Bugbrooke Link Magazine 

Issue 139
Editor: Tony Pace 

Editorial
As you read through Link you realise just how much we all depend on volunteers to make things happen. There are so many clubs and societies doing so many things and all of them run by volunteers. Of course it is not just the recognised societies that need volunteers to get the work done; you can also find these volunteers at work in our schools, around the playing field or in and around the church; and there are many more who quietly do their bit in their area of the village, tidying up a footpath or cutting a piece of grass so as to make life better for us all.

To all these volunteers we owe our thanks because they make our life better and they contribute to the character and life of the village. But we can do more than just say thank you – we can join in and help them. Because the other thing you realise as you read these articles is that all these clubs and societies want more people to join them so that they can share out more of the work. Even the Link Committee is always looking for new people to join us and help with the work. Not everyone wants to join a club but even so they can help by being active where they live, maybe tidying a footpath or a hedge that grows across the pavement. All contributions are valued so thank you to everyone who makes a contribution to the life of our village – however they do it.
Finally, as you receive this, the summer holidays will be starting. Lets hope we have a great summer and that you all enjoy some great holidays. If you go to interesting places (home or abroad) or have an adventure, we would love to hear about it.
The deadline for the next edition of Link is Monday, 11th September.  

Parish Council Notes

Further to my earlier report we have at last made successful contact with the local Police. In fact at our July meeting the new area Inspector, Leonie Tromans, will be in attendance to answer questions and address any concerns we may have. At the June meeting, our local P.C. Will Hawes introduced himself and outlined his current duty and responsibilities along with his colleague Charlotte Pearson, our Community Support Officer. For non urgent enquiries, their numbers are 01327 303209 & 07919 043785 respectively. If you use these numbers, due to operational constraints, they cannot guarantee to get back to you immediately but will respond as soon as possible. Will made the point that although overall crime figures for Bugbrooke were down those involving cars were up. The current trend is towards theft of motor vehicles from drives using the keys stolen from the associated property and so I would encourage you all to secure your car keys in your house and do not make it easy for the criminals.

 The play area on the playing field has recently undergone maintenance with the addition of a large quantity of bark chippings to provide a safe surface and also minor repairs to some of the equipment. I would like to thank those councillors who gave up their time to complete these tasks. It is still the intention of the Council to expand this play area in the future but we are waiting on the completion of the extension to the football club premises before we proceed.

After the sad loss of our link person last year we can now report we have recruited a replacement. The primary task of this person is to pick up litter around the village, empty the waste bins on the greens and keep our environment tidy. We can all help in this by not dropping litter, use the bins provided and also recycle as much waste as possible via the various schemes.
Phil Bignell - Chairman

Surgery Notes
Advanced Notice Regarding Flu Clinics at Bugbrooke Surgery for 2006.
Yes folks- we already have to start thinking about the winter whilst still waiting for the summer!
The proposed dates for Flu Immunisation Clinics this year are: -
Saturday 7th October and Saturday 14th October.

Patients of Bugbrooke Medical Practice will be able to book their appointment AFTER 11th September- (please do not try to make your appointment before this date as the clinics will not be on the computer system.) These clinics will be for immunisations only. Prescription ordering and collecting will not be possible on these days.

Further details will follow in the next edition of the Link.
Selene Avil, Practice Nurse, Bugbrooke Medical Practice 

Bugbrooke Playgroup
Firstly welcome to Jess Pell as a new deputy supervisor, who started a few weeks before the end of term.
Recently there have been 2 successful fundraising events: World Cup Fun day, which was for all families to take part in. This included sponsored trampoline bounce and penalty shoot out to see how many goals the children could get in – better than the England World Cup! Plus lots of other activities. Thank you to all those that sponsored the children who came to the event. The Body Shop party also held at Playgroup was a success. Kerry Russell the Chairperson won a makeover at the party! Both events raised funds for Playgroup.

The annual trip this year was to Wicksteed Park, which we all enjoyed.
Through the summer Holidays there will be the usual ‘pay and play’ sessions every Thursday for 6 weeks 10am – 12. Starting from 27th July through until 31st August. Entrance costs: £1.50 per 1 adult, 1 child and 50p per child thereafter. This includes drinks and cakes and use of all toys or crafts etc out on that morning, and use of the garden facilities. This will be every Thursday unless there is a sign up on the gate at Playgroup to say otherwise.

Playgroup re-opens after the summer holidays on Monday 11th September.
Children can start Playgroup from 2 years 6 months providing there is a free place. This year has been very busy and days available come on a first come first serve basis. There will possibly be some afternoon sessions available in September, details to follow in the next Link edition. Please ring Kate on 01604 832669 for details or ring Playgroup on 01604 832347 between the hours of 9-1pm.
Lorna Britten (Secretary)
 
Bugbrooke OAPs Christmas Gift Scheme
The application form for this year’s Christmas Gift is contained within this issue of “Link” and should be completed in accordance with instructions provided on the form. It would be much appreciated if all names and addresses shown on the form could be written in BLOCK CAPITALS as we sometimes have difficulty in deciphering handwriting.

