Letters to the Editors
Goodbye and thank you, Trevor
Dear Ediotrs,
Our popular postman Trevor is being transferred to Burwell, and many of us in Reach and Swaffham Prior would like an opportunity to say farewell.
Reach have kindly invited us to share in their celebration for Trevor and his wife Ann. It will be at Reach Village Centre at 7pm on Saturday August 9th. Anyone who'd like to go along would be most welcome, and those bearing a plate of eats or a bottle of wine will be doubly welcome.
We've been tipped off that Trevor and Ann are saving hard for the trip of a lifetime to Antarctica. With that end in view, there will be a box in the hall in which those who wish to do so can place a farewell donation.
Do leave us a message if you'll be attending, so that we can give Reach some idea of numbers.
Stray Cats
Dear Editors,
A number of stray cats have turned up in the village and seem to be congregating around Fairview Grove, where we live. During the last few months at least three of them have had kittens in the bushes along the Grove, and kind residents have been concerned about them.
I've managed to catch six kittens - in humane traps lent by the Blue Cross that don't hurt the animals - and have taken them into the sanctuary in Cambridge for vet care, neutering, and eventual rehoming.
I've set up a feeding point in our garden at number 28 where the strays feed regularly at night, removing the food from time to time and baiting the traps instead. Unfortunately many of the pet cats who live locally like the food too. Some of them have been trapped and turned loose so many times that they're completely relaxed about it.
Our aim is to get all the strays into the Blue Cross, who will NOT put them down unless they're terminally ill, or exhibit behaviour so violent or bizarre that they can't be placed with a family, and that's rare. Leaving the cats homeless and unneutered will result in the rapid growth of a feral cat colony, an outcome which nobody wants.
I'm grateful for the patience and tolerance of the Grove's residents, and rely heavily on any stray cat information they are able to give me.
WITH HEARTFELT THANKS from the family of Dr. Mark Towriss
Dear Editors,
Mark would have been surprised, delighted and perhaps a little puzzled by the flowers, cards, meals, phonecalls and messages that followed his sudden departure. We, his family, have been warmed, heartened and utterly overwhelmed by the care and love extended to us, his family, by so many of his patients and friends. Please accept this small thank you as we will not be able to write to each one of you in person.
As a young man Mark sought to escape the Fen-edge (for he grew up in Lincolnshire) by emigrating to New Zealand. In the end however it was where he practiced as a village GP with joy and enthusiasm.It was also where he lived for all his married life, brought up his four children, and is now laid to rest in Swaffham Bulbeck, amongst many of his patients and close to his family's home.
Tigers Football in Prior
Dear Editors,
Here we are in the middle of summer, so time to think about football and the long awaited arrival of Burwell Tigers in Swaffham Prior.
If you've been down Station Road you will have seen new grass and preparations for car parking, and in September three of our colts teams (U11, U12 and U13) will start to play matches. This is a big moment for the club, so many thanks to all those who have made it possible.
Fundraising and grant applications are going ahead, slower than hoped (it is always thus) and we are looking forward in the following season to having the new pavilion, but for the moment it just feels great to be playing. So if you want to see some high quality football on your doorstep come down on a Sunday afternoon in September and enjoy the game.
If you have a child aged 7 to 14 who wants to play football please contact Steve O'Rourke. We welcome players of all abilities.
More information about the club and fixtures (when they are available) can be found at www.burwelltigers.co.uk
Macmillan Coffee Morning Friday 26th September, 2008
Dear Editors,
This year's Coffee Morning will be the fifteenth that I have hosted and many of you have attended! Over the years we have raised a total of £5,416 which is a fantastic amount for a small village. In the past four years we have raised £400 - £500 on each occasion. It would be wonderful if we could reach the £6,000 total this year.
We will have the Raffle and, of course, the ever popular Cake Stall. If you are not a baker then please buy one or two of the delicious home-made cakes, buns or biscuits.
All the money we raise goes to our local branch of Macmillan for the benefit of local people.
I look forward to seeing you all - regulars and newcomers, young and old - on Friday 26th September from 10.30 am - 12 noon at my house, The Oaks, Manor Farm Court, Swaffham Prior.
Soap Box Challenge Report
Dear Eds,
At first it seemed that the difficult choice was whether the entrants should opt for wet weather tyres or just go out and buy a canoe!
But by 11-30am, the skies cleared and out of the houses came all manner of folk! At first it may have been their wonder at seeing a burning ball in the sky against a back drop of blue, but no, they had ventured out to watch the spectacle of the first ever (as far as I know) Cage Hill Soap Box Challenge.
The three classes were entered by a total of one team each: Connor & Reece Jones in the U11s, Thomas Pumfrey & Will Kingsmill in the Intermediates and Joshua Willmott in the Adults.
Surprisingly only one entrant made it to the finish line, despite the line being moved from outside Granta House to opposite the Bus Shelter!!!
Connor & Reece had built an appropriately fashioned Recovery Lorry style soap box, which one of them managed to roll over half way down the hill on the first run!
Tom & Will had a two man soap box, hand painted blue WITH BRAKES!!!!
