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 Posted - 15/07/2009 : 13:32:58
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The deadline for articles, village events and adverts for the AUTUMN 2009 edition of Village Views is 24TH AUGUST. Please see contact details below.
Village Views is wholly produced by volunteers and is published four times a year, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We try to provide as up-to-date information as possible, and are happy to receive any articles, pictures, events information etc. For information on how to contribute please contact one of the editorial team:- M Creed (473294) (including photos and adverts), L Timms (394051), or R Russell (213647). Or you can email information to creedalan@aol.com.
Little Paxton Scarecrow Festival
What a fabulous day, thank you all so much for being there. The wind caused havoc, of course, with the Gazebos trying to take off and friends holding them down which was a bit frustrating but funny as well. It was so delightful to see people sitting on the bails of hay and joining in the fun in the arena. The winners of the scarecrows were judged by Emma Saint and her team from Heart FM Radio.
A Great Big Thank You to all the volunteers
The Scarecrows raised £947.50 on the beer tent, raffle and ice-cream stall, which we were amazed about, so have given £100.00 donations to:
St James’ Church towards the Tomorrow Project;
The Cricket Club as they are a new group;
The Youth Club - purchase of an Air Hockey Table.
The money that we have left has been banked for next year’s Scarecrow Festival that will be BIGGER & BETTER - this will be on Saturday, 8 May 2010. The Village Hall raised £103.40 on their Football Tombola, and the total amount to date taken at the festival (all stalls and crafts) is £3,945.20, with still more people to let us know how they got on.
Scarecrow Festival Winners
1st Little Paxton Scarecrow Festival - First prize of £50 cash went to Mr John Law, as chosen by Emma Saint from Heart FM
2nd prize: The Reeves Family (Builder’s Bum) Family ticket to Nene Valley
3rd prize: Mr Mark Humphrey (Boxer) Family ticket to Standalone Farm
4th prize: Mr & Mrs Pullen (Washing Line Lady) 2 cinema tickets (Donated by Heart FM)
5th prize: Mr & Mrs Storey (Swine Flu) large box of Clusters Donated by Heart FM)
6th prize: Miss Kayleigh Bolton (Life’s a Beach) Goodie bag (Donated by Heart FM)
Multi Use Games Area
Saturday, 11th July 2009
The Multi Use Games Area will be formally opened on Saturday 11th July 2009 at 12 noon by the St. Neots Town Crier at Little Paxton Playing Field.
The opening event coincides with the start of the village fete - Paxfest - which is also on 11th July on the playing field.
To celebrate the event, free sweatbands will be handed to every young person who comes along to the opening event. There will also be a penalty shootout competition with footballs as prizes. There will be three age groups for the competition - 7 and under, 11 and under, and 16 and under.
Look forward to seeing you!
The BIG Lunch Little Paxton
Sunday, 19th July will see millions of people across Britain take to streets and parks to share food and friendship. There are ‘Big Lunch’ picnics taking place across St Neots and there’s one happening here, in Little Paxton. Join us from midday on 19th July on Little Paxton playing field for a picnic. Bring your own food, any home grown or home cooked produce to share, bring a ball or frisbee, a guitar or song book and spend an afternoon getting to know the people who live near you.
For more information, or to find out the location of other
nearby picnics, see www.transitionstneots.wordpress.com, www.thebiglunch.com, email transitionstneots@googlemail.com or phone Sarah on 01480 211989.
New Chairman of the Parish Council
At the Annual Council meeting in May, Cllr Alan Denison stood down as Chairman. Cllr Peter Hagger was nominated as Chairman of the Council and Cllr Jeanette Cleaver was nominated Vice Chairman.
For all Parish Council enquiries, please contact Clerk of the Council, Mrs J Gellatly, 11 Hayling Avenue, Little Paxton. Tel 01480 470193. Office hours 9am-2pm.
Email:littlepaxton@hotmail.com www.littlepaxton.org.uk
Editor - thanks go to all our parish councillors for the hard work they put in throughout the year; it is probably not as well appreciated as it should be, but at this time a special thank you to Alan who has done such sterling work for us all, and long may he continue to do so.
St.James' Church- News form the Pews
Lent Appeal
Our Lent Smartie Tube Appeal on behalf of Father Jacob Tshingwana and his congregations in Zimbabwe raised over £900. Together with other money raised this makes a total of over £1,500 we have sent this year. The plight of ordinary people in Zimbabwe is desperate, we believe it is important for us to do what we can and share what we have. Our support for Jacob is ongoing. Every penny given goes directly to where it is needed, no charity organisations or government officials are involved. Thank you to all who gave, you have made a difference.
