Reports Presented to the Annual Parish Meeting May 2016

Report by the Chairman of the Parish Council ...... 2

Manuden Village Community Centre Management Committee ...... 3

Manuden School ...... 4

Owlets Manuden Playgroup ...... 5

Manuden Guides ...... 5

Manuden Brownies ...... 6

St Mary’s Church, Manuden ...... 7

Manuden Bell Ringers ...... 7

Friendship Club ...... 8

The Manuden Singers ...... 8

Manuden Junior Football Club ...... 10

Manuden United Football Club ...... 10

Manuden United Reserves ...... 11

Manuden Golf Society ...... 11

Manuden Womens Institute ...... 11

Manuden Footpaths ...... 13

Manuden & Berden History Society ...... 13

Manuden Open Gardens ...... 14

Manuden Men’s Dining Club ...... 15

Manuden Cricket Club ...... 15

Manuden Fun Run ...... 15 Badminton Club ...... 16

Short Mat Bowls ...... 16

The Manuden Park Group ...... 17

Local Councillor’s Report ...... 17

Appendix – Financial Report ...... 19

Report by the Chairman of the Parish Council As you know, this is my first Chairman’s report, having succeeded Les last year as chairman.

As was said last year, much of what has been achieved over the past twelve months has been as a result of initial discussions held and actions taken by Les and we frequently refer back to those discussions in order to progress issues without going over old ground, so Les’ spirit very much lives on within the Parish Council.

I would like to start with some thanks.

Firstly to my fellow councillors - and of course our indomitable clerk, Charles - for their contributions and hard work throughout the year once again.

Thanks to all of those who participate in the clubs, societies and activities on offer in the village. It is your energy and enthusiasm which make our village such a lovely place to live. A special thank you to Frank Bengtsen and Richard Dale-Cooke for the splendid crocus display once again and to all the villagers who turned out last month for the annual village clean up – the volume of rubbish which we manage to collect each year never ceases to amaze me but we were able to complete the task in record time this year thanks to the support of the village.

There has been much fund raising activity this year with some very impressive results – particularly by the Manuden Park group - which I shall allow the individual teams to comment on. I shall briefly cover what I consider to be the three main issues currently affecting the village – namely flooding/drainage, roads and broadband.

We would like to thank those residents who have been constantly vigilant and active to prevent flooding of not only their own property but those of others in the village but contacting the various agencies directly. Dogged determination is needed in order to achieve positive action and the power of personal experience and direct contact with the relevant agencies, in addition to ongoing pressure from the Parish Council has proven the most successful method, although progress remains slow and the outcomes are inevitably finance related.

The main road through the village is finally due to be resurfaced – for those unaware, this is scheduled to take place from 2-10th June when the road will be closed from White House Corner to Mallows Green Road – with access allowed. The alternative route will be via Stansted Road, so I would suggest adding an extra hour on to your journeys at that time.

Seriously, we thank all those who have persistently reported road defects and our Essex County Councillor, Ray Gooding, who has applied as much pressure as possible to Highways, which we know is not an easy task. Once again I would like to encourage villagers to individually report road defects via the ECC website as we know that the more complaints received, the better the likelihood of action being taken. The promise from BT of the advent of Superfast broadband to the village seems to have been on our agenda for years. The reality is inching closer – we have seen some activity in the village recently, however, only the houses in close proximity to the new cabinet will receive anything like the promised Broadband speeds (and we still don’t have a timescale). But help is at hand. Some of you attended a presentation from Gigaclear recently who specialise in delivering ultrafast fibre to rural areas and are looking to install a fibre network in the village. The Parish Council very much endorses this scheme and we urge those who are able to sign up to do so as soon as possible – and please spread the word – even if you don’t feel you need ultrafast now, technology moves very fast and you will effectively be future-proofing your properties. If you need more information, please ask one of us or check out the Gigaclear website. There will also be a further information event in the near future.

These have been the main issues which have dominated many of our meetings this year and occupied much of our time. However, there has been opportunity for a little fun; the Village Family Christmas Party was hosted jointly by the PC and the MVCC and we were delighted with the number of villagers who joined the event and will look to make this a regular occurrence. Particular thanks to Chris Bailey and Chris Hannington for their hard work to make the party a success.

Plans are well underway for a village party on Sunday June 12th to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday – more details on that shortly.

We look forward to the coming year’s activities and welcome any comments or suggestions as to how we can make the village an even better place for us all to live. Julie Kershaw

Manuden Village Community Centre Management Committee It is now two years since the Manuden Village Community Centre first opened for business. In the past year the focus has been on consolidating the sound framework established in the first year and developing the Centre in a range of ways.

Bookings for the use of the facilities both inside and out have steadily increased in terms of both volume and use of the Centre. In addition to being the home of Manuden Football Club, Manuden Cricket Club and established organisations such as the Women’s Institute, the Friendship Club, Owlets, Brownies and Guides, a number of clubs and classes have been formed. These include Badminton, Karate, Short Mat Bowls and a range of keep fit classes such as Zumba, Pilates, Yoga, Reshape, Wiggle/Wiggle (movement for pre-school children), Children’s Dance, Re-shape and Circuit Classes.

The spacious facilities and well-equipped kitchen have attracted wedding receptions, dinners, parties, fundraising events and a wide range of other functions, including the production of chocolate in the kitchen, frog racing and the base for the hugely successful Scarecrow Trail last month. Our affordable children’s party offer has been particularly popular and attracts families from all around the area.

In conjunction with the Parish Council, a Christmas party for the village was enjoyed by many and we hope to arrange another party this Christmas. The Centre has also been the polling station for the General Election, the Police & Crime Commissioner for Essex election last week and will be the venue for the European Referendum next month.

In 2015 we successfully applied for a wedding licence so the Centre can now be used for civil weddings and naming ceremonies. Two weddings ceremonies and four wedding receptions are due to be held here this year.

We are pleased to report that income generated has met the normal day to day running costs of running the Centre. Successful applications for grants from Viridor and the ESC Lottery have enabled us to purchase more equipment and facilities for the Centre, for which we are very grateful. Comprehensive sound and lighting systems have been installed and more sports equipment has been bought.

