WagtailOctober 2019 • The parish magazine

of Whittington, Arkholme and Gressingham

more events on the back cover...

This edition sponsored by

Friday 27 SeptemberArkholme Village Hall

Sunday 29 September 10.30amWhittington

Patronal FestivalAll four parishes gather inWhittington Parish Church

to celebrate the autumnPatronal Festival of Saint

Michael the Archangeleverybody welcomerefreshments after

Friday 4 October 7.30pmHarvest SupperWhittington Village Hall

Meat Pie supperplus vege options

and desserts

Sunday 6 October 9.30amHarvest Festival Services

in all three parish churcheswith spectacular Harvest flower displays

Wednesday 9 October 1pmLunch Club

resumes in Arkholme Village Hallsecond Wednesday of every month

three-course lunch £7open to all retired residents

of the three parishesbook by Monday with

Carole 22202 or Doreen 22023

Friday 11 October 7.30pmCharity Fashion Show

Arkholme Village HallKitty Brown Boutique and Arkholmeand District WI, for Lancaster Area

Search and Rescue. £8 includes glass ofwine or soft drink 21303 or 72816

Friday 18 October 7pmGressingham Fellowship

Gressingham Old School RoomIllustrated talk on visits to historichouses, royal palaces, chapels and

museums in south-east Scotland – withbuffet supper. Bring a bottle. No chargefor the food, donations to a nominatedcharity on the night. Please let Lesley

Wareing know if you are attending(for catering) by Monday 14 Octoberlesleywareing@gmail.com or 21918

Saturday 26 October10.30am to 4pm

Exhibition by WhittingtonCraft and Sewing Group

Whittington Village Hallfree entry � raffle � tea and cakes

SAINT MICHAELDEFENDEROF JUSTICEAND PEACE

WagtailWelcome to the October edition. The next edition is the November edition,

and the deadline for items for inclusion is 19 October. Please submit all items to editor@wagtail.org.uk. Wagtail is also available online at www.wagtail.org.uk. Many thanks as always to all our contributors and distributors. – Michael Hampson

Notices and eventsWhittington Village Summer Barbecue A huge thankyou from the Parish Council and the Village Hall Committee to all those who arranged, set up, and supported the barbecue at the Village Hall on Sunday 25 August. Attendance was estimated at well over 100 and with a plentiful supply of excellent hot dogs, beef burgers, salads and a variety of drinks enjoyed in full sunshine it was a most successful afternoon. Special thanks must go to the Village Hall committee for all their work behind the scenes organising the event, especially to Adrian and Malcolm our Master Chefs for the cooking marathon and to all who supplied such an enjoyable selection of cakes and puddings. Takings on the day from the Entrance, Bar, Tombola and Raffle made a profit in excess of £750 which will be split between maintenance of the Hall and the village bulb planting project. It is our intention to build upon the success of this year with a larger event in 2020 including fun sports for children (and those older but still young at heart) and perhaps a bouncy castle weather permitting. Once again thanks to you all. Keep an eye on the Village Blog for news of future events. Iain Sutherland

Whittington Christian Aid coffee morning raised £100. Thankyou to all who supported this event – Barbara Atkinson

The annual Arkholme PTFA Jumble Sale is on Saturday 9 November. More details next month.

Arkholme Hopewell Cup 2019 – Best Homemade Produce The categories are: Best Drink (e.g.cordial, fizz or cider), Best Jam or Preserve, Best Pickle or Chutney, Best Apple Cake or Pie. Must be homemade, and contain locally sourced ingredients, ideally from within the parish boundary. To be judged by 2018 winner David Smith. No age categories. £15 book voucher winner in each category, overall winner receives the Hopewell Cup (must be a parishioner). All entries to be submitted to Arkholme Village Hall by 11am on 12 October 2019. Please ensure your entries are clearly labelled and ingredients described. Sponsored by Arkholme Parish Council.

