Hillam news dec jan 2014 and 2015r

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The voice of Hillam village. Volume 27 Issue 46 Christmas 2014

2014 Another good year for our village.

The Cross Keys - Our pub at the hub.

We went through a long period when the Cross Keys in Hillam looked like a dud, in danger of closure. In other villages around Hillam pubs seem to be closing, with the latest under threat being in Brotherton. Hillam News is pleased to see that the Cross Keys is once again a thriving village pub, and a pleasure to visit thanks to the enthusiasm and hospitality of Laura, Mel and the team.

We are pleased to see success and we are very happy to support our village pub. Our leading good news story for 2014.

Hillam - Cycling the sporting passion What better way to mark the re-opening of the Lumby Lane bridge than to have a practice run for the “Grand Depart” a week later.

The bridge was opened by Nigel Adams MP and first across was the peleton from Hillam and Monk Fryston. Cycling has truly taken off as a sport in Hillam. This year, for the first time ever, we have had more stories about cycling and cyclists than we have about cricket, and that’s saying something ! We are very lucky to have a number of circular routes around the village which can be enjoyed by everybody, especially at the weekends. Great routes, open countryside and pleasant surroundings. Something for us all to enjoy.

The Community Centre The call from children and young people for a new Youth Club and Scout Group in Monk Fryston and Hillam has taken a major step forward thanks to a £75,000 grant to the Community Association for their £140,000 Youth Provision and Community Centre redevelopment project. Building work is complete and the Youth Club has started.

Watch out for news of events to be held in the new, much enlarged Community centre - something for the village to be proud to support.

Colour front page sponsored by Nigel Adams MP - see page 2 if you need to contact your MP about anything

Also in this issue…

Get switched on - at the Ring Tree Saturday 6 December .

Pub at the hub - They even serve grub !

Takeover bid for Hillam News - Not quite, but you never know.

Sanglier - a gripping tail from the Sierra Morena, whatever happened to “birding”?

It could never happen to me - a word of warning about a “Long Con”.

Random ramblings - Not quite the walk you were expecting ?

Bonfires a plenty - But whatever happened to Guy Fawkes?

Best wishes for a Happy Christmas and for 2015 from Hillam News follow our turkey tips and Christmas tree trail to the Community Centre.

Issue editor - Howard Ferguson Hillam News is financed by advertising and the generosity of contributors, copiers and distributors.

If you have an article for publication, please phone David Atkinson on 684577 or email dsa99uk@yahoo.co.uk Advertising enquiries to David Edwards on 682346 or exSite@talktalk.net

www.issuu.com/hillamnews

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HILLAM RINGTREE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS ‘SWITCH ON’ Saturday 6 December at 7.00pm

Hillam Lights October 2014

The Hillam Christmas lights will be switched on at 7:00pm on Saturday 6 December. We hope you will be there to join friends and neighbours and enjoy a festive start to the Christmas season – and of course to meet Santa and his helpers!

The lucky winners from the October Draw are :

Parents are responsible for the safety of their children during the evening.

1st - £20 – No. 12 - Bev Jackson 2nd - £10 – No. 65 - Ruth Alred 3rd - £5 – No. 6 - Shirley and Neil Sutcliffe Congratulations to all of you - your prizes are on the way!

Ring tree 100 Club We would like to thank you for your support of the Ringtree Christmas Lights during 2014. The 100 Club provides the funds for the annual Christmas Lights celebration. Without this money our village tradition could not take place. Existing members should have received renewal forms either by hand or e-mail and if these are returned by Friday 5 December then you will be entered into a draw to win a Hamper full of Christmas goodies.

If you would like join for next year then please complete the form below and return it to Karen Merry(12 Hillside Close) or Jenny Friday (1 Hillam Hall View), along with £12 payable to “Hillam Ring Tree Lights”

Wishing Hillam News readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Nigel Adams MP It gives me great pleasure to sponsor the colour printing of the front page of the 2014 Christmas issue of Hillam News. Hopefully the best ever!

We look forward to seeing you at the ‘Switch on’ and wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Name(s):_________________________________________ You can have more than one membership per household

Email:___________________________________ Phone:________________________ Address ____________________________________

________________________________ Postcode_________________

17 High Street, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire LS24 9AP Tel: 01937 838088 nigel.adams.mp@parliament.uk Goodbye Gloom – hopefully.

Whilst doubtless the turn on of The Christmas Lights will add sparkle to the centre of the village, hopefully other areas which have been incredibly gloomy of late will also be illuminated.

Our electrical contractor recently relocated to new premises.

This transition resulted in a very slow response rate to our requests for attention to broken lights over the past few months. The Parish Council have been assured that future repairs will be addressed more quickly. They are monitoring the situation.

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POSTGRADUATE JOURNALIST SAYS Thank you -

The residents of Hillam have been so supportive of me following the publication of some of my ramblings in this paper over the past year. I’m now a full time trainee reporter, and David Atkinson thought some of you might like to hear about the (not-so) glamourous world of learning how to be a hack…

Perhaps one of the most eye-opening parts of my course has been being let loose in Sheffield Magistrates Court. I won’t spill too many details, but suffice to say, you find some real characters in the dock! It can be a little intimidating sometimes being surrounded by wigs and gowns, but crime reporting is something I’m especially interested in- so if anyone finds out about any dodgy dealings in Hillam, come find me and I’ll rush down, notebook in hand, in my trilby and trench coat. (You should probably call the police first.)

What do learning a different alphabet, getting friendly with the market traders in Penistone and quietly trying to sneak into a juicy court case have in common?

All in all, it’s been an intense, fascinating start to what will hopefully be an exciting career. And I’m doing it all for one reason- Howard and David, don’t get too warm in your seats. I think it’s time Hillam News had a lady in charge…

They are all things I’ve found myself doing already on my postgraduate Journalism course. Over eight weeks I have gone from being an exhausted English student trying to juggle a dissertation with running a newspaper to being a full-time trainee reporter. And, despite my worst fears, it’s not all learning about how to hack phones.

For a start, myself and the sixty other trainee reporters accepted onto the MA at Sheffield spend two hours every morning in shorthand dictation classes. We are expected to be able to write 100 words a minute in shorthand by the end of the year- and to me, half the time it still looks like meaningless gibberish. Many people are surprised when I tell them what a vital part of the course it is, but journalists are still not allowed to take any kind of recording device into court- so taking a good shorthand note means that all the gory details will be totally accurate in my articles.

I also sometimes feel as if I am a trainee journalist-cum-lawyer, thanks to the hours I spend in law lectures learning how basically not to get sued. It’s more complicated than it soundsfor example, did you know that everything you write in the public domain- even down to a tiny Tweet- has to comply with British publishing law and regulation? It is surprisingly easy to defame or libel somebody, and I have been reliably told that if I get my newspaper into trouble, not only will they have to pay a huge fine, I will also be out of a job! (So I better make sure I’m extra lovely about the editors on the Hillam News… not that I’m after their jobs or anything!)

Victoria Finan Thank you to the copying and distribution team If you have read the footnote on the front page you will see that Hillam News is financed solely by advertising revenue and the generosity of contributors, photocopiers and distributors. This means that a lot of people do a lot of work in bringing you your free copy six times a year. There are people who write the articles, manage the advertising, edit and proofread. But in the end it is down to those who help with copying and distribution to actually get Hillam News through your letterbox. We hope you will all join us in giving a special thank-you to the copying and distribution team: Mike Allison Barbara and David Atkinson Sue and Peter Auders Susan Ferguson Jane Ford Elizabeth Fryer Jenny and Stuart Hoare Kim Humphreys Alison Judge Mary Little Ian Metcalfe Ian Robertson Sandra Spink Neil Sutcliffe Donna Tonks Celia Watkinson Neal Wilson Betty and Les Wright

But shorthand and law aren’t the reasons I wanted to become a reporter. No, it’s the nitty-gritty of getting out into my patch and finding hard news stories that motivates me. My allocated patch is the South Yorkshire town of Penistone, and I try to get across there a few times a week. There are some fun stories to cover, like the opening of a new Scout group, but also some very hard ones. I was sent to cover two young boys’ funerals in November, which tested my ability to stay professional on the job. It is extremely hard not to get very emotional in such circumstances, and it was a sobering reminder of the difficult situations I may face in my career.

David (Dai) Jones

Architect

Dip Arch RIBA Fletton House The Square HILLAM North Yorkshire LS25 5HE

Phone 01977 685534 Consultation Welcome – Initial Discussion Free

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THE BIRDING COLUMN I hear that the Barn Owls which bred earlier in the summer have done their stuff again, with reports of youngsters in the nest box, so the supply of Short-tailed Voles must still be plentiful in the fields. Other than that, I have no news of local birds, as I have been away from Hillam for much of the time since my last article, and after all, it is also traditionally a quiet time before the winter birds move in, when all said and done.

