Ampney Crucis           Ampney St Mary               Ampney St Peter

The Ampney Times

 

June/July 2005

 

 

The Ampney Crucis Spring Ball

Come along and enjoy an evening of congenial company, good food, and dancing to live music at the Corinium Stadium Marquee, Cirencester,
on Saturday, 18 June from 7.30 p.m. to 1.30 a.m. The evening is formal, and black tie is preferred but not essential. There’s no need to book a whole table. Tickets are £37.50 per person; proceeds go to Ampney Crucis School and Ampney Crucis Playground Association. Contact Rosanna Armitage ( 850005.

 

Film nights

The next Ampney Crucis Cinema showing will be on Wednesday 8 June 7.30 p.m. at the Ampney Crucis Village Hall, with The Aviator, Cert 12A, the story of Howard Hughes, the eccentric billionaire. £2.50 at the door; refreshments available at the interval.

The next film night will be Wednesday, 20 July; see village notice boards for details. Enquiries to Anne Bridges ( 652471.

 

Ampney Crucis Association

The Association aims “to protect Ampney Crucis from development of such a nature or such a scale that it would harm the village”. All villagers are invited to attend its AGM, to be held on Monday, 27 June, 7.30 pm, Ampney Crucis Village Hall.  One of the main items of business is the election of the committee for the next three years.

 

Ampney St Peter and St Mary Barbecue

The Ampney St Peter and St Mary Barbecue is being held on Wednesday, 15 June from 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm., at The Manor, Ampney St. Mary, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Mark Heaton, Tickets £8.00 or two for £15.00 - advance booking from P Ansdell (851217.

 

 

 

 

Car Boot Sale

The Ampney St Peter and St Mary Car Boot Sale is being held on Monday, 29 August on the Moor.  Put this date in your diary; further details in our next issue.

 

Ampney Crucis Village Fete

Your village fete returns to the cricket field on the afternoon of Saturday July 9 bigger and better than ever and your company is requested for an afternoon of fun and feasting.  Yes, Frank’s lamb roast will be back by popular acclaim so there’s no need to cook lunch that day.

Proceeds this year will be shared between the school and the church with smaller donations being made to village based activity groups so please come along to help swell the coffers.  Please buy the raffle tickets which will have been delivered to you – a member of the committee will collect the cash and counterfoils soon.

Please call John Ducker (( 851524) if you have any books for the book stall; nearer the day we would be grateful for bottles for the tombola and cakes for the cake stall.

If you have any ideas on how the fete could be made even more enjoyable, contact Rosanna (( 850005) or Peter (( 851223).

 

Ampney Crucis Playground

Following four years of fund raising and form filling, the Ampney Crucis Playground Association is delighted to extend an invitation to all Ampney Crucis residents to attend our official opening party. Please come to the playground at 5pm on Sunday June 5th for a glass of wine or soft drink to toast the projects completion. Oh - and children are welcome!

 

Ashbrook Aces retain the Shield ! – Anne Bridges

Now in its 13th year, the Village Quiz continues to be a popular event on the village calendar. Thirteen teams entered this year, answering questions ranging from naming Donald Duck's three nephews, to identifying the shipping areas around Britain. The winning team came from Ampney St. Mary and the winners of the chocolate consolation prize were from the Sixties Club.

Special thanks must go to Fran Huckle and Sally Hebbs who, despite moving away from the Village, agreed to continue in their roles as question masters.

 

School news – Andy Simpson

We have nearly finished our project on the school gardens and now have two large raised beds for planting in the school grounds. We have also created a paved 'amphitheatre' for use by the children at playtimes and during drama and topic lessons.  It is intended to make these gardens an integral part of our schools curriculum, with children involved in the planting, tending, harvesting and “disposal” of produce.

Can you help?

