Gaydon Parish Magazine December
index of magazines
We wish all our Readers
A Merry Christmas
and A Happy New Year
Gaydon Gazette for December
Parish Council Tues 6th at 7.30pm Village Hall
Carol-singing Mon 19th at 7pm Village Hall
Crib Service Sat 24th at 6pm St Giles Church
Christmas Service Sun 25th at 9.30am St Giles Church
Tai Chi Wednesdays at 7pm Village Hall
Mobile Library Fridays 2nd & 23rd Phone Box
index of magazines
December Church Services Dassett Magna
4th
9.30am Morning Prayer Gaydon
10am Holy Communion Farnborough
11am Fenny Compton Morning Prayer
11am Holy Communion BCP Northend
11th
9.30am Holy Communion Gaydon
11am Holy Communion Fenny Compton
11am Morning Prayer Northend
6pm Harvest Evening Prayer Farnborough
18th
9.30am Agape Service Gaydon
10am Holy Communion BCP Farnborough
11am Morning Prayer Fenny Compton
3.30pm Carols by Candlelight Burton Dassett
19th
7pm Carols in the Village Hall Gaydon
24th Christmas Eve
6pm Crib Service Gaydon
11.30pm Midnight Mass Burton Dassett
25th Christmas Day
9.30am Holy Communion Gaydon
New Year's Day 1st January 2023
11am Group Service Northend
Zoom Weekly Services Monday - Friday 9.30am Morning Prayer; 6pm Evening Prayer
Roman Catholic Church of St Francis, Kineton Sunday Mass 11am. www.stfrancis-kineton.co.uk
Gaydon Village Store
Please don't forget to use your village shop this Christmas. Festive poultry and other meat can be ordered from our local supplier: shop early to avoid disappointment. Plenty of other delicious things to buy - so pop in and see!
Burns Night Supper
Saturday 21 January 2023 at 7pm in the Village Hall
Delicious Haggis supper with wee Dram.
Tickets £20 on sale at the Village Shop soon
or call Jo on 642248
Mobile Library
The Mobile Library will call at the Telephone Box at 2.40pm for half an hour on Fridays 2nd and 23rd December.
Tai Chi
The Tai Chi group meets every Wednesday evening at 7 o'clock in the Village Hall. Please text 07514 011406
so that we can look out for you. After a month, please donate a coin for the hire of the Hall.
Funeral
Frederick William Morgan, 20 December 1948 - 15 October 2022
The church was full for the funeral service of Bill Morgan who died aged 73 on 15 October. The service was held at St Giles Church on 17 November and was conducted by our Lay Reader, John Davies. Afterwards, the interment took place at Gaydon Cemetery and later there were refreshments at the Malt Shovel Inn.
Thanks
After Bernard Price put such a nice tribute to my daughter, Victoria, in last month's magazine, we would like to thank him for his kind words. We are also very grateful to our Vicar for the lovely service and help she gave. Everyone has been so kind, all our friends from Gaydon and all the people who knew Victoria. She fought so hard: she was strong and brave to the end. Bernard and Daphne Sellman
Gaydon History Talks
I would also like to thank Martin Phelps for his fine history shows; I really enjoyed them. Bernard Sellman
Gaydon Gift Day & Festive Market
An amount of well over £1000 was raised at the Christmas Coffee Morning in November. We are grateful to everyone who helped to make it such an enjoyable event. JH
Allotment News
This is a quiet time on the allotments, not helped by the very wet weather. To think we completely ran out of water not so long ago! The tanks are now completely full. Several of us are still able to harvest various crops including kale, chard and salads as no frosts yet. There are also a few autumn raspberries, although they are rather small. Our very small apple tree produced a single red specimen last year, this year we picked a dozen. Other fruit trees on different plots have been equally bountiful. We pruned the perennial globe artichokes a month ago and they have put on a lot of new growth owing to the mild weather and chicken manure mulch. Several years ago we planted some red skin potatoes and despite thinking we had harvested them all, rogue plants still pop up in unexpected places. These used to be plants that did not survive the winter if left in the ground. Climate change is becoming far more noticeable. DP
Burns Night Supper
Delicious Haggis supper with wee Dram and Entertainment on Saturday 21 January 2023 at 7pm in the Village Hall
Tickets £20 on sale at the Village Shop soon or call Jo on 642248 to book.
