Crocus time in the late afternoon sunshine on T’ Parson’s Bank 08-03-2015
Coming up …
More details in church gazette and separate wel-e-bulletins
All of March: Rod Bennington exhibition at Joe Cornish Gallery, Northallerton
Sat 14 Mar Cricket Club Ceilidh, 7.30 pm East Harlsey Village Hall
Sat 14 Mar Mexican night, 7.30 East Rounton Village Hall
Sun 15 Mar Mothering Sunday service, 11 am St Leonard’s church
Thu 19 Mar WI, 7.30 pm, Village Hall
Sat 28 Mar Easter Egg Hunt 3.00 pm at the pub (please book)
Mon 13 Apr Annual Parochial Church Council meeting
Thu 16 Apr WI, 7.30 pm Village Hall
Quiz of the month …
Simon Hartley? Where in Welbury can you rely upon finding Simon Hartley whenever you want? And why is Simon unusual?
Answers from last month (as far as we know; tell us if you know better).
How many homes? In the village proper, 73 are identified in the article on page 4. In the whole parish, 105, or a round 100 if you don’t count multiple homes at farms. More detailed notes are on page 4.
Snippets …
See bulletins and church gazette for more
First daf as always on Races’ corner 21-02-2015
Tina noticed it came out on 15th Feb
Mothers’ Day: the pub is now fully booked with 125 places for lunch on Sun 15 March.
Easter Egg Hunt: 3 pm on Sat 28 March at the Duke of W, £2 per child and they all get a prize, so please book well in advance. C it Off: advance notice: Les & Tina plan another Hog Roast charity event at Races’ Corner on Sat 4 July.
Exhibition: when in Northallerton drop in to the Joe Cornish Gallery in Zetland Street to see Rod Bennigton’s photo exhibition of the wonders of Thorp Perrow Arboretum.
Brew: Andrew’s micro-brewery at the Duke has been so successful he’s just doubled its capacity to 72 gallons and is ‘exporting’ as far as Buckinghamshire.
Dance: Spurred on by the Welbury sports vote, Lou Lightfoot won again on 22nd Feb, taking 1st place at the IDTA (International Dance Teachers Association) Medallist of the Year classical competition in Newcastle.
Weather from Rod:
After a fairly dry January, monthly rainfall in February (13 mm) was very low. As usual, this doesn’t include precipitation from the snow we had, but the rain gauge has been recording so little rainfall recently that I was beginning to suspect it was faulty. However, over the last 24 hours (12/13 March) it’s measured around 8.5 mm, so I guess it’s still OK. In comparison, there was 53 mm of rain in February 2014.
The minimum night temperature in February (–2.8 °C ) wasn’t particularly cold, though the average monthly temperature of 3.8 °C was very much lower than February 2014 (5.7 °C) – mainly due to the consistently low daytime temperatures in the first couple of weeks of the month.
So far in March there’s been just 3 sub-zero nights, and the 7th March was the first day of the year to exceed 15 °C, 15.8 °C actually.
Runaway: The mystery car tracks which appeared across the lawn next to the village hall one Sunday morning were revealed to be from a car from the church service. It had decided to wander off down Parson’s Bank unaided by human hand, and with or without divine guidance neatly slipped between the tall hedge and the 30 sign. 15-02-2015
Book of the month …
The Whole Day Through
by
Patrick Gale
Yet another treat from Patrick Gale – this book is engrossing and full of depth. The characters are so finely drawn and it is testament to Gale’s power as a writer that he consistently finds new traits and nuances with which to delight the reader.
The book revolves around the events of a single day in Summer and tells the story of Laura Lewis who has given up a glamorous independent
life in Paris in order to return to England to care for her mother who may be physically frail but retains all her formidable mental faculties.
Laura has given up on romance but then she meets Ben, a former lover. Ben has his own responsibilities – a recalcitrant estranged wife and a brother with Down’s Syndrome who also happens to be gay with an active love life.