Thanks to our manager, Chris Bailey, our website has been extensively revised and is regularly updated to provide details of upcoming events.

We are looking forward to seeing the exciting plans for the Play Park come to fruition in the coming months and we congratulate the Manuden Park Group on their fundraising activities in the past year.

The Centre is an amenity for the use of Manuden residents and the surrounding areas. Chris Bailey will be happy to help anyone who would like to start a club, society or activity, or arrange a one-off event such as a party, dinner, concert or meeting.

I would like to thank Chris and our caretaker, Chris Hannington, as well as all the voluntary members of the Management Committee for their hard work in the past year. Without them, the Centre would simply not function. If anyone would like to help with the operation of the Centre, we are always looking for assistance so please contact us. Barbara Cheney, May 2016

Manuden School By any standards, this last year has been an extraordinary one for the school. Last July we suffered the tragic and unexpected death of our Head Teacher, Peter Randall. In the months following, the school, parents and wider community rallied together to ensure that the children had support and the opportunity to grieve but at the same time continued to receive excellent education. It is appropriate to pay tribute in this report to the staff of the school who, despite their own shock and grief, demonstrated remarkable strength and professionalism during this very difficult time.

We welcomed two new teachers to the school in September. Miss Evans took over from Miss Collins in Class 2 and has already established herself as a valuable addition to the team. Mrs. Tait also joined us, replacing Mrs .Salinger as Class 4 teacher. She has coped very well through the year under very difficult circumstances and has risen to the challenge of a very different Deputy Head role to the one she was expecting.

We have been supported this year by an Executive Head Teacher, Mrs. Tonkins from St Marys School in Stansted. She has done a sterling job. Not just adopting a temporary caretaking role but actively over- seeing and leading the introduction of the new curriculum and assessment structures along with all the other Head Teacher responsibilities.

Throughout the year, Manuden School has “punched above its weight” in many sporting and musical ventures thanks, in part, to the Sports Premium Grant but more importantly the dedication and hard work by staff, pupils and parents. We embrace our rural setting with the ever-popular Welly Wednesday, MVCC tree planting and many other outside activities. We have maintained our good relationship with the church with Reverend Margaret leading regular assemblies and the PFA continues their tireless fund-raising efforts with new iPads next on the shopping list. We have built on our excellent status amongst local schools and I’m pleased to report that our September intake was, once again, over-subscribed.

Looking forward to next year, the Governors have now secured a Collaboration Agreement with the Primary School in Chrishall. Mrs Bratley will become the Executive Head Teacher of both Manuden and Chrishall Primary Schools in September and is already working with the children and staff of both schools to ensure a great start to our new chapter. This is a really positive move for the school; gaining the expertise of an excellent, experienced Head whilst retaining our own individual identity. I am very much looking forward now to a period of stability for everyone in the school and thank the Parish Council and the local community for their ongoing support.

John Oglesby ,Chair of Governors ,Manuden Primary School

Owlets Manuden Playgroup Owlets has re-opened with a very encouraging start. At the end of last year, we were forced to close due to lack of members and funds but after a change of committee and relocation to the MVCC, we reopened in February with a warm reception. Attendance has averaged 15-25 children and anywhere between 10-20 adults which is a significant increase on previous figures. Feedback has been positive and a core of members is beginning to establish itself.

We run most Friday mornings during term time and look to provide a fun and stimulating space for children to play and carers to meet. Our sessions involve free-play, arts and crafts, snack time and music time. To date we have done a wide range of activities including Easter and Mothers’ Day crafts, cress growing and messy giant hand and foot painting. Most weeks run to a theme where we have explored a range of subjects including Spring, Easter and body parts.

Notwithstanding our positive start, we have some challenges to overcome in the coming months. We are looking into ways to gain additional funding to secure our future and also focusing our efforts on how we can use the wonderful but unrestricted outside space at the MVCC safely to encourage members to attend during the sunny summer months. Accordingly, we have our closing summer party, teddy bears’ picnic and first ever Owlets sports day in the pipeline. We are also hopeful that numbers can remain high in September after the inevitable loss of some children due to the start of the new academic year.

We are currently building links with Spangles SureStart Centre in Stansted and are due to have an outreach worker attend our sessions termly to provide support to our group and its members. We are also beginning to welcome Grandma Owl figures who attend our group and provide practical and unencumbered help.

We would like to thank all those who have supported Owlets during this transitional period. I personally would like to thank Emma and Nerys, my Deputy and Treasurer, without whom Owlets would not be the warm and welcoming playgroup that it is.

Leni Croker

Manuden Guides The Summer Term 2015 saw us take part in some new activities. We enjoyed making scarecrows for the first Manuden Scarecrow Trail and were pleased with what we achieved in just over an hour, making characters from Alice in Wonderland.

We participated in the Stansted Medieval Fayre, celebrating 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta. We dressed appropriately to join the parade and then ran some medieval themed activities for the children: it was a wonderful day.

We helped at Manuden-in-May as in previous years, running a stall to raise funds for the church and ourselves. We did all our usual summer activities- village trail, hike to Stansted, rounders, water games, Bumbling at Harlow Outdoors and an end-of-term BBQ.

At the end of August a group of Guides joined with the Brownies for a holiday at Chigwell Row. In the Autumn Term the Centre facilities were well-used. We played table tennis and badminton, and used the kitchen for a Ready, Steady, Cook competition and to work for the Confectioner badge.

There was also a visit to the cinema in Bishop’s Stortford to see The Martian, our now traditional night walk round the fields of Manuden, ending with sparklers and chips at the playing field, and the packing of boxes for the Operation Christmas Child project.

Many of the Spring Term activities followed celebrations – a New Year party, cooking pancakes, making cards for Mothers’ Day and Easter fun.

We worked hard to achieve the Active Response badge, helped by two First Responders from Stansted who demonstrated resuscitation techniques and encouraged us to learn how to perform them. We were also shown how the Defibrillator works.

