Moreton tiMes Issue 41 • March 2010 An independent paper delivered FREE OF CHARGE to every home & business in Moreton in Marsh, Blockley, Bourton on the Hill and Todenham. Copies also go to Batsford, Draycott and Dorn, Great Wolford and Little Wolford, Little Compton and Long Compton. Copies of Moreton Times also go into Chipping Campden & Chipping Norton Extra copies are generally available at the Moreton Area Centre in Moreton High Street, and at Moreton Library. THE PENTHOUSE SUITE (FORMERLY TEMPLE SPA) HAIR NAILS & BEAUTY THE PENTHOUSE SUITE 3rd Floor of The Talbot 01451 870123 Nicky and the girls look forward to welcoming you... hair, nails and beauty. Call soon. Moreton tiMes From the Editor Inside the March edition March – the month when the winds blow cold, and in this part FEATURES of the Cotswolds we really know it. Some days it is just like the middle of Winter! In March there should be spring flowers 4 Flood Resilience – Update Meeting 19th March around - and with spring flowers comes Mothering Sunday, a sure sign that Spring is coming. 6, 7 Memories of the Local Railways, by Alan Price 12 North Cotswolds Community Radio – Spotlight on Saturday, online This month the clocks ‘spring forward’ and we lose a precious hour in bed on that last Sunday morning of the month. Ahhh, 15 The Royal British Legion, in Stow British Summertime. The brochures and columnists tell us that UK is the place to be this year… and as we live in one of the most stunning and enjoyable rural areas in the British Isles, are REGULARS you planning to holiday at home, locally, further afield, or 13 Rotary – Your Fund-raising support for Haiti even (dare we say it) abroad this summer? 16 BOOK REVIEWS - from Cotswold Bookstore Consider the Lilies – A Cautionary Tale from a Cotswold Vet At Moreton Times we see the events entries increasing a little 17 Police - Safer Community Team Update each month as the days lengthen and the temperature edges Meet your new Village Agent upwards. We hope that we will be carrying news of your fundraising event or just ‘fun’ event. WARNING! We are lousy mind-readers, so if your event isn’t included on our 18 The new Hospital Development – pages, it could be because nobody told us about it. AONB’s Response to the Application 19 Local Authorities, meetings & information This month we have lots of things to read about from the 20 Church Services Flood Resilience Meeting chaired by our M.P., Geoffrey 21 An Auction of Promises at Cotswold School Clifton-Brown on March 19th, to remembering steam trains 22 Village Halls & Events running through to Adlestrop, with an article from Alan Price 23 Rural Cinemas & Events who, as a boy spent many hours after school at Moreton Station. We hope you will enjoy this edition, and that maybe 24, 25, 26 LOCAL EVENTS & EVENTS DIARY for March one day you’ll email us/ write to us. We’ll look forward to it! 28, 29 Local Schools – news & reports 30, 31 Your Correspondence – The Hospital Development, Latest Best wishes, Flood Defence Work Jenni Turner 32 In the Editor’s Opinion 38 Local Walks in March 39 ‘Why can’t I get a flat stomach?’ Ed Shaw on exercise Copy Date for the March edition is 16th February Our Badmington Clubs need help! (The 16th is our copy date for every month this year) 40 Robb Eden on Tax Returns Our cover photo of snowdrops is thanks to Gary Gleghorn © NCDCC 41 Moreton Rangers – New Sponsor for the Reserves team 43 Stow Rugby Football Club – U16s Telephone Moreton Times on 44, 45 Clubs News, Reports and Directory 07789 175 002 Thank you to all our contributors and writers, to Diana Murphy who (The phone will take your messages too – leave researches and edits local information, to Janet Marley who is managing your name & contact number and we will return our deliveries, and to all our delivers and sources of information. We your call.) appreciate their time and commitment. email MORETON TIMES on Our design team this month was Eagle Design Ltd. [email protected] www.eagledesign.net www.moretontimes.co.uk Extra copies of Moreton Times are generally available at Moreton P O Box 6, Sheep Street, Library and at Moreton Area Centre. Copies are also carried on The Stow on the Wold, GL54 1WD Villager Bus and on the Mobile Library. Flood Review Meeting Friday 19th March 3.30 – 5.30 pm Redesdale Hall Moreton in Marsh chaired by Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP All the agencies will be present in an attempt to help drive forward progress. Email from Charles Young to [email protected] AGENDA Ref’ce: Flood Resilience Meeting – 19th March Welcome and Introduction By Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP “Our major concerns are over the general attitude of CDC to the