The book is bittersweet – are Laura and Ben brave enough to grasp the nettle and take a second chance? They both have a desire to do what is right by their nearest and dearest but should this moral dilemma defeat their own aspirations?
I advise you to read the book! It is sensitive and thought-provoking and a very satisfying read.
Sarah Hoiles
WI Report (February)
Dervor Hanson writes: Build a house in a week? Yes! Ellie Wilkinson shared with us her experience of leading a group of young people from her Church to do just that in the desert in Mexico, with slides and videos to prove it. The competition entries for a Valentine’s poem lead to a hilarious recitation of those found or written by our members. Joanne has now completed the updating of the WI Village information folders which will be delivered to all households by our members. Next month’s speaker will be David Beattie from Rounton Coffee Roasters. The competition is for a coffee cup.
Mend of the month …
The backrest on this office chair relied on a weak steel tube stem, flattened to fit into a steel cap. The stem sheared at an awkward level. Fixing it with strong adhesive filler wasn’t good enough to last under the torque it suffers in normal use, so a pair of self-tapping screws are added here (needing drilled holes). It will probably need strong filler as well.
Homes in Welbury
The number of homes in Welbury Parish depends, as usual, on how you define homes (or dwellings or properties or households). Below is a count showing a total of 105. You could make it a round 100 if multiple addresses didn’t count. The Electoral Roll can be inspected at Hambleton DC at Stonecross. It identifies several multiple households at farms, with separate addresses such as The Annexe, Flat or Bungalow. The Roll does not (Dec 2014) include
Duke’s Cottage or the holiday flats at the pub or the separate bungalow at 22 Spring Hill. Strictly between the village signs there are 73 homes, excluding the pub holiday flats, Applegarth Manor and Farm, and the separate bungalow at 22 Spring Hill: 46 on the south-west side of the road, inc. 23 at Spring Hill and 7 at Shire Garth 27 on the north-east side, inc. Duke’s Cottage and The Flat at Glebe Farm
A map with a key to the above is free to download from
http://www.colinday.co.uk/maps/HambletonMaps/Welbury.pdf
There are 32 other homes in the parish in addition to the above:
2 Applegarth Manor and Farm, both accessed from the village
9 station cluster adjoining the village: Bramley, Lockton, Ashland, Lisern, Station House, Station Cottage (1 and 2), Lingfield Villa, Hillside
8 in other clusters (5 Summerfield + 3 Ingram)
13 other farms: Thorntree, Tilesheds, South View (2), Broomfields (2), Welbury
Grange (2), Lingfield (2), Homefield, Greenhills, Wray House
Superfast Broadband
At last! Marcus and John (10/03/2015, photo right) getting on with fibre optic cable works next to the level crossing, with the black base for the new cabinet. FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) should greatly improve broadband speed in Welbury village, though still with copper wires from the cabinet to the premises. When will it become operational? We
don’t know yet but hopefully soon now!
Welbury Sports Persons
What a wonderful variety and high level of sporting performances Welbury has! Although we didn’t vote for a sports person of 2010, the inspiration was Laura Meynell, winning regional and national events at shooting in 2010 aged 21, and competing for England in 2011.
Sports Persons to Date
2010 Laura Meynell Shooting: winning at regional and national level
2011 Joe Hunter Runner and triathlete, made his first Channel Swim
2012 Col Barker Great North Swim (Windermere) + darts & dominoes
2013 Dave Willey Cricket: club and league player of the year
2014 Louise Lightfoot Dancing: national medallist & retained regional title
Feathers …
Linda Crosby sent this photo of a
female sparrow hawk taken 06-02-2015 through the kitchen window in Spring Hill, after Pam Pickthall’s bulletin note about the bird which visits both their gardens and has become rather bold.
Two great pictures from Dervor
Hanson of a male and female sparrow
hawk in her garden in Northallerton,
taken in the spring of 2011.
Gertie the white hen strutting
about by the safely repaired village well and early daffodils. Elizabeth Robson says Gertie is very well feathered just now having recently moulted. 10-03-2015