at Foxton – who have been with us since 2000.

The magazine has published several books printed by the press. The Burlington Press printed the book ‘Melbourn 2000’ in that year – an extensive photographic record of the village at the turn of the millennium, produced by the magazine, and in 2004 Burlington printed ‘Pictorial Melbourn’, a historical photographic walk through the village. Langham Press, who took over the Burlington in 2012, have printed several publications designed and produced by the magazine for clubs and groups in the village. And in 2018 they reprinted our local history book ‘A Glimpse into Melbourn’s Past’, which had proved to be very popular.

In 2019 Langham Press moved premises from Foxton to Whittlesford, from where their state-of-the-art digital and lithographic printing still manages to provide clientele such as local businesses, charities, educational establishments, designers and publishers with an old-fashioned friendly service. They have continued to help and advise the magazine, providing a fast turnaround and quality printing, and have helped in creating an efficient delivery system saving us many hours of work, for which we are extremely grateful.

For more information visit the website at: www.langhampress.co.uk

And so a Quiz

Question: What links our printers with the father of science fiction?

Answer: Our printer’s predecessors published and sold the first books that HG Wells wrote. It is a story of two people from fairly humble backgrounds making good and of a mini Port Sunlight in our midst.

William Briggs, the originator of the publishing company, was born in Leeds in 1861. His father was a monumental mason and his mother was the daughter of a clock maker. By 1887, at the age of 26, William had gained a degree equivalent in mathematics and had founded what can be regarded as a precursor to today’s Open University. He called it the ‘University Correspondence College’ and it was one of the first distance and flexible learning schemes to degree standard; taking advantage of the 1858 royal charter for the ‘University of London External Programme’. At this time, Briggs selected Cambridge as the address for his business; perhaps hoping the academic kudos of the location would be an advantage. He chose the name Burlington House for his offices.

Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley Kent in 1866. His father was a domestic gardener, professional cricketer for Kent and unsuccessful shopkeeper. His mother was a domestic servant. Already fired by a love of literature from the age of eight, Wells endured a miserable apprenticeship as a draper from the age of fourteen but managed to get a job as a pupilteacher at the age of seventeen, (a senior pupil who acted as a teacher to younger children). From there, he managed to win a scholarship to the ‘Normal School of Science’ (now part of the Imperial Collage London) studying biology under Thomas Henry Huxley (Darwin’s Bulldog). Wells stayed at that school until 1887, earning one guinea per week, and writes in his autobiography of ‘constantly being hungry’.

Around that same time, 1887, H G Wells writes he had “received a mysterious communication from a person of the name of Briggs, requesting the honour of an interview at Cambridge”. Briggs offered to pay Wells £2 per week to take over the correspondence course in biology. Moreover, if Wells were then to pass his degree with honours, Briggs

H G Wells

promised him a permanent post teaching 30 hours per week and a guaranteed income of £4 per week. In due course, Wells passed his degree in zoology with first-class honours, and Briggs paid him £300 per year. In 1895, HG Wells wrote his first book: a biology textbook called ‘Text-Book of Biology’, in two volumes, which became a standard text. Briggs published it under the publishing business he had founded in the meantime: W. B. Clive & Co.

In 1898, Briggs acquired a printing operation in Cambridge in what is now Wellington House in East Road. He called this operation Burlington Press. By 1902, the stock in trade of the printing company amounted to £20,000 – the equivalent of over £2.3M in modern currency. At this point, Briggs set about buying up huge swaths of Foxton: Foxton Hall, (described in the 1914 Sale of Particulars as ‘A Freehold Country Residence, well screened from the road and approached by a beautiful winding carriage drive’), and two acres of land; Foxton House, with lodge, four acres of land, six acres of parkland, thirteen cottages and various other lots of wooded or grazing land; and Wildbores Farm in the centre of Foxton, where he then built his new printing factory and sixteen houses for his workers.

Thus, in 1908, Burlington Press of Foxton was born into a village that comprised 400 mainly thatched houses clustered around the church. What Briggs created in Foxton was similar to a mini Port Sunlight or mini Bourneville: the houses for his workers had running water, flushing toilets and a bath with a plughole. The workers were skilled and earned commensurate wages: men at the press earned £3 2s 6d per week, compared with the 30 shillings per week earned by their farm worker neighbours.

In 1932, Dr William Briggs died. His son Cecil succeeded him and ran the business very successfully until his retirement in 1964. Other family members carried on the management of the business until 1974 when workers received a letter informing them the works would close in June.

Coincidentally, also in 1932, a man called Paul Ridgeon was born. In the early 1970’s he and Barry Canning set up Cambridge Instantprint, aimed at providing rapid high quality printing services: ‘The fastest printer in the East’. Paul Ridgeon took over Burlington Press in 1974 and continued to run the company up until 2000 when it was taken over.

Above, the print room in 1908. The ‘state of the art’ letterpress printer capable of printing on a single side of a large sheet in one colour. In contrast the image shown at the top of page 21, shows a modern five-colour lithographic printer, capable of printing both sides of a sheet in multiple colours.

At the beginning, Dr Briggs’ company used the letterpress printing process with hand-built plates. They were state-of-theart at the time. When Paul Ridgeon took over the company in 1974, a steady programme of reinvestment in contemporary equipment took place. This included installing sheet-fed litho printers and modern digital systems enabling a quick turnaround of short-run stationery, brochures, manuals and training packs. The innovatory vision of Dr Briggs continues within the company to this day.

Above, the composition room at the Burlington Press in 1912. The compositor’s job was to create the pages by selecting each individual character from a ‘type case’, placing them in a ‘composing stick’. This gradually built up the text for each page, letter by letter, ensuring it read back to front. For this article you are reading, the compositor would have placed almost 8000 characters – by hand, including word spaces, each character approximately the thickness of a matchstick and about 10mm long.

Right, a high-tech method of composing was also used at the Burlington with the introduction of the Linotype machine.

Essentially an extremely large typewriter capable of producing type from hot metal and placing them in a form.

Source: Printing in the Park by Don Challis

H G Wells’ first publication was the Text-book of Biology, published by the University Correspondence College Press.

MVC VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL

SCHOOL LITTLE HANDS

U3A EDUCATION COLLEGE

Little Hands

Karen

Melbourn Playgroup

Jane Crawford

Notre Ecole

Janet Whitton

Primary School

Headteacher

Wilcox

U3A (Univ. of Third Age)

Chairman Tony Garrick

Village College

Principal Simon Holmes

Changes at Little Hands Nursery

Little Hands Nursery

This summer saw a complete overhaul of the toys in Little Hands nursery. Our ginormous stack of plastic toys has been reduced by around 50% and has been mostly replaced with natural resources. Instead of building a tower with plastic mega-blocks, the children are now embarking on the challenge of building cork towers and train tracks with purpose-made wooden blocks and off-cuts provided by a local tree surgeon. Our role play area contains real fruit and veg and full-sized wooden kitchen utensils. Whilst we understand plastic has its benefits, and will always have its place within an early years setting, we are keen to embrace more natural resources with the children.

The old office has been converted into a dining room, where the children are encouraged to choose and chop their own fruit at snack time and be more independent at lunch and dinner time.

Another exciting change is our new sensory room. Our old staff room has been painted black, a state-of-the-art projector has been installed and a continuous loop of sea creatures is projected onto the back wall. The media can be changed at any time – last week we had nursery rhymes on the ceiling to accompany our rhyme time. This is an amazing, versatile resource for all the children and it will offer amazing benefits in the future.

We continue to visit Moorlands Court one afternoon a week and enjoy the intergenerational programme that supports physical, cognitive and social well-being. Jacey Stewart.

A visit to Moorlands Court

Personal care and a�en�on

Sawston Adult Education

Christmas is nearly here. Why not book a loved one on a course as a gift?

We have some fabulous Saturday Workshops running on 18th January.

These include Indian Feast for Friends, Patisserie, Willow Weaving – Catalan Platter, Fused Glass Jewellery, Different ways to Cook Fish and Creative Writing. Costs range from £21.00 to £45.00 depending on the course.

Our new term starts week commencing 13 January 2020 and we are able to offer a great choice of exercise classes for those who want to get fit for the New Year. Why not try Tai Chi, Flamenco, Pilates, Tap Dance or Bollywood & Classical Indian Dance.

For information on all these courses and many more, please visit our website www.sawstonadulted.org or contact us on 01223 712424, community@sawstonvc.org

Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) –Royston

The next course is Pirates of the Caribbean & Beyond. Starts 21st January and will end on 31st March. (Half-term 18th February) Ian Chambers 10 weeks 10.00am – 11.30am. £58.00. www.enrolonline.wea.org.uk Venue: Heritage Hall, Royston Town Hall.

Profile

Pat Vince 1932– 2019

Born in Wembley at home on 23rd June 1932 to parents Reginald and Ivy Roberts, Pat was an only child. At some point they moved to Hounslow where she grew up and went to primary and grammar school. This is where her love of music began and she started to learn to play the piano.

After leaving the grammar school, she attended the Pitman secretarial college in London and became a very accomplished shorthand typist, working in an architect’s office on Hanover Square. Her shorthand skills were put to use all her life, as she often wrote in shorthand to save time. In her lunch breaks in HS she would enjoy listening to music and songs which were played in the church near her office. She also gained her London Guild School of Music degree for performance and teaching, of which she and her family were immensely proud, although Pat rarely used the letters after her name! Her love of doing crosswords was born during her commuting days, and in later years she would complete the Daily Telegraph crossword with ease most days.

Through her faith and music she met Frank, a travelling commercial representative for the famous Christy Hat manufacturing company, who was divorced and twice her age.

On 23rd July 1955, when Pat was 23, they married at the Methodist church in Hounslow where they both lived.

They moved to Melbourn in 1961, due to a change in Frank’s region of sales for Christy to East Anglia, and purchased 1 Spencer Drive, where they resided for many years before Frank passed away and Pat went into a home. They enjoyed living in the village very much and involved themselves in the church and music as quickly as possible. Throughout their marriage they both loved to travel and went on many touring holidays in Europe and further afield, including a cruise on the QE2. Andrew was born on 21st April 1962 and Pat was overjoyed to become a mother. Due to Frank’s being away most of the week working this was quite difficult at times. Andrew remembers spending an awful lot of

time throughout his childhood alone with his mum, and they therefore built up a very strong bond. He enjoyed many happy family holidays and his love of cars was born travelling in his gran’s and mum’s Austin A30 and A40.

Whilst bringing up Andrew, Pat began to teach piano lessons to adults and children at home, which became very busy by word of mouth. In 1996 she also began teaching pupils at Greneway school in Royston, 2 days a week, and it is estimated that over the years 500 pupils were taught by her and enjoyed and never missed their lessons. They would perform a splendid end of year concert to celebrate their achievements. Unfortunately, when Pat ‘s mother Ivy had a stoke she had to give up her teaching at the school to become her full time carer.

Another great passion was realised when she took over the choir in Melbourn from Arthur Harcourt in 1975, and hence the New Melbourn Singers were formed with Pat singing and conducting. This proved to be a huge part of her life and she arranged many fabulous concerts, raising lots of money for various charities along the way.

The two main concerts took place at Easter, on Good Friday, and at Christmas. Other concerts were performed regularly at the Parish church and at Meldreth Manor, who benefited from the much-needed charity monies at the time.

Throughout this time, she also was heavily involved with the Cambridge Choral Society and orchestra, singing, conducting and playing the cello. A weekly event also took place at her home, when she invited fellow musicians known affectionately as ‘the men’ to make up a quartet with her and Frank, who played the violin, and they loved getting together to play, eat and drink. She produced lots of sweet cake treats which always encouraged them to turn up!

Pat played the piano for over 40 years at Moorlands, the care home, and the residents became extremely fond of her. She also played at Whaddon church from time to time. Her love of playing the organ in church was shared with Derek Thurley for many years.

Pat was delighted to be a grandmother to Amy and Chloe, who have fond memories of the many times they shared with her.

Chloe remembers trips during the school holidays to Wood Green animal shelter in her Nan’s red Rover. She was kept quiet with bags of Skittles sweets, to stop her complaining about the classical music channel on the radio, which she was not allowed to change! Chloe remembers not liking Pat’s driving either! On one trip to Wood Green to collect a cat, someone else was admiring it and Pat told them: ‘It’s too bad, it’s mine!’.(Not sure if it might be better to cut this.)

