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News, views and events from the Northamptonshire countryside published every quarter by Spratton Parish Council
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Clerk’s Tweets
SPRATTON PARISH COUNCIL GRANTS – APPLY BY 31ST OCTOBER 2014
The Parish Council has a small amount of money available for grants to village organisa7ons. The guidelines for applica7on are:-‐
It is a condi,on of any grant applica,on that the group or project must bring direct benefit to the residents of Spra;on.
The Parish Council will not award grant aid to Na,onal Chari,es except Royal Bri,sh Legion Poppy Appeal.
Evidence of progress of the project e.g. accounts must be provided at the Annual Parish Mee,ng
The project must be reported on in the Parish Newsle;er.
The size of any grant awarded is at the discre,on of the Parish Council.
Any grant awarded must be spent in the financial year it was awarded for.
Grant applica,ons cannot be made retrospec,vely.
The Parish Council reserves the right to refuse any grant applica,on which they consider to be inappropriate or against the objec,ves of the Parish Council
Please contact Lynne Compton (Parish Clerk) for an applicaLon form.
AUDIT RESULTS
Both the internal (Northants County Associa,on of Local Councils) and external audits (BDO) have been completed and Spra;on Parish Council have been given a clean financial bill of health with 1 minor issue raised of a zero omi;ed from a box where a zero was expected. Please do not hesitate to contact the Clerk for a copy of the accounts. They are also available on the website.
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POLICE REPORTS
The following crimes were reported in June and July:-‐
‣ between 5th and 6th June: Ryefields – sec,on of fence damaged.
‣ between 21st and 22nd June : Holdenby Road – iPhone dropped and taken by other person(s), located by tracker to nearby loca,on.
‣ between 21st and 30th June: Sandhills – items taken from garden.
‣ 21 July: Smith Street – report of under-‐age drinking and loud music in park.
There were no An, Social Behaviour incidents reported.
Please note these reports do not include any domes,c or child protec,on issues. Full reports can be viewed at www.northants.police.uk
POSSIBLE DEFIBRILLATOR FOR SPRATTON
The Parish Council is considering purchasing a defibrillator for the village and looking into the logis,cs, suitable loca,on and costs involved. Please contact the Parish Council if you have any views on this or wish to help with the project. Thank you.
COMMUNITY HEART START
Community Heart Start has been set up by The Bri,sh Heart Founda,on to give free basic life support skills to anyone in the community. There is no fee or cost involved and this can be done at your local fire sta,on to save costs of hiring halls, or we can come to you. The Heart Start training teaches basic life support in two hours, skills that can keep someone alive un,l professional help arrives. Each par,cipant will receive a cer,ficate of a;endance
Please contact the Parish Council if you are interested in this, if there is enough interest, a session could be set up for Spra;on residents.
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CHANGES TO COUNTY CONNECT IN WEST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
The County Connect services in the Welland Valley, Daventry, Towcester and Brackley area, at present require 4 buses to operate at peak commu,ng ,mes and 5 buses to operate during the day,me, will be restructured into a four bus service all day by consolida,ng the Daventry and Welland Valley day,me services from 3 to 2 vehicles.
As a result of these changes, there will not be a reduc,on to the services available at peak commu,ng ,mes, but it will now no longer be possible to travel directly between Towcester and Daventry. Passengers who do wish to make this journey will be advised to change in Woodford Halse or Northampton. More detailed maps and publicity will be available closer to the commencement of the new service, but broadly otherwise passengers will be able to con,nue making their journeys to Banbury, Brackley, Towcester, Daventry and Market Harborough as now.
The bus which operates to and from Banbury will be increased in size to carry 24 seated passengers to meet passenger demand.
In an a;empt to further increase usage, and to increase the reach of services to Brackley, three addi,onal parishes in Buckinghamshire will be added to the Brackley/Towcester service.
Telephone number:It will s,ll be required to telephone to book for County Connect. This number will change to be 0345 456 4474 to comply with new regula,ons over use of 0845 numbers.
