Thursday 28 January 2010

Village News

with Margaret Morbey

Recycling
Tuesday, 9th February is the next date when all recycling items – glass, paper, plastic, paper, cans – will be collected.

Information and Wellbeing Fair
AVDC are organizing a free event, for older people over 50, where there will be an opportunity to have a go on a Nintendo Wii, with younger people on hand to help. There will also be a variety of information stands, such as Age Concern, AVDC Benefits, Vale Volunteers Gardening Scheme, Red Cross and many others. A free lunch will be provided and also free transport, if necessary. It will take place at Haddenham Village Hall on Tuesday, 23rd March from 10.30 until 2pm. At 2pm there will be a half hour walk. A similar event will take place at Brill Memorial Hall on Thursday 11th March from 10.30 until 2pm, but there will be no walk. For more information, please contact Lynne Maddocks on 01296 585364.

The Bell
You can celebrate Valentine’s Day, Sunday 14th February by having a 2 course meal at The Bell from 7 – 9pm. No problem then with drinking and driving.

Car Service
Jock and Mary Scholefield have now retired from organizing this valuable service in the village, having run it for 7 years. We thank you both very much for your commitment and service. The new organisers are Keith and Beryl Wright who have a team of drivers available to help with journeys of any medical nature. Please phone The Wrights on 208607 in the first instance. If there is no reply, ring John Tribe on 208553 or Peter Allen on 208774.

Parish Council Meeting, Monday 25th January.
4 members of the public attended this meeting, chaired by Nic Brown. Some of the matters raised :

In the old cricket field, Aylesbury Road, a new crossing over the ditch between that field and the next has been made, replacing a rather rickety plank.

Christmas celebrations round the Christmas tree on The Green were deemed a great success, and well supported by the village. It is planned for this to be extended and expanded next Christmas, with the possibility of permanent power points being installed on The Green for the Tree lights and for use during the Fete and any other possible occasions. Snow clearing round The Bell and Shop had much support and Julie Gibson was thanked for organizing this operation. Chearsley’s splendid community spirit is much admired by adjoining villages.

Grit bins Although the filling of these had been overlooked by AVDC in the early winter, they were subsequently filled and refilled promptly on request. Access to the bins in Church Lane and School Lane had sometimes been hampered by parked cars. Quotes will be sought to replace and possibly reposition the existing deteriorating bins, with a possible contribution from the Community Leaders’ Fund.

Budget Precept This was agreed to be £6,000 with no grant to the Village Hall

Lights in Church Piece The Housing Trust will go ahead with this.

Web Cam No action is to be taken at present and for it to be reviewed in 12 months’ time.

Road Closure Cannons Hill will be closed on 8th and 9th February for drainage works.

Verges Highways to be contacted about some verges being eroded.

Benches on The Green will be in place by Spring, early Summer.

Overhanging hedges Graham King is still due to trim the hedge at the top of School Lane. It was pointed out that it was the responsibility of all hedge owners to keep them trimmed.

Date of Next meeting: Monday, March 1st in The Village Hall at 7.30pm

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Pancake Day is coming!

Feb 16th PANCAKES - 2:00pm at St Nicholas Church
Pancakes and children's stories/activities. Why not have your lunch and then come along to St Nick for your pudding? Just 50p per person.
Contact Sharon Sampson 208740 for information.

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Weather News

Received from the Met Office at 11:35

Here's a summary of the latest thinking on the weather for the next few days for the Southeast of England.
The snow risk for tomorrow (Wednesday) remains and Surrey and the Sussexes will be included in an updated advisory to be issued shortly (see http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/se/se_forecast_warnings.html). Another fairly grey day today with perhaps a little drizzle in places.

The risk of snow for Wednesday remains for a large part of the region. There is still some uncertainty in amounts of snow and how these are distributed across the region but this is how it looks at the moment.

