Issue 85 Spring 2016 by Melbourn Magazine

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

...editorial How quickly the year goes – March already! In What’s On in this edition you see some of the things that are in store for us in the coming months – so there will be plenty to do and to become involved with. The Village Fete will be on Saturday June 18th and should be great fun. The committee is always looking for more volunteers (see page 6). On page 13 is a discussion with James Lovelace, who is recovering from skin cancer. In gratitude he will run the London Marathon for the Macmillan Cancer Charity; we all wish him the very best of luck, he is an inspiration to us all. (See page 14 for how to sponsor James). The profile in this edition is on our very busy Village Vet; and we have an article on the Thursday Lunch Club, which provides a fun venue for older people to meet, socialise and eat! At the Parish Council party in December the following Community Awards were made:

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David Piggott – for 16 years sterling service at Meldreth Station.

•

Barbara Mackellar – for all her hard work in making 83 High Street an attractive spot.

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Nikki Cross and Julie Myles for taking over and running the Thursday Lunch Club.

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1st Melbourn Rainbows – for their dedication in contributing to youngsters enjoyment in the village (Abigail Roberts)

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2nd Melbourn Brownies – for their dedication and contributing to youngsters enjoyment in the village – (Lucinda Cockman and Samantha Pascoe)

•

Melbourn Magazine – to celebrate their coming of age, 21 years of outstanding publication.

Contents Village news Community matters feature Running the London Marathon for Macmillan Cancer Support

A Day in the Life of a Mobile Warden

What’s On Profile Blundell’s Plot Education poetry Nature

River Mel Restoration

Sports & Clubs Churches Together feature

The cost of printing comes entirely from advertising and sponsorship.

25 29 30

RMRG – River Mel Restoration Group

Melbourn Magazine is independent of the Parish Council

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.

Tina Davey at Melbourn Veterinary Surgery

The cover photograph is by Marjorie Shaw. (see page 57 for more photos of Spring in Melbourn)

We would like to thank TTP for their continued sponsorship of the magazine.

Melbourn Amateur Dramatics - Bluebeard

Village information Diary Nature

NO public money is used.

5 11

35 36 41

Go wild in Melbourn

45 53 57

Marjorie Shaw

Nature Melwood Your Local Nature Reserve

The Orchid Hunters

What’s On

If you would like to advertise in the Melbourn Magazine see page 71 for details

Front cover: Cox’s Apple blossom by Marjorie Shaw

email: melbournmagazine@gmail.com

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The Village Garden

see page 30 for more information Photograph by Marjorie Shaw. See page 57.

Village news Village news

Barbara MacKellar

Poppy Appeal 2015

Thursday Luncheon Club

Library

Melbourn Open Gardens 2016

Melbourn Village Fete & Music on the Moor

Royston Lions club

Revd. Mary Price presenting Barbara MacKellar with a card and gift as she leaves Melbourn to live in Storeys Trust Houses Cambridge. She will be well known in the village for her work on the small garden at 83 High Street.

Melbourn and Meldreth Royal British Legion Women’s Section

Poppy Appeal 2015

Library – LAP (Local Access Point) Library opening times Monday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Tuesday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Wednesday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Thursday 2.30 to 6.30 pm Friday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Saturday 10.00 to 12.00 am

May we take this opportunity to express our many thanks to the villagers of Melbourn for their wonderful support of the 2015 Poppy Appeal with the total raised in the village being well over £3,500. Sincere thanks also go to the dedicated band of volunteers who undertook house to house collections and whose support has been invaluable once again. The Poppy Appeal is testament to the goodwill and generosity of communities throughout the country and last year over £40 million was raised nationally. Charity appeals rely on volunteers and we are always looking for additional support so if you do feel you would like to assist us in the future we would be pleased to hear from you. Thank you again Melbourn. Mike and Ann Swann, Local Area Organisers.

Thursday Luncheon Club We are delighted to say that lunch club is going so well. We have a relaxed, informal atmosphere and enjoy being involved with such a lovely group of people. Financial support is of course vital and we were overwhelmed with a donation of £740 from Kerry and Steve at the Black Horse. Many thanks to them and their customers for taking part in the weekly raffle. Melbourn Fete Committee and The Bridge Club also kindly gave us donations this year and we are fortunate to be further supported by the Parish Council. We have so many people to be grateful to, as without their support we would not have undertaken the running of the club initially or been able to continue to run. melbournmagazine

Thanks to Jose and Jeannie Hales and Jayne White for their moral support and encouragement as well as all our regular drivers and volunteers. We could not manage without Doreen Guest who keeps us and our kitchen in order! As a result of the above we were able to put on a great Christmas lunch. The wine flowed and we all sang along to the good old tunes (as someone described them). After lunch the children from Melbourn Playgroup came and delighted our diners with some fabulous singing. We do have space if anyone else would be interested in coming along. Please call Nikki/Julie on 07599292327 for further details.

Library As the library in the Hub grows in popularity the turnover continues to rise, in fact it is now just below 12,000 books per year which is almost twice the amount we were lending in the old library. We are getting more older children than used to visit the old building who enjoy the many books we have on offer for them. Reading in Melbourn and the surrounding villages is obviously still a very popular pastime with children of all ages. We pride ourselves in the speed at which we get new paperbacks onto our shelves, often beating the main libraries. We have a shelf dedicated to new books so come and check it out. We stock many books in large print, again these are kept up to date or should your eyesight makes reading a problem audiotapes and cassettes are available to order. If after all this we don’t have the book you want we offer a reservation system where you can order books at the desk, over the phone or online. Books normally arrive within two weeks. We have discontinued Monday lunch time from 12.30 to 14.30 pm as the level of usage was very low. So we are open – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 2.30 to 4.30 pm, Thursday 2.30 to 6.30 pm, Saturday 10.00 am to 12.00 noon. There is a children’s Story Time on Fridays 10 am. Contact reception at the Hub on 01763 263303 ext. 1 for details.

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Young People & Volunteering at the Melbourn Hub As I am sure many readers of the magazine are well aware that the Melbourn Hub could not function without the dedication of numerous volunteers. But perhaps what isn’t so well known is that some of these wonderful Volunteers are our young people. They live in Melbourn and surrounding villages. Their ages range between 14 and 18yrs. They give up 2hrs fortnightly on a Saturday, usually for three months sometimes for longer. They become valued members of our team. Initially, their 1st session is all about Health & Safety with our Hub Manager (a legal requirement for all staff). Thereafter they learn the skills of interacting with customers, (not so easy for the more reserved), by taking the ‘order’, waiting, clearing-up and cleaning-up. Checking stock by date (very important), sometimes helping Chef with food presentation. Those over 16 have the opportunity to learn the trade of “Barista” and handling the computerized till. These young people have started or even added to their C.Vs. The skills to be experienced and achieved with us are manifold. We look forward to hearing from you, just pop-in, or drop us an email at reception@melbournhub.com or telephone 01763 263303. We are a friendly organisation run by real people who are pleased to welcome you to the library. As volunteers we are all proud of the service we are able to offer. Jane Stevens

Melbourn Open Gardens 2016 Melbourn Open Gardens used to be a feature of the village social calendar. Melbourn Village Fete Committee would like to revive the event and we are planning to hold the first Open Gardens on Sunday 11 September from 11am to 4pm. We would like to invite you to open your garden – people enjoy visiting gardens of every size and style, and it doesn’t matter whether your garden is spick and span or wild and weedy. The interest is in seeing what other people do and taking their ideas for your own garden. If you are interested, please contact either Julie Norman (01763 263462; julienorman6@gmail.com) or Ian Baker (07709 398723; suebaker@sueandian10.plus. com )

Melbourn Village Fete & Music on the Moor Saturday 18 June 2016 – 1pm till late As spring approaches we look forward to longer and warmer days enjoying the company of family and friends outdoors. For those of us on the fete committee we are starting to organize our village fete. We will be approaching local businesses to help us with sponsorship, which is vital for us to commit to up-front costs. In addition, we hope that our advertising will offer local traders and companies the chance to highlight their services to our community. We will be in touch with our supporters shortly and there soon will be further information on sponsorship and advertising on our website soon. As always we rely on a small band of committee members and a larger group of volunteers to help run this day. In the last few years we have been able to donate over £20,000 to local activities and charities. This money really makes a difference making our village that little bit better for us all. Without the help of volunteers the

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

We offer help with:

• • • • • • • • • • •

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

What will it cost? We do have to make a small weekly charge for the warden’s services. The fee is only £5 per week (a little more for couples).

Jeannie Seers (Mobile Warden) 07808 735066 email jeanseers1@ntlworld.com Jane Cage (Deputy) 07592 821976 email jane.e.cage@btinternet.com Melbourn Warden Scheme is a registered charity

fete would be impossible to run and our community would be the poorer for it. It is a fun but hard few days but the satisfaction of being part of the fete is very rewarding. If you would like to volunteer a few hours of your time then please visit our website and click through to the volunteers page, contact numbers are on the website as well if you want to talk to one of us. We have yet to finalise some of the details for the fete. You can be sure that there will be a variety of high quality, locally sourced food at very reasonable prices cooked by our own team as well as some commercial food stalls offering further variety. Our bar will have a range of beers, lagers, wine and our Perfect Pimms. New this year will be a selection of Prosecco based cocktails. Naturally, there will also be a choice of cold and refreshing non-alcoholic drinks. The arena will host some of the favourites from previous years and showcase some of our local activities. Sheep racing makes a welcome return. Elsewhere there will be owls that can be held and stroked. If you have any suggestions for our event or have a group that would like to participate then let us know. We hope to host a Classic Vehicle Rally where any car older than 1980 would be welcome. New this year will be a ‘Bygone’ section where we hope to display old machinery, garden tools, stationery engines and anything else that would interest those of us with a curiosity in engineering. The field will be filled with a variety of activities for all age groups from bouncy castles for the toddlers and young at heart to trial driving lessons for our teenage visitors. A variety of stall holders will be set up on the field offering a whole host of artisan craft, bric-a-brac and also representing local activities. Additionally, this year there will be a limited number of undercover pitches that will include tables and electrical power. If you would like an undercover or outside pitch then contact us through our website early to avoid disappointment. Our competition marquee will be the centre of the creative members of our community with baking, decorating, photography and jam making all expected to make a welcome return with categories for all age groups. The Lego category is likely to expand with a space theme this year celebrating British Astronaut Tim Peake and Star Wars. Let your imagination run wild and design your own spaceship or alien but remember no shop bought models please just your own creations. The Music on the Moor event will follow the fete at 5pm. We have already booked our headline act, Folding Stars. They are a 3-piece band based in our area that plays a range of usual and unusual covers from the fifties to the noughties. There will be more bands and acts announced nearer the date. The fete will start on The Moor at 1 pm on Saturday 18 June. Keep an eye on our website www.melbournfete.co.uk and follow us on Facebook. Melbourn Fete – fun and fundraising for Melbourn Trevor Purnell, Deputy Chair.

Royston Lions club

is looking for new members

Running for more than 20 years, the club has become an established part of life in Royston and District, holding social events such as Quiz Evenings and Barn Dances and raising money to support good causes, as well as service activities – for Senior Citizens, Young People and the whole community. Its motto is ‘We Serve’. The 15 current members, men and women from all walks of life, are all keen to serve the local community in their spare time and there are lots of Club and interclub events and activities as well. The money raised at club level is used primarily in the local community; this year’s main charity is Homestart although other causes will be supported as well throughout the year. Lions Clubs International is the largest service club organisation in the world melbournmagazine

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with over 1.4 million members in more than 46,000 clubs in 218 countries. Causes supported by LCIF, the international foundation, include water wells, street children, youth programmes, health projects (especially sight related issues) and disaster relief and LCI is the main community organisation working with the United Nations. Royston Lions meet at 8:00pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays each month at the Old Barn in Upper King Street, Royston and anyone interested in joining – to do something useful to do in their spare time and have fun at the same time – can contact current President Chris Cawdell on 01763 448236 or via the club email roystonlions@gmail.com A “Come and Meet Us” evening is to be held at The Old Bull, Royston at 8:00pm on Wednesday 23 March.

Melbourn and Meldreth Royal British Legion Women’s Section We had an outing with lunch at a Garden Centre in July where we were well looked after. The AGM was held in September with a new Chairman (Una Cleminson) and Vice Chairman (Irene Bloomfield) were elected. This was followed by a light supper. We collected for The Poppy Appeal during the two weeks prior to Remembrance Sunday. This benevolence is still required to provide much needed relief for Servicemen and Women and their families, with over £1m a week being distributed. The Women’s Section is open to all women over 18, we aim to make our meetings stimulating and most importantly ‘Good Fun.’ You will be assured of a good welcome, we meet at Vicarage Close Community Centre on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 2pm. President Molly Chamberlain 0774623072: Chairman Una Cleminson 01763269544: Secretary Elizabeth Murphy 01763220841.

Cambridgeshire Hearing Help The local charity that helps those living with hearing loss FREE advice to help you hear Come and discuss your hearing difficulties with those who understand the problem at Scotsdales Garden Centre 120 Cambridge Rd Great Shelford CB22 SJT On Friday 11th March 2016 from 10 am to 12 noon

We will demonstrate equipment to help you hear better, whether or not you wear a hearing aid Telephones Television and radio Alarms Door bells Personal listeners More information about Cambridgeshire Hearing Help can be found onour website www. cambridgeshirehearinghelp. org.uk 8A Romsey Terrace Cambridge CB1 3NH Tel 01223 416141 Registered Charity No. 1154071

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Community matters

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Orchard Surgery Appointments & Dispensary 260220 For repeat prescriptions send email: prescriptions.orchardsurgery@nhs.net Hospitals Addenbrooke’s Royston

From the Parish Clerk – Sarah Adam

01223 245151 01763 242134

NHS111 – Urgent Care 111 24hr helpline Medical help when not a 999 emergency Police Non Emergency number Help when not a 999 emergency

101

Fire & Rescue Service 01223 376201 Crimestoppers

0800 555111

Neighbourhood Watch 260959 Maureen Townsend maureentownsend1@aol.com Telephone Preference Service www.tsponline.org.uk 0345 070 0707

For information on Parish Councillors see page 35

What’s On Melbourn Amateur Dramatics - Bluebeard

MVC RTFA Ladies Fashion Show

Cambridge Choral Society - Mozarts Requiem

New Melbourn Singers - Dettingen Te Deum

The Cantilena Singers - Lux aeterna

Raising the Roof Appeal at Friends Meeting House 66 Cambridge Concert Orchestra - All at Sea

Swinging into Spring All Saints Community Hall

Cambridge past present and future

Cambridge Wind Band presents Stars and Stripes 66 The Great British Fish & Chips supper

Ninth Safari Supper

Come and Sing - Stainer’s Crucifixion

A New Year and a new beginning in the Parish Office! Peter Horley, who was Parish Clerk for 5 years, retired at Christmas. On behalf of the Parish Council, I would like to thank him for his contribution to the smooth functioning of the village during that time. I have now been appointed Parish Clerk, many of you will already know me as I have been Assistant Clerk to Peter since November 2013 and I would also take the opportunity to personally thank him for all his help and for mentoring me over the last two years. I am really looking forward to this interesting and exciting challenge. I grew up in the village and still live here with my family. I have a large amount of knowledge about Melbourn and thoroughly enjoy contributing to the village community. Over the last 2 years, I have been studying for my CILCA (Certificate in Local Council Administration) Qualification and by the time you read this article I hope I will have passed! We have also said goodbye to Councillors Baker and Barrett. I would like to thank both Councillors for all their time and commitment to the Parish Council. The village will not lose the valuable contributions made by Cllr Barrett as she will continue to serve the residents of Melbourn and surrounding villages in her capacity as a District Councillor. This means we have two vacancies to fill. If you are interested in becoming a Parish Councillor, please contact the Parish Office. By the time you are reading this in March, New Year’s Resolutions will probably be long forgotten but there are two actions that we can all resolve to take to make Melbourn a safer community. Firstly, please always clear up after your dog. Dog fouling around the village is increasing and it is illegal. Anyone seen allowing their dog to foul and not clearing it up will be reported to South Cambridgeshire District Council. Posters around the village and pink paint on the pavement are part of our campaign to encourage ALL owners to comply. Secondly, you will have noticed our newly refurbished car park with much improved parking facilities. Please consider using this when dropping children off for Melbourn Primary School. Cars dropping off in Mortlock Street and Close and Orchard Road cause congestion, and make life difficult for drivers and pedestrians. At the moment, I do not have an Assistant Clerk and have made some changes to the Parish Office Opening Hours to enable me to deal efficiently with all Parish business. The new Parish Office 2016 Opening times are: Monday 0900-1600, Tuesday 0900-1500, Wednesday 0900-1500, Thursday 0900-1600, the Office will be closed on Fridays. If I can be of any assistance please feel free to drop into the office: Melbourn Parish Office, Melbourn Community Hub, Telephone: 01763 263303 (3) Email: parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk Sarah Adam Melbourn Parish Clerk

melbournmagazine

There are currently over 25,400 people across Cambridgeshire living with or beyond cancer, a number that is set to more than double to 53,800 by the year 2030. That’s enough to fill Cambridge United’s football stadium nearly five times. Macmillan Cancer Support believes that none of these people should face cancer alone. We also know that cancer doesn’t just affect your health; it affects your whole life. From helping you get access to the right information, to giving you advice about how to cope with your finances, to just being there for a chat, Macmillan is here to help you cope. To find out about what support is available in your area, call the Macmillan Support Line free on 0808 808 00 00 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk/in-your-area/choose-location. html and use your postcode to search. In order to fund these vital services, Macmillan relies

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entirely on charitable donations and fundraising from people like James Lovelace. If you’d like to support our work and help us ensure that no one faces cancer alone, there are plenty of ways to join Team Macmillan. Call our Fundraising Support Centre on 0300 1000 200 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk/ for advice and support on anything from running a marathon or trekking Kilimanjaro, to holding a coffee morning or putting on a quiz night.

