Village NewsLetter On-Line

Little Staughton News – March 2015
From the Chair (Tony Moss)
The weather man told me today that meteorologically
the 1st March is the first day of Spring, well it certainly
does not feel like it as I write this month’s piece!
Our Parish Clerk has tended her resignation and will
leave the job on 31st March. Lindsey has taken on the
challenge of this role, and performed the job very
successfully.
So we are looking for a new parish clerk. This is an
interesting job at the heart of the parish council, and
gives a view of the many different aspects of village life.
Full training will be given if required. In the first
instance please contact me – details below.
Later this month my annual report to the village will be
circulated and discussed at the Annual Parish Meeting
on 17th March in the Village Hall, you are all very
welcome to attend.
Now here is an interesting challenge. I was talking to a
fellow resident the other day about barbecues and the
expectations for this summer (assuming we get one). As
part of the discussion about the various technical issues
and performance of accessories, we then got onto the
subject of cooking. He said that many different foods
could be cooked on a barbecue, including cakes. In fact
he said that a Victoria sponge could be cooked on a
barbecue (kettle type, with a lid), served for afternoon
tea. Fancy having a go!!
Parish Council Contact Details
Chairman: Tony Moss- E affmo@btinternet.com
M 07770 354292
General Notices
Village Litter Pick
The annual Village Litter Pick will take place on
Saturday 7th March, 10.00 - 12.00 midday, meet at the
Village Hall. Please join us!
Proposed Temporary Road Closure –
Church Lane, Little Staughton
It is anticipated that a closure of Church Lane to
establish a new electrical connection will be in operation
24 hours a day on Wednesday 8th April 2015 and
Thursday 9th April 2015 – Specific dates will be
advertised locally closer to the time.
Bulk Waste Collection
This will take place on
Sunday 21st June 2015 - 3:30 to 5:30 pm
at Grays Grove
Please do not leave rubbish at the collection pint before
the collection vehicles arrive.
Kimbolton Country Fayre
An incredible £14 500 was raised last year and this
year the Fayre promises to be even more
spectacular. Packed with events and activities for all, In
addition to hundreds of classic cars, already lined up, are
the Sealed Knot, Galaxy Swing Band, incredible
inflatables and dozens of other stalls and events.
We look forward to seeing you again this year. The date
for your diary is Sunday 12th July.
Keep up to date by visiting our website www.kimboltoncountryfayre.com or following us on
Twitter@KimboltonFayre.
Village Avon representative
Does anyone know an Avon distributor in Little
Staughton?
If you do please contact Mary on (376515).
Kymbrook Lower School
Blue Bag Collection
Please leave bags outside your house by 9.00 am on
Wednesday 18th March. (If you have any problems,
call Rebecca Brightman on 378839).
The money raised from this collection is being put
towards purchasing items from our Schools’ Wish List.
All Saints’ Church
Services
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8 March, 10.30 am, Great Staughton
8 March, 6.00 pm, Great Staughton - Deanery
Lent Evening Service
15 March, 3.00 pm, Mothering Sunday
Family Worship at Little Staughton
22 March, 10.30 am, Great Staughton
29 March, 10.30 am, Great Staughton
Monday 30 March, 7.00 pm, Compline at
Little Staughton
5 April, 9.00 am, Little Staughton
Revision of Church Electoral Roll
If you wish to be included on the Church Electoral
Roll, thus entitling you to attend the annual
parochial church meeting and to take part in its
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011
Little Staughton News – March 2015
proceedings, please contact Marion Davies on
01234 376713, before 30 March 2015.
contacted any time on 01480 861215 and via
judi195@btinternet.com
From Revd. Judi Clarke
Church Lighting
Dear Friends
The season of Lent fills the whole month within the
Christian calendar, and is considered as a time of
penitence and fasting but in the middle of the month we
have a very special occasion to celebrate, Mothering
Sunday. In the UK, the history of Mothering Sunday can
be traced back hundreds of years when the early
Christians celebrated a Mothers festival on the fourth
Sunday of Lent in honour of the Virgin Mary, the
Mother of Jesus.
During February a kind donor, who wishes to remain
anonymous, lit All Saints church. If you would like to
mark a special occasion or remember someone by
lighting the church, please contact Gill Shaw on 376530.
It only costs a minimum donation of £10 per week.