To make this project work effectively I am hoping to find some local volunteers - parents or members of the local community who are happy to give up part of their Friday afternoons to work with small groups of children. If you are interested in helping us to make this project a sustainable part of our curriculum please contact the school (( 851440) so we can set up a rota of interested helpers.

 

Mobile Police Station

The mobile police station, with PC Reuben Wyatt, will visit the Ampneys, at these times (approximately)

 

A Crucis          A St M            A St P

4 June             1245                1300                1400

14 June           1245                1300                1400

12 July             1645                1700                1800

33 July             1245                1300                1400

 

É07734 068276.

 email egmps@gloucestershire.police.uk

 

 

Brownies turn 30 – Anne Bridges

To celebrate their 30^th birthday, Ampney Crucis Brownies welcomed ex Guiders and Helpers to one of their meetings in April. The Pack was started in 1975 by Marlene Broadhurst under the watchful and encouraging eyes of Audrey Greenaway and Margaret Ockwell who ran Ampney Crucis Guides. Since then three other Brown Owls have been in charge, Sarah Herbert (now Ball), Janet Brunner and Anne Bridges.  Marlene has returned to the Pack and is now a very enthusiastic Unit Helper.

 

The visitors enjoyed looking at photos taken at various times and spotting faces they remembered. Opinion was divided about the brown dresses that the girls used to wear! Nowadays the uniform has been given the designer treatment and the girls can choose what they wear from long sleeved t-shirts, gilets, combat type trousers, leggings or even a skirt!

Although there have been a number of changes to the programme, the motto “Lend a Hand” and the law “A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a good turn every day” remain unchanged.

Interest badges are as popular as ever. To keep up to date, some new topics have been added such as Circus performer, Computer, Environment and Disability awareness.

Brownies is for girls aged between 7 and 10 years. Currently the Pack has its full quota of girls. Enquiries to Anne Bridges ( 652471.

 

 

 

 

The Ampney Times needs you!   We are looking for an additional editor to join our ranks - the only ‘must haves’ are a computer (with Microsoft Word) and access to email.  Full training given (but it’s not that difficult!).    We are also looking for someone to give a hand with the printing and collating.  We use the high speed Risograph at the Church Office in Fairford – this is very simple to operate and does the whole printing job in less than half an hour.  The total commitment is about four hours, six times a year.   If you would like to help, please contact David Vessey ( 851438.

 

 

Ampney St Peter News -  Sue Tufnell

 

 

The Sunhill Action Group

In response to the proposal  for the composting facility at Sunhill, the Sunhill Action group has been formed to represent the interest of all the affected towns and parishes along the A417, including both Fairford and Lechlade. Councillor David Fowles has explained that there are many unknowns with the process, the proposed waste input, the market for the product and the impact of the transport on the local area. In particular there is considerable concern about:

·         bio-security and the likelihood of meat products and infected material entering the supply;

·         the proposed use of the A417 for access of the 40 tonne lorries.  (It has also been stated later that up to 800 extra vehicle journeys per month would be possible from the application.)

About eleven Parishes joined in the Sunhill Action Group (SAG) after representations to Cotswold District Council (CDC) resulted in a recommended rejection of the scheme. SAG and the Parish representatives are liaising with Gloucestershire County Council (GCC), who have overall responsibility for waste management and administered the application.

newsletter is displayed on notice boards as appropriate. To date it has explained that GCC have deferred their decision. SAG have now appointed a local consultancy group and retained a QC.

SAG is funded from donations made by private individuals and some of the Parish/Town Councils. Both a Pig Roast and a Concert have been arranged to raise funds from the public who are also invited to the fortnightly meetings. In addition, all residents have been asked to continue reporting smells and to notify the Environment Agency.

Ampney St Peter and St Mary have linked with Poulton to ensure a united and consistent representation against the proposed use of the A417.

 

A417.

