Friendship Club Tues 18th 2.30pm Trevose Pilates Tuesdays 8pm Village Hall Toddler Group Thursdays 10-11.30 Village Hall Mobile Library Thursday 13th
Next Month's Diary: Parish Council Meeting Tuesday 1st September at 8pm in the Village Hall.
Flood Defence Plan
The Parish Council has agreed to act as agent between County Highways and the residents of the Banbury Road in arranging for a pipe to be installed across the Banbury Road. We are hoping that the pipe will be installed some time in September/October but are still waiting for details to be finalised. Highways have been asked to clear part of the pond and to ensure that the grips along the Kineton Road remain clear. All of our drains have been cleared recently. If anyone sees a blocked drain can they please call the Clerk on 641220.
Lights/Litter/Street Furniture
We hope that the bus shelter litter bin will be replaced this month! The Parish Council has been told by the District Council that it will be replaced and should have been replaced by now.
Village Green
The Parish Council are still not happy with the state of the village green following the repairs to our water pipes. We have been told that the area will be reviewed at the end of the year but it has been decided to bring this matter to the attention of Severn Trent Water now.
Complaints Procedure against the Parish Council
This has been updated and a copy is available from the Clerk or
the office.
Rules of the Cemetery
A paragraph has been updated to include 'insecure headstones'.
If you would like to see a copy please contact the Clerk or pop into the office on a Saturday morning.
Cemetery
Mr Thomas has kindly modified the gates at the front of the Cemetery. They should now stay closed.
The Parish Council will be planting some hawthorn whips in the autumn to cover the gaps in the hedges.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, 1st September 2009, 8pm in the Village Hall.
The Mobile Library will visit Gaydon on Thursday 13 August.
We meet this month on Tuesday 18th at 2.30pm at the home of Mrs Pauline Layton, Trevose, in Kineton Road.
MGFest09 2 August - a show to thrill modern MG enthusiasts.
Gaydon Mini Fortnight 3 -16 August
Gaydon Mini Fortnight is a selection of talks and features based around the themes on display in the Heritage Motor Centre's 50 Years of the Mini exhibition and include the IMM Heritage Run on 8th August. The fortnight coincides with the International Mini Meet taking place in Cofton Park, Birmingham from 7-10 August. See the website www.minifestival.co.uk for more details.
Bonneville Celebration 22-23 August
Celebrating 50 years of the Triumph Bonneville Motor Cycle, the celebrations start on Friday evening with the arrival of rally goers and a free barbecue, courtesy of the Ace Café from London's North Circular, for prepaid ticket holders. Saturday there will be displays from all manner of motorcycle clubs with the main attraction being an 'arena' full of Bonnevilles from 1959 to 2009. There are talks by Meriden Factory legends and invited guests plus evening entertainment with two live bands in the main arena. Catering will again be provided by the Ace Café.
Sunday sees the departure of the motorcycles, with organised runs to various old and new factory sites and some special talks.
Go-Karting 18 July - 6 September
Get behind the wheel and have some fun! Go-Karts (8yrs+ and 1.35m tall), Miniature Roadway and 4x4 Experience (5yrs+) going on daily throughout the summer holidays 11am - 4.30pm (weather permitting). Open to non-museum visitors. Prices per ride: £6.00 for adults, £4.00 for children and concessions. Miniature Roadway, £3.00. www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk
Mini Madness 23 July - 3 September - every Thursday
Through out the summer holidays we have mountains of mini-themed fun going on with quizzes, trails and our new '50 Years of the Mini' Exhibition. Plus taking place every Thursday between 11am - 3pm will be free drop-in mini-themed activities. For more information visit www.hertiage-motor-centre.co.uk or call 01926 641188. Children must be accompanied by an adult and standard entrance fees apply.
Stop Start under 17 Driver Sessions 20 July - 4 September
Great for bored teenagers, learner driving experiences for 15+yrs in our dual-controlled vehicles. These 1 hour sessions cost £30 and are available weekdays during the school holidays. Pre-booking is essential and the price includes entrance to the Museum for the driver. Tel: 01926 645029.
