Editors: David and Monica Lilley
Distribution: Tony Court
All contributions please. Deadline for next Icene Bulletin
12th
FEBRUARY 2003
Play Area A big thank you to all who helped spread the new
bark in the play area in early December.
It is necessary for safety reasons to keep this topped up every two
years or so, but it is quite a lot of work!
The Parish Council is applying for a grant to provide some safety grass
under the aerial runway, spring chick and spring horse this year. Perhaps we will be able to provide the same
under the rest of the equipment later.
Social Housing Another
thank you goes to Lewis Duke for enabling the social housing scheme to be
extended and for making more land available recently, so that the edges of the
site could be landscaped satisfactorily.
Flooding A third
thank you to all who helped with sandbags over the New Year. We managed to keep the Slade within its
banks – more or less – and prevented too much flooding down Abbey Street, but
it was a struggle.
Open meeting on Tuesday 4th February at 7.30 pm to discuss emergency
action. The Parish
Council would like to discuss the problems and emergency action with all those
affected, or at risk of flooding, particularly residents in Coploe Road and
Abbey Street. Please come to this
meeting and let us have your views.
Precept At this time of year the Parish Council has
to prepare its budget for the forthcoming financial year and request a precept
from the District Council. We are pleased
to tell you that for the third year running we have been able to keep the
precept at the same level of £9,700.00.
Proposed Skate Park At the January meeting the Parish Council gave its
support in principle to the project.
The working party reported that the design and costs are being prepared
and that fund raising efforts are under way.
Recycling Days are Wednesdays 5th and 19th
February.
The revision of the Church Electoral Roll will be taking
place in the middle of March. A copy of
the roll will be displayed in the Church porch between 25th February
and 11th March, and will then be revised. Please would anyone who wishes to add their name to the list, or
who knows of a name which should be removed, please contact me at Druid
Cottage, Church Street.
A copy of the revised Roll will be displayed in the
porch between 19th March and
2nd April.
Frances
Payne
If you wish to use this service,
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Services in February
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Sunday 2nd February |
6.30 p.m.
Candle Mass |
ICKLETON
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Thursday 6th February |
12.30 p.m. Holy Communion |
HINXTON |
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(Martyrs of Japan, 1597) |
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Sunday 9th February |
8.00
a.m. Holy Communion (BCP) |
ICKLETON |
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(4 before Lent) |
9.30
a.m. Parish Eucharist (Order 1) |
DUXFORD |
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11.00 a.m.
Joint Family Service |
DUXFORD |
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6.30 p.m.
Sung Evensong (BCP) |
ICKLETON |
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Thursday 13th February |
12.30 p.m.
Holy Communion |
HINXTON |
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Sunday 16th
February |
9.30
a.m. Parish Eucharist (Order 1) |
DUXFORD |
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(3 before
Lent) |
11.00 a.m.
Joint Family Eucharist |
ICKLETON |
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6.30 p.m.
Sung Evensong (BCP) |
HINXTON |
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Thursday 20th February |
12.30 p.m.
Holy Communion |
HINXTON |
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Sunday 23rd February |
9.30
a.m. Parish Eucharist (Order 1) |
DUXFORD |
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(2 before Lent) |
11.00
a.m. Joint Family Service and Godly
Play |
HINXTON |
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6.30
p.m. Sung Evensong and |
ICKLETON |
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Holy Communion (BCP) |
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Thursday 27th February |
12.30 p.m.
Holy Communion |
HINXTON |
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(George Herbert,priest, poet) |
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From the Vicar
Some of you may remember that our Harvest offerings last
year went to Cape Coast to help build a nursery. We heard about the nursery from Jo Merrifield, a member of our
Church, who is spending a gap year in Ghana and Togo, teaching and nursing. We were attracted by the idea of sending the
money directly to the people we wanted to benefit, instead of anonymously
through one of the big aid agencies and we were very pleased recently to
receive a letter from Jo and cards from Madam Molly Yankey and children at Lady
Heike Nursery, thanking us for our gift.
Since many people locally will have contributed (we raised £400) I
thought I would pass on to you some of the things which Jo and Madam Molly had
to say.
Jo writes:
“Thank you so much for the money from the Harvest Festival collections which
is now being used to build the roof of the nursery. I cannot describe how grateful they were to receive the
money; the building had to be
previously stopped due to lack of funds.
