Gaydon Parish Magazine May 2026
index of magazines
Gaydon Gazette for May
Book Club Tues 5th at 7pm Malt Shovel
Parish Council Tues 5th at 7.30pm Village Hall
Coffee Morning Sat 16th at 11am Village Hall
Mobile Library Friday 22nd Phone Box
Tai Chi Mons & Weds at 7pm Village Hall
Parish Council News
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Next Meeting: Tuesday 5th May at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.
Advance Notice of St Giles Church Consultation
Saturday 6th June from 10am until 12noon at St Giles Church: Consultation Meeting with the Community and Representatives from the Diocese of Coventry to discuss the possible future of our Church Building. AH
May Church Services
3rd 10.00am Holy Communion Burton Dassett
N.B. There is no service in Gaydon this Sunday
10th 9.00am Holy Communion Gaydon
10.00am Morning Prayer Northend
Ascension Day
14th 7.00pm Group Holy Communion Northend
17th 9.30am Agape Service Gaydon
10.00am Holy Communion Northend
Pentecost
24th 9.30am Songs of Praise Gaydon
10.00am Morning Prayer Northend
Trinity Sunday
31st 10.30am Group Holy Communion Farnborough
Roman Catholic Mass
St Peter & St Paul 5.00pm Saturday Brailes
Our Lady & the Apostles 9.15am Sunday Shipston-on-Stour
St Francis of Assisi 11.00am Sunday Kineton
May Memorial Book
2016 4th Alfred Diston
2001 11th Violet Simmonds
2022 13th Geoffrey Gordon Pinches
2002 15th Jack Talbot
2003 23rd Mabel Middleditch
1999 26th Joyce Povey
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
Gaydon Village Hall Committee News
Please note that the new Hiring Rates for the Village Hall with effect from 1st May 2026 are:
£8 per hour for villagers
£16 per hour for non-residents.
May Day Teas at Burton Dassett
Monday 4 May 12-5pm. The Church of All Saints on the Burton Dassett Hills will be serving delicious afternoon teas on Bank Holiday Monday with home-made cakes and savoury items to suit all tastes and diets. All proceeds go towards the support of this lovely mediaeval building.
Coffee Morning
Saturday 16th at 11am in the Village Hall. Coffee and Biscuits 50p; Books and Jigsaws; White Elephant, Raffle and Chat. Proceeds go to Church funds. Please note that we are meeting a week later than our usual 2nd Saturday in the month: 16th instead of 9th.
Mobile Library
The Mobile Library will call at the Telephone Box at 2.25pm for half an hour on Friday 22 May.
Gaydon Book Club
Tuesday 5th May at 7pm at the Malt Shovel.
Tai Chi
Gaydon Village Hall at 7pm Mondays and Wednesdays. 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.
What's On in May at the British Motor Museum
Weekend 2nd-3rd Gaydon Land Rover Show
Weekend 9th-10th UK Slot Car Festival
Monday 11th Mellow Mondays
Tuesday 12th Gaydon Gathering
Sunday 17th Vaux ALL Celebration
Monday 18th Mini Motorists Mondays
Saturday 23rd Forza Horizon 6
Sunday 24th TUCKED at the British Motor Museum
Information and tickets at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk
Carers4Carers
Kineton Village Hall: Friday 22 May from 10.30am-12 noon. Carers4Carers are your local support group for family carers. Loved ones can join our Companionship Group during the meeting.
On Friday 22 May we'll be joined by Warwickshire Vision to learn more about what they can offer people living in Warwickshire who are sight-impaired. There will also be plenty of time for chat and refreshments.
For further details about our group or help with transport arrangements to/from our meetings, please contact Gillian on 07947 893504; send an email to kcarers4carers@gmail.com;
or explore our website www.carers4carersonthefosse.org.uk
Volunteer with Samaritans
Tuesday 9 June at Tyler House Stratford.
Volunteering with Samaritans is an opportunity to make a real difference in people's lives while gaining valuable skills and experiences. You don't need to have been through a particular life experience or be from a certain walk of life; we will train, mentor and support you all the way.
If you would like to find out more, ask questions and discover more about what would be involved, please come along to our New Volunteer Welcome and Information Evening on Tuesday 9th June, 7.00pm-8.30pm at Tyler House, Stratford upon Avon, CV37 6TY. Contact 01789 332545 to register attendance or visit
https://www.samaritans.org/branches/stratford-upon-avon/could-i-be-a-stratford-samaritans-volunteer/
Samaritans: Ordinary people, just like you, doing extraordinary things every day.