There has been a change in our local Guiding structure. Three small districts- Stansted, Takeley and Newport have now combined to form the Uttlesford West District. We have already held a Thinking Day event, and are off to camp overnight at Chessington in May.

Two of our older guides, Mabel South and Kristy Grimstone were nominated for Jack Petchey Awards for their commitment to Guiding, especially helping with the Brownie unit.

Our Guide numbers are not as high as in previous years and we have activities planned to encourage other girls to join us, but we are still also looking for another adult-or two- to help us. As you can see, we have a very varied programme and try to incorporate the girls’ suggestions as much as possible, as well as contributing to our local community. Glynis Prothero

Manuden Brownies Manuden Brownies has had a mixed time recently: we had very little money and not many Brownies. But things are looking up! Thanks to some careful housekeeping, sympathetic people, and some successful advertising, we are now able to pay our bills, and it’s looking as if, in September, we will have to start a waiting list.

We have a group of very enthusiastic girls with lots of ideas: trying to incorporate them all into the programme is quite a challenge.

We enjoyed making a scarecrow, Olaf from Frozen, for the Manuden Scarecrow Trail; and visiting the Pet Shop in Bishop’s Stortford as part of the Friend to Animals badge, as well as getting a visit from a “Hearing Dogs for the Deaf” puppy. It was interesting to find out about its training.

We went on a holiday to Chigwell Row with some of the Guides, where the theme was Art Attack, so lots of art and craft Activities as well as doing activities available on the site such as Zorbing, Archery, Climbing, Pedal Go-karts and Trampolining.

The girls wanted to put on a concert for friends and family at Christmas and worked hard practising to achieve a really good show. It also earned them the Entertainer badge.

We have done a whole range of other activities, including crafts, cooking, going on walks and visits. The parents are most supportive and will help out when necessary, but we do need another adult to come along and help regularly.

St Mary’s Church, Manuden Worship has continued in the pattern established in 2014. Unfortunately, because of how the Benefice rota operates, Manuden is only able to have one Holy Communion on a Sunday morning, the second one being the following week and in the evening. Attendance at the services had been maintained. However, the Family Service has not been so well attended as more of the children go to sports activities on a Sunday morning. A Messy Church is to be trialled in June, this will be held at 3pm and it will be open to all ages, we hope that this will encourage more families to participate. The Benefice Breakfast Services are supported by Manuden.

Attendance at the Christmas services was good, this included the Carol Service, Christmas Eve Crib Service and Christmas Day. The only Midnight Service was at Wicken Bonhunt.

Easter Sunday service had a good attendance and included many families.

Mums and Chums, held on a Monday morning, continues to be popular.

The school has held Christmas and Easter services in the church and there was a Memorial service in September for the head, Peter Randall. Classes also visit the church as part of the curriculum. The vicar continues to take assemblies about once a month.

Funerals, baptisms and weddings take place fairly frequently. There were five weddings in 2015 compared to none in 2014, but there were fewer funerals and baptisms. Smart Water has been applied in and around the church to deter theft and notices are visible around the church.

Due to the state of the spire and roof the church has applied for a grant from the government and the diocese.

The PCC has been looking at erecting a memorial stone in the garden of Remembrance so that mourners can have a plaque put up in memory of their loved ones. This is still in the planning process.

The Parish Council continues to contract Ace of Spades for the cutting of the two churchyards, and this, together with the work done by the Community Service Workers, has much improved the look of the churchyard. The church is very grateful to the Parish Council.

Activities in and around the church have included a fun Manuden in May, two concerts by the Manuden Singers and a very enjoyable organ concert by David Pickthall in aid of the organ repair fund. Revd Margaret Davis

Manuden Bell Ringers The high quality of the bells in our church continue to attract visiting bands of ringers and a number of them have rung quarter and full peals during the year.

The weekly bell ringing practice on a Tuesday evening continues to be popular and we enjoy the company of several extremely capable ringers from outside the village. This means that there is wonderful opportunity for people who want to learn to ring, or those who want to improve their standard, to benefit from the high quality of teaching available.

The sad news is that we only have 4 residents of Manuden who currently ring the bells and this means that it is very difficult to arrange to ring for church services on a Sunday. It would be wonderful if, this year, we could attract at least two more people to learn to ring, or return to ringing. Anyone interested please contact Ken Pratley, 01279 814466. Ken Pratley - Tower Captain

Friendship Club During the past year the Club has held 8 monthly meetings in the Club Room at the Community Centre, including one that began with a Fish ‘n’ Chips lunch. We decided that this might become an annual event.

Members supported Bob and Yvonne’s Tombola Stall at Manuden-in-May, and helped out at the Fun Run in October.

We had lunches at the Cock Inn in July and October, a Tea Party at Farnham in August hosted by Peggy and David, and a Tea afternoon in September hosted by Mena and Gerald. All these events were very much appreciated by everyone.

In November the Club had an outing to an Elvis Night at the Rhodes Centre - no one got into trouble for unseemly behaviour. 2015 closed with yet another excellent Christmas Lunch at The Chequers – our thanks to Dave Smith and his staff.

Finally the Club, current membership is 15, is happy to record its appreciation to our Christmas Lunch finance contributors, and the Fun Run Committee, for their generous donations. Bill Prothero - Chairman

The Manuden Singers With the belated arrival of spring comes the pleasurable task of looking back over the past year’s activities in the Choir; it has certainly been a busy one. Fortune and the weather smiled on our 15th ‘Village Glyndebourne’ in July, the focus of which was the year’s 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta. There being little surviving choral music from the early 13th Century (i.e. none!), we instead performed Kurt Weill’s imaginative 1930s ‘Ballad of Magna Carta’, featuring King John as pantomime villain, superbly and villainously played by Bass Sean Brady, with Dan Woods taking the part of Seneschal and Jeff Phillips the Leading Baron, the Choir acting as Narrator throughout. It was all the more fun for the Choir in that it gave us an opportunity to dress up and do a bit of acting – with props including the Crown, an ostrich plume and a felling axe! The concert also included other choral favourites such as Michael Tippett’s Five Spirituals and a medley from Les Miserables, and a perfect evening in the garden of Wilford House was enjoyed by a generous audience who raised a splendid £1100 to donate to the Manuden Playgroup’s play area refurbishment project.

