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PRE-SCHOOL NEWS
This is our busiest term for fund-raising with the main event being the Christmas
Bazaar. It's on Saturday 25th November this year, from 2-4pm in the Village hall.
We hope that as usual we get plenty of support from the village, as we are increasingly
relying on funds raised through this sort of event. Watch out for notices closer to the
time -we're being promised some rather special raff1e prizes.
A slightly earlier note for your diary is a Nearly New Sale for children's clothes which
will be held from 1Oam - 11.30 on Thursday 2nd. November in the Village Hall. If you have
any good quality clothes you would like to donate for sale, please bring them to the hall
during pre school hours, Monday to Thursday 0900-1200.
It should be a good chance to stock up on Winter clothes for the kids, before the cold
sets in, or even get ahead and buy for next summer!
If you want to find out more about Pre school, please call Shelley Robson, the
Supervisor on 660286, or the chairman, Carol Gibson on 840922. |
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FLAMSTEAD SOCIETY
THIS MONTH the Society welcomes Graham Atkins for his talk about hedgerows. With many
ancient hedgerows in our own parish this will prove both an interesting an relevant
insight into the history and value of these quintessential elements of our landscape,
as will be illustrated by Graham's superb slides.
The meeting will be on Thursday,19th October in the village hall at 8pm. There will
be the usual refreshments and raffle.
LAST MONTH'S VISIT to the Chiltem Open Air Museum fell victim to the fuel crisis.
This was unfortunate as a visit to this venue provides a very absorbing opportunity to
see buildings saved and re-erected on this site. Walk inside them and you are in a
past era. The blacksmith demonstrated making a candle holder and the Hawk and Owl Trust
had a series of fine painting showing the effect on birds of prey of changes in the
countryside over the ages.
DOWN TO EARTH: I am not certain of the function it once served, but one stone at the
museum had an interesting composition. The top part was of sarsen material like the
great outer ring of Stonehenge and stone circle of Avebury while the bottom comer
was of puddingstone. It showed that the sarsens and Hertfordshire puddingstone are
part of the same rock formation. This was created about 65 million years ago when
sand and pebbles became cemented together under tropical conditions. If we had been
around then, it would have been a bit warmer than your average October day!
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HIGHLIGHTS PARISH COUNCIL MEETING SEPT 4th
Environment:Reviews will be undertaken on recycling, lighting, tree planting,
footpaths and litter. District Council is keen to significantly increase its
capabilities in this area, and the first phase must be segregation of our waste
then advise how it can either be recycled, composted, utilised, and even further
processed.
Would the parish be interested in getting our own shredder suitable for tree and
shrub cuttings?
Neighbourhood Watch is going to be tackled -a questionnaire is to be circulated.
Villages are seen as easy target by criminals, so let us make sure Flamstead is
a safer place to live in.
Communications: This parish council will have a web site, which will give the
opportunity for people to get more information of what is happening and importantly,
the ability for parishioners to easily let us know what you think, on so many
subjects.
Luton Airport: Ted Alford continues to represent us in our objections to further
expansion; this augments the efforts of Julian Taunton.
Village of the Year 2000 Contest: Flamstead won the section as the village with the
best Communal Amenities. This may be a surprise to a lot of people in what we have
and do, we can expand our facilities, as there is a good base to go from. Many thanks
to Lorraine, Colin and Peter for their efforts and presentations, Hopefully we can
replace Redboum who won the overall Best Village.
Bonfires: A minority of people use this method to get rid of their rubbish. it creates
toxic fumes which linger to the detriment of the majority. The wind often changes
direction, so you cannot be sure that you do not inconvenience other villagers. We
have a quarterly Saturday dustcart for large items and garden rubbish, we can hopefully
increase the number of times it is available. Think again about a bonfire, asthma is
on the increase; we live in the country giving us clean fresh air, keep it that
way.
M.W
The next meeting of the Parish Council is on Monday 16th October at 8pm in the
Village Hall.
These notes are produced for the Church and Village News. Please note that the full,
official minutes continue to be available in the Village Hall and both shops after
they have been agreed at the following month's PC meetings. |
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Luton Airport, Expansion News
In 1996 there were 2.5 million passengers using Luton Airport and 54,000 flights, At
the end of 2000 there will be over 6 million passengers per annum (6mppa) and circa
90,000 flights including non-commercial.
The vast majority of the public and most councils believed that Luton Airport needed
further planning permission to exceed 5mppa, although there is much documentation to
support this it does not seem to be the case, at least not in practice.
There is very little to report regarding the Development Brief except that Luton Borough
Council are analysing the responses and most County and District Councils along with the
Consultative Committee are awaiting a detailed Surface Access Report. Major road
alterations will be necessary on all approaches to the airport if expansion is permitted
on the scale envisaged by London Luton Airport Operations Ltd. (LLOAL) -hardly surprising
when you consider that at present every 1000 passengers generate 350 cars to and from the
airport.
At the various meetings I have attended the most common concerns raised, other than
noise, is that Luton Borough Council alone will decide the outcome of any planning
application by LLA to accommodate 10 million passengers or more.
It has recently been announced that LBC has recently received a payment of £4.8 million
from London Luton Airport Operations Ltd. as part of their licensing agreement apparently
based upon passenger numbers, while the annual profit of the operating company was
just £330,000, due largely to the amount of interest they must pay on money borrowed
to finance expansion.