Nature Notes for April
The weather is getter warmer albeit with biting winds. in spite of these, hardy insects are already on the wing. The solitary Mason Bees and Bee flies being notable in their numbers when there is a bright period of sunshine. The Mason bees once had a very large colony in the wall by the shop, sadly destroyed but they seem to have successfully re-located in other crevices and openings. I have seen a large number of Holly Blue butterflies now joined by early Brimstomes, Orange-tips and Green-veined whites, all hardy butterflies which are active during sunny periods. They often bend in the strong wings when they settle.
I was delighted to see the first Swallows arrive last week, already seeking their old nesting spots after a hazardous return from Africa. We should expect the Swifts in the village shortly and the House Martins will probably join them soon. I set up 'Merlin' in my garden most mornings and have recorded a number of Song Thrushes - a species in decline - so good news. Merlin is a useful free App which can pick up bird song over a wide area and is easy to use. I often hear Greenfinches, too, but have never seen one as yet!
The huge swathes of Cowslips are spreading over both sides along the M40; Chadshunt churchyard is packed with Primroses; and even the ones planted a few years ago around the village churchyard are giving a good display this season, too.
Rookeries seem on the increase around this area and new nests and colonies are being founded. Today I even saw a few rabbits but they continue to be scarce. I've noted the advice of the RSPB to empty all bird feeders and clean them. This is a move to avoid the spread of avian 'flu and other diseases: sensible advice.
There are also many nesting birds birds in the village - remember to keep cats inside if possible during the daylight hours. If you find fledglings always leave them near their parents. The parent bird alarm calls will usually alert you to such situations. Bernard Price
Shipwrecked Mariners' Society Appeal
The Society's purpose is to help ease the financilal hardship faced by many former and serving seafarers and their dependants. Last year we paid out over £1.4mn in 2,019 cases of need and we received 885 new applications for assistance. Merchant seafarers, fishers and their dependants remain an often-neglected sector of society, as less and less thought is given to what goes on at sea.
One man in his late thirties, with nearly twenty years' sea service, had recently been awarded custody of his two children. The Society was able to help him adjust to life as a single parent and ensure he was receiving all relevant benefits, whilst also providing a one-off grant to stabilise his situation. We were also able to refer him to two partner charities which provide regular support for children.
Without the Shipwrecked Mariners' Sociey, in times of hardship and distress, needs like this would very likely go unmet. The Charity's work continues to be much in demand. Please give us your support so that we are able to make a difference and improve the quality of life in so many deserving cases.
The Society's head office is at 1 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TL and online at ww.shipwreckedmariners.org.uk
Shipston Home Nursing
As we head towards the summer months we are looking forward to meeting our supporters and raising funds for Shipston Home Nursing.
Sunday 17 May - Laura's Tractor Run, Tysoe
Saturday 23 May - Plant sale in Idlicote, on the green by the pond
Sunday 24 May - Teas at Ilmington Village Hall - NGS Open Gardens
The 2026 Captains at Stratford upon Avon Golf Club have chosen to jointly support SHN. We are so grateful to them and look forward to working with them throughout the year.
Please look at our Website (www.shipstonhomenursing.co.uk)
Gaydon Development Update
Appeal Inquiry 9th to 12th of June.
We have been asked to contact the inspector hearing the appeal to register if we wish to attend. We can do this by notifying the Planning Department lucy.dedomenico@stratford-dc.gov.uk or by phone on 01789 260304 (or try SDC customer services number 01789 267575). The appeal, by CEG, will be heard by the inspector from Tuesday 9 to Friday 12 June. As it is a Public Inquiry, there is nothing to stop anyone - resident or not - just turning up to observe, without needing to register. For us to speak to the inquiry, however, benefits from co-ordination with others (see below); and registering helps SDC ensure that adequate rooming is provided in Elizabeth House.
In advance of the appeal hearing, villagers need to meet up a week or two before the inquiry and co-ordinate the full range of objections and decide on what can be most effective in speaking and presentation. We need to focus the objections and not have unnecessary re-iteration of the same points by different people, creating overlapping arguments and repetition, blunting the force of our objections.
Whether you think the Trumpanyahu war in the Middle East was necessary, or a deadly distracting power play, there is one thing which everyone can agree on. In addition to the appalling loss of (mainly civilian) life, it has focused UK minds about the danger of reliance on imported resources: petrochemicals for energy and manufacturing or our reliance on imported food (e.g. 80% of our fruit and vegetables).
We cannot look at green fields, as we used to (in ‘normal’ times), and recklessly assess them for their potential for housing or commercial development. Following the events in the Middle East, the UK National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has to take into account the country’s vulnerability in terms of fuel and food provision - whether crops are produced for biofuel or food.
