Paxton Post Issue 19

Paxton Post

Issue 19 July - August 2020 Your FREE Community Magazine for residents of Great Paxton

Vicar: Canon Anne�e Reed 01480 211048 canonanne�ereed@gmail.com Tower Captain: Mrs Mary Parnham 01480 394727 MaryP2707@hotmail.com Churchwardens: Mr Bob Hacking 1 Mint Lane, Great Paxton 01480 219846

Mrs Sarah Gray 12 Church Lane 07815 002853 01480 214015

Church Treasurer: Mrs Jacqueline Jackson jnmunro@b�nternet.com

For news from all of our four churches in the Paxtons benefice, please go to our website: www.thepaxtonsbenefice.org

Our beneficeFacebook Facebook Page is updated most from our benefice Our benefice Page is updated most daysdays with with newsnews from our benefice and o�encarries carriesstories stories from Great Paxton. and o�en from Great Paxton.

You will find us @The PaxtonsBenefice.

You will find us @The PaxtonsBenefice.

Please do contact Anne�e with any enquiries about weddings, bap�sms and funerals.

Although most services, apart from small scale funerals, are not taking place in church at the �me of wri�ng, Anne�e can give some advice about the future and take bookings for later in the year and 2021.

Anne�e reflects on the past few weeks and looks to the future.

Gree�ngs to you all and hope that you have all kept well during the various degrees of lockdown in our country. As I write, we are just beginning to see many restric�ons being li�ed, though with a strong focus on social distancing, things certainly don’t feel “ normal”.

As with many businesses and organisa�ons, lockdown has had severe repercussions on the life of parish church communi�es. One minute we were holding services every Sunday and looking forward to our major celebra�on of church and village life in June along with many other fund raising and social events lined up. The next, everything was postponed, churches locked up along with most of us predominantly staying at home certainly in the most cri�cal phase of the pandemic.

One of the strengths of a parish church is the way it brings people together, whether to celebrate happy �mes or offer support in harder �mes. Churches are very good at offering community events and when these can’t happen, and people can’t mix, the diary of a church shrinks, and funding dries up as well.

At the �me of wri�ng, June 18th, the Na�onal Church, which takes its direc�ve from the government, has said that churches can now open for private prayer and that smallscale funerals may take place. It may seem simple – just unlock the doors and let people come in and sit quietly. But there are many ac�ons that need to be taken before churches can invite people. The part of the church to be used needs a thorough clean, there needs to be social distancing direc�ons in place with hand sani�ser available.

Someone has to clean down surfaces a�er people have been in, unless the building is closed again for 72 hours.

All so� furnishing have to be removed and no�ces with direc�ons put up.

As some of you will know, the an�que organ at Great Paxton Church is currently being restored, a project made possible by a very generous private dona�on. So, the PCC have decided that we will wait un�l that project is finished before we open the church for quiet �me and prayer.

We hope that on Sunday July 5th the church will be open from 10.30am when Sarah rings a single bell un�l 4.00pm. No�ces will be on the doors to explain which route to use to enter the church and how to leave along with which part of the church will be available for use.

We do hope some of you will value this opportunity for some peace and quiet and intend to open also for a session on a Wednesday a�ernoon probably from 1.00pm to 4.00pm.

A big thank you to Sarah and others who have worked hard on the churchyard throughout the summer thus far. Thanks to Geoff and Ursula for clearing the north side of the church from years of debris and overgrown shrubs. It looks fabulous and is very good for the building.

The benefice goes online!

So, although services have stopped and the church building has been closed, we have very much been open for business. Very quickly, we adapted to using YOU TUBE provision to offer a service every Sunday, moving round the benefice to make recordings. The link to these is put onto the Great Paxton Facebook Page on a Saturday night.

We are delighted with the number of views – usually over 250 and when you consider that more than one person might be watching a “view”, then there could be well over 300 people engaging with these services. You don’t need to be a mathema�cian to work out this is far more than come to Sunday services across our benefice. We also have very good viewing figures for the short talks I offer on the benefice Facebook Page.

