June 2012 Archives

This site has been our community's little corner of the interweb, our little piece of digital cyberspace. All the content has been provided by our community, by you. Without you, there would be no site, no stories, no pictures. For all your contributions, I'm so very grateful but all good relationships invariably come to an end. Regrettably, after maintaining this site for over 11 years, I am no longer in a position to continue to do so.

The site will remain visible for a while after today but will no longer accept new content. Without new content it will gradually lose its relevance and decay. A backup of the site content will be taken so that the content is not lost.

I would like to pass my thanks to every single one of you that has contributed, over the years, to make this site such a valuable resource for our community.

One has to be careful when naming names lest someone gets offended by an omission, but I'd like to pass on my sincerest thanks to Pete, Geoff, Sally, Dot, Ricky, Pete Byers, Reg Rush, Len Woodhead, Mary Haslam, Stuart Rogerson, Margaret Amos and the many, many others who've contributed over the years, who've chosen to share their stories, their pictures, their memories, who've made it all worthwhile.

Farewell.

Jeff

Jeff Bird
Metheringham Area Web Administrator

This penultimate post shows, after the jump, images of recent, localised summer flooding to the area in and around Metheringham after a particularly heavy downpour on 28th June 2012.

Photos supplied by Pete Ford. Click on image to see remaining photos.

Metheringham Parish Council Annual Meeting Minutes - 29 May 2012

Minutes of Metheringham, Sots Hole and Tanvats Special Meeting of the Council held on Tuesday 1st May 2012 at 7.00pm in the Village Hall

PRESENT: Councillors Dr M J Allen (Chairman), N Dobbs, P D Ford, Mrs J Finegan, Mrs J Gwillym, Mrs M Kristen, Mrs L Lacey, Mrs J Peck, Mrs S Peek, M E Reynolds, P A Saffin andMs S N Wetherall (Clerk).

1. To resolve to accept Apologies for absence and reasons given:
Apologies were received from Councillors M Haisman and Mrs Wilson. It was resolved to accept the apologies and reasons, this was proposed by Cllr Mrs Peek, seconded by Cllr Ford and all were in favour.

2. Members Declarations of Interests: No declarations of interest were made at this item.

3. Notes of the last meeting: Held on 27th March 2012 having been previously circulated, be approved as the minutes - It was resolved to sign the minutes as a true record of the meeting, this was proposed by Cllr Dobbs, seconded by Cllr Saffin and all were in favour.

Dear Councillors

You are summoned to a meeting of Metheringham Parish Council which will be held in the Village Hall on Tuesday 26th June 2012 at 7.30pm. Prior to the official start of the meeting a public forum of not more than 15 minutes will be held if required. The public may address the council between 7.15pm and 7.30pm on current matters, or issues which may become future agenda items and your attendance is also requested during this period. A Police Report will be given at this time.

Signed: Ms S N Wetherall MILCM
Clerk to Metheringham Parish Council
20th June 2012

AGENDA - 26th June 2012

1. To resolve to accept Apologies for Absence and reasons given

2. Members Declarations of Interests: Members may make any declarations of interest at this point but may also make them at any point during the meeting in accordance with the 2000 Local Government Act.

3. Reports from representatives on outside bodies:
a) To receive a report from the County Councillor.
b) To receive a report from the District Councillor.
c) To receive reports from Council representatives on other outside bodies.
d) To receive a report from the Parish Dog Warden

4. Notes of the last Full Council Meeting held on Tuesday 29th May 2012, to be approved and signed as the minutes (circulated with agenda).

5. Clerks report on matters outstanding (circulated with agenda).

6. Financial matters:
a) To consider and approve, the Chairman, Vice Chairman and Clerk attend the East Midlands SLCC Regional Conference on 12th September at Nottingham Belfry, at a cost of £65.00 per delegate.
b) To consider and approve the supply and installation of a 1 metre steel pole
bracket complete with a 36 watt PL white light (low energy) lantern controlled by an all night photocell and a plastic supply box and overhead electricity service, outside 40 Princes Street at a cost of £551.00.
c) To consider a request from Tinkers Mother and Toddler Group for a
continuation of the grant donation towards the scout hall hire for a further six
months at a cost of £415.68 (documents circulated with agenda).
d) To consider and approve quotations received for repairs to electric circuit at
the village hall at an approximate cost of £2,000.00.
e) To consider and approve a loan of £1,600.00 to the Village Hall
Management Committee to cover repair costs to the outside shed.
f) To consider and approve payment of £749.10, to South Lincs Electrical Ltd
for portable testing, full log and certification of equipment at the village hall.
g) To consider accounts for payment.
h) To receive a report from the RFO on the PC finances, Income and
Expenditure.