The completed form can either be posted to one of our Committee members whose names and addresses are shown on the form or handed in to one of the collecting centres in the village, which are the Post Office, the Stores or Cherrenee. Should you mislay your application form you can obtain a duplicate copy from any of these collecting centres.

Anyone who lives permanently in the village and is aged 65 or over on 25th December 2006 is eligible. The closing date for the return of the form is 31st October 2006.

The gift this year will be £18.00 as we have received a gift from the Parish Council to commemorate Her Majesty the Queen’s 80th Birthday. This is a one-off gift for the pensioners of the village, doubling the previous year, due to the generosity of the Parish Council and will not be repeated.
Bruce Piper, Chairman.

St Michael & All Angels Church News
Church Services
Worship is at 9.45 a.m. every Sunday. The first Sunday of the month is Morning Worship, the 2nd and 4th Sundays are Holy Communion and the service on the 3rd Sunday is All Age Worship when we welcome the uniformed organisations (except in August). There is an evening service every Sunday at 6.30 p.m.

The Tiny Tots service is flourishing – this is a 20 minute service for pre-school children at 2.15 p.m. every Tuesday in term time. Activities include bell ringing , songs and instruments and a story followed by tea and biscuits in the Sunday School. We are still looking for someone to play the piano at this service.
There is no “Saturday @ 5:30” informal worship service in August. The next service will be on 2nd September.

Benefice Office
The Benefice office is located at the Sunday School Rooms on Church Lane, Bugbrooke. It is open weekday mornings (except Thursdays) between 9 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. and Tuesday evenings from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.. Please go there for enquiries about weddings, baptisms or any other church related matters. The telephone number is (01604) 830373 and there is an answer phone so if you leave a message someone will get back to you.

Churchyard Collection
This is a reminder that, during August, a collection will be made in every street in the village in aid of the Bugbrooke Churchyard and Church Building Maintenance Fund. Many thanks in advance both to the collectors and to all of you who give so generously.

Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust Bike Ride – or walk
This takes place on Saturday, 9 September between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.. It is a chance to cycle (or walk) to some of our lovely local churches and raise money for the church in the process. Half of any sponsorship you raise will come to our church and the rest goes to NHCT who give grants for church repairs. Details and sponsorship forms are available from Phillipa Betts (tel 832036)
Sue Pace 

Friends of St Michael and Angels Church
By the time you read this our annual Fish & Chip Supper and Quiz will be over for another year. We hope the winner will follow tradition and set the quiz for 2007. For those of you who missed it this year, we can only sympathise with you for missing what is commonly recognised as being the best quiz event in the village year.

Our next event will be the Wine Tasting evening on Friday, 1st December. Again, this is one of the highlights of the village year and numbers will be limited so you will need to book early. Tickets will be on sale from October.

The Friends of St Michael and All Angels Church is a registered charity with the purpose of raising funds for the maintenance of the church building as and when that may be necessary. Although the building is in pretty good condition, when repairs are required they can be very expensive because of the materials and skills required. Whether or not you are a churchgoer, many of you will use the building at some time for a baptism, marriage or funeral. It is a building that is at the heart of the village and it has been here for nearly 800 years and so all of us should make some contribution to its care and upkeep so that it can continue to serve us. If you would like to become a friend of church (annual membership, £5), which will give you priority for tickets to our prestigious social events, please call me.
Tony Pace, Secretary (832516)

Mothers Union
On the afternoon of May 10th, the M.U. entertained Tim and Esther Partridge, who had been invited to a service and tea in church. They had brought with them 15 members of Whitney M.U. Lindsay took a short service and Tim gave a great talk on the age and beauty of this wonderful church. Tim is very knowledgeable of all its aspects having preached here for 30 years. A most enjoyable afternoon socialising with the Whitney members.

Members attended an Ascension Day service on the evening of May 25th. The service was taken by Revd. Stephen French, which was most impressive with its sermon, hymns and music.
On Saturday 27th in the afternoon, a Diocesan Festival was held in Peterborough Cathedral. A coach was laid on for those who wished to attend.

On the afternoon of June 8th, members attended a talk by Sue Pace in the Sunday School about a working holiday she took with Tony to Sri Lanka. On arriving in Colombo and finding a language problem and no project in view, they travelled to the south of the island and soon found a worthwhile project, a school for demolition leaving children without an education. With lots of help they transformed it into a school with excellent facilities. Sue showed us slides of “before and after”. Sue and Tony certainly made a worthwhile visit to Sri Lanka.