Shall we con�nue these YOU TUBE services a�er all restric�ons are li�ed?

That will depend on several technical factors and �me of course, and I would very much welcome your comments on this.

We have also been producing a weekly benefice newsle�er which goes out to an email list of c 120 people across our benefice. We hope this will con�nue as again it reaches people who perhaps can’t get out easily and welcome the contact. If you would like to receive the newsle�er, please do let me know on the details above.

And a word about funding……

In common with many chari�es, our income has plummeted during lockdown.

May I thank those of you who have made a dona�on to Holy Trinity Church during this �me – we are very grateful indeed. But with no service collec�ons or money from fund raising events which accounts for c 48% of our annual income, alarm bells started ringing very early on.

For over 70 years, local churches have paid for the ministry of their vicar. It is called the parish share or ministry share. As a benefice we work together to pay an amount which realis�cally reflects the cost of having a vicar across the four churches. Li�le Paxton pays the lions share, but Great Paxton’s amount his year is £12,755.

Ministry share does not go to pay for Ely Cathedral, bishops or staff at the Ely Diocesan Office (many of which have been furloughed) It goes towards having a local vicar.

Neither is there a big pot of money which the central church has to pay for clergy s�pends.

Neither have parish churches been able to claim any grants from the government during this �me as some chari�es have. If we could have done, we would!!

Ely Diocese is very lucky in that income from historic assets mean that the amount of share required is less than in some dioceses – and for Ely to sell off their assets would be a very foolish move.

I can say, hand on heart, that I have worked hard every day since lockdown to be in touch with people and offer pastoral care where needed, including taking several funerals across the benefice. I certainly haven’t been taking a rest or “been redundant” as a few might have thought vicars would be during this �me.

Many of you support the 100 Club which Graham Bevan promotes on behalf of the PCC and normally that enables us to reach our share every year along with fund raising and some regular giving.

But this year, it just won’t fill the gap.

The answer? Well, if every household in the village which values having a magnificent Saxon church and a vicar who is doing her best in very difficult circumstances in collabora�on with a great team of people, were to make a dona�on, small, medium or large, it would be wonderful. Just as good would be making a regular dona�on to the church by means of a standing order – this is a great way of giving as we know what is coming in when.

If you can help, please do contact Jacqueline our treasurer: jnmunro@b�nternet.com or myself: canonanne�ereed@gmail.com Let’s try and crack this problem and together pay our way this year.

And I’m considering dressing up in PJs again in August and coming around knocking on doors as last year! It was fun and people were very generous! But not sure about it due to the social distancing issues this year.

Keep well and keep safe.

Anne�e

Rainbows, Brownies and Guides continue to meet virtually and/or take on challenges at home...

We were really delighted to be able to create a Wishing Tree for the village.

Inspired by the one in Eaton Socon, this was our contribution to mark the church and village's millennium weekend in 2020 ahead of the rescheduled celebrations next year.

The tree is still up on Saxon Green and everyone is welcome to add their wishes and decorations to the tree. We've really enjoyed reading everyone's wishes.

Rainbows have been playing games during our virtual meetings and taking on challenges at home. There's been flag making, den building, cycling challenges, mascot making and baking.

Brownies have been fashion designers, bakers - we've made mug cakes, chemical engineers as we've created soapy solutions (just right for lots of DIY happening at home), had a party to celebrate the queen's birthday, been doing secret good turns, decorating positive pebbles and adding them to the rock snakes in the village and beyond, making newspaper hats and playing online bingo for VE Day. Two Brownies have also made their promise during our virtual meeting - extra memorable moment!

Guides have been quizzing, exploring ethical packaging logos, making positive messages to share with others, experimenting with paper planes and taking on Task Master style challenges. Despite the Olympics being postponed the Guides have continue with an Olympic inspired challenge 'on your marks' celebrating sport, culture and values of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. We've made energy boost bars, done yoga and mindfulness to prepare ourselves, designed our own ancient games, created a new motto for our unit and learnt how to dance with poi from New Zealand.

