Month: September 2019

Resident Profile: Jodie Caller

jodiecallerrisingstarssports-1Jodie Caller is 22 years old and is a Great Britain Judo athlete from Nether Heyford. Her judo career started when she was 8 years old. She has been part of the Great Britain squad and competing internationally since she was 14 years old.  In 2016, she unfortunately tore her ACL at the European University Games in Croatia.  Jodie had an operation and 2 years of recovery to get back to competitive judo. Jodie is now back to competing at the level she was before the injury and is continuing her judo career. Jodie has also been competing alongside studying and is now pleased to have graduated with a first class degree in Sports Coaching Practice from the University of Wolverhampton. She will now be dedicating the next 12 months to her judo career.

Her previous judo results include: 7 x British Champion | European University Games Champion | Cadet European Championships – Bronze medal | Several times European Cup Medallist

Jodie has funded her way through these competitions over the last year to get herself into the top 3 in the country, but the next goal is to medal at The Commonwealth Games in 2022.  Each trip cost approximately £300 for her to attend. In order to qualify for the big tournaments, Jodie has to compete at various events around the world in order to gain enough points to be eligible for selection. Jodie receives no funding support from UK sport or the British judo association. Jodie is looking for any donations to help her to self-fund to these events to continue her extensive judo career. Any donations will be greatly appreciated. For more information visit:

www.gofundme.com/f/help-gb-judo-player-jodie-caller-achieve-her-dream

RisingStarSportsNetherHeyfordOctober2019

Rising Stars Sports are running sports camps at The Bliss Charity School in Nether Heyford during the school holidays with lead coach Jodie Caller October Half-Term Camps.

Monday 28th October: Gymnastics day | Thursday 31st October: Football day

Ages: 4-11 years old | Start: 9:30 am | Finish: 4:00 pm

Price: £18 per day (Early drop off is available at 8:30 am for an additional £2 per day)

Book early to avoid disappointment: risingstarssports@hotmail.com | 07428 411384

www.risingstarssports.co.uk
www.facebook.com/risingstars57
twitter.com/risingstars57

Heyford Bowls Club – October 2019

NetherHeyfordBowlsClub

Indoor

During the summer months when attendances are known to drop with holidays etc, dark nights and winter months now approaching, it will be time to relax and enjoy our Wednesday bowling sessions. These sessions can be very enjoyable and we welcome anybody who would like to come and give it a try. Bowling is in the village hall and times are afternoons 1.50pm and evenings 7.15pm every Wednesday.

It looks like we will be entering the WARDINGTON winter league again this year. Last year’s matches were very enjoyable and in our first season we finished runners up.

Four teams contested The Men’s Pairs on Saturday 14th September. Bowling Club competitions as always produce some very fine bowling. These are hard fought matches as teams strive to reach the final. The winners were Morris Freeman and
Graham Drake over Geoff Groom and Barry Clements.

Don’t forget the BENCO SHIELD on Saturday 19th October at 1 pm.

Den Taylor

Outdoor

Well I’m afraid we were relegated from Division Two of the Northamptonshire Area Triples League. Requiring a 6-0 win in our final match, we won 5-1 and were relegated by the cruel margin of half of a point. Obviously, our aim is to bounce back next season.

All the club competitions have been completed. The winners and runners up were:

NetherHeyfordBowlsClub2019Winners

And that’s the end of the outdoor season. We put the green to bed on Sunday 6th October. Our AGM is on Tuesday 29th October and our Presentation Night is on Saturday 23rd November.

Geoff Allen – 01327 349909

For more bowls club information please visit our website:

www.heyfordbowlsclub.co.uk

 

Heyford Singers – October 2019

HeyfordSingersOct2019

I love this time of year, as summer slides into autumn. The gardens are gently
fading with late summer flowers glowing like jewels, leaves are beginning to turn as trees claim their time of seasonal glory. Fields have yielded up their harvest, whilst the hedgerows and orchards have ripe pickings for jams and jellies, chutneys and cider. It is a nostalgic time as well. The last over of the summer cricket matches have been bowled and the eight week Proms season has ended. We look back and hold fast to fond memories of the summer days, but so we also look forward to the new beginnings that the autumn brings.

