Parish Council Meeting Tues 1st 7.30pm Village Hall
Coffee Morning Sat 19th 11am Village Hall
Library Monday 7th Telephone Box
Pilates Tuesdays 6.15pm Village Hall
GAYDON CALENDAR DATES
HARVEST EVENSONG SUN 17 SEPTEMBER CHADSHUNT CHURCH
HARVEST FESTIVAL SUN 1 OCTOBER ST GILES' GAYDON
CHRISTMAS FAIR SAT 25 NOVEMBER VILLAGE HALL
CHRISTMAS LUNCH SUN 3 DECEMBER VILLAGE HALL
Sunday 6th
11.30 Holy Communion & barbecue* Northend
Sunday 13th
9.00 Holy Communion BCP Farnborough
10.30 United Methodist F Compton
10.30 Morning Prayer Gaydon
10.30 Morning Prayer Northend
6.00pm Evening Prayer B Dassett
Sunday 20th
9.00 Morning Prayer Farnborough
9.00 Holy Communion BCP Gaydon
10.30 Holy Communion Northend
Sunday 27th
9.00 Holy Communion BCP F Compton
10.30 Holy Communion Farnborough
10.30 Morning Prayer Northend
10.30 Prayer & Praise Gaydon
Parish Council News
New Councillor
Paul Fowle has joined the Parish Council. Paul will be working closely with community speedwatch and will be trying to move our traffic-calming project forward. We still have one vacancy, so if you are interested in becoming a councillor please contact the clerk.
Burglaries
Constable Catherine Morgan and PCSO Sarah Bailey attended June's meeting. They recommended that the village become a Smartwater Village. ConstableMorgan explained that they have been monitoring a Smartwater Village and they have seen a dramatic reduction in the number of burglarlies. See Neighbourhoood Watch article on page 2 of the magazine.
Church Lane Field
This field finally belongs to the Parish Council. We are still waiting to receive the official documentation but funds have changed hands. A fence along the footpath should be erected in the next 6 weeks. Please note that although the field now belongs to the ParishCouncil it should not be used by the public until councillors have been able to assess any work required for health and safety reasons. Please keep to the footpath until further notice. With regard to the questionnaires, please make sure that they are either handed in at the shop or the pub, or passed to a councillor or the clerk. The deadline for completion is the 20th August.
50mph signs
The Parish Council has received a number of complaints regarding the erection of the 50mph signage on the Banbury Road and the removal of the 30mph marker signs into Gaydon. This will be an item on our agenda on the 1st August, so if you feel strongly about this you are welcome to come to our meeting and express your concerns.
Old Warwick Road
We apologise for the temporary removal of pedestrian and cyclist access to JLR along the Warwick Road. Our understanding is that both JLR and the Parish Council wanted this access to remain but County Highways are concerned about safety. If you wish to complain please call Joanne Archer on 01926 412362 at County Highways and she should be able to address your concerns.
Village Hall Noticeboard
The Parish Council is responsible for the information displayed on the left hand side of the village hall notice board only. The right hand side is for community notices, general information and is not managed by the Parish Clerk.
Warwickshire County Council Councillors' Grant Fund 2017-18.
Funding is now available for projects throughout Warwickshire. The Warwickshire County Council Councillors' Grant Fund is aimed at community and voluntary organisations. The Fund provides each of the County's 57 Councillors with a pot of £5000 to support small-scale projects within their division that support the following outcomes: Warwickshire's communities and individuals are supported to be safe, healthy and independent; Warwickshire's economy is vibrant and supported by the right jobs, training, skills and infrastructure.
Deadline for applications: 5pm on Monday 9 October 2017.
(Please note, this grant fund now uses an online application process)
A separate scheme will be launched later this year for Warwick District. However, Voluntary and Community Groups can apply for funding through the Warwick District Community Forum Grant scheme. Further information can be found on the grants webpage (www.warwickshire.gov.uk/grants)
To submit an application and see the full set of guidance notes, please visit: www.warwickshire.gov.uk/cllrgrants
For more information, please contact: funding@warwickshire.gov.uk
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Parish Council will be on Tuesday, 1st August, at 7.30pm in the village hall. All residents are welcome to attend.
On Sunday, 6 August, there will be a service at 11.30am at Northend for the Burton Dassett group of churches, followed by a barbecue at the vicarage. NB There will be no service in Gaydon on the 6th.
We welcome John, James and Joel who have recently moved into their new home on the Old Warwick Road. We hope that they will enjoy living in Gaydon.
We also welcome Catherine and Paul who live near the church and have been working hard on the restoration of their cottage. We wish them happiness in the village.
Sticky Plum and Almond Tarte
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry 150g butter, at room temperature
400g plums, stoned and quartered
150g golden caster sugar 2 tbsp apricot jam
3 free range eggs 2 tbsp flaked almonds
75g ground almonds 1 tsp vanilla extract
75g self-raising flour ½ tsp baking powder
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas mark 4. Roll out the pastry thinly on a floured surface and use to line a 23cm deep, loose-bottomed tart tin. Chill for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds, flour, baking powder and vanilla extract in a large bowl and whisk until well blended.
3.Spoon the filling into the tart case then press the plums evenly into the mixture (they will sink into the centre as the tart bakes). Scatter the flaked almonds over the top and bake for 40-45 minutes until risen and golden brown.
4. Melt the apricot jam with 1 tbsp water in a small pan. Brush over the top of the tart and leave to cool. Cut into slices and serve.
Improve this tart with a drizzle of cream or vanilla custard. Serves 12.
Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate seven years of Gaydon Village Store. We all enjoyed tea and cakes and chatting to each other. Thank you to everyone who made cakes. We had a great time.
