Cranfield goes international

Hot news from Cranfest

South African acapella group Africa Entsha will be performing at Cranfest from noon. The group who performed at the opening of the 2010 world cup have recently been touring in the UK playing the likes of The Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Welsh National Festival....... make sure you get there early to see them !!
Check them out on Youtube

 

 

 

 

Nesting instinct in Wiltshire

PC meeting 19 June

Here's the agenda for the full parish council meeting on Wednesday 19 June

I HEREBY GIVE YOU NOTICE that a meeting of the above named Parish Council and its

Committees will be held at Holywell School, Red Lion Close on

Wednesday, 19^th June 2013 at 8.00pm

All members of the Council are hereby summoned to attend for the purpose of resolving upon the business to be transacted at the meeting/s as set out hereunder.                                                                              

                  …………………………………….

                  Clerk of the Council

BUSINESS TO BE DONE

 

^1.            To receive apologies for absence  

^2.            To receive declarations of personal and/or prejudicial interests in any matter

^3.            To confirm the minutes of the last meeting[s] [copy herewith]

^4.            Clerks Report

^5.            Health & Safety

^6.            Reports from Committees

6.1.    General Purposes Committee

6.2.    Burial Grounds Committee

6.3.    Environment Committee

6.4.    Planning Committee

6.5.    Finance & Grants  Committee

^7.            Financial matters and accounts for payment

^8.            Correspondence

^9.            Reports from unitary councillors (and any other representative)

^10.        Highway matters

The Cranfield conundrum

The cutting above comes from the newsletter of BABUS the Bedford Area Bus Users' Society. One of the biggest heachaches arguing for better bus services isn't just cuts. It's the chopping and changing of routes and bus companies with bus stops and timetables failing to keep up.  I still can't work why there are three bus stops one one side of the road on Beancroft Road, Marston all within 100m of each other. But then Marston Moretaine/Moreteyne is a strange place that can't even make up its mind how its name is spelt. Overabundance of bus stops is the least of its worries.

Large fish supper please

OK, here's my puff of the week. Cranfield Fish and Chip Shop. At least one member of Trouble's household is a weekly user and we've all dipped in from time to time. With or without a calorie-controlled diet, of course, fish and chips are not good for the waistline but done properly they taste great. Especially from the paper, on the seafront (which we do not have) as envious gulls wheel around. In the 1980s, ancient times in Cranfield, there was a van, every Tuesday, rang a  bell to announce its arrival in your street. The chip shop followed soon after. 

A folk legend says that the late and very unlamented Jimmy Savile was involved in its opening.  I can't say yea or nay but he did get around. There have been several proprietors since but talking of folk legends I notice the menu (see below)   does "Mars in Batter" for £1. I always thought deep fried mars bar was some urban legend/media hype about stereotypical Scotland. But the dish seems to be alive and well in Central Bedfordshire. Give me a large cod (from sustainable stocks) any day. 

Win some lose some

Parish council surgery tonight themed around issues for older people in the village.

Attendance

9 parish councillors
0 members of the public

Oh well, you win some and you lose some...

Get your washing out...

Warning of strong winds in eastern region from the Met Office

Can the truggy get through?

Footpath work in  full swing on the east side of Mill Road. Temporary traffic lights operating. I hope Maureen is getting through with her truggy (triple seater buggy).

The truggy - will it get through?

I wouldn't start from here

You get asked for directions in Cranfield all the time. I was just pedalling through Court Road's lazy hollow when a very posh car stopped and woman asked for directions to the Technology Park. I was reminded of the proverbial answer to a request for directions to Cork: "I don't know but I wouldn't start from here".

Anyway. I directed the woman into the depths of Court Road, Lodge Road and and then on to Moulsoe Road and presumably she is now at Nissan or somewhere transacting business. 

Or on her fourth circuit of the airfield.

It's alarming but the system works

House phone goes off at 7.52 am. Oh Oh, this must be my mum. Hope dad's OK. Babbled message at the other end fills me with mounting indignation as I suspect this is a cold marketing call - at this time of the day. Indeed.

But no, its the security company who maintain the burglar alarm for friends of ours and their alarm had been triggered and yes we are key holders so could I go round. Ed and Liz (their names have been changed) were not away though they were probably out. 

So I gathered up all the paperwork and fob for deactivating the alarm, put on the hard hat  and let the iron wheels take me up the village. The painter's van outside gave an initial cause for concern though there was no evidence  that the family china was being loaded up and there was no sound from the alarm.

Within a minute the bona fide painter, the other key holder (who had switched the alarm off already) and a PCSO mobile patrol had all turned up. The matter was resolved and special forces stood down. And the next time Ed and Liz leave their house to the painter they'll remember to deactivate the alarm. LOL

A good cause - all aboard

Find out about Marston Vale Community Rail at Rail in the Vale and follow them on twitter as well

@marstonvalecrp

They say: 

We promote the Marston Vale (Bedford to Bletchley) Line. Informative, occasionally funny, we let you know whats going on on your local line!