Chloe used to play in the music room when visiting her Nan, and loved the instruments box, which was always under the piano, with everything from a tambourine, maracas, a triangle, recorder and more. She says that her Nan helped her to learn the piano and practise her scales, which she tried to get out of, but Pat was always insistent you had to learn the scales in order to play well, and it certainly paid off. Chloe is certain that her Nan was thrilled that one of her

granddaughters played the piano and enjoyed singing too, and that she was very proud of her achievements.

Finally, we cannot finish without mentioning the cats! Pat cherished and loved each one, the home was never without one or more and she also took in strays and would feed the neighbours’ cats too. Most of her cats were called Minnie, after the car, but others, included Monty, and Poppy, who she inherited from Andrew and Sharon, when they adopted her from an animal shelter only to discover that Sharon was severely allergic. Pat’s house was a shrine to cats including pictures, crockery, ornaments, clothing, clocks and cushions. She loved all animals, despising cruelty to them, and supported many charities over the years.

Many of you have not seen Pat for years but have your own special memories of a wonderful lady and pillar of the community. She managed to stay in her home, being looked after by Sharon and social services carers, until 5 years ago. She had a very bad fall at home, and alongside her additional health issues, including diabetes and dementia, she was admitted to the Home Close care home in Fulbourn, near to Sharon and Andrew’s home. Her quality of life had been very poor for some time, and after developing a blood clot in a main artery in her leg she passed away peacefully on Saturday 10th August.

Andrew would like to take this opportunity to thank Sharon for all her hard work, care and devotion to Pat over many years.

The history of the New Melbourn Singers

The following article was written by Pat Vince in 2002 and printed in the Melbourn magazine to celebrate 160 years since the New Melbourn Singers began in 1842.

160 years old this year! 1842–2002

The Melbourn Choral Society was founded in 1842 by Mr. George Ward, builder and undertaker, and his friends, and is still thriving today despite several changes of name, enormous changes in the way we live and the many different types of entertainment now available to us.

The Society Minute Book begins in 1846, and is beautifully written in a very stylish hand by the Secretary/Treasurer Mr W. Carver, the minister of the Congregational Church (now URC) who also owned and ran the Nonconformist Boarding School in the High Street where Greenbanks is now built. (At that time nonconformists were not permitted to attend Church of England Schools).

This explains why rehearsals and meetings were held in the Congregational Church, but not why quite a few of them were in the club room of The Hoops public house, unless the landlord, Albert Huggins, also a pork butcher, was a member of the church?

During 1846 the Rules were laid down. There were to

be 9 committee members, one to act as Librarian, elected annually, (the Chairman and Treasurer/Secretary were ex officio members); potential members were to be proposed and seconded, and could be blackballed if considered unsuitable. Members could also be ousted from the club for rowdy or unsuitable behaviour. Boys under the age of 14 were to be free members, (there is a later, pencilled, record, underlined, saying that girls under 14 were also to be admitted free!). There were 3 general meetings a year and initially subscriptions were 1d (12d were replaced by 5p in 1971) to be paid every six weeks. The Chairman at this time was Mr William Crole and the Librarian Mr J. Cayzer.

On 10th October 1849 Mr Carver was in the chair at a meeting at The Hoops. Amongst the expenses listed is the sum of £1 10s 11d incurred for candles, beer and a Police Constable during a concert. This makes it sound like a pop concert! It was the custom for some years to raise money for the society by organising a Good Friday Tea, and in 1858 this raised £2 18s 0d, though the expenses incurred for this were £1 14s 11½d.

The first surviving programme is for a concert given on December 13th 1877 in the Reading Room at Shepreth. Front Seats were 1 shilling, and Back Seats were six pence. The programme consisted of Glees, Songs, Duets and Solos, such as ‘Moonlight’ sung by Mrs W Flitton, ‘Truth and Absence’ sung by Miss Titchmarsh and the Glee ‘Friendship’. A year later a benefit concert was given for Mrs Flitton. The reasons are not given, could there be a tragedy here?

In 1879 a concert was given in the Old Chapel for the benefit of Melbourn Library, (which was upstairs in the Congregational Church), with tickets at 6d, and 3d for the gallery. In 1880 a sum of £1 1s 0d (one guinea) was donated to Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum, an institution founded in London by a wealthy nonconformist; this amount was repeated for several years. In 1881 and 1883 funds were raised for ‘Coals for poor Widows of Melbourn and Meldreth, and in 1882 ‘In Aid of the Clothing Club’. Due to our proximity to Cambridge the Singers have always had associations with the University, and several undergraduates came to conduct concerts. In 1895 Mr H P Allen, organist at Christ’s, (later to become Sir Hugh Allen, conductor of The Bach Choir and succeeding Hubert Parry in 1918 as principal of the Royal College of Music) conducted a St Cecilia’s Day Cantata, bringing some members of the Cambridge University Musical Society (CUMS) with him.

He came again in 1896 to conduct two cantatas, sing quartets with other students and play two Chopin pieces. We are told that he persuaded the LNER to stop the Northbound Express at Melbourn & Meldreth Station so that he could get back to Cambridge and the College before they closed the gates for the night! Another undergraduate who practised his conducting skills on Melbourn singers, on St Patrick’s Day 1898, was Edward Dent of King’s. He went on to become a world authority on early Italian opera, Mozart, Handel and more. He was appointed Cambridge Professor of Music from 1926-41.

The Great War caused a lapse in the Society, which

started up again in 1923, with the Rev Rice of Whaddon conducting a mixed programme on December 20. It included many solos and part songs, including one called ‘Aldiborontiphoscophomio’! Between the Wars the Society entered the newly started Cambridge Festival of Music, with which Professor Dent was associated, and won many cups and certificates for Madrigal Singing, Mixed Voice Choruses and Sight reading. The conductor throughout this time was George Ward, son of the founder, and the accompanist Mrs Irene Black, whose daughter, Daphne, is still in the choir and our longest singing member. Mr Ward died in 1942, and during World War II the Society was kept going by Mr Seymour Samuels, the Congregational Church Organist. An earlier accompanist was Miss Hagger.

After the War the choir gave concerts to raise funds for the Merchant Navy and the Wilfred Pickles Appeal Fund for Children. Despite this numbers declined and in 1956 C. Wedd wrote ‘the Society was not continued through lack of members’. However, the opening of the Village College provided the impetus for the re-forming of the Choir, and an extra boost was given by the formation of the Cambridgeshire Village College Choral Society, now known as the Cambridgeshire Choral Society, formed by Sir David Willcocks and Mr Edgar Alder to enable amateur singers to perform major works with professional soloists and musicians. The CCS is made up of smaller choirs which meet up once a month, from September, to rehearse for the performance the following April. The conductors continued to be eminent Cambridge musicians, and after Sir David were Philip Ledger, Tim Brown, Paul Trepte, Stephen Cleobury and now James Thomas conducts the choir. The venue for the concert this year was Kings College Chapel, and we have also performed at Ely and St Edmundsbury Cathedrals. There are also regular workshops and fundraising events.

The Melbourn Singers were conducted for many years by Mr Arthur Harcourt, the headmaster of Bassingbourn Primary School, and after he retired in 1980 Mrs Patricia Vince, who had been accompanist for 17 years, took over, renaming the choir the New Melbourn Singers.

Patricia Vince

WHAT THE PAPERS SAID

Choral Society

A Choral Society has sprung up in this place, which would be a credit even to a large town. Last Tuesday week, a selection of sacred music, consisting of all the “Messiah” choruses, two or three solos, and one of Mozart’s Services, was performed in a manner highly to be commended, and, indeed, to be imitated: the badness of the room and the paucity of soprano voices alone present this society from giving full effect to the sublime composition of Handel and Mozart. We repeat that the exertions of the society and its talented leader merit all praise.

Travelogue

Travelling the Himalayas

The revival of traditional paper making along the Himalayas

As an interlude in our trip along the Himalayas, this article describes my delight at finding the revival of this ancient craft. I came across it accidentally when visiting an orphanage in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. There was a gift shop with some delightful handmade paper products and when I asked where these were made I was astonished to find that the founder of the orphanage, Jampa Tsundhup, had made it his personal mission to revive traditional Tibetan papermaking. This skill had been largely lost in the 1950s when the government and monasteries transferred to industrially produced paper (this was also the case in Bhutan, Nepal and India). He scoured the country and found the few remaining experts who could still remember the complex process of making handmade paper. He then used them to train students from the orphanage in the revival of the skills. I helped him with the English translation of a book which describes this revival and the processes involved, including samples of the paper.

This stimulated me to visit other sites in Tibet and also in Nepal where the craft was being revived. Friends who live in Sikkim (India) and Bhutan have provided me with details of the revival there and I am happy to say that there is now a flourishing industry in all these countries.

The traditional date for the arrival of paper making in Tibet is the seventh century, which is much later than its first use in China (2nd century CE), being introduced by a Chinese queen of the Tibetan emperor. Possibly there was small scale production earlier diffusing from China along the silk road to the North West or from Yunnan in the South East. This later arrival may coincide with the development of a

written language, the development of a large empire requiring effective communication systems and the need to copy translated versions of Buddhist scriptures arriving from India.

The plants used are from the Thymelaeaceae family. On the Tibetan plateau this is Stellera (which only grows above 2,600 metres) from which the root bast fibres are extracted. However, unless several sheets are glued together

Stripping bark Nyemo, Tibet, China

Tibetan with Stellera Root

this is not strong enough. Therefore, it is often combined with fibres from Daphne sp which grows on the lower Southern slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. As well as Daphne Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan also use material from Edgeworthia and Wikoesroemia species. In the case of these woody shrubs the bast fibres are collected from the stems. In the past there was a significant trade in these fibres to Tibet, as well as finished paper and paper products. Possibly the best plant for paper making is Kyemshing (paper Kyemshog), which was used for Tibetan currency until the 1950s, is one that only grows in very small quantities in a particular microclimate in Tibet near to the Indian border in the far East. This maybe Wikoestemia lungtzensis, although Kew Botanical Gardens haven’t yet given me a definitive identification.

These fibres are similar to those used in China – hemp, bamboo, mulberry, rattan, ramie (Chinese grass), rice and wheat straw (I have visited mulberry paper making in Khotan on the southern silk road) but have a unique characteristic in that they are poisonous to insects and, it is said, to mice. For this reason, ancient Tibetan documents are in much better condition than many mediaeval European documents that have worm holes, etc.

The best quality paper is highly praised by calligraphers and artists and is now being used for conservation.

The process is similar at different sites, but the details vary. Each manufacturer says he has a unique approach to produce the finest paper, particularly the additives used at the boiling stage. The key stages are:

• Collect plant;

• Abstract the fibres;

• Pound with a pestle and mortar;

• Boil, often with alkali additives. This stage maybe repeated;

• Clean and pound

• Add pulp to the frame in water using the floating method

• Dry the paper on the frame

• Remove the dried sheet

• Burnish (possibly glue sheets together) using Zi stone, conch shell, etc.

Cleaning Kyemshog

Pounding Paper Pulp, Nepal

The revival has taken different forms in the countries along the Himalayas, but there are some common features. There is a link to intangible cultural heritage – a UN accepted category which is not related to buildings or art artefacts (Mongolian throat singing is another example). This encourages pride in ethnic identity through native crafts which were almost lost. In Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan it is linked to assisting impoverished areas of the country and the particularly the female population in remote villages. In China there was governmental support to purchase equipment and pay for the labour but not much commercial advice. This contrasts strongly with Bhutan which decided to focus on the commercial aspects using Japanese advisors. In Nepal and Sikkim support has mainly been from NGOs but with large commercial retail operations in the Nepalese capital.

There is a wonderful document in the Cambridge University Library printed by Nigel MacFarlane in 1986 on Nepalese homemade paper describing paper making in the Himalayas. Gladly, his prediction that this craft would soon die out has proved wrong, and even in our digital neo liberal global economy the best hand-made paper is highly prized. There is even a Tibetan paper making workshop in Washington State USA.

Bruce Huett

For the Community by the Community

Winter Menu now available at The Hub!

Bear’

still available along

board’ and our

for the little ones.

why not pop in and enjoy a warm meal and a drink this winter?

food is freshly prepared to order, so may take

few minutes to arrive. We are fully licensed and you can eat in or take away it’s up to you!

