Hello folks,

It’s Christmas time and I hope everyone has plenty to look forward toduring the festive season. It’s an interesting time to reflect on what thefestival means to us all. If you can take yourself back to the age of 5or 6, you may be able to remember the excitement of FatherChristmas’ imminent arrival and how difficult it seemed to be to get tosleep on Christams eve. People often say that Christmas is a time forchildren, so it’s wonderful to report that the InterStreet Quiz inNovember raised £285.00 for Children in Need.It is a festival for all of us, however we choose to celebrate it, and aswe move to adulthood, Christmas becomes a time for us to make theoccasion special for our own children and to enjoy ourselves as wereconnect with family and friends. As we go shopping it’s impossible to avoid Slade and Wizzardaccompanied by Kirsty McColl and the Pogues playing in thebackground (although I have to admit that I do love ‘Fairytale of NewYork’); then in the real world we have our own troupe of carol singers,(Monday 16th and Wednesday 18th - meet at end of Herring’s Close)as well as special Church Services (see back page).We may put on pounds during the holidays and then vow to dietseriously in the New Year. As we are preparing to enjoy ourselves Ilike to think that a spirit of ‘Peace and good will to all,’ is uppermost inour thoughts.

Merry Christmas every one.

Nigel

CLOSING DATE FOR THE NEXT JACKDAW CHATTERIS MONDAY 3rd MARCH 2014

WINTER 2013

Jackdaw Chatter 1

Bill’s Bit

Ein’t we had a lovely Autumn this year? Here we are at the end ofNovember and there ein’t been no frost yet to speak of. I reckon, ‘cosof that, all the leaves are still hanging on the trees, and don’t they looka picture. You should see a wood of young beech trees overWilbraham way - a whole mass of golden russet standing out againsta dark sky last week. Then other places all the trees are differentshades of red, gold, yellow, and they all seem to blend together.There’s berries everywhere, and the old apple trees have been loadeddown. We ein’t half lucky to live in this green and pleasant land.I know that’s wholly rained this month but the old farmers have stillbeen able to get on the land and get the beet out, and I don’t reckonwe’ve ever seen the rape fields so strong and forward. I know thefrosts, when they come, (and the papers tell us we are going to get aterrible winter, but what do they know? that was sposed to be aterrible summer) will slow all the crops down tidy, but they’ll all have alot better start next year than what they had this Spring. That’s beensuch an easy autumn for the old farmers, I reckon they’ve got a wholelot more acres drilled this year. They won’t have nothing to do in theSpring. I reckon they’ll all be able to lay abed now till half way throughMarch! That’s been a good mushroom year, too. There’s been several in theOrchard here, but they all seem to have the fly, so when you breakthem open they ein’t eatable. They tell me there’s been no end in thePark though and Mal has been laying some regular on Col Crisp’sdoorstep when she takes her dog for a walk. Pity you don’t walk yourdog up this way Mal!Maureen was telling me that her vegetable stall, what she has outsidefor the church, has turned into a bric-a-brac stall as well now, but shedoes sell a tidy bit. She done especially well over the August Bankholiday, when we had a lot of visitors to the village.The Crisp family are a bit famous on the telly this year. Did you seeColin Crisp on several times with the old Lister Jag that he used to bemechanic for. Apparently some firm is gonna resurrect it and he will

