Issue 95 Autumn 2018

What wonderful weather we have had this summer, a bit too hot for some perhaps!

As usual the Fete was a great success, enjoyed by everyone, with not a cloud in the sky. Many thanks to the Committee for such a great day. Their report asks if anyone would like to join the committee, please do give it some thought (page 8).

The ‘public gardens’ in the village have looked marvellous as usual, and we all appreciate the work put in there, apart perhaps from a few antisocial people who removed some plants, presumably for their own gardens? Thank you also to the people who keep the village neat and tidy, a nonstop job.

It is very interesting to hear of the success of MVC, and the introduction of Mandarin to the curriculum. Pupils already have the chance to learn several other languages, including Spanish. How fortunate they are. Congratulations to those students who have achieved their desired exam results – enjoy the next stage of your education.

Sport thrives in Melbourn, thanks to those dedicated people who give their time to the community. There are many Clubs too, literally something for everyone, see page 51. In this edition we have poetry composed by members of the ‘The Chain of Wild Flowers’ (page 62), and also more book reviews (page 43).

You can read part 2 of Memory Lane – ‘Days in Ceylon’ on page 21 and the ‘Travelogue to Bhutan’ page 40.

Volunteers also look after and report on the natural history of our area, such as Melwood and the river Mel.

The Hub has some interesting things coming up again, our thanks to the volunteers who organise these events.

And of course we don’t have to travel very far to see a film, only as far as the Community Hall page 13.

We should also thank the Parish Council for all their efforts on our behalf, making Melbourn such a pleasant place to live.

The Melbourn History Book ‘A Glimpse into Melbourn’s Past’ with the accompanying DVD is once again available FREE to all new residents of the village. If you don’t have a copy, see page 11 for more details.

Contents

Village news

feature - Memories of the Mel 16

Memory Lane - Days in Celyon 21

Education 25

Profile - Naomi & Adrian Brind 32

Village information 35

Diary 36

Bin collection 38

Nature - River Mel Restoration Group 39

Travelogue - Travelling the Himalayas 40 Bhutan: the happiest country in Asia

Review - Citizen Clem / Here We Are 43

feature - A visitor to the parish 44 Richard Reynolds Rowe Churches Together 45 Nature 49

Melwood: Your Local Nature Reserve

Sports & Clubs 51

feature - Chalk Stream Lullaby 62

What’s On 65

Melbourn Magazine is Independent of the Parish Council

NO public money is used. We would like to thank TTP for their continued sponsorship of the magazine. Melbourn Magazine is printed quarterly and delivered free to every household and business in the village.

All work on the Melbourn Magazine, including layout and design is produced by volunteers. The cost of printing comes entirely from advertising and sponsorship.

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

Village news

Village News

Ronald Brooksbank

Irene Patricia Saunders

New Melbourn Singers

Library

Forever Active

Hub Club

Melbourn Fete

Turn on to Christmas

Mobile Warden Scheme

Short Story Group

Women’s Group

A morning stroll around Melbourn

Women’s Institute

The Hall For All

Melbourn Cinema Event

Rail User Group

The Parish Clerk – Simon Crocker 15 District Councillors

Philippa Hart and Jose Hales

County Councillor – Susan van de Ven 19

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

Ronald Brooksbank 1925–2018

We are very sad to hear of the death in June of our popular former Police Inspector. Ron was born in Peterborough and did wartime service with the RAF as a wireless operator, after which he joined the old Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1950. He served as the local constable in Harston, then in CID for five years before coming to Melbourn in 1962, when the population of the village was around 1,400. The Magistrates’ court was in Cross Lane and one of Ron’s first jobs was on a cycle patrol, visiting all the main areas of the village. He served as a Sergeant for many years before being promoted to Inspector. He and his wife Muriel were married for 69 years, she died into 2015. Ron wrote very interesting articles for the Magazine for many years, beginning in Summer 2003 until Summer 2011.

We no longer have a Police Station or permanent presence in Melbourn, and The Hub, our popular Community Centre and Parish Office, plus housing, now occupy the site. Appropriately the road goes by the name of Brooksbank.

Irene Patricia Saunders 1937–2018

Pat Saunders sadly died in July after along illness. Born in Buenos Aires Pat spent her early years in Brazil, where her father worked for a British company which made soap. They lived on a large farm, with horses, and she and her two older brothers led an adventurous life.

Pat returned to England with her parents at the age of 17 years, and joined the British Army at her father’s suggestion, where during basic training she made friends with a girl who introduced her brother, Peter, also in the army. Subsequently they married, in Singapore, and spent postings in several countries, often, including Ireland, during ‘the troubles’.

Peter and Pat adopted 2 children and became grandparents to 3 grandchildren. They finished their working lives as civil servants at Bassingbourn barracks.

Pat was a caring person and joined the Guiding Movement; many people in the area will remember her in this role, from 1978 onwards. Pat and Peter were married for 61 years and did most things together, living a full and active live surrounded by family and friends.

Latterly people remember her walking her dog around the village.

New Melbourn Singers

With Autumn comes a new season for the Melbourn Singers. The choir is one of several which make up the Cambridge Choral Society (CCS), now well over 50 years old. The CCS was formed for village choirs to give amateurs the

to sing some of the great works of choral music in a large choir with

Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme

Can we help you?

conductor, soloists and orchestra,

added bonus

that the venue is always somewhere special, this year in the University Concert Hall in West Road, next year in the Chapel of Trinity College. So, you can see why we are members of the Melbourn Singers!

On 15 September CCS are holding a Choral Day for choir members and anyone else who would like to come along. It is being held in the Emmanuel United Reformed Church, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RR. There is no audition, music will be provided but bring a packed lunch. The CCS conductor, Richard Laing, will be running the day so we can guarantee it will be fun, informative and you will leave with a sense of achievement. The cost is £10, £5 for CCS members, so why not come along and have a go, you never know it might be the start of something addictive.

Jane Stevens

Library

Once again, we had a really encouraging take up of the Summer Reading Challenge 2018 Mischief Makers run by the Cambridgeshire Library Service for our younger readers. Most of those taking part read the six books of their own choice to complete the challenge during the summer holiday. Certificates and medals will be presented to them. Those who did not quite manage to read six books will have enjoyed the books they did read which is important.

We are lucky to have a really good stock of books for children of all ages and this is added to regularly. In fact, the adult fiction is having to be squeezed onto fewer shelves to make room for all the junior and young adult fiction. Fortunately, we have a big turnover of adult books so, although this stock too is always increasing, the shelves still have the odd space on them.

Don’t forget to look at the New Books shelf for our recent additions or our Classics shelf for books of greater vintage but still a very good read (they are not called Classics for nothing).

Jane Stevens

Forever Active

Activity as we get older, what we all need to know. Its important to stay active as we get older. The Department of Health guidelines suggest there are many benefits from staying active both for the mind and body. The guidelines suggest that even a small amount of physical activity is better than none, however there are levels of activity that older adults should work towards;

Older adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes (2½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more – one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week.

Additionally, the guidelines state that all older adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary (sitting) for extended periods. Research suggests that being sedentary for long periods has its own health risks, so if you spend a lot of time sitting just getting up out of the chair and walking around for a short while will help, an excuse to make another cup of tea!

So, what do we mean by physical activity? The Department of Health

Can we help a relative? Can we help a neighbour?

Who does the Scheme help?

The scheme is open to the mobility impaired in Melbourn and Meldreth 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.

The scheme also offers its services

short periods to cover the temporary absence of relatives who otherwise provide this support.

We offer help with:

and support

twice

daily phone

and collection of

Lifeline service

to the Post Office

getting repairs done

transport to the hospital

What will it cost?

do have to make a small weekly charge for the warden’s services.

little

only £7 per week

for couples).

Jeannie Seers (Mobile Warden)

Cage (Deputy)

Warden Scheme

We’re raising

Lysa’s story

to fund specialist cancer treatment

Some of you may be aware of a huge fundraising efforts being made for a young woman called Lysa Kemp who lives in Meldreth. Sadly, Lysa has a rare terminal cancer, but has a chance to extend her time with her children if she can raise £28k to pay for further specialist treatment. Much is being done by Melbourn villagers to raise this money.

We hope you can take the time to read Lysa’s story, and hopefully donate or help raise funds towards the specialist cancer treatment she desperately requires.

In 2016 after episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) Lysa was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Malignant Insulinoma, which are tumours that secrete insulin and lower blood sugar to life threatening levels. Unfortunately, the disease had spread to distant organs which means it is incurable and surgery is not an option. It can only be slowed down by hormone treatment and specialist radiation treatment. This treatment targets receptors of the tumours and delivers radiation direct to the tumours which slows down progression of disease and help control hypoglycemia. This is the most effective treatment for these types of tumours and Lysa responded well. Unfortunately, this treatment is not available on the NHS and must be

privately funded at a cost of approximately £28,000. After many battles with NHS England and other authorities, Addenbrookes hospital agreed to provide the lutate therapy on compassionate grounds in 2016–2017. This treatment has given Lysa nearly 12 months with no symptoms, so she has been able to enjoy amazing times and made special memories with her children, friends and family. Unfortunately, Lysa has spent time recently in hospital and the family have been advised that Lysa may need the lutate therapy treatment again soon. Unfortunately, Addenbrookes hospital are not able to provide the treatment for a second time. So, the family are asking as many friends, family, and businesses to help donate or raise funds to secure this treatment and enable Lysa to enjoy more precious time with her family and friends.

If you would like more information do not hesitate to contact Stuart Kemp on 07539 217985 or skemp.441@btinternet.com

Many thanks Stuart and Lysa

If you would like to help visit Justgiving at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stuartkemp1

guidelines suggest moderate intensity physical activities will cause you to get warmer and breathe harder and your heart to beat faster, but you should still be able to carry on a conversation. Examples include: Brisk walking and ballroom dancing. The guidelines also state that exercise that improves the strength of our muscles and bones are important. Strengthening exercises involve using body weight or working against a resistance, for example lifting a weight or using a resistance band. This should involve using all the major muscle groups. Activities to improve balance and co‑ordination are also important to help prevent falls. Falls are not a normal part of ageing, and remember help is there if you have a fall or feel unsteady, the first port of call would be to your GP.

So, start getting active in whatever way suits you Forever Active, a Cambridgeshire based charity runs classes and sporting activities of all kinds for people who are 50+, you can look up the different activities that they do by looking at their website www.forever active.org.uk/. Remember If you haven’t exercised for a while, or have a medical condition, it is advisable that you consult with a Health Professional before attending any session for the first time.

Forever Active run a Strength and Balance class here in Melbourn, on a Tuesday 12–1pm at the All Saints Community Hall, your first session is free, so why not give it a try!

All our classes include exercises to help you achieve the goals

set out in the guidelines and are supported and monitored by a specialist team to ensure the highest standards are maintained. All instructors working on behalf of Forever Active are qualified and insured. Forever Active provides instructors with additional workshops and training on safe and effective exercises for the over 50 age group so you may be assured you are in the best hands!

Wyer, Forever Active Instructor, Melbourn

Hub Club

The Hub Club has been running for several years now. Although called a ‘Club’ there is no membership as such, people just come along to the Hub on the second Wednesday of the month at 12.30pm and enjoy a meal with friends, old and new. It is essential to pre order your meal, either Deana’s Special or, for those who prefer a lighter lunch, something from the Hub menu. With the numbers who regularly attend, this is very necessary so that Deana and her team can serve everyone together. You pay for your meal on arrival and, as you will know, all food at the Hub is very competitively priced.

The Hub Club is a good way to meet people. We have a lot of people who come on their own for various reasons which leads to a friendly atmosphere. An email reminder is sent out each month detailing the special, if you would like to be included in this just give your email address to the Hub Manager.

Jane Stevens

Melbourn Fete

The 23rd June saw the return of the Melbourn Village fete. A perfect day welcomed all visitors and the afternoon was packed full of activities, excitement and entertainment. In all four corners of the field there was something going on as a result of the efforts of a well planned and supported group of volunteers.

The entry fee and food, bar and other prices have been kept at similar levels for the last few years as we try to offer a fun family day that is affordable. We never compromise quality and safety to achieve this but each year it does take a huge effort by a small group to offer our village such a wonderful day.

This year the day consisted of just the fete as in previous years the evening music event stretched the resources of the volunteers to beyond what was reasonable and this shorter format was much appreciated by all those involved.

The weather as always played its part and all enjoyed a dry, warm and sunny day. We estimate from gate figures we saw more than 3000 people attend plus of course the many participants, so very much a bumper year which reflects the popularity of this event.

Popular attractions returned such as a BMX demonstration that amazed the crowds as a highly skilled cyclist performed some amazing stunts on two and sometimes one wheel.

Another welcome return was mower racing. A new member of the organising team worked hard to restart this very popular event and was justly rewarded by a very good turnout of competitors and an exciting finale to the race.

The Chain of Wild Flowers group made a little quiet oasis

The classic vehicle part of the fete is becoming quite an attraction for keen motorists and bikers, some travelling some distance to attend. They all looked stunning and the owners were all very keen to talk about their pride and joy.

A welcome return – mower racing

As a contrast to boys with their toys (of course female competitors would be very welcome in future mower racing) we go to young children and their bears. The Chain of Wild Flowers group made a little quiet oasis and set the scene for a delightful story time complete with bears that the youngsters could take home with them. Parents were equally grateful for a bit of quiet time.

The competition tent was full of fun and imaginative entries from youngsters and more senior hopefuls who eagerly waited how they might be judged by our invited panel of experts. A great range of home made cooking and creative displays and photographs impressed everyone who took the time to have a look.

One of the many beautiful cars on display

We had an impressive range of classic and modern motorbikes.

The bar served a lovely selection of beer, wine, Pimms, prosecco and soft drinks all day. The volunteers behind the bar did a fantastic job.

In previous years, the committee had run the BBQ with some other providers adding some variety but this year the food was all done by commercial vendors. All enjoyed a great selection of high quality food at reasonable prices with good efficient service.

Of particular note was the tearoom, located in the pavilion. This was operated by Lynn Gregory, head of catering at Melbourn Village College. Hannah Wittkopp, a colleague, assisted her. Lynn and Hannah worked really hard and produced a great range of cakes and teatime tasties that were rightly popular. They were all home made and her attention to both the taste and look of her baking was very much appreciated. Lynn is going to use the proceeds towards a project at the Village College. Thank you Lynn and Hannah.

In the arena, we had a number of events through out the day to entertain. These included Ceroc dancing, a parade of some of the classic vehicles, tug of war and our ever popular egg throwing. Elsewhere we had roaming entertainment from

a singer songwriter. The Royston Town Band had an area near the stalls and played for several hours. A steam powered mini engine pulled a small trailer, which children could sit in. There were reptiles and other interesting creatures that could be handled. A small funfair was also available. The very popular dog show held lots of competitions for our four legged visitors.

We would like to thank all the volunteers who helped with the set up, on the day assistance and the tidy up, we really could not do this without your help. Of particular note are the Cadets from the Melbourn Army Cadet Force and the Bassingbourn Air Cadets of 2484 Squadron who made an invaluable contribution to the running of the day. As ever we are always open to people who want to join us on the organising committee or volunteer to help on the weekend of the fete itself. It is great fun and very rewarding so please get in contact and get involved. We are also very grateful to all of the local businesses that offer their support with sponsorship, prize donations and other services.

I would like to thank David Hone for the use of his photographs.

Finally, we have made a surplus this year and as with other years we will be looking at how we can support local activities and groups by providing a cash donation. We would welcome any application from groups who provide activities and support to the people of Melbourn. Please send an e‑mail detailing who you are, the group you represent and the work you do to support the Melbourn community. In addition, please indicate how much you are applying for and what specifically this would be used for. Applications should be made by Friday 12 October 2018. Send all applications to chair@melbournfete.co.uk

Fetes and Feasts

A very successful Fete was held this year – congratulations to everyone who gave so much of their time for the benefit of the whole community.

The precursor of the Fete, the Village Feast, was traditionally held on the first Thursday in July, unless the 1st fell on a Thursday when it was held a week later. The Feast was when families got together, returning to the village for the celebrations. Housewives were busy cleaning, cooking and making sure they had made enough wine!

There is a saying in the village that you should plant your potatoes on Good Friday and start digging them for the Feast. The Feast is held between the hay and the corn harvests, when people would have had a bit more time.

Originally the Feast was held on the Cross in front of All Saints Church and the Rev. James Hamilton, who became Vicar in 1874 and served well into his nineties, became famous as ‘the beast who stopped the feast’ in 1892 when his attempts to stop the fun caused a riot!

The Harvest Festival was not initially a church festival, it was the Victorians who took it into the church. It was an agricultural festival, held at the end of the harvest. Around the world there are many festivals based on the seasons and the agricultural year regardless of the religion practised in that country.

The first day of the harvest began when the Harvest Horn was blown. William King was the last horn blower in Melbourn. He began at the age of 7 and died in 1935 at the age of 84.

In Melbourn, from an account of 1843, men mowed the corn with scythes, followed by two women and a boy or girl, who gathered the corn into small sheaves. It took six days to cut 300 acres of wheat and 8 days to carry this back to the barn before it was threshed. The poor of the village had the right to glean for any remaining corn, before the livestock was allowed on the stubble. A Gleaning Bell was rung, for the last time in 1886, to alert the village to the fact that the fields were cleared, and in 1881 a Gleaners Tea was held in Mr James Whitby’s barn when 73 were present and there were games and dancing until 10pm.

The last corn gleaned was traditionally made into a corn dolly, and tied with a red thread, to keep the witches away. ‘Dolly’ is derived from idol and the spirit of the harvest was thought to dwell in it. Here we have the Cambridgeshire Bell, which was carefully preserved over the fireplace until the next ploughing season when it was returned to the soil.

