Paxton Post Issue 33

Issue 33

Paxton Post

November - December 2022

THE MAGAZINE FOR GREAT PAXTON

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Issue

Months Covered

Deadline Date - 5pm

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January - February 2023

16th December 2022

35

March - April 2023

20th February 2023

36

May - June 2023

21st April 2023

Paxton Post is published by Easiprint Ltd in association with Great Paxton Parish Council and is funded by the Parish Council. 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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Vicar: Canon Annette Reed Tel: 01480 211048 canonannettereed@gmail.com Churchwardens: Mr Bob Hacking 1 Mint Lane Great Paxton 01480 219846 Mrs Andrea Goodyer 7a Church Lane, Great Paxton.

Andrea.goodyer@clinicallyconected.com Tower Captain: Mrs Mary Parnham 01480 394727 maryP2707@hotmail.com Church Treasurer: Mrs Jacqueline Jackson jnmunro@btinternet.com Please do contact Annette with any enquiries about weddings baptisms, and funerals. We can be very flexible with days and times for these special occasions.

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Regular Services at Holy Trinity Church.

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Sunday 9.00am Prayer Book Communion Sunday 11.00am All Age Worship Sunday 11.00am Common Worship Holy Communion Sunday 11.00am Morning Prayer.

Special Services coming up in November and December.

Sunday November 13 – Remembrance Sunday The service will be outdoors around the war memorial – weather permitting.

It will start at 10.30am with a procession from the village green.

As well as remembering those from our village who died in WW1 and WW2, we shall be remembering those who died when the Lancaster Plane crashed in Great Paxton Christmas Eve 1944. th

Christmas Services.

Sunday December 11 – Carols and Christingle at 11.00am Christmas Eve -Carols round the Crib at 4.00pm Christmas Eve – 11.30pm – The First Communion of Christmas. th

A splendid Christmas tree in Holy Trinity Church.

We look forward to welcoming you all Christmas 2022!

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A Thank you from Graham Bevan.

Graham has run the 100 Club to support Great Paxton Church for 12 years. His efforts continue to keep the church of Holy Trinity very much open for services and many other events and enable the building to be kept in good repair.

He is now embarking on Year 13 and Graham and all of Great Paxton PCC are very grateful to in the village and beyond who buy tickets.

Graham writes that he carries on year after year because of the overwhelming support he receives, many telling him, "Carry on, please don't stop."

Year 13 commences in January, so you're bound to see him walking, or cycling around the village until the end of December trying to equal (or even beat) last year's 259 numbers. Just to remind you, each number is £20, which enters you into 4 quarterly draws, with a chance of winning £100, £50 or £25. Graham can be reached on 01480 212637.

Graham is reporting now on this year’s 100 Club winners (Year 12) Holy Trinity's 100 Club winners (Year 12) January 2022 £100 Number 93 Sophie Jackson £50 Number 63 Tom Dunn £25 Number 249 Louise Sagar April 2022 £100 Number 71 Penny Kingham £50 Number 55 Melanie Chilton £25 Number 251 Jack Edwards July 2022 £100 Number 100 David Weir £50 Number 208 Sarah Gray £25 Number 251 Jack Edwards October 2022 £100 Number 150 Carl Anthony £50 Number 146 Nicola Jones £25 Number 124 Andrea Mallett

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More thanks from Graham and Alisdair.

Graham Bevan and Alasdair Kennedy would like to thank the generosity of the 220 villagers who sponsored him for The Ride and Stride bike ride in September, organised by the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust.

They visited 78 places of worship over two days in September in Cambridge and surrounding villages raising £2,942. This was Graham's third Ride and Stride and Alasdair's second. The grand total for the three rides is an impressive £8,424, divided equally between Holy Trinity and the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust, which gives much needed grants to churches in our diocese.

Annette writes: This is a truly amazing achievement by Graham and Alisdair and again we are very grateful to all villagers who contributed to the funds raised.

Great Paxton Church have benefitted from grants from CHCT in past years and hope to again in the near future.

Graham and Alisdair.

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The Scarecrow Vicar returns!

