Gaydon Parish Magazine March 2023

Gaydon Gazette for March

   Parish Council    Tues 7th at 7.30pm         Village Hall   
   Coffee Morning    Sat 11th at 11am           Village Hall
   Village Hall C'tee  Mon 13th at 8pm          Village Hall
   Friendship Club   Tues 21st at 2.30pm        No 2 Cottages
   Tai Chi            Weds at 7pm              Village Hall
   Cake & Crafting  Suns 12th & 26th at 5pm   Church
   Mobile Library    Fri 3rd & 24th at 2.40pm  Phone Box 

Parish Council News

The next Parish Council meeting will be in the Village Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday 14 March. The Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Tuesday 18 April and local community groups and businesses will be invited to attend. There will be Local Elections in the Village Hall on Thursday 4 May. The Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council will be on 23 May.

Coffee Morning

Saturday 11 March at 11am in the Village Hall

Bring & Buy, Books & Puzzles, Raffle, Tea & Coffee and Biscuits. Donations and profits go towards the upkeep of the Church.

Coronation Big Lunch

Gaydon Village Hall 
Sunday 7 May from Midday onwards
Everyone is invited to join the celebrations - bring a dish to share!
Tea, Coffee and Soft Drinks provided - bring your own beer and wine.
Contact Sue Middleditch or Julie Rickman if you would like to help.

Mobile Library

The Mobile Library will call at the Telephone Box at 2.40pm for half an hour on Fridays 3rd and 24th.

Flag

The flag was raised in February for Debbie Roberts' Birthday. If you have something to commemorate or celebrate, contact Siobhan Hannan on 07780 689582.

Village Hall News

The next meeting of the Village Hall Committee will be held on Monday 13 March at 8pm in the Hall.

Friendship Club

The next meeting will be on Tuesday 21 March at 2.30pm at the home of Jan Ewers, No 2 The Cottages, Brightman's Farm.

Gaydon Cake and Crafting Circle

Please join us in Church every second and fourth Sunday around 5pm when we gather over cake and tea and get creating. If you don't know how to knit or crochet, we can teach you; and You Tube is always a useful tutor! Interested? Ring Jo Hotchkiss on 642248.

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.

March Church Services

5th      9.30am      Prayer & Praise         Gaydon               
12th      9.30am      Holy Communion           Gaydon 
19th      9.30am      Mothering Sunday Service   Gaydon
26th      6.30pm      Songs of Praise         Gaydon   

Roman Catholic Church of St Francis, Kineton; Sunday Mass 11am. www.stfrancis-kineton.co.uk

Mothering Sunday

Sunday 19 March at 9.30am. The Church will be decorated at 11am on Saturday the 18th. Gifts of flowers most welcome - come and lend a hand!

March Memorial Book

         2001      8th         John Checkley
         1974      16th      Monica Boultbee
         1988      19th      Edward Lovesey
         1990      25th      Betty Kirby
         2003        "         Betty Hill

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

Time to get Walking Again

With Spring on its way we start to think about getting out to walk in the beautiful English countryside again, but where to find new and interesting walks?

Walking in Warwickshire https://www.walkinginengland.co.uk/warwickshire has lots of walks to download and print, free. It also has books of walks, details of all the walking groups in the county and much more. Whether you want to walk on your own or with a group all the information is there in one place.

John Harris (who maintains the website) said, 'There is so much walking information on the web but it is difficult to find. Walking in Warwickshire (part of the Walking in England website) has brought it together in one place so whether you are walking from home, or away on holiday, you will be able to find a walk suitable for you'.

With walks from half a mile to twelve miles-plus long, and a note of suitability for pushchairs and wheelchairs, everyone can find a walk to enjoy. So home or away, check out the websites and get walking!

www.walkinginengland.co.uk <http://www.walkinginengland.co.uk

john@walkinginengland.co.uk <mailto:john@walkinginengland.co.uk

Nature Notes for February

There is unfamiliar spring-like weather for much of this month after the savage low temperatures of January. The Snowdrops are in full bloom and the Chadshunt churchyard has an incredible display - a picture on the Community site was taken by a local Bellringing chap but well worth visiting. There are also crocuses in many places around the village. Both are a vital source of nectar for hardy insect species like Bees, already visiting flowers.

There was great excitement when a Buzzard started frequenting the centre if the village, I think attracted by the removal of Large Farm machinery from the local yard, probably exposing the burrows of rodents.

In addition, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Siskins and the odd Brambling were seen at feeders and an Early dawn chorus of Robins, Blackbirds and Song thrushes has started, too. A pair of Ravens and Red kites are taking advantage of the sunny weather to glide high on the thermals above the village.

I chose a bad day to check out Ballscote quarry as it was incredibly cold. But a bonus by contrast though, when returning to Gaydon, we saw a Barn Owl hunting, snow white in the sunshine; and several Buzzards on the tops of dead trees.

The news about the pollution of most of our rivers, and that the UK is one of the 'Most degraded countries in the World', is very worrying. We all need to keep trying to improve this scenario by perhaps avoiding obviously harmful plastic packaging; by avoiding Palm oil and industrialised junk foods.

A new bill to reduce the rights of environmental campaigners is a serious threat, too. Gaydon is not immune to such changes: we have a possible solar farm, Warehouse developments and a spread of new housing schemes all around our borders!

In spite of all this, I'm hoping that this year we will hear more Cuckoos and that swallows will return after a serious decline. Insects are essential to both these species and we can avoid chemicals and use natural predators in order to help them.

Yesterday a very early fragile Drone fly was warming itself on my wall - perhaps a harbinger of Spring? Do not give up on your bird feeders, though, as many birds will be pairing up now and thinking about nest building - so it's important to keep them fit and well-nourished. BP

Drop-in Centre for Ukraine in the Royal Priors

When you go shopping in Leamington, look out for the Ukraine Appeal Shop upstairs in the Royal Priors. It is a charity shop sponsored by the Polish Centre of Leamington Spa. As well as donated items, there are Ukrainian products for sale together with flags and badges. The money raised is spent on ambulances, medical treatment, presents and holidays for displaced children. You can give money or articles to sell. Find more on Facebook at Polishcentreleamington