Jackdaw Chatter 2

be a consultant, well done Col. Then a week later his two Sons in LawGregg Foster and Stuart Wooley were on, talking about how thepotholes in the roads were affecting peoples’ tyres. I reckon thatmeans Stuart’s tyre firm will make so much profit this year that Stuartwill take the whole Crisp family to Turkey next summer.Linda was telling me about the demise of the poor old male swandown on the river bridge. We get so many people down there to feedthe swans, geese and ducks that they all sit all over the road waitingand won’t shift very quick. I’ll give the Cob his due, he always gets outof the way last, sort of shepherding his wife and cygnets in front ofhim, hissing away and waving his old wings about. Well one day heweren’t quick enough and he got mowed down by a delivery van.That’s a real shame ‘cos this new pair had settled in well at Quy, aftera couple of years ago when the other Cob was shot by someforeigners up Primrose Walk. This year they brought up six cygnets,who were still with them up till a week or two ago, although I only sawtwo of them with the mother last week. Linda reckoned she saw twoor three of the other cygnets on their own down near Lode Mill. Ohdear, what will happen next year with our resident pair of swans splitup? Maybe one of this year’s cygnets will bring home a new wife tomeet mum.We ein’t had much rough weather, but there was a tidy storm theother week. That brought a few trees down, one of my old apple treesin the Orchard fell down, and that weren’t no age!! (They are shownon the 1842 map of the village so I reckon they’ve had a tidy inningsdon’t you? And there is still a dozen or so of the old trees left.) Then agrut big plane tree (I think) fell down across Darkies meadow. Thatwas a massive tree and seems to fill up half the field now that’s down.That is a shame to keep losing these big old trees, but praps nowEllen’s living at the Hall she will want to plant a few new ones.Malcolm Hall has promised a new one in the Park, and Quy FenTrustees are going to plant a few largish ones down the Fen, so that’sa start.

Jackdaw Chatter 3

Linda was rare pleased the other week when she walked across thePark with Darren and the grandchildren. She saw something big andbrown in front of her and thought it was a deer, but it turned out to bea buzzard down on a rabbit. She said that as they got nearer, thattook off so graceful and just floated with a few flaps of its grut longwings up into a tree. As soon as they had got away a bit that calmlyfloated back and got on with its dinner.Then she saw a bit of blue laying near her Park gate. She wonderedwhat it was and next day that laid on her front lawn. It was a bit of oldtarpaulin, what had obviously blown over from our posh end of thevillage (probably from my field) down to the ruff end. She reckoned weought to keep our rubbish up our own end, so I had to apologise!We’ve had some good days shooting in the Village this year, andthere’s plenty of deer about, and hares as well as foxes, even thoughSean tries to thin them out a bit. There’s loads of English Partridgesover Wilbraham way, and don’t they fly well. There ein’t many of themguns what can hit them when they get up there going full pelt on awindy day. We’ve got a tidy lot of pheasants up in the Wilbrahamroad fir trees too this year, and they seem to curl around over thetrees, making for good sport. I know there’s loads of pheasantsaround the woods in the village as well. I reckon every morning I counta dozen or more up in my Orchard. We ein’t even started on them yet!- well only down near Anglesey Abbey and Chris’s cover by themmajestic Oaks at the bottom of Long Ground. They have proved realgood drives this year. Jasper comes brushing with me, but he had a big fright one day. Hewas walking alongside some Maize over Wilbraham when a big oldRoe deer charged out and mowed him down. It took him right up inthe air off his feet and he landed with a mouthful of mud. That hurt hisknee a bit, but his feelings more. They reckon the deer went offlimping as well.

Jackdaw Chatter 4

Paul Currington tells me they’ve got special guests on the Boxing dayshoot. Apparently Ellen and Henry want to come along. I hope theyknow the right language. When Jasper started his mum told him hemight hear some bad words and he had to close his ears. When hegot home he told her there was only him and the dog what didn’tswear, and they were the only ones too what didn’t smoke.Linda read in the Cambridge Newspaper "100 years ago bit", about aDr Wood, of Bottisham being killed in a car accident outside the shopin Quy. That’s interesting for two reasons! The shop would have beenon the opposite side of the road then, in that old thatched housewhere Gareth and Jane’s house now stands. (Us olduns canremember the old house, but not as a shop). Dr Wood had been tosee a patient nearby. There weren’t only about two cars a week inQuy then. However Dr Wood come out to start his car,.. no, not get inand turn a key like now, he had to swing the old starting handle downthe front. Anyway that seemed he had left the car in gear, so whenthat started up that went forward, run him over and killed him. How about the interstreet Quiz this year again? A lovely lot of peoplecompeting in each team. I suppose Matt will have a report in heresomewhere so I won’t say much. Just that Vicarage Meadow won yetagain, with Hermin Close second, (a new name on the leader board)and Orchard Street third. I don’t reckon Ray had done enough trainingon his Albert Road team this year ‘cos they only came fifth!!Oh well together Christmas coming on apace. We’ve got lots ofChristmas dinners to go to before the big day. The Carol singinground the village with the QVA on the 16th and 18th. We shall haveto see if we can fit in Station Rd this year, last year there weren’tenough time and that rained a lot.I hope Matt asks Chris Butler to come with the old beaters wagonagain. Last year he picked us up at the end of the Avenue after wehad sung all round this end of the village, took us down to Quy Hall,and then brought us home again.