Although the weekend of September 10 -11 was tinged with the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth 11, the scarecrow festival weekend went ahead in the village.

We were delighted to host some stalls in the churchyard and three scarecrows in church.

Here is Annette with Rev Alfred Cane, Vicar here from 1892 to 1919 th

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The Vicar’s Curious Quiz Night Number 14 Friday November 18 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. th

Great Paxton School Hall.

Just £3.00 per head – come on your own or in a team.

Bring your own food and drink.

Lots of fun questions – with a specialist round on Snowmen/women.

Hope to see you there!

All proceeds to Holy Trinity Church, Great Paxton.

The Mobile Library Visits Great Paxton On The 3rd Monday In The Month.

It Stop’s On Towgood Way outside number 37.

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September and October 2022 meetings Website https://greatpaxtonhistory.weebly.com/ Please do visit the website. If anyone has some more pictures of people and places in Great Paxton we would be pleased to see them. greatpaxtonhs@yahoo.com and email At the September meeting, we noted the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of his Majesty King Charles III. A few ideas have been suggested for forthcoming topics, speakers and visits, but more are needed for the Society to continue as a viable monthly meeting in The Bell. No more ideas forthcoming, although a later idea came for Paul W to present Ann Izzard – The Great Paxton witch as a open talk to visitors next year, probably in The Bell marquee.

In the meantime, Paul has put on the website greatpaxton1000.co.uk a very detailed account. Well worth reading.

Ann Izzard The Great Paxton Witch (greatpaxton1000.co.uk) Our involvement with the Remembrance Sunday event was discussed.

Arrangements for the crosses and netting on the village green have been made and they will go up on November 5 and remain for a fortnight. The positioning of the two wooden soldiers was not agreed as there are four different, suitable locations. We thought that the names and ages of the Lancaster crew should be read out along with those on the original memorial. th

The advert for Martyn Smith’s talk on the Hunts Cyclist Battalion was passed around.

Graham read through some notes regarding the link between Holyrood Palace and Abbey (which featured as part of the Queen’s week of mourning) and Great Paxton. Research into this has lead to the chance to complete the list of vicars in the church. Most of the missing dates and personnel can now be added due to the information in a detailed book about the Lincoln Diocese records.

This book has historical details about all the parishes that were in their very large diocese yet the largest section by far was about Great Paxton.

Together with the first incumbents at the minster church going on to

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hold prominent positions in the church in Scotland, and another one being regarded as one of the most prominent legal experts in the country, could arguably show that this village’s church was very highly regarded and adds to the questioning often heard here as to the reason for such a prominent church being built where it was.

Further notes about the link with King David 1 of Scotland, the first two abbots of Holyrood Abbey being former heads of the church here and transfers of running of the church being granted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope will be included in an article in Paxton Post.

Paul gave some details of possessions of villagers that were included in wills and documents from the 17 century that had been made available online by the Kew Records Office. These can be seen on Great Paxton 1000 website. https://greatpaxton1000.co.uk/history/wills.php?fbclid=IwAR0Q630G08U mtdB6I3tJqGJ4yIxy1KOeqE57wqpOmUVwhLgSi3DaL23SL4o st

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Show and tell: September • Stories – did any one meet the Queen? No-one had - although Jacqueline had been in the receiving line for a royal visit to Bedford.

We did learn later that Rev Annette had met the King, as Prince Charles.

• Cigarette cards showing airplanes • Ink pen nibs for fountain pens. Remember them?

• A newspaper clipping from 1945 regarding witches, written by Canon South Phillips, vicar of Great Paxton (along with his brother-in-law Rev Budge) • A postcard of River Lane dated 1908 (from the stamp) • Photos and cards of Nancy Howard as a young girl and the Brown family from Lilac Cottage • A newspaper cutting from 1976 when Queen Elizabeth visited Bedford October • A bracelet which featured many threepenny bits from various reigns dating back about 100 years.

• An egg-timer with ‘1953 ER’ showing on it so may have been a coronation souvenir.

• A very old, small bottle of oil, unopened with a cork still in it.

