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Jill Tolsontel: 857320; jill.tolson@abthorpe.netKeith Fenwicktel: 857083; keith.fenwick@abthorpe.net

News from Abthorpe July 2009

PARISH ANNUAL MEETING

The annual Parish Meeting took place on 18 May, presidedover by Keith Fenwick who replaced Barry Haycock as ParishCouncil chairman the previous week. Highlights from hisreport included the following items: The ForestryCommission had ignored letters about the closure of thecar park in Bucknell Wood. The now obsolete iconic Sir GilesGilbert Scott designed scarlet telephone box that standson the green has been purchased by the village as aninteresting piece of street furniture. A second seat has beenbought for the village green. A terrace of three cottages inMain Street has been sympathetically restored by a localdeveloper and two have already been sold. A well-designedterrace of four stone homes is nearing completion on theWappenham Road. As a result of these developments thepopulation of the village is likely to increase. The Chairmanthanked the retiring Parish Clerk Mrs Gail Coombs for herunflappable dedication to duty and announced that Mr BobCarter would assume her duties in June. In one of her lastduties as Clerk, Gail described the Council’s current financial

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position, which is very healthy.Police Community Support Officer

Wooliscroft reported that crimeremains low in the area. AshleyWarren, our district councillor, gaveus an update from SNC, while BenSmith explained some of thedifficulties the county council faces.Mrs Julie Letts the Head of theSilverstone Schools Federationoutlined the joys and successes ofher schools which continue todevelop and improve their facilities.Barbara Malcomson’s report for theParochial Church Council described avery active year and the Parish PathWarden continues to face difficultiesin keeping our footpaths clear anduseable.

The Vil lage Fund Groupintroduced their new chairman MikePartridge who has only l ived in

Abthorpe since 2007. The AbthorpeBroadband Association claimed thatour local area network founded in2003 provides a service that is asgood as the commercial providersand remains free for yet another year.

Minutes of the meeting will beavailable in due course on the villagewebsite, www.abthorpe.net.

AFTERNOON TEA

Back in June on one of the hottestdays of the year, the older residentswere invited to afternoon teacourtesy of Joyce and John Riches.Sitting in the garden under theshade of an apple tree, conversationand reminiscences flowed. TheCooperative’s community team hadgenerously donated Fairtrade tea,coffee and biscuits, supplemented bydelicious home-made cakes. It was

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a lovely, relaxed afternoonthoroughly enjoyed by the 23 peoplewho attended, which hopefully will berepeated.

GREENS NORTON MEDICAL CENTRE

The consultation over the proposedmerger with Weedon Surgery closedat the end of May and theNorthamptonshire PCT is currentlypreparing a recommendation report.The timescales for its appearance arenot yet known, but if approved themerger will go ahead next April.

NORTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL

On 23 September there will be anopportunity to meet Dr John Hickey,Chairman of NGH, and Paul Forden,Chief Executive, at Towcester TownHall (7 – 9pm). Dr Robin Kelso,elected Public Governor for Daventry& South Northants, will chair themeeting. He will be accompanied byGovernor colleagues from the area.

The open forum will include apresentation about NorthamptonGeneral Hospital, its priorities,performance and progress, followedby a question and answer session.You will also be able to meet membersof the Governors’ Council whorepresent your area, and find outhow they can represent your viewsand concerns.

PLANNING APPLICATION AT MINI FARM

A planning application has beenmade for three permanent caravans

on Mini Farm beside the road toBlakesley near Oxbridge. There havebeen a few buildings here for manyyears, but the site was sold a coupleof years ago and is now being livedon. The District Council, as planningauthority, has insisted that aretrospective planning application bemade and the Parish Council hasbeen consulted in the usual way. Theapplication is made so that theowner, his son and daughter cancontinue to live on the land they ownwith the intention of earning theirliving as far as possible from the land.They will continue to raise ponies,chickens and grass for feeding andhay. All are gypsies/travellers. Theapplicant has for many years stayedat roadside pull-ins, but not onauthorised gypsy sites as he cannotstand the conditions imposed byother residents on those sites. Boththe son and daughter find other workas available. A goose is kept as guarddog.

