“Apple bobbing” … fun at the Harvest Festival at St Leonard’s … photo Joanne Hughes 08-10-2017
Coming up … more details in church gazette and separate wel-e-bulletins
Fri 3 Nov Trianne Choir Concert “Let’s Do It!” 7.30 pm Village Hall
Sun 5 Nov village bonfire light-up 6pm fireworks 6.30 pm Races’ back field
Quiz of the month…
Bob apple? What is the origin of apple bobbing, and what is the reward?
Answers from last month (as far as we know; tell us if you know better).
Nearest coast to Welbury? If we allow tidal rivers as coast we might have had our nearest coastal point historically at Low Worsall, as evidenced by the name of the Ship Inn. Otherwise, taking the coast along the high tide line and cutting across any river mouths, this cuts out the Tees and even Seal Sands, leaving a nearest coastal point at Coatham Sands, Redcar, 29.2 km as the crow flies.
Favourite nearby coast…
Interesting though that nearest spot is, we have tended to prefer Saltburn with its Victorian resort, pier and cliff tramway, a thrill for grandchildren and grandparents alike! And of course its generous scenic beaches. From Welbury we usually drive by Great Ayton and Guisborough bypass, and the little road by Upleatham, passing the golf course to descend into Saltburn itself. It’s maybe three quarters of an hour, taking it easy, and perhaps a bit shorter than the Parkway route.
Macmillan coffee morning… Photo Sue McDonnell 30-09-2017
Sue McDonnell writes: This year’s Macmillan Coffee Morning was held in Welbury Village Hall on Saturday 30th September. We raised £400 for Macmillan which will be £500 with Gift Aid.
Many, many thanks to everyone who came along, helped to organise it or helped on the day, donated raffle prizes or items for the stalls.
Guess the sweets in the jar (this year it was smarties) was won by Val Barker. There were 521 sweets in the jar and her guess was 520.
The number of hundreds and thousands on the cake was over 4,000 and it was won by Caroline McGough.
The height of the pile of Victoria sponge cakes was 94 cm and I won that with my guess of 96 cm.
For those who like the stats there were 28 people there and several children, less than usual but still enough to make it worthwhile.
The raffle made £188, the tombola £42, we had £55 in donations, mostly from people who couldn’t make it, £37 from the cake stall, £19 from the Bring and Buy and the rest of the profit was from the door and other stalls.
Thanks again for all your help in raising funds for this very worthwhile cause.
Weather from Rod…
September started out cold and continued that way for the rest of the month. Compared with September 2016, which was our warmest in the last 7 years, it was very different. This September reached a maximum of only 21°C on the 2nd, whereas last year it peaked at 31°C. The minimum was 4 °C on the 19th. The monthly average temperature was down 2.5°C on last September. It wasn’t our coldest September in recent years though – September 2015 was marginally colder overall. September was also wet with a monthly rainfall of 96 mm: the wettest day was the 5th (16 mm rain). Again though, it was by no means our wettest September – that record goes to 2012 with a monthly rainfall of 127 mm and a staggering 80 mm in a single day!
So far this month, October has been unseasonably warm with a maximum of 20 °C on the 13th and an average temperature almost equal to that of September. It’s also been drier with just 11 mm of rain to date.
Harvest Festival
Joanne Hughes writes: Here’s a couple of photos from Sunday’s Harvest Festival service. One showing the lovely tractor shaped flower arrangement [below, taken 08-10-2017] and the other ‘apple bobbing’ after the service in the wonderful sunshine [front cover, note the attentive young student watching and learning for future reference!].
Two large carriers of non-perishable food were donated and taken to
Hambleton FoodShare.
Oil buying group…
Ken Blackwood writes: If there’s anyone who doesn’t receive messages from me about the next bulk order from the group and they are interested in joining, they can email me at oil@appletonwiske.org for more information and to be added to the circulation list for ordering dates in the future.
Village Hall…
A further note from the VH Committee
The Village Hall Committee would like to say thank you to those who have given donations, very gratefully received. There’s still time to make a donation, please see article below.
The village hall will celebrate its 30th birthday in Oct 2018 and the committee are planning an appropriate celebration – more news about this early in 2018.
