Contents page Public Service Contact Details 4 Editorial 5 Letters 6 VE and VJ Days 9 Do Something Extraordinary 11 The Vegetable, Flower and Produce Show 13 Great Wilbraham Parish Council 15 Little Wilbraham Parish Council 18 Great Wilbraham Primary School 20 PTFA 21 Bottisham & Burwell Photographic Club 22 The Wilbrahams’ WI 23 Victory Peal 25 Website Launch 25 Six Mile Bottom Sports and Social Club 26 A View from the Garden 29 Great Wilbraham’s Common 30 Calendar 32/33 Wilbraham Underground 35 Care and Support Online Service 36 Memorial Hall Project Update 37 Bottisham Airfield Museum 39 Bottisham Patients’ Group 40 Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency 42 Great Wilbraham Broadband 44 The Over 60’s Temporary Move 45 Country Music Dances 45 Gardening Club 46 Watch Your Speed 46 Over the Farm Gate 47 Wilbrahams’ Cricket Club – Early Season Report 50 In Memoriam Robert Barnes 51 Wilbrahams’ Hall Social Club Annual General Meeting 52 Saturday Night Confirmation 54 RE:NEW 56 Open Studios 58 Advertisers 60 Community Group Contact Details 61 Bus Timetable 62 3 Public Service Contact Details Police Emergency Police, Fire or Ambulance 999 Community Support Officer PCSO Julie Hajredini 101 ext. 7113441 Doctors The Surgery, Bottisham Enquiries/Appointments : 810030 Mon-Fri: 08:30 am to 6.00 pm Fulbourn Health Centre Enquiries/Appointments : 880216 Mon-Fri: 08:30 am to 6.00 pm Out-of-hours / Urgent Care NHS Direct 111 Cambridgeshire Faith Anglican Church Rev Alice Goodman 880337 Lay Minister: Steve Mashford, 882163 Baptist Church Peter Wells, 812388, www.re-new.me.uk [email protected] [email protected] Rev Keith Morrison, 813055 Great Wilbraham Parish Council www.gt-wilbraham-pc.org.uk Chairman John Beadsmoore 880889 [email protected] Clerk Natalie Mulvey 07887813702 [email protected] Little Wilbraham Parish Council Chairman Chris Tebbit 811009 Clerk Diane Bramwell 812426 [email protected] Councillors County Councillor John Williams [email protected] District Councillor Robert Turner 813437 [email protected] Front cover illustration : The Bottisham Four (internet) Back cover photos from Barry Ward’s collection Other photos by contributors & Martin Gienke Printed by Burwell Community Print Centre 4 Editorial Hello again. The summer edition of the warbler is at last here, not that I am wishing away the summer yet. We have compiled another bumper edition for you. As I said in the Spring edition there are a lot of commemorations this year. 200 years since Wellington fought Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The battle involved on of our local East Anglian regiments. I suppose the one thing that affected us all is the anniversary of VE, and VJ day which marked the end of the Second World War, in Europe and Japan. We have got photos and memories of what it was like at that time. Not so far away from here was Bottisham Airfield. Bits of what were part of the airfield are still visible today. The road that went round the periphery of the airfield is in parts still there, visible twice as you head towards the Missing Sock pub, just after the Little Wilbraham crossroads and just before the flyover. The buildings, that were the Old Smokery were also part of the airfield and are now The Bottisham Airfield Museum. The outline of the runway can still be seen, but now as a long thick row of trees. Also the track which intersected the runway towards the SW end is now a permanent road which cuts through this row of trees. The airfield was occupied by the RAF, the USAF and the Belgian air force during its active life. The Americans who played a large part in both theatres of the war, occupied the airfield from 1943 to 1944. The 361 fighter group consisting of the 374, 375 and 376 fighter squadrons were based at Bottisham flying initially Thunderbolts and then P51 Mustangs. The cover picture is of the Bottisham Four P51s flying on the 26th July 1944. Unfortunately the planes didn’t make it through the war as they were either lost or crashed. As you may know I am a regular cyclist. As I write this not only am I looking forward to, but I am training for The Tour de Dialysis. The aim is to cover all three of our satellite dialysis units covering 168 miles in 2 days. We set off on the 5th June, visiting Bury and finishing in King Lynn. Then, on the 6th of June we leave Kings Lynn, go to Hinchingbrook and then return to Addenbrookes. Closer to home is the interesting letter about cycle