PARISH OF GRINGLEY ON THE HILL

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING HELD IN THE COMMUNITY CENTRE ON WEDNESDAY 10TH APRIL 2019

Present: Councillor W Wright in the Chair. The Parish Council Clerk and 5 members of the public were present.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received from Mr T Larden, The Beacon Magazine, Book Club & Sticky Fingers.

2. TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE 2018 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING The minutes of the 2018 Annual Parish Meeting were taken as read and signed by the Chairman.

3. REPORT OF THE CHAIRMAN OF THE PARISH COUNCIL Chairman Councillor Wright read the following report:

Once again it has been a busy and productive year for the Parish Council.

a) In May 2018, Councillor Mick Bullen resigned from the Parish Council. I would like to make special note of all his work for the village and thank him for his many years of active contributions/involvement with the Council. In September 2018, three new members joined the Council, bringing our number to 9 councillors. In April, the date of the local elections, 6 councillors stood for election.

b) A major triumph of note was the sale by auction in December 2018 of Coley Cottage on the High Street. This house had been the subject of discussion and concern for many months, due to its dilapidated state and the Council and indeed the village look forward to its renovation.

c) November 2018 saw the 100 year anniversary of the end of the First World War. The Council arranged for 50 lamp post poppies to be installed around the village and for the Playing Field Beacon to be lit on the evening of Remembrance Sunday, on the 11th November. Together with the ringing of the Church Bells, Gringley marked the occasion in an appropriately evocative, poignant way.

d) The Playing Field has been the subject of a number of improvements this year. A defibrillator has been installed on the outside of the pavilion, and a fence has been put up to separate the adult exercise equipment from the children's play equipment, in line with health & safety recommendations. Additional height nets have been erected at the multi-court. In October the decision was made to allow dogs on to the playing field under supervision, and on the understanding that owners clear up after their pets and do not allow them near the children's play area. A future plan for the Playing Field is to install motion activated lighting to illuminate the car park. This, in conjunction with the CCTV coverage, should offer increased security to the area.

e) March 2019 saw our annual involvement in the district wide Litter Pick. Many thanks to go to the volunteers who collected 15 bags of rubbish from around the village. This will go a long way towards our preparations for the judging in the Best Kept Village Competition in June.

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f) The Parish Council website has been up and running since October. Many thanks go to the Clerk for initiating it and Cllr. Woodwards for agreeing to update the village related content.

g) Whilst on the theme of thanks, we are grateful to our local Police Community Support Officer for regularly attending our monthly meetings and sharing important h) information on policing/safer neighbourhoods. We are also grateful to our County and District councillors for their regular and valuable input.

i) Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow councillors, and our Clerk Mr. Peter Baines, for their support throughout the year.

4. FINANCIAL REPORT BY THE CLERK TO THE COUNCIL The Clerk reported on the financial status of the Parish Council:

The Parish Council commenced the year with an opening balance of £27,860.67. Income during the year came to £25,199.01 and expenditure £25,494.22, leaving a closing balance of £27,565.46. The Parish Council spent £7,406.92 at the playing fields including £3,400.00 installing additional netting to the Multi-Court to protect the adjacent field from damage by errant balls, whilst letting the football pitch raised £400.00 and cemetery income amounted to £835.00. We received a grant from the Igas Community Fund of £1000.00 for the playing field defibrillator and Annette Simpson has kindly granted her District Councillor Grant of £250.00. Council Grants totalled £882.00, which further reduces every year.

The Parish Council has remained frugal in general expenditure which has enabled the council tax impact on band D properties to increase by only 1.96% to £21,418 for the financial year 2019-20.

We have applied to County Council for a grant under the Local Improvement Scheme for funds to tarmac the playing field car park in this current year budget.

5. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS OF ST. PETER'S PRIMARY SCHOOL There was no report available

6. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE PARENTS TEACHERS AND FRIENDS ASSOCIATION Ms Hilary Forrester-Pierson read out the report from the PTFA:

The PTFA (Parents Teachers Friends Association) organise social and fundraising events on behalf of the school. We have recently held a ladies gin night, the Christmas Fair, a cake sale, as well as Christmas, Spring and Easter school discos. Forthcoming events include the school Summer Fayre and Dog Show on Saturday 22nd June, the Leavers disco on Wednesday 17th July and a Family Barbecue on Thursday 18th July after school until 7.00pm. Other events are also being discussed.

All parents, carers and friends of the school are welcome to attend the PTFA meetings, usually held at the school.

Page 2 of 9 Anyone wishing to get involved, help out at events, suggest ideas or contribute in any way can attend the meeting or otherwise contact the school office or speak to me or another PTFA member directly.