The system coming in from the west and bringing the rain, sleet and snow looks to be arriving into Hants and West Berks by about 0300/0400. It then spreads east across most of the southeast region during Wednesday morning. There remains the risk of some snow during the morning and early afternoon. Areas most risk look to be West Berks, Oxon, inland Hants, inland Sussex and Surrey. There is still considerable uncertainty in the amounts of snow and it's distribution across the region but these counties could see 4-7cm of snow in places with 1-2cm possible elsewhere. Along the south coast the precipitation will mostly be of rain but could turn to snow for a time later. As we go through the afternoon any snow (or rain) will become lighter and more patchy even in the worst affected areas and, by late evening most places should be dry. Temperatures overnight will hover around freezing with a risk of some ice.

After a dry morning on Thursday morning, wet and windy weather will spread from the west during the second haf of the day although it will probably be late evening before it reaches Kent. This will be a relatively mild system but the rain could be heavy at times. There will be some strong south to southwesterly winds with it. The rain should clear through overnight with most places having a dry day on Friday. A fine day looks in prospect for Saturday followed by a chilly night and then a quiet day on Sunday too.

Looking further ahead, the cold air hangs around just to the east of the country so, while no further significant snow is signalled at the moment, we need to remain cautious.

Monday 18 January 2010

Desmond Challoner

The funeral for Desmond Challoner will take place on Friday, 29th January, at 2.30 p.m. at Oxford Crematorium. All are welcome.

Saturday 16 January 2010

Wheels to Work

Wheels to Work is a project for young people (16+) who live in rural areas and have difficulties getting to College or a place of work due to the poor public transport links.

The project provides them with a Moped, insurance and safety equipment as well as lessons how to use the bike so they have better means to travel to College or their place of work.

Further information on this pdf , or contact:
Sally Hussey
Rural Transport Partnership Officer
Buckinghamshire Community Action
01296 421036

St Catharine's Choir concert

The Choir and Consort of
St Catharine’s College, Cambridge

will perform at

Buckingham Parish Church

Saturday 13th March 2010 - 7.30 for 8.00pm

Tickets £15 to include refreshments

Join us for an evening of classical
and not so classical music

Please join us to help the valuable work that BACAB undertakes
supporting your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau so that it can
continue to provide free advice and help to local residents.

For further information
Please e-mail: sharon_humphries@yahoo.co.uk
or call her on 01280 815648

Thursday 14 January 2010

Village News

with Margaret Morbey

Desmond Challoner
It is with great sadness we report the death of Des, a well known gentleman, who had lived in Dark Lane, Chearsley for many years, a fiercely independent retired teacher, whose eyesight and general health had deteriorated over a number of years, but who had managed with only a small amount of outside help to remain in his own home until he died. He died on Sunday morning, 10th January in Stoke Mandeville, just 2 days after celebrating his 90th birthday.



The Bell
Several events are planned at The Bell, including a Curry and A Pint night in January, Bingo on Tuesday, February 2nd (planned as a regularly monthly feature on the first Tuesday in the month). Eyes Down at 8.00pm. Also A Fish and Chip and a Pint Night, Pie and Mash Night, Valentine’s Meal. Please ask in The Bell for more details.

Who’s That Baby? Competition at The Bell
Sharon is asking customers to take part in this competition by giving her photos of themselves as a baby. So get digging in the photo album and take it up to The Bell.

Parish Council Meeting
The next meeting of the Parish Council will now take place on Monday 25th at 7.30 in the Village Hall. Come along with any comments, praise or complaints you may have, or simply to hear what is being discussed and decided upon for your village.

Winter weather
The past week of snow and bad conditions, preventing many of us to travel freely in and out of the village, has reinforced the luxury of the village facilities we have. The pub and the shop have played their part in this. It is to be hoped that we will remember their importance in the months to come, and the fact that they need our constant support.