7. Planning Committee:
Notes of the meeting held on 13th June 2012 to be approved and signed as
the minutes (circulated with agenda).

8. Correspondence:
To note general correspondence (publications and letters are available for viewing).

9. To receive reports on Outside Meetings:
a) To receive a report from Cllrs Mrs Gwillym and Mrs Peck on Councillors
Training day held 7th June 2012.

10. To receive reports from Working Groups:
a) Allotments
b) Anti Social Behaviour
c) Children's Playgrounds and Playing Fields
d) Christmas Celebrations
e) Community Emergency and Flood Plan
f) Consultation and Questionnaires
g) Fayre and Feast
h) Forward Planning
i) Highways, Footpaths & Car Parks
j) Risk Assessment
k) Street Lighting
l) War Memorial and Spring

11. NALC Code of Conduct: To approve and adopt the NALC Code of Conduct for Parish Councils pursuant to section 27 of the Localism Act 2011 (circulated with agenda).

12. Skate Board Park/BMX Track: To receive an update on this project.

13. Annual Village Meeting 2013: To consider format for next year's event and possible key note speakers.

14. Date, time and venue of next meeting: Tuesday 31st July 2012 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

To Planning Committee members: You are hereby summoned to a meeting of the Planning Committee which will be held in the Pavilion, Prince's Street on Wednesday 13th June 2012 at 7.30pm. Prior to the official start of the meeting a public forum will be held if required. The public may address the committee between 7.15pm and 7.30pm on current matters, or issues which may become future agenda items and your attendance is also requested during this period.

PLANNING COMMITTEE AGENDA - 13th June 2012

1. To resolve to accept Apologies for Absence and reasons given

2. Members Declarations of Interests: Members may make any declarations of interest at this point but may also make them at any point during the meeting in accordance with the 2000 Local Government Act.

3. To Consider Applications Received:
a) 12/0546/FUL - proposal: Erection of a temporary (3 years) log cabin dwelling and provision of car parking area, at Fenside Farm, Fen Lane, Metheringham, Lincoln, LN4 3AQ.

b) 12/0586/HOUS - proposal: Demolition of existing side porch and erection of single storey side extension, at Lindsays, Fen Lane, Metheringham, Lincoln, LN4 3AQ.

4. To Note Decisions Received:
None.

5. Correspondence:
None.

6. Date, time and venue of next meeting:
Wednesday 11th July 2012 at 7.30pm in the Pavilion.

Signed: Ms S N Wetherall
Clerk to Metheringham Parish Council
Date: 7th June 2012

Metheringham Parish Council Annual Report 2011 - 12

Metheringham Parish Council Annual Report 2011 - 12 Cover

With the Diamond Jubilee just around the corner I would like to thank everyone for getting their articles to be a couple of weeks or so sooner than the normal deadline. This, I hope, will ensure that the magazine is on the streets well in time for all events taking place over this special time to get the best publicity possible.

Also, can I just say, our distributor, Maggie has said that we as a group are happy to deliver leaflets in our magazine. The details of this can are in the next article.

Enjoy the read and I hope you all have a successful Jubilee weekend and the weather is kind to you all.

Metheringham's Weekend of Celebration.
Dust off your bunting, decorate your house/business and get ready to celebrate this very special moment in our Country's history.

Friday 25 May - We start our celebrations in Metheringham Village Hall from 6:30 - 8:30 pm with the Crowning of our very own Jubilee Queen, her Consort, two Princesses and their Knights. We will also have six flower girls.

Friday 1 June - a Jubilee assembly in Metheringham Primary School where each pupil has been hard at work painting a portrait of Her Majesty. 230 children will be presented with a Medal and Crown, before having their photograph taken to be put in our villages history book.

Sunday 3 June - The Jubilee Big Community Lunch in the playing fields from 12 noon. Bring your own table, chairs, and food and listen to a folk group, have your face painted or have a go on the bouncy castle and then a ride on the vintage fun fair.

