This Month's Diary
Annual Parish Assembly Tues 3rd 7.45pm Village Hall Coffee Morning Sat 14th 11am Village Hall Friendship Club Tues 17th 2.30pm Almeley Chase Litter Pick Sat 21st 11am Village Hall Library Monday 23rd Telephone Box Pilates Tuesdays 6.15pm Village Hall Tai Chi Wednesdays 7.30pm Village Hall Cake & Crafting Circle 2nd & 4th Sundays 5pm Parish Church Gaydon Calendar Big lunch Sunday 15th July 1pm Village Hall
Easter Day Sunday 1st
8.45 Holy Communion BCP Farnborough
9.45 Holy Communion Fenny Compton
10.30 Family Service Northend
11.00 Holy Communion Gaydon
6.00pm Holy Communion Burton Dassett
Sunday 8th
9.00 Holy Communion BCP Farnborough
10.30 Holy Communion Fenny Compton
10.30 Morning Prayer Gaydon
10.30 Morning Prayer Northend
6.00pm Evening Prayer Burton Dassett
Sunday 15th
9.00 Holy Communion BCP Gaydon
10.30 Holy Communion Farnborough
10.30 Family Service Fenny Compton
10.30 Holy Communion Northend
Sunday 22nd
9.00 Holy Communion BCP Fenny Compton
10.30 Holy Communion Farnborough
10.30 Prayer & Praise Gaydon
10.30 Morning Prayer Northend
Sunday 29th 10.30 Group Communion at Farnborough
The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will be held in the parish church of St Giles, on Wednesday 11 April at 7.30pm. Everyone on the church Electoral Roll is invited to attend. It is an important meeting at which church officers are elected.
Gaydon's Box Collection for 2017 raised a total of £185.52 and the Society would like to thank the kind box-holders who donate their loose change in this way. The Children's Society uses this money to bring positive change to the lives of thousands of children and young people. Boxes are available from Julie Rickman 640349.
At last a thaw has set in after some of the coldest weather here for years. Gaydon's proximity to the M40 has always been an advantage with regard to roads staying open but even this was blocked a few times. It was still possible to walk my dogs near Itchington Holt but sadly several members of the large Roe deer herd, often seen grazing on the peripheral areas of the wooded area, died during this spell. The first one I noticed was quite far up the fields and the fresh body was clearly visible on the dark snow. Above it, a Buzzard was circling and there were two Red Kites on the corpse; up close, one could see that they had stripped much of the meat from the skeleton. Later, it was dragged around by Badgers or Foxes. Another larger deer had attracted crows and Ravens only, possibly because it was amongst the trees and not visible from the air. One is unaccustomed to such primaeval spectacles in Warwickshire although it is common in India and Africa for Vultures to gather quickly. I have even seen large Griffon vultures on the landfills in Northern Spain and this is the usual process of life and death in the natural world. Fallen stock and lambing was always an attraction for carrion-eaters until recently. I notice that in the Red kite area off the M40, people put chicken scraps on bird tables and many birds, notably Kites and Gulls, circle the landfills often distracting motorists driving through the deep chalk cutting near High Wycombe -thankfully no accidents as yet.
You may have noticed the rather rustic door stops outside the village hall, made from cut tree trunks. One has a feature whereby you can pick it up through strategically drilled holes. Who would have thought that an enterprising Song Thrush would make use of it by placing Snails in the crevices and using it as an anvil? They are full of broken shells! These birds often have a special stone but I have not seen
this before. Song Thrushes have a wonderful dawn song that establishes their territory and it can be heard all over the village on a fine morning. They suffer badly from ingesting those poisonous metaldehyde blue slug pellets: why are they still on sale? There are alternatives. Listen on these cold nights for the bark of dog foxes the Church field; and on clear days, hear the 'Cronk' of our local Ravens that enjoy spiralling over the village! Bernard Price
The spring exhibition, Ravilious & Co, chronicles the relationships between Eric Ravilious and other artist-designers such as Paul and John Nash, Enid Marx and Edward Bawden. The exhibition marks the 75th anniversary of the death of Ravilious in the Second World War when he was working as an official war artist. Highly recommended!
The Library will visit the Telephone Box at Gaydon on St George's Day, William Shakespeare's Birthday, Monday 23 April from 1.35-2.05pm.
The April meeting will be held on Tuesday 17th at 2.30pm at the home of Mrs Olive Richards, Almeley Chase, Kineton Road.
Our coffee morning will be on Saturday 14 April at 11am in the Village Hall. There is a bring and buy stall, a book stall, a raffle and, of course, coffee and biscuits (50p). We raise money for our local parish church, St Giles, and welcome any contributions.
Do you knit, crochet, sew or wish to learn either? Or would you just like to meet for cake, a cuppa and a chat?