So, I shall have to bore you with a few paragraphs on my recent trip to the Sierra Morena in southern Spain, looking for the now very rare, Iberian Lynx. This was an organised trip for ten people with two local guides, driving Land Rovers on the most appalling of mountain roads across vast shooting estates, stocked with Red Deer. Our basic hotel, situated far down in the valley was what you might call “rustic” at best, used by Spaniards visiting the mountains from nearby Andujar, with the most basic facilities, and rock hard beds! I suppose my feelings about the hotel may have been coloured by the incident on the first night, when the solid brass shower attachment fell off the wall onto my head, leaving me scrambling about trying to control a hissing shower head in a restricted space, for the next few seconds! The daily routine never varied, up at 0600 then after just one piece of toast covered in olive oil for breakfast, we were on the road heading into the hills to the vast rolling estate with wild olives and rocky ground everywhere. The Iberian Lynx is the size of a medium sized dog,, with grey-green fur and pronounced ear tufts, there being only about two hundred left in the wild. There are about seven on this vast estate of thirty five thousand hectares, living in dense scrub and rocky caves in fenced off areas to protect their habitat from overgrazing by Red Deer, the owners putting out live rabbits to keep them fed, as myxomatosis has decimated the wild rabbit population. The plan was for us to take the Land Rovers to a point overlooking the compound where the live rabbit is released, then to keep watch for lynx coming to take the rabbit. The compound is fenced off with a two metre high fence which is deer proof but not too tall to stop a lynx jumping over it. A camera, fired by a photoelectric laser beam automatically records each visit of the lynx, so having examined the photo records we knew that one particular lynx was visiting the pen on a regular basis. Having said that, I was non too hopeful of seeing the creature, as all of the photographed visits were at night, but we did manage to put in four

by Graham Todd

long shifts until dusk, with bitterly cold winds blowing up the valley to liven up proceedings.

In the middle of each day we spent a couple of hours having an al fresco lunch in the grounds of the sprawling bungalow owned by the estate owner Don Fernando, situated on a high piece of level ground overlooking lynx habitat.; his two friendly dogs, one a Yorkshire Terrier and the other a black Labrador enlivening the proceedings. I eventually noticed that the little terrier set off barking, racing up and down the grass, looking upwards, and after a couple of times I looked up and was astonished to see that he had spotted Black vultures on each occasion, circling at high altitude. I know these are big birds with a wingspan of ten feet, but for such a little dog with a fringe to boot, his eyesight was astonishing. I have since wondered whether he may have confused the vultures with the pair of Golden Eagles that hunted low over the estate, which would indeed have posed a threat to him, rather than vultures, which only take carrion, feeding on Red Deer corpses put out for them?

As each day drew to a close we hung about, the odd Wild Boar appearing on the light red stony tracks in the gathering gloom, but lynx did not put in an appearance until the penultimate night, when my breakaway group of three wandered off from the main group, which by that time was shivering in the intense cold. I can quite truthfully say that I have never been so cold in my entire life, and my knees were knocking violently inside my walking trousers. As I was lurking about at the top of a fenced off track, I heard the unmistakeable cry of a cat, which I can only liken to the cry of Danny John Jules, who played The Cat in Red Dwarf! We rushed to see where the cry was coming from, but I was too late to see the lynx, having wasted time gathering up my telescope and tripod. However, the other two had very brief views of a lynx coming out of the scrub bordering the track, before it took the bend, heading off towards the rabbit pen. Unfortunately it was too dark by then to see what transpired, and that was the only very brief and unsatisfactory view we had of a lynx in the entire trip, nobody else having seen one for a month, so I guess one could say that it was a jinxed trip, or maybe more aptly “The case of the missing lynx”…….

Graham Todd

Open Sun-

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CHRISTMAS CRIME Christmas crime

The dodgy charity collectors

Christmas is a great time for all the family - but it is also a period when there seems to be an upsurge in crime. In previous years we have had sheep stolen, an upsurge in burglary and opportunist crime - stealing presents which have been left on display in parked cars for example. In this crime report we try to make our readers aware that they need to be on their guard.

Charity collectors fraudulently claiming to be working on behalf of The Children’s Trust have been observed in the Albany Avenue area of Harrogate. The collectors failed to show any identification when asked. All legitimate charity workers should have identification and are instructed to show it when asked. Report any incidents to Trading Standards on 03454 04 05 06.

The back of a van man North Yorkshire Police have received a number of reports from the public about Irish travellers selling electrical items from the boots of cars or from backs of vans. Trading standards are also interested in viewing any electrical items bought from these people with a view to their safety. Please be cautious about buying any items from the backs of vehicles as the safety of the electrical items may be of concern. Please report the details, registration number, time and place etc to North Yorkshire Police on 101

The big time banking scam There have been three victims in Yorkshire of a very sophisticated banking scam. It starts with a telephone call, allegedly from your bank, to tell you that there has been attempted fraud on you bank account.

The caller suggests that you call your bank to verify that this is the case, but the scammers hold your line open so you are actually talking to the same people.

The process last a couple of days, during which the scammers build your trust and eventually tell you that the only way to protect yourself is to transfer the balance on your account to a new safe account - specially set up by the scammers. Once you transfer the money it is immediately moved on to a network with hundreds of rapid transactions so that the money cannot be traced.

Your bank will say that it your fault because you transferred the money.

This is a very sophisticated operation and the three victims in our part of North Yorkshire lost over ÂŁ200,000 between them.

While these victims were caught out in February the scam is still running - calls are still being made and presumably people are still being caught out.

If you get a call, purporting to be from your bank, about attempted fraud on your account ask for an appointment with your bank. If you phone your bank do so on a different phone.

There are other variations on the scam which involve collecting your debit card via a courier.

The banks have been working hard on security of on-line banking and if used normally the risk of the banking system being scammed are now minimal. The criminals have moved on so that the new scams are all based on getting the bank customer to transfer the money. The scams are all being done by very sophisticated criminals. Watch out !

PayPal Phishing It stands out as a phishing attempt - but somebody must have been caught. Look at the way that the message is formatted and look at the web address. Anybody that fell for this one would soon find that there had been big withdrawals from their account.

PaY Pal Dear Member, We have faced some problems with your Pay PaL account Please Update your informations within 24h, If you drop this email your account will be desactivated soon.

To update your billing information, [+] Copy This Link In Another Tab To Remove This Limitation : http://www.login.account.cradlehearts.com/Login/ Past the link below to open a new secure browser window.

Confirm that you're the owner of the account, and follow the instructions.

Thank you, Pay Pal Support This blatant phishing attempt, complete with basic typos, dropped into my mail-box just a few days ago.

2014 Turkey Auction

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MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO ‘MAKE THE PUB THE HUB’ The onset of the party season seems an ideal time to report on some of the local forthcoming activities and festivities.

Another new regular event planned by Mel our host at our revitalised pub is a regular Monday night Poker School, Texas Hold’em, starting 8pm on Monday 8th December.

‘The Pub’s The Hub’ Monday morning coffee mornings at the Thursday night Quiz nights starting at 9pm are already very well Cross Keys are proving a great draw, and are very well attended. attended, so go early to get your table.

The ‘pop up’ library run by Ann Dawson is very popular; if you Christmas Cracker menus run throughout December and have books to donate they will be very welcome. Julie has bookings are being taken for lunch on Christmas Day. Details titillated our taste buds with tasty treats, and Mel has on offer are available in the pub. toasted teacakes and bacon butties for those who would like something more substantial.

On Saturday 6th December, the night of the big Switch On, working in conjunction with Hillam Lights, The Cross Keys will Recent ‘extras’ during the morning included a bring and buy be serving burgers, pie and peas, hot dogs and Jacket potatoes in morning where preserves, jewellery, scarves and gorgeous the car park. cuddly teddy bears where amongst the items on offer.

A Fashion show is planned for Monday 1st December.

The following week on Monday 8th December Leslie Venables will demonstrate how to make a Christmas wreath.

So, as you can see, there’s lots happening. If you haven’t been yet, why not drop in? Come and meet friends and neighbours you know and maybe meet the ones you don’t; start the week with coffee and a chat, and maybe enjoy something extra as well.

Cross Keys Christmas and New Year events.

Book now for Christmas and for the New Years Eve Black Tie Party with buffet and live music.

The Pub is the Hub A coffee morning every Monday from 10am to 11:45am in the Cross Keys pub •

•

Come along and enjoy: Dec 1st Fashion Show by Complete Fashion Ltd from 10:30am Dec 8th Demonstration on How to make a Christmas wreath by Lesley Venables

‘Bring and Buy’ table is available to all villagers with something to sell.

All are welcome

There are a few places still available - for their New Years Eve Black Tie celebrations. The £10 ticket includes a glass of fizz, special buffet and live music.

And finally, New Years Day offers you the opportunity to start your new year with an all you can eat breakfast served at 10am, and a family village treasure hunt on bikes starting from 11am.

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RANDOM RAMBLINGS AROUND HILLAM Efficiency???

Selby Jobs Fair

Particularly for those of you, who rarely use the post box, but when they do, i.e. for birthday cards, delivery timings are important, beware ‘efficiency’.

The confusing sticker recently adorning our village post box in the Square contradicted the adjacent information on the metal information panel and informed us that on the grounds of ‘efficiency -note with a wry smile- ‘last‘collection from the post box in The Square is now 7am, yes, you did read that right, 7am on a Saturday and 9am Monday to Friday.

Sadly, this has now been replaced and re-affirmed by a permanent new and shiny metal version of the same revised collections information So when you’re thinking about posting anything in Hillam where a specific delivery date is important, think well ahead., or be prepared for a walk up to Monk Fryston.

I had to go to the Selby Jobs Fair - to get my house key back. There was an insert in the October - November Hillam News so I knew where to find Howard.

The Cricket Club Needs You The Cricket Club is looking for a Club Manager. This is not like a Football Managers Job, this one you’re less likely to be fired from!!

