LivingLife - August 2021 - Issue 33

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SHEFFORD COMMUNITY FESTIVAL THE POPULAR EVENT IS REVIVED FOR 2021 ALSO INSIDE

BEAUTIFUL BEDFORDSHIRE GARDENS KNOBS & KNOCKERS SPOT THE DRONE PILOT

Issue 33 August 2021

2GDA_632_PiperStafford_advert_138mmx197mm.indd Check out more content on our website: www.livinglifemagazine.co.uk 1 28/06/2021 20:23

Competition Winner

JULY

a big well done to:

Leanne mensah Who was the closest to spotting the hidden drone pilot in last month’s photo & won £25.

See below for last month’s location

NOTE FROM THE EDITOrS Welcome to the August edition of LivingLife Magazine - we are so glad you made it! Here at LivingLife HQ we simply love the month of August, the kids have finished school for summer and the holiday season is upon us - good times ahead!

This cover photo Aftermonth’s a rollercoaster ridewas supcapturedthe

by Kate McBurney porting England football (John’s wife) evening team in theduring Euros,anwe really stroll across fields do feel that the thisfarmers month should be used to relax, take stock, near Henlow Village. Compeand enjoy the moment. It was inspiring to witness tition Winnerso many people coming together and sharing the experience collectively - a very welcomed return to normality.

| Andrew Martin |

JULY

Get in touch with us: We would love your feedback on what you enjoyed about this edition, and of course, any areas where we could improve.

01462 414265

admin@livinglifemagazine.co.uk

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in LivingLife magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, publisher or their agents. Whilst every reasonable care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information included within this publication, the publishers take no responsibility for any errors or omissions in LivingLife Magazine. The content is not to be reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher.

Inside this month’s edition we have an array of articles to grab your attention. We showcase our latest garden offering from Geraldine Carter from Stotfold, whose dedication and passion has created a | John McBurney | truly beautiful garden. Over in Shefford, they went ‘Quackers’, and helped raised thousands of pounds for their local pre-school nursery. In Henlow the fund-raising efforts continued, the village community raising over £1000 for the Motor Neurone Disease Association after local resident and father of two, James Ellary, sadly passed away earlier this year. Our Cover photo this month was captured by drone as the sun set behind Pix Brook Academy in Stotfold.

If you are going on holiday this month then we wish you a happy holiday! For holiday advice, it is always worthwhile checking out our monthly ‘Travel Blogger’ feature in the magazine.

Kind Regards, Andrew & John

Please pass to a friend, recycle or compost after reading.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 29 30

SHEFFORD GOES QUACKERS beautiful bedfordshire gardens diddy directory the travel blogger HENLOW GARAGE TRAIL UPDATE SHEFFORD COMMUNITY FESTIVAL KNOBS & KNOCKERS BUILDERS YARD BOOST APPEAL FROM STOTFOLD SCOUTS livinglife hanging basket competition scene by you MAKING STONDON FLOWER spot the drone pilot AUGUST crossword

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charity

Contribution thanks to

Jacqui Lewis

Shefford Went Quackers

Acorn Pre-School & The Mighty Oaks

n Sunday 4th July 2021, ShefO ford was taken over by human sized ducks! Acorn Pre-School &

The Mighty Oaks Charity held a Duck Hunt this year in place of the annual Duck Race, which they have been organising for over 20 years.

Coronavirus restrictions meant there were no races last year and again this year, the restrictions meant they were unable to hold the event.

The volunteer committee members and staff hatched a plan for a Duck Hunt, in place of the usual races. With the same energy and fun and with the help of local businesses and organisations, the Duck Hunt was a big success. The community of Shefford came out and followed the trail map around Shefford hunting for the ducks, who couldn’t be ased missed as they were all dressed in their Sunday our: best!

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An amazing £2,050.42 was raised for this fantastic charity. All the funds will be used to provide the children of Shefford some great new resources and experiences when they attend the setting for pre-school or wrap-around care.

A great day was had by all.

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garden

Beautiful Gardens of Bedfordshire Geraldine Carter, The Mixies, Stotfold

Check out all the photos on our blo g

www.livinglifemag

azine.co.uk/blog

Discovering beautiful gardens in the local area.

In July we visited the amazing garden of Geraldine Carter who lives in The Mixies in Stotfold.

We were treated to a guided tour of her extensive garden and whilst we took photos Geraldine explained all…

“From a very young age I have always loved plants and gardening. My garden gives me immense pleasure and fulfilment as much as a sense of achievement especially when the plants and shrubs are grown from cuttings and seeds.

