Sunday 29 November 2009

Red Cross Collectors

This is a Community Message from Aylesbury Watch Office for the information of all NHW & Community Watch members.

Watch members are advised that representatives for the British Red Cross will be calling house to house in the Aylesbury Vale Council area from 30/11/09 - 24/12/09, collecting for the charity.

Organisers state that fund-raisers will all be wearing a photo ID badge, but if you have any doubt about the identity of a collector you can contact the British Red Cross's free helpline 0800 031 9811

And behold, a tree was born...







Saturday morning, and Sonia, John and Nigel pose proudly in front of Chearsley's 2009 Christmas Tree after successfully erecting it on the Green by the village shop.

Stand by for information about decorations, carol singing, mulled wine, and tips on how to remove even the most stubborn muddy stains from your jeans....

(Photo courtesy of Perry Smith.)

Thursday 26 November 2009

Chearsley News

with Margaret Morbey

Chearsley W.I. Christmas Coffee morning
This is being held on Thursday 3rd December at 2 Old Plough Close from 10 – 12pm. Come along for a cup of coffee or mulled wine and mince pie. There will be homemade cakes, jams, chutneys and a great selection of crafts for sale. A chance to buy some Christmas presents.

Quiz
The Cricket Club are holding a Quiznight at the Village Hall on Saturday, December 12th. 7.30 for 8.00 prompt start. Sounds like Christmas fun. Tickets are £6 each with tables for a maximum of 8. Contact James Veness on 07732438568 for tickets.

Grease
A Sing-a-long-a to Grease evening is being held at the Bernard Hall, Cuddington on Friday 11th December at 7pm. This is being organized by Elaine English in aid of Cuddington Youth Drama. Tickets are £5.00 or £6.00. Please contact Elaine on 01298 655698 for tickets. Sounds good fun with lyrics on screen, dancing, popcorn stall, soda fountain, milk shake bar and hot dogs. Dress code is pink for girls and black for boys (of course)

CHUF
Chuf pre-school at Haddenham and Chearsley, which was awarded an outstanding rating by Ofsted last year have a vacancy for a part time pre-school assistant. Hours are negotiable for the positition, which is for term time only. Application forms are available - contact email is info@chufpreschool.co.uk. Closing date for applications is 4th December, with interviews being held early January.

Refuse Collection
There will be a collection of bins and the usual paper, plastic and cans baskets on Tuesday, 1st December.

Birthday congratulations
Nico Brown of Cousins Piece recently celebrated his 21st. Congratulations to him and good luck in the future!

Christening
The Christening of Charlie Babington, younger son of Ollie and Sharon of The Bell, took place on Sunday 22nd November in St. Nicholas Church. Congratulations and good wishes to him and his family.

Proposed Speed Limit for Chearsley
I have looked at this plan for proposed speed limits in Chearsley, on the Chearsley website and most stretches already have the existing speed limit of 30 mph. At present there are numerous old speed limit orders covering a single community, so Bucks County Council want to replace these with a single order. To comply legally, a new Traffic Regulation Order has to show all the roads and their limits including those where the limit already applies. However,it seems to me, that the new order will extend the speed limit of 30mph on the Chilton Road to come into force at around Hill Farm.

Wednesday 25 November 2009

Quiz Night!

Chearsley Cricket Club
Quiz Night


Chearsley Village Hall
Saturday 12th December
Arrive 7:30pm Prompt 8:00pm start

£6 per person - 8 people per table

Book early to avoid disappointment!
Contact James Veness for tickets - 07732438568

Tuesday 24 November 2009

Community Message

This is a Community Message from Aylesbury Watch Office on Monday 23 November 2009.

Residents are being urged to be on their guard against bogus officials offering to give council refunds, relating to council tax.

People are being called and told they may qualify for a refund and then asked for their bank account details so the payment can be made. In some cases residents have also been asked for a £90 administration fee to process their application.