• 3 mugs and cups that had been coronation souvenirs from the 1930s and one with dates regarding World War 1. This also had a date in 1919 which we did not recognise but a quick search found that it was 11

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the date that the treaty of Versailles was signed which formally ended the war.

A framed legal document was shown. It has recently been given by Annette to our archives and it seems to relate to a transaction regarding Manor Farm dating from 1856.

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

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as November 14th. All welcome The January 2023 meeting is to be confirmed as The Bell will not be open that evening Jacqueline Wieczorek, general Society information – 01480 477035 jacqueline.wieczorek@gmail.com

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During the days after the death of Queen Elizabeth the royal residence of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh was heavily featured in news items. There is surprisingly a link with the area around the palace and Great Paxton Next to the palace are the ruins of a former abbey and when researching the names missing from the list of the first vicars of our church I came across a few mentions of the abbey.

Records we have seen in a book about Lincoln Cathedral’s huge diocese in the 12 and 13 centuries has more references to Great Paxton than any other town or village, which arguably shows how important the church was and how highly regarded the people were who worked here.

The earliest reference currently found was about a priest here in 1124, so we are missing the very first names, but the first head of our church we now know about was Orgar. He was appointed by King David of Scotland which is not as strange as it first appears as King David was previously the Earl of Huntingdon and therefore probably was aware of Orgar. Some fortunate circumstances and marrying well led to the Earl inheriting the Kingdom and also, Great Paxton Minister Church. Strong links between the village, Holyrood and the Scottish Royal family then remained for over a hundred years.

In 1140 Osbert became the head of the priory until he was also asked to serve at Holyrood serving as King David’s chaplain and, according to some, but not all, records, became the first abbot there. On his death it is said that he was buried with great pomp before the high altar.

Around 1155 the rector here was Berenger who was appointed by the Abbot of Holyrood. He was succeeded around 1176 by Master Peter of Paxton whose patron was also the Abbot of Holyrood.

He served here for over 45 years, even turning down an offer by the King of Scotland to serve in Edinburgh, preferring instead to work and study in our quiet village. He was a tremendous scholar and possessed one of the widest and most important collection of books on legal matters in the country.

The church had been passed on by the Scottish royal family to Holyrood abbey but only after King Malcolm had given Master Peter a gift of the church at Potton in recompense for losing Great Paxton.

This was soon reversed, and Peter returned. These transactions were regarded as important enough to be confirmed by the archbishop of Canterbury. th

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The link ended in 1232 when, after a few changes of ownership, King John granted the church to the Bishop of Lincoln. This transaction needed the approval of Pope Gregory!

So, the additions to the list of vicars can now be amended to show: PRIORS PATRONS 1124 Orgar King David 1 of Scotland 1140 Osbert King David 1 of Scotland 1161 Berenger Abbot of Holyrood 1176 Master Peter Abbot of Holyrood We now just need a calligrapher to complete the list. st

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The Autumn Meeting of the Great Paxton Woodsooners Golf Society was held at The Cambridgeshire Golf Club, Bar Hill on Friday 30 September 2022. Bar Hill is a good but challenging course and it played well. The sun was conspicuous by its absence and we had a bit of rain towards the end of the day but it didn’t dampen our spirits and another good day was had by all.

We had 11 players (probably our lowest number to date), both local and from further afield; as always, it was great to see new members (good to meet you Adam) as well as ‘old hands’. As a reminder, all are welcome to come along to Woodsooners, regardless of where you live.

We are always keen to welcome new members to keep the society strong - 20 is a good number of players for our events and it would be great if we could maintain somewhere around this number for future events so if you know of anyone who may be interested, please encourage them to come along, they will be made most welcome.

Dinner, Presentations and much banter were had at The Bell in Great Paxton where we were hosted very well by Rachel and her team as always. th

Prizes were awarded as follows: Nearest the Pin Longest Drive High Handicap Runner-up (27 points) High Handicap WINNER (30 points) Pairs Runners-up (26 points) Pairs WINNERS (24.75) Singles Runner-up (32 points) Singles WINNER (35 points) Wooden Spoon Winner (22 points) Pottery Plate Winner (64 points)

Lee Barrett Andy Hill Dave Morgan Trevor smith Dave Morgan & Jim McIlwaine Lee Burette & Steve Bullock Rob Worrall Andy Hill Sam Helme Jim McIlwhaine

Congratulations to Jim McIlwhaine for winning the Pottery Plate for best combined scores over the Spring and Autumn meetings. Well done also to all our winners and runners-up and indeed to everyone who took part for making this another great day out.