I find it very rewarding to see the plants grow and flower. I have found vast benefits from gardening as it is deeply relaxing for both the mind and body, meditative too.

My plants and shrubs are purchased from Bickerdikes, Hitchin Garden Centre as well as Langford Garden Centre.

Topiary is my favourite as it is an art form allowing for creativity and training of the plants. I garden for 3-4 hours daily, clipping and cutting back to keep shrubs tidy and in shape, dead heading, feeding, watering and mowing the lawns.”

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r e gg o l B l e v The Tra Flying Long Haul with Little People

M

y definition of long haul is 7 hours plus. The longest flight we have taken with our kids is 17 hours, Perth to London, when they were age 3, 7 and 8. So I feel equipped to cover this subject. Whether it’s to visit family in New Zealand, or Mickey Mouse in Orlando, it’s ALWAYS worth the travel time.

As the parent you need to be mentally ready. But it can be done! And even enjoyed. Break the flight down into sections… Boarding the plane is exciting. Take off can be testing with babies who need to pop their ears (plan to feed them during take-off and landing to help with this) and toddlers who need to stay strapped in their seat when they may not want to be. Bribery is a good tool…. Screen time and Haribo are totally acceptable here. Check out the movie list…. Hook them up with their headphones for the first hour or two of the flight. Food and drinks trolley – excellent – this passes a good hour.

I find that age 6 and up they are really just content with the movies and games… for most of the time. I do always have some other things in my bag that they aren’t expecting like a magazine, snacks and of course – playing cards!

For me the most challenging age is the 1.5 years to 4 years where they are fidgety/tired/hungry and if you are parents of this age group there is a certain amount of acceptance needed. They are going to cry, probably kick the seat in front a lot, need to have cuddles and stimulation at different times…

Let them sleep when they want to… you can recover any lost routine once you get to your destination, the flight is about survival with the least amount of stress. After a good sleep you are on the home straight. Another meal will be served!

Another movie! A stretch of the legs… maybe brush their teeth and get excited about being there soon.

Mine are always fascinated to look at the moving map to see where we are flying over.

Recently I put this subject out to my customers to ask for their top tips. More than one told me tales of exploding baby poos – why does this ALWAYS happen on planes, is it the air pressure? Another told me they always wish they could tell the mothers and fathers with crying babies that its okay…. Just comfort the child…people are not judging! Anyone who stares… let them. They are likely to be in awe of your bravery.

If you are travelling with a baby under 2, you can request a Bassinet. This allows one parent plus the baby to sit at the bulkhead (extra leg room) with a small cot/babyseat, freeing up your arms and some space on your lap when they sleep.

If you consider removing your usual flight length restriction for your next family holiday, let me come up with a holiday created for everyone’s tick-list, kids included. You might be surprised at where you can get to for your money!

@jens_travel_inspo

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charity

Contribution thanks to

HENLOW GARAGE TRAIL A FUNDRAISING SUCCESS!

Julia Adams 07539 238818

Henlow village pulled together and raised an amazing £1,054 on Saturday 3rd July for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), after local resident and father of two, James Ellary, lost his brave battle with MND on June 5th at just 23 years old.

Julie Hepburn organised the fundraising event, charging £5 per stall, plus a ‘Guess the Name of the Monkey’ game which The Crown in Henlow kindly donated a £40 voucher for the person who guessed the correct name. Local neighbour, Jill Palmer, organised a tombola stall, and Nicola Walker from Newtown raised an amazing £260 from her cake stall, and many local residents, including James’ family ran a stall with all money raised going to MNDA via James’ tribute page (link below).

The kindness people in Henlow have showed towards James’ family ever since James’ diagnosis has been overwhelming and has been an amazing example of how a community can pull together. With money and raffle prizes being donated over the past several months to raise money for equipment that James needed, and a holiday at Center Parcs.

The Garage in Shefford has also been amazing, donating raffles prizes and getting Phoebe’s car ready for James’ funeral free of charge. Many have promised to continue to help raise funds and awareness for MND, including Lisa Webb Pateman who arranged for her company LeisureGrow (www.leisuregrow.com) to donate an egg chair, which raised an additional £400.

Motor Neurone Disease is a terminal illness that affects the nerves (motor neurones) in the brain and spinal cord that tell your muscles what to do. MND is life-shortening and there is no cure.

James’ family would like to thank everyone for their support and will continue to raise awareness and funds in James’ name, they are also collecting used stamps and used printer cartridges to raise extra funds, if anyone has any of these and would like to donate then please contact Julia Adams on 07539 238818.

