“Northamptonshire Highways” has informed the Parish Council that the Weston Road will be closed between 9.15 am and 3.30 pm on Monday 12th March so that “Category 2” repair works can be undertaken. The road will be closed between Points A and B on the map shown below:

Whilst Northamptonshire County Council remains the local highway authority, works such as those in Weston Road are undertaken on behalf of the Council by the private company KierWSP, known for this purpose as “Northamptonshire Highways” whose commitment is “to provide high quality, sustainable transport and highway services to the people of Northamptonshire”. On behalf of the Parish Council the Company was asked to explain 1) the nature of “Category 2” repairs and 2) whether the repairs would be in a specific location or whether an attempt was to be made to deal with the worst of the potholes (clearly a near impossible task in the time available). At the time of writing no reply had been received.

More photographs and a little of the history of the road can be seen in “read the rest of this entry”. (more…)

The Parish Council has received the following information from the Northamptonshire County Council:

Saturday 3rd March. Essential supplies reach the shop despite the snow.

See here for March Newsletter and note Easter opening hours.

Hawfinches by John Sheppard

This is the first of the year’s quarterly reports by former villager John Sheppard (see previous post).

John writes:

This is a difficult time for birds and wildlife in general. The potentially cold weather combined with diminishing supplies of food put many species under pressure. I’m sure many of you will have noticed an increase in the numbers of birds at your feeders during this time. You may also have noticed a few new species showing up.

More details and photographs in “read the rest of this entry”.

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Click on picture to see the original version

South Northamptonshire villagers without access to private transport fear that they will be left high and dry if the County Council withdraws support for local bus services. The Council’s budget proposals for 2018/19 include “a council tax increase of 5.98%, including a 3% adult social care precept, and cuts totalling £2,748,000 for bus subsidies, trading standards, winter maintenance and library services.” The Council’s Chief Finance Officer warns that “members of the county council should be in no doubt that the council faces a financial situation that is grave and which thus places strict limits on the choices available to the county council”.  The budget will be discussed by the council cabinet on 13 February. In the meantime, the County Council has brought in a so-called section 114 notice preventing all new expenditure. Concerned villagers should write to their County Councillors before 13th February. More details in “read the rest of this entry”, including a protest letter from a Culworth parishioner to the Culworth Parish Council which sums up the situation.

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Photograph: John Sheppard

I have now been editing the village website for over ten years, during which time a number of items have inevitably become outdated. These have now been revised and a series of new items intstalled or in course of preparation.

Colin Wootton.

Details are set out in “read the rest of this entry”.

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Burns’ Night. Sulgrave Manor is the setting for Sulgrave Women’s Activities Group’s production of a “Scottish Murder Mystery”. Those assembled for the evening entertainment are instructed to: “…..picture the scene….a Scottish castle huddled in the snowy Cairngorms, miles from anywhere. This is where eight very different people – some friends, some enemies will be spending the night. By morning one of them will be dead…..The job of everyone here tonight will be to identify the killer. Watch out for clues but beware of red herrings. Pay close attention to what people say and do. The most incriminating evidence may be revealed when you least expect it!

All will be revealed in “rest of this entry”:

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