SSTTOOWWEE BBYY CCHHAARRTTLLEEYY PPAARRIISSHH CCOOUUNNCCIILL C H R I S T M A S N E W S L E T T E R A L E T T E R F R O M O U R C H A I R M A N As 2020 draws to a close, December continues to be an ever-changing cycle of dos and don’ts! We came out of Lockdown Two at the beginning of the month only to find that the new tiering system didn’t change much for Staffordshire - Lockdown to Lockup!! We thought it was ‘beginning to look a lot (more) like Christmas’ with non-essential shops opening and ‘freedom’ for five days over Christmas, only then to be told that due to dramatically increasing infection rates of the new variant of Covid19 we can only have one day……and no sleepovers!! ‘IT’LL BE OVER BY CHRISTMAS’, said Boris Johnson in July, ‘as long as you all wish hard enough’. Well, I think we’ve all wished and wished since March but it appears that Covid19 had other plans for our Christmas…….and forgot to tell Boris!! Maybe it’s not all bad……last year I had sixteen for Christmas Day lunch, this year we are three….so I won’t be spending the days before preparing vegetables and laying tables and getting up at 5 am on Christmas morning to put the turkey in the oven……and then all the clearing up afterwards!! Christmas will undoubtedly be different this year, we will miss our loved ones that we cannot meet up with and it does get harder to abide by the ever-increasing rules but we have now passed the shortest darkest day of 2020 and have the spring to look forward to with the snowdrops, crocus and daffodils……that splash of colour should cheer us all up! The vaccine is here and hopefully, some Parishioners have already received it, it’s not a magic cure and we will still have to treat life with caution for some considerable time but there is light at the end of the tunnel, we just need to be patient for a little longer, make the most of what we have got this Christmas and remember those less fortunate than ourselves. I wish you a very Happy Christmas and pray that 2021 is a better year for us all. Barbara Hurdle Chairman Stowe-By-Chartley Parish Council S T O W E B Y C H A R T L E Y | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 | S T O W E B Y C H A R T L E Y P A R I S H C O U N C I L Christmas Food Parcels The Summer food parcels were very well received A Covid risk assessment was carried out for the safe within the Parish, therefore the Parish Council delivery and everyone involved has given their time to thought it a good idea to do a similar thing this organise the food parcels in a voluntary capacity. We are Christmas albeit with a smaller parcel, just to bring a also very grateful to Cllr Alan Sheppard, a resident from little bit of Christmas Spirit (sorry no alcohol in the Amerton and a new Councillor, who kindly agreed to give parcels!!) to those Parishioners who are shielding, up his time to deliver these parcels dressed up as Santa. self-isolating or are vulnerable, during these unprecedented times. Christmas Parcel to consist of: The cost of the parcels has been paid for mainly by 1 jar of coffee Staffordshire County Councillor John Francis, from 1 box of tea bags his Covid 19 Fund and the balance being met by The A Slice of Christmas Cake Stowe Charities Fund, Amerton Farm Shop and Mince Pie Amerton Farm Ltd. Apple Orange. The delivery was carried out on Tuesday 22nd December 2020. From left to right: Cllr. Barbara Hurdle, Chairman of Stowe by Chartley Parish Council, SANTA (Cllr. Alan Sheppard), Mrs Paula Holmes, Mr Brian Holmes and County Councillor John Francis. ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH THE VILLAGE HALL The church has been open throughout the Due to the current Covid restrictions the summer for private prayer on a Sunday. Sadly Village Hall is closed for bookings. For more due to further Covid 19 restrictions this has information please visit: become too difficult to maintain, therefore the church is closed until further notice. For more www.stowebychartley.co.uk information on this please contact Michael or Jenny Brown on 01889 270596 or visit: www.midtrentchurches.org.uk S T O W E B Y C H A R T L E Y P A R I S H C O U N C I L | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 | S T O W E B Y C H A R T L E Y P A R I S H C O U N C I L W E L C O M E T O A L A N S H E P P A R D O U R N E W P A R I S H C O U N C I L L O R We now have a new member of the Parish Council, Mr Alan Sheppard. This brings us up to our full quota of seven Councillors. Alan says: I moved into what is well known as " The Plough " pub opposite Amerton Farm in the summer of 2019. Being from Wales it is engrained into us welsh the sense of community so I have offered to play my part as and when required. A place appeared on the Parish Council so with no other offers I put myself forward and hey ho! I am now accepted and involved in helping and supporting you all which is a brief that I will look forward to delivering. I look forward to a change in all our fortunes in 2021 so may I wish you a " Merry Christmas " and " A Happy New Year " Nadolig Llawen! OTHER COUNCILLORS ARE: Cllr. Mrs Barbara Hurdle. Chair. 07973 412356. [email protected] Cllr. Mrs Eunice Finney. Vice Chair 07973134076 [email protected] Cllr. Mrs Tanya Alder 01889 271129 [email protected] Cllr. Mr Tom Lyons 01889 270941 [email protected] Cllr. Mr. Peter Coote 01889 270572 [email protected] Cllr. Mr. Kevin Byrne 01889 500381 [email protected] CLERK TO THE PARISH COUNCIL Mrs Catherine Gill. 01889 272679 [email protected] S T O W E B Y C H A R T L E Y | D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 | S T O W E B Y C H A R T L E Y P A R I S H C O U N C I L O T H E R N E W S F R O M O U R V I L L A G E THE COCK AT STOWE In November this year The Cock At Stowe announced they were closing their doors after many years of trading but there is nothing like a challenge and good news has followed with Teresa Broberg (who many of you know) and award-winning Chef Geoffrey Clarke decided to take up the challenge of opening The Cock once again and taking it forward into 2021 and beyond. Teresa said ‘we are absolutely so thankful for all the support being given by the village of Stowe and Hixon when we opened with our Dine Away menu. During these uncertain times we want The Cock to become part of the community and as we hopefully come out of this pandemic help to be part of the village again’. We are now offering our Dine Away menu and have just started our Sunday Lunch Dine Away menu. All the details are on our Facebook page and we would just like to wish all the villagers of Stowe by Chartley and Hixon a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope to see you soon – fingers crossed you will all be dining with us shortly AMERTON FARM As a local business we have been closed more than we have been open this year, but we are positive and very pleased we could run our activities for both Halloween and Christmas. We first thought we would have to cancel our Christmas activities when we found ourselves in Tier 3. Then the government gave permission for all Santa's Grottos, to operate in any tier and we have had the best Christmas ever, with over 4100 customers. Amerton Railway have also hosted 1300 customers on the Santa Special Trains. The phone has never stopped requesting Christmas events, as many businesses who normally offer Christmas activities have decided to give it a miss this year. Our risk assessment is 17 pages long and every area has to be sanitised after every family bubble. To give out a mince pie to customers for example we have to wrap the pies in cellophane 2 days before the event, they have to be moved from the plate with tongs for the customers to pick up from a table in their family bubbles and then the table has to be sanitised between each family bubble. We lost all the school Santa business, which is usually held during the month of December. So, in October we decided to re- invent the business model and came up with the idea that we need to go direct to schools with a land rover and trailer, with 2 reindeers and an Elf, so children could meet Santa's Reindeers.