Wednesday 13 January 2010

Weather update

The band of snow expected to arrive from the southwest duly did so but has produced more snow further east than we were expecting. The band continues to affect parts of east Berks, Bucks, Surrey, East Sussex and Kent but it is still expected to continue northwards and eastwards during the rest of the morning and afternoon, petering out is it does so, Nevertheless we need to allow for an additional centimetre or two in those counties where the snow is still falling. You can get an idea of the progress of the snow from the radar images at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/. In areas where the main band has cleared we could still see a few sleet or snow showers but these should not add much more in the way of accumulations.

Tonight should be mostly dry although a few coastal showers are possible (these more likely to be of rain or sleet). Some mist and fog patches will form and widespread ice is likely, especially in those areas which have seen the more significant snowfall.

Thursday looks set to be a mostly dry but cloudy day with some mist and fog lingering. Temperatures should creep just above freezing during the day but ice is likely to be a problem again overnight.

Friday too looks set to be dry albeit with a misty start. A south to southwest wind will gradually freshen later in the day. A slow thaw should occur by day but there remains a risk of ice overnight, especially early in the night. In the early hours of Saturday morning some strong southerly winds will accompany a band of precipitation which will move in from the west. This is most likely to be of rain for most of us but in the heavier bursts there could be some sleet and snow over the hills. Because of the finely balanced temperatures, there is some uncertainty as to how much (if any) snow there will be so this will be closely monitored over the next couple of days. Note that any rain will aid clearance of lying snow. On Saturday night, once the rain clears (it should clear Kent in the very early hours of Sunday on current timings), then ice and fog may be risks for the overnight period as cloud clears and winds ease.

Looking further ahead into next week it looks likely to be mostly dry but with persisting fog and ice risks overnight. A slow thaw of remaining lying snow is expected continue.

(Received from the Met office at 11:27)

Neighbourhood Policing Newsletter

The latest newsletter (pdf format) can be viewed here.

There's snow business...









Sunday 10th of January, and a contingent of villagers report for duty to help clear the ice and snow from roads around the village.....









Neighbourly assistance was evident throughout the village, and Jan Benskin emailed in to say
"I wanted to say a BIG THANKYOU to everyone with their shovels etc. today, and particularly BIG THANKYOU to Peter Grimsdell and Tony Babington for clearing my path, drive etc. Thanks also to Sue and Peter Grimsdell for supplies, and to Ann Hooton for bits from our shop."













Well done everyone! I just hope this doesn't become a regular weekend activity....

(Thanks to Perry for the photo's.)

Saturday 9 January 2010

Weather update.

Received from the Met Office this morning at 11:12

There will be further snow showers this morning across Kent and East Sussex and a few flurries elsewhere. During this afternoon and evening and area of more persistent snow will spread up from the south-east This will tend to work its way north-westwards across all parts of the SE region during the evening and overnight and there will continue to be outbreaks of snow through much of Sunday and Monday. For most areas the snow will be light. However, during this evening and night an area of heavier snow is expected to develop through the Thames Estuary and this is expected to feed down into Kent and East Sussex and could also trouble parts of Surrey (especially the North Downs) and parts of West Sussex. The period of heaviest snow looks to be during Sunday morning with any outbreaks becoming lighter later on Sunday and through Sunday night into Monday. That said, we will need to monitor the situation closely for the Monday morning rush hour particularly in the Kent and Sussex areas.

To give some ideas of amounts, most places can expect to see a further 2-5cm of snow between this afternoon and Monday morning. However the more at risk areas flagged above (i.e. parts of Kent, Sussex and Surrey) may see as much as 20cm in some places. The strong north-easterly wind will cause the snow to drift around, especially so because the snow will be of a dry powdery nature rather than big wet flakes. The wind will also, of course, make it feel bitingly cold.

During Monday and into Tuesday any further snow should become increasingly light and patchy.

The radar images (which show snow despite the title just being "rainfall" radar) are at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/

Looking further into next week the bitterly cold wind will persist with overnight frosts continuing to give ice problems. Snow looks to be much less of a problem. Some coastal areas may still see a few light flurries but no significant amounts are expected. Towards the end of the week less cold air tries to push in from the Atlantic but it is unclear how far east that air will manage to get. It looks very unlikely to reach most of the SE region in the next 10 days but it may just edge into the extreme west, so we will need to be watchful of that.