On July 3rd, 20 members attended a “Wave of Prayer” in church. Prayers were said for each of our overseas sister groups, Bungoma (Kenya), Guinea (W. Africa), Manicaland (Zimbabwe), Pusan, Seoul, Taejon (Korea) and our own Birmingham (Canterbury), the Peterborough Diocese. After each prayer a suitable hymn was sung. The impressive service was prepared by Lyndsay Moss and Anne Gowan. The service ended with a tea prepared by our Bugbrooke committee.
Pat Archer  

Christian Aid Week 2006 
This year we raised £1584 in the Bugbrooke house-to-house collection.. This year’s collection was just £12 short of last year’s total which was a great result considering the wet week in may that the collectors had to work in. This money will support the work of Christian Aid in trying to end poverty through ongoing development work, emergency relief and by challenging the structures that make and keep people poor.
Thank you all for your generous support.
Sue Pace

Bugbrooke St Michael & All Angels Church Fête, Saturday 24th June 2006
Welcome to Gazebo City ! The fête field looked an absolute picture. The stalls and their decorations – and, of course, the sunshine – made for a real village atmosphere and our thanks go to all who worked so hard preparing the field before and during the day of the fête – and clearing up afterwards. The gazebos kept the sun off the heads of our ever willing hard working band of helpers, and I’m quite sure they would have kept the rain off too, had it been necessary. Who cares if it rains – we’re covered !
The net total at the end of the day amounted to £2,424, a fantastic achievement and a testament to all the hard work put in before (weeks before), during and after the day by so many people in and around our village – truly a village effort. (Easy-to-assemble gazebos now rank together with broadband, sliced bread and battery powered screw-drivers as modern-day essentials without which life would hardly be worth living.)

Our beautiful Rose Queen, Hannah Cooper, accompanied by her delightful ladies in waiting, Ellie Thomas and Chloe Betts, opened the fête at 1 o’clock. Immediately following the opening ceremony, a children’s dance party was held in the central arena with music provided by ‘Junction 16 Disco’. Phillip Stone (J 16) provided us with excellent music of all genres throughout the afternoon, interrupted only by a fine performance of songs old and new by the Bugbrooke Community Youth Orchestra. The BCYO is now an established item on our fête program and we thank them for their outstanding contribution once again. And our thanks go once more to the Scout Group and to the Brownies for their contribution to the afternoon’s success.

We were treated to a magnificent array of interesting things to spend our money on, and mind bending games on which to practise our skills. (Anyone agree with me that ‘Splat the Rat’ is fixed?) The refreshments, barbecue and drinks & ice lolly stalls were kept busy all afternoon and our sincere thanks go once more to all who helped in providing these much needed and greatly appreciated services. Children’s races took place in the middle of the afternoon and were enjoyed by all who had the energy and stamina to take part.

A most excellent exhibition of works of art by the Bugbrooke Art Group was presented in the main church building, providing a very welcome and rewarding opportunity to escape the heat of the day.
The ducks were on form again this year. They provided the climax to the afternoon’s excitement (with a little help from the rear) without even so much as a quack of complaint. The afternoon’s activities, for those with reserves of energy, came to a close with a second children’s dance party in the main arena.
As always, we offer our sincerest thanks to all the many people in and around our village who contributed in so many ways to the success of the fête, and we look forward to seeing you all at next year’s fête, which will be held on Saturday 23rd June 2007.
Alec Shaw

Jesus Fellowship, Bugbrooke Chapel
We wish to express our welcome to Stephen French the new vicar, and his wife Gill. Having responsibility for the Church of England in four villages is no mean task, the same task until recent years requiring three men. We look forward to working together with the local Churches to forward the cause of Jesus Christ.
In the last issue of the Link, Stephen sought to address the difficult question of life after death, a question we all have to consider. There is much that we do not know, but what we do know is that Jesus promises “eternal life” to those who believe in him and follow him. He taught us to “lay up treasure in heaven rather than on earth”. The Jesus Fellowship is committed to helping people find faith in God, and to raise their eyes from earth to Heaven. If you want to know more, come and find out!
The August Bank holiday weekend is our “Winning Festival” in the Golden Marquee at Cornhill. Everyone is welcome, with the programme as follows;

We have our regular Sunday morning services at 11am, to which all are welcome. These are on 13th, and 20th August, and 10th, 17th and 24th September. On Sunday 3rd September the morning meeting is at the Jesus Centre, Abington Square, Northampton. Every Sunday evening there is an evening meeting at the Jesus Centre at 6.50pm, which is particularly suitable for first time visitors..
We continue to receive requests for prayer for people in need, especially for healing, so please let us know and we will make sure that every request is mentioned in our prayers. These can be confidential if required.
John Thomason
Contacts:
John & Avril Thomason 01327 340612; mobile 07966 341221
Ed & Judith Hunt. 01604 830004, 45, High Street, Bugbrooke.
 

Bugbrooke St. Michael’s Football Club
At their AGM at the end of June, the club elected the following committee for 2006/06.
President: John Curtis; Chairman: Andy Dyson; Vice Chairman: Bill Preston; Secretary: Roger Geary; Treasurer: Helen Sharp; General Manager: David Sharp; Child Protection Co-ordinator: Charlie Hawkey; Club Steward: Trevor Horsley.

