Author: Jez Wilson

Nether Heyford Neighbourhood Watch – July & August 2020

Nether Heyford Neighbourhood Watch.jpg

The 2020 revival is a fresh start for the village “Neighbourhood Watch Scheme” and expands the area to include the complete parish area and Upper Heyford.

Also linking together with the Facebook group, Northamptonshire Neighbourhood Watch, The Parish Council, The PCSO and The Prattler.

The scheme is open to village residents only and all applications should be made
online: www.ourwatch.org.uk/scheme/25380/nether-heyford-and-upper-heyford

For more information, please visit the Neighbourhood Watch page on this website.

Flower Society – July & August 2020

Bugbrooke and District Flower Society

Due to the uncertainty of when social distancing will be eased, we have decided to cancel all meetings for the rest of the year.

We look forward to meeting up again with our members and visitors when circumstances permit. In the meantime keep well, keep smiling and enjoy the summer.

For more information please follow us on Facebook.

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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

Revitalising the Allotments – July & August 2020

Revitalising the allotments

Sharing

I was pleased to report, in last month’s edition of the Prattler, that allotment holders had been generously sharing their surplus plants with other allotment holders. That has continued throughout June with more and more excess being offered. What a generous group of people we have in our growing community. I am sure that when excess produce is forthcoming later in the season, there will be fruit and veg to hand out too. I won’t even attempt to guess how many oversized courgette’s are likely to appear! An old wheelbarrow now sits proudly in the picnic area and hopefully by the time this article goes to print, there will be a sign attached directing you to place all surplus items there.

It has been encouraging to see more and more villagers making use of the picnic area. It is a tranquil place to sit and while away some time.

We are also encouraging people to visit our community flower patch (clearly signposted) and, if they so wish, help themselves to some cut flowers. Cutting carefully should enable everyone to have a bunch – so bring a pair of scissors or secateurs. Sweet peas benefit especially from regular cutting and will continue to flower all season if that happens. Later in the year we are hopeful that we may have sufficient soft fruit to offer to you as well. Just keep an eye on the notice boards at the entrances to the allotments and on the large shed in the middle of the site.

A spare watering can be found by the sweet pea wigwam, so if you are cutting flowers you might also give the plants in that area a drink. Every little helps.

Links to the past

We were very pleased to accept a donation of old tools from two allotment holders who found them at the back of their parents’ garden shed. They’d once rented an allotment in the village and it was wonderful to think that the tools were “coming home” and again being put to use. If you are a new allotmenteer or just want to make use of some unusual hoes and hand cultivators, let us know. They are stored in the community shed and available to borrow.

If you too have any unwanted garden tools let us know; someone can probably
make good use of them.

Wildlife

One of the joys of working on the allotments is the amount of wildlife you see. Even if we do seem to spend a lot of time and effort protecting crops from greedy pigeons and butterflies anxious to lay their eggs on our tasty greens, the benefits from creating a rich and diverse eco-system far outweigh any small loss of produce. It has been wonderful to see more and more people visiting the allotment wildlife area, created and curated by Dave and Pauline Musson and Mark and Mary Newstead.

An indication of the richness of our eco-system has been the presence of more frogs, toads and hedgehogs on the allotment. They are beneficial visitors to allotments and gardens, hoovering up large quantities of slugs and snails. A note of caution however: try to avoid using larger gauge netting to protect crops as it can snag and trap hedgehogs. One conscientious allotment holder recently spent an hour disentangling one of our prickly friends from a piece of netting before taking him off to the vet! I am pleased to report that the hedgehog made a full recovery and when set free, limped off across the allotment site to find more slimy treats for dinner.

Equipment
A range of equipment is available for allotment holders to borrow when working on the allotment site; this includes mowers, rotavators, wheelbarrows, brooms and watering cans. Many people will own some or all of the above, but for those who wish to get access to such equipment, please contact Bill Corner (sue.corner@sky.com 01327 342124), Lynda Eales (01327 341707) or Mike Langrish langrish_heyford@hotmail.com 01327341390). We can ensure that you get the equipment you require at a mutually convenient time.

Allotment Holders
If you are considering growing your own fruit and veg, act quickly by contacting Sue Corner on 01327 342124 or Lynda Eales on 01327 341707.

Mike Langrish 

I believe in the life enhancing virtues of
pure earth, clean air and blue sky.
Octavia Hill – founder of the National Trust

Nether Heyford W.I. – July & August 2020

WI-Logo

As I was wondering what to put in yet another “Lockdown” edition of the Prattler I realised that it was almost time for our wonderful Village Fete. It was to be a special one this year, it being the 60th Anniversary of the building of the Village Hall, and I know it would have been a day to remember. However, thanks to the coronavirus it was not to be. Also, true to form, the rain was imminent after days of really hot sunshine.

