Cople News February 2023

Editor

s Notes

This months edition of Cople News is slightly different to previous ones, as we have lost two of our main advertisers due to the economic crisis. So the inside front and inside back pages are no longer in colour to save some money as far as printing is concerned. Also things may not be in the same area of the magazine as they have been previously. As they say ‘A change is as good as a rest’.

Calling all photographers or artists. We are running short of images of the village that can be used on the front page. We’d much rather use your photos or pictures than cartoon images downloaded from the internet. So, if you have anything you would like to share with the rest of the village, please send them into Cople News. Especially with Easter coming up, some daffodil snowdrop or similar photos would be gratefully received.

Also don’t forget if a Loved One will be celebrating a ‘Special’ Birthday or Anniversary’ in the forthcoming months you could use the front page to wish them all the very best or to Congratulate them.

There is a final Farewell from GNiC on page 5. However, Libby has offered to organise the Christmas Tree Lighting this year. So anyone who can assist, please get in touch, details are below.

And Last but not Least, details of the Friends of Cople Church Safari Supper appear on the front page and on page 10, so no excuses that you didn’t know when it was happening.

Cople News

Editor : Libby Sands, 77 Willington Road, Cople, Beds, MK44 3TL. Tel 07702 616300

Sub-Editor: Linda Behan 32 Grange Lane, Cople, Beds. MK44 3TT Tel 07825 259174

Email: coplenews@gmail.com

Deadline for copy and advertising 5pm on 15th of every month. Please Note—the Editor reserves the right to edit copy as required.

Advertising Rates

2023 Annual Charges: Full Page £120. Half Page £60. Delivered free to every home in Cople every month circulation 350 copies

Libby & Linda

Letter from the Vicar

Dear Friends,

Each year February brings along with it the promise of spring, but very often winter isn’t through with us yet! It also marks a change of mood in the church calendar, as we move further away from the celebrations of Christmas and into the season of Lent. Once again, we will enjoy filling ourselves up with pancakes on Shrove Tuesday (21st Feb), before beginning the fast on Ash Wednesday!

Lent is traditionally a sombre, solemn season when for forty days we abstain from certain foodstuffs or we consciously spend more time in prayer or in Bible study. What looks from the outside as a miserable time (no flowers in church, no chocolate biscuits) becomes a time of deep spiritual growth. Just as our gardens begin to grow after winter, we also see new shoots of faith grow within ourselves and in our lives. Each year Christians use this time to prepare ourselves to journey with Jesus through Holy Week, his death on the cross on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

And there are many ways that we can engage more deeply in our spirituality. Fasting is one but is by no means the only one. There are many resources available to assist us as we make this journey. The Church of England has a resource for Lent called Dust and Glory, with a daily bible reading, a thought and a prayer. The theme this year is ‘faith, failure and forgiveness’ and it invites us all to find God in the messiness of everyday life. You can receive these each day for free by signing up at the Church of England website (link at the end of the letter). You can also access them through their Facebook and Twitter pages. These are helpful resources as we travel toward the celebration on Easter Sunday. You are also most welcome to attend any of our services throughout this period, we begin with a service of Anointing with Ashes at 7pm at St John’s Moggerhanger on 22nd February.

With every blessing, Lynne

https://www.churchofengland.org/our-faith/what-we-believe/lent -holy-week-and-easter/dust-and-glory-lent-reflections

THANK YOU & GOODBYE

As no one has come forward to take over GNiC; on behalf of GNiC we would like to say good bye and a very big thank you to: -

Cople News without Jed & then Libby and Linda we would not be able to advertise our forthcoming events.

All our volunteers & committee members - past & present.. volunteers & committee members helping with deliveries, prescriptions, housework, gardening, cake making, company, trips to hospitals, theatre trips and coffee afternoons.

The cricket club who always supported us allowing us to do raffles, using their facilities free of charge. The businesses in Cople with their donations to help get us started .