In September the Singers took part in Stansted Mountfitchet’s commemorative event for the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary with a repeat performance of the ‘Ballad’ and of the Les Miserables medley, between them perhaps the most appropriate musical contribution to such an occasion that could be imagined. In case you missed either of our performances, the ‘Ballad’ can easily be found on Youtube and is great fun to listen to (even though their recording is not us!). And so to our Christmas concert featuring Vivaldi’s much loved ‘Gloria’, and two different settings of the Virgin Mary’s words at the Annunciation, ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord’ – the Magnificat: a short and cheerful setting by Schubert and a much larger and more complex setting by CPE Bach, son of the great JS Bach, but better known in his own time than his father. The Vivaldi featured starring soprano and alto solos and duets with Emily Yarrow (Soprano) and Katy Edgcombe, with Jeff Phillips (tenor) and James Priest (bass) joining them for the Schubert and for the Bach; the latter presented them all with some of the most challenging solos in the repertoire – all accomplished magnificently. The concert played to a full and appreciative audience and raised over £1100 for the Chelmsford Diocesan Fund to support refugees from the Syrian civil war.

Our most recent performance, the last for the reporting year, was the Spring Concert on 16th April. Appropriate to the season, we performed JS Bach’s Ascension Cantata, a work encompassing wide-ranging moods between the upbeat opening and closing choruses, the beautiful alto aria reflecting sorrow at Jesus’ departure from Earth, beautifully sung by Katy and accompanied most sensitively by Philippa Hanson’s solo violin; and the delightful soprano aria sung by Sophie Cotton, the first time she has sung with us. The Manuden Players were given their starring moment in a performance of Bach’s much loved Brandenburg Concerto no 3, in a spirited rendition which was clearly a favourite both for the Players and the audience. The major work was Haydn’s Maria Theresa Mass, composed late in his career but nevertheless as full as always of appealing and joyful music. James Priest joined the ladies with Antony Warren, tenor, to make up a wonderful solo quartet for the performance. We again raised some £950 for the Coram Education Project, providing life education for schoolchildren in Bishops Stortford, with the help of Stort Valley Rotary.

Once again we are indebted to our wonderful Players, who give freely and generously of their time and talents and travel from afar to support us throughout the year. Without them we could not possibly manage the performances we do, and theirs is a mighty contribution to making them such special occasions.

There has been a welcome influx of new young families into the village in recent years, amongst whom we know there are singers and musicians. We would love to have you come and join us. Enthusiasm, commitment and willingness to learn are the key desirables; the ability to read music, if you don’t already have it, comes with practice! All voices needed, but especially Tenors – always a scarce commodity. We are also always happy to hear from people who would like us to sing at weddings or other special occasions. Please feel free to contact us on [email protected] or 01279 647050. Details also on the back of the Parish Magazine.

It remains for us to thank you, our Audience, for your continued generous support throughout the past year and we hope that we can count on this in the coming one too.

Dates for your diaries:

The Manuden Singers will sing a Festive Choral Evensong in St Mary’s Church, Manuden on Sunday 19th June 2016 at 6pm;

Especially marking The Royal 90th Birthday & Fathers’ Day: Worship Leader: Ken Pratley Ian Priest Manuden Junior Football Club This has been a great season for Manuden Juniors and I am very proud of what they have all achieved. We started out nearly 17 years ago as a small family club, we are still a family club with family values we just got bigger.

Our new facilities are the envy of every club who play in the Royston Crow League and comments come in every week about how lucky we are.

The Minis ( 5-8 year olds ) started the season with approximately 25 players, and we appointed a new Minis Head Coach who is Darren Teese.

Darren has a wealth of experience in football coaching and the numbers quickly grew, which now are in excess of 50 players so he now has two assistants to help with the workload.

The U9's have had a great first season with half the squad playing up a year and all these players have come through the Minis in previous years.

The U10s started the season with 20 players split into 2 teams, the Wasps and the Hornets. The Wasps have had a mixed season, but are still enjoying playing every week. The Hornets have played 29 games unbeaten with 28 wins and 1 draw. The Hornets have made MJFC history, although we have won the League a number of times at various age groups over the years we have never got through to a Cup Final until now. The Hornets are in the League Cup Final against Letchworth Garden City Eagles Reds on Sunday 22nd May at the Bury Sports Ground, Buntingford. Well done to them and their coach Frazer Clark.

The U11s started the season in Division 4, quickly moving up to Division 3, winning every game and only drawing 1. Their coach Rob Wilson summed it up when he said “ I knew this was something special when we beat a very strong Bishop's Stortford side -- My proudest moment “

U15s have had their ups and downs this season but are determined to carry on next season at U16.

Total club membership is 120 and still growing. Finally, I would like to thank all the players, parents and spectators for their support throughout the season and also to the MVCC for providing us with these wonderful facilities. And a huge thank-you to all our coaches for their continued dedication and hard work in everything we have achieved this season Vaughan Atkinson - Chairman

Manuden United Football Club Manuden United have had a good season being very consistent throughout. We have won 10 games, lost 1 and drawn 3, scoring an incredible 61 goals thanks to our top Goal Scorer Ollie Webber and we conceded only 18. The last League game was on Sunday 8th May when we beat local rivals Bishops Stortford Swifts 4- 2. We finished runners up in the Premier Division of the North West Essex League missing out on the title by 1 point. All the team are staying together for next season which we all look forward to.

Manuden United Reserves Our reserves have had an up and down season finishing 7th in Division 1 of the North West Essex League, but on Sunday the 8th May were in the Reserve Team Cup Final and beat SC Birchanger Reserves 4-3, so we have some Silverware to bring home. Finally, my thanks go to all the players and supporters of both the first team and reserves and to Rael Roberts our coach of the reserves.

But a special thank-you to our Head Coach Chris Rowe who through his direction and dedication over the last 38 years at Manuden has proved to everyone that his hard work has shone through. Vaughan Atkinson - Chairman

Manuden Golf Society The Society's 2016 Season starts with an individual stableford competition on 16 May at Brickendon Grange Golf Club followed, of course, by an early supper and we trust this will be the start of another (our eighteenth) successful season.