Whilst Bucks Trading Standards are not yet aware of any offences in our area, it is worth everyone being vigilant and not giving out any sensitive information to unknown callers, either on the phone or in person. If you receive any such approach, contact the Police on 0845 8 505 505.

If you are due for any kind of refund, you will be informed in writing by your Local Authority and no 'admin' fee will be payable!

Proposed Speed Limit for Chearsley

We have received notice of proposed speed limits for Chearsley - available as a pdf here.

Please note that the proposed limits shown on the plans include some stretches of existing speed limit. The reason for this is to simplify the Traffic Regulation Orders for the area. At present there are numerous old speed limit orders covering a single community, so BCC want to replace these with a single order. As part of the Legal requirement, BCC need to show all the roads and their limits which will be included in the new Traffic Regulation Order ( including those where the limit already applies)

Background information on the proposals can be downloaded from the Buckinghamshire County Council website here - other documents are at the bottom of the page.

For further information on the speed limit review please see the Speed limit review web-page.

Friday 20 November 2009

Winter Funding.

Age Concern and Help the Aged are able to offer grants of up to £500 to clubs for older people. Who can apply? Any voluntary or charitable club for older people throughout the UK whose charitable objectives are similar to those of Age UK.
If this is something you may be able to take advantage of, see this Winterfest Guide and download the Application Form.
Good luck!

Thursday 19 November 2009

Village News

with Margaret Morbey

News from Dubai
Chearsley family, Alex (one of the Chearsley Calendar Girls) and Malcolm Wall-Morris, who are currently living in Dubai, are the proud parents of a daughter, Isabella born on 9th November, a sister for Thomas and James. Congratulations to them!

Chearsley Cricket Club
A very successful and enjoyable annual dinner was held at the Spread Eagle on Friday 6th November, attended by over 100 cricketers, guests and friends. More than £1,900 was raised during the evening which will go towards pavilion improvements. Special thanks go to James Veness and Alex Brown who were the main organisers of the event.

Long Crendon Day Centre
Volunteers are needed to help with driving members to the Centre or helping serve meals, washing up, organising games and chatting to the members. Several Chearsley residents have benefited over a number of years, from the services the Day Centre provides. Please contact Andrea Camden on 01844 208508 if you feel you could help.

Chearsley Parish Council
A meeting was held on Monday 16th November in the Village Hall under the chairmanship of Nic Brown, with several members of the public present.

A suggestion that the traffic could be halted during the Remembrance Day service at the War Memorial was put forward and it was agreed to enquire of Dave Smith of Long Crendon what measures they took.

Stockwell had now had some clearing work carried out by Aylesbury Vale volunteers and several Chearsley men, achieving a good result, with the plan to continue further in this area next year aiming to expose the stream and to let the habitat improve. Sonia Timberlake was thanked for organizing this and re-installing the pump.

Christmas Celebrations: A 12ft Christmas tree will be erected on The Green. It will be decorated with white lights and decorations made by the children of Chuf and Junior Church. Plans are in hand for a village gathering round the tree on Friday, 18th with mulled wine and mincepies. An amount of £200 had been set aside to cover the cost.

Planning Matters
Dieu Donne: This planning application had been passed by AVDC against the objections of Chearsley Parish Council, who considered it to be an inappropriate dwelling for the plot. Nic felt strongly that their considerations had been dismissed, although he appreciated the Planning Authority were able to do this, and would be taking the matter up with AVDC.
7 Church Lane: This application for a conservatory had been passed with no objection from the Parish Council

Traffic Calming Measures: Signs are in the process of being made and will be erected within the next few weeks at each of the 4 entries into Chearsley, urging motorists to slow down.

The organizers of this year’s fĂȘte have written that they would like one quarter of the fĂȘte’s proceeds to contribute towards the purchase of vehicle activated signs for the village.

Hedge trimming: Black Path, between Dark Lane and School Lane needs attention, which will be attended to by Graham King when he trims the hedge and verge at the top of School Lane.

