Summer 2019

The Parish Council welcomed its new Clerk, Frances Williams, in March. Many Badby residents will already know Frances from her involvement with the Church and as a previous resident of the vil-lage. This is Frances’ first parish clerk role but she has been quick to learn what is required and is already doing a good job keeping the rest of the Parish Council in order!

Earlier in the year the Badby Neighbourhood Plan was adopted after a referendum vote with a very pleasing turnout of 43%, of which 90% were in favour of adoption.

Due to the planned change to unitary councils in Northamptonshire, local elections including Parish Council elections due this year were postponed by twelve months, so if you are interested in standing for the Parish Council, May 2020 will be your opportunity!

Richard Piner, Chairman

BADBY PARISH COUNCIL

Parish Councillors, contact telephone numbers and areas of special interest:

Steve Chandler 01327 703540 Cricket Club and Allotments; Trees, Greens and Rights of Way; Defibrillator

Katie Griffiths 07890 242573 Police Liaison; Trees, Greens and Rights of WayJo Hind 07763 896754 Highways, Street Lighting and Road Safety;

PlanningPeter Johnson 01327 438259 Playing Field and Play Equipment; Parish WorksEd Judd 07495 411889 Highways, Street Lighting and Road Safety;

Police Liaison; Website and PublicityNaaman Ostah 07759 204861 Planning; Playing Field and Play EquipmentRichard Piner (Chairman) 01327 704093 Burial Grounds; Village Hall; FinanceNeville Snell (Vice Chairman) 07949 103393 Cricket Club and Allotments; FinanceMartin Walton 07930 679053 Burial Grounds; Parish Works

General enquiries 07717 337048 clerk@badby.org.ukChairman 01327 704093 chairman@badby.org.uk

Parish Council meetings are normally held on the second Monday of each month and we welcome members of the public who wish to attend, contribute to matters on the agenda or bring new matters to our attention. Agendas are posted on the two Parish noticeboards (near the bus stop at Pinfold Green and on Main Street opposite The Windmill) and agendas and minutes are also available on the website. Extraordinary meetings are also held from time to time, usually to consider planning applications, and notice is given in the same way on the noticeboards and on the website.

1

BURIAL GROUNDS The first steps have been taken towards full restoration of the boundary walls around the church-yard with the repair of a short section of wall on the north side of the church. More work is planned soon.

Mowing both of the churchyard and of the cemetery continues through spring and summer and it’s particularly pleasing to see wild flower areas allowed to flourish without detracting from the appearance of either.

Richard Piner

CLEAN-UP WORKING GROUPThe regular monthly working group continues to meet once a month to ensure that Badby looks its best – keeping the greens and trees tidy, dealing with excessive growth along verges, cleaning road signs, litter picking, etc. This year’s highlights include the clearing of vegetation alongside the brook in Brookside Lane. The group also carries out small repair and maintenance issues which otherwise we might have to pay for, and we are most grateful to all those who lend a hand.

The Clean-up usually takes place on the fourth Sunday of each month (although sometimes this has to be changed to a Saturday), starting at 10.00 am at the Village Hall, and finishing at around 12.30-1.00 pm. Everyone is welcome, whatever their age or skills!

Peter Johnson

PARKINGAs we are all aware, our beautiful village attracts lots of visitors every year. Inevitably this sometimes causes problems with parking for which there is no immediate solution. Causes include: single track roads; school runs; use of the Church and Village Hall; an increasing number of cars per household; a lack of parking facilities at some houses; residents parking on the road when they have off-road facilities available, and a rising population.

How can we increase parking facilities for residents without destroying Badby's charm? We would welcome any comments or suggestions how to improve matters - for example, residents who no longer drive but have a parking space could perhaps offer this to others (“rent-a-space”)? In the meantime, please refrain from parking on our registered and unregistered Greens and verges. The granite setts were put in place to protect these from erosion and damage caused by parking.

Jo Hind

STREET LIGHTSThe Parish Council has a responsibility for the maintenance of street lights in the village. There are no fewer than 46 lights around the village, many of them ageing and/or obsolete. As a result, we are seeing maintenance costs increase year on year. Compared to more modern lighting such as LED they are also very energy-inefficient and therefore costly to run. We are starting to look at options for replacing the existing lights with something more reliable and with lower running costs. This will be a significant expense for the village so we will need your input to help ensure we get a good, cost effective and long lasting solution.

