Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
THE PARISH PUMP 1
Issue 181 February 2019
Valentine’s Day 14 February Love is in the Air
2 THE PARISH PUMP
Editor Rob Bailey [email protected] 512363 Wansdyke, Church Lane, Mildenhall SN8 2LU
Production Jeremy Young 520605
Proof Reader Jill Otley 516506
Advertising Ninna Gibson 511062
Collation Peter Hoyland 516773
Distribution Malcolm Watson 512729
Minal Website
Christopher Webb [email protected]
Publication Deadline
20th of the preceding month Please use font Arial size 10
THE PARISH PUMP 3
A rather belated Happy New Year, but I trust you enjoyed the festive period. Welcome back to The Pump. I would like to thank all of you who responded to the flyer about receiving a hard copy of the magazine; the response was encouraging. However, with rising production costs and reducing revenues from advertisers the way forward remains under consideration. I’m sure, like me, you found Derek Pinchen’s collective noun and word search most challenging. You will be pleased to know that the answers are printed in this month’s edition. Derek covers the subject of egrets this month – far less demanding to read!! While still on the subject of nature, Alistair Ewing of the Ramsbury Estate has written a rather sobering article on the state of the UK’s woodlands, and in particular, the ash trees suffering with ‘ash dieback’. And still on disappointing news, the Marlborough Team have yet to find someone to fill the appointment of Rector, but Derek Moss has written a very good article on the process of recruitment and selection which is being undertaken. On a more positive note, Wiltshire Council are showing and explaining the history of Mildenhall in the Marlborough Library on Thursday 7 February from 1.30-2.45pm. See the advertisement later in this edition. I was fortunate to spend Christmas with relatives in Canada, and later we travelled down the west coast of California. Unlike the UK, I noticed very few churches as we passed through cities or towns, and yet in the eastern states there are many in each conurbation. Invariably outside these churches there are illuminated bulletin boards, and a friend of mine sent me some of the more eye catching errors displayed: The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals The sermon this morning: Jesus walks on water. The sermon tonight: Searching for Jesus Low Self Esteem support Group will meet Thursday at 7pm. Please use the back door! Who can forget what occurs in February; Valentines Day? If you scour the internet you will find dozens of explanations of how the tradition has come about. All I would say is, no matter how young or old you are, take time out to show the very special people in your life how much you love them. Finally, if you would like to write to me, send an article or any correspondence you would like printed then send it to [email protected] by the 20th of the preceding month, so for March’s edition I need it by 20 February. Thank you! Wishing you a healthy and happy 2019
From the editor’s desk
4 THE PARISH PUMP
THE PARISH PUMP 5
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I would like to wish you all a peaceful 2019. The Carol Service and Christmas Day Services were very successful, and more people attended than last year. Several people commented what moving services there had been, and the flowers and the arrangements around the Church looked wonderful.. The outdoor Christmas Eve Nativity was, as always, very well attended, and now lots of people are keen to get involved. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in any of the activities over the Christmas period. We had a basket with a Nativity scene passed around the village; it was called The First Christmas. The basket included Mary and Joseph and a donkey; an Advent candle; a leaflet for folk to keep; a smaller basket for people’s prayers and the Nativity story book. We are aiming to follow this again for Christmas 2019. Dates for you Diary Saturday 16 March - Church Spring Cleaning Lucy Mutch would love to see as many helpers as possible. Saturday 30 March - preparing for Mothering Sunday, when we shall be making posies in the Church. Refreshments will be provided. Sunday 31 March we will be holding our Mothering Day Service June Goddard sends a big thank you to all involved in keeping the church looking cared for and welcoming with the floral displays throughout the year.They are appreciated not only by the congregation but visitors too. Mary Fishlock Church Warden
Church Notes
6 THE PARISH PUMP
THE PARISH PUMP 7
?Clergy Letter Derek Moss
Finding a new Rector for the Team…. As many of you will know, we are looking to appoint a new Rector for the Marlborough Team. Our first attempt before Christmas did not result in an appointment, therefore we need to go through the process of advertising the post again. It is not uncommon for vacancies in the church to remain unfilled after they are advertised for the first time but, as you might expect, those involved in the process feel that there is a need to identify anything that we could do better to attract more interest in the role. The key communication that any applicant sees is firstly the advertisement and then what is called the “Parish Profile” which contains descriptions of our town and amenities, our churches and congregations. It then follows with what we are looking for in our Rector and what we provide as accommodation and offer in support. The fact is that we did not attract many applications, even allowing for the timing, it being close to Christmas when clergy are very busy. It is now felt that the profile was somewhat downbeat and did not present an attractive enough picture of either just how much Marlborough has to offer or the extent of the opportunity that exists for outreach into the communities in each of our parishes. So it is back to the drawing board and as part of the process our congregations are being asked for “The one Thing” they feel is best about their church. This will be a “post-it” process in church but not everyone can get to a service and if you feel you would like to contribute do have a word with Mary Fishlock or any member of the church council. An obvious consequence of the lack of an appointment is that the vacancy will be prolonged and it is unlikely to be filled until September. However we are extremely lucky that there are clergy, both retired and from other parishes, who are willing to step in to help.
