Parish Council Tues 5th 8pm Village Hall Pebbles Sun 10th 10.30am Village Hall Wind Farm Meeting Sun 10th 7pm Village Hall Village Hall Committee Mon 11th 8pm Village Hall Men's Group Thurs 14th 7pm Village Hall Friendship Club Tues 19th 2.30pm Corner Cottage Pebbles Sun 24th 10.30am Village Hall Pilates Tuesdays 8pm Village Hall Toddler Group Thursdays 10-11.30am Village Hall Mobile Library Thursdays 7th and 28th
The last Parochial Church Council Meeting was held at Fenny Compton School on Thursday 19 November.
John Goldsmith, Churchwarden, reported slow progress on organising the repairs to the west window.
Further proposals were made for the use of Mrs Jenny Neal's bequest of £20,000 to the church. These included:
the installation of a hearing aid loop system;
some more comfortable chairs;
the removal of the Victorian lectern and pulpit;
the installation of a lavatory in the church;
the removal of the pews in the north aisle and later in the whole of the church;
a bench in memory of the Neals to be placed in the churchyard.
A meeting will be held with the congregation in the new year to discuss the proposals.
The music hall production was reported to have been a successful event, having raised over £400 for church funds.
The autumn working party was thanked for helping to clean the church.
The date of the Annual Parochial Church Meeting is Sunday 25 April.
The treasurer reported that weekly collections are down by £1000 on last year but that fundraising is going well. The Christingle collection would go to the Children's Society and a donation would be made to the Church Housing Trust.
Architect Kenneth Holmes is to do the Quinquennial church inspection.
Helen James has been appointed as visitor to Barnfield and a report will be requested at the next meeting.
Claire Hamm was elected secretary to the PCC.
The next PCC meeting will be on 21 January 2010.
In Gaydon we are currently enjoying a quiet period which we hope continues into the New Year.
Local Parish Councils have provided funds to our Safer Neighbour-hood Police Team, based at Wellesbourne, for a new hand-held laser speed gun and tripod, including maintenance for the next three years. PC Cuthbertson commented that this mobile equipment will help make local roads safer. The camera is capable of being set up anywhere within our local beat.
3 8.00 Eucharist Burton Dassett
10.00 Eucharist Fenny Compton
11.15 Morning Service Gaydon
11.30 Eucharist Farnborough
10 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
17 8.00 Eucharist Farnborough
9.00 Eucharist Gaydon
10.30 Eucharist Fenny Compton
10.30 Eucharist Northend
24 9.30 Eucharist Northend
10.30 Family Service Fenny Compton
11.30 Family Eucharist Gaydon
6.00pm Evening Service Farnborough
31 11.00 Group Eucharistand Lunch Burton Dassett
After 22 years in the parishes, the time has come for me to move on. Philippa and I move to Saffron Walden as I take up full time Army chaplaincy, ministering to 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal).
It's a large regiment and due to grow because the soldiers train to search for mines and dispose of improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan. I go to establish full time chaplaincy at 33 and minister to them and their families.
Thank you for your kindnesses over the years, for allowing me to minister to you as your parish priest and for positively embracing change both in Gaydon and within the large group of parishes.
My last service will be a Group Eucharist at All Saints Burton Dassett at 11.00am and we shall move to pastures new around 15th February.
As we take up a new life and I a new ministry, and as the parish looks forward to an interregnum, let me leave with you a verse from Psalm 25, verses that speak to me about trusting God for good things to happen:
'Make your paths known to me Lord; teach me your ways.
Lead me by your faithfulness and teach me, for you are God my Saviour.'
With thanks and prayers for all the good we have enjoyed together, Philip.
Flood Defence
Stratford District Council are preparing a planning application for the Banbury Road pipe. Once we have draft agreements for landowners to review, we will be in contact. Please keep any eye on blocked drains and ditches. Any blocked drains should be reported to the Clerk.
Play Area
We have applied for a grant from the community development fund. Decision will be made end of January.
Lights
Following complaints from residents we have asked Esso if they could place some shields over the lights at the back of the garage.
The County Council is aware of the damage to the light on the bollard outside the Esso garage and we have been assured that it will soon be fixed.
Church Road Bench
If anyone knows who has broken the bench at the top of Church Road can they please tell either the Councillors or the Clerk. It is the Parish that will have to pay for this bench to be repaired, so let us know if you have any information.
Road Repairs
Pot holes along St. Giles Road, Pimple Lane, Kineton Road and Warwick Road have been reported to Highways.
Parish Plan
If you wish to be involved please contact the Clerk or one of the councillors.
Community Forum
The next Community Forum meeting is on Thursday, 4th February at Newbold Pacey and Ashorne Village Hall. A poster will be displayed on the Village Hall notice board at the end of January. Proposed agenda items are: local transport plan, services for children and young people in the County, update of speed limit review and a speed camera demonstration. Residents are welcome to attend.
Next Meeting
Tuesday, 5th January at 8pm in the Village Hall. All residents
are welcome.
Forty people sat down to a delicious turkey lunch in the village hall on Sunday 13 December, a record number in recent years.
Liz Thomas and her trusty team provided the spread and we would like to thank them all for giving their time to running this traditional event at such a busy season of the year.
Events in January 2010:
Saturday 16 January
Historic Rally Car Register Open Day
This year we are celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the World Cup, so come and find out all you need to know about Historic Rallying, alongside some of the original cars that took part.
The show will include the launch of 2010 Sage and Road HRCR Championship Season, plus:
Scenic Tours
100 Start-up Rallies
Rally Organisers
Club Shop and Specialist Supplies
Organising Clubs
See the Cars, Meet the People
Guest Personality: Brian Culcheth and The Graham Robson Interview
Entry to the Rally is free of Charge and the first 200 attendees will also receive complimentary entry to the Museum. Thereafter, Rally attendees will qualify for discounted entry to the Museum at £6 per person.