Operator:The County Connect contract will now be operated by Kier, who presently operate the Call Connect services in the East of the County and Lincolnshire.
The changes come in to effect from 1st September 2014. County Connect addi,onally operates two vehicles in East Northants, which will also be revised from this date.
The Parish Council has placed copies of the revised ,metables in Spra;on Stores. If you require a ,metable, please contact the operator.
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
SpraRon Parish Council Calendar of Ordinary Council MeeLngs
The following mee,ngs will be held at 7.30 pm in Spra;on Village Hall unless stated otherwise. Parishioners are very welcome to a;end.
Tuesday 21st October 2014Tuesday 18th November 2014Tuesday 16th December 2014Tuesday 20th January 2015Tuesday 17th February 2015Tuesday 17th March 2015Tuesday 21st April 2015Tuesday 19th May 2015 (Annual Mee,ng of Spra;on Parish Council)
Please note that occasionally there will be unplanned mee5ngs, see below:-‐
Planning ExecuLve CommiRee MeeLngs -‐ to discuss applica,ons where the response is required before the next Parish Council mee,ng. These will be adver,sed on the No,ceboard a minimum of 3 days prior to the mee,ng. If you are interested in planning ma;ers, you are welcome to join the SPC Planning Execu,ve Commi;ee (as a non-‐execu,ve member with no vo,ng rights), alterna,vely, you can view all upcoming planning applica,ons on the Daventry District Council website h;p://www.daventrydc.gov.uk/living/planning-‐and-‐building-‐control/search-‐comment-‐planning/
Extra-‐Ordinary meeLngs -‐ which are usually called to discuss ma;ers of great importance to residents (e.g. Neighbourhood Plan) and will usually (unless they are of a sensi,ve nature and therefore closed to press and public) be adver,sed as widely as possible and an agenda posted on the No,ceboard 3 days before the mee,ng.
PUBLICATION OF AGENDAS
An Agenda for each mee,ng will be posted on the Parish No,ceboard (Brixworth Road, Opposite Spra;on Village Stores) a minimum of 3 days
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before each mee,ng. If resources allow, the agenda may also be posted on the website. You may also contact the Clerk directly for a hard copy of the agenda. Press and public are welcome to a;end. If you have anything you wish to be discussed in a Parish Council mee,ng, please contact the Clerk, Lynne Compton (01604-‐880727) at least 1 week before the mee,ng. If you have access to the internet, you may send comments or view the Agenda/Minutes on www.spra;on.org.uk. Alterna,vely you may a;end the mee,ng and speak in the public forum.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN MEETINGS
The Press and Public are welcome to a;end and par,cipate in the Public Forum part at the beginning of the mee,ng (usually 15 minutes but can be increased at the Chairman’s discre,on) unless their presence is prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the nature of the business to be transacted or for other special reasons. The following rules apply (adapted from Spra;on Parish Council Standing Orders):-‐
Where possible if the public are a;ending for a specific agenda item that item will be discussed in the public forum at the beginning of the mee,ng. If confiden,al discussions are required the public will be informed of this and the item will be re-‐opened at the appropriate point in the agenda.
Members of the public are permi;ed to make representa,ons, answer ques,ons and give evidence in respect of any item of business included in the agenda.
Each member of the public is en,tled to speak once and shall not speak for more than 3 minutes.
A ques,on asked by a member of the public during a public par,cipa,on session at a mee,ng shall not require a response or debate unless an agreed response is available at that ,me. The Chairman will direct that a response to a ques,on posed by a member of the public be referred to a Councillor for an oral response or to an employee for a wri;en or oral response if none was given at the mee,ng.
A record of a public par,cipa,on session at a mee,ng shall be included in the minutes of that mee,ng.
A person shall raise his hand when reques,ng to speak and may stand when speaking.
Any person speaking at a mee,ng shall iden,fy themselves, giving their name, and whether they are resident in Spra;on or their rela,onship to Spra;on. All comments must be addressed to the Chairman.