Friday 8 January 2010

Your Village Needs You!


With this prolonged freeze, a few people thought it would be useful to ‘dig out’ the road around The Bell and the shop ready for next week.

Even if it snows again Sunday, clearing the road will help us to get mobile quicker next week, as the thaw sets in.......

See you on Sunday at 10.00am with your shovel!

Thursday 7 January 2010

Community Message

This is a Community Message from Aylesbury Watch Office on Thursday 7 January 2010

As the cold weather continues and further snow and low temperatures are predicted, please consider how you can help to keep yourself safe and possibly help others in your community:-

Are there any vulnerable people within your community that might be worried about slipping or falling if they go out? Could you maybe offer to assist them - getting shopping, collecting prescriptions etc?

If you are venturing out on the road, plan in advance and go prepared in case of problems - take a shovel, blanket, extra clothing, food and drink, in case you get stuck or break down. Remember, if you have spent 10 minutes de-icing your car, it is very likely that the roads will also be icy - so drive carefully and at an appropriate speed.

When you are defrosting your car, do not be tempted to leave your vehicle unattended with the engine running. Modern cars are not easy to steal, so potential thieves could be looking out for an easy opportunity to take your vehicle - and under these circumstances your insurance company is unlikely to pay out for the theft.

Further information and advice is available on our website www.thamesvalley.police.uk and advice and up to date weather forecasts can be found on www.metoffice.gov.uk

Refuse Collections - update

Just in from AVDC:

Refuse and recycling collections

Collections in this area have been cancelled today, Thu 7 January, due to bad weather and the closure of the landfill sites.

Please take in your green bin or black sacks and we will collect them on the next scheduled collection date.

Recycling will be collected on the next scheduled recycling day – see our website for details under ‘refuse and recycling collection dates’.

We apologise for this temporary disruption to our services.

For the latest news about refuse and recycling collections, see the home page of our website:
www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk
or listen to local radio stations

Village News

with Margaret Morbey

Carol Singing Round Chearsley
Keith and Beryl Wright who have been organizing the carol singing for many years write that for the first time in living memory, Chearsley had a Christmas tree on The Green and despite a bitterly cold night with snow lying on the ground, many families gathered round to sing carols. Chearsley Hand Bell ringers led the singing, but the children stole the show with their rendition of Away in a Manger. Hot punch and mince pies in addition to the wonderful friendly atmosphere warmed everyone up.
As well as carols round the Christmas tree, which is hopefully to become an annual tradition, a good crowd of singers, led by a key board and with a very good descant choir, braved the cold and managed to visit a large part of the village, justly earning refreshments provided by The Howards. It had been hoped to have another night of carol singing, but this had to be cancelled due to icy roads and a snow storm. Despite this, a collection of £440 was made from both occasions which has been equally divided between DEBRA and Cystic Fibrosis, both causes that are linked to a child in the village. Keith and Beryl would like to thank everyone for giving so generously.

Eric Carte
It is good news that Eric will be appearing at The Comedy Theatre, Panton Street, London in George Bernard Shaw’s Play, Mrs Warren’s Profession. This will be for 3 months from the middle of March, until 19th June. Several Chearsley people have already seen the play, which is described as laying bare the rampant hypocrisy of Victorian society and its constrained morals, while it was on tour round England. The play and Eric’s performance is praised. It is hoped to organize a coach trip to see him (and the Play with Felicity Kendal as it’s star). It would be helpful for anyone interested in joining the coach trip, if they could let me know. It will probably be a Saturday matinee.

Congratulations
To Maria Allen of School Lane, who whilst living in Chearsley for the past 25 years or so has been involved with the shop, The Bell, Youth Club and presently W.I. and The Fruit and Veg Show, celebrates her “Bus Pass” birthday.
To Desmond Challoner on celebrating his 90th birthday.

