Jubilee Party Sat 2nd 12 noon St Marks Green Jubilee Service Sun 3rd 10.30am Burton Dassett Coffee Morning Sat 9th 11am Village Hall Friendship Club Tues 19th 2.30pm Dormers Shop AGM Sat 23rd 3pm Village Hall Parish Council Tues 26th 7.30pm Village Hall Pilates Tuesdays 6.30pm Village Hall Mobile Library Thursdays 7th and 28th
3rd 10.30 Jubilee Thanksgiving Burton Dassett
10th 9.00 Holy Communion BCP Farnborough
9.00 Holy Communion Gaydon
10.30 Communion and Baptism Fenny Compton
10.30 Communion by extension at Northend
6.00pm Evening Service Burton Dassett
17th 9.00 Holy Communion Farnborough
9.00 Holy Communion BCP Gaydon
10.30 Family Service Fenny Compton
10.30 Holy Communion Northend
6.00pm Songs of Praise Burton Dassett
24th 9.00 Holy Communion BCP Fenny Compton
10.30 Holy Communion Farnborough
10.30 Prayer and Praise Gaydon
10.30 Morning Prayer Northend
At our May Annual Meeting Jonathan Crowe was elected as Chairman and Bernard Price as Vice Chairman. We welcomed Dave Pirie to the Council as a co-opted councillor. The other councillors are Mary Fox and John Rickman.
Banbury Road pipe
County Councillor Chris Williams reported that all legal documents have been signed and work will start in June.
Play Area
Orbit have been informed about the loose coping stones on the garage wall and we hope that they will be repaired shortly.
Jaguar Land Rover has offered to help the parish with a community project and councillors agreed that the Play Area would really benefit.
Milestone
Some of you may recall the saga of the milestone (20 years+ ago) which disappeared. We understand that this milestone is now in Birmingham. The Parish Council will be liaising with the County Council to try and get it returned to Gaydon.
Drains
If you see any drains that are blocked with leaves or are full of weeds could you please let the Parish Council know or unblock them.
Chestnut Tree on Village Green
Councillors have met with the tree surgeon and agreed that the tree will be pruned in the autumn.
Bishops Road (between M40 and Gaydon)
Chris Williams told the meeting that this road will be turned into a dual-carriageway. This is necessary because of safety issues regarding the amount of stationary traffic on the M40 during peak periods. The Gaydon roundabout will need to be rebuilt and it is hoped that the flooding issues will be considered in the redesign. It is expected that work will begin early 2013.
Street Lights
Chris Williams is trying to get the light on the refuge on the Banbury Road fixed.
Footpaths
Bernard Price is looking at replacing some of the signage.
Community Forum
21st June in Radway Village Hall. Details will be placed on noticeboard nearer the date.
Next Meeting
There will be a meeting on at 7.30 on Tuesday 26 June to approve the accounts. An agenda will be placed on the noticeboard. Any resident wishing to look at the accounts should contact the Clerk.
Programme for Jubilee Celebrations Gaydon Saturday 2 June 2012
St Marks Green
12 noon
Bring your food and drink to the Green in St Marks Road where tables will be ready set up.
12.30
Toast "Her Majesty The Queen" - let the Party commence!
Buy your Raffle Tickets and win a Complete Sunday Lunch!
2 pm Gaydon Olympics
Children: Three-legged race Potato and Spoon race Measure Water race
Adults: Roundheads v Cavaliers Tug-o-War
3 pm Treasure Hunt - Round-the-Village Quiz for families Get your Question Sheets at the Olympic Games.
Village Hall
5 pm Prizes for Treasure Hunt. Orders taken for Souvenir Mugs. Buy raffle tickets!
6.30 Lighting the Village Hall Barbecue for 7pm start. All food is Free.
7.30 Children's Concert: Play your own instruments or sing or dance!
By Saturday 2nd, please speak to David Faulkner on 077666 56905 to book your slot.
8 pm Dance in the Hall to the Live band.
9 pm Draw for Raffle Prizes.
The Big Lunch held at the Village Hall on Sunday 20 May turned out to be a huge success with well over 50 Gaydonites attending. There were copious mouthwatering dishes to share and plenty of fine wines to wash them down with. Donations went to the Jubilee funds and will be spent on the festivities on June 2nd. Many thanks to all who helped run the event and to all who came and joined in.
The flag on the Village Green was raised on 23 April to celebrate St George's Day.
We welcome to the village Alison and David who have come to live in Upper Farm Meadow. We hope they will enjoy living in Gaydon.
Thursday 21 June at Radway Village Hall, The Green
Drop-in surgery at 6.30pm; Community Forum starts at 7pm. Have your say on what affects your local community: speak to councillors, police teams, fire and rescue officers. Join us for a cup of tea!