The nursery should now be completed by January.”
Madam Molly writes: “Thank you for the £400 given to
Lady Heike Nursery. We were trusting in
the Lord for money to roof the building of the nursery. May the Lord bless you and your Church. We are very grateful and hope to send you
pictures of the kids and their new building.”
Jo also reflects in her letter on the experience of
being in a country very different from our own. “It is a beautiful country and the people are so lovely,” she
writes. ”It is such a different world out here, not only the environment and
climate but people’s priorities in life.
You can’t help but admire their ‘never give up’ attitude and the way
they have learnt to enjoy life.”
As Lent approaches and we begin to reflect on our own
priorities may I wish you too a ‘never give up’ attitude and the ability to
make the most of the simple joys in life.
With God’s Blessing
Revd. Jane
Charman
E: gentianblue@antlworld.com
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CHAPEL
NOTICES - All Services start at 3.00 p.m.
Speakers for February
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February 2nd |
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Mr. G. Grundy |
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February 9th |
Holy Communion |
Rev. J. Gill |
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February
16th |
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Miss J. Hay |
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February
23rd |
|
Mrs. B. Kime |
I was sorry to miss the Christmas lunch which was all
arranged, so everything was as usual, but was surprised to see Cynthia and Barbara
come along with my lunch. Thank you also for the flowers and chocolates.
I think everyone enjoyed the lunch thanks to Mrs.
Fordham and her helpers.
Mrs. Westcott very kindly gave a lovely Christmas
cake for us to enjoy.
It is with great regret that I have to cease being
secretary of the Over 60s Club, owing to ill health.
Is there anyone who would take on doing this for us?
A lot of us are getting older and one or two can’t take on any more. Its only
every other week and I will tell anyone about it all.
Mrs. R. Lilley
I have received the police crime report for December incidents
in Ickleton as follows:
Four incidents were reported of which three were
theft from motor vehicles. All of these
occurred between 2nd and 3rd December. Two were in Frogge Street and one in Abbey
Street.
Also on the same date in Abbey Street a vehicle was
damaged but no entry gained. If you
have any information concerning these crimes, please let the police know.
Meanwhile and not far away in Duxford there were a
number of incidents.
An attempted burglary in St. Johns Street.
Items taken from a garden in Markby Close.
Traffic light heads stolen from road works
A shop window smashed by persons unknown.
A garden wall knocked down.
Van doors forced and items stolen from a vehicle
parked in Hunts Road.
Remember Duxford is only two miles away and what
happens there could easily happen here so be on your guard especially with so
many vehicles parked in the street.
I notice that ‘identity theft’ is again in the news
with information being obtained from rubbish bags, so if possible shred your
paperwork before throwing it away.
Tony
Court
STOP
PRESS……Vicar of Ickleton
is new Rural Dean.
Rev. Jane Charman, parish priest of Ickleton, Hinxton
and Duxford has been appointed Rural Dean of Shelford Deanery, succeeding Canon
Frank Fisher who has recently retired.
The post of Rural Dean is held in conjunction with a parish post so this
does not mean that Jane is moving away.
The role of the Rural Dean is to chair the Deanery Chapter and the
Deanery Synod, to act as a link between the Deanery and the Diocese, and to
support and assist other local churches and their clergy especially when needs
or difficulties arise. The Archdeacon
of Ely will commission Jane as Rural Dean at the Chapter Eucharist at 10.00
a.m. at Stapleford Parish Church on Tuesday 11th February. Anyone who would like to come along to the
service will be very welcome.
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-4-
There will be a meeting on Thursday February 6th
from 7.30 p.m. in the meeting room at the Village Hall for anybody who is
interested in helping in any way with Fundraising events for the Skatepark
appeal. If you cannot be there please
register your interest anyway by phoning Cathy Holding.
Carol Singing The carol singing on 23rd December went
exceptionally well. We were blessed
with mild, and mercifully not wet, weather.
Over thirty people joined in and the volume and quality of sound
produced was brilliant. We collected
£172.00 for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Rosie – a record to
date. Thank you to everyone who joined
in and especially to Gerry and Sheila Birch for providing warm refreshments to
so many.
The Boxing Day Walk This was, once
again, well supported by twenty something walkers and three dogs. We were lucky to be spared the worst of the
weather that was to follow. Our route
took us towards Chesterford, over the motorway, down Coploe Hill and into the
Casement’s kitchen for hot soup and a drink.