Village information

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Orchard Surgery

Appointments & Dispensary 260220

Hospitals

Clerk

Simon Crocker

parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk

Assistant to Parish Clerk Claire Littlewood assistantclerk@melbournpc.co.uk

Responsible Financial Officer

Gabrielle van Poortvliet RFO@melbournpc.co.uk

Chair

Graham Clark, 3 Cooks Garden, SG8 6FT 07899 651561

Vice-Chair

Ian Cowley, 37 Orchard Road, SG8 6HH 07979 474830

Councillors

Rebecca Barnes, 18 New Road, SG8 6BX

Richenda Buxton, The Long House, 2 Meadow Way, SG8 6EA – 07884 071933

Graham Clark, 3 Cooks Garden, SG8 6FT 07899 651561

Ian Cowley, 37 Orchard Road, SG8 6HH 07979 474830

Sally Ann Hart, The Old Rose, 62 High Street, SG8 6AJ – 01763 222256

Steve Kilmurray, Bramley Lodge, Back Lane, SG8 6DD – 01763 268674

John Travis, Lamorna, 16 Cambridge Road, SG8 6HA – 01763 232692

Richard Wilson, 8 Palmers Way, SG8 6JF

Timebank Coordinator

Catherine Sharman

Village Wardens

Keith Rudge, 4 Dolphin Lane, SG8 6AF Dennis Bartle, 5 Rose Lane, SG8 6AD

County Councillor

Susan van de Ven, 95 North End, Meldreth, 07905 325574

email: susanvandeven5@gmail.com

District Councillors

Philippa Hart, 24 Fenny Lane, Meldreth, SG8 6NN – 01763 261255

email: cllr.hart@scambs.gov.uk

Jose Hales, 23 Elm Way, SG8 6UH 01763 221058

email: jose@josehales.me.uk

South Cambs M.P.

Heidi Allen – 01954 212 707

Melbourn Pottery Club Maggie 01223 207307

Meldreth Local History Kathryn Betts 268428

Mothers’ Union Pauline Hay 260649

Addenbrooke’s

01223 245151 Royston 01763 242134

NHS111 – Urgent Care 111

24hr helpline

Medical help when not a 999 emergency

Police Non Emergency number 101 Help when not a 999 emergency

Fire & Rescue Service 01223 376201

Crimestoppers 0800 555111

Neighbourhood Watch debbieclapham@icloud.com

Telephone Preference Service www.tsponline.org.uk 0345 070 0707

EDUCATION

Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford 07842 151512

Library LAP Jane Stevens johnjane.stevens@tiscali.co.uk

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 Tony Garrick 01223 510201

Hon Sec Hilary Docwra 222486

Mem Sec Chris Davison 264189 Village College Principal Simon Holmes 223400

HEALTH

Age UK Cambridgeshire 01223 221921 Blood Donors 0300 123 23 23

Chiropodist 263260

Dentist 262034

District Nurses (Primary Care Trust) 01223 846122 Home-Start 262262

S. Cambs PCT 35 Orchard Road

Child & Family Nurses 262861 Car Scheme 245228

LOCAL CLUBS

Air Cadets 2484 (Bassingbourn) Squadron 249156

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

Bellringers Barbara Mitchell 261518 Bridge Club Howard Waller 261693

1st Melbourn Rainbows Abigail Roberts 261505

Brownies 1st Melbourn Stephanie Clifford 220272 Guides 1st Melbourn Hilary Marsh 261443 Luncheon Club at Melbourn Hub (Wednesdays) 263303 op1 MADS (Melbourn Amateur Dramatics Society)

Donna Sleight 232622

Melbourn History Group Ann Dekkers 261144 Melbourn Mushroom Club John Holden

email: frog.end@virgin.net

National Trust Marian Bunting 246122 bunting@uwclub.net

New Melbourn Singers Adrian Jacobs 243224

Photographic Club melbournphotoclub@hotmail.com

Ramblers Dave Allard 242677

Royal British Legion Women Elizabeth Murphy 220841

Royal National Lifeboat Institution Jean Emes 245958

Royston and District Local History Society

David Allard 242677

Royston Family History Society Pam Wright frierley@ntlworld.com

Royston Lions Chris Cawdell 448236

RSPB Fowlmere Doug Radford 208978

SOAS (Supporters of All Saints’) Colin Limming 260072

Women’s Group Pat Smith 260103

PLACES OF WORSHIP

All Saints’ Church Revd. Elizabeth Shipp 220626

vicar.melbournmeldreth@gmail.com

Churchwardens Roger Mellor 220463

David Farr 221022

Baptist Church Rev. Stuart Clarke 261650

Secretary Brian Orrell 07568 376027

United Reformed Church

Secretary Rosaline Van de Weyer 01223 870869

Hall booking Beryl and Barry Monk 246458

SPORT

Badminton Steve Jackson 248774

Bowls Arthur Andrews 261990

Croquet Janet Pope 248239

Jazzercise Maxine Rustem 07963 161246

Judo Iain Reid (Chief Instructor) or Lesley Reid 241830 email melbournjudoclub@gmail.com 07974 445710

Melbourn Dynamos FC Gordon Atalker 07770533249

Blake Carrington 07730488743

Melbourn Football Club Simon Gascoyne 261703

Melbourn Sports Centre Graham Johnson-Mack 263313

Meldreth Tennis Club Tracy Aggett 243376

Swimming Club Jenny Brackley 244593

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Community Hall bookings@communityhallmelbourn.com 07821 656033

Dial-A-Ride 01223 506335

Home Start Tracy Aggett 262262

Melbourn Community Hub 263303

Mobile Warden Scheme Jeannie Seers 07808 735066

Moorlands Denise Taylor 260564

Vicarage Close Warden Eileen Allan 263389

Lead Sheltered Housing Officer – Monday to Friday 9–1.30

Vicarage Close, John Impey Way & Elin Way Eileen Allan Mobile 07876 791419 / 245402

Every other week. 9–5 Monday to Friday

DIARY

DECEMBER

Sunday 1st

All Saints BCP Said Eucharist 8.00am

Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am

URC Communion Service 11am

Baptist Church Communion Service 6pm

Monday 2nd

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Tuesday 3rd

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693

URC Christingle with the Brownies 7pm Wednesday 4th

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12

Thursday 5th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft and Chat URC 2 - 4pm Royston & District Local History Society: ‘Live Forever! The Mystery & Magic of Egyptian Hieroglyphs’ 8.00pm Royston Town Hall

Friday 6th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

MADS “Mother Goose” begins (see article) Saturday 7th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am inc. The Bookshelf ‘Tastes of Christmas’ URC 11am

SOAS Christmas Film “White Christmas”. Tickets £7.50. Doors open 8.00pm

Sunday 8th

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am

Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am URC Service 11am

Monday 9th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 10th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

Deanery Mothers’ Union contact Diane Blundell 221415

Wednesday 11th

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12 Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm

Thursday 12th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 13th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 14th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Dementia Friends Café Hub 2.30-4.00pm

Sunday 15th

All Saints: Said Eucharist 8.00am; Sundays @11 Family Service 11.00am

Baptist Church Christmas Nativity Service 10.30am

URC Service 11am

All Saints Christingle Service 3.30pm

Monday 16th

Churches Together Carols at the British Queen Meldreth 7pm

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 17th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

Wednesday 18th

Baptist Church: Coffee Break 10.30-12

Last day of school term

Thursday 19th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 20th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 21st

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Churches Together Carols at the Cross 10.30am Christmas Buzz Holiday Club, Baptist Church 2 – 6pm

Sunday 22nd

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am

Baptist Church Family Communion Service 10.30am URC Service 11am Churches Together Carols at Moorlands 2.30pm, Southwell Court 3.30pm

All Saints Carol Service 6pm

Baptist Church Carols by Candlelight 6pm

Monday 23rd

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 24th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

All Saints Crib Service 3pm – with Noah the donkey

All Saints Midnight Eucharist 11pm URC Watchnight Service 11.30pm

Wednesday 25th

All Saints Christmas Day Service 8am

Baptist Church Christmas Morning Family Service 9.30am URC Christmas Morning Service 8.30am

Friday 27th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 28th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 29th

All Saints Said Eucharist 8am

Baptist Church Family Service 10.30am

URC Service 11am

JANUARY 2020

Thursday 2nd

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft and Chat URC 2 - 4pm

Royston & District Local History Society “Pomp and Circumstance” Town Hall 8pm

Friday 3rd

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 4th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am inc. The Bookshelf

Sunday 5th

All Saints BCP Said Eucharist 8.00am

Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am URC Communion Service 11am Baptist Church Communion 6pm

Monday 6th

Staff training days at Melbourn Primary and MVC Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Tuesday 7th

School terms begin

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Wednesday 8th

Baptist Church Coffee Break 10.30-12 Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm

Thursday 9th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft and Chat URC 2 - 4pm

Friday 10th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 11th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 12th

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am

Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am

URC Morning Worship 11am

Monday 13th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 14th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm Deanery MU contact Diane Blundell 221415

Wednesday 15th

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12

Thursday 16th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 17th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Melbourn Cinema Night showing ‘Yesterday’

Tickets: Brenda 261154, Mavis 260686, Cyndy 264189

Saturday 18th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Dementia Friends Cafe 2.30 - 4pm The Hub

Sunday 19th

All Saints: Said Eucharist 8.00am; Sundays @11 Family Service 11.00am

Baptist Church Communion Service 10.30am URC Morning Worship 11am

Monday 20th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 21st

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

Wednesday 22nd

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12

British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm Melbourn WI ASCH 8pm

Thursday 23rd

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 24th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 25th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 26th

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am

Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am URC Morning Worship 11am

Monday 27th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 28th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

Women’s Group 7.45pm Meldreth (AGM) contact Pat Smith 262575

Wednesday 29th

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12

Thursday 30th

All Saints Said Eucharist 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 31st

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

FEBRUARY 2020

Saturday 1st

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am inc. The Bookshelf Sunday 2nd

All Saints BCP Said Eucharist 8.00am Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am

URC Communion Service 11am Baptist Church Communion Service 6pm

All Saints Candlelit Choral Evensong 6pm

Monday 3rd

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Tuesday 4th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Melbourn Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Wednesday 5th

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12

Thursday 6th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft and Chat URC 2 - 4pm

Royston & District Local History Society “Four Inspirational Women” Town Hall 8pm

Friday 7th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am Saturday 8th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Sunday 9th

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am URC Morning Worship 11am

Monday 10th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 11th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm Deanery MU contact Diane Blundell 221415 Wednesday 12th Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12 Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm

Thursday 13th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 14th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 15th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Dementia Friends Café 2.30 – 4pm The Hub Sunday 16th

All Saints: Said Eucharist 8.00am; Sundays @11 Family Service 11.00am

Baptist Church Communion Service 10.30am URC Morning Worship 11am

Monday 17th

Half term week

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 18th

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub

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 melbournmagazine@gmail.com

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

Wednesday 19th

Baptist Church Coffee Break 10.30-12

Thursday 20th

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 21st

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Melbourn Cinema Night showing “Downton Abbey” Tickets: Brenda 261154, Mavis 260686, Cyndy 264189

Saturday 22nd

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 23rd

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am

Baptist Church Morning Service 10.30am URC Service 11am

Monday 24th

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 7pm

Tuesday 25th

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am

Short Story Reading Group 10-11am The Hub

Melbourn Bridge Club URC Hall 2pm

Women’s Group 7.45pm Meldreth contact Pat Smith 262575

Wednesday 26th

Baptist Church: Craft Club 9.30–11.30am (TT); Coffee Break 10.30-12

British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm

Melbourn WI ASCH 8pm

Thursday 27th

All Saints Said Eucharist 10am

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 28th

Coffee & Chat URC 10.30am

Saturday 29th

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Melbourn Football Club Quiz Night ASCH

Village

Orchard Surgery & Dispensary

Monday to Friday 8:30–1pm and 3pm–6pm

01763 260220

prescriptions can be made either, in person or

registering to use the online NHS service.

Prescriptions can still be collected from: Surgery Co-op Tesco in Royston Prescription Home Delivery

surgery offers home delivery service for prescriptions, on a Tuesday & Thursday.

more information on any of the above, please see their website or contact the surgery.

BIN COLLECTION MELBOURN

collection day – TUESDAY

Melbourn Health Visiting Team

Drop in clinics for parents and babies are held as follows: Melbourn clinic every Wednesday

9.30am and 11.00am at:

Orchard Road, Melbourn.

01763 262861

loss on

Hearing Help session in MELBOURN

lives.

fourth Thursday of every month, from 2.00pm to 4.00pm,

maintenance of NHS hearing aids, including cleaning

re-tubing of hearing aids, supplying free replacement

and free advice on using a hearing aid.

appointment is necessary.

us at Vicarage Close Community Room, Melbourn, SG8 6DY

more information: www.cambridgeshirehearinghelp.org.uk

416141 Text: 07852 699196 enquiries@cambridgeshirehearinghelp.org.uk

Please note bin dates are not always

magazine goes to press, so dates marked *

not been

an update on collections visit:

collection-day/

Nature

Autumn at Fowlmere RSPB Nature Reserve

At the Fowlmere RSPB nature reserve the low water levels have continued to be a problem and the mere has remained dry for much of the summer months. However, there has been plenty of interesting wildlife to be seen by just casually strolling around the site. In this article, local birder Ade Cooper sets out his diary for the late summer/early autumn months of August, September and October.