The Parish Council will considerthe application at the next meetingon Monday 10th August, so if youwould like to air your views comealong to the meeting.

NEWS FROM THE NEW INN

TEL: 857306Following Stuart Pape’s accident, thepub is temporarily without a chefwhich has severely limited their foodservice. However, Rob is hopeful thata replacement will be in post within

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FREEWARE OF THE MONTH ~ CCLEANER WWW.CCLEANER.COM

Is your machine a couple of years old? Is it running slow? If so thenyou won’t be amazed at the amount of redundant files and brokenregistry links that are hiding on your machine. Both of these have ahabit of slowing down your computer as will the number of programsthat automatically kick off when you start your machine. All of theprograms that set themselves up to start automatically, such asKodak’s picture viewer or HP’s additional printing features, can bedisabled and started through the programs menu when you want torun them.

CCleaner is a free application that finds and removes junk fromInternet Explorer, Windows Explorer and many other areas of yoursystem. It also targets installed applications such as Firefox, MicrosoftOffice, Google Earth, Spybot and Windows Media Player. You canchoose exactly what you want it to focus on by ticking or un-tickingthe various choices on offer. It is unlikely to delete anything it shouldn’tbut it is worth reviewing the list of items it finds before removingthem, just to be on the safe side.

The program also has a built-in Registry checker, which can fixand find errors in Windows. This is quite cautious, so it shouldn’tcause you problems, and CCleaner will offer to back up the Registrybefore making any changes anyway. You can choose which parts ofthe database to scan and which to ignore.

Impressively the Tools section includes a handy uninstaller and astart-up manager for configuring which programs and services startwith Windows.

COURSES

A session for beginners in Photoshop is being arranged. Please getin touch with Keith Fenwick (keith.fenwick@abthorpe.net; 857083) ifyou would like to participate.

ABbAThis regular feature from Abthorpe Broadband Association gives helpfuladvice for all members. The contribution is again from Dave Cunningham.

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a couple of weeks. Our very good wishes go to Stuart, who is in a stablecondition in hospital.

All the menus and other information about the pub and b&b at SlaptonManor Farm can be found on the website: www.newinnatabthorpe.co.uk

The charity quiz nights continue throughout the summer, with the Barfliestriumphing in July and contributing £35.50 to the Towcester Youth CoffeeShop. The next quiz is on 25 August with another towards the end ofSeptember. Plans are afoot for a grand Christmas quiz, probably in thesecond week of December.

The Grand Prix weekend saw the usual high number of visitors from allparts of the country and abroad. It was all hands to the pump to serve arecord number of meals: 105 on Friday, topped by 128 on Saturday. Unusually,the Sunday evening also continued to be busy, so a satisfactory outcome forBarbara, Rob, Sam, Stuart and all their helpers.

For those not attending the Grand Prix there was the spectacle of theRed Arrows’ performance to be watched from the garden. It will be interestingto follow the Formula One negotiations about where the race will be heldnext year. If it is to be Donnington, the motorcycle grand prix, announced inJanuary to be returning to Silverstone, should be more than an adequatereplacement – or addition.

And it’s worth reporting that the skittles and darts teams are doing wellin their respective leagues.

CHILDREN’S SUMMER ACTIVITIES

Children’s play activities provided by South Northants Council have beenarranged for the two Mondays, 3 and 17 August, at Wappenham recreationground (village hall if wet), 10.30 – 12.30.

