New Chairperson for the Village Hall.
Maltby le Marsh Village Hall committee would like to welcome our many new neighbours that have moved to our village in recent months. 2020 was a year that will be talked about for many years to come both for bad reasons having lost so many lives to the pandemic and positive in the good that so many have shown to those in need. As a committee we would like to promote our wonderful hall and hope that it won’t be too long until we are able to once again open our doors and welcome friends and neighbours back to enjoy the many varied events that take place. We have plans to make the year ahead a positive one and hope to encourage the village to continue to support us in upcoming events. Each household in Maltby, Beesby & Strubby will have a leaflet delivered shortly asking for your help moving forward with ideas of what you our neighbours and friends would like to see and be involved in at our community hall. We feel it is very important to all to have a place whereby all age groups can get together. As with so many other villages in the country, our roads and hedge-rows have become a dumping ground for litter. We as a committee are in the process of organising the appropriate ppe, to enable a clear up of our village. Please continue to stay safe, we have so much to look forward to.
Julie Jenkins, Chairperson Village Hall Committee.
County Council Elections.
County Council elections will take place in the Village Hall on Thursday 6th May. The hall will be a virus free environment and you are asked to wear a mask and use the sanitizer on entering the hall. Please bring a pen with you.
W.I. News.
As we notice the days lengthening and plants blossoming, we look forward, we hope, to a better WI year in 2021. In the aftermath of the strange and difficult days of the pandemic, we have decided we must rethink the way forward for our group. We plan to organise meetings within the Civid-19 restrictions as the country is gradually unlocked, starting with outside gatherings to include relaxing together and making plans for the future. We realise that during the past year many newcomers have arrived in the village. We welcome you and invite you and past members where we can make new friends, have fun, share interests, learn new skills, and listen to a variety of speakers. We’d love to meet you. If you would like a chat to find out more just call our President, Brenda, on 450246, she will be pleased to talk with you.
Food for Thought.
Well hopefully we have seen the back of another very wet winter! I recorded 9 inches (225mm) of rain in the first 5 weeks of 2021, the average rainfall for that period is 2.5 inches (62mm)! Everybody in the farming community is now racing about trying to get some crops in the ground before the next deluge or drought (as this to be the order of things weather wise). We should be able to look forward to spring and summer with the end of lockdown if we are sensible and stick to the rules. I think the N.H.S., backed by the government, have done a fantastic job with getting the vaccination programme rolled out, I’ve had my first dose. We certainly seem to have done a much better job than the EU! I believe that economically we will bounce back and if we can on good trading terms with the EU this should help everyone. Down on the farm we are pleased to be getting some strong healthy calves being born, this is partly due to us getting the mineral/vitamin balance right for the cows when they are out in the fields. This has been achieved with the help of Molly and her team at Norfolk Farm Vets at Asserby. It can be quite surprising how much difference it makes if there is an imbalance in the diet and the weather again plays its part as rain washes the valuable minerals out of the soil. Our vets have also seen us through our TB test which is a mandatory test ordered by the government on the cows as there have been TB outbreaks locally. We thankfully received a clear test but know that several local farmers have not and we know how that feels. Test are carried out to see if the disease is in the local wildlife, badgers, deer etc., There is currently a scheme for any dead badgers found to be collected for testing. This year we have managed to grow some Oil Seed Rape, (last year the crop was decimated by Cabbage Stem Flea Beetles) despite the best of flea beetles, pigeons, slugs and any other pest we do have a crop and hopefully will get a reasonable return for our efforts as there is a shortage in the Oil Seed Rape market. This is also true for the wheat market as the weather has had a big im-pact on the yield. We will be sowing spring barley and spring beans this season which will all be used as feed for the cows next winter. It will be milled on the farm before feeding. Looking to the future we have a new cattle shed and currently building a grain store, a big investment for us. We are also looking at other ways to expand the business other than agriculture (Diversification) as food production is becoming more risky due to the changing weather patterns and more volatile market. One thing is for certain farming is never boring! I have a family who all ‘muck in’, Jack (son) is a partner in the business and works extremely hard along with his wife Harriet, my mum is also a partner, my wife looks after the accounts and are other 2 sons who have their own jobs take holiday time to help us when needed e.g., our recent TB rest. I am very lucky to have their support, we are a true family farm. I hope you all get your Covid vaccines and we can get back to a near normal Summer!
Anthony White
Council Donation to Village Hall.
The Parish Council have donated £75 to the village hall to help with the purchase of litter picking equipment.
Village Hall to be Opened for Coffee Mornings.
As the Covid rules are being relaxed the village committee decided to reopen the hall on Saturday 17th July for the monthly coffee mornings. All residents old and new will be very welcome. Masks will not be needed.
Maltby le Marsh Parish Council Annual Parish Meeting.