Jackdaw Chatter 5

That’s a lovely way to finish Carol singing when you all get together inEllen’s Entrance Hall, with all the Christmas decorations up. I havealways enjoyed that, but after singing all evening and then supping afew glasses of wine and some of what used to be Mrs Francis’ hotsausage rolls that always seemed a long way to walk home. The ridehome last year made the evening so much better and more fun. Then on Sunday 22nd at 3.00pm we shall have the Carol service inchurch. Always a good do where you can sing all the old carols and afew of the villagers will read some small passages out of the bible.That’s a lovely atmosphere with the church, candle lit and normally fullup. The volume of voices drifting around the rafters is a pleasure tolisten to. A cup of tea and a cake or two after makes it a lovelyafternoon. If you ein’t been before we shall welcome you, and if youare a regular look forward to seeing you again.Happy Christmas everybody.

Bill Watts

Jackdaw Chatter 6

Good Neighbours

Jane Keighley and I (Nigel, not Bill!) were having a conversationthe other day about a slightly sensitive issue, but one which isquite important.Jane said that if anything happened to me she wouldn’t have aclue as to whom she should contact. It is an issue relevant toanyone who lives on their own, as I do.As it happens I still have a day job which means that I am incontact with lots of different people on a fairly regular basis, so myabsence would quickly be noticed but that is not the case foreveryone. As a result of our conversation I gave Jane a cardcontaining the contact details of my brother who lives in London.We think that it is sensible for anyone who lives on their own to letone of your neighbours have the details of your next of kin. It couldbe very helpful in an emergency.

Jackdaw Chatter 7

Parish Council

You may have noticed a few trees have been planted around thevillage, these have been donated by the Jubilee committee. They arePear, Plum and Apple so hopefully we should be getting some fruitin the next few years, happy scrumping!The pinchpoints through the village are still under review, howeverwe now have the grateful support of Marshalls, and our hope is todeliver a much improved scheme in the not too distant future.Neighbourhood Watch will soon be up and running. We have arepresentative from each street and all details have been forwardedto our Local PSCO. When he has set it all up along with Bill Watts,who at present is our main contact, we will get all the details out toall. If anyone would like to take over as the main contact thenplease just let Bill know, his number is 811063.David Hurrell organised an Electrical Collection around the village inassociation with Wiser Recycling. This is a company who take theelectrical things that would otherwise go to landfill and firstly seewhat can be reused and then strip everything down by hand torecycle as much as possible so minimal waste goes to the landfill.We had our collection last week and collected 1.382 Kilos so wewill be sent a cheque for £55.28. Thank you to all who recycled.Please note that this was a one-off collection, although furthercollections will be planned for the New Year. So please don’t leaveelectrical items outside your property or behind the Village Hall untilour next collection which will be advised in due course.On a note to the businesses in the village, ConnectingCambridgeshire has received £4.5 million from the EU to assistsmall to medium businesses to connect to superfast broadband.The project is to be launched in the New Year and businesses canexpress their interest by going to the Connecting Cambridgeshirewebsite. This may well lead eventually to us all getting a fasterservice.