The Society is open to golfers with a connection to Manuden and in the 2015 Season 32 members played in one or more of the 6 events. Handicaps ranged from 10 up to 36 so we are a very open and friendly group. In 2015 we held 4 individual stableford competitions, which were won by Frank Bengtsen (Spring Cup at Brickendon), Lella Yates (Summer Cup at Toothill), Jeff Attfield (at Whitehills) and Alan Stoyell (Autumn Cup at East Herts). In addition to prizes for the overall winner, the Reed Trophy for the best 2 combined scores was won by John Burgess. We are sorry to report that the annual competition against Quendon & Rickling was lost but the final competition, the Christmas Cracker was simultaneously frustrating and enjoyable for everyone.

Each of these events were organised by a Captain of the Day and our thanks go to Mark Summers, Sally Moser, John Burgess, Barbara Cheney and Peter Heap (joint), Trevor Downham and Chris Yates.The last event of the year was the Christmas Party, which included the Society's AGM, and was held at The Bury, Little Barn, with many thanks to Fiona and Frank Bengtsen. At the AGM in December we agreed that all the venues were good, both for the golf but also for the suppers afterwards and it was decided to keep the same formats and venues for 2016.

Therefore our events for this season, following Brickendon Grange, are Toot Hill, Monday 6 June; Saffron Walden, match v Quendon & Rickling, Friday 8 July ; East Herts, Friday 7 October. The first Tee Time for all these is 1 pm. The Christmas Cracker first tee time is 9.30am on Thursday 1 December at Saffron Walden Golf Club and the Christmas Party and AGM is again at the Bury on Friday 2 December at 7.30 pm.

Membership is now 34 but we are still happy to accept more. Jeff Attfield

Manuden Womens Institute Founded in 1919, Manuden WI continues to flourish. This year sees an increase in members from 46 in May 2015 to 51 in May 2016. A number of new members are younger and this brings a greater variety of opinions to our Institute. We continue to benefit from our use of the Manuden Village Community Centre, which is an impressive space for meetings. 2015 was the WI Centenary year and there were events both nationally and locally to celebrate. One highlight of the Centenary year was the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace in early June. A number of tickets were awarded by ballot and a group from Manuden attended.

Our meetings deliberately covered a wide range of topics, from ‘The V&A Museum’ from Karen Brady, through ‘Witchcraft in the 21st Century’ by Dr Melvyn Willin, and ‘Murders I have Investigated’ by Paul Dockley to ‘Chile and Britain: 200 years of history’ by local Peter Heap. One of the most amusing talks was in June, which was ‘A Puppet’s Tale’ by Angela Collins. This told the story of Angela’s life running puppet theatre and shows for children. Our best-attended talk was probably the October demonstration by local gardener Richard Dale-Cooke on planting up Autumn-to-Spring hanging baskets.

In September the committee had a breather when Lesley Ingham, Glynis Prothero and other members arranged the meeting. Members played various games and activities designed to get members to move around and meet others. Party food was served, including a cake made by Valerie Bartram to celebrate the WI’s 100th birthday: ‘WI Day’.

The August Garden Meeting was held at Planters by kind invitation of Rosemary and Roger Green. We enjoyed a warm welcome and lovely food in their large and well-stocked garden.

In December we held our Christmas Party in the Community Centre. It was a great success, including the raffle, which raised £107 for the ACWW. The WI Carols on Christmas Eve outside the Yew Tree were well- attended and raised £149 for the Manuden Park Group.

Regular fortnightly meetings of our Ramblers and Craft Groups continue, with the Bookworms meeting monthly. In addition Mary Bevan has started offering French classes on a Tuesday. The Ramblers went on their usual two-night walking holiday, this time in May, in Norfolk. Weekly Pilates classes with Tricia have continued in the new Community Centre.

In the wider village, the biggest event of the year for us was again Manuden in May. We ran two stalls selling produce and plants, raising money for the church and for WI funds. Members again helped marshal the fun run. In addition members assisted the St Claire’s Charity Lunch in October by hostessing.

Away from Manuden we have joined FEWI outings to the Royal School of Needlework, visited Kenwood House in Hampstead in April, went to the Monet exhibition in London and went punting on the Cam. Various theatre trips were organised, including the Pirates of Penzance, in which one of our members was in the cast. Several members attended the Essex County Annual Meeting in March. We continue to subscribe to the Uttlesford Community Bus Service, which is useful.

In August several members attended the Mountfitchet Group Meeting, along with members of Elsenham (the hosts), Ugley, Stansted and Berden WIs. The speaker was Vanessa Miles. We ran the raffle.

Manuden WI competed in the Essex Show at Hyde Hall in June. Two members received full marks in the co- operative class and some individual entries received high marks.

Essex Federation of Women’s Institutes, and Denman College, hold many classes and demonstrations. Ones attended by members in the last year include Beading, Jacobean Crewel Embroidery, Vegetarian Cookery and Machine Patchwork.

As we move through the new WI year of 2015/2016 we have a strong and increasing membership, which is great news. One sad point to note is that our President, Joanna McKee, had to stand down half-way through the year due to ill-health. The Vice-Presidents, Nikki Atkinson and Mary Bevan, stepped in to run the business of the Institute in Joanna’s absence. Joanna has been missed and we hope that she will again be an active WI member in the near future.

Manuden Footpaths There have been relatively few reports of problems with the footpaths around Manuden over recent months.

The Public Rights of Way officer, Nigel Eley, came to do a thorough inspection of all the footpaths over the winter. This rolling programme is done every 5 years. He was generally very happy with the state of the paths. A few issues were brought to the attention of local landowners and these problems were rectified very swiftly, including replacement of some gates and stiles.

Contractors from Essex County Council have cleared overgrown paths that had been previously reported.

