Shudy Camps News

Newsletter serving Shudy Camps, Mill Green and Nosterfield End.
No 32- January 2004

Read the previous Shudy Camps News July 2003 September 2003

Village News | School | Broadband | Shudy Camps Social Committee | Church News | Reading Group | Refuse Collections | Parish Council | Diary Dates

Editorial

Now we are ten! Did Jenny Gubb realise that the newsletter that she created would still be running ten years later? The first edition of Shudy News appeared in January 2004, and ever since then our little publication has been “providing a meeting place for the views and concerns of people in Shudy Camps”, in the words of that first issue’s editorial. In this issue, and in the rest of this years’ edition, I’ll spend a little time looking back over ten year’s worth of Shudy News. I would also like to try to get all the issues in electronic form, eventually to be put on a Shudy web site, so if you have any floppy discs of stray files or articles from early issues, please send them to me!

Staying in Southampton over Christmas, we were amazed by the din of Queen Mary II being greeted by the sirens of all the ships in the harbour as she arrived to prepare for her launch. In this issue Joan Stone – Mundy remembers her own exploits as a crew member on the maiden voyage of the first Queen Mary which started on 27 May 1936.

We seem to have quite a batch of “public service announcements” this month – two articles about obtaining funding for youth groups or arts events (those seem worth thinking about); an article on air pollution and avoiding it which seems worth publishing; two articles concerning transport for those without cars for whom buses are problematic; an invitation to help the NHS; an update on progress in bringing broadband communications to the Camps (that’s a saga which I first reported exactly a year ago, and it is pleasing to report that good progress is being made in SCDC’s project); and an invitation to a public meeting hosted by the Police Authority.

My apologies for the late publication this month – January is always a busy month, but this one has been unusually so. Getting stranded by the snow in Saffron Walden last week did not help – the instant hospitality provided by the parents of a school-friend of my son’s turned what could have been a miserable experience into a convivial evening!

I hope you enjoy this issue - material for the newsletter, of local interest, or just interesting, is always welcome, as are “Letters to the Editor”. You can pass contributions to me, or any member of the Social Committee; or by email to shudy.news@dial.pipex.com. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this issue.

We also accept local business advertising - our rates are £10 for a one-page display advert for a single issue, or £30 for all 4 issues in a year. If you are unwaged and a Shudy resident, advertisements are free. Copy to the Editor, cheques to Shudy Camps Social Committee please.

Back to Top

Castle Camps School
What a wonderful summer we’ve just had. It even stretched all the way to half term and beyond! The autumn colours of the changing leaves, along with ‘bonfire night’, have helped to produce plenty of artistic and literary creations by the children.

Many families enjoyed a Halloween disco, organised by the Friends of the School, and the money raised has now increased the total money earmarked for improving our playground to over £5000! We also sold Harvest Festival produce and the money that was collected, with some we already had, has been sent to support our ‘link’ school – Lesedi Potlana School - in Africa.

Our Reception children have all now joined us and we have welcomed several new families. Everyone is busy and the staff has just finished writing this year’s Christmas production. The performances will be during the week of December 8th. The Area Netball & Football Tournaments take place soon at Linton Village College and we hope the participants enjoy themselves.

This term, Key Stage 2 has experienced a ‘Victorian Day’; while Key Stage 1 has been finding out about the ‘Great Fire of London’. Our Year 5 & 6 pupils attended a concert at the Cambridge Corn Exchange; while later in the term Years 3 & 4 are going to hear the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican. We also have a puppet theatre coming to the school for a whole day in November.

This term we have had a growth in the number of children taking music lessons and we now offer – recorders, brass, strings, keyboards & woodwind. We also have a French Club and continue to have teacher run activities. Our ‘Out of School Club’ thrives and provides an excellent service for parents before and after school.

We welcome Mrs Janet Bryan and Mrs Jayne Wright to our support staff. Mrs Crampton has recovered from her operation and has been back in school since half term. We are sad to learn that Reverend Barbara will be retiring at the end of the year.