Bingo at The Bell
Bingo is planned to be a regular monthly feature on the first Tuesday in the month. Come along on February 2nd. Eyes down at 8pm.

Rubbish Collections
Wednesday 13th is a collection day for bins, baskets and bottles. Our normal Tuesday collection day will be resumed next week, 19th January.

Village Happenings
This first edition of a community newsletter from Chearsley Tea Room and Stores has now been printed. You should have received yours through the letter box. There will be some spare copies available from the Tea Rooms if you have not seen one. Please remember to let Jay know of anything which you would like Chearsley to know about, in time for the next edition in February.

Parish Council Meeting: postponed.

It has been decided to defer next Monday's Parish Council meeting in light of the potential hazardous weather due over the weekend.
A revised date will be publicised as soon as possible!

Weather update.

A better day for the vast majority of the region today. Many places should be dry and bright albeit very cold! (temperature reached nearly minus 18C at Benson in Oxon last night!) There is a risk of a few snow showers, more especially in the eastern counties (Surrey, Sussexes and Kent) later today as a small low tracks across the southeast corner. On the radar sequence on our website(http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/radar/) you will see the showers circulating round that as it moves south and so can monitor the likelihood of your own area being affected. A few more centimetres of snow are possible from these showers in the east.

Freezing cold again tonight with a a risk of a few showers too. These should be light and again, most likely in more eastern areas, but they will add to the freezing problems where they occur. There should be a temporary lull in the showers as they move south through the afternoon and evening but overnight another area of snow showers is expected to move southwards across the region in the early hours of Friday morning. These look to be heaviest in the east but are liekly to affect all parts. Most places should be clear of the snow by the rush hour. Ice will again be a major issue through the night from early Thursday evening with freezing temperatures. Indeed, temperatures are unlikely to get much above freezing in many places all day..

For Friday, still the risk of some snow showers, especially in the east. These shouldn't add too much to what is already lying but there will be an increasing east to northeast wind which could start to blow snow about. Saturday too will be a day of some snow showers and a strong east to north east wind (so any snow again likely to drift).

Sunday could be a very nasty day with some blizzard conditions as snow moves up from the southeast. There is currently a good signal for a widespread 5cm of snow but the drfiting in a strong easterly wind will produce large variations in the local depths. Clearly there could be some signficant problems. Please keep an eye on the forecasts and warnings. An Early warning for this may be issued later today or tomorrow. (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/ee/ee_forecast_warnings.html)

The further outlook remains cold for at least the next 10 days although there are weak signals for milder conditions creeping in after that.

Received from the Met Office at 10:36

Wednesday 6 January 2010

More snow...

Further outbreaks of snow will turn heavy through today giving fresh accumulations of 2 to 5 cm in places and perhaps locally 10 cm. This will continue to cause widespread disruption to transport.
The public are advised to take extra care and refer to the Highways Agency for further advise on traffic disruption on motorways and trunk roads.

Issued by the Met Office at 10:47 on Wednesday, 6th January 2010

Chocs the way...

On Christmas Eve, vicar John told the Nativity story using chocolate bars. It went something like this...










It all began with a girl called Mary who heard a WISPA, from an angel. ........ Joseph tried to find lodgings, but CLUB after CLUB turned them away. “No room”, they all said. ........That night, some shepherds, heard TUNES in the sky.









Angels or MINSTRELS, joined in. The shepherds decided to “take a break” (KIT- KAT) from looking after the sheep and said to one another, “let's take some TIME-OUT and go and see what's happening in Bethlehem”.









..........Meanwhile in a far country, there were some Wise men – many people called them SMARTIES - who were busily scanning the GALAXY and observing the PLANETS, when they saw a new light in the MILKY WAY. Could it be MARS? No, it was a special STAR (BAR) - signalling the birth of a King. .....









......... Jesus was born so that ALLSORTS of people might come know God's love for them. Like the shepherds and the Wise men, many people are looking for meaning and purpose - some kind of BOOST in life - a REFRESHER in difficult times.