Jackdaw Chatter 8

And lastly to the younger members of the village, we have been ableto get a second-hand Half Pipe skate ramp. These are very expensiveand we would not have been able to buy a brand new one. This willbe installed in the New Year. So skate, respect others, be careful butabove all have fun.It really does help us if you would like something around the village toask. Leo Foster wrote a lovely letter making a request last year andHarry Ogden and his friend came and asked the clerk if somethingelse might be possible, so sometimes wishes do come true. This isalso true for the older villagers. Any suggestions are always welcome,we may not be able to accommodate them all, but if we don't knowabout it we can't do anything about it.

May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very merry Christmasand a happy New Year.

The Parish Council

BE PREPARED FOR THE WINTERWITH ROCK SALT

20KG Bags: £6.00 eachFree delivery in Quy

Phone: David Hurrell 811052

Jackdaw Chatter 9

QVA Report

It seems hardly any time at all since the last QVA update I wrote. Thetwo events that we've had in that time are the Moonlight Walk and theQuiz.

Following on from the success of last year's moonlight walk this year’sone was fantastically well attended. It was a lovely night for it, with agood nearly full (or was it just past full, I can't quite remember) moonand plenty of torches to light the way. It really was something to seethe number of people turn out that did and I hope that everyoneenjoyed it as much as I did..The quiz was as busy as ever but it was a bit of a run-away victory forVicarage Meadow this year who, won it by over ten points. Therunners up were the combined team from Herrings Close and MinterClose, followed closely by Orchard Street. I think I might even havereported the runners up correctly this year! Thank you to every onewho came and to our bidders in the auction we held in the interval;you've helped us to raise £285.00 for Children in Need!

Don't forget to check the QVA upcoming events advertisement to findout what's coming up. First off is the Carol Singing on the 16th and18th of December. We had a great turn out for that last year and itwould be wonderful to see the same number again this year. Themore we get the better we are!

Matt

Jackdaw Chatter 10

Jo’s Allotment

If anyone has found the allotments of late, you will have noticed thatthere has been a bit of a change. Where once there were rabbit-proof fences and lettuces; blueberries, redcurrants, raspberries andpigeons, now there is but bare earth. Despite the fact that this maynot sound like progress, I can assure you it is. A couple of monthsago now, there was a "Grand Allotment Clearing Day" (that sounds somuch like a Wallace and Gromit film to me that I am nowdisappointed by the lack of "inventions" and "labour saving devices").This actually involved about eleven people, 6 saws, 2 pairs of loppersand fewer gloves by the end of the day than we started with for somereason. Between us we managed to get most of the fencing out, dugout the old beds and metres and metres and metres and metres ofbrambles. All this hard work required some sustenance, andthankfully we had a fair amount of cut-down wood to burn to make alovely, big fire, in which to cook the bestest-ever baked potatoes, dugup the previous week. It’s amazing how potatoes which were allcovered in soil a very short time ago have much more taste than thosewhich were covered in nice sterile plastic.Anyway, post this day of wonder, we had what looked a little like abomb site in the middle of the village, but this is on the way to beingsorted, we promise. With help from a local farmer and his JCB(thanks a lot Chris!) we have cleared out the deadwood from thehedges up the sides, and made sure we have the ability to make themost of the space we have. The plan now is that the land will berotovated and then split into 10 plots ready for the new plot holders totake over at the beginning of March. If you’re interested in having a plot, get in touch with Kate Watts(although I think that you may be going on a waiting list pretty soon),and if interested in helping out getting the plots all sorted she will beeven more thrilled to hear from you!Hopefully the next time you hear from me it’ll be from a very planned,ordered and productive plot. Merry Christmas, may you all getvegetable seeds and trowels… everything you could need! Jo

Jackdaw Chatter 11

Pickled at The Swan

On Monday 4th November a Chutney andPickle competition was held at the WhiteSwan.The event had been suggested by ChrisseHolland in aid of the Sunflower Care charity.It was very well supported with 49 entriesand some interesting varieties from the ever-popular spiced applechutney to Hot Bengal fruit chutney.On the night all entries were judged by the head chef, Paul Johnson,landlord Martin Read and postmaster Prad Vara.Thirty-five people attended the results presentation where Lucy

Andrews gave an outline of the SunflowerCharity and Paul commented on some of thechutneys.Terry Blanchard won the most interestingpresentation with his Pirates of the Caribbeanchutney which was presented in a pineapple.Steve Kaye won the prize for Best Pickle with

his spicy shallots and the overall winner was Sarah Cartwright withher apple and chilli chutney - the prize was a meal for two at theBrunswick Restaurant.A good selection of cheeses wereavailable alongside some wonderfulhomemade bread provided by Chrissie.Everyone then enjoyed trying some of thepickles and chutneys and £120.00 wasraised for the charity.It is hoped that another similar event willbe organised for next year.