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feature

Running the London Marathon for Macmillan James Lovelace a 41-year-old father of two was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2015, but with the support of the charity Macmillan Cancer Support he was able to get through a very traumatic period and this inspired him to enter the 2016 London Marathon to say thank you. This article is in his own words and was taken from an interview he made with the Cambridge News. James hopes by spreading the word, others won’t make the same mistake. “When something bad happens to you, you have to use it to your advantage, I wouldn’t have wished what’s happened to me on anyone, but my view is it’s got to be an incentive to make the most of the second 40 years of my life; be able to look back and know I made the best of it. I was always a glass half empty person, but not anymore, I’m not upset about what I’ve been through, I’m just happy to still be here.” James is a positive and confident person and it’s hard to believe that in the early part of 2015 he was almost ready to give up. A skin cancer diagnosis back in February 2015 sent James into despair and, at his lowest ebb, James feared he’d never see his two sons, Jude aged 1, and Freddie aged 4, grow up. “They were the darkest times, I became distant and tried to keep them at arm’s length, scared that by forming a closer bond, it would be so much more difficult for them if I wasn’t around any more.” Thanks to the support of his family and the “wonderful” Macmillan nurses, James, who lives in Melbourn, was able to regain his hope, and now he’s determined to give something back, as James has signed up to run the 2016 London Marathon on the 24 April in aid of Macmillan. “When I was in and out of hospital I thought ‘If I get through all this, I must do something to raise some awareness and some money.’ So, six weeks ago, I signed up for the marathon which, given I’ve never done any running of any sort, EVER, was a pretty crazy thing to do.” Around 37 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every single day and this number continues to rise, it is a worthwhile thing to do too, and a cause James is incredibly passionate about. “I was a typical sun worshipper before; I’d be the first one to sit out in a beer garden if it was sunny, and pretty much any chance I got I’d be out in it, I’d read about the dangers in the news but just didn’t take any notice, always thinking ‘It will never happen to me’. I was a fit and healthy bloke with no worries, and suddenly diagnosed with this overnight, so it really can happen to anyone.”

James was diagnosed with melanoma early in 2015 after a routine check on a mole on the back of his leg. “It looked a bit unusual so thought I better get it checked out at the doctors, but didn’t really think anything of it,” Referred to Addenbrooke’s hospital, the doctors told James the mole would need to come off. It was a simple operation and nothing to be worried about. Eight weeks later, James received a phone call from the hospital asking him to come in urgently to discuss the results – and it was an even bigger shock to hear the word ‘cancer’. “The doctor told me there was a trace of melanoma in the mole, and I’d need to have an operation to get it removed. I remember there was a Macmillan nurse in the room, and she had a leaflet which said cancer support, and the shock hit me. I was in floods of tears and I couldn’t take it in; you just don’t ever think that suddenly you’ll be faced with a life-threatening condition.” Things moved swiftly. James underwent an operation which removed a large chunk of skin from his leg, and then a lymph node biopsy to see if the cancer had spread. A few weeks later James’ worst fears were confirmed. A third operation to remove all the lymph nodes in James’s left leg followed – and then it was simply a waiting game. “I couldn’t understand it; I didn’t feel or look unhealthy, and kept thinking what have I done to deserve to be in this position? You feel like the odds are stacked against you. There was only a small chance the first mole would have something in it but it did; there was a very small chance it would spread but it did. There were all these 20/80 odds, and I was always falling in to continued on page 14 melbournmagazine

continued from page 13

the 20 bracket. I didn’t want to talk about it to anyone, not even to my friends. I didn’t want to admit it was happening, “When you have kids your biggest fear is something will happen to them or something will happen to you. You don’t want them to be the kids who don’t have a dad, and your wife not to have a husband, and that was a constant, almost daily, worry. What will they do if I’m not around? Who’s going to look after the family? All things you never think you’ll have to think about.” During this period, the support of Macmillan proved an invaluable lifeline. “My initial reaction like a typical bloke was ‘I don’t want any help’. I didn’t want any support or sympathy, and tended to think stuff like that was a weakness. But it’s not – and you really do need the help. I had a nurse called Vicky McMorran who’s been amazingly supportive. Whenever I had a question, she was always there with an answer and there with support through some very, very dark times.” In August, after 50 hospital visits and six months of worry, James finally had some good news. “All the scans had come back negative, and I got as much of an all-clear as I could get. You never get a 100 per cent all clear with melanoma, and there’s a 35/40 per cent chance of something coming back at any time, so I’ll have to keep having regular checks for the next five years.” This uncertainty can, James admits, be one of the hardest things to live with, but he’s determined it won’t define him. “I try to think positively now, and do more with my life. Obviously I’ve still got to work, I can’t go and live in a mountain in Vietnam, but I’ve definitely got a different outlook now and tend to appreciate the small things so much more. When you get the phone call to say everything is clear, you feel like you’re in a bit of a vacuum, kind of like New Year’s Day: you’ve just had New Year’s Eve and then it’s like ‘What do I do?’. You can’t just go back to doing what you were doing before; you can’t just say ‘That was lucky’, you want to try and do something more”. James hopes this new attitude will see him through every one of the 26.2 miles on Sunday April 26th. “The furthest I’ve ever run is three miles at school aged 16, so it’s going to be an interesting challenge. Even in the small number of runs I’ve done, I’ve felt emotional thinking about the day, and just how fortunate I am to be able to do it, to be here, and to give something back to this amazing charity.”

If you would like to sponsor James go to http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ james-lovelace

This Cambridge News article was published online in November 2015. For more information and the article go to: www.cambridge-news.co.uk/James-Lovelace-Melbourn-m-spreadingword-skin/story-28230735-detail/story.html

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Meals service : nutritious, hot lunchtime meal delivered to you.

Housekeeping : we do those jobs which you can no longer manage, from cleaning and ironing, to bed changing and shopping. To find out more, just call us at Moorlands Court on 01763 260564, or email : denise.taylor@chsgroup.org.uk

From the Chairman of the Parish Council Over the last few months we have seen the major refurbishment of the village car park, new vacancies on the Parish Council and a new Parish Clerk. The refurbished Car Park was opened officially on 21st December. It was a long, complicated and unavoidably delayed civil engineering project. One of the major objectives was to obviate any potential flooding. The car park is about a third larger. This new size involved much more drainage and a huge soakaway. The condition of the ground underneath the old tarmac certainly did not help. Instead of porous chalk, a sold layer of impervious clunch was discovered. The design, new features and layout of the new car park have been well received. The parking bays are well defined, the new improved lighting makes it a much safer environment and the CCTV system adds a strong element of security. The route to school is safely segregated from moving traffic. With an eye to the future, ducts have been installed which will allow the installation of electric charging points. The refurbished car park is a major enhancement to our village. Councillor Mike Linnette, leading the project, aided by Councillor Mike Sherwen and the Car Park Committee did a splendid job in bringing it to fruition. Over the last couple of months we have lost the good services of two Parish Councillors. Tim Baker was forced to step down for health reasons and his technical expertise will be much missed. Unfortunately, we also saw a stalwart of many years also step down. Val Barrett has been an invaluable member for a lengthy period and her hard work, good humour and robust common sense will be sorely missed by all of the Councils Val will still fulfil her duties as a member of South Cambridgeshire District Council. This has created the opportunity for two more people to help maintain and improve our village. The requirements are simple. Aged over 18 and not a bankrupt, you must either work or live in the area. If you would like to know more, please ask any Parish Councillor or our new Parish Clerk, Sarah Adam. They will be happy to explain the duties and how to apply. As many people know, Peter Horley our Parish Clerk for several years retired on 23rd December. Peter was a valuable member of the Parish Council team. He displayed great support and help to myself and all the other councillors. Whilst we are very sorry to see Peter leave, we are very happy to welcome our new Parish Clerk, Sarah Adam.

continued on page 19

MELBOURN

Neighbourhood Plan Your way to influence the future development of Melbourn Drop in at The Hub Sunday 13 march 11am to 4pm

• •

Tell the team your views and take the opportunity to agree or disagree with the ideas which have been put forward so far. Find out how young people, senior citizens and businesses want Melbourn to develop over the next 15 years.

And we will announce the winners of the Neighbourhood Plan Logo competition held with pre-schools, the Primary School and Melbourn Village College.

Refreshments available

Short Story Reading Group The Melbourn Short Story Reading Group resumed its weekly activities with a ten week programme at the Hub on Tuesday 19 January at 10.00 a.m. As before, attendance was free, but with a donation to WaterAid welcomed. The selected writer was Dylan Thomas (1914 – 1953) and the Group read two of his short stories “Holiday Memory” and “A Story”. Seated in the Library Area of the Hub, the stories were read in a very informal, relaxed and convivial fashion. Participants either stayed on afterwards (reading stopped at 11.00 a.m.) and enjoyed a coffee and a chat or departed immediately to pursue the remaining business of their day. All were suitably revived, cheered and enlightened as they departed into a cold, bright, January morning in Melbourn village. Perhaps they reflected on their personal good fortune not to be departing into a village in Mozambique without access to clean water! The writers scheduled for coming weeks – all part of our rich cultural heritage and each a cultural icon in his or her own right are: Elizabeth Bowen (18991973) P.G. Wodehouse (1881 –1973); Iris Murdoch (1919–1999); Virginia Woolf (1882–1941); Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989); Charles Dickens (11870); Mary Lavin (1912 – 1996); Rebecca West (1892 – 1983); James Joyce (1882 – 1941). Do come along if you are free and interested. All welcome every Tuesday 10-11.00 a.m. in the Library Area of the Hub. Hugh Pollock Group Co-ordinator Melbourn Short Story Reading Group 01763 260253 hugh.m.pollock@gmail.com

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Royston - Greneway School, Garden Walk Tuesday 6.15pm Strength 45 7.00pm Dance Mixx Thursday 6.40pm Strength 45 7.30pm Dance Mixx Saturday 9.00am Dance Mixx Melbourn Village College Wednesday 7.15pm Dance Mixx For more information text or call Maxine on 0796 316 1246 jazzercise_ royston.melbourn@yahoo.co.uk *Terms & Conditions apply

Rapidly Growing We are proud to recognise that Clarke Philips is continuing to enjoy steady growth in the Royston and surrounding areas. We believe it is the result of carefully nurturing our customers’ needs which include: • Offering competitive fees

• Providing honest advice

• Being available 8am-8pm 7 days a week

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• Let only to full management available

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• Having no call centres

Be part of our success and ask us how we can help you sell or let your property today.

E royston@clarkephilips.co.uk T 01763 248682 W clarkephilips.co.uk

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

feature

A Day in the Life of a Mobile Warden Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme is a local charity helping the mobility impaired across Melbourn – and more recently Meldreth. The charity’s aim is to help people remain independent in their homes, via visiting mobile wardens who provide social contact, promote health and safety and carry out errands around the villages. Head Warden Jeannie Seers tells us what it’s like to be a mobile warden. Jeannie joined the scheme 5 years ago by chance. Having taken early retirement from a very different career, she was asked to help the scheme “just for a couple of weeks” but was immediately smitten and never left! She says “I realised how wonderful it felt to make such a difference to so many people in a relatively small amount of time. The incredible things people said about how the warden scheme improved their lives, was very moving”. Jeannie leads a team of wardens – Jane, Helen and Vanessa – who visit people who have impaired mobility. Most people are of an older age, but the scheme has some younger members. “What could lift the spirits more than knowing that you make a difference each day?”

Jeannie contacts her regular clients Monday to Friday, visiting two days each week and making telephone contact on the other three. She explained “I ring to chat, make sure all is well and identify any shopping or other needs. Regular social contact improves people’s general health and wellbeing so is a key service”. She believes that her own wellbeing benefits too and says “what could lift the spirits more than a chat with someone delighted to hear from you and knowing that you make a difference each day?” During visits, Jeannie will sit and chat, check clients are safe and well and bring shopping and prescriptions etc. “The main point of the visit is social contact, but I also take letters

and parcels to post, bills to pay and prescription requests etc, as the practical support is also extremely important for someone with mobility issues” she says. The wardens also source services that supports client health, safety and independence. Sometimes more unusual things are needed “there is always a new situation which makes the job so interesting” says Jeannie. Jeannie, Jane, Helen and Vanessa have received lots of positive and often moving feedback and she shared some examples. One client said “it is the best thing that could have happened to me” and others commented “I don’t have to worry anymore because I know I can rely on you”, “I really don’t know how I would cope without you”, “I know I can talk to you about anything” and “you are like a daughter to me”. Another said “so much goes on in the background. It’s not just the visits and calls, there is so much more that you do for us all, that people don’t see”. The wardens have close relationships with the GP surgery, pharmacy, care providers and Royston community transport etc. Jeannie explains “wardens have excellent training and all support each other, so clients and their families get the best service possible. We also work closely with other service providers to deliver client needs.” Families rely on the support of the wardens too as she explained. “Some families live miles away or work, so they really appreciate the warden service. Our regular contact and support for their loved one is reassuring to them.”

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What’s On

Melbourn Amateur Dramatics Presents Jeannie shared some of the comments received from family members. One daughter wrote “For me, it is always a relief to know that there is someone that Mum can turn to”, another said “he does enjoy all your visits – you are top of the list of discussions” whilst other relatives said “thank you so much – this is an amazing service you operate”. The sister of a client expressed her gratitude “as always I could not manage without your help. I do not know what I would do without you and your wonderful service. Thank you for making her life so rich in so much.” Jeannie summed up her role. “It really is a dream job. I am able to do something rewarding and meaningful. The clients are a joy and privilege to know and so appreciative of our support. My warden colleagues are a pleasure to work with and the part time hours mean that I still have plenty of time for family and other interests. What more could I want?”

Do you have what it takes to be a mobile warden? The scheme needs more mobile wardens to meet growing demand in Melbourn and Meldreth. No experience is necessary. It just requires empathy, a caring nature, initiative and enthusiasm, as training will be provided. The role is paid, self employed and offers part time hours to suit. Applicants will be subject to usual DBS checks. For more information or how to apply, please contact Jeannie Seers, on 07808 735066 or email jeanseers1@ntlworld.com.

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

“Bluebeard”

‘Bluebeard is a musical comedy/horror based upon a French folk story. It tells the tale of Baron Bluebeard who murders a succession of wives because they are unable to obey him and stay out of his secret chamber. When they turn the key their fate is sealed. Our tale is set in that well known French town of Melbournville, and features the talented MADS cast as you have never seen them before! Think ‘Les Mis’ crossed with ‘Carry on Screaming’ and you won’t be far wrong! With an original script, original incidental music and a stash of original catchy tunes, we promise you a fun night out and we look forward to inviting you to join us on May 13th and 14th at Meldreth Village Hall. As with all of our spring productions we would love it if you would like to join in the fun and dress up, time to powder those wigs, pop on those beauty spots and get into those bodices and breeches!

To book your tickets go to www.melbournamdram.co.uk Just be careful who you sit next to as there’s Plague about, and whatever you do don’t turn the key!’