Phone 01327 322335 for details of the SNC’s summer SPLAT programmefor children – only summary details appear to be on their website. Otherlocal activities can be found atwww.northamptonshire.childrensservicedirectory.org.uk; 01604 236236

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE HISTORIC CHURCHES TRUST

The next sponsored cycle ride/walk of Northamptonshire Historic ChurchesTrust takes place on Saturday 12 September. This annual event is an excellentway of raising funds for our local church as well as the Trust as 50% of themoney raised by each participant is returned to the church of their choice. Inaddition, there is the opportunity to visit and admire some of the wonderfulchurches in the area. Walking is an alternative option. Choose your own

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route according to how manychurches you wish to visit on the day,our church being one of those open.For full information: www.nhct.org.uk/index.php/bicycle_ride

ROCK AND ROLL DANCE

The organisers of the dance cancongratulate themselves on anexcellent evening at Slapton ManorFarm on 11 July. Despite the rain,250 people bopped to The Montanasand the Neil Taylor disco into the earlyhours. They also managed toconsume the whole of a 191lb pig,roasted by Bunny and his team.Some dancers captured the spirit ofthe evening, dressing in appropriatecostume – winkle-pickers and all.Unfortunately we don’t have apicture of Fi Noble in all her glory.

The event made a profit of £1,200towards the replacement village hallat Blakesley, which will besupplemented by a substantialdonation from Santander. Raising thisamount of money was made possiblebecause Barbara and Rob generouslymade available their farm (they alsoran the bar), and various sponsorscontributed to essential equipment.Organiser Doug Blake passes on histhanks to everyone for making theevening so enjoyable and profitable.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS?If you have any archaeological findswhich you would like identified andrecorded, the Northamptonshire

Finds Liaison Officer, Julie Cassidy, willbe holding a Finds Surgery at theCouncil Offices, Springfields, on 18September and again on 20November from 11.00 – 1.00. jucassidy@northamptonshire.gov.uk

THE VILLAGE FUND COMMITTEE

Another success to report was lastmonth’s barn dance. Over 100villagers and their friends walkedalong the lanes to Highfield Farm,where Elizabeth and Barry Haycockhad kindly allowed the village to useone of their large grain storagebarns. Often the success of thedancing depends on the caller, andBricks and Brussels had found anexcellent one, ensuring everyonekept in some sort of order. Bunnyand his team roasted a whole pigover a roaring barbecue (he’s beenbusy this year!), whilst DaveCunningham concentrated onensuring that the sausages andburgers were cooked to perfection,to be enjoyed with delicious salads,all washed down with Hooky, wineand soft drinks. Chairman MikePartridge and the rest of thecommittee must have been satisfiedwith the success of the evening,which made a profit of around £350.

All the older residents wererecently invited out to lunch by theGroup and twelve set out in a smallconvoy of cars for Manor Farm atCatthorpe in Leicestershire. BobJones spoke for them all when he and

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PEOPLE

Tina said what a good time they hadhad, and how much they appreciatedthese opportunities to go out withfriends they know. Most of theingredients for the traditional roastbeef lunch followed by strawberriesand cream were sourced from the

farm itself. Although Melanina Guilianiwas the only person brave enoughto venture into the polytunnels topick strawberries as she wasdetermined to make jam, the farmshop held sufficient interest for theothers. Hopefully another of these

Cecily Rogers who lived in Abthorpe virtually all her life has sadlydied at the age of 83 after a short time in an old people’s home inNewport Pagnell. Siss, as she was affectionately known, was areal village girl having been born in a cottage overlooking thevillage green in 1925. Her primary years were happily spent atAbthorpe School and at the age of eleven she transferred toSilverstone where secondary age pupils were educated in thosedays.

When she began work she was employed here in the villageat the boot and shoe factory as an under-trimmer preparinguppers. She worked alongside her sister Margaret who still livesin the village with husband John Bunting. Siss attended the churchand was a member of the choir for some years. In 1949 she marriedBlakesley man John Rogers – an engineer who successively workedat the former Groom and Tattersall’s foundry in nearby Towcesterand at the Plessey factory. She is sadly missed by all those whoknew her, especially her daughter Clare, grandchildren Nicola,Gemma and Rachael and of course her sister Margaret and JohnBunting.

Our very best wishes go to Stuart Pape, chef at the New Inn,who is said to be in a stable condition in hospital following hismotor cycle accident.