The next meeting is on Friday 26th April at 2.30pm at school. All proceeds from our events go to the school. Please support us!

7. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE COMMUNITY CENTRE COMMITTEE Mrs AM Morley gave the report of the Community Centre Committee:

Not much has changed in the last 12 months. The Community Centre continues to be well used. On offer every week is ball room dancing, Circuit Training, Pilates, Yoga/Pilates, photography club, Antiques class and Mini-Kicks. There are also groups meeting monthly such as the WI, Parish council and GAGS (Gringley allotment and Garden society).

Fortnightly there is the activity afternoon. The only times available for a regular weekly slot are Monday & Friday daytime plus Friday evening.

The hall is used extensively by other village organisations, such as the church, who have a monthly 'Soup & Pud' lunch. The school and PTFA uses the hall several times a year for occasions such as concerts and Christmas Fair. There is also a great use of the main hall for children's parties.

Swift boxes have been installed on the gable end of the hall and are awaiting their new tenants. This has been possible by the generous donation and work by people in the village.

The running costs of the hall are covered by the income generated by the people who hire it with a small surplus. We are very grateful to GAGS for keeping the garden tidy, in return they get one free session every month.

The management committee has 9 trustees. The minutes and accounts are published regularly in Beacon and on the Community Centre Website.

8. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE GRINGLEY WI Mrs AM Morley read out the report of the WI:

The WI meets on the first Wednesday of every month. There is either a speaker or an activity taking place, the main emphasis being on spending time with friends while learning something without really trying.

The programme has been varied with topics covering living in Bangladesh and seeing a large selection of saris to learning about Jack the Ripper and Victorian society. We have learnt how the was built and changed local lives as it improved communications. One of the things they would have drunk was tea and we have heard the history of Afternoon tea. The evening that saw many of us walking home with lighter purses was the story of the "Dragon's Tears", a fascinating talk about pearls, how they are produced and a large selection of jewellery incorporating pearls to admire and purchase.

The practical evenings included one making a flower arrangement and another one when

Page 3 of 9 we all made a small patchwork coaster. It would not be the WI if we did not eat well and the customary New Year party took place as well as a pie and pea supper at the Annual meeting.

We have extra activities such as an evening playing Rummikub and anything else members want to get involved with such as theatre visits.

Our membership is in the middle thirties and members come from Walkeringham, Beckingham, and Misterton as well as Gringley. We are always glad to welcome visitors and new members.

9. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE GRINGLEY STICKY FINGERS TODDLER GROUP The Clerk read out the report of the Sticky Fingers Toddlers Group:

The group is now being run by Rachael Armstrong, Nicole Jeffcut and Rosie Hughes, Rachel Jones having left. The group is very lucky to have Rachael’s expertise as she is a qualified early years teacher. Every week she arranges a new craft or sensory activity to accommodate all the ages who attend the group. She also leads the songs at the end which are often dynamic and educational.

The group continues to thrive with approximately 15 to 20 children each week. This year we have decided to invest some money in new smaller chairs and tables which we use for crafting and snack time. These have been very useful and have also been used for school events and by others hiring the Community Centre for parties etc. They offer much safer seating for the children and are significantly easier to clean.

Our Spring Term has been particularly exciting for the children as a number of events with St Peter’s School were arranged to help the older children transition to school and to increase awareness of the school’s early years provision. We have had visits from both Mrs Green, the foundation unit teacher, and Mrs Reeson, the headteacher, and the children were all invited to the school for a stay and play in the foundation unit. The events were a great success!

We hope to have another exciting year ahead of us.

10. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE SOCIAL ACTIVITIES GROUP No report available:

11. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE HISTORY CLUB Mr M Keeble reported on the Book Club’s activities:

2018 was a busy year for the Gringley on the Hill History Club. It had in the most part been planned that way, but as it turned out was much busier than expected. The outline plan for the year featured as a priority, the completion of a book by Alan Hickman following the history of the TB Hospital, now Gringley Hall, and the completion of an exhibition funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, through the Nottinghamshire Fighting for our Heritage project, also following the history of the TB Hospital and linked to the book. In addition, it was planned to create an exhibition in the Community Centre of as much of the History of the village that we could reasonably display, and support a walk that one of our members, Joan Soulsby, had volunteered for with the Chesterfield Canal Trust. Finally, we were to continue our monthly meetings in the pub.

Page 4 of 9 This was all thrown into disarray by the sudden and unexpected death of Alan Hickman in February. Alan had been the mainstay of the History Club for virtually all of its 8 year life and had been the driver for all of the many projects that the club had embarked upon, and had single handedly managed the gathering and storing of the vast amount of data that the club had gleaned over the years. Such was Alan’s importance to the Club that there was a period of confusion while the members of the committee decided what to do with the club and even whether to disband it. It was eventually decided to continue the club and to fulfil the whole of the outline plan.

