Please note that details of funeral services which take place at St. Peter’s Church, will appear on the main Church page under ‘Special Services’.

A gentleman has contacted the website to ask if anyone knows of any descendants of Thomas Stones & Elizabeth Wall (married in Alstonefield in 1790) and their son Daniel. If you can help, let me know. Thanks.

There has not been enough support or interest in an extension and we will therefore not be pursuing this suggestion.

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Wednesday 11th November at 7.00pm in the Village Hall. The meeting will commence with a Public Forum to which all Parishioners are invited. Come along and have your say.

Following some lively debate on the website Forum, this issue was discussed at the last Parish Council meeting, both during the public forum and the meeting itself. There had been suggestions that the speed limit through the village be lowered to 20mph, however it was concluded that such a move would be unnecessary and we would not in any case meet the criteria for a 20mph zone. It was decided that the main objective should be to ensure that drivers keep to the existing 30mph limit and the Community Police Officer will be contacted for advice and with a view to enforcement.

Various proposals were put forward and accepted at the last Council meeting on 30th September which include increasing and improving the signage around the village to encourage visitors to use car parks and not to park unsafely, inappropriately or on verges. Car park security will be reviewed in conjunction with the implementation of this project. The proposals now have to be costed and appropriate bodies such as Highways and the Police will be consulted, therefore please do not expect a ‘quick fix’. In the meantime, a suggestion from a Parishioner that notices be placed in the public toilets advising of alternative car parks, will be actioned.

Parishioners may also be interested to know that the Honesty Box in the Playing Fields car park is working, with over £50 having been collected in the 6 weeks to end September.

It’s the early hours. As one particular village machine is causing a sleepless problem, I resort to another machine and review the village website and notably the forum. I don’t have Eileen’s erudition, nor the wit to conjure up phantom airships, and the first day of school sadly belongs to a bygone era. We hold our hands up, and wonder why on earth we felt it was OK to drive onto a pavement to post a letter. And yet some posts have left good people feeling unfairly criticised.

Written words have a perculiar power that can make or break depending on how they are read. Take an innocent invitation – one popped through my door makes me feel warm and fuzzy and yet one displayed on someonelse’s mantlepiece taunts me. Am I the only person in the village not invited? What’s wrong with me? I wail. Daft isn’t it! We can’t invite everybody to everything. Then I remember how I swanned on my sofa for a month after an operation while my lovely new neighbours cleaned, washed, ironed and made cakes…good job too as I had so many visitors to feed. Then Brian was so ill and even our lawn was tenderly cared for. Every newsletter carries invites and thanks from one caring set of neighbours to another.

We live is a very special place, but that takes many good people to volunteer for jobs the rest of us would not want to do. Sleep will probably elude them too. So to all you unsung heroes – and heroines ‘Thank You’.
G’night all.

We want to black lead the iron grids which cover the heating system in Church and paint the front gates of church. It is not heavy work and we hope to be able to black lead the ironwork outside to reduce any mess made. If you can help, please come along on Wednesday and Friday evenings, 16th & 18th September, from 6.30 – 8.00 pm. Thanks.

How quickly time has passed!!!! It seems only yesterday when these little people were being introduced to their new community and already they are moving on to (slightly) larger pastures.

All the children appeared to forget all of their worries when they met up with their peers at Ilam and soon (too soon), also forgot about their parents. Tears were shed, but none by the children!!!

As I waved goodbye with quivering lips I remembered the saying ” give your children strong roots and wings to fly”. The strong roots are given by the safe, nurturing environment we strive to give our children so they feel secure and confident when they begin to ‘leave the nest’.
The wings we must allow for them to find themselves but hopefully with gentle guidence, respect and responsibility they will develop a passion for life and a sense of purpose.
So maybe one day these little fledglings will one day fly, but hopefully we will have given them strong enough roots to come back and share their wonderful  life experiences with us.

As a community we all help in providing this secure and nurturing environment and I thank you all for being part of their lives.

The Post Office will be closed on Thursday 10th and Monday 14th September. It will re-open as usual on Thursday 17th September.

Monday’s news bulletins relating the latest hullabaloo about cows attacking dogs and humans who approach their calves, reminded me of an incident that did this old heart good.

It was a summer’s day, around the turn of the century (the one just gone) when L and I watched and wondered why the cows at the back of the house put a bit of a spurt  into their usual ambling pace, gathering as if in conclave, in a far corner of the field.

Still novices at rural living, every new occurance was of great interest and this gathering of the clans, albeit of the bovine sort, had us watching and puzzled.  The length of a protracted coffee-break passed before the bulky, clustered circle split; cumbersome frames pushing and shoving for leg-room to turn and peel away one-by-one, back to the day-job of serious grazing.

Soppy parents still (great-grand’s actually) we oohed and aahed as a new mother raised herself from the ground to lick clean and fuss over the raggedy, prostrate form.  We were ridiculously pleased when the new-born showed signs of life  and it was probably naive of us to be so  surprised that the herd had rallied round as if to stand guard;  it was after all, the most vulnerable of times. We had often quoted  ‘nature takes care of its own’  but until that day we never quite knew how.    

I shall never understand why unthinking people who let loose dogs and themselves on young livestock, are so  indignant and surprised that they spurr the most docile of creatures to the fury of  a tiger when its young are threatened.

We shall have to spread the gospel of No Petting, No Patting !