Richard Fonge writes:

A very wet month with the ground extremely sodden for this time of year, but looking back we no longer have the dense fogs of the past due to our much improved cleaner air. We sometimes forget how far we have come in certain ways. This wet autumn (and our area has escaped the worst of the really heavy rain) has had a serious impact on some of the newly sown crops. Seed has rotted before germination and slugs have thrived in ideal conditions. These small type of slugs are voracious in appetite in that they are like a pair of scissors eating away at the small shoots. If a crop has failed now you have to wait to the spring before you can re plant.

Please take note of the high standard of hedge trimming, particularly on the left of the Magpie Road and on the right side of the Helmdon Road as you leave the village and further along towards Peter’s Bridge. These are well maintained hedges with plenty of depth and thickness. I mentioned this last year but the benefit of cutting a poor hedge to the ground and then letting it re grow can be seen along the Banbury Road to Weston.

November in the farming world is the month of dinners and AGMs of different agricultural organisations. There are many farming clubs and societies, some going back a long way, but many formed during the Second World War years to encourage farmers to grow better crops and hold competitions against similar clubs. The secretary was always a local Ministry advisor, who arranged talks and competitions. Today many of these organisations still exist, but the man from the ministry has long gone. In our neck of the woods we have The North Banbury Farming Club and Banbury Agricultural Society and I am still involved with the Kenilworth Agricultural Society. Each year a reciprocal arrangement is made with another club to judge their different classes of livestock and crops, with cups and certificates presented at annual dinners. It is always interesting and informative to visit and judge others and be judged yourselves. Plus, the social side is important.

Agriculture is an industry where ideas and developments are swapped between farmers, and as my old employer used to say “you always learn something “ on such occasions. Very true.

Richard Fonge

On a beautiful autumn morning on the 11th November 2023 a large number of villagers and visitors assembled on Castle Green to pay homage to the fallen in two world wars and other conflicts.

 

 

The Last Post is sounded….

 

……and the two minutes silence observed.

 

Wreaths are laid at the foot of the “unknown soldier”….

 

….and a Great War Poem recited by the Parish Council Chairman, Richard Fonge

 

 

Richard Fonge writes:

October has started with an exceptional warm spell of weather, which will enable the sowing of the winter corn crops to go into good soil conditions.

On the Stuchbury footpath the clover field has been sprayed out and sown with the rest of the field to winter wheat. It has been sown directly into the soil with the only pre-cultivation being what looks like to me with the slits through the earth a sub soiler. This implement breaks up the soil pan and helps with the drainage.

October is really the start of the farming year. When harvest is completed and yields of corn are known, this is the time to assess what to plant for the coming year. Decisions are made on the profitability of a certain crop, rotation and disease primarily. Rams go to the ewes in the autumn, so here again if making a change of either sire or ewe that decision is made then. 20% of the flock of breeding ewes are replaced each year, as a result of death and age.

The maize has now been cut and ensiled. The field by the Magpie junction to be fed to beef cattle. The Stuchbury fields to go into an anaerobic digester to produce energy.

The hedge jumps have been cut and prepared on the Barrow Hill side of the village in preparation for the Grafton Team Chase. Teams of four horses and riders are timed over a set course, with the first three home counting. Classes range from juniors to seniors. This event is very much part of country life, when people come together to compete and socialise, whilst showing their skills on horseback and entertaining all.

Two features in the village that many would not be aware of their history. The beech trees on Stocks green were planted in 1935 to celebrate the jubilee of King George and Queen Mary. Secondly, a lady called Annie Berry was the village Post Mistress and there is a bench in her memory just inside the churchyard by the footpath gate onto Church Street. I remember her delivering our mail to Stuchbury Manor Farm in the fifties, having cycled up to Stuchbury Hall and Lodge farms and walked across the fields to us. Always by 11 am and after delivering round the village.

Richard Fonge

Richard Fonge writes:

The wonderful sunny weather of early September has allowed this years harvest to be completed in our area. With the sun following the rains of August, everything is growing as you will be aware in the regularity of the lawn mowing.

Oil seed rape has been planted in the field by Park lane, and has germinated and established itself. It is vital that oil seed rape has established itself by mid September as it can be attacked by the flea beetle, and of course pigeons later in the winter.

On the Stuchbury footpath can be seen a tremendous plant of wild white clover. How has this come about? When the grass was sown a few years back, it was a perennial ryegrass dominant mixture of grasses with wild white clover. Clover can produce its own nitrogen through its root nodules, so if you manage the grass by putting only a small amount of artificial nitrogen fertiliser on to stimulate growth in the spring and graze tightly with stock, (in this case sheep,) the clover will flourish as can been seen here.

The top half of this field had a crop of wheat this year which also benefited from residual nitrogen left by the previous crop of beans. Another legume. A rotation of cropping is vital for plant health, with each crop complimentary to the other.

 You will see less ploughing of the land in the future as direct drilling and minimal cultivation systems become the norm. These systems reduce carbon footprints and fuel consumption. The plough still has a part to play in the cultivation of the land albeit to a lesser degree. However the skill of ploughing is kept alive by vintage machinery clubs and others. We owe them a great debt in that they restore old tractors and use them in the many competitive ploughing matches they hold during the year. By doing so they keep alive the past and remind us of how far we have come in machinery development over the last seventy years.

This completes six years of monthly notes, describing what is happening in the countryside surrounding our lovely village of Sulgrave. We are just so fortunate to live in what is to me a great community.

Richard Fonge

After a miserably rainy July and August, September began with a veritable heat wave. As usual, tables were placed outside the hall for those taking refreshments but it was so hot that most people were grateful to remain inside the bright, cool interior of the recently refurbished hall. On the following page you will find a few photographs of the event including the winning entries. I have tried to ensure a photograph of each of these and apologise if some are missing.

Click on “Read the rest of this entry”.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

DOG FOULING IN SULGRAVE

There are still irresponsible dog owners here in Sulgrave who are not clearing their dogs’ mess. This situation is so bad that our grass cutting contractor has complained and is considering withdrawing his services. He tells me that his machinery and clothing get badly splattered so they have to be thoroughly cleaned after working here. It would be a great pity if this were to happen as this contractor has served us very well over several years with his high standard of workmanship.

If the dog bins happen to be full take your dog poo bags home with you:

THERE ARE NO EXCUSES.

At the entrance to the Pocket Park there is a “NO DOGS” sign, yet when I cut the grass I find dog mess. Who in this village thinks it is a good idea to let their dogs foul a play area used by our children?

Richard Fonge.

Chairman. Sulgrave Parish Council.