In the first week of August, two Nuthatch were seen around the loop up at the centenary end. Also around the loop were one Coal Tit and a Spotted Flycatcher family with two adults feeding two juveniles. It was a delight to see the Turtle Dove when it came down to the mere mud to feed for five minutes. As it turned out, this was the last time that any Turtle Dove was recorded on the reserve this season. Sadly, no juveniles were seen and the future of the species at Fowlmere, indeed Britain, remains on the edge.

The week was warm and sunny and butterflies were in abundance! Fourteen species were recorded, including Painted Lady and Small Copper. A Silver-Washed Fritillary was also spotted – a terrific moment as they are a scarcity for the reserve. Four Roesel’s Bush Cricket were also seen.

Mid-August was quiet. The long-staying Nuthatch was still around the Watercress hut area, and even seen feeding on the track. At least two Spotted Flycatcher remain, the juveniles now fully independent. Male and female Marsh Harrier were spotted flying about late on the 11th.

Some excellent management work has enabled some water to flow into the mere and this brought in Teals, Little Grebes, Mallards, and Pied Wagtails. Common species, but water makes all the difference!

Roesel’s Bush Cricket

At this time in August birds were already leaving for the south; some Warblers will be off, small flocks of House Martin and Swallow passing through, most Swift had gone with only six left at this time. Lesser Black-Backed Gull have become a daily feature as they move south, groups also gathering in the fields surrounding the reserve that had been cut. The mere at least looked perfect, just in time for some wader passing through.

By the third week, a Tree Pipit was spotted in the cattle paddock. The bird was showing well, perched up on the top of bushes with a family group of Yellowhammer, and it flew off high to the south. This is the 4th consecutive year Tree Pipit has been recorded at Fowlmere, but only the 7th time ever’.

A Pipit seen in August is worth a good look – it will probably be a Tree Pipit.

Another excellent record was eight Whimbrel flying directly over the reedbed hide, a lovely sight to see them leisurely heading south. Other notables over this weekend included Hobby, Little Egret, Yellow-Legged Gull, Kingfisher, male Marsh Harrier, two Sand Martin and several Yellow Wagtail on the move.

The Guilden brook hedge started to get lively on the 23rd with a nice gathering of Warblers flycatching from the hedge top. Six Blackcap, two Whitethroat, two Willow

Silver-Washed Fritillary

Tree Pipit

Warbler, Chiffchaff and a Redstart. Brilliant! The bird showed nicely for a moment but was very active feeding and disappeared into cover. With no spring records, this is the first record for the reserve this year. 1600+ Lesser Black-Backed Gull flew over at dusk on their way to roost. The mere water levels were going down again, although sixty-five Mallard and one Teal were still present.

The 24th–25th was a brilliant weekend at Fowlmere! Fine and very hot conditions, but importantly a slight easterly breeze got birds on the move. The bushes seemed filled with migrant Warblers. There were good numbers of Blackcap with several Lesser Whitethroat, Common Whitethroat, and Willow Warbler along with Chiffchaff which suddenly appeared in groups feeding together. Such flocks are worth an extra search, as proved when a visitor found a Pied Flycatcher by the Reception. Missed it that day, but fortunately the bird was still present the next day in the same area. This is only the 9th record of Pied Flycatcher on the reserve.

The Redstart was still on the Guilden brook, a Greenshank flew over, calling. The two Nuthatch are still around the centenary end and Marsh Harrier still hanging around the reedbed. The mere was once again looking desperately low, but two Green Sandpiper still came in. Also noteworthy was a Willow Emerald Damselfly from spring hide.

Very hot days continued. A search around the reserve in late August produced more migrant Warblers. Lesser and Common Whitethroat with many Blackcap, and in the Guilden brook hedgerow the first Sedge Warbler seen for a couple of weeks. A Peregrine flew over north. Amazingly, three more Pied Flycatcher were found around the reserve, that made it four in as many days.

Hobby and two Little Egret were the highlights on a very quiet start to September. A couple of Yellow Wagtail and a Raven were seen, this was only the second record for the year. Juvenile Marsh Harrier appeared briefly over the reedbed before flying off. A Cormorant was also seen flying over the site heading south. Reserve residents such as Cettis Warbler, Barn Owl, Kingfisher and Water Rail were still on the reserve. Two Spotted Flycatcher feeding in the cattle paddock were about the only ‘new-in’ birds. Water Vole still showing up in the Shep.

The slow pace for birds was temporarily halted with a whiff of easterly airflow over night during mid-August. It wasn’t much but it had brought in three Redstart to the Guilden brook. Fantastic! Two of the birds were typically elusive, but an adult male in the trio showed superbly, feeding out in the open on the track and perching up in the hedgerow and fence in full view. All three went overnight and there was no sign of any on the following day. Forty+ Meadow Pipit flew over as

Water Vole feeding on the Shep

Little Egret

Juvenile Marsh Harrier

did an adult Hobby, two Red Kite drifted around, as did several Buzzard, all enjoying some warm sunshine. Some Warblers were still on site with Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Reed Warbler and Chiffchaff, the latter three in song.

Towards the end of September, a Great-White Egret flew in and landed close to the reedbed hide in the early afternoon. A brilliant record and only the 4th time Great-Whites have been seen at Fowlmere. It is the 120th species to be recorded at Fowlmere this year. The bird then took up brief residency at Shepreth and probably accounts for the one seen flying directly overhead at Fordham Way in Melbourn, on the 21st October, a new species for the parish as far as I know!

As we entered October, wintering species such as Redwing and Fieldfare that had come in from Scandinavia started to arrive, along with Brambling, Siskin and Redpoll which were all noted passing through. Five Stonechat were found in the area. Two were in the reeds by the mere and three by the solar farm out on the fields off the centenary wood. The count of five in one day was unusual as often there are only one or two seen in a whole autumn! Good numbers of Reed Bunting started to roost in the reedbeds with 370 counted in the 3rd week. A wonderful discovery was that Barn Owls had nested in the box by the mere. This was the first time that the box had been used for nesting since it was installed 3 years ago. A single

chick, now fully feathered with only the smallest patch of down, could be seen resting on the box ledge and looking out at its big, new world.

This article is a synopsis of the months of August to October at Fowlmere Bird Reserve taken from the website produced by Ade Cooper and Caroline Scott. To see the full version and other interesting visits Ade and Caroline have undertaken in the UK and abroad, visit: www.cooperandscott.wordpress.com

Fowlmere RSPB Nature Researve

Fowlmere

Melbourn

Parish boundery

Fox cubs playing on the mere.

Fallow Deer feeding on the dried out mere

Cam Sight is an independent charity providing services across Cambridgeshire for people of all ages living with low vision and blindness.

Cam Sight works in partnership with local people, helping them to achieve the possibilities they choose in life. Client choice and control are central to our purpose, and the organisation supports 1,650 people of all ages, life stages and circumstances through our two centres in Cambridge and Wisbech.

Services have been developed to enhance the independence, improve the well-being, and increase the inclusion of people living with blindness and low vision across the county.

To increase inclusion, we run peer support groups for all ages. For children, we have fortnightly groups for pre-school ages and monthly groups for those in primary school and in secondary school. For adults, we have 18 groups that run throughout the county on a monthly basis. Our Melbourn support group meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Vicarage Close Community Room. In addition, we have a team of volunteers who provide support in the community, through befriending, reading, and accompanying isolated individuals on trips out of their homes.

To enhance independence, we have two Low Vision and Blindness Centres in Cambridge and in Wisbech to demonstrate equipment and technology designed for people with low vision and blindness. We also run a magnification service to support people to make the most of what sight they have. We organise home visits, where we help individuals make their lives as accessible as possible and offer support with financial aid applications. We run a technology training service to help individuals take advantage of increasingly accessible devices, alongside other life skills evening training sessions. We offer sessions on daily living skills to improve independence in self-care and cooking.

To improve wellbeing, we run an emotional support service with two qualified counsellors, who deliver support one-onone or in a group to deal with the emotional distress that can arise from sight loss. This is currently only available to adults. We also offer a range of sporting activities, including 10-pin bowling, swimming, guided running, and tandem cycling.

If you or a family member has low vision or is blind, please get in contact. We are here to help you with practical advice and support, whenever you need us.

Audio books

Reading for pleasure plays a key role in the lives of blind and partially sighted readers, and has significant impact on wellbeing and quality of life, social integration and learning.

For blind and partially sighted people, making full use of library services and accessing books can be a challenge but advancements in technology have provided various other alternatives to choose from besides the physical form. These

include talking or audio books which allow people to continue reading independently, so they can listen to them how they choose, whether at home or, increasingly, ‘on the go’.

Audio books have undergone a tremendous amount of transition, from books on cassette tape, to books on CD and USB sticks and now downloadable books.

RNIB’s Talking Books service was originally launched in 1935 to help soldiers blinded in the war. The service is free for all blind and partially sighted people in the UK, and gives access to over 25,000 unabridged fiction and non fiction books for adults and children. To sign up to RNIB’s Talking Book service, call their Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or Email helpline@rnib.org.uk.

To find out more information go to: https://www.rnib.org.uk/talking-books-service. Calibre Audio Library are another national charity that provides a subscription-free service of unbridged audio books for adults and children with sight problems, dyslexia or other disabilities, who cannot read print. They can be contacted via 01296 432339 or enquiries@calibre.org.uk, or find out more information via their website https://www.calibre.org.uk/ Audio books can be downloaded from free apps such as Amazon Audible. Their app can be downloaded via https://www.audible.co.uk/ – there is currently a 30 day free trial on offer and then you pay £7.99 per month

Contact us

Cam Sight, 167 Green End Road, Cambridge, CB4 1NL 01223 420033 or info@camsight.org.uk www.camsight.org.uk or www.facebook.camsight.org.uk

Review

Our George A Family Memoir of George Best

by Barbara Best (with Lindy McDowell)

Audio Book: RNIB Talking Books (also Macmillan 2008)

I enjoyed this audio book from RNIB Talking Books. ‘Our George’ is about the world-famous sportsman and Manchester United player George Best’s life, written by his family. It starts at the end, with George in his hospital bed on a life support machine, and a discussion about turning the machine off. I found this very upsetting. There’s a lot of emotion in the book and it discusses his life from the family’s point of view rather than that of the public. You get to hear about: his childhood; growing up in Belfast, one of five children in a very close family; named George after his grandfather; how his father worked in the docks; and you get to hear about some of the influences during his childhood. You hear also: some of the things he used to get up to; how he had to cross Belfast’s religious/political divide to go to school; where his parents worked; how every penny they earned went towards the family; and how, even then, circumstances were very hard.

When he first left home to travel to Manchester, to join Manchester United at 15 years old, he was very homesick and went back home again several times. But football was his true love and he returned to Manchester because he knew he would never have a chance to do something like that again. He remained homesick in those early days. Also his mum missed him so very much that she actually turned to alcohol and eventually died of alcoholism and liver disease herself. George, sensitive as he was, was distraught about this.

The audio book is very well narrated in a lovely Irish accent. It is written almost to be spoken. Barbara, his sister moved to France, having earlier lived in South Africa. She and George were very close. George stayed with her a few times and he used to go there really as a retreat from the press. During one visit with her in France he was meant to lay off the alcohol for a while, but he discovered his way down into the local village and started drinking again. So, the book goes into detail about his alcoholism as well as how the family tried to stop him from drinking. The family really did not like his drinking and could see the harm it was doing, and tried very hard to help. They purchased a house in Ireland away from any pubs so that George could retreat there to a place in the middle of nowhere. This worked for a bit but never for long.

George loved the high life, driving his white Mini around Chelsea, London where he had a penthouse pad. Sadly, it was in London’s Cromwell Hospital that he died. In fact, his family used to stay in that Chelsea pad when they were visiting

him. Barbara goes into depth about their visits, how they didn’t want to leave him and how they brought him special ice cream from Ireland (from a specialised ice cream shop Desano’s, “a Belfast institution”) and eventually how he was unable to eat even that home treat. That really upset them. The issue of organ donation was also very upsetting. They were very unsure about leaving his eyes to anyone under organ donation because he had beautiful eyes which were special and unique to him. But in the end they were unable to leave his eyes to anyone, as the very strong drugs had even affected them. I cried at the end of the book too, as well as at the start.