The last load home was the ‘Horkey’ load, and the men dressed up, some of them as women. They sang, shouted and rang bells. Onlookers threw water over them possibly as a fertility charm for the next season.

The harvest finished with the ‘Horkey Supper’, a very jolly affair with plenty of food and drink!

Edit AD

Roman Armstrong, a local entertainer had visitors spellbound with his magic tricks

Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme

“the best thing since sliced bread!”

Jeannie, head warden, introduces the scheme from the client’s perspective.

“One of my clients always laughs when she recalls the conversation she had with someone suggesting they might benefit by joining the mobile warden scheme who replied “what would I want a warden for?” That person now has a warden and with some amusement, wonders why she ever asked that question!”

The scheme is an independent charity, providing company and practical support for people of any age, who find it difficult to get out unassisted due to health issues or frailty. Clients from Melbourn, Meldreth and Shepreth are visited twice a week for a friendly chat by their warden who can also amongst other things, bring local shopping, collect prescriptions or pensions, post letters, and pay bills etc. A daily phone call is offered, and regular outings are arranged using specialised transport, so clients can socialise together.

Jeannie says “we have a team of friendly and caring wardens who are carefully selected for their personal qualities and are all DBS checked. It worries us to think that there may be people struggling with loneliness or in need of practical support, but don’t realise we are here or feel unable to contact us themselves. Making more people aware of the scheme will also hopefully result in friends, relatives and neighbours identifying those who could benefit and getting in touch with us.”

So, what is it like to have the services of the Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme? Let some of the scheme’s clients tell you themselves:

“Joining is the best thing I’ve ever done! My warden is a little gem and what she and the scheme do, is just marvellous. I wouldn’t ever want to be without it, I no longer have to worry about how I will manage

“I rate the scheme 100%. With Melbourn Mobile Warden and the Community transport schemes I have everything I need

“The scheme is fantastic. More places should have similar. It’s the best thing since sliced bread!”

It’s not just the clients who benefit. Families have peace of mind that someone is in regular contact and supporting their loved one, particularly if they are at work during the day or if they live outside of the area. Here are what families say:

“Mum always looks forward to your visits and having a varied conversation. It is a great help knowing she is able to chat freely about whatever she wants

“I live 25 miles away from dad. The warden scheme gives him a lifeline

“The service has been invaluable for us. Knowing that a friendly face will pop in and chat over a cup of tea has bridged the gap in the week, providing a social connection for an elderly

Turn on to Christmas

Ridiculous as it seems writing this on a hot July afternoon we are starting to think about Christmas after just finishing the Fete.

Last year was such a success for our inaugural Christmas event at The Hub; we are keen to do it again.

The format will be very similar to last year as regards to the entertainment and activities. At the moment, the date is likely to be Saturday 8 December from 4 until 6 pm but these will be confirmed through The Hub and in the next Melbourn Magazine edition, which will be out in late autumn.

Santa’s grotto will be open from earlier on in the day to give as many children as possible a chance to meet him. The Hub will be offering festive drinks and food. There will be lots of free children’s activities, singing and of course the event will finish with a big switch on of the Christmas Tree lights.

As always if you are able to help out with any of the activities we would love to hear from you particularly if you have some creative ideas for young children.

Please contact me at trevorlg.purnell@gmail.com or leave your details at The Hub.

person who cannot go out to meet people. The service has been reliable, and the continuity has enabled my mum to build a fantastic relationship with the warden. Thank you so much we appreciate all you do”.

The scheme has recently recruited more wardens, so we can offer our services to even more mobility impaired people in our community. If you or someone you know who lives in Melbourn, Meldreth and Shepreth, might benefit from our support, please contact Jeannie on 07808 735 066 or email jeanseers13@gmail.com

Melbourn Short Story Group

The Melbourn Short Story Reading Group starts reading again on Tuesday the 11th of September. We meet weekly on Tuesdays, 10am in the Hub. Everyone is welcome. For more information contact group Co Ordinator Britta Heinemeyer: britta.heinemeyer@gmx.de

Melbourn & Meldreth Women’s Group

We are a small friendly group and we meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month except in December, we vary our venue between All Saints Community Hall in Melbourn and Holy Trinity Meeting Room in Meldreth. We either have a guest speaker or in‑house entertainment followed by tea/coffee and biscuits. There is a fee of £1 on the evening and a chance to make a donation to our charity of the year.

Our September meeting is on the 25th at Holy Trinity Church Meeting Room in Meldreth and we look forward to a games evening when we shall be trying our hand at ‘Pointless’. 23rd October sees us back in Melbourn when we shall be putting the finishing touches to our tree decorations ready for The Christmas Tree Festival in Meldreth Church at Advent. On the 27th November we will be back in Meldreth when we look forward to an Advent talk/reflection which will be led by Alan Hay.

If you would like to know more about the group or need a lift please contact one of the committee members: Pat Smith (262575) Sue Toule (260955) Anne Harrison(261775) Angela Leach (262793) Pat Ames (261130) or Kimmi Crosby

A morning stroll around Melbourn

Walk with me as the dogs and I venture out for our morning stroll around Melbourn. Let’s enjoy the natural beauty of our wonderful village, a home for all of us. I wanted to share with you a few of the many highlights of our everyday walk. The sun is shining, a gentle breeze adds soft movement to the trees. Today we’ll meander through picturesque lanes and spot wildlife in Stockbridge Meadow nature reserve.

All Saints’ Playgroup 50 years since opening A Celebration and Reunion

Saturday 39th September 2018 from 2.30pm to 8.00pm approx

Please remember the date and spread the word to those who are now out of the village.

you look out any photos or memorabilia to share on the day.

hope to have photos and video showing continually on screen and together with information collected on the day to produce a printed book as a permanent record of the opening of All Saints’ P.G. We look forward to seeing pupils, parents, helpers and friends. Even if you had nothing to do with P.G. and would like to see how we began and how the group grew and developed , you will be very welcome.

Remember 29th September 2018 from 2.30pm in the All Saints’ Community Hall (ASCH) Light refreshments will be served. Please telephone any of the numbers below if you can offer help and information. We will be pleased to hear from you.

1995

1995

Moments after leaving the house comes our first ‘find’, and yes! It’s quite definitely a Lesser Spotted Haribo packet, brightly coloured plastic blending beautifully with the wild flowers it nestles amongst. To my utter delight, a few paces on and we discover an empty Lucozade bottle. I can only assume its claims of providing energy are false, the poor individual who drunk this was clearly too tired to carry it all the way to the bin, on the corner.

I cannot claim our next discovery, it was one of the dogs who dived excitedly into a flowering shrub, appearing with a pale yellow polystyrene tray, once home to burger and chips. Adding to the excitement, the plastic fork was still there, in all its shiny, ketchup ridden glory, we couldn’t believe our luck.

We quietly venture around Stockbridge Meadows, a haven for wildlife and place of natural beauty. As if our discoveries thus far were not enough, we could barely contain ourselves as we happened upon not one, not two, but six empty packets of ‘Sunbites’ crisps, the Sweet Chilli variety, and truly, ‘my heart skipped a beat’ when we saw their ‘parent’ multipack from whence they came. The soft pink colours were set off perfectly against the background of natural grasses. We used the ‘parent’ pack to hold many other ‘treasures’ we found in this beautiful place that we are so lucky to have in our village.

Each morning myself, and many other dog walkers observe, and collect these fine examples of colourful, empty packets, bottle, wrappers etc, dropped wherever the owner stands. Imagine how our streets would look if we weren’t out there, PICKING IT ALL UP.

Dunklin

Melbourn Women’s Institute

The After Eights – In June, our friendly WI meeting took place in the Community Hall when we welcomed several men to the meeting. They had expressed a particular interest in the subject – synaesthesia. The speaker was George Meliniotis (husband of Brenda) who ‘suffers’ from this condition as did a couple of other people in the room.

George explained with the use of very clear graphics how this affects him – simplistically if amnesia is the dulling of senses, synaesthesia is the opposite. All senses are over alert and he sees time, days of the week, months and numbers

in colour and in space. There are other manifestations too, some advantageous and some not so useful! Famous people who had the condition include David Hockney, Sibelius, Duke Ellington and Kandinsky. A most interesting evening.

On a scorchingly hot evening in July we gathered in Anne Bartle’s garden for an evening of Prams, Puddings and Pimms. Self explanatory really, Anne is passionate about her collection of prams (see profile of Anne in the Spring edition 2008 of the magazine) and it was a most enjoyable evening – with puddings and Pimms, of course.

The August meeting takes place after this magazine has gone to proofreading but it will, I know, be a most fascinating

windows open – but we are exploring the possibility of installing fans. We are also getting quotes for blackout blinds to sit inside the curtains so that we can black the room out completely although we still get a very good picture even with the doors open.

Our showing of the Royal Wedding – that seems ages ago now – was very popular and we shall do that again when a suitable occasion arises. On 24th August we have a change of mood with Finding Your Feet, a comedy starring Celia Imrie and Imelda Staunton, amongst others. September 21st is The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society and on 19th October Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a comedy drama about racism if that is not an oxymoron! November 23rd we shall show Swimming With Men another typically British comedy . We hope to start the New Year with a bang showing the new Mamma Mia film. Something for all tastes we hope.

We have booked the dates for next year but, taking on board comments from our audience, we have re jigged them to fall mostly on the third Friday of the month, this means that the cinema night will not clash with National Trust meetings.

The Hall is very well used, with the Meeting Room and main hall often being used at the same time. If you are thinking of hiring the Hall, Saturday morning Coffee Stop is a good time to come and explore the facilities and get a good cup of coffee.

meeting when Colin Limming will be talking about the History of the Village. We were part of the group who wrote the History of Melbourn and Colin is a veritable fount of knowledge on the subject.

September brings a talk on Reflexology, in October there will be a quiz and November finds us being entertained by the Royston Ukulele Group FRITZ. So, you see there is something for everyone. More details in the Diary. We meet on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 8 pm in the Melbourn Community Hall behind the church and membership is £41 per annum. Do come and join us. Mavis Howard

The Hall For All and Melbourn Cinema Event

The three events celebrating our Tenth Anniversary were a huge success, each occasion was sold out. On Friday we showed The Greatest Showman, on Saturday Clare Hogan captivated us with a touching monologue and on Sunday Roy Crosby’s Great Little Jazz Band had our feet tapping. All the catering came from Marks and Spencer and I think everyone was impressed. The Trustees would like to express heartfelt thanks to all who mucked in with the clearing up – the mountains of washing up were daunting and your help was hugely appreciated.

It was a complete sell out for our July Film – Gary Oldman unrecognisable as Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. It was a really warm evening and we had to have doors and

Mavis Howard. (All tickets from Brenda 261154, Cyndy 264189 or Mavis 260686)

Rail User Group

Feedback on the 15th July timetable: Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group and Community Rail Partnership

Here is the latest from the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group and Community Rail Partnership: feedback on the latest timetable change, submitted to Govia Thameslink Railway and upon request to our MP’s office. At the time of writing, we are preparing a response to the ORR’s Inquiry and Transport Select Committee.

Please visit meldrethfoxtonsheprethrail.org.uk for all our communications since train service disruption started on 20th May – the date when the much anticipated new Thameslink timetable was introduced, but utterly failed.

The 15th July timetable appears to have offered some stability, which we welcome and hope continues.

Unfortunately, the timetable contains gaps that scupper a workable rail commuting routine. These need urgently to be rectified. All of these gaps mean a significantly poorer commuter service than pre 20 May. These gaps give credence to the perception that Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton are being sacrificed in the big picture context.

To and from Cambridge

•

The one hour gap between 8.36 and 9.36 (Foxton) precludes tail end morning commuting for students and workers. Please reinstate the 9:06 (Foxton), 9:08 (Shepreth) and 9:11 (Meldreth).

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.

• Returning from Cambridge, the gap between 17.27 and 18.27 is unacceptably long as a peak time commuter service, affecting all the responsibilities that people will have at the home end of their journeys. Please reinstate the 17:57.

To and from London

• The one hour gap between 6.38 and 7.36 (Foxton) means no train which currently arrives in London for around 8.30, for a 9am start. Reinstate 7:07 (Foxton) 7:09 (Shepreth) and 7:12 (Meldreth).

• For the return journey, the hour gaps between 17.21 and 18.21 and between 19.23 and 20.21 mean it is not possible to combine the fast service to Royston with a connection to Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton. Please reinstate 17:51 and 19:51 from London.

• Late return from London, M F: unacceptably long gap between 22.21 and 23.51; ditto Sat 20:51‑23:51. Reinstate 22:51 and 23:21. Apart from the fact that any cancellation of the 23:51 leaves passengers truly stranded, this is an unreasonable end of day gap.

Then, as a final step to restoring Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton as viable commuting stations, it is absolutely clear that one semi fast in the morning peak and one in the evening peak are a basic necessity.

Finally, it should be noted that the Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Community Rail Partnership into which significant investment has been made by GTR, South Cambridgeshire District Council, ACORP, and the parish councils of Meldreth, Shepreth, Foxton and Melbourn is unable to function and develop so long as these gaps exist within our rail services.

Susan van de Ven, Chair, Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group and Community Rail Partnership Sarah Grove, Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Community Rail Partnership Project Officer

From the Parish Clerk

Simon Crocker

parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk

Street Sweeping. Melbourn was the first village picked to trial the use of a new £75,000 street sweeper. Since then a number of sweeps have been conducted in and around Melbourn. You may well have seen Tim Stebbing out and about using it. Tim reports that the first sweeps went well, with around five tons of surface debris collected on the first sweep alone.

Vandalism / theft – flower tubs. In less palatable news, flowers planted in tubs around the village have been carefully and systematically stolen. Over 60 plants were taken, from the tubs at the village centre.

I would like to say thank you to James Cantle from Shire Trees for generously donating £50 to replenish the tubs.

has collapsed and has been temporarily boarded off for safety. The Parish Council is in the process of obtaining quotes for repairs. I do ask residents to respect the fact that Stockbridge Meadows is a nature reserve, and as such has an ecosystem and a wide variety of fauna. So please, No Barbecues

Reporting Faults and problems. Is there something not working in Melbourn? A faulty street light? Grass too long in your local play park?

What can you do about it? Report it to the right authority. Don’t worry whether someone else might already have done it – the more times a defect is registered, the more likely something will be done about it! If you don’t know who to report problems too, then report them to me and I’ll see that it goes to the right place.

The Parish office deals with a large volume of highway related faults, such as potholes, street light issues, overhanging vegetation etc. Much of this is the responsibility of Cambridgeshire County Council who have a facility on their website for reporting such issues. You can report a highways fault online at: https://www.cambridgeshire.gov. uk/residents/travel roads and parking/roads and pathways/ roadworks and faults/.

Anyone can report a fault, and if you provide an email address you will get updates.

Problems with Streetlights? You can check who owns a streetlight online. Visit http://www.lightingcambridgeshire. com/street lighting.htm and use the interactive map there to identify who owns the streetlight in question. The vast majority of streetlights in Melbourn are the responsibility of the County Council, but there are a few that are owned by the District and Parish Councils.

Report problem lights at http://www.lightingcambridgeshire. com/contact us/report fault.htm. If you are unsure who owns it, report it to me.

Fly Tipping? Report it on: http://scambs framwork.egovhub. net/ENVIROCRIMEREPORTINGFORM/launch

You can help by reporting faults to the correct authority, please remember; if in doubt, report it to me.

Co option. And lastly, there are still vacancies for Parish Councillors. If you are a community spirited person who

Stockbridge Meadows Nature Reserve. As residents who use this facility will probably have noticed, the boardwalk continued on page 18

Chris Thomas

Cambridge Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning

Carpet and upholstery cleaner

and around

• Carpet cleaning

•

water extraction

•

Dry Cleaning

• Stain

•

cleaning

•

Competitively priced

Memories of the Mel

Recently local residents shared their experiences of the Mel River when it seemed to have been much more active than it is now. Chris Duguid exclaimed “this was our playground”! Many of the other participants also remembered happy hours playing in and around the Mel. Elizabeth Williams provided a photograph (below right) of her daughter in the river and a lot of others remembered swimming in it, especially enjoyable when there was a very hot summer, like 1976, when areas of the Mel dried up (as the upper stretches did in 2012).

Barbara Harding described a large tree on the recreation ground in Melbourn which was a favourite spot for children to climb on and jump either into the water or onto the other bank. However, she said “I never did it; it was only the boys”. Molly Chamberlain remembered trying to float down the river in a galvanised bath, but unfortunately it had too many holes! Someone else described how they had travelled from Sheene Mill to Topcliffe mill on two oil drums tied together. Chris Duguid told of her adventures “paddling on tyres from the bottom of Woolpack Way, and you could get quite a long way up towards The Court (The Court is a large house near the stocks in Meldreth). The river always seemed to be wider and deeper when I was a child”. There were other descriptions of using a variety of materials to ‘boat’ along the river including a story that the Roberts used to canoe in the river near to the junction with the Rhee.

Someone described how a former owner of The Bury would make Papier mâché boats which he floated on the lake for his children and their friends. There are pictures in the Melbourn History books of boats on this lake in the past (and also at The

Court in Meldreth). They remind us of a more leisured past with ladies reclining under elegant parasols.

People remembered fishing off the bridges on the river and in local ponds. Some even remembered catching eels. They used jam jars, nets and bent pins on string from sticks. Nets could be bought from the post office in Melbourn. Barbara Harding said, “I used to ask my mum for a penny to go and buy a net to enjoy myself at the river”.