Many thanks go to Jackie and Simon Casement for reviving us all, and
thank you to everyone who joined in and made it a very cheerful event.
Thank you to everyone who has collected for this very
worthwhile cause over the past year.
Please can you take your money to Gerry Birch at
Howeys, Abbey Street and he will add the money from the boxes to the money
taken at the Christingle service on 5th January and send it all to
the Children’s Society.
If anyone else in the village would like to have a
Children’s Society box to keep at home and fill with loose change over the year
please let me know and I will provide one.
Your money can make a real difference to the lives of children in
crisis.
Thank you again.
Rosemary Hayes
May I through the ‘Icene’ express my heartfelt thanks
and gratitude to everyone who made my 90th birthday such a memorable
time. It was truly wonderful.
The number of visitors I had, along with the
staggering amount of cards and presents was quite overwhelming and made it such
a magnificent time.
A special thank you must go to Dinah Millson and
Cynthia Rule for all their help during the day.
I am sorry that I am unable to thank everybody
individually, but I would like to express my sincere and grateful thanks to
everyone for making it such a wonderful day.
With my best wishes to you all.
Connie Cutter
CONGRATULATIONS
TO.……. Bill and Iris Rule
who celebrated their Golden Wedding .
Anniversary on 3rd
January.
We would like to say a big thank you to all our
friends and relatives for the lovely cards and good wishes on our Golden
Wedding Anniversary.
Bill and Iris Rule
THE
CHESTERFORDS, ICKLETON AND HINXTON W.I.
The President Carol Deane, welcomed members to the
first meeting of the New Year. There
was an excellent attendance including one new member.
The speaker ,Linda Bush, from the Saffron Walden
Music Hall, brought along a wonderful
variety of costumes, hats and accessories and described how she had made them,
quite often from materials and clothes bought from charity shops including
Oxfam.
Members were reminded about the New Year Dinner on
January 24th.
Next month the speaker will be Mrs. Cherry Fisher,
who will describe how she found the hoard of treasure trove coins at Ashdon.
Subscriptions £18.25 are now due.
Cynthia
Rule
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-5-
Elisabeth Scales was born at Ickleton Lodge in Frogge
Street, but moved to Valance Farm when about six years old. She attended the Perse school in Cambridge.
She was interested in farming and wanted to go to
agricultural college but all she was allowed to do was a poultry keeping
course. However, she soon had a large amount of poultry at Valance Farm.
In 1942 Elisabeth married Jack Wamsley, who joined
her at Valance Farm, although his calling-up papers arrived when they got back
from their honeymoon. Eventually with
the shortage of labour due to the war and the death of her father, she was able
to get into farming properly, and gradually modernised the farm. Mrs. Wamsley enjoyed every minute at Valance
Farm: she slept out when it was lambing, and drove tractors and the combine
(which had wooden blocks fitted to the pedals so she could reach them). She drove the farm lorry to Felsted with
sugar- beet, and this even got her on television news, as there were few women
driving lorries in those days. Dick
Wombwell sometimes followed her to Felsted with his lorry but she always went
too fast for him to overtake.
Mrs. Wamsley grew malting barley for many years and
won prizes in the National Malting Barley Competition - she could turn her hand
to most things on the farm.
Mrs. Wamsley seemed timeless. She always seemed to be dressed the same,
and for many years drove an Austin A40
pick-up truck (often at break-neck speed). She was always polite, never cross, always had a pleasant smile
but could be very persuasive.
Dick Wombwell said that he could not have wished for
a better farming neighbour.
Mrs. Wamsley was a good employer and was charitable
to her farm workers who were allowed to remain in their cottages on retirement.
She was a true Christian in all her actions.
However, farming was only part of her life. During the war she arranged dances at
Saffron Walden. These were on Monday
evenings when she had a petrol allocation for Tuesday market-day!
Mrs. Wamsley was a life-long churchgoer, and a great
fundraiser for Ickleton Church, the Methodist Chapel and surrounding
churches. She took a big part in
village fetes, often organising them (sometimes twice a year) and threw her
farm open for lambing weekends at
Valance Farm in February, open weekends in June and autumn weekends in October
which were always well supported. She
was a member of Ickleton Parochial Church Council for many years. She
had her farm open to school children from further afield with coachloads
of children from London coming to see the lambs. She also ran a fleamarket at Duxford School. Mrs. Wamsley was a trustee of Ickleton
United Charities; a collector for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal; and was on the committee of the old village
hall and was instrumental in getting it re-roofed.