8 THE PARISH PUMP
History is Here!
Tickets available from Marlborough Library Contact [email protected] or Tel: 01672 512663
or the Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre Email [email protected] Tel: 01249 705500
THE PARISH PUMP 9
MINAL VILLAGE HALL
80 year-old Secretary of the Hall Committee
needs to retire. A new volunteer is sought. Could
it be YOU?
Contact Susan Monson, 01672 289002 [email protected]
or Rob Bailey, 01672 512363 [email protected]
10 THE PARISH PUMP
Worldwide travel arrangements for leisure or business at a time and place to suit you
100% financially protected, ABTA, ATOL, myTC app
01672 83 82 80
[email protected] www.travelcounsellors.co.uk/ruth.kolish
RUTH KOLISH,
KINGTON AGGREGATES LTD
We supply all aggregates, small and large quantities to Marlborough, Hungerford, Newbury and surrounding villages at
very competitive prices Including: Topsoil, Compost, Bark Chip, Building Sand, Sharp Sand, Gravel,
Ballast, Scalpings, Ready Mix Concrete, Muck Away, Grab Lorry’s.....
Call Steff for advice and quotations
01672 512636 / 07711100541
www.kingtonaggregates.co.uk
THE PARISH PUMP 11
Acoustics at the ‘Shoe Come and play, come and listen,
come and join in.
Full PA and a skilled and flexible ‘house band’ of musicians provided.
At The Horseshoe On the last Friday of the month
From 7pm
Letters to the editor Dear Ed.,, Dog Fouling I am not sure if my request is appropriate for the magazine but I would like to ask if others in the village feel the same as me. I would like to see a dog bin erected either in the sports field or approaching paths to the sports field. I have seen numerous dog walkers both from the village and the caravan site walking across the meadows with nowhere to dispose of dog waste, and so we find the little black ‘poo bags’ either thrown in the hedge or worse, hanging from branches. I wrote to the Parish Council two years ago when we moved here and the reply to my request was no bin. I believe there is a charge to the Parish to have them emptied but surely this would be beneficial to dog walkers and other users of Village footpaths, and keep them clean? Perhaps if other villagers feel the same we can ask the Parish Council to reconsider again. Yours sincerely Mrs Anne Youngs The Heathers 515404 Editor’s Note: The Parish Council will be installing bins at the Play Park and the Sports Ground next month
12 THE PARISH PUMP
New year 2019 pilates at Minal Village hall Group mat work Pilates courses 2019 Mondays 9-10am Fridays 8.45-9.45am and 9.45-10.45am Limited spaces. Pre-booking required. Free taster class. For further details and to make a reservation contact Caroline McCord on 07817 503546 or [email protected] or 01672 511360 or www.backinbalancepilates.com
Pilates helps promote; Deep muscle toning Back Strengthening Postural awareness Core stability Inch Loss
THE PARISH PUMP 13
Chalara Fraxinea Ash Dieback Some of you may have realised that our ash trees are under attack. The attackers come in the form of a fungus…..Chalara Fraxinea also known as ash dieback disease. Spores are released on to the leaf litter or are blown on the wind, as well as being spread on the feet of animals and walkers. This disease is invariably fatal not necessarily by itself, but it allows other pathogens to enter the tree which seals its fate. It is estimated by the Forestry Commission that between1% and 5% will show some tolerance. There are an estimated 80 million mature ash trees in the UK or approximately 13% of our broadleaf woodland. Chalara was first identified in Poland in 1992 and possibly originated in Asia. Ever since, it has spread westwards. It was identified in the eastern counties of Norfolk and Suffolk in 2012. England imports many thousands of young trees from nurseries in continental Europe and this is probably the source of our infection, although it cannot be ruled out that spores were windblown from the continent I suppose you could blame globalisation for this affliction, as with Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Grey Squirrel, American Signal Crayfish, Mink and several others. When a relatively secure country as is ours, because of our island status, nature is encountering threats which has had no evolutionary resistance. This disease is going to have a quite devastating effect on our hedgerows and woodlands. Unlike Dutch Elm disease which wiped out virtually all the large and mature elms, these were really confined to hedgerow and parkland trees. A dead oak tree will possibly stay standing for ten, twenty or even thirty years before falling over, these Chalara affected trees will last a fraction of that. The onset of the disease coupled with other pathogens destroys the structural integrity of those trees which renders the wood very brittle in a short space of time.