The club has appointed a new manager for the coming season. He is Nick Verity, who has managed here before and also at Sileby Rangers and Ford Sports. He will be assisted by Peter Robinson, who played in the first Under 18 team that Bugbrooke ever had. They will be co-ordinating the training of all the senior teams. The Reserves will again be run by last season’s successful group of John Moore, Glen Moore and Matt Golden whilst the “A”s see Andy McGowen promoted from the “B”s, who are taken charge of by former players John Bass and Kevin Gardner. With this experienced group of managers it is expected that all teams could be due a successful season.

The Mini and Youth teams will run from 8 years to 18 years backed up by enthusiastic coaches and parents whilst the club is also looking to set up girls and ladies teams.

The new facilities are due to be completed by August by Kevin Gardner and his builders. The quality of the finished product is very high and players ought to be privileged to play for such a forward thinking club. It is a long way from playing on the School Close and changing at the Bakers Arms and many players who turned out for the club in those days will be quick to tell younger players of today how lucky they are to have some of the best facilities in Northamptonshire. It has taken a lot of foresight and determination to produce them and future players will benefit for a long time due to the efforts of others over the past 30 years.

The social facilities will also be upgraded and the club has instigated a no-smoking policy with immediate effect. This needs to be noted by potential hirers and users of the clubhouse. With so many youngsters using the club it was felt in everyone’s interest to introduce the ban now rather than wait for the nationwide ban next year.

Sir Trevor Brooking, the former England international and West Ham favourite, will be officially opening the new facilities at the club’s Birds Close ground on behalf of the Football Association.
The event will take place at about 12.15pm on Friday, September 15th and will be attended by Northants F.A. officials and representatives of Northants County Council, South Northants Council and the Football Foundation, who supported the club with generous grants. The club will also be inviting those people who gave donations towards the new scheme and their life members.

It is regretted that there will be a limited scope to accommodate everyone who would like to see Sir Trevor but the club will be holding an open afternoon from 1.00pm when everyone from the village will be welcome to see the new facilities. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available to all visitors. We look forward to welcoming all those who can attend during the afternoon.
John Curtis

Bugbrooke Cricket Club
Our 1st X1 are continuing to perform well and are currently in a promotion spot of 3rd (July 2) in League 7 but our 2nd X1 are hoping for better fortune in the 2nd half of the season.

Our continual grateful thanks goes to Bob Riches who has been putting in a large amount of work looking after our grass wicket & to Mick Adams who has been mowing the outfield. Tony Bird has spent many hours looking after the Bar which is open most days of the week with a great increase in takings as a result.
 Junior practice will continue to be held every Monday from 6 to 8pm at our cricket ground. Get in touch with Roger Stone (842961) or just turn up on the day – it will be your chance to impress the selectors as we have Under 12 & Under 15 League matches arranged. These sessions have proved very popular with about 30 present most times – so parents bring your lads & lasses along and enjoy the get together with other parents!

A Vice Presidents & Friends lunch will be held on Monday August 28 during the Annual Over 30 v Under 30 match for the Jack Dawson Trophy when the Guest of Honour will be June Dawson. Please get in touch with John Mundy for details. The Barn Dance on Saturday 24th June at Chay & Tina Adam’s farm off the Heyford road went very well with over 100 attending & was much enjoyed by those present. We are running 2 Saturday league teams as well as Sundays, Junior & Midweek sides so get in touch with any of the officers below or myself if you wish to join the Club at it’s picturesque ground by the brook. Have a look at our website www.bugbrookecc.co.uk and www.bugbrooke.play-cricket.com for further information & chat on our Message Board.
John Mundy: Chairman & Treasurer (tel 830725 mobile 07850-084535)
Lesley Bird: Secretary (tel 832630)
Graham Trevitt: Saturday 1st X1 Captain (tel 01327-843331 mobile 07977-0044656)
Wayne Chalmers: Saturday 2nd X1 Captain (mobile 07834-275915)
Chris Chapman: Sunday Captain (tel 01327-861324 mobile 07920-038984)
Peter White (President) 50 High Street, Bugbrooke (tel 830452)
 

Bugbrooke Bowls Club
The warm weather in June has given some beautiful days for Bowling. This has resulted in some excellent performances by the Club members in both external and internal competitions.
The Club Triples was completed in June and the Gala Day is due in July. The Singles and
Pairs competitions are ongoing with some very close and surprising results. The new Plate competition was due to start at the end of June. Thursday Evening has seen the Club Triples League progress each week and is due to complete in August.

The weekend has again seen friendly matches with good results. Many thanks are given to the Catering team for their teas at these games.
Well done to those who have been selected for County Representative matches. Finally, congratulations to all for completing their matches on time despite, or because of, the World Cup during June
G Vincent (Tel. 832713)

Nature Notes
It is during August and September that we are most likely to see swallows, house martins and swifts swooping across the evening sky looking for flies and insects. They will have hatched their young and the whole family will be out searching for their evening meal.