The Parish Council had planned ahead and Sarah Adam, while acting as Assistant to the Parish Clerk completed the majority of her training and was able to step smoothly into the new role as Parish Clerk. As a councillor and as Chairman, I have worked for a number of years with Sarah and I am fully confident she will run the Parish Office with superb efficiency. As a final thought, I must mention the Neighbourhood Plan. This is an essential part of determining the future direction of the Parish Council and Melbourn itself. Councillor Julie Norman, leader of this important project, would welcome more volunteers to join the team and help gather the facts and evidence to draw up a cohesive Neighbourhood Plan.

From your county councillor A very happy spring to everyone in Melbourn! First to get the grim news over with – but there’s positive news too so please keep reading… The County Council is continuing to face devastating cuts, as central government is in the process of completely phasing out its revenue support grant to local authorities. This is the traditional cornerstone of what councils spend on public services. At the same time, the government sets a limit on what councils are allowed to raise through council tax. Between the two measures, there is a yawning gap of funds available to pay for the basics, and the council is withdrawing ever more from whatever it is not legally required to provide. Shire counties are faring particularly badly for various reasons and central government funding formulas don’t always make sense. Further, many of the services that councils provide are bound up in long-term contracts, leaving less wriggle room for figuring out where new cuts would be least harmful. For this reason we will be seeing ever worsening pot holes and blocked drains, some street light switch offs, winter gritting reduced, cuts to subsidized transport even for disadvantaged people, removal of public health programmes that save money for the health service and social care, and so on. From 2010–2020, council support from the Chancellor’s office will have been cut by a staggering 79%. The Park and Ride charges which have been so damaging are just one example of a brave new world in which charges will be applied more and more widely, against logic. Sometimes it is possible to bring improvements through other channels, hence the various out-of-the-box efforts underway described after pot holes!

Report or complain about pot holes The County Council is now very explicit about what pot holes they will or will not repair. You can see the detail of required depth and circumference here: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/info/20081/roads_and_pathways/10/roadworks_and_ faults It’s important to register concern – so if you would like to pick up the phone or send in an email about any highways issues, contact details are: highways@ cambridgeshire.gov.uk or Tel 0345 045 5212.

An edible garden at Melbourn Primary School: might you be tempted? Melbourn Primary School has an ideal setting for a gardening club, in a lovely woodland area to the side of the field, with four raised beds and a tool shed. It’s easy to imagine the beds full of potatoes, garlic, carrots, leeks and beans – or currants, rhubarb and other pudding ingredients! Discovering how to grow their own food would be a wonderful way for pupils to unwind and socialize after school. What is needed to run a regular after-school club is a couple of volunteers from the community, ideally once a week on a day that suits the volunteer(s). If you might like to help out, please could you let the school or me know – many thanks!

The Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group will be providing back up support through its various networks for sourcing materials (like worms for the wormery, and plants that garden centres can’t sell but can be brought back to life).

BMX for Melbourn Primary School Again at a time when funding for the basics is falling away, it is good to report that as part of the funding drawn down from the Department for Transport for promoting ‘Active Travel’ – cycling and walking – in the A10 corridor, two local primary schools, Melbourn and Foxton, will be having BMX shows on March 16. The Department for Transport increasingly regards Active Travel as investment that saves money longterm, because of the overwhelming positive impact on mental and physical health. It’s great that this tallies up with Melbourn’s state of the art BMX tracks.

Melbourn Youth Club All 11–16 year-olds are welcome to come along any time to the Youth Club held at the Melbourn Pavilion, Tuesdays from 7-9 PM. This is free thanks to financial support from five parish councils in the area, and is thriving under Groundwork Hertfordshire, a community development charity. Just come along. Any questions please contact Cllr Jose Hales who chairs Melbourn Area Youth Development – Tel 221058.

Mind mental health support at the Hub This free ‘wellbeing service’ provided by Mind in Cambridgeshire continues every third Thursday of the month from 9:45-4:00 at the Melbourn Community Hub. If you’d like to book an appointment please ring Mind on 01223 311320 and ask for the Melbourn Outreach Service. You can learn more at www.mindincambs.org.uk/Services/ Wellbeing.

Oil Club If you are new to the village and rely on household heating oil, the ‘Melbourn Division Oil Club’ was set continued on page 22 melbournmagazine

Welcome to Melbourn Hub offers a café with free Wi-Fi, a library access point and meeting rooms which can be used for leisure or business. We also offer a range of key community support services and aim to be a focus point for assistance and advice.

Opening Hours Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm Saturday 9am to 3pm 30 High Street Melbourn SG8 6DZ Telephone 01763 263303 reception@melbournhub.com

The Hub is run by the community, for the community, it is a centre with a difference.

It is yours.

Melbourn Community Hall

Profile Tina Davey at Melbourn Veterinary Surgery I have been trying to get an interview with Tina Davey at Melbourn Veterinary Surgery in Mortlock Street for ages – she is always so busy looking after our local pets! However, I nailed her down just after Christmas and managed to get her story. Born into a farming family in Wiltshire she was surrounded by animals. With her brother and sisters, she would help out around the farm and watch her father milking the cows and it seemed to follow naturally that she would become a vet. She left country life to attend the Royal Veterinary College in London where she met her husband Paul; who was already qualified, through a mutual friend. They got to know each other through a shared love of Scrabble! After graduating she moved to Warwickshire to join a mixed practice. Mixed Practice means that between them the staff coped with all animals large and small. From there she moved to Harlow where she worked for a brilliant practice where she was able to hone her surgical skills. Nowadays she and her husband specialise in small domestic animals with the odd wildlife case being brought in. The strangest animal she ever had to deal with was a 3ft long iguana with a wound on its leg – that was a challenge. It was difficult enough to find the right drugs to treat cats and dogs, but an iguana… However, it survived. On another occasion she walked into the waiting room to find a rather strange looking man seated in the corner wearing a stove pipe hat and clutching a suitcase. She whispered a query to the receptionist but she did not know what he had in his case – most people come in with a Tina Davey

Melbourn Community Hall is in the centre of the village behind All Saints Church If you would like to hire the hall contact Sandie Springall Telephone: 01763 223320 or email: hallbookings@live.co.uk

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Trudy Chapple and Pam Manning

basket, cage or cardboard box. Anyway, when the man finally came into the consulting room and opened the case there were two six-foot-long pythons which needed worming! Firstly, she had to measure the reptiles – the python stomach is about a third of the way down its length and they did not have a dispenser long enough. They had to employ a bit of ingenuity and used a long urinary catheter to administer the ‘white drench’ liquid. Another success. Tina and Paul have nearly always worked together and are joint partners in the Melbourn practice. They have two children, a boy who is an optometrist and a daughter who is a dental hygienist, whilst neither followed their parents in the veterinary line they are both in caring professions. Tina currently has a Labrador and a border terrier, plus two cats The saddest moments come when they have to put beloved pets to sleep, especially when they have followed the animal through from puppy or kittenhood right through to old age. It is never easy, but Tina goes to great pains to soften the blow by allowing time for the owner to think it through and saying farewell. It is very seldom that she has to say, ‘this animal should be put out of its misery now’ It is a painless and peaceful process – I can attest to that for several times I have had the sad task of holding a much loved pet whilst the injection was done, and the animal normally just slips gently into unconsciousness. Funny things that have happened – lots! Paul and Tina are adept at removing strange objects from stomachs, on one occasion a Labrador had a blockage which turned out to be a 6” rubber bone. The owners were astounded, it had been missing for eighteen months and presumably had been in the animal all that time before shifting and causing the problem. On another occasion they retrieved an apple shaped brass name holder of the type you put on the table so that guests know where to sit. Dogs are the worst offenders in the swallowing stakes, if the object has gone into the stomach it is usually an operation but sometimes an emetic will make the animal vomit the obstruction – one of the memorable ones

was two odd socks and a pair of knickers! Tina said ‘That’s Labradors for you….’ The Daveys live in a nearby village and came to Melbourn because they really like the village atmosphere and being in a position to really get to know their clients and their pets - what they call ‘continuity of care’. Furthermore, in this area there is a vast source of dedicated services for referral and if they think that someone else in the area would be better equipped to deal with a specific problem they can tap into all this specialist help. On my way to the surgery I had noticed the number of pink circles highlighting spots where dogs had fouled the pavement. I raised the subject with Tina and she agreed that some pet owners were irresponsible and allowed their dogs to defecate randomly without clearing up, but sometimes in the case of elderly pet owners it was more accidental than wilful. However, there is one owner of a large dog which regularly performs along that stretch so if anyone can pinpoint an owner – it IS an offence. When they are not flat out working in the surgery (as they were the very busy morning I was there) Tina and Paul like to walk their dogs, cycle around Grafham Water and ski. Before I left, to make way for Lenin who had a bad foot, Tina particularly asked me via these pages to thank all her clients who regularly support their Christmas Raffle. Each year they put together a hamper which is raffled and the money raised this year – £466 – went to Home Start. Whatever money is raised, the surgery doubles it and in past years they have donated to the Primary School, the Ebola Crisis, and the East Anglian Children’s Hospice. Thanks to all those generous supporters. I was left with the impression of a warm hearted woman who enjoys using her skills to keep animals (and their owners) happy. What a welcome addition to our village, our own veterinary practice. Mavis Howard Tina with a patient

melbournmagazine

up by councillors a few years ago to provide best prices through community bulk buying. There is no joining or membership fee and you can use the service on a one-off basis. At the end of the year, we get a rebate which goes to a local charity – last year it was used to set up a mental health support service at the Melbourn Hub. To learn more about the Oil Club, please ring 01954 07860904045, or email Jeremy Cole at jeremy@agricole.co.uk.

Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Community Rail Partnership: Rail News Memorable Moments with David Piggott December’s celebration for Meldreth Station Master David Piggott saw exuberant consumption of tea and cake in the Station Waiting Room, as passengers young and old, and many of David’s work colleagues, gathered to thank him for many years of unsurpassed service. Please pop down to the station to see David’s portrait over the booking office hatch. Thank you to everyone who contributed words and photographs for Memorable Moments with David Piggott – a few copies are still available so please contact me if you would like one. A small donation of £3 is requested to help cover print costs.

Water butts donated for station gardening A big thank you to Melbourn and Meldreth Churches Together for the donation of several water butts to ensure adequate water supply for Shepreth and Meldreth Station gardens.

Station footfall rise The Office of the Rail Regulator has published station footfall figures and there has been a sharp rise at our local stations since 2010, and even from 2014 to 2015. The three figures are footfall calculations for 2010, 2014, and 2015. Foxton: 72,072 / 87,164 / 94,080 Shepreth: 79,104 / 92,146 / 105,802 Meldreth: 205,836 / 243,646 / 267,218 The Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group is lobbying for halfhourly off-peak trains, and longer trains. If you might have an interest in any

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Andy Hart, Meldreth station services manager, David Piggott and Susan van de Ven

aspect of what the Rail User Group is up to – gardening, rail service issues, working for better station infrastructure – please do get in touch. We need all the help we can get, to keep improvements coming.

Business opportunity: Shepreth original station building As part of the ‘Community Rail Partnership’ for Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Stations, we are supported by the National Association of Community Rail Partnerships. One of their key aims is to facilitate bringing disused railway station buildings back into use. The lead person came to look at the Shepreth Station building in early December and is helping us to put the case to Network Rail, who own the building. A rental income to Network Rail should be a no-brainer, and the old station building would make an ideal office/business space. Our Community Rail Partnership is free for local businesses to join, so if you are interested and would like more information please get in touch.

Smart Ticketing, Meldreth Station From Great Northern Railway: Rail passengers at Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton can now use Great Northern’s new smartcard ticketing technology ‘the key’ for season ticket journeys to and from London and stations in between. We have now been able to spread its availability this further north, beyond Royston, which was the previous limit of the scheme, to Foxton station. Next year, we hope to extend it even further – to Cambridge, Ely and King’s Lynn. There are great benefits to using ‘the key’ – once passengers have it, they can buy tickets online and then load them up simply by touching one of our new ticket gate card readers, or they can buy tickets to upload to the smartcard at one of our ticket machines. If anyone loses a card, it can be instantly cancelled and a replacement issued with the same ticket pre-loaded. The smartcard is supported by a recently-updated online ticketing system and updated app which is designed to make the whole ticket buying process easier.

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‘The key’ can be requested free online and posted to homes; passengers can then buy tickets using their card easily so there will be no need to queue at a ticket office to buy or collect

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Purchases and renewals of season, monthly or weekly tickets can be made online and collected simply by touching a smartcard reader at the passenger’s specified station

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The new mobile app will put customers’ ticket wallets at their fingertips, giving them a new way to buy season tickets

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Passengers will also be able to buy tickets for ‘the key’ at station ticket machines outside the London Travelcard area

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Passengers will be able to check the status of their tickets on the key and journey history either online, through our iOS or Android app, or by touching them onto ticket machines at stations

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If a registered card is reported lost, it becomes “hot listed”, so cannot be used for travel. A customer is then issued with a new card with their existing products already on the card.

Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group Meeting – 15 March 7 for 7:30 at Elin Way Meldreth Community Room. All Welcome. Susan van de Ven Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Community Rail Partnership railusergroup@gmail.com, Tel 07905 325574

Dr Jens Richter

A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign Why Dr Richter (and other locals) cycle to work: Orchard Surgery Melbourn GP, Dr Jens Richter, cycles to work from Harston. He writes, I cycle on the A10 path at least three times a week, commuting from HarstonMelbourn-Harston. “My reason for cycling: it improves my wellbeing and fitness, reduces my CO2 footprint and is a good example for others.” William Bains I live in Melbourn, and I cycle to the centre of Cambridge and back for work about 50 times a year (I work part-time in Cambridge). I cycle because it is healthier, much cheaper, and at 8:00 in the morning it is actually faster than driving.

William Bains

Ann Smith I live in Royston, and work for AstraZeneca on the Melbourn Science Park. I cycle to and from work on the A10 path 4 days a week in most weathers. I am determined to use my bike where I can, but the path surface, and the challenge of crossing both the A505 and the A10 in rush hour in both directions, is substantial. This does lead me to use the A10 itself, southbound in particular, quite often, which I do want to avoid. A bridge and a proper surface would attract many more users I am sure. Vivienne Brown I commuted to London for 12 years until 2013, when I retired. For the last three of those years I joined the ranks of the mildly insane who used their bikes to get to and from the stations; in my case, from home to Royston, then King’s Cross to Westminster and of course back again in the evening. Cycling on my trusty Brompton transformed my commute. The cycle rides lifted my mood, increased my fitness, admitted me to the exalted company of fellow Bromton-ites and saved me from the horror of the Tube. In addition to all that, I shed pounds – painlessly. Since retiring, the only thing I have missed about work is the commute. One big improvement to my commuting experience would have been safe and wellmaintained cycle paths on the routes I used. There are plenty more like me out there, who cycle for work, leisure, pleasure and fitness – and if you use a bike, you see them.

