Hillam news dec jan 2016

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Over to you !

After 12 years the current Hillam News Team has decided it’s time for a change.

Back in 2003, after the unexpected death of the then editor, Geoff Hall, a new and enthusiastic team of villagers accepted the challenge and took on the responsibility for producing Hillam News.

A public meeting was hastily convened, and a disparate group of volunteers stepped forward to take on the challenge. Backed by the ongoing support of the authors of many of the articles, and a team of distributors, the new editorial team set to work, learning as they went.

There have been changes to the Team over the last ten years, but it has been a hugely fulfilling and enjoyable experience for everyone involved, and over the years Hillam News has expanded and developed further.

Now it is time for a new editorial team to pick up the reins and take the Hillam News into the next era. Members of the current editorial team will give whatever information, advice, support and guidance they might want to support them through their first issue.

A public meeting to discuss the way forward and to hand over the reins will be held on 11 January in the Cross Keys.

Best wishes from the present team and all who have played a part in producing and distributing Hillam News for the last 12 years.

In 12 years the present Hillam news team has :> Produced 72 issues > Comprising 1728 pages > Containing over 3110 articles > Printed 691,000 pages > Walked nearly 1000 miles to deliver to your doorsteps And enjoyed every minute of it !

Members of the Hillam News team in 2009 celebrating the 20th year of Hillam News. L to R Jenny Hoare, Bev Jackson (seated), Stuart Hoare, Barbara Atkinson, David Atkinson, Howard Ferguson. Other members of the current team are David Edwards, Betty Wright, Andrew Scott , Rob Preston and Graham Baker .

Also in this issue…

Subuteo falco - long gone, did they follow the hirundines Monk Fryston A mission on a bike

Village plan - is it the CEF, the PC or SDC ? Join in and find out.

Redrow plans for Hillam - will it be 68, 63, 52,36 or zero new homes that get built in Hillam.

Just 4 words after 7 years - the end of the Bishopwood wind farm appeal.

Christmas festivities  Turkeys  Pantomine  Trees  Festive fare  Celebration  And the lights !

Editor for this issue - Howard Ferguson Hillam News is financed by advertising and the generosity of contributors, copiers and If you would like to play part in producing Hillam News in the future please attend the meeting on 11 January 2015

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The weather last summer may have seemed fairly mixed waited anxiously for signs of youngster activity, and then half an to Homo sapiens, but wildlife in general certainly benefited from it. The consistently warm temperatures, interspersed with periods of occasional rain have been ideal for birds and insects alike.

The Great Tits nesting in the box on our neighbours’ garage wall have produced two broods this year, and the Barn Swallows in Rose Lea have had three lots. I now hear that this year’s apple crop is likely to be the best in twenty years.

One evening in mid July I was amazed to find a colourfully exotic Hummingbird Hawk Moth feeding on our buddleia. With its long proboscis and hovering behaviour, accompanied by an audible humming noise, it looks remarkably like a hummingbird while feeding on flowers. This moth is normally found in Southern Europe, so its presence in our garden was certainly unexpected, although perhaps we might become more used to seeing them, in our ever warming climate? Our lavender plants have been covered by bumblebees all summer, and on one day we saw one of the relatively uncommon red-tailed varieties. The wild fields along Betteras Hill road have been full of marguerites and thistles, where Imelda Molinski told me she has seen clouds of butterflies, reminiscent of the days of her childhood, when butterflies were more common.

Imelda also mentioned to me in July that she had seen Barn Owls when on her walks around the village, so on 22nd July, I ventured out for one of my rare visits to my owl box that has been up for over ten years now. It was a balmy evening with almost clear azure skies, when I set out at 20:30. I passed a Hedgehog on the footpath, which gazed up nonchalantly as I strode by. A festering owl pellet left on a white -splashed fence post, was a sure sign of the presence of Barn Owls. As I strolled noiselessly through the fields, a Common Buzzard hovered, and then dived on prey in the long grass, unaware of my presence; a Little Owl shrieked from the gloomy interior of a majestic oak tree. These were perfect conditions for observing Barn Owls, the grass was dry, and there was absolutely no disturbance. I stood motionless by a beautiful large hedge on the opposite side of the field overlooking the nest box, drinking in the tranquil atmosphere. The sky was cloudless, apart for one small, lenticular cloud in the shape of a flying saucer, which grew in size as I watched over a period of ten minutes, the cloud eventually evolving into a duck billed platypus. I then realised that this prolonged state of euphoria had made me lose concentration, and I needed to get back to the job in hand.

After a further ten minutes, as the fiery disc of the sun dropped behind the hill, and the temperature fell, an adult Barn Owl popped out of the nest box, where it sat on the ledge dozing. I

hour later, a young bird catapulted out of the box, knocking the adult off the ledge, which then retreated behind the foliage of the oak close by. The youngster then sat on the ledge, nodding its head in the curious way that young birds do. Breeding success at long last! A young fox sauntered diagonally across the field, the Barn Owl never giving it a second glance. Another fox followed it, and then to my astonishment I spotted a small falcon, a Hobby, flying towards the village, pursued by flocks of agitated hirundines.

This latter sighting was totally unexpected, as this is only my second record for the village.

There is a second pair of nesting Barn Owls nearby too, with every move of this pair being monitored by a camera in the nest box. So far, it looks like two birds will fledge from this nest. So two pairs of Barn Owls in the village!

Not too far from the village, I have found hobbies nesting, and my record of two young falcons appears to be the first confirmed breeding in this part of the world, which is another very exciting development.

What a wonderful place Hillam is, with its wild fields and mature hedges. Enjoy them now, before rapacious builders eventually move in and destroy them. Nature always retreats and becomes devalued by development, and needs to be left alone, not made more accessible to man, which seems to be the current mantra in corporate jargon.

Graham Todd

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Inspiration for the next Hillam news team A meeting has been called ...

2003— The challenge is accepted

I only met Geoff Hall once and I wasn't at his funeral in 2003.

But I really took to his Hillam News when it landed on my door mat .

Following the untimely death of Geoff Hall in November 2003, many villagers expressed the view that the Hillam News had died with him. His unique blend of enthusiasm, local knowledge and engaging style of writing was always there in every issue.

My neighbour, Kay Jones, was Hillam News secretary and I asked what was going to happen now that Geoff had gone. She replied she was looking for people who were computer literate, had local knowledge and lots of time. There was going to be a meeting in Manor Court. I should go along.

It is not often that meetings where jobs are being handed out are so well attended. But there was a groundswell of support for Hillam News and I came away as treasurer. The one marketable skill I brought from farming was book keeping. I could even call upon experience as a cricket club treasurer.

Later, at the instigation of Jenny Hoare I became chairman. I have enjoyed the leadership role but (and I learnt this too late) it is not a good idea to hold meetings in public bars.

Before I came home to the family farm in 1965 I worked as a journalist in London for the now defunct Farmer and Stockbreeder magazine. When we were ordered by the National Union of Journalists to ban overtime we managed to get the magazine out in regular working hours!

And until now Hillam News has always been out on time.

The Manor Court gathering was in 2003 and many of the 2015 Hillam News survivors were at that meeting.

That included our three most regular editors. One was into campaigning, another was a news hound and the third sought to perfect his page design and appearance. A well balanced combination.

Hillam News used to be printed by villagers using office photo copiers. The print order has since grown from 200 to 450. I shall miss my printing sessions with Ian Metcalfe at South Milford vestry. Even the tension of synchronising resources, materials and machine and finding a day when the church wasn't in use.

A lot of time at our committee meetings were spent selecting a subject for the front page. Then the editor went off and did exactly what he liked. With the arrival of Facebook we were able to measure reactions to our stories. Nothing, not even the discovery of a Neolithic axe head in a farmer's field, was more popular than Mel Charles going down on one knee to propose to Jayne or Nigel Adams beckoning the cycle club across the reopened Lumby Lane railway bridge.

What will happen next? If history repeats itself, then expect a public meeting, possibly at Manor Court. I don't think it is time yet for Hillam News to disappear completely into the virtual world of social media. I am looking forward to many more “Best ever” issues of Hillam News. Long may the tradition continue.

David Atkinson

However, the doubters reckoned without the doggedness of several Hillamites who knew a good thing when they saw it, and were determined not to let it fold. First, the two people who had been more involved than most, Kay Jones who had helped Geoff and proofreader Jenny Hoare, decided to call a meeting.

Supporters rallied round: at the crowded meeting in December several new recruits were enlisted – not only those already known to have an interest, but fresh faces too. The result was that at the end of January (with only one issue missed) the new issue flew hot off the press, with the headline “Have we got News for you!”

On the “staff” today are three editors, two secretaries, two proof readers, two managers of copying and distribution with their army of assistants, one printer – and one treasurer cum advertising manager cum chairman.