We have been asked by Essex County Council if local villagers and Parish Councils could take a more ‘pro- active’ approach to clearing footpaths that become hard to pass, due to their lack of funds and manpower. If anyone lives adjacent to footpaths that seem to be getting a little overgrown, it would be great if they could help keep them passable, or at least report the problem to the Essex County Council website and the Parish Council.

Please let us know if you come across any problems while out walking the footpaths in and around the village, especially with the summer approaching, as things can quickly get overgrown. Katrina Hardy May 2016

Manuden & Berden History Society In January 2015 we had our usual workshop in Manuden sorting newspaper clippings of Manuden taken from the local paper on events and people in Manuden, as well as house prices. We now have an archive stretching back to 1984, with additional material dating back into the 1920s inherited from previous organist and historian H.L. Verry who lived at the Old Maltings.

In February Roger Barrett from Stansted explained how Trade Tokens worked as we have one belonging to Thomas Bull, a barber/surgeon who lived in Manuden in 1600s. Because parliament failed to provide enough small denomination coinage, traders issued their own.

Jane Laing from Clavering joined us in March with some very interesting material in the form of old postcards detailing the antics of an Edwardian Family in Clavering. As post arrived the same day from local destinations, it could confirm that the guest would be attending that day! Only a text or an email can do that now.

In April we returned to our WW1 theme, this time examining the brave men who tunnelled under enemy lines and were in great danger of being not only caught by the enemy, but of being blown up underground and left to die in a blocked tunnel. Our speaker Pat Schorah brought a personal touch to these tragic events as she was related to a tunneller.

Our outing in May was to Thaxted Church, Guildhall, and working Windmill concluding with a meal in the Town. The final Cambridge Archaeology dig took place in July when we had 12 pits in different parts of the village. These varied in location from central village to Uppend, The Downs, Butt Lane and two village greens (Manuden and Mallows Green). Pottery dating from 1300-1900 was found in various locations. The oldest within the Street. I will analyse and publish the results. The dig now moves to Clavering.

The society then restarted its new programme in September with an amusing and entertaining event in Berden presented by Rosemary & Cliff Nash from Clavering who demonstrated life in the 12th century. We began outdoors with a demonstration on how to fire arrows from a 13th century bow, and how to make the instrument. Then moved indoors to learn about life, clothing and food in the 12th/13th century.

Continuing our WW1 theme, in October Bill Fulton examined the Human Face of the Great War in Berden, discussing individual cases involved in the war.

In November Lizzie Sanders traced the transformation of Audley End Park with very amusing anecdotes about its development.

And in December our Christmas Event was a Magna Carta themed evening in Manuden barn complete with medieval music and song, trestle tables decked with goblets and we ate medieval food. Many members dressed up and made it a very festive event. We also learned more about life in the village during that time and the names of people associated with it. Fiona Bengtsen - Chair

Manuden Open Gardens I am pleased to report that we will be holding another Open Gardens ‘ Day this year on July 10th a Sunday. We hold this event every two years and due to circumstances beyond our control we were unable to hold the event last year. However this has enabled us to be well prepared for this year. (We hope!) It was decided that we would publicise the event throughout the winter via the magazine, as there had been criticism in the past that people had not heard of the event beforehand. We think that this has been a positive move, as at the time of writing, we have more gardens offering to open than in the past. We have been encouraged by the inclusion of new gardens never opened before as well.

We have included with each article some top tips for gardeners whether they are opening or not and hope to encourage villagers and visitors to note the day in their diaries.

We will as in the past use sponsorship of a local estate agent to help publicise the event. We are pleased that any proceeds raised will be split between village organisations.

We have a Twitter page as well! ( https://twitter.com/manuden_open )

We will as usual be offering teas and plant sales as part of the day.

There is still time dear reader to include more gardens! So if you are in two minds please let me reiterate that this event is open to all! Your garden does not have to be designed by famous designers or have huge rolling lawns! We want to have all sorts, huge grand gardens, down to courtyard gardens and everything in-between. It does not have to be weed free or pristine, manicured to its edges or covered in rare plants! The only criterion is for you to enjoy sitting in it! It is amazing how many ideas I have seen in other people's gardens that I have enjoyed sharing with other people! Please do consider opening as it provides so many people with a lovely afternoon’s entertainment and believe it or not we have had visitors who don't even have a garden of their own to enjoy! So if you've read all this and said "well they wouldn't want mine" .....we do!! Richard Dale-Cooke

Manuden Men’s Dining Club The Manuden Men’s Dining Club met twice during the past year.

In October 2015, we had an excellent evening at the Cricketers, Rickling Green, attended by 24 members.

In February 2016, we were hosted by the Yew Tree and again enjoyed a first class evening with superb food and wine. This was attended by 26 members.

The Men’s Dining Club is an informal group of Manuden male residents and normally meets two or three times a year in different locations. It is organized by Peter Heap (email [email protected]) We warmly welcome new members who would like to opportunity to meet more local people. Peter Heap

Manuden Cricket Club Whilst not the best summer for cricket, Manuden CC had another positive season in 2015 – a generally positive set of results but then the club has always been very much of the “it’s about the taking part” ethos. With that in mind, we have continued to expand the number of players from Manuden, Berden and beyond. For those ‘old stagers’ amongst us, this has been the club’s single biggest achievement when set against its near extinction as little as 3-4 years ago. The beginning of the new season in 2016 has seen us continue to draw in new players whilst several clubs in local villages are struggling having curtailed fixture numbers or, in one case last season, folded completely.

Whilst continuing with a core of creaking 40 and 50 somethings, we continue to grow the number of teenage cricketers – particularly those for whom regular junior cricket can be hard to come by and difficult to combine with academic and other commitments. Many of our (current and future) younger cricketers are catered for by the coaching available at Stansted CC where we have strong links through past and present (Phil Hoult) players on their junior coaching team.

Entering into our third season back in Manuden, we are really beginning to feel the benefits of our home ground and excellent facilities. In addition to the attraction of the facilities at the village community centre, the standard of the square and outfield continue to improve – in no small part due to the time and effort put in by a small number of members (not that riding around on a roller on a sunny evening isn’t fun).