Good news: we have Sue to work in the shop on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. SO we are back to being open all day Monday to Friday, volunteers permitting.
We are pleased to announce that the last membership draw, a meal for two at The Falcon, was won by Kate Sutton. Hope you enjoy it Kate! Memberships are still available.
Keep shopping with us to ensure we stay open for you!!
The warm spell continues with the odd shower of rain. It is noticeable that many plants have flowered at least two weeks early: many of the Buddleia bushes in the villages are in full or declining flower and butterfly species are drawn like a magnet to the large purple flowers. In early July there was a large number of Small tortoiseshells; later, a lot of superb Red Admirals which must have been a second brood from the migrants of May.
Today, 23rd, I saw my first native brood of Painted Ladies - some still suffused with bright pink and others a rich orange. Last month the woodland species like Fritillaries and Hairstreaks had done well and it seems that butterflies will also flourish. Even early sulphur yellow Brimstones have emerged and my concern is that they will have to last until October and hibernate, as they do not usually produce another brood.
However, there is clear evidence that climate change is having an influence on many species. Egrets and Collared doves, once rare, are well-established in many places now. The huge number of Wood pigeons is evident everywhere but they no longer form the large flocks that each winter stripped arable fields. Instead, they have moved to suburban areas because these are safer and have far more reliable food sources. They can nest all year round.
Seagulls have foresaken the coasts for seaside towns and the Midlands. Any trip to London's Parks will reveal huge flocks of Green Parakeets that now survive the milder winters. In Gaydon we see Buzzards, often perched on the M40 junction lights or fencing; and even Red Kites.
Probably, the next significant change will be the loss of the Wildlife protection given by the European Union; and the dangers of a market-driven 'free for all' - a danger to both industry and jobs. I hope it will be years away but potentially, industrial farming will be intensified to satisfy South East Asia and the US. 'Partners' like China, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria have little regard for the environment. Re-wilding is another contraversial topic, though a more viable solution. Years of intensive farming and grazing have wrecked our countryside in the past few years. It could be reversed but now there is uncertainty. Europe has many successful schemes up and running already: but will we be able to join them now? Or shall we have to pander to money-making trade enterprises at the expense of countryside? A countyside which already is being cut into everywhere with speculative building that few young people can afford to buy. Bernard Price
The Library will visit the Telephone Box at Gaydon from 1.35-2.05pm on Monday 7th August.
This month's Coffee Morning will be at 11am on Saturday 19 August. Books, bring-and-buy and raffle as usual but please note change of date owing to holidays.
Thanks to everyone who came along to the hall on 16 July. We had copious supplies of delicious dainties and the weather was good too.
Members will meet this month for a picnic in Wellesbourne.
The past month has been reasonably quiet except that a set of car registration plates was stolen from a parked vehicle in Church Road.
At the last Parish Council meeting our local Safer Neighbourhood Team Police officer PC Catherine Morgan spoke about the advantages to the village of Smartwater. Smartwater is seen by the Police as a highly effective crime deterrent. It is a water-based solution used to mark items invisibly. Each Smartwater container is about the size of, and resembles, a bottle of nail polish and comes with a small applicator brush. One container is usually enough for a household.
The solution in each container contains a unique and exclusive code. Once applied, the householder registers as a user. This enables the property to be identified as yours wherever it is found or seized by the Police. Although invisible, it is impossible to remove the code. All Police officers will now have a UV light to detect the presence of Smartwater and this light can be used during an arrest or stop and search. It can also be used at boot sales or markets or second hand stores to identify stolen goods.
Gaydon was one of the first villages in South Warwickshire to adopt Smartwater and we are now attempting a re-launch which will involve getting as many more households in the Village as possible to buy it. Additional signage will go up around the village together with Smartwater window stickers. This is where the deterrence comes into play because burglars will not want to steal any marked items. The Police have offered their time to assist with this programme which means that assistance and help will be provided by them to ensure proper marking takes place.
Provided that we can obtain a satisfactory take-up (about 75%) the cost of the Smartwater will be substantially reduced to £8.90 per household.
By way of example, the Police published results of a similar programme that has taken place in Cleobury Mortimer which suffered 19 domestic burglaries in an 18 month period prior to adopting Smartwater. This reduced to one burglary in the succeeding period. Other Villages have reported drops in burglary by over 80%.
Initially, we would need to gauge interest from Gaydon households and ask you to kindly email us at gaydonnnw@gmail.com before the 15th of August to register your interest.
We also ask any former Neighbourhood Street Co-ordinators to make contact should they wish to take over their previous 'patch'; as well as anyone who would be prepared to be a Co-ordinator in Gaydon. This would involve your being a co-ordinator for a group of houses. I. M.
Gaydon's best known walk is The Cemetery Round. We print it this month to celebrate the Parish Council's recent acquisition of Church Lane Field, alongside which the public footpath runs.
This walk is short but is not suitable for people of limited mobility as it is rather uneven in places. It is very mucky in the Winter or after prolonged rain.
Start at the back of the Church and go up the short drive to the gate into what my children used to call the Pony Field. Cross the field by the well-marked footpath to the kissing-gate on the far side.
Through the gate, keep left and follow the hedge down to the cemetery. It always seems to be farther than you expect. Turn left at the cemetery and 25 yards on, turn right into the Place where Gaydon's dead have been buried since the Churchyard was closed in the 1930s.
After paying your respects, leave the cemetery by the main gate and make your way back to Gaydon alongside the B4100. Turn left into Church Road and back to the Church.
This walk can be clearly seen on the map of Gaydon Parish which is on the Gaydon website at www.gaydon.org.uk JR