To distinguish between them you need to look closely at them. Swallows and house martins have similar colourings but a swallow has a forked tail whereas a house martin had a fan tail. Swifts are black and have swept back wings and tend to fly higher than the others and screech as they enjoy their mid-air acrobatics. If you wish to see sand martins, which are very similar to house martins, it will be necessary to go to sandpits where they burrow into the side of diggings.

We fortunately have a family in the High Street who allow swifts to nest in their roof each year otherwise I doubt whether they would be seen in Bugbrooke. Congratulations to them for enabling this to happen. There have been reports of house martins nesting under the gables of some houses in Camp Hill and this is usually seen as a mark of luck and good fortune, on the grounds that there must be a pleasant atmosphere around the house. Unfortunately, swallows are finding it much harder to nest in the village with the demise of farmyards and farm buildings. They have been driven to the edge of the village in search of nesting locations and, consequently, are seen less in the sky.

All these birds that rely on catching insects in flights are finding it harder to live in Bugbrooke because there are few farm animals in the village. These create flies and insects and enable a good source of food. Go to a village with a farmyard still in the centre (Harpole, Gayton, Astcote) and you will see far more of these lovely birds.

Some people have said there are many more jackdaws in their gardens this year. There were flocks of them in the park last winter and they have obviously bred well. If you want to deter them from the garden do not put any large chunks of bread or waste food on the ground or even the bird table. If you want small birds provide them with the sort of food such as seeds, that they like but which larger birds would have difficulty in picking up, especially from a bird feeder. You will get what you feed in terms of bird type. Tie the cat to the washing line post and you will probably get a buzzard! There are plenty about circling up in the sky on the thermal currents.

There was an interesting observation in Great Lane at the end of June. A grass snake, about 2-3 feet long, got onto the road as it was trying to make its way towards the cricket field. It was reported to be a lovely creature and moved very quickly. It could have been looking for somewhere to nest or had moved too far from the brook. Keep your eyes skinned! P.S. They are harmless.
 

Bugbrooke Strollers
All strolls are conducted at a leisurely pace with the intention of enabling older walkers to enjoy the countryside in a relaxed sociable way. During August and September, the group will visit Cogenhoe, Holdenby, Upper Stowe, Little Brington, Tiffield, Whiston, Rothersthorpe, Littliff Farm and Abthorpe.
For further information about the walks please contact 830317. Programmes of walks are available on request.
John Curtis

Bugbrooke and Harpole Scout Group.
Cubs have had fun this summer. Earlier on they brought in their pets for the Pet Lover’s badge, and rabbits, guinea pigs and dogs came to Cubs one evening, and all behaved themselves. Cubs have been outdoors a lot and had a mini-beast hunt on the playing fields. They have done crosswords and played Hunt the Nest at Easter time, sharing out the chocolate eggs they found. It’s a good thing that there’s no hosepipe ban in Bugbrooke yet, because Cubs had a brilliant time on a water slide recently, taking advantage of the sunny weather.
 Beavers have enjoyed playing football, cricket and outdoor games. They have also had fun with water.
 Scouts took part in the Raft Race on a hot day in June, on Daventry Country Park lake with a raft they had built entirely themselves from wood, five gallon plastic drums and rope. Their knots were tighter this year and held the raft together well. Our all-star team came second in their heat, and joined the leaders on the raft in the all-comers race to win that one easily. At the Church Fete Scouts were present in uniform. They put up a tent and joined in with the races. They have visited Braunston Scout Group in preparation for camping together at Nailer. When Braunston Scouts made a return visit to Bugbrooke they made sedan chairs to transport each other, and had a race with them. Ten scouts joined the local History Group one evening and were trained as gunners in Cromwell’s ‘New Model Army’, which won a sweeping victory over the Royalists at Naseby in June 1645. They tried on a 450 year old helmet and held a musket. Scouts have been learning how to build a safe fire without a flame, using a magnesium striker and a knife. They have been working towards their Hobby badge, which involved making bird tables and feeders.

Our lads will be meeting up with the Scout Group from Heyford, and canoeing at Bodington lakes in July. Cubs and Scouts will be camping at Nailer, the huge international summer camp at Towcester from July 29th to August 5th to commemorate 99 years of scouting. This event has many activities organised including archery, fencing, quad bikes, laser shooting, swimming etc.

For information about the Scout Group, please visit our website at www.bahscouts.co.uk or ring the contact number. We encourage young people and adults interested in helping to run the meetings at Beavers, Cubs and Scouts. Enthusiasm, with or without experience is welcomed - we can train you up! In particular we are in urgent need of new leaders to help Stewart run the Beaver colony (6 to 8 year olds).
Margaret Raymond. Secretary. 830532.