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Our Society is extremely friendly so if you would like to attend future meetings, or if you know of anyone that may be interested, just let me or Scott know on either of the contacts below – you will be made most welcome. We meet twice a year (Spring and Autumn) and play 9 holes Pairs in the morning and 18 holes Singles in the afternoon with Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Prizes all included in the price (generally around £80).

Note for your Diaries – the Spring Woodsooners Meeting is currently scheduled to take place on Friday 5 May 2023 at either Elton Furze, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire Country Club, Bourne or Chesfield Downs Golf Club, Hitchin. We will let you know details (including the Venue) nearer the time. th

Finally for now, the Spring 2023 meeting will be the last one that Scott and I organise so if there is anyone out there who would be interested in taking on the organising, let me know.

Trevor Smith 07473 213556 trevorsmith1009@outlook.com

Scott Boswell 07900 216300 scott@tikitour.net

Thank you to everyone that made Scarecrow Festival 2022 such a success – even though the odds were a little stacked against us! (Including bad weather, the phantom scarecrow vandaliser, and the sad passing of the Queen.)

We had over 70 scarecrow entries in the end, and they were all fantastic! It was brilliant to see the village buzzing again and so many people walking around enjoying the festival. Thanks to the Black Cat Radio interview, The Villager Magazine, many posters, signs, & banners plus the power of Facebook, we had people visit from far and wide! Over 500 maps were taken during the week which is incredible for our little village!

Saturday 10 September saw the start of the Festival. The Arts & Crafts Market at the Church was well attended despite the torrential showers, and the Street Food Vendors at The Bell were busy all afternoon with some really delicious options. I’m pleased to report that the stall holder fees were donated to the Church (£125) and GP Primary School (£50). th

Unfortunately, only one village group / charity took advantage of the opportunity to raise some funds (thank you Jacqueline W and your jars!). So, village teens Will and Romilly stepped in and provided a family fun stall in the form of a tombola, which was extremely popular and raised a fantastic £108 profit for Breast Cancer UK, the charity of their choice. Well done you two!

The votes came in all week - there were 778 to count! The worthy winners were: 1 – I’m Not a Stick – The Goodliffe Family - £75 cash from Hire or Buy Group st

2 – Peter Rabbit – The Bartrup Family - £50 voucher from The Bell nd

3 – On Guard – The Queen Family - £25 voucher from Ibbetts rd

Well done everyone, the standard was so high again!

A huge thank you to the above companies for the generous scarecrow prizes, and to Peter Anderson Cars for the voters prize, which was won by Kirsty Drew from Abbots Ripton.

So, my crazy lockdown idea has been great fun, but sadly it is too much work for just me. After numerous years on the Tots Committee, Preschool Committee, and PTA, I think it is time to pass it on to someone younger!!! Therefore, if

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anyone would like to take over and carry on with it, please message me at GPScarecrow.Festival@yahoo.com for a chat.

Great Paxton, thank you for your support, it’s been a blast!

Jo Clark 1ST I’M NOT A STICK!

3RD ON GUARD

2ND PETER RABBIT

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Many residents attended the last meeting in October to hear a presentation from Brackley Investments Limited who wanted to consult the Parish Council on proposals for a new Care Home Development in Great Paxton. Don’t worry if you missed it – a copy of their presentation is now on the website www.greatpaxton-pc.gov.uk It is important to point out that this is only an idea at this stage! The developer has not acquired any land and no formal planning application has been submitted. The plans provide for the creation of a 64-bed care home based on four interlinked 1.5 storey buildings on a 3500 square metre site to the rear of existing houses on the west side of the High Street, approximately 32 parking spaces and communal gardens. Those residents present took the opportunity to ask questions and these covered items such as village boundaries, noise close to the railway line, the absence of cycle and footpaths, a regular bus service and other community facilities.