In the meantime, the committee are looking at how the kitchen facilities can be ‘upgraded’ as this is an area we now feel needs some improvement. The old hardwood back door had reached the end of its life and was replaced last week with a new uPVC half-glazed door. This has vastly improved the kitchen already in terms of light.
Sadly the village hall doesn’t have the funds for a complete refit, so we will focus on some key areas;
- Hot water – the current large water heater on the wall to the left of the back door has now failed and needs to be replaced. We need a better solution for the kitchen to provide enough instant hot water to cope with a reasonable-sized event to provide hot drinks and also for washing up. This will allow the old heater to be removed and create more space, so we would like to replace the current small fridge with a bigger fridge/freezer.
- New sinks/taps – we would like to replace the old damaged sinks and reconfigure the arrange- ment so that there would still be 2 sinks and drainers, but also a half sink somewhere, and with a more user-friendly lay-out re the draining boards. The preferred option would be sinks that are inset into a new length of worktop if we can get something that is a very close match to the current worktop. We don’t want to replace all of the worktop in the kitchen.
- Tiling – the tiling is old, damaged, lifting and looks very poor now, so perhaps a fresh simple white metro-style tile is the way forward.
- Units – the carcasses are sturdy so will remain (in any event there isn’t the funds to replace these) – so we’ll look at new door and drawer fronts, and replace/repair the damaged drawers (too much weight in cutlery has damaged some of the drawer bases and runners).
- Flooring – the flooring is damaged in front of the cooker and has been so for some time. We don’t have the funds to replace the entire floor so have decided to ask the original contractor for some advice as to how we can effect some sort of repair.
- Decorating – this will be last on the list for obvious reasons.
In recent years village hall funds have declined – the income from the solar panels, and an annual donation (although we have no idea how long the donation will continue) keep the hall afloat and allow the hire charges to remain as low as they are. It is important that we keep a reasonable level of reserves to effect any repairs and renewals, especially as the building ages, and to meet any future legal/access requirements.
We are now seeking some support from the village – if you could donate towards the kitchen upgrade, either financially, or with labour and or goods, then please help. Cheques made pay- able to Welbury Village Hall can be given to any committee member, or forwarded to the Treasurer at 33 Meadowfield, Stokesley, TS9 5EL. A list of committee members can be found on the village hall page of Welbury.com.
The village hall email address is welburyvillage-hall@hotmail.co.uk
The village raised the funds to build the hall 30 years ago, and we aren’t aware that the com- mittee has asked for any financial support since then, so we are hoping that, in order to to re- fresh the kitchen in time for its 30th birthday celebrations, people in the village will support in whatever way they are able.
Thank you
Book of the month…
Faded Glory by
David Essex
I came across this book in the library and, being a long-time fan of David Essex, I thought I would give it a try. It is (perhaps surprisingly!!) very well written and immensely easy to read. There is a satisfying flow to the text and the characters are vivid and well-drawn. The novel is a post-war ‘East End boy makes good’ story with a twist.
Albert Kemp is a lonely widower whose only son was killed in the war. Now, in 1953, he is working in a pub
in the upstairs of which is a famous boxing gym. It is here that Albert brings Danny, a fatherless boy he has rescued from gang life on the streets.
Danny begins to grow into a champion but the predators start to circle, luring him back with glittering promises into a life of crime in the corrupt world of match fixing. Will Danny listen to his wise mentor? Or will the prospect of fame and money be too tempting?
The reader senses that this book is, to a certain extent, autobiographical which makes it even more charming and insightful. A great and easy read.
Sarah Hoiles
W I Report (September)
From Dervor Hanson
It was pure magic, it was meant to be, as Nimmo Clarke had us all amazed and amused us doing such clever things with packs of cards and balls in cups. He didn’t produce a rabbit out of a hat but the members produced their own rabbits of many different kinds for the competition both ornamental and very well loved. Next month it is a craft evening. The competition is for a fruit or vegetable lantern.
Photos Dervor Hanson 21-09-2017
Apple Time…
Pictures from Leonie O’Carroll from back on Septembet 2nd; they’ve been raining down recently in the winds! … a good year for apples (and blackberries) maybe due to all the rain?
Conkering Hero
No conker pics this year, so far, but who is our conkering hero? Do please let the editor know of any great conker successes! Has anyone ever had a hundreder? Who has Welbury’s top conker? Where do you find the best conkers locally?