Bugbrooke and District Flower Society
Since my last report in the June issue of Link, the Flower Society has been busy. Starting way back in May, it was our mammoth Plant Sale at Campion School. As usual the queues were forming before we opened the doors and the first hour was non-stop selling. We could, by then, already see empty spaces on the tables. It was hugely successful and we had very few plants left at the end. This is all due to the quality of the plants for sale and an awful lot of hard work beforehand, by a lot of people.

Our demonstrator in May was Gill Shanks and her title was “Something Special”, which it certainly was.
We don’t have a meeting in June, but go on a garden visit and this year it was to Cedar Farm, Desborough, the home of Mrs Vicky Tuffin and her husband. The grounds spread over two acres and were simply stunning. The way colours had been blended and plants mixed, was a joy. The sight of climbing roses disappearing up into huge trees was amazing, all the more so as Vicky and her husband only started developing the garden approximately ten years ago. They specialise in roses, are in the Yellow Book, and also do private visits by appointment. We all thoroughly enjoyed our evening there and even the slight drizzle couldn’t dampen our spirits. After a cuppa and some delicious home made cakes, we made out way home, fired with new ideas for our own more modest plots, albeit on a much smaller scale!
 In July Rose-Marie Tree, a National Demonstrator will be doing “The Wonderous Webs We Weave”, at Nether Heyford Village Hall.

In August there is no meeting, and in September Kathy Brown is talking about “Bulbs for General Purposes”. We meet in the Sunday School starting at 8pm and you are welcome to join us.
V. Chambers

Bugbrooke History Group
On Wednesday, 13th September, Derek Smeathers will be giving a talk at the Community Centre on the “Early Postal Service”. These talks are free and everyone is welcome with a donation requested towards the cost of refreshments.

The group has been collecting old photographs of Bugbrooke events over the past century. They are now in a position to build up a book of these pictures. Anyone with knowledge of the village who would like to help putting captions to these pictures would be welcome. If you feel able to help please contact John Curtis on 830317. Experience of putting together the Millennium book suggests the end of 2007 might be a good time to see it into production.

Many thanks are extended to all those who have lent photos for transposing onto computer disc. Names will be acknowledged against any photographs reproduced in the book. If anyone still has photos of family or village interest they would like to see in print please let us know as soon as possible. It only takes a few days to transfer them onto disc and we are indebted to Tony Pace for his expertise in providing this facility.
John Curtis

Women’s Institute
The last two meetings were very interesting. For the May meeting we went to Harpole and a number of WI resolutions were voted on. At the June meeting we had a speaker on country customs. The July meeting is being held in the garden at Orchard House so we are hoping the weather keeps fine. New members are always welcome to join us.
Mrs A Boswell

U3A – Upper Nene Villages 3rd Age Group
AGM and Lunch
We held our AGM in May when the Chairman reported another very successful year. The committee was increased to accommodate the extra work in running this group. After the AGM we were able to enjoy a relaxing lunch with friends. The lunch organised by Irene Reeves and her team was first class. To add to our enjoyment, we also had an artistic display by the Painting Group. Thanks to all. It was a great afternoon!

Next meeting is as follows:
Community projects in Tanzania and Sri Lanka (Sept 18th)
Our speakers this month are Sue and Tony Pace from Bugbrooke who have spent a considerable amount of time in Tanzania and Sri Lanka helping local communities in various ways. They will give a visual presentation of their life and work and how they are raising funds for these projects. Their current project is to raise funds to help build a school in Tanzania. See you there.
No meeting in August folks. Happy holidays!
Meetings are also open to non-members and will take place at Bugbrooke Community Centre, Camp Hill, Bugbrooke on the third Monday of each month starting at 2.30pm.
Special interest groups: Genealogy, German, French, Bridge, Literature, Scrabble, Cook and Eat, Music, Painting, Theatre, Ceramics, Discussion Group.
For further information contact Steve Saunders on 01327 349870

Bugbrooke Darby and Joan Club
Hello everyone. At the time of writing this we are having a spell of very hot and humid weather. When it gets cool in the evening, hosepipes are busy reviving gardens which are still in full bloom with so many wonderful colours to admire.

May 13. Member Mrs May Ellard died. Until her recent bad health, May had been a very regular supporter of our meetings, events and outings. The club send their condolences to her husband Jim and all her family.
May 31. We enjoyed a splendid cheese and wine party prepared by our committee. This was followed by a return visit of “Neil” to entertain us with good music, good old songs and jovial entertainment.
June 26. It was with great sadness that we heard of the death of our oldest member, Mrs Olive Massey following a fall at home. Olive was a lovely person who always attended every meeting and event. She always had a smile and a cheerful word for everyone. She will be greatly missed by all. The club sends its condolences to all her family.
New members are still very welcome.
Mrs D M French (01604 832274)

All The World’s A Stage!
The hugely popular Time Of Our Lives Music Theatre Company are returning to Bugbrooke in October with their new comedy revue All The World’s A Stage!
This fast moving mix of music, dance, stand up and sketch comedy is a rollicking romp through the golden ages of British theatre from the Medieval Mummers via Shakespeare, Melodrama, Pantomime and Whitehall Farce to the present day pop and rock tributes like Mamma Mia and We Will Rock You.
Their previous shows have included the movie tribute Two for the One and Nines and the nostalgic Radio Days and TV Times. Last year most of the audience brought their supper and bottles of wine and a great evening of pure entertainment was had by all.

