The newspaper for Nether Heyford & Upper Heyford, Northamptonshire, UK. Delivered free to every house since 1977.
Thank you
Jane and family would like to Thank you all for your messages of sympathy, support, kind gestures and flowers.
We deeply appreciate it at this sad time.
Howard would be very touched to see all the special messages that you have sent.
Sent on behalf of:
Jane Harvey
8 Hillside Rd
Nether Heyford
Lynda Eales (sister in law)
Published November Edition 2019
Pantomime
Tickets are selling well for ‘Dick Whittington’ to be presented in the Village Hall on
Sunday 29th December at 2pm. Prices are £9 for adults and £3 for accompanied
children up to age 11. They can be purchased from Richard: 01327 341 044 or
07801 862 140, or Alwyne: 01327 340 803.
Last year they sold out, leaving some people disappointed. Make sure you don’t
miss out this year. If you would like to donate a raffle prize, either for an adult or
child, ring Alwyne.
New Welcome Sign
Thanks to the efforts of Tom Dodd and Arthur Hanley, a splendid new decorated
and illuminated sign has been mounted in the entrance foyer.
Christmas Decorations
The village hall will be decorated on Sunday 17 November at 2.30pm in readiness
for this year’s seasonal festivities. If anyone fancies giving a hand, tea, coffee and
chocolate biscuits will be on tap.
Alwyne Wilson
The Café on the Green
Our Macmillan ‘Coffee Morning’ on 27th September raised a fantastic £510
A huge thank you to all those who supported this in any way.
Hello to all
I enjoy cooking but I am quite boring in my choice of meals and I am most certainly very limited in my options and cooking ability. I also have a go at making marmalade – but some would say that I take the easy way (and I do!) because I make my marmalade from the prepared Seville oranges using a simple to follow recipe on the tin – literally just add water and sugar and when ready just tip into prepared jars.
Why complicate it when complication is not needed – the end product is what really counts. And if I follow the recipe, does as it says and it turns out just fine – just lovely on buttered toast.
My wife Sue enjoys the “specially selected” fruit yogurts from a well-known discount store and the empty jars are used for my marmalade – they are ideal in size and I enjoy giving these jars to friends as I visit them – and I have some for myself – Sue does not eat marmalade! (YES!)
This morning I am going to make marmalade and as I do I will reflect on what I have written above and sending for inclusion in The Prattler.
1. Many of us are limited in what we can do but often we can do something – we can have a go.
2. Like the recipe for my marmalade we have a reliable and trusted recipe for life and the teachings of Jesus are good to us and good for us. His teaching and the journey of faith bring enrichment to life
3. We don’t need to over complicate things.
4. Our empty lives can be filled with the good that faith in God can and will bring – we don’t have to be big, powerful and significant for God to use. Someone rightly said, “God uses our availability as well as our ability”
5. What is on the tin is what I get from the tin and is the end product of my cooking and that is so important – our lives can reflect what is most important in our living, loving and giving.
6. It is good to give something of what we have away – to touch and enrich the lives of others – there is great blessing in giving away as well as getting
The chapel welcomes all – please come along when you can and details of services are provided elsewhere in The Prattler – you will feel welcomed
Thank you
Martin Buckby
on behalf of the fellowship at The Baptist Chapel on the Green
For more information visit the Nether Heyford Baptist Chapel page.
Midweek Communions are held weekly on Wednesdays, 9.30am at Heyford and Thursdays, 10am at Flore – all welcome. (No service at Heyford on 23rd October).
During November we shall be praying for people living in Church Street and Manor Walk in Heyford, Kings Lane and The Orchard in Flore, Main Street in Upper Stowe and the Apartments in Brockhall Hall
Rev Stephen Burrow (Tel. 01327 344436)
Nether Heyford Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul
Dear Friends.
Once again, we enter November, and the season of remembrance. It begins with
All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and moves on to Remembrance Sunday and
Armistice Day. As always, there are Remembrance Sunday services at war
memorials and churches across the benefice, with details elsewhere in this
magazine.
Towards the end of the month, we have our annual Service of Thanksgiving for a
Life on Sunday 24th November at All Saint’s Church in Flore, beginning at 3:30 PM. This is an opportunity to celebrate, remember and give thanks for the lives of loved ones who have died recently, or, indeed, not so recently. If there is anyone you would like us to remember especially during this service, then please give me a ring on the telephone number below and let me know their names.
Coincidentally, Saturday 9th November marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I remember visiting West Berlin in the early-80’s and going to see the Wall, an ugly scar on the landscape, and a stark reminder of a deeply divided humanity. And I remember the end of 1989 as a time of hope. With the Berlin Wall coming down, communism collapsing across Eastern Europe, and an end in sight to the tensions of the Cold War, surely this was the time for humanity to come together for the wellbeing of all. Sadly, my naive hopes were quickly dashed, as new hatreds, ideologies and jealousies arose to ensure humanity remained – and remains – as divided as ever.
But the fall of the Berlin Wall still inspires me as an example of the tremendous power of prayer. In the late-70’s, East German Christians – suffering under one of the most repressive regimes in the world – began to gather in churches across the country to pray for peace, and especially for a lessening of the tensions between East and West. The most significant of these prayer meetings was in Leipzig, which grew to such an extent that around 70,000 people gathered there for a prayer meeting in October 1989. A month later, when the Berlin Wall came down, the Communists had policemen on the streets and snipers on the roofs. They thought they were prepared for every eventuality, but they were not prepared for the power of prayer.