London Luton Airport Operations Ltd. (LLAOL) are always pleased to hear from you if you
have a genuine complaint. You can leave a recorded message on 01582395382, but be certain
you include the time of the disturbance. All complaints are acknowledged and
investigated.
If you have a comment or question, you can contact me by letter via the village hall.
T. Alford
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Cricket Club Round Up
The Sunday side had a rather slow start to the season, missing a number of games because
of the weather. However the second half of the summer saw an increase in support and
enthusiasm with a number of closely fought and enjoyable games. The side benefited
greatly from the progress of a number of young players who became regular members
of the side.
It’s been a successful season for the cricket club. The Saturday side under the
leadership of new captain Alistair Cook lost only two matches all season and secured
third place in their Division of the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League. As a result
they have been promoted to division 10 for next season.
The season is due to finish with a short tour of Gloucestershire and awards will be0
presented at the club's annual dinner and dance at the Village Hall on October
14th.
Special thanks are due to Phil Rigby who has announced his retirement as Chairman of
the club. Phil has been a stalwart of Flamstead cricket for more than a quarter of a
century and much credit must go to his years of effort both on and off the field and
for the fact that the club has reached its 125th anniversary year in such good
shape.
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VILLAGE OF THE YEAR 2000
Earlier this year we reported that Flamstead Parish Council had entered the
Village of the Year 2000 competition, which is a successor to the Best Kept Village and
concentrates on the quality of village life, rather than the appearance of the
village.
The main area that the judges were interested in were:-
- Environment
- Business
- Young people
- Older people
- Community Life
On the evening of Thursday 7 September, Lorraine Bardwell, Colin Campbell and Peter
Milson went to County hall in Hertford for the awards presentation.
The first prize to be awarded, were the children who were the winners in a poster
competition for the Village of the Year -2000.
Next came the awards for the main competition. The chairman of the judges said that
27 villages in Hertfordshire had entered submissions for the competition. Based on
the information received the judges had then selected 9 villages for a further
inspection.
The judges then reviewed each of the categories in turn. Flamstead got a very honourable
mention in the Environment section for the work that had been done on renovating
The Moor.
When it came to the section on Community Life, the judges said that this section was
at the heart of this competition. How the various groups in a village worked together
to promote this sense of community was very important. He said many villages had worked
hard on this, but that the winner of this section was Flamstead!
Lorraine collected our prizes, of a commemorative brass plaque, a certificate and a
cheque for £50.00
As you can imagine, we were extremely pleased with the result and we duly celebrated
in "The Three Blackbirds" when we got back to Flamstead.
Ideas for positioning the plaque and certificate are already being discussed. We should
have more news after the next meeting of the Parish Council. The cheque for £50.00 will
be used to cover the costs for this year's entry and also go towards funding the costs
of our entry in 2001. Flamstead Parish Council are very pleased with this result and
the way that it reflects on everyone in the village.
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CLODS AND SODS
We missed the Peddars at the Flamstead Show the other week. There was a lot of empty
space on the exhibition tables where their entries ought to have been. We don't know
why they weren't at the Show but it is rumoured that they couldn't fight their way
out of their house through the dense forests of Fuchsias and bedding that they have
planted in their efforts to win the Front- of House competition. Still, the Peddars'
absence gave the rest of us a chance to win something.
John King stole the Show with his magnificent matched pair of red cabbages. These were
in great demand at the sale-of-produce stall after the Show but, unfortunately, they
couldn't be sold because they were on loan from Tesco and had to be returned.
John Hobbs of Markyate, as usual, won his eponymous trophy and most other vegetable
classes too. Next year we are thinking of organising a "Get-Hobbs'l squad with the sole
purpose of taking his trophy away from him. To this end, the FGA Committee is investing
heavily in special parsnip pipes, carrot composts and onion sets to beat Hobbs at his
own game.
A special trophy this year was the Colin Campbell award for the councillor who can
get his photo most times on one page of the Hemel Hernpstead Gazette; won this year
by, of course, Colin Campbell. We don't believe that this has any connection at all
with the fact that Colin arranged with the Gazette for the photographer to be in
attendance.
Humphrey Widdas, after proving that it is possible to transplant mature, woody,
fruit-bearing and rootless tree cuttings into dry ground and have them survive
for a full three days, was not particularly surprised to win first prize for his
perfectly symmetrical and beautifully marked pumpkin.
Next year's show will include the Widdas Special Trophy Fork for the best pumpkin. The
fork, made particularly for pumpkin growers by Humphrey, using his John Bull Metalwork
and Welding Outfit, does nothing directly to any pumpkin; size and quality still depends
on the skill and knowledge of the grower; but continuous use of the fork, which weighs
five stone, for a full season will build the grower's strength up to the point that he
will be able to lift his pumpkin, however big it grows, and carry it to the Show
single-handed.
Finally, we have had another delivery of composts and lawn fertilisers to the
allotment trading hut. In spite of all protestations to the contrary, we have been
supplied yet again with Lawn Weed and Feed plus moss killer. The suppliers, like yours
truly, refuse to believe that anybody on these Flamstead soils can produce a lawn free
from moss, especially in the autumn, so they will not supply a fertiliser without moss
killer. Come and get it!
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