The club needs a volunteer with some practical skills to look after the pavilion and liaise with the users and contractors.

It would involve 1-2 hours a week, maybe more in the summer months. It would suit someone who is happy to work as part of a team getting the Club in the best possible shape but also independently getting tasks done.

If you feel you want to know more contact Tonu Vaks on 01977 685227.

Earlier something verging on 'terminal' had happened to his broadband. That's not unknown down Hillam Common. So I had lent him my house key to drop in and benefit from central Hillam's 75 Mbps.

"Did the Job Centre send you," I was politely asked on arrival.

Apparently they say that to all the girls (and boys).

"No. I'm looking for Howard."

I found him at the Superfast North Yorkshire (@SFNYorkshire) stall. Broadband coordinator Carol Haywood-Poole was just explaining how far it was from Mill Close to Hillam Common.

Jobs Fair turnout was heading for 700, which might be slightly down on last year. But the ever present Nigel Adams MP pointed out, "Not really surprising when you look at the huge drop in unemployment in Selby district."

The same day I needed a word with another member of the Hillam News team but that would have to wait as 'social media' had just announced she was in The Yorkshire Premier Lounge at Leeds and Bradford International Airport - again.

Dsa99uk

Recent local house sales 23 Hillside Close, Hillam, Leeds LS25 5PB £380,000 17/7/2014 Burton Hall, Main Street, Burton Salmon, LS25 5JS £495,000 19/09/2014 5 Ledgate Lane, Burton Salmon, LS25 5JY £210,000 4/9/2014

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TURKEYS AND TREES What am I bid - Selby turkey auction

Christmas Trees will be on-sale from the Community Centre.

Nordmann Fir (no needles dropped) and Norway Spruce (tradition) are available in heights 5ft - 8ft from £25. The tree's will be on sale each Saturday and Sundays in December from 10am - 2pm.

It is a long time since I paid as little as a tenner for a turkey and even longer since my wife dressed a bird on the kitchen table. Selby Farmers' Christmas auction started an hour after it was listed in Hillam News, so there were quite a few impatient parents and children kicking their feet at Selby's Bawtry Road.

And some of them had been practising their bidding at home before they set off.

The hold up just meant that more steak pies were consumed in the market canteen which once got top marks in a Yorkshire Post gourmet review.

One of the reasons for the delay was that there were double the number of entries compared with the previous year and the market men had them all to weigh and display. Over 900 and sellers were turning up right to the starting bell. Usually there is a draw to decide the number of the first bird to be sold. But not this time.

But this time latecomers went right to the back of the queue, which was very important All trees can be pre-ordered by phone or because prices fell steadily as the auction progressed. Locals, who just wanted a single email, and delivered locally free of charge. bird, piled in first while the butchers and dealers bided their time.

To pre order please either phone on 07542 366213 or email ramblehouse@live.co.uk Thank you Richard Ramble House

A Hillam bidder even brought the bidding card he had obtained a year earlier and found that the auctioneers still had his name and address on file. He hadn't bought anything since last Christmas, not even a couple of beef cattle! A youngster from Hillam eventually raised his arm high enough to catch the auctioneer's eye who, breaking all protocol, acknowledged with, "You've got one at last."

I was slightly surprised there were no facilities to pay by bankers card but they accepted my cheque without quibble. Like a true farmer, I simply signed it and handed over the chequebook for the cashier to complete the details.

I bought a turkey for £24.00 and a lovely goose for £44.00 and intended to stop at that.

But then market forces persuaded me to stay on and I got another turkey for £22.00 and a goose, half as big again for £40.00. I simply could not resist the turkey which was knocked down for £10.00. It was 'New York Dressed' or put more simply 'Not yet dressed.'

At least I didn't have to pluck it and my wife remembered how to eviscerate at the kitchen table.

Armchair Farmer

Power Stations all around but… ’Third World Hillam’ That’s how our village was described by one disgruntled resident after experiencing a week of intermittent power.

Most of the many outages were of very short duration, but culminated –at the time of writing this article - in a 35 minute blackout on Tuesday A representative of Northern Power Grid who are responsible for distribution in this area said the final outage was a consequence of a fault in the high voltage overhead distribution network which had now been mended.

The previous 10 or so are classified on her records as’ an intermittent fault’ She investigated further and reported that the many short outages we have experienced were - for our technically minded readers -the consequence of ‘a broken stay wire intermittently hitting on a primary overhead cable near a primary sub station.’

More importantly, she advised that this had been repaired and we should have no further problems.

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NEWS FROM THE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION What a year!

Playground as well as take the lead or play a significant part in organising many of the village events. It thrives because many As 2014 closes it’s time to reflect on another extremely busy and residents get involve and help out but there is always room for exciting year for Community Association. We have a revamped more help. If you would like to help, please do not hesitate to get and ‘what looks like’ a New Community Centre; we have a in touch with any CA member or through our website. We look number of new user groups using the Centre which residents can forward to hearing from you and seeing you in 2015. join in and with more to start in 2015.

Meanwhile the Committee would like to wish all our Friends, The year started well with the Junior Youth Club getting Helpers and Supporters, particularly Monk Fryston and Hillam underway which was followed by the Guides. In February, Bee Parish Councils, a very Merry Christmas and A Happy New Able, a Youth Club for disabled and challenging children and Year. their siblings began meeting every other Saturday. After a pause through the summer when the Centre was being redeveloped the Ray Newton Yoga class for Beginners and the Body Toning and Fitness Chair classes were launched in late September.

As we move into 2015, a new Sequence Dancing group has just started to use the Centre and in January Baby Sensory Classes will commence, whilst the Yoga class will move to an evening session as many who are at work have said they would like to give it a try. Details of all the groups which use the CC can be found on the Community Association website at www.mfhcc.com

The Quiz Night of the Year The Wise Owl Quiz 2015

The Community Association Wise Owl Quiz is like no other Quiz! It is the Team Quiz of the Year when either Teams of Friends or new teams come together to share (but not too loudly) their collective knowledge and pit the wits in this wide ranging General Knowledge Quiz Of course, whilst the reason why the Community Association was formed was to provide a Village Hall and Playground for the At stake is the very prestigious Wise Owl Trophy… which is coveted by all who see and almost touch it. The winners always residents of Monk Fryston and Hillam, the manifestation of our celebrate without restraint which might be because of the community is the fun we all have whilst fundraising together to Draught Beer, Wine and Prosecco which was and will be on help pay for the developments. This year has been no different offer throughout this much loved annual Community Association and whilst the events may have the same name the general Fund raising event. consensus is that formats and buzz have been better than ever.

Do you remember the ‘It’s a knockout’ at the Summer Fayre? A Nibbles and Supper will be served during the evening which is a great opportunity to meet neighbours and make new friend, and one point victory at the Wise Owl Quiz (again)? The fantastic are included in the ticket price of £6.

Beer Festival which simply was more of everything…. and the new scary Halloween Bonfire Party…. all are events which other Make a note in your Diary – Wise Owl Quiz, Saturday Jan 24th villages would love to have in their Communities… but none 2015 – doors open at 7pm; Quiz starts at 7.30pm prompt and could happen without the support of many volunteers and the tickets will be on sale at the Post Office from early December. residents coming along to enjoy themselves which they show Last year almost 100 people attended and had a great time again. great appetite to do so and long may that continue.

This year we can accommodate a few more in the new Community Centre. Why not get a team together and come with The Community Association is a group of volunteers which friends or buy a ticket and meet some new (team) mates. organise and manage the Community Centre and the Village

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MORE FROM OUR SCHOOLS Burton Salmon CP School “Happy Learning for a Healthy Future” We are enjoying an active and busy half-term with plenty of exciting activities and projects throughout school.

We would like to welcome new pupil Alesha Daltry to our school in Reception. We hope she will be very happy with us.

We are grateful to everyone who contributed to our Harvest Festival collection. This year our School Council elected to support Foodbank. A Foodbank is a facility to provide emergency food aid to families and individuals as a response to short term crisis.

We had a truly tremendous response from our pupils who brought in many donations for this worthwhile cause- the amount of food that was sent in was fantastic and filled my car to the roof! The Harvest Festival service in the village hall was lovely and it was so nice to see so many of our parents, carers, families and friends there.

Our Key Stage 2 pupils have had a very enjoyable and stimulating day when they were visited by Historical Interpretations to learn all about the Roman way of life. The pupils were able to handle artefacts and dress up in authentic clothing.

Mrs. Rylah has continued with her very popular Healthy Eating after-school club. Pupils have made delicious healthy snacks such as Sticky Chicken Drumsticks with Stir Fry Vegetable Noodles, Chicken Korma with Herby Flatbread and Chocolate, Orange & Ginger Cake! Mrs. Rylah will be inviting pupils from other year groups to take part throughout the year.

We have begun rehearsals for our Christmas play which this year is called “Gold, Frankincense and Mirth!” and our performance will be on Thursday, 11th December at 7.00pm at Monk Fryston Church.

Wednesday, 3rd December is our school Christmas Fair and we invite everyone to come along from 3.00pm to 5.00pm. There will be many stalls including toys and games, cakes and buns, face painting and games. There will also be a Santa’s grotto, hot pork and turkey sandwiches and hot and cold drinks.

Year 6 Macmillan Coffee Afternoon Report by Georgia Parkin On Friday, 26th September the children of Year 6 at Monk Fryston Primary School held a coffee afternoon to raise money for Macmillan.

