Paxton Post Edition 17

Issue 17

Paxton Post

March - April 2020

THE MAGAZINE FOR GREAT PAXTON

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"Our business is built around 3 things, As we care about our customers and the service we provide, this enables our business to grow from strength to strength. Over the past 38 years, our customer records have flourished, but our values remain. 'Our pride is in our promise offering the best value and customer service'�.

This is your magazine, and it needs your contributions.

All contributions to the next issue of the magazine are gratefully received. We particularly welcome: • News of village events • Photographs from the village • Private for sale adverts • Recipe ideas • Letters to the Editor • Reviews and Opinions • Anything you feel the village would be interested in.

Contributions should be sent to Simon using the details below: Email: simon@easiprintandcopy.co.uk Telephone: 01733 602302 Post: Easiprint Ltd, Unit 8 Parkhouse Ind Est, Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3DJ

The Paxton Post is delivered to every home in Great Paxton, and advertising is available at competitive rates. Advertising is not only great local exposure for local businesses, but it also helps support this village magazine, which is a real asset to Great Paxton.

You adv r herert e

The Paxton Post is published every two months.

Our rates are: Quarter Page Mono - £ 5.00 per issue Half Page Mono - £ 8.00 per issue

Full Page Mono Full Page in Colour

- £15.00 per issue - £20.00 per issue

Advertisements should be sent to Simon using the details below: Email: simon@easiprintandcopy.co.uk

Telephone: 01733 602302

Post: Easiprint, Unit 8 Parkhouse Ind Est, Straight Drove, Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3DJ

Paxton Post is published by Easiprint Ltd in association with Great Paxton Parish Council. It is funded by the Parish Council, with help from advertisements. Whilst every effort is made to ensure information in this publication is accurate, neither the Editor nor the Parish Council can be held responsible for any errors. The views expressed in this publication may not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or the Parish Council.

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4th Sunday of the month 11.00 am Morning Prayer.

Vicar: Canon Annette Reed 01480 211048 canonannettereed @gmail.com

Churchwardens: Mr Bob Hacking 1 Mint Lane, Great Paxton 01480 219846

On the fifth Sunday, we move a Songs of Praise around the benefice at 10.30am See the notice board by the porch for more details.

All Age Worship Services Spring 2020.

Mrs Sarah Gray, 12 Church Lane, Great Paxton 01480 214015

Sunday March 8th at 11.00am Sunday March 22â żd at 11.00am Celebrating Mothering Sunday With a gift for all the ladies

Tower Captain: Mrs Mary Parnham 01480 394727 MaryP2707@hotmail.com

Sunday April 12th at 11.00am EASTER DAY! We’d love a repeat of Christmas Eve numbers as we celebrate the love, hope and peace of Easter!

Anyone is most welcome to contact Annette with an enquiry about a wedding baptism or funeral. If you would like her to visit you, please do get in touch.

Sunday May 3rd at 11.00am Another special service! with Maypole Dancing and Tea. We shall be joined by the Bishop of Huntingdon Rt Rev Dagmar Winter.

Regular services in Holy Trinity Church.

1st Sunday of the month 9.00am Holy Communion in 1662 Prayer book language

All-Age services last c 40 minutes.

With activities for children to join in with. Followed by refreshments

2nd Sunday of the month 11.00am All Age Worship lasting 40 minutes family friendly and informal.

We look forward to welcoming the school community for their end of term service on April 1st at 9.00am.

3rd Sunday of the month 11.00 am Holy Communion in contemporary words.

For regular updates and news from all of our four churches go to our benefice web-site: www.thepaxtonsbenefice.org Follow us on Facebook: @ThePaxtonsBenefice.

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The Phantom Dog Poo!

Unfortunately it has come to the Rec Committee’s attention that dog poo is being frequently found on the Recreation ground, as well as around the village.

The adult and our children’s football teams play on the Recreation ground each week as well as countless children from the village.

The Recreation Ground Committee and Great Paxton Football Clubs work so hard to ensure the facility is of a high quality for all to enjoy but it appears a minority are letting everyone down.

If the problem persists we’ll have to consider banning dogs being off lead on the Recreation Ground.

So please, if those responsible are reading this, clean up after your dog so we can all enjoy the Recreation Ground.