There is always room for new blood, and greater numbers bring greater flexibility: if you would like to help out regularly or occasionally or just once, if you have an idea for improvement, or a criticism, if you would like to contribute an article, if you wish to offer your services in any of the standard tasks, or if you have skills in some area that we haven’t even thought of, we should love to hear from YOU. It’s YOUR Hillam News.

On a personal note I have always found it satisfying to help produce a paper which is as professional as we can make it.

Hillamites can be justly proud of this long-running village institution.

Jenny Hoare

The last word and the best ever It has been a long standing tradition with the Hillam News team that every issue is declared the best ever and that the editor always has the last word.

As editor of this issue I am certainly not going to break with that tradition. So I hereby declare that this is the best ever issue. Like any tradition it is difficult to know where and when it originated.

My recollection is that David Atkinson as Chairman, Treasurer and manager for printing and collating started the tradition. We all owe David much gratitude for his leadership and diligence over many years. He came to editing relatively recently - but in Hillam News terms that could be five years ago.

Time flies when you are enjoying yourself !

Howard Ferguson

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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Christmas - all you need to celebrate in style Real Christmas Trees Nordmann Fir & Norway Spruce Christmas Trees available in heights from 5ft to 10ft from £20.

On sale at Monk Fryston & Hillam Community Centre, Saturday & Sundays in December, 10am – 2pm Pre-ordered Wreaths available from £10 Larger tress up to 25ft available if preordered by 20th Nov. For enquiries & pre-orders contact Richard on 07542 366213 or email info@ramblehouse.co.uk

VILLage pantomine The Badapple Theatre Company will be performing our Christmas production, 'Farmer Scrooge's Christmas Carol', at Monk Fryston and Hillam Community Centre on Sunday 27th December 2015 at 4pm.

Merry Christmas from Claire at the Badapple Theatre www.badappletheatre.com office@badappletheatre.com 01423 339168

Turkey auction This year's Selby Farmers' Turkey Auction will be held at the Bawtry Road Selby Auction Market (YO8 8NB) on Monday 21st Dec at 5.00pm.

The number of followers and buyers from Hillam and Monk Fryston at our local turkey auction grows by the year. In 2014 a regular took a roasting pan to check that her Christmas Day choice would fit in the oven. As usual after bidding was done, lots of us tucked into steak pie and chips with a huge mug of tea in the adjoining canteen.

It is quite impossible to forecast whether there will be bargains this year. The nearest thing to a rule is that it won’t be the same as last year. In 2014 there was quite a shortage with 500 birds on sale, down from 900. Prices were up accordingly with turkeys higher by as much as £10.00. To get the bird of your choice you needed to bid between £38.00 and £40.00.

It is quite possible that local growers have hatched and reared more this time round.

Even Aldi is in on the bandwagon. The new Sherburn store promises hand plucked turkeys in time for Christmas, without committing to a price.

Last year at Selby geese started at £40.00 and peaked at over £50.00. One Hillam buyer who had filled his freezer the previous year walked out in disgust. But he will be back this year, whatever trade is like. His freezer is now empty.

Yorkshires finest fruit and veg Bert's Barrow's have won the Deliciously Yorkshire and Yorkshire Post - Yorkshire's Finest Taste Award for Fresh Produce, with their £15 fruit, veg and salad box.

The team of judges made up of local chefs, supermarket buyers and retail experts carried out the judging in August in Harrogate. The veg box was shortlisted and after a long wait Charlotte and Jason attended the awards held at the pavilions of Harrogate Wednesday 21st October.

Charlotte said "we were second award up and my heart was pounding, when he called our names we were absolutely over the moon. This means everything to us, we deliver our boxes free within 3 miles of the farm and we buy as much as we can locally usually straight out of the field, as close to 6 miles from the farm. We are really excited about our future plans and will be growing our own veg in the future.”

Miss Friday Bakehouse from Wistow also won best baked product with her peanut butter and caramel brownie.

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Ringtree Christmas lights - “Switch on” Christmas Lights ‘Switch on’ at 7:00pm on Saturday 5 December.

We hope you can be there to join friends and neighbours enjoy a festive start to the Christmas season – and of course to meet Santa and his helpers! If you are able to help on the night, this year, we are short of Marshals to ‘man the barriers’ when the road through Hillam is closed. We would be extremely grateful for any volunteers to help.

Please contact Karen Merry on 685694 or mobile 07808 770402.

We’d like to thank you for your support of the Ringtree Christmas Lights fund during 2015 if you have been a member of the 100 Club. The 100 Club provides the funds for our village’s 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 4 December then you will be entered into a draw to win a Hamper full of Christmas goodies.

If you would like join then please complete the form and return it, along with a fee of £12 to Karen Merry(12 Hillside Close) or Stuart Proctor (The Brambles, Main Street, Hillam).

Please remember that parents are responsible for the safety of their children at all times.

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

October draw First prize (£20) - Cyril Pickup Second prize (£10) - Barbara and David Atkinson Third prize (£5) - Clare Thomas

The Pub is the hub A big thank you to Mel and Jayne, the landlord and landlady of the Cross Keys pub, Hillam, for allowing us to run the Monday Coffee Morning which has been in existence for one year.

Throughout September we have had a Bring and Buy stall, a bingo session and a fashion show, culminating in a fantastic Tea and Cake afternoon on Friday September 25th. We have raised £652.57 for Macmillan Cancer Support and have had a great time doing it.

None of this would have been possible if it had not been for "The Pub is the Hub" so many thanks to all who have made this event successful and once again thank you to Mel and Jayne for allowing this to happen.

Mary Little

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Parish Council minutes November 2015

All councillors present Visitors Richard and Jeanette Dossett

Richard Dosset presented a summary of reasons why he believed the council should object to the Redrow development. The PC thanked him for his detailed research and observations, many of which will be integrated within the formal PC response.

Financial report All cheques issued, except those related to the clerks salary and payroll processing, have been presented.

Issued this month: Steve Parkin £580 grass cutting Sept-Oct J Collinson £20 memorial wreath B Wright £21 plants Planning

3.1 Austfield House, Chapel Street - Outline planning permission for a separate detached house in the grounds.

Observations – the lamp post within the proposed development area should be moved out onto the verge.

3.2 The Grange, Main Street - Internal modifications to kitchen and garage – no objections.

3.3 Number 3 Brambles Court -Thinning and topping of Ash tree – no objections.

3.4 Redrow - Discussions included the paucity of meaningful consultation Disproportionate impact on village -20% increase in size of village in one development.

Untenable pressures on infrastructure - should be seen in the context of the wider impact 1670 planned within 5 miles.

Total disregard of locally preferred development sites elicited through Selby SDC consultation.

Cllr Sadler will draft objection and call for the plans to be put before a full public planning committee meeting.

The plans will be available for public viewing in The Cross Keys on Monday9th November 10am to 12 noon with Cllrs Little and Sadler present, and on Wednesday 11th November 6pm to 8pm with Cllrs Tuddenham and Robertson in attendance.

To be publicised through notices in the Post Office, on the lamp posts and Village notice board as well as through Tony Hudson’s website. Cll Little will endeavour to spread the

information through the school information system, Cllr

Wright will liaise with Monk Fryston PC. 3.5 Honeypot Field – SDC are investigating a report that the barn is being used for residential purposes.

4. New Clerk -Interview for the post to be held next November 13th 5. Ring Tree – latest report showed health of tree deteriorating.

Council asked if tree is ‘dangerous’, to go back to David Venebles to asked question.

6.

Cllr Little elaborated upon her initiative for greater personal voluntary involvement in enhancing the village.

Initial project is the erection of three Christmas trees at the entrances to the village. Plans are already in hand. Council gave their full support.

Pavements

It was reported that one resident had tripped and fallen on the uneven footpath twixt The Square and Roselea Close.

Photographic evidence of the poor state of repair to be gathered for the compilation of a report. - clerk to action further when appointed.

8.

It was agreed to apply for IT equipment support funding currently available – Cl. Mitchell to action

9.. Street lighting – Cllr Collinson and Tuddenham to be the contact phone numbers printed on the new faulty street light labels being commissioned. Resolved to get number/contact plates for the street lights.

Speeding issues deferred. 11. Dog Fouling – 4 metal posters erected in Football field.

10.

Poo paint now to hand.

12. Grass cutting – deferred 13.

Defibrillator - Potential CEF funding available for defibrillator. Defibrillator Group to be advised and their involvement invited. Telephone Box - Process to be set in motion for the decommissioning and purchase of the telephone box – Cllr Sadler to action with BT.

14.

Reports

14.1 Burial Board -New clerk, Mrs Judy Fullerton appointed 14.2 Community Association - Centre very well used. Very well supported and successful Bonfire/Halloween event, other social events in the pipeline.