As we gather again to remember the fallen, what might we pray to change in our
world, our nation, our communities or our homes that would truly honour their
sacrifice?
Yours in Christ,
Stephen – 01327 344436
New Village Playground Area – Your help is needed
After years of hard service our Village Play area is getting a bit “tired” and is now in need of some major renovation work.
In view of this your Parish Council have taken the decision to use this as an opportunity to completely revise the whole thing.
We are planning a completely new Play Park that in addition to meeting the needs of younger children -as is the present case, will also cater for children into their teens. It is also hoped to put some “Outdoor Gym” type of equipment in place that can be used by all of us.
Right now we need to form a group who will work to plan and bring the project to fruition.
We already have three Parish Councillors prepared to work on this. Ideally we need two to three members of our community who are in touch with the needs of the proposed Play area users and who have vision, skill and ideas needed to complete a workgroup of six who will bring this plan to fruition.
We believe that we could have identified a source of funding. We have timescale to get the whole project finished by the beginning the next School Summer Holiday. We need to get going as soon as possible if this is to come together.
If you feel you have the vision, time and skills to be a part of this please contact either:
Dave Musson – Joint Project Leader – davemusson073@gmail.com
Lesley Dilkes – thedilkesfamily@outlook.com
The Prattler
The Prattler is run by an active voluntary committee comprising of Sue Boutle, Christine Watts, Vicki Hamblin, Jez Wilson, Nick Essex, Richard Musson and Mary Rice. If you would like to submit articles or have any suggestions for future issues, please get in touch.
The Newspaper is supported by donations from the Parish Council, the Parish Church, the Baptist Church, Heyford W.I., Heyford Garden Club, Heyford Singers and Heyford Picturedrome as well as the advertisers.
Thanks are also due to the volunteers who distribute it every month.
The October 7th meeting was held as normal in the Baptist Chapel Schoolroom.
Like all Council meetings it was open to the public.
Reports from the District and County Councillors
P Bignell SNC gave an update on Local Government Reorganisation, outlining the course of events and the timing. The next Parish Council elections will be in 2020, and will be for 5 years, thereafter it will be for 4 years.
Lighting
Work continues on the plan to renew lighting. LEDs seem to be the preferred option, and show substantial savings. AW reported that the Lighting Working Party was looking to ask for presentations and quotes from 5 companies.
Public Participation
The chair thanked Nick Essex and Dave Musson for their work on the Village Millennium sign, which was being repainted. The work has continued, and the sign now looks stunning.
Roads and pavements
A gutter on Weedon Rd was felt to be badly overgrown. Clerk to ask Mr Gibbins to look at it. There had been complaints about drainage on Watery Lane. Stuart Mann of SNC had been in contact with the clerk and subsequently with Mr Thorneycroft as a local source of knowledge on drainage systems. It was reported that the previous drains in Watery Lane were now disused as they had tended to contribute to problems as water from the river would back up them when the river reached a certain level.
The Green and Play Area
Some steps are missing from one of the Play Area rides, some older children had been seen with them. The Play Area working party were looking at different catalogues and formats and were hoping to recruit some non-councillors. Jez Wilson had been very helpful.
Allotments
There would be 2 volunteer Saturdays on Oct 19th and 26th. New plot holders had come forward. SC asked for the rent letters to go out earlier.
Wildlife area is progressing well.
Footpaths
NH reported a rotten stile remnant was now a trip hazard on the path from the fishery to the church. Clerk to report
Churchyard
Limes to be pollarded when leaves come off.
Youth Club
New lights to be put outside. New helpers had come forward.
Defibrillators
Both checked and working.
External Audit
It was resolved too accept the External Auditors report.
“On the basis of our review of Sections 1 and 2 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return(AGAR), in our opinion the information in Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR is in accordance with Proper Practices and no other matters have come to our attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met.”
Overgrown hedge in South View
A petition had been put together and given to SNC who were appointing an officer to deal with this long standing issue.
Neighbourhood Plan
SC reported on progress. Midland Homes Association had been contacted regarding a Housing Needs Survey. SNC recommended that this be done again before presenting the NP for consultation. Site allocation would need to be worked on and must be well founded.
Precept Meeting
will take place on November and set the budget for the next financial year. Village organisations wishing to apply for funding must apply by November 25th at the latest.
Reporting Highway and Footpath Issues. The Clerk will report issues that Council is made aware of, but Council would encourage residents to use the FixMyStreet service to report issues themselves as there will then be no time lag and first-hand reports are almost always better than 2nd or 3rd hand reports. The service can be found here: www.fixmystreet.com
It is easy to use; you can have your own account and can check up on any issues you have reported.
Council meetings take place on the first Monday of each month (unless there is a Bank Holiday)
Clerk to the Parish Council: Guy Ravine, c/o Old Dairy Farm, Upper Stowe, Weedon, Northamptonshire, NN7 4SH
Telephone: 07935 931787
Email: netherheyfordparishcouncil@gmail.com
Next Meeting
The next Parish Council meeting will be on the first Monday of the month at the Baptist Chapel Schoolroom at 7.30 pm and is, like all Parish Council meetings, open to all Parishioners.
For further useful information about Nether Heyford Parish Council and full contact details for the clerk and the councillors please visit our Nether Heyford Parish Council page.
The Nether Heyford Prattler 