We are meeting every 2nd and 4th Sunday 5pm - 6.30 (ish) in the church: a new group created to gather like-minded souls together. Knitting is the main focus, but crafters of any type, age or ability are welcomed.
Our aims are to knit & natter, (or crochet and catch up), to make new friends, share patterns, swap yarn, learn new stitches or skills, encourage and support one another; plus, of course, to eat cake! Various charity knitting projects undertaken but feel free to bring your own.
Next meetings: Sundays 25th March, 8th and 22nd April at 5pm. Find us on Facebook and/or come and join us!
Jo Hotchkiss 01926 642248
Following the success of last year's litter pick, the Parish Council invites villagers to join them on Saturday, 21st April, outside the village hall for another spring cleaning! It will start at 11 o'clock and run until 12 noon, but more attendees could mean we finish faster. TH
The flag on the village green was raised on 10 March to mark the birthday of HRH the Earl of Wessex.
New Village Website - Now LIVE!!
The parish council, along with a few local residents, have launched a brand new village website - www.gaydonvillage.co.uk. This can be accessed from any device, including your mobile phone.
This is your website and we'd love you all to get involved in its success. Whether you are an organiser of a village event, a local community group, offer a local service, are interested in local planning activities; or would simply like to be more involved in Gaydon village life and Gaydon Parish Council activities: hopefully there is something for everyone to get involved in. If not, please feel free to make a request.
You can register your email address on the website today and this will keep you up to date with the latest news, views and events.
The website is very early in its development and additional features will be added in the coming months. If you would like to participate in keeping the website up to date, we can now give you direct access to do this. Please contact me via the new website and let me know which areas you'd be interested in. I'd also welcome feedback on anything new, changes or enhancements we can make to this website. Happy browsing! paulfowle@icloud.com
Visitors are invited to join in with some 'cracking' fun activities this Easter at the British Motor Museum.
Families can enjoy a traditional Easter Egg hunt (with a motoring twist of course!) over the Easter weekend from 30 March - 2 April, along with daily drop-in craft activities.
This is followed by two weeks of 'AutoScience,' where the science that drives our cars is brought to life with cool interactive live science shows, family tours with our very own 'mad scientist' , Technic work-shops, and a Secret Mission family trail. All activities are included in Museum admission. Family ticket £39.
Buy 1 day and get 12 months free when you Gift Aid your entrance. More details on: www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk or call 01926 641188.
Hello, I live in Gaydon and am currently in Year 10 at the Kingsley School in Leamington. I am excited to be taking part in a World Challenge trip to Malaysia and Borneo in July 2019. We will trek through (and sleep in) the Jungle. Final details are yet to be decided, but we will be taking part in a remote community project while we are there. The project is self-funded so I am looking for opportunities to earn my fee in various ways. If you are able to help in any way, please let me know. I can provide babysitting, animal feeding while you are away, dog walking, small household tasks etc. at reasonable rates.
If you shop on line and are willing to support me at NO COST to yourself, please register with the link below then visit your usual sites through easyfundraising and the retailer will make a small donation to my cause each time you shop. Over 3000 retailers take part in this scheme including Amazon, Boots, Accessorize, both large and small organisations. Please consider this option so that some of their profit is used to benefit a worthwhile cause.
https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/gemmahotchkiss/
Many thanks, I hope I can help you whilst earning money for my trip! Gemma 01926 642248
Lambeth Palace has announced that the Archbishop of Canterbury is to visit Coventry and Warwickshire in May. The Most Reverend Justin Welby will be meeting people throughout the city and county which shaped his mission and ministry for fifteen years. Having been ordained in Coventry Cathedral in 1992, Justin Welby was a curate in Nuneaton and then a rector in Southam. He later served at Coventry Cathedral from 2002 to 2007, where he became the Canon for Reconciliation Ministry. A decade later, he is frequently seen wearing the Coventry Cross of Nails. Archbishop Justin is returning home to help celebrate the Centenary of the Diocese of Coventry. The diocese, in its current form, was created in 1918. At the same time, the old parish church of St Michael became the cathedral of the new diocese.
The general public will have an opportunity to hear and meet the archbishop at three events.
A hog roast at Grange Farm, Grandborough, Thursday 3 May, 6:30pm.
'Ask the Archbishop' is an event for people in their 20s and 30s at All Saint's Church, Chilvers Coton, Nuneaton, Friday 4 May, 7:30 pm.
A Centenary Festival at Coventry Cathedral on Saturday 5 May. The festival starts at 10:30 am with music, drama and activities for all ages.
Admission to all three events are free of charge, and further information can be found online at cov100.org
New Councillors
We are looking for 2 new councillors to join the parish council. If you feel that you would like to assist in the community please contact either a councillor or the clerk. If you would like more information again please contact a councillor or the clerk.
