April 2022
Maltby le Marsh April 2022 issue 5.
Queens Platinum Jubilee Celebrations.
On Sunday 5th June the Village Hall and the Maltby-le–Marsh W.I. will be holding their Annual Village Fete at Grange Farm Park in conjunction with the celebrations that are being held in the Park. All the usual stalls will be on the field, so come along at any time between 11am to 4pm and enjoy yourselves.
Potato Growing Competition.
If you haven’t already planted you still have time to get your ‘spuds’ in a bucket for the Village Hall Celebrations being held at Grange Farm Park on Sunday 5th June. Just bring along your bucket untouched on the day and who-ever grows the largest potato will win a Fish and Chip Supper for two.
Maltby Frontage Display.
During the weekend a Maltby Frontage Display (sponsored by Gerardo’s) has been planned, you don’t need a garden, just use your house frontage, roadside
verge, wall or hedge. You can include buntings flags, ornaments, wind chimes, plants & figures/models, in fact anything you want as long as the theme is Red, White & Blue. Make sure your display is out by Thursday 2nd June as judging will take on Friday 3rd June. Best display receives a trophy.
Sunflower Competition.
Also at the weekend will a Jubilee Sun Flower competition, (sponsored by the Stables and Fern Lea Garden Nursery), grow the biggest seed head, measure the diameter of the seedhead, the flower petals are not included, or the tallest plant measured from the base of the stem, not the roots, to the top of the highest flower head. Alternatively, make pretend sunflowers in advance of the Celebrations.
Phil Baildon Passed Away this Month.
It was with great sorrow to hear the sad news about Phil. He did a wonderful job as Secretary of the Village Hall and was committed to, not only in the running of the hall, but also to the village in general. He was also on the Parish Council and obtained grants for various projects and he will be sadly missed as a member of the committee as well as a friend to many people.
David Whitehouse, Chairman, Maltby-le-Marsh, Parish Council.
Steve Hill-Andrews, Secretary, Maltby-le-Marsh Village Hall.
Strubby, Beesby & Maltby-le-Marsh Village Hall would like to invite you to our Platinum Jubilee Gala On Saturday 4th June 7pm—11pm.
Live Singer, DJ, Quiz, Raffle, Ploughman's Supper £10 per person, bring you own drinks. Call Angela at 07706 074857 for tickets, also available for sale at the Village Hall Coffee Mornings.
100 Club Winners.
January: - 1st No. Graham Cullen £36, 2nd No.38 Geoff Walters £18, Village Hall £18, Total £73.
February: - 1st No 38 Geoff Walters £38 2nd No 21 Wendy Hill-Andrews £20, Village Hall £19, Total £77.
March: - 1st No.75 Anne Higham £37 2nd. No. 34 Jane Gray £20, Village Hall £19, Total £76.
Misinformation.
When planning applications are submitted for possible new development it is usual for as much information as possible to be stated in addition to the actual building's
proposed. This would include the history of the site, its location within the wider area and details of any services available locally. The purpose is to give the planning authority an overall picture of what is proposed, its likely impact on the area etc. I have noticed that recent applications have shown information about the village which is out of date and therefore very misleading. I do not know where the information is obtained but the same wording seems have been used even though different agents have acted for different applications. I suspect that the agents just copy details from somewhere without visiting the area to see for themselves or checking with the applicants for the correct situations. The correct information may or may not have any influence upon the outcome of an application but surely it is not too much to ask that our village is not described in terms which were correct ten or more years ago but are far from being correct now. If anyone knows where this misinformation is stored let me know and I will try to get it updated. Gordon Pack.
Other News in Brief.
Unfortunately, the Post Office at Oham Lakes has closed, Mablethorpe or Alford would now be the nearest to the Village.
Thanks to the Parish Council, the pavement in Strubby road has now been weeded and tidied up.
Even more interesting times.
As I write this fertiliser has hit £1000 per ton and wheat is £290 on the spot market! A year ago, fertiliser was £200 per ton and wheat around £180 per ton. That means fertiliser has gone up 500%! I think we all know why, yes Putin and his war machine invading Ukraine. My heart goes out to the Ukrainian people, going about their business one day and the next seeing invading troops and having bombs hitting their homes, how lucky are we to live in the democracy we do, imagine a regime like Putin is leading. This all goes to prove how linked and fragile the world trade is and how important it is to be self-sufficient in fuel and food. I hope our government learns some important lessons from this so that people of the UK are not held to ransom again in the future. Everyone will be affected by the massive increase in fuel and food prices and this applies to life on the farm, it’s like playing poker, if you make the wrong decision when buying or selling it can mean the difference between surviving or going under with such large fluctuations in inputs and sales. The knock-on effect of this is that food production will drop as we farmers reduce our risk and cut back on fertilisers and sprays. To compound this problem 60% of the worlds wheat production comes from Ukraine and there is much uncertainty about their harvest.