All money raised is being sent to James’ tribute page at jamesellary.muchloved.com which will be ongoing.

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community

Contribution thanks to

Ian Deavin

REVIVAL – SHEFFORD COMMUNITY FESTIVAL 18-26th September

07860 218334 www.sheffordcommunityfestival.co.uk

his year we are intending to build our Community T Festival on the efforts of last year when the ‘Festival Spirit’ was carried on in the Garage Sale trail and the Scarecrow Festival – both signature events for this year.

Well done Lesley and Jo!

At the time of writing we are currently under extended Covid restrictions but fairly confident of them being fully lifted in July – so let’s get planning.

If you have any questions then feel free to contact me – and this year I plan to be visible in town wearing my new red festival T-shirt and baseball cap – so please stop me and chat about what you can do to be involved with the community.

On the publicity front I have purchased a number of large banners (approx. 4m long) which I had hoped to put on buildings around the High Street area, but now find we are unable to cover the costs of installation or public liability insurance.

If anyone is able to install on their own building themselves and cover the insurance on their own policy I would love to hear from you. Alternatively if anyone would like to fund this aspect of the festival please get in touch.

As you will see from the provisional program (which can be found on the website - link below) there are already a lot of events planned for the festival week and we await confirmation of others – like St Mary’s Church, the History group, EatFeast street food and possibly the Rotary organisation. A new event to the festival will be the Community Hall AGM so that hall users, potential users and class leaders can meet and support this popular venue. On the subject of venues, I see that the STMA has been beautifully refurbished and has a new committee - so good luck to them and to the Community Hall.

It is gratifying to see the range of activities available in Shefford and given the growth of our town we can only foresee this continuing to grow with the involvement of local organisations, venues and individuals.

A number of people have already made use of the registration form on our website to notify us of their event – all you have to do is plan the activity then let us know the details so we can include you in the online program which we will promote locally. I am planning to soon have a bright red Shefford Festival T shirt and cap – so if you see me in town please stop to chat about what you can do to be involved.

As always the Festival is arranged on a wholly voluntary basis – so please check out our website for updates and general information at www.sheffordcommunityfestival.co.uk and most of all get organising!

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f o t i Ab . . . . n u F

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In our June 2020 edition of LivingLife magazine we included a photo gallery of the local ‘Knobs & Knockers’ our delivery team have spotted whilst out delivering the magazine.

Well, they have been at it again and have found and photographed yet another fascinating collection with an amazing range of styles and designs. Enjoy!

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local business

BUILDERS’ YARD BOASTS BRAND NEW FACILITY Construction work on a new facility at MJ Ryall Building Supplies Ltd of Stotfold is nearing completion. We caught up with busines owner, Chris Ryall, who explained all: “Our brand-new barn facility was built A C Bacon Engineering Ltd from Norfolk, who specialize in industrial steel framed buildings. It measures in at 30 x 15 metres which equates to 450 square metres or 5000 square feet.

Its primary function is to store building materials in larger quantities so we can reduce costs for our customers. These materials will include cement, plaster & plasterboard, insulation board, cavity insulation, PIR board, timber, ply board and many more sheet materials.

It’s nearly finished now, the racking is in and doors are now on, we are just waiting for the electrics and drainage to be finished.

We are currently in unprecedented times with regards to the shortage of many building materials, but we hope to have most stock in by the end of the year. Watch this space.”

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community

Contribution thanks to

Neil Ludlow

stotfold scouts needs you...

An important appeal for your help

Group Scout Leader 1st Stotfold Scouts gslstotfold@gmail.com

he past 15 months have posed many challenges for T Scouting, and we have been working very hard behind the scenes to make a safe return to face-to-face sessions.

We have been extremely short of help to safely run our sessions - with Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts all impacted by a shortage of leaders and/or parent helpers. As a result, there is now a real risk of closure for some of our sections, unless we can find the vital help that’s needed.

There are a number of ways you can support your child’s section, be it as a Sectional Assistant, Assistant Leader, or even Section Leader.

*Ridgeway Scouts currently meet on Wednesdays; however, we’re attempting to restart an additional Scout troop (theFriday night section is currently closed) due to the extensive waiting list.

In addition to the roles above, the Scout’s Executive Committee which oversees the building and equipment has other available support roles, and we are currently looking for a Group Secretary and a Deputy Group Scout Leader, as well as help with fundraising events.

If you are interested in any of these roles or would like to discuss anything above in more detail, please contact me at gslstotfold@gmail.com.