Lizzie Price on 01789 260133 or stratford@warwickshire.gov.uk
Everyone has been enjoying the springtime here. A few weeks ago reception class had a visit from some chicks. They looked after the eggs in the incubator and watched them hatch. We are now watching on our webcam, some new born birds who are nesting in the school playground - I don't know how they put up with the noise!
At the end of April all of the children had the chance to work with ICT experts on programming and building robot spinners using special lego and laptops. They learned all about how robots are programmed and met Nao2 the humanoid robot who dances to Michael Jackson, tells stories and plays games. Everyone had an amazing day. Quotes from the children included, "This is the best day ever!" and "Today has inspired me to be a robot programmer when I grow up!".
Last week the whole school went on a trip to see a tropical animal show. The 'Tropical Inc.' group do educational talks about a wide range of animals. The children learned lots of fascinating facts and were much braver than the teachers as they handled snakes, skunks and porcupines amongst other creatures.
Juliette Westwood (Exec. Headteacher) and Michelle Cragg (Assoc. Headteacher)
Gaydon Village Hall at 11am on Saturday 9 June. Bring and Buy produce and home-made cakes. Please bring any plants you still have spare. There will be a raffle as usual. We look forward to seeing everyone!
The Library will be in Gaydon on Thursdays 7th and 28th June. The van will be at the Telephone Box at 1.50-2.10pm and in St Marks Close at 2.15-2.35pm.
This month we meet on Tuesday 19th at 2.30pm at Dormers, the home of Mrs Gay Talbot.
Elderflower fizz
This is the most delicious and easy summer drink but you must pick the flowers on a sunny day to get the yeast that will ferment the drink and make it fizzy.
5 litres (1 gallon) water; 700g (1.5 lb sugar); juice and thinly-peeled rind of 1 lemon; 2tbsp white wine vinegar; 12 elderflowerheads
1 Bring the water to the boil. Pour into a sterilised container. Add the sugar, stirring until dissolved.
2 When cool, add the other ingredients. Cover with a tea cloth (or muslin) and leave for 24 hours.
3 Filter through a muslin into strong glass jars and cork. Leave for 2 weeks in a cool, dark place. Serve chilled.
Sarah Nield
Gaydon Village Hall 6th July
Habitat for Humanity is a charity located in Banbury, which believes that HOME is a key catalyst in helping to permanently break the cycle of poverty around the world.
During my 9 month internship with the charity, I have been fortunate enough to meet homepartners (Habitat for Humanity's word for the people we work with) in India. Seema Devi received help to build her home from a Global Village team from Texas. When I met her, she was about to start the second phase of building. She explained that this project had changed everything for her and her family life would become "stable and happy again" and would "provide a safe place for my children to grow".
I am going to go on a Global Village trip in 2013 to help more of our international homepartners. I will be building alongside the home-partner, as Habitat for Humanity provides a helping hand, not a hand out. I am very excited to go on a trip as a volunteer, seeing our work first hand. In order to go on this trip I need to fundraise. The money raised will help cover the costs of my trip but it will also go to help Habitat for Humanity continue its mission to eradicate poverty housing from the face of the earth.
I am organising a Craft Fair to be held in Gaydon Village Hall on Friday 6 July from 6:30-10:00pm. This event is open to all at a small donation of £2 entry per person. With many local talented stall holders, it is set to be a fabulous evening to get to know your community and make some money for charity.
For more details contact Laura Pettit on 07921 079894.
Come to our Annual General Meeting and enjoy strawberries with local ice cream!
This year we are holding the Annual General Meeting to coincide with 'Community Shop's Fortnight' 23rd June - 7th July 2010. The AGM will be held in the Village Hall at 3pm on Saturday 23rd June. Everyone is welcome to attend but only share holders are allowed to take part in any voting. Following the business part of the meeting there will be a brief talk by Boo Lewis (at approximately 3.30pm) who makes a variety of products for sale in her kitchen in Kineton - jams, quiches, muffins. Boo will bring along some of her homemade produce for you to taste
and buy. If you like her products we will work with Boo to provide some of her foods in the shop and also to enable you to order them.
In the following week, beginning 2nd July, you will be able to taste some of our local produce:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10am and 1pm and again between 4pm and 6.30pm; and on Saturday between 10am and 4pm.
To find out what the tantalising tastes will be, watch the board outside the shop or follow us on twitter or face book. Sue Roberts
Northend Open Gardens are proud to be celebrating their 25th yearon Sunday 24 June! The day will start off at 11am from the village hall where programmes, detailing a map of the Open Gardens route, can be purchased. Be sure to look out for the Northend Scarecrows!
Monday 4 June, Burton Dassett Hills: Music Festival with local live bands, Pig Roast, lighting of Beacon and Firework display. Free entry, all welcome! Look out for posters with all the details or contact Helen Clarke on 07796 115428.
Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July 10.30am-6.00pm Free admission In aid of SHN and The Friends of Idlicote Church
Churchwardens Martyn Hamm and Jo Hotchkiss were re-elected at the APCM in April; other Parochial Church Council members are: Andy Corner (Treasurer), Claire Hamm (Secretary), Chris Corner, Chris Kettle (D. Synod Rep.), Margaret Phelps, Julie Rickman and Sue Wilkshire.
The PCC are waiting to hear from the architect so that the work on the west window can be completed with a new sill. He will also sort out the cause of the leak in the porch. It was agreed that the interior of the church will need cleaning and painting once the repairs are finished and a date for a Working Party will be fixed later in the year. Villagers will be asked to lend a hand.
Good home needed for 2 cats. They are sisters, 5 and 6 years old: one tabby, the other white and black; they have been neutered and chipped. One is a real "lap cat" the other a good mouser.
Please contact Norma King on 01295 770292.
It's all been a bit frantic the last couple of months, trying to combine college and working at the plant nursery, so I've been trying to cut down what I need to do in the garden. The easy way to do this is just to walk round with my eyes closed, ignoring sneaky, spreading weeds and the rising sense of guilt and panic at all my beauties being smothered by grass and dandelions.
In the veg patch, a lot of the plants I sowed from seed are way behind where they should be after such delightful weather, so I have a plan: a perennial vegetable garden. I'm doing quite well so far, with a now well-established asparagus patch that has finally started to produce a decent and tasty crop - but it's taken four years to get here. And a friend has kindly given me some Jerusalem artichokes which I have confined to barracks in a raised bed, and the rabbits are obligingly ignoring them. They will have cheerful yellow flowers in late summer before we eat some of the roots. Globe artichokes are being sown as we speak, a little late, but these make a wonderful statuesque and delicious focal point. The purple varieties have a more delicate flavour and appearance.
Two other things I intend to try are Babbington leeks and scorzonera. Babbington leeks need a couple of years to bulk up, then can be eaten like leeks - just trim the tops above ground. They have a strong, garlicky flavour and are a native of British seashores, so as tough as old boots. Scorzonera I've grown before as an annual. Like salsify, you grow it for the roots which have a delicate, delicious flavour when steamed then fried in butter with herbs. What I didn't know though is that it is perennial, and the rather pathetically small and fiddly roots I had to mess about with could have been left in for a couple of years to get to a decent size. It also has pretty daisy-like flowers, an added bonus. So we're on the way to minimalist gardening for maximum return. I just hope the garden realizes this!
Another quiet month in Gaydon.
Police Message: Please be on the lookout for a silver Ford Fiesta W68 VOJ and its three occupants, believed to be linked to burglaries and thefts from vehicles in Whitnash, Tiddington, Hampton Lucy, Warwick and Shipston. The offenders are usually active overnight and in the early hours. If you spot this vehicle please dial 999 and report its whereabouts immediately. Please also say that you are responding to a Watch message. PC 541 Chris Cuthbertson, Beat Manager, Rural Safer Neighbourhood Team.
It seems as if the Spring has at last caught up, though even now some trees, notably Oak, Ash and Walnut, have still not come fully into leaf. The Chestnut tree on the village green is in full blossom without sign of any threatened die-back as feared. The early spring butterflies are at last on the wing. As a recorder for the British Butterfly Society, I take particular note of them, firstly those that have spent the winter in hibernation like the bright sulphur-yellow Brimstone which is our longest living species and may have emerged in July 2011! The Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma and Small Tortoishell were also nectaring on your Buddleia bushes last September; and those that have overwintered as pupae, like the Orange-tip now laying its eggs on the Ladies smock in the churchyard or the tiny vivid Holly blue which seems common this spring: I saw several around my Ilex bush this morning.
Inexperienced young birds have to risk traffic and domestic cats now and need us to "look out" for them. I am delighted to say that I at last heard a Cuckoo near Kineton on the 26th May. So many migrant species seem to be decreasing. Swallows have returned to one of the few barns left where they can still nest. Swifts also speed above us giving familiar pearcing screams. Today, I saw about twenty House Martins arrive and re-occupy their old nests in St Marks Close..
The churchyard and the meadow are a mass of wild flowers: the white lace Cow Parsley, Yellow Field Buttercup and Purple Vetch. One can look out for early Purple and Bee Orchids, too, though Orchids often stay dormant for many years and will only flower if injured or disturbed. I was shocked to hear that a government "research study" is to be undertaken to see if Buzzards need to be captured and nests destroyed. A cost of £40,000 for this nonsense which is to satisfy large commercial shooting interests who lose a few sickly poults to these birds of prey. Many more are killed on the roads but there is no call for a ban on cars! Also, the loss of most of our reptiles can be attrubuted to huge artificialy-introduced pheasant flocks that devour all small snakes and mammals; then these birds are mostly shot down or eaten by Foxes in the winter.
You can listen to a varied dawn chorus at this time, so you may hear Skylarks and thrushes a-plenty and even the elusive Cuckoo with luck! I am always glad to hear of any unusual sightings around our village. Bernard Price