The Christmas Tree …Andy for the donation of the lights, those that dug the hole, put the tree up and took it back down, putting the lights on the tree, Cardington Garden Centre for the discounted trees, the school children for the wonderful decorations, the choir for the carol singing , the school children for the carol singing, the vicars for allowing the evening to take place within the ground, the mince pie and Christmas cake makers. The bauble decorator , the Church Wardens for letting us in the church and supporting us. Steve the fairy. Carl, Piggott’s butchers for the donated tree 2022.

The Ball - the businesses who donated massive raffle prizes. The ladies at Sandy Hotel who helped organize the ball with detail. The disco that gave us a great rate. The people who came …. and supported our village. It was a fabulous evening and has supported us financially when we needed to spend money during lockdown, our Christmas tree festivals and our phone line that kept us connected to those who needed us.

The poppies on our church wall. Thank you to all our knitters led by Hazel. Every year it grows and looks fantastic in memory of those who died in the wars.

Food bank: - With the help of the village we have provided food to those who have needed it through our door step collection every three months which is taken to Bedford Food bank to be distributed. It has been a fantastic success for the last 18 months but we will always need more donations. GNiC have been very fortunate in that Lou Tetley is now taking this on as Friends of Cople with a small group of volunteers . Please look out for the advert and date of collection in the Cople News. The money in our account is being donated to Sheerhatch primary school for pupils and community pursuits within the school.

If we have missed anyone we apologize, the citizens of Cople have been very generous. Thanks to each and every one of you,

The Friends of All Saints Church, Cople

Safari Supper

On Saturday 25th February, The Friends of Cople Church will be running their annual Safari Supper.

This is an excellent way to meet both new and familiar faces in the village, while getting a three-course meal and welcome drink for only £17.50.

If you are not familiar with the concept, it starts out in the church where we all meet for a welcome drink, and you find out where you go for your starter. At the end of your starter your host will tell you where you are going for your main course. All the hosts are in the village so within walking distance. After your main course, we return to the church for dessert, the raffle and possibly some more drinks, which are available to purchase, though you are welcome to bring your own.

The funds raised are managed by the Trustees of the Charity, who are responsible for the application of the monies, to maintain the fabric of the All Saints Church and its detached graveyard. Note, it is purely the church fabric for which this money can be used.

So, if you would like to attend, please contact: Miles Tetley: milotetley@gmail.com or 07738 999340 Charlie Porter: 07790 335284

Cople Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group

The results of the Neighbourhood Plan survey provided very helpful information about households in Cople, providing an overview of life in the village. The Neighbourhood Plan needs to be based on a proper understanding of the area it relates to, if it is to be relevant, realistic and to address local issues effectively.

Examples of this picture from the survey showed that: -

● 62% of respondents own their own houses outright with 31% buying on a mortgage;

● 63% have lived in Cople for over 10 years;

● 33% of respondents are employed full time, 11% are employed part time, 10% are self-employed and 45% are retired;

• 15% own their own business and 13% work from home.

The results of the survey have been emailed to all those respondents who provided their contact details.

The results are also available for everyone to see on the Neighbourhood Plan web page of the Parish Council website at https://cople-pc.gov.uk/cople-parish-council-neigbourhood-plan/ Click on “Neighbourhood Plan questionnaire results 2022” which is highlighted in blue.

Robert Bellew, Chair

Down on the Farm 24—Charlie Porter

The notes from the farm this month start on a sad note. Malcolm Smith, who many of will know and who worked at Wood End for many years, died shortly after Christmas.

Val, his wife, has received tremendous support from her family & her friends near & far, and Malcolm was greatly helped in the last phase in his life by the wonderful people at Papworth Hospital, Local Carers, District Nurses, Lynn our Vicar & of course by the love & care of his family. Malc began working at Wood End Farm in 1962 at the age of 23, having previously worked for Bedfordia Farms at Milton Ernest. He was to remain working here till he retired in 2004, working firstly for my father Ralph, & then, from 1978, for me. We spent many happy hours working together, & as time went on, & into his retirement, our relationship became much closer than employer/employee. Malc was an enormously talented man, aiming to excel in everything he did, be it at work or play.

