Centre Pane of Little Tow Window.
Kym writes:
No 4 was at Little Tow, well I don’t really know where to start. The whole bungalow looked amazing but the window wow wow. So much to take in absolutely loved Well done and taking that you only moved here this year. thank you so much.
Kym
See here for the full window and pictures of the opening party.
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Centre Pane of Window No. 1 – Wykham House, Helmdon Road. December 1st.
It’s that time of the year again! A one off idea in 2014 is now a firmly established tradition. Each night during the 24 days of Advent sees a new and colourful addition to the village streets.
Kym Keatley writes:
Well what a great start to this years Advent windows.
No 1 and no 2 were the first of our non gathering night. Worth a walk out to have a look.
Our first gathering no 3 was at Rectory farm. What a lovely window. loved the dogs.
Kym
The full window at “Wykham”.
December 2nd. Window No. 2. Bentley’s Farm Bungalow, Helmdon Road. Photograph by Tony Keatley.
Detail from Window No. 2.
December 3rd. Window No. 3. Rectory Farm, Little Street.
See here for photographs of the window “unveiling party” at Rectory Farm.
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Telephone Pole Decoration December 2016
Volunteers have been making Christmas wreaths and fixing them at prominent points in the village for over 30 years. Click on the following links to see photos of those activities and how it all began.
Village Christmas Decorations 2007
Village Christmas Decorations 2008
Village Carol Singing and Decorations 2013
Ewes “in lamb” on the footpath to Stuchbury. Photograph: Colin Wootton
Richard Fonge writes:
What is so noticeable for this time of year is how green and healthy the countryside looks. Why? After our long hot summer, when the light rains came in early September they fell on a warm soil, resulting in rapid growth not only on the grass fields, but also when the oilseed rape and winter corn were planted the seeds germinated quickly and the new crops were soon established. This can be seen clearly from all footpaths and roads out of the village.
No better example of how these conditions have benefited a crop is the winter wheat direct drilled into the fields of wild flowers on the Stuchbury footpath. The old crop was sprayed out and with the manure which was spread will now rot down into the soil. A good farming practice, adding humous to the soil to produce a valuable crop.
A farmer has to take each season as it comes, taking the good with the bad, and this year has been a very challenging one, with a sodden start, followed by a dry spring and summer, resulting in a poor harvest and livestock being fed winter rations in July and August. However the silver lining is that it’s been a great autumn to establish crops and cattle have been able to stay out longer with the extra grass growth, as witnessed in the Manor field and up the Moreton road.
The sixty ewes on the Stuchbury path are now in lamb hopefully, as I see the two rams have been taken out. Two rams to sixty is a generous ratio,so when scanned for pregnancy at seventy five days or thereabouts all should be satisfactory.
I mentioned how challenging as a farmer it can be working along side the weather and therefore nature. This inevitably can cause severe stress, alongside the financial and at times loneliness of the occupation. The farming community are very good at supporting those with these difficulties through a number of voluntary and charitable organisations.
One of the first was Gloucestershire Farming Friends started by a generous and caring farmer called Malcolm Whittaker in the 1980s. An inspirational man.
I became involved in setting up a similar helpline in Warwickshire some thirty years ago guiding people to the right sort of help. From these smaller helplines, Farm Crisis Network was born, a national organisation doing great work in the countryside but still with volunteers to help.
The philosophical attitude so typical of his type. A Dales farmer was asked how he was going to manage after losing sheep in a blizzard. ‘ Us’ll have to find another hole in the belt”!
Richard Fonge
One hundred and seven years since the end of World War One and eighty years after the end of World War Two the villagers of Sulgrave still gather to remember those who died in those wars and many other conflicts. Unlike most other villages, Sulgrave does not have an outdoor war memorial and the custom is now to assemble at 10.30 am on each Armistice Day on Castle Green, to observe the two minute’s silence at exactly 11.00 am in common with millions of others at home and abroad.
The names of the fallen are to be seen on the above plaque in the nearby village church.
See the next page for more photographs of the event together with more information about the casualties.
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Jane Seymour writes:A great time was had by all at the Children’s Halloween Party on Saturday, 1st November.
The hall was suitably spookily dressed for the occasion and there were amazing costumes worn by all the children, from a scary spider to Iron Man!
A party tea was served and enjoyed after games of musical statues, musical chairs and mummy wrapping.
The afternoon was wrapped up with Pin the Eyeball on the Skeleton, apple bobbing and hands in scary boxes, finishing with a very tough piñata that had to be set upon by several children on the floor!
Construction of Castle Green boundary wall. November 2007.
Photograph: Colin Wootton
Martin Sirot-Smith writes:
Saturday 11th October saw, in the convivial surroundings of the Moon and Sixpence pub in Hanwell, the valedictory meeting of the Castle Green Management Committee. It was formed in January 2005 to undertake, on behalf of the Sulgrave Parish Council, the administration of the restoration and enhancement of Castle Green and later, Castle Hill. All of the original seven committee members (except, sadly, Clare Pollak) were present, plus three who joined later, to celebrate twenty years of working together.