Arkholme 150 Club (village hall draw) Another year has flown by and it is time to collect the entries for the village hall draw. Congratulations to those of you who made your fortune this year, commiserations to those who didn’t, maybe 2020 will be your year! For those of you who have recently moved to the village or are unaware of the village hall draw, I would like to invite you to get involved! It costs £20 to join and be allocated a numbered ball. Each month we draw balls from the ‘hat’ to see who has won the cash prizes (basically a giant year-long raffle). Winners are published in the Wagtail newsletter. Of each £20, half goes to the running and upkeep of our fantastic village hall and the other half goes straight back out as prizes, £600 prize money in the last year. In the coming weeks I will try to get round everyone who has entered previously, and will leave a note if I don’t see you. In the meantime, I would like to give anyone who is computer savvy the opportunity to pay online by bank transfer. (It really helps cut down my admin time!) Account 61808605, sort code 40-27-02, please put the first line of your address as the reference. Thank you to the amazingly organised people who have already done it this year without me even asking! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. Good Luck! Emily Sapsford, Ivy Cottage, Arkholme07824 349276, browne_emily@hotmail.com

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Probus Visit to Liverpool Christmas Market (more than 40 traditional-style festive cabins with gifts and crafts and food and drink) and ‘Spirit of Christmas’ concert with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir presented by Classic FM’s John Suchet. £55 including coach (but excluding meal). Leaving Hornby midday, 2pm market, 5.30pm meal, 7.30pm concert, 11.30pm arrive back in Hornby. Dave Collins 07772 827241 davejc@icloud.com

Lune Valley Swimming Pool - Happy Birthday! It is a year since the pool in Hornby was re-opened following a technical refurbishment and superb modernisation by community volunteers. The team at LVCS wish to thank community volunteers, local schools, clubs, and public swimmers, and all those who have done so much to get the pool up and running, and have supported us during this first very exciting and eventful year. The first LVCS AGM will be held at 7.30pm on Tuesday 15 October at Hornby Institute. We need your input – it’s your pool! Please come along, meet the team, and tell us what you think. We would like to see a full house so that we can discuss and approve our plans for the future. Any matters to be raised at the AGM should be submitted to Bob McGachie Chair of LVCS chairman@lunevalleypool.com. Even if you can’t make it to the AGM, do please keep in touch. Call in anytime or check our websiteand Facebook. www.lunevalleypool.com, Facebook lune valley swimming pool, email poolmanager@lunevalleypool.com, phone (01524) 805666.

Carnforth GriefShare Support Group It hurts to lose someone, but you can find help atGriefShare, a friendly, caring group of people who will walk alongside you through one of life’s most difficult experiences. Sometimes grief can cause people to feel very lonely as others may not want to talk about it. You don’t have to go through the grieving process alone. We start on Wednesday 30 October with a session ‘Loss of a Spouse’, then weekly on Wednesdays through to February. Sessions start at 7pm at Carnforth Free Methodist Church, Hunter Street, Carnforth LA5 9BP. Sessions include ‘Is This Normal?’, ‘The Challenges of Grief’, ‘Grief and Your Relationships’, ‘Why?’ and ‘Guilt and Anger.’ All ages and backgrounds are warmly welcomed. www.griefshare.org sponsored by www.cfmc.org.uk. Contact carnforthgriefshare@gmail.com or telephone Elspeth, 01524 702966.

Gressingham Parish Council At a meeting on 9 September Gressingham Parish Council discussed what more steps could be taken to address the volume and speed of traffic travelling through the village and how best to raise these issues with the County and City Councils. In connection with this, the Parish Council discussed the proposed new housing developments in Hornby and the potential for increased traffic through Gressingham if the planning applications are approved. The Parish Council also considered the creation of a Gressingham ‘pollen patch’ and the management of wildflowers and weeds along public paths in and around the village. Lesley Wareing - Clerk to Gressingham Parish Council gressinghampc@gmail.com

Whittington Village Hall Draw. August £20 Mel Schofield, £10 Angie Rothwell, £5 Manon Ogden. September £20 R G Golment, £10 Virginia Walsh, £5 Julie Wilson.

Pearson Trust Working Group The formal designation of Gressingham Parish as a ‘neighbourhood’ under the Localism Act took twice as long as expected, but has finally been completed. This allows us to apply next for the planned referendum (also under the Localism Act) on the plans for the School Room and the church. More next month.