Gaydon Facilities Survey August 2017
There appears to be some confusion within the parish regarding the results from this survey. The results are available on our website gaydonvillage.co.uk and they show the 4 preferred options as:
an open area for community use and events (secured 37 votes);
this was followed by new play area for primary age school children with 36 votes; a field to be maintained as a wildlife conservation area with 25 votes; and a new play area for nursery age children with 18 votes.
In summarising the data we would like to confirm that the only information that was taken into account was the number of votes per facility. We are fortunate that we have two areas available: the field and the play area. A committee of residents is currently being formed that is looking at refurbishing the existing play area and trying to provide an open space in the field for events, ball games, picnics, dog walking, etc.; whilst also looking at nature and ways to encourage wildlife and possibly some log building, walking, and tree-planting schemes that children can become involved in.
We do have a small amount of funding available for refurbishing the play area. We also understand that Orbit Housing have indicated that they would consider an application for funding from us for equipment in the play area. Any resident wishing to join our committee should contact the clerk. If you wish to discuss these projects further, please feel free to contact Cllrs Annette Conway, John Brine or Paul Fowle.
Church clock
The church clock (Gaydon's War Memorial) has been serviced. We thank the resident who unlocked the tower and met the engineer.
Gaydon Milestone
The County Council has said that it is not possible to request that the Gaydon milestone be returned. The current keeper of the milestone talks of a loan arrangement but the County Council says that it is not aware of this. WCC say that they do not have the resources to pursue the matter.
Website
Thanks to Cllr Paul Fowle the website is live. More information will be added as we continue to develop it.
Traffic Calming Scheme
This is still being worked on. Cllr Fowle is hoping to start liaising with the highways team at the County Council very shortly. We would like to thank Ellis Machinery for their generous donation towards this project.
Defibrillator
Cllr Annette Conway is looking at different types of defibrillator. County Cllr Williams has made us aware that most parishes either have a defibrillator or are looking at installing one. Once we have an idea of the cost we will be considering approaching Cllr Williams for some funding from his community funding pot of £6,000.
St Giles Road renewal of water main
We understand that this work will be finished shortly. Severn Trent will be writing to St Giles Road residents letting them know when this will be happening. In the meantime could we please ask residents to stop parking on the grass verges. We value our green areas and like to keep them looking nice and tidy. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Litter Pick
Councillor Tom Hughes invites villagers to join the Parish Council on Saturday, 21st April, outside the village hall, for the annual spring cleaning of Gaydon! It will start at 11 o'clock and run until 12 noon but the more helpers we have, the sooner we finish!
Next meeting
Annual Parish Assembly on Tuesday, 3rd April, at 7.45pm followed by our ordinary parish council meeting. Residents are welcome to attend.
On 22nd April, one of our villagers will be running the London marathon. Martin Winter will be running to raise funds for a small charity called Inter Care which sends basic medical supplies to clinics, hospitals and orphanages in some of the poorest parts of Africa.
Any contributions would be gratefully received and can be made at https://give.everydayhero.com/uk/martin-winter-london-marathon-2018
I asked my google assistant for a joke suitable for a family magazine; here it is:
Why did the Orange stop half-way up the hill?
Answer: Because it ran out of juice!
(Alexa wasn't amused. Ed.)
Every Tuesday, starting 17 April at 5pm at Northend Chapel of Ease
The Dassett Magna Group of Parishes consists predominantly of an ageing congregation and consequently, like many other parishes, we are are always on the lookout for ways to link with children and teenagers as well as adults in our community.
Last Lent, whilst building a LEGO kit of the Last Supper with my nephew, I wondered if a LEGO Club would fit the bill. LEGO is a medium that attracts children, teenagers and adults alike but I didn't feel that simply providing space, time and lots of lego was answer.
We wanted something that could be structured and, after a bit of research, I found the LEGO Education StoryStarter Visualisation Kit designed to be used with children in schools. It combines story telling, building the story in LEGO, and then using StoryVisualizer software on iPads to convert it into a very professional comic format.
As well as being fun, LEGO can provide a hands-on learning approach allowing opportunities to experiment and learn through creativity and collaboration, motivation and self-direction. From a Christian perspective, LEGO can be used to introduce and explore the Bible and other stories by providing a playful learning experience which can be related to real-world relevance.
The interest within the local communities and at the Dassett School in this new club, to be called The Brick Bus, has been amazing. A group of eighteen adults had a fun-filled morning learning how to use StoryStarter and it was obvious that The Brick Bus LEGO Club has fired the interest of children of all ages! We are very grateful to the Gaydon Trust and the Diocesan Mission Fund for providing extensive funds to set this up. Come and join in the weekly hour of LEGO fun! The Rev'd Nicki Chatterton