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Old Warden Annual Village Meeting 2019

Old Warden Parish Council

Another eventful and productive year for your Parish Council. We have welcomed two new councillors; Adrian Groves and Joshua Rumball and allowed one to retire – we thank Tim Garner for his short but sterling service. At last your council is back to full strength.

Communication between the council and our parishioners continues to be effective using the Parish Council email list, the telephone, the Council website and the village noticeboard. All residents are welcome and encouraged to apply for membership of the Parish Council website - https://www.bedsparishes.gov.uk/old-warden-parish-council/

Significant progress continues to be made with Central Council (CBC) and Highways towards the continuing road safety issues in the village. A detailed strategy has now been produced in conjunction with Highways that includes additional speed restrictions and a weight limit for vehicles within the village limits with the full support of the Shuttleworth Trust.

Meetings with the Shuttleworth Trust continue to maintain communication between our parishioners and the Trust via the Parish Council.

The Parish Council continues to represent the parish of Old Warden on local forums and liaison groups in North Bedfordshire.

This year the Parish Council has again made grants to St Leonards Church and the Cricket Club together with The British Legion, Citizens Advice and Link-a-ride local transport service to help with their maintenance.

The Parish Council continue to support the village defibrillator and would like to thank those who continue to volunteer as first responders.

The Parish Council is up for re-election this year. The current 7 councillors have again agreed to stand for election and their nominations have been accepted. There were no other applications from within our community and nominations closed at 4pm on 3rd April. Therefore, we do not expect an election for this coming term.

Finally, thank you to all those who give up their time to help keep Old Warden the truly lovely place it is to live.

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Parish Council Accounts for 2018-2019

In April 2018 the year started with the following in the bank: 1. Deposit £2,858.46 2. Current £9,982.71 Deposit account (A) – Interest of £1.44 earned in the year – Closing of 5th April 2019 £2,859.90 Current Account Total Receipts for the year of £9,811.60 consisting of: 1. Precept £9,777.00 2. VAT Reclaim £34.60 Total current account balance for the year £19,794.31 Total Payments for the year £6,864.39 Current Account closing balance (B) £12,929.92 TOTAL MONIES IN THE BANK AT 5TH APRIL 2019 (A + B) £15,789.82 START OF YEAR APRIL 6TH 2019 Receipts to Date £9,777 consisting of: 1. Precept £9,925.00

TOTAL MONIES IN THE BANK AT 12TH APRIL 2019 £25,714.82

The 2019-2020 Budget The budget was set with some things firmly in the mind of the council, together with the need to continue to improve to the benefit of the residents. 1. Firstly, the main focus continues to be traffic management through the village, consequently significant funds have been budgeted to cover costs. Currently, the Traffic Management project has reached the end of the consultation stage and we are waiting to pay for the plans. The deployment stage is expected to start in the middle of 2019 2. Again, the council must review the vehicle activated signs in the village, the one at Church is not functioning. They are owned by highways and we are currently pressing for repair or replacement. 3. The verges, hedges and grass areas need regular maintenance and the levels at which CBC attend to these is low, so it was again agreed to fund some of this out of council funds; 4. The council must have insurance, this is again extended to cover the defibrillator that is housed in the telephone box and a re-assessment of asset values; 5. The council must continue to prepare for future elections of the councillors which can cost around £1,500 for unscheduled events; 6. There are continued increasing requests to the council to support local projects and initiatives.

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The above together with the expenses of running the meetings and office services associated with administering a local council resulted in a budget of £10,665 being developed. After a VAT reclaim projected to be around £300, this will leave a shortfall to be covered by our reserves. I will report on how this is resolved at next year’s meeting. The precept was set to ensure that no Parish Level council tax increase was inflicted on the residents of Old Warden. St Leonards Church 2018/2019

Worship at St Leonard's has been disrupted by the absence of our Vicar, the Rev Frank Coleman who has been on long-term sick leave since January 2019. Despite this, Services have continued with a weekly 10.00am Sunday Service.