Belfast airport was named after George Best before he died. This audio book also tells of all the charities and help and support that were given throughout the world from the charity which was set up in his name, in particular, help and support given to up-and-coming football teams from third world countries. The many shirts left on their front lawn and at the Manchester United Stadium were given to many different charities and recognised groups of people in need. Football teams received scarves while teddies went to hospitals and hospices. As well as the clothing and tributes left at the family house in Belfast, there were huge crowds outside the house as well as a strong police presence and security.

The family wanted a small family funeral but recognised that this was impossible. In the end he had a lovely big public funeral and the family walked the coffin into the public setting. It was on a Saturday in Stormont, the local parliament building, and there were lots of people there from the football world at the time as well as ordinary people.

The audio book is full of emotion and passion and brought me to tears several times. I was never a huge Manchester United fan or a great fan of George Best as such. But I really enjoyed reading this book from the RNIB Talking Books service and listening to how his family wrote his life story from another point of view, one the public never saw. Diane Wilson

Dear Dorie

Letters from a P 51 Pilot & German Prisoner of War January 1943 – May 1945

This is a very simple and rather unique publication. Its worth to the general reader today – as well as to anyone interested in that tumultuous period of our local and national history – lies both in its simplicity and its uniqueness. I came across it on a sunny Sunday at the start of last summer while visiting one of the prized jewels in our area the RSPB Nature Reserve at nearby Fowlmere. Close to the nature reserve a large road sign ‘Fowlmere Airfield Museum’ piqued my interest. It led me to a nearby small local Museum which opened in 2018; housed

at Manor Farm; staffed by committed and knowledgeable volunteers; admission free; and with school and visiting groups welcomed by arrangement. Inside at Reception was this little book for sale, one of several useful publications relevant to the Museum’s activities. Together they constitute but one revenue stream, all necessary to maintain the Museum and ensure its future.

The book’s many handwritten letters which have been typeset to form its main content are today in the possession of American citizen Linda Moore, who provides an explanatory Foreword. The letters were written by her father William Moore to her mother Doris Tritton. They were sweethearts who married in April 1944 before William was posted from America to England in June 1944, the event he duly noted as: “June 27 went aboard the British luxury liner Maritainia (sic) Nice large rooms. 4½ days from Boston to Liverpool.” (Page 81). In her brief Postscript Linda Moore speaks volumes to her father’s character in one sentence: “Dad has visited Germany twice in the last 10 years.”

The book is clearly laid out across 150 pages and illustrated with old black and white photographs, some of the author’s family members as well as his friends and comrades-inarms. It also contains relevant illustrations, cartoons and reproductions of some posters, all from that war-time period. The text of the letters conveyed to this particular reader great sadness, notwithstanding each letter being imbued with a resolve and a determination to uplift and cheer. Some of the direct reproductions – for example those at pp128-9 with the caption “Dad wrote letters while the “guest” of the Germans, on the back of cigarette packets or the Red Cross Log Books” – also convey the indefatigable spirit of the letters’ author. Overall the letters conveyed also the immense waste at the individual and personal level that that conflagration brought us, magnified, of course, to the unimaginable level of the utter waste of life represented at the national and international levels by the many millions upon millions of persons who perished.

I should emphasise that this book does not address the great issues which became the centre of that War, or the dilemmas which nations and leaders confronted and the decisions they made in response. There are many such books available, written from many differing perspectives. This book presents rather the minutiae of everyday life, at the ground floor level as it were, of this individual young airman and the pressures and hardships those far-off national and international events wrought upon him and his sweetheart. It is a first-hand perspective rarely encountered in published form, namely, a life lived in all its individual, low level, humdrum ordinariness starkly emphasised by wartime conditions and the restraint of censorship. It is a life which culminates in the book – and is censored yet further – in the deprivation and hardships and the numbing boredom of life as a prisoner. The letters and this book convey what must have been a widespread reality for many during those terrible years. Lives ruptured and put on hold. Lives lost. The real, authentic, flesh and blood William Moore was there, took an active and highly dangerous part and survived with his life. We in Britain today

Dorie and Bill Moore. Bill was assigned to the 339th Fighter Group, Fowlmere in 1944. He later became a prisoner of war and spent the last nine months of the war in a German prison camp. Photo by Linda Moore.

owe it to him, who came from America in our darkest hour and rallied to our defence and our democracy, and to others like him who did not survive that conflict and for whom his letters bear a witness, to inform ourselves of the ugly matters swirling around us today and then to act appropriately and responsibly.

I concluded this short and easily read book reflecting on its contents and wondering: Are we today back again in a dangerous place watching the rise of those same forces and hatreds, deliberately fanned and stoked by deceitful populist leaders for their own personal and sectional interests instead of for a shared common national interest? As a way of life in Europe, painstakingly built up over decades and generations is today ruptured, we can see with our own eyes our own nationalistic false prophets shouting falsehoods and performing anti-democratic actions. We owe the open, transparent, accountable, democratic way of life we have together slowly built up since 1945 to the sacrifices of 2nd Lt. William R. Moore and to many, many men and women like him. Let us act on their plea ‘Never Again’ – which comes to us today as their clear and specific instruction ‘Never Again’ – an instruction repeated annually every November in memorial ceremonies in Melbourn and across the land. Let us familiarise ourselves with their sacrifice and hold fast to what we have collectively built up to their memory such that our children and grandchildren might avoid what they endured. A visit to view the exhibits of our small local Museum, and a donation to acquire a copy of this thought-provoking book, would also be appropriate. An additional act of tribute would be a few hours spent at the nearby Cambridge American Cemetery and Memorial to there reflect on what we are now permitting our leaders to do to the democratic way of life that that generation of heroes such as letter-writer 2nd Lt. William R. Moore achieved for us.

Hugh Pollock

Dear Dorie is available from Fowlmere Airfield Museum. Manor Farm, Fowlmere, SG8 7SH. Telephone 01763 208598

Buntingford

years

celebrating

Churches Together

Melbourn Baptist Church

Between the 13th October and the beginning of December we will have hosted The Light Party, an alternative children’s evening of fun instead of Halloween.

Also, the Little Lambs group of 1–4 year olds, which is a Christian Bible-based fun morning that meets regularly once a month. There is a small charge for this but many of the activities we put on are free.

Keep your eye out for posters etc. at the Baptist Church of other exciting things being put on between now and  Christmas.

We are very excited to announce that we have just engaged a youth leader called Jason to help our young people extend their faith and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If there are any young people out there, you are warmly welcomed to come along on a Sunday morning to meet him and the other youth within our church.

Now you have your new Melbourn Magazine, Christmas must of course be almost upon us! This year, why not come along and join with us at one of our services, the dates and times are all on the calendar within.

We wish you a wonderful Christmas, a joyous New Year and God’s love to grow in your life.

Melbourn United Reformed Church

Christian Aid

We hosted a Melbourn & Meldreth Churches Together Soup Lunch & BBQ held after our morning worship on 28th July in aid of Christian Aid. Bob Holcombe from the Baptist Church was in charge of the BBQ and braved the elements by being outside protected by a gazebo whilst the rest of us were inside the church hall. We provided the soup and were pleased we had to put out more tables to accommodate everyone. It was an enjoyable event and raised £325.50 for Christian Aid.

Songs of Praise

Melbourn & Meldreth Churches Together held a Songs of Praise at Holy Trinity Church, Meldreth on Sunday 8th September at 4pm. The service was coordinated by David Hollamby and Rev’d Mary Price with each church choosing two hymns. After some hearty singing we all enjoyed a Bring and Share Tea and a social time together.

Harvest Festival

We celebrated our Harvest Festival on Sunday 15th September. The church was beautifully decorated with the emphasis on food and drink items needed by Jimmy’s Night Shelter in Cambridge together with blankets, hats, etc knitted by our Craft & Chat Group. Our thanks to Melbourn Co-op who provided some of the groceries. The service was led by Rev’d Robert Van de Weyer who dedicated the items going to Jimmy’s. Afterwards we enjoyed a soup lunch. The groceries, hats and blankets were later taken to Jimmy’s together with a cheque for £150. Jimmy’s were most grateful for our donations.

Christian Aid Soup Lunch & BBQ

Concert

Two members of our congregation went to hear Aled Jones and Russell Watson sing live at the Cambridge Corn Exchange on Saturday 5th October. It was a most enjoyable evening. Aled and Russell sang a wide range of songs including Funiculi Funicula, Volare, Ave Maria, How Great Thou Art, Make Me A Channel of Your Peace, The Lord Is My Shepherd and May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You. Their encore was The Impossible Dream.

Tastes of Christmas

We invite you to join us on Saturday 7th December from 11am to 2pm for our Tastes of Christmas. There will be morning coffee, a delicious lunch, crafts, a raffle with food hamper prizes and much more. Proceeds are for church funds.

Christian Unity

We are hosting The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service on Sunday 19th January 2020 at 4pm. The theme is ‘usual kindness’ and there will be a Bring & Share Tea afterwards. Do come and join us in this ecumenical worship.

All Saints’ and Holy Trinity

“Why not join us this winter, and find out about the exciting programme of events and services we’ve got planned? December is of course the season of Advent – a season which the church uses to prepare us for the birth of Christ at Christmas by thinking about the Bible readings which tell of the birth of Jesus and what that means for us.

On Sunday 1st December, we have our Advent Carol Service at 5.30pm at Holy Trinity, Meldreth, which takes place amidst the twinkling lights of the beautifully-decorated Christmas Trees from the Christmas Tree Festival that weekend. On Sunday 15 December at 3.30pm in All Saints’, we have our annual Christingle Service in aid of the Children’s Society. This

service is especially designed for children and young families, so please do come along.

On Sunday 22 December, we have our Christmas Carol Services – 4pm at Holy Trinity, Meldreth, and 6pm at All Saints’, Melbourn. Why not join in and sing some well-loved carols with your friends and family? On Christmas Eve, our popular Crib Service at 3pm in All Saints’ returns – Noah the Donkey will be with us again, and this year he will have a bit more room in his temporary stable outside of the church. Later that day, at 11pm come along to our Midnight Eucharist, for the first opportunity to say, “Happy Christmas!” On Christmas Day itself, we have services at 8am in Melbourn, and 10am at Meldreth.

Christmas is not just a day in December, though: it’s a season, and so we continue celebrating on Sunday 6 January at 9.45am in Meldreth with a special service for the Epiphany, which marks when the wise men visited Jesus and gave him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; then on 2nd February we have a very special candle-lit choral evensong at All Saints’ in Melbourn at 6pm.

Our Sunday Schools continue to offer a fun and exciting way of learning about Jesus and the Bible – they meet on the first Sunday of the month at Meldreth, and the second Sunday of the month at Melbourn. You can see the colourful work which our groups have done, as it’s on show in both churches – why not join in? Messy Church also meets again on 26 January and 8th March in Meldreth – look out for the posters for more info.

With the darker nights, we’re also pleased to say that the floodlit path at Holy Trinity has now been refurbished (thank you to all who helped with that). On the theme of electrics, you may have heard that All Saints’ is in desperate need of urgent electrical work, and so we are trying to raise funds to allow us to ensure that the wiring in church is safe. To help us with that, our Treasurer, Ron, walked over 200 miles in the summer from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire. Well done Ron! If you would be able to help us with raising money for that appeal, do please be in touch with Revd Lizzie, or Ron.

God bless you, and have a wonderful Christmas – may God bless you and all those who you love! The Revd Lizzie Shipp.

Harvest Festival

Walking Coast to Coast

Raising funds for All Saints’ Church by walking the Coast to Coast Walk in September 2019

On our first day we made our way north with Virgin Rail via 2 trains to St Bees. We arrived around 3pm and found overnight accommodation immediately next to the station.

At St Bees there is a statue of St Beda, after which it is named. We headed out to walk round St Bees Head and the lighthouse that afternoon.

We reached a point after 5 miles which is the last sight of the Irish Sea before we head east towards the Lake District. Back to St Bees for a well-deserved supper before our challenge begins fully.

The next day we delayed our start to avoid the rain. It was a good move. Clouds pursued us all day but it rained only for a few minutes at a time. We encountered a statue representing all walkers on the Coast to Coast walk and a mural commemorating WW1 on the side of a house at Cleator. Streams were in full spate. My friend Paul tried to jump one forgetting he had a pack on and nearly fell in.

The path goes around Ennerdale Water aiming for the YHA at Cat Crag. Some parts of the path were non-existent though. It was hard work on the path along Ennerdale Water but the weather improved as evening fell. 19 miles completed.