The youngest generation has, or is about to, take the next steps on their learning journeys. Pre-school, nursery, primary or secondary school, university or the working world. We have several family members embarking on these “next steps” – we wish them, and everyone else, much happiness and success in their new adventures. The cricket season may be over but the Rugby World Cup is upon us, and the anthem at the top will be heard time and time again as we switch on to watch, cheer, applaud, and hopefully not commiserate. Add to this the various national anthems that will be proudly played and sung too, and then we have a small feast of musical experiences!

Which brings me very nicely to Heyford Singers and music. Our autumn rehearsal season began on 6th September with an Open Evening. We had expected one or two new members, we had hoped for maybe a few more, but we were absolutely thrilled to welcome thirteen new singers! Mary had prepared a lovely mixture of songs for the first evening, two warm up tunes, a medley of songs from Oliver, “Feeling Groovy” by Simon and Garfunkel, and then two songs to be included in the forthcoming Christmas concert. It was lovely evening, warm and welcoming, relaxed and fun, made especially so by sharing it with new friends. And what is more they all claimed to have thoroughly enjoyed their initial session and have continued to come!

So we look forward with excitement and anticipation. I have tried to avoid much
mention of winter’s great festival as that will follow in good time, but for your diaries the Heyford Singers’ Christmas concert is Friday 13th and Saturday 14th December and plans are being made for a village “Carols on the Green” for Friday 20th December. Further details of both events will follow in due course.

But for now, the sun is shining, the sky is cloudless and the garden beckons!

Jill Langrish

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If you would like to find out more, visit the Heyford Singers page or our website:

www.heyfordsingers.org

 alternatively come along to one of our rehearsals in Nether Heyford Village Hall.

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Heyford Picturedrome – October 2019

The October film to be shown on 17th October in the Village Hall will be ‘Fishermen’s Friends’, a 2019 British biographical comedy-drama directed by Chris Foggin about a group of ten singing Cornish fishermen from Port Isaac who have a top ten hit with their debut album of sea shanties after being signed to Universal Records by a cynical London music executive.

Doors open at 7.15 for free coffee or tea with a film start at 7.45pm.

The admission price remains at £4.00 per person and there is no joining fee. A licensed bar will be serving wine and soft drinks before the film and during the interval.

The November film will be Green Book, a highly acclaimed, Oscar nominated 2018 American comedy drama directed by Peter Farrelly set in 1962 in the deep south.

Tony Clewett – Phone: 01327 341533

Community Wildlife Area – October 2019

View from The Wildlife Patch

The heads of Ivy in the bordering Roadside Hedge are now in full bloom and providing a bounty of nectar for a variety of insects. Right now there are several species of Wasp, Hover Fly, Bee, Butterfly and many more insects, including massive European Hornets which are really just huge Wasps. On warmer nights, nocturnal insects, especially moths will be found on the same flowers.

Elsewhere, we have cut down as much of the long grass as we are going to. This has been collected and put in heaps. One of these has a cavity underneath which will hopefully be taken up by a Hedgehog.

Grass has been cut and removed from the area where the pond will be. Most of the area exposed thus will be cut quite short and covered with spoil from pond digging. This will be planted with a wildflower /grass mixture though some will be kept as bare earth. This being essential for some solitary Bee and Wasp species.

Early in October we will sow the Cornfield Annual patch with the same mixture as the new ground and those patches now covered with plastic sheeting will be stripped bare and sown with Cornfield Annuals. The seating/picnic area will be sown with a Wildflower Lawn seed.

When the pond is in we will need to provide a barrier to keep small, unattended children from the pond. One of my Grandchildren, when younger, tried using my garden pond net as a trampoline which was not good idea. I think we will need to put a fence round the pond with a gate for access. This should be much safer.