Cycle paths and longer distance mobility scootering: Jeanette White I am very grateful the cycle path is along the main road from the Weaver’s Shed to the crossroads at Shepreth. As a mobility scooter user it makes getting to my mother’s at Fowlmere so much easier. If I went the back way past the Bird Reserve the drivers of cars would not be happy. I would love to be able to get to Royston on my scooter but would be very scared of crossing the by-pass. Yes there are buses but on a nice day as I have a scooter I would rather use it. I would also be able to get to my doctor’s at Burns Road so I could get an appointment any time rather than time it with the buses. I am for a safe passage from Melbourn to Royston using my scooter as I love to get out rather than stay in. Similar profiles of local commuting are posted at http://a10corridorcycle.com/a10-users/. continued on page 26

Ann Smith

Vivienne Brown

Jeanette White

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Blundell’s Plot

Done any griggling or a-scraggling recently? Or how about joining in the fun pothering, ponking or taking round the calennig? Celebrated Dookie Night or maybe, God forbid, even Crabbed the Parson? For those who haven’t guessed (or can’t remember from their childhood), this is just a small part of the rich language of our apple heritage. And not only is it language – the customs and traditions of fruit growing reached until quite recently into the lives of country people across England. We grew them, we gathered them, we celebrated them. You could eat a different kind of apple every day for more than six years and still you wouldn’t have come to the end of the varieties grown in these islands. In East Anglia some 33,000 acres of land were devoted to orchards only 50 years ago. In our locality we were (and happily still are) famed for the quality of our fruit. Between the wars about 1,500 acres in Melbourn and Meldreth alone were growing apples, pears, plums and the famous Melbourn Gage (exactly the same thing as the Cambridge Gage, by the way, but let’s not quibble). Dozens of local families were involved – the Palmers, the Hinkins, the Howards, the Fordhams, the Newlings, the

Haggers and, of course, the Elbourn dynasty (of which more later). Fruit was sent up to Spitalfields twice a week by a local carrier and tons more were carted by rail. The good times, of course, were not to last. The map below shows more than 20 significant stands of fruit that were in Melbourn in 1949. By 1992 that number had been reduced to just three. And here in our village we were just a microcosm of the picture of decline nationally; only four years ago the entire UK acreage was reportedly down to fewer than 20,000, from 153,000 in the 1970s. It was the Curse of the Golden Delicious. So what had gone wrong? Why had we allowed ourselves to forget Whimple Queen, June Small and the incomparable Fair Maid of Devon? How could we have given the importers and the supermarkets free reign to threaten the future of an entire industry and permitted these lovely ladies (all from Devon, by the way) to reach the edge of extinction along with the famed, and local, Hitchin Pippin? The answer, hurrah!, is that we didn’t. Just as things seemed to be at their worst, there began a wave of planting small orchards of traditional/heritage varieties. Official Whitehall guidance said that orchards could be set up “almost anywhere – on or near school grounds, in hospital grounds around residential care homes”. Well, that all sounds rather optimistic but here in South Cambs the fruit growing industry is back on its feet and looking to a brighter future, thanks in part to Cam Valley Orchards, formerly Elbourn Apples, owned and run by the Elbourn family at Meldreth. Tim Elbourn is the latest of five generations in the business, having taken over from his father, Robert. Last autumn saw the biggest harvest of apples, pears, plums and gages for years (as I well know, having more than 100 bottles of juice pressed by Tim and wife Nicky from my own Laxton’s, plus those of a friend in Chishill). The Elbourns have built the business by concentrating on those very English apples, such as Ashmead Kernel, Tom Putt and Peasgood Nonsuch, which were in decline. “The secret is to offer something people won’t find on the supermarket shelf,” Tim says. “The main selling point of traditional varieties is flavour.” All of which is good news for a traditional industry which until very recently seemed to be in terminal decline. So next time you are in our local supermarket giant and pondering the choice between our local delights and Golden Delicious and Braeburn shipped from the other side of the globe and stored six months, well, it shouldn’t be too difficult. Pip-pip! Tim Elbourn asks us to remind customers that the shop is open AugustFebruary. melbournmagazine

If you would like to contribute a few words about getting around other than by car, including why you find it impossible, please send them (with a photo if possible) to contacta10cycle@gmail.com.

New paths If you haven’t tried it yet, please pedal up to the Foxton and carry on north to Harston, to find out just how much a high quality walk/cycle track can help get people from A to B on their own steam. Work is ongoing – the segment between Shepreth Lakes and Foxton Level Crossing is now being done. This overall project has been funded directly by the Department for Transport. The County Council doesn’t fund cycle paths – but makes bids for grants on our behalf. Having a grass-roots campaign behind a grant bid is a make or break factor. Signs indicating that this is a ‘shared use’ path (for pedestrians, cyclists, walkers, mobility scooter users) will be erected to make its status clear! The A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign is now working to create a match-funding base for the Frog End junction-MelbournRoyston link. The sponsored Santa Cycle on 19 December raised over £1500. If you’d like to know the details of what a bridge over the A505 would look like, please visit www.a10corridorcycle.com. The campaign is free to all – newcomers always welcome. Email is contacta10cycle@gmail.com or feel free to ring me on 07905 325574. A10 Corridor Cycling Campaign next meeting: 23 March, 7 for 7:30, at TTP, on your right when you enter Melbourn Science Park. All welcome

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

Drop-in advice at the Hub Susan is always at the Hub on the first Monday of the month between 2:30-3:30 for drop-in advice, so please call in or contact her any time. Susan van de Ven County Councillor, Susanvandeven5@gmail.com Telelphone 07905 325574 95 North End Meldreth, SG9 6NU

South Cambridgeshire Volunteers Needed We Are Looking For Someone Like YOU! We are launching a new Fundraising Volunteer Network in South Cambridgeshire for 2016 and we need your help with a range of fundraising activities in your local area. Volunteers are an important part of our fundraising and by giving as little as a few hours you will be making a huge contribution to EACH (East Anglian Childrens Hospice) and the families we support. There are a variety of ways that you can get involved ranging from helping at collections, raising awareness locally to organising an event with others. There are opportunities that only require only few hours of your time and for those wanting to get fully involved we can offer regular roles. There are many benefits to volunteering with EACH. You will be taking on a new challenge, meeting new and like-minded people, contributing to your local community, and to EACH. As a fundraising team, we keep in touch with all our volunteers and

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

PC Repairs Advice & Installation of Home Networks Help with Selecting a Computer Fault Finding Brian Girling 01223 208529 (Wimpole) E-mail bg@moncraft.co.uk We can also provide the following services: Design of brochures, posters, business cards A4/A3 laminating • A4 comb-binding Small print runs on A6 to A3 media

support you in any way possible. There are a variety of roles available, depending on how much time you can give and what you are interested in. We will provide you with marketing and fundraising materials and you will be invited to our annual Volunteers Day and receive the quarterly volunteers newsletter. To find out more information or to get involved contact Lucy Glover by email lucy. glover@each.org.uk or telephone 01223 205198’.

Relate Cambridge

Putting a spring in your step …

Relate Cambridge gives tips on how to take care of your emotions Now winter is fading fast, there is no longer the need to cosy up and snuggle down in front of the fire. However, let’s not forget we do all still need some emotional nurturing and comfort. A healthy relationship means having the ability to pick up on how those around us are feeling – their emotional state – and to be able adjust quickly to another’s needs. In our intimate relationships, there are times when we have to tolerate both uncomfortable feelings and negative emotions, such as anger and hostility, experienced by both ourselves and our partners. We can come to rely on our partner to calm and soothe us, both in body and mind. Ideally, a happy marriage or long term relationship should become like our own comfort zone, where we feel safe and secure. As babies we are soothed by attention – being rocked or cuddled, smiled at or talked to – all of which calm us. Many children have a comforter for times of stress. As we mature, we may fall back on a comfort seeking strategy learnt in childhood or offered to us by our parents. As adults, we can feel the need to ‘cling’ when stressed and need effective soothing strategies for such times, as without these we can feel more vulnerable and needy. It is not necessarily the level of stress we are under at any given time that matters however – but more the availability of others to help – as well as our own inner resources to manage it. Imagine any strong emotional reaction as a fire alarm. It can be a shock to the system, but is intended to be uncomfortable to make us take action. To be in a difficult situation and be able to mentally ‘step back’ when feeling distressed or overwhelmed is invaluable. So, this Spring, why not think about what our own personal soothers might be when things get tough. It could be something practical like going for a drive, enjoying a glass of wine, a visit to the gym or garden or indulging in chocolate. We all need such soothers in some form, though they will be different for everyone. Then, consider what your own emotional soothers might be. Some deep breathing maybe, visualising a relaxing scene, or repeating a calming phrase quietly to yourself. If used regularly, these will put an emotional spring in your step as the warmer weather comes along.

TIPS FOR HOW TO KEEP YOUR EMOTIONS ON TRACK THIS SPRING

• • • • •

Strong emotional reactions are uncomfortable as they are intended to make us take action. We all need the capacity to soothe ourselves when things get tense. It is well worth thinking ahead and having strategies for when we are taken out of our comfort zone. We need to develop different types of soothers for different kinds of stressful situations. In relationships the challenge is to manage both our own and our partner’s emotional state at the same time. Remember, looking afteryour own comfort as well as others’ is vital. Relate Cambridge offers information, advice and counselling for all stages of your relationships at our outpost in Melbourn. The sessions are held in the small meeting room at Melbourn Hub on Wednesday each week. Appointment times are: 10:30; 11:45; 13:00

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

Healthwatch

Had a recent experience of using health or social care? Tell us what it was like for you Listen At Healthwatch, we listen. Tell us what is working well within our local health and care services and what you think needs to be better. We log what you say and share this anonymously with the people who make decisions about our care. This helps them improve care where it is needed.

Involve We can make sure you know about local opportunities to have your say on health and care decisions. You can sign up for regular updates, or get in touch whenever you want some information. We can help you find out what health and care services are available locally, or how to raise a concern. This is a free, independent and confidential service.

Challenge Healthwatch can challenge health and care decision makers, if care isn’t working in the way it should. We can also challenge, if we think a decision has been made where people have not been able to contribute. They have to listen to us, and they have to reply.

Get in touch Please do tell us how care is working right now for you and the people who are important to you. Your experiences are important to us. We are happy to talk to local groups and attend events, so please do invite us. Contact us www.healthwatchcambridgeshire.co.uk or call 01480 420628.

melbournmagazine

M I L L .S I D E CA B I N E T M A K E R S

Nationwide specialists in:

Ground Source Heating Boreholes & Wells

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Millside’s bespoke joinery, caters for our customers individual requirements, from Kitchens, Bedrooms and Studies Millside Cabinet Makers Ltd The Moor, Melbourn, Royston Hertfordshire, SG8 6ED Telephone 01763 261870 email: millsidecabinetmakers@yahoo.com www.millsidecabinetmakers.co.uk

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Abstraction licensing & regulatory services Borehole CCTV & ROV inspection

B.A. Hydro Solutions Ltd 3 The Sidings - Shepreth - Herts - SG8 6PZ Tel: 01763 26 27 26

www.bahsltd.com

Little Hands Karen

Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford

MVC EDUCATION

U3A

PLAY SCHOOL NOTRE ECOLE PLAYGROUP

Education SCHOOL LITTLE HANDS PRIMARY

VILLAGE COLLEGE

ART and Design Dept at MVC 01763 260964

07842 151512

Notre Ecole Janet Whitton Pippins Children’s Centre Alison Wood

261231 223460

Primary School Headteacher Stephanie Wilcox 223457 U3A (Univ. of Third Age) Chairman Tony Garrick 01223 510201 Village College Principal Simon Holmes

223400

The art and design department at Melbourn Village College has received a cheque for £500 and two pieces of original artwork in memory of a former student. Talented artist Steven Law, who attended the school from 1983-1988, died in August after a long illness. But his family has not forgotten where Steven’s talents were initially nurtured and developed and has asked the college to spend the money on the next generation of budding artists. Melbourn Principal Simon Holmes, said the school planned to spend the money on frames to display the work of artistically gifted and talented students around the school and further afield. He added: “We are extremely grateful to Steven’s family for the artwork and the donation, and hope to use them to create a legacy that will continue to inspire young artists and graphic designers for many years to come.” Steven Law went on to become a graphic designer, working for a number of companies in Cambridgeshire before his death in the summer aged just 43. The donated artwork are pictures of boxers Simon Brown and Evander Holyfield drawn using fine-tipped felt pens.

Mathematics masterclasses at MVC Two Melbourn Village College students have started the new term with their fascination for all things mathematical boosted by a series of masterclasses. Year 8 pupils Dan Arthur and Thomas Cockman attended Mathematics Masterclasses at the University of Hertfordshire, where they attended six lectures hosted by Professor Alan Davies. continued on page 31 melbournmagazine

Village Garden For the last few years Barbara MacKellar has planted and looked after the garden at 83 High Street, on the site of the old British Legion hut, on which the Memorial seat to Sir Stanley Fordham is situated. Due to failing eyesight Barbara has now moved into Cambridge. The Parish Council would like to thank her for all her hard work in helping to keep Melbourn a pleasant place in which to live. We are now looking for someone to take on this task and will be very pleased to hear from anyone willing to do this.

poetry R.M.R.G.

The advert. In the local mag said “Come and help us clean up your local river and its bed. We’re litter picking along the banks of the River Mel and our grateful thanks Will be due to those of you who collect the rubbish, left behind Along the river and its banks, for others to find. Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright, So we went along to see if we might Help make the River, its banks and pathways clean. We never knew, nor could we have foreseen The friendship and laughter we would come to receive. At the hands of Maureen, Les, Sandra and Steve. These were the dedicated four, Who encouraged us and were quick to ensure We were kitted out with gloves, pickers and sacks, And set on our way along the bankside tracks. Twenty-seven sacks were filled that day, Ready for the Council to take away. The River, itself, just for good measure, Gave up a lot of its sunken treasure… A P.A. system, a Sainsbury’s trolley, tin cans, bottles, lots of balls and, yes, a dolly. Some years ago the River was ‘sorted’ The banks were spoilt and the fast flow of the River aborted. A dredger was brought in, the damage done, The River was altered and its demise begun. This once beautiful chalk bed stream Started to die; choked with silt – it made you scream. But, at last, there was hope in sight For along came ‘the four’ and with all their might, Searched to find out what was entailed, To save the River, where others had failed.

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

The work was specific, not experimental, With rules strictly laid down by the Agency Environmental. The River had to be narrowed, its banks restored, And the problem of silt could not be ignored. The work had to be done organically, All by hand and not mechanically. And so the hard work began, Under the watchful eye of the Council man. We’ve had our fun and laughter too, When one of us fell in and got soaked through. Colin, one day, cried out in alarm That he was wet right through – up to his arm. His waders had sprung a serious leak, And he was feeling far from chic. We pulled him out and watched as he ran With waders full, he looked like the Michelin man. The River was in trouble when the A10 bridge was built, As the Mel there soon became four-foot-deep in silt. To ensure the River flowed with a ripple, not a thud, Colin and Les would push through the sticky wall of mud. It was decided, without a doubt The pile of silt would have to be cleared out. A firm came along with a vacuum type machine And sucked at the mud ’till all was clean. One hundred tons of grit were then raked onto the River bed, Hopefully to encourage fish to spawn, they said. And now, as if fulfilling our dreams, In the River, trout and other fishes can be seen. Now the River flows clear and free, On to the Rhee, the Cam, the Ouse and the sea. At this time our thanks are due, especially, On this, their tenth anniversary, To this happy band, this hardy troupe… THE RIVER MEL RESTORATION GROUP.

He was joined by other member of the university staff, teachers and visiting lecturers as they introduced the teenagers to topics including mechanics, chaos theory, codes, ciphering and sequencing. The Masterclasses started life as Faraday’s Christmas Lectures and were originally scientific shows, with a maths lecture becoming part of it in 1978. After this, lecturers and teachers realised there was sufficient interest in maths to offer a stand-alone programme. The masterclasses began in 1984 and offered the most able young mathematicians the chance to expand their knowledge. Dan said: “Overall I found the experience enjoyable as it widened my mathematical understanding and presented me with new fields of this fascinating discipline, some of which are not covered during school maths lessons.”

learning French words and phrases around the ever popular theme of food. Currently the Wednesday evening adults groups are resting. Watch this space! If you or your child are interested in joining one of our groups please get in touch. Notre Ecole, led by a native speaker and a graduate of European Studies with French, has been teaching French to pupils of all ages for fifteen years. Call either Marine on 07533 443153 or Janet on 07791 853448 for further details. If you prefer e-mail, contact boultermarine@ gmail.com or janet.whitton@tiscali.co.uk . We look forward to hearing from you. Learn French in a friendly atmosphere Centre: Dan Arthur and Thomas Cockman

Notre Ecole For Halloween, children at the Wednesday after school club made ghost and bat shaped biscuits after having practised their Halloween vocabulary. The bats prompted a request to learn French around the theme of Batman, so that is what we did. Firstly the children read simple texts profiling Batman, Robin and their arch enemies. They then read the texts to the rest of the group and translated where necessary. We practised giving directions around Gotham City and labelled the many rooms in Wayne Manor before playing Cluedo with a Batman theme. To celebrate Christmas we made Christmas tree shaped decoration from twigs and hang more decorations from them once we made sure we could name the picture on the decorations. Children at the Thursday after school club at Melbourn Primary School continued with the theme of clothes and enjoyed presenting a fashion show and describing what they were wearing to their friends and family. As I write we are about to start the spring term sessions and children will be

*French for Children – Games, role-play, songs etc. Every Wednesday from 3.45pm to 4.30pm Every Thursday from 4:15pm to 5:00pm *French for Adults – All levels, Conversation Every Wednesday from 8.00pm to 9.00pm GCSE lessons available by arrangement. Individual lessons also available. Telelephone Marine 01763 222876 or Janet 01763 261231 mob-07533 443153 mob-07791 853448 Email marineboulter@yahoo.fr or janet.whitton@tiscali.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you. (Enhanced CRB clearance recently completed)

Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) – Royston Enrolment for the Autumn courses will be on Tuesday 13th September 2016 Details from Secretary 01763 660234 or www.roystonwea. org.uk

melbournmagazine

Age-appropriate rooms and activities: Caterpillar, Ladybird, Bumblebee, Butterfly, Grasshopper and Dragonfly rooms* all-weather playgrounds and large open grass areas to run, jump and skip! The great outdoors is a very important part of life at Bumpkins; even babies go for walks around the farm in the comfort of the Bumpkins buggy

Outdoor Fu n

Learning through play: Music, Dancing, Art and Craft, Story time, Cookery, Dressing Up, Role-play, French and Spanish; NEW Montessori equipment for the pre-schoolers Pre-school care Building independence in your child as they grow, in preparation for “big” school

Craft Art and

Home cooked food using only the best local ingredients Individual care and support for each and every child Bumpkins offers a loving family environment created by qualified happy staff

“Children like to explore th e environment and enjoy mes sy play... make go od use of the enclosed outd oor space... ar e highly imaginat ive... make up their own gam es.”