"Hard standing"

The PC's plan is to potentially site a skate board facility on the old tennis courts in the Rec. But there have been concerns raised about loss of the hard standing for casual football players.

One solution is that we leave the hard standing where it is and build the skate board track somewhere else on the rec. There is a theory that because a parish meeting in the 1990s voted for 'no more hard standing' in the rec that is binding for all time. It's not something I personally agree with and especially if it is limiting our ability to create new facilities for young people in the village. So I suspect this will be coming back to PC for another 'full and frank' discussion and as ever villagers are welcome to attend and within the prescribed time period have their say.

Parish Council surgery 12 June 2013

This Wednesday at Holywell School - 7 pm. 

Topic: services for older people in Cranfield. We don't guarantee to provide answers but we need you to supply the questions.

This is not just for 'senior' citizens but for everyone who is concerned about their welfare from a personal or family point of view. You are only old once. Make the most of it.

Are you focused?

This looks worth checking out. Village pro-photographer Roy Backhouse's new photography training will help you get your head round aperture priority, shutter release and f Stops. With a glass of something to hand to help you make sense of everything.  :-))


Contact Roy on roy@backwoodsphotography.co.uk

Our coat of arms

Parish Councillor Mark Phillips is on the lookout for Cranfield symbolism to incorporate into a new village name sign. Some blog readers cannot resist having a crack. Heres one:



My suggestion for a heraldic shield for Cranfield is as follows:

Crossed Wind Turbines over an image of a 4X4 vehicle which is parked 50-50 on a traffic-calming road hump. The whole surmounted by a flaming persimmon fruit with an electric windsock coming out of the top of it. That says it all about Cranfield?

 

Wow, that's definitely on the shortlist.

Signs of the times

Party in the parker Mark Phillips is putting aside the adrenalin highs of getting a 40 ft trailer in and out of the rec to work on a more mundane project. He's leading on commissioning a set of new noticeboards for the village plus a new village sign to replace the current moth-eaten specimen.

Well done Mark for 'noticing'  lol and if anyone has ideas about symbolism in the new village name board please tell Mark or me or the PC or post on the blog.

Soft landing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-22798139
Clearly a new development in aviation health and safety. The vertical airbag

Wildflower strip at Hertingfordbury

Here is the wildflower strip at Hertingfordbury Church - a good example of how this form of cultivation can be both eye-catching and appropriate to the setting.

Covanta takes a pasting

A leading expert dismantles  the case for a Stewartby incinerator
Read it here...
Covanta criticism

Hope for wind farm opposition

This will encourage the campaign against the FCC wind turbine proposal for the Brogborough landfill. 

Read the full story at BBC News

Poppies in 2014

Thanks to Cranfield RBL's John and Jean Seamark for their presentation last night about the poppy seeding designed to produce a WW1 commemorative bloom next summer. The PC is fully behind that - we just need to identify where, or where not, the seeding happens. 

My personal view is that commemoration is important and significant - there are 43 Cranfield names from WWI on the war memorial but it must not be seen as a celebration. The First World War was a human, political and military failure and the sacrifices were all in vain. 

Barratts Yard, Crawley Road

There were worried faces at the PC planning committee last night - members of the public who live in Crawley Road and are concerned about the application for a motorcycle assembly facility at Barratt's Yard right behind their homes. 

To clarify, it is to assemble 50 cc mopeds used in the pizza delivery business and the applicant has now withdrawn a request for permission to operate on Saturday and Sundays. 

Members continued to oppose the plan on the basis that it was unsuitable for a residential area and worries about the width of the access. I believe this will come up at Central Beds on 19 June. A residents' rep will be speaking and, all being well, a parish councillor will also attend and speak.

Cranfield Regatta

The Cranfield what? Oh yes, where the River Ouse meanders slowly up Marston Hill, cuts round the back of the football club and continues majestically down the side of the runway? Yes, that's why they call it the Cranfield Regatta...Jolly boating weather etc


But there is another explanation, see below: Love the bit about it being a 'networking opportunity'. But I'm just a country cousin who thought regattas were about boats.

Friday 5 July to 7 July 2013

Cranfield School of Management will be hosting the 22nd Cranfield MBA Regatta over the weekend of 5 to 7 July in the Solent.

The Cranfield MBA Regatta is the oldest event of its kind in Europe, bringing together MBA students from across the world in one of the most eagerly anticipated, competitively charged sporting occasions in the business school calendar. Organised by MBA students from Cranfield, the Regatta is a two-day sailing festival with hospitality and entertainment over the course of the weekend.

The Cranfield MBA Regatta provides an excellent networking opportunity. It allows MBA students to meet their peers from other leading business schools and put into practice the leadership and organisational skills they have developed, and for sponsors, alumni and potential recruiters to meet some of the most dynamic management students from across the globe.