Next meeting Wednesday 2nd December 730pm Community Centre

Burton Salmon Parish Council: http://www.burtonsalmonparishcouncil.co.uk South Milford Parish Council: http://www.southmilford.org/

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Hillam Parish Council - 7th October 2015 Defibrillator - Presentation from Dave Jones of West

Yorkshire Ambulance Service, relating to provision of a defibrillator for the village. Cost is £1699 inc vat for a machine, cabinet and a village awareness session. Supplied with 7 year warranty, option for additional 3 year warranty if registered with Ambulance Service and manufacturer. Additional costs - £150 for battery 3-4 years, £25 for pads every 2 years

Finance and reports -

Planning Applications

Redrow Development not yet submitted. Correspondence sent to highways and water board, by previous clerk No other plans for consideration

Improving village entrances - Deferred. Need to check street cleaning obligations with Selby DC. Will they only act on residents' complaints?

No report for September, not in a position to provide.

Bank statement dated 29th September 2015 shows £5209.36 £75 cheque returned due to closure of Luncheon Club. To be paid into current account M Walton and CSR checking over payment of £590.14 PFK Littlejohns -£30 fine for a chaser letter where no information was supplied at the due date for Account Summary 2014/15.

Cheques to be issued £156 Littlejohns - Audit and charge £44.32 Selby DC - Election costs £38.25 Thirsk Community Care - Payroll costs £116.00 HMRC - Tax for A Crabbe £161.96 A Crabbe - Salary £105 S Parkin - return of voided cheque, due to duplication £895.72 Burial board - annual precept £142 M Walton - Expenses and fee for audit of and correction to annual accounts. Also completion of £386 VAT reclaim. (Agreed to pay Mr Walton for services provided)

Pavement improvements - Specific areas and photos if

Resignation of clerk

Dog fouling - Signs, stickers and spray paint received. Signs to

Clerk left on 30/9/2015. J Sadler received no responses to requests for info from outgoing clerk. J Sadler to write formally requesting supply of all outstanding documents.

Final salary to be paid on provision of outstanding documents due to Hillam PC. Freedom of information ; information requested had not been supplied by the Clerk within timescale and the ‘requester’ reported Hillam Parish Council to the Information Commission.

As the information requested has been flagged up in the Account Summary Audit as erroneous and has since been rectified the requester will now advise the Information Commission to take no further action.

Calendar of events for year - Plan of all payments,

accounting deadlines and other regular events to be itemised.

Action - I Robertson

Parish Clerk vacancy

Correspondence received from 1 potential applicant.

Julie Sadler to contact M Walton and ask if he is interested in a short term 3 month role, or until a replacement clerk is appointed

Ring tree Lights switch on December 5th.

Request made for Parish Council's insurance document. Policy and document number to be supplied Agreed to make Ring Tree Committee a sub committee of the Parish Council - Parish Council have received a copy of the risk assessment.

possible, of areas needing repair to be supplied by councillors at the next meeting.

Parish Council website - Deferred, pending appointment of new clerk

NYCC adoption of contract for maintaining village lights Former clerk has sent information to NYCC J Sadler has inventoried the lights I Robertson volunteered to check the inventory list. Once agreed, this will be sent to NYCC to take ownership.

Betteras Hill Landfill - There are some actions outstanding

from the previous Clerk that require review, to be drawn up by Chair for November meeting. Environment Agency are reviewing the waste licence obligations. Comments made that the noise and hours of operation have reduced.

J Sadler to write to NYCC about speeding on Betteras Hill Road and Chapel Street. be put up around football field. Action - I Robertson

Committee reports

Burial Board - Clerk resigned, update provided on September funeral and search for a new clerk.

Education Foundation - Update provided.

Agreed to assist with school meals costs for a local family Discussed benches for communal use in the Church hall No submissions related to the foundation field New benches supplied for use by the community and school, at Burton Salmon village hall.

CEF - Update provided

Police report a slight crime increase but not in this area No notice of crime increase due to reduction of street light hours.

Looking at possible alternative waste disposal sites R Owen of NYCC made aware of inadequate bus service, particularly through Hillam and Burton Salmon.

UTOPIA will be providing a Christmas Market bus service between South Milford and York during December.

"Pub is the hub" - The group have offered to fund Christmas Trees at the 3 village entrances and had asked if the Council would approve that. The Council were happy for this to go ahead and were pleased with the success of the Pub is the Hub. Any other business Honey Pot field - Cattle shed contains a caravan which is being used as a dwelling. J Sadler to notify Selby DC and ask them to investigate.

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Gardening with susan scott of hillam Winter Displays On a very dull November day I completed the planting of spring flowering bulbs. I had selected various daffodils and tulips but could have planted crocus, hyacinth and muscari. All of these are winter hardy and can be planted successfully up to the end of December. Some winters I have had little time to plant bulbs for myself so have even planted them in January and they have still come through. The sooner bulbs are planted the better, as roots are made in the still summer warm soils of autumn. If time is short, bulbs can be planted in pots to be placed out at a later date.

When I checked some pots in the garden I found the shoots of next year's growth on this same November day so I am anticipating a colourful spring.

In the meantime house plants can play a big part. Although growth slows down in the dark days of winter, there will be some plants available in the major garden centres to brighten our homes.

A popular choice is the poinsettia. This native of Mexico is grown specifically for its colourful bracts which give a bright splash. Bracts can be cream, pink, or the most popular red.

The true flowers are to be found in the centre of the bracts and if not open when bought, the plant will last a long time. The flowers are usually small greeny, yellowy points. Another sign of good plant health is the leaves. If they are not curled over, the plant has not been subjected to draughts. The plant is likely to have been raised in perfect conditions to bring it into peak condition for sale. Shocks to the plant such as cold draughts or dull light conditions will cause stress. Place in a good position where the temperature does not vary too much, with good light but not full sunshine.

Watering should be done with tepid water and from below. Let the compost dry out before watering again as poinsettias do not like cold and wet around the roots, and pour off any excess water when it has drained through. Be careful if you break a leaf as the plant contains a sap which is a skin irritant and be especially careful of getting any sap near the eyes.

If you take care of your poinsettia it will last for months and some people are able to keep theirs over several years.

Another popular choice is the Solanum or Winter Cherry. These are often covered in orangy/red berries and have mid green leaves. The solanum is a relative of the garden plant solanum or potato vine which gives a clue to its most well known relative, the edible potato. As with the potato the berries or fruits are inedible so watch young children who may be attracted to the fruit, thinking that they are tomatoes, to which they are also related.

Keeping the plants in enough light and damp (but not sodden) will keep them going for a long time. Often solanum are used in grand indoor displays because they are so undemanding.

Recently a plant usually grown in the greenhouse for its fruits has found its way into our homes in winter. The capsicum or pepper plant is used decoratively as well as a spice. The colourful fruits of the chilli pepper are often included in outdoor wreaths.

Again an undemanding plant, it is easily grown at home if you have a greenhouse or better still a polytunnel. During the summer a young colleague grew six plants in two grow bags. They grew with little assistance and produced masses of chilli peppers. Care is required when harvesting the fruits as the chilli can be an irritant and some people may be affected by the fruits.

Many of us will have acquired a Christmas cactus at some time. This native of the southern hemisphere is triggered into flowering by the Autumn Equinox in September, when day and night length are the same. Flowering can take place from November through to March.

All these winter flowering/fruiting plants may be found in greengrocers and garden centres and give us colour during the winter months.

Susan Scott 01977 685205

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Our excellent local schools Burton Salmon CP School

This term our children are learning about excit“Happy Learning for a Healthy Future” ing new themes from the Ancient Egyptians to life cycles, and from the Victorians to the huThe half term has flown by and we have just had our Harvest man body. We are enjoying watching them Festival. We had a packed village hall and the pupils told the progress with their learning throughout the parents all about their farm visit in September. They sang term. beautifully with several solo/group performances.

We were again very proud of the achievement made by our chilThey shared their knowledge of the world and KS1 pupils were dren last year. Our results remained strong, with 96% of our Year 6 pupils achieving the expected level 4 and above in read- able to name all the continents and oceans. ing, and 92% in writing and maths. 50% of the children also We also shared our understanding of British Values and how we went on to achieve the higher level 5, which is a fantastic outapply them meaningfully at Burton Salmon School. come. The percentage achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined remains much higher than oth- The morning finished with everyone coming back to school to er schools in the country. This is also the case at the end of other share the homemade soup Class 1 pupils had made with the produce grown in our garden. This completed a wonderful years in the school.

Harvest Festival.

The way we describe our achievement next year will be different. We will have a new set of tests next year and have started to This year the School Council have decided to support NSPCC as move towards these by measuring whether children are entering, our charity and the whole school are working hard on a challenging sponsored spell! developing or securely at the standard expected for their age.

Very uncertain, but exciting times!