July is a month when most crops and plants make rapid growth. Brambles and Nettles seem to spring up overnight whilst Grass meadows, if left to their own devices, throw up a variety of seed heads.
There are thousands of species of grasses now growing in the UK. The majority have been produced or encouraged by human needs. The Maran grass was used for matting and chair-seating, for example.
The most prollific, though, are the Rye grasses which have the qualities needed both for high nutrition feed in cattle and for Silage-making.
They stem from one variety, The Italian Rye. As a species this will out-compete any other.
Then there are the Fescues: the low-growing ones are beloved of green-keepers and gardeners. The taller Meadow Fescue, along with Foxtails and Cocksfoot, are the traditional hay-making varieties. Unlike Rye, they dry fast and do not retain moisture.
There are of course many "weeds" too. The hated Black Grass and Wild oat which plague farmers' crops; and the Couch grass that gets into the roots of herbaceous borders, to name but a few.
This year has been an early one for grassland butterflies and around Gaydon you will see the delicate Orange Gatekeeper that feeds on bent and couch grasses, The dark Chocolate Ringlet, the Meadow Brown and the Marbled White (which is in fact a Brown!) with wonderful chequered wings.
The larva of all these feed on meadow grasses.
The once-common Wall Brown and Small heath are victims of progress, for they will not feed on commercial grass mixtures and have declined in consequence.
On a sunny day you can see all these on the village cemetery field, around the churchyard and on the meadow behind the church. All these places have been spared the chemical spraying and Rye Grass monoculture of most grasslands today. At Compton Verney they are restoring large areas back to the old varieties.
One may think they look untidy, waiting to be cut in late August for hay, but this will preserve the wild flower richness: butterflies and Grasshoppers depend on these places and Blues, Skippers and Burnet Moths depend on the Birdsfoot trefoil that grows amongst them.
Once, these grasses couild be scythed in swathes; now a few surviving vintage tractors and old-style hay knives are the solution.
A Wryneck, which is extinct as a breeding bird since the sixties, has been seen around Gaydon. Sadly, this will be a Migrant but nevertheless good to see.
It's like a small brown woodpecker and sits beak out like a piece of broken wood - keep a look out.
There is a national decline in Swifts but luckily they still return to nest in Gaydon in some numbers. However, our Swallows and House Martins are fewer each year and I think there is only one pair of Swallows nesting in the old Barn at Poplars Farm this summer.
Let us hope for a dry few weeks for both hay and harvest! Bernard Price
Here is another short walk. Although the walk is flat and is at most a mile and a half in length, part of it is over ploughed land so it is unsuitable for pushchairs.
Start in Church Lane at the back of the church with the churchyard wall on your right. Now walk Westward to the end of Church Lane and enter the snickett. Keep going for about a hundred yards until you come out at a grassy patch at the end of St Marks Close. Negotiate the footpath alongside a garden fence and climb over the stile at
the end.
You are now in a field. The path goes off to the left and heads due South across the grass to a stile in a hedge. Climb the stile and the path ahead is marked out in the corn. Walk over the cornfield to a gap in the hedge beside a stile. The farm track to your right leads to Tollgate Cottage on the Kineton Road. Cross over the farm track to another cornfield.
Again the path is marked out in the corn. Follow the path for about 200 yards. On this leg of the walk do take time to stop and look around. There are clear views of the hills to the South and you can get a good impression of the village of Gaydon nestling in its hollow. You may be lucky enough to see skylarks here.
The path now turns right and heads for a stile in the hedge that separates the field from the Kineton Road. The clue to this mysterious turn is in the name of the field you have just crossed: it is known as 'Allotment Field' after the village allotments that used to be here. The path was used by villagers walking out to tend their plots.
The ditch shown on the Explorer OS map 206, like the allotments, now exits only in the country of the past. To return to Gaydon either walk along the road or retrace your steps and walk the path in reverse.
Present for your delectation and delight an Old Time Music Hall.
Songs and monologues from days gone by will be prestigiously presented in the Village Hall on Saturday 26th September 2009.
Proceedings will commence at 7.30pm sharp with carriages required by 10.00pm.
