Gaydon Parish Magazine January 2025

index of magazines

A Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year to All Our Readers!

Gaydon Gazette for January

Parish Council       Tues 7th at 7.30pm       Village Hall 
Village Hall C'tte   Mon 13th at 8pm          Village Hall
Mobile Library       Fri 24th at 2.40pm       Phone Box
Tai Chi              Wednesdays at 7pm        Village Hall

Parish Council News

The last Parish Council Meeting was held on 3 December 2024.

Gaydon Churchyard

Official notice was given that burials in St Giles' churchyard had been discontinued. Cllr Davies said that as the churchyard was now the responsibility of the Parish Council he would contact the church architect about the condition of the wall surrounding the church.

Gaydon Green Fund

After discussion it was decided that double-sided signs should be placed 1) half-way down Kineton Road and 2) on Banbury Road past the crossing islands.

Budget

Councillors agreed an increase of £2149 in the precept for the coming year.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 7 January 2025 at 7.30pm.

January Church Services

5th      9.30am   Holy Communion      Gaydon
        10.00am   Holy Communion      Northend
12th     9.30am   Morning Prayer      Gaydon
        10.00am   Morning Prayer      Northend
19th     9.30am   Agapë Service  Gaydon
        10.00am   Morning Prayer      Northend
26th     9.30am   Prayer and Praise   Gaydon
        10.00am   Morning Prayer      Northend

Roman Catholic Church of St Francis, Kineton: Sunday Mass 11am

December Flag Days

Wednesday 25th - Christmas Day

If you have something to celebrate or commemorate, ring Siobhan on 07780 689582, and she will raise the flag for you, in return for a £5 contribution to Church funds.

Mobile Library

The Mobile Library will call at the Telephone Box at 2.25pm for half an hour on Friday 24th.

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.

Thanks

A Thank You to all the ladies, and gents, who attended our Breast Cancer Now Afternoon Tea at Willis House, Chadshunt, on 16 August. We raised £524.30 for a great cause supporting so many people.Anitra won the bottle of Prosecco for guessing the closest number of strawberries. It was lovely to bring so many neighbours together.

'Thank you' from Louise and Maddie Jelley

British Motor Museum Events in January

   New Year Fun at the Museum         Thursday 2nd - 6th      
   Jaguar Breakfast Meet              Saturday 4th       
   Historic Rally Car Register Day    Saturday 11th         
   Information and tickets at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

Carers4Carers

Kineton Village Hall 10:30am to 12 noon. Come along to Kineton Village Hall and meet fellow local carers over refreshments for conversation and support. This month we'll hear from local Occupational Therapist, Suzi Kerrall-Vaughan, about how occupational therapy may help you and your loved one. Feel free to bring your loved ones along - they can join our Companionship Group while we meet. We look forward to welcoming you there!

For further details about our carer support group or help with transport arrangements, please contact Gillian on 07947 893504; or send an email to kcarers4carers@gmail.com; or explore our website www.carers4carersonthefosse.org.uk.

Nature Notes: First Published in January 2010

January is a bleak month of short days and damp cold. Our village, like others, has mud as a feature: you find yourself slithering on the footpaths of many Warwickshire fields. It clings tenaciously to ones boots. As yet a cleat that can shed this has not been invented, so even the most expensive wellies pick up large chunks.

I find that the evergreen plants that normally blend in are now noticeable in trees and hedges. In my own garden I have cultivated large Tangles of Mistletoe on three of my apple trees. Their berry crop is profuse this season and I'm hoping the Mistlethrushes will spread it around, as it is scarce now in Warwickshire.

I have read a great deal about this mythical plant, once cut with silver sickles by the Druids and sold in huge bundles at Tetbury Wells Market each year for Christmas decorations. If you save the berries you can try smearing the sticky contents plus pips into cracks in the bark; or cut slits in a semblance of beak-wiping from which could grow a new Parasitic shoot.