To all responsible users of the Recreation Ground, please keep an eye out for culprits and let a member of the Rec Ground Committee know if you spot anyone.

All the best.

Jamie Stenton Chair - Recreation Ground Committee Great Paxton Panthers Under 7 Coach.

Just thought I would give an update on the progress of the allotments.

As you are all aware the weather has been pretty wet for the past few weeks and managing to do anything at all has proved quite difficult.

However, with help from volunteers, we have managed to finish the rabbit fence and erect the hazel wattle fencing, which took quite a bashing from the hurricanes!, and lay chippings around the pathways.

One of our allotmenteers has kindly offered to make some gates for us, for which we are extremely grateful.

Not having any running water on site, The Recreation Committee has agreed for us to link up a water tap with their plumbing, complete with a meter, even

though we will eventually have water buts, this will be a tremendous back up.

The veg trugs are in place and we will be following them up with raised beds.

If you do take a walk over The Rec, I hope you enjoy seeing the beginnings of a woodland pathway taking place, there would have been a lot more spring bulbs planted but as I said the weather was against us to plant anything, although I note one keen allotmenteer already have their strawberries in!

We only have one plot left available, if you are interested in taking this on and joining our friendly group please contact me.

Gaynor Christie 07855493256 truetomyrootz@gmail.com

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Due to the storms and heavy recent rainfall then catching fish has been difficult on the river however with regards to the forthcoming ‘Close Season’ I thought the following historical report may be of interest.

History of the coarse fish close season What was the thinking behind the original close season for coarse fish? It goes back to 1878 and the passing of the Mundella Act. Guest leads the call The man behind this legislation was Sheffield’s Thomas W Guest who at a great anglers meeting in the 'City of Steel' said 'There are about 7000 anglers in this great city, and we are desirous that Mr A J Mundella, the (Liberal) member for Sheffield, should do his best to carry through Parliament a Bill that will provide a time which will permit of freshwater fish completing the procreation of their species in peace and quiet.'

The Sheffield lads originally wanted the months of March, April and May 'fenced off' according to the species of fish. For example, no taking of barbel or carp in May or June etc.

London’s contribution Philip Geen had travelled north to this meeting and there he said 'In Mr Mundella, a gentleman of undoubted ability, and highly respected on both sides of the House, the humble classes of anglers had now found a champion who, at the request of his constituents, had undertaken to put a stop to the wanton and mischievous waste of the piscine resources of our freshwater lakes, river, ponds, canals and streams.' I believe more is owed to that angling stalwart and long serving president of the London Anglers Association, Mr Philip Geen, than has been credited. He went to great lengths to obtain assurances that Sunday angling would not be prohibited in any bill put to the house, for Sunday was the only day when the working man had the opportunity to go fishing.

Disagreements Sadly, bitter disagreement between Sheffield and London over the closed period led to awful rancour and delays. Unfortunately, the experts of the day differed as to the exact periods for the different species of fish. Guest stayed in London at Geen's house and visited a number of London clubs to ascertain their views, which incidentally did not agree with the London Piscatorial Society proposals. London had a weight of evidence gleaned from testaments given by prominent anglers of the day such as Greville Fennell, Francis Francis and 'Nottingham' George Holland of Windsor.

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At the request of Sheffield, Geen went north again to explain the differences between London and Sheffield’s ideas on the 'fence season' as it was called. He had originally gone to persuade Sheffield to agree to London’s ideas of April, May and June, but from the crowd several voices cried 'split the difference, and make it 15 March to 15 June' and so the dates were unanimously agreed. Not a very scientific approach for such an important piece of angling and conservation legislation?

Yet more discussion A second meeting took place at the Society of Arts rooms in London where, amongst a huge assembly of piscatorial notables, were Spencer Walpole, Frank Buckland, H M Inspector of Fisheries, and of course, Mr Mundella.

Unbeknown to the London anglers, a change to the draft Bill had already taken place where Sheffield anglers, who had apparently changed their minds, convinced Mr Mundella to have all of March, April and May closed.

It was thought this fell roughly in line with the 'fence' months observed on the Thames and other waters near London. However, this was not the case.

Geen refused to take the platform with the Bill’s proposers because it would rob him of his chance to argue London’s case. The day was won by the chairman putting forward a proposal to split the difference. It was carried unanimously (for the second time) and so the present close season of 15 March to 15 June was born.