Necessary urgent repairs to the church building have been completed so that is now watertight. The area at the base of the tower has been fenced off due to the unstable tower parapets above.

The next phase of work to the tower and south east corner of the Nave of the church will be done as funds become available.

A Just Giving page has been setup to help with fund raising. The link is: https://www.justgiving.comcampaign/stleonards-anne-of-cleves

A four camera, 24/7 surveillance system has been installed to cover Church Lane, the church entrance path and main car park area. This has enhanced security for parked vehicles of local residents and visitors to the area.

The Old Warden News was produced quarterly and delivered to all households in the parish.

The Parochial Church Council thanks the OW Parish Council for its continuing financial contribution towards the cost of churchyard maintenance and other projects.

Broom Quarry Update

Awaiting Update

Broom South Quarry Update Awaiting Update.

Old Warden Cricket Club

Looking back over the 2018 season: OWCC played 29 games, winning 16 of them and losing 13. A frustrating season in the BSICL League saw us finish 4th having played 13 games, winning 7 and losing 6 games. The main frustration was the number of games that were cancelled due to the opposition not being able to get a team up. The Sunday side thankfully faired much better, playing a total of 16 games, winning 9 of them and losing 7. The Sunday side under Ross Goodship’s excellent guidance managed to get a team out for every single Sunday, the first time this has happened for a number of years. Picking out some notable performances from the season: with the bat, Mark Brownridge averaged 53.57 from his knocks that included 2 century’s and 1 half century – the only batsman to score a tonne this season.

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With the bat and the ball, Tom Seymour set himself up to become OWCC’s answer to Jacques Kallis with a very impressive combination of averaging 11.82 with the ball and 37 with the bat. With a bowling best of 4- 22 and scoring 3 50’s, Seymour rolled back the years to put in performances reminiscent of his youth. Regular spectators at the Old Warden Arena dared to whisper amongst themselves that the boy is back. Coming in a close second to Seymour with a bowling average of 12 was Liam Holland. Liam took a total of 15 wickets in the season with a best of 4-34. Other notable performances with the ball were Joe Sharp’s 20 wickets at an average of 20 and Owen Hubbard’s very impressive junior performance of 18 wickets at an average of 23 with a best performance of 3-16. In the trophy matches Warden performed well by retaining the Allan Theed Memorial Cup and winning the RH Marshall shield. In the Marshall match Pete Sharp and Steve Howells salvaged a grim situation after Marshall’s bowlers had ripped through the top order. Howells and Sharp Senior took no prisoners though and battered Marshall’s 13 year old bowlers to all corners of the park to secure victory.

Off the pitch the club had a number of successful fundraisers. The April quiz was very well supported by both the club and villagers and raised £230. Despite the sweltering temperature Ian and Lynn Willis’s cake stand at once again proved a valuable fund raiser making £200. The village golf day on the second May bank holiday proved a popular event again. Now in its second year the format seems to be well established and concluded at the Hare & Hounds to combine with their beer festival. Jonny Dove won the prize for best overall score as well as completing a very impressive hole in one at the trickey second hole. Finally the Big Bash was a superb day. Helped by glorious weather, numbers throughout the day and evening were high and an enjoyable and profitable day ensued. The six aside trophy was won by... and the entertainment was supplied Outake with backing vocals from T Griffin. The cricket club held their AGM on the 29th Jan 2019 in the Hare and Hounds. A few changes on the management committee occurred with the most notable being Ed Holland standing down as Chairman and Luke Quenby taking the role on. Tom Seymour has taken on the role of Vice Chair from Luke. This starts a new exciting era for the cricket club with two villagers now leading the club. Another villager, Rod Ives was also recognised for his contribution to Old Warden cricket over many years by being made a life member. For the 2019 season the club will be playing league cricket on both Saturdays and Sundays. The club for many years has played friendly fixtures on Sundays has decided to join the Bedfordshire Sunday league. Social dates for the 2019 diary: Quiz night 18th May (Old Warden Village Hall), Big Bash 15th June (Old Warden Cricket Club), Curry Night 3rd Aug (Old Warden Village Hall), End of season dinner 19th Oct (Old Warden Village Hall). The first game of the season is at home on Sunday 21st April starting at 1.30pm. Please feel free to come along and support us – a cup of tea and a warm welcome awaits. Old Warden Village Hall