And all good wishes also to Bob Carter for a speedy recoveryafter his recent spell in hospital.

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outings to a different venue can bearranged in the not too distant future.

COUNTY COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN

ELECTIONS

The results from the two elections inMay show that the County Councilhas 56 Conservative councillors, 9Liberal Democrats and 6 Labour, with2 independent seats. Ben Smith heldthe Greens Norton seat for theConservatives with 2,268 votes(68.0%).

The European voting systemremains opaque, but the results forthe main parties in the East Midlandsregion were: Conservative 370,275,Labour 206,945, UK IndependenceParty 201,984 Liberal Democrats151,428, British National Party106,319.

NOTES FROM OUR CHURCH

The summer BBQ on 12 July wasanother resounding success, with 95people enjoying the usual BBQfavourites of steaks, burgers,sausages and veggie-burgers servedby Eric Malcolmson and Bob Carteraccompanied by the array of delicioussalads prepared by BarbaraMalcolmson, Carolynn Tomalin andother ladies of the congregation. Theweather was kind enough for tablesto spread into the Old School yardas well as inside the school.

The churchyard extension hasbeen cleared by a team led by FiNoble and now looks much better

than it has for years. The grass hasbeen mown and strimmed and looksmuch tidier. But the PCC, that hasresponsibility for the churchyard,realised that during the summervegetation would grow rapidly andneed constant attention. After somediscussion and a lot of thought theydecided to enlist the help of a flockof Elizabeth and Barry Haycock’ssheep. They made short work of theirjob and have now been returned totheir field – possibly to make periodicreturns.

Forthcoming Sunday services:

23 August:Holy Communion - 10.00am

13 September:Morning Prayer - 9.15am

27 September:Holy Communion - 10.00am

4 October:Harvest Thanksgiving - 10.00am

The Harvest Supper will be held atthe Old School on Saturday 3 October,7.00 for 7.30.

The latest tote winners are MarkSnelson in May who won £227.50,and Caroline Kellner scooped £230in June.

SPARROW

Those of us on Abthorpe broadbandwill have followed the story of therescued baby sparrow. EleanorGough had taken in a fledglingsparrow who seemed to have beenabandoned and was about to

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become cat food. Jack, for so he wascalled, settled in to a large hamstercage and Eleanor’s intention was torelease him the following week.However, a weekend away meant hewent on holiday to the Cunninghamswho kept him fed, watered and awayfrom cats and dogs. It was a goodlearning curve for Jack as he quicklygot to know what four cats look like.By Monday morning he was able tofly competently so was released fromEleanor’s bedroom window and flewinto a nearby tree. As Eleanor’smother, Louise, reports: “Although hewas very tame when we first tookhim in, by the time he left he was

beginning to be quite wary of us andwas ready to go. We think we havespotted him with his featherycompanions hopping about on thelawn and fence and plotting the nextraid on our chicken food! I just hopehe can fend for himself now andmanages to stay out of trouble,unlike his fictional namesake!”

Eleanor and Jack

the otherJack

Sparrow

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CRICKET MATCH

The annual cricket match againstBlakesley took place on 12 July withJeremy Pope captaining the Abthorpeteam. Dad, Tim, valliantly agreed tomake up the numbers on theopposing side. Of the match itself,probably least said is best: not oneof the glory years for Abthorpe. Butthere must have been some goodaiming during the afternoon as oneboundary found its mark directly ona spectator’s bottle of cider.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

When Neighbourhood Watch wasoriginally set up about 20 years agothere was widespread supportthroughout the village. The aim wasto enable any suspicious activities tobe reported and for details of localcrimes to be circulated so thatevidence could be gathered andpeople became aware of currentdangers. A system of distributinginformation by hand was establishedbut that depended both on receivingrelevant information from the policeand on the willingness of volunteersto pass on the details. Things havemoved on since then. The informationwe now receive relates to crimesover a wider area and seems to takelonger to reach us. However, thepolice are keen that the systemcontinues, so if there is support inthe village we need to get ourselvesproperly organised.