Just a date for our next half term – our Christmas Fayre will be We are also excited about another new initiative - In partnership on 2 December 3:00pm to 5:00pm – all welcome. with Hull University we are starting a new school-based teacher Kindest regards, training programme. This will place trainees within schools in Mrs. D. Andrews the STAR alliance for the majority of their training and will result in them gaining a PGCE. This gives us far more control over the training programme and will hopefully result in new teachers who are fully equipped for life in our schools. Applications are now open with details on our website.

Our PTA has a new committee this year, and they have already embarked upon an ambitious programme to raise funding to replace the IT display equipment in all our classes. This will require substantial resourcing, but we have made an excellent start with the fantastic proceeds from the Summer Fayre and the Beer Festival. Despite the weather these events raised substantial amounts of money and we are very grateful for your support.

Rick Weights

Now open Sundays

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Redrow planning row over 50 new homes The proposal The original idea was to build between 60 and 68 new homes off Main Street Hillam with 40% of them described as affordable meaning social housing. Such homes are not popular with builders because they are not profitable to build. The number of proposed homes was reduced to 52 between the public consultation and the planning application being submitted.

The application number is 2015/1033/FUL and you can see the details of the proposal and what people have said about it on the Selby District planning website.

In total there are about 50 comments - mostly objections but there are also people in support of the proposal.

And some of the comments … my main concern, as ever, is associated with the destruction of wildlife habitat…. At the end of the day, I and others accept that there will be development of houses on this land; the main purpose in lodging objections being to mitigate the number of houses that will be built.

OBSERVATIONS - HILLAM PARISH COUNCIL 1. The proposed development should not happen in this parcel of land as land elsewhere in the villages of Monk Fryston and Hillam had been identified as more suitable locations for development.

2. The number of proposed dwellings exceeds those suggested

by Selby District Council for this village of 36.

3. The proposals are out of character with the rest of the village, which unlike those typified in the Redrow report, are built of stone.

4. The potential increase of volume of traffic on all local and trunk road highways, particularly the A63. Also the exit/entrance from Water Lane onto it is of concern. Also increased traffic within Hillam and Monk Fryston gives the potential danger this may bring and in particular at school start and finish times.

5. Local school is full.

6. Water management of drainage and sewerage issues seemed optimistic, residents of Rose Lea Close, Hillam Hall Lane and The Square concerned about flooding.

…..In terms of the development itself, we would like to see the overall number of houses reduced to perhaps 35, the number of "starter homes, affordable houses" (exactly what the various terms mean requires clarification) reduced from 40% to a maximum of 25% of the total number, and we would also like to see the biodiversity protected by the implementation of "wildlife corridors" or shelter belts adjacent to all existing trees and hedgerows.

7. Footpaths would require widening from entrance up to Mill Close.

…... The size of the development is too big in terms of the current village size and is also well above the numbers required in the Selby district plan. The infrastructure of the school, doctors , dentist, power, waste water is not sufficient for a development of this size. Drainage and flooding are problematic in the area to be developed.

In 1995 Hillam Parish Council endorsed planning consent for the demolition of farm buildings at Rose Tree Farm and this led to the building of Bedford’s Fold.

…….Proposed properties are out of character with the rest of the village. Volume of traffic on village roads and access on to the A63. Drainage and sewage issues that already exist in the village. ….. I have no objections to the land being developed for housing and understand the need for more housing in the village, but I do strongly feel that any development should not be at the detriment to existing village amenities and residents.

The current proposals are badly thought through and appear to be an attempt to cram as many units into a small piece of land with the sole purpose of maximising profits for the housebuilders. …..Has consideration of the increased volume of traffic both at the Water Lane Junction with the A63 in Monk Fryston, which is already very busy at rush hour, and along Hillam Lane to Burton Salmon. With very poor bus services to the major employment centres it is reasonable to expect people will use their car.

Julie Sadler Chair – Hillam Parish Council

Historic comment

In the same year, Victor Homes gained approval for the erection of twenty houses at Hillside Farm. Outline planning approval at Boundary Farm, Lumby Hill was renewed and Amcliffe Homes submitted a planning applica-tion for 23 houses on Hillam Hall Lane.

That was fifteen years ago. Who can say what development the next fifteen years will bring to Hillam and Monk Fryston?

Recent sales in Hillam & Monk Fryston ◊ 2 Youngs Court, Main Street, Monk Fryston £260,000 27th May ◊ 8 The Crescent, Monk Fryston £180,000 22nd May ◊ 10 Water Lane, Monk Fryston £200,000 21st May ◊ 7 Chestnut Green, Monk Fryston £177,500 8th May ◊ 11 The Bales, South Milford £227,500 6th May ◊ Prospect House, Prospect Close, Hillam £300,000 July ◊ 15 Selby Road, Monk Fryston £309,000 July ◊ 5 Abbeystone Way, Monk Fryston £113,000 21st Aug

11

Village plan - have your say Currently, there are a number of related activities underway to try and formulate the Village, Area and Selby District Plans.

It will ask you only 2 questions which you have to think about :1. What would make life better where you live?

2. What ideas do you have that would benefit your community?

Hillam and Monk Fryston Village Plan

Complete the online survey NOW at

The Village Planning Group is trying to gather residents views about what they would like to see improved or simply would like in our two villages. Questionnaires have been sent out to all homes in Monk Fryston and will also be sent out to all Hillam.

The response so far has been poor with just 2 forms returned in the first 2 months which amounts quite simply to

a thing called Apathy

If no-one is interested in taking a few minutes to think about what they would like to see happen then the outcome will be that nothing will happen!

Residents will moan about why they don’t do something about something but the answer is everyone has to play their part and do their bit to start to try to make things happen. We compete for resources and it is proven that those who shout loudest do get heard and sometimes listened to.

PUBLIC CONSULATION AND SURVEYS ARE A KEY WAY OF GATHERING VIEWS AND FOR ANY PLAN TO HAVE MERIT IT NEEDS AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE TO SUBMIT THEIR OPINIONS. Past surveys have helped both the Cricket Club and Community Association obtain grants which have vastly improved the quality of our village life.

Please play your part in the 2 local surveys. We can’t guarantee that anything will come out of them BUT if you don’t take part you can’t influence the outcome.

We hope you have now been stirred into action. The immediate requirement is to complete a 5 minute on line survey to help the Western Community Engagement Forum create a new Development Plan for the area.

www.surveymonkey.com/r/WesternCEFCommunity

Everyone from 10 years of age can give their views so why not take the opportunity – it will only take 5 minutes and tell the CEF what you think needs doing to improve life in Monk Fryston and Hillam NOW.

Western CEF Community Development Plan The Western CEF covers the following areas: Birkin, Brotherton, Burton Salmon, Byram, Fairburn, Hillam, Kellingley, Lumby, Monk Fryston, Newthorpe, Sherburn in Elmet and South Milford The CEF is open to the public and supported by a partnership board which involves district, county and some town and parish councillors; co-opted community representatives and partner organisations.

We want to hear your thoughts on what needs to be done to improve where you live and how we can help. We will use this information to create a new Community Development Plan for the area.

Hear the results and our next actions by attending our next Public Forum event 6.30pm onwards Tuesday 8 th December at Monk Fryston and Hillam Community Centre.

Hillam Parish Council consultation Monday 11th January in the Cross Keys Coffee morning consultation 10-11.45 Evening consultation 7.30pm To discuss

  

Future of Hillam News, taking it forward Putting Defibrillator in the Phone Box Any other village issues residents wish to raise

12

News from monk Fryston post office and shop Monthly prize draw First prize of a boxed bottle of Mumm champagne goes to Peter Leslie . Second prize of a deli gift box goes to Lisa Iliffe.

Congratulations to both winners!

All names and addresses for this FREE prize draw will be reentered automatically every month. For those of you who have not yet joined the draw, please just ask for an entry form when next in the shop.

Facebook Our son has finally dragged us ‘kicking and screaming’ in to the 21st century – we are now on Facebook and a website is on its way. You will find news about new products, Christmas items and seasonal gifts, opening times etc. etc. at ‘Monk Fryston Post Office and Stores’. Please help promote us by ‘liking us’ on Facebook if you can.

A Privilege

Post Office Services

I feel extremely privileged to currently be receiving advice and training from Robert Kingsbury whom most of you will of course know from The Garden Route Cafe. Robert is an invaluable source of expertise and information on all things culinary. Under his guidance, I will be producing cakes and puddings, biscuits, chocolates and fudges, and eventually I hope, cook-chill ready meals all for sale in the shop. These products will be be sold under the label of ‘Monk Foodie’ to differentiate them from other products in the shop.