Concert&Cakes resumes Saturday 19 October 2.30pm to 4.30pm at All Saints Church, Burton in Lonsdale LA6 3JU, an hour of beautiful music by musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music followed by an invitation to meet the performers afterwards over home-made cakes, tea and coffee. This month: The Larisa Trio, judged best chamber ensemble at the Royal Northern College of Music this year, we will be treated to a beautiful programme of Haydn, Debussy and Gershwin. Free Admission, no ticket required, retiring collection. concertandcakes@outlook.com

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The weather in ArkholmeRobin McIlveen

August Weather in Arkholme19 Slightly Wet Days (less than 5mm) together adding up to 34.9mm 6 Decidedly Wet Days (from 5mm to just under 25mm) adding up to a further 53.1mm 2 Extremely Wet Days (25mm and over) adding up to a further 75.8mm27 Rain Days altogether adding up to 163.8mm (6.4 inches) – leaving just 4 dry daysWettest Day 10th-11th with 40.5mm (1.6 inches)

After a run of three months with average rainfalls, August was 66% wetter, largely because of two Extremely Wet Days, which together added nearly an entire month’s rainfall. Other parts of Britain suffered even larger rainfalls, and news bulletins were full of scenes of flood damage. In the second and third weeks of August, rather slack humid airstreams produced slow-moving areas of heavy rain, which overloaded localized drainage systems. We experienced two occasions, the first and heaviest depositing 40.4mm on August 11/12th, and the second depositing 35.3mm on August 21/22nd. Fortunately the latter was followed by a warm and fairly dry period which persisted to the end of August, before the rains returned in early September. Some temperature records were broken elsewhere in Britain around about August 25th, when I recorded 27°C (nearly 81°F) in the afternoon shade of our old apple trees.

The pronounced highs of rainfall and temperature this summer have excited speculation that we are seeing the detailed signatures of climate change, and that may well be so, though it will only be more than speculation when viewed in a retrospect of tens of years, which I would love to see at first hand, if longevity will allow. In fact the devastating hurricane in Bermuda is more clearly symptomatic of shifting climate. The last 100 years of measurement show hurricanes develop when substantial sea areas have surface temperatures of at least 26.5°C (virtually 80°F). The seasonal rise and fall of sea temperatures in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans then give rise to the hurricane and typhoon seasons.

Bermuda was devastated by one of this season’s Caribbean hurricanes. The huge devastation arose because hurricane Dorian became very slow moving as it crossed theislands, subjecting trees and buildings to prolonged destruction by winds, catastrophic rainfall and coastal storm surges. In the course of 24 hours, rainfalls of well over 5 metres are possible. The sensitivity of these great storms to small rises in sea surface temperatures strongly implies that they will become significantly more common, and possibly more intense as well.

Hurricane storm surges added over 10 feet to the normal tidal maxima round Bermuda’s coasts. Though produced by a cool North Atlantic winter depression, rather a hot hurricane, a 6-foot storm surge in the southern North Sea on February 1st 1953 drowned 300 people in England, and well over 1,000 in Holland, and came within a foot of topping the Thames embankment and flooding central London, Tube and all.

Robin McIlveen

By the end of August, there have been 84 dry days in the 243 days of 2019, 109 Slightly Wet Days giving 143mm of rain, 47 Decidedly Wet Days giving 541mm, andthree Extremely Wet Days giving 103mm, a total of 159 Rain Days, giving 787mm of rain (31 inches). If rainfall were to continue at this rate for the full year, the total for 2019 would be a wettish 1182mm.

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Arkholme and District WIRetired police Officer Steve Hinde joined us in Gressingham OldSchoolroom to talk about his work before the days of DNA testing andmobile phones when policemen walked the beat and met another officer to check in at pre-arranged times and places. How times have changed since 1970! His first posting was to Colne – one car, no radios, and some rather lively pubs! He went back to Lancaster and formed his ambition to become a detective. The Irish troubles brought new responsibilities to the forces of the North West, who formed a special security force to watch the ports and prevent transport of weapons and explosives. Steve reminded us of three well remembered murders in the area. The first was in 1977 whena 72 year old man was killed with hammer blows to his head for a theft of £233. The police knew where to look for the weapon and found it in Rylands Park, wiped clean, ofcourse. They also had a good idea of who might be the killer but he had an alibi and nobody else was found. However, 23 years later, his alibi walked into the station and confessed that she had lied. The suspect was arrested, tried and finally imprisoned. In 1979 two divers in Delph quarry found handless corpse with its face obliterated and triggered the largest police enquiry ever held in Lancaster when 90 people were involved and worldwide drug dealing had to be investigated. Twenty years later a garage owner and his partner were both found murdered, one in the garage, the other in a field miles away. However, mud noticed on a car in the garage was matched with the field, and an appeal on Crime Watch brought a suspect in Kent. The Lancaster police got their man and a mention of DNA evidence sealed his fate.