This is a charity which supports families living with cancer. It provides help, advice and support to those who need it.

To assist this worthwhile charity, pupils in Year 6 welcomed their guests, took their orders, made sure they were well looked after and tidied away cups and plates. They also ran a raffle with many prizes, as well as some fun, challenging games.

Everyone went to school in non-uniform to help raise as much money as possible. Not a single person was in school uniform – there were so many bright colours!

The amount of money raised was a phenomenal £650.11. The children were incredibly proud of their efforts and happy that the event was so well-supported.

Then as part of their English work, the children in Year 6 wrote thank you letters to the parents for coming to the event. Here are two for everybody to see.

Letter from Nicky Newbon Dear Parents and Carers, I am writing to you to say a huge thank you for coming to our Macmillan coffee afternoon and helping us raise an amazing amount of money (£650.11) I really enjoyed it because of all the jobs we had to do. For example, the meet and greet, raffle, cake stall, etc. I also enjoyed the jolly atmosphere that bounced around the room. I really hope you enjoyed the marvellous selection of wonderful and weird cakes as much as I did.

Once again, thank you for your help and support which helped us raise that epic sum of money.

Yours sincerely, Nicky.

Letter from Matthew Ellison-Tope

Dear Parents and Carers, On the morning of Wednesday, 17th December we will return to I am writing to thank you for coming to our Macmillan fundthe Village Hall this time to celebrate Christingle. Do come along raiser, where we made a total of £650.11! I would also like to from 1.30pm if you can – it is such a lovely Christmas Service. thank you for making all the cakes for us to sell.

We wish everyone a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year. I really enjoyed it because of all the really fun jobs we could do.

For example, the washing up, taking orders, selling cakes and Best wishes, showing you to your tables. I also enjoyed it because it was going to a good cause, by helping people with cancer get better. It Mrs. D. Andrews was a really good experience by learning how to do all the jobs Head Teacher and being fun.

I would like to thank you once again for supporting us by bringing cakes and helping us get our amazing total of £650.11.

Yours sincerely, Matthew.

11

BONFIRE NEWS - FROM MONK FRYSTON SCHOOL Reflections on Bonfire Night Although the fireworks were beautiful, they were also a festival

for everyone’s eyes, and the booms and bangs made everyone jump! Ferociously, the fire swept from left to right, with the wind blowing it. There was a massive raffle with all sorts to win, bonfire night. As I skipped down the path I could smell the dancing flames before I could such as train tickets to London, meals and much more. Altogether I thought that it was an awesome night and I am looking see them. But as soon as I saw them my forward to going again next year.

(Chloe) mouth dropped open. The huge flames were dancing in the moonlit sky. I was amazed. The flames were To all the helpers at the Monk Fryston bonfire: shooting up, crackling, and then floating back down again. The logs were turning black as more and more flames grew. As I got Thank you for the best fireworks ever. I enjoyed it so much, and the pumpkins were amazing. The bonfire was also amazing. It closer to the bonfire I could feel the intense heat. I went to the was enormous; all the ash was floating in the air and it looked stalls and bought a hotdog and some coke. As I was walking fantastic. When I saw the first fireworks I was amazed. It was back to the bonfire a huge BOOM hit my ears. I looked up and splendid that the patterns they formed were out of this world. I saw a beautiful rainbow emerging from the sky. It had finally am very sad that I have to wait another year until the next one. started. The fireworks! The first firework was blue, green and (Daniel) pink with silver edges. Then the next one had a turquoise middle with pink edges. I went to buy a toffee apple. I could feel the sugar popping and melting in my mouth like popping candy.

Thank you so much for the community bonfire in Then the man shouted, ‘Here’s the grand finale’, and a massive Monk Fryston. It was great! I enjoyed the bonfire so much, it Catherine Wheel lit up the sky. When I was walking home I was beautiful! My favourite part of it had to be the fireworks, thought about how good that grand finale was. they were absolutely epic. I loved all the loud bangs and the (Ashleigh) amazing colours. The food and drinks tasted AMAZING (especially the hot dogs, which were so tasty I had seconds!)

As soon as I stepped out of the car I could hear talking and Everything was so lit up around the park because of all the light shouting. The atmosphere was amazing. Despite it being cold, I sabres and head dresses; it was almost as if it was the day. The still had fun! My friends and I got some delicious food that fire was amazing too, it made the place beautiful. With all the warmed us up. We stood by the fire and got nice and toasty. We bight ashes floating in the sky and the red smoke it was almost all sat on a bench and jumped when we heard a loud BANG that like fireworks. This community event was brilliant. (Sam) went off in the sky. The fireworks! People going ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’! The fireworks were beautiful with lots of different colNorth Yorkshire school holiday dates ours! It all ended with a …. BANG! (Kate)

Finally, the night had begun. It was

The South Milford bonfire was AMAZING! There were loads of people stood watching the magical fireworks do their part (for half an hour), while other people made sparklers write their names. The food was gorgeous – I had the best hot dog!

Christmas: Monday 22nd December 2014 – Monday 5th January 2015 Half term: Monday 16th – Friday 20th February 2015 Easter: Monday 30th March – Monday 13th April 2015 Half term: Monday 25th – Friday 29th May 2015 Summer: Tuesday 21st July – Monday 7th September 2015 Schools may also set additional training days

September lucky winners : 1st - £20 – No. 14 - Mick Merry 2nd - £10 – No. 81 - Rachel Timson 3rd - £5 – No. 3 - Paul and Carol Leary

12

HILLAM SUPERFAST BROADBAND IN RECORD DEMAND Superfast broadband demand in Hillam way ahead of what was expected.

Across North Yorkshire the Superfast Broadband project has made broadband of 25MBps or more available to 149,000 homes - but you do have to order it as an upgrade. As a result of Articles in Hillam News the take up in our village has been so high that the new cabinet reached its expected capacity within a year of it going live, something that has not happened anywhere else in North Yorkshire.

The problem was brought to the attention of Hillam News by the letter below. Hillam News has taken the matter up with Superfast North Yorkshire and has been told that an upgrade for the new fibre cabinet has now been ordered. This will be the second time that the cabinet at the end of Mill Close has been upgraded within a year of it being installed - a BT engineer working on the cabinet a few weeks ago said he had not seen a fibre cabinet with so many connections.

It’s nice to know that Hillam leads the way, the additional capacity is on order but we do not yet know when it will be delivered. Nearly half of the homes in the village have already been upgraded, showing how popular the service is. Gradually coverage is increasing and eventually it will be available all the way up Hillam Common Lane. ( Your editor hopes so ) Parts of Monk Fryston are also, unfortunately, still waiting for Superfast Broadband to be available - we should know early in the new year where and when the new fibre broadband will be available. The delay there has arisen because they are connected to the cabinet at the J&P / Battersby Roundabout which is too far from the village for the broadband signal to reach Monk Fryston.

Another case of watch this space, a solution is on the way.

Letter - Broadband in Hillam - temporarily sold out It appears that there will be no more superfast broadband connections in Hillam for the time being. I ordered BT Infinity and was accepted only to be the victim of a mixup on the day I was due to be connected.

Although we received a letter confirming that Infinity service “will start on 13 Nov 2014” that did not happen. Subsequently I had a long and informative conversation with BT/India which revealed that the date for activation of Infinity was "not based on the knowledge of the capacity of the cabinet." That knowledge followed later when the engineer checked capacity and found none! This was presumably when he attempted to connect me. There is work planned very soon to add capacity at the cabinet and I am to be phoned when that has happened.

Not India’s fault but very frustrating. I received no notification from BT to say that the scheduled activation was not possible. I had to squeeze that information out of 'BT India.'

Hillam Resident

13

NO MENTION OF GUY FAWKES - UNTIL NOW Which was the biggest bang ? ..… Monk Fryston A month or so we said that our two Bonfires would be different and they would be good but we were wrong……. they were both terrific!

More people than ever were attracted to the Halloween Bonfire Party to enjoy the scary ambience, fantastic firework display and reasonably priced Bonfire Fayre. The weather was eventually very kind to us as we dodged the showers but not the strong wind as the bar was literally blown away at the Halloween Bonfire Party.

The artistically decorated Halloween styled entrance marquee set the tone for the scary event and lots of people entered into the spirit with scary costumes and scary faces. A very Adams Family lookalike, Uncle ‘Chris’ Festo, provided the party music; there were some wonderfully craved scary pumpkins to admire and several Guy Fawkes which you would not have liked to meet alone on a dark night. Some suggested that an impromptu lighting failure just prior to the Bonfire being lit was planned to add to the atmosphere…. If only that was true! The Fireworks were the best ever and the Dancing was the first ever at a Bonfire event!

Lots of family fun; lots of smiles and lots of money raised by the Andrew and his new Bonfire Team for the Community Association and in turn the village.

…. Or South Milford A week later at the Osgoldcross Rotary Milford Bonfire the smiles on people’s faces as they left said everything. It was a wonderful event, attended by more people than ever who were greeted and ‘High Five’d’ by Cas Tiger mascot – Tigerman and then entertained by two very brave Fire Eaters. The Bonfire was absolutely massive but by the following morning had gone except for a few embers. As well, the firework display will live on in people’s memories for a long time as most people commented that it was the best they have ever seen.