During our WI Committee meetings at the beginning of the year we were busy planning for our 90th Anniversary celebrations in December and remembering past events and achievements. Heyford Fete days were often mentioned. As always, events like these are hard work to organise and set up but they are remembered as events of great fun and laughter (in spite of the wind and rain on many occasions!). Earlier in the Fete’s history one of the main users of the Hall would make and sell the refreshments on the day instead of having a stall. There are always smiles when remembering the days beforehand spent making cakes and Fete mornings buttering bread for sandwiches which upheld the reputation of the WI as providers of wholesome, homemade fare!

Then there were the themes for the day. On the Village Hall’s 25th Anniversary the WI ladies went round the village on an “Alice in Wonderland” themed float. I am reliably informed that Alison Haynes was Alice, Maureen Wright the Mad Hatter, Pat Essery the Queen of Hearts and Mary Hyde the White Rabbit. I believe there are photo’s as proof!! One year they masqueraded as St. Trinian’s, another, they managed to acquire a milk float upon which was placed a bed containing Alison and Maureen and, on another occasion, featured the Land Army (where Alison and Maureen were the front and back of a cow, with Maureen spraying onlookers with a water pistol!) Does any of this sound like the staid picture people like to paint of the WI?

It is sad that we have had to miss this year’s fun but I am sure it will be even better next year when all is back to some kind of normal. I hope that when the September edition of the Prattler comes along our groups may be able to meet up again and there will be “live” events to write about but, until then, we wish you all a good and healthy summer.

Mary Rice – Heyford Lodge – 01327 340101

 

Nether Heyford Tennis Club – July & August 2020

Our Court Refurbishment Project is into its final stages and we will soon be offering tennis on three very smart and upgraded courts. We will be having a Grand Opening / Open Day – date tba when we are able to celebrate this huge achievement,

Although, during these difficult times, how we are able to play tennis is restricted we look forward to the return of all our “Social Sessions”

– ladies, men’s, league level, mixed abilities
Coaching – adults, junior, Summer Camps
Free – Friday tennis during school holidays

We would love to welcome new members of any age and any ability – please contact us and come and see what our Tennis Club has to offer.

For further information – please find us on Facebook or contact Jo on 01327 349094 Email: jodickson@btinternet.com

Website: clubspark.lta.org.uk/NetherHeyfordTennisClub

Full facilities and location details can be found on our Nether Heyford Tennis Club page.

‘ALLO, ‘ALLO – It’s Heyford Amblers

‘ALLO, ‘ALLO – It’s Heyford Amblers

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You might wonder what a bar full of Yvettes & Renes has to do with a village walking group. Well, I’ll tell you.

In 2002 we were both made redundant when Express Lifts & British Timken closed their doors and we were a year or three short of getting a State Pension so were keen to find hobbies that didn’t cost anything. We put an advert in The Prattler to see if anyone would be interested in forming a walking group and the rest, as they say, is history.

The first few years we walked every Tuesday morning from the village and once a month from further afield. Our Autumn break took us to places like Yorkshire and Derbyshire and an 8 mile walk was the norm, with a pint or two half way. Move forward a few years and we came closer to home, to The Cotswolds and The Malverns, for a 6 mile daily walk. Further still brought us to Rutland Water and The Thames with 5 miles a day, leaving plenty of free time to explore at our own pace. Our Autumn breaks usually included a Theme Night, which is why we look so ridiculous in these photos.

Over the 18 years we have made some good friends, lost a few and gained a few. However, aches and pains, decline of hearing, memory and concentration are taking their toll. Our Tuesday walks no longer happen and we take it in turn to organise a 4 miler once a month with, the most important bit, a meal at the end of it, and we still have a Christmas lunch at The Olde Sun.

Our advice to anyone healthy enough would be to take up walking, maybe start a new village group. We highly recommend it for fitness, fun and friendship.

Shirley & Mick Collins

Heyford Singers – July & August 2020

HeyfordSingersJuly2020

Quiz question
When did the song above hit the No 1 spot in the music charts?

I think most people reading this article would agree that if a lockdown had to be imposed, there is no better place to experience it than by living in Nether Heyford. The ready access to beautiful open countryside which surrounds the village, the large village green and open spaces within the area, have enabled folk to enjoy exercise and being outdoors whilst appreciating nature in all its glory as the seasons have changed. Praise too to the local shops which, in times of queues and shortages, have kept the local community continually supplied with food and other goods, whilst the take-aways and book swaps offered by the pubs have provided relief and pleasure.

As the lockdown measures gradually ease it has been a delight to see small groups of pre-school children walking around the village, and the quieter, but still noticeable sounds of children back at Bliss School. The Pizza Van is ‘back in town’, hungry customers patiently waiting for their orders whilst they sit and play on the green, and there is now a steady march of twos or fours towards the tennis courts and playing fields.