Richard Piner

2

3

TREESIt has been bought to the attention of the Parish Council that children of school age have been climbing the young chestnut trees on the Green. This could be dangerous for the children as well as harmful to the growing trees. It would be appreciated if, as responsible parents, you do not support or encourage this behaviour.

Jo Hind

GENERAL VILLAGE NEWS

BADBY ALLOTMENTS ASSOCIATIONWe have a small number of allotments available. If you would like to join us and benefit from the rewards of growing your own fruit and vegetables in beautiful surroundings, please contact me on 01327 871022 or lannabanks@btopenworld.com

Lanna Banks

BADBY ART GROUPWe are a very welcoming and friendly group and invite people to come and get the feel of things before joining. We meet on Tuesdays from 2.00–4.00 pm, roughly during term time. During the summer holiday period a programme of village venues is published for sketching and painting outdoors (weather permitting!).

Members' talents vary and we use any media we wish. Expertise and ideas are shared happily. Usually there is a small annual exhibition too, and from time to time vis-iting artists come and share their techniques and experience. You don't have to live in Badby - why not come and meet us, and maybe give it a go? We re-start on 10th September. Contact any of the following:

Gwen: 01327 361775Elizabeth: 01327 261344Pauline: 01327 704734

Pauline Bird

BADBY AND DISTRICT HORTICULTURAL SOCIETYThis has not been an easy year so far for BDHS, as we are without a Chair or Secretary. Each event is therefore being run by a member of the committee with the assistance of the rest. Our members have been very supportive of keeping the society going and have offered assistance when requested, and we would like to give a big thank you to everyone who has helped out.

The Wine and Quiche evening in March was our first event of 2019 and included a wine-tasting run by Majestic Wine, Northampton. It was a very enjoyable evening which was rounded off with an excellent homemade buffet laid on by Committee members.

4

Our Annual Plant Sale in May was a huge success, and we would like to thank Dennetts, Bliss Lane and Staverton Nurseries, and the Green Health charity for their participation. A very special thank you also to the Floral Bee who held a Flowerpot Challenge at the event - local groups/ societies each decorated a flowerpot to represent their particular group, and members of the public then voted for their favourite flowerpot. The table was full of many imaginative and skilful flowerpots and looked amazing. There were sales of refreshments and homemade cakes, and all profits went towards the costs of running the Annual Show. Our next event will be the Annual Show on Sunday 1st September, for which schedules and entry forms will be distributed with the August Link magazine or can be obtained by contacting a member of the committee. Our AGM to be held on Friday 15th November will include entertainment, details of which will be announced soon. Finally, we will be holding a Christmas Crafts Evening on Friday 13th December.

If you would like to join the Society (£5 for single membership, £9 for two at the same address) or would like any further information on any of our events, please contact Hilary Mensah on 01327 704797, hily.warburton@gmail.com, or Zelda Shapter on 01327 872118, zelda@peteshapter.co.uk, or any member of the Committee. All our events are advertised in the Link, on the Badby Village website and on Facebook.

Zelda Shapter

BADBY AND DISTRICT PHOTO CLUBBadby and District Photo Club was formed in 1981 by 3 neighbours who lived in Park Close. Today, 38 years later, the Photo Club is still an active part of the Badby village art scene and is well respected within the wider Northamptonshire photographic community where its friendly atmosphere is legendary.

The Photo Club offers a varied programme of speakers, practical nights and competitions for its members, and is open to everyone with an interest in furthering their enjoyment of photography and image making at all levels.

Its catchment area extends beyond Badby, encompassing all villages within a 15-mile radius as well as Daventry town. We meet in the Village Hall on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month at 7.30-9.30 pm, from September through to June.

Take a look at our website www.badbyphotoclub.org.uk for full details about the club, its ongoing programme and gallery pages.

We trust you will like what you see, and look forward to welcoming you to our meetings. In the meantime - HAPPY SHOOTING!