The Grand Plan – The ChuFT Project (Church for Tomorrow)
Our 900 year old church is in need of a bit of attention. The bells which haven’t been rung since 1912, apart from a trial ring a few months ago, are not safe to use. The way we ring church bells is a tradition unique to England and is hundreds of years old. Our plan to revive this tradition in Little Paxton is closer to becoming a reality. Plans to re-hang the bells, renew the heating and replace the Victorian pews with oak stackable chairs are well advanced. Watch this space, as they say.
During the summer you may notice lots of digging taking place in the churchyard. This isn’t a mass burial but three new soakaways being dug to make the church a drier, and warmer, place to be.
The new porch built onto the church about ten years ago, and the work we are undertaking over the next couple of years, is our gift to the future of Little Paxton. This will prepare St James’ for the coming generations.
Over the past 900 years, and in recent years, having a faith can sometimes seem ’unfashionable’. The fact that we are still talking about it is a statement in itself. Like our church building, many of the major religions need a bit of maintenance. Parts have become damaged and some areas have been affected by rot but the foundations are still sound. The faith of those folk many years ago has given us what we have today, with your help we are committed to giving it a future.
We hope you enjoy the Little Paxton Gardening Club ‘Summer Show’ at Paxfest
But what about the rest of the year?
You could become a member for only £5
Talks, slide shows, practical demonstrations, and
meeting other gardeners will help you get so much
more from your garden.
For more information contact Sally Sherrington Tel. 210495
The Connections Youth Bus will be attending this year’s Paxfest. The Parish Council has also booked the Connections Bus for one session per week throughout the school summer holidays.
The Connections Bus
The Bus will be outside the Village Hall on Thursdays 23rd and 30th July; and 6th, 13th, 20th and 27th August. 3pm – 5pm free entry. The Youth Bus caters for Year 6 and above.
What’s on the bus? 4 PC’s, Internet Connection, Games Consoles (PS3 & Xbox), Crafts, Tuck Shop, information and advice, Video/DVD and Karaoke, and much more. The Bus is supervised by trained youth workers.
Cemetery News
Details of the roses, and in whose memory they are planted, are now available to view on the parish website. Photographs of the rose beds will be taken when the roses are in bloom and will be loaded onto the website.
Parish Council Meeting dates
for the next 3 months
2nd July - Full Council 7.30pm
8th July - Finance 7.30pm
16th July - Planning 7.30pm; Amenities 8pm
6th August - Planning 7.30pm; Amenities 8pm
3rd September - Full Council 7.30pm
All meetings are held in the back room of the Village Hall. All Council meetings have a 15 minute Public Forum at the beginning of each meeting when members of the public are invited to raise issues with Councillors
Annual Report
The Council has now published its Annual Report for 2008/2009. The Report is available on the Council’s website or by contacting the Clerk.
For all Parish Council enquiries, please contact Clerk of the Council, Mrs J Gellatly, 11 Hayling Avenue Little Paxton Tel 01480 470193. Office hours 9am-2pm.
Financial Summary
The majority of income comes from the Precept (this is collected by Huntingdonshire District Council and is included in Council Tax payments). The balance of income includes bank interest, cemetery fees, allotment fees, grants to the Council, village newsletter sponsorship and adverts.
Funds received from the developers of the Island Site have been held on a fixed rate deposit and interest for the year amounted to £7,949.
Funds allocated for playing field maintenance, part of the developers’ funds, have been used to purchase a special frame, aerator and de-thatcher to help maintain the playing field and pitches.
Expenditure consists of 13.5% on capital projects. The main projects were installing new digital CCTV system and six colour cameras (£4,771), safety surfacing under the chin bars in the children’s play park (£4,757), new display boards (£213) and Christmas lights (£135).
Miscellaneous expenditure of £9,549 (13%) included purchase of a new Ben Nevis Igloo Climber for the children’s play park and a new aerator frame and various attachments for maintenance of the playing field. The developers’ funds were used for these purchases. Other items include tractor repairs and post installation report.
Staff costs amount to 40.5% and general administration, insurance and audit fees equate to 19.1% of costs. Village donations equated to 3.5%. The remaining 10.3% was for miscellaneous and routine maintenance costs.
Saturday, 5th September 2009
The Scarecrow Picnic starts at 3pm-midnight,
bring your own table chair and picnic.
There will be a Beer Tent, BBQ and Disco.
This event starts early so the little people can
come and have fun dancing.
(a request from a mum in the village)
If it rains we will be in the Village Hall.