Apparently at Bury Farm they once sealed off their stretch of river with chicken wire and stocked it with rainbow trout. However, the Royston paper then published a small ad saying, ‘fishing for free in Melbourn’ and the trout were soon gone! Trout were also introduced at Sheene Mill before it became a restaurant. Boys would catch and sell them locally.

of the river. The County Council provided a summary to the local MP (who had also taken up the issue) of 124 letters and reports that they had accumulated since 1930. The problem was diagnosed as being due to the fact that when the mills closed down the mill owners no longer maintained the river course. Also, osier (willow) beds and water meadows were no longer maintained. The riparian owners (those owning land on the banks) were reluctant to take on the responsibility. During the second world war it was proposed that prisoners of war should do the clearing (as they had during the first world war). However, this was turned down as it would relieve the riparian owners of their responsibility. Funding solutions ranged between the river coming under the control of the River Great Ouse Catchment Board (but then the river would have to become a ‘main’ River) or a proposal that a Drainage Board be set up (but the area was considered to be too small). The War Agricultural Executive Committee was heavily involved in discussions with the County Council due to complaints from the farmers. I think the problem was only solved when the river levels fell with increased abstraction for housing, although there may have been some straightening, by what is now the recreation ground, in the late 1950s.

Fields around the river were also a lot wetter before new drainage systems were introduced associated with the bypass. The wetter fields were an inheritance from the water meadows (introduced in the 17th century). These were areas that would have been regularly flooded in the winter bringing deposits of silt onto the pastures to enhance fertility and produce more grass for grazing. The Meads, near the station, were always wet and only used for grazing.

We are extremely fortunate that the River Mel Restoration Group have done such an excellent job of maintenance over the last ten years so that villagers and visitors can still enjoy the abundance of wildlife and plants that inhabit our own, very special, chalk stream.

Flooding was a problem related to the river, particularly where Station Road turns the corner by Sheene farm. Mr Joseph Andrew Pepper of Orchard Cottage, Station Road was badly affected on a number of occasions. Jenny Pollock has provided a very interesting set of documents collected by her grandfather, Cyril Hagger, when he was chairman of Melbourn Parish Council in the 1950s. He tried to find a solution to the flooding and drew up a plan for a re alignment

If anyone has any memories that they would like to share or comments on the flooding problem I would be very interested to hear them. Please contact me on 01763 232855 or by email on brucehuett@compuserve.com.

The reminiscences were captured as part of the Waterlight film project which has received funding from Melbourn and Meldreth Parish Councils, for which we are very grateful.

A version of this article appeared in Meldreth Matters in June 2018

Bruce Huett Photographs from the Melbourn History Collection.

is passionate about the village you live in, wants to see tax payers money spent responsibly, cares about future development and facilities, and wants to try and make a real difference to the community that your Council represents, then why not apply?

Simon Crocker Parish Clerk to the Parish Council Telephone 01763 263303 parishclerk@melbournpc.co.uk

From District Councillors Philippa Hart and Jose Hales

well attended by members of public with a large team from TTP to answer any questions. Jose attended the consultation and spoke to a number of people who were raising points.

You may have seen the mini road sweeper vehicle in action around Melbourn recently. The sweeper vehicle is supplied by South Cambs District Council and is operated by local trained volunteers. This initiative gives the community the flexibility to carry out their own street cleansing as required, in addition to the programmed cleansing delivered by South Cambs. You will often see ‘Melbourn’s own’ Tim Stebbings operating the sweeper, our gratitude goes to him.

The large ‘Celebrating ages’ events have been led by Jose since 2013, these bring together older and younger generations. Some 1600 guests have enjoyed the events since its conception which indicates just how well received and popular it is. The next event is planned for late November. Contact Jose for further details.

We are both very involved in local planning matters and are keeping a close eye on the village development work already underway.

It Starts With You

In May, the District boundaries changed for all electoral wards across South Cambs with a reduction in councillors from 57 to 45, the Melbourn ward now covers Melbourn, Meldreth, Shepreth and Whaddon villages.

We are both delighted to have been re elected in May and representing you as your District Councillors across this new ward. Following the election and the new administration that now runs SCDC, both Philippa and Jose have been given additional roles. Philippa is now the Customer Service and Business Improvement Portfolio Holder and Jose is the chair of the Grants advisory committee.

Alongside County Councillor Susan van de Ven, much work has been done by us with the Highways department to address the nasty pothole situation and significant progress has been made with some of the roads worst affected having been repaired since May. The programme of work continues.

South Cambs District Council drafted a local plan some years back to determine its house building programme needs across all villages up to 2031 but has not to date been signed off by the Planning Inspectorate. The absence of an approved local plan has exposed villages to speculative development, the 199 houses’ now being built in New Rd and the 23 down The Moor are a case in point. Following a letter sent to the inspectorate in early May, SCDC received in early July a reply stating that the plan was going through “fact checking”. It’s anticipated that the Inspectorate could sign off the plan around late summer and this should finally protect our villages from further speculative bids.

Residents may recall that TTP (The Technology Partnership) situated at the Cambridge end of the village, have submitted a planning application to extend their site. There was a presentation to the Parish Council back in early July and a public exhibition in the Hub on the 10th July. The latter was

Our local Healthwatch in Cambridgeshire is launching their ‘It Starts With You’ campaign to encourage more people to share their experiences of using local health and care service.

The campaign will run to September 2018 and will tell the stories of local people who are helping to improve the services we all use.

Last year, Jason, who is Deaf told us about visiting A&E and not getting a British Sign language Interpreter for over 7 hours even though he had a serious lung condition. Thanks to Jason and other people who shared their experience, we are challenging the local NHS to do better for disabled people.

Have you got a story to share? Tell us about your experiences and ideas to help services understand what works, what doesn’t and what you want from care in the future.

No matter how big or small the issue, tell us about it. If it matters to you then it’s very likely it matters to someone else. Sharing your opinions with Healthwatch is quick and easy and could make a big difference. Tell us what you think and help make care better for you, your family and community.

Volunteer as a Community Listener and help us find out what people who live locally think about their health and care services. You will get training, support and out of pocket expenses.

Call our free Information Service if you have a question about local health or care services and need some help with what to do next. You can contact us on: Call us on 0330 355 1285 or text 0752 0635 176 www.healthwatchcambridgeshire.co.uk

We will continue to assist individual local residents with a variety of issues.

We look forward to representing our wonderful community over the coming years. Philippa and Jose

Contact us on Philippa – philippajoyhart@gmail.com – 07811 323571 Jose – josehales@gmail.com – 07703 262649

From County Councillor

Susan van de Ven

Question to County Council. I’ve submitted this formal question to the council’s July meeting, following a local resident complaint about the County Council’s rejection of his compensation claim: “Given the state of ‘managed decline’ of the County Highway network, which is reflected in the dramatic jump in numbers of pot holes reported and compensation claims made thus far in 2018, should the County Council be reviewing and increasing its network inspection schedules?”

NHS Funding Boost and us. Recently there was a national announcement of an NHS funding boost. I’ve queried whether this would offer some relief to the County Council’s Public Health budget – Public Health responsibilities now sitting with local authorities. It would appear that the NHS funding boost excludes Public Health, so our task will be to find about £700K in ‘savings,’ also called ‘disinvestments,’ for 2019–20. This affects the delivery of public health contracts in our community. Of course, we try to identify waste and save money that way, but after so many years the reality now is increased ‘targeting’ – deploying funds to the most extreme need first.

Police community support, in response to local rise in crime. The Neighbourhood Police Panel meetings no longer exist, and policing is clearly being done in a ‘new way.’ South Cambs now has one police station, which is located in Cambourne and is closed Tuesday Sunday. Opening hours are Monday 10–3. The phone number is 101.

Anyone on the Ecops mailing list will have noticed the rise in reported incidents of crime in South Cambs villages over the months. I’ve been personally contacted by the victims of two local violent assaults this past spring, both concerned about lack of visible police presence in the villages. Other councillors in other South Cambs villages have also raised concerns. I’ve asked for a briefing to answer residents’ concerns and have been offered a meeting in early August. I would hope that widespread concerns will result in positive change; we’ll have to wait and see.

Trains. It’s a given that our community is largely built up around the availability of rail services; the importance of the May timetable failure cannot be overstated. The Meldreth, Shepreth and Foxton Rail User Group meeting at the Melbourn Hub on 27th June was attended by

about 70 people. While it provided none of the answers we wanted (when will things get better; how will the range of rightful compensation due be properly addressed), it was important in keeping our three stations on the radar of all those in positions of responsibility. For all updates please see Meldrethsheprethfoxtonrail.org.uk

Children’s Centre Changes. At the time of writing in July, I still have no firm detailed information to pass on. Drop-in advice surgeries. Please feel free to bring us your questions and concerns: with District Council colleagues, I am at the Melbourn Hub on first Mondays of the month, 3–4pm. Occasionally we need to switch days around – unfortunately 3rd September is one we can’t make, so please get in touch by phone or email. Otherwise back 1st October.

Susan van de Ven, susanvandeven5@gmail.com, Telephone07905325574

The Fall

(From the point of view of a leaf!)

Floating through space, falling, falling: Cut off; broken; abandoned; let go and helpless, Falling to touch a new Universe Alien and uncomfortable to my lofty senses. I am dying, my veins are shrivelling. I am shivering, Separated from the entity That no longer needs me, the organic lung. I have played my part.

In my dying moment

My purpose now to be a chameleon: Change my colour; say goodbye; Show a see-through pattern of lace, Baring the structure of my soul.

Unhinged. Unfastened. Set free. At the mercy of whirling force, Nibbling teeth, And wetness, decay, Elimination and death. But that death will not be in vain; I return to beginnings, to succour new life again. Yvonne Chamberlain

Memory Lane

Days in Celyon

In the last issue of the magazine we featured an article written by Isabella Hagger of Melbourn – Voyage to Ceylon. In this edition Isa (as she preferred to be called) talks about her life in a country far removed from life at home.

In 1937, Isa embarked on a sea voyage to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to visit her husband Cyril who was working for the Admiralty, constructing oil storage tanks. Isa kept a detailed journal of her out-going journey and of the seven months she spent in Ceylon. This journey was at a time when few ventured out of the country to see the world.

On her return Isa was asked to give a talk about her experiences to the Congregational Church Women’s Group. Below is an abridged version of the second part of this interesting story which she wrote 80 years ago.

The little launch landed at Colombo and the Grand Oriental Hotel just beside the landing stage. It is a huge modern hotel, and its big fan cooled lounges and airy bedrooms, each with a tiled bathroom adjoining, seemed so comfortable after three weeks in my small cabin.

The Colombo shops were a revelation. Whenever one enters a native shop, a fan is switched on, and cigarettes and cool drinks are immediately offered. These shops are so interesting with their large stocks of silks, curios and jewels. They also do a great amount of ladies’ dressmaking and are very skilful. Whenever a dress is shown to the native tailor he shakes his head in a funny little way and says “Can do lady can do”. He needs no pattern but can make a dress from a sketch or from description. Those who manage these shops are never in a hurry and are quite pleased to show their stock. It is no exaggeration to say that they would turn out their entire stock to please a European. They wear ordinary trousers and shirts, but no collar but the strange part about their dress is that they never wear their shirt inside their trousers but it flaps about outside.

One important appointment I had to make at Colombo was with a native dentist called Dr. Christoffeleze. He was a big burly man who had trained at Edinburgh. I was quite scared of him at first, but found him a speedy and efficient dentist and within 24 hours he made a new and comfortable denture for me, which helped me to forget ‘the tragedy of the Red Sea’.

Colombo is a fine town with many beautiful buildings, wide streets and, with its harbour and huge shipping trade, as well as being the capital of Ceylon it is always a busy town. I rode all around the native Quarter in a rickshaw but I felt so sorry for the rickshaw cooly pulling me in that intense heat.

On Wednesday we set off by car for our journey to Trincomalee which is about 180 miles from Colombo. The first 70 or 80 miles is mainly lined by little villages and native shops. The natives stroll lazily all over the narrow roads. The bright clothes they wear all add to the beauty of the scene. Besides this, bullock carts amble leisurely along, dogs in large

numbers sleep on the roads and great herds of cows are grazing at its side and often strolling into the road. Black goats, brown goats, white goats, big goats and little kids are to be seen.

I wish I could describe the beauty to you. Great palm trees stand up straight and tall, the flaming flower of the forest tree, with its brilliant orange blooms and the tulip tree, beautifully shaped and covered with red, pink and white tulip like flowers, all add colour to the lovely country. On our journey we stopped for cool drinks at several Rest Houses. These are run by the Ceylon Rest House Committee for the help and convenience of travellers. The Rest House keeper is always a native and they salaam and give each visitor a welcome.

At last we reached the jungle road and began the ride through a dense jungle with only a narrow cutting for cars. For miles there is not a native, or a hut to be seen. We met many monkeys, snakes, civet cats, jackals, and wild buffalo.

On arriving at Trincomalee and our bungalow the boys were excited about my arrival. They gave me a good reception and had dinner ready and I soon settled down for my stay. It was a novel and exciting experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The first thing one has to fight against is insects. There are mosquitoes, literally hundreds, eye flies, scorpions, snakes, and blind bats. I have often seen 5 bats in my bedroom and it is quite a joy to creep under the mosquito net at bedtime, to be safe for a few hours. However ants are the biggest pest. Every cupboard stands in water to keep the ants from eating the contents, if one leaves a tin of sweets or biscuits for a few minutes they are in it in swarms. They make huge trails all over the floors and ceilings and one morning I was very annoyed to wake up and find a trail had started in my bedroom window across the floor up my bed post and I was literally covered with them.

The second thing is dirt. No matter how clean and efficient the boys are and although they will keep the bungalow well polished and dusted, they leave the kitchen and their own quarters in a filthy condition, unless they are made to clean these rooms every day. They are born and brought up in poor dirty little huts, with mud floors and therefore they cannot understand that dirt breeds germs, and that cleaning in the kitchen is essential. I was told it was wise not to visit the kitchen too much or I would not be able to eat well. Our cook was fairly clean but even he had fixed ideas. I went into the kitchen one day and found him with a fish on the dirty floor and holding it down with his bare foot and happily filleting it! I remonstrated with him and he replied “But, lady you not understand, very nice, very clean now washing in medicine”. This ‘medicine’ is a solution of permanganate of potash in which nearly everything is washed in the hope that it will kill the germs.

A lady in Colombo told me of her cook. She had always admired the shape of his rissoles and determined to find out how he made them. One day knowing she had ordered some for lunch she went into the kitchen to see them made.

There was cook with the rissoles lying on the table and to obtain this marvellous shape he picked each up in turn, and popped it under his arms and shaped it – thus. The same lady had some friends to lunch unexpectedly. As the joint was almost finished and meat is so difficult to procure, cook said he would make rissoles. He brought them to the table at lunchtime and offered them to the ladies who took one each. He then went to the first gentleman guest and as he was talking to his hostess he unthinkingly helped himself to two rissoles. As quick as a flash cook snatched back one rissole from the plate with his hand and put it back on the dish saying “No master no can do. One master one rissole”.

Each bungalow has a cook, a house boy and a small boy for odd jobs who is called a podian. Immediately after breakfast the cook sees the lady of the house about food for the day. Having received his orders and his marketing money, Cook then goes to market on his bicycle, always carrying an umbrella under his arm. He returns having bought vegetables and fruit etc. Jacko, our cook always bought fish daily. If a chicken is wanted the cook brings it home alive and in ten minutes it is in the oven. Most people in the East learn to look upon chicken on the menu as a necessary evil? They are very cheap, very thin, very tough, and quite tasteless.

The cook in the bungalow will only cook and serve at table and each of the boys will only do their own special jobs. Their methods are most strange. The first time my bedroom was turned out, I was horrified to find everything had been taken out of my room and bucket after bucket of water thrown on the floor. The boys never use a rag to rub brasso on to anything they are cleaning, but put a generous supply on their hands and vigorously rub the brass. To polish a floor they apply polish in the same way, then twisting a duster round their bare feet they slip up and down the floor and obtain a brilliant polish. The podian’s job is an unenviable one. He is at the beck and call of the other boys, and has to help the cook in the kitchen.

The women are very little seen and as their poor little huts are quite without furniture or any of the things we are so proud to have in our homes, they have only food to prepare. Every day for every meal the menu is the same – curry and rice.

It is a disgrace for a Ceylonese woman to do any washing so even the poorest send their washing to the dhobi. When the day was getting a little cooler I often saw a group of women and girls sitting on the door steps of their huts. A favourite occupation is examining each other heads for livestock!

The women have a very hard life. They are married off at the early age of 15 to a man usually considerably older than themselves and whom they have probably never seen. Instead of a honeymoon the husband and wife are shut up together for four days after the ceremony. The bridegroom’s father keeps the couple for a year and often they never have a home of their own but just live in the same hut. The poor little bride seems just to have one baby after another until at the age of about 25, she looks old and haggard and then the husband looks for a new wife while the first one has all her jewels taken from her nose, ears and fingers and she just sits about for the

rest of her life. The women are never allowed out walking, or to any of the local functions, and they are not treated as companions by their husbands.

The natives are kind to their children and the little babies attracted me very much. Sometimes one would be bold enough to give me a big smile, showing lovely white teeth. They do not remain shy for many years and almost as soon as they can walk, the begging instinct asserts itself, and they salaam and beg from every European who passes by.

I attended the little Missionary chapel. Can you picture a tin building with funny cane seats and a very old harmonium and a whole crowd of natives who were so pleased to see a European that they sat all around us and as close as possible. The mosquitoes seemed to breed in the chapel and I have come out after an hour’s service with 30 bites each as big as a half crown.

We had a very simple life at Trinco. Our main hobbies were bathing, sailing and motoring. We bathed most days in a delightful little bay called Sandy Cove. It was marvellous to step into this lovely blue sea and to feel a wave splash over one’s body, just like a warm shower.

The inner harbour is ideal for sailing and we spent many a delightful hour in the little sailing boat cooling down. We were often out at sunset and what a wonderful sight the sun made, as it sank, and reflected in the water making a truly remarkable picture.