Only one person is permi;ed to speak at a ,me. If more than one person wishes to speak, the Chairman shall direct the order of speaking.
Photographing, recording, broadcas,ng or transmiing the proceedings of a mee,ng by any means is not permi;ed without the Council’s prior wri;en consent.
DISORDERLY CONDUCT IN MEETINGS
If, in the opinion of the Chairman, there has been a breach of standing orders concerning Disorderly Conduct, the Chairman shall express that opinion and thereajer any councillor (including the Chairman) may move that the person be silenced or excluded from the mee,ng, and the mo,on, if seconded, shall be put forth with and without discussion. If such a resolu,on is disobeyed, the Chairman may take such further steps as may reasonably be necessary to enforce it and/or he may adjourn the mee,ng.
PUBLICATION OF MINUTES
These will only be published on the website ajer adop,on at the following mee,ng i.e. 16th September 2014 minutes published ajer 21st October 2014. If you would like a copy of the un-‐adopted (draj) minutes, please contact the Clerk.
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INFORMATION SECURITY (ProtecLon of personal informaLon)
Parish Council takes the issue of protec,on of data seriously and has always adhered to the main principles of data protec,on; personal informa,on:-‐
Shall be processed fairly and lawfully and only used for a specific purpose(s)
Shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in rela,on to the purpose or purposes for which it is processed;
Shall be accurate and where necessary, kept up to date;
Shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes;
registered with the Informa,on Commissioner and has recently adopted a Data Protec,on Policy (available on www.spra;on.org.uk)
To reinforce the above, Parish Council has now registered with the Informa,on Commissioner and has recently adopted a Data Protec,on Policy (available on www.spra;on.org.uk). If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the Clerk.
SPRATTON ANNUAL MEETING AND CHEESE & WINE EVENING(aka Parish MeeLng 2015)
This is not a Parish Council mee,ng although it is a statutory mee,ng called by the Chairman of the Parish Council.
The date has been set as Weds 6th May 2015, 7.30 pm in St Andrews Church Community Room (aka Café Doris). This is a chance for villagers to discuss Parish ma;ers important to them and for Council and community groups to update the community about their ac,vi,es over the last year and enjoy light refreshments together.
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RURAL AFFORDABLE HOUSING
As you may already be aware, the results of the 2012 Housing Needs Survey (undertaken by Daventry District Council) showed a need for 9 affordable homes:-‐
Extract from DDC Spra;on HNS September 2012:
Conclusions:The analysis done by this survey iden,fied nine poten,al households in need of affordable housing as follows in Spra;on:
• 4 x 1 bed flats • 1 x 4 bed house • 4 x 2 bed bungalows
Previously no excep,on sites (land outside the ‘confines’ of the village, some,mes referred to ‘village envelope’) could be found for rural affordable housing. Recent changes in legisla,on and Daventry District Council policies has meant that land that would not have previously been acceptable may now be able to be considered. Daventry District Council (DDC) recently invited Parish Council representa,ves to view possible sites. We await a report from DDC regarding possible next steps.
Lynne ComptonClerk
Spratton Parish Council
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CONTACT THE PARISH COUNCIL
We are always eager to hear from the people of Spra;on about any issues, concerns or ideas to improve life in the village. Here are some of the ways to get in touch:
‣ Call/email Lynne Compton, Parish Clerk: 01604-‐880727 or spra;onpc@,scali.co.uk‣ Facebook you can Message us, Post something or Like us at www.facebook.com/pages/Spra;on-‐Parish-‐Council/350035681721691‣ Visit the Website at Spra;on.org.uk and post a message‣ Use the Drop Box in Spra;on Village Stores to leave a note‣ Write to Lynne Compton, Parish Clerk: 12 Olde Forde Close, Brixworth NN6 9XF‣ ARend a Parish Council mee,ng—usually on the 3rd Tuesday of each month, 7.30pm in Spra;on Village Hall, School Road, Spra;on. The mee,ng agenda is always posted on the Parish no,ceboard opposite the shop.