Our ‘Friends of the School’ have organised an ‘Xmas Fair’ on Saturday, December 13th – 2.00 to 4.00pm in the School Hall - everyone welcome. There will be things to do, eat or buy! There will be a special raffle, providing an opportunity to win Christmas ‘goodies’. The Friends also run a ‘Draw Club’ – anyone can join - and it provides a chance to win a prize as well as help raise funds for the school. If you are interested please contact the School Office (01799 584270).

If you can spare some time and would like to help within the school please come and talk to myself. Or if you have anything to ‘offer us’ we are always interested.

Our ‘Christmas Service’ is on Friday, December 19th, 1.45 at Horseheath Parish Church.

Back to Top

Bringing Broadband to the Camps – an update
On the evening of Monday 19 January I attended a consultation meeting for village representatives about the South Cambs District Council Broadband project in the Council Chamber.

SCDC has now reached agreement with Trilogy Telecom, based in Solihull, for Trilogy to act as subcontractor to supply broadband service to rural communities in South Cambs which will be unable to obtain service from BT or cable companies. Priority will be given to communities who participated in unsuccessful bids for EEDA funding in the competition last year - in this competition SCDC received an award of £300,000. The Camps were covered by the Linton Broadband initiative last year, and as a result we should receive service in Phase 1 of the project which starts this spring. All being well, we should obtain service starting in late April/early May.

Trilogy (www.trilogytelecom.co.uk) provide service using an improved version of the ADSL technology which BT also use. They will install equipment near our local telephone exchange (in Ashdon), and when a customer requests service they will take over the appropriate telephone line from BT and connect it to their equipment. They can provide just broadband (in which case your telephone service will still be provided by BT at the same price over the same line); or a full telephone service as well (in which case they can apparently offer on average a 30% saving relative to BT). Their charge for broadband will be essentially the same as BT, and they can provide a rather wider range of services, at a variety of different bit rates. Their technology has longer reach than conventional ADSL so they should also be able to cover a wider range of customers.

Back to Top

Friends of Linton Village College
Since the last report in August of last year we are pleased to announce the new hall lights were fitted during the Summer Holidays and are looking very smart. The hall itself has been redecorated and the floor looks lovely after a thorough clean and polish.

On 4th October we provided refreshments for the annual Link Walk. The walk is to raise funds for the school in Boepathutse and was very well attended with teachers, parents, pupils and several dogs taking part!

In October we held our AGM, when we said goodbye to Chairman, Mandy Crawley, Secretary, Lorraine Noble, Julie Farrant, Tina Powell, Mike Shearer and Linda Acton. They will all be greatly missed. On a happier note we welcomed Glynis Brookman, Karen Cattle, Amanda Clay, Karen Jebb, Hilary Gibson (Secretary), Tim Richardson (Treasurer) and Sue Buckingham (Chairman).

The GCSE Presentation Evening was held on 18th November when we catered for 300 parents, pupils and guests. Liz, Amanda and Glynis did a grand job setting everything up in an hour and a half!

On 8th November we served teas and soft drinks at the Linton Fireworks. The evening was fine and dry and we all had a good time.

On 22nd November we held a Table Top Sale with twenty-two tables sold. Unfortunately with the heavy rain and the England v Australia Rugby match, the turnout was poor but we did manage to make £182.35. Thank you to everyone who came.

The sale of winter bulbs raised £157.79. Once again thank you to all who supported this fundraiser.

We ran a Christmas Animal Quiz for the Family the winner of which, at the time of writing this article, has not been drawn! More details in our next news bulletin.
Possible future events are a Family Quiz Night, Social Evening, and Colour Co-ordinating Consultation Evening - please see local press for details.

Back to Top

Footpath news
The annual meeting of the Shudy Camps Footpath Group was held in January to discuss plans for the coming year and to decide what grant we would need under the Parish Paths Partnership scheme to maintain our 8.5 miles of footpaths and bridleways. The work is carried out almost entirely by volunteers within the village and the money, which we obtain from the County Council, is used to buy and maintain equipment and to carry out any repairs or, when necessary, to purchase replacements for the many bridges, stiles and gates on our rights of way. Unfortunately our small team of volunteers is getting smaller, older and less able and we would certainly welcome any enthusiastic new recruits to help carry out the work, in particular the regular mowing of the field-edge paths during the spring and summer months. If anyone is interested please call me on Ph 01799 584563.