We are very lucky to have such a spectacular on our doorstep with a free bus service and a share of the profit for both the School PTA and Community Association who help organise and man the event, at a very, very reasonable cost. And of course no mess to clear up in the Villages afterwards. Thank you to all who supported either or both events in any way as a sponsor, attendee, volunteer or organiser.

Hope to see you all again next year.

A penny for the Guy please Mister Guy Fawkes (1570 – 1606), also known as Guido Fawkes, the name he adopted while fighting for the Spanish, was a member of a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Fawkes was born and educated in York. His father died when Fawkes was eight years old, after which his mother married a recusant Catholic. Fawkes later converted to Catholicism and left for the continent, where he fought in the Eighty Years' War on the side of Catholic Spain against Protestant Dutch reformers in the Low Countries. He travelled to Spain to seek support for a Catholic rebellion in England but was unsuccessful. He later met Thomas Wintour, with whom he returned to England.

Wintour introduced Fawkes to Robert Catesby, who planned to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. The plotters secured the lease to an undercroft beneath the House of Lords, and Fawkes was placed in charge of the gunpowder they stockpiled there. Prompted by the receipt of an anonymous letter, the authorities searched Westminster Palace during the early hours of 5 November, and found Fawkes guarding the explosives. Over the next few days, he was questioned and tortured, and eventually he broke. Immediately before his execution on 31 January, Fawkes jumped from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of the mutilation that followed.

Fawkes became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in Britain since 5 November 1605. His effigy is traditionally burned on a bonfire, commonly accompanied by a firework display.

Source : Wikipedia

14

ST WILFRID’S CHURCH RECTOR’S RAMBLINGS Traditions are strange things – some are reliable and others are not.

One particular example is the story from long ago when Santa was getting ready on Christmas Eve for his annual trip…but there were problems everywhere! Four of his elves had drunk too much and were suffering from the after effects. The apprentice elves couldn’t produce the toys as quickly without them so Santa was getting rather stressed at the thought of falling behind schedule and not having enough toys for all the children in the homes he had to visit.

Then Mrs Claus told Santa that her mother was coming to stay for a fortnight over Christmas and New Year, which stressed Santa even more.

When Santa went to harness up his reindeer he discovered that four were pregnant and two had jumped the fence and disappeared. More stress! Santa began loading his sleigh with a large bag of toys, but the floor of the sleigh gave way and the toy bag fell through scattering toys all over the place.

So frustrated, Santa retired to his house for a tipple of his favourite Glenfiddich. But when he got to the cupboard, it was bare – now Santa knew why some of the elves were feeling so dreadful. So he turned to the kettle and began to make himself a cup of coffee. Unfortunately, it slipped through his fingers and fell to the floor spilling hot coffee in all directions. Santa went to get the mop from the cupboard, but discovered that mice had eaten through the shank and it was useless.

“What now?” he thought, as the doorbell rang. Santa opened the door to find an angel with a Christmas tree. The angel cheerfully said. “Merry Christmas, Santa! I have brought you a Christmas tree! Isn’t it a lovely Christmas tree? Isn’t it a lovely day? Where shall I stick it?” Thus begins the story of the Angel on the top of the Christmas tree.

Some traditions are reliable, not because they have stood the test of time, but because they were initially built on something solid and dependable. As we approach Christmas this year perhaps it would pay to look a little closer at the real tradition of Christmas, that of the gift of Christ, and if we do then we may find that this tradition is still very significant for all our lives today.

Christmas blessings to all

John

1ST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 8am Holy Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 9.30am Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 2ND SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 9.30am Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 4.00pm Evensong at St Mary’s, South Milford 3RD SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 8am Holy Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 9.30am Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Family Service at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 11am Ignite at St Mary’s Church, South Milford 4TH SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 9.30am Morning Prayer at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 4pm Holy Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford

CHRISTMAS SERVICES/ EVENTS AT ST WILFRID’S Thursday 11th December 7.30pm Burton Salmon School Nativity 9.30pm

Monday 15th December Monk Fryston School KS 2 Carol Service

Tuesday 16th December 9.30pm Monk Fryston School KS 1 Christingle Thursday 18th December 10am Monk Fryston Pre-school Nativity Sunday 21st December 3pm St Wilfrid’s Christingle Service (A lovely candlelit service for all the family)

Wednesday 24th December (Christmas Eve) 6pm Service of Lessons and Carols (Get there early for a seat)

Thursday 25th December (Christmas Day) 8am Holy Communion

BOOKINGS NOW BEING TAKEN FOR W EDDINGS AND BAPTISMS FOR 2015

Enquiries to the Rector on 01977 680788 or email at hetherington556@btintenret.com

15

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR GARDENING As the gardening year draws to a close there is not so

Christmas means presents

much happening. I am cutting back bedraggled looking plants in the borders on fine days so that the bulbs coming through in spring will be seen. I am planting a swathe of tulips in the hot border and also marking plants to be divided in Spring with sticks so that I remember. If the weather holds I may even get round to mulching special plants with my lovely leaf mould. I am also pruning my late flowering clematis (mostly viticellas) to 2-3 ft to get rid of the tangled mass of dead foliage covering shrubs and supports, I will then prune them much shorter in late winter.

and here are some ideas for the gardener in the family - some small presents and a few luxuries -

• Warm neoprene lined boots are essential

This year has been the best I’ve known for berries on everything and I am looking at them with an eye to Christmas • decorations; I never have enough holly berries so I add rose hips, hawthorn and cotoneaster berries. Lots of long lasting evergreen foliage to cut for winter vases plus coloured stems from dogwood • and willow means that I need very few bought flowers and sometimes I can use artificial ones. Lots of dark green foliage with one or two artificial red or white roses looks stunning.

In December I cut off all the hellebore leaves as it displays the flowers better and leaves less places for the hellebore flower bud eating mice to hide! I also prune my grape vine, cutting off much of the growth made this year. In late January I cut off the old leaves of the epimediums to show the flowers which will come through in March. If I leave them any later some flowers will be up and cutting off the leaves takes a lot longer.

Looking good now in late November are the hips and berries which will last into January from cotoneaster, sorbus cashmiriana, crab apples Red Sentinal and Evereste and crataegus (hawthorn) phaenopyrum which I grew from seed many years ago and has now made a fine tree with beautiful rich autumn colour and lots of berries. It is a bee magnet in summer when it is covered in white flowers. Because the season has been so mild I have several large salvias still flowering, the best is called Phyllis Fancy, plus a huge bush of argyranthemum Jamaica Primrose.

Add to this the autumn colours of several spirea, maples and a host of other trees and shrubs plus the honey and amber shades of various grasses and a walk round the garden during this season is anything but drab.

•

•

•

for the winter and I like short ones which are easier to get on and off. For several years I have lived in Muckboots and this year I have bought some short bootee types from Aigle, both are extremely warm, waterproof and comfortable.

Another essential is warm, waterproof gloves which fit well and are flexible, I am still looking for these so if you find the perfect ones let me know.

RHS membership brings an interesting monthly magazine, free entry for 2 to Harlow Carr and the other RHS gardens plus free entry to many other gardens around the country. It also gives you access to the amazing library at Harlow Carr with acres of gardening books and all the gardening magazines. There are also memberships of other specialist societies, e.g. Hardy Plant and Clematis.

The green cart I mentioned last time would make a nice present, and for stocking fillers there are diaries for those who still use them including the RHS and, my favourite, the Sarah Raven diary plus a reel of flexitie which is so much better than string for tying things up.

For those with deep pockets almost anything from the Niwaki website is desirable, especially their secateurs, snips and pocket saws for pruning and the wonderful tripod ladder for high up work.

There seem to be less really nice general gardening books around this year but one I was given last Christmas by Helen Dillon is perfect for dipping into, with lots of anecdotes and snippets of useful information.

Happy Christmas to all and I hope 2015 will start really well for us all.

Susan Ferguson

Christmas decorations and gifts Fuel and logs - Christmas trees

16

THE FUTURE OF SELBY DISTRICT - WHAT DO YOU THINK? Why did we suddenly get so many wind farm planning applications?

In the previous Hillam News I looked back five years to when 4 wind farms with 36 turbines over 125metres high were suddenly proposed around Hillam.

It came as a shock because most of us paid no attention to planning matters or policy matters. We were not aware that the Humberhead levels had been identified as suitable for turbines. I had never heard of the Humberhead levels before - it being the low lying land from Hillam to the Humber. Research showed that planners had already designated it as suitable for wind farms. We were then destined to become the wind farm centre for Yorkshire - we coined the term Megawatt valley to describe it. Planners had decided the fate of the countryside around where we live and we didn’t even know about it.

Encouraged by planning support and huge subsidies it wasn’t long before developers were staking their claims with wind farm planning applications. The annual subsidy for each large turbine at that time was about £250,000 per year, paid through increases in prices for electricity. While unsustainable, the incentives kick started the building of turbines across the English countryside.

The Selby Plan consultation And so it continues - this morning (24 November) Selby District has started a Public consultation on the Selby Plan which among other things says we will build 7200 new homes in the period up to 2027. The consultation also includes what appear to be simple questions about renewable energy. This may sound good - our opportunity to have our say and shape the way in which our village and the space around us evolves over the next 10 years.

Responses have to be submitted by 19 January.