Apologies and Minutes of last meeting planning objections raised by the residents and the complete CDC update – Cllr Barry Gibbs disregard of the concerns and genuine proposals put forward by Quick review of achievements in 2009 the Town Council and others. They will not consider all the Results of modelling in more detail major schemes together and evaluate the effect on the Town, Future plans and funding but insist on treating each one separately. Hence we are left GCC update with all the wrong decisions. Our 2 CDC members say nothing Quick review of achievements in 2009 and certainly, to my mind, do absolutely nothing constructive to Future plans and funding support the Town. Environment Agency update Quick review of achievements in 2009 As with the hospital decision, the additional flood risk to the Future plans and funding Town has been ignored and this will only lead to the residents Thames Water Update in Fosse Way Avenue being flooded on a more regular basis. I Quick review of achievements in 2009 understand that they were only saved a few weeks ago by the Future plans and funding result of the blockage at Parkers Lane. Moreton Town Council and Resilience Group Update How CDC decide on the 2 major housing applications must Questions and Close surely be raised at the meeting with GCB. We do have a Town Council Meeting before and no doubt the approach by the Safeguarding Our Town – Town Council can be decided.” Where are we now? “2009 has sailed by and yet there is still no sign, for example, Fighting back of the promised new trash screen in Queen Victoria’s against the floods Garden. ‘How much longer will Her Majesty have to wait’, I ask – the continuing delay here is becoming quite absurd and CDC is investing £500,000 from capital funds to part- unreasonable.” Robert Dutton finance resilience projects which will alleviate the In January the floods caused by rapid snow-melt highlighted threat of flooding in a number of high risk areas. This the success of the recent culvert work in Bourton Road and Council is also expediting the necessary modelling and East Street done by Gloucestershire Highways. Also the River feasibility studies which will show us where we can Evenlode was flowing well enabling the town’s drainage to make the most effective improvements. We could have empty into the river with no back-up. In December the waited for help centrally, but this vital work would have Environment Agency operations team did their annual river been delayed for years and we don’t want to sit tight maintenance/clearance and this was well timed. We are and hope for the best. We want to avoid, at all costs, a assured that CDC will shortly be finishing its hydraulic repeat of 2007, and this signals a major step forward in modeling/ feasibility work and we look forward to all that effort and expense leading to tangible action – for example our plans to safeguard the district’s wellbeing. to prevent the flood relief channel from overflowing again. From CDC’s Business Matters newsletter Feb 2010. 4 5 Memories of the Local Railways From Alan Price, Lower Oddington “Last year Stow Times featured an article on Stow Railway Station. the driver plenty of time to slow down or stop. (A detonator is an Continuing the theme of the steam railway in the local area, my explosive device that is strapped to the rail with two lead strips - as Grandfather & Father were employed at Adlestrop Railway Station. the train wheels go over these, they make a loud bang which will alert My Grandfather Louis Newman was a plate layer, which meant that he the driver. They are laid in ones, twos and threes, all depending on worked within the team that maintained the railway tracks. He was whether the train is to slow down or stop, or just as a warning.) employed at Adlestrop Station before the First World War, and when My Mother would go fogging with her father sometimes at night, and my Grandfather would lay the detonators and then put my Mother through the fence before the train came. She would cover her ears because of the loud bang. My Mother said that it was always a worrying time for her and my Grandmother when he would go out on his own to do this job – no Health & Safety in those days! During snow storms my Grandfather would rub paraffin into his boots so that it would melt the snow as he walked along the sleepers, preventing him from slipping, because if he did fall, being on his own, it could be along time before help would arrive. Left to right : Mr Casey the Station Master Harry Mills the Porter Percy Bond, my mother’s godfather war broke out, the British Army were short of qualified plate layers, so he volunteered to join the Royal Engineers to help the was effort.