As many of you know we organise two walks each year, in April and October, which double up as social events and encourage use of the paths in Shudy Camps and neighbouring parishes. The last one, in October, started in Shudy Camps and explored paths both in this parish and in Castle Camps, with a stop in The Cock for lunch. For the next one in April we are moving a bit further away and starting in Linton. This will be on Sunday 4 April at 10.30am, meeting in the car park adjacent to the Health Centre and again there will be the opportunity for a pub lunch.

Finally, I am pleased to say that so far, with the exception of the path between the old railway embankment and Northey Wood, which has been badly churned up, damage to the footpaths by horses has been less this winter than in some previous years. We would therefore like to thank those of you who helped to spread the message that horse riders should not use these paths.

Shudy Camps Footpath Group

Back to Top

New Fund for Community groups in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough!
Local community groups are being invited by Cambridgeshire ACRE to apply for grants of between £250 and £7,000 from a new fund they are managing. The Local Network Fund enables local voluntary and community groups working with children and young people to provide opportunities, activities and projects. The Fund began in July and has already distributed over £60,000 to groups in Fenland, East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire. £300,000 is still available for groups to bid for in this financial year.

Some successful projects: Sutton Band Project has been awarded £6789 for a group of 16+ year olds to work with local music teachers to develop, write, produce and play new pieces of work; High Barns Community Rooms has been granted £6975 for an ‘equal access’ project in which a member of staff will work with the breakfast and after school clubs with a small group of disadvantaged children to improve their social, communication and personal skills; Wimblington and Stonea Summer Activities are benefiting from funding of £6712 to provide professional tutors for workshops in art, drama and dance during all school holidays in the school year 2003/4 for young people aged 4-12 years.

Local Network Funds are used to support community groups under four main themes; aspiration and experiences, economic disadvantage, isolation and access and children’s voices.

Groups interested in applying for a grant should contact the Local Network Fund Call Centre on 0845 113 0161 for a form; or contact Local Network Fund Development Officer Jenny Roberts on 01353
860850; or email jenny.roberts@cambsacre.org.uk for further information.

Back to Top

Springboarding a sense of community spirit
Parties, feasts and dances could be coming to your village soon thanks to the launch of Springboard – Cambridgeshire’s Toolkit for the Arts.

Historically, villages and towns celebrated and commemorated together with street parties, festivals, feasts and dances. Traditions were made, kept and continued.

Springboard aims to give villages and towns the opportunity to build community spirit and confidence through the arts. It provides everything a village needs to use the arts to bring a community together. Packed with useful information about involving local people and professional artists, it helps celebrate local identity, deal with the press and find sources of advice and funding. It’s also full of event ideas and examples of successful projects that have happened in parishes across the county and further afield.

Springboard has been funded by Cambridgeshire County Council; the five district councils – Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, Cambridge City, Huntingdonshire, South Cambridgeshire - and the Arts Forum for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

For a free copy of Springboard – Cambridgeshire’s Toolkit for the Arts, contact Stephanie Hogger, arts development officer at South Cambridgeshire District Council on (01223) 724142, email stephanie.hogger@scambs.gov.uk

Back to Top

Linton and district helping hands
Linton and District Helping Hands would like to recruit Volunteer drivers from the Camps. The scheme provides help in assisting those who need help with difficult trips like getting to the surgery etc. and to elderly,disabled or isolated villagers.
If you can offer your services as a Volunteer driver, please contact Gillian Cotgrove on 01223 893735 who will give you more information. If you are in need of transport, contact Joy Button on 01223 892300, but notice must be given. In her absence, other transport contacts are:

Pat Turner 01223 892139
Maureen Harper 01223 891696

There is no increase in car insurance premiums for this scheme, but volunteers are given a form to complete and return to their insurance company. Volunteers offer their time free, but there is a nominal charge of 35p a mile to cover petrol.