Molehills are usually very much in evidence at this time of year. They live singly and feed mainly on a diet of Earthworms. Each mole digs series of subterranean tunnels which it “cruises” along, picking up any worms which drop into the tunnels. Earthworms migrate up and down vertically in the soil according to outside conditions. For example they go deeper in times of drought, then Moles dig their burrows at a lower level to trap them. When they dig these new tunnels they push the spoil to the surface to create Molehills.

I know that some gardeners believe moles eat vegetable roots from underground. This belief is erroneous. Moles cannot digest any form of vegetable matter, they are not rodents and just do not have the dentition to gnaw roots. Moles need to eat every few hours and dine EXCLUSIVELY on earthworms and insects. Having said that I did find a beetroot on my allotment that had been well and truly gnawed below ground underneath was what appeared to be the top end of a Mole Tunnel. A closer look at the damage showed very clearly the double tooth marks of a Rodent. This was no doubt the work of a Brown Rat which had modified a moles tunnel to burrow up to my Beet.

Dave Musson

Flower Society – October 2019

Bugbrooke and District Flower Society

We invite you to join us at our monthly meetings to relax and watch demonstrations by a fully qualified NAFAS Area or National Demonstrator. This is followed by refreshments and the opportunity to win one of the arrangements in our raffle. Learn how to arrange and enjoy flowers.

Meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month at 7.45pm in Nether Heyford village hall.

Our October meeting will be for members only as we are celebrating our 45th Anniversary.

At our November meeting on the 25th November we welcome Mark Entwistle with his Christmas demonstration. The Christmas demonstrations are always extra special so put the date in your diary and come along for what promises to be a most enjoyable evening.

For more information please follow us on Facebook or contact Dianne on 01604
830063 or Simone on 01327 342167.

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The Bugbrooke and District Flower Society meet every fourth Monday in the month in the Village Hall. Our meetings start at 7.45pm and usually take the form of a Demonstration when a qualified demonstrator will create several floral designs which are raffled at the end of the evening and lucky members take home the beautiful flowers.

Flower Society affiliated to the National Association of Flower Arrangement Societies (NAFAS) promoting Floral Art. www.nafas.org.uk

Letters: Thank You from Sandy Davis – October 2019

A thank you from Sandy Davis

My husband Norman was a great supporter of the RNLI and at the time of the September Prattler £140 had already been raised. It is a pleasure to announce another £100 of donations has now been given bringing the total to £240. This has been donated in person by Sandy to the ‘GREAT YARMOUTH LIFE BOAT’.

Letter received from RNLI – “Dear Mrs Davis, on behalf of the YARMOUTH and GORLESTONE branch of the RNLI I thank you for your very generous donation of £140 in memory of your dear husband. We do appreciate all donations; we have three boats to maintain which service the ‘NORTH SEA’, the ‘NIVEL’ and ‘BREYDON WATER’, also the southern broads and also we have life guards on our beach to safeguard families. We offer our deepest sympathy at this very sad time and hope you drew strength from family and friends. Kind regards, June Fuller, Hon Treasurer.”

The further £100 has also been donated in person by Sandy at RNLI headquarters in Great Yarmouth. A thank you letter is expected and will be published in the November Prattler.

Sandy is still hoping to raise more funds for the RNLI and any future donations, at any time, will be gratefully appreciated. If anyone would like to contribute to this worthy cause, please contact Sandy on 07759 007 279.

Letters: Happy Days – October 2019

Happy Days

The semi-detached dormer houses in Church Lane were built by Adkins and Shaw in the late 1960’s. After our wedding in 1967, Tony and I moved into No. 4 which was bought for the princely sum of £3,295. At that time most of the occupants of these houses were like us, newlyweds or not long married with young children. The land on which the houses were built had been owned by a Mr Potter whose widow lived at No. 3. The builders had not been able to develop the rest of the field because it was too low to support a sewer which is why the houses have long gardens.

