How two of the nine turbines would have dominated the setting of Sulgrave Manor (visit by schoolchildren in Tudor costume)

At the Sulgrave Parish Council Meeting on Thursday 2nd September, Chairman Graham Roberts presented a letter from Enertrag UK Ltd., the company which had proposed to erect nine 410 feet high wind turbines in the countryside between the village and nearby Weston. After a period of restructuring, and the re-examination of its projects, the company has decided not to proceed with the Sulgrave/Weston Wind Farm scheme (known as the “Weston” wind farm on its website). The reasons given were that the scheme was now considered to be unlikely to receive the necessary planning permission because of issues of cultural heritage and landscape.

The Chairman congratulated members of the Sulgrave and Weston Windfarm Action Group for their year long campaign to prevent this massive development in the unspoilt countryside surrounding the village.

However, the meeting was reminded that the proposal by Broadview Energy Ltd to construct five turbines in the countryside to the south of Sulgrave was very much alive. These would also be 410 feet high and would dominate the village and its immediately surrounding countryside. A planning application is expected later this month. The Parish Council will be consulted on this application and will be meeting to consider its response. The public will be kept fully informed.

See here for details of the Sulgrave/Weston scheme which has been abandoned.

Visit the website of the Helmdon Stuchbury and Greatworth Windfarm Action Group (HSGWAG) for details of the Broadgate Scheme, known as the Spring Farm Ridge Renewable Energy Project.

The Branson Family Mandolin, once used to provide music for the Sulgrave Mummers' Play

The traditional Sulgrave Mummers’ Play was performed in houses and pubs in the village at Christmas time right up to the early nineteen thirties. It was resurrected in 1991 by the Sulgrave History Society and performed on a memorable occasion by members of the society at Sulgrave Manor but it is at least 80 years since it was seen by the public. Moulton Morris Men who are dancing at the Castle Green Autumn Fair on Sunday 5^th September have kindly agreed to re-enact the play during the afternoon.

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Thanks to the efforts of Sue Pearce in trimming back the lower branches of an overhanging yew tree, the graves of John Percival and Winifred Hilda Brown and Ernest Charles and Edith and Archie Parker on the north side of the church, can now be plainly seen.

Zero tolerance on alcohol related offending, is the strong message from Northamptonshire Police, as the force launches its hard-hitting countywide marketing campaign to tackling alcohol fuelled violence, disorder and anti-social behaviour.

As part of Operation Nightsafe and in support of the wider multi-agency county alcohol harm reduction strategy, Northamptonshire Police have launched a campaign to raise awareness amongst drinkers that officers are clamping down on violence, disorder and underage drinking.

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OX-EYE DAISY (leucanthemum vulgare)

Also known as marguerite, moon daisy or, in the north of England, dog daisy, this is a plant of old unsprayed hay meadows or, more likely nowadays, of waysides and road verges. The leaves are variable; the lower ones usually rounded, the upper ones narrower and toothed, clasping the stem. The large daisy flowers are borne singly. The rays (petals) are white, and the central disc florets are yellow. Ox-eye daisy is often included in wildflower sowings in meadows or along motorway verges.

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Silver coin of Edward the Confessor (1042-1066), about the size of a modern one penny piece, found at Stuchbury

Sulgrave History Society invites all those with an interest in local history to take part in a GUIDED FIELD WALK at Stuchbury at 6.30 pm on Thursday 26th August, by kind permission of Michael and Joan Tims.

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Photo: Anthony Barrett

Jill Barrett reports a family of green woodpeckers in the Pocket Park and sends this picture of a youngster waiting anxiously to be fed!

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SPARROWHAWK (Accipiter nisus)

There was a time, in the 1950s and 1960s, when the sparrowhawk population crashed because of the use in agriculture of organo-chlorine pesticides. Following the banning of these products, numbers of this bird have steadily increased, and this predator is now quite common in our area.

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Do you have an unwanted item which could be re-used? Instead of simply throwing it away you can take it to your nearest County Council Re-use Shop, which for Sulgrave is at Recyclemart, 61 High Street, Daventry. (The location of a Re-use Shop at Towcester will be announced later)

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Beautiful mid-summer weather for the US Independence Day celebrations at Sulgrave Manor. Visitors and villagers alike enjoyed a whole range of performances and activities, including the “One Step Beyond” Appalachian Dancers, the “String of Pearls” close harmony vocal trio, Husky Dogs, a Circus Skills Workshop, a display of Native American artefacts, clothing and pictures, and of course, the American Bald Eagle. The children followed historic trails, completed quizzes and tried their hands at brass rubbings. Others took part in guided tours of the Manor House itself or strolled in the famous Rose Garden or the scented garden of the Herb Society of Great Britain.

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