The Fashion Show on 11 October by Kitty Brown Boutique was the first item of business, members all took tickets to sell. The proceeds will go to LASAR. Nominations for the committee of 2020 were requested. Names for teams in the Fun Quiz in January were called for. Bare will host the joint Carol Service in December. In November the Federation offers a Literary Luncheon with Karen Lloyd and talks on Ocean Pollution and Knife Crime.In December you can have A Taste of Christmas at Holker Hall.

We next meet at 7.30pm in Arkholme Village Hall on Monday 14 October. Dr. Michael Paris will talk about Landgirls and Secret Agents. New members and visitors welcome.

Gerald Hodgson writes...It is sixty years this month as a newly married couple we moved to Whittington to start married life. After leaving school I was an apprentice motor engineer for six years,before two years national service, with the REME army corps, where I was employed maintaining Centurian Tanks for the Seventh Hussars Cavalry Regiment. During that time we had little chance to save for married life. My first weekly wage was £1.43 for a 44-hour six day week, and the army pay was around £3 per week, but we managed. The village we moved to was totally different then. The main street was very narrow, there was a shop and a post office, a thriving school, Fred Hall the builders, Vince Watson the joiner, Jack Usher was the landlord at the Dragons Head, Tommy Tallon was the blacksmith, Fred Goad at the garage, Pelters Haulage and coal business, as well as at least fourteen working farms. Sellet Mill was still working, a lot of village men were employed maintaining the local roads, and some worked for the Forestry Commission. Not many people had their own transport (I had a motorbike and sidecar) but the village was well served with regular calls from butchers, bakers, fishmen, and hardwear vans, plus the Co-op travelling shop. No need to leave the village to go shopping, it was all brought to you. I wonder what changes the next 60 years will bring.

The next dance in the Village Hall is on October 5th when Denis Westmorland will be playing once again.

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Classified adsFinancial ServicesKieron Bassett Financial Services local specialists providing advice in relation to pensions, investments, equity release and more. Free consultation, based in Morecambe. 01524 832057

Health and wellbeingPhysiotherapy Marie Colyer MCSP HCPCBentham 62216 benthamphysio.co.ukLune Valley PhysiotherapyLeah Dalby MCSP HCPC – Maximise potential after surgery, accidents, illness including cancer – leahthephysio.co.uk now based in Whittington 07934 785797

Pre-school and out-of-schoolHornby Day Nursery – a family run nursery with a traditional friendly atmosphere. 30 hours free childcare foreligible 3 & 4 year olds, 15 hours free childcare for eligible 2 year olds. Holidayclub for ages 4 to 11 during all school holidays. Looking for childcare? 015242 22288 info@hornbydaynursery.co.uk

MiscellaneousFuneral Services B&W Funerals (J G Macdonald) – 24 hour Service, Private Chapel of Rest. Covering the LuneValley and the Dales. 39 Main Street, Ingleton LA6 3EH. Office 41293, Home 61390, Mobile 07758 002260, email jmfunerals@gmail.com

Home and GardenPainting and Decorating A Holloway Decorators, interior and exterior, based in Caton, established over 25 years tonyholloway@hms.me.uk 01524 771880Darren Jones Plumbing General plumbing and bathroom installations, Oil and Gas boilers installed and serviced, renewable energy options available – 07738 379328Logs Direct Ltd – local specialists in Winter Fuel. Kiln-dried logs, smokeless fuel, house coal, kindling, firelighters, briquettes and pellets. Also top soil, compost & bark. Collect from us or delivered to your door. www.logsdirect.co.uk 01524 812476Calluna Furnishings, Quernmore creating unique interior upholstery and soft furnishings, made-to-measure curtains, cushions, re-upholstery, Roman blinds, upholstery, alterations and many more. Free consultation and collection service. 01524 805504 www.callunafurnishings.co.uk info@callunafurnishings.co.uk

