HEMINGFORD ABBOTS PARISH MAGAZINE October 2020 Parish Church Notices Women’s Institute News Parish Council Update CHURCH NOTICEBOARD Church Services in October St Margaret’s Church St James’ Church HemingFord Abbots October HemingFord Grey 9.00am Morning Prayer 9.30am Harvest 4th 11.00am Zoom th Wednesday 7 10.30am Service of the Word 9.00am Morning Prayer 9.30am Morning Prayer (BCP) 11th 11.00am Zoom Wednesday 16th 10.30am Holy Communion 9.30am Morning Prayer (BCP) 9.00am Morning Prayer 18th followed by the APCM 11.00am Zoom 9.00am Morning Prayer 9.30am Matins 25th 11.00am Zoom November 9.00am Morning Prayer 9.30am Morning Prayer (BCP) 1st 11.00am Zoom Please do contact our priest-in-charge if you would like to talk, or for prayer on 01480 39478 or via email [email protected]. Our associate priests Judith Bolton and Brian Atling would also Be glad to speak with you. If you would like a regular emails with church news for both St Margaret’s and St James’ and including links to join online services please sign up on the St James’ website: https://churchbytheriver.org.uk/wp3/ and scroll down to the Signup on the left side. Frontispiece – John Hyde Dear Friends, Thank you to all who are taking such care when attending our Sunday worship. We continue to put our trust in the mercy of God as well as taking sensible precautions to stay safe. I’m sure, like me, you are perplexed by the struggle our politicians and scientists appear to have in agreeing what to communicate and how to encourage behaviour that is so at odds with our desire and need for togetherness. Even if behaviour is at odds with a state-projected belief that death is to be feared, it is understandable that most people who have the means do anything to avoid this risk. The Christians good news is that death has been defeated. That is why the celebration of Christ’s resurrection is both a hope and an encouragement. Each week the Church would normally be doing this by breaking of bread and drinking from the cup of wine. As we consider the options of how to re-instate this celebration of the Christian hope at St Margaret’s we do so with regard to good practice as well as theological differences held within the Church. In the meantime we experience the uncomfortable nature of the liminal space between how it was and the ‘new normal’ that we have yet to attain. One thing should be sure, that there will be no going back. While this will be disturbing to some we can find encouragement from the picture of the good shepherd which Jesus uses of himself. The shepherd’s job is to lead the sheep, from the muddied waters and trampled pastures of today, to fresh pasture and clear water of tomorrow. Psalm 23 reminds us that even though we may travel through the valley of the shadow of death we should be without fear as God has promised his presence and life to come. We were much touched by the send-off we were given by friends and neighbours after our wedding at St Margaret’s on September 26th. It was a cold day so it was particularly brave of so many people to stand and wait for us to emerge on our way to the Village Hall. We were lucky to be able to have 30 guests under the Covid-19 rules for the wedding, but of course we would have liked to have more. The presence of so many friends after the church service made all the difference to the atmosphere. Thank you very much indeed to those who came. Jill and Nick Hemingford USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS Highway Faults including Potholes Abandoned cars 0345 045 5212 01480 388297 https://highwaysreporting.cambridgeshire. Fly tipping gov.uk/ 01480 388640 Illegal signs/graffiti https://applications.huntingdonshire.g 0800 7832220 ov.uk/forms/Operations/New_Street Refuse & recycling helpline _Cleaning_1.html 0800 3896613 Faulty and broken streetlights http://huntingdonshire.gov.uk/ K&M Lighting Services 01480 395806 St Ives & District Neighbourhood Where possible please quote street light Policing Team - dial 101 number on plaque on the street light and the location. PARISH COUNCIL NEWS – JULY AND AUGUST The Parish Council meetings will continue to be held by Zoom. The agendas are posted in the usual way on notice boards and website. If anyone wishes to make representation or ‘attend’ a Council meeting please ask the Clerk for the connection details for the Zoom meetings. The next Parish Council meeting will be on Monday 26th October at 7.30 p.m. The Annual Parish Meeting was advertised for Monday 28th September to be held by Zoom. There were no items requested for the agenda by parishioners. The Hemingfords Action Group, and the Parish River Warden subsequently gave a summary of their year’s