I had many strange experiences but I think the one I found most frightening was the following. My husband and I went for the day to Polonnaruwa by car. It is a ruined city about 85 miles from Trinco. When I first arrived, people delighted to tell me of the danger of meeting wild elephants and for the first few weeks I was naturally rather nervous when driving through the jungle.

However, as time went on, we never saw a wild elephant, I became quite accustomed to the jungle and rarely gave the dangers a thought. This particular evening we were coming along, when in a small clearing I saw a big wild elephant, with its trunk curled up and its big mouth wide open and just at that moment it trumpeted at us. It is the most awful noise and quite indescribable. It made no attempt to chase us and we just kept on our way but I felt horribly nervous. After about 20 miles I began to feel quite calm again.

Just then I glanced at my side and there standing quite still with its trunk hanging down was another one much bigger than the first. It was so near to us that it could easily have touched the car with its trunk, but it did not move. We were still 1½ hours journey from Trinco. A herd of wild elephants is composed of from 5 to 50 and we knew from various signs that it must be a fairly big herd. I sat very quietly by my husband’s side and hoped that we would not be attacked and I was very relieved to reach the bungalow in safety.

I feel I ought to mention the conditions under which Mr. Hagger works in Ceylon. He is building 75 oil tanks for the admiralty at Chennanwadi 9 miles from Trinco. The tanks are built in the jungle with only a clearing for each tank and then the under growth and trees are allowed to grow again and form a natural camouflage. My husband has one

The Oil Tank at Chennanwadi 9 miles from Trinco. The tanks are built in the jungle with only a clearing for each tank and then the under growth and trees were allowed to grow again and form a natural camouflage.

The Tanks covered 850 acres and each tank held 12,000 tonnes of fuel, with a total capacity of over 1.2 million tonnes.

English assistant and forty native overseers and 1,000 native workmen. The entire office work is done by an educated staff of native clerks and the head book keeper and cashier is a wonderful old man of 74 called Summugan who worked for Mr. Hagger during his previous time in Ceylon. He is a Hindu and therefore believes that no man can get to Heaven unless he has a son to light his funeral fire and he is very grieved because we have only two daughters. He is remarkably cleaver man and as such he speaks English fluently besides 5 other languages.

I tried to go to Chennanwadi every Friday when the men were paid and as they filed through the office to receive their pay (taking 2 hours to do so). There are so many and all different casts, some were young boys who heat the rivets, some older men who wore sarongs of all colours and some very superior natives who had managed to buy khaki shorts. The thing they like best of all is a bath towel which they wrap around their head or neck to protect them from the fierce sun. An umbrella is a treasured possession and they are clever enough to be able to fasten it around their necks and so hammer away on the tanks under its shade. The tanks are made of steel and become so hot in the sun that their poor feet get quite blistered. They carry little bowls for their curry and rice and they have to bring this and their umbrella into the office when they are paid or they would get stolen.

There is a clean and well appointed hospital with an apothecary, but so strange is their religion that they hate to go to it, as they say it is the wrong shape and that their god’s don’t like it and instead they waste their money on a native doctor who has all manner of absurd cures. Every day someone is hurt on the job, as they are quite unskilled in the use of tools and every day there was evidence of the queer native cures. The native doctor will paint huge black rings round the patient’s eyes to keep the devils away, or he will

prop a poor dying man at a hut door, while devil dancers painted in vivid colours and wearing hideous masks dance for hours to frighten off the evil spirits.

The men who work at Chennanwadi nearly all live at Trinco and they travel by train all cooped up in it like cattle. I learned to know quite a number of the men by name and such queer names they have; Arnolda, Tellinayam, Nagameny, Nadarafa and Domenicus, and many more much more unpronounceable than these.

I was very fortunate as I travelled nearly all over the island during my stay and at Easter we went to Newara Eliya for a holiday. It is 7000ft above sea level and cool enough to be able to enjoy wearing a coat. It is called the Sanatorium of Ceylon and most people holiday there to escape from the high temperatures of the plains. The scenery is so lovely, the mist capped hills and sunlit valleys and dancing waterfalls make the visitor gasp in wonder. It is here that the tea is grown on the hillsides and I was most interested to see over a tea estate and factory. The tea bush which grows like our gooseberry bush is plucked into huge baskets hung on the coolie’s back and carted by bullock carts to the factory, where the process of tea making is quite simple. The green leaves are spread on canvas dryers to shrivel and dry and then all piled on the cement floor to ferment. The quality of the tea depends on the time it is allowed to ferment. It is then dried in huge ovens and rolled and sifted and is put into wood boxes ready for export.

Cyril Hagger is part of a long established Melbourn Hagger family. James Hagger a saddler came to Melbourn around 1790. His son Joseph Ellis Hagger inherited the family business from his grandfather in 1824. J. E. Hagger and Son – described as Collar & Harness Maker, Dealer in Oil, Cutlery, Ironmongery, Rope, Hemp – continued trading until 1930. The shop was situated at what is now the Post Office in the High Street.

Education MVC VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL PLAY SCHOOL LITTLE HANDS

NOTRE ECOLE U3A EDUCATION COLLEGE

Melbourn Village College

Little Hands

Karen 01763 260964

Melbourn Playgroup

Jane Crawford 07842 151512

Notre Ecole

Janet Whitton 261231

Pippins Children’s Centre

Alison Wood 223460

Primary School

Headteacher Stephanie Wilcox 223457

U3A (Univ. of Third Age)

Chairman Tony Garrick 01223 510201

Village College

Principal Simon Holmes 223400

The Year 7 students who have just started at Melbourn Village College are now the biggest year group in a rapidly expanding school.

After a steady intake of around 90 new students a year for several years, the current cohort is around 140.

This is in addition to a rising number of in year transfers which saw an increase from four classes to five at Christmas for the students now in Year 8 and now also for Year 9.

This means that 12 Key Stage 3 classes in September 2017 has become 16 in September 2018.

Overall numbers are approximately 80 more than in Autumn 2017.

With the school consistently achieving excellent results it seems that more students and parents are wanting to be a part of the success story and Principal Simon Holmes said: “This is a great recognition of what we are doing at the college.,”

And if last term is anything to go by, the new students will have plenty to look forward to with trips and visits aplenty as part of the curriculum then a grand final full week of term when learning was taken out of the classroom during the annual, much anticipated Activities Week.

This is when students in Years 7, 8 and 9 have the chance to choose a themed week which appeals to them and then participate in relevant activities.

Last term students chose from weeks like Animal Week, which involved visits to places like the Raptor Foundation and Woburn Safari Park as well as a visit from an animal scientist, Bike Week, where students honed their skills at

Little Hands Nursery School The Moor, Melbourn

Little Hands is a Private Nursery School specialising in quality preschool education for the under fives and offers

• High staff to child ratio

• Individual child centred planning & learning

• Flexible booking system during term time for the 08.30am – 4.30pm nursery day

• Optional holiday clubs available

• Dedicated baby room for children under two

We accept nursery funding giving 30 hours per week of free funded nursery for all 3 and 4 year olds and eligible 2 year olds

For further information contact : Sharon Tutty : nursery manager 01763 260964 lh-melbourn@btconnect.com

Little Hands is also at Bourn, Linton and Newton visit the website at www.littlehands.co.uk

Make & Do

bumpkins toddler Tips

Mint playdough

All children love playdough. Why not make your own using fresh mint that you can grow in your own garden?

Adding fresh mint into playdough will extend your child’s sensory play. They can also get involved in growing the mint, for example, watering it every day, and measuring the size of the plant.

To make the playdough you will need:

2 cups plain flour

1 cup salt

2 tbsp oil

4 tbsp cream of tartar 2 cups boiling water (infused with mint)

10 drops of green food colouring

Measuring out ingredients is a good way to practice counting with your child. Put the ingredients into a large bowl and combine well. Once combined knead the dough to distribute the food colouring. Finally let your child enjoy playing with delicious smelling playdough!

places like Adrenaline Alley and Thetford Forest, Dance Week, which included an overnight stay in London and trip to see the musical, Matilda. In addition, a group of intrepid Year 7 camped at Phasels Wood Activity Centre with the chance to put their Bear Grylls skills to the test as well as building teamwork, tackling a huge climbing wall and living under canvas in a heatwave!

On the final day students could choose between ice skating in Peterborough or a day at Thorpe Park to celebrate another successful year at the college.

During that week a group of 30 students also visited Geneva, primarily to see the

Large Hadron Collider, on a trip partially subsidised by the generous support of Melbourn company TTP, who have given the college £100,000 over two years towards science resources, teaching and learning and activities.

Even before the grand finale of activities week, the college was a very busy place with trips for various year groups near (All Saints Church, Melbourn) and far (Comillas in northern Spain) and many venues in between as well as visits from students from China and Spain who joined lessons and made new English friends.

Mandarin in rural Cambridgeshire

Simon Holmes, the principal of Melbourn village College explains how starting Mandarin lessons – with the help of the Department for Education’s Mandarin Excellence Programme – has boosted pupils’ confidence and given them amazing learning opportunities.

Melbourn Village College (MVC) is a 500 strong 11–16 school in a corner of rural south Cambridgeshire. At this small secondary a revolution in languages teaching began quietly but has now raised the school to national prominence as a trailblazer for Cambridgeshire and the wider Eastern region.

Current Year 7 and 8 at MVC study both Spanish and Mandarin, with a group of 30 Year 7s being part of the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP), funded by the Department for Education and delivered by the UCL Institute of Education and the British Council. Later this year we will welcome a group of 10 Chinese students, who will spend eight weeks in our classes, and next summer a group of students will take part in a trip to China, again as part of the MEP programme.

This is quite a change from where we were only relatively recently. For many years we offered French in Year 7, adding German in Year 8. About seven years ago, one of my teachers suggested offering a Spanish GCSE starting from scratch in Year 10. Due to their hard work and high expectations,

Spanish almost immediately became not only very successful but also very popular. This led to the decision to replace German with Spanish at Key Stage 3, starting in Year 7. In many ways this process laid the template for the successful introduction of Mandarin.

Why Mandarin? In September 2015, supported by a new Chair of Governors and the SSAT (formerly Specialist Schools & Academy Trusts network, now Schools, Students And Teachers), we reviewed all areas of our curriculum and wider provision. In terms of foreign languages, we asked: if we were setting up a school from scratch, which two languages would we offer?

Trying to predict the future is never easy but, being conscious of the increasingly global nature of future trade and having done some research, including documents such as the British Council’s 2013 ‘Languages for the Future’, we came up with the answer: Spanish and Mandarin. Incidentally, these two languages are first and second respectively in the updated 2017 version of this report. We then had to make this a reality.

For us, the key aspects involved in introducing Mandarin were: deciding if it was right for our students (and, if so, which ones); engaging stakeholders, and finding a high quality teacher who was also capable of fronting this new move to students, parents and other stakeholders. Either of these had the potential to bring an end to the project; we were clear that we had to be sure it would work.

To do this I made use of my contacts and made some very useful new ones. For example, I spent an invaluable day with Dr Rachel Hawkes (director of languages, international education and research at the Cam Academy Trust) observing Mandarin lessons in Harris South Norwood Academy, and also met Katharine Carruthers (Director of the UCL Institute of Education Confucius Institute for Schools) and her PGCE students to discuss the myths around Chinese GCSE. We covered topics such as the growth of Chinese, whether the top grades were accessible to non native speakers, the supply of resources and teachers etc.

This research was invaluable in confirming to us we were on the right track, and with the appointment of Frank Fan as our Mandarin teacher (who, incidentally, was one of the PGCE students we met previously) we were confident we had the right person in place. With an introduction to parents at Induction evening and a Year 6 lesson on Induction day, we were ready for all Year 7 students to start Mandarin in September 2016.

It was an instant hit. We were initially concerned that there might be some reluctance from Year 7 parents and students, but the preparation work we did, the interesting nature of the subject and the high quality of the teaching meant that this wasn’t an issue. In fact, the grumbling that we did get was from older students who were upset that they weren’t having the opportunity to study Mandarin!

We were particularly pleased in our decision to have the whole year group studying Mandarin. As well as being intellectually stimulating for the more able, learning Mandarin gives lower ability students a sense of pride and achievement

as they learn something their parents don’t know. This was backed up the following year, when a visiting HMI Inspector commented on the huge progress made by our lower ability Year 7s in the subject and the obvious pride they showed in their work. Mandarin also made a number of positive appearances in our latest Ofsted inspection, with students telling the inspectors they ‘felt privileged to study Mandarin’.

At the same time as we began offering Mandarin, the DfE had begun its Mandarin Excellence Programme. We had come across this when we were researching Mandarin; indeed I had attended the initial launch. We kept an eye on developments and were fortunate enough to be able to join the second cohort in September 2017. We now have a class of 30 students who are part of this exciting initiative, studying additional Mandarin inside and outside school time.

Timetabling this has provided some challenges (and will have more as additional year groups come on stream) but we have found a solution that works for us and the additional funding that it brings in is very welcome. The best part of the MEP is the links with other schools; our Year 7s are aware they are part of something special and this will be reinforced later this year when they link up with another school for a Chinese immersion week.

There are more developments in the pipeline: a Confucius Classroom application and increased links with Chinese schools are imminent. We are also in discussions with our Multi Academy Trust about post 16 progression and initial teacher training so we can ‘grow our own’.

Mandarin at MVC has been an unqualified success. All the information we have suggests that our students are making excellent progress and we can be confident about their future achievements. Of course, the true test will come when they eventually take their GCSEs but the initial signs are very encouraging. We couldn’t have done this without all the help and support we received from the various contacts we made, and without a full commitment to give this 100 per cent in terms of involvement in additional programmes, such as the Chinese exchange and the MEP. To any school considering introducing Mandarin, either as part of the MEP or as a wider offer I would say be open minded and do your research. Has it been worth it for us? Absolutely.

Simon Holmes

Sawston Village College adult education courses

We are delighted to tell you that Sawston Village College will be bringing you some exciting new adult education courses from September 2018. We think you will agree that this year, we have the most varied course selection yet! Here are some of the courses we are going to be bringing to the local community:

Astronomy

Maintenance

and Spanish Dancing styles

Dancing

Weaving

Also, this academic year you will be able to book our courses online through our website www.sawstonadulted. org via Wisepay. This will be easier, quicker and even more secure. We are excited to be able to offer this new facility to our adult learners. If booking online is not for you, please telephone us on 01223 712424 or email us community@ sawstonvc.org.

We hope you have a wonderful Summer and look forward to welcoming you to Sawston Village College from September.

Amanda Hoskins

The Adult Education Department – Sawston Village College.

Workers’ Educational Association (WEA)

The Autumn course at Royston Town Hall will start on 18th September.

It’s the economy, stupid. Tutor Andy Beharrell £54.75

The course is for 10 weeks Tuesdays 10am 11.30am

You may enrol at Royston Town Hall 11th September 10am 11am or on line: https://enrolonline.wea.org.uk

Profile

Naomi & Adrian Brind

I am sure that, like all of us, Naomi and Adrian Brind must have ‘off days’ but by and large they always seem to be happy and smiling! So, on a very hot morning I spent a happy hour with them learning about their life.

Naomi was born in Reigate, one of three sisters. Her father had been an engineer in the Merchant Navy but later became a teacher and her mother was a secretary. They moved to Reading where Naomi went to Henley Grammar School and became very interested in music – Oxfordshire at that time had a number of schemes aimed at encouraging children to sing. The family were great campers, and on one trip to Eire they discovered a lovely old house on a 10 acre island and bought it on impulse. Father took the opportunity of applying for a teaching job and at the age of 16 Naomi found herself at a convent school in Carlow. The school could not educate her after 17 so she went back to Henley Grammar (living with her grandparents) to do her final year before going to Cullum Teacher Training College at Abingdon.

This was where she met Adrian, who was already a year ahead of her. He had been born in Chippenham and lived in Calne, the oldest of six children he had three brothers and two sisters – all musical. His father was a craftsman carpenter/blacksmith, his mother a nurse. He belonged to the Cubs, Scouts and Venture Scouts which led to a lifelong love of camping. At the age of 12 or 13 he was introduced

to Jazz and fell in love with it, asking if he could learn to play the Double Bass. His school did not have an instrument and he was persuaded to start learning to play the cello as the next best thing. He soon discovered that he was allergic to the resin used on the bow so he turned to the trumpet and saxophone. The whole family had a lot of pleasure in playing as a group and once his voice had broken, Adrian found he had a good singing voice as well. He and a brother joined the local brass band but Jazz was his real love.

So in 1972 the two met up at College where it happened that Adrian’s sister joined at the same time as Naomi and they all became friends. When Adrian qualified, he got a job teaching European studies and Music to 11–16 year olds at Gillott’s School in Henley. Naomi qualified during the 1976 slump and found it difficult to get a teaching job. Her family were in Ireland so she lived once again with her grandparents and then shared a flat with Adrian and some other friends. Eventually she landed a job at Enderby near Leicester in an enormous Primary School and for two years she was Jack of all Trades. As she had a Bronze Life Saving Certificate she was made Swimming Instructor, but covered all classes where necessary. She and Adrian were engaged by this time and got married in Cullum College Chapel in 1979.

Naomi started to look for a job in the Henley area and found a position in the private sector at Rupert House School, a small co ed kindergarten/primary school. They lived for the next two years in a small flat owned by the local authority and saved like mad to buy their own house in Reading, which they eventually did in 1981 when Adrian became head of the Careers Department. Jennifer was born in 1982 and Naomi gave up work to be a full time mother. During all this time the couple were continuing to make music, Adrian was the conductor of the Henley Town Band and Naomi would fill in on any instrument where needed. They played in bands all over the town.

They then joined The Millstones – named after Frank Mills who had played with The Squadronairres (older readers will remember this very famous swing band). Naomi was stand in saxophonist, the children were taken along to band practice and just grew up absorbing music. By this time in 1984 Zoe had arrived.