14 THE PARISH PUMP
Ash Dieback continued. This represents quite a danger to those working and walking in the woodlands. We here at Ramsbury have always had a proactive approach to managing our woodlands which is in line with Forestry Commission guidelines. In the softwood plantations, we are felling Spruce, Larch, Corsican Pine and Douglas Fir in rotation when they reach maturity. We are replanting in the next planting season (Nov-March). This gives us a constant supply of mature timber, which in turn goes to make window, frames, doors and items for the construction industry. The first and second thinnings are used for fence posts, bars etc……the rest is chipped to feed our biomass boiler at the distillery. On the broadleaf areas, which dominate our woodland trees are felled either because they have become dangerous, old and diseased or they are mature and can be used for all sorts of hardwood applications……the poor wood is destined for firewood. Once trees have been felled and these are either by selective thinning, or occasionally clear felled especially if all the trees are mature, the areas are replanted with a mix of species i.e. oak, beech, wild cherry, hornbeam, limes, walnut, hazel, field maple and occasionally crab apples or holly etc. Because we are sequentially felling, over time the woodland becomes multi aged with two hundred, one hundred and fifty, thirty year and possibly one or two year old trees in small parcels. This mix of ages and species creates resilience in a woodland, which effectively does two things. It creates a very varied habitat for flora and fauna, invertebrates and the like and if disease strikes as in the case of Chalara it will not destroy the wood .
THE PARISH PUMP 15
It seems rather poignant, that in this centenary year of the creation of the Forestry Commission, United Kingdom woodlands face their most challenging and serious situation since its inception. Born out of a desperate need to become more self-sufficient in timber, the commission has been relatively successful. Centuries of building “ships of the line”, pit props for the mining industry, duck boards for the trenches in the Great War and many more uses led us to import 90% of our timber even before the 1914 war. The U-boat menace put even more pressure on UK woodlands. Under the FC’s guidance the area of broadleaved woodland today is 80% more than the total woodland as shown in the 1877 agricultural survey. We ourselves have planted nearly 200 acres of new wood on former farmland over the last twenty years. If you combine that with restocking woodland felled areas it accounts for a few hundred thousand trees. But this ash die back is here and we have to manage it. We are and will be leaving trees which show tolerance to the disease. Apparently UK ash has a more diverse genetic makeup than their continental cousins, so in time if there are fully resistant trees out there, we may be able to plant ash again. Our landscape will change in the short term, but I suppose that’s evolution, the flora and fauna will adapt and hopefully people will take the long term view, a view that every forester has every day. Alistair Ewing Ramsbury Estates
16 THE PARISH PUMP
THE PARISH PUMP 17
An increasingly common sight in this area, particularly in Winter, is the Little Egret. A large flock can often be seen in the cow field at Durnsford Mill Farm before they go to roost nearer the river as the sun sets. In recent years a few had been gathering at Froxfield and now they seem to have spread and multiplied considerably.
By the end of the 1950s there had only been a couple of dozen recorded ever in the UK. It was about then that they started to frequent Spanish and French coasts during the Winter. After breeding for the first time in Brittany in 1960 their numbers increased over the next 20 years until some decided to cross the Channel. Brownsea Island on the Dorset coast boasts the first British breeding record in 1996 followed the next year by a pair in Hampshire and another in County Cork, Ireland. The numbers have increased ever since and there are now thought to be around 700 breeding pairs in the UK including a few in Wiltshire.
They normally stand by the water's edge with their long neck withdrawn to give them a hunched appearance. Other times they will splash about in the water, flapping their wings and hoping to prompt small fish to dart out from where they are hiding. Those which can be seen near Durnsford Mill seemed to have adopted the feeding patterns of their much smaller, and rarer, cousins, Cattle Egrets. As their name suggests, they follow livestock and prey on the small insects and worms which are disturbed by hooves. They breed in Spain and Portugal, but like Little Egrets, they are gradually spreading North. A handful stayed near Woodborough for a few days last year and there have been about 50 in Cornwall and the South-West recently.