On the farm he was a highly skilled tractor driver. He had no need for satellites to guide him in a straight line or computers to help him to work things out. He did it by skill & never giving up. He could drive a tractor as straight as a bullet, he could set up a drill or a fertiliser spreader so the amount applied was correct to the nearest ounce & he would set up his combine that every grain ended up in the grain tank & none was spilled or left in the field.

Possibly his favourite time of year was lambing time. Hundreds of little lambs that would otherwise would have perished, survived thanks to his skills in the lambing shed. When we used to have lambing open days & groups visiting us at lambing time, Malc would love to demonstrate his skills, much to the amazement & awe of those watching on. In the fields he had the ability to spot a lost lamb or a sick ewe without even trying.

These were not his only talents on the farm. We had the best kept hedges and ditches in the county thanks to his skills with a hedge trimmer & a JCB digger. He also became a very proficient brick layer which was very handy when we began to convert redundant farm buildings into units, a skill which he learnt when he was part of the team that built the Sports & Social club in the early 1980s.

When he retired, we were very pleased that he & Val wanted to remain living at Wood End. Who could want for better, kinder or more helpful neighbours. Like us, he loved the wildlife both on the farm & in his garden, & over time encouraged a vast array of wildlife into his garden, seeing on a regular basis Foxes, Badgers, Deer, Hares, Rabbits, Snakes, & on one occasion, an Otter. There was also always a vast array of birds feeding on his feeders, & ducks & moorhens picking up the scraps below.

Watching all this wildlife gave him such pleasure, especially in his latter years when he was able to watch it all happening outside on his patio from the comfort of his armchair, day and night; yes! he had spotlights over his garden so he could even watch all these comings & goings at night time.

Wood End Farm is a much richer place thanks to the fact that Malcolm has been part of it for over 60 years.

You will learn more about Malcolm when his obituary is printed in next month’s magazine.

The wildlife did not seem to suffer too much in the cold spell as it did not go on too long. The only very obvious casualty was a Grey Heron. Life must be very hard when your dinner is covered by two inches of ice! The other large casualty that we saw was a Muntjac deer. It simply lay dead in the meadow just over our garden wall. It’s death was a mystery as they are hardy little creatures & it wouldn’t have succumbed to the harsh weather. I decided to leave the body where it was & to observe what happened to it. What we witnessed was a classic example of the Pecking Order in nature.

It’s simply a matter of who gets to eat this bounty first. Overnight, unobserved by us, the badgers, foxes & stoats had their fill, but as the sun rose it was time for the birds to have their fill. The top of the daytime order are definitely the magnificent Red Kites who swooped in to eat their fill, followed by the Buzzards. Watching on, strutting about, & waiting for their chance for a meal were various members of the corvid family. As the buzzards left, the Ravens then had their fill, followed by the Rooks & then the Jackdaws. Watching from the trees were the Magpies who then popped in for their snack, but there were still pickings to be had so the noisy, squawking Jays then arrived for their turn. The last arrivals were the Kestrels. They are not normally eaters of carrion, preferring voles & shrews, but when conditions are harsh they will have whatever is available.

This pecking order went on for several days, till all that was left was skin and bone, and even that was given a good old chewing by the foxes & badgers.

Pecking orders can also be observed in our back gardens on our bird feeders. Just take note and you will soon realise that some species are definitely more dominant on the feeders and below. Starlings are possibly the most dominant, followed by Greenfinches, Great Tits, Goldfinches and then the little Blue Tits. On the ground below the Chaffinches are the bravest with the Dunnocks and House Sparrows having to grab any opportunities they get and the most timid are the tiny Coal Tits, flitting in and out when they can.