Alterna,vely, you can talk to one of the Parish Councillors -‐ you’ll find their contact details in the box on the previous page:
www.pwbuilding-services.co.uk
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ApplicaLon Details Decision
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0326Descrip,on: First floor rear extension
Loca,on: 32, Holdenby Road
Spra;on Parish Council (SPC) Planning Execu,ve Commi;ee (PEC)
No observa,ons
16/05/2014ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0346
Descrip,on: Construc,on of replacementstorage building and 2.1m high fenceLoca,on: Standhills, Holdenby Road
SPC PEC Observa,ons made 16/05/2014
Daventry District Council (DDC): Permission Granted 20/6/14
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0375Descrip,on: Conservatory to rear of dwelling
Loca,on: 15, Gorse Road
SPC PEC No Observa,ons
16/05/2014
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0481Descrip,on: Altera,ons to exis,ng canopy
porch to form enclosed porchLoca,on: Hunters House 11B, Holdenby Road
SPC PEC No Observa,ons 15/07/2014
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0564 Descrip,on: Construc,on of new dwelling
Loca,on: Land Adj Copt Oak 15, Yew Tree Lane
SPC PEC Objec,onsDDC: The applica,on has been
withdrawn 5/9/2014ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0565
Descrip,on: Construc,on of detached dwelling (revised Scheme)
Loca,on: Land adjacent to 19 Holdenby Road
SPC PEC Objec,ons
DDC Permission refused 1/9/2014
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0662Descrip,on: Varia,on of Condi,on 17 of planning
permission DA/2012/0953 (Extension to care home to create 84 new bedrooms) to provide a fire evacua,on
strategy in place of fire hydrants and sprinklers.Loca,on: St Ma;hews Nursing Home, Holdenby Rd
SPC PEC Objec,ons
26/8/2014
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0683Descrip,on: Outline applica,on for residen,al
development for up to 37 dwellings, school amenity space, drop-‐off/pick-‐up area and 6 parking spaces for primary school, vehicular access onto Brixworth Road,
public open space and associated infrastructureLoca,on: Land Off Brixworth Road
SPC PEC Objec,ons
26/8/2014
ApplicaLon No: DA/2014/0697Descrip,on: Erec,on of Steel Garage Machinery Store
Loca,on: Hill View Farm, Brixworth Road
SPC PEC No Observa,ons
9/9/2014
Tree PreservaLon Order ApplicaLon – TPO DA4862014
Loca,on: Yew Tree Co;age, Yew Tree LaneNote: Householder applica,on
SPC PEC No Observa,ons
9/9/2014
Planning ApplicaLon Update
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SpraRon Town and Land Charity
A big thank you to all of you who took part in our recent Produce Show, it is lovely to see the beau,ful produce all together, vegetables, fruit, flowers, homemade jams, cakes etc. crajs including pain,ngs, photographs, needlework, not forgeing the wonderful children’s exhibits, all in the beau,ful seing of our local Church. And thank you also to those who came along in the ajernoon to look at all the exhibits and enjoy a lovely cup of coffee and piece of delicious cake at Doris’s coffee shop. Thank you to all the Coffee Shop team for giving up their ,me.
Cer,ficates were given to each class, rose;es for the children’s classes and then the individual prizes were awarded to:
Emma Clements Most overall points in the show
Emma Clements Best collec,on of vegetables displayed on a board
Ivan Odley Best in Children’s classes
Carol Constable Best in Jams/Pickle classes
Sarah Bradnam Best in Baking classes
Michael Oakes Best in show Pain,ng
Phil Roseblade Best in show Photography
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We hope next year’s show will be bigger and be;er with many more people taking part, so come along and join in, look forward to seeing you same ,me 2015. The Produce show is sponsored by Spra;on Town & Charity Land who not only look ajer the allotments but also, as a charity, they are delighted to offer grants to those going on to further educa,on – college, university, or an appren,ceship, to local organisa,ons and groups to help with specific projects.