Day 3 dawned fine and just got better. We set out on the low path to Rothswaite but diverted to climb over Haystacks mountain on the high route. We had a view back to Ennerdale Water as we climbed up. It turned out to be a good decision. Views were stunning. We viewed Innominate Tarn beloved of Wainwright. The Honister Slate Quarry provided the necessary tea stop on the way down.

We arrived at Rothswaite with 31.5 miles completed.

Onto day 5 and Monday dawned, raining as predicted, but despite a drizzle all morning we made good progress, passing Angle Tarn on the way before reaching our high point of the journey, Kidsty Pike (2560 feet). We were well into the clouds so no view unfortunately. As the day progressed the weather improved and we got to see some of the landscape. We have met up with a German lad at every stop so far. He says he now understands why we are so consumed by the weather. There was now a 4 mile long walk along Haweswater lake and reservoir followed by a further 4.5 miles to Shap, where we eventually arrived at 8pm after another long day. The consensus of opinion in the pub was that the walk was 20 miles rather than the 16 expected.

Day 6 and better weather today. Our final view of the Lake District was of Shap power station, visible for miles and strangely atypical. We are now to walk along a very flat limestone pavement. Mountains give way to rolling hills, though still very attractive. The Coast to Coast then takes in a former railway line, complete with embankments and cuttings. We’d encountered four Aussies who were lost. We couldn’t wait for them, but left tracking signs to show them the way in good old scouting fashion. It seemed to work. Another 20 miles completed, but a bit earlier in our arrival at 6.30 pm at Kirkby Stephen. The signpost says we had completed 82 miles and had 108 to go.

It’s day 7, and we discovered that the Tour of Britain went through Kirkby Stephen yesterday. There were many efforts by shops and others to welcome the cyclists. We made good progress on a relatively flat route, and around 3pm we were descending from the hills both thinking we could murder a cup of tea. What should appear but a farm selling cream teas! But not any farm. This one is owned by Amanda Owen who appeared on ITVs “The Dales” series as a farmer who also writes about her experiences. She is an amazing woman with nine children. Now refreshed, we begin our approach to Keld alongside the river Swale. Our accommodation is called the Bunk House and recent rain means a thirty foot waterfall outside the back door.

We seem to have adopted Clemens, a German primary teacher holidaying by walking the C2C. He appeared at our stop at Ennerdale and then every night thereafter. It might not be too surprising as I gave him a copy of our route with stopping points.

On day 8 it was raining as we left. We took the low road again as there were no views to be had.

Ennerdale Water

We left Rothswaite in sunshine the following day. Best weather we’ve seen in the Lakes for many a year. Galleny Force looks superb as do all the falls. We were able to look back at Borrowdale from Lining Crag, passed over Easedale Gill and reached Grisedale Tarn, our second high point of the day. Most people we met were happy to stop at Grasmere after 9 miles but we pressed on to Patterdale another eight miles which we eventually made by 7.15pm.

A rainbow formed in the mist of drizzle in the valley. The field boundaries are very pretty themselves, with flowers and ferns growing out of them. Much of the countryside we crossed is grouse moor.

The national park and other authorities are doing wonders in providing improved access, with stone paths across the boggy surfaces. A not unpleasant walk to Reeth.

We woke to early morning sunshine and it proved a forerunner of a fine day. Rather a walk in the park after a day with rain yesterday. This was our easiest and shortest walk of only about 11 miles to arrive at Richmond.

Day 10 was the first of our final four days that will see us

Local Community Services delivered from Moorlands Court

tackling between 18 and 22 miles each day. Leaving Richmond at about 9.30 am, the Castle looms over the town. We regret we cannot spend longer here. Fortunately the day is fine and sunny. We notice some strange cloud formations, like airships in the sky. With such a flat walk there is little of landscape interest to record.

We arrive in Brompton on the outskirts of Northallerton at 5.30 pm after 18 miles and consider we have done a good job. We are confident that we will complete the walk within our time schedule.

This morning in Brompton, Paul plotted a route which avoided retracing our steps. It gave us some great views. Also an unexpected bonus was a stop at Mount Grace Priory (English Heritage) for coffee and scones and a quick look at the gardens. Pheasant, grouse and partridge abound. We must have put up dozens on our walk down to where we were staying. We joined the Cleveland Way and experienced more up and down, but our short cut at the start of the day saved us a couple of miles.

We are on day 12 and back on route with signs a plenty. We pass the White Cross (Fat Betty) which is a point where you are invited to leave or take a portion of fruit or a snack that has been left by a fellow traveller. Onwards past The Trough House, associated with shooting on the moors we think. As we approached it we had our first view of the North Sea and eventually arrived at The Arncliffe Arms, Glaisdale, our stay for the night.

We commence our last full day by crossing the Beggars Bridge at Glaisdale. The story goes that a young man missed a chance to wed his love because he could not cross the river at Glaisdale. He went on to be rich and famous and eventually returned to claim his bride and to build a bridge so that no other beggars would be stranded again. We visited the oldest Co-op Society store, established 1867 in Grosmont, and steam trains were in operation at the NYMR. As we left the village the trains crossed, and we had the sound of steam trains leaving in both directions. We came upon a Methodist Church offering free tea and coffee to passing walkers. There was a “Men’s Shed” session going on, with men doing wood turning and making walking sticks. We arrived at the farm we were staying at for our last night and discovered that it overlooks the sea.

We walked into Robin Hood Bay to complete our walk and met up with Mary Bailey from Melbourn Parish Church, who had made a special journey to greet us. We also met up with Clemens, our German friend, which was great. We all celebrated together.

192 miles and a bit more by our calculations. Our Coast to Coast adventure completed.

My thanks to my life-long friend Paul Harris from Royston Methodist Church

Many thanks to all who supported us through prayers and generous giving. I am blessed to advise you that the generosity of the local and church community together with our friends and family has resulted in the raising of £3300 towards the cost of rewiring of All Saints Melbourn.

Ron Sutcliffe, ron@thesutcliffes.com, Tel 01763262530.

The Word of God from David Burbridge

The Lord Jesus said, “Oh! Fools and slow of mind to believe all that the prophets have spoken. All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms concerning Me, Thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

At. Luke, Ch. 24, vs 25, 44, 46 and 47

Mary Bailey, All Saints’ Church Sacristan

Sports & Clubs

Bowls

Arthur Andrews 261990

Bridge Club

Howard Waller 261693

1st Melbourn Rainbows

Abigail Roberts 261505

Brownies – 1st Melbourn

Stephanie Clifford 220272

Croquet

Janet Pope 248342

Football Club

Andrew Edwards 223109

Dynamos Football Club

Les Morley 07739 593771

Guides – Ist Melbourn

Hilary Marsh 261443

Melbourn Judo Club

Iain Reid 241830

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

Swimming Club

Jenny Brackley 244593

Tennis (Melbourn)

Dave Liddiard 07508 995 781

Tennis (Meldreth)

Tracy Aggett 243376

1st Melbourn Rainbows

We have started off the new term with a bang!

The first week back after the summer we talked about shadows, how they are made and how they change. Then the rainbows made sundials to take home.

The Rainbows have been litter picking around the village: the Butterflies on The Moor, and the Bees on the nearby pavements. We talked about how to recycle the rubbish collected, and what we can do to help keep our village clean. The girls did a brilliant job!! A big thank you to the Parish Council for organising some grabbers for us to use.

We have completed some work towards our skill builder badge. We talked about Amelia Earhart and then made our own planes from paper. We then used the planes to have races ‘around the world’.

Our new girls talked about making their promise whilst the others did promiserelated activities. Our ‘wrinkly’ Rainbows met with Brownies to talk about the next step in their guiding adventure. We were fortunate in both groups to have the whole Girl Guiding family: Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Senior Section and Leaders! Big thanks to our Brownies for coming back to help us!

We were fortunate to be invited to an event in Cottered, run by our district, where the girls travelled ‘round the world’ in groups with other Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, which in itself was quite an adventure! They climbed mountains in Asia; skied and melted ice in Antarctica; made Beefeater peg dolls in Europe; painted aboriginal pictures in Australia; made necklaces and went on safari in Africa, where they also did drumming with our Rainbow Leaders!

Recently we have continued our recycling theme and made paper from scrap paper. The girls ripped up different types of paper into pieces and added water. They then mashed the paper into a pulp and pushed it through a sieve to remove the water. The pulp was then flattened out to make a sheet which was left to dry.

We have lots more badge work to complete over the coming weeks and will continue with our recycling theme.

1st Melbourn Guides

Was it Sherwood Forest...or maybe just Thriftwood campsite in Essex? Either way, Robin Hood’s merry Guides set up summer camp and had a week of adventure amongst the trees. The range of activities was huge: we zip-wired across a reedy pond, raced around an assault course, crashed the crate stacking, and tried increasingly unstable ways to paddle a kayak over the muddy lake. The evenings were action-packed too; our Guiders won the Wide Game scavenger hunt, and the communal campfire was attended by 500 Scouts & Guides from all across the campsite. As well as singing classic favourites like Old McDonald, we learnt some new songs with a definite ‘yuk’ factor to the lyrics!

We started the autumn term with games and a very full unit of 34 girls, and took advantage of the last of the light, warm evenings with a mini ‘Bioblitz’ of the churchyard and Moor. Whilst there we collected river water, added mud because the river runs so clean, then tried filtering the water through various types of fabric.

This term we are doing the First Aid skills builder badge, starting with learning how to put on a bandage and make an elevation sling. Further skills will include dealing with an unconscious casualty and calling an ambulance. We will also take part in the Remembrance parade, and run a stall at the All Saints autumn bazaar.

If you would like to know more about joining our waiting list or becoming a leader, or if you have any skills, charities or interests which you would like to share with us, please contact me on: 01763 261443 or email: melbournguides@gmail.com

Hilary Marsh

Melbourn Bridge Club

Two very special Bridge sessions, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Melbourn Bridge Club, were held on 2nd and 3rd of September, with nearly 90 players enjoying the events.

There was great deal of interest and fun with the magic circle tricks shown by Derek Ailes. Chris Norris provided both groups with a clever quiz relating to a pack of cards and pop music of the 1960’s. As a memento of the occasion all players were given a commemorative pen.

Bridge sessions were played as well, although there was another break for fizz, canapes and cake, and presentations of trophies for a pairs competition. Scoring, unbeknown to the players, had been accumulated over the course of the year, and trophies were awarded to Peter Anderson and Faraj Haji for Monday evening, and to Annabel Bieco and Irene Winstanley for Tuesday afternoon.

Thanks were given for the great amount of help given to Tony Allan and Howard Waller, the founders of the Bridge Club, Chris Norris, for attending to the dealing machine, and Malcolm Dean, for helping with directing and any internet matters that occur. Mike Thrower has assisted with the innumerable hiccups we have incurred with our electronic equipment. Phillip Vince is currently our tutor, if required, and there are many, but not all, who help setting up the tables and chairs and washing up the numerous mugs used for tea and coffee. Jane Allan and Gillie Waller deserve a special mention for putting up with the amount of time that their husbands put into the club, and they still manage to produce professional food and cakes for special occasions.

We are approaching 12 tables on each day, which is the capacity of the hall. As yet we have managed not to have to turn anyone away, but the time is coming when we will not be able accommodate any further players. We are working on a new plan to avoid this but at the moment we cannot see an easy answer.

Royston & District Local History Society

www.roystonlocalhistory.org.uk

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 may be ordered by post from David Allard 01763 242677. They may also be purchased at the Royston Museum & Arts Gallery in Kneesworth Street (open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4.45 p.m.) and some are available at the Cave Bookshop in Melbourn Street or at Royston Library.

Our evening meetings are held in the Heritage Hall (the main hall downstairs) Royston Town Hall on the first Thursday of the month starting at 8pm. They will continue monthly until May 2020.

»

5th December ‘Live Forever! The Mystery & Magic of Egyptian Hieroglyphs’ illustrated Nick da Costa

» 2nd January ‘Pomp and Circumstance’ illustrated –Chlöe Cockerill

» 6th February 4 Inspirational Women – Damien Odell

Annual membership £5 (Sept-Aug) (Under 18s half price)

Visitors £2. Our annual coach outing is on Saturday 6th June 2020 to Windsor.