Back to Top

“3CT”
Another scheme to provide transport to people without their own cars in villages around Haverhill is provided by “Three Counties Community Transport”, organised by Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex Councils. For more information call 01440 712028.

Bonfires and plastics (based on information from SCDC Environmental Health)
It is a common misconception that there are byelaws that prohibit garden bonfires. Very occasionally a bonfire is the most practicable way to dispose of non-compostable garden waste. This includes diseased plant material or tough woody waste. But care should be taken that the smoke doesn’t cause a persistent nuisance to neighbours, or endanger traffic. Where possible though, organic waste should be re-cycled.

Plastics, though, should never be burned. Burning plastic produces dioxins, some of the most potent toxins known. Not only do they smell awful but they can cause cancer. Producing black smoke by burning plastic is illegal and can result in large fines.
Made a New Year resolution yet?
Why not Make Time for Health and think seriously about applying to join a Patient and Public Forum? A community based Forum is being established for every one of the 574 English NHS and Primary Care trusts. Their primary roles will be to:
• Obtain views from local communities about health services and make recommendations and reports;
• Examine, report and make recommendations on the range and day-to-day delivery of health services;
• Influence the design of and access to NHS services;
• Provide advice and information to patients and carers about services.
Forums will work together to share experiences and to address common issues. They will be supported by Forum Support Organisations (FSOs), independent of the NHS, which will use their considerable knowledge, experience, and existing contacts within the communities. The local FSO is CambridgeshireACRE and the FSO team is based at E-space North, 181 Wisbech Road, Littleport, Ely, CB6 1RA. Ph 01353 865351.

If you really can Make Time for Health why not give them a call?

Back to Top

Come And Meet Cambridgeshire Police Authority
Thursday 12th February 2004
The Main Hall, Village College, Cambridge Road, Linton.
7:30pm

Hear about local policing initiatives; talk face to face with Authority Members and Police Officers; and discuss the issues affecting you.

For more information, call 01953 424460, or write to:
Clerk to Police Authority, OCC, Jubilee House, Falconers Chase, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 0WW.

Back to Top

Shudy Camps Social Committee
After a successful 2003, the first event of 2004 was held on Saturday 17th January, when Roger Barker compered a music quiz in St Mary’s Church. Around 40 people arrived to form eight teams, and had a most enjoyable time puzzling their way through ten rounds of guessing the titles, performers or composers of sundry pieces of music. Each round had a theme (“by the sea”, “in the magic shop” etc.) and contained pieces ranging from classical through golden oldies to pop. There were also a musical crossword and a challenging round of fitting titles to musical scores – no mean feat for those of us who can’t read music! Fish and chips arrived at half-time to keep us going, whilst beer and wine kept up the motivation level. Winners of the quiz were the Haylock children, Jamie, Rachel and Natalie, and their uncle and grandmother, who displayed awesome musical knowledge.
A good time was had by all and by popular acclaim another quiz (on a different subject) will be held next year.

The next event will be another music evening along the lines of last year’s, to be held in April or May (date to be advised). On 26th June there will be a Midsummer Party; and on 2nd or 9th October (depending on Church services) the Annual Harvest Supper. This year there will be entertainment, to be provided by local performers

Back to Top

The Reading Group
The reading group will meet on 3rd February and 2nd March, to
discuss "Property" by Valerie Martin and then "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is scheduled for 6th April. Anyone is welcome and our discussions are informal and wide ranging, frequently including wheelie bins and the habits of bats! Ph 01799 584 551 for information on venues

Looking back to our first issue
In Issue 1 of Shudy Camps, Molly Edwards gave an interesting glimpse of Shudy life as it used to be from before WW2 up to 1984. An obituary of Charlie Ford solved a mystery for me and Edward – why is there a topiary animal on the grass verge on the Bartlow Road? Charlie created it as he waited for the Saffron Walden bus. Charlie died in 1993 but the topiary is still there, maintained by his descendants. Sue Mowatt wrote a short “Diary of a New-Body” – would one of the later arrivals in the village like to write another one?
And as well as a report from the Parish Council, the first issue included the usual round-up of village events to come, as well as a page of “ useful information”, which looks well worth re-creating.