Flag
The flag was flown on 11 November for Armistice Day and on Remembrance Sunday in honour of the fallen.
If you have something to commemorate or celebrate, contact Siobhan Hannan on 07780 689582 and she will raise the flag for you.
Parish Council News
Report of Gaydon Parish Council Meeting 1st November
Pimple Lane Development
The impending proposal to develop land South of the M40 adjacent to Pimple Lane was the main item. The scoping report is now with Stratford District Council and this will inform the submission of any planning application that is submitted. A video meeting attended by the Chairman, Councillor Corinne Hill and the Clerk was held with representatives of Commercial Estates Group (CEG) to advise the Parish Council of the arrangements for public consultation, both within Gaydon and the wider community. This was scheduled for 15th November at Gaydon Village Hall from 2pm to 8pm. CEG outlined a number of options with regard to the landscape treatment of the area closest to the village in which the provision of a pond was considered necessary in order to demonstrate net bio-diversity gain. Some scepticism was expressed by Councillors at this innovation, especially as the proximity of a pond to a commercial/industrial area raised questions of management of surface water intrusion and pollution. The majority view among residents was that the site should preferably be screened from view by means of a mature woodland. The views of the Council and residents will be collated and used to inform the subsequent planning application which is yet to be submitted. All Parishioners would be receiving a letter from CEG inviting them to attend the exhibition and consultation on 15 November and all would be encouraged to attend to make their views on this application known.
The Triangle
Equally important was the discussion on the future of the area known locally as “the triangle”. This plot of land, currently owned by Warwickshire County Council, is situated between the B4100, Warwick Road and the Link Road. The Parish Council would ideally wish to see it secured for a potential woodland. However, the complexities around covenants and restrictions on the use of the site and its future disposal currently prevent such a proposal being taken forward. The Parish Council is to investigate further.
Parking
Local residents said parents were parking on the old garage site by Pimple Lane to collect children from the bus from Warwick School, causing a visibility hazard to vehicles exiting Pimple Lane. Though essentially a private matter between the Bus Operator and the landowner, the Council nevertheless agreed to bring the matter to the attention of the School Principal.
Next Meeting: The next meeting of the Council will be held on Tuesday 6 December commencing at 7.30pm.
Nature Notes for November
A colourful autumn, accompanied by blue skies, is a feature of this month around the village. Inevitable drops in temperatures and heavy rains have slowly intruded over the last week, though much leaf cover is still retained in spite of some intense winds. Jackdaws circle the village gathering into large flocks to roost and a few V-shaped formations of geese cross at night.
I am still waiting for migrants to arrive here from Northern Europe. There is such a huge quantity of berries in the hedgerows, untouched except for our local blackbirds. I was watching such a bird gobbling up Hawthorn berries yesterday when the first large flock of Fieldfares (large Scandanavian thrushes) flew high overhead, heading south, their calls like creaking iron gates. A couple of Kestrels hunt along the old Warwick road, tending to avoid areas now frequented by Kites and Buzzards. A large sparrow Hawk seen hunting the side of Itchington Holt was using the stubble field nearby as a possible food source for small rodents.
In the garden, I notice Robins, Wrens and Blue tits are sorting through the fallen débris and I am reminded that it will be soon time to replenish bird-feeders. The Insects - apart from the odd wasp and Red Admiral butterfly which are still feeding on windfall apples - have gone; so dried insect feeds and sunflower hearts will give garden birds energy now that temperatures are dropping. Our wild birds are still declining in numbers and need all the help they can get! There are some Tufted ducks and extra Swans at Compton Verney now.
I notice that some plants like Yellow Jasmine and Ivy are unseasonably in flower already; and because we have had only a little slight frost so far, Midges are still dancing in sunny clearings and spiders still weaving webs. Climate change is very evident: Geraniums still flowering in many village gardens and even Nasturtiums are growing, which wilt at the first sign of frost!