Once on the way to a meeting at Hinxton, she managed
to get her truck stuck in a ditch. She
attended the meeting without saying anything.
Afterwards she asked if there were a few strong men to help her out of
the ditch – she was unflappable!
Mrs. Wamsley was known for often being late for
things, or at least arriving at the last minute. When she was doing her farming weekends, she would often come to
us for typing or photocopying. Her
opening phrase was usually “I am running a little bit late today, Monica.”
It was therefore appropriate that the hearse made a
detour around Valance Farm on the way to Church and she was late for her own
funeral - we all accepted that!
David Lilley
Mrs. Wamsley was connected with local charities for
well over 50 years.
Mrs. Wamsley was a trustee of the Gertrude Homes in
1951, and when Mrs. Bowen handed them over to the Ickleton Charities, she was
made Vice-Chairman. In 1970, when the
charities became Ickleton United Charities, she was still Vice-Chairman and has
remained so ever since.
Her great knowledge of Ickleton, its surrounding
areas and inhabitants was much appreciated by all who were interested in the
area and village life.
She rarely missed attending a committee meeting,
unless it was lambing time. Her thoughtfulness and quiet sense of humour will
be greatly missed. She truly was a lovely lady!
Dinah Millson
-6-
Congratulations to Mr. Grant Buck who was awarded the
O.B.E. in the New Years Honours list for Services to UK and Venezuela
Relations.
Derek Plumb from Great Chesterford has written and
published a fascinating book called ‘Little Un’s Story’. It is recollections of his childhood which
was spent in Ickleton from his birth in 1937 until 1952. The many stories
provide a valuable insight into life in Ickleton in those days which was very
different from Ickleton today. Being about eleven years younger than Derek,
I found stories of people, who I can just remember, very interesting and I
particularly liked the tale about the chimney sweep’s brush!
It is a casebound A5 book with 218 pages and includes
some photographs and costs £14.99 and is available from Sawston Books. For more information call Anne Wallis or Liz
Driver ' 01223 837456, or e-mail sawstonbooks@enta.net.
David Lilley
The Parkinson’s Society Bazaar this year will be held
on May 10th in the Village Hall.
We hope for a nice day with lots of nice things to
sell and people to support us. We would
like to ask all those friends who are always so good, and work so hard, for
their help again this year. So please
make a note of the date in your diary. In the meantime, if you have anything
saleable the dropping off points are as before
Mary Woolhouse. Cynthia Rule and
myself Dorothy Churchman or I will be more than happy to collect. Thank you and
a Happy New Year to all readers.
Sarah Mila has kindly agreed to deliver the Bulletin
to Coploe Rise.
A big thank you to everyone who helped or came to the
Jumble Sale on January 18th.
We made £108.15p.
Thank you also to everyone who
gave donations.
Jan Livingstone
Rosemary was also
the Project Manager for the Cambridge Young Writers Award set up by CUP and
Cambridge University to mark the National Year of Reading and she edited the
subsequent anthologies of the winning entries.
She has written
many books for children and her latest, ‘Troubled Waters’, will be published by
Hodder in May. It is the first book in
a three part family saga, which spans generations
and oceans.
|
February 3rd |
Mobile Library |
|
February 4th |
Open Meeting to discuss Flooding 7.30 p.m. Village
Hall |
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February 5th |
Gt. Chesterford and District Gardening Society Meeting 8.00 p.m. |
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The Chapel, Carmel Street, Gt. Chesterford, |
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Subject:
‘Ideas for Small Modern Gardens’ by Mr.Moores |
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February 6th |
Skatepark Fundraisers Meeting 7.30 p.m. Village
Hall |
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February 15th |
Visiting Bellringers 10.00 a.m. – 1.15 p.m. approx |
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February 17th |
Mobile Library |
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February 19th |
Parish Council Meeting 7.30 p.m. Village Hall |
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February 19th |
W.I. Meeting 7.45 p.m. Community Centre, Gt.
Chesterford |
PUBLISHED
BY ICKLETON PARISH COUNCIL