There is a lovely story attached to the working models in this colourful window. Click on “read the rest of this entry” to see the story at the very end of the photographs and also to see a short video of the models.
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Village Advent Celebrations 2018. December 3rd. High Barn, Manor Road.
Monday, December 3rd, 2018Village Advent Celebrations 2018. December 2nd. Christingle Children’s Service at the Church
Sunday, December 2nd, 2018
The idea of a Christingle service came originally from the Moravian Church in 1747 as a symbol of Christ’s light and love. The Children’s Society introduced it to the Church of England in 1986, and it has since become a popular service for all ages. This was the twenty-ninth service in the Church of St James the Less in Sulgrave. All money collected goes to the good work of the Children’s Society with the least fortunate of today’s young people. See the next page for more photographs of the children receiving the oranges with lighted candles….
Click on “read the rest of this entry”.
December 1st 2018. Sulgrave Advent Celebrations begin. The Village Bus Shelter is once more transformed.
Saturday, December 1st, 2018
For the fifth year in succession, early on each evening in December a village window will be unveiled to reveal a Christmas scene, in the manner of a flap being opened on an Christmas Advent Calendar. We begin with the magical transformation of the normally rather drab village bus shelter into a cosy interior on Christmas Eve, when the children are safely in bed……
More photos on the next page……inside the bus shelter…..the opening ceremony with mulled wine, sausage rolls and mince pies….construction works…..the fish and chips van……a little history of the shelter….
Click on “Read the rest of this entry”.
November on the farm.
Sunday, November 25th, 2018
Richard Fonge writes:
This years harvest, turned out to be far better than expected. After such a wet, cold spring, and a long hot summer. Whilst some of the spring sown crops suffered from late sowing and the long hot summer those sown in the autumn favoured much better, with the slight drop in yield offset by an increase in price per tonne and no costs for drying the grain. Wheat, Barley etc has to be below 14% dry matter for storage and selling. Oilseed rape 8%. This year the long summer days did the drying, whereas in more normal years you are harvesting between dry and wet spells, and although the grain is ripe it often has to be cut before the next spell of rain. Hence the higher moisture content.
Autumn sowing has now finished in conditions that could not have been bettered due to a lovely stretch of weather. The concrete road has O.S.R to the bridge and winter wheat after that. Barrow hill wheat after the beans, and a cover crop of mustard in the field before that. Remember the reason for the mustard from last year?
The cattle we have seen in various fields up the Weston road and around the village have now been housed and most will be finished for slaughter by the spring. Next spring we will see a fresh lot of young cattle in these same fields, and so the rich cycle of life goes on.
But where do these young animals come from? There are many breeds of beef cattle, but two different sources. Firstly by breeding from a beef cow who will rear her own calf to the age of eight to nine months. This is known as single suckling. The calf is then reared on to be finished for prime beef. Secondly from the dairy herds of the country. A good 50% of dairy cows are put to a beef sire through A.I. and these calves are then reared for beef along with the pure bred male calves. In these days of specialisation the calves are sold on at various ages to beef farmers and that is how we come to see them grazing in the fields in our parish. Agriculture is a diverse and inter dependent industry serving us all.
Richard Fonge
Sulgrave Village Shop nominated for the Countryside Alliance Rural Awards 2019
Friday, November 23rd, 2018
Sulgrave Village Shop has been nominated for the 2019 awards. Please vote for our shop at http://www.countryside-alliance.org/campaigns/caawards/
These ‘Rural Oscars’ are in their 14th year and are the Countryside Alliance’s platform for celebrating rural businesses, produce and communities. The closing date for public nominations is SUNDAY 9th DECEMBER.
Once they close the nominations regional finalists are drawn up and judging begins. Regional winners are then informed and invited to the Houses of Parliament next June when the winner in each category is announced and the ‘Rural Oscar’ handed over.
Sulgrave Village Shop Committee thank you for taking time to vote.
Sulgrave Defibrillator now in place.
Tuesday, November 20th, 2018
Villagers outside the village shop helpfully point out the location of the defibrillator
The village shop post code is OX17 2RT. See here for the shop location on maps.