In 1986 Adrian started to look for more lucrative work to support the growing family and answered an advertisement for the Service Children’s Education Authority recruiting for staff for the school in Dortmund. He took a 3 year contract teaching music and drama and ended up staying in Germany for 27 years! Far from absorbing German culture and language, Naomi described it as living in Little England. Other British civilians were there working for companies, they all worked together but were very aware of what they could or could not do. In Dortmund Naomi ran the church choir in All Saints Church – a role she now reprises in Melbourn! Laurence was born in 1988 and Charlotte ‘Charlie’ in 1989 two months before the Wall came down

All the political upheavals which followed meant that the Dortmund setup closed down in the summer of 1994 but Adrian was still under contract and was offered a job at Joint

H.Q in Munchengladbach, Rheindahlen. They teamed up with another music teacher and formed a Trad Jazz Band and Adrian also played in a military/civilian 9‑piece band until 2012. During their time in Germany they took advantage of the tax free motoring available to them and travelled widely throughout Europe, but mainly in Germany and the Netherlands, in a very large 8 berth caravan fulfilling their love of camping.

Eventually the base closed down and Adrian was offered a redundancy package with two years’ enhancement to bring him up to 40 years in the teaching profession. Jennifer had gone to Anglia Polytechnic in Cambridge in 2001 and they had bought the house in Russet Way for her and although they still have the house in Reading (which had been let all the time they were abroad) they decided to move to Melbourn. When Jenni was living in Russet Way she had sung in the Choir at All Saints so when the Brinds moved into Melbourn they naturally joined the choir and have become well established in the area.

Jenni is now living in Stevenage, Zoe is in Germany working with S.S.A.F.A as a welfare finance officer, Laurence is a captain with the Royal Signals and is at present in Kabul, Charlie studied Drama at Northampton University. She has not been in the best of health recently but is active in the voluntary sector and runs a Youth Group in Chesterfield. Laurence is married with a 2½ year old son Isaac – they are based in Colchester so Naomi & Adrian get to see their grandson quite frequently.

Adrian is an enthusiastic gardener and their garden, though small, is producing tomatoes and lettuces and other vegetables. Naomi is a very keen cook and likes nothing better than to be in the kitchen cooking for the family. She gave me a no fail recipe for a meat loaf (see below). They are both on the support staff at Melbourn Village College and frequently undertake invigilating duties. As well as the church choir, they have been involved in the Bloomsday Festival in the village, play in the Boniface Consort, as a duo (they played in the Community Hall Tenth Anniversary Celebrations recently) and both play with the Opus 17 Swing Band based in Royston.

To go back to my first paragraph, I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that is the underlying thread of music throughout their lives which makes the Brinds such a happy pair.

Mavis Howard

Naomi’s No Fail Meat Loaf

Set oven to 170 C/ 375 F/ Gas mark 5

500 gr minced beef

1 egg

1 packet of Bread Sauce

Herbs (optional)

Mix all together and place in a lined oven-proof dish.

Place in the oven for approximately 40 minutes until brown on top.

This recipe freezes well.

For the Community by the Community

Autumn at The Hub!

We have something for everyone at The Hub to ease you back into autumn.

FREE top‑ups of tea and coffee when purchased

‘cake of the day’ Monday to Friday (September only)

Our special ‘Hubby Bear’ kids menu is available every day

Look out for tempting new ‘menu specials’ such as warm and comfy Hunter’s Chicken

Sign up for our seasonal events such as the Spooky Spectacular and special musical performances! Go onto the Hub website or Facebook page to find out more

And, we are always on the lookout for volunteers, we rely on them heavily for everyday support. So, if the kids are back to school, or you have some spare time to help us this autumn, pop in and talk to us, we are open every day Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm or email centremanager@melbournhub.co.uk

Opening

5pm

Village information

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Orchard Surgery

Appointments & Dispensary 260220

For repeat prescriptions send email: prescriptions.orchardsurgery@nhs.net

Hospitals

Melbourn History Group Ann Dekkers 261144

Melbourn Mushroom Club John Holden email: frog.end@virgin.net

Melbourn Pottery Club Maggie 01223 207307

Meldreth Local History Kathryn Betts 268428

Mothers’ Union Pauline Hay 260649

Addenbrooke’s

01223 245151 Royston 01763 242134

NHS111 – Urgent Care 111 24hr helpline

Medical help when not a 999 emergency

Police Non Emergency number 101

Help when not a 999 emergency

Fire & Rescue Service 01223 376201

Crimestoppers 0800 555111

Neighbourhood Watch 260959

Maureen Townsend maureentownsend1@aol.com

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

EDUCATION

Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford 07842 151512 Library LAP Jane Stevens johnjane.stevens@tiscali.co.uk

Little Hands Nursery School 260964 Out of school times 01223 503972 Notre Ecole Janet Whitton 261231

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

Chairman Tony Garrick 01223 510201 Hon Sec Hilary Docwra 222486 Mem Sec Chris Davison 264189 Village College Principal Simon Holmes 223400

HEALTH

Age UK Cambridgeshire 01223 221921 Blood Donors 0300 123 23 23

Chiropodist 263260

Dentist 262034

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

S. Cambs PCT 35 Orchard Road

Child & Family Nurses 262861 Car Scheme 245228 Osteopath Kath Harry 261716

LOCAL CLUBS

Air Cadets 2484 (Bassingbourn) Squadron 249156

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

Bellringers Barbara Mitchell 261518

Bridge Club Howard Waller 261693

1st Melbourn Rainbows Abigail Roberts 261505

Brownies 1st Melbourn Stephanie Clifford 220272 Brownies 2nd Melbourn 261400 Samantha Pascoe (Brown Owl) Gardening Helen Powell 245887 Guides 1st Melbourn Hilary Marsh 261443 Guides 2nd Melbourn

Stef Cooper 01763 220093/ 07922053801

Steph Clifford 01763 220272 / 07888831140

Secondmelbournguides@hotmail.com

MADS (Melbourn Amateur Dramatics Society)

Donna Sleight 232622

National Trust Marian Bunting 246122 bunting@uwclub.net

New Melbourn Singers Adrian Jacobs 243224

Photographic Club Bruce Huett 232855

Ramblers Dave Allard 242677

Royal British Legion Women Elizabeth Murphy 220841

Royal National Lifeboat Institution Jean Emes 245958

Royston and District Local History Society David Allard 242677

Royston Family History Society Pam Wright frierley@ntlworld.com

Royston Lions Chris Cawdell 448236

RSPB Fowlmere Doug Radford 208978

SOAS (Supporters of All Saints’) Colin Limming 260072

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

Thursday Luncheon Club at Vicarage Close

Jeannie Seers 07808 735066

Women’s Group Pat Smith 260103

PLACES OF WORSHIP

All Saints’ Church Revd. Elizabeth Shipp 220626 vicar.melbournmeldreth@gmail.com

Churchwardens Roger Mellor 220463 David Farr 221022

Baptist Church Rev. Stuart Clarke 261650

Secretary Brian Orrell 07568 376027

United Reformed Church

Secretary Rosaline Van de Weyer 01223 870869 Hall booking Beryl and Barry Monk 246458

SPORT

Badminton Steve Jackson 248774

Bowls Arthur Andrews 261990

Croquet Janet Pope 248342

Jazzercise Maxine Rustem 07963 161246

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

Melbourn Dynamos FC Gordon Atalker 07770533249 Blake Carrington 07730488743

Melbourn Football Club Simon Gascoyne 261703

Melbourn Sports Centre Graham Johnson-Mack 263313

Meldreth Tennis Club Tracy Aggett 243376

Swimming Club Jenny Brackley 244593

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Community Hall

Contact hallbookings@live.co.uk 07821 656033

Dial A Ride 01223 506335

Home Start Tracy Aggett 262262

Mobile Warden Scheme Jeannie Seers 07808 735066

Moorlands Denise Taylor 260564

Vicarage Close Warden Eileen Allan 263389

Lead Sheltered Housing Officer – Monday to Friday 9–1.30

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

Every other week. 9–5 Monday to Friday

DIARY

SEPTEMBER

Saturday 1

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf

SOAS Beetle Drive

Stourbridge Medieval Fair, Leper Chapel, Newmarket Road, Cambridge 12-4.30pm (see article)

Sunday 2

All Saints Sung Eucharist 9.45am

Family Service Baptist Church 10.30am

Holy Communion URC 11.00am

Baptist Communion 6pm

Monday 3

Drop-in Surgery with Councillors at the Hub 3 – 4pm

Melbourn Bridge Club every Monday URC Hall 7pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Tuesday 4

New school term

Melbourn Bridge Club 2pm contact as above

Wednesday 5

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Thursday 6

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

Friday 7

Coffee URC 10.30am

Saturday 8

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 9

Sung Eucharist All Saints 9.45am

Baptist Church Service 10.30am URC Service 11am

Songs of Praise for Harvest Melbourn & Meldreth Churches Together URC 4pm

Tuesday 11

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Melbourn Short Story Reading Group recommences at the Hub 10-11am

Mothers’ Union contact Diane Blundell 221415 Royston & District Choral Soc Open Rehearsal 7.45-9.45pm Royston Parish Church

Wednesday 12

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Hub Club Lunch 12.30pm

Thursday 13

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm

Friday 14

Coffee URC 10.30am

Saturday 15

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am British Legion Stall

Team Quiz Night at Melbourn Hub Licensed bar 7pm

Tickets £5 contact 263303

Cambridge Choral Society Choral Day (see article)

Royston & District Museum ‘Rob Roy’ 11am

Sunday 16

Said Eucharist All Saints 8am

Sundays @ 11 Family Service All Saints 11am

URC Communion Service 11.00am

Communion Service Baptist 10.30am

Tuesday 18

Toddlers Plus 9.30-11.30am (TT) Baptist Church

Wednesday 19

Craft Club Baptist Church 9.30 -11.30am Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Thursday 20

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

Friday 21

Coffee URC 10.30am

Melbourn Cinema Night ASCH Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society 8pm start tickets 260686/261154

Saturday 22

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 23

Sung Eucharist Harvest Festival All Saints 9.45am

URC Harvest Festival 11.00am Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am

Tuesday 25

Women’s Group Meldreth contact Pat Smith 262575

Wednesday 26

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

British Legion Women’s Section Melbourn WI ASCH 7.45pm Reflexology

Thursday 27

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

Friday 28

Staff training Day MVC

Coffee URC 10.30am

Harvest Supper Meldreth Village Hall 7.30pm contact 260575

Saturday 29

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

All Saints Playgroup Celebrating 50 years (see article)

Painting Pals exhibition Granchester Village Hall 10am -5pm

Sunday 30

Said Eucharist All Saints 8am URC Service 11.00am

Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am

Royston & District Choral Soc at Royston Arts Festival Finale Concert

Painting Pals exhibition Granchester Village Hall 10am -5pm

OCTOBER

Monday 1

Drop in Surgery with Councilors at the Hub 3-4pm

Melbourn Bridge Club every Monday URC 7pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Tuesday 2

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 10.30am (TT)

Melbourn Bridge Club every Tuesday URC Hall 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Melbourn Short Story Reading Group every Tuesday 10-11am the Hub

Wednesday 3

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Thursday 4

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft & Chat URC weekly 2-4pm

Royston & District Local History Society Town Hall Royston 8pm The Rectors of Therfield by Richard Genochio

Friday 5

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Megson concert at Melbourn Hub Licensed bar 7pm £15 contact 263303

Saturday 6

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf

Sunday 7

BCP Holy Communion All Saints 8am

Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am Holy Communion URC 11am

Communion Service Baptist Church 6pm

Tuesday 9

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Mothers Union contact Diane Blundell 221415

Wednesday 10

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

Thursday 11

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

Friday 12

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Saturday 13

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Sunday 14

Sung Eucharist All Saints 9.45am

Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am

URC Communion Service 11am

Tuesday 16

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Wednesday 17

Craft Club 9.30-11.30am (TT) Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

Thursday 18

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

Friday 19

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Melbourn Cinema Night ASCH Three Billboards

Outside Ebbing Missouri 8pm tickets 261154/260686

Saturday 20

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am Link Murang’a Stall

Sunday 21

Said Eucharist 8am Sundays @ 11 Family Service 11am All Saints

Communion Service Baptist Church 10.30am

URC Service 11am

Monday 22

Half term

Tuesday 23

Women’s Group ASCH Melbourn 7.45pm contact Pat Smith 262575

Wednesday 24

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am

British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm Melbourn WI ASCH 7.45pm Quiz evening

Thursday 25

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

Friday 26

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Saturday 27

Coffee Stop All Saints 10.30am

Sunday 28

Sung Eucharist All Saints 9.45am

Family Service Baptist Church 10.30am URC Service 11am

Melbourn Hub supper and village ghost walk with MADS Licensed bar contact 263303

Tuesday 30

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Wednesday 31

Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Light Party, Baptist Church

NOVEMBER

Thursday 1

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

Royston & District Local History Society Royston

Town Hall 8pm The Remarkable Story of Heffers, Cambridge by Julie Bounford

Friday 2

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Saturday 3

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am The Bookshelf Sunday 4

Sung Eucharist Patronal Festival All Saints 9.45am

Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am

URC Morning Service 11am Communion Service Baptist Church 6pm

All Souls Service All Saints 6.30pm Royston & District Choral Soc Britten War Requiem Haileybury College

Monday 5

Drop in Surgery with Councillors at The Hub 3-4pm Melbourn Bridge Club every Monday URC Hall 7pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Tuesday 6

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Melbourn Bridge Club every Tuesday URC Hall 2pm contact Howard Waller 261693

Melbourn

Short Story Reading Group

The Hub 10-11am weekly

Wednesday 7

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

Thursday 8

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly

Friday 9

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Saturday 10

Coffee Stop ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 11

Joint Churches Act of Remembrance 10.50am at The Cross followed by a service in All Saints

Tuesday 13

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30am (TT) Mother’s Union contact Diane Blundell 221415

Wednesday 14

Craft Club 9.30am Coffee Break Baptist Church 10.30am Hub Club lunch 12.30pm

Thursday 15

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

Friday 16

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Saturday 17

All Saints Church Bazaar No coffee Stop

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

Sunday 18

Said Eucharist All Saints 8am Sundays @ 11 Family Service All Saints 11.00am

URC Morning Service 11am

Communion Service Baptist Church 10.30am

Tuesday 20

Toddler Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT)

Wednesday 21

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

Thursday 22

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Craft & Chat URC 2-4pm weekly

Friday 23

Coffee at URC 10.30am

Melbourn Cinema Night ASCH Swimming With Men 8pm tickets 261154/260686

Saturday 24

Coffee Stop at ASCH 10.30am

Sunday 25

Sung Eucharist All Saints 9.45am

Morning Service Baptist Church 10.30am

URC Morning Service 11am

Christmas Craft Fair at Melbourn Hub with the Nicola Emmerson Trust free entry 11am – 3pm

Tuesday 27

Toddlers Plus Baptist Church 9.30-11.30am (TT) Women’s Group Meldreth contact Pat Smith 262575

Wednesday 28

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

Royal British Legion Women’s Section Vicarage Close 2pm

Melbourn WI ASCH 7.45pm Royston Ukulele Group FRITZ

Thursday 29

Said Eucharist All Saints 10am

Volunteers

Village information

Orchard Surgery & Dispensary

Monday to Friday 8:30–1pm and 3pm–6pm Phone 01763 260220 www.orchardsurgerymelbourn.co.uk

Repeat prescriptions can be made either, by post, in person or by registering to use the online NHS service. Prescriptions can still be collected from: Surgery Co-op Tesco in Royston

Prescription Home Delivery

The surgery offers home delivery service for prescriptions, on a Tuesday & Thursday. For more information on any of the above, please see their website or contact the surgery.

BIN COLLECTION

Bin collection day – TUESDAY

Melbourn Health Visiting Team

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

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

meet on

–

at

For an update on collections visit: www.scambs.gov.uk/binsearch

For more information and collections of large household items Telephone 03450 450 063

Nature

River Mel Restoration Group

Just under ten years ago the River Mel Restoration Group installed an access point on the recreational field in Melbourn to give dogs and children a safe place to access the river.

This has proved to be very popular with dogs and children alike and, in some ways, has become a victim of its own success. Erosion and wear, by dogs, people, and the weather, has seen soil washed away into the river, leaving it in need of some serious repair.

In the hope of providing a more wear resistant surface, we have replaced the lost soil with MOT (Ministry of Transport) Type 1 stone, which is one of the most widely used sub bases in the construction industry. MOT is an aggregate that is easily compacted and, once installed, has excellent load bearing qualities.

The day before the working party a tonne of stone was delivered to the car park at the top of the field. The following morning saw a party of volunteers pushing a succession of wheelbarrows to and fro between the car park and the river until the pile was depleted.

A second group prepared the ground by removing the interlocking lattice of soil retaining panels that stabilise and reinforce the slope down to the access point. The MOT was then levelled out and tamped down as the lattice squares were replaced.

We hope that this particular aggregate, combined with the soil retaining tiles, will provide a more stable, robust surface that will be good for at least another ten years. As always, the proof is in the pudding, and we had not even left the site before our morning’s work was being tested by a group of very enthusiastic dogs!

Access point in need of repair

Fitting the lattice together

The team watching the MOT being wetted down

Tipping MOT

Lifting the lattice into position

The finished job

Carpet Cleaning

A few points that make us stand out, Rothwell’s has been in business since 1993 We’re an honest local family firm

large truck mounted machines mean more cleaning & drying power for the best results

Members of both the NCCA and TACCA.

move the

Travelogue

Travelling the Himalayas

Bhutan: the happiest country in Asia

In 2006 Bhutan was ranked as the happiest country in Asia and the 8th happiest in the world. From my visit to the country I think it fully deserves this accolade bestowed on it by Business Week. It has spectacular landscapes, a positive attitude to the environment, a fast growing economy and a wonderfully friendly and welcoming people. With a focus on increasing Gross National Happiness (rather than Gross Domestic Product) there is a positive attitude to life, despite the challenges of a modern, globalising world. In South Asia, Bhutan ranks first in economic freedom, ease of doing business and peace and was the least corrupt country in 2016. This is an immense transition for a society that only banned slavery in 1958. However, it is still an enigma to me that a country with such a ferocious history (it was constantly at war with neighbouring polities, particularly Tibet) should now have such a high regard for peace and the environment. Possibly a factor is the strong prevalence of Tibetan Buddhism within the society (although 22%, mainly in the south, are Hindu).