If you are involved in any of the clubs, youth groups, organisa,ons within the parish and would like to be considered for a grant, please contact the clerk – Linda Fletcher – [email protected] or 01604 821617 all grants are reviewed at the beginning of December so get you applica,on in as soon as possible.
Are you interested in having an allotment either full or half plot, please contact the clerk or any member of the Trustees. Rent for full plot 2014/2015 is only £16.00
Thank you,
On behalf of Trustees, Spra>on Town & Charity Land.
SpraRon Local History Society
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We had two enjoyable, well-‐a;ended ou,ngs in fine weather this summer. The walking tour of Northampton with a Blue Badge Guide started with a brief look inside the Guildhall, followed by a fascina,ng descent into the vaulted mediaeval cellars under the Northampton and County Club in George Row. We finished with a visit to the old St Peter’s Church near to Northampton’s former castle. Our second ou,ng was to Boughton
House where we had a two hour tour with a very knowledgeable guide of the splendidly furnished rooms of this lovely old house.
Help neededOur prepara,ons are con,nuing for our big First World War commemora,ve event next April. We would welcome any informa,on anyone may have on rela,ves from Spra;on who served in WW1. Members of the history society are researching all the men from the village who signed up during 1914-‐18, but many records were destroyed in the Second World War. Please phone 01604 821260 (Enid Jarvis) or 01604 740401 (Jan Craig) if you think you can help. The photo shows Private Harry Cook of the Northamptonshire Regiment who came home safely at the end of the war.
Other help urgently needed is from someone who can get us started on Facebook and/or Twi;er. Is there anyone out there who can point us in the right direc,on with social media?
Autumn programmeWednesday 15 October 2014 Kate Wills of the Western Front Associa,on will give a talk en,tled “Northampton in 1914”
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New Speed Sign Installed
Driving into the village from the Brixworth direc,on, you will have no,ced our new Vehicle Ac,vated Sign (VAS) flashing a warning to speeding motorists if they are driving in excess of the 20mph limit.
It’s early days, of course, but the ini,al results are encouraging with average recorded speeds showing some improvement on the last survey conducted by the police earlier in the year. There will be a full progress report in the next issue of the Spra;on Parish Newsle;er, once we have some more extensive data to analyse.
The plan is to move the sign around the village to regularly cover all of the areas where excessive speed is a par,cular problem.
Wednesday 19 NovemberSue Edwards will give a talk on “The Empress Elisabeth of Austria – the Northampton Connec7on”
Wednesday 17 DecemberMembers will talk about their research into the men from the village who served in WW1. We shall also look at some memorabilia from the 1914-‐18 period.
All mee7ngs take place at 8.00 pm in the Village Hall£2 members. £3 non-‐members
Everyone is welcome
Enid Jarvis
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Daring Airman to be Commemorated in SpraRon“This was by far the most brilliant feat of airmanship we had yet witnessed”
Spra;on is to receive an official government commemora,ve paving stone recording the fact that the first airman ever to be awarded a Victoria Cross, the country’s highest award for bravery, lived here. These paving stones are to be placed in towns and villages across the country for every Victoria Cross awarded in the First World War. William Rhodes-‐Moorhouse lived with his family at Spra;on Grange for nearly 14 years and was well-‐known in the area for his fast motor-‐cars and his exci,ng, new flying machine.
He joined the Royal Flying Corps and in March 1915 he was posted to France as a pilot. His main job was to make reconnaissance flights and report enemy troop movements back to the Allied headquarters. In April 1915, ajer only five weeks ac,ve service, he was fatally wounded over Belgium destroying a railway line being used to bring up heavy enemy reinforcements, including the dreaded chlorine gas. In great agony and with a badly damaged plane he managed to fly back 35 miles to his base in France to report the success of his mission. He died the next day, aged 27.
One hundred years ajer that fatal flight, an official memorial stone to Lt William Rhodes-‐Moorhouse VC will be placed in the Millennium Rose Garden on the Brixworth Road with the permission of Spra;on Parish Council.