Fortunately, Alan had virtually finished the book before his death, and all that was still required was a great deal of hard work in editing and layout work, culminating in the publishing of the book “Deep Pockets and Fresh Air” towards the end of the year. The exhibition was completed with several informative panels displayed on the History Club’s own display boards. Unfortunately, the date of the principal exhibition at the Trent University was provided at short notice, so no one from the history club was able to attend, though the exhibition was assembled and managed by Bassetlaw Museum on our behalf. A further exhibition at Rufford Abbey was attended by several members of the club and was well received by the general public.

Work went ahead on preparing boards to be displayed around the village to assist in Joan’s walk for the Chesterfield Canal Trust. These boards were seen by many in the village and we received very positive feedback from members of the village as well as those fortunate enough to have been on Joan’s walk.

The final piece in the plan was the exhibition of archive material in the Community Centre dubbed The Great Gringley History Show. This was extremely well attended and received.

So well received were the walk and the Great Gringley History Show that it is intended to repeat both in 2019. In fact, the first two walks are planned for Sunday 5th May. The boards will be put up around the village the week before.

After electing a new Committee and Mr Richard Measures as our new Chairman, Gringley History Club is ready and eager to move forward.

After several committee meetings, a busy calendar has been organized for the 50 members who have joined for 2019, (commencing January 1st - December31st). There is still much gathering of information ahead.

12. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE BOOK CLUB Mrs AM Morley read out the report of the Book Club:

Book club members continue to meet up on the 2nd Monday each month. There have been some minor changes since the organiser Debbie Blackledge left before Christmas. We still host at each other’s houses albeit at an earlier time. The book for the following month is now chosen by the month's host, which we then purchase ourselves. We did use Lincolnshire library service for many years, but we started to find the books were not suitable. Plus Debbie was kind enough to collect and return the books during her time in book club, and after she left, no one wanted to do this.

We now score the book out of 10 (rather than the previous 6) and Julie Measures kindly keeps a spreadsheet of the scores. During the meeting we discuss the characters, storyline, settings, sometimes the writing style. We usually talk about the book for an hour. We also recommend other books we have read recently. Some

Page 5 of 9 members bring their books to lend to others. We sometimes discuss village life and what's going on. The book club meeting often prompts informal chats about places we might have visited that are mentioned in the book, or connections with our life experiences.

At the moment there are 10 members. 9 are from the village and we have our own WhatsApp group to communicate with each other.

13. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE ANTIQUES CLASSES Mr P Young gave the report of the Antiques Classes:

The 2 hour meetings each take a similar format - Personality of the week - the history of a personality in the antiques world - from Porcelain - Pottery - Silver - Jewellery - Books - Glass or Furniture.

Antique of the Week - - Silver and Pottery Marks - Silver Plate - Styles - Islamic - Art Nouveau - Art Deco - Toys - Models - Clocks etc Artist of the Week - Lifetime and works of celebrated artists.

Break for Tea and Biscuits Examination and discussion of items brought in. Occasional Guest Lecturers - Vesta cases - Porcelain repairs - Ladies Knickers - Metal Tinware - Oriental Carpets Day visits to Country Houses, Potteries, Museums, Art galleries, Christmas Luncheon each year in a Stately House. Each week a 30 - 45-minute Lecture - illustrated with slides and film covering a requested topic - Wedgwood Indian clay - Minton - Derby - Billingsley - Sevres - Meissen - Italian, Bohemian and English Glass - Artists - Styles - Automatons, Railway paraphernalia, Post cards, and many other collectables

For many years the group have enjoyed week-long tours to many places of antique interest including:- Paris (twice), Madrid, Prague, Leipzig, Krakow, Barcelona, Luxembourg, Caceres & Amsterdam.

Two ten-week courses - The group meet from September to Christmas and January to April. The next meeting commences on September 11th, 2019

14. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE FITNESS AND DANCE GROUP Mr P Hargrave gave the report on behalf of the Body Balance Group:-

The group has been offering Yoga and Pilates for over 15 years attracting all levels of fitness, age and abilities and holds its classes in the community centre every Thursday at 7pm. Participants are from the village and travel from as far as and Gainsborough as well as the village itself.

The emphasis is not on fitness but of achieving body awareness and a peaceful state of mind.

There is an ever expanding group of participants and numbers are stable.

15. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP Mr P Hargrave gave the report on the Photography Group:-

Page 6 of 9 The group was formed over 4 years ago and runs each Thursday Evening for 1 hour or so in the Community Centre. The group is not a typical camera club, but teaches photographic techniques, practical photography and photographic history.