Monday 4 June - Carnival Parade from Grange Road to the Playing Fields at 2 pm followed by our Fair at 2:30 pm. You can watch a BMX bike exhibition, join in It's a Knockout, watch falconry flying, eat some hog roast, burgers or have a cup of tea and cake in the WI pavilion, look at what our village organisations get up to on their stalls, go to the marquee and see the fantastic entries in our competition, watch the events in the central arena or just have a bet on the terrier racing!! After all that, have a drink in the Beer Tent,
Watch the historic Lancaster Bomber do a fly past on our playing field.
Dance to the children's disco in the early evening followed by our fantastic band Sugar Bombz.
Join in at 10:30 for the lighting of our very own Beacon followed by a Red White and Blue firework display to very patriotic music.

JOIN TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE THIS HISTORIC WEEKEND -
GO TO FACEBOOK at MACLA Diamond Jubilee or go to www.macla.co.uk

Annual Village Meeting
The 2012 Annual Village meeting took place on Tuesday 24 April and we would like to thank everyone who attended to make the evening a great success. The Chairman gave a presentation giving details of the Parish Council activities during the past year. This year's key note speakers were Jim Thomson from Lincolnshire Co-operative and Gary Brown from First Contact - Age UK Lincoln, they both gave excellent and informative presentations. The village groups gave some varied, interesting and entertaining presentations, Metheringham Skate Park Group, Metheringham Scouts, Cubs and Beavers, Metheringham Area Community Leisure Association (MACLA), Metheringham & Dunston LIVES, Metheringham Guides, New Life Church, Mission X Youth Group, Metheringham Fire Brigade and Metheringham Methodist Church. The 2011/2012 Parish Council Annual Report will be delivered to your door very soon, so please take the time to read it and find out what the Parish Council have achieved for the village. We would like to hear your views. If you have any suggestions or comments regarding the Annual Village Meeting please contact the Clerk.

Firstly I would like to thank the outgoing Executive Committee, who have run the Village Hall over the last few years and now feel it is time to step down and enjoy a well earned rest. Jenni Honisett has worked tirelessly as Chairman, Dot Howes as Secretary and Gwyneth Holland as Treasurer.

A big round of applause is needed for all their efforts to keep this very important village asset running.

Having now stepped into the role of Chairman I would like to thank everyone for the help and support they have given me in these early weeks.

Our customers, which is you 'the village', deserve a good facility, which is clean, safe, has modern facilities and is run smoothly and efficiently. Our new Committee will endeavour to keep Metheringham village hall as a place to be proud of and we will be looking to do all the above and continue to look for ways to improve your facility.

I am grateful for Gwyneth Holland who will now take on the role of Fund Raising Facilitator and will continue to raise funds so that we can endeavour to improve the building and its contents. Already there are various fund raising events scheduled on a regular basis. The Hub is one such event which is held on the fourth Thursday in every month from 2:30 - 4:30. This is where you can pop into the hall, buy some green groceries, swap a book, have your hair cut or have a nice cup of tea and homemade cake. There is also a fishmonger and butcher who come to the village hall car park. Already it is proving very popular and it is a chance for the villagers to meet up and have a chat.

New Age Kurling is held every Friday evening. This too is proving very popular for all ages and again this is a fund-raiser for the hall.

If you have any ideas of how we can improve our service to you, please contact me. We, as a committee, cannot put things right if we do not know what is wrong in the first place. What would you like from your village hall? How do you see the village hall over the next 5 years? Would you like to see improvements and what would they be?

You can ring me on 01526 321289 or email me on willowshome@hotmail.co.uk
Thank you and I look forward to seeing you in our Village Hall

Sally Wilson (Chair)

Drought Effects
As this is being written at the end of April the drought seems a distant problem. Water is flowing in the Beck at Scopwick and the springs that sustain it are bubbling up once again.
While the rain has been welcome the effects of the drought are still with us. This can clearly be seen in the subsidence affecting the Village Hall. The long dry period affected the clay on which part of the Hall rests and, as the clay shrank, so the Hall cracked. It remains to be seen what effect there will be as the recent rainfall is absorbed and the ground heaves back to a new level.

The subsidence does not appear to be dangerous or to directly affect any of the activities in the Hall but it will be an expensive business to investigate and eventually repair the damage. The Hall of course is one of the main social hubs of our community.

