No.98 Bravo for the Choir! Welbury Rings in the Festive Season

“Applause” … for Trianne, our super choir of Welbury & Rountons … photo Rod Bennington 03-11-2017

Coming up … more details in church gazette and separate wel-e-bulletins

Fri 24 Nov joint villages Christmas Fair, 6.30-8pm, Rountons Village Hall

Sun 3 Dec Children’s Christmas Party 2-4pm Welbuty Village Hall

Mon 4 Dec Second community consultative meeting on the idea of a community pub, 8pm, venue TBA

Welcome…

A late but nonetheless warm welcome to James and Jennifer Skene, a young couple who moved to No. 1 Railway Cottages from Sexhow near Hutton Rudby earlier this year. James writes: Our neighbours have been really helpful in helping us to settle in and everybody in the village have been so friendly, we look forward to a lot of happy years here.

Quiz of the month…

Bonfire? That’s a strange word; what is its origin? Yes, we remember,
remember the fifth of November, but
what did “bonfire” originally mean?

Answers from last month (as far as we know; tell us if you know better)
Bob Apple? What is the origin of apple bobbing, and what is the reward. Also known as apple ducking, duck apple or snap apple in different parts of the world (see Wikipedia), the custom “dates back to the Roman
invasion of Britain, when the conquering army merged their own
celebrations with traditional Celtic festivals.[3] The Romans brought with them the apple tree, a representation of the goddess of plenty, Pomona
During an annual celebration, young unmarried people try to bite into an
apple floating in water or hanging from a string; the first person to bite into the apple would be the next one to be allowed to marry.”

Duke of Wellington…

Photo Steve Watson 30-09-2017

Steve Watson, one of the owners, writes: following the appointment of a new management team and new head chef at the duke we have now had a re inspection by the environmental department of hambleton council and have now been awarded a level 4 for food hygiene only 1 point from the highest grade.

A second open community consultative meeting on the idea of a community pub is to be held at 8pm on Monday December 4, venue TBA. Meanwhile, Hambleton DC confirm that the current planning application for development (ref 17/00784/FUL) has been refused at committee although the website has not yet been updated.

Weather from Rod…

After a cold September, October started unseasonably warm and continued that way throughout. With a monthly average temperature of 11.8 °C, it was our warmest October in the last 7 years, just: October 2013 and 2014 were only marginally cooler. Despite the high average temperature, the maximum reached only 20 °C on the 13th – most previous

Octobers have peaked at 21-23 °C. The coldest night dropped to just under 1 °C on the 30th, our first ground frost of the season. October’s monthly rainfall (56 mm) was much less than 2 September (96 mm), though it was still wetter than October 2016, our driest on record (46 mm rain).

So far, November has been cold and fairly dry with 3 nights below zero (lowest, –1 °C on the 8th) and only 12 mm of rain. In comparison, November 2016 was the wettest month of the year (116 mm rain).

Village Hall…

The Welbury Village Hall Committee writes:

The Village Hall Committee would like to say a really big thank for the 5 donations received so far (including one from outside of the village) totalling £430, very gratefully received.

You can still make a donation, please see below.

As mentioned in previous editions of wel-e-news, 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 for the kitchen and toilets. 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, tiling, new doors for the kitchen units, repair or renew flooring, and redecorate.

We are 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 payable 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 welburyvillagehall@hotmail.co.uk

The village raised the funds to build the hall 30 years ago, and we aren’t aware that the committee has asked for any financial support since then, so we are hoping that, in order to to refresh the kitchen in time for its 30th birthday celebrations, people in the village will support in whatever way they are able.

Thank you
Welbury Village Hall Committe

W I Report (October)

from Joanne Hughes

Members and guest enjoyed a social evening making Yorkshire buttons, paper roses and colourful paper decorations followed by a delicious supper.

Book of the Month…

Breath of Corruption
by
Caro Fraser

This is the seventh book in Caro Fraser’s series of novels about Caper Court – a barristers’ chambers in London. Having read them all, I thought I would introduce you to these books which recount the lives and loves of a group of barristers with an absorbing blend of romance and professional intrigue alongside fascinating insights into London’s legal world.

In this particular volume, we are re-acquainted with Leo, now the head of chambers, whose complicated love life continues to enthral. He has an ex-wife, Rachel, who is reluctant to let him go, a colleague, Anthony, with whom he is forging a, perhaps, too close attachment and a new love interest in the shape of model, Anthea, who believes she has the key to his heart.

All this is set against the backdrop of the day to day life of a busy chambers where long suffering clerks attempt to keep operations running smoothly and to fend off the likes of Viktor Kroitor, a ruthless Ukranian businessman, who is about to find out that there may be limits to the incorruptibility of the English barrister. Two of my three sons are London lawyers and, based on what they tell me, I find the books convincingly realistic, written as they are by someone who was herself called to the bar. Fraser writes with style and humour, always offering the reader many a twist in the tale along the way. Great characters, great plot lines – I can highly recommend the series

Sarah Hoiles