activities to the September Parish Council meeting. Below is the Chairman’s report for May 2019 - September 2020 Hemingford Abbots Parish Council Chairman’s Report May 2019 – Sept 2020 Introduction This Annual Report covers the activities of the Parish Council over a period of 15 months, much of it in unprecedented times. The Covid pandemic has shaken the world in 2020 and we have all had to adjust rapidly to new ways of living and working. At the time of writing, in September 2020, the Public Health emergency continues and there is no way of knowing when ‘normal’ life can resume. I will report on the structure and working of HAPC during these 15 months in two sections – before Lockdown in mid-March 2020, and after that time. The Council In May 2019 the Parish Council elected Bridget Flanagan as Chairman and John Peters and Brian Parsons as Vice-Chairmen for the coming year. The other Councillors comprised Chris Nicol, Zoe Ryall, Marcus Whewell and Josephine Wills. Georgina West was the Clerk and RFO. During the year, there have been several changes to the Council. In October 2019 Chris Nicol resigned from the Council but returned in January 2020 when she was co-opted. In November 2019 Brian Parsons resigned and in January 2020 Josephine Wills resigned – both for personal reasons. These two Councillors brought considerable energy and skills to the Council and I thank them for their significant contributions. The Council now has two vacancies and feels it is important to fill these as soon as possible – so the load can be shared, and more importantly, so that new energy can be introduced for the future. Hemingford Abbots is a vibrant and active community in which its Parish Council plays a central role. The ClerK Georgina West took retirement in December 2019; she had been with HAPC for only 14 months but had worked hard to learn about the village and ensure the smooth running of the Council. The role of Clerk is complex and requires a far greater level of professional expertise than is often appreciated. I thank Georgina for all her work with HAPC and the Parish – always done with her kind good nature. HAPC counted itself extraordinarily fortunate to appoint Ramune Mimiene as Clerk in January 2020. She came on recommendation from our Internal Auditor, and was already Clerk to several other Parish Councils. County and District Councillors Ian Bates has continued as County Councillor for Hemingford Abbots. He has attended meetings regularly and is always very helpful on all matters under the CCC jurisdiction such as highways, waste and minerals, schools etc. The three District Councillors choose one of their team to attend HAPC meetings – and they too can be relied on to liaise for the Parish at HDC. After David Underwood’s resignation as HDC Councillor, Sarah Wilson took his seat in the by-election to work alongside Sarah Conboy and Mike Grice. Community Representatives and Helpers On behalf of HAPC I sincerely thank those members of the community who help the Council. Ted Burleigh is a Trustee of the Peace Memorial Playing Field. Ken Martin makes a regular check on the village Playing Field. Iain Muspratt liaises with the Environment Agency and reports on river matters. (HAPC continues to look for a new Footpath Warden – Iain has done this job for many years and would like to hand on to someone new). Josephine Wills joined the Hemingford Hub Good Neighbour Scheme when it was set up in September 2019. Johnny Brown is the IT expert who manages the village website and helps with the HAPC email system. He presents a quarterly analysis of the traffic data from two VAS (Vehicle activated signs). Erika Brown circulates the weekly St Ives area Policing reports. Through her village email she sends out occasional notices and information. If you would like to be on this list, you must ‘opt in’ and email [email protected] Zoe Brown manages the Community Facebook page. Iain Muspratt chairs the Hemingfords Action Group who give HAPC regular reports on matters relating to the old Golf Course site. The Annual Litter Pick in February was twice postponed due to dangerous weather conditions. Thank you to the stalwart team who, on the third attempt, collected, unfortunately as ever, a considerable amount of rubbish from our roadsides. Thank you also to the quiet individuals who collect litter from the meadow, common and riverside walks on a weekly basis throughout the year. Finance The Precept for 2019-20 was set at £21,748 and this represents an annual Band D property charge of £65.51. The main expenditure of the annual budget is for administration of the Council – Clerk’s salary, meeting room hire, training, insurance etc.