In the days and weeks to come we will hopefully see more signs of this cautious awakening, the church and chapel offering the opportunity for quiet reflection and prayer, if not yet large group gatherings or celebratory events, additional sporting activities at the playing fields, and maybe pints enjoyed in pub gardens!

Our little village hall, both a visual and metaphorical hub for the local community still remains closed… except for the wonderful work of volunteers who gather there weekly to sort and distribute food boxes to older and less mobile people in the village. They have, and still continue to do, a sterling job – thank you to each and every one!

I do miss the ‘business’ of the village hall, the full car park evidence that inside people were socialising, exercising, honing their skills and learning – W I meetings, bowling, yoga, Pilates, and taekwondo, gardening and flower arranging, sewing and patchwork, singing, films, quizzes and parties. Our local meeting place is very much the centre of village life and all that we enjoy. Sadly it has been unable to bask in our appreciation of its value, now and in years past, as the 60th anniversary celebrations also fell victim to the Covid 19 lockdown. But I have no doubt that Alwyne (Chairman) and all members of the village hall committee and friends are working hard to ensure that as soon as it is safe and wise to do so, we may again enjoy all the benefits the village hall offers.

Quiz question answer. This was the No 1 hit, and best-selling single, when the village hall was opened on 8th May 1960 by Lord Spencer, and maybe danced to at celebrations that evening or weekend. It remained at the No 1 spot for 7 weeks!

Appropriately now I give you our village hall Chairman’s choice of music should she be cast far away on a desert island, where there is no village hall, no nasty virus, but also no community to be part of!

Thank you Alwyne

I wish everyone a safe and sunny summer, which I hope will slowly and carefully return us to our busy vibrant community!

Desert Island Discs – your choices – Alwyne Wilson:

I usually prefer classical music, especially baroque, but at the moment whilst I’m wading through an extremely tedious and time-consuming list of admin tasks for my family, I feel I need some diverting company – hence this list of vocalists:

Mamma Mia! Of course.
Aled Jones – I’ve been a fan since his choirboy days.
Barbara Dickson – always wished I could sing like her.
Katherine Jenkins – ditto –
Hayley Westenra – ditto – (In my dreams I can sing both soprano and alto)
Alfie Boe – some friends of mine met him many years ago and became friends. I feel therefore I have an affinity with him.
Neil Diamond – Fantastic! Makes an old lady very happy.

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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Community Wildlife Area – July & August 2020

View from The Wildlife Patch

Dytiscus marginalis (Great Diving Beetle) is a large and voracious predator of underwater life in both larval and adult stages.

Pauline and myself were watching life in the pond and spotted a Newt trying to shake off something that had a hold of its neck. When the newt eventually managed to shake it off, we could see it was a nearly full grown larvae of the above species. At around 50mm long it was maybe half the length of the newt. As we watched it became evident that there were a number of these larvae who were mostly attacking tadpoles but would try for anything that was moving underwater. Always grabbing from underneath with strong jaws around the neck area. I was watching the pond with Mark and watched one of these larva rise from the shallows to grab a good sized tadpole then swim across the surface to hide, with it’s prey under a lilly leaf, no doubt to consume it’s prey out of sight. That pond may look peaceful but underwater it’s a “proper jungle”.

My own first experience of this beetle was when at the age of about 7 years I caught a adult whilst collecting frog spawn. I put it on an old white enamel bowl along with the spawn. By the next morning the beetle had eaten around half of the centres from my Frog spawn. I remember it well as I told my parents that it was eating the yolks and leaving the whites of the eggs. Both adults and larva of Dytiscus are said to deliver a painful bite. Mine did not bite me despite much handling.

On the rest of the patch Mary found and photographed a lovely Scarlet Tiger Moth. This is another large, showy moth that is gradually moving its territory Northward. We found one there last year so could have a breeding population of these. We would love to find Garden Tiger Moths there. Their larvae are the once common Woolly Bears that people over a certain age remember from their youth. They have sadly declined drastically -possibly due our warmer winters. I have not found a Garden Tiger or a Woolly Bear since moving back to England in 2015.

Despite the drought we are seeing some fruits from earlier sowings. New species of Grass, Yellow Rattle (which could be important to our plans) and other plants are gradually showing their heads. Unexpectedly, a few specimens of Night Flowering Catchfly are growing on last years “Annuals Patch”. This is member of the Campion family that was introduced to the UK sometime in the past. It looks quite insignificant in daytime but comes into it’s own when the sun sets, showing intense, almost luminescent, white blooms that fade with the dawn. Undersides of leaves and stems are covered with sticky hairs, hence the name “Catchfly”. We did not knowingly sow this plant and did not see it last year last year. It is an annual and very easily overlooked in daylight hours so it may well have been among the Wildflower Annuals planted last year.