paths, linking the local villages together. Wouldn’t it be good to be able to get to Bottisham or Fulbourn without having to go on a road. I think this has to be the way forward now that the bus service has been reduced so much and will not get any better unless we have significant housing development within the villages. I never thought that so much damage could be caused when a road was closed. My son, coming out of the social club last week was entertained for well over an hour when a lorry got stuck down Toft Lane as a result of the closure. There are pictures in the Warbler that show the damage caused. I think personally, it is high time that large articulated lorries with inexperienced drivers should (almost) be banned from coming through the villages particularly at night. Enjoy your read. John Torode, Editor 5 Heroes of The Air What is in these boys of ours, who roam the skies in war? The courage and the nerve of them as in the night the engines roar Out to a far and distant land, out to an alien shore. Do they think “will I come back”, as this land they leave behind. Or are they too full of the job in hand to ever really mind. Some don’t come back, they leave a void, heartache and sorrow. Those left behind just wait and hope for news on each tomorrow. Back with the dawn those who return with thoughts of a job well done. A little praise, a little rest and perhaps an evening’s fun. They are all so young, lives hardly tried, just boys without a care. All men should raise their eyes and thank the heroes of the air. Dora S Rees Many people will remember Dora Rees, grandmother to several children. She wrote this poem after one of her nephews, a rear gunner, was killed on a mission. Greta Rees Letters Dear Editor I attended the Great Wilbraham Parish Council meeting on April 23rd and heard the groan of disapproval when it was announced that Bidwells would not be attending and the Parish Council felt unable to deal with the matter of housing in our village. The reason for this appears to be that the matter was now being dealt with by SCDC (South Cambs District Council) and the villages would be told the outcome in due course according to Mr Deas of ACRE. The Parish Plan does not classify housing as a major issue. It is classified as medium and specifically records that expansion on the edges of our village is not favoured by its residents and they have demonstrated this to those villages formulating the plan. It is important to note that ACRE themselves carried out the survey for this Parish Plan. Only 2.5% of residents have identified a need for housing and no attempt was made in the survey to identify when this would be needed so it is not “current and immediate.” This means that the majority who did not respond to the survey probably did so because they are not in need. How can it be right that a rather vague survey by vested interests, giving a rather vague response, be used to fabricate a case to change the character of our village forever! R Burton 6 Dear Editor I would like to thank all those who have taken the trouble to seek out Bette or myself to offer their sympathies for the inappropriate spot to put the machinery shed. Other comments are not printable! We have explained that it may have a better appearance when the wood clothing is put on, but it is the siting they take issue with. It is comforting to know that others agree with our view. Brian Armstrong Dear Editor Since moving to Little Wilbraham, I've been disappointed with the lack of any safe cycle routes from The Wilbrahams to anywhere else. With possible further cuts to the bus services, it leaves many adults and youngsters in the villages completely reliant on a car and driver, even for relatively short journeys. Like many others, my son travels daily to college in Cambridge and has the option of either a 7 mile/ 35 minute dangerous and muddy cycle journey via Fulbourn or over an hour of 2 bus rides at very restricted and infrequent times. I would also like to cycle to work (Science Park area), but am unhappy at cycling along the Little Wilbraham Road to Quy with it's narrow, fast road, blind bridge summit and a history of cyclists being hit and injured by vehicles along it. I believe many people would also like to cycle the short distance to Bottisham if it was safer; the many children who attend Bottisham Village College, the Sports Centre & Pool or visit the shops and friends there and the other nearby villages on cycle Route 51.