The 1878 Act By the introduction of the Freshwater Fisheries Act of 1878, those unattached anglers, poachers, illegal netters, wrongdoers and of course club members and honest anglers were all 'landed in the same net'. The Thames Conservancy soon followed with new Fishery Byelaws to fall in line with the rules incorporated in the new Fisheries Bill.

So, you can see, more than 100 years ago there was no consensus over the best months to cover the spawning habits of fish. In reality this was never about allowing the fish to spawn naturally. It was to protect coarse fish from the illegal netting, poaching and existing rules and regulations that favoured salmon and trout.

This can be illustrated by a piece written by Alf Waterhouse, president of the NFA in the 1950s. 'From their very beginning in 1866, fishery boards appeared to look upon salmon and trout as the only fish entitled to their care, regarding all other kinds of fish as undesirable vermin... to successfully prosecute offenders then it was necessary to produce a poisoned salmon or trout for evidence. It did not matter about slaughtered fish of any other kind.'

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Yorkshire’s stolen fortnight The old rivers boards that were formed in the early 20th century were allowed to vary the close season provided it comprised a set number of days – 93 to be precise. Therefore, for a period 'Yorkshires stolen fortnight' allowed them to start coarse fishing on 01 June, though to be fair the whole of March was lost to fishing. These were their original proposals put forward in 1878 and somehow they crept back in, I think as part of the 1923 review of the Act Trust you will find this of interest Tight lines Howard Fieldhouse Bailiff Tel:07824 569111 Offord & Buckden Angling Society (OBAS) www.ousefishing.com

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Little Paxton Gardening Club “Where gardening and friendships blossom” We are an established, friendly village club for people who share an interest in all types of gardening. We hold regular meetings with talks from visiting speakers on a wide range of subjects, organise visits to local nurseries, garden centres , beautiful gardens, demonstrations, social events and plant sales. We have a new and exciting programme for 2020 . On 4th March our speaker will be Michael Brown, a well known historian, researcher and lecturer The talk is entitled “ A History of Gardening in 100 Objects” On 1st April we welcome Carol Saunders who will talk to us about “How to grow Paeonies” Carol is from a RHS Gold winning nursery, specialising in Paeonies.

We have something of interest every month throughout the year.

All meetings will be held at Little Paxton Village Hall, PE19 6EY at 8.00pm Members £1.00 non members £2.00 Everyone is welcome to come along to the meetings, refreshment included in the entrance fee.

For further information please contact: Jane Hill, Chair person Tel 01480 218805 Or Margaret Rowland Secretary 01480 383989 Club email: ipgardeningclub@hotmail.com

Our 4 teams are busy looking to close out their seasons following the Xmas/winter break.

Kick offs are generally at 10am Saturday mornings, and all are welcome down to watch and cheer the home teams on.

Hot drinks & Bacon rolls are normally available on match day mornings.

Also if anyone can offer any help/assistance during the week with cutting the grass, refreshing white lines, helping to maintain the pavilion etc.. 3-4 hrs a week would allow us to keep on top of things. If you would like to get involved please contact Colin Bower 07786 625397.

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So we are through what most seem as the toughest month for a publican but I am pleased to report January was busy for us and February appears to be no different. This is what we love to report, a busy pub!!

So what do we have coming up.....lots We have our vinyl night on Sat 29th February from 830pm where you can bring your own vinyl alternatively listen to what we have an offer.

We are hosting a race night for The Pre School on 7th March from 730pm all racing much needed funds for the pre school.

Papa Cucina are also visiting that day from 3pm to 6pm for the 6 nations rugby.

of silly awards and will present these on the night!! It will be fun so please celebrate our two years with us that night.

I have some food and drink promotions coming up as well probably starting in march so have a look at these. We do have quiet times and it is these times I am trying to drum up trade and get people visiting The Bell.

Keep following us, supporting us and recommending us. I love the feedback and I am proud of the direction we are going.

A massive thank you to my team who work so hard alongside me, your the A team.

You can see what we are doing by checking out our website Food continues to be served Wed to Sun www.mybellpub.com or our facebook page The Bell, GT Paxton. although at times due to bookings and events restaurant opening times can vary. We have our first themed night of Here is to a fun packed 2020!!