The Committee evolved from the original Manor Field Action Group which was set up in July 2003 to secure funding for the purchase of Castle Green (Manor Field) on behalf of the village. This it did, in less than a year, raising over £30,000 from Grant Making bodies and a local appeal. No mean achievement, as recognised by the Parish Council Chairman at that time, Ken Christy. “It was an example of how much a single minded body could achieve in a very short time”.
The Committee was made up of Paul Crowley, Treasurer, Clare Pollak, Project Director, Peter Pollak, Secretary, Jo Powell, Christina Shillito and Colin Wootton who were joined in 2017 by Will Priestman, in 2018 by Richard Fonge and in 2020 by Rosie Shillito. Its terrms of reference were to restore and enhance the whole site, remembering it was a Scheduled Ancient Monument, for the benefit of both Sulgrave villagers and the general public. It was my pleasure to Chair this Committee throughout its lifetime.
Under the terms and conditions of the two main grant giving bodies, the South Northamptonshire Council and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, we then produced a full Management Plan and Conservation Statement, bearing in mind that English Heritage would need to agree to any projected work on the site. Later this would lead to untold problems. The work to restore the drystone encompassing wall, to provide access paths with tarmac entrances and post and rail fencing all required English Heritage permission. Also we were only allowed to use their designated contractors. This all led to long delays and when their original contractor went into liquidation, it meant starting all over again.
In the meantime we were busy fund raising. Here we were very much indebted to Clare Pollak’s industrious seeking out of grant making bodies and her skill in making good relationships with those individuals responsible for their administration. In all, grants totalling over £85,000 were raised! This enabled us to cover not only the physical works but also the installation of benches, interpretive sign boards, and nesting boxes as well as producing leaflets explaining the archaeological history of the whole site.
Special days were organised, “Field Days”, with history based Treasure Hunts for children, exhibitions, demonstrations as well as stalls and other attractions. These became a regular, much anticipated feature of Sulgrave village life.
2011 was the year that finally saw the Restoration and Enhancement Project reach its conclusion. Coming in under budget it was possible to transfer £1200 to the Parish Council to help provide for future maintenance! Since then the Committee has met regularly to organise working parties, keeping the Green well tended and ensuring problems are quickly dealt with. Events and happenings were regularly organised, bringing all ages together to enjoy what is a wonderful village amenity.
In March 2018 the chance to purchase and take into public ownership the Castle Hill site, thus bringing the whole of the Scheduled Ancient Monument under the Committee’s control and management, was gratefully taken. £6,000 was quickly raised from local organisations and from many generous donations from willing villagers. All this was done in five months, giving us enough funds to complete all the necessary remedial work needed before it, and the Castle Green itself, could now become a Public Open Space for all to enjoy in perpetuity.
The final meeting of the Castle Green Management Committee was indeed its 101st during the twenty year period of its existence! This does not include the countless site meetings, informal inspections and discussions. The superb village asset we have today is much due to the continual commitment of all the Committee members over the last two decades. It has been a pleasure to present at each Annual Parish Meeting over the last twenty years the achievements and successes of the Committee.
Martin Sirot-Smith Chairman and Convener Manor Field Action Group 2003 – 2005 Castle Green Management Committee 2005 – 2025
See next page for a photograph of the Committee and further information on the Castle Green and Castle Hill public open spaces.
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Autumn Leaves. Photo: Colin Wootton
Richard Fonge writes:
We are having some lovely autumn weather. One of the many privileges of living in our country and in particular in the countryside is the changing of the seasons to appreciate. Autumn is a special season with the colouring of the leaves and its early morning mists. It is also the start of the farming year. Farms are sold and tenancies change hands mostly at Michaelmas (Sept 29th). Why is this so?. Harvest is over and next year’s crops are being planted, rams are put into the ewe flocks for spring lambing, cattle are brought in from the fields in October for the winter. So from a practical aspect an obvious starting point. When a farm changes hands the outgoing farmer usually has a sale, which includes everything from scrap metal, small tools, to machinery and livestock. Whilst these can be great social occasions for the local farming community to catch up on what is going on in the locality, to buy and support the outgoing farmer, they can be very sad times for those directly involved. I speak from the experience of two such sales, firstly at my Father’s retirement, and then my own.
Agriculture tenancies have changed and there is a greater security of tenure today, but this wasn’t so before the 1948 Agriculture Act. This was a comprehensive act of parliament which brought in financial support to the farmer through guaranteed payments or subsidies, with other payments to encourage more home grown production of food whilst keeping the cost of food down. World War 2 had brought home the realisation that we shouldn’t be dependant as an island on imports.
The act also gave tenant farmers greater security, with landowners having to go before a tribunal with good reason to end a tenancy Non payment of rent or bad farming had to be proved. Up to then a tenant could be given as little as six months notice to quit, as happened to my parents, when their landlord decided to give his newly married daughter the farm. The upside of that was we moved to Stuchbury Manor Farm, Sulgrave, where I had a wonderful upbringing in a special place and a lasting love for the area.
Richard Fonge.