The event is supported by the Heritage LoPery Fund and Daventry District Council and organised by SpraPon Local History Society
W.I. Report September 2014The “Alpaca Experience” in June was a really interes,ng story from Sue Watkins about how she and her two daughters came to start an Alpaca herd and some of their adventures breeding and taking part in shows as well as the everyday work on the farm. She brought examples of the wool and some beau,fully soj scarves, shawls and blankets, which were for sale. She also invited us to visit the farm but unfortunately the ou,ng was cancelled at the last minute.
Our Annual Ou,ng to Stowe House and Gardens was enjoyed by all. The history of the old buildings, now a Private School, was most interes,ng. The Gardens, belonging to the Na,onal Trust were a fine example of English Landscaping; with Classical style columned buildings, bridge and statues as well as a lake and natural areas.
Our mee,ng in August caused some tense moments as the speaker cancelled a week before! However our valiant Social Secretary, Hazel managed to not only find a speaker on the same subject of “Wardrobe Colour Advice” but Sheena Roche came from “House of Colour” and presented a very professional and comprehensive talk about choosing colours to suit your skin tone. She talked about each person being one of the seasons and looking be;er in warm or cool
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shades of different colours. Spring and Autumn are warm and Summer and Winter are cool. I know of at least one member who went home and sorted through her wardrobe and got rid of a few items!
In September we climbed in the Dact bus again for an ou,ng to the “Phoenix Resource Centre”, which is actually a charity so is not out to make money other than to cover their costs. They are given many different items, such as books, material, paper, food, some medicines, and many more things that although brand new would otherwise end up in landfill. They support numerous organisa,ons and help with giving work experience to vulnerable young people. They also send containers full of useful things to chari,es based in needy countries. Two of our W I members went over to the centre earlier in the month to sew dresses for li;le girls and shorts for boys. These will be sent in one of the consignments. Various groups are members and their people can come to the shop and either buy a variety of materials at a low cost or buy tokens and collect all sorts of things.
Future W I Events
Tuesday 14 October 2014: A.G.M. and a Special Quiz in aid of the Cynthia Spencer Hospice.
Tuesday 28 October 2014: A Fashion Show by Just Trading all welcome, ,ckets available from Meg Price 820287
Tuesday 11 November 2014 a talk on “Demen,a” by Alice Spence
Friday 28 November 2014: Candlelight, Canapés and Christmas Music ~ a social evening to be held at St Andrews Church, ,ckets available from Meg Price 820287
Tuesday 9 December 2014: a “Christmas Magic Show” with Douglas Maddy
Mee7ngs are held every second Tuesday in the Village Hall at 7.30 pm. New members are very welcome to come along and join us as we get to know other ladies in the village and have an enjoyable night out. If you would like to come along a couple of 7mes for free we
would love to see you.
Carol Constable
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Café Doris An independently run Community Coffee Shopin St Andrew’s Church
We are open every Tuesday and Thursday morning.
We pride ourselves in what we do, so come and join us. In August we had visitors from Australia, Italy and Yorkshire, and this has prompted us to start a Visitors Book. Also it has been suggested that it might be a good idea to try and open an internet café – we agree, but the on-‐going land-‐line and ISP rental might be prohibi,ve. So any prac,cal help and sugges,ons as to how this might be achieved please let us know, please either call-‐in or ring David on 01604 821785.
Our very grateful thanks to all our cake-‐making volunteers, you are very much appreciated, and our con,nued success would not be the same without you.
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SpraRon Lunch Club Celebrates First Anniversary
Unbelievably it is now twelve months since we launched our first monthly luncheon in Café Doris and the feedback we have received to date is good. However, we are always open to comments or new ideas for improvement.
Many thanks go to the volunteers without whom we would not be able to operate, and to the wonderful people who have generously given gijs for the monthly raffle prizes. The raffle really does enable us to be viable. Some of that money goes towards hea,ng costs and various incidentals as well as towards a special Christmas lunch! Café Doris and the church are at present installing a new hea,ng system, and so when next the cold weather shows its face we should all be nice and toasty.