The Hall has had a difficult year in that revenue is down and so expenditure has had to be monitored carefully. However, they still have a heathy bank balance, their savings account has not been tapped and all essential maintenance has been carried out to keep this 118 year old building, its contents and equipment in top condition. The reason for the reduction in revenue is the loss of the weekly Yoga class booking and the sad death of Les Hummel the Yoga teacher. Our target this year is to find a replacement weekly booking to reinstate or better still improve the level of revenue. The finalised accounts will be presented to the Parish Council at the May meeting. The use of the Hall by villagers was maintained at 33% of bookings but it would be good if this could be increased.

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Thanks go to Richard Morrison for the Film Club monthly winter booking and for organising two major Village Social events; the New Year’s Eve Party and the Casino Night. The bank balance was boosted by a good Annual Music Quiz and a very successful Garden Golf. The profit of £1000 was shared with Old Warden Cricket Club. Big thanks go to the village residents for hosted holes and provided refreshments. The next Garden Golf will be in 2020. Bob Parr set the Annual Music Quiz this year on Saturday 6th April and it was nearly fully booked. The committee has volunteered to support the next major village event the Open Gardens on Sunday 9th June by manning the car parks at the Hall and the Cricket Club. The Annual General meeting and general committee meeting is on Wednesday 1st May to which all Parishioners (over the age of 18 years) are invited to attend as decreed in the lease agreement with the Shuttleworth Trust. Thanks go to all Parishioners and village organisations who use this our Community building and encourage more to utilise this lovely venue which is suitable and adaptable for many different events. Old Warden Cinema

The 2018/19 season started and saw the introduction of the new tensioned projection screen giving a far greater viewing experience. For the last 3 months of the season (Jan - Mar) they introduced the Saturday night movies as opposed to the Sunday evenings. This proved very successful as they saw a greater attendance and the comments received were very favourable. Added to this, they were also showing movie releases from 2018/19 which again proved to be a more popular choice. The 2019/20 season will be published in August and in good time for the first showing in October. In addition to this, they may again put on an open-air cinema experience during the summer. Further details of this will follow in due course.

Old Warden History & Heritage Society

Chair: Mike Marshall Treasurer: Robert Diggle Secretary: Christine Hill

Warden Abbey has dominated the society activities in the last 12 months, perhaps unsurprising considering the amazing results achieved from the Greensand Country / HLF funded project, with support funding from local organisations including Old Warden Parish Council and Broom Quarry Community Fund.

The new society logo is a representation of a flower motif from a Warden Abbey tile, and was kindly suggested by Harriet Diggle. The motif crosses the centuries, not just bringing to mind the Abbey’s Great Garden and Vineyards, but also Lord Ongley’s Swiss Garden of the C19 and the annual cottage garden competitions championed by Frank and Dorothy Shuttleworth during the early C20.

OWHHS participated in the first Greensand Festival in May 2018 by staging a display of our geophysical survey of Warden Abbey in St Leonard’s Church. It was a very hot day so visitors found the cool interior of the church very welcoming, with garden golfers taking time out to view the display. Around 30 visitors signed the church visitor book but overall there were around 50-60 visitors.

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On 16 July the Society hosted a group of young people from the Young Archaeologist’s Club which is run by The Higgins and Albion Archaeology. This took place at Warden Abbey Vineyard with their kind permission, and we provided 3 different activities and an introductory talk over a 2hr period. Thirteen under 16’s attended with some parents and siblings on hand throughout.

The major event of the year took place on 20 July 2018 when Charles and Jane Whitbread, representing The Southill Estate which owns the site, unveiled the reconstruction painting of Warden Abbey. Margaret Roberts provided a ‘virtual tour’ presentation taking our audience through the various parts of the abbey precinct, and artist, Peter Dunn, took questions on how the reconstruction was created. The society was delighted that their target audience of 100 guests was achieved and a report of the event appeared in the local press.