The proposal is to reclassify the route as suitable only for lorry access/diversions (as adopted by Oxfordshire for the section beyond Lechlade).  It was believed that the proposal had been favourably received and seriously considered, but it now appears that the local Parishes have been ignored once again. Councillor David Fowles has advised that there had been over 1200 signatories to the petition for down grading of the A 417 (the A to B campaign). He and Councillor Horsfall have also emphasized that the proposal is still active but that it would eventually involve central government and would progress slowly. It would appear that we have got another fight on our hands.

 

Tree Planting

The tree-planting programme has mainly been completed and all of the trees are flourishing. We are indebted once more to Mr Don Underwood for his hard work and know-how, to Mr Graham King (a consultant to CDC) who followed up the original advice from CDC and obtained the stock, and to Mr Mick Sharpe who again selflessly gave his time and energy.

 

Thames Water

Work on the Charlham Lane Sewage Treatment Works is now complete but Thames Water (TW) claim that flow measurements on the incoming pipework to the Ampney St Peter pumping station await wetter conditions. TW want these measurements before addressing the sizing of the rising main (and possibly the rating of the pumping station). Mr Rob Bull, the CDC engineer, is also monitoring progress via the “Flooding Forum”.

 

Welcomes

Our belated welcoming greetings go to Malcolm and Jane Perring at Cleeve House, Chris and Gael Morling at Iveson Manor and to Nino and Rachel DeVito at Can Court House.

 

Volunteers

Volunteers are again being sought for clearing the pond and the main drainage ditch and for general grass cutting to preserve the margins of the ditches and the tree line.

 

AGM Elections

Mr Julian Selby-Rickards was re-elected Chairman with the unanimous support of the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

Temptation at the Ampneys Gardening Club – Gerry Cutts

The Ampneys Gardening Club again welcomed James Billings from the Lechlade Garden Centre. He brought with him a range of plants, many of which were new or improved varieties of old favourites. He gave a practical demonstration of potting up a tub which he then gave as a raffle prize. It was an entertaining as well as an informative evening. Many members went home with more plants than they intended or had space in which to put them. When the speaker is so enthusiastic about his subject it is difficult not to be carried away.

 

Village sports

Cricket – Phil Gearing

Ampney have played Minety, Sherston and South Cerney in the Saturday League - winning two and losing one. The highlight so far has been a double hundred by Nick Rutter - a rare feat in our cricket, and a knock of 93 not out by Jim Woodcock. We have also played Stowell Park in a Sunday game where the match was drawn.

We are holding our annual Duck Race and Spring Fair on Bank Holiday Monday 30 May at 1.00 pm on the cricket pitch and everybody is welcome.

 

 

Pétanque club – Christine Cridford

We meet Tuesdays from 7pm at the pitch by the cricket club. New members wanted. Just turn up or contact Liz Anderson      ( 850141.

 

 

The Robert Pleydell Charity

Each year, the Robert Pleydell Trust makes a small number of grants to students and apprentices up to age 25 who either live in Ampney Crucis or whose parents live there.  The grants go towards the purchase of books, tools and other equipment.

If you would like to apply for a grant, full details will be in the next (August/September) edition of The Ampney Times.

 

Ampney St Mary news – Nicol Ferguson

The Parish Meeting was held on 9 May, at which I, for my sins, was re-elected as Chairman for another year. Ken Austen, as Parish Clerk, agreed to continue in his position.

The main subject for discussion was the proposed residential development of Elm Tree Yard. Whilst there was no objection in principle, certain concerns and reservations, already conveyed to the Planning Service, were confirmed by the meeting. Anyone not at the meeting can see the plans and comments, which are with Ken Austen (( 851568).

 

Ampney Crucis Parish Council

Elections

At the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council, Councillor Vessey was re-elected Chairman and Councillor Kelly was elected Vice-Chairman.

 

Richard Pile

Immediately before the Ampney Crucis Annual Village meeting on 9 May, there was a brief ceremony to mark Richard Pile’s service to the community.  Friends and family (including no fewer than five previous Chairman of the Parish Council) gathered to see Elisabeth Pile unveil a plaque recording Richard’s 16 year’s chairmanship.

