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ISSUE 68 JUNE 2014 THE OVER KELLET VIEW _______________________________________________ OVER KELLET MAGAZINE 75 pence (but free of charge to every household in Over Kellet) For the July issue, the closing date for news, articles and advertisements is 15th June 2014. All contributions should be sent to the email address: [email protected] Editorial Board: Liz Brewster, Angela Huck & Chris Pogson BOARD OF MANAGEMENT Chairs ex-officio of the Parish Council, Parochial Church Council and Neighbourhood Watch We are grateful to the above organisations for their financial support We are happy to accept contributions in any electronic form. Our preference is for Microsoft Word with 14 point Arial font and margins set at 1.5cm all round, although anything that can be converted into this is acceptable. Advertisements should be in a form compatible with PC software. Please note that the views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Editorial Team or Board of Management. Every care has been taken in trying to provide accurate information, particularly in the Diary, the Directory, on Local Services and bus times. We apologise if any errors creep in; please let us know if you do find any so that they can be amended for next time. The Over Kellet View is published every month (except January and August) and distributed to all residents within the parish of Over Kellet. It is also to be seen on the village web-site (www.overkellet.org) in a colour version. We are grateful to the webmaster, Gordon Galloway for his expert help. ©2014 Over Kellet View Meadowbank House, Craggs Hill [email protected] Front Cover: Close up—and personal for aphids (with the kind permission of Justine Low) Printed by Bay Typesetters, Morecambe Tel: 01524 850056, 07710 405864 [email protected] THE JUNE VIEW If you are a regular walker on The Crags you may have noticed the high number of seven-spot ladybirds in the grass. In some areas, you have to be careful not to stand on any. Ladybirds have a fairy-tale standing in our culture. As the central character of a popular nursery rhyme dating back nearly 300 years, ladybirds have been linked to the granting of wishes and it was once believed to be unlucky to kill one. Undoubtedly pretty, most people will appreciate this dainty insect for its vociferous destruction of aphids. Judging by the ladybird population in Over Kellet, I think this will be a bad year for the aphid. Elsewhere in the village, the ducklings are not thriving as well as the ladybirds. Having seen the first group of 10 ducklings early in May, I was sad to see that they had been reduced to two within 24 hours. Many of the subsequent hatches seem to have met the same fate. The ducklings and their mothers pottering around Greenways have been a highlight of our time in Over Kellet. I know that many want to see the numbers on the pond reduced (and the foxes have to eat too!), but this annual population boom brings us a lot of enjoyment. Like our ducklings and the aphids, many feel our village life is under threat at the moment. The number of written objections and attendance at public meetings demonstrates the anxiety being caused by renewed efforts to site a wind turbine at Birkland Barrow. Meanwhile on the other side of the village, Lancaster City Council (LCC) has identified an area behind Winder Garth as being a suitable plot for the development of more than 80 homes (see page 20 for more). A planning application for this site is expected imminently. The village is facing challenges from all sides. Angela Huck 3 LETTER FROM THE VICARAGE St Cuthbert’s Church Over Kellet June 2014 Dear Friends, STOP BEFORE YOU SPEND A PENNY Walking along Penny Street in Lancaster, I glanced at the pavement where I saw a One Penny Coin, everyone dashing past paying no attention. No doubt they thought ‘it’s only one penny’. Do you know how important the coin is? It tells the story of God’s love for you personally. Let me explain. The coin is round; reminding us that God loves the world. On the reverse side we have a CROWN declaring our Lord Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Above the crown we have a CROSS assuring us of God’s love. He gave His Son to die on a cross so that everyone around the world regardless of colour, culture or age, who trust in Him, will have eternal life. Then we have a PORTCULLIS, proclaiming that the Church of God will remain steadfast and sure until the end of history. On either side of the Portcullis we find a BROKEN CHAIN, teaching us that our Lord Jesus Christ will break the grip of sin in the life of anyone who will trust him as Lord. So many things grip people: greed, drugs, pride, lack of forgiveness, temper—the list is endless but it’s anything that controls a life. Christ died and rose again to set you free. Listen to his promise: ‘This means that anyone who trusts in and belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun’ (2 Cor 5:17) This is God’s offer to you and it won’t cost you a penny. Jesus Christ paid the price on the cross and when he rose. It will cost you your old life. Your friends, Rev. Ken and Sue Clapham Open all hours The Rev Ken and Sue are available for ANY parishioner or visitor to our parish who is ill or in need at home or in hospital; please contact Rev. Ken on 734189 or 07663 794459. Any Questions? If anyone has any issues, questions or enquiries regarding the Church, PCC, parish or Services, please feel free to discuss these after Sunday Service in Church or privately with Rev Ken Clapham and the Wardens (Mike Morris & Joan Shaw) who will be happy to discuss these matters directly. 4 WEATHER DATA FOR APRIL 2014 There is an old saying “March winds and April showers are well known for bringing on the May flowers” and, looking at the garden, the flowers and shrubs are beginning to bloom. However, I am not convinced that this piece of weather lore is responsible for this show of colour in the garden. I would be more inclined to put it down to the fact that March was quite a stable month, not very windy, or that in April the night temperatures never fell below freezing. Looking back over the barograph charts for the month the pen lines remained fairly straight with no dramatic falls or rises in pressure giving an average of 1014 millibars. During the month we had 18 rain days but, on 6 of these days, my instruments could not measure the actual amounts of rainfall received. The wettest day was the 1st with 13mm and the total for the month was 41mm, just below the 10-year average of 46mm. In the sunshine stakes we had only 4 no-sun days giving a total of 138h, which was below the average of 164h. The sunniest 24h period was that of the 21st/22nd with 13.6h. The warmest day was the 22nd when the temperature soared to 19.6ºC (67.2ºF) and the coldest temperatures were over the nights of the 18th and 19th, both with 2.6ºC (36.6ºF). In my Weather Diary I noted that for the first few days of the month my car and the house window sills were covered with a fine layer of dust. The media reported that the east and south-easterly winds had brought the dust in from the Sahara and this, coupled with the pollution from neighbouring countries, gave us poor visibility over the bay. There were, however, two redeeming features of this airborne activity, in that we had some spectacular sunsets over the bay towards the end of the month. Then, on the 20th/21st, I noted the arrival of some swallows and martins, perhaps helped on their journey to us by the same south-easterly winds. Cloud Watcher 5 PARISH COUNCIL—MAY Planning issues again dominated the Parish Council monthly meeting which took place on 13 May. The publication of Lancaster City Council’s Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) last month was the precursor to a shower of planning activity. The SHLAA had identified two areas for potential housing development in Over Kellet—the derelict barn on The Narrows and land north of Winder Garth, off Kirkby Lonsdale Road. Although this report is not a planning policy document, it will be used by Lancaster City Council (LCC) as evidence for its forthcoming Local Plan. As part of its consultation on this new Local Plan, LCC had sent the Parish Council notification of drop in events being held locally. Details can be found on Page 20. In the meantime, activity on the two sites identified has already begun. A planning application had been received for three houses on The Narrows site. Members of the Parish Council agreed that they were in favour of the conversion of redundant farm buildings, but the application did not address the road safety issues. Surveyors and architects had also been active behind Winder Garth. Cllr John Crewdson expected that a planning application would be received very soon. There was consternation at how quickly the process seemed to be moving and how little input the Parish Council had had.