The lovely venue of The Garden Room at The House, Old Warden Park, provided a wonderful backdrop for the event and some fantastic feedback was received. Comments like this were particularly appreciated: -

“Previous to the talk and unveiling of the Warden Abbey painting I had merely wondered about the site and life at the monastery. I now feel very much enlightened and am surprised how large the monastic complex was and its importance to the local community. I am amazed at how generations of people from the past interlace with life today despite the passage of many centuries. This project and in particular the details in Peter Dunn’s work together with the detailed explanation of the facts presented by Margaret Roberts were fascinating and memorable and truly justify its valued sponsorship. Thank you - what a lovely community resource we now have.”

“I am aware of the earlier excavations at Warden Abbey and I am familiar with the two tiled Pavements on loan to The Higgins from the Southill Estate, so to see how they could have been “used” in the Abbey buildings, when the abbey was in its heyday, is brilliant and very informative. The reconstruction Illustration gives Warden Abbey back its context in the landscape and it explains the earthworks we see today, in essence the illustration brings Warden Abbey back to life.”

“I thought the choice of venue was inspired and made the evening seem extra special. The presentation by Margaret was brilliant and it was a real privilege to go on a virtual tour of the abbey with such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. The whole event was very pleasant and I enjoyed it all very much. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful evening with us all.”

Finally, on 9 Sept 2018 the society provided a history marquee at the Warden Abbey Vineyard Open Day displaying the geophysical survey results, the reconstruction painting, artefacts and providing short talks. Having purchased a clicker to count numbers visiting the marquee they were delighted that around 300 people learnt something about Warden Abbey and the project.

OWHHS Website The society is pleased to announce publication of its new website which can be found at: - https://www.oldwardenhistory.co.uk The website is very much a work in progress as they learn how to update it and present data in a logical and interesting format. You will find the full Warden Abbey Geophysical Survey report to read in its entirety. If any parishioner with website management skills (i.e. the technical stuff) would like to help us to develop the website over time then please contact us at the email address below. Events 2019: Saturday 1st June 10am - 4pm. In conjunction with this year's Greensand Festival they are staging a display of the Warden Abbey Reconstruction Painting in St Andrews Church, .

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Tuesday 16 July. Delving into Heritage Conference at the Sculpture Gallery, Woburn Abbey. The theme this year is Monastic Heritage in Greensand Country with various speakers talking on the subject, including Margaret Roberts on Warden Abbey. Further details can be found on page 29 of the Greensand Festival Events Booklet which will soon be in circulation in the area and can be viewed on the Greensand Country website. Sunday 8 Sept. For the third year running they will be providing a history stand at the Warden Abbey Vineyard Open Day. Contact the OWHHS Secretary, Christine Hill, via email at: [email protected] Questions, thoughts, ideas, finds, family history enquiries, indeed anything at all about Old Warden’s history and heritage will be very welcome from parishioners, society members and people from further afield. OWHHS MEMBERSHIP AND HOW TO JOIN

They now have 42 members!

If you know anyone who would like to join the society the membership fee is £10. Payment by bank transfer is preferred, with a confirmation email to the secretary providing your name, address and contact details which will be held securely in our records. Alternatively cheques payable to Old Warden History & Heritage Society may be sent to the treasurer at Orchard Grange, Old Warden, , Beds SG18 9HB.

OWHHS Bank Account Details:

Lloyds Bank | Sort Code: 30-90-79 | Account No: 31653668

There will hopefully be something to interest anybody who is curious about Old Warden’s past; events, talks, site visits and newsletters. Being a very small society at present people who would like to be active within the society, helping with research, organising events etc, would be very welcome.