Jackdaw Chatter 12

Jackdaw Club

Jackdaw Over 60’s ClubSummer Lunch

The summer lunch this year was held on Saturday 21st September.Around 35 guests gathered in the hall and Alice and Ella were soonbusy selling raffle tickets and handing out the quizzes. A cold meatsand salad buffet was served by Linda and Helen, before the dessert ofa selection of mini homemade cakes was served at the tables.Much discussion took place over the photo quiz. All 32 pictures wereof places/items in and around Quy, with most people knowing wherein Quy the picture had been taken but not being able to remember onthe day. On being given the answers the phrase ‘Of course it is!’was spoken several times.The entertainment was provided by Caxton Swing, a band comprising7 musicians and a singer, who played a selection of Jazz and Swing.The raffle soon had Alice running around, with the prizes spreadaround the room.I hope you all enjoyed the afternoon. Thanks to everyone who helpedboth on the day and in the weeks before.

Coffee MorningOur second coffee morning of the year took place on SaturdayOctober 5th and was again well attended. The homemade cake stallproved to be very popular doing a roaring trade from start to finish.The plant and bottle stalls were soon kept busy, whilst over on Bric-A-Brac and Books, Joan Crisp was to be found modelling some of thejewellery and a jacket!Lesley from Phoenix Cards again donated 10% of her sales andorders taken on the day and will be with us again in December, forthose last minute Christmas card purchases.Helen and Kath soon had the kettle boiling and kept everyone’s thirstat bay.

Jackdaw Chatter 13

Alice ran the ‘Guess the Name of the Bear’ competition. MaureenWisbeach won the potted planter with the correct guess of ‘Albert’.The event raised almost £295. So thank you to all the helpers, thosethat donated and to everyone that attended.The next event is a coffee morning on Saturday 7th December, withthe Annual Dinner on Saturday 18th January 2014. Anne Moore

Bottisham Village CollegeAdult and Community Learning

Are you looking for an unusual Christmas present? Why not book a course, or purchase a gift voucher?We have new courses for the Spring Term 2014 as well as many ofour on-going courses:Ceramics Cookery – Indian, Japanese, Thai (plus Saturday workshops)Creative Digital PhotographyDrawing & Painting – Techniques (daytime)Felt Making (Saturday workshop)Fitness YogaFrench Conversation (daytime)History of ArtIntroduction to CounsellingInterior DesignSewing for BeginnersSilver Clay Jewellery (Saturday workshop)Spanish for Starters (beginners+ level)Sugarcraft (evening and Saturday workshops)Photoshop (Saturday workshop)

To enrol, visit our website: www.bottishamvc.org/adultlearning or contact the Community Office on 01223 811372 email: adultlearning@bottishamvc.orgFacebook - Bottisham Adult & Community Learning

Jackdaw Chatter 14

Photograhy Competition

I am pleased to report that after a slow start there were finally 20entries under the Title ‘Anything Special About Quy”. To arrive at thefinal results I asked ten people to judge all the photos independentlyand then score their best five. Most of the photos got some pointsbut the clear winner was acolour photo of Quy Hallwith a herd of cattledrinking from the lake.Although there were severalnice photos of the Hall, thisstood out because of theadded interest provided bythe livestock. The photowas submitted by TonieWoodley of Minter Close.

(My apologies for the lessthan perfect reproduction ofthese photos, but myscanner is having a hissy-fitand doesn’t appear to beplaying ball, but you get thegeneral idea. Ed.)