Bumpkins Day Nursery

caring with a difference

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

OFSTED, 201

face bum book.com pkins nurs / ery

*pop over to our website to discover how we chose our nursery room names

birth to pre-school - free-range fun for your child

Open 7.30am - 6.30pm, Bumpkins is based on a working farm in Whaddon, nr Royston. For all children aged 3 months - 5 years old. Come and see for yourself the difference that Bumpkins can offer you and your child. Call us today to arrange a visit

www.bumpkinsnursery.co.uk

01223 208 777

Nature River Mel Restoration

The start of the winter season for the River Mel Restoration Group is marked by two quite different events. The first is our entry to Meldreth Church’s Christmas Tree Festival and the second is our last in-river working party of the year. The fish-spawning season starts in December and runs through to March. To ensure the best environment for fish to breed we suspend working in the river so as not to disturb the silt that can smother any eggs laid in the gravel. However, there are still plenty of things to do….

At our working party in December, our members planted fifty new shrubs of native species. These shrubs were provided by the Conservation Volunteer organisation, free of charge, as part of their “Dig Trees” campaign. The shrubs, which included hawthorn, spindle, guilder rose, wayfarer tree and dogwood, were planted along the old riverbed that runs beside the woodland path in Melbourn. They have all been protected by tree guards, so we are hopeful that they will grow well here to replace the dead trees.

On a lovely almost spring like day in January the volunteers worked clearing the ponds in Stockbridge Meadows. The ponds, which can be seen from the boardwalk that runs down to the river, require regular maintenance to ensure they do not silt up. Winter is a good time of the year for this work as a lot of the animals who enjoy this environment are hibernating.

These open areas of shallow water provide valuable environmental benefits, from the storage of rainwater to a wonderful habitat for wildlife. Ponds are very important wildlife habitats that support birds, dragonflies, amphibians, invertebrates and wild flowers. Unfortunately, almost 70% of the UK’s ponds have been lost over the last 100 years due to natural processes leading to silt build-up. It is important therefore to manage our remaining ponds to ensure they do not dry up due to overgrowth of reeds and build-up of dying vegetation. Volunteers used scythes to cut back the overgrowing reeds and raked out the detritus from the dying vegetation. The cuttings were dragged to the edge of the ponds and then left so that any small creatures caught up in the rakings were able return to the water. If you are interested in joining The River Mel Restoration Group, please contact Maureen Brierley, Secretary, on 01763 262752. melbournmagazine

 COUNSELLING, THERAPY &

SUPPORT IN THE WORKPLACE

With Mandy Thornton

Private sessions for help with depression, stress, relational problems, anxiety, lack of confidence, bereavement etc. ~

Workplace support sessions for companies wishing to support their staff in stressful job situations

01763 208516 mandythornton.com



www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

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

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

Village information SOAS (Supporters of All Saints’) Doreen Johnston220197

EDUCATION Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford

07842 151512

St George’s Allotments Assoc. Bruce Huett brucehuett@compuserve.com

Library LAP Jane Stevens johnjane.stevens@tiscali.co.uk Little Hands Nursery School

260964

Out of school times

Parish Clerk Sarah Adams Telephone 263303

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

01223 503972

Notre Ecole Janet Whitton

261231

Primary School Headteacher Stephanie Wilcox

223457

U3A (Univ. of Third Age) 01223 510201

Hon Sec Hilary Docwra

222486

Mem Sec Chris Davison

264189 223400

HEALTH Rosemary Gatward 94 High Street, SG8 6AL Telephone 261225

Age UK Cambridgeshire

01223 221921

Blood Donors

0300 123 23 23

Chiropodist

263260

Dentist

262034

District Nurses (Primary Care Trust)

01223 846122

Home-Start

262861

Car Scheme

245228

Osteopath Kath Harry

261716

LOCAL CLUBS Air Cadets 2484 (Bassingbourn) Squadron

249156

Tony Kelly Mon & Wed evenings 7 – 9.30 p.m. Irene Bloomfield 78 Russet Way, SG8 6HF Telephone 222558

Christopher Stead 70 Russet Way Telephone 260743

Bellringers Barbara Mitchell

261518

Bridge Club Howard Waller

261693

1st Melbourn Rainbows

Abigail Roberts

261505

Brownies 1st Melbourn Stephanie Clifford

220272

Brownies 2nd Melbourn

261400

Samantha Pascoe (Brown Owl)

Jose Hales 23 Elm Way, SG8 6UH Telephone 221058

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

260127

Community Hall booking Sandie Springall

223320

hallbookings@live.co.uk Secretary Guy Manners United Reformed Church Minister Rev. Duncan Goldie Secretary Peter and Eirwen Karner

262346 246458

SPORT Badminton Steve Jackson

248774

Bowls Author Andrews

261990

Croquet Janet Pope

248342

Jazzercise Maxine Rustem

07963 161246

Melbourn Dynamos FC Gordon Atalker

Melbourn History Group Ann Dekkers

225004 07770533249 07730488743

Blake Carrington 232622

Donna Sleight

260747

Hall booking Beryl and Barry Monk

261443

MADS (Melbourn Amateur Dramatics Society)

261650 01223 872298

Guides 1st Melbourn Hilary Marsh

261144

01223 207307

Meldreth Local History Kathryn Betts

268428

Mothers’ Union Pauline Hay

260649

National Trust Marian Bunting

246122

bunting@uwclub.net New Melbourn Singers Adrian Jacobs

243224

Photographic Club Bruce Huett

232855

Melbourn Football Club Simon Gascoyne

261703

Melbourn Sports Centre Graham Johnson-Mack 263313 Meldreth Tennis Club Tracy Aggett

243376

Swimming Club Jenny Brackley

244593

Squash Club Nick Sugden

261064

COMMUNITY SERVICES Dial-A-Ride

01223 506335

Home Start Tracy Aggett

262262

John Impey Way Jeanette Holland

269596

Royal British Legion Women Elizabeth Murphy 220841

Mobile Warden Scheme Jeannie Seers

262651

Royal National Lifeboat Institution Jean Emes

Moorlands Denise Taylor

260564

Vicarage Close Warden Eileen Allan

263389

Ramblers Dave Allard

Una Cleminson 1 Rupert Neve Close SG8 6FB Telephone 269544

220463

Mike Galley

245887

Melbourn Pottery Club Maggie

Julie Norman 31 Station Road, SG8 6DX Telephone 263462

Churchwardens Roger Mellor

Gardening Helen Powell

email: frog.end@virgin.net

John Regan 10 Little Lane, SG8 6BU Telephone 264154

261569

Judo Derek Coult

Melbourn Mushroom Club John Holden

Andrew Mulcock 1 The Lawns Close, SG8 6DR Telephone 222940

Curate Mary Price

Baptist Church Rev. Stuart Clarke

Child & Family Nurses Michael Linnette 11 Chapel Lane, SG8 6BN Telephone 262534

260103

All Saints’ Church If you need to speak to someone about Church matters during the Interregnum please contact one of the churchwardens. For baptisms and weddings or if you need to speak to a priest, please contact the Associate Priest Revd. Mary Price.

262262

S Cambs PCT 35 Orchard Road Mike Sherwen 3 Hale Close, SG8 6ET Telephone 260070

07599292327

Nikki & Julie Women’s Group Pat Smith

PLACES OF WORSHIP

Chairman Tony Garrick

Village College Principal Simon Holmes

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

Thursday Luncheon Club at Vicarage Close

242677 245958

Royston and District Local History Society 242677

David Allard Royston Family History Society Pam Wright

frierley@ntlworld.com

Lead Sheltered Housing Officer - Monday to Friday 9–1.30 Vicarage Close, John Impey Way & Elin Way Mobile 07876 791419 / 245402

Royston Lions Chris Cawdell

448236

Eileen Allan

RSPB Fowlmere Doug Radford

208978

Every other week. 9–5 Monday to Friday

melbournmagazine

DIARY MARCH

Tuesday 1

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Bridge Club every Tuesday Vicarage Close 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693 (see article) Photographic Club AGM Foxton Village Hall 7.30pm Budding Beaders every Tuesday at The Hub 7pm Short Story Reading Group The Hub 10-11am weekly

Tuesday 15

Monday 28

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30am (TT) Meldreth, Shepreth & Foxton Rail Users Group, Elin Way Community Rooms 7pm for 7.30pm

Easter Monday Wednesday 30

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Wednesday 16

APRIL

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

Friday 1

Thursday 17

Coffee URC 10.30am

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

Saturday 2

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

Friday 18

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Royston & District Local History Royston Town Hall 8pm

Coffee URC 10.30am

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Cambridge Choral Society with New Melbourn Singers at Leys School (see article)

Saturday 19

Sunday 3

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Friends of BIDII Stall Swimathon for Marie Curie (see article)

Holy Communion All Saints 8am URC Communion Service 11am Baptist Service 10.30am Communion Service Baptist Church 6pm

Wednesday 2

Friday 4

Coffee URC 10.30am Women’s World Day of Prayer URC 2.30pm Youth Club Baptist Church 8-9.30pm weekly Saturday 5

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf Sunday 6

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Holy Communion URC 11.00am Baptist Morning Service 10.30am Baptist Communion 6pm

Sunday 20

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Walk of Witness Meldreth Village Hall 9.15am Family Service All Saints 11am Palm Sunday Communion Service Baptist Church 10.30am Swimathon for Marie Curie (see article) Royston Choral Society Stainer’s Crucifixion (see article) Monday 21

Royston & District Family History Society ASCH 7.30pm The Shire Men

Monday 4

Photographic Club Foxton Village Hall weekly Sept to April Bridge Club every Monday at Vicarage Close contact Howard Waller 261693 (see article) Tuesday 5

Bridge Club every Tuesday Vicarage Close 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693 Photographic Club AGM Foxton Village Hall 7.30pm Budding Beaders the Hub 7pm weekly

Monday 7

Tuesday 22

Drop-in Surgery with Councillor Susan van de Ven at The Hub 2.30-3.30pm first Monday in the month Bridge Club every Monday at Vicarage Close contact Howard Waller 261693

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30am (TT) Women’s Group 7.45pm

Wednesday 6

Wednesday 23

Thursday 7

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Royal British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm A10 Cycling Corridor meeting 7pm for 7.30pm at TTP

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm Royston & District Local History Soc Town Hall Royston 8pm Friday 8

Thursday 24

Coffee URC 10.30am Youth Club Baptist Church 8-9.30pm weekly

Tuesday 8

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30 (TT) Mothers’ Union contact Pauline Hay 260649 Bridge Club every Tuesday at Vicarage Close contact Howard Waller 261693 Gardening Club ASCH 7.30pm Propagation Wednesday 9

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) followed by Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm Thursday 10

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Friday 11

Coffee URC 10.30am Saturday 12

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Sunday 13

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am Annual Parochial Church Meeting All Saints 11.15am Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am URC Service 11am

End of term Maundy Thursday Holy Communion All Saints 7.30pm Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Communion All Saints 7.30pm Maundy Thursday Communion Baptist Church 8pm Friday 25

Good Friday Churches Together Breakfast Baptist Church 8am Open Church Baptist Church 1-4pm URC Service 10am Reading & Hymns All Saints 12 noon

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Saturday 9

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Sunday 10

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am Baptist Service 10.30am URC Service 11am Tuesday 12

Saturday 26

New term begins Mothers’ Union contact Pauline Hay 260649 Gardening Club ASCH 7.30pm ‘Life & Times of a Gardening Editor’

Coffee Stop

Wednesday 13

Sunday 27

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm

Easter Day Family Communion All Saints 9.45am Easter Sunday Family Service Baptist Church 10.30am URC Easter Communion Service 11am

Thursday 14

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

Friday 15

Monday 2

Thursday 19

Coffee URC 10.30am

May Day Bank Holiday Bridge Club meet every Monday Vicarage Close contact Howard Waller 261693

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

Tuesday 3

Coffee URC 10.30am

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Bridge Club every Tuesday Vicarage Close 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693 Budding Beaders every Tuesday at The Hub 7pm

Saturday 21

Saturday 16

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf SOAS Supper Quiz ASCH 7.30pm Sunday 17

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Family Service All Saints 11am URC Service 11am Communion Service Baptist Church 10.30am Monday 18

Royston & District Family History Society ASCH 7.30pm ‘Is Your Ancestor a Bastard?’ Tuesday 19

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30am (TT) Wednesday 20 Craft Club 9.30am (TT) followed by Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Wednesday 4

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) followed by Coffee Break 10.30am Thursday 5

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft and Chat URC 2pm-4pm weekly Royston & District Local History Soc. Town Hall Royston 8pm

Friday 20

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Christian Aid Stall Sunday 22

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am URC Service 11am Tuesday 24

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Women’s Group 7.45pm Wednesday 25

Coffee at URC 10.30am

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

Thursday 21

Saturday 7

Thursday 26

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

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf

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

Friday 22

Friday 27

Saturday 23

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am Service URC 11am

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Tuesday 10

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 24

Sunday 29

Family Communion All Saints 9.45am URC Service 11am Baptist Service 10.30am

Toddler Plus 9.30-11.30am Baptist Church (TT) Mothers’ Union contact Pauline Hay 260649 Gardening Club ASCH 7pm ‘Coping with a Dry Garden’

Tuesday 26

Wednesday 11

Coffee URC 10.30am

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30am (TT) Women’s Group ASCH 7.45pm Wednesday 27

Craft Club 9.30am (TT) followed by Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm Thursday 28

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly Friday 29

Friday 6

Sunday 8

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) followed by Coffee Break 10.30am Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm Thursday 12

Holy Communion All Saints 10am Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm Royston & District Local History Society AGM

Saturday 30

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am ‘Stars & Stripes’ Cambridge Wind Band (see article) Sunday 31

Holy Communion All Saints 8am URC Service 11am Baptist Service 10.30am

MAY Sunday 1

Family Communion All Saints 8am Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am Holy Communion URC 11am Baptist Communion 6pm

Saturday 28

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Family Service Baptist Church 10.30am URC Service 11am

next ate for the d g in s lo c ril The ay 15th Ap issue is Frid ear in June, app ly which will in June, Ju ts n e v e g n listi t. and Augus

Friday 13

Coffee at URC 10.30am MADS Bluebeard Saturday 14

Coffee URC 10.30am

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Friends of BIDII Stall MADS Bluebeard (see article) Sunday 15

Holy Communion All Saints 8am Communion Service Baptist Church 10.30am Family Service All Saints 11am Monday 16

Royston & District Family History Society ASCH 7.30pm Sue Tune on her ancestor Percy Godfrey Tuesday 17

Toddler Plus 9.30-11.30am (TT) Wednesday 18

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

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

We’re Searching for

Volunteers

Melbourn Magazine is delivered free to every household in the village by volunteers. If you would like to help please contact Ann Dekkers on 261144

Village information Orchard Surgery & Dispensary Melbourn Health Visiting Team Monday to Friday 8:30–1pm and 3pm–6pm Phone 01763 260220 www.orchardsurgerymelbourn.co.uk For repeat prescriptions you can: Fax 01763 262968 or email: prescriptions.orchardsurgery@nhs.net

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

Telephone requests are not accepted

• •

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

Co-op

Tesco in Royston

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

BIN COLLECTION MELBOURN 4 March

Black Bin

11 March

Blue & Green Bin

18 March

Black Bin

26 March

Blue & Green Bin

SATURDAY

2 April

Black Bin

SATURDAY

8 April

Blue & Green Bin

15 April

Black Bin

22 April

Blue & Green Bin

29 April

Black Bin

7 May

Blue & Green Bin

13 May

Black Bin

20 May

Blue & Green Bin

27 May

Black Bin

4 June

Blue & Green Bin

10 June

Black Bin

17 June

Blue & Green Bin

24 June

Black Bin

1 July

Blue & Green Bin

8 July

Black Bin

SATURDAY

For an update on collections visit: www.scambs.gov.uk/content/friday-b For more information and collections of large household items Telephone 03450 450 063

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

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

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

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

Cam Sight’s Rural Support Group meet in Melbourn to provide help, friendship and ongoing support to local people with sight loss. The group enjoys speakers, music, information, advice and a chance to try out low vision equipment. They meet on the 1st Wednesday of each month, 2 – 4pm at Vicarage Close. For further information please call 01223 420033 or info@camsight.org.uk

Do you want to make a positive difference to young people’s lives? Groundwork is the community charity with a green heart. We want places to look better, streets to be safer and outside areas to be green and beautiful. We want people of all ages to be able to take part in activities together to make the best of where they live. The challenge is to use your skills to help develop and deliver an innovative range of youth-focused services within Central Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. Sessional Youth Workers

• • •

Cambridgeshire – posts based at Melbourn. We are looking for bank staff able to work evenings, holidays and potentially for schools engagement. Successful applicants will be paid £9.50 per hour for approximately 2.75 hours per week.

