Meldreth

Blue wheeled bin for Melbourn

From 11 October 2010, South Cambridgeshire District Council is changing the way it collects your recyclable waste. The blue wheeled bin will be delivered during September and replace the existing green box scheme. The blue bin comes with a specially designed inner caddy to keep paper separate from everything else. If your bins and green box are collected on an assisted collection, this will continue. What will I be able to recycle in the new blue bin and inner caddy? Same as the green box, but with additional materials * New – Hard plastic (pots, tubs, and trays) * New – Cartons (tetra packs) * Cans (steel and aluminium) * Paper – placed in the inner caddy * Cardboard (changed from the green bin) * Glass * Plastic bottles * Aluminium foil Note: If your blue bin is full, you can use your green box to put in any additional waste. Place along side the blue bin. See page 31 for pick-up times.

TWINNING WITH La Roche-Chalais

Meldreth Parish Council are investigating the possibility of Twinning with La Roche-Chalais. There has been positive feedback for the idea but we now need volunteers to push this forward. If you would be interested in volunteering or if you have any knowledge or previous experience, Meldreth Parish Council would be very interested to hear from you. It is hoped that a Steering Group can be set up with residents from both Meldreth and Melbourn.

La Roche-Chalais have already linked with Melbourn Village College, Melbourn Primary School and are presently investigating the possibility of linking with Meldreth Primary School.

The village of La Roche-Chalais is situated in the Dordogne, in the south-west of France and is approximately 45 miles from the cities of Bordeaux, Angoulême and Périgueux. The Greenwich Meridian runs through the village, as it does through Meldreth, which since 1973 has been associated with the neighbouring villages of St Michel Léparon and St Michel de Rivière. The total population for all three villages is 2907. The village of La Roche-Chalais have contacted Meldreth Parish Council with regards to the idea of twinning.

The concept behind twinning is to bring together two villages in order to encourage the discovery of a different culture and develop a lasting friendship between two groups of people of different backgrounds. It is committed to bringing about joint educational, sporting and cultural activities. It tends to concentrate on bringing students together first by means of correspondence and possibly exchanges between the schools and then would extend to the clubs and associations of the two villages. Background of La Roche-Chalais

Main economic activities are: Agriculture – cereals, cattle and forestry Industry – small factories producing industrial taps and pumps; boots and shoes. Education: Up to 11 years - 2 nursery/infant schools and 2 primary schools with a total of 320 pupils 11-14 years: 1 private school - 120 pupils Languages taught are English and Spanish Leisure activities: Sports facilities – gymnasium, sports stadium, open air swimming pool, judo hall, football pitch, tennis courts, boules courts, boating facilities on the river.

Sports associations/clubs – football, tennis, cycling, horse riding, yoga, gymnastics, fishing, rambling, archery and canoeing. Cultural facilities – Library, cinema and village hall Cultural associations – music, theatre, art, French-British exchange and languages, parent-teacher associations, and entertainment committee.

For further information please look on La Roche-Chalais’ website www.larochechalais.com.

Meldreth Parish Clerk: parishclerk@meldreth-pc.org.uk Telephone 01763 269928 or write to Parish Office, Meldreth Community Rooms, Elin Way, SG8 0ET

The formal photograph above of Joy was taken by Mr. Cecil Chapman of Whaddon who photographed most of the local families – he had a hut in the back garden which he used as his ‘studio’. Joy is wearing a bracelet which her father made for her out of Perspex from an aeroplane window. This must have been quite the ‘thing’ to do as I have a cross made during the second world war from the same material.

The Melbourn Feast was something to be looked forward to, and if you didn’t get rock and nougat at Jim Reynold’s stall it was a poor state of affairs. There were various fetes and parades in the village, often held at The Bury. At the Coronation Parade in 1952 she was dressed as a buttercup in yellow and green crepe paper – but as some of you may remember, it was a frightful day and the crepe paper got wet and PC Martin King spread his big waterproof cape over Joy to protect her outfit!

Country dancing was popular at the old Baptist church hall under the direction of Mrs. Warren and Joy belonged to The Pilots – which was a cross between Brownies and Girls Brigade and classes were held at The Manse in New Road with Mrs. Hodges. Children played safely in the streets and enjoyed the local countryside.

Bonfires were one of the pleasures of autumn, and Joy well remembers getting into fearful trouble when her mother told her to go down the garden and check the bonfire ‘and be sure to put my boots on’. Joy thought this was odd but obediently put her mother’s new sheepskin boots on the bonfire … !

Joy attended the Barbara Leader School of Dancing in Kneesworth Street, Royston and was very fond of ballroom dancing. Dances were regularly held at the RAF camp in Bassingbourn and mother allowed the girls to go to them ‘provided they did NOT go outside with the young men ........’ Despite that stricture, in 1959 at one of those dances Joy met her husband-to-be Mike. He had joined the RAF when he was 17 as he wanted to see the world and indeed he did, being sent to several countries in the Middle East.

Mike had been born in Ormskirk but later his family moved back to Sheffield. He had nearly finished his five year stint when he and Joy met and choosing not to follow a military career as a married man Mike left the forces and went to the Government Training Centre in Letchworth where he became proficient in electronics, working for Pye-Ling, ICL and then Metals Research, then spent 30 years working for an American company as service engineer, salesman and manager before retiring. In the meantime, Maurice and Daphne had left no 78 (another tied cottage) and were able to buy a plot of land and build a house at the top of Drury Lane, no 2 Orchard Road.

The Bainbridges had a smallholding next door and when they moved away, Mr. Bainbridge persuaded Maurice that it would be a good idea to buy the strip of land going down Drury Lane and they somehow managed to get the money together to do this, with the result that when Joy and Mike got married in 1963 in All Saints Church her parents were able to give them a sizeable plot of land as a wedding present. Later still the plot in between was taken by Joy’s sister so it was a real family plot. Joy & Mike lived in a caravan whilst they built the house which Joy designed herself, with Mike and Maurice doing a lot of the work – resulting in the charming house they now enjoy - the decor is testimony to Joy’s innate good taste. The garden (which many people will have admired when the Galleys open their garden for SOAS) was a labour of love involving moving enormous slabs of rock with pulleys and block & chain to produce the lovely landscaped stream and pond. Predictably, Joy concentrates on the flower garden whilst Mike grows just about every sort of vegetable you can name.

Now that they are retired the garden is a great pleasure to them, but they also play golf, enjoy walking holidays (they have done The Three Peaks in Yorkshire) cruising and they often visit friends in Germany. Joy had always been interested in drawing and painting and with time to indulge herself she went to Heffers and bought all the equipment and taught herself to draw and paint and I saw several delightful examples of her work. Sadly, eye problems have now curtailed this hobby somewhat and also meant that she can no longer drive a car. But she still has a keen eye for a weed ! Mike has recently taken over the responsibility of being Church Warden at All Saints, a task which he takes very seriously. And Joy would quite like to trace her Stockbridge ancestry, if she can untangle all the branches!

Joy had a significant birthday recently and with my cup of tea I had a scrumptious piece of cake – and what is more, a piece to bring home to George! Mavis Howard