Light in Church Piece: It was suggested that instead of mending the broken light, to have 5 individual motion detectors fitted to each property and for the Handyman Service of AVDC to be approached about this.

Next meeting is the Budget Meeting on January 11th

Community Responders
There is good evidence to suggest that if people are trained to help someone while the ambulance is on the way, then more lives are saved. The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust are asking for volunteers to become Community Responders by undergoing a specially designed training course over 2 or 3 days. More information is available from leaflets in the Shop and Tearooms, email cfr@scas.nhs.uk or ring 0800 587 0207.

Bucks Tree Club


The Bucks Tree Club is seeking tree guardians in each neighbourhood in the towns and villages of Buckinghamshire.

Bucks Tree Club members love trees so exchange news and information about trees, their cultivation and woodlands as well as plan visits to arboreta and gardens with interesting trees for their own enjoyment and knowledge. They also hope to encourage more interest in trees by the Club’s website which already holds a list of the ancient woodlands in the county and has an ongoing project of compiling a list of the ‘Best in Bucks’ – the best example of each tree species that can be seen by the public in Buckinghamshire.

This National Tree Week, November 26th to December 6th, the Bucks Tree Club invites all Tree Wardens or anyone else who would like to be identified as caring about their local trees and woodlands, to email buckstreeclub@gmail.com or write to the club, c/o The Dendrologist, PO Box 341, Chesham, Bucks. HP5 2RD. Then their name and how they would like to be contacted, can be displayed as a guardian for the treescape around their village or town. When published on the website, this will help people see if their area, has someone caring for their local trees and woodlands and if not, they may want to volunteer themselves as such a guardian.

A network of such guardians would have many advantages including contact with each other and help with establishing the best or rare trees in their own area and encouraging local pride in these.

Please pass on this idea and bring all tree interested people together!

For more information, click here.

Substance Misuse - Free training for the voluntary sector

The aim of the course is to give participants a basic knowledge and understanding of substance misuse, while looking at current trends to update previous knowledge and raise awareness of current issues.

Further details here.

Tuesday 17 November 2009

CAB Christmas Newsletter December 2009

A very Happy Christmas to all our readers, from Thame Citizens Advice Bureau!

Christmas is a time for family and for celebrations. For many 2009 has been a hard year and lots of us may feel relieved if we have reached the end of it with our jobs and bank balances intact! So it’s a relief to have a piece of good news, which will help some families balance those Christmas budgets.

More families with children will now be able to get help towards paying their rent, thanks to new changes to benefit rules. Parents who receive Child Benefit and rent their homes but who at present get no housing benefit should check their entitlement again.

Thame CAB has worked out that a single parent with two children, for example, who previously just missed out on getting any help towards paying the rent could now be entitled to housing benefit of up to £21.58 a week.

The rule change also means some parents already receiving housing benefit will automatically see the amount they are entitled to go up, and more people will also become eligible for help in paying their council tax bills.

The extra money will be available to help all tenants with children, whether they live in council housing, housing association property, or private rented accommodation.

It comes about because from Monday 2 November income from child benefit will no longer be taken into account when it comes to calculating entitlement to housing benefit and council tax benefit.

So let’s all enjoy spending time with family and friends this Christmas and make the holiday period a break from the pressures of our ordinary working lives.

A happy and healthy 2010 to you all.

Friday 13 November 2009

Litter Pick cancelled.

Due to the heavy rain forecast for Saturday morning, the village litter pick has been postponed. A new date will be proposed at the PC meeting on Monday evening.

Village News

with Margaret Morbey

Resurfacing in Lower Green Lane
This work has now been completed and Mike Stephens would like to thank everyone for their patience while this work was going on. Mike has no hesitation in recommending the contractors, John Lee Construction Ltd. for any tarmac work, being very pleased with their polite and accommodating manner.

