December to January 2013 - Leicestershire Villages

Long Whatton News
DECEMBER 2012/January 2013
Your FREE Magazine
Photo; Chris Elliott

From the Editor,
This is the bumper Dec/Jan edition with 7 colour pages dedicated to
Village events during the last 12 months. Thanks go to those contributors,
photographers and organisers with a special mention to Kev
Gamble whose always on hand to get the ball rolling at dos.
Will there be a Village Show next year ? – see page 43 – it’ll only
happen if new faces come forward to help.
Similarly the Cricket Club – fund raising ideas are needed. Why can’t
the Village Show, Cricket Club, Community Assocn., pubs, clubs and
local organisations get together to find a mutually beneficial marketing
campaign?
Good news – Alan Clarke’s Cookery Column’s returned – see page
10……and the Parish Council tell me 2 more dog poo bins are to be
provided (no connection with Alan’s column).
Phil and Mary Hobbs wish to thank all who sent their good wishes…...Phil’s
now home and recovering slowly.
And Joan Barker (nee Thurkettle, 88, Main Street) has written to me
with some interesting personal memories of Eli Lester who appeared
in last months News – thanks Joan, fascinating stuff, I’ll pop it in the
next edition as we’re out of space in this one.
Also…….the mystery figure under the Spotlight in the October News
was none other than Postman Paul.
Season’s Greetings to you all,
Robert Ellis.
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Long Whatton News is delivered free of charge to every
home in the village. It is your magazine and we want your
articles, letters and comments.
Every month we will print news, reports and details of future
events for any of the groups in the village.
If anyone wishes to make comments about what does or
doesn’t happen in Long Whatton, you may do so without
publication of a name, if requested, but names and addresses
must be submitted with the article.
Please send copy via email to
longwhattonnews@yahoo.co.uk
Copy deadline for regular articles for the February issue of
Long Whatton News will be 14th January ( one-off articles 10th
January. )
Also visit www.leicestershirevillages.com/longwhatton
for news, events updates…..and we’re also on Facebook.
Your editorial team….
Editor Robert Ellis 07958 214716
Advertising Helen Connolly 07774 436311
Finance Jon Steel 07917 200793
Co-ordinator Kevin Gamble. 07855 741733
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Bill Platts and Carole Scottorn
would like to wish all their friends in the
village a Happy Christmas and a Good
New Year.
(We will be sending a donation to Redwings
in lieu of cards)
Can you name these men about to embark on a trip
to Skegness from the Royal Oak in the 1960s?
7

NATURE TRAIL
It’s been several years now since I saw a Jay at close quarter, yet whilst travelling
with David Want towards Kegworth we saw one on the side of the road near the
Milking Parlour. The next day David saw a Jay down the Cricket Field.
A good gathering of Blue Stalks during mid-October, then a decent gathering of
Horse Mushrooms around the same time. David Allsopp who farms at Rempstone
tells me he discovered several rings this of fungi early in October but they were all
rotten; he did not think they would be so early in his grass field. Whilst talking to
Jeanette and Brian Cowley at dusk in early November we saw a large flock of Starling
flying around the large conifer tree at the end of Barnfield Close. They went
around several times as if they were going to roost in the tree. They finally split into
four groups and then went away; a few minutes later only four landed in the tree.
Whilst travelling towards Rempstone in early November, on the bus, I saw two Buzzards
standing in a recently sown corn field – they were only about 20 yards from the
road and I could see their colours quite clearly. On the way back one was still on the
ground, the other one perched on the dead branch of an Oak tree – and this was two
hours later.
The day before writing these notes I was repairing some wiring on my tractor when I
heard the mournful cry of three Buzzards; looking up they were circling about 50 feet
above me for some time when I noticed one swoop down and pick something up in the
next field which belongs to Babs and Flip; half an hour later one returned for about 30
minutes. Shirley and Sheila Blythe tell me that whilst travelling near Boughton-on-the-
Hill, a Buzzard flew level with their car for some distance – it’s all birds of prey this
month! Shirley tells me that a female Sparrowhawk took a Greenfinch off their bird table
and Sheila tells me she frightened three more off their garden in one day. When these
birds fail to feed on their garden they fly over the road between Fay Want’s house and
Marjorie Davey’s house – this is their favourite route to the Want’s garden where Fay
14