Although a small country it has a strong sense of identity

The national dress of Bhutan. The Gho worn by men and the Kira worn by women

and pride and takes measures to maintain its cultural and historical legacy. Citizens have to follow the national dress code (Driglam Namzha) which requires all citizens to wear the Gho (men) or the Kira (women) while in public during daylight hours. Failure to do so can incur a fine.

As well as amenable people the landscape of Bhutan is one of the most attractive in the Himalayas, nestling on their southern slopes. It has majestic mountain ranges with a highest peak of 7,570 metres (24,840 ft – as yet unclimbed) cut through by river gorges. 72% is still forested and the government is determined that this will never fall below 60%. The high mountains contrast with the subtropical jungle terrain on the southern borders. In the middle one travels through rice fields and forests where traditional medicinal plants are gathered.

At significant points, magnificent forts appear in the landscape: Dzong. The building is split roughly 50:50 between administrative and religious functions. This division of functions reflects the idealised duality of power in Tibetan Buddhist societies. They are built in the typical massive Bhutanese style with red and white sloping walls and without nails or iron bars but using very skilled wooden pegging and craftsmanship.

It is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and the Government is strongly focused on conservation and environmentally friendly policies (in comparison to many other developing nations that are more interested in extraction than preservation). Examples of its concern for the environment are the encouragement of electric cars and a restriction on the number of tourists. TV and the internet were banned until 1999 and were not very prevalent when I visited a few years ago. It was the first country in the world to ban the import of tobacco (2017).

It is a relatively young country, only being unified from warring fiefdoms by a Tibetan lama in the 17th century. From 1907 until 2006 it was a hereditary monarchy (originally established with the assistance of the British for supporting

them in the invasion of Tibet in 1904). In 2006 the King abdicated so the country could move to a full democracy. This was initially not popular as there were concerns that democracy breeds corruption. However, the first elections were held in 2008 and the country appears to be well governed now.

There are significant international challenges as it is situated between the two large powers of India and China, both of which have a significant interest in the country; partially because of the rich hydro power resource. This was highlighted by the dispute over contested territory in Doklam in 2017.

The economy and the population are small in relation to the rest of the world (one of the lowest population densities). However, the economy has grown significantly recently. It was based on agriculture and forestry but more recently tourism and now hydro power have become significant. Despite very little industry there is a low unemployment rate. While I was writing, this I received an interesting e mail from a Bhutanese friend describing 10 Bhutanese entrepreneurs all focusing on local products. These can be seen at: https://loden.org.

In my opinion the only negative aspect of Bhutanese government is the restrictive citizenship laws which caused hardship and emigration for the largely Nepalese (Lhotsampa) population in the South in the 1990s and still have an impact.

There are concerns about the influence of Western globalising culture and a friend Kharma Phuntso expresses his concern about Bhutanese youth in his important book ‘The History of Bhutan’: “with one foot in modernity … and the other in the traditional past, they live a diachronic life, which is at once very novel, chaotic and confused but also adventurous and dynamic”. However, I am optimistic that this young population (median age 27) will grasp the challenges positively and manage to maintain the charm of the country while embracing the better aspects of modernity.

Bruce Huett

Photographs by Bruce Huett

Paro Taktsang: the Tiger’s nest temple complex

Ask the expert

You might think an audiologist job is to put a hearing aid on and send you on your way. You wouldn’t be alone, but if you think that you’d be wrong. An audiologist is a brain trainer who uses a hearing aid to exercise your ‘brain muscle’. The brain is amazing. The brains ability to adapt and change is termed ‘neuroplasticity’ These changes can occur as the result of an injury, disease as well as learning maturity and development. The process of neuroplasticity occurs throughout our lives and has a specific impact on our hearing.

What evidence is there that neuroplasticity occurs with hearing loss?

An EEG provides an inexpensive and non invasive way to assess neuroplasticity in patients with hearing loss and the brain stem’s response to the auditory stimulus of noise. Whilst the understanding is still limited we can now measure the effect of listening effort, social emotional change and cognitive function of hearing loss.

If my brain uses these areas of the brain elsewhere is that a good thing?

‘Re purposing’ or ‘Up cycling’ are words which we associate with furniture and clothing, items are altered to make them suitable for today’s needs/fashions.

Did you know as we lose our hearing the brain ‘re purposes’ the areas of the brain associated with hearing. However, in the brain this isn’t a positive. The areas of the brain responsible for hearing is also needed for balance and memory. The positive is this negative effect can be reversed by treating hearing loss.

I thought if I lost my hearing sense my other sense’s would compensate?

It was previously thought that the brain ‘re purposed’ the brains pathways associated with hearing to other senses i.e. vision for people who were completely deaf. The auditory cortex of the brain demonstrated reduced sound stimulus in tests and showed the effort needed to listen moved to a different area of the brain – vision. The brain therefore relies on visual cues to hear, which explains why people with a hearing loss often feel tired at the end of a day.

Does this only happen in deaf people?

Re purposing’ doesn’t just occur with complete deafness it has been observed in adults with a mild moderate hearing loss. The brains ability to ‘re purpose’ the brains pathways can be seen as soon as 3 months after the onset of hearing loss. The evidence for treating hearing loss quickly and effectively with a professionally programmed hearing aid has never been more evident and clear.

However, recent studies have proved that the brain will also re purpose this area of the brain with single sided deafness. This can lead to difficulty localising noise and understanding speech in noise.

Review

Citizen Clem

A Biography of Attlee

by John Bew riverrun

John Bew makes a wonderful job covering the early years so thoroughly that it gives one an appreciation of the sort of family Attlee came from, very united and caring. That he was injured three times in the First World War and continued to fight was impressive, equally impressive his reaction to his brother’s conscientious objection even though he didn’t agree with it.

On leaving Haileybury, Attlee’s father gave each of the children sufficient income that they did not ‘have’ to work and this could have had quite a different influence on them than it did. It says much for all of them and their upbringing. I was very impressed with his years working selflessly in the East End. Later he formed a close friendship with Harry Hopkins (President Roosevelt’s speechwriter and architect of the “New Deal”), a man who had also been a social organiser in his early career.

That he was able to work well with Churchill and Beaverbrook in the coalition was impressive and very productive towards a successful government of the war effort not to mention mediating between all of them and those of his own party prone to be difficult, i.e. most of them.

I had not known much about his vision of a new Commonwealth coming from the Empire. It is possible to believe that without him it might not have happened in the way that it did. He wanted to end the empire the right way and had believed in “citizenship” all his life and was greatly influenced by this. This came across powerfully I thought.

I was also fascinated by the many problems post war. How difficult it must have been implementing his ambitions for a different society; fulfilling election obligations; dealing with the shortages of oil, gas, coal; and shortages of money, food, housing; along with all the problems world wide post war such as settlement in Israel, the situation with Russia, Korea, or withdrawal from India, Burma etc. I liked his quote in a letter to his brother, Tom, that “it had been a troublesome few weeks”. As always with Atlee an understatement.

I loved the descriptions of his wife Violet’s driving, and the formal event they went to despite his cracked rib from one of her accidents en route. He also refused to accept a government car for his canvassing as he considered it Labour Party business, not government business, and so Violet drove him around in the battered Hillman.

Finally I liked the quote from his obituary in the Economist “if there is a peculiar Attleean claim to fame it is as a cautious, quiet, capable operator at the heart of the main events, who eschewed the charismatic performances of all his great contemporaries”.

A great man and a wonderful read. It was after all the winner of The Orwell Prize for Political Writing.

Moira Gamon

Here We Are Notes For Living On Planet Earth

by Oliver Jeffers

Harper Collins Children’s Books

This short but powerful book is ideal for children of all ages, including adults. Reading it I recalled the jolting emotional impact of a famous blend of story, scene and dialogue which has entered recent film history. The dialogue was delivered by a superb Julia Roberts to her equally superb co star Hugh Grant and, of course, straight to camera. Who seated in the darkened serried rows watching ‘Notting Hill’ will forget the scene and her concluding line: “I’m also just a girl (pause), standing in front of a boy (pause), asking him to love her.” The incredibly gifted Oliver Jeffers in his ‘Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth’ achieves the same impact as Julia Roberts but with a writer and illustrator’s near perfect blend: great insightful writing; serious themes deftly addressed; and wonderfully apt illustration.

The work of this writer and illustrator is a joy to read and examine. That he firstly conceived of such a thing of beauty is also a marvel. The title on the title page is bold, clear and explicit. On its opposite page the dedication is stated confidently and is unadorned (see panel below). Then, in much smaller type face and centred at the bottom of the page is a profound question from J. M. Barrie. Title and dedication tell you the reader what to expect from this book. You are in the hands of a master. Approach and you will not be disappointed.

“To my son, Harland

This book was written in the first two months of your life as I tried to make sense of it all for you. These are the things I think you need to know.” “Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary?”

Born in Belfast and now living in Brooklyn, USA Oliver Jeffers has already created a fourteen strong collection of award winning and best selling picture books which are translated in many countries. This book reveals his wonderful sense of humour – but did he really name his son after a now closed ship yard that once dominated his home‑town and, indeed, in its hey‑day, dominated the world? Perhaps it represents the loss and yearning of a Belfast emigrant living and working in far off Brooklyn. Indeed, reflecting on his own youth in Belfast the book’s end piece is the advice he received from his own father:

“There are only three words you need to live by, son: respect, consideration and tolerance.”

– Oliver’s Dad, All round good human.”

What an example to set and to live by! Look around our great country and reflect upon how far we have now moved from such wholesome sound principles – and in such a short period of time. If you are minded to buy an adult or child you like or love a gift – for any reason, any occasion or even better for no reason at all – be creative and make a gift of this book. Indeed, be kind to yourself and buy Oliver Jeffers’s ‘Here We Are’ as a gift for your better self – the person we each aspire to be.

Hugh Pollock

A visitor to the parish Richard Reynolds Rowe

In the 19th century against a background of poorly maintained church buildings throughout the country, an extensive refurbishment of Church of England churches took place. One of the architects involved in Cambridgeshire was Richard Reynolds Rowe who was involved in the design and restoration of many medieval churches throughout the county. One of those churches was All Saints’ in Melbourn.

Richard Reynolds Rowe (known as ‘Reynolds’) was born in 1824 in Cambridge. He was a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. He was appointed Engineer to the Cambridge Improvement Commissioners and was responsible for overseeing a wide range of projects throughout Cambridgeshire.

He designed the Cambridge Corn Exchange and alms houses in Kings Street and many private homes and by way of contrast he designed the Red Cow public house that sits close to the Corn Exchange.

As a Knight of Justice of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, he was a staunch supporter of the Church of England and took a considerable part in the founding of the Church Congress. He was a life governor of Addenbrooke’s Hospital and took an active interest in local affairs. For many years, he was a member of the Town Council of the Improvement Commission and of the Board of Guardians of the Cambridge workhouse.

Richard Reynolds Rowe died in 1899.

Top left: portrait Richard Reynolds Rowe, in the National Portrait Gallery. Top right & above: Reynolds drawings showing the restoration of the Nave. Below: South side of the church.

Churches Together

Melbourn United Reformed Church

Christian Aid

The theme for Christian Aid week this year was God’s Kingdom is Stronger than Storms. There was an ecumenical service at All Saints on Sunday 13th May at 4pm followed by a bring and share tea and further fellowship. All churches took part in the service and the address was given by Maria Lucchetta Redmond a Christian Aid volunteer. May God bless and empower us all to be living stones building bridges in our community. A cake stall was also held at the Coffee Stop on Saturday 12th May in support of Christian Aid.

Harvest

We are hosting a Melbourn and Meldreth Churches Together harvest themed Songs of Praise service on Sunday 9th September at 4pm. Each church will choose two hymns. There will be time for further fellowship after the service when there will be a Bring and Share tea. This year we are celebrating Harvest Festival on Sunday 23rd September. Morning worship will be a Parade Service starting at 11am which will be led by Maureen Kendall. There will be cups of coffee and tea served after the service followed by a soup lunch. The harvest produce will then be sold and the proceeds given to Jimmy’s Night Shelter in Cambridge. We invite you to come and join in these harvest celebrations.

All Saints’ and Holy Trinity

It has been a busy summer at All Saints’ and Holy Trinity. It began in style with two Royal Wedding celebrations as All Saints welcomed both the pre school children and Melbourn Primary School. At the beginning of June, we celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation with a special Choral Evensong. We gave thanks to God for Her Majesty’s long reign, were uplifted by the beautiful music of the worship and toasted her continued good health with a glass of Pimms! At another celebration service, tea, squash and cake were

on offer as we welcomed families whose children had been baptised in the last two years.

The fete at Holy Trinity was another highlight of the summer and many people’s hard work resulted in a very enjoyable occasion including the chance to watch our elected representatives pulling together in the tug of war! There was more fun in July with Messy Church at Holy Trinity. Watch out for the next Messy Church on Sunday 14th October. Children from Meldreth and Melbourn are invited to bring parents and grandparents for an afternoon of activities, stories, music and food. In July, we said ‘goodbye and thank you’ to Marion and Bob Long as they moved to Yorkshire. We miss them both, are very thankful for all that they did in the two parishes and keep them in our prayers. Marion was an enthusiastic supporter of Churches Together.

After Dahlia Day at the end of August, we look forward to Harvest Festivals and the Harvest Supper. November will bring All Saints’ Patronal Festival and the All Souls service, remembering those who have died. This year, Remembrance Sunday falls on the 11th day of the 11th month, a particularly poignant moment as we mark 100 years since the end of the First World War. For more details of these, not forgetting All Saints’ Bazaar, see www.allsaintsmelbournholytrinitymeldreth.co.uk or Facebook: @ASMHTM

Supporters of All Saints (SOAS)

It has been a quiet season. A ‘Play your cards right’ evening resulted in a small profit but an enjoyable event.

In the Autumn, we are planning another Beetle Drive in the Community Hall and on 27th October David Blundell will be taxing our brains with another quiz.

At the Church Bazaar on Saturday 17th November the SOAS Committee will be taking on the catering as well as organising a fancy dress competition for best girl and boy. We are also planning Colin’s Christmas Hamper and doubtless George Howard will be selling yet another of his quizzes.

Help with

a

Membership of SOAS has not been helped by the unfortunate and sudden illness of Anne Lambert and we wish her a speedy recovery. Bob Tulloch has taken on the important job of Treasurer and is slowly getting to grips with this vital task. Until he is able to sort out who are members and who has lapsed we cannot send out any newsletters or requests for renewals, so we ask members’ patience.

Colin Limming, Membership Secretary

All Saints’ Prize Draw

The April draw was made on 29th April by Anna Taylor. The first prize of £21.50 goers to Colin Limming (41) at 4 Chapmans Close and the second of £10.75 to Jayne White (36) at 8 Mortlock Street. The May draw was made by John Cash on 2nd June. The first prize of £21.50 goes to Bob Tulloch at 25 Hale Close and the second of £10.75 to Janet Batchelor at 14 Elm Way. The June draw was made by Anita Cooke on 11th July. The first prize of £21.50 goes to Ann Harrison (34) at 12 Greenbanks and the second of £10.75 to Julia Whitfield (15) at 41 The Moor. The July draw was made by Anna Taylor on 28th July. The first prize of £21:50 goes to Terry Shaw (23) at 4 Spencer Drive and the second of £10:75 to Alan Brett (10) at 44 High Street.

Reverend Andrew O’Brien

You will remember our much loved Vicar Andrew O’Brien who left us two years ago to take up the Living of Canford Cliffs and Sandbanks? When we learned that in July he was celebrating thirty years in the Ministry with a service conducted by the Rt Reverend Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury, a group of us decided to travel down secretly for the service and surprise him and his wife Joanne. It is a beautiful church, in total contract to the mediaeval All Saints and Holy Trinity it is modern, bright and well appointed. The setting is fabulous with glorious views out over the harbour and one of Andrew’s duties is to act as Pastor to the Royal Yacht Club!

It certainly was a surprise – Andrew had just come out of the church to make sure there was a car parking space for the Bishop, when our minicoach pulled up and we all got out. His face was a study! He ran back into the church to get Joanne who was equally delighted – it was a lovely moment. There would have been more of us in the party, but seven members of our congregation had been down to visit him 10 days before and that particular Sunday both churches had a Farewell Party for Marian Long.

Nicholas Holtham had been Andrew’s mentor when he was in training and Joanne had been the Bishop’s secretary –so the service was really personal to them both. The Bishop gave an excellent sermon – no notes – he just chatted. He welcomed the party from Melbourn, then Andrew had to nip across and have a whisper and the welcome was amended to include Sally from Meldreth! On a baking hot Sunday, the church was full, a testament to the way they have settled into the community. Joanne is once again running popular craft sessions and helps with the thriving Sunday School.

After the service, we had glasses of bubbly and there was a big cake with a marzipan vicar standing in front of a church

– although it was considerably slimmer than Andrew. There were scrapbooks on display covering his thirty years as a priest and it was fun looking back on photographs of us all looking so much younger. We marvelled at the live sheep in the early crib scenes – Health and Safety no longer allows that! I told the Bishop that we were all very sad to hear of the misfortunes which had befallen the city of Salisbury and he agreed that it was affecting everyone badly. However, he was optimistic that the city had survived for a couple of millenia and would overcome the present troubles.