2020 which a steak night and am Rach pleased to report we are fully booked with 41 bookings. There will be more to Manager The Bell 01480 700107 follow. thebellgreatpaxton@yahoo.com On the 3rd April we have our 2nd year party and I have booked a disco and will put on some nibbles. We bring our resident DJ James and Megan in to play music and get the dancefloor full to celebrate. I am also doing a customer awards theme!! I have chosen a couple 22

Your Parish Council last met in January and amongst routine business agreed to reaffirm its commitment towards a scheme for ‘Priority Narrowing’ measures at each end of the High Street under the County Council’s Local Highways Improvement Process. County Councillor Julie Wisson and Parish Councillor Jill Peters made representations in support of the application to a Panel who will recommend which schemes in Huntingdonshire should proceed in 2020/21. Letters of support and the petition signed by many village residents were also handed over. The Parish Council now await news of the outcome which is expected in March.

Although attendance was disappointing, the ‘Dementia Friendly Community’ evening held in November helped to raise awareness of the impact of the disease and highlighted several simple practical measures that could introduced to make a difference to residents and visitors to the parish. Councillors will continue to review, support and encourage the community to take on some of the ideas described at the Event.

You might recall that Councillors agreed a series of actions which will take place in the parish around the time of the passing of Queen Elizabeth. In addition, the Parish Council has now purchased a ‘Book of Condolence’ which will be available to sign in the Community Shop when appropriate.

Apologies for having to raise this issue – BUT dog nuisance is becoming a problem again at Saxon Green and on the Recreation Ground. Please remove your

dog faeces (poo) and carry a suitable bag for picking up and disposing of it.

Remember, offenders may be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £100 or a fine of up to £1,000 if prosecuted under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

On to a more pleasant subject - hopefully you had the opportunity to use the Mobile Post Office which is now visiting Great Paxton every Tuesday afternoon from 2-4pm. The van offers a wide range of post office services and more. It is parked in between the Community Shop and The Bell. Please use it as much as you can and tell your neighbours and friends to do likewise. This is an important community benefit and Great Paxton are lucky to have it.

Sadly, the Parish Council now has two vacancies. If you feel that you would like to contribute to the life of the community and represent the interests of the parish locally and beyond as a Parish Councillor, please contact the Parish Clerk for a job description and further details email: clerk@greatpaxton-pc.gov.uk. If still a little unsure, come to our next meeting on Monday 16th March at 8pm in the Community Room at Great Paxton School.

Take the opportunity to observe the meeting and speak to existing Councillors and the Clerk to find out if it’s for you!

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HISTORY 0F PLASTICS Although the first synthetic plastics, such as Bakelite appeared in the early 1900’s, widespread use of plastics outside of the military did not occur until after World War 2. Since 1950 some 8.3 Billion tons of plastic have been made which is more than almost all other manufactured materials.

Half of all the plastic ever made has been produced in the past 15 years.

International transportation of plastic waste started in the early 1990’s and by 2016 about half of plastic waste intended for recycling (14.1 million tonnes) was being exported by 123 countries with most taken by China, By 2050 unless there is change of habit the plastic waste mountain will collectively weigh 12 bn tonnes.

University researchers have calculated that only about 30 per cent of all plastic produced is still in use, and in 2017 it was calculated that of the plastic that has been disposed 69% is in landfill or contributes to rubbish littering the earth’s landscapes, 12% has been incinerated with only 9% recycled.

I sure you know there are ways less plastic can be used simple steps that anyone can take to reduce, reuse and recycle plastic.

For example, switching to reusable bags, choosing to reduce packaging by buying loose fruit, and vegetable’s Reusing plastic packaging for example yoghurt pots can be used for planting (with a drainage hole) and ice cream tubs can be used for freezing excess food.

Using charity recycling schemes for plastic items which cannot currently be recycled in blue bins, such as crisp packets and toothpaste tubes. To find out how visit www.terracycle.com/enGB For more information on what you can put in your blue bin visit www.huntingdonshire.gov.uk /bins recycling-and-rubbish or telephone 01480 388388 for advice.