Cambridgeshire Family History Society

Cambridge Central Library (3rd Floor)

Upcoming Events

» November – Saturday 9th

» 10.30am – 3.30pm – Help and Advice / CD Sales

Two great talks from Steve Manning – Chairman/Education Officer for Family History Federation

» 12.30pm – “What Granny Didn’t Want Me To Know”, focusing on some of the more ‘interesting’ facts discovered whilst pursuing family history

» 2.00pm – “The Power of Collaboration: Federation –Society – Family”, highlights the benefits of sharing –not only in the family history community, but also in the family itself. Are you a one man band, just about getting by, but practically wearing yourself out in the process? Or the conductor of a magnificent orchestra, with a wide spectrum of available sounds and repertoire to match? Time to take stock and carefully consider your legacy to both family and community!

» December – Saturday 14th

» 10.30am – 3.30pm – Help and Advice / CD Sales

» 12.30pm – Writers Workshop with Mary Naylor

» January – Saturday 11th

» 10.30am – 3.30pm – Help and Advice / CD Sales

» 12.30pm – Getting Started – with Caroline Norton

» 2.00pm – A Sign of the times: Local history told through East Anglian village signs

» February – Saturday 8th

» 10.30am – 3.30pm – Help and Advice / CD Sales

» 12.30pm – Getting Started – with Caroline Norton

» 2.00pm – WW2 in the Far East with Martin Boswell

As always, members and non-members welcome. Please see our website www.cfhs.org.uk for updated schedules. Follow us on Facebook too!

Ramblers’ Association

Royston and District Group

Our walks programme continues right through the year. For details visit our website: www.ramblers.org.uk, or contact: David Allard, Tel. 01763 242677, Email david.slade.allard@gmail. com or Lesley Abbiss (01763 273463).

There is also a poster displaying walks for the current

month in Royston Library, Royston Museum & Art Gallery and Melbourn Hub.

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. Halfday walks (5–7 miles) are held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Our evening walks (3–5 miles) on a different day each week will resume on 27th April 2020. Prospective new members may come on three walks before deciding whether to join. www.ramblers.org.uk to join.

Kingsway Junior Golf

CHAMPIONS of the Cambridgeshire Golf Sixes

In May this year the juniors’ coach, Chris Hattersley, at Kingsway Golf Club was given the tricky task to choose a team from his amazing group of juniors to represent Kingsway in the Cambridgeshire Golf Sixes.

Golf Sixes is a competition supported by the Golf Foundation, to encourage children to work as a team whilst displaying their golfing talents and understanding of golf etiquette. At each match there are six teams, consisting of six children playing six holes – hence ‘Golf Sixes’!

This season the Kingsway team have played at some interesting courses across the county. These ranged from the Links-style course at St Ives to Thorpe Wood, who arranged a buggy convoy to escort the players back from the holes due to the epic nature of their course. The juniors also took in their stride the extremes our Great British weather decided to throw at them.

The final match of the league was played at the famous Gog Magog Golf Club in Cambridge, and it saw Kingsway gallop home with a winning score and retain the champion’s trophy for the second year running.

Banish niggling aches and pains!

A MBER H EALTH

The Kingsway team have worked really hard to retain their trophy and have done us all proud with their effort and determination.

If your little one would like to get into golf, Kingsway offer a range of sessions, from Golf Academy – after school or Saturdays – to golf camps during the school holidays. Please contact Chris for further information on: chrishattersley@hotmail.co.uk

Jacey Stewart

Mc Splash Swimming Club

Swimming is recognised as one of the most popular activities in the UK. As well as being fun, swimming is a great way to keep fit, stay healthy and make friends. A healthy low impact activity that has many physical and mental health benefits which can continue for a lifetime. Still not convinced? Then read one of our club member’s take on swimming.

“I started swimming about eleven years ago now, when I was a baby, with my mum. Aged 3 or 4, I commenced lessons and was learning how to do basic parts of the stroke and the breathing. I found it really hard at first, as I had just started and didn’t really know what I was doing. I swallowed a lot of water!

“After about four years of lessons I changed to do swimming training with a coach (which is what I do now). Every Friday evening, I go to McSplash Swimming Pool, where I do training from different programmes. The programmes we do are different each week. Sometimes they are for arms; sometimes they’re for legs, the turns and the breathing. As well as the training programmes I also do some competitive swimming, like swim galas. I have done two galas, one with my primary school, coming second overall, and one with my swim club, where I came third.

“Each week I swim for just over an hour, doing a mix of all four strokes. Since I have been swimming I have become a lot stronger, fitter and healthier and would recommend it to anyone!” – Abigail Boulton, aged 13.

Been inspired? Then why not join Mc Splash Swimming Club. The club meets every Friday evening (term time only) at Melbourn Sports Centre. The club consists of 3 groups, ranging from Mini-Squad, Improvers and Advanced. We also have a Pay-as-you- go Swim Clinic session too, which is aimed at Adults.

For more details please contact Head Coach Jenny Brackley by email jenny.brackley@hotmail.co.uk . We look forward to welcoming you soon!

Melbourn Dynamos Football Club

Founded in 2003, Melbourn Dynamos FC is a thriving and friendly community football club that gives boys and girls the opportunity to play regular football, regardless of their experience or ability, at all ages from 3 through to adults.

are a successful club, defined by the strength of support from members and families, the praise and recognition of fellow clubs and FA Leagues, the work with our Community partners including Melbourn Village College and Melbourn Parish Council, and of course our players’ achievements on the pitch and their support for the community. With the support of our fundraising and community partners, we are making the club more inclusive by assisting players whose families are unable to afford the necessary fees. Our club is

Little Hands Nursery School The Moor, Melbourn

committed to developing our players through respect of fair play and a love of the game. This approach wins the respect of other clubs, as well as providing the skills and commitment to win leagues and cup finals.

We regularly host tournaments on behalf of the Royston Crow Youth Football League, and these raise funds for our Club, the new full size, all-weather Astro pitch for Melbourn, and for our nominated charity, Tom’s Trust: www.tomstrust.org.uk.

MDFC was awarded the FA’s Charter Standard status in 2009 and all our coaches are DBS checked and FA qualified to at least Level 1.

We have made a strong and exciting start to the season, building on the success of our mini-soccer and youth football. We have established a Sunday League Men’s Team at the club, bringing in a wave of new players supplementing those graduating from our youth teams. In addition, we have established inclusive football teams to bring the beautiful game to a wider range of players at both youth and adult level. Thanks to the support of our wonderful club volunteers, we now have the OWLS (Opportunities Without Limits), a team for adults who play in the Cambs FA Parability League, who have made a great start to their season (see photo below). Praise for the club’s initiative has come from the Papworth Trust:

“On October 16th the recently formed OWL Football Team from Sawston play their first games of the season at the Abbey Leisure Complex, Cambridge. The team will compete in seven-aside matches against other teams including Cambridge United. The squad have been training hard and are pumped and ready to go! Special thanks to Melbourn Dynamos who have been amazing in supporting the development of the team and have kindly supplied us with kit and training equipment.”

We have also established the Melbourn Dynamos Jaguars, a new inclusive team for children with additional needs or a disability. Thanks to these new teams, and the continuing growth and success of our youngest players in the Dynamites, we now have more than 300 players in 22 teams at the club.

MDFC is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of the whole community. Many of you will have seen the great news announced on our Community facebook page about the full size, all-weather Astro pitch for Melbourn (https://www.facebook.com/ melbourndynamoscommunity/).

Discussions with the Football Foundation have gone well and we are confident that with the support of our community partners we will soon have this fantastic new facility for the village. This project is central to the continuing success and development of the club, as well as providing a much needed facility for the village. Thanks to the support of our members and the wider community, our fundraising is raising substantial amounts for this project and we hope and expect that it will now go forward for the 2020/21 season.

Our youngest players, the Dynamites, increasingly provide the core of our success, with league teams from under 7 upwards. The Dynamites’ coaching team is led by Dipak Patel. Dee was Cambridge FA’s Community Coach of the year for 2013, gained his Level 2 coaching qualification in June 2015 and is our Football Development Officer. These players, aged 3-6, have fun and develop their skills before deciding whether to play league football as the club’s under 7s team. The Dynamites train with level 2 and level 1 FA qualified coaches in Saturday morning fun sessions at Melbourn Sports Centre. These feature lots of short activities aimed at improving individual skills, concentration and the ability to be part of a team. The first one hour session is free, thereafter we charge £2.

All are welcome to the Melbourn Dynamites, so why not bring your kids along so they can check it out. We have a separate session for Dynamites Girls, to help them enjoy football and form the basis of our future girls’ league teams. This season we aim to build on the success of the Lionesses in the World Cup by attracting more girls to join the club and form Girls’ teams in addition to those who already play in mixed teams. We are offering training for girls aged from 4–8 at Melbourn Sports Centre on Saturday mornings. Building on

Brand new purpose built site

CP Podiatry

to

in the game – watch this space for further

more information on the Dynamites and current times

contact Dee on 07951 289565 or vermin8@ntlworld.com.

information about the club and individual teams is

from the club’s Website: https://melbourndynamosfc.

Melbourn Dynamos Needs Your help!

Melbourn Dynamos’ continuing success and growth means that we need your help. Please contact David Atkins at secretary.mdfc@gmail.com or Blake Carrington at chairman. mdfc@gmail.com for further information about the following opportunities:

• Volunteers: If you would like to contribute to the club as an administrator, fund-raiser, fixtures secretary, coach, match day official or in some other volunteer capacity then we would be pleased to hear from you.

• Sponsorship Partners: Our success and development comes at a cost as we need to pay for the £250 training and kit costs of our new volunteer coaches as well as ensuring that we have 2 trained coaches for each of our existing teams. In addition, our pitch fees are in excess of £9,000 per season plus maintenance costs. Therefore, as Melbourn’s major community sports provider, we would be pleased to hear from potential sponsorship partners who share an interest in our community work.

Melbourn Football Club

On writing this report we are three games into the start of a new season in the Mead Plant and Grab Division 2A, following the team’s promotion from Division 3A. As I mentioned in my last report, this achievement has been down to the hard work put in by the management team of Ben Fox and his assistant Jamie Cockburn and other members of the Committee, along with the support of our sponsors and of course our players. It is early in the season and players are starting to gel together again, with several new players joining the club. I will provide more coverage of our progress in the next report as it is still too early to say what this season will bring, but there are positive signs.

As I have mentioned in my previous report, we have been supported well by several businesses from the village with generous donations, allowing us to purchase new kits and training equipment, and on behalf of the club I would once again like to thank: Shire Tree Surgery; T J Plastering; P J Deards Plumbing; MJF Construction

In addition to these sponsors we have also been supported by Conqueror Industries, who have funded a new kit and match-day tracksuit tops for the team, and our thanks go to Julian Ireland, their Managing Director, for his continued support of our club.

All of these are small/medium businesses from within our community, and as well as thanking them I would ask that as a community we also support them where we can.

As with any club, be it a sporting one or otherwise, it takes lots of fund raising to keep them going and at Melbourn Football Club

ETERNIT ANGLING CLUB

ETERNIT ANGLING CLUB

Consessionsfor

JKL Tackle

Open 6 days a week

we are no different; this year, however, it was agreed that last season’s Players’ Player of the Season would nominate a charity of his choice for the club to donate 25% of any monies raised. Carlin Pipe was voted the Players’ Player, and he has nominated MIND for better mental health/CPSL for these monies to go to.

On the subject of fund raising, I am pleased to publicise that we will be running a coach trip for an evening at Peterborough Greyhound Racing Track on Saturday 30th November, at a cost of £30 per person. This includes return coach travel, entry fee, reserved seating, a basket meal and two drinks, as well as a £2 bet. The coach will leave from the Dolphin Public House at 5.30 p.m. and will drop you back at around midnight.

If dog racing isn’t your thing, then maybe you could test your general knowledge skills in our Quiz Night, which we are holding on Saturday 29th February 2020 at the All Saints Community Hall. Teams of up to six people can enter at £5 per person, and snacks are provided along with a licensed bar. This is a popular event and early booking is advised if you wish to enter.

So, if you are interested in joining us at either of these events please contact Simon Gascoyne on 07732 613555 or Stuart Smith on 07789 468165. We also have information regarding these events on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ melbournfc, so check us out.

We have now started our winter training, which is held on Wednesday evenings at Shelford Rugby Club between 7.00 p.m. and 8.00 p.m. and new players are welcome at these sessions. These sessions are held on a 4G all-weather surface with state of the art facilities. In addition to increased fitness levels, we also conduct tactical and technical training sessions with the aims of improving these areas of a player’s game, thus leading to the development of an individual’s ability in decision making, both with and without the ball, when playing in a match. New players are welcome to join us in these sessions and you can contact us using the contact details below.