There have been lots of other virtual challenges and festivals for the girls to join in from across the UK and beyond; some girls have joined in with a campfire with members from across the globe, with a sporting festival from the North East, a Midsummer Sleepover Challenge, a creative writing challenge - Rhymes, Riddles and Rambles - and a UK festival featuring football, storytelling, slime making, Aardmann Animations, butter and fudge creating, campfire singing, den building and more.

Alongside all of this girls have been doing interest badges at home; we've had girls complete Mixology and Photography (Guides), Jobs, Baking, Collector, Grow Your Own and Space (Brownies).

We are all very much looking forward to a time when we can all be together again and going away on trips and residentials but in the meantime we are going to keep calm and carry on Guiding!

Coronavirus Poem by Lacie, a Brownie Coronavirus hurry up and go away Please go and stay away Coronavirus your mean and scary You make me so very wary Because of you I can’t see my friend Coronavirus when will you end Coronavirus we miss the park You make days seem all dark

Look around all our windows We see hope at the end of all of our rainbows Coronavirus you can’t stop the sun from shining And we are all surviving Coronavirus you have turned the world upside down I’m telling you we will not drown Coronavirus one day you will be gone I will be able to hug everyone

DISTRICT COUNCIL TO LAUNCH DISCRETIONARY GRANT FUND Hun�ngdonshire District Council is set to launch its Discre�onary Grant funding scheme on Monday 8 June allowing small businesses to access government funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Local Authority Discre�onary Grant Funding Scheme is designed for businesses that have not yet been able to access government funding and is predominantly aimed at suppor�ng small businesses and micro- businesses with fixed costs or businesses that are crucial to the local economy.

There is over £1.6 m worth of funding available for one -off payments ranging from £3,000 to £10,000 available to businesses that are eligible and apply.

The government has set out four categories of businesses to be priori�sed for the Discre�onary Grant Scheme.

Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces examples could include units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment.)

Regular market traders with fixed building costs such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment.

Bed & Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates and Charity proper�es in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for small business rates relief or rural rate relief.

Businesses can check their eligibility by visi�ng www.hun�ngdonshire.gov.uk/ covidgran�unding Businesses who are eligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme ( SEISS ) and the Coronavirus Job Reten�on Scheme (Furloughing ) are also eligible to apply for Discre�onary Grant Funding.

RICHARD WEST DISTRICT COUNCILLOR GREAT PAXTON WARD Covering Abbotsley Great Gransden Great Paxton Toseland Waresley-cum- Tetworth Yelling Tel 01480 811467 or 0784 1866630 Email richard.west@hun�ngdonshire.gov.uk or richard.west@buckdencambs.co.uk

News from your County Councillor Temporary cycling and walking measures are being put in place across the county during the Coronavirus crisis to help people get out and socially distance during this pandemic.

The Government has given authori�es funding through the Combined Authority, to deliver pop-up cycle lanes, wider pavements, safer junc�ons and bus-only corridors. The Council has worked closely with city and district councils to prepare a list of schemes to get more people walking and cycling which can be delivered over the next eight weeks to support the recovery from coronavirus.

The country is facing a huge public health emergency and these quick measures will support people by helping them to walk and cycle more, whilst crea�ng space pedestrians so they can adhere to the social distance rules and will reduce through traffic to allow us to widen the footpaths.

As part of the government’s ‘emergency ac�ve travel fund’, the County Council is implemen�ng changes across the county; some examples include, two-way cycling in Hun�ngdon High Street and suspend car parking in Market Square St Neots.

The household recycling centres are now open to all users. Permit users, those with trailers and vans should have received an email no�fying them that the recycling centres are now open for all users and to book an appointment if they wish to use the facility. Cars can just turn up to the recycling centres which are open from Monday to Sunday 8am to 6pm.