Some customers have said that they are not familiar with the range of post office services we provide. To clarify, I have listed our main services below:  Free cash withdrawals  Personal banking  Business Banking  Car Tax and DVLA forms  Post Office card account cards and withdrawals  Holiday Insurance New Additions Recent additions to our products on offer have been a broad  Foreign Currency (to order) range of Longley Farm dairy products , a growing range of real  Moneygram (locally brewed) ales – some of which have featured in beer  Phone top ups festivals past and present. Names such as Blonde Bombshell,  ‘Click and Collect’ parcels 1872 Porter, Scruffs Gold, White Prussian are already with us with more to follow shortly.  ‘One For All’ and ITunes gift cards We will be trialling sale of small amounts of organic milk and  Bill Payments ...and of course, the odd parcel or two! cream from Tues 22nd Sept to go alongside our organic breads.

Please ask Sue, Christine or myself for further information.

New breads include olive, onion and cheese breads – baked Many thanks to you all for your continued support. fresh in-house daily.

Please do ask us if there is something you would like us to stock that is not currently available!

Christmas Yes, my favourite time of year will soon be upon us ! For the Post Office this is of course the busiest time of year. We will soon have information about last posting dates. Please call in for a leaflet.

Most of you will be aware of the annual church Christmas Market. This year it is on 27th November, 6-9pm. Please come along and support local small businesses as well as St. Wilfrid’s Church. There will be a wide variety of stalls there – many selling hand made goods. An ideal opportunity to buy your Christmas gifts!

We will also be there this year –with our own hand -made and gift- boxed Christmas puddings, Christmas cakes, seasonal biscuits, chocolates and fudges (under the label of ‘Monk Foodie’), alongside wines, real ales, cheeses, deli gift packs and Christmas novelties etc. Hope to see you there!

Faye and Kevin

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Survey - did the last Hillam Village Plan deliver In 2008 a group of residents led the village public consultation process which resulted in production of the 2009-2013 Village Plan which every household received. Since then it has been used by our Parish Councils and other groups as a guide to develop our village in line with the resident’s priorities with some outstanding successes such as the provision of the new Cricket Pavilion and the redeveloped Community Centre, along with other more mundane but equally important actions such as sorting out car parking at the post office.

FACILITIES Larger Community Centre with more regular uses and access to shared resources

Time has moved on and earlier this summer all residents were invited to an open meeting to set up a new group to review the village plan; a group has formed and have started work to develop a new plan.

A63 / Water Lane Junction

Our purpose is to Review, Update and Reissue the Village Plan As there are still many items outstanding and unaddressed the group has decided to readopt the plan (as it was out of date) until a new community consultation process has been completed.

You may have lost or misplaced the Village plan; it can be viewed on line at http:// villageplan.monkfryston.org/ The V illage Plan Group has reviewed the Action Points in each of six sections and their assessment is shown in the smilies, smiling for achieved and sad for not completed BUT Do you agree with their assessment?

Is the action point still relevant?

What do you think is important now?

Are there any matters which you would like to bring forward for inclusion in the revised Plan?

Please review the actions listed in the column to the right. They are in priority in each section. Please add anything you wish to be considered for inclusion in the New Plan; there is space alongside our Smiley’s for you to add your own smiley if you do not agree with our assessment or you can note your views and return the document to us.

Your views are very important so please let us have them - Thank You

Return to Post Office, School, Cross Keys, Crown, Community Centre, Church Hall or Doctors by 11th January 2016

Improve the decoration in the villages especially around Xmas time Improvements in general cleanliness and tidiness More access to public and open spaces and more seating TRAFFIC AND HIGHWAYS Speed controls / Monitoring

Reinstate bus stop Post office waiting area Bypass required YOUTH ACTION POINTS More Youth activities Regular Youth events More Youth Groups ENVIRONMENT ACTION POINTS Removal of the Thrust Garage Footpath improvements Old Quarry to be used for community use Planting improvement Improve Village Entrances Provision for Dogs EVENTS ACTION POINTS Develop Chestnut Green as an outdoor arena – classical / folk / rock Concerts and drama productions in the summer.

Annual music event – Frystonbury More teenagers’ events Open air concerts SPORT / PLAY ACTION POINTS More Sports and Play facilities Provide multi use games play area Make Foundation Field available New / safer roundabout and play equipment Network of bridleways Fencing around Community Centre Play Area Monk Fryston A run for all ages Skateboard park Hockey / astro pitch

What’s new and important to YOU and the Village in your opinion?

Name

Address

Our View

Your view

14

Always looking for something new 30th January - The Wise Owl Quiz 2016 Iain Mitchell and his team have laid down the gauntlet! Beat us – we are only a 3 MAN team!

Yes, it’s that time of year again. Bonfires are over and whilst most people are just getting into the mood (or is it panic) for Christmas some of the CA members are busy planning how you can overcome the New Year blues. The Wise Owl, this much sort after Village Trophy (it might be the only one?), will be returned from its pride of place on Iain’s mantelpiece, hopefully not worn out after all Caroline’s polishing, and be ready to be battled over, won fairly ( we hope) and awarded again to a fanfare and applause on Saturday 30th January at the Community Centre.

Now’s the time to get your teams together and reserve a place; last year demand outstripped space …. but of course last year we didn’t have the Youth club shed. If you don’t want to risk being in the shed contact the CA now via their booking page http:// www.mfhcc.com/contact-us-booking/ to reserve your tickets.

More information will be available from Jan 1 st 2016 along with tickets from the Post Office.

The Plough Inn, Burton Salmon In March of this year it looked very bleak for the only Pub in Burton Salmon. The Plough Inn has served the community in some way for hundreds of years, but with the departure of the former tenants and subsequent string of failing managers, the pub was virtually on its last legs as regulars started to drift to pastures new.

Then almost out of the blue news started to spread that someone had taken the tenancy for 5 years and the pub was saved. Enter Adam and Julie, a lovely hard working couple and Adam a master Chef who is determined that every diner has the best possible eating experience that he can provide- and it’s working! Six months on and the pub is full again and word has spread far and wide that “The Plough Inn” is the place to be for fine dining and entertainment. Adam's menu is extensive and caters for a huge range of different tastes. Crab thermidor, Yorkshire carbonnade of beef, Burton Salmon Florentine are some of Adam's signature dishes I have enjoyed. Then of course there is steak night with ribeyes and sirloins from Birkin Farm. Friday's fish and chip night should not be missed and of course news is spreading about the afternoon teas…….!

Disco night, Soul night, Air Ambulance raffle, Live bands and various singers have all provided excellent entertainment, then of course there was the Fun-day which was a fantastic success. I’ve lived in the village for almost 14 years and I’ve never seen it as full for any event.

So if you want superb cuisine that won’t cost an arm and a leg served by excellent staff, top entertainment and friendly atmosphere then get yourself down to The Plough and meet two of the most up and coming “Mine Hosts” in the district.

Richard Wright

Monk Fryston and Hillam invigorate Club A new, innovative Youth Club designed to provide what youngsters and parents say they want “Our research has ….revealed that our young people want to learn new skills, make new friends, experience adventure and be recognised; ……shown that most conventional youth clubs fail to sustain the interest of their members after the age of 12 and they struggle to attract leaders to meet the challenge …..revealed that the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme meets most but not all of what youngsters and parents say they want and they cannot join until 14 years of age”

Check it out at

www.mfhcc.com/what-s-on/invigorate/

15 Rector’s Ramblings The time of Nativity plays is upon us, a time when the children of our schools and churches have the delightful opportunity of stepping into the limelight once again and making a lasting impression on parents and teachers, sometimes for the right reasons. Over the years I’ve tended to breathe a big sigh of relief when the Nativity plays are over, especially if everything has passed off smoothly and without any major hitches.

One of the most difficult tasks as the Rector, or in school as a teacher, is the job of deciding who’s going to be what. It’s not only a case of who’s going to play the main characters, but also how many, shepherds, wise-men (often more than three), sheep, cattle, camels, and often mice, rabbits, even lobsters and all the other odd selection of animals that appear round the crib nowadays. Let’s face it – all sixty-four children have got to do something?

But the worst part of this joyful task is deciding which children are going to take the main parts. I remember hearing about the experience of a colleague who had a real dilemma as to which child should take the role of Joseph. Apparently there were two boys who desperately wanted the role, and eventually the one who missed out, was then asked to take on the role of the innkeeper - "this is a very important part," he was told, "crucial to the smooth running of the performance", He accepted his role graciously and performed brilliantly at all the rehearsals.

The day of the performance dawned and everyone started to arrive, parents, governors, and local vicar. The hall was full and the Nativity play began. Everything was going really well. The Holy Family had reached Bethlehem and approached the inn.

Joseph knocked on the door and the innkeeper appeared, pulled open the door and yelled, "There's no ……. room!" and slammed the door. I'll let you imagine the chaos that followed.

When I think of that story, I’m often reminded of just how much like that little boy I am on occasions. I'm ashamed to think of the number of times I've sulked or slammed doors because things haven't gone the way I wanted. The innkeeper in that play didn't realise that his role was just as important for the smooth running of the play as everyone else's.