The Scarecrows - next events for your diary
Saturday, 12th September 2009
A Craft Fayre in the Village Hall
with a Tea Room
10am - 4pm
Book your table as they are going fast
For more information contact
Jacqui 01480 219132 or Julie 01480 475921
Council Projects 2009-2010
Work has recently finished installing bollards in the car park area at Little Paxton Cemetery. All the Council notice boards will be refurbished to make them more up-to-date. New notice boards for the multi use games area will also be installed.
Improvements are planned for the steps and ramp at The Rookery. The Council was successful in bidding for funds from HDC’s Small Scale Minor Improvement Scheme.
New Community Building on Mill Lane, Little Paxton
At the request of a resident whose property is called 'The Willows', the Council has agreed not to call the community building 'The Willows'.
At the 5th March 2009 meeting, the Council agreed to defer naming the new building until building work is imminent.
More than 90 Cambridgeshire walks to download and print FREE!
There’s no doubt about it, walking is good for you. It’s good for your heart, it’s good for your lungs, it’s good for the muscle and bone growth of your children and it’s good for your feeling of wellbeing! Strong scientific evidence now supports the many benefits to health of regular walking – it is recommended that we take at least 10,000 steps a day.
Studies show that walking can:
Reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
and stroke
Lower blood pressure
Reduce high cholesterol
Reduce body fat
Enhance mental well being
Walking offers a great way to help kids get the active habit. If parents express excitement about the prospect of a walk in the countryside, they are more likely to transmit this feeling to their children. It’s important to treat the walk as an exploration or adventure and to go at the child’s pace, no matter how often they want to stop and look at things; take treats to eat and plenty to drink; and head for some landmark that will appeal to them such as a castle, a playground, an ice cream van or a boating pond. If children experience walking as part of a fun activity they are more likely to want to go again.
So, how do you find out what’s on offer? John Harris, a keen walker, got fed up with the lack of information on walks that were going on in the County, so he decided that if he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he had better create it! So www.walkingincambridgeshire.co.uk came into being. The website gives you all the information you need for the best walking in the County. Details of more than 90 walks to download and print free, details of all the Cambridgeshire walking groups, maps and walk books – plus loads more information.
So check out the website and get walking!
St Neots Community Alcohol Partnership
The St Neots Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP) is working to tackle underage drinking, its associated crime and disorder and negative impacts on health and society.
There is a real lack of awareness that supplying alcohol to underage persons is a criminal offence and can wreck lives. You could receive an on-the-spot £80 fine or end up in court and be fined up to £5,000.
For more information contact 01954 284635
Email: cambscap@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Village Posters/Notices
The Parish Council agreed on 7th May to use one side of the Parish noticeboard at the corner of Gordon Road/Parkside for posters for village groups and events. Guidelines for the noticeboard are available on the Parish website.
Anyone wishing to display a poster, please contact Mr Ken Bowles, 4 Silvan Close, Little Paxton, Tel 01480 473465 or the Clerk 01480 470193.
Village Fayre
The Little Paxton Village Fayre is booked for 21st November in the Village Hall and this year is being organised by St James’ Church supported by the Village Hall. If your organisation would like to book a stall please contact Peter Hagger (01480 477978).
Doggy Bags - The Council has a large supply of doggy
bags, please contact the Clerk.
Little Paxton Women’s Institute
We are a friendly group of ladies who enjoy having a good time. We meet at the village school on the third Monday of every month.
Come and join us for an evening to see if you
enjoy our company.
We organise walks, theatre and fun things through the year.
During August we are organising an outing to Blenheim Palace.
For more information contact (president) Jacqui on 219132
Date for your diary
16th October - Bedford Brass Concert,
Little Paxton School Hall 7.30pm.
Mick's Shorts
Use a bowl for preparing vegetables rather than run them under the tap
Select the proper size pans for cooking. Large pans need more cooking water than may be necessary.
Every time you boil an egg save the cooled water for your houseplants. They'll benefit from the nutrients released from the shell.
Designate one glass for your drinking water each day. This will cut down on the number of times you run your dishwasher.
The most water efficient methods for cooking vegetables are microwaving, steaming or using a pressure cooker. You can also cut down on water loss by using tight lids on pots and simmering instead of boiling rapidly.
Thaw frozen foods before you need them or use the microwave instead of placing them under running water.
If you accidentally drop ice cubes when filling your glass from the freezer, don't throw them in the sink. Drop them in a house plant instead.
If you’re gasping for a cup of tea, you’ll get one quicker if you only boil the amount you need and it will save electricity too; and keep a container of water (a jug or a bottle) in the fridge to avoid having to run the tap to get water cool enough to drink.
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Village Views Summer 2009