It was a special day, we went on to have lunch at Compton Acres and arrived back home at 5 p.m. Andrew and Joanne send their love to everyone and say they miss us, although they do have a number of regular visitors from Melbourn who keep them au fait with village news. Mavis Howard

‘Homeless Jesus’

On Good Friday, the Methodist Central Hall unveiled a sculpture of the homeless Jesus. This bronze sculpture by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmaltz, was generously donated to the Central Hall by an anonymous benefactor.

It depicts Jesus as a homeless person, asleep on a park bench. His face and hands are hidden by his threadbare blanket but the nail marks of crucifixion on his bare, exposed feet are clearly visible. The artist visited the Pope in Vatican City in November 2013 to present a similar miniature version of this statue. He recalled about the Pope’s reaction, “He walked over to the sculpture, and it was just chilling because he touched the knee of Jesus the Homeless sculpture and closed his eyes and prayed”.

The sculpture has been installed in several cities across the USA and in other parts of the world including Glasgow. Manchester has recently approved an installation outside St Ann’s church.

The Word of God from David Burbridge

The hand of our God is upon all those for good, who seek Him; but His power and His wrath is against all those who forsake Him.

(Recorded by Ezra about 500 years before Christ, when Jews in captivity in Babylon under King Cyrus, were encouraged by his decree, to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Cyrus, King of Persia, recorded that our Creator distinctly moved his mind to write that decree, and King Darius, who followed Cyrus, confirmed the decree.)

Tess Maddin

Melwood: Your Local Nature Reserve

As we, and the wood, prepare for winter I am going to remind you what a marvellous display there was when it was just coming into life in early spring. Despite the inclement weather the wood was very vibrant at this time. The snow drops were particularly good in February. The oxlips, primroses and their hybrids also provided an impressive display. I was initially concerned that they had all been eaten by rabbits or deer when I did my regular weekly checks (we have had bad damage in previous years and had been using some protection around the plants but this had been moved away this year). However, between one weekend walk and another they appeared in all their glory. The Group’s efforts to establish wood anemones moved one tiny pace forward, as the two surviving plants bloomed for the first time. Single flowered leek seems to have established more good clumps and dusky cranesbill seedlings are widely distributed around the wood. However, as they are growing as individual plants, they are not very obvious, even when in flower. The work team leader was surprised to find a well hidden clump of Ransoms in bloom, as this is a species that has not been recorded as present in the wood for many years. The clump appeared well established, so it will be interesting to see if it persists and spreads in future. Daffodils provided a great display and we have plans to move to replacing the commercial varieties with more naturalised bulbs.

Some new trees were planted in the spring and the crab apple was soon in full bloom. An oak, grown in a pot since it had turned up in a village flower border, seems to have settled into the wood surprisingly well. One that was seeded directly into the wood, presumably by a squirrel or a Jay, has struggled to make anything more than rather spindly growth.

The poor early spring may have had adverse effects on those butterflies that hibernate over the winter. The brimstone appeared a little later than usual but in fairly normal numbers. The same cannot be said of the other hibernators. The Small tortoiseshell has been very scarce and Jim (our expert) had not had any sightings of either the Peacock or the Comma in the wood or adjacent gardens by May. The other spring butterflies delayed emergence until the weather improved but were all present in good numbers by early summer. The Holly Blue was enjoyed a particularly good start to the year, possibly as a result of diversification of the foodplants used by its caterpillars.

One effect of the cool, wet start to the spring was an explosion of growth in response to the unusually warm start of May. Garlic Mustard (also known as Jack by the Hedge) and Hedge Parsley bloomed well and covered a substantial

area beside the river footpath. We took a class from Meldreth

Primary school along the footpath by the river in May and they enjoyed the abundance of Cow Parsley. Other species such as Dusky Cranesbill are initially lost amongst such tall plants but emerge later when we expose them by a late spring cut. Timing this is not an easy decision, as ideally the plants need to be cut after flowering has finished but before ripe seed is distributed. The decision is complicated by the fact that Orange Tip butterflies often use Garlic Mustard as a food plant, with their caterpillars being particularly fond of the small green unripe seed pods. Management is often a case of balancing competing interests and it may be 12 months before we know whether we got it right or not. Last year we were a little too late with the cut and too much seed was distributed, hence the proliferation this spring.

Now all this dynamic growth has ended its cycle and the plants will die back having spread their seeds and stored energy to provide another great display next spring.

Adapted from a piece by Jim Reid in Meldreth Matters Website: http://melwood.btck.co.uk

If you are interested in joining the conservation work of the Melwood Conservation Group, please contact: Jim Reid 01763 260231 or Bruce Huett 01763 232855

Female Orange Tip feeding on the flowers of Garlic Mustard.

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Sports & Clubs

Bowls

Arthur Andrews 261990

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

Melbourn Judo Club

Iain Reid 241830

Melbourn Karate Club Peter Khera 07866 374674

Melbourn Sports Centre

Graham Johnson Mack 263313

Melbourn and Meldreth Women’s Group

Pat Smith 262575

Sue Toule 260955

Anne Harrison 261775

Photographic Club

Bruce Huett 232855

Ramblers

Dave Allard 242677

Royston and District Round Table

Michael Seymour 221398

Swimming Club

Jenny Brackley 244593

Tennis (Melbourn)

Dave Liddiard 07508 995 781

Tennis (Meldreth)

Tracy Aggett 243376

1st Melbourn Brownies

To celebrate the Royal wedding, we had a bin bag fashion week. During the meeting, each Six was tasked with creating an outfit for a bride and groom (and some bridesmaids if they had time) out of bin bags. The results were splendid.

We had a party partway through the term to celebrate the unit’s 50th Birthday. The Brownies all came in party outfits and enjoyed party games and food. We had a surprise visit from one of our former leaders, Snowy Owl. Another way in which we marked the unit’s 50th Birthday was with a visit from Glazed Creations. Each of the Brownies got a mug to decorate. These mugs serve as a nice memento of their time at Brownies and to remind them that they were part of the unit for our 50th celebrations.

One week we created miniature gardens using materials from a variety of sources. For example, as soil we used coffee grounds, from a well known coffee chain. Also, an off cut from a roll of artificial grass was big enough to turf many miniature gardens. Some of the Brownies took their creations along to the village fete for the competitions and a few were lucky enough to win prizes. We ended the term in the sunshine with our annual barbecue where the Brownies enjoyed outdoor games, campfire songs, lots of burgers and hotdogs, finished off with an ice lolly.

If you (or your daughter) would be interested in joining in the fun, please contact Steph (Brown Owl) by phone 01763 220272 or email stefclifford@hotmail.com.

1st Melbourn Guides

A Guide faces challenge, including a roller coaster and a haunted house! Our summer outing to Chessington World of Adventures saw the girls braving rides of varying degrees of scream and splash factor; for many, it was their first experience of such a theme park.

We’ve been blessed with a summer term of warm, dry evenings in which to enjoy plenty of outdoor activities. In early May the girls did a treasure hunt around the village,

being challenged by cryptic clues, observational questions, and even a bit of maths. A few weeks later we went to Stockbridge Meadows for a wide game themed on Guides Resistance in the War. The girls had to complete tasks of survival, reconnaissance, stealth and deception whilst avoiding interrogation by the German patrol.

We combined the Royal Wedding with a Guide Promise evening, as both involve making a meaningful commitment to others. Each girl decorated a cupcake with icing and Haribo shapes, and made a gift basket, which she then gave to a girl in another group. They also used photos and royal titles to build four generations of the Royal Family tree and played trust games.

Seven new girls joined us for a taster session after half term, when we collected buckets of water from the River Mel, before doing a world water issues challenge. The girls chose netball for a sports evening, which was held at MVC and run by parents Tracey and Kathryn, who are members of Royston Netball club.

There was a chance for more outdoor fun on the District hike & picnic, walking from Melbourn to Barrington school, joining up with Brownies in Meldreth, and learning map reading along the way.

With summer camp on the horizon, at the end of term the girls learnt to bash in wooden tent pegs and pitch a patrol tent, whilst others managed to light a small fire and cook mini beef burgers from squashed meatballs.

If you would like to know more about joining our waiting list or becoming 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

Cub Scouts

It has been a very busy term, as the summer term always is. We have had not one, not two but three camps since Easter. Which in hindsight was probably one too many, if only for leaders’ stress levels.

Over the May bank holiday long weekend, we visited the home of scouting Gilwell Park and stayed for 3 nights. Highlights included the 3G swing, a slightly muddy hike, crate stacking and raft building. Oh, and pancakes for breakfast.

At the end of June, we joined four other cub scout groups from the local region for a district camp at St Ives. The theme was “Myths and Legends” and we lived up to this, with Archery, fire lighting, knightly challenges and the cubs contributed to

the King’s feast, helping to cook a pig on an open fire, making their own apple sauce and vegetable accompaniments. With more than 80 people there this was the biggest event we’ve ever done. Next year we hope to break 100.

Finally, in July we had a Bastille day themed French camp at Paccar in Chalfont with beavers and scouts also present. Croissants and beef bourguignon were consumed, the new Paella pan was christened by cooking 160 sausages simultaneously, and cubs abseiled, zip lined and had a lot of fun.

As well as camps, we have orienteered on the rec ground next to the Pavilion, visited Clip and Climb in Cambridge, learned to use knives safely, pond dipped at Fowlmere Nature Reserve, Treasure hunted around Melbourn (it’s amazing how often the treasure can be found at the fish and chip shop...) cycled around Wimpole and hosted a fundraising stall at the primary school Fayre.

We bid farewell to several of our eldest cubs as they move on to scouts but will welcome even more young cubs coming up from beavers in September, keeping our numbers around thirty.

The cubs meet at Melbourn Primary School every Friday 6:45 8:00pm. Any adults interested in volunteering to join our fun and adventure please contact me at cubs@1storwellscouts. org.uk. We are unfortunately full currently, until we get enough adult volunteers to open another pack. Young people can join our waiting list by contacting admissions@1storwellscouts.org.uk.

Melbourn Bridge Club

The same enthusiasm has filled MBC for the past quarter. Many of the beginners/improvers who meet in a Tuesday afternoon for Duplicate Bridge, feel confident enough to join the Monday evening sessions for the more advanced player. Numbers continue at a very encouraging rate albeit holiday time. The Football World Cup and other sporting extravaganzas have not diminished numbers.

A group, organised by Chris Norris, of some 16 members enjoyed a three day trip to Cave Castle on Humberside for Bridge tuition, with rounds of golf being enjoyed by several players in between the lessons.

Play at the United Reform Church Hall, Orchard Road, Melbourn continues throughout the year, Christmas Day & Boxing Day being the only dates in the year when we do not meet.

Please contact Howard Waller on 01763 261693 for further information.

Royston & District Local History Society

www.roystonlocalhistory.org.uk

Our website shows all the books we have for sale. Many of these result from the considerable work undertaken by our Publications sub committee. The books may be ordered by post from David Allard 01763 242677. They may

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also be purchased at the Royston Museum & Arts Gallery in Kneesworth Street (open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays 10am to 4.45pm) and some are available at the Cave Bookshop in Melbourn Street or at Royston Library.

The Royston Cave, Melbourn Street, Royston will be open on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays until the end of September 2pm to 4.30pm (last admission 4pm) www.roystoncave.co.uk.

Our evening meetings, which are held in the Heritage Hall (the main hall downstairs) Royston Town Hall will re commence on 4th October at 8pm and thereafter on the first Thursday of each month.

» October 4th – The Rectors of Therfield – Richard Genochio Illustrated

» November 1st – The remarkable story of Heffers of Cambridge 1876 1999 Illustrated Julie Bounford

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

Visitors £2

Email: david.allard@ntlworld.com

Cambridgeshire Family History Society

Our monthly meetings are held in the Central Library, Lion Yard, Cambridge, between 10.30am and 3.30pm. Everyone is welcome and entry is free. The meetings follow a pattern of research being available all day plus talks at 12.30 and 2pm.

» 8 Sept 12.00 DNA Day with Donna Rutherford

Instead of our usual programme format we have 2 talks –1 DNA testing for Beginners

2 Using DNA tests for Genealogy Please note the earlier start time.

» 13 Oct 12.30 The 4 Rs ‑ Genealogical Proof Standard with Caroline Norton

2.00 Duxford Airfield’s History with Ivor Warne

» 10 Nov 12.30 The 4 Rs with Caroline Norton

2.00 Rogues and Vagabonds need not Apply –Army Ancestry – with Ian Waller

» 8 Dec Writers’ Workshop Mary Naylor

The information above is correct at time of publication but should there be any change it will be advised on our website www.cfhs.org.uk either on the Home page or in the monthly Newsletter.

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, Royston Museum & Art Gallery and Melbourn Hub.

We have walks on Sundays, which are normally 5–7 miles

in the morning and a similar or shorter walk in the afternoon. Occasionally Sunday walks are Figures of Eight making it possible to do only the morning or only the afternoon. Half day walks (5–7 miles) are held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Our evening walks (3–5 miles) will resume on 29th April 2019. Prospective new members may come on three walks before deciding whether to join. www.ramblers.org.uk to join.

Rotary Club of Cambridge

Sawston

Presidential Handover … and he is still called Simon. July starts the Rotary Year, when the President of our Club changes. Simon Lake has handed the honour over to Simon Talbott. Some of you are sure to know the ‘new’ Simon as he is the vicar of Great Shelford and is also a Rural Dean. He has a busy life already serving the Community, which ties in so well because the Rotary motto is ‘Service above Self’. The club meets weekly at the George at Babraham, where we share fellowship over a 2 course Meal, and then have an interesting speaker. If you would like to see what we are all about then you will find our details on our website www.sawstonrotaryclub.org.uk

If you would like to come along to a meeting, then contact Vic Starkey on 01223 871568 or email him on vicstarkey@ btinternet.com

Melbourn KSTSK Karate Club

Medals and trophies were won by Melbourn Shotokan Karate Club who were involved and in a tournament at Wodson Park Sports Centre Ware. This was the 13th Annual tournament organized by Kamaete Schools of Traditional Shotokan Karate (KSTSK) Chief Instructors Sensei Peter Khera (6th Dan) and Sensei Rakesh Patel (6th Dan). Fifteen clubs in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire competed in the tournament. Families and friends packed out the sidelines, cheering their respective clubs on throughout the day. Events covered all ages, from age five years Kata, through to teenager and adult categories to Black Belt Kata and Kumite. The popular family team (synchronised) Kata event of three people proved a success again with 20 teams coming forward to compete. Sensei Peter Khera said “Every competition was very close as all the individuals and teams involved put on excellent performances.

Sensei Khera commented “this was a proud day for Melbourn Club members who picked up a number of medals and trophies in the different categories”.

Gold Medals and trophies went to: James Storer x2, Joshua Bellamy, Ben Holme, Jack Lione, David Whybrow, George Whybrow and Gregg Hills.

Silver Medals and trophies went to: Jack Lione x2, Henry Whybrow x2, Benji Andrews, Samuel Francis, William Leese and David Whybrow.

Bronze Medals and trophies went to: Benji Andrews,

55melbournmagazine@gmail.com

Bassingbourn Karate club is running Free taster beginners classes at MVC Sports Centre on Sundays at 12.00 Midday. Please call 07866 374674 or visit www.kstsk.co.uk for details.

Melbourn Bowls Club

While we did not do a leaflet drop this year we still managed to recruit six new members and are delighted to welcome Dylan Morton, Gwyn and Beth Hardwicke, Laurie Horden, Bodil Warburton and Lawrence Cunningham. We wish them all a happy and successful season. We have, however, suffered the sad loss of two long standing members, Ann Brown and Mervyn Mann. We recognise the valuable contributions they made to the club and extend our sincere sympathies to their families on their loss.

We held our Annual Charity Match against Meldreth Bowls Club on the late May Bank Holiday Sunday and managed to raise £260, which this year was donated to The Arthur Rank Hospice. We will be holding our annual Open Triples Competition on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday Weekend, which is one of the highlights of the Season.

The season so far has been relatively successful particularly the C & D division 2 team, the Meldreth league team and the Business House Teams. The C & D division 5 and Foxton League teams have had mixed results, but have been used to give less experienced players the opportunity to take part in competitive games.

We have again continued with our popular Coffee Mornings run by Muriel Cooper, which are held on Thursday mornings at the Clubhouse on the Moor, where we welcome all comers whether members or not. Indeed, we have a regular group of non members who come along for the social occasion and often watch members playing on the green.

The Club will be holding Whist Drives on alternate Fridays during the winter and would welcome anyone who would like to take part. These are generally informal events, more social than competitive (mostly!!) As of the time of writing the actual dates have not been decided, but if you are interested please contact Arthur Andrews (01763 261990) or by e mail arthur.andrews123@ btinternet.com who will be able to give you further details.

Further information concerning the Club can be seen from our Website melbournbowlsclub.co.uk or from Arthur Andrews or any of the contacts listed on the Website.

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We keep many local people

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Please call us on 01462 490141 to book.

The Melbourn clinic times have

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Healthy lifestyle fun sessions for children!

Having worked successfully in a number of Cambridge City and South Cambridge schools, providing healthy living workshops, we are now looking to run our Jump Avenue programme at a location near you!

Tuesday 18th September – 11th December 2018 3:45pm - 4:45pm Melbourn Primary School, Mortlock St, Melbourn, Royston SG8 6DB

‘Jump Avenue’ is a free 12 week interactive and engaging healthy lifestyle programme packed full of fun and learning for children and their parents / carers in a supportive, welcoming and friendly environment.

If you want to know more about healthy lunch box ideas, decoding confusing food labels or the effect of sugar on your child’s concentration, then Jump Avenue is for YOU!

(Sign up before September and you will be entered into our FREE PRIZE DRAW!!)