The talented team of professional performers tours all over the UK playing theatres, festivals and community venues. You can catch them at Campion School on the 27th of October 2006. (7.30 for an 8.00pm start)
The £7.50 tickets sell fast so call Shirley Myers to book yours on; 01604 831406.
 

Fantastic Concert in Bugbrooke
The Nottingham Brass Quintet and the Watling Singers provided genuine high quality entertainment on Saturday 1st July at a concert in St Michael’s Church, organised by St Michael’s Arts.
The music ranged from classical Renaissance to New Orleans jazz, and from Elizabethan madrigals to Lennon and McCartney songs.

So often we have to travel out of this region to experience performance of this standard, but amazingly, on this occasion, it was here in Bugbrooke, and it couldn’t have been better in any concert hall.
Many thanks to those who organised such a treat, and please give us more!
The next St Michael’s Arts even is a Rock ‘n’ Roll Evening at the Community Centre on September 30th. (I believe that “the King” will be there!)
Pat Kent  

Bugbrooke St Michael and All Angels Church Fête, Saturday 24th June 2006
Welcome to Gazebo City ! The fête field looked an absolute picture. The stalls and their decorations - and, of course, the sunshine - made for a real village atmosphere and our thanks go to all who worked so hard preparing the field before and during the day of the fête – and clearing up afterwards. The gazebos kept the sun off the heads of our ever willing hard working band of helpers, and I’m quite sure they would have kept the rain off too, had it been necessary. Who cares if it rains – we’re covered !

The net total at the end of the day amounted to £ 2,424, a fantastic achievement and a testament to all the hard work put in before (weeks before), during and after the day by so many people in and around our village - truly a village effort. (Easy-to-assemble gazebos now rank together with broadband, sliced bread and battery powered screw drivers as modern-day essentials without which life would hardly be worth living.)

Our beautiful Rose Queen, Hannah Cooper, accompanied by her delightful ladies in waiting, Ellie Thomas and Chloe Betts, opened the fête at 1 o’clock. Immediately following the opening ceremony, a children’s dance party was held in the central arena with music provided by ‘Junction 16 Disco’. Phillip Stone (J 16) provided us with excellent music of all genres throughout the afternoon, interrupted only by a fine performance of songs old and new by the Bugbrooke Community Youth Orchestra. The BCYO is now an established item on our fête program and we thank them for their outstanding contribution once again. And our thanks go once more to the Scout Group and to the Brownies for their contribution to the afternoon’s success.

We were treated to a magnificent array of interesting things to spend our money on, and mind-bending games on which to practise our skills. (Anyone agree with me that ‘Splat the Rat’ is fixed ?) The refreshments, barbecue and drinks & ice lolly stalls were kept busy all afternoon and our sincere thanks go once more to all who helped in providing these much needed and greatly appreciated services. Children’s races took place in the middle of the afternoon and were enjoyed by all who had the energy and stamina to take part.

A most excellent exhibition of works of art by the Bugbrooke Art Group was presented in the main church building, providing a very welcome and rewarding opportunity to escape the heat of the day.
The ducks were on form again this year. They provided the climax to the afternoon’s excitement (with a little help from the rear) without even so much as a quack of complaint. The afternoon’s activities, for those with reserves of energy, came to a close with a second children’s dance party in the main arena.
As always, we offer our sincerest thanks to all the many people in and around our village who contributed in so many ways to the success of the fête, and we look forward to seeing you all at next year’s fête, which will be held on Saturday 23rd June 2007.

Alec Shaw
Elvis Tribute Night, 30 September, 7.30 - Bugbrooke Community Centre
The time has come - the tickets are ready - Elvis is on his way
He’s ‘left the last building’ and is now, as we speak, rockin’ his way to the Bugbrooke Community Centre, where he’ll be ready to wow us with his performance on Saturday 30 September.
Seriously, it’s going to be ‘such a night’. Tickets at £10 each are now available and will include entertainment by ‘The King’, music from Ian Marriott’s disco, and supper. And as a late extra to the program, we will be presenting a re-enactment of the night rock ‘n roll was born - 8 July 1954.
A controversial statement I know, but it is now widely accepted that that was the night ‘rock ‘n roll’ (a term not yet widely in use at that time), was unleashed on the world. We’ve hired a modern day ‘Bill Black Combo’ to back Elvis live on ‘That’s All Right Mama’ - now generally accepted as being theeee first rock ‘n roll record - and a few more of those early numbers that heralded the arrival of our beloved genre.
Whilst we can’t guarantee an individual audience with Elvis, we are certain there’ll be ‘Good Rockin’ Tonight’ at the Community Centre on 30 September. So get out those blue suede shoes, pink socks and side burns (wigs also allowed for the folically challenged) and come and join us in a tribute to Elvis and a celebration of the advent of rock ‘n roll.