waves a stick at them. Whilst talking to Fay one day a Hobby Hawk flew about 20
feet over us. Simon, of Main Street, reports a Sparrowhawk plucking a Collared
Dove along Blind Lane – just opposite the Post Office. It carried on plucking this
bird as though he wasn’t there. A few more reports of Saprrowhawks, but I am running
out of space.
Mick Merriman and David Perry tell me that whilst on the weekly Wednesday walk
(this time around Rutland Water) they saw a Labrador attack a sheep. By the time
they got to the scene the dog and the useless idiots that owned it had fled into a wood
and disappeared; Mick tells me the sheep was still alive but in a bad state. He reported
it to the warden, who told them that incidents like this happen several times a
week. It makes you wonder what this country is coming to; it wants me there with
the old 12-bore; it seems the only way to sort them out.
I have received a report of a Badger seen in broad daylight in the village near a
chicken pen, when spotted it just walked into the undergrowth and away – a rare sight
in daylight hours. There is a young Robin in the village who has just got his full
plumage, and it seems as though he has got three homes. I have seen this bird in the
Want’s garden, now it seems to visit Caroline Reffin’s, and also Sheila and Shirley
Blythe’s gardens. I hope he spends equal time at all three houses, we don’t want any
favouritism, do we now?
Peter Cawdell tells me of a Fox he saw running along his lawn with a Magpie chasing
after it; Peter tells me the Magpie was only a few feet above the Fox as it ran off –
this at 9 o’clock in the morning. David Priestley of Turvey reports a large Mistle
Thrush in his garden. During the early morning of the three frosts in early November
I discovered two dead Newts – dead and frozen on the pavement near the Falcon.
Had someone moved some stone or slab that caused these creatures to come out of
hibernation?
Weather Wisdom: A cold November,
A warm Christmas
Eric Scott-Parker
15

Actually this is not a Christmas message…...
In December the Anglican Church celebrates the feast of Nicholas Ferrar.
Ferrar was the prime mover of one of the most remarkable experiments in
Christian living. In the seventeenth century he and his extended family,
his mother, brother sister and their families lived out a kind of monastic
life in the house at Little Gidding. They shared in a discipline of work and
prayer, based on the services in the Prayer Book, and in the reading of the
Psalms. The ebb and flow of prayer and work formed a structure in which
members of the community served one another and their neighbours. The
result was a vibrant Christianity in which social action and holiness
walked hand in hand. Although the community did not outlive the death
of its founder it has continued to shape and inspire people down the centuries.
It was celebrated by T.S.Eliot in his poem Little Gidding from the
Four Quartets
If you came this way,
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same: you would have to put off
Sense and notion. You are not here to verify,
Instruct yourself, or inform curiosity
Or carry report. You are here to kneel
Where prayer has been valid. And prayer is more
Than an order of words, the conscious occupation
Of the praying mind, or the sound of the voice praying.
And what the dead had no speech for, when living,
They can tell you, being dead: the communication
Of the dead is tongued with fire beyond the language of the living.
Here, the intersection of the timeless moment
Is England and nowhere. Never and always.
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That kind of inspiration is expressed today in communities involved in
New Monasticism. Typically those who commit to such a way of life follow
a number of basic principles. They become involved with the marginalised
in society, sharing their resources with one another and with
the needy. They show hospitality to the stranger and seek to heal the
divisions in society through the pursuit of peace and reconciliation.
Their life is characterised by deep commitment to the church, to contemplation,
to the way of Christ, to the nurturing of faith and to following
a ‘rule of life’. They will often live near to each other for support,
and will show great care for the earth and its resources and will support
the local economy.
It’s a new and daring experiment in Christian living, and believe it or
not, there’s one such community within a five minutes drive from here.
Drop in to St Joseph’s Tearooms near Mount St Bernard’s Abbey some
time and see what’s going on, it may just make you think.
May God Bless you richly in this Christmas Season
Revd. Tony Edmonds
19

20% off all meals and accompanying drinks in JAN and FEB!
22

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Plumbing and Heating
All Plumbing Repairs
Bathroom Suite Installation
Boiler installation and repairs
Boiler Services
Burst Pipes leaks and taps
Central Heating Systems installation
and repairs
Under floor Heating
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For free quotation and
Advice call
07759 289305

Eyes down...it’s Bingo at the Community Hall
Bonfire Night at the Cricket Club

It’s a dog’s life at the Beer Festival!
The Whatton Wailers…..in a quiet moment
30