In the 1600’s children often left home at the age of 10 to
go and work as apprentice or domestic servants, and on
the fourth Sunday of Lent they were given a day off by
their employers to visit their “Mother Church” or the
Cathedral of their hometown. The children would also
visit their mother’s taking flowers or cakes which they
had been allowed to bake. This special Sunday was also
known as Refreshment Sunday because the fasting rules
of Lent were relaxed.
In America ‘Mother’s Day’ is quite different and only
goes back about 150 years and was initiated by an
Appalachian housewife who organised a day to raise
community awareness of the poor living conditions
within her community. She called it “Mother’s Work
Day.” But it was her daughter, also named Anna, who
campaigned to have Mother’s Day recognised by the
state and it became a national holiday.
These days there is a big commercial aspect to ‘Mother’s
Day’ but thankfully ‘Mothering Sunday’, although can
include the buying of gifts and cards, still retains the
more simple tradition in church of giving thanks for both
our ‘mother’ church and our human mothers whether
living or no longer with us here, possibly giving small
posies of flowers and enjoying ‘simnell cake’
traditionally associated with Mothering Sunday.
ALL SAINTS CHURCH
MOTHERING SUNDAY 15th MARCH
FAMILY WORSHIP at 3.00 pm
Please come along and join us
Revd Judi Clarke will resume her Monday afternoons
in church in the spring. In the meantime, she can be
Friends of All Saints’ Church 200 club
This month’s winners were as follows:1st prize
£80 Susan Howarth
2nd prize
£40 Janet England
rd
£20 Clive Dixon
th
£10 Ken Shackleton
3 prize
4 prize
If you would like to join the Friends of All Saints’ 200
Club or would like further details, please give a call on
376530, or email me at clive50shaw@btinternet.com.
Your support will be much appreciated.
All Saints’ Dinner
Once again this fundraiser was a great success raising
just over £1800 towards work on the church building.
Neil Booth provided an excellent musical interlude
which complimented a very good meal. Our thanks go
to Neil, the villagers who prepared the dinner, Tracey
and her team who served it and those who attended.
Village Hall
Afternoon Tea
Friday 20th March, 2.30 – 3.30 pm
All welcome; please come along
Village Hall AGM
Tuesday 17 March, 8.00pm in the Committee Room of
the Village Hall. Everyone welcome!
Village Hall Race Night
Saturday 21 March, 7.30pm start with the first race at
8.00pm. Tickets cost £7.50 to include a ploughman’s
supper and are available from Paul Feneley 376309,
Marion Davies 376713 and all committee members.
Please join us for this fun evening and help raise funds
for the village hall.
Yoga
Classes started again on Wednesday 4th March. Linda
has been teaching since 2001 and is very experienced.
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011
Little Staughton News – March 2015
The class will run from 10.00 to 11.30 am and cost is £6
per session.
of money by a rogue roofing company in Bedford during
the last couple of weeks.
Everyone is welcome, whatever your age or ability.
Contact Linda (01480 350345) or Gill (01234 376530)
for more details.
Neighbourhood Watch County Support Officer Lynne
Arch said “This trader uses a white van with a roof rack
for ladders and is handing out flyers to residents
claiming their roof tiles need fixing urgently. “If a
vulnerable family member or neighbour is cold called by
such a company you should ensure they do not agree to
any work and contact your local Trading Standards
Officers.”
The Crown Quiz Nights
All quizzes start at 8.30 pm: teams of up to six people,
entry is £2 per person.
Dates are:
 March - 9th and 23rd
For further information please contact Mary Hopperton
(376515) or The Crown (376260).
Cricket Club
Little Staughton Village Cricket Club is a village club
playing friendly matches against varied opposition
mainly at home on the playing field, during the season
See website (LSVCC.blogspot.com) for more details, or
contact Adrian Thrasher (07834 602 086), or James
Hopperton.
Neighbourhood Watch (NHW)
The Bedford and District NHW Office now requires all
households to register individually with them (through
their local co-ordinators). To this end, we hope within
the next month, that every household will receive a
Bedford and District NHW Registration Form whether
or not you have already notified your co-ordinator that
you wish to be part of the scheme.
Please complete the form asap and return it to your street
co-ordinator: Top End: Cherry Protheroe, The Maples,
Top End; - Colmworth Road, High Street, Grays
Grove, The Old Allotments, West End: Jan Hodgson,
The Old Rectory, Colmworth Road; - Church Lane,
Spring Hill, Green End: Mike Sargeant, Tree Tops,
Spring Hill.
