ISSUE 189 August 2015
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ISSUE 189 August 2015 EDITORIAL The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the editorial team, who reserve the right to edit submissions for reasons of space, content or grammar. Items for publication should bear the name of the author, with address and telephone number - although this information will not necessarily be printed (we may need to contact the author for clarification or further information.) The final day for submission of items for the next issue – October 2015 – is 10th September. Items for inclusion should be submitted to Christine Holdsworth, Editor, 21 Main Road, 736179 [email protected] John Bentham, ‘The Bungalow’, Halton Road 734353 [email protected] Peter Riley, 3, Channel Head, 734008, is responsible for distribution Steve Hinde deals with advertising (commercial or “small ads.”); contact via The Barn, Halton Road, 734135 [email protected] Remember – this is YOUR magazine We welcome your views and contributions Cover photo Despite some rain and damp conditions, Field Day was again a success and enjoyed by all. The cover photo shows the young ladies of Nether Kellet smiling happily and looking positively regal. 2 Nether Kellet Parish Council The meeting of the parish council in June saw our new vice-chairman David Whitaker take control of the proceedings as David Manning had been called away on business abroad. Following this meeting, a reminder was directed to the County Council regarding several loose manhole covers along Main Road, which had been reported before and the same is the case regarding the leaning lamp-post number 18 on Main Road by Hornby Bank. As there had been no positive response, further reminders were sent following the July meeting. The plates required for the positioning of the “Speed Indicator Device” (SPID) will shortly be installed by County Highways at three locations, firstly on the approach to the village on Main Road between the M6 bridge and the bus stop, secondly on the junction of Laithbutts Lane and Main Road and finally on Back Lane between Seaview Terrace and Lane Ends Farmhouse. It is anticipated that once the device is in our possession it will be moved between these sites so that road users will not become so used to it that they become complacent. Works have recently taken place to extend the hard surface on footpath no. 5 (Laithbutts Lane) so that the whole of the surface from the road end to the common land is clear of mud, which has in the past proved to be hazardous to walkers in wet conditions. In this respect we are grateful to Shaun Rogerson and Gordon Stables for the time and effort given to this work. Additionally, Mike Ashton has engaged in clearing away nettles and the like from the slope leading to the footbridge over the M6 to the south of the village on footpath number 1. He has also trimmed some of the encroaching shrubs. There have been problems in wet conditions on footpath number 2 which leads from Whorley’s Lane to the ‘sand-pits’ plantation on the slope between the two recently installed kissing-gates. There is to be a meeting between interested parties to visit the location to consider options to make life a little easier and safer for users. It is pleasing to note that most of the footpaths close to the village are well used and, I feel sure, appreciated. As reported before, the Parish Council has identified a number of issues that require attention. Work has already started on the painting of the pump mechanism and surrounding metal work on the village pump on Halton Road and by the time that this Round and About is published may well have been completed. In this respect, our gratitude extends to both Mike Ashton the lengthsman and to Jim Holden. There are other works in hand such as the gates to the play area, the railings in front of the Congregational Church School Rooms and various benches situated in the parish. Also mentioned at the July meeting of the Parish Council was the sign-post adjacent to the telephone box, which is looking very shabby. It is good to see that the flower-beds around the village are looking as attractive as ever and thanks are extended to the dedicated individuals who give freely of their time to tend the beds. Both Jim Holden and Jim Wallace-Dodgshun and 3 others continue to keep themselves busy on Tuesday evenings by carrying out ‘tidying’ around the village and I know that there are others who pick up the odd discarded cigarette packet, beer can or soft drinks can amongst other items, thus keeping our environment largely litter free. As has been the practice of the Parish Council, there is no meeting in August and the next meeting will be on the 2nd September and as always will be held in the Congregational Church School rooms on Main Road with a start time of 7.00 p.m. Michael Watson ~ Clerk Nether Kellet Village Hall The village hall committee continues to meet every third Friday of each month at 7.30 p.m. and anyone interested in coming along to share their ideas or help with fundraising would be warmly welcomed. It has been a busy year so far. The recent Field Day is our biggest fundraising event of the year. All monies raised go towards the running and upkeep of the hall and so your support was much appreciated, despite the rather poor weather. Just over £1600 was made, so a huge thank you to all who braved the rain and came giving generously. A big thank you must go to all the local businesses and individuals who kindly donated prizes for the raffle, especially Hawthornes Caravan Park and Richard Mason Fitness who organised the fantastic races that were enjoyed by many. The committee would like to also take this opportunity to thank Dave and Jayne Crow who organised the big day and all the many other volunteers who willingly give up their time to make the day go smoothly. Our next forthcoming event is the ‘Auction of Promises’ that will be held in October, details of which appear elsewhere in this edition of Round and About. The committee would really appreciate anyone who would be willing to donate a ‘promise’ that will be auctioned on the night. This could be anything, for example, you could donate a bottle of wine, make a cake or offer to babysit for a couple of hours. It really can be anything that you think people might be interested in bidding for. Please have a think about what you could donate to help raise money for our village hall. If you would like to contribute, please contact Jackie Turner (07877662341) or Alison Halhead (07974739261). It was a sad blow for the village and the village hall losing Playgroup some months ago, but there is hopefully some good news, in that a new playgroup is in the pipeline and fingers crossed, it may open this September. A confirmation of this will hopefully follow in the next edition of Round and About. 4 5 Halton Pharmacy 110 High Road Halton Lancaster LA2 6PU Tel: 01524 812149 FAX: 01524 812168 (Incorporating Post Office ~ open Mon Wed Fri) Customer car park for easy access Open Monday to Friday 9am to 5.30pm www.haltonpharmacy.co.uk Sign up for our FREE Prescription Collection / Delivery Service to your home Ash Trees Pharmacy Market Street Carnforth LA5 9JU Tel: 01524 727877 FAX: 01524 730421 EXTENDED OPENING ~ 100 HOURS Monday to Friday 7am to 11pm Saturday 8am to 6.30pm Sunday 8am to 6pm www.ashtrees.co.uk 6 Nether Kellet Community Primary School On Saturday 20th June Nether Kellet Field Day took place and lots of our children took part on Brownie and school floats as well as in the games and fell racing competition. A big thank you to all the parents who helped decorate our float with Jane Wren and Katie Walsh (and David Whitaker for providing it!) and to everyone who organised their children’s fabulous costumes—our float won the best float competition! Holly Holehouse managed to beat off the competition to win the Junior Girls’ Fell Race so well done Holly! Meanwhile, Eleanor Halhead was the carnival queen with many of our children in attendance. Thank you also to everyone who helped organise our school summer fair and to everyone who made donations that helped us to raise money for school. It was a shame that the weather didn’t clear; we had been optimistic but sadly had to move lots inside at the last minute and some games couldn’t take place. The good news was there was lots of cake (thank you everyone who sent delicious cakes in!), together with the barbecue and the bouncy castle to keep everyone happy. Thank you for coming along and supporting the event. Maybe next year the sun will shine? The Race for Life was a great success: every child in school managed to run or walk 2 miles which was amazing. There were also some keen runners who did up to 6 miles! The children in Sycamore Class wrote on their race cards pinned to their shirts the reasons why they were doing the event and many wrote touching comments about family members and friends who had been affected by cancer. So far we have raised more than £600. As part of our sculpture art focus this term we have had Willow Sculptors working with the children and in addition we have done nature walks, a village trail and recycling sculpture.