Thank you for your continued support, and I hope through this appeal that we are able to secure enough leaders and helpers to enable us to continue to run our face-to-face sessions safely and avoid having to close any of our current sections.

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ACRE WOOD DAY NURSERY

OFSTED REGISTERED CHILDCARE FOR CHILDREN AGED 3 MONTHS TO 5 YEARS OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY 7AM - 6.15PM 51 WEEKS A YEAR

We understand how important it is for you to choose the right nursery for your child.

Flexible hours to suit your working or school day Delicious freshly cooked meals Secure spacious gardens We offer 15 and 30 hours funded childcare for 2,3 and 4 year olds for eligible families

47 Hospital Road, Arlesey, Bedfordshire, SG15 6RH Telephone: 01462 835550

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competition

HANGING BASKET COMPETITION Are you ready to enter our FREE Hanging Basket Competition?

Summer gardens are absolutely blooming at the moment and If you are a dab hand in the garden and have a beautiful hanging basket then why not enter our fabulous competition!

Prize! The lucky winner will take home a £25 Voucher generously provided

by Arcade Nursery in Arlesey - the go to place for bedding plants and hanging baskets.

Rules: -The competition will run over the months of July/August.

-Closing date is Wednesday 11th August.

-Only one basket may be entered per household / office / shop.

-All entrants must live in the LivingLife distribution area, which includes: Shefford, Clifton, Campton, Chicksands, Henlow, Stondon, Arlesey, Stotfold and Fairfield.

-In July / early August our photographer will get in touch to arrange a visit to take photos of your hanging basket entry. One of the photos will be entered into the competition.

-To enter the competition simply visit: www.livinglifemagazine.co.uk/basket and submit your details.

-The winner will be determined by a vote from our readers and Facebook followers.

-The winner will be announced in our October edition

Clifton Residents’ Association

Clifton Scarecrow Festival 18th & 19th September 2021 10am til 4pm You will be able to pick up a copy of the programme from our Scarecrow HQ (to be confirmed) over the two days of the festival . This will have a map, a list of where the Scarecrows are resting and a voting slip - you are the judges.

Refreshments will also be available over the weekend.

For more information email: cliftonscarecrow@gmail.com

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SCENE BY YOU Your chance to share your favourite photos

Submit your photo for the next edition www.livinglifemagazine.co.uk/myphotos

1 4

2 5 A big thanks to this month’s submissions

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1

Christopher Baker

2

Rose Edwards

3

Chris Hall

4

Linda Parcell

5

Christopher Baker

Flying Scotsman going through Arlesey

Blue Lagoon in Arlesey Stotfold Nature Reserve

Safe Landing

Goldfinch on Mountain Cornflower

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Uncover The Natural.Beautiful.You

For all things Beauty

01462 851135 8 NORTHBRIDGE STREET SHEFFORD BEDFORDSHIRE SG17 5DH

Email - info.beyondbeauty@btconnect.com Website - www.beyondbeautycompany.com Facebook - Beyond Beauty Company Instagram - beyond_beauty_company

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community

MAKING STONDON FLOWER

by Mary Williams

Volunteers work together to brighten up village n our daily walk during last year’s lock down I noticed O there were a lot of areas in Lower Stondon that were screaming out for some colour. With all the building that

has gone on in the village a lot of natural habitats have been lost and planting-up these areas came to mind.

I thought it would enhance the look of the village and encourage some community spirit for others to get involved.

I approached Stondon Parish Council with my thoughts and received support to produce some ideas which were approved. I then formed a Facebook Group named ‘Make Stondon Flower’ and found a lot of like-minded volunteers willing to help.

The first of our projects was completed on 28th June which is an area behind the village sign on Station Road junction with Hillside Road which has been planted with bulbs for the spring and flowers to encourage bees and insects. In a couple of weeks and hopefully with some sunshine it will be in full flower. Volunteers in photos, Mary Williams, Jon and Frances Wallace, Natalie Powers, Melissa Banthorpe, Tim Smith, Gina Salfairso and Katharine Rosamund. Plants were supplied by Savin Nurseries. We are now making plans for our next plot to be transformed.

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Spot the Drone Pilot

Win

£25

It’s competition time! The drone pilot who captured this image has been magically removed from the photo, can you deduce exactly where he is positioned? Place a cross (‘X’) where you think the drone pilot is standing (just like ‘Spot the Ball’ puzzle), then take a photograph of this page with your phone or device and submit your entry here: www.livinglifemagazine.co.uk/drone Close date 15/8/2021. Only 1 entry per person. Judge’s decision is final.

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puzzles

The August edition

CROSSWORD Answers on P15

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