Warden Abbey Vineyard

Representatives of the Vineyard will be onsite and available for conservation. They hope to provide tastings. The summary of their year:

Last year’s hot weather resulted in a very respectable harvest to make over 3000 bottles - much needed after only 650 bottles produced in 2017 due to spring frosts. They’re hoping 2019 won’t be a “frost year”! 2018/19 was busy on all fronts, including developing their programme with special needs schools, making progress on the new medieval garden area, and another 300 vines were planted in May. They had more tour visitors than ever before (tours are held between May and September), and the September Open Day saw just under 1000 visitors who enjoyed the sun, morris dancing, refreshments and all that the stall holders had to offer. The 2019 Open Day will be Sunday 8th September.

They’re currently looking for volunteers to help with the schools programme, event organisation, as well as help with marketing, so if anyone is interested please contact:

Jane Markham [email protected] 07981 113714 to find out more.

Shuttleworth Trust Report

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It has been yet another busy year for Shuttleworth at Old Warden Park. We are pleased to welcome Rebecca Dalley as Executive Director. Rebecca joins us from the RAF Museum, Hendon and has experience of strategy development and project funding in aviation and heritage organisations. Work will start this year on the new entry route onto the site from the Shefford Road which will be for College and event traffic to the site reducing the traffic on the local roads. Visitors to The House will continue to use the Old Warden village entrance. The House is welcoming more visitors, not just on event days but in its own right, with two of the staterooms, the Drawing Room and the Billiard Room recently restored. In the Swiss Garden, the Friends of the Swiss Garden have contributed towards the restoration of the thatched tree seat and the Georgian seat and a potting shed for the Garden team. The Swiss Garden in Lights event in October was a highlight of the year! And is due to return later in 2019. We hope to see you all at the popular annual Mad Hatters Tea Party event on Sunday 28th April. Funding from the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership has part funded an apprentice with garden heritage skills. Education is an important part of the Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth Remembrance Trust and our new Discovery Education room funded by the SVAS is being fully utilised welcoming increasing numbers of school aged visitors. The flying season and air show events were busy last season, partly due to the weather and the expanded programme of activities on the ground and in the air. The new season starts with the first air show on Sunday 5th May. The Parkland continues to be well maintained by the in-house team. A lakeside clearance project is underway to remove the self-set trees which would not have originally been there opening up the clear view of the lake. The Grounds team are propagating some of the parkland trees in conjunction with the College with a view to replanting in areas of the parkland thus preserving the historical landscape. On the wider estate, two permissive footpaths are being created to assist which will open up new routes for everyone to enjoy. The first joins the footpath at the entrance to wood farm to Sheep walk, and the other links the public footpath from Ickwell across the Spinney to access the Visitor Centre. We will keep you updated as to when they will ‘go live’. Shuttleworth continues to work closely with the local community with regular meetings throughout the year. Keep up to date at www.shuttleworth.org or follow us on social media #ShuttleworthOW

Shuttleworth College Report

Shuttleworth College were in attendance with information for the forthcoming year available to all interested parties. They further report: The College continues to be successful with increased growth in student numbers to around 750 full time learners, with growth particularly in agriculture. They have held three open days that have been well attended and recruitment for September 2019 looks strong. The building of the new animal centre is progressing well and a ‘bolt tightening’ event took place on 7th February 2019. This building will provide an outstanding resource for them to further develop their provision in this subject area from September 2019. The College Farm has had a positive year. They have just completed lambing 250 ewes, which provides a great learning opportunity for students under the guidance of experienced staff. They continue to grow the Red Poll herd of cattle, calving has begun and a number calves have already arrived. Cattle showing last year was successful and are hoping for the same this coming year. The farm is participating in the Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship Scheme which will provide opportunities for students to become involved in this work and fits in with their strategy of sustainable agriculture.