Finally, the club would like to thank the Community Centre, Parish Council and John Archer in particular for the huge help and support we continue to receive. Vaughan Edwards

Manuden Fun Run The Manuden Fun Run 2015 was another success with many villagers coming together to help on the day. Whilst numbers were slightly down on the previous year, possibly due to the popularity of park runs which are free, those that took part once again enjoyed a well-organised and friendly event, with a total of £1500 being raised for charity. We were unable to secure a sponsor for the whole event in 2015, but would like to thank J Day & Son and Lever & Co. for their donations.

Our chosen charity for 2015 was the Isabel Hospice and half the money raised was sent to them. The remaining funds were split between local organisations, including the Brownies, the Guides, the WI and the Friendship Club - all these organisations are vital for the Manuden community. Money was also donated to Manuden School as a thank you for letting us use the grounds and a classroom for registration and the village toddler group, Owlets, in the hope that this would enable the organisation to re-start.

We are as always extremely grateful to the Kemp family for allowing us to use The Downs for car parking and Herts Pheonix Running Club for the use of their clock.

The run in 2016 will take place slightly earlier on Sunday 18th September, and registrations will remain at £12 for 5k and 10k runners and £3 for 1k runners. Registrations are open, so please enter via Runners World or by printing a registration form at www.manuden.org.uk. Money raised in 2016 will be split between Pancreatic Cancer UK and village organisations.

We would like to thank all the village organisations for their continued support and look forward to another successful event in September. We have already secured sponsorship from Tees Law, Knight Frank and CCR Paperrolls. Pauline Burnard

Badminton Club The Wednesday night badminton club continues to meet (from 7-8pm) three times a month and has a very loyal and enthusiastic group of about 8 regulars, who battle it out each week with games of doubles on the lovely MVCC court.

We are disappointed to have lost our two regular ladies (to other worthy activities, it has to be said!) so would encourage any new members to come along and have a go; the games are always very good natured and enthusiastic!

We enjoyed our first (and only so far!) outside event in October 2015….a trip to the Yew Tree pub for an excellent curry night. We were joined by our partners too, so had a talkative and thirsty group of 16 or so there which was great fun; it was nice to get to know more about people’s interests and hobbies away from the badminton court! Thanks to Kevin for arranging that.

We have welcomed new members Ed and Rob during the year, so always have a really enthusiastic bunch who greatly appreciates the excellent facility. Adam Wilder

Short Mat Bowls The first session was held on the 3rd Nov 2015, and the club now has 11 members who play every Tuesday morning from 10am -1pm. We contribute £33.00 weekly to the Community Centre.

The mat is put out on a Monday evening and it would be good to get a session going on that evening, all the playing equipment is provided by the Community Centre, it just needs players.

Please contact [email protected] for more information. Stephen Horner

The Manuden Park Group Over the last year, we have continued to fundraise in order to improve and extend the children’s play area on Manuden Playing Fields. We are delighted to announce that we have now raised over £72,000 and so have enough money to complete the project this summer!

We wish to say a huge thank you to all of the people who have helped and supported us in any way over the last 18 months. We have been overwhelmed by the support from our fantastic local community. In particular, we would like to thank the Manuden Singers, the Church, the Bonneys, the W.I., the Fun Run committee and the Open Gardens committee, who have all fundraised on our behalf. We would also like to thank everyone at the Manuden Village Community Centre, who have been extremely helpful when we have been organising fundraising events and when completing grant applications.

Fundraising events and donations from villagers have raised over £10,000. We had lots of fun at the Frog Racing Tournament in February, which raised over £800. In April, we held our second Scarecrow Trail, which proved to be incredibly popular and raised over £4400. This was more than double what we had hoped to raise with this event and it was lovely to see so many people enjoying themselves around the village. We would like to thank all of those who made the fantastic scarecrows, helped out at the last minute and to those who kept the cake supplies topped up!

Most of the money has been raised through grants awarded by: Viridor Credits, Essex County Council’s Community Initiatives Fund, Uttlesford District Council’s Community Project Grant Scheme, the Independence, Choice and Control Fund and Waitrose Community Matters. Finally, we would like to thank the Trustees of the Manuden Village Hall & Sports Fund for their generous donation, which will allow us to complete the project. Lizzie McLean

Local Councillor’s Report Firstly, I want to say thank you to all who voted for me last May. It was an unusual election as it coincided with the General Election. I decided to fight my campaign as I have always done by not being overtly political or making false claims and promises that I couldn't keep. I am delighted to be able to represent Stort Valley again. This is my 16th year and I have been very fortunate to have such a lovely part of Uttlesford as my ward. I have made many friends during my 5 terms as a District Councillor and will I will continue to do my best to ensure that Stort Valley is well represented and that your voice is heard.

ELECTORAL REVIEW: As you may know Ugley parish joined Stort Valley after the election last May having previously been part of Stansted North. This was as a result of a full consultation and overwhelming support from Stort Valley residents. Having attended Ugley Parish Council meetings I'm struck by its similarities with the other rural, Stort Valley parishes. They have made me feel welcome and I'm very pleased that they have joined the 'best ward' in the district! Stansted is growing very quickly and is fast becoming a small town; its problems often differ from the smaller wards. Stort Valley is a single member ward (me!) and comprises: Berden, Farnham, Manuden and Ugley.

THE LOCAL PLAN: The last Local Plan was rejected by the Planning Inspectorate which meant that UDC had to start again and produce a new plan which will decide the future of development in Uttlesford for the next 10 years. The Inspector recommended a dwelling target of 580 per annum and not the 523 dwellings as suggested in the previous plan. It is important for Uttlesford to have a Local Plan in place to provide development in a structured and coherent manner rather than face planning appeals over potentially unsuitable sites. There have been rumours about sites including that of a large single settlement somewhere in the district. This has been discussed but, as far I'm aware, no decision on sites has yet been made. All information and documents on the Local Plan may be found on the Council's website. As a result of the failure of the last local plan and questions about the lack of openers and transparency all Planning Policy Working Group (PPWG) meetings are now open to the public. I hope this will continue as there was a lot of mistrust and bad feeling during the putting together of the last local plan. The Planning Policy Working Group can't make decisions but may make recommendations to Cabinet. Cllr. Howard Rolfe is Chair of the PPWG and is also Chair of the Cabinet which makes the decisions. This has proved controversial with some councillors. The new Local Plan is expected to be completed by December 2017. I will keep you updated during the process.