Ivy is another fascinating plant known as Hedera or Helix. It's a wonderful source of nectar for winter insects and even bees on mild days. Winter Moths, whose unwelcome attentions by their wingless females led to the sticky bands once placed on fruit trees, are often caught in the headlights on wild winter nights. Ivy will also change the shape of its leaves as it climbs and so is often mistaken for a separate species.

Holly or ilex is well-known and there are many different species. It is the foodplant of the small Holly Blue butterfly, often seen around Gaydon in the early spring and summer, but is poisonous to most animals - though the berries are a good source of food for thrushes and Redwings. If we have a cold spell, look out for Waxwings which feed on Rowan and cotoneaster berries.

I've seen a herd of Roe Deer around Chadshunt recently: a lovely sight with a magnificent six-point stag. The signs of Badger activity, which resemble a bit of random digging, are all along the verges of Watery Lane and will continue unless we have very low temperatures. Foxes are very numerous too, so be sure your hens are locked up. My best wishes for the New Year to all readers, Bernard Price

December Flag Days

Wednesday 25th - Christmas Day

If you have something to celebrate or commemorate, ring Siobhan on 07780 689582, and she will raise the flag for you, in return for a £5 contribution to Church funds.

Mobile Library

The Mobile Library will call at the Telephone Box at 2.25pm for half an hour on Friday 24th.

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.

Thanks

A Thank You to all the ladies, and gents, who attended our Breast Cancer Now Afternoon Tea at Willis House, Chadshunt, on 16 August. We raised £524.30 for a great cause supporting so many people.Anitra won the bottle of Prosecco for guessing the closest number of strawberries. It was lovely to bring so many neighbours together.

'Thank you' from Louise and Maddie Jelley

British Motor Museum Events in January

   New Year Fun at the Museum         Thursday 2nd - 6th
   Jaguar Breakfast Meet              Saturday 4th       
   Historic Rally Car Register Day    Saturday 11th         
    Information and tickets at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk

Carers4Carers

Kineton Village Hall 10:30am to 12 noon. Come along to Kineton Village Hall and meet fellow local carers over refreshments for conversation and support. This month we'll hear from local Occupational Therapist, Suzi Kerrall-Vaughan, about how occupational therapy may help you and your loved one. Feel free to bring your loved ones along - they can join our Companionship Group while we meet. We look forward to welcoming you there!

For further details about our carer support group or help with transport arrangements, please contact Gillian on 07947 893504; or send an email to kcarers4carers@gmail.com; or explore our website www.carers4carersonthefosse.org.uk.

Village Hall News

The next meeting of the Village Hall Committee is to be held on Monday 13 January at 8pm in the Hall.

Thanks

Gaydon allotmenteers would like to thank the kind, generous and anonymous person who donated garden tools for our use on the allotment. These will prove to be extremely useful in our continuing efforts to extract food and flowers from our plots! Thanks again!

Thanks

The 2024 Over-65s Christmas lunch was a festive and particularly delicious event, it seemed to me. Wine and soft drinks flowed freely, of course! We are grateful as ever to our accomplished turkey-cooks and the providers of succulent vegetables. It's really quite an achievement to produce the perfect Christmas dinner when everything is spirited in, minutes before, from all parts of the village. Second-helpings complete, the decks were cleared. Then the magnificent St Marks Trifles appeared by magic and the traditional St Giles Mincepies were served with mints and coffee.

As ever, it was an opportunity to meet old friends and catch up with everyone's news; but the toast to 'Absent Friends' was heard, too. Sincere thanks to all who help to keep this village tradition alive. JR

Magazine

The Editor would like to thank everyone who helps the production of our Parish News Magazine to continue in this digital age. We are grateful to our advertisers who pay for our printing ink; the Parish Council who fund the paper; and our business manager who keeps our accounts in order. Our contributors provide the content of the magazine, like BP's inimitable Nature Notes, keeping us all in touch with life in the village. However, our techie has kindly provided the QR Code above for quick and easy access to the Magazines on-line!