RICHARD WEST DISTRICT COUNCILLOR GREAT PAXTON WARD Telephone 01480 811467 or mobile 0784 1866630 EMAIL richard.west@huntingdonshire.gov.uk or richard.west@buckdencambs.co.uk

We had an energetic start back to Rainbows, Brownies and Guides this term; the Rainbows had a big games night and two girls jumped over the Rainbow and moved up to Brownies.

The girls in yellow had a co-operation challenge; Brownies had to complete a series of tasks whilst holding hands everything from buttering a slice of bread, hanging out washing, stuffing a sleeping bag to lighting a candle. The Guides meanwhile explored the Guide laws through drama.

All three units got involved in creating messages to send to the Australian Girl Guides to post on their wall of support for the devastating bush fires of 2019/2020 and girls have been supporting the Girl Guides Australia Emergency Relief Fund. This is a fund set up by Girl Guides Australia to support their members in communities affected by the fires and to fund programmes to help areas rebuild.

Rainbows and Brownies had a visit from Wood Green Animal Centre exploring how to look after pets, how to approach dogs safely and the work of the centre. Guides have tried their hand at some macrame - the verdict was sailors, Peruvians and Arabic weavers were very skilled. We did manage to make some citrus bird feeders out of our attempts though!

Rainbows have been uber creative making the own music shakers and creating their own time machines.

Brownies have been working on their Network Skills Builder helping them get to know who they are.

They've done some challenges to look at what makes a great team player and all went home with an envelope full of positive feedback from the other members of their six and one thing they wanted to get better at. We've also been finding our how best we like to learn with Duplo, paper planes and number challenges.

Guides have been thinking how how they can influence people as part of their Influence Skills Builder badge.

They've chosen something they care about and then considered how they can influence others to care about it.

Creativity aplenty as we had songs, quizzes, newspapers and protest badges and considering how to be believable and the power of facts!

They've also been pitted against one another using their skills to convince their leaders what activities should be included in next terms programme.

There was some brilliant acting with the inclusion of topical news stories and a compelling argument (alongside some great joke telling) put forward by the winning team.

Both the Rainbows and Brownies have been learning about money; Rainbows found out the value of things by playing higher or lower and Brownies have playing a stepping stones saver quiz.

Ahead of half term, all three units had a practice for pancake day with the Rainbows choosing their own sprinkle and chocolatey toppings, Brownies cooking theirs over tin can cookers with tealight and Guides made their own batter flipping as they were joined by two of

our older Brownies for a taster session in every sense!!

We're looking forward to World Thinking Day on 22nd February when we'll be taking part in an activity day with Rainbows, Brownies and Guides across St Neots and on to Easter when Brownies are having a sleepover and the Guides are going to London for a day.

Tracey Murray

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1st Great Paxton Rainbows: 1st Great Paxton Brownies: 1st Great Paxton Guides: Church Bell Ringers Holy Trinity Church

1stgreatpaxtonrainbows@gmail.com 1stgreatpaxtonbrownies@gmail.com greatpaxtonguides@gmail.com Mary Parnham 01480 394727 Canon Annette Reed 01480 211048 canonannettereed@gmail.com Churchwardens Bob Hacking 01480 219846 Sarah Gray 01480 214015 Community Room Julie Edwards 01480 472132 Crafty Belles Craft Group Diane James Diane.james42@outlook.com 07522 449535 Crib Team Simon Black 01480 700107 Football Club Tom 07576 600523 Friendship Club Marion Reeves marionreeves@btinternet.com Gt. Paxton Community Shop 01480 218 624 Gt. Paxton Cubs Andy Ottley 07704 857636 Great Paxton Allotments and Community Garden Gillian Smith 01480 477847 gilliansmith462@btinternet.com Ladies Group Melanie Dingemans melanie.dingemans1@gmail.com OBAS Howard Fieldhouse 07824 569111 Parish Clerk Christine Brandon gppc1@outlook.com Petanque Brian Wright 01480 473697 Recreation Ground Michael Fairs Michael.fairs@gmail.com School Headteacher Lee Frost 01480 472132 Great Paxton Preschool Julie Edwards 01480 472132 St. Neots Police 101 Village Website www.greatpaxton-pc.gov.uk Woodsooners Golf Society Martin Bazley 01480 21927 Walkers Group Linda Richardson 01480 213768 Any corrections please notify the editor or email jillatgp@gmail.com

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Children’s Worksearch Can you find all 8 words?

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