Issue 2 delved deeper into our past, with an extract from the diary of Marmaduke Dayrell (of the family who owned Shudy Park) written in spring of 1866, dealing with dramatic events of the passing of the Reform Bill of 1866 and the death of his father. And Bob Spall wrote of the area’s Saxon connection, and his finding of treasure trove in Home Wood. “People in Shudy” contained short profiles of Jilly Cunningham and Julie Scott. And the issue contained the first of Roger Lemon’s regular articles on the local footpath walks.

Church News
Our grateful thanks to all those who, together with the social committee, decorated the Church and made it such a lovely place to enjoy the Harvest Supper and the Harvest Festival Service. It truly made us feel proud of our small church, looking so beautiful.

By now I’m sure you will have heard that Barbara McNamara, our vicar, will be retiring on the 1st January 2004 due to ill-health. We wish both her and John, and the children Anna, Allen and Toni, all the very best wishes for the future.

Unfortunately, the Ely Diocese as a whole has announced that they must reduce the number of vicars by 1.5. This is very bad news for us, as it probably means that they won’t replace her! Naturally the Church Wardens will be doing their best to get the best possible solution to this problem, and we will keep you abreast of developments. Please keep your Connection handy each month, as this will be the best place to find out any changes to services etc.

We have recently been promised by the contractor that they hope to have finished refurbishing the Monuments in time for Christmas. It is our turn to have Midnight Eucharist in Shudy so this is very good news.

Talking of Christmas, don’t forget Carol Singing, on Thursday 18th December 2003, starting at Bryony at 7pm.We have also had the door to the Church Loo repaired by Richard Campbell. The lock has been improved, and we trust (and pray) that we never have a repeat of the Summer Party fiasco, when poor Kieran got locked in for so long. Luckily he finally emerged still smiling, what a Trouper!
Jo Bishop

SHUDY CAMPS PARISH COUNCIL

The following are extracts from the minutes of the Parish Council Meetings held on Monday 10th November 2003 and Monday 26th January 2004 in St Mary’s Church. Monday 10th November 2003
Present: Councillors R. Lemon (Chairman); T. Broscomb; G. Kiddy; R. Blackmore, T. Bear; S. Agnew; the Clerk and seven members of the public. Apologies for absence: Councillor J. Battong

A1307 report: A petition has been organised and will be presented to Cambs County Council on 8 December. As Cllr Broscomb is unable to attend, it is hoped another village representative will attend in his place.

Parish Paths Partnership: Cllr Lemon reported a quiet time, but damage from horses on footpath, esp. between Main Street/Mill Green is a problem. A resident has spoken to one pair of riders and a note has been put in the village newsletter. It is hoped the message will
reach all involved that horses must not be ridden on public footpaths. It is anticipated there will be no need to erect signs to this effect.

Neighbourhood Watch: Grahame Wilmott said the numbers of members has been maintained and he hopes to appoint more co-ordinators in order to make a larger impact. Officially, only two crimes had been reported in the past six months. Is now in receipt of regular reports from Carol Wilson. Annoyance expressed that more serious crimes i.e. those taken over by CID, do not appear in the statistics.

Councillor Agnew reported:
a) Grass verge cutting – a careful look is being taken at the situation
b) Broadband in the village is now guaranteed, provided a certain number of users are ‘signed up’. A note to be sent to each household – responses to be received by John Haine 16th November latest. Thanks to Richard Blackmore for helping to deliver. Hopefully, service will commence in new year.
c) recycling – still in early stages, but working quite well. Would like to see plastic recycling too. Large users can apply for extra bin. To collect black bins weekly would cost householders an extra £15 pa. and an A5 flyer might be circulated to gauge response.
d) Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) – There was little enthusiasm from the Parish Council. Idea is to raise traffic wardens to police status after three years service and recruit new ones as PCSO’s.