 

Clean-up day

This was held on 7 May – thanks to everybody who turned up.  The numbers were disappointing so we will have to try harder next year.

 

Jamie Stephen’s ‘Fresh Eggs’

After 18 years in the RAF flying Hercules, Jamie came down to earth with another type of bird – chickens.  From his home in Waterton Lane, Jamie offers five different colours of eggs from five different types of chickens and his claim is, that if after trying half a dozen eggs, you are not convinced that they taste better than those off the supermarket shelves, he will give you your money back!  And it’s not just eggs; Jamie also offers a range of other products from lemon curd to flapjacks (all made to order) as well as seasonal jams and preserves.

Jamie’s ad gives more details and he has kindly offered to sponsor this edition of The Ampney Times.

 

Annual Report of Ampney Crucis Parish Council – David Vessey

 

 

 

Barry Dent and Tim Tremellen have recently been co-opted to join our team of five councillors; myself, Gerald Gaden, Adrian Grazebrook, Kim Hartshorne and Peter Kelly.  We have held eight meetings this year, six regular meetings and two extraordinary meetings to discuss the new children’s playground.

We are represented at District level by Edward Horsfall. We welcome Lady Dunrossil as our new County Councillor, Ray Theodoulou having slipped from our grasp due to boundary changes.

 

Planning

The Parish Council comments on all planning applications.  We received 37 applications this year, but of these, the Council objected to only four.  Copies of all letters of objection written by the Council are posted on the notice boards.

The new Local Plan will probably be adopted early next year and will last until 2009.  A new planning regime will then be introduced under which most of the major structural decisions will be taken by the South West Regional Assembly.  It is likely that the general broad range of rules governing local planning applications will remain largely unchanged though one major change is that the County Council will eventually play no further part in planning policy.

 

Finance

The precept for the year ending 31 March 2005 was set at £5,500 though this will rise in the coming year due to expenditure on the playground  The accounts for the year have been audited by our Internal Auditor, Neil Holt and externally by Moore Stephens of Bath.

 

Highway matters

Drainage on Riding Lane and Butcher’s Arms Lane has now been largely remedied, there has been repair work on Ernie Holders Lane to relieve some of the flooding, and parts of Back Lane and The Lannocks have been resurfaced. 

County Council finance for highway repairs is very limited, but the Parish Council continues to lobby for further repair work when necessary. 

 

Communications

The Ampney Times is now delivered to all 416 households in the three villages.  Thanks to Harold Stevens, we now have two top quality notice boards for parish notices.

The Parish Council posts its agendas and minutes on the site (run by Frank Skinner )as an additional means of notification.  Increasing use is being made of the site by local organisations.

The Playground

The playground is almost complete.  The Playground Committee has done a sterling job but I have to single out Kim Hartshorne who has been relentless in chasing down the apparently endless supply of niggling problems which seem to beset projects of this nature.

All the capital costs of the playground have been met by grants, donations and fund raising activities.  Certain running costs are met by the parish – insurance (set at £600 initially) additional audit costs (£100 for the next two years) and £1,000 a year for the next five years to set up a sinking fund to remove the playground should it prove not to be successful.  This is a requirement of our auditors.

Consequently, the rise in the precept due to the playground for the coming year will be £1,700.

 

Sunhill

Finally, I will mention the proposed development at the mushroom compost facility at Sunhill to process the so-called Mixed Organic Waste which is essentially kitchen waste which may have been contaminated. The proposed process is untested and the change of use will mean more lorries on our roads. 

The public reaction was so strong that the County Council reversed an earlier decision and agreed to call for an environmental assessments of all aspects of the proposal.  It had been hoped that a full Environmental Impact Assessment would be called for.  However, the County Council does not feel that this is necessary and neither does the Secretary of State.  Consequently, the assessment will be a somewhat routine assessment of the impact of the new facility and it is not known what weight this will have when the application is finally determined.