Mobile Library News—February 2023

The mobile library is visiting the village fortnightly on a Wednesday. It will call at:All Saints Road 10.00 - 10.20am; Water End—10.25 - 10.40am and The Five Bells—10.45 -11.05am.

The dates for February are 4th and 18th

Knit and Stitch

Come and meet your friends in the Five Bells on alternate Fridays from 10.00am until 12.00noon.

The dates for February are 3rd & 17th

Bring your knitting, crochet, embroidery or just bring along yourself to chat & enjoy coffee & cake.

Wed 01

Benefice Choir 09.30am @ Cople Church

Midweek Holy Communion 10.30am @ Cople Church

Mobile Library For times and venues see page 17

Carpet Bowls 7.15 – 9.45pm @ Cople Village Hall

Thu 02 Morning Prayer 9.30am @ Willington Church

Karate

Beginners & children 5.45 – 7.00pm Advanced 7.15 –8.15pm

Fri 03 Knit & Stitch 10.00 – Noon @ The Five Bells

Yoga 10.00 – 11.00 @ Cople Village Hall

Sat 04 Fairtrade Stall & Coffee Morning 10.30am @ Willington Church

Sun 05 All-age Service 9.30am @ Willington Church

Sunday School 10.00am @ Cople Church

Holy Communion 11.00am livestreamed from Moggerhanger Church

Mon 06 Black Wheelie Bins

Evening Prayer for Ukraine 6.00pm via Zoom

Tues 07 Coffee Morning 10.30am @ Moggerhanger Church Blunham Gardening Club 7.30pm @ Blunham Village Hall

Wed 08

Benefice Choir 9.30am @ Willington Church

Midweek Holy Communion 10.30am @ Cople Church

Carpet Bowls 7.15 – 9.45pm @ Cople Village Hall

Thur 09 Morning Prayer 9.30am @ Willington Church

Karate

Beginners & children 5.45 – 7.00pm Advanced 7.15 –8.15pm

Sun 12 Family Service 9.30am @ Cople Church

Holy Communion 11.00am livestreamed from Moggerhanger Church

Mon 13

Tues 14

Orange Wheelie Bin

Evening Prayers for Ukraine 6.00pm via Zoom

Morning Prayer 9.15am @ Moggerhanger Church

Tuesday Club 7.30pm @ Cople Village Hall

Wed 15 Midweek Holy Communion

10.30am @ Cople Church

Mobile Library For time & locations see page 17

Carpet Bowls 7.15 – 9.45pm @ Cople Village Hall

Thur 16 Morning Prayer 9.30am @ Willington Church

Karate Beginners & children 5.45 – 7.00pm Advanced 7.15 –8.15pm

Fri 17 Knit & Stitch 10.00 – Noon @ The Five Bells Yoga 10.00 – 11.00am @ Cople Village Hall

Sun 19 Morning Praise 9.30am livestreamed from Willington Church Holy Communion 11.00am @ Cople Church Songs of Praise 6.00pm @ Moggerhanger Church

Mon 20 Black Wheelie Bin

Lunch Club 12.30pm @ Cople Church Evening Prayers for Ukraine 6.00pm via Zoom

Tues 21 Morning Prayer 9.15am @ Moggerhanger Church

Pancakes 11.00am - 1.00pm @ Moggerhanger Church Pancakes & Craft 4.00pm @ Willington Methodist Chapel

Wed 22 Benefice Choir 9.15am @ Willington Church

Anointing with Ashes Service 7.00pm @ Moggerhanger Church

Carpet Bowls 7.15 – 9.45pm @ Cople Village Hall

Thur 23 Morning Prayer 9.30am @ Willington Church

Karate Beginners & children 5.45 – 7.00pm Advanced 7.15 –8.15pm

Fri 24 Blunham Cinema Curry Night 6.00pm @ Blunham Village Hall

Sat 25 Coffee Morning 10.30am @ Cople Church Blunham Book Sale 10.00am – 3.00pm @ Blunham Church

Sun 26 Morning Praise 9.30am livestreamed from Moggerhanger Church All-age Communion 11.00am @ Cople Church

Mon 27 Orange Wheelie Bin

Evening Prayers for Ukraine 6.00pm via zoom

Tues 28 Morning Prayer 9.15am @ Moggerhanger Church

Celebration

A big Thank You to everyone who came and supported us on Monday 19th December in the Church. It was a very happy evening and a special Thank You to all the singers, performers and readers who gave us such great entertainment.