Networking on board a yacht lol (Not Cranfield MBA regatta)

Aircraft crash in Cranfield

Thought something was up - succession of fire engines heading out of Broad Green 2 hours ago

ITV Live news stream

18 minutes ago

Two injured in light aircraft crash

Two people were hurt when a light aircraft crashed at Cranfield in Bedfordshire this afternoon.
The plane is believed to have overshot the runaway at the airfield at around two o'clock.
Two air ambulances were called to the scene to take the injured people to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the cause of the crash.

De-flagging Home Farm

Report that all the Persimmon flags have been taken down from the Home Farm site...could mean anything.

The wildflower area in Clifton churchyard

Please note the seasonal nature of wildflower areas - Clifton has a spring and summer area

 

Wildlife area in Cranfield Churchyard

The 'site' visit to the St Peter and St Paul churchyard last week to scope the possibility of a wildlife area was hugely enlightening and inspiring.   Judith Evans, Diocesan promoter of the Living Churchyard scheme, and Laura Downton from the Beds Wildlife Trust  came along on a gloriously sunny morning and took us through the possibilities.

There is, of course, some kind of folk myth around that this has been done before and it was disaster creating an unsightly jungle covering the entire churchyard. Well, I don't know about past experience but the aim, now,  is for a small distinct area which is left uncultivated for a set period - three months say - in the spring or summer to allow natural vegetation and flowers to take root offering sustenance to insects and wildlife. 

We showed Judith and Laura the area to the rear known historically and rather disturbingly as the 'plague pit'. If you think a wildlife area is going to be a monstrosity then this means you can hide it away. But Judith and Laura stressed that many churches which have wildlife areas make an eye catching feature of them. They gain the attention of  passers by who may not be church members or worshippers, and this could draw them in. In other words, it's outreach. We pointed out the lower school right opposite the church and Judith stressed how valuable schools find having a wildlife area nearby to enhance nature education. 

It doesn't have to be big. I paced out six yards and we envisaged that as a diameter of a circular area. This is not the state of Texas in territory. 

Judith has sent a helpful summary of what we covered and made clear that she would be happy to give a powerpoint presentation to the parish council the PCC or other groups about how the Living Churchyard scheme works. See below. All proposals are subject obviously to further discussion and ratification.



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The corner of the churchyard proposed by the Cranfield representatives consisted of mown grass with mainly lawn-type herbs. The area is triangular and surrounded on two sides by brambles, nettles and cow parsley.

o   The border of cow parsley, brambles and nettles is good for wildlife, particularly insects but the brambles also provide fruit for birds and nest sites.

o   The grassland herbs were daisy, dandelion, ragwort, self heal,  dock, ground ivy and buttercup

o   A small plant of burnet saxifrage (Pimpinella saxifrage) was discovered just outside this area after the meeting had finished. Burnet saxifrage is an indicator species of old unimproved grassland

The south and east sides of the churchyard had good communities of black knapweed (Centaurea nigra) and hoary plantain (Plantago media) both of which are indicator species of neutral and calcareous unimproved grassland. Additionally creeping buttercup, daisy dandelion yarrow, ribwort plantain and ground ivy were present.

Proposals

1.         It was suggested by Laura and Judith that an area on the south side approximately 5 yards x 5 yards be left uncut from the beginning of June this year for a period of 8 - 12 weeks to allow the knapweed and plantain to flower. These plants plus the taller grass will attract a number of insects, especially the brown butterflies such as Meadow Brown. At the end of the period the grass should be cut and the arisings removed. Mowing would then resume as for the rest of the churchyard.  

Initially the area would need to be marked by canes or something similar, but once there is a differential in height of the grass the canes should be removed. A neat notice should be provided so that visitors understand that this is a conservation/wild flower area. Further information about the management and plants aids visitors

to understand why the area looks different and allays criticism. Laura would be able to produce a poster similar to the attached if you are going to proceed with the scheme.

2.    Seed could be collected from the knapweed and plantain and either sown in seed trays and plants grown on to plant out in the triangular area that was first proposed as a wild flower area, or small areas of soil could be scraped bare and the seeds sown directly. The sowing of the seeds and growing in trays is likely to be the more successful and could perhaps be undertaken by children at the school.

3.    The triangular area could be left uncut for 8 weeks to see what plants flower but at present it is not likely to be as attractive or beneficial as the area suggested on the south side.

Laura and I would be happy to return in a couple of months to survey and review the wild flower area(s).

On walking round the churchyard after the meeting we noticed that the mower had scalped the grass at each turn at the church end of the mowing run in front of the church. It would be better if the mowers took a little more care as patches like this are likely to attract thistles and nettles.

See www.caringforgodsacre.org.uk for ideas on children’s activities in the churchyard.

I am happy to give my Powerpoint presentation on the Living Churchyard scheme to the PCC, PC or any other group.