We are working towards a closer relationship with the congregation at St Peter's at the moment . This has resulted in a second shared Sunday morning followed by a delicious lunch, This time we met first at St Peters and everyone placed a candle on a huge map of Dunston to show where they lived - finding their road which was laid out on the map in salt. We needed satellites for Metheringham, Witham St Hughs, Bardney, Lincoln, New Zealand and Australia!

We are having another strawberry tea - hopefully in the garden. This will be on Sunday 1 July, between 2.30 and 4.00 pm. Strawberries, cream, and games along with a raffle
We recently completed a messy Church afternoon in school, focusing on the Easter theme and the children from classes 1 and 2 enjoyed foot washing, decorated pancakes and making wooden crosses. This term we plan another afternoon, but this time for class 3.

Lunch Club dates for the rest of the year - 12 pm at the Chapel Dunston
2 courses + coffee / tea for £3.00
18 May / 15 June / 20 July / 21 September 19 October / 16 November

Knit and Natter 2.30 pm on Thursday - come along for a piece of home-made cake and a chat - knitting is not compulsory! Meet up with friends - the ones you already know and the ones you have yet to make.
24 May / 28 June / 26 July / 30 August / 27 September / 25 October / 22 November

For information on any of these events or anything to do with the Chapel
contact Beth McLuckie 01526 329191

We meet alternate Fridays in the Methodist chapel hall, Metheringham.

7-8pm - ages 7-11 and

8-9.30pm - 11 to 16 years.

Summer term dates: 27 April/11 May/ 25 May/ 8 June/ 22 June/ 6 July/ 20 July.

Champions Challenge Holiday club based around the Olympics takes place 23-27 July for children aged 7-11 years. To book a place or for further info please e-mail nicwill@madasafish.com.

Places are allocated on a first come first served basis.

For further info contact Nicky on 322305

The Sisterhood Anniversary Service will be held on Sunday 3 June at 10.30am. The preacher is Kaye Willis from Old Leake.

On Friday 29 June we will be holding our rearranged Sausage & Mash Supper in the Chapel Hall with entertainment arranged by Martin. Tickets cost £7 and will be available from Edna, Mabel & Jan, telephone 323180.

Our groups have a summer break during July & August but we still hold our Sunday Morning Service at 10.30am.

We hope that you have an enjoyable Summer and the weather is pleasant but with some rain, preferably during the night.

Jan Munday

It may have rained in April but Summer is on the way. We may, with any luck, have a hot Summer, and this can be a problematic time for dogs. Dogs can not cool down as quickly as we can, so we have to be more thoughtful in the care of our dogs in hot weather. The best time to give dogs the exercise they need is either in the cool of the early morning or evening. It is inadvisable to take your dog out in the intense heat of the midday sun, and this should be avoided when ever possible. Always ensure there is fresh water for your dog and if you are in possession of a child's paddling pool it would be a good idea to fill it with water to enable the dog to lie down in it, if it desired.

It has been on the news that the government is proposing that dogs be micro chipped, but this should not detract from the fact that your dog needs to have a tag on their collar. Having a tag on your dogs collar makes it easier to reunite a lost dog with its owner.

In April, as a dog warden, I was made aware of 4 dogs that had gone missing. Some of these dog did not have tags on their collars and reuniting the dogs with their owners was made more difficult. If a dog's owner cannot be found then the stray dogs go to a N.K.D.C appointed kennel, and to reclaim your dog from the kennel can be quite costly. I am pleased to say all dogs were eventually reunited with their owners.

If you lose or find a dog, please let me know as I may be able to help reunite the dog with its owner more quickly.

Michael Cummins
07903898451

With Spring in full swing and Summer (hopefully) around the corner we ask residents to be mindful of the importance of securing their home during this period.

Summer Crime Prevention Advice:

BURGLARY
The warmer weather provides some ideal opportunities for Burglars.

OPEN WINDOWS:
You may be in another room or out in the garden but that open window is an opportunity.
PLEASE CLOSE WINDOWS IF LEAVING THE ROOM FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME AND MAKE SURE EXTERIOR DOORS ARE LOCKED EVEN WHEN AT HOME.
Try to get into the habit of double checking doors and windows when going to bed or leaving the house for even a short time.