At that time, the late Dennis Clarke who lived at the old bakery in Furnace Lane had a van from which he used to come round the village selling vegetables, fruit and fresh fish. He would park up in Church Lane and firstly visit Mrs Potter who was elderly and not able to walk too well. She in turn would have a cup of tea ready for him and so they would sit and chat and chat. In the meantime, all the potential customers were either waiting patiently or not so patiently for Dennis to appear. We became used to this routine and did not wait at the van unless we too wanted a chat but would keep checking to see if Dennis had appeared. But despite the wait, it was worth it just alone for the hand sized pieces of Plaice he sold, which were delicious steamed and loved by our children. Happy days indeed.

Maureen Wright

 

Dennis Bell

“I’ve still got the bell that Dennis used to ring when he parked up to start selling”

Trev Clarke

Revitalising the Allotments – October 2019

About two years ago we began to despair that the main allotment site in Nether Heyford was going to rack and ruin. Those conscientious souls who kept their plots in good order were often fighting a losing a battle, as weeds from abandoned plots encroached onto their veggie beds. Trying to find a way through the site involved hacking your way through a jungle of tall grass and vicious brambles and at the same time trying to negotiate your way round abandoned car tyres, scrap metal and various wooden obstacles. The allotments, taken as a whole, looked a mess.

Fast forward to the present and what a change has occurred. Thanks to the support of the Parish Council, a group of volunteers have been able to make the allotments not only look good but once more become productive – in so many ways.

A section on the site that had long been abandoned was cleared and, with generous support from local businesses, organisations and individual residents, over thirty heritage fruit trees were purchased and planted. As we approach the first anniversary of that planting, I am pleased to report that they are thriving and have put on a considerable amount of new growth. In the next few years we look forward to harvesting our first crop and inviting you to share in this bounty.

Maintaining good pathways around the allotment site had always been a problem. Several allotment holders went above and beyond their remit of keeping their own area in order and often mowed whole sections near to their allotment. But that became the exception, not the rule. Over the past two years that has changed and thanks to volunteers and more individual allotment holders, the pathways are in good order. No longer do you hazard life and limb when you enter the allotments.

Following on from the success of the community orchard, a “community jam patch” has been created, again using several abandoned plots and utilising fruit bushes that have been rescued in the clearance work. We try to ensure that nothing goes to waste. Plans are afoot to extend this by including a “community cutting garden”, made up of annual and perennial flowers.

Another, long abandoned area of the allotments, has been turned over to a “wild area”. This is not an excuse to simply abandon land but is a carefully managed space that includes a wild flower area, nesting boxes for birds and smaller mammals as well as areas for tall grasses to flourish and a host of butterflies, beetles and other mini-beasts to thrive. Pathways have been mown through the area for safe access and a clearly defined perimeter rope has been fixed to posts to show where the area starts and finishes. As this is an area of sensitive growth and development the wildlife volunteers would ask that anyone seeking to visit first contacts one of them to arrange a convenient time. The next development for this area will be the creation of a wildlife pond.

Having a place to sit and eat lunch after a hard session on the allotment or for just taking the opportunity to sit and admire the orchard and the surrounding allotments, requires a community seating area. Again, thanks to the generosity of villagers and fellow allotmenteers we have been able to create a green space with tables and chairs. It was a joy to be able to gather here several weeks ago and share a drink as well as BBQ some food. As the sun went down it was good to reflect on what a lovely village we live in.

For those intrepid, long standing allotmenteers who have cultivated their plots over the years, despite the sea of weeds and the piles of junk, a big thank you. If you hadn’t battled on regardless then the allotments could have been in real jeopardy.

Finally, and probably most importantly of all, it is wonderful to report that more and more allotments are being cultivated. Ever since I began reporting on the refurbishment of the allotments I have always included an invitation to everyone out there to take on an allotment. I think it is beginning to pay off. Once abandoned land is now being put to good use by villagers and from folk in the surrounding area. It is so heartening to see this change in fortune, and whilst we’d never want to deny anyone an allotment, wouldn’t it be an achievement to say that we had a waiting list!

So here we go again…If you are interested in trying out an allotment (you can have a small “taster plot” free for one year – or you can plunge straight in and select a more permanent plot that suits you) then contact either Sue Corner on 01327 342124 or Lynda Eales on 01327 341707.

Come and join us.

Mike Langrish