Additional warehousing and commercial premises - especially when they are speculative in nature - should first and foremost be directed to brownfield sites. To add to an existing stock of vacant buildings across a wide area (bounded by Stratford, Banbury and Leamington) and remove agricultural land at this particular historical moment in the context of the Middle East crisis, would set a dangerous precedent:
it would be adopting a cavalier attitude to the use - and abuse - of UK land. As someone once said: ‘The thing about land… they’re not making any more of it!’ TonyHughes
Obituary
Jerome Johnson Gibbs
We are sad to record the death of Jerome on 27 March. His funeral took place on 24 April at Oakley Wood Crematorium, followed by a reception at the British Motor Museum. We offer our condolences to Sarah and family.
Robert Rutherford
It is with great sadness that we record the death of Robert Rutherford on 14 April. Rob had lived and worked at Chadshunt his entire life; he will be deeply missed. We offer our condolences to Mary and all his family.
Something to Think About
Be gentle with yourself.
Last Friday was not my best. I had a list of key things that needed doing - the kind that matter, the kind that require real thought and effort - and somehow, by the end of the day, I had done almost none of them. Instead, I had tidied my study, worked through a long list of emails, dealt with a stream of small admin jobs, and generally found every possible reason not to tackle the things I needed to do.
Even though I’d stayed ‘busy’, by evening I felt frustrated and annoyed with myself. I suspect I'm not alone in this. We all have days like that - days when we meant well, started with good intentions, and still somehow ended up anywhere but where we needed to be.
And perhaps the most familiar part of all is what comes next: the inner critic that piles in, ‘You should have done better. What's wrong with you? You wasted the whole day.’
We can be remarkably unkind to ourselves in those moments - far harsher, if we stop to think about it, than we would ever dream of being to a friend who told us the same story.
Psychologist Kristin Neff identifies three elements of self-compassion: treating ourselves with warmth rather than harsh judgement; recognising that struggling and having off days is part of our common humanity; and seeing our situation clearly, without catastrophising it.
Importantly, she is clear that self-compassion is not about making excuses or lowering the bar. If anything, research suggests that people who are kinder to themselves tend to be more resilient and more motivated, not less.
It is self-criticism, not self-compassion, that tends to leave us stuck.
When Jesus quotes the second commandment,
‘Love your neighbour as yourself’, it’s in the context of the first commandment, which is about loving God. This isn’t because God needs or demands our love, but because when we orient our hearts that way, we discover that, despite our failings, we are completely loved. And when we know we are loved, it makes loving ourselves (and our neighbours) possible. Jesus made it clear that God's posture toward us is never that of the inner critic, but always loving and always forgiving.
So how do we move on from one of those days? I find it helps to acknowledge simply and honestly that it didn't go well - without turning it into a verdict on my character. To ask, quietly, whether there's anything I'd do differently. And then to let it go.
That movement of releasing rather than ‘holding on’ is at the very heart of forgiveness. We understand that we should offer forgiveness to others, but it can be a lot harder to forgive ourselves. On Saturday morning, as I let go of that frustrating Friday, I sat with these words from Paul’s letter to the Colossians:
As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
That helped to remind me that compassion, kindness and gentleness applied to me as well. Whatever kind of week you've had, I pray you'll find the grace to be a little gentler with yourself. Rev. Barry Jackson
Guidance for Holy Communion from Easter Sunday
Across our churches, we're in slightly different places-some returned to the common cup a while ago, while others haven't. The bishop has asked that the common cup becomes our normal practice again by Easter Day 2026.
I'm aware that some people are still uncomfortable with receiving the common cup, and to accommodate different preferences in some churches, it has been common practice for some individuals to intinct their own wafer.
In her letter, Bishop Sophie states that wafers should not be intincted by individual communicants. The reason is that it's the most unhygienic way to share communion. Hands are significantly more likely to carry and spread germs that cause illness than mouths, largely because they serve as the primary conduit between contaminated surfaces and our mouths, noses, and eyes. When we touch a wafer and then intinct it into the wine, we are passing whatever we have on our hands into the wine, and then onto the next person to drink or intinct.
I'm aware that, owing to allergies, low immunity, and other reasons, people may not wish to or be able to share the wine from the common cup. If this is the case for you, you can receive in one kind (just the bread). As Bishop Sophie says in her letter, receiving in one kind is still a full participation in Holy Communion. If you're not able to receive from the common cup for any reason, that is completely okay - there is no pressure to do so.
I'm conscious that this will be a cause of frustration and upset for some of us. If you have any questions or would like to talk it through, do feel free to get in touch. With love and prayers, God Bless. Barry
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If you have something to celebrate or commemorate, give Siobhan a ring on 07780 689582 and she will raise the flag for you, in return for a £5 contribution to Church funds.