Social distancing is being observed at the centres and residents are asked not to a�end if they are showing any symptoms of Covid and self-isolate as per the government guidance.

Fly �pping – did you know that as a resident you can report fly �pping directly to Hun�ngdonshire District Council on their website as follows? h�ps://www.hun�ngdonshire.gov.uk/environmental-issues/fly-�pping/

MOT’s - Your car, van or motorcycle’s MOT expiry date will be extended by 6 months if it’s due on or after 30 March 2020 - but you must keep your vehicle safe to drive.

Julie Wisson County Councillor St Neots East and Great Gransden division 07725 791459 01767 677837 julie.wisson@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

It’s so good the lockdown rules now allow us all to shop further afield but… … pleasedon’t forget your village shop is on your doorstep and continues to offer a valuable serviceto everyone in the village and whilst people are still at risk we offer free delivery too.

SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES

Pleasesupportyour community shop

GREAT PAXTON COMMUNITY SHOP SOCIAL DISTANCING RULES Until guidance changesfurther please help us keep the shop safe.

We are continuing to follow these guidelines: Wait 2m apart where possibleor a minimum distanceof 1 metre + while observing precautions to reduce the risk of virus transmission

2m WHERE POSSIBLE One customer (or family) in the shopat a time Wait on the ramp if there is a customer in the shopuntil they leave Wash your handsbefore you enter the shop Use the ramp to enter and the stepsto leave (if you can) Use contactless payment if possible

Stay alert. Stay safe.

PARISH COUNCIL NEWS – June 2020 The Parish Council met ‘online’ on May 20th and whilst no replacement for being able to gather in person, was able to complete some formali�es and deal with the business it needed to during ‘lockdown’. Councillor Wayne Bond was re-elected as Chairman of the Parish Council and Councillor Paul Goodyer reappointed as Vice Chairman. Responsibility for specific ac�vi�es was assigned to various Councillors and all policies and procedures were reviewed and adopted for the following year including a new set of Financial Regula�ons.

With the ‘rou�ne’ bits out of the way, Councillors agreed to ask the County Council for funding, under their Local Highways Improvements Grant Process 2021/22, towards the crea�on of a buffer zone which will mean a reduc�on of the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph from the Industrial Estate on Paxton Hill to the start of the 30mph zone at the beginning of the High Street and village centre. The local Speed Watch Group has been requested to monitor vehicle speed over that sec�on of road to provide suppor�ng data for the applica�on when submi�ed to the County Council. Residents will recall that the Parish Council was successful with its 2020/21 applica�on to install ‘priority narrowing’ measures in the High Street but regre�ably the start of this scheme has been delayed due to the disrup�on caused by COVID 19.

Reviewing local planning applica�ons, the Council raised no objec�on to an extension at 101 High Street but felt it was important that the development retained exis�ng landscaping (trees/shrubs) to so�en the design and appearance of the new build. Councillors were also pleased to support the reten�on of the modular building at Great Paxton School for a further 5 years.

You might recall that the Council had appointed a new Grounds Maintenance Company to look a�er its grassed areas and empty both li�er and dog bins. To overcome a few teething problems, the Council met representa�ves of the Contractor in the Parish, toured the various sites, and discussed expecta�ons.

Hopefully, some of the early concerns have now been resolved. Be assured that the Parish Council will con�nue to monitor performance going forward.

Although, currently closed for health reasons, the children’s playground on Saxon Green has recently been subject to a RoSPA Inspec�on. Several ‘low risk’

items were iden�fied as needing a�en�on and these will be remedied over the next few weeks. A copy of the full report is available to read on the Parish Council’s website – www.greatpaxton.pc.gov.uk Councillors were pleased to award grants of £1250 to the PCC of Holy Trinity Church and to the Recrea�on Ground Commi�ee. A dona�on of £50 was made to St Neots Museum. Remember when this museum reopens, entry is free for residents of Great Paxton. As promised, the Parish Council released £500 to allow prepara�ons to begin for ac�vi�es to mark 1000 years of the Holy Trinity Minster. The original celebra�on had to be deferred to 2021.