It is enjoyed with an active group of up to 15 persons of all levels of knowledge and abilities. The group is very interactive and supports each other whilst participating in actual photography or regular critiques of work.

The group celebrates creativity and not `equipment` and how to take photographs is more important than technical knowledge. The group runs various workshops throughout the year. This year has included a beginner’s course and a photoshop course. Outdoor workshops a planned as a day course in the near future, travelling to various locations eg Peak District and the Yorkshire dales.

Equipment for indoor shoots are always supplied. The group has participants from as far as Thorne, Retford, Doncaster and surrounding villages.

New members of all abilities are always welcome throughout the year.

16. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE ALLOTMENT AND GARDEN SOCIETY Mr P Hargrave gave the report of The Allotment and Garden Society:-

The Allotment and Garden Society was formed 2 years ago. It has gone from strength to strength and currently has around 50 members. The 10 allotments are all occupied, built with the kind involvement with Gringley Parish Council. We currently have a waiting list for persons wanting allotment space. The society has applied successfully for a £1000 grant and a donation from Councillor Annette Simpson for the sum of £300 which has enabled us to complete the driveway slope to the entrance and to provide a wood chipping pathway to connect all the allotments with a safe and dry surface. A water supply has also been added to enable each pair of allotments a separate water supply. The Garden Society hold meetings and events once a month in the community centre with various guest speakers. An annual event is held with joint involvement with Beckingham, Everton and Misterton Garden Societies attracting a well known personality in the gardening world. Last year it was Bob Flowerdew, this year Pippa Greenwood. The event has attracted a full house (150+) and monies raised for the societies and local charities. We hold various plant sales throughout the year which is invested for the societies benefit and growth. It is anticipated that membership will grow thanks to a robust committee and volunteers. New members are always welcome.

17. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE CHURCH OF ST PETER & ST PAUL Mr H Dunkley gave the report of the Church of St Peter & St Paul:

The church in Gringley is one of six parishes in the Oswaldbeck Benefice under the pastoral care of the Vicar, David Henson.

Finance:

Page 7 of 9 We held our APCM last week, and the year to 31st December was not good financially as we spent £2246 more than our income for the 12 months. It costs around £20,000 to run the church each year, of which the two main elements are the provision of ministry at £13,300 and insurance at £2,500. These two items account for almost 80% of overheads. Around half of our income comes from regular givers in our Promise Programme, (and we are always happy to received new members into this!), much of which benefits from Gift Aid tax relief, and the balance has to be earned through fund-raising events, the biggest of which is the bi-annual Open Gardens and Classic Car Display, coming up on 9th June.

During 2018, there were one Wedding, one Funerals and four Baptisms

Bell ringing There is an active bell-ringing team, and two new ringers have joined and have been trained over the last 12 months. In November, the tower took part in the nationwide marking of the centenary of the end of the First World War.

Choir An enthusiastic choir is available to sing at weddings and other special services, and they were involved in seven weddings across the group, involving 25 different singers. At Christmas a choir of 24, including eight children, sang for the Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols. We are always looking for more tenors and basses, please!

Organists Two young organists who are learning the instrument at QEHS and are using the church organ for practice.

Soup ‘n’ Pud Lunches Through the year, the monthly Soup ‘n’ Pud lunches were well attended, with typically between 10 and 18 present each time. This event was not intended to be primarily fund-raising, but rather providing an opportunity for getting together over a meal, and in this respect, it seems to be working well.

Pattern of worship: Until the end of last year, we were having two services a month, but since March, this has reduced to one (the first Sunday of every month). This is driven by lack of staff to take services, rather than anything else. We will still have special services such as our Patronal Festival, and Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at Christmas.

As is probably now widely known, David Henson will be retiring at the end of this year, and the parishes of the group will go into “vacancy”. How long it will take to find a replacement is anybody’s guess, and we cannot start the process until after David has actually retired. However, work is already starting in preparing the Benefice Statement, which is the starting document for the hiring process.

Closure of Walkeringham Church: It is with regret that I report that Walkeringham Church will close at the end of April. This has been caused by the failure of anyone to put themselves forward for election as churchwardens and members of the PCC, following the resignation of office holders who have been doing the job for many years. It only shows how important it is to have a people willing to get involved in running invaluable village institutions. It is vital that we avoid a similar fate befalling our church and would encourage all parishioners to continue to support the church in the future.

Page 8 of 9 18. TO RECEIVE THE REPORT OF THE BEACON MAGAZINE No report available

19. TO DISCUSS ANY MATTERS RELEVANT TO THE PARISH AND RAISED BY LOCAL ELECTORS Nothing to report

The meeting closed at 7:53pm

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