Joshua had something that only James his father could describe, since he built it! Motor Cycle wheels to the rear, an office chair for accommodation and a couple of bicycle wheels for steering!
For about an hour and a half the noble triumvirate pulled their chariots up the hill so that they could ride them down again, much to the delight of a crowd which at one point may well have numbered 30!
Each entrant won a bar of chocolate for their trouble, but the glory was all Tom & Will's as they completed every run, their last starting at the top of Cage Hill!
Along with the first spill from the youngsters the other excitement came when Josh had to retire due to a wheel falling off!
Thanks & Acknowledgements
This all started about a year ago in the pub when after a few beers some friends and I thought it would be a "good idea"to do something like this. Unfortunately they were unable to take part due to work commitments, but I need to thank Hen & Dodge for their inspiration!
The services of Peter Jost & Gerry King as Marshalls (denoted by their day glow jackets) made certain that traffic & soap boxes never met.
Formula One has a safety car, we had a "safety moped" as Joseph Arksey couriered messages up & down the hill, until James Sheldrick brought his two way walkie-talkies!
Doreen Robinson kindly lent some straw bales to use as crash barriers which fortunately never came into use.
John Taylor of Trinity Farm Fordham, who runs the Car Boot Sales & Bank Holiday Markets (and Newmarket Hat Hire) kindly lent the traffic control signs and cones. I promised John a plug although one was not sort!
I must not forget my wife, Barbara, who acted as official first aider.
I gave her two plasters and a triangular bandage for a first kit, but she insisted that this was not good enough, so she prepared the kit herself for the anticipated range of injuries.
Finally to the residents of Cage Hill and the High Street who parked their cars elsewhere! Without you doing this, the event could not have happened.
The Future
If there are enough entrants for next year I will be doing this again and judging by the level of interest, there will be a Cage Hill Soap Box Challenge 2009!
Date to be confirmed around the same time of year but NOT clashing with the School Summer Fair.
Please register your interest with me officially as soon as possible.
This year's entrants will get automatic entry for 2009.
Thanks
SWIMMING POOL APPEAL THANKYOU
Dear Editors,
Elsewhere in this magazine the Head of Swaffham Prior School has thanked everyone for the generosity of their donations for the school swimming pool appeal fund. We would like to endorse this! The door-to-door collections that followed the letter in the last edition of Out Of Reach and the Crier raised over £1,500 (from both Swaffham Prior and Reach).
Many of you have also generously sponsored the team of seven parents who cycled from Cornwall back to the school - also to raise money for the new pool. Reach Parish Council, Swaffham Prior Parish Council, Swaffham Prior Parochial Charities and Swaffham Prior Foundation Trust have also generously contributed to the swimming pool appeal. Local personal and corporate contributions have been extremely generous.
This support for our local school is fantastic and the response to our fundraising efforts has been phenomenal. Many of your families have clearly benefited from the pool in the past, and those of you with toddlers are anticipating the future benefits of this local facility!
If there is anyone who was not 'reached'by the door-to-door collection and would still like to make a donation, you can do so at www.justgiving.com/fosps - or contact the school directly on tel: 741529
Your support and generosity has been much appreciated.
Church Path Worms and Other Wigglers
Dear Ediotrs,
It was quite a surprise to see so much activity going on in the path from the stile to the cemetery gate. For several years now I have noticed, indeed felt the piles of gravel stones which make walking uncomfortable to say the least, which are gathered up by worms of all creatures.
It may be that the stones gather up heat and make their damp homes more comfortable, or perhaps it is added protection for the hunting beaks of the birds. In the past I have taken my large rake and levelled these heaps out, only to find that next day they were back again.
Last week, returning from a visit to the cemetery in the evening I noticed another unusual sight. Many of the holly leaves, which do not rot away very quickly, were standing upright in the ground, rather like small sails. On closer examination, I could see that these leaves had been pulled into the worm holes, and quite firmly anchored. What was the reason?. There was no sign of them being eaten, or even nibbled, and besides they were very hard and sun baked, hardly the type of food for a worm.
So the mystery remains, but it is quite a queer sight, and worthy of an inspection if you can find time.
I am pleased that the Parish Council have had an inspection of the Cemetry, and are now aware of the work that could be done there. Once started it will not be too arduous a task, it is the thinking about it, and the unfamiliarity of the work that worries those who's task it is to delegate. I trust we shall have a favourable decision soon.
Last week, the middle of July , whilst clearing the reeds from my pond, I disturbed a very long grass snake, which swam gently away to hide under some bushes. I have seen these creatures every year now for quite a long time, but only once or twice a year, they are very secretive. I bo not know where they spend the rest of the year, perhaps I only see them when they are passing through to fresh pastures!
As a final non-sequitur, I have received a letter from Ophir Catling, a former resident or this village He questioned the amount of water in the inlet pipe of the old pump at Upware, mentioned in a previous article, and did some mathematical calculations, and came up with the answer of five tons. Even this amount is quite heavy to lift by suction, and does not include the amount of water in the pump itself. My guess was considerably more than this, but did try to explain the difficulties of the pump inefficiencies. I am grateful to Ophir for his interest, and for taking the trouble to write and tell me. I shall be more precise on the future.