I might sometimes feel fed up that all I'm doing at the moment is looking after the dreary administration of two parishes and trying my best to keep things on track, often mundane, and sometimes extremely boring. But it is important, perhaps more important than many other people’s jobs, important so the parish church can be there when it’s really needed by people in the parishes I serve. It's easy to feel unimportant but even the least important job is vital and is worth doing to the best of our ability. Let's try to remember that the next time we feel like slamming doors or stamping our feet just because we think someone else is doing something more exciting and interesting.

Have a great Christmas – and I hope you can join us for one of our Christmas services.

John

ST WILFRID’S CHURCH

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 Family Service at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 7.30pm ‘Seven-Thirty’ at St Mary’s, South Milford

2nd Sunday of each month 9.30am Parish Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 6.00pm Evensong at St Mary’s, South Milford

3rd Sunday of each month 8am Holy Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 9.30am Family Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Morning Prayer at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston

4th Sunday of each month 9.30am Morning Prayer at St Mary’s, South Milford 11am Parish Communion at St Wilfrid’s, Monk Fryston 6pm Holy Communion at St Mary’s, South Milford

5th Sunday of each month (when one occurs) 10.30am Benefice Service at either St Wilfrid’s in Monk Fryston or St Mary’s in South Milford – please see the website for further details www.stwilfridandstmary.org

CHRISTMAS SERVICES/ EVENTS AT ST WILFRID’S Thursday 10th December 7.30pm Burton Salmon School Nativity Monday 14th December 9.30pm Monk Fryston School KS 2 Carol Service Tuesday 15th December 9.30pm Monk Fryston School KS 1 Christingle Thursday 17th December 10am Monk Fryston Pre-school Nativity Sunday 20th December 3pm Christmas Messy Church (Followed by the Christingle Service) Thursday 24th December (Christmas Eve) 6pm Service of Lessons and Carols (Get there early for a seat) Friday 25th December (Christmas Day) 8am Holy Communion 11am Family Service (with Communion) (Let the children bring their presents from Santa Claus)

16

2015 report from your Community Association Where has the year gone?

It only seems like yesterday, that as we were shaking off the Christmas and New Year cobwebs, we were planning the Grand Opening of the Community Centre by Mary Weastell, CEO of Selby DC in the presence of our MP, Nigel Adams, district and local councillors and most important, our donors and contributors. It was a fabulous, landmark event for the Community Association and our villages. This year our facilities have been used by more people than ever; we estimate there will be over 90,000 visits and next year probably over 100,000 as more new activities are starting.

Of course, none of this would be possible without continued support for our fund raising events. The Opening followed hot on the heels of Les and Betty Wright’s sell out Wise Owl Quiz in January. In June we worked with the PTA and other groups to stage the Summer Fayre, which featured characters from, in the circumstances, the aptly named film Frozen! Fortunately the rain held off until after the opening but rain is rain and it did put a dampener on everyone’s spirits and curtailed planned activities to everyone’s disappointment.

This could not be said about either the Beer Fest or the Halloween Bonfire Party. Both were wonderful village events.

At the Beer Fest the beach came to Fryston and provided hours of fun for youngsters whilst the fireworks were absolutely spectacular and were enjoyed by almost 900 people.

Finally in the past month we sent a team to help at Milford Bonfire, which we know was attended by lots of village residents. All we can say about this event is to repeat what those leaving said, ‘Awesome’ ‘Fantastic’ ‘Amazing’ ‘Best ever’!

How do we cap that next year? Well, the team have already started the planning process, watch this space.

In between all this social activity, we have been trying our best to spend the money raised. We are currently repaying our loans at the rate of around £1000 per month and this will continue for some time, but we have now started to invest again. The Youth Club has a new storage shed and external lights; both are essential for its activities.The CA have installed new external power points to help stage future events more safely and removed some potentially unsafe play equipment. Inside the Centre we now have a fully equipped kitchenette in the Meeting Room and curtains have been hung at the joining doors. This now provides the scope for two simultaneous, completely private, users of the Centre. The CA committee are now planning further enhancements which will start to appear in the New Year.

Finally we could not have done any of this without the help of a small army of volunteers and the support from everyone for our events. We would like to remind anyone who would like to become involved, that we would like to hear from you. It is very rewarding and can be fun!

The CA Committee would like to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

A ‘toast’ to Beer Fest 2015 A very well deserved ‘Thank you’ toast has been made by both the Community Association and Monk Fryston School PTA to the committee members, volunteers, sponsors and supporters of the 2015 Beer Fest who collectively raised almost £7,000 at this year’s event.

In addition to the funds generated a further £1,000 was invested in long term facilities and equipment which will be to the benefit of the whole village when used at other events. The new outdoor power supply and gas grill have already started to pay their way as both were used at the Halloween Bonfire Party and the gas grill at the Milford Bonfire which is major fund raiser for both the CA and PTA.

Ray Newton Chair

Everything for Christmas Enjoy a coffee and cake while you shop

17

Bishopwood wind farm appeal - ends with just 4 words “Prowind withdraws their appeal”

NISM - You cannot rely on wind power

That was it, four words, the full text of the e-mail sent on 5 November to the Planning Inspector by the Managing Director of Prowind in Germany. 7 year battle ended by just 4 words.

In theory we have enough generating capacity to keep the lights on. But as with everything else there can be a big difference between theory and practice.

The question that will never be answered is why did Prowind submit the application in the first place and then why did they appeal the decision after it was refused by Selby District Council.

It is unreasonable that residents of the nearest villages - Wistow, Thorpe Willoughby and Hambleton had to spend 7 years worrying that 7 turbines the same size as those recently put up next to the A1M would be erected next to their villages.

November 4th was a still day with low cloud and fog. Almost no wind power and no solar power. Over 6500 large onshore and offshore wind turbines with a theoretical capacity of 13,000 MW were generating a meagre 280MW. With power stations taking advantage of mild weather and low demand to do maintenance the supply came close to breaking down. There was simply not enough electricity to go around.

Even at the start the application documents showed that predicted noise levels were so high that noise complaints from residents were to be expected. Indeed, at other wind farms with similar numbers of turbines at similar distances local residents have found the noise intolerable, but once they are built there is little that can be done. A good example is Fullabrook Down in Devon, try googling it to find out more.

National Grid took emergency action and declared a NISM Notification of Inadequate System Margin. By paying up to 50 times the normal price for electricity they nearly managed to buy enough extra to keep the lights on. To make up the difference they paid a number of factories to cut demand by stopping production. Emergency diesel generators were called into action.

Application for costs As a Rule 6 party to the appeal we are obliged to conform to standards of behaviour, as are Selby Council and the Appellant.

We contend that the Appellant has behaved unreasonably and we have therefore made an application for costs. We await the reply with interest.

What about Woodlane ?

While it is very good news that Bishopwood wind farm has finally been despatched we still have the applications for 14 turbines at Woodlane and another 8 near Womersley still to be decided. This is a matter for Selby District Council to deal with and it is puzzling as to why they have allowed matters to drag on for so long.

There is now a clear pattern - Selby Planners have recommended every wind farm and every wind turbine be approved. Some of the proposals are totally unacceptable and yet they are recommended for approval.

Take for example the turbine at Wistow Lordship - only a few hundred metres from the nearest property. Selby officers recommended it for approval but it was fortunately refused by the Planning Committee. When it was appealed the Inspector refused it on the grounds of unacceptable impact on neighbouring properties. A good result, but it cost the residents a great deal of worry and expense. Similarly the turbine at Riccall was recommended for approval by officers, refused by the committee and then refused by a Planning Inspector because of unacceptable landscape impact. Hopefully the same decision will be made by the Inspector assessing the Lumby turbine appeal on which a decision is expected before Christmas.

A clear pattern is emerging Bishopwood, Wistow Lordship, Riccall, Lumby and recently Great Heck. In each case Planning officers recommended approval. Local residents are outraged because of proximity to homes. The application is refused by the committee and the developer then appeals, citing the officers report as supporting their case. The local residents then have to learn about the appeal process and in some cases spend several thousands of pounds to prevent turbines being built near homes.

The event was reported by BBC News but it was clear that they had no understanding of what had happened. It was a very uncomfortable day for the Energy Minister whose job it is to ensure the lights stay on.

Following a NISM, existing power suppliers get very rich, very quickly. An offer of £2,500/ Megawatt hour nearly 50 x average price from Severn Power was accepted. All this on a warm November afternoon. I am also sure that Drax will have done very well with their Biomass generation running at over 5% of UK power. As would France and Holland who supplied another 5% .