Second was this reallyatmospheric shot of anuprooted tree down by

the old railway line.It was taken by lastyear’s winner

Richard Preston of Herrings Close who still uses film and does allhis own developing.

First: Quy Hall by Tonie Woodley

Second: Fallen Tree by Richard Preston

Jackdaw Chatter 15

Equal third place were Bob Kingand Bill Watts. Bob’s photo was of a steamengine, which had come to theFenland Fair and stoppedoutside the White Swan. Bill’sphoto was of a pair of youngheiffers in his orchard.

Emma Butler won the junior section withher winter picture of the Iron Bridge. Thiswas in black and white which was thebest format to highlight the snow and treeshapes. Well done everyone whoentered.

Ray

Third: Steam Engine by Bob King

Third: Heiffers by Bill Watts

Junior Winner: The Iron Bridgeby Emma Butler

Jackdaw Chatter 16

New Year Eve Village Event

This year there will be a New Year’s Eve party at the Village Hall,organised by Gerry Skews and the staff at the Swan.The event will be very much aimed at all members of the Village,young and not so young. It starts at around 5:30pm with a Kids Disco:this will offer plenty of early evening entertainment for kids of all ages,presenting them with lots of fun ways to burn off a lot of energy andsome of those chocolate calories. Although we are not setting an agelimit, we think it will be suitable for children aged up to 14/15.

At 7:30pm we will move the disco up a gear for us older ones toenjoy; we are loosely basing the theme on music through the ages,starting in the 50s and ending up at the present day. At 9:30pm weare delighted to have Jacen and the RockAnaughts on stage; they willplay a wide range of music for the rest of the evening.We are planning a hot and cold food buffet running from about7:00pm when there will be plenty of home-made sandwiches, cakesand sausage rolls, as well as biscuits, cheese and lots of other thingsto put the calories back on.There will be a bar with real ales and keg beers, lager, cider, wine,spirits and soft drinks.

The cost is £10.00 per ticket for Adults and £5.00 for under 16s. Wewill decorate the Hall and hopefully make it fun for everyone.We will need to sell quite a few tickets to cover the costs so we reallywould appreciate early purchase for the tickets which are availablefrom the Swan and from the Post Office.

Any questions please call Gerry Skews either at the pub 811821 ormobile 07768 555971.

Jackdaw Chatter 17

Seasonal Advice from the local Police

Further to our regular crime prevention updates and security advice Iwould like to remind you of some yearly issues we generally see atthis time of the year. Firstly Winter care… Dark nights are loomingand soon will the winter weather be upon us, here are some items totake note of; checks on your vehicle for anti-freeze, tyres, lights andbrake fluid. A supply of food /water and blanket just in case you getcaught in that unsuspecting blizzard and our roads block up! If you have elderly residents living close by, and you know them!check to see if they are ok from time to time.Heating oil: if you are getting a refill ensure the supplier that attendshas got identification with them and it’s on the day / time that hasbeen arranged. Last year we received reports of suppliers refilling oiltanks without notice and when residents came to switch on theirheating system they found themselves with no fuel at all as it hadbeen siphoned out! Christmas time and the extended shopping hours sees an increase intheft either in the home/vehicles or bags. Please ensure locks/lightsand personal safety alarms for bags are working. If you require furtherinformation on security tips please look at the following web sites.www.immobilise.com / www.crimereduction.gov.uk Remember, if you see anything that looks out of place or suspiciousplease call the police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

Accommodation Wanted for Touring Theatre CompanyCambridge Touring Theatre came to Quy last summer to rehearse andperform their Fun Family Musical of 'Treasure Island'. Next year theywill be coming to rehearse at the Village Hall for a performance of'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. We are seeking accommodationfor our seven Actors and wondered if there are any local residentswho would be able to offer B&B. Twin rooms are completely fine. Thedates would be for the first three weekends in May, Thursday night toSunday morning. Thank you. Rosie Humphreys. info@cambridgetouringtheatre.co.uk. 01223 246533.