A defibrillator cabinet has been installed on the corner of Stockwell Lane and Magpie Road (at the village shop). Click here for a pd file of instructions on how to use it which you can print off and keep handy if you wish. However, all you need to access the cabinet is a charged up mobile phone with which to ring 999 to alert the emergency services and obtain the cabinet access code. This call will be connected even if you do not normally get a signal in the village. Instructions will also be printed in the December newsletter and a date for a hands-on training session will shortly be announced. A second training session will be offered early in the new year for villagers who are unable to attend the first one.
Thanks go to Richard MacDonald from Cardiac Science for donating the defibrillator and to the South Northamptonshire District Council for a grant for the purchase and installation of the defibrillator cabinet.
The defibrillator cabinet.
Close up of instructions on face of defibrillator cabinet.
What is a defibrillator and how does it work?
Note: AED = Automated External Defibrillator.
The Parish Council is investigating the demand for a replacement Community Bus Service in the village.
Sunday, November 18th, 2018
Villagers with limited access to private transport will be well aware that the Northamptonshire County Council’s “County Connect” bus service (above) has been withdrawn. The Parish Council is actively considering the need for a community bus service to replace it. The Council have been advised that Greatworth Parish Council and Helmdon Parish Council have partnered to provide a free weekly replacement bus service to its residents. This is costing a total of £90 per week to run, but is reportedly well used. The Parish Council is considering whether Sulgrave might run a similar scheme or join the Helmdon/Greatworth scheme. However, questions were raised at a recent Parish Council meeting as to whether the need exists in the village. The Council resolved to seek further information on the need for a replacement bus service in the village.
To this end you are invited to advise the Parish Council as to your views.
Please click here for a questionnaire for you to print off, complete and return to a Parish Councillor, or email it to the Parish Clerk at [email protected]
Celebration Bells will ring again! Remembrance Sunday 11th November at 2.30 pm.
Thursday, November 8th, 2018
Hywel Lloyd writes:
The Armistice to end the First World War took place at 11.00 am on 11th November 1918. Bells all over the UK rang to commemorate those who died, and to celebrate the new peace.
100 years later, these bells will ring again across the country. Sulgrave will ring at 2.30 pm on Sunday the 11th. If you are a bell ringer and would like to join us, please contact Hywel Lloyd on 01295 760520.
Remembrance Service in the Church at 6.00 pm on Sunday 11th November.
Click here to listen to the bells of St James the Less, Sulgrave.
A Local Story for Remembrance Day 2018.
Thursday, October 25th, 2018
Donald Taylor dressed for the Royal British Legion fund raising campaign
This pristine Commonwealth War Graves headstone commemorating Lilian Taylor has kept its lonely vigil in Sulgrave churchyard for almost 100 years. To mark the centenary of the signing of the armistice which brought the Great War to an end, this year the Royal British Legion has created a special brooch dedicated to the memory of the courageous women who served and lost their lives as a direct result of the First World War.
I set out below the remarkable story of the connection between Lilian, the RAF wreath and one of these brooches: (more…)
October on the farm. Sheep!
Monday, October 22nd, 2018
Texel Ram on Castle Hill
Richard Fonge writes:
This month I would like to write about the importance of sheep to our countryside. There are many breeds of sheep in this country, most of them named after the area they come from. Our mountains, moors and hills are dependent upon the sheep to maintain their beauty, we all so admire. I used to when farming run a flock of 350 Lleyn ewes originating from the peninsula of that name in north west Wales, and by crossing them with a Charolais ram from that region of France, they produced good meat lambs. The main breeding ewe in England is perhaps the mule ewe. A speckled face sheep of a taller stature than most. Some are in the field on the Stuchbury footpath. They are a cross between the Swaledale of Cumbria and the Blueface Leicester. The breeding of the mule is vital to the economy of North West and its landscape management. The female offspring of these sheep are sold at sales in places like Lazonby, Hawes, Penrith etc in the autumn and come south to form many farmers flocks. These sheep with their hybrid vigour, (and this also applies to many other breeds) are then crossed with a breed of ram to produce a good butchers lamb. The most popular Rams are the Suffolk, Charolais and the Texel originating from Holland. This breed can be seen on Castle Hill waiting to be called for duty by the Farmer and in the field to Stuchbury, where they are a work. I was given a sideways glance by one the other day, and I was reminded of Rumpole of the Bailey!
More on the next page – click on “read the rest of this entry”.