Dave Musson

Davemusson073@gmail.com 07942 674867

 

Flood Watch – July & August 2020

Flood Watch

Chaos theory, a phenomenon well known to physicists and climatologists, coupled to climate change could be the reason for meteorologists being astounded by unprecedented changes to the UK weather pattern in 2020. Those of us that grew up in the 1960’s and 70’s experienced regular seasonal patterns, snow and ice in winter, wet springs and long hot summers. However since the late 70’s global temperatures have been steadily rising with changes in the southern hemisphere triggering changes to the global weather patterns. Locally 2020 has seen new records set for the wettest February (over twice monthly average) following a mild winter, the warmest spring and the driest May (only 12% of monthly average). No rain was recorded from 3rd May to 4th June. Since then June has continued with endless showers although only two days the 7th and 18th recorded over 10mm. The remainder of June is expected to see warmer weather returning with the years total rainfall so far expected to be below the usual average to the end of June.

Having recently been contacted by a potential house purchaser enquiring about flooding risks in Nether Heyford reminded me of the role of a flood warden, his deputy and any other wardens located within the Village, all of whom should be registered and insured by the Environment Agency. They are expected to raise awareness of flood risks, help pass on flood warnings and help prepare for flooding events throughout the Village. Acquired local knowledge will often identify potential events before the E/A flood warning service. During flooding events they would coordinate all emergency services, bearing in mind that all agencies will be attending higher priority events elsewhere. An important activity is regular inspection of ditches,culverts, brooks and river and recording the extent of all potential flooding events. A Community Flood Plan should be prepared identifying all areas at risk, each given a rating and action to be taken. A full listing of all contact numbers for wardens and emergency services should be included. It would be helpful to have such a document posted on the Village web site and a reference included in the Welcome pack.

J.Arnold

The Story of Heyford (Extra): Nether Heyford WW2 veteran Hugh Adams recalls VE day in 1945

Northampton WWII veteran who was involved in liberating Denmark recalls celebrations in the street – Hugh ended up watching England winning the World Cup with Danish friends he made after VE Day

A Second World War veteran who was in Denmark when the end of the Second World War was announced is recalling memories as the 75th anniversary approaches.

Hugh Adams, who is now 96, was part of the Royal Dragoons, the regiment that was responsible for liberating Denmark three days before VE Day.

As the war was drawing to a close, there were tens of thousands of German soldiers in Denmark and it was Hugh’s regiment that was tasked with liberating them.

NetherHeyford_VEDay2020_HughAdams

Hugh with the President of Danish Rotary at the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

The great-grandfather-of-four said: “We travelled through northern Germany and some of the towns were in complete devastation. They were really badly damaged and it was a startling experience to witness that.

“I even got some poor shots on my little camera as we went through.

“As we arrived in Copenhagen on May 4 I was driving the jeep. Half of Copenhagen were on the streets.

“The reception we got was something that I shall never forget.

“It was so different to anywhere we had seen in the previous six months.”

On the night of the liberation on May 5, 1945 Hugh and his regiment stayed in Copenhagen before travelling to Odense, the following day where they remained for the summer.

Hugh added: “My regiment moved back to Odense where we spent the summer and looked after the repatriation of Germans in Denmark.

“Germany was keen on looking after Denmark because it was a source of food.

“They called it the land of milk and honey.

“We made friends with Danish people and got to know quite a lot of the resistance people who did a fantastic job.”

As the liberation of Denmark happened a number of days before the end of the war was announced, VE Day was not as iconic for the Royals.

“VE Day brings back memories and so forth, but I was actually back in Odense in a school when the news broke through the radio that war was over,” Hugh continued.

“It was, to me, a bit of an anti-climax after the excitement of liberating Denmark days earlier.

“Obviously we celebrated then with the Danish people who were wonderful and it was a great experience.”

Hugh, who still lives at the family farm in Nether Heyford, was granted an early repatriation in the September of 1945, due to his family’s important work.

“We were short of food after the war and my family were farming so I needed to get back to help with that,” he said.

“I was 21 when I was demobilised and I settled in Northampton where the family farm was and that was my career from then on.

“That was the end of my connection with the army until 50 years later when we went back to celebrate.”

Hugh married in 1950 and also kept in contact with some of the Danish people he made friends with.

The veteran and his family went back to visit Denmark 21 years after the war ended.

“I stayed with a delightful family with whom I had befriended in 1945. They were all very musical and we sang all the old wartime songs and drank lots of Schnapps,” Hugh added.

“We also watched England win the football World Cup on their television.”

Hugh, who is one of the founding members of Northampton West Rotary Club, also visited Denmark again, alongside many other British veterans, in 1995 when the people of Denmark invited them to celebrate the 50th anniversary of VE Day.

Published in the Daventry Express – Monday May 11th 2020