Coming back to life at home we have had mixed results with winter sown crops. The Barley has established well but some of the wheat has failed due to poor germination and poor growing conditions last Autumn. The Oil Seed Rape is variable with one field doing well but the other seems to have attracted every pigeon in the country! They have grazed the field from one end to the other, hopefully now that Spring is here the crop will have a chance to grow on and we will have to keep frightening them away with the hooter of the truck, they don’t like that!
The cattle are doing well considering everything but we are T.B. testing again before they are turned out into the fields in about a month’s time. This adds to our costs and worry waiting for the results. Calving is going well although as yet we have no twins but I’m delighted to tell you that our son Charlie and his partner Jen are now proud parents of a set of twin girls! Annie and Masie were born on 2/2/22, what a day to have twin girls! They are all doing amazingly well although I’m sure the parents must be exhausted!
Thankfully we are now going into Spring and Summer which should make us all feel much better but our thoughts remain with the Ukrainian people and we hope this ’mad war’ will soon end with the Russians withdrawing. It makes us wonder ‘what’s next?’ Brexit, Covid, and War as the saying goes ‘Things can only get better’. Hope springs eternal,
Stay safe, Anthony White
Annual Parish Meeting 2022.
I am pleased, yet concerned, to present my 10th Annual report. Concerned that time has passed so quickly. After last year’s Covid upheaval we are slowly getting back to normality. We have had 5 meetings during the year May’s being the last Zoom one. We have also changed to the second Monday of alternate months, starting earlier at 7 pm.
I again thank my fellow Councillors, in particular Brenda, my Vice-Chairman, for their help and advice in difficult times. Phillip Baildon succumbed to a rapidly debilitating illness and resigned in September. Very sadly he died on 8th March. In the 6 years as a Councillor Phillip did so much for the community, chasing Broadband, raising funds for the defibrillator as well as pursuing road safety issues from speeding to potholes. His efforts and presence are very much missed. Steve Hill-Andrews was co-opted to replace him in November. Steve was already involved in the community as Secretary of the Village Hall. I am sure he will be an asset to the Parish Council.
We have considered more planning applications and responded accordingly. Despite objections from many residents the School Farm project was passed and further developments there have been applied for. Walkers will have noticed another footpath has been cleared nearly doubling its width. Thanks to Robert Aldridge for doing this and all his other work in the village. Mr. Thorndike kindly repainted the seat near the bus stop at Dyling View. Following Philips efforts, we have now had 3 visits from the police camera van. We hope it has an effect and will continue to come. We investigated who owns the structure fitted to the bus shelter at Hodgetoft Lane in May, but without success. If anyone knows we are keen to find out. I conclude by thanking John Alldridge for his excellent newsletter and photos. I also thank Anthony White for his regular contribution giving a valuable insight into farming life.
David Whitehouse, Chairman, Maltby-le-Marsh Parish Council.
Maltby-le-Marsh Village Hall Annual General Meeting.
The committee have been busy maintaining the hall, which you can imagine is an ongoing task. The committee would like to thank all the people who have helped us in this regard. An example of maintaining the hall can be seen in the gales from a few weeks ago, a tile from the roof was blown off, which has been replaced. However, on inspection the roofer told us the roof is in a poor state and the battens holding the tiles in place need replacing, for which we will need a grant and major funding. Also, a double-glazed unit has to be replaced in one of the kitchen windows. To save energy, cut our outgoing, and do our bit to ’save the planet’ all the old lighting has been changed for LED units, including the energy demanding ceiling lights and the outside security lights. The lock on the main entrance door was replaced earlier in the year as it had become a mission to try and get in the hall. The plaster in the meeting room was in a poor state due, we think, to water ingress and that has been repaired.
We have had an ongoing problem with the urinals in the gent’s toilet and it has been difficult to find anyone competent to complete the work. However, we have accepted a quote from MG plumbing, which will see a motion sensor siphon system which again will save water and help the environment and only flush when there is movement or when the light is activated. Finally, we have employed a gardener to keep the outside tidy and the hedges cut.
Steve Hill-Andrews, Secretary, Maltby-le Marsh Ville Hall.
Best Kept Garden Competition.
Are you planning your garden now? You could be the winner of this year’s Best Kept Garden competition and hold the Ann Graves cup for a year and also receive a garden voucher from Woodthorpe Garden Centre. All gardens are viewed from the roadside and judged in July and the winners will announced at a future coffee morning.
Newsletter contributions can be emailed to; john.alldridge771@gmail.com