The village is really lucky to have so many talented people willing to give their time so freely.

The total raised in the retiring donations for SMART was £310 a wonderful amount and a big Thank You for all your generosity.

Marilyn, Jill and Pippa.

Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary Year

Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (Beds RCC) is the leading community development agency working across Bedfordshire, with a proven track record built over 70 years. 2023 is the 70th Anniversary Year of Beds RCC, and it is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the charity’s achievements during this time.

Beds RCC have a wide range of projects and services that benefit local communities across Bedfordshire. The work is carried out in four main areas: Supporting Communities, Rural Development, Community and Wellbeing, and Community Transport. The charity also owns three nonprofit businesses: The Barn – Cardington, Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre and Tea Room, and Warden Abbey Community Vineyard.

Over the past 70 years, both past and current staff and volunteers at Beds RCC have been an integral part of improving the lives of those living in Bedfordshire.

Beds RCC was originally set up in 1953 as part of the Rural Community Councils set up across the United Kingdom. During the first three years, they became associated with many social aspects of rural life – such as playgrounds and playing fields; clubs and services for the elderly; village halls and Parish Councils - which promoted improvements to their local communities. Many of this work still continues today, alongside new projects and services which have evolved over the years.

Chief Executive Tracy Cowan said: “I am incredibly proud of our wonderful staff and volunteer teams –both past and present - for all their hard work over the past 70 years. The fact that we can celebrate the year as the SME Awards ‘Community Business of the Year’ makes the achievement even greater and I’m looking forward to celebrating the year!”

2023 will be a busy year for the Charity as they celebrate their anniversary. Plans for the year include a ball, staff celebration, 70th Anniversary AGM, and more commemorative events. Keep an eye out on Beds RCC’s Social Media for more information on these.

COPLE TUESDAY CLUB

An illustrated talk on some of the more unusual English customs with songs & pictures presented by Gill & Barry Goodman, who have been involved in many of the customs featured in tonight’s presentation.

They were very professional & extremely entertaining; they have been involved in the folk scene since 1971.

We heard about “Jack in the Green”, “The Whittlesey Straw Bear” “Boxing Day Mumming” “Burning Tar Barrel Rolling” which looked terrifying! & many more.

It was a fantastic evening we were thoroughly entertained & cheered up on a cold January night. We learnt so much about the customs around our countryside. It was great to hear that so many annual events that had been lost over time are now being resurrected & popular once again. We were encouraged to join Barry in song.!(Most of which written by him).

Our next meeting is on 14th February 2023 @ 7.30pm in Cople Village Hall. It will be our popular “Bring and Buy” evening, the proceeds of which will be donated to our Charity for 2023 .The Teenager Cancer Trust. Please support us in this very worthy cause.

Everybody welcome. Eithne Dandy.

The Big Blunham Book Sale

To be held on Saturday 25th February 2023. 10.00 am to 3.00 pm in Blunham Parish Church, MK44 3NQ, There will be an enormous selection of nearly new booksspecialist and fiction sorted into categories. Homemade soup, homemade cakes, hot dogs, teas and coffees served all day. All profits to Blunham Church Fabric Fund. For further details please ring Sue and Peter Holden 01767 640572

Mother’s Unions

At our Epiphany Service was postponed to a later date in January, a report on this will be in the March edition of the magazine.

In December, members collected a large number of items for the local Foodbank. We followed the Foodbank Advent Calendar and a member too the items to their premises for distribution.