Despite their name, Little Egrets are bigger than Cattle Egrets but much bigger still are Great White Egrets. About the size of a Grey Heron this is another species which, although still a rare Winter visitor, is also becoming a more regular feature of our wetlands. There have
(Continued on page 19)
Derek Pinchen Nature Notes
18 THE PARISH PUMP
www.smithsofaxford.co.uk
Of Axford
For all your coal, logs and calor gas needs
Ring to arrange delivery, alternatively, all fuels can be collected from our yard
For further details Tel: 01672 515784 www.smithsofaxford.co.uk
KEEP WARM WITH
THE PARISH PUMP 19
Derek Pinchen Nature Notes
been a few at the Cotswold Water Park for a few weeks, and this short guide (source: RSPB) should help to differentiate between the three species:
LITTLE EGRET CATTLE EGRET GREAT WHITE EGRET
Size 55-65cm 45-50cm 85-100cm
Leg colour black yellow/greyish yellowish/blackish
Feet colour yellow yellow/greyish black
Beak colour black yellow blackish (non- breeding - yellow)
Food fish, insects, insects, worms, fish, insects and worms., frogs, reptiles, frogs frogs and mice UK Winter population 4,500 100 35
Although there is a public right of way near Thicket Copse along the top edge of the field, the Little Egrets are wary so can easily be disturbed and will see you behind the hedge, so I'd suggest getting a good view of them from Chopping Knife Lane or a bit further up from the bench at the hairpin bend.
20 THE PARISH PUMP
THE PARISH PUMP 21
Collective Nouns Word Search Answers. Ants, Badgers, Frogs, Rabbits and Gulls COLONY Badgers CETE Bees and Mosquitoes SWARM Bees (again) and Spiders CLUSTER Birds (generally) FLOCK Butterflies FLUTTER and KALEIDOSCOPE Cats and Spiders (very similar to the above) CLUTTER Cattle, Deer, Swans and Wrens HERD Coots COVERT Cormorants GULP Crows MURDER Dogs KENNEL Ferrets and Flies BUSINESS Foxes SKULK Geese GAGGLE and SKEIN Gnats CLOUD and HORDE Goats, Sheep and Hares TRIP Goldfinches CHARM Gulls (again) SQUABBLE Hedgehogs PRICKLE Herons SIEGE Horses (wild) HARASS, (racing) STRING, (hunting) FIELD, (polo) TEAM and (breeding) STUD Jackdaws CHAIN and CLATTERING Jays BAND, PARTY and SCOLD Lapwings DECEIT Larks BEVY and EXALTATION Magpies TIDING Mallards FLUSH Moles COMPANY and LABOUR Mosquitoes (again) SCOURGE Otters ROMP Owls PARLIAMENT Partridges COVEY Pheasants NIDE and NYE Pheasants (again) and Vipers NEST
(Continued on page 22)
22 THE PARISH PUMP
Plovers CONGREGATION, STAND and WING Poultry RUN Rabbits (again) and Hares (again) KINDLE Rats MISCHIEF Ravens UNKINDNESS Rooks BUILDING Salmon LEAP Snakes DEN Snipe WISP Snipe (again) and Snails WALK Sparrows HOST Squirrels SCURRY Starlings CHATTERING and MURMURATION Stoats and Weasels PACK Teals SPRING Thrushes MUTATION Toads KNOT Trout (and Crows again) HOVER Turkeys RAFTER Woodpeckers DESCENT Worms (not a can!) BUNCH
(Continued from page 21)
THE PARISH PUMP 23
24 THE PARISH PUMP
Sunday 3 February 9:30 am Parish Communion Candlemas Sunday 10 February 8 am Holy Communion BCP 4th Sunday before Lent Sunday 17 February 9:30 am Parish Communion 3rd Sunday before Lent Sunday 24 February No service at Minal 2nd Sunday before Lent (10am at St Mary’s) Sunday 3 March 9:30 am Parish Communion Sunday before Lent
....................................................... CHURCH CLEANING Denise Price and Janette Fox FLOWERS 3, 10 and 17 Feb – Sue Napper 24 Feb and 3 Mar – Angela Ramsay. CONTACTS Rector - Vacancy Churchwarden - Mary Fishlock 512007 Church Office (9am-12noon) 512357
Church Diary February 2019