But the Jesus of the Nativity is no MINATURE HERO and if He is who He said He was, and not just some MAVERICK looking for some SPORT, then the Christmas Story really is a cause for CELEBRATION’S!










(Thanks to Sharon Sampson for pictures and story.)

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Met Office: Weather update...

Some slight but significant changes in the snow areas for the coming 24-36 hours.

Our latest computer model run now takes the area of heaviest snow a little further north and east so that more of Oxfordshire, Berkshire (and unitaries) and Buckinghamshire come into the are at risk of seeing 15-20cm with locally 30-40cm. Almost all of Hampshire - especially the north - comes into this area now and possibly parts of West Sussex. Slightly higher amounts than earlier expected might also reach into the east of East Sussex. (10-15cm locally 20cm). I hope to send out a revised map before 1700. Timings are much as the emergency flash with the heaviest snow expected between 2000 tonight and 1100 tomorrow morning.

One other issue for the the coastal counties is that some of the precipitation could fall as rain near the coast, falling on to frozen surfaces and forming widespread ice which may then get some snow on it later in the night or on Wednesday morning.

Issued at 16:06

Christmas Debt Hangover?

If so, Citizens Advice may ease the pain.

There's now a code of conduct agreed by all credit card companies. If you've got problems paying back money and you seek advice from an independent debt advice agency such as a Citizens Advice Bureau, they will hold off collecting the debt for 30 days. They'll accept a further 30-day period if a repayment plan has not yet been agreed, but you're still taking advice from the agency and a repayment plan is expected to be agreed.

They will also give customers at least 30 days' notice of any increase in interest rates and allow customers who then cancel their cards a reasonable period to repay the balance that they owe.

Finally, they will not raise their main interest rate for 12 months after you have signed up for a card. After that, they will raise rates only once in every six months.

If they fail to keep to the code you should complain to the company involved. If they can’t or won’t address the problem you should seek advice. For more information about tackling debt problems, contact Thame and District CAB on 01844 217186 or e mail thamecab@cabnet.org.uk.

Weather Warning

Heavy snowfall is expected across parts of central and southern England and south-east Wales late Tuesday and on Wednesday. Accumulations of 5 to 10 cm are expected widely, with locally 10 to 15cm in central parts where there is a moderate risk of over 25cm. This is expected to cause disruption to transport networks and could lead to problems with power supplies. Outdoor events and activities could also be affected by the snow.

This early warning is expected to be superseded by Flash messages.

National Severe Weather Warning - issued by the Met Office at 05:51 on Tuesday, 05th January 2010

Monday 4 January 2010

Chearsley at Play








Christmas Eve at The Bell









New Years Eve at The Plough and Anchor

(Photo's courtesy of John Fowler.)

Saturday 2 January 2010

Keep it green - recycle your real Christmas tree

Aylesbury Vale District Council is calling on all householders with a real Christmas tree to use its tree recycling service on 9 January 2010.

A tree shredding machine will be available at the Wyevale Garden Centre at Worlds End, Wendover, from 9am until 2.30pm. The wood chippings collected will be recycled and made into compost.

Anyone taking in their tree to the garden centre can, if they provide their own bag, take some of the chippings to use as mulch.

Real Christmas trees can also be taken to the household waste recycling centres at Rabans Lane in Aylesbury, Yonder Slade in Buckingham and College Road North in Aston Clinton (see www.buckscc.gov.uk for details). They are open every day except 25 and 26 December and 1 January.

New News for the New Year!

Chearsley Shop will start putting out a monthly newsletter from this January and, to make it as interesting as possible and encourage the community spirit, they would like to include news and articles from as many sources as possible.

The deadline for each issue will be the 20th of the preceding month, with copies expected to go out around the 1st of the month. There will be no cost for village events and announcements, with a small fee for commercial advertising and notices.

Further information from and submissions to Janine (Jay) Rees at the shop:
Telephone: 208486
Email: celt3@sky.com