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The college continues to deliver a successful land based curriculum of full time, part time, apprenticeship and short courses to meet the needs of students and employers in the region. It has established an excellent local and regional reputation. Council Report

Throughout the year, in addition to Central Bedfordshire Council/Committee meetings Cllr Firth has attended and contributed to your Parish Council meetings, addressing concerns as appropriate. In addition, Councillor’s surgeries have been on the second Saturday of each month at: a) Pavilion 10:00-11:00 b) The Cock Inn Broom 12:00-13:00 c) Church Hall 14:00 -15:00 Fly tipping remain a menace throughout the county; through good relations with Waste Services teams, Cllr Firth has been able to ensure that all reported incidents of fly tipping have been removed within 48 hours. Road maintenance, in particular that of pot holes has received better attention than in the past, with improved methods now being employed. In the long term this should lead to a not only safer roads, but a cost saving to the Council. Residents are urged to use the revised “Report It” system. Cllr Firth reports as follows:  Following last years rise in Council Tax, this year rate has been set at 1%;  The Council are continuing with its efficiency drive, with efficiency and value for money being its top priority. Efficiencies of £14.8M have been identified for 2019/20 which is on top of the £135M already saved since 2009;  Some £48M has been allocated on community services such as roads & transport, refuse collection and leisure;  £350M on capital projects over the next four years, this includes a new health hub in Biggleswade and improvement to the Saxon Centre;  Between March 2018 & March 2019 some 244 planning applications for new dwellings were approved, with 1600 new dwellings being built up to December 2018;  99% of pupils transferring school have been offered one of their top three preferred choice of schools. For pupils that have applied to transfer to upper schools from September 2019, 97% have been granted their first preference. This is up 2% from last year. While in secondary schools, the figure is up 4% from last year, to 96%.  12 new Community Safety posts are to be created.  There has been a year on year improvement including that of improved access to local GPs.

Greensand Country

We are lucky to have Claire Poulton from this project available with her presentation in the hall, Claire will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Greensand Country Landscape Partnership Key Successes It has been a busy and exciting year for the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership (GCLP), with the launch of the new Greensand Country brand, engagement with thousands of local businesses, organisations and community groups, through the first ever Greensand Country Festival, the appointment of four apprentices across the landscape and the delivery of many successful GCLP funded projects. Highlights from 2018/19 include the ‘Grand Unveiling of the Reconstruction Painting’ of Old Warden’s lost Cistercian Abbey, which was an aerial view painting by former English Heritage artist Peter Dunn.

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The painting was unveiled on 20 July 2018, revealing what Warden Abbey may have looked like in the late C14. More than 50 members of local community groups and history societies joined woodland archaeology experts at the GCLP’s ‘Delving into the History and Archaeology of Greensand Country’s Woodland’ event in July 2018. The conference explored the background and research carried out on local woodlands, reviewed historical maps of wooded areas within the landscape and discovered historical names of the woods, in order to get a better understanding of their heritage. On 9 August 2018, RSPB, The Lodge Nature Reserve announced that, due to the regeneration of the heathland at its Headquarters site at Sandy, which was part funded and supported by GCLP, rare nocturnal birds; Nightjars, had returned to breed there for the first time in 45 years! Three new GLCP apprentices have been appointed, enabling young people who have experienced barriers to education to develop vital skills in landscape conservation, heritage and management. The apprentices are completing their qualifications at Shuttleworth College and working with partners, Heritage Trust, The Swiss Gardens at Shuttleworth, and The Forest of Marston Vale. Many Sandstone Structures have been repaired across the landscape, including the reconstruction of the churchyard wall at St Mary’s Old Church, Clophill. A Centenary Celebration on 11th November 2018 marked the opening of the wall and the peace and poetry path, which was attended by Deputy Lord Lieutenant Colonel Winton and Simon Buteux from Historic , as well as friends and residents of Clophill. GCLP is proud to have had its brand adopted by fellow Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC) organisation, the new community bus service, ‘Connecting our Communities in Greensand Country’. There are now four busses driving across the landscape every day with the Greensand Country brand on them. Following the success of the first Greensand Country Festival in 2018, GCLP has more than 200 events and activities taking place across Greensand Country in May 2019 and has attracted interest and support from many local businesses, organisations, community groups and the wider community in the 2019 festival. The GCLP is looking forward to announcing the completion of even more fantastic projects in 2019/20, including the Flit Valley Walk, Village Gateways and improved signage across the landscape, a new destination website and many more. For further information about the Greensand Country Landscape Partnership, please visit www.greensandcountry.com, email [email protected], or telephone 01234 838774.