Gaydon Development Update

Over the Christmas period, I was talking to a cousin of mine who used to be a 'roadie' with the band UB40 and is someone with an interest in sound systems. When I told him about the details of the proposed development, he came up with an interesting image of the effect on Gaydon village which I thought - although ominous - was ingenious. He said it sounded as if it would be the equivalent of a row of giant Marshall amps/speakers turned up to 11(!?), over a quarter of a mile in length, broadcasting the sounds of up to 55 lorry-movements per hour (CEG (Malta) Ltd own figures) and the associated cacophony from its elevated site all over the village 24/7.

But not only that:

The elevated site would produce and project, not just sound, but a cascade of pollutants which would descend on to the village, including the notorious 'carbon black', a tasty mixture of rubber and hydrocarbon

particulates produced by vehicle tyres and exhaust systems. Many Gaydon residents were compensated by the Environment Agency in the 1990s following the opening of the M.40 because of the presence of these toxic residues on their properties. (Another reminder, by the way, should anyone accuse us of being NIMBYs over this develop-ment, that Gaydon has tolerated, stoically, and with little fuss, well above the UK average, extensive housing and commercial developments in its vicinity over the past 30 years.)

Early in December, Bernard Sellman who farms 275 acres of land to the south and west of Gaydon, invited me to see for myself how his farmland absorbs the run-off water as it leaves the (mainly Victorian) pipework and is directed away from the village. Mr Sellman is very knowledgeable (he has to be!) about drainage and run-off and the related ditches and culverts which helps prevent flooding in the village, at the moment. He showed me where there was a particularly fast-flow of water in a ditch that was basically the final run-off for the west of the village. However, the run-off rainwater to the east and north-east of the village does not escape the vicinity of the village so easily! Owing to an east-west aligned ridge between Gaydon and his land, rainwater from the natural elevation of the village (and the would-be development) is forced down the Banbury Road. As we know, along with the centre of the village, the Banbury Road properties were particularly badly affected by the 2007 floods. He also told me

about the sewage, settlement beds.

It seems that in the past two years, 2-3 tankers (per day, at the moment) collect the excess 'residue' from the sewage beds because of the dramatic increase in housing around the village. The tankers access the beds via an exceedingly rough track containing potholes - including one about 8-9 feet long, if deep enough, would be big enough to drown a horse! On at least one (admitted) occasion, a tanker, because of its weight and the uneven track, became grounded and stuck. You don't want to know about one of the options they were prepared to use, before they eventually freed it! Of course, the responsibility for the maintenance and improvement(!) of drainage and sewage-related matters lies with everyone's favourite, privatised, corporate company: Severn Trent.

Severn Trent is a company so good it feels as if we are honoured to pay them twice over: once to engorge their executives and shareholders; and twice for the actual maintenance and projected improvements to drainage, sewage and water supply. The prospect of the Gaydon development concreting over all those acres of elevated, water-retaining, farmland above the village is alarming.

More alarming is that the excessive run-off, drainage and sewage following the 'extreme weather events' we've been warned about will be largely the responsibility of Severn Trent; a company fined millions because of pollution-events and wholesale neglect of its responsibility for water control and removal. A timely, topical reference at this time of the year is that it would be the equivalent of trusting King Herod to run a children's nursery.

Finally, some residents are very surprised to hear that CEG (Malta) Ltd's planning application, after one year's notice, did not meet the 22nd November deadline, following which the planning scrutiny and contact has been taken out of the existing planning officer's hands (who has shepherded the process from the beginning) and is now the responsibility of the overall head of planning.

Someone remarked, using a football reference, that it seemed just like as if the Premier League had decided there were to be no more referees on the pitch and that all decisions about a match would be decided, more remotely, by VAR. Curious. Tony Hughes

Extracts from County Councillor's Report

The King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2024

Two charitable organisations in Warwickshire, Hope4Rugby and the Kineton Sports & Social Club, have officially been awarded The King’s Award for Voluntary Service 2024. This is the highest award a local voluntary group can receive in the UK and is equivalent to an MBE.

Warwickshire’s Lord Lieutenant presents National Honours

The extraordinary achievements of several residents in Warwickshire have been recognised in formal presentations and events by the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Tim Cox. Mrs Janet Nelson of Butlers Marston was presented with the BEM for services to education.