Quick catch up on wind farms Hook Moor - Near the A1M - 5 x125 metres - Now built Cleek Hall - Near Selby - 5 x 125 metres - approved, not yet built Bishopwood - Hambleton - 7 x125 metres - appeal withdrawn Woodlane - Hillam / Birkin - 14 x 125 metres - decision pending Darrington - Near Womersley - 8 x 125 metres - decision pending Byram / Burton Salmon - 9 x 125 metre - no application Lumby - single 77 metres - appeal decision soon Great Heck - single 77 metres - appeal documents submitted Oak Tree farm - single 77 metres - application pending Plus many others - Register for e-mail updates if you want to be kept informed about wind turbines in Selby District and other energy issues..

Howard Ferguson E-mail: please@stopwoodlanewindfarm.co.uk

18

No easy Escape from monk fryston Tour de yorkshire Last September some members of Monk Fryston Cycle Club circumnavigated North Yorkshire to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and Epilepsy Action.

Their route took them over 370 miles in the four days, with more than 23,000 feet of climbing (Mount Everest is a shade over 29,000 feet with Base Camp at 17,700 feet if that helps give a feel). There were some very tired legs, and sore bottoms by the end of it.

One of the things that kept them going was the ever-rising total on their fund-raising page and the generosity of people on the way. First massive thanks to Bert's Barrow who (without being asked) donated a huge box of bananas. Then there were others like the Chef's Pantry at Barnoldswick and the Jug and Bottle at Bubwith that made a donation to the fund. At the Beer Festival (which kindly allowed the cyclists in a little early to have their first recovery drink) some fabulous people from our villages just came up and handed over money (this has now all been properly entered on the website!).

To donate online, visit virginmoneygiving.com/team/mfcc

the UK's leading epilepsy organisation. It's a much smaller Leeds-based charity that basically does a similar job to Macmillan Cancer Support does an amazing amount to help Macmillan, including funding specialist nurses. those with cancer, from paying for nurses, providing literature for professionals and patients, being a listening ear to those who Many thanks! Monk Fryston Cycle Club need it, funding research... the list goes on. So many people in our villages who have been through cancer have received help from Macmillan without even having to ask so your donation really could help someone in our community. Epilepsy Action is

In memory of a bike ride To all who supported & sponsored It was filled with laughter although we felt tortured Such a tough ride was commendable But was one that is so memorable A big thanks to Alice our support & motivation But let's not get into her short cut navigation A lovely lady who cooked, washed & shopped Without her a few would have stopped Then there was Percy & his map Although there was the odd flap A fabulous route he did fix Including the A 66 Then there were Charlie & Hamish The scenery & hills made them skirmish Two Southerners now adopted by their Northern peers Started on pina's plus energy drinks & ended on beers Glenn , Ian & Jim with "I'm in it" Two award winners in their little unit Their stories would never stop And not a sight of a single clip clop Stuart & Oly well they liked a drink No wonder they were taken to the brink Up till late, no breakfast or dry cereal But they made sure they had a liquid meal Then there was Taz the young gun Chris joined on Day 3 & led us to Scarborough's fun That boy Taz he can just fly up those climbs Chris Taking the wind for others tired limbs Keith & Grahame managed a day THANKS AGAIN we'd all like to say Yet again THANK YOU one & all

Oly Aged 35 1/4

19

Western CEF Annual Impact Report 2014-15 Introduction CEFs are collaboration between LSP partners including the County Council, Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Parish and Town Councils, local businesses and community groups along with individual residents. The CEF structure creates a unique opportunity for different organisations to work together to address local issues and enables local residents to take an active role in the development of their community.

The Western CEF covers : Birkin, Brotherton, Burton Salmon, Byram, Fairburn, Little Fenton, Lumby, Monk Fryston, Newthorpe, Sherburn in Elmet and South Milford

allocate this funding to help local community groups with projects.

Since 2012 the Western CEF has awarded £58,710 bringing in a total of £156,006 in match funding a return of 166%

Grass Roots Initiative

During the year we have been working with 18 local Highlights community groups and organisations Local Transport nominated by Work successfully took place to reinstate bus services in the Partnership Board Fairburn area with some extra services also being introduced.

This has alleviated many problems for local workers and people members.

Each organisation has been able to access a combination of needing to attend hospital visits. training sessions, one to one development support and the Improving the Local Environment opportunity to apply for £250 grant from the Western CEF. Waste Disposal – the Western CEF has continued to campaign Training sessions have included assessing your organisation, and highlight the issues regarding the problems residents will successful funding and fundraising and recruiting and face due to local disposal site closures. Work is continuing to set maintaining volunteers. up a small disposal site for local people.

Public Forums Leisure During the year 4 public meetings have been held providing the Getting Out – Creating information leaflet/s on local walking opportunities for local residents to find out more about local and cycling tracks in Western CEF area. initiatives and to have the opportunity to discuss the local issues Promotional posters and leaflets have been created, in affecting where they live and work. partnership with Health Walks, for 5 local walks, enabling At each forum we have a “Market Place” area with stalls staffed people to enjoy exploring the Western CEF area.

by North Yorkshire Police, Highways, Selby District Council and Community organisations. This provides a wonderful opportunity for residents to discuss the issues that affect them with the appropriate organisation.

Monk Fryston Community Centre Development

Project

With a grant of £20,000 and practical support from the Western Speakers and workshops have included; CEF over £200,000 of additional funding has been secured. This Community Safety, Julia Mulligan, Crime Commissioner has enabled the Community Centre to be significantly expanded. Neil Goldup – (Community Action & Support against Crime) Sharron Martin, First responder talking about the importance of Defibrillators This has enabled many new groups to access the facilities and Carrying out a health audit of your community organisation for pre and after school club to expand the number of places it Developing a fundraising strategy and completing funding can make available. It has increased the annual revenue of the applications centre creating a sustainable community resource.

The Selby Plan – a presentation by Selby District In partnership with the Western CEF a community training event Making the most of the Tour De Yorkshire How to run a successful fundraising event took place in February 2015 enabling over 100 community group staff and volunteers to learn about how the project had been developed and to meet all of the funders.

Andy Pound, Chair Western CEF Partnership Board Grants Awarded Since the inception each CEF has been allocated a ‘Community Fund’ of £20,000. Each CEF is responsible for deciding how to

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Digging with the time team in 2015 Local History: Finding Fryston and beyond If you are remotely interested in history, particularly local history, then this has been a year to savour. The Time Team started the year by welcoming Burton Salmon into our area of research and moving forward tentatively with an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant for a 2 year project to broaden the previously self-funded research work to discover more about Monk Fryston’s history. It was aptly named “Finding Fryston”. The year has flown by and has been more successful than we could ever have imagined.

of your garden by working with and under the guidance of one of our experienced excavators please contact us via the findingfryston.co.uk web page. We are sure we will discover lots more about our villages so why not get in touch and have a go?

Meanwhile, we have recently launched 2 other research projects; one is exploring the history of the development of Monk Fryston Hall grounds in conjunction with the Yorkshire Parklands Trust and the second is a new round of oral history recordings. These are intended to capture individual’s personal recollections of aspects of life in local villages. By this time next year, who knows what we will have discovered or rediscovered about our villages; every month someone discovers and reports something we didn’t know about our villages’ history.

Our foray into Burton Salmon has led to some amazing discoveries. Not only is there is a rich vein of local knowledge waiting to be captured, but by promoting interest in local history If you would like to know more or take part in our local history we have discovered that the area around the village has evidence research group please contact susi_newton28@hotmail.co.uk or of human activity going back to at least the Neolithic Period. on 682084.

This led to Ian Roberts, the former director of West Yorkshire Archaeology, presenting a very informative lecture in September about Prehistoric and Romano British archaeological discoveries in our local area. In short we live amongst a lot of little known local history, some of which has still to be investigated and we are sure a lot more is still there to be discovered.

We were delighted when we learned that our application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for our project “Finding Fryston: Discovering our heritage from the Monks to the Victorians” was successful. Then the reality of what that meant sunk in – a lot of work over 2 years. Nevertheless we have got off to a very good start with an excellent 9 week excavation in the grounds of Monk Fryston Hall. Anyone who visited either the dig on the 3 open days or our new website will have seen a blow by blow account of how things developed and the discoveries being made; and we made a lot of discoveries. As Ian Roberts said when we told him what we had found ‘you seem to have a full house’. This is not surprising considering we found artefacts dating from the Ice Age, about 8-10,000 BC, to the late Victorian period. A time span of at least 10,000 years!

One of the excavation aims was to learn more about the medieval period and this coincided with St Wilfrids PCC desire to stage a medieval festival in August as part of the month long Jorvik festival. We combined our skills with the Rector, John Hetherington, and members of the Church, and staged a memorable event. One of the highlights was an excellent, very entertaining talk by Professor Mark Ormrod on what life would have been like in Fryston in the 14th century. Perhaps the best thing to say is … we are glad we are around now!

Looking forward to 2016 we have a very full programme again.