Mention also was made of the inappropriateness of the development in a village location, the 24-hour operation of a care home, extra car journeys, the impact on neighbouring houses and the nature of Great Paxton as a quiet, rural village. The Consultants thanked both the Parish Council and residents for their feedback. We await further developments, if any!

Elsewhere in the ‘Paxton Post’ you will find an insert asking for your feedback on a proposal for a Village Hall in Great Paxton. This came up during ‘public comments’ time at the meeting. Councillors agreed to canvass the ‘appetite’ of residents for such a facility albeit mindful of the considerable funding that would be needed to plan, build, and support a village hall. If you have any thoughts, please complete, and return the form to the Community Shop as soon as you can so the Parish Council can consider resident’s views at either their November or January meetings.

Some good news, a local farmer has offered to cut back the hedge to allow work to take place to widen the footpath next to the High Street leading from Church Lane. The Ely Diocese, owners of the land adjacent to the hedge, have given their consent. This will, hopefully, improve the condition of the footpath especially in winter when it is wet and slippery and dangerous for pedestrians.

The new ‘Buffer Zone’ is now in place on Paxton Hill and is having a positive impact on the speed of vehicles as they slow down to enter the High Street.

To ensure residents continue to enjoy free entry to St Neots Museum, the Parish Council has awarded a grant of £50 to the Museum Curators and agreed to plant a native small tree on both Mount Pleasant and Saxon 23

Green in commemoration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and more recently, in her memory.

Not such good news, the Parish Council was hopeful that an application for grant from the District Council towards replacement of poor streetlighting on the High Street would provide much needed funds for the project. The indication is that this bid has not been successful so Councillors may have to consider how to move forward with this at their next meeting.

Finally, you may remember the chaos that was prompted by a Parish Council meeting in Cheshire during covid lock down and the furore created by the bad behaviour of Councillors at that meeting! Since then, Local Council Associations have worked on Councillor behavioural issues and whilst Great Paxton operates in a very different way, the Council was pleased to make the following pledge – The Council has also adopted a ‘Dignity at Work’ Policy.

Lastly, Gordon Addison has retired as a Parish Councillor. The Parish Council thanks Gordon for his contributions over recent years and expresses all best wishes to him for the future. Gordon’s retirement means that there are now three vacancies on the Parish Council. If you would like to express an interest in one of the vacancies, please contact clerk@greatpaxton-pc.gov.uk Next Meeting – Monday 28th November at 8pm in the Community Room.

See you there!

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GREAT PAXTON PARISH COUNCIL SURVEY: A VILLAGE HALL? At a recent meeting of the Parish Council, the question was asked why Great Paxton does not have its own Village Hall or Community Space?

Although some residents had recollections of an earlier village hall, this was replaced by the Community Room on the Primary School site. Access to the site is limited to school term only so it does not currently meet the needs of the village in the same way as a Village Hall might!

Parish Councillors want to get a feel for the views of the Village on this subject and the contribution that residents might be prepared to make to achieve their own meeting/community space. It would be helpful, therefore, if you could respond to the following questions ………………………

PLEASE RING YOUR ANSWER 1. Would you like to have a Village Hall/Community Space in Great Paxton?

Yes/No 2. If so, would you be prepared to help fund raise to achieve it?

Yes/No 3. Would you support an increase in the Parish Council’s precept to help pay for it (i.e., the amount of money collected from Great Paxton households to pay for local services – currently £20,000)?

Yes/No 4. Subject to agreement with the Recreation Ground Committee, would making improvements to the Sports Pavilion (such that it could be more widely used be your preferred Option)?

Yes/No [It perhaps should also be pointed out that a new Village Hall potentially has ongoing costs which also would need to be funded such as land purchase, maintenance, cleaning, keyholder?? So, any one-off increase in the precept for a new build would need to continue in some way for running costs.]

Any Other Comments Would Be Welcomed. Either email the clerk@greatpaxtonpc.gov.uk or write your comments on this sheet and return it to the Community Shop from where it will be collected.

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THANK YOU OTHER COMMENTS …………………………………………………………………..

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