Working in youth centres and out on detached work in Central Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire we are seeking a number of highly motivated, dedicated individuals with a deep interest in helping young people to develop as individuals and strengthen their local community. Work will be based around both evening and holiday session delivery with the opportunity to help create fun and safe environments for young people in which to socialise, engage with others and develop new skills. For an informal discussion, please contact Chris Dungate (01707 255184 / 07872400778 chris.dungate@groundwork.org.uk).

What’s On

Melbourn Village College PTFA LADIES FASHION SHOW & POP UP SHOP Tuesday 8th March 2016, Doors 7pm, show starts 7.30pm Melbourn Village College Tickets: £5

Charity raffle: Prizes include a £50 clothing voucher to spend on the night!

For tickets and more information please contact: afriday@mvc.org.uk melbournmagazine

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Printers for the University of Cambridge, Cambridge Science Park, London Charities and Galleries, Publishers and the Royal British Legion Women’s Section.

Cloudy2Clear Windows – Service With A Smile! It’s been a crazy few months for Cloudy2Clear Windows. The company which specialises in repairing windows which are steamed up, broken or damaged by replacing the panes – not the frames has grown rapidly as homeowners take advantage of their services. Managing Director Tim Law feels that it’s all about service. ‘Our product is simple. If your double glazing is misted

up we can replace the glass at a fraction of the cost of a new window, in any type of frame, and with a new 5 year guarantee. But it’s not just about saving people money, although that obviously helps. Many tradespeople have struggled since last year and I honestly feel that during the good times a minority perhaps didn’t focus on customer care as much as they should have done. We make sure we turn up when we say

we will, do the job the customer requires and leave their house as clean as a whistle. I often get comments back from customers on how they really didn’t expect that sort of service which, in a way, is very sad for the service industry as a whole.’ Cloudy2Clear service the Cambridge, Ely, Saffron Walden, Haverhill, Royston & Newmarket areas and Tim is finding that his approach is a major factor in his success.

‘The truth is that it’s not just the personal satisfaction that I get from doing a good job but also it makes good business sense. I get a huge amount of business from friends and family of people I’ve done work for, which just goes to show how much a little bit of effort is appreciated.’ So, if your windows are steamed up, broken or damaged give Tim a call for a free quotation on 0800 61 21 118 and he’ll be happy to help!

STEAMED UP DOUBLE GLAZING? Don’t replace the Frames... just the Panes!

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Nature Go wild in Melbourn

As we wait for Spring, I would like to overview our ‘Chain of Wild Flowers’ project: what we have achieved in 2015 and what is planned for 2016. It is also a way to say ‘thank you’ and acknowledge those who have helped. During the summer you will have noticed our kerb side flowers blooming in Clear Crescent and Beeton Close, plus in the large patch at the Millennium Copse. The ‘Chain of Wild Flowers’ is an ecological project designed to create a safe corridor of insect friendly areas, beautiful also to the eye, where threatened species such as bees can flourish. It is administered by Liz Williams, Clare Crossman, and myself, Yvonne Chamberlain. Thanks goes to South Cambs District Council’s ecology officer, Rob Mungovan for his invaluable help and advice: SCDC for providing plots and funding seeding in 2015/2016; To The Fete Committee for funding and to Melbourn Parish Council for giving us the plot at The Millennium Copse plus further much needed funding. We thank you all. So, we put our plan before Melbourn Parish Council in Mid January 2015 and were granted our large plot. When we saw the actual size (10m x 10m) we gave a collected gulp. All that was left for us to do after the Parish members kindly mowed and applied weed killer was clear, in a specific manner 100 sqm of wildness … no problem!!

We started in April, and soon realized rakes were not enough. So a scarifier was hired and Dave Catley very kindly offered to clear it, after our feeble efforts. Thank you Dave. The ground then had to be finely raked, not disturbing the soil too much, seeded with a specific amount per sq. metre of special seeds, then stamped down to prevent the wind spreading them everywhere. The seeds were a special wild-flower meadow mix, as required by SCDC: 100% flower mixes containing a number of semi-exotic species in addition to native herbs, and obtained from www.pictorialmeadows.co.uk and are already in use at high profile sites such as Olympic Park. continued on page 43

melbournmagazine

JEREMY RULE FUNERAL SERVICE Jeremy Rule. MBIE. Dip. FD. Ben Rule. Dip. FD.

Independent Local Family Funeral Director Providing a caring and personal service 24 hours a day for all your funeral needs. Offering Help & Guidance through every step.

Office & Chapel of Rest :

12, Church Lane, Royston, Herts SG8 9LG Telephone:

01763 242560 www.jeremyrulefunerals.co.uk

We are a warm, friendly, family run home conveniently situated close to the station and town centre of Royston. If you would like to find out more about St George’s, please call us for a brochure or drop in for a chat. 42 Kneesworth Street, Royston, Herts. SG8 5AQ Telephone: 01763 242243 web site: www.stgeorgescare.com

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Timber • Aggregates Fencing • Paving • Bricks Blocks • Sheet Material Insulation & much more Phone: 01763 261740 Email: sales@norburys.com www.norburys.com 1 London Way Melbourn, SG8 6DJ (Just off Back Lane)

Rob Mungovan had advised us how to mark out and plant the seeds at Clear Crescent on April 10th, so clearing and planting at Millennium Copse was carried out during 1st–12th May. We hope to start a little earlier this year. Hilary Marsh has offered the help of Melbourn Guides this year, for which we thank her and them. More volunteers are needed please!. Many beautiful photos of the flowers have been taken by David Hone, our resident photographer, and example of his brilliant work hang in The Hub. We also recognise Kevin from ‘The Picture Framers’ at College farm, who has undertaken some work for us for free, as he applauds the project highly. Thank you Kevin. We have self funded throughout 2015, starting with the official launch of the project in The Cambridge Motel on April 19th. Since then we have had a stall both at the fete and ‘Pig Racing’, done a guided walk around the plots, during which poetry was read and have even had an early morning car boot sale at Trumpington Park and Ride. We even surprised customers at Millennium Cuts with a reading by MVC children, accompanied by representatives of Jimmy’s Cambridge, the homeless shelter, whom we wish to provide with a plot, due to their interest. This year we hope to have workshops and are planning a ‘picnic with the arts’ at Millennium Copse in the summer, and are considering other activities which hopefully will benefit our community. Thank you again to all involved, and sorry if I omitted anyone. We’re off to get the seeds soon … so watch this space! Yvonne Chamberlain

What’s On

Cambridge Choral Society

melbournmagazine

Established 23 years, The Letting Centre is a local, dedicated letting agency based in Melbourn. With long-standing clients some of whom have been with us for 20 years or more, we aim to provide a personal, tailored service covering Cambridge, Royston, Buntingford, Saffron Walden and surrounding villages. We offer discounted fees for multiple properties, as well as those located in any of the villages around Melbourn. Call us for a free market appraisal and comprehensive landlord pack.

Banish niggling aches and pains! We keep many local village people supple and mobile with our range of osteopathy and complementary treatments including sports massage, chiropody and acupuncture. Give us a call on 01462 490141 at our clinic in Baldock High Street for an initial chat or to book a treatment.

AMBER HEALTH Serving the local community www.amberhealth.co.uk Appointments available in Ashwell, Melbourn and Baldock Easy parking at all 3 clinics

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Get in touch with Claire@TheTennisCircle.co.uk www.TheTennisCircle.co.uk | 07545 334805

Sports & Clubs Bowls Malcolm Davey 262704 Bridge Club Howard Waller 261693 1st Melbourn Rainbows Abigail Roberts 261505 Brownies – 1st Melbourn Stephanie Clifford 220272 Brownies – 2nd Melbourn Samantha Pascoe 261400 Croquet Janet Pope 248342 Football Club Andrew Edwards 223109 Dynamos Football Club Les Morley 07739 593771 Gardening Club Helen Powell 245887 Guides – Ist Melbourn Hilary Marsh 261443 Judo Derek Coult 225004 Melbourn Karate Club Peter Khera 07866 374674 Melbourn Sports Centre Graham Johnson-Mack 263313

Brownies During the Autumn term, we worked on our Culture and Science Investigator badges. We have baked honey cupcakes, made balloon cars and grown salt crystal necklaces. In addition, we spent a meeting investigating sound. This included finding out how sound effects are made and which sounds are easiest to identify. Later in the term, we had a Halloween Party, which involved many spooky games and crafts, as well as a feast of creepy food. We spent a lot of the second half term preparing for Christmas with a number of crafts, which included 3D Christmas cards and a large festive ornament. To end the term, we went out to a local restaurant for a Christmas meal. This was a great success as all of the Brownies had a fabulous time. We have started this term with a trip to see Horrible Histories: Horrible Christmas in Cambridge. The

performance was superb and everyone enjoyed it, including the family members who had joined us. We have many more fun activities and trips planned for the rest of the term. By Amy Selby (Little Owl) on behalf of all the leaders at 1st Melbourn Brownies (Brown Owl, Eagle Owl, Nightingale, Squirrel and Fluffy Owl). If you (or your daughter) wants come and join in the fun, please contact Brown Owl (Stephanie Clifford) on 07888 831140.

1st Melbourn Guides Dolphin patrol’s fondant icing mermaid beside a beach of yellow TicTacs was certainly a Showstopper, but the Penguin’s tasty chocolate fairy cakes, plus their teamwork and high washingup standards scored them enough points to secure the title of Bake Off Champions 2015.

Melbourn and Meldreth Women’s Group Pat Smith 262575 Sue Toule 260955 Anne Harrison 261775 Photographic Club Bruce Huett 232855 Ramblers Dave Allard 242677 Royston and District Round Table Michael Seymour 221398 Squash Club Nick Sugden 261064 Swimming Club Jenny Brackley 244593 Tennis (Melbourn) Dave Liddiard 07508 995 781 Tennis (Meldreth) Tracy Aggett 243376

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Back in October we welcomed four new girls into the unit, and reminded all the Guides of their promise and law with a home-made board game based on snakes and ladders, plus they made insect homes from bundles of bamboo canes, and learnt some sign language. Fire featured twice in the autumn term; we toasted marshmallows over a small outdoor fire before singing campfire songs indoors, then on Bonfire Night we learnt how to light a candle safely, and thought about safe routes out of our houses in the event of a fire. In November we had a games evening, then said congratulations and farewell to our four oldest Guides who had completed their Baden Powell Challenge, which is the highest award a Guide can achieve before her 16th birthday. This Christmas the Guides teamed up with Meldreth Brownies to provide a decorated tree for the Meldreth church festival. They all used red and green card to make 6-faced hanging shapes, decorated with pictures of Guide badges and symbols, alongside Christmas images using silver stickers and rubber stamps. Each girl was also given a tiny potted Christmas tree which they decorated with quilled baubles, curled ribbon, and sparkly pipe cleaners. If you would like to know more about becoming a Guide or a leader, or if you have any skills or hobbies which you would like to share with us, please contact me on: 01763 261443 or email: melbournguides@gmail.com Hilary Marsh

Melbourn and District Gardening Club Are you interested in gardening? Why not join the Melbourn and District Gardening Club on a regular or occasional basis. We meet at 7.30 p.m. on the second Tuesday each month at the Community Hall, behind All Saints’ Church (near traffic lights, lane by red telephone box)

Spring Programme

»» Tuesday 8 March 2016 Propagation – practical demonstration – Hilary Marsh

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

»» Tuesday 12 April 2016

Life & Times of a Gardening Editor – Geoff Hodge

»» Tuesday 10 May 2016

Coping with a Dry Garden – Andrew Sankey

Annual coach outing to Kew Gardens Saturday 25th JUNE 2016 Cost £27.00 under 60 – £26.00 over 60 Coach (Kenzies) Pick up Melbourn and Royston. Generally – Kew Gardens began life in 1759 and now displays to visitors a vast diversity of Plants and over 14,000 trees. It quite rightly claims to be a world class attraction. Accessibility – Kew Gardens sit in 132 Hectares (2.471 acres to a Hectare). To make exploration easier visitors may wish to use the Explorer Land Train, which runs a scheduled service around the gardens all day, every day. The cost is £4.50 per adult, but it is probably worth investing in a ticket, as the land train provides a hop on/ hop off service to any of the stops around the gardens. Time tables are shown at the visitor gates and at Explorer stops. Mobility scooters are available, but these must be booked in advance and cannot be taken into any of the buildings, toilets or glasshouses. Glasshouses – Amongst other attractions Kew is famous for its glasshouses. These include: The Palm House – an enormous Victorian structure. The Water Lily House – the name says it all. Princess of Wales Conservatory – this is very modern and has many differing climate zones, one dedicated to Orchids. The Alpine House. The Temperate House is likely to be closed for renovation. Gardens – Formal Gardens include the Royal Garden adjacent to the Royal Palace, an Aquatic Garden and the Japanese Garden

Buildings Kew Palace – now managed by Royal Palaces and is open to the public. The Palace was home to George lll and his many children. Cambridge Cottage – purchased by George lll and given to his son the Duke of Cambridge in 1840. It now houses botanic art by past and modern artists

as well as other subjects ( currently London Transport posters). Marianne North Gallery – Marianne North (b.1830) travelled the world recording and painting pictures of plants. The gallery is home to hundreds of her pictures. The Pagoda – The Pagoda was built in 1762 and stands over 160 feet high. Unfortunately the Pagoda is undergoing renovation and restoration and is unlikely to be open to the public for our visit. Walkway – For those with a head for heights, there is a treetop walkway. Catering – There are four restaurants/ cafés offering refreshments, as well as being a place for a rest. Shops – There are several shops. For more details and booking form contact Roger 01763 248975, Roger. Pattman@Tesco.Net or Helen 01763 245887, Helen53@gmail.com New members and visitors very welcome. For more information – ring Helen 01763 245887

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 (01763 242677). Email: david. allard@ntlworld.com or Lesley Abbiss (01763 273463). There is also a poster displaying walks for the current month in Royston library 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. Half-day walks are held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Our evening walks (3–5 miles) will resume on 25th April on a different day each week. Prospective new members are welcome and may come on three walks before deciding whether to join. www. ramblers.org.uk to join.

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 are available at our meetings or may be ordered by post from David Allard 01763 242677. They may also be purchased at the Royston Museum & Arts Gallery in Kneesworth Street and some are available at the Cave Bookshop in Melbourn Street. The society is responsible for the opening of Royston Cave, Melbourn Street, Royston which will be re-open on 26th March and will be open from 2.30pm to 5pm (last admission 4.30pm) Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. www.roystoncave.co.uk . Our evening meetings are held in the Heritage Hall (the main hall downstairs) Royston Town Hall starting at 8pm.

»» March 3rd – Matthew Parker & his

library, illustrated – Dr Andrew Lacey

»» April 7th – Restoration of Caldecote church, illustrated – Peter Robbins

»» May 12th – AGM 7.30pm followed

by Laughter in the Village – Bob Harding-Jones We have a coach outing to Hatfield House on 4th June. (contact David Allard 01763 242677 for details and availability of places) Annual membership £5 (Sept– Aug) (Under 18s half price) Visitors £2.

Royston & District Family History Society The Royston & District Family History Society has arranged lectures until May at their meetings at the All Saints Community Hall, Melbourn starting at 8 pm. The March meeting will be on 21st when Robert Parker will speak about The Shire Men. Gill Shapland will deal with the subject of ‘Is your ancestor a Bastard?’ on 18th April. One of our committee members Sue Tune will be dealing with one of her ancestors Percy Godfrey at the 16th May meeting.

However, dropping membership and low attendances at the Society’s meeting looks as though it will then have to fold-up after thirty years of very successful and worthwhile period. Neville Chuck (Chairman).