This is a good opportunity for you to sign up if you have
not already done so. It would be really good to have
everyone in the village involved in helping to make the
village an even safer place to live. Thank you.
The next meeting of B & D NHW is on Wednesday 11th
March 7.00 for 7.30pm at Police HQ Kempston. It will
take the form of an open forum and discussion about
NHW and its administration. All are welcome to attend.
Rogue Traders Operating in Bedfordshire.
Bedfordshire Police is warning elderly and vulnerable
people, their families and friends to be on the alert for
rogue traders operating in Bedfordshire.
At least two people are thought to have been conned out
Anyone with information relating to this incident can
contact, in confidence, at Bedfordshire Police on 101, or
text information to 07786 200011.
Alternatively you can contact Trading Standards at
Bedford Borough Council on 01234 718527 or Citizens
Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.
It’s a Special Boost to Rural Policing!
Policing in rural North Bedfordshire is to get an
important boost – thanks to the Special Constabulary.
From 15 February Riseley Police Post will become
home to eight volunteer officers with dedicated
responsibility for policing the village and surrounding
areas.
The officers, including a Special Inspector, Special
Sergeant and six Special Constables, will share day and
night shifts as a dedicated resource to work with the
communities to solve local issues. They will be led with
by a retired police officer with more than three decades
of experience, S/Insp Nigel Denham, and focus on key
local issues like speeding, burglary and wildlife crime.
Riseley, which is already a base to three Police
Community Support Officers, will also act as a training
hub for other Special Constables. The arrangements
mean Riseley Police Post will open to the public for a
number of hours every Wednesday, saving residents a
drive to Bedford for less urgent matters.
This follows an in-depth report into the delivery of rural
police services by the force’s Volunteering Strategy
Group, chaired by Supt Paul Schoon. He said: “Officers
working from our rural stations are volunteers who have
a keen interest in the local communities they serve. It
makes sense for them, and residents, and is another great
example of Bedfordshire Police protecting the public
and fighting crime, together.”
Anyone interested in becoming a Special, a full-time
officer, staff member, PCSO, service volunteer, cadet or
paid student intern can find details on the force website.
To inspire a new generation of Special Constables, a
series of information evenings have been organised by
Bedfordshire Police. Sessions start at 7.30pm and have
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011
Little Staughton News – March 2015
been confirmed for the following dates at Headquarters,
Kempston:
 13 April 2015
 8 June 2015
 12 October 2015
 14 December 2015
Interested? then go to
http://www.bedfordshire.police.uk/ click on the
recruitment tab and go to ‘events’ to register a place.
July 12 th Sunday; Kimbolton Country Fayre
September 12th Saturday; Little Staughton Golf Day at
The Bedford Golf Club, Great Denham, Biddenham,
Paul Feneley T. 01234 376309, M. 07932 739011
All copy for the April 2015 issue to Jeanette Atkinson
at Claydon, Spring Hill or email
(jeanette@pjatkinson.plus.com)
by Friday 27th March 2015
Police
Ensure you have lights on in the house as soon as it
starts to get dark. It is all too easy for burglars to
pick out houses that are empty when no lights are on
in the evenings.
Contact details
Paul Jones PCSO 4760, Local Policing Communities
Bedford Borough Rural, Riseley Police Station
37 High Street, Riseley, MK44 1DX
T: 01234 842864
F: 01234 842867
E: LPT.gtbarford&roxton@bedfordshire.pnn.police.uk
Diary Dates
March 7th Saturday; Litter Pick; meet at 10.00 am at the
Village Hall – please come and help keep our village
clean and tidy.
March11th Wednesday; Great Staughton Horticultural
Society AGM at 7.30 pm in the Pavillion, Great
Staughton. Everyone welcome.
March 17th Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting and
Annual Parish Meeting at the Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all
welcome.
March 17th Tuesday; Village Hall AGM in the
Committee Room at the Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all
welcome.
March 18th Wednesday; Blue Bag Collection for
Kymbrook Lower School – see main text.
March 21st Saturday; Race Night at the Village Hall,
see main text for details.
April 21st Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting at the
Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all welcome.
May 7th Thursday; Election Day.
May 12th Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting at the
Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all welcome.
June 21st Sunday; Rural Bulk Waste collection; Gray’s
Grove – 3.30 to 5.30 pm
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011