For more information on our programme and to book your place, contact us on 0333 005 0093 or visit www.everyonehealth.co.uk

*Reduced

number, Mon-Fri, 8am

6pm

Sofia Andrews, Samuel Francis, Ben Holme, James Storer, David Whybrow and John Holme.

Commissioned by Cambridgeshire County Council, this FREE service has been designed to support families to improve their health and wellbeing.

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.

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. With the support of our fundraising and community partners, we are making the club more inclusive by assisting players whose families are unable to afford the necessary fees

We are looking forward to another successful season with new teams and players welcoming the opportunity to play for Melbourn Dynamos. We expect to have more than 230 players in 17 teams at the club. This includes 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 qualification in June 2015 and is our Football Development Officer. These players, aged 3–6, have fun and develop their skills before deciding whether to play league football as the club’s under 7s team. This fun, preparation and skill development through the Dynamites has undoubtedly brought more success to our current League Teams. These 3–6 year old girls and boys train with level 2 and level 1 FA qualified coaches in a Saturday morning fun between 09.15 –10.15 a.m. 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.

This season we are pleased to announce that more of our matches will be played on the Melbourn Parish Council’s old and new recreation grounds. We are very grateful for this support. ‘The Club continues to contribute to the upkeep and improvement of the areas we use in partnership with Justin Wilmott and his team at Herts and Cambs Grounds Maintenance. The Club also proactively seeks to engage with community partners so we can develop the excellent service we currently provide. Through this these partnerships we seek to extend health and wellbeing benefits to everyone fortunate to live in Melbourn and the surrounding villages.

We are hosting the Royston Crow Youth Football League’s U8s’ Tournament on 8th September to help launch the new season. Through these tournaments we welcome many new visitors to the village to enjoy the great Parish facilities that we are fortunate to use and the beautiful setting. We are

grateful to Melbourn Village College for hosting the club’s Presentation Day on Sunday 10th June. This was a successful and enjoyable day which celebrated the success of all of our players raised money for the club and for our nominated charity Tom’s Trust – www.tomstrust.org.uk. As one of our players, he gave his name to the Tom Whitely Community Award. This is awarded each year to the player who best demonstrates the club’s commitment to our Community through volunteer work. This year the award went to Thomas Cockman (below) who provides a great example of this work for club and community.

We are also proud of the voluntary work done by our members for the Community. Last year the Community Work of our Child Welfare Officer Nicky Patel was recognised by Melbourn Parish Council. This year in addition to her extensive voluntary work for the club, she has organised a recent charity 5k Fun Run in the village that has raised more than £4,500 to help a local family with essential life extending medical treatment www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/stuartkemp1

Nationally, there has been much concern about historical failures to protect children in youth football. We take these concerns very seriously and reassure our community that as a Charter Standard Club we have the required child protection measures in place, that we are annually audited by the FA and that we remain vigilant. All of our coaches are DBS/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 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

welcome!

we have all the correct people and practices in place to operate in line with FA & government requirements.

All are welcome at Melbourn Dynamos and we are delighted to offer opportunities from age 3 upwards. Why not find out more about the Club and the opportunities to play football with us by contacting David Atkins on 01763 263462 or email – secretary.mdfc@gmail.com.

The club’s success depends entirely on enthusiastic members and volunteers. Our continuing success and growth means that we need even more volunteers. If you feel that you would like to contribute to the club as an administrator, communications leader, fund raiser, fixtures secretary, 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 from the club’s Website: www.melbourndynamos.co.uk.

Melbourn Sports Centre

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

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

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

• A comprehensive swimming lesson programme, catering for all ages and abilities

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

• Water sports courses and activities

• Traditional and modern exercise classes

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

• Supervised sports and pool parties

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

Come in out of the cold!

With Autumn fully upon us and the nights closing in, why not come in out of the cold and have a go at such activities as table tennis, squash or badminton? Court hire from only £5.00 per hour. We have loads of classes to keep you fit and healthy, including Boot camp, Aquafit and Body Sculpture. Or why not take advantage of one of our great membership schemes to our fitness suite, which houses the latest in gymnasium equipment, including C.V machines fitted with audio visual technology.

Half term activities

Children’s Half Term is fast approaching, an ideal time to book your young ones onto one of our great activity courses. These include swimming crash course, soccer camps, trampoline taster sessions and our popular Ofsted PlayScheme.

Party time!

Looking for the perfect venue to hold your children’s birthday or Halloween party? Then your search is over! We have all the facilities here for a fun packed event with a variety of activities for your guests to enjoy, including trampolining (always a popular choice), football and traditional pool parties.

Open afternoon

Finally, after last year’s success, we will also be running another Sports Centre Open afternoon on Saturday 22nd September. The event will include a variety of free activities put on by local clubs. Children will also have a chance at competing in a SCOOTATLON/BIKEATHLON event, enabling youngsters to completing a mini fun triathlon, where they scoot or bike and run around a basic course. Full details will be released nearer the time.

Swimming lessons

We still have plenty of spaces on our pre school lessons, so for more details or to book a place then please contact Robbie or Graham on 01763 263313.

Waterplay

These pre school swimming lessons are an ideal first step for your child learning to swim, with the aims to build confidence in water, learning basic skills like floatation and movement using buoyancy aids.

Tuesdays: 13.30 – 15.00 (30 min lessons)

Thursdays: 13.30 – 15.00 (30 min lessons) Fridays: 10.30 – 11.30 (30 min lessons)

Prices: £3.85 per lesson (paid termly)

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 soon.

Activities for teenagers and young adults

Teen training An hour fitness session using our fitness suite machines.

Age range: 14 years upwards

Monday – Fridays: 15.00 – 16.30

Weekends: 14.00 – 15.00

Price: £2.50 per session/10 sessions for £20.00 Melbourn Sports Centre, The Village College, The Moor, Melbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 6EF 01763 263313 / www.mc sport.co.uk / info@mc sport.co.uk

Grinnel Hill BMX Club

Spring saw further support from Norburys Builders Mechants with further deliveries of chalk aggregate to aid us to further develop the site including a major re design and development of the upper part, and new additions to the lower half of the site.

Since then there’s been many club members returning from far and wide, including all the way from New Zealand!

There are also plans for an End of Season Jam late summer as a fund raising exercise for the club!

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.

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. Frog End Pet Supplies Melbourn for their supply of grass seed and bird food. 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. Norburys Builders Merchants Melbourn for their ongoing support of chalk aggregates for us to build with.

feature

Chalk Stream Lullaby

I do not know much about gods, but I think that the river

Is a strong brown god, sullen untamed and intractable’ This phrase is taken from T.S.Eliot at the beginning of the rolling and wonderful, Dry Salvages, in the Four Quartets. It is said he was inspired to write it by some rocks with a beacon on the NE coast of America at Cape Ann Massachusetts.

Even though short and hidden the river Mel has its own beauty and as Eric Schumacher wrote many years ago ‘Small is Beautiful’. There are vistas, meanders, pools and changes. Different depths of water, reeds, grebes’ coots, the heron that lives there and the white egret which has taken up residence as well as the dart of some kingfishers. According to Tristran Goode’s anthropological book How to Read Water it is a healthy river its flow shows no sluggishness even at low water. It passes under small stone bridges, through weirs, creates ponds at mills and was clearly once lived around and on and was at the centre of village life. Just about wide enough to float a canoe, it can be swung across … and it joins the River Rhee (a tributary of the Cam) just outside Meldreth.

The Mel is a classic English chalk stream and I have walked it in all weathers. In summer, it can be low intractable and in winter it can indeed be sullen, especially just below the A10 when it becomes full of crisp packets, plastic bottles and other things which just happen to be dumped from cars. It is only the painstaking work of the River Mel Restoration volunteers who have slowly removed this from the river there and so increased its clarity and flow. It links my village Meldreth with the next village Melbourn and is a well worn route, crossing fields and through woodlands used by dog walkers, runners, and children on their way to Melbourn

Village College. For me the river Mel close to my home has always been a consolation, a healing force, and a surprise, in that it is different every day. It inspired a short sequence of poems which are published in my last collection The Blue Hour (Shoestring Press 2017) These poems have in turn led to a collaboration with the film maker James Murray White, who has made many short films about art and communities in Great Britain, and as far away as Mongolia and Israel.

Due to our shared interest in people and places the film will not only include poetry although it is part of it. Since the project began we have filmed and interviewed many local people who have stories to tell about their connection to the river both in Melbourn and Meldreth. We have taken Year Six from Meldreth Primary for a day along the river in Meldreth from Flambards Bridge to the church field where they explored, looked closely at wild things and on the way back made their own films with lightning speed on the schools iPads as they walked. The results are hugely varied and clever. Short campaigns to conserve the environment, visual meditations, ghost stories about Topcliffe Mill, close ups of bunches of flowers and water, many different approaches.

In the autumn, we plan to hold a one day event to share the stories given to us so far and as well as Gallery poets and Writers we wish to invite anyone who has an interest in the project on that day October 12th at The Hub in Melbourn (watch out for publicity nearer the time). We also hope to be able to share with you our new web site which will include most of the material we have filmed so far.

In early March, we are arranging a concert from acoustic musicians Penni Mclaren Walker and Bryan Causton who will play and reinterpret some of the folk songs collected by

Vaughan Williams when he lived in Meldreth and collected tunes and lyrics from this area, including a couple which became classics. Watch out for dates times and place co ordinated by the Hub in Melbourn.

And the film itself? You are invited to the first showing when it is finished! It has been possible to make this due to the generous support of many local and not so local friends through crowd funding, Melbourn and Meldreth Parishes solar fund Schemes and South Cambridgeshire community chest fund. We hope to include all aspects of the project: history stories, poems, music and poetry. This will be next year.

Since January James and I have been granted many permissions to visit all parts of the river, its source, the water meadows, and confluence where it meets the river Rhee. The chalk water is clear as a bell in these places. The river reliant on the local aquifer and naturally occurring springs and it continues through Stockbridge Meadows, Dolphin Lane, Sheene Mill and Manor, Melbourn playing fields, the woods in Meldreth … disappearing out across the fields towards Malton on its short length. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far. Here is one of the poems from the sequence.

Crossings

The chalk stream claims its territory in a scrap book of feathers, watermarked weeds, pressed petals, insect’s wings.

No fords, only tiny stone bridges or firm wooden crossings that would take a horse, a herd of sheep, as was once.

Behind the church, there’s willow shelter on the banks, picture perfect. Sanctuary as if it was still an ancient way full of travelling ghosts.

One minute long grass, the next chalk flat. And it is as if nothing ever changes and crossing is easy between banks. Through the gate forward and back forward and back.

But this is the nature of crossings, a leaving, a letting go a threshold.

There were others here before.

BUT Please feel free to write your own and come and join us on October 12th at the Hub or if you are interested in becoming involved you can contact me through my web site contact page. clarecrossman.net. At this address there is more information about me and a blog about the film we are making.

To find out more about James’ films here is a link to his website: http://vimeo.com/user392575

Clare Crossman

We can make life a little easier

Local Community Services delivered from Moorlands Court

Homecare : our fully trained carers visit you in your home.

Sitting service : a visit from our experienced sta gives family carers time for themselves

Day Centre : based at Moorlands Court with a friendly and sociable atmosphere and includes a tasty 2 course lunch.

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 nd out more, just call us at Moorlands Court on 01763 260564, or email : denise.taylor@chsgroup.org.uk

Brand new purpose built site

Flexible options for home and business Monitored CCTV, gate entry by key fob Easy access for removal company lorries Entry from 06.00 to 22.00, 7 days a week

Insulated, damp free containers owned from new and carefully maintained

Over 10 years of experience Friendly and family run

Visit our website: www.lawstorage.co.uk

Call us: 01223 874629

Email us: paul@lawstorage.co.uk

Please note, we have moved to: Butts Farm, Malton Road, Orwell, SG8 5QR

Let us lighten your load

What’s

Stourbridge Medieval Fair

Cambridge Past, Present and Future (CambridgePPF)

The Leper Chapel, Newmarket Road CB5 8JJ Saturday 1 September: 12pm to 4.30pm

Step back in time 800 years for a merry medieval afternoon at the historic Leper Chapel. Cambridge’s oldest complete surviving building, King John issued a Royal Charter in 1211. Visitors can browse stalls selling produce typical of the time, view historical re-enactments, and wander among pedlars and alchemists – arrive at noon to witness the traditional historic way of opening the fair. See inside the stunning chapel. Free, family event, and all are welcome.

Facing Rob Roy (a pop up talk)

Saturday 15 September, 11am

Cracked Voices – Royston & District Museum

In books, films and musicals, Rob Roy has been celebrated for centuries as a ‘highland rogue’ but just how much is true? Discover the layers of fiction that have ensured this eighteenth century’s outlaw’s survival into the 21st century.

Melbourn Amateur Dramatics Society

Painting Pals Art Exhibition

Sat and Sun, 29 and 30 September from 10am to 5pm

Painting Pals comprises a group of artists, living in Cambridgeshire are holding an Art Exhibition at the Grantchester Village Hall, High Street, Grantchester, Cambridge, CB3 9NF

The exhibition will feature original artwork in a variety of media, styles and subjects such as watercolours, pastels, oils, acrylics, mixed media, colour pencils and Chinese Brush paintings.

Visitors are able to purchase both framed and unframed artwork, as well as cards. Refreshments are available. Please come and join us

Foxton Art Exhibition

Saturday 17th – Sunday 18th November, 11am-4pm Foxton Village Hall, Foxton

Organised by volunteers, on behalf of The Friends of Foxton Primary School, the exhibition features work from prominent local artists across a range of disciplines including painting, prints, wood turning and ceramics. This event is to raise money for artistic material, facilities and activities for the children of Foxton Primary School.

Admission £2.00 with children welcome for free.

For further details on the Art Exhibition visit: Web: www.foxtonart.org Facebook: Foxton Art ExhibitionTwitter: @FoxtonArt

Royston & District Choral Society

Tuesday 11 September Open Rehearsal

7:45 – 9:45 pm in Royston Parish Church

Second Tuesday evening rehearsal of each term is arranged as an open rehearsal. Potential new singers are welcomed to join in for the evening to see how they get on. If you are interested contact our Chair, Huw Jenkins, or just turn up.

Sunday 30 September Royston Arts Festival Finale concert

Royston & District Choral Society is delighted to be taking part in Royston Arts Festival’s Finale Concert.

Sunday 4 November Britten War Requiem Haileybury College

The War Requiem, was commissioned to mark the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, replacing the original building destroyed in World War II.

For more information

See our website www.roystonchoralsoc.org.uk, find us on Facebook or contact Chairman, Huw Jenkins email chair@roystonchoralsoc.org.uk – tel. 07855 311192

Craft Fair

14th October 2018 10.30am to 3pm

Harston Village Hall

A wide selection of craft stalls. Relax with a cup of Tea, Coffee and cakes

To book a table e.mail: colinandbrenda1@hotmail.com

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

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

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

All parents need emotional and practical help to get through the first few years, but not everyone has friends or family nearby. This is when Home-Start volunteers can help! For more details contact Sarah or Jackie at: Home-Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire, Unit 6, Valley Farm, Station Road, Meldreth, Royston, Herts, SG8 6JP

Tel: 01763 262262 or e-mail admin@hsrsc.org.uk www.hsrsc.org.uk

Registered Charity No 1105385

Home Start

Support and friendship for families

60’s night disco

Saturday 29th September 2018

The Seth Ward Community Centre, Luynes Rise Buntingford, SG9 9SG

Doors open at 7.15pm to start at 7.30pm

£15 includes supper - hot dog or burger Vegetarian option available.

Quiz Night

Saturday 20th October at 7.00pm for 7.30pm

Fowlmere Village Hall, Chrishall Road Fowlmere, SG8 7RY

We welcome teams of 6 – please feel free to give your team a name. Unable to make a full team? Just let us know and we will include you in a team.

Please support our Licensed Bar – Raffle Tickets £12.50 per person, to include supper. Please reserve tickets by Thursday 18th October.

Fashion Party

Tuesday 6th November

From 7.30pm for “8.00pm ‘til late”

Come and see – and – try the clothes and fun accessories at ESSE Station Road, Melbourn, SG8 6DX

Tickets: £12 to include a glass of wine.

Wine Tasting Evening

Tuesday 20th November 2018 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start

In association with Cambridge Wine Royston Ltd

At Cambridge Wine & Tapas Bar 41 Kneesworth Street, Royston SG8 5AB Tickets: £20 per person

Please join us when a wine expert from Cambridge Wine, Royston will introduce various wines. To include light refreshments to compliment the wines. Due to the intimate setting of the venue, tickets will be limited, so book early to avoid disappointment.

To book your tickets for any of the events above please call our Home-Start office on 01763 262262 or e-mail: admin@hsrsc.org.uk To book online go to www.ticketsource.co.uk/hsrsc

Home Start Royston & South Cambridgeshire Unit 6, Valley Farm, Station Road, Meldreth, Royston, Herts, SG8 6JP www.hsrsc.org.uk

Charity No. 1105385

67melbournmagazine@gmail.com

Melbourn Flooring and

Phillimore

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CALL ON

Melbourn magazine is non-profit and all work on the magazine including design and layout are produced by volunteers. The Magazine is published four times a year in the first week of March, June, September and December. We print 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… Width x Height B/W Colour

1/4 inside page (79 × 128 mm) £105 £155

1/2 inside page (163 × 128 mm) £180 £250

Full inside page (163 × 262 mm) N/A £480

Advertising rates are per year (four issues) For further information on advertising please telephone 220363. Remittance or cheques should be made to Melbourn Magazine.

Editorial Ann Dekkers 261144

Editorial\Production Peter Simmonett 220363

Advertising Vernon Gamon 221965

Distribution Eric Johnston 220197

Parish Profile Mavis Howard 260686

Proof reading

Village Diary

Brenda Meliniotis

Jane Stephens

Colin Limming

Brenda Meliniotis 261154

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

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