Don’t forget family and friends are always welcome as long as we have space. A vegetarian op,on is available if the choice of main course is not to your taste -‐ you just need to give us a ring beforehand.
We look forward to welcoming old and new friends and don’t forget you can always come early when Café Doris is open for business on a Tuesday morning from 10am to 12.30pm, or Thursdays at the same ,me.
Jay Tindale
The ou,ng to Kew Gardens on 14th September was enjoyed by 47 members and their friends, a record number. It was a perfect mid-‐September day, warm and even sunny, and there was a huge amount to see during the five hours that we were there. So the ou,ng was a great success with the added benefit that, with a large number going and contribu,ng to the coach cost, that we were able to refund the surplus to members as the Club does not need to make any profit on such ou,ngs.
One of the tasks that has been undertaken during the summer months is to collect a database of e-‐mail addresses, which will be used to remind people about talks, and generally keep people informed. We have 49 members on e-‐mail. The first of these e-‐mails will go out at the end of September to remind people about our first talk on Thursday 9th October. As our mee,ng day has changed from Mondays to Thursdays, at the request of the Sports and Social Club, it will be important to remind people of this change. Anyone who has not
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received an e-‐mail by 3rd October, and who has an e-‐mail address, please contact me on 01604 846032.
We hope that our talks will be well a;ended this winter season. As we have been planning the programme for 2015, we have found that good speakers are increasingly expensive, so we need good numbers to cover the cost of these talks. All talks (and the AGM) are held on Thursdays at the Sports and Social Club in Smith Street at 8 p.m., members pay £2 for talks, and any prospec,ve members who join for 2015 will pay the same rate. Talk details are:
• Thursday 9 October ‘Know and grow unusual vegetables’• Thursday 6 November ‘Life and ,mes of a gardening editor’
Thursday 4th December sees our Annual General Mee,ng and social evening. We shall be asking members to vote on an increase in the membership fee from £2 to £4. During the evening we will, as usual, review the past year with candid photographs. There is no charge for the AGM, and the refreshments and bar are provided from Club funds.
Come along even if you are not currently a member, and see what this thriving club has to offer.
Michael Heaton
SpraRon Pocket Park
As we get into autumn many of our flowers con,nue to provide colour. The Tansy and Hemp-‐agrimony are impressive and the Teasel would look more impressive
if they had not been knocked over by wind and rain. Goldfinches will probably enjoy the seed as ever. Toadflax provides lots of yellow and although the Chicory is beginning to seed there are s,ll vivid blue flowers on some of the plants. The Autumn Hawkbit is beginning to spread so the seed heads need removing to prevent it going too far. The tall yellow
flowers do, however, look cheerful. There are a few Thorn Apples so called because when the large green seed pod forms it has spikes on rather like a horse chestnut. It is an annual so unlikely to be seen again and definitely not to be eaten. Dwarf Mallow has appeared for the first ,me but it is also an annual so may disappear again. Red flower clusters on the Greater Burnet are s,ll there and making a late entrance as ever are the Naked Ladies (Colchicum). These get there common name because the flowers appear in autumn without their
leaves. The lush green leaves that appear early in the year a;ract livestock. They are poisonous so have largely been eradicated from the countryside.
With luck September will remain warm and dry so the flowers can develop and drop seed. During October the grass and other foliage will be cut and removed and the hedges will be cut too so the fallen seeds can get air and light to germinate in the spring.
Dave Cooke26
Natural SpraRon
Spra;on became just a li;le bit greener this summer! With the opening of the Pocket Park and its Silver Award and the success of Jubilee Wood in Teeton Road, we can only hope that more ideas might come forward for making the village a friendly place for wildlife while at the same ,me keeping it sufficiently a;rac,ve for the residents’ needs for a neat and ,dy rural aspect. It is never easy to find the right balance as, for example, some people might like to see road verges mown to look like a lawn while other prefer to see a verge full of wild plants and buzzing with insect life. There is obviously no one answer and every situa,on need to be looked at individually.