PetsBoarding Kennels and dog day-care Aughton Road, Gressingham LA2 8LShelen.burrow@hotmail.com 07766 446272 www.aughtonroadkennels.co.ukDocker Park Kennels & CatteryNo ordinary kennels – your dogs join us around the farm and house, and they love it! We also offer day care. John and Lisa Tamlin 07876 562380www.docker-park-kennels.co.uk

DirectoryArkholme Post Office Arkholme Village Hall Mondays and Thursdays 2pm to 4pmWhittington Post Office Whittington Village Hall Thursdays 1.30pm to 3.30pm

Arkholme Baby and Toddler group Emily 07824 349276

Arkholme School Headteacher Joy Ingram arkholme.lancs.sch.uk 21418

Arkholme Village Hall 07716 122940 facebook.com/arkholmevillagehall

Arkholme Methodist Church Rev Steve Charman 01524 33327

Arts Society judieclegg@gmail.com

Beekeepers If you get a swarm of honey bees in your garden call Fred Ayres01524 811978 who will happily remove and re-home them at no cost

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Book Club Simon Acomb 07710 721108

Bowling Club Arkholme Monday evenings David Smith 03330 119 303

Drama Group hornbydrama.org.uk Neil Read 21339 realneed@hotmail.com

Gressingham Old School Room john@lunar.co.uk www.bit.do/OSR-dates

Hornby Singers Tuesdays 7pm to 9pm at Hornby Institute Pat 21449

Hornby Flower Club Demonstrations every month, Thursday evenings 21449

Hornby Swimming Pool 01524 805666

Lunch Club Carole Webb 22202 or Doreen Airey 22023 for retired residents of the three villages – second Wednesday of the month from October to May

Police PC3511 James Hodgson phone 101 morecambept@lancashire.pnn.police.uk

Sewing Group Sue 71677

Whittington Village Hall Karan Metcalfe facebook.com/WhittingtonVillageHallCoffee Mornings first & third Wednesday of the month, 10.30am to 12noon 71287

Women’s InstituteRosemary Blanchfield 21303

Vicar Revd Michael Hampson vicar@these4parishes.co.uk 21712

Whittington Parish Council Clerk Gillian Newton 14 Marton Drive, Morecambe LA4 6RB 07773678608

Arkholme Parish Council Clerk Claire Helme arkholmepc@gmail.com

Gressingham Parish Councilgressinghampc@gmail.com 21918

Details of all three parish councils, and full minutes forWhittington and Arkholme, are online at lancaster.gov.uk/the-council-and-democracy/meetings-and-minutes

Gressingham Parish Councilagendas and minutes are available online at hornbyvillage.org.uk/organisations/gressingham-parish-council

Details of all planning applications are online at lancaster.gov.uk/planning

Local problems can be reported to www.FixMyStreet.com

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WagtailSaturday 28 September 7.30pmMNDA Charity Auctionof items and promises, pluslive music and bar Hornby Institute

Saturday 5 October 10am to 4pm Book Fair second-hand, out of-print andantiquarian books, also classical CDs, details 01524 752968 Hornby Institute

Tuesday 8 October Autumn Tints tourto Penrith and Silloth, leaving Hornby 10am returning 5pm, £8. Hornby Pensioners. Book with Kath on 21845.

Friday 18 October 7.45pm Countryside Society Gail Armstrong on‘Bats in our Local Area’ Hornby Institute

Saturday 26 October 11am-2pm Pre-loved wedding event Browse and buy, or book a table (£15) to sell. Bridal gowns, bridesmaids dresses, mother of the bride outfits, veils, gents suits, hats, accessories, venue decorations Hornby Institute 07548 250922

Don’t know what to sayfor the best...?

...when someone opens up toyou, or is going through a

difficult time, or has suffered aloss or bereavement? This

might help: a single session,organised by the four parishes, and

led by a member of the key training teamin Blackburn – tips on what to do for thebest, how to help, and finding the rightthing to say. Wednesday 30 October7.30pm with time for questions anddiscussion, and finishing by 9.30pm.

No charge, everybody welcome.at Hornby Institute

9.30am Services in October6 October Harvest Festival

9.30am services in all three churches13 October 9.30am Arkholme

(plus 8am Gressingham)20 October 9.30am Whittington

and 9.30am Gressingham27 October 9.30am Arkholme

plus 10.45am every Sunday in Hornby

This edition of Wagtail is sponsored by Logs Direct

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