DEVOLUTION: This has been the subject of much discussion during the past year. A group of councils comprising Basildon, Braintree, Brentwood, Castlepoint, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Essex CC. Harlow, Maldon, Tendring, Rochford, Thurrock, Southend on Sea and Uttlesford have worked together to make representations to Government for Devolution for 'Greater Essex'. Although sometimes controversial it has been said that devolution in England could change the way we are governed and create a more democratic and fairer dispersion of power, with more opportunities for people outside of Westminster to have a say. Local devolution agreements require mechanisms through which residents and citizens can hold government to account for its decisions and participate directly in decision making. Cllr Howard Rolfe, Leader of UDC and Chair of the Essex Devolution Leaders' Group, said in a recent newsletter ''Over the last month Chief Executives and Senior Officers from the district, unitary and county councils have been presenting our joint work to officials in Whitehall. This has been well received and gives us confidence that we could reach a devolution deal with government. However, it has welcome increasingly clear that Ministers do want to see a Mayoral governance model for county areas. The Leaders of the Greater Essex authorities are not convinced that this is the right model for Greater Essex. Therefore, recognising the good work done to date, Leaders have opted not to work towards a fixed date in submitting a deal, but rather wait to see how other county deals, elsewhere in the country unfold, and further consider the implications of the asks of Government. We intend to reconvene our discussions with all authorities after the elections in May" I'm sure there will be a lot of discussion/argument at Uttlesford and the other councils involved before this comes to fruition.

ONE-STOP MULTI-AGENCY CENTRE: You may have seen, in the local press, that a new monthly drop-in centre started on Monday 2lst March. It will open from 10am-12 noon and takes place in the Council Chamber at UDC offices in Saffron Walden. It brings together, under one roof, several agencies which can advise on issues such as dealing with debt, benefits, housing and eviction, domestic abuse and drugs and alcohol. The Multi-Agency Centre (MAC) is led by the Dept of Work and Pensions (DWP) in partnership with the Council's Housing Dept and organisations including Family Solutions, Citizens Advice, Family Mosaic, Mind, Essex Children’s' Centre, Adult Community Learning, Open Road and Uttlesford Credit Union. The service will offer people who may have several problems to visit all the relevant agencies at one go rather than having to make and attend several different appointments.

POLICE DESK: This opened at the UDC offices on April 4th. It replaces the front desk at Saffron Walden Police Station which closed last October. Opening hours are Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm and Friday 8:30am-4:30pm. The desk will be manned by 2 full time police staff. Lodge House, a separate, self-contained building at the Uttlesford site and with the potential to house up to 14 officers, is expected to open in the near future. On Wednesday 6th April the Planning Committee approved an application for a Crematorium and Gardens of remembrance in Uttlesford. It will be sited at Great Chesterford. During the past year I have continued as a member of the Planning Committee. I am also a member of the Finance and Audit Committee, The Standards Committee, The Planning Policy Working Group (local plan) and the Housing Board.

If I can be of assistance please don't hesitate to contact me, in confidence, at: 01279-812346 or email: [email protected] Regards, Janice Loughlin.

Appendix – Financial Report See below:- MANUDEN PARISH COUNCIL

Receipts and Payments Accounts for the year ended 31st. March 2016

£ Opening balance c/f 31/03/15 £ 10,305.60 Receipts year ended 31/03/16 £ 16,889.15

Precept £ 8,760.00 LCTS Grant £ 290.00 VAT reclaimed £ - Manuden Church donation grass cutting £ 600.00 Loans and donations from Parish Council Sub Committees MPFA (repayment of invoices paid grass cutting) £ 1,100.00 MVCC (Wilby & Burnett professional fees) £ 675.00 Manuden Fun Run (repayment of invoices paid) £ 264.48 MPFA (Viridor Equipment and Playground) £ 3,959.51 Customer Services (Lloyds Bank) £ 350.00 New Home Bonus (from UDC) £ 750.00 MVCC drink sales at Christmas party £ 56.00 Viridor £ 83.03 Bank Interest £ 1.13

Total Receipts £ 16,889.15

£ 27,194.75

Payments year ended 31/03/16

Administration Expenses Hire of Village Hall & Community Centre 2015 and 2016 £ 290.00 Insurance £ 243.80 Grass Cutting Carter's Hill £ 362.50 Audit £ 200.00 Flowers for Yew Tree Inn and Janice £ 66.99 UDC C/A Green Waste Skip £ 968.94 Village Christmas Party £ 257.70 Elections May 2015 £ 103.37 Defibrillator Pads £ 60.90 Book "Our Common Land" £ 22.80 Transfer to Petty Cash Web Hosting £ 60.00 Affiliation Fees Essex Association of Local Councils (EALC) £ 178.18 Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) £ 36.00 Rural Community Council of Essex (RCCE) £ 66.00 Friends of Historic Essex £ 10.00 Payments on behalf of Parish Council Sub Committees MC&SC Wilbey & Burnett £ 675.00 MC&SC Viridor £ 3,959.51 Manuden Fun Run £ 264.48 Playground Inspection £ 74.00 MPFA Ace of Spades Play Area £ 320.83 MPFA Ace of Spades Grasscutting Cricket Field £ 1,357.50 Manuden Church grass cutting £ 1,386.65

EALC Training Chairman and Clerk £ 85.00

Clerk's Salary C Bartram £ 2,560.00 HMSC PAYE £ 640.00 Donations Essex Air Ambulance £ 250.00 British Legion £ 50.00

VAT PAID this financial year £ 959.02

Total Payments £ 15,509.17

Balance at 31/03/16 £ 11,685.58

Bank Reconciliation 31st March 2016

Lloyds TSB

Treasurer's Account £ 9,433.16 Less cheque number 628 -£ 35.00

Business Account £ 2,287.42

Closing Balance £ 11,685.58