Nothing is ever simple I must confess that this was going to be “The best ever” wind farm column in Hillam News but as the deadline approaches even I am beginning to lose the will to live. The document about the consultation is 482 pages, lavishly produced and bound - but if you want to read it you will have to either visit a library or download it from the internet. If that isn’t bad enough I find in para 1.10 that you need to start by reading the Core Strategy another 161 pages. Then there is a plan about how the plan will itself be put in place. See below.

But it has to be done - As it says at para 1.10 “Public participation is essential if PLAN Selby is to be successful.”

Ignore at your peril Remember, if you want to have your say on the future of where you live you must do so by 19 January. A team from across the District will be delving into the detail and identifying the main issues for you. Simply send an e-mail to the address below and as soon as we have more information it will be sent to you. The objective is to make it easy for you to participate - without needing to read hundreds of pages of complex documents.

Just send an e-mail, see below - you will be sent information as soon as it is available.

Mission and objectives are great..

“To improve the Quality of Life for those who live and work in the District” “By 2027 Selby will be a distinctive Rural District with an outstanding environment, a diverse economy and attractive towns and villages. Residents will have a high quality of life and there will be a wide range of housing and job opportunities to help create socially balanced and sustainable communities, which are less dependant on surrounding towns and cities.”

but the devil, as always is in the detail And in 482 pages there is a lot of detail, much of it conflicting with itself and questions about such things as • Where will 7200 homes be built • Where to establish gypsy and traveller sites • How close to homes wind turbines should be built • Should parts of the District be designated for wind farms It is not clear how the new businesses on which the plan depends will be attracted to the District. Without the businesses there will be no jobs.

Neither is much said about Superfast broadband, HS2, incinerators or the electrification of our rail network. What else have they missed?

The future of your village is at stake To make sure we don’t get another set of nasty surprises we need to ensure that there is a well informed response. To receive the latest information send an e-mail to

selbyplan@maspin-house.co.uk We must ensure the plan does not ride roughshod over where we live and bring us more nasty surprises.

17

HILLAM CHRISTMAS TREES End of the season on the farm Having had a really busy year with the sheep and the pigs as well as the vegetables I was looking forward to taking the animals off to visit the butcher. I loaded up the last of the six lambs and dropped them off at a farmer friend's. We picked the last of the vegetable out of the 'poly' tunnel and started the big 'tidy up'.

your lamb or pork. Time rolls on and it's a time to plan for the coming year. The smallest garden can be turned into a mini kitchen veggie patch with a little imagination; it just takes thought, a bacon butty and a cup of Yorkshire tea.

I would encourage everyone to try and grow a little at home, to be self sufficient in any way shape or form you can. Kids are truly amazed and so proud when that little seed grows into food, food they have grown and can enjoy!

Two days later I brought the lambs back home as they weren't quite ready for slaughter and needed another four weeks fattenThank you to everyone who has supported me this year, it's very ing. In some ways I was glad to see them home; you have to be disciplined and remember they are here to fill your freezer or that much appreciated and have a fantastic Christmas. of friends, family and neighbours. Several weekends later I found myself loading the lambs again and then off once more to farmer Richard Martin's. Another lesson had been learnt - How to recognize how Ramble House to judge a fit and ready lamb!

Four days later I'm back picking them up and making my deliveries. This time I have kept back halves of both pork and lamb! I've got to remember not to sell everything and leave us with nothing!

November is also the time when my Christmas trees go dormant.

The time to get onto the land and spray off weeds in the hope that I can get away with just a residual spray come February. This year has seen them put on good height.

Christmas trees for sale As we head towards December my weekends will be spent selling my Christmas Trees and planning for next year. This is always a good time of year as you forget about all the hard times, the worry of animals welfare, and all the other jobs you have had to do. You can sit back and reflect on all you've achieved, and the warm comments from folk in the village about how they enjoyed

BURTON SALMON FITCAMP “After just 8 sessions you will feel better. After 16 sessions you will start to see a difference. After 24 sessions you will have a whole new body”…Guaranteed NO joining fee NO contract FREE consultation “We do not sell memberships. We sell results” For more information call Jane at Burton Salmon Fitcamp T: 01977 673553 M: 07921 689931 www.burtonsalmonfitcamp.com Email: info@burtonsalmonfitcamp.com The Dormers, Poole Lane, Burton Salmon, North Yorkshire, LS25 5JU

The Old Cricket Pavilion It has been a sad weekend for those attending to the dismantlement of the old pavilion. To take something down that has been standing for some 100 years is sad enough but it became obvious that the old pavilion was not going to stand for much longer.

And so with a sympathetic group of members the old GIRL was slowly and carefully taken down, much is still to be done.

A mucky job but the weather held this weekend allowing significant progress to be made under the watchful eye and leadership of Mike Allison and Stuart Hoare. Work will continue over the next few weeks so that if anyone has some spare time over the forthcoming weekends please contact Mike or Stuart.

An interesting find was a carton of Wrigleys chewing gum with a sell by date of September 1994.

The demolition crew have kept certain items from the old pavilion that will be put up in the new pavilion and preserved for posterity.

18

HILLAM AND MONK FRYSTON CRICKET CLUB NEWS Although winter is upon us the Cricket Club is already preparing for next year.

Old Pavilion Demolition The most notable piece of news and sad in many many ways, is that the old cricket pavilion that has stood for over 100 years is to be dismantled shortly. The new pavilion was built because the old pavilion was not suitable and was tumbling down; a condition of the planning permission was that as the new one was built the old one should be demolished. Many people will have happy memories of this building over the years and will be sad to see it go. The old bell which is used to ring for the start of the match and resume after tea is now in the new pavilion.

Promotion of Second Team A fortuitous event was the promotion of the Second Team from the 5th to 4th Division of the Wetherby League, this is because another team has dropped out, but will make the season more challenging next year. The 1st team remain in Division 2.

Social Events The Club will hold its annual Awards Dinner at Monk Fryston Hall on 29th November. Prizes are given to top batsmen, bowlers, fielders, junior players and people who have made a contribution to the running of the club.

After the success of the ‘Batting for Balls’ Ball last March another ball is being held on 21st March at Thorpe Park Hotel.

Tickets are selling fast, if you are interested in going to a really good ball and putting on a posh frock and black tie then contact the club through Facebook or the website.

Committee Finally we are pleased to say that Dave Page from Hillam who has played first team cricket for the club has agreed to become the Club President.

Tonu Vaks remains Chair, with Steve Sadler Vice Chair, Richard Milne is Treasurer and we have a vacancy for the secretary post for the club.

Are you interested in being secretary? The post involves communicating with the players, committee and the cricket league. It will entail a hour a week or so on average. Website administration is optional part of the role, but being happy to use the internet and email, Facebook etc would be an advantage. It won’t matter if you’re not too familiar with cricket – the current secretary will give support and hand over.

Julie Sadler – 685795 Tonu Vaks 685227

Cricket Club 100 club September’14 There were 23 entries, and prizes are pro-rata (and rounded) as per published rules.

1st Prize: Tonu Vaks £12 2nd Prize: Martin Pugh £6 3rd Prize: Martin Pugh £3 (the value of multiple entries!)

October’14

Fridge/Freezer

26 entries 1st Prize: 2nd Prize: 3rd Prize:

The club needs a donation of fridge freezer; the old one limped to the end of the season. If anyone is changing theirs or know of one available could they contact Julie Sadler or Tonu Vaks, numbers below. The fridge on top of freezer type.

November draw will be made on 13th Nov at the club AGM, and remember that the December draw has bumper prizes!

Please encourage family & friends to join.

Next Year The club will be having an overseas player again, probably from Australia. If anyone is interested (other than my 17 year old daughter!) in giving lodgings to a young man for a small rent for 6 months April – September then contact Tonu Vaks.

The Junior Section will run again from April. The night for coaching is still to be decided as it has clashed with the Youth Club run at the Community Centre. We will endeavour to get the best night for all the clubs, so watch for notices.

There will also be a team entered for the Thursday evening league. People who may like to play some cricket but can’t commit to a full Saturday, or worry they need some match practice or indeed just want to try it out will find this is a fun and friendly team to join. Again watch out for notices next year.

Jenny Hoare £13 Maxine Wells £7 Tonu Vaks £4

19

“HOW ABOUT THAT THEN” - SOUTH MILFORD FLOODING News floods in from South Milford South Milford Post Office has closed. The High Street site, which was once the main post office for our area, before sorting was transferred to Moor Lane, Sherburn in Elmet, was flooded in June and August 2014. Villagers are worried there will be further floods during the winter.

It seems a long time since 2008 when Jimmy Saville declared the premises open. For a short period his Scarborough tombstone bore a picture of him at South Milford Post Office.

Localised flooding has been experienced in Saxton, Kirkby Wharfe and several years ago Hillam, where a collapsed culvert was fortuitously replaced by Interserve after contractors damaged it while laying of an underground electricity cable through the village.

Two dikes converge near High Street, South Milford. Whin Dike starts beyond Steeton Hall and is dry except after heavy rainfall. Flow is held back by a causeway at Steeton Hall and this is currently damaged. This beck goes underground into a culvert at Wain Gap near the 'Queen o' t' owd Thack'. The culvert is silted up and cannot deal with sudden increased flows.

Flooding has occurred here after periods of heavy rainfall.

There are doubts as to whether the culvert could deal with peak flows, even if it was cleaned out.