Heating and egg-shortages seem to be the topics of concern at present. I've split logs for my woodburner in preparation and fed my hens some lettuce as an incentive - could their combs be getting red? (a sure sign) and they love dust bathing in my leftover wood ash. I notice a Twitter campaign by Chris Packham to remove the Woodcock from the quarry list. There are often a few of these Fascinating birds around our village sewage outlet and you may flush one out on a dog walk across the fields (no pun intended?). They mostly eat worms and slugs. Years ago I ate a Woodcock: and as Noel Coward said, 'Too much wood - not enough cock!'. He was right! So no need to shoot this increasingly scarce bird. Check out the petition. Bernard Price
Warwickshire Household Support Fund
Households with a combined gross household income of no more than £30,000 per year, no household savings and someone living with a vulnerability, may be eligible for:
Financial support toward current energy debts only
Assistance to repair or replace broken boilers and heating systems
Financial support to top up an oil or LPG tank (not bottles).
Warm & Well in Warwickshire
Owner occupiers/private rented households with cold related health conditions, receiving certain benefits/low income may be eligible for:
Emergency Heater Scheme
Grants for Boiler Replacements
Grants for Boiler Servicing & Repairs
Loft and Cavity Wall Insulation Grants
Energy Efficiency Grant
Owner occupiers with a gross household income of less than £30,000 a year or if someone in your home receives a means tested benefit and a home that has an EPC rating of D, E, F or G (if you don't have an EPC then this will be arranged for you if we think that your property is energy inefficient) may be eligible for:
Solar PV panels
Loft insulation
Cavity wall insulation
External wall insulation
Air source heat pumps
Smart heating controls
For more information call us on 0800 988 2881 or visit the website www.actonenergy.org.uk
December Memorial Book
2005 3rd Rex White
2004 10th Trevor Taylor
2004 19th Jean Welch
2000 27th Evelyn Olds
1999 30th John Barker
If there is a special entry that you would like to see, let me know and I will try to make sure that the Book is open on that day. Julie Rickman
The Vicar's Letter
Dear Friends,
At this time of year there is always a great sense of anticipation and of hope. As we make our plans for Christmas, we anticipate the variety of services which help us to celebrate the birth of Jesus: carol services, crib services and the uniquely special service of Midnight Mass. Please look at the list of Christmas Services or contact me for more information.
One of my favourite stories about a school nativity service (not in our school!) is of the little boy who wanted to play the part of Joseph. He was very disappointed to be given instead the part of the innkeeper, but he appeared to accept his teacher’s decision and got on with his part in the play. However, on the day of the performance, in front of a school hall packed with parents, the boy took his revenge. When Joseph and Mary asked him if there was any room in his inn, he abandoned the script, stood back so that the door to the inn was wide open and said, ‘Yes there’s plenty of room; come on in!’
That might not be the way the familiar story goes but I think the little boy’s actions have some things to say to us at Christmas. We are all invited to ‘come in’ to greet the Holy Child, born into such very humble surroundings. All will be welcomed to the variety of different services which our churches offer at Christmas as we join together in celebrating the birth of Jesus, the One who comes to save us and bring us joy. There literally is ‘room for all’ because God welcomes each and every one of us. He does not want anyone to be turned away, because he loves each of us so much. God has shown the depth of that love in his unique gift to us; the gift of his Son, born as one of us, part of a loving human family; the One who was willing ultimately to give his life for us, so that we might share in his life, for ever.
We anticipate the celebration of Jesus’ birth, not only because it is a great excuse for a bit of a party, but also because his birth gives us hope. Hope for the future. Hope in the midst of much that seems to be changing all around us. Our Christmas celebrations lead into celebrations of the New Year, with a heightened sense of anticipation for all that 2023 might bring. Many will be praying that the next year will be better than the last; others will be going into the New Year with a deep sense of anxiety and uncertainty. However, as we approach 2023 we should remember the wonderful promise which Jesus made to us:
‘Remember that I am with you always; yes, to the end of time’ (Matthew 28, verse 20). Jesus promises to be there with us in whatever it is that life brings; in the happy times and in the sadnesses; in the pain and also in the joy.
At Christmas, God welcomes us all to celebrate the birth of his Son, the One who brings hope to the world. God invites us to come in because he has made sure that there is room for us all.
I wish everyone a very Happy and Holy Christmas and a peaceful New Year. Rev. Nicki Chatterton