Melbourn Dynamos Football Club www.melbourndynamos.co.uk Melbourn Dynamos FC is a friendly community youth football club that gives boys and girls the opportunity to play regular football regardless of their experience or ability at all ages from 3 through to 18. In addition, we now have a Men’s team and a Ladies’ team as natural homes for our players who graduate from youth football. We 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. We also have the support of a generous benefactor who is enabling us to develop and broaden our work within the community. With the support of this benefactor we are extending our work to make the club more inclusive by assisting players whose families are unable to afford the necessary fees. We also will be working with our community partners to improve access to other sports and exercise in the Melbourn area. This has been a successful season for the club with new teams and players who are welcoming the opportunity to play for Melbourn Dynamos. The addition of four Girls’ Teams at U9, U10, U11 & U16s with the new Ladies’ and Men’s Teams mean that we now have almost 250 players registered to the club. As you will know this winter has been gentle with very few matches postponed because of adverse weather. We now have more than 32 girls who have registered to play in the Cambridgeshire FA’s S-Tech Girls League. This is in addition to the girls that choose to play mixed football in

all age groups. In no small measure this has been due to our qualified volunteers who have been coaching players at Melbourn Primary School and providing free football training sessions for girls on Saturday mornings at Melbourn Village College. Coupled with the support of Cambridgeshire FA and a grant from the FA’s Grow the Game Initiative, we find ourselves in the happy position of having 4 teams (U9, U10, U11 & U16) for this the season. The core of new U16s’ Team has formed from some the girls who represented the Club at the Stotfold tournament last July (see photograph). For more information about Women’s and Girl’s football please go to our website or email: girlsteams.mdfc@ gmail.com. The clearance and development work of work of the old recreation ground on the Moor by Melbourn Parish Council has enabled the club to make much better use of the land with a larger 11v11pitch inset with two mini-soccer pitches. In addition to this clearance work, we are very grateful to the Parish Council for agreeing to provide a new storage container for the club on the land behind the Army Cadet building. This improved playing area has been much appreciated by our members and our many visiting teams. We are very pleased to have been asked by both Cambridgeshire FA and the Royston Crow Youth Football League to host two of their Football Festivals this spring. It is a real pleasure to welcome many visitors to the village to enjoy the great facilities that we are fortunate to use and the beautiful setting. We are also looking forward to the club’s Presentation Day on Sunday 5th June. Once again Melbourn Village College has kindly agreed to host our annual celebration. We are very pleased with the success of our youngest players, the Dynamites, who increasingly provide the core of our 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 in June 2015 and has been appointed to continued on page 49 melbournmagazine

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The club’s success depends entirely on enthusiastic members and volunteers. If you feel that you would like to contribute to the club as a coach, match day official or in some other volunteer capacity then we would be pleased to hear from you through secretary.mdfc@gmail. com or chairman.mdfc@gmail.com . More information about the club and individual teams is available the club’s Website: www.melbourndynamos. co.uk. Currently we have vacancies for a Saturday Fixture Secretary and a coach/manager for the new Girls U16’s Team; for more details, please contact David Atkins or Blake Carrington at the above mdfc email addresses. the key leadership role of 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. This fun, preparation and skill development through the Dynamites has undoubtedly brought more success to our current League Teams. These players train with level 2 and level 1 FA qualified coaches in a Saturday morning fun session for 3-6 year old boys and girls between 09.15 -10.15 am at Melbourn Sports Centre. Sessions 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. All of our coaches are CRB checked and qualified to a minimum of FA Level1 standard. In addition, as a Partnership Club of Cambridge United and through the support of the FA, our coaches are

now receiving to high level mentoring and support to develop our players and above all else provide them with enjoyment and exercise. We are also an FA Charter Standard Club which means that we have all the correct people and practices in place to operate in line with FA & government requirements. All are welcome and if you are interested in finding out more about MDFC and the opportunities to play football with us, please contact David Atkins on 01763 263462 or email: secretary.mdfc@gmail. com.

Grinnel Hill BMX Club This winter will once again see major re-design and construction, this time of the lower half of the field, including the intermediate and advance lines, with completion scheduled for early Spring 2015.

The club is open annually April to September. Strictly for BMX use only, for ages 12 and older, members have the option of either becoming a seasonal member for £50 (April to September), or a day member (per session) for £10.

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Our aim for the club is to promote an activity for the young community of Melbourn and surrounding areas to participate in, with the guidance of our committee and experts, in a safe and friendly environment. Members will have access to BMX coaching and expertise on site during club open days. For more details and to download your membership form today please visit; www.grinnelhillbmx.co.uk. Acknowledgements Melbourn Parish Council for their ongoing support at all levels to keep the club 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

Melbourn Bridge Club Melbourn Bridge Club has started 2016 in very good health attracting thirty to forty players on a Monday evening and twenty to thirty on a Tuesday afternoon. The introduction of the ‘improvers’ sessions on a Tuesday has proved successful and this was then complemented by the start of beginners classes ably led by Mike Thrower under the auspices of the U3A. This year’s beginner’s classes will start in March and there is already considerable interest. Last year ended with the now traditional Christmas parties with random pairings playing with glasses of ‘fizz’, nibbles, Christmas cake and an exchange of gifts. The friendly Monday competition was won by Steve Goswell and Howard Waller who benefited from an additional prize. The Tuesday party was an equal success but was surprised by the arrival of an impressive Santa in magnificent costume. The afternoon’s play was won by Anne Church and Annabel Bieco leaving no prizes for Santa (aka Derek Ailes) For those interested in standard Duplicate Bridge on Monday evenings and Tuesday afternoons at Vicarage Close, Melbourn simply contact Howard Waller on 01763 261693

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

Melbourn Bowls Club While there has been no activity on the Bowls Green during the winter, apart from its care and renovation, many of the members have been joining together socially with our Whist Drives every other Friday. In addition, about twenty of the current members meet at the Coombes Community Centre in Royston on Monday and Wednesday afternoons to enjoy a friendly game of Short Mat Bowls. Anyone who would like to try their hand would be welcome. It provides a good introduction to the game and enables you to meet many of the existing members of the Bowls Club. If you are interested, please contact either Arthur Andrews (01763 261990) or Malcolm Davey (01763 262704) who can give you further details. Please note, however, that these sessions will finish at Easter as we will be returning to our Outdoor Green shortly after Easter. During the winter we are continuing with Whist Drives every other Friday at 7.00pm in the Clubhouse, which will continue until Easter. The dates are listed in the Diary Section. This is a friendly sociable event and prospective new members would be made very welcome at these evenings. For further details, contact Arthur Andrews (01763 261990). We are developing a new website at www.melbournbowlsclub.co.uk which should be up and running by the time you read this. This will detail dates and times of the matches and other events and I would encourage you to take a look at it. It will also give contact information should you wish to talk to any of the committee members concerning membership of the club or simply trying out the game. Open day this year will be on Sunday 1st May starting at 2.30pm and we would invite any experienced bowlers who might be interested in joining the club either to attend on that day or contact Arthur Andrews (01763 261990) before that date to discuss club membership. We would also particularly welcome anyone who might be interested in taking up the game of Bowls. Tuition and

equipment will be provided for complete beginners (those who have never played before), and anyone who may have played before and would like to take up the game again, just bring flat shoes or trainers. If you are interested but cannot attend on 1st May and would like to arrange another time to try out the game, or would like more information, please contact Arthur Andrews on 01763 261990. We would emphasise that Bowls is a game for all age groups from nine to ninety, and even beyond. Don’t be put off by any perception that bowls is a game solely for the retired; it can be enjoyed by all age groups equally and the younger you start the better the standard you are likely to achieve. It is a very sociable game and gives you a chance to meet a friendly group of people and take some gentle exercise. Parents or Grandparents, why not bring your children with you? Bowls is a game where different generations can take part on fairly equal terms. For example, at the World Indoor Bowls Championships the winner in 2012 was in his fifties while the winner in 2013 was in his twenties. We will be holding our popular Coffee Mornings every Thursday Morning starting on 21st April from 10.30am to 12.00 noon in our Clubhouse and also outside if the weather is suitable. We especially welcome nonmembers who can be sure of good company and have the chance to get to know existing members, and also perhaps watch some of our internal competitions that often take place on the Green on Thursday mornings. You will see then that you do not have to be an expert to enjoy the game and be a member of the Club. For existing members, we will be holding a match between our D2 and D5 teams on 17th April and a Roll Up on Monday 18th April as we have a match on Wednesday 20th April (Foxton League) against our close rival Meldreth. If any experienced bowlers are interested in joining our club and wish to take part in this match would you please contact me before17th April and I will endeavour to include you in this match.

During the summer season there will frequently be matches played in the evenings on our Green at The Moor starting at 6.30pm and also on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons usually starting around 2.30pm. The actual dates of our home matches can be found on our website. Spectators are always welcome; just turn up, watch and socialise with our members. There are always some of our members coming to watch and support the teams. They will make any newcomers welcome and will be happy to explain what is going on.

McSplash Swimming Club McSplash Swimming Club was formed in 1992 and our head coach Jenny Brackley has been coaching the Swimmers of various abilities for over 10 years. The name MC-Splash uses the initial M=Melbourn, C=Community and Splash is more obvious as one does ‘splash‘ whilst swimming. We are a friendly, non-competitive Club, although we do hold our own in-house Gala each year. Apart from swimming lengths, our Swimmers also learn survival skills, snorkelling and other water based activities. MC-Splash Swimming Club meets on a Friday evening (during term time) at Melbourn Sports Centre with the Mini-squad training from 6-6.45pm, Intermediate 6.45-7.45pm, Advanced 7.45-8.45pm and Masters 8.45-9.45pm. Should you wish your child to be considered for entry into the Swimming Club, please contact Jenny Brackley on 01763 244593 for further information or to book a trial.

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

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A state of the art fitness suite offering a variety of membership schemes

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A 20 metre swimming pool (kept ever so slightly warmer than most!)

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A comprehensive swimming lesson

programme, catering for all ages and abilities

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Upgraded multisports courts for hire including tennis, football and squash courts

• •

Water sports courses and activities

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Access to Melbourn Village College sports hall and gymnasium for activities such as trampolining, badminton and basketball

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COFFEE STOP

Traditional and modern exercise classes

Supervised sports and pool parties

» March/April

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! We’ve got a bumper bag of Easter activities this year, including our OFSTED registered Play Scheme, where children will be treated to trampolining, swimming and creative crafts. Other holiday activities include Swimming Crash Course and Trampolining Crash Course. We are also teamed up with Cambridge United Football Club to offer future football stars a chance to improve their skills with Weekly/Daily Soccer Camps. March 2016 also sees the return of our charitable Swimathon, with all participants raising money for the Marie Curie CancerCare Trust. We’d love to have as many entrants as possible; teams of up to five are welcome as well as individual swimmers. The Swimathon takes place on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th March. For further information, please see reception or visit our website at www.mc-sport.co.uk.

» May We welcome back the outdoor sports and tennis season. For all you budding Wimbledon stars, courts can be hired mid-week and at weekends. We are also pleased to announce that we have joined up with Melbourn and District Tennis Club based at Melbourn Sports Centre. Membership ranges from £10.00 (minis) – £120.00 (families). For further information, please contact Melbourn

Every Saturday 10.30am to 12noon Rombouts coffee & biscuits for 80p at

All Saints’ Community Hall Sports Centre reception 01763 263313 or Claire Norman 07545334805 or e-mail: claire@claireelizabethtennis. co.uk Later this month, we will be running our children’s holiday activities once again, with Play Scheme and a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities available.

» June For something a bit different this Father’s Day, how about treating your Dad to his own gym membership or purchasing a gift voucher for our other activities here at Melbourn Sports? It’s a great way to help a loved one get fit! Plus, why not start planning your summer sports early, with our holiday courses like the Children’s Pentathlon and Swimming Crash Course? Bookings taken from June onwards. Other activities on offer this spring and summer include:

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Our usual popular swimming lessons, both group and private

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A range of exercise classes including Body workouts, Boot Camp, Pilates, Swim-Clinic (pool training session) and Traditional Aerobics

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Indoor and Outdoor Court Hire For further details on these or any other activities, please drop in, call 01763 263313 or go online at www. mc-sport.co.uk. We look forward to seeing you this season! Graham Johnson-Mack, Melbourn Sports Centre Manager Melbourn Sports Centre, The Village College, The Moor, Melbourn, Royston, Cambridgeshire, SG8 6EF 01763 263313 / www.mc-sport.co.uk / info@mc-sport.co.uk melbournmagazine

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Churches Together Melbourn United Reformed Church Cheese and Wine Robert Elbourn hosted a cheese and wine evening at his home on 27th November. The evening was a great success and raised over £400 for Christian Aid.

Operation Christmas Child We were able to send 161 shoe boxes (including some from our friends in Fowlmere) full of gifts to deprived children abroad who would not otherwise have any presents. The shoe boxes were blessed during our morning service on 15th November. (see photo)

Tastes of Christmas This was an enjoyable event with plenty of food to taste and buy, food hampers to win in the raffle and other competitions. It was also a social time for people to chat as well as raising money for church funds. (see photo)

Family Nativity Service The service included the drama “Surprise! Surprise!” as well as the usual bible readings and carols. The drama was in four scenes in reporter style. The surprises Operation Christmas Child

Tastes of Christmas

were Mary expecting a baby and finding that Elizabeth was also expecting, Joseph being told Mary was pregnant, no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph and finally the shepherds learning of the birth of Jesus. There was another drama “Strange Night” in which the inn keeper and his wife were discussing the events of that night.

Reverend Stanley Hodges It was with sadness we learnt of the death of Stanley Hodges on 12th November 2015, aged 97. Stanley was our congregational minister from 1946-1959. It was during his ministry that our present manse was built and we also moved our worship from the big church to the Meeting House opposite where we worship today. The wooden cross on the wall behind our pulpit was made by Stanley and remains a focal point today. Four of us travelled to Broadway melbournmagazine

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URC in the Cotswolds on 16th January to attend the Service of Thanksgiving. It was a beautiful day and the church was full. We sang some rousing hymns and there were eulogies from family and friends as well as from each of the churches where he was a minister. Robert Elbourn spoke on behalf of Melbourn. There was soup and a buffet lunch provided in the hall after the service where we were able to chat and exchange anecdotes before returning home.

Easter Services

»» 25th March - Good Friday service at 10am followed by coffee and hot cross buns in the hall.

»» 27th March - Easter Sunday service at 11am including the celebration of Holy Communion.

Women’s World Day of Prayer This year’s service is on Friday 4th March in our church at 2.30pm. The service has been prepared by the Christian women of Cuba entitled “Receive Children, Receive Me”. There will be a cup of tea afterwards. It is an ecumenical service so do come along and join us.

Welcome to All We extend a warm welcome to anyone interested in joining us for worship. Our Sunday service is at 11am and we hold a Friday coffee morning from 10.30am when you can enjoy a cup of coffee/tea, biscuits and chat.

Diary

»» Every Thursday : Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm »» Every Friday : Coffee URC 10.30am »» Every Sunday : URC Morning Service 11am except first Sunday of the month when Holy Communion is celebrated.

»» March (Special) : Friday 4th - Women’s World Day of Prayer URC 2.30pm »» Friday 25th URC Good Friday service 10am followed by coffee and hot cross buns

Melbourn Baptist Church The busy time of Christmas has fast become a memory, but there is no let-up at Melbourn Baptist Church, with events leading up to Easter, which is early this year. The church took part in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, hosting early morning prayer meetings and a house group meeting, among other events taking place in Melbourn and Meldreth. As part of the village’s Lent activities, members have been involved in the York Lent course, held at the United Reformed Church. And as Easter approaches, Melbourn Baptist Church will host a Churches Together cooked breakfast on Good Friday at 8am. Also on Good Friday, the church will be open during the day for music and art events, and also children’s activities. Keep an eye on the church notice board for times of the various events. As part of the church’s celebration of Easter, it is hoped that a baptismal service will take place on Easter Sunday. Before Easter, the church will be holding a meeting focused on Thailand on March 9, at 7.45pm, when church members Brian and Janet Orrell will be speaking about their recent mission visit to the country. A week later, on March 16, the church will be holding its annual meeting, also at 7.45pm. The church continues to hold its regular weekly meetings, including Toddlers Plus on Tuesdays, Craft Morning and Coffee Break on Wednesdays, early morning prayer meetings on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Luncheon Club on Tuesdays.