The watercourse resurfaces and joins Mill Dike behind the Post Office. Mill Dike, as its name suggests, is ancient and runs all the time. It goes all the way back to Newthorpe and drains farm land before crossing the railway, where (usefully) culverts restrict its flow at peak times. The worst area for flooding is between the former post office and the doctor's surgery, taking in the recreation area.

A third pressure point is where the combined waterway crosses Low Street. This bottleneck contributes to flooding upstream.

There has been flooding also in the region of the Swan pub.

There have been suggestions that flow in both watercourses is swollen by run off from the new motorway where balancing ponds are inadequate.

In a scenario which resembles the crisis in the Somerset Levels, the Environment Agency and (in this case) Yorkshire Water are involved in discussions with an extremely active local group.

Its declared aim is prevention rather than alleviation. 'South Milford against Floods' SMAF has distributed a questionnaire asking for details of damage costs for 2000, 2007 and 2014.

They are also collecting estimates of increases in flood insurance premiums and details and cost of any flood defence devices fitted to property. SMAF is also collecting information about any difficulties experienced in selling property in the flood zone.

This is a view echoed by local MP Nigel Adams who said "I would encourage any community that has suffered from flooding to set up a Flood Group and to engage with the Environment Agency and with North Yorkshire County Council to get problems addressed and prevention measures in place.

Prevention is better than cure." He has also campaigned on the need for householders to be able to continue to get flood insurance from their existing suppliers.

There may be another Post Office opening ceremony in South Milford in 2015. Sand Lane Stores has recently changed hands and the new owners have applied to run a Post Office.

As mentioned in Hillam News, a new Marks and Spencer Food franchise is heading for Southlands and work should start this year.

Update - SMAF driving for a complete solution A survey conducted by Nigel Adams has revealed that the direct cost of the damage caused by the flood in August was £177,000 with flood water entering 18 homes and 41 gardens down the High Street. The Swan pub suffered severe damage.

The good news is that the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water have agreed to take action to clear the culvert down the Main Street and to clear the watercourse through the village.

This is a good start but further work will need to be done to repair the causeway to Steeton Hall and to improve the passage for flood water under the bridge on Low Street.

The key first step in getting this work underway was a meeting chaired by North Yorkshire County Council on 15 October. The next meeting is scheduled for 3rd December.

The project has made a good start and the action group, known as SMAF ( South Milford Against Flooding) are pushing hard to ensure that the village gets a complete solution to what has become a complex problem.

20

ART CLUB - ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL Did you see our Exhibition? If you didn't you missed seeing some wonderful work and also missed some delicious homemade refreshments, which were a real treat!

This year the Exhibition was a double whammy, as, held on the first week end in October, we joined with Monk Fryston Church to celebrate Harvest Festival and our 24th annual Exhibition. Along with the enormous and beautiful floral arrangements in the church, we staged a special display under the title "All Creatures Great and Small". Every painting had been donated by club members to be sold in aid of four Dog Charities ♥ Hearing Dogs for Deaf People ♥ Guide Dogs for the Blind Association ♥ The Dogs Trust, Leeds Branch ♥ The Golden Retriever Rescue The pictures were fun, colourful and amazing and whilst a large proportion were of dogs there were cats, fish, birds, horses, butterflies, to mention a few, in a vast array of colours, textures, styles and media. Most of the pictures were priced in the £5 and £10 bracket and many people who bought said they were for Christmas presents though I believe a colourful mouse has gone to live in the Cheese Shop in Selby!

At the end of the two days we were able to send £400 to the charities. Thank you Rector for allowing us to display the pictures in the lovely setting of the Church.

Our annual Exhibition was again held in the Church Hall on the same weekend and again, the pictures had to be seen to be believed. They were of course somewhat more expensive than those in the Church! Visitors were full of praise, for the very professional event with its huge variety of subjects and styles, which were as good, if not better than many pictures frequently seen in galleries at exorbitant prices! Such was I told! Of all pictures sold, 10% was given to Charity.

The Club extends a grateful 'thank you' to everyone who came to the Exhibition, we appreciate your comments and observations, along with your generous help towards the charities we supported. Without you there would be no Exhibition! Artists love talking to people, it is the way they get to know what is currently in vogue, people's likes and dislikes, which in turn leads to the huge variety and styles of work in the next show. Our thanks also to those of you who took the time to write in the visitors book, testament to your enjoyment of the visit and our achievements. * I didn't realise how many talented people there are in our village. * The display is outstanding. * Very professional Exhibition * Once again , A Village Treasure, long may you continue. * A wonderful show of some wonderful local talent. * Wish we had more wall space! * Nice to include Charity pieces. * Lovely paintings.

We bask in glory! But, next year will be THE BIG ONE, our 25th ANNUAL EXHIBITION, --we have already started working on it! --Next week the club will have a stall at St Wilfrid's Christmas market. A new venture for us. Very few members have ever painted miniatures or small pictures but that is our aim! They will be suitable for Christmas presents. We will also have a display of greeting cards. The nominated charity at this event will be "HELP FOR HEROES". Please help us to help them. We look forward to seeing you at the Festive Market.

Club members wish everyone A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

Jean Dearn.

21

SPORT - IN - NEWS This month, let’s start with a positive and pick up where we left off last time which was discussing the Ryder Cup. In another hugely entertaining if not entirely close contest, the European team once against clinched a win which sees their domination of the tournament continue. The fall out within the US team did not take long (literally) with the divisive character of Phil Mickelson leading the assault in the post-match press conference on captain Tom Watson. Whether Mickelson’s comments were justified or not, the old saying of a ‘time and a place’ comes to mind. Holding such an inquest in front of the world’s media just hours after such a humbling defeat was neither the time nor the place and it makes you wonder why the experienced Mickelson would have chosen to do it that way. Perhaps it was just the wrong call for him to make but I can’t help wondering that he would not have chosen to do it unless he had a specific reason. It may be an old feud with Watson that was a scratch waiting to be itched or perhaps it was Mickelson providing the first salvo in lobbying for his close friend Paul Azinger to be reinstated as team captain in two years when the next edition of the Ryder Cup will be written in Chicago. Perhaps he was even starting his own campaign to become captain in four or may be six years time. Either way, Europe won (yet again!) and the Americans were once again left trailing some way behind. I wonder if Nigel Farage cheered that victory…?!

the second-half when the wheels well and truly came off. The score line was improved by a last minute try to the home team but for most observers a score of 24-14 would have been much more reflective of the contest.

Fast forward seven days and the South African Springboks

were at Twickenham having suffered a surprise reverse a week before in Dublin at the hands of a resurgent Ireland. Unfortunately England produced one of their most inept performances under coach Stuart Lancaster as they fell to a 31-28 defeat but once again a late try camouflaged the true distance between the teams: 31-21 would have been much more reflective of the gap between the sides. Irrespective of the performance against the two sides left in the autumn internationals (Samoa and Australia) these were the two matches that mattered and England came up short which is deeply concerning just 12 months before the start of the next world cup. Or is it? If you look at their performance England have lost five and won one of their last six matches against the All Blacks. Interestingly South Africa have lost five and won one whilst Australia have lost five and drawn one against the same opposition. In other words, England’s performance against the All Blacks does not make them a poor side – it means they compare with other leading nations when it comes to playing the best team in the world. (For the record all other northern hemisphere sides have lost their last six against the boys Back in the world of football and it seems our Premier in black). There is no doubt some of the English players have League representatives are heading for an early exit in the Cham- been poor and some have been woefully out of form but this pions League. Manchester City’s capitulation at home to CSKA month has not been about the world cup. It only really matters in Moscow was nothing short of disgraceful when you consider the twelve months’ time and Lancaster and his team have been time and expense it has taken to create such a squad. Most, if not building towards that goal for the last three years. all of their recent signings have, at some point, played Champions League football, so it’s a very thin argument that says part of Now is not the time to panic – now is the time to make pruthe reason for their continued poor showing in Europe is due to a dent, sensible selection decisions within the overall strategy lack of experience. With the club domestically trailing someway (programme) that has been set within the squad. Let those decibehind runaway leaders Chelsea, manager Manuel Pellagrini will sions then be judged on the performance in the autumn of 2015 and not 2014. no doubt be feeling the heat. That may provide another exit through the revolving managerial door at the City of Manchester Yours in Sport and if that were to happen would the great Pep Guardiola be Doug Hought tempted to swap the M of Munich for that of Manchester? But what about Arsenal who threw away a guilt edged opportunity to move through to the last 16 by surrendering a two goal lead at home to Anderlecht. Arsene Wenger has been an absolute legend at the north London giants but with another season unfolding pretty much like the last 10 (except for last year when they won the FA Cup), is the time now right to move him on? All good things have to come to an end at some point….

The last few weeks have seen the usual autumn internationals take place when the southern hemisphere giants of Rugby Union descend on Europe to do battle with their northern counterparts.

England came into this series with high hopes despite a three-nil whitewash in the summer when they visited the land of the long white cloud, also known as New Zealand. Their first game in November against the All Blacks was heartening until the start of

22

FAMOUS LAST WORDS Dear Hillam News The article in October/November Hillam News from Mr. Ferguson is very illuminating (sic) but perhaps some inaccuracies should be corrected.

As far as I can recall from the meeting with the power generator when the FM1 incinerator was being proposed, it was said that the fuel to be used will indeed be rubbish, but rubbish which will have been processed to remove hazardous content. Furthermore, although it will be transported by road to start with, a rail connection onto the site in the future was proposed.