If you are interested in joining Melbourn Football Club as a player, committee member or even as a supporter then please contact the Team Manager, Ben Fox on 07930 650036 or our Club Secretary, Simon Gascoyne on 07732 613555 or you can e-mail him on simon_gascoyne@hotmail.com

You can also find us on social media and can follow us on Twitter @Melbourn_FC, Facebook www.facebook.com/ MelbournFC and our website www.melbournfc.com

Melbourn Sports Centre

There’s been a lot going on this term at the Sports Centre, to keep the community fit and ready during the Autumn weather. Aside from our normal classes, courses, swimming and fitness suite activities, we also had:

• A bumper bag of Half Term activities, including our OFSTED registered PlayScheme, with a Halloween theme, where children were treated to trampolining, swimming and creative crafts.

• Other holiday activities, including a Swimming Crash Course and Trampolining Taster sessions.

• We also teamed up with Football Fun Factory, who ran their first Soccer Camps at half term too!

Participants young and old were put through their paces at Melbourn Sports Centre on Saturday 14th September, by taking part in a variety of mini triathlon events organised by Meridian Triathlon Club.

The first of these events, aimed at children from 4–7 years, was a duathlon event, where participants cycled around a course and then completed a small run. This was followed by our mini triathlon event, where over thirty children aged between 8 to 15 years braved the warm conditions to swim, cycle and then run as quickly as they could around a set course. Finally, we also held our first adult event too, where participants were made to swim 280m and then complete a 3k run.

This year’s event saw a much improved and bigger mini triathlon & duathlon races, which proved very popular once again. It was great to see so many children – and parents! –being so enthusiastic about the events and we would like to thank club and committee members at Meridian Triathlon Club for arranging such a brilliant event, which we hope will be bigger and better next year!

For more information about Meridian Triathlon Club or Melbourn Sports Centre then please visit their websites www.meridiantriclub.co.uk or www.mc-sport.co.uk

A Winter Wonderland At MSC!

We have loads on offer this month, with something for the whole community to get involved with…. So why not come along and find out more about your local sports centre!

Come in out of the cold!

We’re not going to let those long winter nights stop us from enjoying our exercise! As well as our indoor facilities like the swimming pool, squash courts and sports hall, we have loads of classes to keep you fit and healthy, including Boxercise, Swim Clinic, Boot Camp, AquaFit, Pilates and Body Workout. We also offer table tennis alongside our normal indoor racket sports. And they’re all reasonably priced, so the one thing that will stay plump is your purse!

Party time!

Looking to book a birthday or Christmas party? How about bouncing those cares away with our new trampolining party or what about a Football party instead? All sessions run by a fully qualified coach. We also offer our traditional pool parties, which are always a great hit! To help save the mess at home we also have the adjacent Community Centre available for bookings, which is an ideal room for you to have tea and cake after the party.

Activities for children!

With Christmas fast approaching, this is an ideal time to book your young ones onto one of our great activity courses. These include our Christmas Pool Party, where children will not only have a fun time in the pool but also get to meet Father Christmas too, and our Ofsted Christmas PlayScheme. We will also be taking bookings from January for our February half term activities, which will include our swimming crash course, trampoline tasters and our popular Ofsted PlayScheme.

The perfect present!

With Christmas just round the corner, keep your eye out for our gift promotion – a fun and fit idea if you’re looking for something different to buy a loved one or friend (or treat yourself!). Or why not take advantage of one of our great membership schemes for our fitness suite, which houses the latest in gymnasium equipment, including C.V. machines fitted with audio-visual technology, an ideal present for a loved one!

Spring time!

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 also sees the return of our charitable Swimathon, with all participants raising money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care 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 27th March & Saturday 28th  March

For further details on parties, gift memberships or any of our activities, please drop in, call 01763 263313 or go online at www.mc-sport.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you this season!

Melbourn Sports Centre, The Village College, The Moor, Melbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 6EF 01763 263313 / www.mc-sport.co.uk / info@mc-sport.co.uk

Grinnel Hill BMX Trails

On the weekend of the August Bank Holiday the Trails held its 10 Year Anniversary Jam!

Following a concerted effort in the week leading up to the event by the locals who ride and hangout there all season, the site had never looked better, with the grass cut and almost all lines open and running perfectly.

Promoted on social media, BMXers from far and wide throughout the UK and abroad including America, France, Germany, Belgium, and even Australia travelled to enjoy the site in all its glory with the unseasonably hot Bank Holiday weather just adding to proceedings!

As part of the weekend celebrating 10 years since the site first opened, a commemorative photo annual and framed print – which were on display on a disused berm –were produced and presented to each local rider who has consistently been involved and contributed to the site for the last decade.

It’s safe to say everyone had an absolute blast! The sun was shining, the turnout was huge, there was beer, ice cream and BBQs going too. What more could you ask for? Even the local Co-op reported beer and BBQ food sales had gone through the roof, after seeing a steady stream of BMXers vacating their store over the course of the weekend!

The Trails are open annually April to September

Our aim for the site is to promote an activity for the community of Melbourn and surrounding areas to participate in, with the guidance of our committee and experts, in a safe and friendly environment. Visitors will have access to BMX coaching and expertise on site when open.

Acknowledgements: Norburys, for their kind support with traffic management during the weekend of our Jam; Melbourn Parish Council, for their ongoing support at all levels to keep the site sustainable and open; Wrights Mower Centre Melbourn, for their help and generosity in supporting us to keep the site to a well maintained and safe standard for the foreseeable future.

What’s On

Carols by Candlelight

The Carols by Candlelight concert will be held on Saturday, 7 December 2019 at 3.30 pm St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Caldecote, Herts SG7 5LD.

There is ample parking outside the church, disabled access but no facilities (WC).

We gather in this ancient church by candlelight (no electricity!) to sing well known and favourite carols and in the interval, you will be treated to mince pies, sausage rolls and a glass (well, a paper cup actually!) of warm mulled wine.

Tickets are £10.00 owing to the size of the church (only around 55-60 guests) so people who might turn up without tickets will, unfortunately, be turned away (there is no standing room!).

Enquiries about tickets can be sent to carols@ caldecotechurchfriends.org.uk or telephone 01462 895830.

Christmas Door Decoration A Workshop!

Friday 6th December, 2019

Foxton Village Hall, Hardman Road, Foxton, Cambs.

A choice of times – either 11.00am to 2.00pm or 7.00pm to 10.00pm

Tickets : £25

To include the framework, foliage and ribbons, please bring gloves, secateurs and any special foliage/baubles you’d like to incorporate in your finished article

Call Tracy: Tel: 01763 262262, e-mail: admin@hsrsc.org.uk or online through www.ticketsource.co.uk/hsrsc

Proceeds and raffle in aid of Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire

Cambridge Past, Present & Future

Wandlebury Country Park

Winter Tree Walk at Wandlebury

Tuesday 10 December 10am – 12noon

Wednesday 16 January 10am – 12noon

A gentle guided walk to around Wandlebury to learn how to identify winter trees. Meet at the noticeboard in the car park.

Free but donations welcome.

A Calm Creative Christmas with Vital Spark

Sat 21 December, 10am – 11am, 11.30am – 12.30pm or 1pm-2pm

Craft, play and storytelling based around Christmas. Join us for an outdoor release and some calm creativity in the form of festive craft and story-telling. Dress for the outdoors/ weather.

£7 per child over 2 years (recommended age 3–7) plus 10% booking fee. Booking essential. To book email katherine@vitalsparktheatre.org

Holiday Bushcraft at Wandlebury for 5–12 years

Mon 17, Tues 18, Weds 19 February, 8.30am–4pm

Holiday Bushcraft at Wandlebury is designed for children aged 5–12 and is run by experienced qualified teachers. All basic bushcraft techniques suitable for this age range will be taught, including: Shelter building | Knots and rope work | Use of cutting tools and whittling | Plant and tree recognition and uses | Seasonal woodcrafts | Fire lighting techniques | Wilderness cooking skills | Natural art and crafts | Woodland games

The cost for each day is £38 per child. For more information go to www.wildthymeandembers. co.uk/holiday-bushcraft-club/

Thinking of Selling Home?

Melbourn magazine is non-profit and all work on the magazine including design and layout are produced by volunteers. The Magazine is published four times a year in the first week of March, June, September and December. We print 2250 copies which are delivered free to every house and business in the village. Advertising revenue is used for printing costs only.

Adverts should be supplied as finished artwork and must be at the sizes shown below. Please send artwork to melbournmagazine@gmail.com. The current rates for advertising in the Magazine are as follows:

Size per… Width x Height B/W Colour

1/4 inside page (79 × 128 mm) £115 £170

1/2 inside page (163 × 128 mm) £195 £270

Advertising rates are per year (four issues)

For further information on advertising please telephone 221965. Remittance or cheques should be made to Melbourn Magazine.

We are grateful to TTP for their continued sponsorship

Editorial Ann Dekkers 261144

Editorial\Production Peter Simmonett 220363

Advertising Vernon Gamon 221965

Distribution Eric Johnston 220197

Parish Profile Mavis Howard 260686

Proof reading Ann Dekkers 261144

Christine Orchard 221033

Jane Stephens

Village Diary Christine Orchard 221033

The Melbourn magazine team would like to thank all our advertisers for their support and sponsorship

Abode Town & Country / Estate Agent - 01763 259888 70

All Eyes / Spectacle Makers - 01954 231545 44

Amber Health - 01462 490141 58

angliEAR / Hearing services - 01223 661399 22

Assist Law - Estate Planning - 07786 061457 63

Bannold landscaping materials - 01954 231666 24

B.C.R / Plumbing & Heating - 01763 260007 62

Bumpkins Day Nursery - 01223 208777 24

Bury Lane Farm Shop - 01763 260418 60

Bury Lane Fun Barn - 01763 260418 28

Bush Lettings / Sales & letting agent - 01223 508085 68

Cambridge MG - 01223 841616 72

CEROC Dance 07710 409167 54

Chris Thomas / Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning - 01223 836002 14

CHS / Local Community Services - 01763 260564 50

CP Podiatry / Podiatrist - 01763 661841 63

CSL Cheap Storage Ltd - 01763 262344 60

Drives of Yesteryear/ Wedding Car hire - 01763 261250 50

ESSE - 01763 261000 8

Eternit Angling Club / 365 Days Fishing - 07966 268486 64

Frog End pet Supplies - 01763 263342 58

Garden Design Solutions - 01763 263231 34

Greenlow Kennels - 01763 260624 2

GYC Photography family photographer - 07786 707869 56

Hopkins Homes - 07951 110498 30

Jazzercise / Body Workout - 07963 161246 28

Jeremy Ashworth / Property Maintenance - 07815 093166 68

Jeremy Rule / Funeral Service - 01763 242560

JKL Tackle / Fishing tackle shop - 07966 268486

J Oliver Radley / Opticians - 01763 273300

Langham Press - 01223 870266

Lawn Partners / Bespoke lawncare - 01763 244955

Law Storage Ltd - 01223 874629

Leech & Sons / Master Butchers - 01763 260255

Little Hands Nursery School - 01763 260964 60

Melbourn Dental Practice - 01763 262034 44

Melbourn Flooring & Interiors - 01763 262413 26

Melbourn Garage - 01763 263344 70

Melbourn Ironing Service - 01763 220996 2

Melbourn Springs - Care Home 01763 722734 4

Moncraft / PC Repairs & Installation - 01223 208529 66

Nancy Foster Footcare - 01763 261250 66

Newlings of Royston / Funeral Services - 01763 242375 26

Norburys / Building & Landscape Supplies - 01763 261740 62

Paul Hutley / Carpenter - 07702905915 30

Phillimore Garden Centre - 01763 260537 2

PL Cooper / Flooring Specialists - 01763 260918 18

Prince Property / Property Improvements - 01763 269565 18

Redmayne Arnold & Harris Property Experts - 01223 247440 52

Rothwell’s Carpet Cleaning - 01223 832928 16

Royston Complementry Health - 01763 247440 52

Simon Robinson / Bespoke Picture Framers - 01223 873123 54

Slimming World - 07798 767976 20

Southwell Court Residential Home - 01763 750006 22

St Georges Nursing Home - 01763 242243 14

Taylor & Co /Chartered Accountants - 01763 248545 62

The Letting Centre / Property Management - 01763 263039 50

The Sheene Mill - 01763 261393 8

The Spice Hut / Indian Takeaway - 01763 262425 16

Three Counties K9 Hydrotherapy - 01763 838536 64

TTP - 01763 262626 56

Unlimited Logos - 01763 262081 66

Urban Plastics / Plumbing Suppliers - 01763 262337 68

Wheeler Antiques - Fine Art and furniture 01763 256722 64

Wrights Mower Centre / Garden Machinery - 01763 263393 50