Appointment of Verge Warden: Rosemary Yallop has been elected Verge Warden and it is anticipated Justin Turkentine will liaise and work with her. Though moving to Castle Camps, she is prepared to act for Shudy Camps too. Protected verges are handled by the Wildlife Trust and though they have no statutory duty to protect, they will do their best. Training courses may be available. Advised to compose a large scale map showing potential protected verges and send to CCC contact, Suzanne O’Hanlon. Cllr Agnew will provide a pro-forma.

CCC Tree Planting Scheme: Clerk to request 50 metres of free hedging (via Leone Harrison) and a further 100 metres of hedging to be purchased for planting alongside footpath 6. (This scheme will cease in 2004.)

Monday 26 January 2004
Present: Councillors Lemon, Broscomb, Battong, Blackmore and Kiddy; the Clerk and one member of the public.

Finances: Precept – Following careful discussion, it was AGREED to set the Precept for the following year at £1,500

A1307 Report – Cllr Broscomb reported on the meeting of the Access Group in November. This road is increasingly busy and there has recently been another fatality. A petition was presented to Cambs CC in December, attended by the Chairman, and was accepted. Cambs CC reserved judgement, and a report will be published in March 2004. The committee was aware of a study to assess the feasibility for a new railway.

A planning application will be submitted for the proposed new Special Needs School on the site of the Village College. There will be a consultation meeting/exhibition of the plans at Linton on 27 January, which Cllr Broscomb will attend. The Access Group will meet again on 29 January.

Parish Paths Partnership: The P3 Annual General Meeting took place on 13 January 2004. A grant of £220 has been requested for 2004/05. Cllr Lemon said one bridge on footpath 9 needs replacing and a fallen tree removed on footpath 5. There will be an article in the next newsletter, appealing for more volunteers to help with grass cutting. The next footpath walk is scheduled for 4th April ’04.

Charitable donations: Cambridge and Ely Victim Support - £50

Broadband in the villages: The situation is changing, with a new bidder coming to the fore, but nothing yet settled. Further information will be circulated in due course. (See other article in this issue – Ed.)

Correspondence:
Local Channel Website – The Chairman received information from the above provider, asking the Parish Council to consider having its own website. It is hoped to have 10,000 parish councils on line by 2005. It was thought to be an attractive idea but reservations were expressed re. the maintenance and updating such a website. It was agreed this is one way the Parish Council could fulfil its obligation to disseminate information to the public. An article will appear in the village newsletter in due course.

Date and time of next meeting: The AGM and Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Monday 10th May, commencing at 8 p.m. in St Mary’s Church

Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings of the Parish Council. Each meeting starts with a short Open Forum when members of the public can raise issues that they would like to bring to the attention of the Parish Council. During the main meeting, members of the public can listen to the discussion but are not expected to contribute unless invited to do so.

For a full copy of the minutes, please contact the Parish Clerk. Any communication relating to the Parish Council should be addressed to the Clerk:
Stasia Carlyle, Meadside, Shudy Camps, Ph 01799 584645,
e-mail: stasia@carlyle.freeserve.co.uk

Back to Top

Camps Computers - Friendly local computer advice & repairs

• Upgrades
• Advice & Quotations
• Repairs
• Security & Anti-virus
• Website Design

Call Mark on: 01799 584453 - 9am – 6 pm Monday - Saturday

Castle Camps Village Hall

Shudy Camps residents are entitled to a reduction in the hire costs for the Village Hall. The following hourly rates apply as from 1st January 2004.

For further information, please contact the Booking Secretary Ph 01799 584596.

For Your Diary

Refuse Collections

B = BLACK BIN DAY
G = GREEN BIN AND BOX DAY
NC = NO COLLECTION
NB: Dates beyond 1 December may change!

Shudy News is published by Shudy Camps Social Committee.
Edited by John Haine, 9 Parkway, Shudy Camps, Tel. 584773.
Additional reporting by Jeannette Ager, 2 Main Street, Tel 584413.
Next issue around 21st October - deadline for copy and diary entries 30 September.

Copy can be sent to
shudy.news@dial.pipex.com

either as email text or as an attachment, preferably in Microsoft Word format.

Thanks to all who help produce and distribute Shudy News.