Eastrea Village News No 63

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO EVERYONE

THERE are some spectacular illuminated homes around the country and we will hope to publish pictures of some of the more adventurous residences in Eastrea in a future edition. Bringing light to dark homes in midwinter is an ancient tradition that has Bronze Age origins, and the development of LEDs in the past twenty years offers affordable lighting to every enthusiast. Our village is beginning to attract a reputation for elaborate Christmas lights. We cannot expect to beat Blackpool in the league table — but we can surely put on a more colourful display than some other neighbouring settlements that we could name …

Muffin Dates Us ...

Muffin the Mule, made famous by Annette Mills in the 1950s, made his guest appearance at a pub TV quiz night in the village. Eastrea Village News staff were surprised at the large number of residents who still knew who Muffin was ...

CHRISTMAS ARRIVES IN EASTREA The Christmas season was launched by a Christmas Fayre last month in our village hall (picture below). The hall was hired for this special occasion by NGNPUK — not an acronym you can read, but standing for No Gain No Pain UK, a noted Whittlesey organisation raising money to buy automatic syringe drivers for those at home in chronic pain. There were over 30 craft and gift stalls on the day, a charity raffle, home-made cakes and coffee, special visitors from Spitfire Avian pest control, Phoenix the Harris hawk and Tyke the Indian eagle rock owl. It was also the first visit of Santa to Eastrea this year who was collecting letters from the children. Over 300 people attended, and the event raised £1,383.77! Next week’s event is at the Nag’s Head on Saturday 21 December when landlords Sian Hansen and Chris Peel hold their pre-Christmas night. The timetable of events is: 4-6 pm, children’s party disco starting with a visit from Santa; 7:30-9 pm the Great Christmas Quiz; then from 9 pm till late: Christmas party disco, all organised by D.U.D.S. Disco.

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HALLOWE’EN 2019 GOES WITH A BANG This year’s lively Hallowe’en celebrations were centred on the Nag’s Head where the abundant seasonal decorations attracted a sizeable crowd of parents and their scarily-dressed offspring.

Our group here were photographed by Beverley Brightley and this newsletter plans a special edition to mark next year’s lively celebrations. This is one of the best nights of the year in our village, with groups of neighbours who rarely have time to meet strolling through the streets and sharing in the fun.

Less welcome was the protracted season that Guy Fawkes’ night occupied this year. Fireworks began a week before the 5th November, and some were still going off almost a week later. Next year, fireworks night is on a Thursday, so there may be firework parties extending through both weekends. Although there is much enjoyment to be had, young children are being disturbed and some elderly residents are made very tense by the noise. But the worst effects are on pets. Many become hysterical and there were several reports across the country of distressed animals actually being put down because of the traumatic experience. Can someone think up a plan to limit the number of evenings when fireworks are let off next year?

Christmas Tree Potatoes EASTREA Village News is not planning a regular cookery corner, but this is a unique way to produce some exclusive seasonal roast potatoes that your guests won’t have seen before.

Using waxy potatoes (like Jersey Royals, Maria, Charlotte, or Maris Piper) cut large ones in half endto-end.

With a filleting knife, cut one end to be the tree trunk and make tapering cuts across the potato to form the branches. Fine cuts down each (with a knife, or even a zester) will help to indicate the foliage.

Glaze them with rapeseed oil (olive oil is burnt by roasting) and then dust lightly with fresh ground herbs or salty seasoning to add taste and texture.

Lay them on a greased baking pan and roast them at 180°C or 350°F (gas mark 4) for an hour, giving each a good basting every 20 minutes with the hot oil they’re sitting on.

Let them cool for 10 minutes or so, to avoid scalding eager young mouths … and there you have them: Christmas Tree Roast Potatoes.

Unique to Eastrea.

Watch for the Fox

Caught on camera … a fox was filmed by an infrared security camera in the garden of a house in Mayfield Road last month. Foxes are known to inhabit areas near the old Drover’s Field and have been spotted near the Thornham Way public park.

Red foxes are widespread across the fenland (below) and have often been photographed by amateur naturalists. They are unlikely to cause any significant problems but residents with small garden pets could take precautions at night …