“Cricketers” … representatives of the various age and gender group teams at East Harlsey CC … photo Dave Willey 29-07-2017
Coming up … more details in church gazette and separate wel-e-bulletins
Mon 25 Sep North Hambleton Windfarm Action Group meeting 8pm Lord Nelson Inn
Sat 30 Sep Macmillan coffee morning 10-12 Village Hall
Mon 2 Oct village meeting on pub future 8pm Village Hall
Sat 7 Oct churchyard tidying day
Fri 13 / Sat 14 Oct East Harlsey Players’ Autumn Show, 7.30 pm EH Village Hall Sat 14 Oct church cleaning day
Sue McDonnell writes that the coffee morning will be held in Welbury Village Hall on Saturday 30th September from 10 am until 12 noon and that there will be a raffle, cake stall and several other stalls.
For details and tickets (£7.50) for EH Autumn Show contact Mon Hunter 01609 882641
Quiz of the month …
Nearest coast? After thinking about the shortest coast to coast crossing of England, where is the nearest coastal point to Welbury? And where is your favourite?
Answers from last month (as far as we know; tell us if you know better).
Shortest coast-to-coast? There are several well known routes and the shortest seems to be to follow Hadrian’s Wall. But thought is needed about what it all means.
Coast to coast…
We naturally think of Wainwright’s Coast-to-coast route, from St Bees Head to Robin Hood’s Bay, since it passes through the southern tip of Welbury parish. Yet the Wainwright book declares it as 190 miles, the longest of the coast-to-coast routes but then again it aims for the best high ground, not for speed or brevity. Alan Brooks took the C2C cycle route, which googles as 140 miles from Whitehaven to Tynemouth. For the shortest route we might look for a narrow part of England between sea inlets, yet both the above routes start at sticky-out- ish headlands.
The quiz question begs a definition of coast. How far up river should we allow? Surely Middlesbrough and Newcastle should not count as on the coast, even if they are on tidal rivers? If tidal rivers are allowed it would take us up to the Tees Barrage and once would have reached Yarm and Worsall (ports until the great flood of 1770) and maybe York. Perhaps we should require a 180 degree view of the sea, which would allow Redcar and Sunderland.
Then there is the definition of “shortest” to consider: it might be as-the-crow-flies or by road or even as journey time. Road distances and times are given on some maps (e.g. Phillips Road Atlas) and some websites (e.g. freemaptools) give distances as the crow flies. They show that crossings to the Tees area are longer than those to Tyne & Wear, e.g. Carnforth-Redcar 121 miles (crow) and 169 (road) compared with Carlisle-Sunderland at 99 and 112 respectively. Those Romans seemed to know their stuff; Hadrian’s Wall is listed as just 73 miles and the Hadrian’s Wall path as 84 miles from Wallsend to the Solway Firth, so that would seem to be the answer. Mind, if we go to Scotland, freemaptools shows Glasgow to Edinburgh as just 67 miles (crow) or 74 (road).
Cricket…
Dave Willey reports great and diverse activity at East Harlsey Cricket Club: Up to now we have had a very successful season are top of the 1st division on a sat with 1st team . the 2nds are competing more this year .we have already won 3 cup competitions and in final of another in sept .the evening t20 side has already won the league also . Excitingly we have also fielded junior teams in u9 u11 u13 and u15 this year .we have also for the first time run the ECB all stars programme for 5yr to 8yr which is new this year .we have over 50 kids playing cricket regularly. But better than all this we have for the first time fielded a girls team in u11 festivals and a ladies team who have played in the yorkshire womens league we have 15 ladies playing regularly and we are giving the opportunity for all to get involved .
… and latest news: We have now won the Saturday league on top of other cups .1 cup final to go on 24 sept. East Harlsey Cricket Club recently applied for a grant from the Marks&Spencer energy fund to enable us to install solar panels and battery storage to our pavilion and provide a source of electricity. The club has been shortlisted for the grant, and entered into a public vote against several other projects. To secure the grant they need as many votes as possible. You can vote for East Harlsey CC at https://www.mandsenergyfund.com/projects/east-harlsey-cricket-club
Weather from Rod…
After a very wet start to August with over 34 mm of rain in the first week, the rest of the month was much drier resulting in a total monthly rainfall of 58 mm. Though it didn’t seem like it to me, this made it the driest August since our records began in 2011; very different from August 2016, which was the wettest month last year (110 mm rain). So, a drier month, but it was much cooler with a maximum temperature of just over 24 °C on, unusually, Bank Holiday Monday! In comparison, peak August temperatures over the previous 6 years have ranged from 27-30 °C. The average monthly temperature for August was only 15 °C, almost 2 degrees down on last year.