Congratulations to Sunny and Gurdip of Hillside, Kineton Road, who would like to announce the the birth of their son on the 26th of October 2009. His name is Karam and he is a new little addition to the residents of Gaydon.
The Editor would like to thank all the people who help to get the Parish Magazine to every house in the village - and beyond: the contributors, deliverers, collators and advertisers; the Parish Council, editorial assistants and technician. A Happy New Year to you all!
The next Village Hall Committee Meeting will take place on Monday 11 January.
Stratford-on-Avon District Council Information
The festive season sees a change in days of the grey bin, blue-lidded bin and green bin collections following Christmas Day and Boxing Day until 18 January 2010 - listed in the refuse and recycling leaflet delivered in March 2009 with Council Tax bills.
Day of Collection:
Wednesday 30 December will be collected on Saturday 2 January;
Wednesday 6 January will be collected on Friday 8 January;
Wednesday 13 January will be collected on Thursday 14 January.
Christmas Trees can be put in your green bin for collection. They should be cut up if necessary to fit in the bin. Christmas cards can be recycled in the blue-lidded bin.
For more information please contact the Refuse and Recycling helpline on: 01789 260925 or visit www.stratford.gov.uk.
In the New Year you will be able to recycle:
Plastic food trays,
Yoghurt pots,
Margarine tubs,
Clean foil; but not plastic bags and plastic wrapping.
For more information call 014789 260925 or visit www.stratford.gov.uk
Sunday 10 January at 7pm in Gaydon Village Hall
Broadview Energy have now put in an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate against the refusal by Stratford District Council to allow the erection of a Temp 60 metre high Wind Monitoring Mast between Bishops Itchington, Knightcote and near junction 12 of the M40.
We believe that a full application for a Wind Farm comprising six approximately 120 metres high Turbines will be made in early 2010. Please come to the meeting to discuss how we intend to fight these plans.
We need your support!
Barbara Hardman, Trotters, Lower Spring Farm, Gaydon Road, Bishops Itchington 01926 614862 and at www.frawt.org.uk
January is a bleak month of short days and damp cold. Our village, like others, has mud as a feature: you find yourself slithering on the footpaths of many Warwickshire fields. It clings tenaciously to ones boots. As yet a cleat that can shed this has not been invented, so even the most expensive wellies pick up large chunks.
I find that the evergreen plants that normally blend in are now noticeable in trees and hedges. In my own garden I have cultivated large Tangles of Mistletoe on three of my apple trees. Their berry crop is profuse this season and I'm hoping the Mistlethrushes will spread it around, as it is scarce now in Warwickshire.
I have read a great deal about this mythical plant, once cut with silver sickles by the Druids and sold in huge bundles at Tetbury Wells Market each year for Christmas decorations. If you save the berries you can try smearing the sticky contents plus pips into cracks in the bark; or cut slits in a semblance of beak-wiping from which could grow a new Parasitic shoot.
Ivy is another fascinating plant known as Hedera or Helix. It's a wonderful source of nectar for winter insects and even bees on mild days. Winter Moths, whose unwelcome attentions by their wingless females led to the sticky bands once placed on fruit trees, are often caught in the headlights on wild winter nights. Ivy will also change the shape of its leaves as it climbs and so is often mistaken for a separate species.
Holly or ilex is well-known and there are many different species. It is the foodplant of the small Holly Blue butterfly, often seen around Gaydon in the early spring and summer, but is poisonous to most animals - though the berries are a good source of food for thrushes and Redwings.
If we have a cold spell, look out for Waxwings which feed on Rowan and cotoneaster berries.
I've seen a herd of Roe Deer around Chadshunt recently: a lovely sight with a magnificent six-point stag.
The signs of Badger activity, which resemble a bit of random digging, will continue unless we have very low temperatures and are all along the verges of Watery Lane. Foxes are very numerous too, so be sure your hens are locked up.
My best wishes for the New Year to all readers, Bernard Price.
There will be a meeting on Wednesday 20 January at 7.30pm in the Malt Shovel to discuss whether or not to run a village fête in 2010.
We need lots of villagers involved to run a really good fête, so if you think we should have one, then please come along; or talk to Madeleine on 640636.
The Library will visit Gaydon on Thursdays 7th and 28th of January.
Our first meeting of 2010 will be on Tuesday 19 January at 2.30pm at the home of Mrs Mary Fox in Church Lane. If you would like to join the club or find out more about it, please give Mary a ring on 641834. New members are very welcome!
Pilates sessions start officially again at 8.00pm on Tuesday 12 January in the Village Hall. The sessions cost £40 for five weeks and each five weeks are like a new course. Our instructor, Debbie Birch, is fully qualified, highly trained and very experienced. Everyone is welcome and you don't need to have done pilates before: it is very easy and very good if you have back problems. For more information call Madeleine on 640636.
The meeting in January 2010 will be on Thursday 14th and the speaker, Tim Bryan, Head of Collections and Interpretation at the Heritage Motor Centre, will give an illustrated talk on: 'The life and work of Isambard Kingdom Brunel'.
Those wishing to attend should telephone David Faulkner on 691191 or John Goldsmith 642571. We meet at 7pm for 7.30; please remember to bring your own dinner and dessert plates as well as kfs!
The next meeting will be on Thursday 18 February and the speaker will be Mr John Hoyte. He is an airline pilot and his talk, entitled 'Aerotoxic Syndromes', is about the best-kept secret in aviation.