The last year has been unprecedented in its impact Nationally and Locally. Who would have thought that some 2 weeks after our last Annual Parish meeting we would be locked down to help save us from Covid from China? Our Meetings since have been remote via Zoom. In this regard I extend a heartfelt thanks for Graham who has organised everything with his usual efficiency. We have now held 6 Zoom meetings as well as the Anne Bolles AGM. Graham has also redesigned the Parish website, no easy job with all regulatory criteria to meet. Please have a look if you haven’t, you will be impressed. I would also like to thank my fellow Councillors for their help and advice of Vice-Chairman Brenda. Everyone including myself is finally getting proficient with Zoom. Very sadly in August Janet Richmond died. Janet has been a parish Councillor since elected in 2009. She was always supportive and enthusiastic and is much missed. We were pleased to unanimously elect Jane Gray in November to fill the vacancy. We have been pleased to see Sandra Harrison and Graham Cullen at our meetings. Their updates on ELDC and the County Council are very informative and appreciated. We have considered several planning applications and tree works and responded accordingly. We objected to the proposed 32 van touring site at School Farm. We feel the Village already has more than adequate capacity for tourers. Sadly, the Annual Garden Competition had to be cancelled. Sally Wilby thus has the Anne Graves cup for 2 years. We hope regulations will allow it to be held this year. We have had the seat near the old Post Office repainted which I am sure is appreciated by the users. We continue to administer the Anne Bolles Educational Foundation. There were no grant applications at the December AGM. Speeding in the Village is an increasing concern. The large number of HGVs travelling through and several recent accidents have highlighted safety risks. We pursued the problems of speeding from the Louth direction in September. We suggested the 30 signs be moved further out on Strubby Road or alternately a 40mph buffer zone. To date the issue remains outstanding. Philip wrote in February to the Police and Crime Commissioner with copies to Victoria Atkin and the Chief Constable expressing our concerns. We have also held a Zoom meeting with Roisin Mullee the Road Safer Together Co-Ordinator in March. The matter has been referred to the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. We await their ‘substantive’ response. I mentioned in last year’s report that our pursuit of the footpath from Grange Leisure to Mablethorpe seems to be nearer fruition. I am pleased to say plans to proceed have at long last been agreed. I conclude by thanking John Alldridge for his excellent Newsletters and he and his helpers for delivering during the epidemic. Thanks also to Robert Aldrich for keeping our Village tidy. In this regard the Village Hall Committee are to become Wombles and organise litter picks. The Parish Council have been pleased to support them. We also thank the several who have been litter picking in the last year. The Parish Council have also agreed an annual payment, to be reviewed annually, to support the Village Hall.
Chairman of the Council, Cllr. David Whitehouse
A Familiar Tale.
Those potholes down the road are getting worse and the largest one is now dangerous. Advise the appropriate authority. After all, if they are unaware of the situation, they cannot put it right. They instruct an official to inspect the site. A visit is made and a photograph taken, a report is made, a discussion takes place and it is decided that repairs are necessary. Contractors are given appropriate information to proceed with the work. Rightly, the work force must be protected, so the contractors instruct a traffic management company. On the day of the repair three vehicles and crews arrive on site. One contractor’s and two traffic management, one for each side of the work. Appropriate signage is placed and work commences. At the end of the operation a photograph is taken, tools, traffic signs are retrieved and loaded. The vehicles and crews leave the area, the operation has taken about two hours. Wonder what the total cost of this exercise was? Whatever the answer, it was a total waste. As soon as traffic starts driving on the repair the chippings start being thrown out either side and there is soon a pile of them in the gutter. Others are strewn out all over the road. Twenty-four hours later most of the filler has come out of the hole and again it is dangerous. The nearby potholes which have not been tended are now worse, Aah well! Advise the appropriate authority.
Gordon Pack
Strubby, Beesby & Maltby le Marsh Village Hall Annual Statement 2020.
The year started well with good attendance at the first coffee morn-ings. We were pleased to welcome Mrs Julie Pickford to the com-mittee in February. On 14th March a successful St. Patrick’s Day event with “Hogwash” took place. Then Covid-19 took over, re-sulting in lockdown and the cancellation of the AGM and closure of the hall from 17th March. When lockdown was eased the committee meet on 25th June out-side the hall, socially distanced and in the sunshine in order to agree arrangements for making the hall Covid-19 secure. On 27th July the committee met again, where it was decided not to restart the coffee mornings until further notice. Bowls and Dog Training did recom-mence weekly, but only 1 Nimble-Fingers took place before the rule of 6 order was introduced on 11thSeptember. At the beginning of December, the hall was closed yet again, and on the 4th December our first Zoom committee meeting was held. We were sorry to learn that Maureen Townsend would be leaving us in order to live nearer to her family.; Maureen will be greatly missed. We extend our thanks to Julie Pickford, who has kindly offered to replace Maureen as treasurer, and every assistance will be given to ease Julie into her new role.
Isobelle Cook, Chairperson Village Hall committee.
Village Hall committee 2021—2022.
Mrs Julie Jenkins……….……. Chair 01507 450039
Mr Steve Hill-Andrews…. Vice Chair 01507 451843
Mr Phillip Baildon…………Secretary 01507 451479
Mrs Julie Montgomery…. Treasurer 01507 451492
Mrs Pearl White……………………….01507 450346
Mrs Brenda Williams………………….01507 450246
Mr Kevin Proctor………………………01507 450384
Mrs Wendy Hill-Andrews……………..01507 451843
Mrs Sally Wilby ……………………….01507 450182
Have you any News
Could you contribute to the newsletter? Any news or articles that could be of interest? If so, contact me by email at john.alldridge771@gmail.com Your input would be appreciated.