The evening will be complete with a complementary "Ploughman's Supper" along with the opportunity to purchase refreshing Beverages from the Bar.
The admission price for this remarkable experience is a mere £6.50 per person and early booking is advisable
to avoid disappointment. Box Office 01926 647854
Victorian or Edwardian dress is encouraged to complete your experience of this wonderful evening's entertainment
2 8.00 Eucharist Burton Dassett
10.00 Eucharist Fenny Compton
11.15 Morning Service Gaydon
11.30 Eucharist Farnborough
9 9.00 Eucharist Fenny Compton
10.00 Morning Service Farnborough
10.00 Eucharist Northend
11.15 Growing Together Gaydon
6.00pm Evening Service Burton Dassett
16 8.00 Eucharist Farnborough
9.00 Eucharist Gaydon
10.30 Morning Service Fenny Compton
10.30 United Service Knightcote
23 9.30 Eucharist Northend
10.30 Family Service Fenny Compton
11.30 Family Eucharist Gaydon
6.00pm Evensong Farnborough
30 10.30 Group Eucharist and Lunch Burton Dassett
Service 77 to Kineton, then service 269 to Stratford; Service 77 to Bishops Tachbrook, then service 15 to Stratford;
or on schooldays only travel directly on the School Links service 271. This service is open to the general public.
It is very difficult to design a sustainable transport network linking each community with every major centre because South Warwickshire is made up of so many small communities.
The Transport Operations Group takes every opportunity to tap into funding to maximise service provision.
Indeed, there is already a new daily link between Gaydon and Banbury (service 277).
Timetable details for services 77, 277, 269 and 15 are available under Roads and Travel on website www.warwickshire.gov.uk
The Community Forums are an advisory body which act as a key vehicle for community engagement within the locality.
Members of the public can raise issues of concern and wherever possible, together with relevant agencies, solutions to those concerns can be worked out.
The next forum meeting in your area is scheduled to take place on Thursday 6 August 2009 at 7pm at Lighthorne Heath Village Hall, Leam Road, Lighthorne Heath.
If you have a specific concern or problem, then come along to the local surgery from 6.30pm-7pm where you will be able to speak to your Warwickshire County Council Officer,
Stratford-on-Avon District Council Officer or Safer Neighbour-hoods Policing Team.
If you would like to suggest an issue for a future Community Forum meeting, or get involved, please contact the WCC Stratford Area Office on 01789 290784 or email stratfordoffice@Warwickshire.gov.uk
Change in Bus Timetable
Following the decision of the governing body of The Trinity RC school in Leamington to change the school finishing time in the new academic year in September, Service 77 will need to alter its departure time on schooldays.
The present departure time of 1618 from Leamington Upper Parade will become 1535. This journey serves the Tachbrook Road area of Leamington and the villages of Bishops Tachbrook, Ashorne, Moreton Morrell, Lighthorne, Lighthorne Heath, Gaydon, Temple Herdewyke and also the villages of Northend, Fenny Compton, Farnborough and Avon Dassett on request.
Brief summary details are available on the public transport pages on the County Council website under Forthcoming Service Changes. There will be a link from the WCC site to the Stagecoach website displaying the new timetable once the operator has posted this on its site.
Timetable cases on the route maintained by either WCC or Stagecoach will be amended just before the revised service starts. Timetable leaflets produced by Stagecoach the operator will be made available in due course through our usual distribution outlets, e.g. libraries, tourist information centres, council offices and shops/post offices in key rural areas.
If you have any queries regarding the above bus service please contact Dave Matthews on 01926 412760
or by e-mail using davematthews@warwickshire.gov.uk
Darren and Stephanie and their children have just moved into their new home in Church Road. We welcome them and hope that they will enjoy living in Gaydon.
The Big Lunch
Like many other community-minded people throughout the country, over thirty villagers gathered in the village hall on Sunday 19 July to enjoy a lunch party.
Some interesting platters of food were shared and a variety of drinks helped to keep conversation flowing. It was good to see new faces as well as familiar ones joining in a village event.
The Village Hall Committee are grateful to everyone who came along and helped to make the Big Lunch a Big Success!