WCC’s guide to managing potholes: how you can help keep roads safe

Warwickshire County Council invites residents to join in the fight against potholes. Potholes form as a natural result of traffic, water and surface wear. Warwickshire County Council has created an efficient reporting system for residents to quickly notify the Council of potholes, track repair progress, and stay informed on ongoing maintenance.

Report a Pothole through the Council’s user-friendly online platform: warwickshire.gov.uk/potholes.

Log burners

Do you have a log burner in your home? Using wet wood, old furniture, or household waste can emit harmful fumes and toxic pollutants into your home when burnt. Switch to Ready to Burn wood as a safer alternative and have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted.

January Memorial Book

         1980       3rd      Carl Heath
         2008       3rd      Tony Irving
         1978       7th      Gerald Lush
         1989       7th      Lewis Watts
         2022      12th      Joan Morgan
         1999      13th      John Herrington
         1985      20th      Alfred Welch
         2000      28th      Agnes Bailey      

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

Obituaries

Peter Richard Mann

It is with sadness that we record the death of Peter Mann, aged 94, on 11 December 2024. The funeral service will be held at St Giles' Church, Gaydon, at 11am on Thursday 16 January followed by burial at Gaydon Cemetery. We offer our condolences to his family and friends.

Gill Malsbury

The family of Gill Malsbury would like to let her friends in Gaydon know that she passed away peacefully on 19 December after a brief illness. There will be a funeral service at Chesterton Church on Wednesday, 22 January. The family would very much welcome people to a gathering afterwards.

Please ring me, Geoff Cotterill, on 07710508436 for details.

A New Year's Tale

It was Christmas morning and Mole was bustling about, tidying his kitchen after baking a dozen mince pies. He was waiting for Ratty to arrive. They had been invited to a Christmas lunch party with Badger, a singular treat. Mole would be taking his mince pies as a contribution and Badger had suggested that Ratty bring some fishy canapés and little things on sticks.
The two animals were very excited because they had never known Badger to hold a party on Christmas Day before. The weather was usually so bad at this time of year that Badger would be hibernating while he was snowed in; but the seasons were changing their ways and the animals changing theirs to match.
By all accounts it was to be a big party and all their friends and acquaintances would be there - except, of course, for Toad. Toad was still in disgrace: he would not apologise for his misdemeanours and it seemed that he did not care whether he saw his old friends again or not.
When they arrived at Badger’s house the old boy was in a jolly mood and accepted their offerings with many thank-yous and hugs. Peapod champagne was raising the party spirit and many toasts were offered to friendship and a very Happy New Year.
Suddenly Badger raised his voice above the chatter.
“Where is Greta Gosling? Has anybody seen her today?”
They looked at one another and shook their heads. Someone offered,
“I saw her yesterday doing her shopping at the market,” but that was of no help at all.
“We must go and call on her,” advised Badger, “to see that she is all right”.
The whole party set off at a brisk trot behind Badger, those with shorter legs running to keep up. They knocked and knocked on Greta’s door and called through the letterbox but there was no reply.
“Anyone know if she has relatives she might be visiting?” asked Badger. It seemed she had none and it was worrying that she might have disappeared without mentioning it to one or other of the assembled group.
Badger stood and mused for a while and all the other animals looked on gravely, trying to help him think of what to do next.
“I know,” said Badger, “she’s been kidnapped and I bet I know by whom. Come on, we’ll go and rescue her!” They set off once more, this time towards Toad Towers.
When Badger reached Toad’s front door he didn’t stop to knock, just burst in through the door which was never locked, stamped through the large hall, followed by the long line of animals, to Toad’s dining room.
There sat the disgraceful animal, alone, his feet on the table, quite drunk it seemed, gnawing away at a leg of meat, the juices dribbling down his chin; and on the table in front of him the carcass of a large roasted bird.
“Toad,” said Badger in the most stentorian of tones that shook the room,
“What are you are eating?”