Our next meeting will be held at 91 Willington Road on Monday 13th February at 2pm. Members are asked to bring a favourite book, reading or poem that means something to them.

Liz Buck

PRAYER—FAIR TRADE

Dear God, we ask your blessing on all involved in Fair Trade—the producers, transporters and those who import and retail Fair Tade goods. May their efforts encourage a genuine commitment to Fair Trade for all. (MU Prayer Diary)

Gardening February 2023

Thank you very much to everyone that has sent in entries to this year’s Gardening Quiz. By the time you read this, the winner will have been notified so if you have not heard from me, I am afraid you have not been successful this year.

After the warmest year on record, we then got one of the wettest Christmas periods I can recall which only goes to support the notion that few things in life are as unpredictable as the weather in this country! Not knowing what is around the corner may keep life interesting but in horticulture it can be problematic as one never knows if the conditions will suddenly change and cause irreparable damage to tender, young plants. ‘Don’t put your eggs in one basket’ is a phrase that many of you will know and it can cover many aspects of life, these are wise words. When sowing seeds, rather than planting an entire packet of seeds all in one go, plant over a period of time, a month or two say, and if the weather does suddenly alter for the worse, instead of losing an entire batch of seedlings, a smaller number will succumb.

Similarly, erring on the side of caution when wrapping tender plants up is always good advice so if you should have any doubts about the prospect of frost, then reach for the bubble wrap or the horticultural fleece just in case.

It’s becoming clear that the ‘cold snap’ we had just before Christmas and that actually resulted in a week or so of snow has killed lots of plants. As always, it wasn’t really the snow that did for the plants but the severe drop in temperature and frost that hung around for a number of consecutive days. There is talk that we might be in line for a further icy spell so rather than dealing with damaged plants now, i would leave it until the threat of more has been removed. Some of the big shrubs like Choisyas may look dreadful but in many cases it’s the outer leaves that have borne the brunt of the damage so, if left alone these will continue to protect the plant underneath.

Whilst looking at a garden over the Christmas period, the owner wanted to know what could be done to stop it from looking a mess, she showed me a ‘hoe’ she had recently bought from a television shopping channel. Looking like no other hoe I have ever seen, very sadly it also worked like no other hoe I have ever seen! That is to say, it did not work! A word of warning about the buying of garden tools; most garden tools have literally not changed for hundreds of years – the Burkean wisdom of ‘longevity proves utility’ being very applicable so if suddenly, a

tool changes, chances are, it is done to seduce you into buying it.

Similarly, I know of one or two people who have had garden tools modified simply because, they are not using them as they had been designed to use! In one such example, an untrained, novice ‘gardener’ went to the time and trouble and presumably, expense of hiring a metal worker to fix a metal plate onto the underside of a pair of edging shears to collect the trimmed debris when all that was needed was simply to hoe the bed after trimming rather than before! Joined-up thinking is essential in horticulture, as in life, unless that is, you enjoy doing the same job twice! And always be warned of those persons or tool manufacturers proffering short cuts. There rarely are any and still the best approach to keeping a garden tidy is by doing regular maintenance work on a little and often basis. If the gap between sessions is too great and you find yourself always having to do the same jobs and improvements will not be made.

This month’s just for fun question, your next door neighbour cuts a shrub their side so that in time, the material growing on your side will wither and die leaving you to have to get rid of the material. Are you legally within your rights to throw the debris back over the fence? Answer next month!

If you have any similar words of wisdom, as always, please send them to me and I will include them in future articles. All correspondence can be emailed to lawndocgardens@aol.com or posted to: - Lawn Doctor Garden Services, 14 Sand Lane, Northill, SG18 9AD. As usual, please contact me with any gardening queries or tasks you may have.

Tree Care, Planting, Weeding, Hedge Trimming, Turfing, Jungle Clearing, Landscaping, Lawn Improvement, Patio/Drive Pressure Washing/ Weedkilling, Holiday Watering etc., etc.