Up until 13th September, low temperatures have prevailed this month with a maximum of just 21°C and an average of 13°C, over 3 degrees lower than the same period last year. It’s also been wet, with around 20 mm of rain in the last 24 hours and a September total to date of 55 mm.
Village pub…
Things are happening with the pub, the Duke of Wellington. This is a critical time for community action. At the same time there are planning issues with the proposed developments at the back of the pub for more accommodation, to which the Parish Council, among others, has objected, but that is essentially a separate matter. The critical matter is the future ownership of the pub. The pub has been registered as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), which places some constraints on its sale in order to help community groups to buy it, but there is no compulsion to sell or discount to the group. The local authority (Hambleton DC) has written to the Parish Council to say that the present owners (Levendale Properties Ltd of Thornaby) have given notice of their intention to put the pub on the open market for sale.
There is now a 6-week moratorium for expressions of interest for an eligible community interest group to be treated as a potential bidder, which would then trigger a 6-month moratorium to help the group to prepare and raise funds. There appears to be some potential funding assistance and there are many examples of such community pubs. Wikipedia has relevant explanatory pages on AVCs and CICs (Community Interest Companies). Also, googling Community Pubs brings many links including a government site: https://www.gov.uk/government/get-involved/take-part/take-over-a-local-pub-shop-or-green- space-for-the-community
and a camra site
http://www.camra.org.uk/community-right-to-buy
The immediate action needed is to find out if people in the community are interested in forming some sort of consortium to buy or lease the pub and run it as a community pub, and to let Hambleton DC know before the 6-week moratorium deadline of October 16 if there is any interest.
Village meeting…
PC Chairman James Robson writes: The Parish Council / Community has until October 16 to write to Hambleton Council stating whether or not we wish to be considered as a potential bidder. If we do wish to be considered as a bidder we will then have a six month moratorium during which time the pub cannot be sold / leased to any other party. The most appropriate action would appear to be to convene a meeting in the village hall so that people can express their views. James Robson is happy to chair that meeting and is suggesting Monday October 2 at 8 pm as a possible date / time. Please let Mike O’Carroll know if you plan to attend.
Village Hall… a note from the VH Committee
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. 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 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.
Book of the month…
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by
Gail Honeyman
This book has been recommended by the Radio Two Book Club so I thought I would give it a try and pass on my thoughts this month. It is the debut novel for Gail Honeyman who can be proud of her first attempt at the genre – she has produced a well-written, amusing yet intriguing and somewhat dark tale. Eleanor Oliphant has learned how to survive – but not how to live. At present, she leads a relatively simple existence;
she wears the same clothes to work every day, eats the same meal deal for lunch every day and buys the same two bottles of vodka to drink every weekend. We can all feel a sense of familiarity with her world. She is happy enough and doesn’t feel that anything is missing from her carefully timetabled life. Except – more or less everything!
One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls which Eleanor has built around herself. She must now learn how to navigate the world which everyone else seems to take for granted, while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she has avoided all her life. The book charts her battle to change – change to which she is initially resistant. This is a great read – not least for its unpredictability as the story unravels to highlight the many issues of the heroine who is, at once, complicated and private yet kind and warm. Don’t miss it!
Sarah Hoiles
W I Report (August)
from Dervor Hanson
It was a hands-on experience for everyone present this month as Yvonne Clinton led us in a workshop learning how to use wire and tape to turn selected flowers and foliage into a buttonhole. The competition for something beginning with B was won by Tina with a wooden box with an interesting history. Next month the speaker will be Nimmo Clarke with cabaret style magic. The competition is for a rabbit. Photos Dervor Hanson 17-08-2017