For the village, the principal concerns are the volume of new lorry traffic that could be generated along the A417 and the way in which kitchen waste is to be handled when it is included as part of the green waste refuse collections in a couple of year’s time.

One aspect which will need monitoring is the interest of the Regional Assembly in waste management.  It seems likely that we may have to react to a strategy developed in Taunton on matters affecting waste in Gloucestershire.

 

This is an edited version of the Chairman’s report – the full text can be found in the minutes or on the website.

 

Social Events

 

 

 

 

Sixties Club

Meets Mondays Ampney Crucis Village Hall 2.00pm unless otherwise noted

6 June, Trip to Cadbury‘s Garden Centre; departure time to be notified

20 June, “Prison life” by Mr Mills

4 July, Annual outing to Weston-super-Mare; departure time to be notified

18 July, Music with Ann and Bill Neale.

Contact Paddy or Peggy Thompson (851619

 

Ampneys Gardening Club

Meets monthly Thursdays Ampney Crucis Village Hall 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm unless otherwise noted

22 June, 4.00 pm, Club outing to Highnam Court Gardens, Highnam, Gloucester

21 July, 7.00 pm, Summer social evening, Sterry’s Mill, Ampney Crucis, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Paul Brake.

Contact Joyce Cutts ( 851540

 

Mothers’ Union

Meets monthly at various venues and times; everyone is welcome.

2 June, 2.30 pm, Waterton Farm House - discussion

9 June, 10.00 am to 3.00 pm, Deanery quiet day at Harnhill Church led by Archdeacon of Gloucester. Please bring lunch and drinks. ALL WELCOME.

7 July, noon, Deanery summer lunch at Waterton Farm House. ALL WELCOME.  If you are not a member and would like to join us please let Rosemary ((654282) know so there is enough to eat!

Ampney and District Royal British Legion Women’s Section

Usually meets Tuesdays, Ampney Crucis Village Hall, 2.00pm unless otherwise noted.

21 June, 7.00 pm, barbecue and coffee evening at The Hope, Ampney St Peter.

Contact Janet Gibbs (851227

Whist drives,  14 June, 12 July, 7.30 pm, the Pop In, Cirencester.

 

Women’s Institute

Meets monthly Thursdays Ampney Crucis Village Hall 7.30 pm  unless otherwise noted

23 June, “Gloucestershire and other ephemera” by Mr R O Knott

28 July, “Walking the Cheltenham beat” by Mr and Mrs Osmond

Contact Sonja Payne (850267

 

Youth Club

The club, open to all children in years 2 to 6 who live in Ampney Crucis and/or who attend Ampney Crucis School is full for the time being. However, new membership will start in September.  If you are interested in your children joining, please contact Rosanna Armitage ( 850005.

 

 

Bookings for the Village Hall may be made through Paddy or Peggy Thomson ( 851619

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

This is your newsletter; contributions from individuals, clubs etc always welcome

 

Copy deadline for next issue (August/September):  Friday 15 July 2005

Send to Elisabeth Gerver, Cider Orchard, Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire GL7 5RY

( 850508

 

Editors: David Vessey, Elisabeth Gerver, Christine Cridford

 

 

Produced by Ampney Crucis Parish Council for the information of residents of the three villages.
No liability can be accepted by the Council or Councillors or the Parish meeting Chairmen  for any losses, however caused, arising from this publication

Advertisements

 

Personal ads cost £1 per advert per issue. Local businesses may place an ad (£5) or sponsor an issue (£15).

 Please contact David Vessey ((851438) for details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would You Like To Get A Qualification In Any Of These Subjects?

 

 

Or Perhaps You Have Your Own Ideas

We can provide help with childcare and travel costs

 

 

 

 

 

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Please contact me about the SMART project advertised in the Parish magazine

 

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