Bugbrooke LINK Magazine

Since my last report I can now announce that Catherine Parry has been appointed as Clerk to the Parish Council. She took up the post on September 1st replacing the retiring Clerk. At the close of the August meeting an informal get together with both present and past councillors was held to say goodbye to Emma Bignell after 15 years of service to the council. She has achieved many things during this time, most notably gaining ‘Quality’ status for the council, the first parish council in Northamptonshire. She has brought the council and its procedures up to date and enabled us to operate in a professional manner and will be greatly missed. To contact Mrs Parry, please telephone the Parish Office on 01604 832838.

The Parish Plan is nearing completion and should soon be ready for distribution. The plan contains detailed analysis of the village from information gained via the village surveys. It lists actions that need to take place, gives an indication of timescales and who will be responsible for implementation.

I recently attended a Community Panel Meeting at Towcester Police Station for Beat 41, which is Bugbrooke and a few of the surrounding villages. We were presented with a list of concerns that parishioners have indicated and asked to prioritise the top three. We agreed that speeding, inconsiderate parking and lack of Police patrols were most important. For the next three months the police have committed to address these issues as a priority when able. To have your own input for the following three months, I would encourage you to look on the LINK website and there you will be able to access the ‘Community Interaction’ form and list your concerns which will be fed back to the police for the next meeting. We also have a new Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) in Jenny Harrison who has joined us from Deanshanger. She is very enthusiastic and is keen to get involved with the Community in assisting our regular Beat Officer Steve Horner.

Crime in Bugbrooke took a three per cent drop in the last year compared with 2006, according to the latest figures from Northamptonshire police.

Officers patrolling the local beat, which includes Bugbrooke and surrounding villages, recorded 88 crimes in 2007 rather than 91 the year before.

Davina Logan, Deputy Chief Constable for the force, said there had been a county-wide fall in reported crimes for the fourth year in a row.

A breakdown of the figures showed a rise in vehicle crime, including one February night, which saw 11 vehicles damaged or broken into, but Inspector Alex Terry, of the Towcester Rural Safer Community Team, said this was a one-off. He said: “This was part of a series of offences across the area when we had some criminals targeting vans and stealing tools within them. This was unusual for Bugbrooke and has not been repeated. As you can appreciate when this sort of thing occurs we do take extra measures to try and catch the offenders or deter, which happened in this case.”

The number of violent crimes in the village was also higher than elsewhere on the beat, but the figure includes domestic incidents and minor assaults among children. Inspector Terry said: “Overall Bugbrooke is not a violent place and I do not want the residents of Bugbrooke to feel they live in a violent area and be fearful of leaving their homes.”  

Priorities for Bugbrooke within a cluster of three other villages include speeding, parking and policing patrols.

Towcester Rural Safer Community Team are looking to re-establish our links with Neighbourhood Watch in Bugbrooke.

If you are an existing NHW Co-ordinator or Street Member or are interested in joining the scheme please contact us using the following:-

E-mail –   Telephone – 08453 700700 ext 3255

08453 700700 ext 3255

Between June 2007 and June 2008 there were 253 recorded offences of number plate thefts across Northamptonshire West.

To ensure that your vehicle isn’t next, why not consider investing in a theft resistant number plate (for more details visit www.secureplate.com) or replace existing screws in your number plate with non-return screws to prevent its removal.

 Stolen number plates can be used as an aid to commit further offences and Northamptonshire Police’s Crime Prevention Officers are carrying out an initiative across the Western side of the county to raise public awareness to this.

Anyone with information about criminal activity should contact Police on 08453 700700 or call Crimestoppers anonymously and free on 0800 555111.

I’ve just returned from a week under canvas in mid-Wales where I undertook the role of ‘The Rev’ to a group of Boys and Girls Brigade plus officers from North Staffordshire.  It was great fun but the uninterrupted twelve hours sleep I enjoyed the day after my return goes some way to explaining how exhausting it was also!

As I had a few afternoons free I went to savour the delights of places like Barmouth, Harlech, Portmadog and Portmeirion, sometimes with my newly acquired Sat-Nav choosing some rather interesting routes for me to follow! 

Many of these roads were narrow and even in a mid-sized people carrier like mine, the roads demanded my full attention and respect.  This said, on a number of occasions I was either following a lorry or confronted by one head on! I have only the highest admiration for the skills of these lorry drivers as they manoeuvre and reverse their vehicles precisely often into confined spaces! I think if it was me driving a lorry in order to be sure I'm not going to scratch either the lorry or any parked car, or demolish a fence post, I would have to stop, apply the handbrake, and get out of the lorry to look.

This set me thinking about the way we drive that biggest of all vehicles – life itself.  How often do we stop and examine just where we are and where exactly we are heading?  How close are we to the edge of that cliff?  Or is there a brick wall that will cause us terminal damage when we hit it?

The Bible has many ways of explaining to us God's will for our lives.  It won't tell us where we should live, what jobs we should do, or to which school we should send our children.  What it will give us are the standards and principles that should determine the conduct of our lives as children of the Living God.  The only certain way to keep life on the right track is to use these as a basis for all major decisions but, all too often, this wisdom is overlooked.

It is a good idea from time to time to stop, take stock and review the journey towards our goals. By comparing our path to that defined in the Maker's instructions, we can make necessary corrections. 

When did you last have a progress check?

Stephen French – Rector of Bugbrooke, Harpole, Kislingbury and Rothersthorpe

The annual Fish & Chip supper and Quiz took place in a packed Community Centre on 4 July.  The winners this year were Phil Bignell and his team and they have already indicated that they will follow established tradition and set the quiz for next year. Overall this year’s quiz raised just over £800 to be added to the Church Friends funds.  We have also paid just over £1000 for repairs to the Church roof; hopefully this will keep out the rain in this terrible summer.

Our next fund raising event will be the Wine Tasting on Friday, 5 December.  This is always a popular event and tickets numbers will be limited so do remember to book early so as not to be disappointed.  Tickets will go on sale in October.

Tony Pace, Chairman (832516)

The next meeting will be at the Community Centre on Wednesday 12 November at 7.30 pm.  There will be a talk on the Mackintosh House, Derngate.  This is the only house in England designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.  The talk is free but a contribution is requested towards refreshments.

John Curtis  www.bugbrookelink.co.uk/history

Until roads were officially named in the 1960’s, Great Lane and Ace Lane were always known locally as Big Lane and Little Lane.  Perhaps they should have been called Post Office Lane (where the first Post Office was located) and Haste Lane (short cut to the church for latecomers).  This is not the first instance of the Parish Council getting street names wrong.  Peace Hill should have been Piece Hill (the parson’s piece of land that was traditionally donated to him by the parish).

After one of the wettest Augusts on record we are all hoping for an Indian Summer in September and October.  Those able to escape to the sunshine take full advantage of their ability, and it was noticeable that swallows and swifts had largely left by the end of August whereas in a good summer they will delay their departure until well into September.  Stan Clark phoned from Harpole in mid-August to say he had just seen about 40 swallows sitting on telegraph wires.  They were probably collecting together before leaving and Wilf Curtis reported that the swifts had left his roof in the High Street by about the same time. It will seem a long autumn unless nature is kind enough to provide an extended spell of good weather at the end of summer.  It will soon be time to think about keeping birds alive in colder months by providing food in the garden.  There is a large range of species to cater for and they will all benefit from a good range of food being put out.  Fortunately Alan at the PetStop always has a wide selection of bird foods to suit all beak sizes.  It is an advantage to the birds to site feeders and tables near to bushes and trees so they can seek cover if predators like sparrow hawks appear.

John Curtis

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