On the Black Hill
This play by Charles Way based on the novel by Bruce Chatwin is being performed on Saturday 21st November at 7.30pm at The Bernard Hall, Cuddington. It is co-produced with Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. Tickets are available from Elaine English, costing £8 and £5 for children. Contact Elaine on 01296 655698. After the play, there will be a discussion with the actors and the widow of Bruce Chatwin.

Mobile Library
This is next in the village on Monday 23rd November, when it comes to The Green at 1.10 until 1.35pm.

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Vale Brewery Open Day - 28th November


VALE BREWERY OPEN DAY

FREE GUIDED TOURS & TASTING

Try at least seven different beers including:
• Good King Senseless
• Hadda’s Winter Solstice
• Hartwell’s Barn - Our Monthly special brew

Hot Food available from House of Spice, Haddenham

SATURDAY 28th NOVEMBER

11 am – 4 pm

Vale Brewery - Tramway Business Park - Ludgershall Road
Brill - Bucks - HP18 9TY

Tel: 01844 239237

Thursday 5 November 2009

Village News

with Margaret Morbey

St Nicholas Church – Toy Service
Everyone is welcome to the annual Family Toy Service,which will be held in Chearsley on Sunday 22nd November at 11am, when Christmas is looked forward to and also children less fortunate than our own are in our thoughts. The Church supports the Mix 96 Christmas Appeal for new toys and we would ask you to bring your gifts to the service. They can be unwrapped or in an open bag, so the organisers can distribute them appropriately.

Pumpkin Night at The Bell on Thursday October 29th
Pumpkin Night was an annual tradition celebrated in The Bell up to a few years ago, attracting pumpkins of a mighty size. This year, the tradition has been re-introduced by Ollie and Sharon. Steve Vear is to be congratulated on becoming Pumpkin Champion of 2009 with the heaviest pumpkin at 51.5lbs, which narrowly beat Mike’s by 1lb. Steve was awarded the Shield, which had been donated by the late Snowy Young many years ago. and had the honour of being dressed in a suitable tee shirt advertising the size of his pumpkin. Brian Arnott won the booby prize, with a pumpkin of 5oz, narrowly beating his son, David, and was similarly given a suitable tee shirt advertising the size of his pumpkin! There are some good photos taken by Perry Smith on the Chearsley website. There was also an award for the Best Dressed Pumpkin which went to Tony and Sandra. During the evening, £95 was very generously raised for the Charity bottle which supports Stoke Mandeville Eye Hospital appeal for vital new equipment. It was a good night, enjoyed by many customers. Already there is talk about next year with bigger and better exhibits.

CHUF Christmas Shopping Evening
Chuf are holding this evening on Wednesday, 18th November at 7.30pm in Chearsley Village Hall. Entry is £2 which includes seasonal refreshments and a chance to browse and buy books, gifts, jewellery, Christmas cards, kitchen and glassware, chocolates and much more from the many and varied stalls which will be there.

Village Hall Committee AGM
This will be held in the Village Hall on Monday, 16th November at 7pm when all members of the public are welcome

Parish Council Meeting
This will follow the Village Hall Committee meeting on Monday 16th November and starts at 7.45pm.

Litter Pick
Please come and help clean up our Village on Saturday November 14th. Meet at The Bell at 10am. You will be given a small area to tidy. Many hands make light work, if we all help.

Recycling Tuesday 17th November
Everything that is collected at the roadside is collected today – glass, paper, plastics, cans and bins of course.

Does anyone know?
You have probably all noticed the white dormer mobile, which has been parked either by The Bell or currently by the Post Box over the past 6 weeks. Does anyone know who owns it? The police have been informed and asked the owner to contact them.

Wednesday 4 November 2009

Remember, remember!


Save money by buying your tickets in advance at the Village Shop.
Jacket potatoes and chilli/beans, toffee apples, mulled wine, glow bands and sparklers available.
Come and join the fun!