Recently, there was a distractionburglary (one where one personengages the occupants of a houseand another person slips in unnoticedto steal). The response by the policewas excellent and within an hourthey were knocking at nearby housesto see if anyone had noticedanything. At the same time, it waspossible to email all those onAbthorpe Broadband to warn themof the intrusion and seek help fromanyone who might have seenanything suspicious. Can we work onthe principle here to develop a bettersystem of circulating crime reports?We can set up a more general emaildistribution to include those not onAbthorpe Broadband but we alsoneed to revive the manual circulationfor those who do not have acomputer. Are you willing to help?

Once the main holiday season isover a public meeting will beorganised to discuss this, but in themeantime if you have any views orwant to help please contact me on

857083 orkeith.fenwick@abthorpe.net.

Keith

Coincidentally, NorthamptonshireWest police burglary team isrelaunching Operation Renegade, aprevious operation that proved sosuccessful – and so unpopular withburglars. They will be homing in onprolific offenders and focussing theirattention solely on dealing with

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burglary and known burglars. Therewill be an increased emphasis ongathering intelligence about prolificburglars, checking their whereaboutsand letting them know that they arebeing watched. The team will also actrapidly to arrest people who fallunder suspicion of involvement inthese crimes.

Northamptonshire Police areasking that we are sensible about ourhome security, to make things moredifficult for opportunist criminals.

LIFE IN THE 1500S

Some phrases in current usage hadtheir origins in the 1500s.

Did you know that?:Most people got married in June

because they took their annual bathin May and were still smelling quitegood. However, the odours werebeginning to become noticeable sobrides carried a posy of flowers tomask the fact that they weren’t toosweet. Hence the custom of thebride’s bouquet.

Most house floors were only dirt;only the wealthy had proper floors.Hence the saying ‘dirt poor’.

Pork was a special treat and tobe shown off to visitors. It was asign of wealth that a man could ‘bringhome the bacon’. They would cut offa little to share with guests andwould all sit around and ‘chew thefat’.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled

with hot water. The man of the househad the privilege of the clean water,then in descending order the othersons and men would bathe, followedby the women and children, andfinally the baby. By this time thewater was pretty dirty - hence thesaying ‘don’t throw the baby out withthe bath water’.

MOBILE LIBRARY

The l ibrary stops on the Greenbetween 1.40 and 1.55 every threeweeks. Next dates are:

August 3 and 24September 14October 5 and 26November 16December 7 and 28

BADMINTON

Is there anyone in the village whowould like to play badminton with avery rusty, unfit player? I have beenunable to find a local class to join,have little interest in a competitiveclub, but would love to start playingagain.

Jill - 857320

FILM ABTHORPE

A second film evening was arrangedon 18 June, when The Blob arrived inAbthorpe. This 1958 classic starreda young Steve McQueen in his firstmajor role, saving the town from analien creature! As a short supportingfeature, John Betjeman ruminated on

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EVENTS

Monday 3 and 17 AugustChildren’s Play Activities provided by South Northants Council, Wappenhamrecreation ground (village hall if wet), 10.30 – 12.30

Monday 10th AugustParish Council Meeting, the Old School, 7.45pm

Tuesday 25 AugustCharity quiz at the New Inn, 7.45

Saturday 5 SeptemberWappenham Village Fete, 2 – 4.30, Old Rectory Garden

Saturday 12 SeptemberSponsored cycle ride/walk, Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust

Wednesday 23 SeptemberNorthampton General Hospital meeting,Towcester Town Hall, 7 – 9pm

Saturday 26 SeptemberCameo Opera, with cheese and wine

Saturday 3 OctoberHarvest Supper, the Old School, 7.00 for 7.30

a country rail journey.These evenings are proving to be an enjoyable light mid-week distraction,

and it is hoped to arrange another in September.

EDITORIAL MISSION STATEMENT

Another day doneAll targets metAll systems fully operationalAll customers satisfiedAll staff keen and well-motivatedAll pigs fed and ready to fly