All Saints Church Ninth Safari Supper 4th June 2016 I cannot believe it is NINE years since Jane and I tentatively launched the idea of a Safari Supper in Melbourn to raise money for the All Saints Community Hall. Since then it has grown and become a very well supported and popular event and last year we were able to give over £600 to the Hall. This year our aim is to replace the existing chairs which are showing signs of wear. Our ninth Safari Supper will take place on Saturday 4th June this year. I do hope that everyone who has taken part before will join in again – we have taken care to avoid the fetes in Melbourn and Meldreth - and that even more people will join in. For the evening to work well we need people willing to provide a starter, main course or dessert for 4 to 8 people – and after each course you all move on to different venues hopefully (if we have organised it properly) not meeting the same people again. We all finish up at the Hall to have coffee and exchange notes on the evening! The cost is £15 per person but we do offer something towards the food for those who are cooking. Not everyone has to be a host, we do take guests as well and have several regulars from outside the village who enjoy taking part. It is good fun and you get to meet a lot of people. If you would like to know more about our Safari Supper, or indeed to put your name down to take part do please ring either me on 260686 or Jane Brett on 260306. Or alternatively, email howards.carlings@btinternet.com for an application form. Mavis Howard

Swing into spring in the hall for all You may recall that I wrote in the last issue about the All Saints Community Hall, bringing you up to date with the improvements which had been carried continued on page 59 melbournmagazine

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out. Many of you will already be familiar with the Hall and have attended events there enjoying the excellent facilities. For the last couple of months parking has been a bit of a problem – the contractors working on the church tower have often had several vans in the car park and the situation has been exacerbated by the closure of the village car park opposite The Hub. However, both of those projects are now completed. I also wrote about the ongoing need to keep the hall in tiptop condition and in an effort to raise money we are holding a musical evening SWING INTO SPRING on Saturday 7th May. This will be an evening of live music, mostly jazz and swing, by a group of professional musicians. We are very fortunate in that the event is being sponsored by Walnut Medical and we extend our thanks to them for their generosity. The tickets will be £15 each and there will be light refreshments and a bar serving wine, beer and soft drinks. Another fundraising event will be the NINTH Safari Supper to be held on Saturday 4th June – details from me or Jane Brett (260306) I also mentioned in my last piece that we had made a small but significant change in the hall. Has anyone spotted the fact that when the decorative glass windows in the foyer were taken down for cleaning, we swapped them around? We did this because a number of people had commented that to catch a quick glimpse of the adult figure leading a child was unnerving, so we have moved that panel along to the end and it is no longer in your line of vision as you leave the hall! The trustees are working hard to enable the installation of Broadband to the hall which will further enhance the facilities which we offer. Booking enquiries for the hall may be made at hallbookings@live.co.uk Mavis Howard (260686)

Easter Thousands of years BC people in Europe worshipped Eostre, the Goddess of Spring; she brought back the sun after the dark, sunless winter. It is thought that Eostre gave her name to Easter when, in the Christian Calendar, Jesus Christ dies and rises from the dead. The date of Easter varies, as Christians decided that Easter Day should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of Spring, around 21st March. In 2016 this will be March 27th. Easter can fall as early as March 22nd, or as late as April 25th in countries which use the Gregorian Calendar. In Eastern churches, which follow the Julian Calendar Easter this year will fall on May 1st.

Supporters of All Saints (S0AS) The work of SOAS goes on during the Interregnum and we are anxious to refresh our bank balance having donated £25,000 to the tower fund. The planned concert in December did not take place owing to the unfortunate accident to Geoff Symon but in February we hope to have heard Sarah Harrison giving one of her excellent talks. By April we should have news of our new priest in charge who will, by the terms of our constitution, automatically become Chairman of SOAS. At the present time we have applicants from three women and one man but until after the interviews on 26th January no definite news is available. The Interregnum has thrown additional work on our churchwardens and Parochial Church Council and especially on Mary Price our Associate Priest. It is pleasing to report that all have risen to the occasion and the work of the church has carried on. Our authorised lay minister Barbara MacKellar left us after some 18 years in the parish and at a pleasing ceremony in the Community hall on 10th January she was presented with a card and presents in recognition of her hard work in the parish. On 16th April we are planning another supper quiz in All Saints Community Hall at 7.30pm. These quizzes have proved very popular in the past and are often a “sell out” so book the date now! Membership of SOAS is open to all whether churchgoers or not. All we ask is a minimum of £ 3.00 for individuals and £ 5.00 for a household (2 adults and 2 children) but if anyone wishes to give more they are not discouraged! If you would like to know more please contact me on 01763 260072 or by e-mailing colin.limming@btinternet.com Colin Limming, Membership Secretary.

SOAS 100 Club The November draw was made on 28th November by Alan Hay. There were 77 members. The first prize of £25.68 goes to David Piggott at 15 Water Lane and the second of £12.84 to Audrey Hodson at 103 Beechwood Avenue.

The Word of God from David Burbridge ‘Jesus going up to Jerusalem, said to the twelve disciples: All things written by the prophets concerning The Son of man shall be accomplished. The Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge, and to crucify Him : and the third day he shall rise again. (Mark 10, 32 & Luke 18 , 31) melbournmagazine

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Melwood Your Local Nature Reserve

The last Melbourn Magazine provided an introduction to Melwood – a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) in Meldreth. As a designated LNR it is required to have a management plan covering five years. The latest one for the period 2016 to 2020 has just been completed. It follows the structure of previous ones (the one for 2011 to 2015 was completed with the assistance of the Wildlife Trust) with the same overall objectives. The full document can be found on the Melwood Conservation Group website at www.melwood.btck.co.uk. The nature reserve has been divided into separate compartments with different management objectives (see Melwood habitat top right). The overall objective is to maximise floral and fauna diversity. Even in this small area a variety of micro- environments are encouraged. The objective for the meadow (open grassy area on the diagram) is to maximise light to encourage a range of plants and associated insects. This is achieved by controlling the tree growth at the edges and establishing a succession of plants which get higher towards the trees (see page 61 Woodland Structure). For instance, the yew hedge at the western border has been recently coppiced. The meadow is mowed annually and the cuttings, containing the seed heads, distributed to encourage expansion of the flower varieties. Appropriate native seeds and plants are also introduced to this area. The area fronting the footpath by the river Mel (marked coppiced area on the diagram) has been thinned and coppiced (see Coppice bottom right) to encourage selected plants. In this season you should be able to see daffodils, Bee fly photograph by Jim Reid

Memorial Lime tree

Young Trees

Woodland edge – old hedge line

Nature

Densely Shaded Woodland

Meadow

Lightly Shaded Woodland

Sunny Clearing Coppiced Clearing

Yew hedge

Elm scrub River Mel

Melwood habitat

bluebells, cowslips, oxlips (and hybrids) and possibly the last of the snowdrops and aconites. This programme will be continued in co-operation with the Me River Restoration Group. At the back of the wood (marked denser with more ivy on the diagram) the aim is to provide a darker, shady area which is less disturbed and not as accessible to the public. Dead wood is allowed to rot to help insect habitats and fungal growth. On the edge of this area children have fun building a creative variety of dens in the summer. There is currently a circular path around the wood and the aim is to encourage people (and their dogs) to use this path rather than to wander through the centre of the wood where they can destroy fragile habitats. In order to achieve this the path will be edged and possibly covered in wood chips to make it more distinct. The south eastern edge now has new hedge plants and a layered dead hedge which we hope will develop into a continued on page 63

Coppice Tree to be Coppiced

The following Spring, shoots rapididly regrow from stool

Cut close to the base in Winter

7–20 years later the coppice ready for harvest

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narrow ‘ride’ leading to a recently planted memorial tree at the end by the ditch. The main conservation activities at this time of the year are brush cutting and ivy and nettle removal to help the rarer species to flourish with less competition (although nettle patches are left at the back as they are attractive to some butterflies e.g. Peacock and Small Tortoiseshell). If hazels and hawthorns are coppiced, we protect the new shoots emerging from the base with chicken wire to prevent rabbit and muntjac deer attack. Anyone interested in helping with this work should contact Graham Borgonon on 01763 260358 or Jim Reid on 260231. The wood should by now provide a rich display of spring flowers, although predicting flowering periods is becoming

Centre of ride or field edge The ride centre needs to be open to permit access; short grass also provides a habitat for plants like wild strawberry. Let the grass seed in by itself.

Cut annually at the end of the summer – not in winter when tracks could be very muddy

increasingly difficult in recent years. The trees will be coming into leaf and insects, maybe some early butterflies, darting about. Look out for Pussy willow and Barberry. Hopefully the nest boxes will have been explored by their potential new occupants and nesting activity might be in full swing. Come and visit! Woodland canopy Coppiced shrubs and bushes with brambles Tree species like goat willow may grow here – this provides a breeding site for the purple emperor butterfly. Birds and small mammals (like dormice) live and nest here.

Medium and tall grass and herbs with overwintering seed-heads A location for plants like bird’s-foot trefoils and vetches, food plants for the common blue and wood white butterflies respectively.

Cut on a roughly three-year cycle in late summer

Cut or coppiced every 5–20 years

Source: Forestry Commission

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Nature The Orchid Hunters

The names of many plant hunters will be familiar, from Joseph Banks, Francis Masson and David Douglas to Joseph Hooker, Robert Fortune and the Lobb brothers. We are surrounded by plants named by and for them and their swashbuckling tales of their adventures across the globe have long been of interest. More than a few brave souls came to a sticky end – David Douglas fell into a trap meant for wild boar, Francis Masson froze to death, Thomas Lobb lost a leg, and many others risked malaria, cholera, drowning, injury from earthquakes and attacks by wild animals, pirates and cannibals. Orchids became a full-scale public obsession (known as Orchidelirium) from 1830s-1920s and there are reports of individual plants selling for well over £100,000 in today’s money. Orchid hunters were commissioned by plant nurseries to search the jungles of the tropics, often suffering deeply unhospitable conditions and risking life and limb in pursuit of novel and exotic orchids. The Orchid Hunters display in the Glasshouse Range this year (13 February – 13th March) will focus on the [mis]adventures of a group of plant hunters commissioned by the indomitable nurseryman Frederick Sander, who became known as the ‘Orchid King’. One of Sander’s most loyal orchid hunters was Wilhelm Micholitz, who worked for him for over 30 years despite the seemingly fractious relationship seen through their correspondence. In his letters, Micholitz writes of the hardships associated with tracking down particular orchids including escaping burning Wilhelm Micholitz circa 1890 in Singapore. From the Sander family collection

boats, near starvation and witnessing horrific mutilation in wars between tribes on the islands of Indonesia; in one letter he states flatly that he has ‘no desire to find [his] last resting place in the stomach of a tiger’. After his long and arduous travels for Sander, Micholitz died in poverty; his few savings, invested in German government funds, had become worthless after the war. His legacy, of course, is the many orchids he brought back, many of which were new to science and carry Sander’s name. As well as introducing some of the discoveries made by Sander’s men, including Cattleya from the western tropics and Paphiopedilum (slipper orchids) from the Asian tropics, The Orchid Hunters will also examine the high environmental cost, with packing crates, Wardian cases and rattan plant collection baskets shown overflowing with species orchids. Such was the demand for exotic orchids that millions of specimens were stripped from their native habitat direct for market. Enormous numbers were collected to allow for the huge proportion that were lost in transit; often less than 1% of specimens collected survived to sale, which perversely only fuelled the market’s love of rarity. The story will be brought up to date by examining modern micro-propagation methods and hybridisation programmes which have made the orchid an everyday commodity, and will look at how international legislation can protect plants in the wild from modern-day plant piracy. The Cambridge University Botanic Garden is open from 10am–5pm February – March, 10am–6pm April – September. The Glasshouses and Café close 30 minutes before the Garden and the Botanic Garden Shop at Brookside closes 15 minutes before the Garden. Please check the website at www.botanic.cam.ac.uk or telephone 01223 336265 for details about opening times, admission charges, tours, courses and special events. melbournmagazine

What’s On New Melbourn Singers

The New Melbourn Singers are once again performing as part of the Cambridgeshire Choral Society, a choral society which was the idea of the late David Wilcox. It brings together village choirs to perform large choral works with professional soloists and orchestras. On Saturday 2 April 2016 the Cambridgeshire Choral Society will be singing the Dettingen Te Deum by Handel and the Requiem by Mozart. The performance will be held in the Leys School on Trumpington Road in Cambridge at 7.30 pm. Tickets are available from choir members or on the door. It should be an enjoyable and moving evening of great music. Jane Stevens – 01763 261858

The Cantilena Singers Lux aeterna: Renaissance and Romantics Saturday 19th March at 7.30 pm St. Mary’s Church, Church Lane Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 0HP An evening of unaccompanied choral music, sacred and secular, on the theme of eternal light, from the Renaissance to the Romantics, and beyond. Proceeds to the Church Director Daniel Spreadbury Tickets £10 (free admission for under 18s) Available from Janet Ramsay-Helie Phone: 01638 603489 Email: ramsayhelie@ntlworld.com. or on the door

Swinging into Spring. All Saints Community Hall Saturday 7th May For more details see page 55.

Raising the Roof Appeal Saturday 5th March 6.00 – 7.00 pm Friends Meeting House, 12 Jesus Lane, Cambridge CB5 8BA Fundraising concert for Jesus Lane friends meeting free entry, with retiring collection for the appeal Dan Ellis Baritone Celia Waterhouse Piano Music for Recorder Tim Brown Songs of Travel by Vaughan Williams Concert followed by 3-course supper 7.00 – 8.30pm for which we ask a donation in the region of £10 - £25 (on the day) Book your supper tickets now – in advance please!! Telephone Rich Braun/Ione Evans on 01223 812115 or email: evans.braun@btinternet.com

www.melbourncambridge.co.uk

CambridgePPF

(past present and future)

» March

Sunday 20th – Slippery Slimy Science A close up look at slugs, snails and worms. Part of Cambridge Science Festival Saturday 26th – Easter Fun Day

» April

Tuesday 5th – Iron Age Wandlebury Wednesday 6th – Fairy Fun Survival Friday 8th – Unaccompanied Bushcraft Day

Cambridge PPF – Wandlebury Ring, Gog Magog Hills, Babraham Cambridge CB22 3AE www.cambridgeppf.com

Home Start

Ninth Safari Supper

Cambridge Wind Band presents Stars and Stripes – Saturday 30th April – 7.30pm – at West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge - an evening of American music featuring Bernstein, Stevie Wonder, John Williams and much much more. Tickets £15 / £10 available from ADC Box office by calling 01223 300085 or email boxoffice@adctheatre.com We would like to thank the Cambridge Wind Band who will be raising funds through this concert for Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire.

Saturday 4th June For more details see page 55.

Royston Choral Society Come and Sing Stainer’s Crucifixion Musical Director Andrew O’Brien Saturday 5th March 12.00 for 12.30 to 5.00pm Royston Parish Church – Admission £10 The Crucifixion was conceived as a meditation, a work of devotion that would bring, as the dramatised passion tradition had for centuries, the story of Holy Week to ordinary folk. With the spine tingling melodies and Victorian sentiment, the timeless ‘God so loved the world’ and hymns for audience participation it is the perfect piece to spend the day singing, discovering and relishing its beautiful music. Singers of all abilities welcome, whether members of choral societies, church choirs, community choirs – or no choir. Do you sing along to BBC Songs of Praise or sing in the shower? Come along and take this opportunity to sing with Royston Choral Society’s BBC award winning conductor. Registration commences 12.00 with singing starting at 12.30: The afternoon ends with a sing through at 4.30 which friends and families are welcome to attend free of charge. Please book using the booking form available on Royston Choral Society’s website – www.roystonchoralsoc. org.uk or from local libraries and choir members. Royston Choral Society will be performing The Crucifixion on Palm Sunday, March 20th at Standon Parish Church 7.30pm For more information about the choir see the website www.roystonchoralsoc.org.uk or contact Chairman, Heather Howard Tel. 01763 249058 or Email heather@lemonyellow.org melbournmagazine

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Melbourn magazine is non-profit and all work on the magazine including layout is produced by volunteers. The Magazine is published four times a year in the first week of March, June, September and December. We print 2200 copies which are delivered free to every house 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…

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For further information on advertising please telephone 220363. Remittance or cheques should be made to Melbourn Magazine.

Melbourn Magazine Committee Editorial

Ann Dekkers

Advertising

Yvonne Stokes-Kuch

Distribution

Eric Johnston

220197

Information

Anne Lambert

261480

Parish Profile

Mavis Howard

260686

Production

Peter Simmonett

220363

Proof reading

Brenda Meliniotis

261154

Colin Limming

260072

Brenda Meliniotis

261154

Village Diary

261144

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

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Issue 85 Spring 2016

Articles inside

What’s On

Churches Together

feature

The Orchid Hunters

Sports & Clubs

Profile

Education

poetry

Community matters

Nature

A Day in the Life of a Mobile Warden

Village news

What’s On