Lastly, pride in the appearance of your parish is especially important to your Councillors so it is with some regret that they feel they need to remind residents to dispose of their li�er in the bins provided, remove their dog faeces (poo) and carry a suitable bag for picking up and disposing of it. Please do not just throw away the bags indiscriminately.

To close, the Parish Council wish to thank again all those volunteers and businesses that have helped village residents throughout the health crisis.

Next mee�ng – hopefully, this will be held in the Parish on Monday 20th July at 8pm. Please keep an eye on the website for news of the loca�on. Remember there are s�ll two vacancies on the Parish Council so 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 descrip�on and further details email: clerk@greatpaxton-pc.gov.uk.

8th June 2020 Great Paxton History Society Welcome to the 3rd extraordinary virtual world of Great Paxton History Society * Reports of groups/activities Most groups & activities just waiting for better times. However there is still plenty going on.

Website https://greatpaxtonhistory.weebly.com/ Please do visit the website. There are some new sporting pictures. If anyone has some more pictures of people and places in Great Paxton we would be pleased to see them.

Email greatpaxtonhs@yahoo.com Facebook Great Paxton Remembers * VE Day and VJ Day VJ Day is 15th August and the official VE Day celebrations from May are supposed to be transferred to then. I don’t know if anything will happen, or whether we should mark it in any way. Thoughts please.

The Cardell memorial sundial in the churchyard has been restored by Jeff and Ursula of Manor Farm and it is now looking as it should. There are thoughts of having a simple ceremony to mark the improvements to the Cardell's grave on the anniversary of his death on September 27th which will also be during the period of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. [I have removed the flowers and poppies shown in this picture that I placed there for VE day.]

* Great Paxton’s 1000th birthday This weekend of 7th and 8th June was to have been our Millenniumfest, instead it was marked simply by the village bunting and a wonderful sign on Church Green. Many house windows have displayed the 1000 logo.

The Millenniumfest will go ahead next year celebrating the rise of the village of Great Paxton around the church, on 12th & 13th June 2021 so please hold the dates and come along to support the event, the village and the building! All details on the website https://greatpaxton1000.co.uk As part of the Millennium Celebrations we will produce a newspaper "Pachstone Post" written as if it was 1020. Get your thinking caps on.

Writers are still wanted to create articles. https://greatpaxton1000.co.uk/events/get-involved.php We are continuing to raise funds towards the costs of the Millenniumfest and on the website you will see there is a shop page. This allows you to buy all sorts of wonderful creations. The profit from the sale of preserves and special picnics goes toward the Millenniumfest. Items must be paid for in advance and collected from the village, sorry no postal sales.

The April topic was presented as a virtual paper- Rev Austin Lee - Vicar at The Paxtons January 1963 to January 1965. Our current vicar Rev Annette Reed gave a fascinating talk and we look forward to seeing what further information she can get from the Registers when the Archives reopen. I think this deserves to be published by the Great Paxton History Society so if anyone knows of more information or has any pictures please let us see them.

The May topic was some links to national and international museums with virtual tours * June Topic In the absence of a speaker I include a link to St Neots Museum that may be of interest: https://www.stneotsmuseum.org.uk/ also Facebook https:// www.facebook.com/stneotsmuseum

The Norris Museum is updated on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ thenorrismuseum

as is The Cromwell Museum https://www.facebook.com/thecromwellmuseum

* Forthcoming - Can you help create a topic?

1. Seeing and hearing Mark Jeffries flying over the village last week and leaving vapour heart trails made me think about what the village was like when Graveley airfield was active, or in fact any other similar grass airfield. What was it like to hear the airplanes overhead? Were you able to see the planes take off and land? How close could you get? What buildings were there on the site? Were you allowed up Adams Lane to the farm? How many people passed through the village and how much contact was there between locals and airfield workers/crew. I know several of our members were living here whilst it was active as it didn’t close down until the 1960s. Please let me know any stories you have (and pictures!) and we can make a topic from it. If you remember living somewhere else near a similar airfield I would still like to hear your memories – it won’t be much different.