Going back to Jubilee Wood, it is doing surprisingly well. I say “surprisingly” as we expected a fair propor,on of saplings not to survive the early stages but it looks as if very few have perished and those which have, we have replaced. The long grass, ne;les and thistles which inevitable grow around saplings are in retreat and the small trees are now sufficiently developed to overcome those. We will not therefore be cuing the grass as we did last year. The 10 experimental elms are doing par,cularly well and we have recently put bigger guards and stakes on those as there were a few signs of Muntjac damage. We may eventually have to fence off the wood although a stock proof hedge would be preferably. We are currently looking at fund raising possibili,es (for a hedge fund!) and at grant making trusts.
Crick is a very impressive example of the community geing involved in a highly successful Pocket Park project and they have planted 12 acres of new wood based on their fundraising. We will be mee,ng with them towards the end of October to see if we can learn anything from each other and anyone is welcome to join with us on the visit to Crick.
As always, if anyone wants to get involved in natural Spra;on or has any ideas do get in touch.
John Hunt
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The next issue of the SpraRon Parish NewsleRer will be published in December 2014. The copy date for editorial and adver,sements is
Friday 21st November
Adver,sing costs per annum (4 issues)Quarter page £20Half page £40
Please contact the editor, Tim Forster 07979 705910 ,[email protected]
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Get To Know Your Parish Council
10 QuesLons for Fiona KeableHow long have you lived in SpraRon? We have lived in Spra;on for 10 ½ years, we moved from Chapel Brampton in 2004. I have previously lived in Essex, Lincolnshire and in the slightly warmer climate of Gran Canaria but I am originally from Noingham where my family s,ll live.
What do you do for a living? Originally I trained in commercial hor,culture, growing and selling shrubs, trees and bedding plants. I then re-‐trained and now I do the same job as Lynne, I am a parish clerk and responsible finance officer for Hollowell & Teeton and Guilsborough parishes. I also work for Moulton and Overstone Par ish Councils.
Why do you live in SpraRon? We live in Spra;on because we love the countryside but it is also nice to be near the town with its shops and facili,es. I originally moved to Northamptonshire in 1994 to work at Moulton College, at the ,me I had no idea where Northampton was and had to look it up on a map!
Do you have a family? Yes, my husband Rob and our three children, Liz who is 17 and studying A levels at Northampton College, Johno who is nearly 13 and goes to Guilsborough school and Issy who is 4 and has just started in Recep,on at Spra;on Primary.
What do you like about SpraRon? We like the fields and the open spaces surrounding the village, we have an allotment and also have 2 dogs so we spend a lot of ,me outdoors! I also like having a great village primary school so that we can walk to school in the mornings.
What don’t you like about SpraRon? I don’t like the amount and the speed of the traffic that passes through the village every day.
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What do you do to relax? I walk our two dogs and am a very keen gardener, we have a lovely allotment but we are con,nuously figh,ng a ba;le with the weeds. I also love rugby and spend most Sundays during the season on the side of the pitch at Long Buckby suppor,ng our son’s team. When I get chance I also like to share a coffee with friends in Café Doris.
Have you travelled? We have a caravan and have managed to see quite a bit of Scotland, we also love Norfolk. I have been to Canada and also lived in the Canary Islands just ajer I finished college.
Why did you join the Parish Council? I have worked in Local Government for a few years and decided that I would really like to put some of my knowledge to use in my own community, when Spra;on went to elec,on this summer I put my name forward and was really pleased to be elected. I like the fact that this is a very ac,ve parish council and gets really involved in the community.
What did you do for your Summer holiday this year? We were lucky enough to secure ,ckets for the Commonwealth Games this summer in Glasgow, in July. All 5 of us plus the two dogs embarked on the 8 hour road trip to Glasgow with our caravan. We had a fantas,c ,me watching the finals of the Rugby Sevens and were lucky enough to watch England, South Africa and New Zealand play. We then spent a very relaxing week camped on the banks of Loch Lomond.
Beautiful Loch Lomond view
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