Mr. Ferguson does not tell us what will happen if and when rationing begins, but surely to prevent this happening there is a need to provide generating capacity by whatever means possible.

Even though wind turbines may obscure his view of Eggborough Power Station, whether it is in use or not, they may be a necessity!

Regards, John M. McCloy, Burton Salmon

Editors comment I thank John McCloy for his comments and opinions. Since the article was published there have been further developments :1.

The future of Eggborough power station is now more secure - it has been bought by EPH, a central European Energy Group ( announced on 5 Nov). Eggborough generates 4% of UK power and employees 300 people.

2.

Eggborough Power station is now running at full capacity (2000MW) after a £35M upgrade to one of the four generating units. This is vital to keeping our lights on and meeting UK demand for power “ as and when needed”, rather than only when the wind blows. The refurbished generator was re-started on 19 November.

3.

Half of the capacity at Ferrybridge which was closed completely when the de-sulphurisation unit caught fire over summer has been re-started - another 500MW back on stream. This greatly reduces the risk of large scale power cuts over the Christmas and winter period.

This should be seen in the context of the massive new incinerator at Ferrybridge which will require 400,000 tons of rubbish to be brought in from other parts of the country by road to generate only 70MW. The wind farm that John refers to would extend across 3km of open countryside and generate an average of about 10MW and get a subsidy of something like £3.5 Million per year.

Taking large swathes of our countryside to generate minimal amounts of power cannot be considered an environmentally friendly solution to our energy needs, neither will it do anything for the job prospects or prosperity of people living in the area.

FOR SALE CHILD CAR SEAT Maxi-Cosi Priori XP 9 mths – 4 yrs, locally owned since new £30 Other items for young baby also available Tel 683332

Welcome to Hillam Helen and Gareth Bowen have left Hillam for Norwich; Ann and Colin Dawson are back in the village after twelve years in Tanzania.

Maureen and Alan Lazenby currently live in Monk Fryston; in their place, Kim and Andy Taylor have moved here from Tingley.

We also welcome temporary residents Sarah, Dave and their two boys.

Traveller sites and the Green Belt Nigel Adams MP says he is pleased that the Planning Appeal by gypsies at the Sycamores on Sutton Lane between Brotherton and Birkin has been dismissed, saying “This is a decision which shows the determination by the Government to ensure fair play in the planning system.” A statement made by Brandon Lewis, Planning Minister on 1 July 2014 said “We have tackled the abuse of planning rules by a small minority, abolished top-down targets, increased protection of the green belt and aligned the planning system for traveller sites with that for settled housing.

Our policy document, Planning policy for traveller sites, was issued in March 2012. It makes clear that both temporary and permanent traveller sites are inappropriate development in the green belt and that planning decisions should protect green belt land from such inappropriate development.”

It is clear from this why Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, having recovered the appeal, did not agree with the Inspectors recommendation of another three years temporary permission.

Hillam News understands that the travellers on Sutton Lane have now been served with an enforcement notice requiring them to leave the site by 4 January 2015.

These cases have cost Selby District Council a large sum of money and it is hoped that matters can be resolved in the near future. Nigel Adams said “ Planning needs to be fair and it must be seen to be fair. Just because somebody owns a field in the country it does not give them the right to build a house or put a permanent caravan site there. The rules must apply equally to everybody.”

“Vote for me” Independence For Hillam is my next political venture. We need to free ourselves from the slavery of Monk Fryston.

@victoriafinan

Personal small adverts £1.00 per issue Business small adverts £4.00 per issue please contact David Edwards on 682346 or exSite@talktalk.net

23

LOCAL SERVICES To amend or to add to the information below, please phone Jenny Hoare (683332) Service

Telephone

Details

Monk Fryston Stores Post Office counter

682252

Mon - Fri 6.30 am - 8 pm; Sat 7.30 am - 7 pm; Sun 8 am - 2 pm Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri 9 am - 5.30 pm; Wed & Sat 9 am - 1 pm

Last postal collections

682252 691940

Hillam Square Mon - Fri 4 pm, Sat 9.30 am Timings are scheduled to change in January to: Mon - Fri 9 am, Sat 7 am Monk Fryston PO Mon - Fri 4 pm, Sat 11 am Pontefract, Trinity St Mon - Fri 6.30 pm, Sat 12 noon

Public transport

0113 2457676

Local bus and train timetables and enquiries: www.wymetro.com

South Milford Surgery Dr A Mackenzie & Partners

682202

Mon - Fri 8 am - 1 pm, 2 - 6 pm www.southmilfordsurgery.co.uk

Monk Fryston Surgery Dr D James & Partners

683452

Mon 4 - 8 pm; Tues & Wed 8 - 12 am; Thur 2 - 6 pm; Fri 9 - 11 am www.gibsonlanemedicalpractice.co.uk

Selby War Memorial Hospital

01757 702664

www.warmemorialhospital.org

Pontefract General Infirmary

0844 8118110

www.midyorks.nhs.uk

Visiting Scheme for the Elderly 681828

Transport, shopping, social events for the housebound, and much more

St Wilfrid’s Church, Monk Fryston

680788

Rector: Rev John Hetherington www.stwilfridandstmary.org.uk

Hillam Parish Council

01430 410383

Clerk: Andrew Crabbe 1st Wed of month (except Jan) 7.30 pm, Community Centre To see the full minutes visit www.issuu.com/hillamnews

Selby District Council

01757 705101

www.selby.gov.uk

Western Area Community Engagement Forum

01757 705101

www.your-community.org.uk

Environmental Health, SDC

01757 292113

Refuse disposal: removal of bulky items

NYCC Recycling Centre, Canal Road, Selby

01609 780780

Recycling centre for household waste: cardboard, metals, textiles, masonry, bottles, green waste, batteries, TVs, monitors, oils

Wakefield MDC Recycling Centre, Ferrybridge

677792 01609 532512

NYCC residents can obtain a free permit from: waste.management@northyorks.gov.uk

Police (non-emergency)

101

www.northyorkshire.police.uk

Police Community Support Officer

101

Dion Wood dion.wood@northyorkshire.pnn.police.uk

Neighbourhood Watch

682693

Tony Hudson

Gas (leaks)

0800 111999

www.transco.uk.com

Electricity (supply failure)

0800 375675

www.npower.com

Yorkshire Water (sewerage and leaks)

0800 573553

www.yorkshirewater.com

Citizens’ Advice Bureau

01757 293015 0845 1203718

- for appointments at Sherburn - advice line www.citizensadvice.org.uk

Venue bookings

684180 684008

Church Hall: Paddy Twidale Community Centre: Carolyn Popham

The Hillam News is a free newspaper produced by volunteers. We make reasonable endeavours to ensure the accuracy of the content but we do not guarantee the accuracy of nor endorse the opinions of third-party contributions including adverts.

We publish our material in good faith and strive to comment fairly. If we make a mistake we are willing to correct it when it is pointed out to us. Because the paper is free we do not permit copying for gain but are happy to grant permission for reproduction.

24

A truck load of Christmas cheer for the children of Belarus

On Tuesday November 25th our huge trailer loaded with over 11 tonnes of a wide range of humanitarian aid left the Hull Docks on the outbound ferry crossing to Rotterdam on the start of a three day 3000 mile round journey to the city of Gomel in Belarus and just some 30 miles from the border with Russia. The driver, Paul Campey. owner and director of the transport company Campeys of Selby has made the journey many times when part of our convoy team and our 50 convoys in the past 15 years. His delivery is to the Education Department in Gomel who accept the aid and organise the distribution to schools, institutions, family associations all of whom cater for the needs of disabled children and adults in their care. The load contains washing powder, incontinent pads, nappies, clothes, bedding and toiletries, educational toys and school furniture and many other basic items that are in short supply or just unaffordable for the needy in that country.

As mentioned above we have been operating aid deliveries to the very poorest and disabled in Belarus for over 15 years and until recently this was with the Chernobyl charity that organised the annual visits of children from Belarus. The children’s month’s stay with local families provided a huge boost to their immune systems damaged by the continuing presence of radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl explosion in nearby Ukraine.

Last year the charity, because of financial reasons, informed the aid team, based in Thorpe Willoughby, that no further funding for aid deliveries was possible. So the aid team, in wishing to continue their support to the needy in Belarus, decided to apply for charity status and as you can see at the top of the page we have a new name and logo and just recently received full registration from the UK Charity Commission and our official number 1159179.

Our first target for 2015 is a convoy in April of three or four trucks and our task is to raise the necessary funds and aid to make this possible. So fund raising activities and appeals for sponsorship are being organised, our website will be up and running within days, new leaflets produced for mail shots etc. We have a very active team of committed volunteers from all over the north and as far south as Derbyshire and Staffordshire. who have raised the funds for this vehicle now on the way to Belarus. We are fortunate in that our major sponsor, Campeys of Selby, provide us with warehouse premises and vehicles free of charge and Alan Wade of Stockton on Tees similarly provides space and vehicles at no cost. All the team are true volunteers and we have no paid employees so all income is available to meet the considerable cost of the convoys and items of aid.

Very soon this month many less fortunate children and adults in Gomel will be receiving items of aid that will bring a great deal of happiness to them and those who look after them.

I know that they will want to join our aid team in wishing the Hillam News readers a very happy Christmas and our very best wishes for 2015.

Mike Allison. Chernobyl Aid UK, Registered charity: 1159179. mikeallison1998@gmail.com