Tickets can be obtained from Alec Shaw on:
Telephone: 01604 832994
Mobile: 07714 766836
 
and from Gill Stone on:
Telephone: 01604 831523
Mobile: 07761 016583
 
All proceeds from the evening will be donated to Bugbrooke St Michael and All Angels Church.
Alec Shaw

An Appeal for Tanzania
Last winter we (Sue and Tony Pace) spent three months in Sri Lanka repainting and repairing a school. Some of you may have read about it in the April LINK. As we were working, the thought came to us that the school Tony had taught at in Tanzania in 2005 was in much worse condition so why not go back and repair that one. So that is what we are planning to do - spend three months next winter in Tanzania repairing Kimnyak Secondary School. We have been in contact with the school and they have agreed, so now what we need to do is raise money to pay for the materials - paint, wood, ceiling sheets, plaster, etc.. So now we are asking for support to help fund the refurbishment of Kimnyak Secondary School. We can guarantee that all the money you give will go towards the repair and development of the school. We will meet all our own costs and, in addition, we have promised £500 to the refurbishment fund.

Kimnyak school is the Secondary School for the area around Ngaramtoni, about 10 miles north of Arusha in North Tanzania. It serves 500 students between the ages of 14 and 25 and, over a four year course, takes them up to ‘O’ level standard (yes in Tanzania they still call it ‘O’ level). If they can pass the final exams, they then qualify to go on to Sixth Form College and then maybe, to University. Primary School is free to all but Secondary School is not, but even so many families try to pay the cost (about £50-75/child/year) because they know that education is the way out of poverty. For this money, which is often a huge portion of their total income, the children go to a school with 10 classrooms many of which are falling apart. It has no electricity and only an external water tap. In England, the school would be closed immediately because it would be considered too dangerous for children. In a country which is short of teachers, Kimnyak has less than its fair share and is not attractive to new teachers, in part because it has no teacher’s accommodation - building has started but is not completed.

Refurbishing the school can address a lot of these problems and make the school a better place both to teach and to learn. In June, Tony had a brief trip to Tanzania to visit to the school to start planning the work and prepare some preliminary estimates:

We have already raised nearly £2000 but we would like to get even more. If we can raise £5000 we can really start to transform the whole school.

Everything we need is available in the country - materials are relatively cheap and labour is even cheaper - and yes we would want to use some local labour like bricklayers, metalworkers and carpenters. So all the money raised would be spent locally in Tanzania and that would also help the local economy.
So if you feel kind and generous enough to contribute to this project, this is how you could pay. Cheques should be made payable to “MondoChallenge Foundation” which is a registered charity (No 1106237) and sent to us here. We can provide Gift Aid forms so that they can recover the tax. We will pass donations on to MondoChallenge and make sure they know it is for the Kimnyak Project. They will recover the tax and this will be put towards their costs in country (they are already helping us to prepare for the work next year).

Oh - and there is another thing. Would any of you like to come with us and join in the work? After all, the more people are there to do the work, the more we can get done. Of course it will mean some pretty basic living in one of the poorest countries in the world, amongst some marvellous people, in a beautiful climate, at the hub of the best safari parks in the world. It will also mean hard work, frustration, cheap beer, great food and an experience you will never forget. And of course you would have to pay all your own costs. So if any of you might think of coming with us, please let us know and we can let you know more about what you may be getting yourself into.
Thanks in advance for your support
Tony and Sue (4, Laddermakers Yard, Bugbrooke, NN7 3RG – tel 832516)

Family Announcements
Russell - Jean and Bill.
Congratulations on your diamond wedding anniversary on August 17th Mum and Dad. Lots of love from Jane and Mick xxx

Russell - Jean and Bill (Nan and Pap)
Happy diamond wedding anniversary on August 17th. All our love from Tracey, Tim and Spen xxx

Curtis, Tim.
Happy 20th Birthday on August 3rd son. Our love always from Mum and Dad xxx

Curtis, Tim.
August 3rd. Happy birthday Tim. Love from Trace and Spen xxx

Fergus
After 26 years in the village Ian and Julie are moving to The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire where Ian is to take up the headship of a primary school in September. Since we arrived here in 1980 as the village policeman and his bride of 6 months we have been fortunate enough to make many good friends and have a whole host of fond memories of our years in the village. Perhaps the one thing that will remain most significantly in our memories is the tremendous amount of care and support we received as a family following Ian’s motor cycle accident in 1989.
Our 3 children, who have now all moved on to successful careers in various parts of the country were born and raised in the village attending both the primary and Campion School, and we know that they will always consider Bugbrooke as ‘home’.
As we leave we would like to say a huge thank you to the community for allowing us to be part of what is a very special village and we wish all our friends and neighbours health and happiness for the future.

Diary