Green Footprints Awards 2013 now open
Applications are now open for the Green Footprints Awards 2013. This is the fifth year
of the awards, which are free and open to businesses, schools and groups who have
made an outstanding contribution to the environment in North West Leicestershire.
There are five categories:
Businesses
Children and Young People (under 25 years)
Partnerships and Community groups
Schools
Sustainable Urban Design
The Business Category is open to businesses of all sizes and sectors that have a
base within North West Leicestershire. This is a great opportunity to promote all the
excellent work that your company is doing on the green agenda, with previous winners
going on to win other regional and national awards.
The deadline for entries is 31 st January 2013, with judging panels meeting in early
February to shortlist three projects in each category. Shortlisted entries will be invited
to attend the Awards’ ceremony, which will be held at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel as
part of the annual Civic Ball on Friday 26 th April 2013.
For further information and to apply online please log on to
www.nwleics.gov.uk/footprints or contact Gillian Squires, Sustainability Officer, North
West Leicestershire District Council, Tel: 01530 454771.
31

P. HOBBS
PAINTER
&
DECORATOR
24 Main Street
Long Whatton
Tel: 01509 842486
38
DAVID HANCOCK
All Building work
undertaken
Extensions, Alterations,
Plastering, Paving
Fencing
Property Maintenance
and Repairs
Tel: 01509 646145
3 Piper Close, Long Whatton

LONG WHATTON VILLAGE SHOW 2013 ?
THERE WILL BE A MEETING TO DISCUSS THE 2013 VILLAGE SHOW ON
THURSDAY 24 TH JANUARY 2013
IN THE FRIENDSHIP CENTRE @ 8PM
A COMMITTEE NEEDS TO BE FORMED
SO PLEASE COME DOWN AND PUT YOUR SUGGESTIONS FORWARD,
JOIN THE COMMITTEE
OR JUST REGISTER YOUR SUPPORT
THANK YOU
VILLAGESHOW@YAHOO.CO.UK
LONG WHATTON COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION
WE HAVE PURCHASED OVER 1000 DAFFODIL BULBS TO REPLENISH AREAS OF THE VILLAGE AS
REQUIRED. THESE HAVE BEEN PURCHASED THROUGH
Macmillan Daffodil Appeal.
PLANTING WAS STARTED AROUND THE JUBILEE TREE BUT THERE ARE A LOT MORE AREAS TO
PLANT. CAN YOU SPARE 15 MINUTES TO PLANT A FEW BULBS IN SELECTED AREAS?
PLEASE CONTACT CHRIS ON 07849218260
Treasurer
Ian Bagguley will be vacating his position as Treasurer of the LWCA as of 1st Jan 2013.
The committee would like to thank Ian for his hard work over the past few years and he’ll certainly
be a hard act to follow !
But we now need a volunteer A.S.A.P. to fill this position. If you think you can help please call Chris
on 07849 218260 or contact any member of the committee
THANK YOU
43

LONG WHATTON CRICKET CLUB
May I on behalf of the cricket club take this opportunity to thank every one who supported the
clubs bonfire night celebrations. Especially this year with the bad weather we experienced this summer
resulting in 50% of the games being cancelled and the subsequent loss of revenue
We also had problems with our banners advertising the event which has puzzled many people in the
village. As you may be aware our banners were taken down five times albeit very neatly so we reerected
them each time until finally the banners were removed and the frames left behind. We contacted
the police who treated it as a criminal offence and suggested we might contact the council
just to ensure they were not responsible. We duly contacted the city council,the county council and
NW Leics council who were not aware of the problem, with the different councils due to speak to
each other and come back to us, which they duly did. Their response was that it was nothing to do
with any of the councils, for if it had been an offence the different councils would all have taken the
frames and not just the signs. We duly informed the police and guess what, several days later a villager
returned from holiday to find a letter addressed to the cricket club dated around ten days earlier
through his letter box informing the club to remove illegally erected signs.
We have written to the three councils involved copying our local Parish Council two weeks ago and
followed that up, with no reply from any of the councils involved. All we are asking is why can
Hathern & Diseworth advertise their events and Long Whatton be singled out with their banners
being confiscated. A lot of villagers are puzzled and angry and like me would like to know why this
village has been given this treatment by the council.
Once again may we thank the village for their support
David Willis , Treasurer, Long Whatton Cricket Club
45

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50

Halloween Disco
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