When we have finished the examination of the artefacts we will arrange to present to the residents what we found at the dig. We will also be giving all those inspired to ‘have a go’ at the dig the opportunity to try it out again when we stage a big Village Dig in conjunction with the School over the weekend of July 2 nd and 3rd. If you would like to find out what lies just below the surface

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Christmas crime has gone on-line The dodgy website scam Fraudsters have set up a high specification website template advertising various electrical goods and domestic appliances.

These goods are below market value and do not exist. The fraudsters will request your card details via the website; however the purchaser will then receive an email stating the payment failed and they must pay via bank transfer.

The fraudsters entice the purchaser and reassure them it is a legitimate purchase by using the widely recognised Trusted Shop Trustmark. The fraudsters are using the Trustmark fraudulently and have not been certified by Trusted Shops and therefore the purchaser is not covered by the Trusted Shop money-back guarantee.

Protect yourself: Check the authenticity of the websites before making any purchases. Conduct a ‘who is’ search on the website which will identify when the website has been created, be wary of newly formed domains. You can conduct this search using the following website - https://who.is/.



Carry out online research in relation to the website, company name and the business address provided to identify any poor feedback or possible irregularities.

Check the Trusted Shops Facebook page where warnings about websites using their Trustmark are published. If you are in doubt about the legitimacy of a Trustmark then you can contact Trusted Shops on 0203 364 5906 or by email service@trustedshops.co.uk.

They will confirm whether they have certified that website.



Payments made via bank transfer are not protected should you not receive the item. Therefore always try to make the payment via PayPal or a credit card where you have some payment cover should you not receive your product.



If the item advertised seems too good to be true, then it probably is.

If you believe that you have been a victim of fraud you can report it online http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud or by telephone 0300 123 2040.

DVLA SCAM Beware all of you who licence your vehicle online. If you receive an email purporting to be from the DVLA asking you to update your details as they have a database problem....

DON'T! It will tell you that if you fail to do so, your license will be invalid. It will ask you for your name, address and vehicle make, along with your credit card details including your 3 digit security number.

It certainly looks genuine, and even has a real link to the DVLA website. IT IS A SCAM TO ROB YOU!!!

Please share this to everyone you know.

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SPORT - IN - NEWS It is with great sadness that I put this final “SPORT-IN-NEWS” page together. I am sure that everybody who attended Gary’s funeral will be in awe of Gary and all that he stood for.

Gary has been writing the SPORT-IN-NEWS column for many years and for me, a none sports fan, it is the only sports column that I ever read. I will miss it. That Gary was a sports fan was always obvious from his column and I hope that it was appreciated by our readers.

To all who attended his funeral there were four things that stood out - his love of family - Bev, his wife and Bethany his daughter, then his love of sport, his passion for hard work and his commitment to his very wide circle of friends.

All of this was very clear and this really was a funeral service where we celebrated the life of Gary Jackson. The only funeral I have ever attended where the celebration included a one minute standing ovation from family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours.

Gary’s commitment to everybody in Hillam could not be clearer.

This is not the complete article that he submitted but I hope that it conveys to everybody the true measure of Gary. He concealed his pain and suffering and there was even an apology for late submission.

Gary, it was a pleasure to know you.

Howard Ferguson

….. The last few weeks within the sporting world have

been dominated by the Rugby World Cup. The destiny of the Webb Ellis trophy has yet to be decided as I write this article but one thing which sent shock waves around the tournament was England crashing to defeat at the hands of Wales. In itself that result could have been expected given the Welsh dominance across the six nations over the last five years but with a patchedup team which received further injuries as the game went on, and with England winning with only 20 minutes to go, a victory for the Celts seemed as far away as ever. Yet England managed to contrive a loss from a seemingly winnable position. Much was made about the fact Sam Burgess played from the outset together with the dropping of George Ford in favour of Owen Farrell but for me that all worked with the real reason for the defeat emerging late in the game. Around the 60 minute mark the England management seem obsessed with making wholesale changes. For some players they feel they can play a full 80 minutes but for others they deem their fitness is not sufficient to see them through. As usual therefore we saw a raft of substitutes enter the field for the final quarter of the game which had a significant, negative impact.

A line-out that had looked very strong for the first hour (with Tom Youngs throwing the ball particularly well) suddenly started conceding possession. Burgess was removed in favour of Ford which meant Farrell moved into the centres. Again a midfield that had looked reasonably tight and comfortable suddenly had gaps. Most damming of all however was the inability for seasoned, experienced international players to take responsibility for their actions. Over the last couple of years we have heard a lot about how the England team need to control their discipline. Throughout the match but particularly in the final period, England conceded a number of stupid, unnecessary penalties and with Dan Biggar failing to miss a shot a goal it was an easy three-points for the men in red. The tournament is not yet over for England (although it might be by the time you read this!) so let’s hope they can put that shoddy defeat behind them and move forward. If they fail to improve their discipline, then it will be all over for the host nation.

….. Final word goes to the English cricket team who

provided a great summer of entertainment both with the red and white ball. Securing the Ashes was a great achievement for a side that must now kick-on with a heavy winter schedule in the UAE (playing Pakistan) followed by a test series in South Africa (which is a very demanding programme). Still they have done all they can to set themselves up for the challenge in the best possible manner so let’s hope they can at least secure a drawn series against both countries. The final, final word however stays with cricket and goes to the Yorkshire team who secured back-to -back County Championship victories in September. Their record of winning 11 out of 16 matches and only losing one is testimony to their dominance and much has to go to the players but also coach Jason Gillespie who was overlooked at the start of the summer for the England job. Well done boys – now let’s make it a hat trick!

Yours in Sport Doug Hought

By Gary Jackson

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Volunteer for something to light up hillam Cyril Pickup says many hands make light work Some years ago the now disbanded Hillam Historians received a request to help with the Christmas lights. Three or four of us volunteered and at least two of us still help.

On the night I arrived from Selby and set off to investigate. It was still quiet with just a dim light in the grotto and further on near the pump, Kevin Pease was setting up his loudspeaker equipment. As a few more helpers turned up we went to fetch the barriers from the pub car park.

The crowd was starting to assemble. We set up access to the grotto and took up our places controlling the queue. Mrs Ann Edwards and me at the sharp end and Paul Scholey and his team looking after Santa, ensuring a steady flow through.

Right on time the countdown started: 4-3-2-1-0 LIGHTS!! The tree looked magnificent.

Technicolor and 3D. Then the cry went up! There was Santa on the rooftop - WOW!! The children loved it.

After calls to "Come on down" he disappeared, only to reappear moments later, bringing with him Mrs Santa, elves and fairies.

Having got them settled into the grotto, children and parents and some grandparents started to file through. Some of the little ones were a bit apprehensive, some excited and some of the bigger ones blasĂŠ. It was supposed to be the tots first and then by age group, but in practice this doesn't work as families want to stay together. Being with Ann Edwards makes the job easy because, dealing with children on a daily basis, she not only knows most of them but knows just what to say at the right time and makes sure nobody slips through twice or pushes in at the front near the grotto. But not much gets past Paul Scholey.

Meanwhile the ladies and committee members were serving up hot soup and mince pies. Mark Lazenby had made mulled wine - People were going round with buckets for donations, with exhortations from Kevin to 'dig deep.'

There were Christmas carols led by the Fairburn Singers accompanied by Knottingley brass band. All this time the St John Ambulance team, led by Ann Smith from Barlby, were patrolling the crowd, just in case anyone felt 'off it' from eating too many pies or Mark's wine.

Then the bus arrived! The message about the event had not got through from management. He would have needed a double-decker to get this lot on! Consternation.

As he was being escorted through there was a stand off with a wayward taxi. Stalemate until the taxi driver decided the bus was bigger and backed off.

Suddenly it was all over. Happy children; presents ordered for Christmas Day; Santa and Mrs Santa on their way. The crowds dispersed for home or into the pub. We set about clearing up. Most of the 'movers' were pensioners or ladies and it was hard work dismantling and returning the barriers to the car park especially as someone had parked his car in the space reserved for the barriers. So they had to be left to be moved later.

The new type barriers were definitely an improvement from last year's model, much lighter and easier to click together and more stable.

I think we all went home tired but happy. It had all gone off OK and the weather was kind. The committee should be proud of what they have achieved but it would be nice to think that more people could volunteer to help on the night. Karen Merry and her merry band - and Mary Little before her - have done a great service. So, if you enjoyed it you too should 'come on down' and get stuck in - It's good!

Just remember you have something special here.

Cyril Pickup, Selby

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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 Monk Fryston PO Pontefract, Trinity St

Mon - Fri 9 am, Sat 7 am Mon - Fri 4 pm, Sat 11 am 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

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

Floodline

0345 988 1188

www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding

Citizens’ Advice Bureau

03444 111444

www.adviceguide.org.uk

Venue bookings

684180 684008

Church Hall: Paddy Twidale Community Centre: Carolyn Popham