2. Any pictures of the Towgoods of Great Paxton please.

3. Covid-19 Lockdown - The Great Paxton perspective. We need to chronicle what the last few months have been like in our village for the future, lest we forget. I have a long list of ideas to get you started if anyone would like them, and I shall upload them to our Facebook page ‘Great Paxton Remembers’ and get them onto the website, or give me a ring. Will you write a letter to the future occupants of the house you are living in now. Remember how we felt reading first hand experiences of life a hundred years ago? The letters could be submitted in sealed envelopes and added to the village archive. The envelope could have on it the soonest date it can be opened, to be decided by you. This could include photos or drawings, but written on paper and probably in pencil as that seems to last. We hope some people might wish to do a version to be shared with the group now, that is equally good and can also be added to the village archive. The point is if we don’t do this soon we will forget.

4. Help shape our History Society Ideas needed for presentations or research for when we can get together again. You don’t have to do the presentation or the research, just give us some ideas please. And to make the Society more interesting, what about trips to see various things or places. We realise these visits are likely to be far in the future when the new normal is sorted out but if we don’t dream we shall not manage anything.

Dates of meetings– 2nd Monday of each month. 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Bell, we hope.

Dates of meetings– 2nd Monday of each month. 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Bell, we hope.

• 13th July 2020 NEXT MEETING • 10th August , 14th September, 12th October Contact Details: Diane James, for Great Paxton 1000 - 01480 406938 Graham James, for Lancaster memorial - 01480 406938 Paul Ward, for History Walk, Pachstone Post - 01480216240 Jacqueline Wieczorek, general Society information - 01480477035 jacqueline.wieczorek@gmail.com

If you have read this far, then thank you. I hope you will think about trying some of the suggestions above, and contributing to others. We look forward to hearing from you.

Great Paxton is begin to bloom, here are a selection of photos from the Allotment.

More from the Village Archives with the continuation of the memories of Rowena Bryan

Contact Page: 1st Great Paxton Rainbows:

1stgreatpaxtonrainbows@gmail.com

1st Great Paxton Brownies:

1stgreatpaxtonbrownies@gmail.com

1st Great Paxton Guides:

greatpaxtonguides@gmail.com

Church Bell Ringers:

Mary Parnham

01480 394727

Holy Trinity Church:

Canon Anne�e Reed

01480 211048

canonanne�ereed@gmail.com Churchwardens:

Bob Hacking

01480 219846

Sarah Gray

01480 214015

Community Room:

Julie Edwards

01480 472132

Cra�y Belles Cra� Group:

Diane James

07522 449535

Diane.james42@outlook.com Crib Team: Football Club: Friendship Club: Gt. Paxton Community Shop: Gt. Paxton Cubs: Great Paxton Allotments and Community Garden:

Simon Black Tom Marion Reeves Andy O�ley Gillian Smith

01480 700107 07576 600523 marionreeves@b�nternet.com 01480 218624 07704 857636 01480 477847

gilliansmith462@b�nternet.com Ladies Group: OBAS: Parish Clerk: Petanque: Recrea�on Ground: School Headteacher: Great Paxton Preschool: St. Neots Police: Village Website : Woodsooners Golf Society: Walkers Group:

Melanie Dingemans Howard Fieldhouse Chris�ne Brandon Brian Wright Michael Fairs Lee Frost Julie Edwards

Mar�n Bazley Linda Richardson

melanie.dingemans1@gmail.com 07824 569111 gppc1@outlook.com 01480 473697 Michael.fairs@gmail.com 01480 472132 01480 472132 101 www.greatpaxton-pc.gov.uk 01480 21927 01480 213768

Any correc�ons please no�fy the editor or email jillatgp@gmail.com