John Hammons

BADBY AND FARTHINGSTONE CRICKET CLUBWe have had a good start to the season, winning over half our games so far, and it has been great to see some spectators from the village at our home matches. Work is underway to refurbish the practice nets and this should be complete soon. We've also obtained some new benches and a sightscreen for the ground.

5

Villagers can support the club through a regular meat raffle that has been set up - details available at The Maltsters and The Windmill or by emailing badbyfarthingstonecc@gmail.com. We always welcome new members, either playing or non-playing. Anybody interested can find us on Facebook or email andynightingale234@gmail.com.

Our big event of the summer comes on September 8th when we hold our Club Day. There will be a Juniors vs Seniors game, along with a barbecue and refreshments. All are welcome and it's a great opportunity to find out more about the club. To get an idea of numbers it would be good if people could email me if they intend to come along. Next season we hope to provide coaching for juniors if there is sufficient demand. Parents should contact the club to express an interest in their child taking part.

Andy Nightingale

BADBY SCHOOLThere have been lots of exciting changes at Badby School since the winter Parish Newsletter. All the building work was completed in the spring, so the children in the Keystage 1 classes and the Bluebells pre-school group were able to move into their new classrooms at the start of term. The new accommodation is light and airy with a new outdoor play area for Reception children. The old mobile classrooms have been demolished and replaced by a new playground.

All the children took part in several special curriculum events including a science week, International Dance Day, European Languages Day, World Book Day and many others. In April children in Years 3/4 rehearsed hard and performed a play about Robin Hood, and the Years 5/6 classes have just performed the play “The Wind in the Willows”.

Classes have been on a range of visits linked with curriculum subjects. Keystage 1 children enjoyed their day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park and children in Keystage 2 had an exciting time at the Living Rainforest and Nene Valley Railway.

Recently everyone in school had an action packed fun-day at Wicksteed Park. The school’s annual Rose Day took place at the end of June with traditional maypole dances, country dancing, games and stalls.

The children in Year 6 had their SATs in May and have been enjoying other events this month. The Year 6 annual residential trip was a great success, with good weather and exciting sports and team building activities. The children are now preparing their special leaving assembly to present to their families on the last day of term.

The children took part in many sporting events over the last two terms and did well in local and regional competitions. The range of sports includes athletics, cricket, swimming, cycling, netball, football, cross country, tennis and archery. The children and their families recently enjoyed two traditional sports afternoons. The Strictly Dance teams succeeded in getting through to the next round of the competition at Derngate and will be performing there again at the end of term.

As you see, it’s been a very busy time again at Badby School, and everyone is ready for the summer holiday!

Badby School will be looking for a new governor after Christmas. If any parishioners are interested in this and would like further information, please contact the school office on 01327 871363.

6

Heather Piner

BELLRINGING at BADBYWe have attracted an average of 13 people on practice nights this year, but only 3 of them on average are from Badby! We managed to ring all six bells for most Sunday services, with help from Byfield, Charwelton and Newnham ringers. We have continued to help train new volunteers for Everdon, Daventry and Byfield at tied-clapper (‘silent’) practices starting at 7pm on many Wednesday evenings before the normal ‘noisy’ practice starts at 7.30pm. We still need more recruits to keep our numbers up for Sunday ringing. Bring a friend and have a go – it takes time but is very reward-ing! You are very welcome to come and see us ringing (and the bells swinging above on CCTV) on Sunday mornings or practice nights.

Our annual ringing outing was on May Day Monday, to visit and ring at seven six-bell towers in Berkshire. Eighteen practice-night ringers plus Ken and Eleanor Ramsbotham (up from Devon to be with us for the day) visited Brightwalton, Great Shefford, and Speen, then after lunch we made for Shaw, Peasemore, Beedon and Yattendon. There were some spectacular timber nave roofs during the day, as well as Beedon’s timber bell frame which starts at ground level with a small tim-ber clad turret on top.

Visiting ringers rang a quarter peal on January 9, other visiting ringers rang on June 22 and another quarter peal was rung on July 5.

We will be hosting the monthly meeting of the Daventry Branch of the Diocesan Guild of Bell-ringers on Saturday, September 14. There will be ringing from 3pm till 4.30 pm when a short ser-vice will be followed by tea and meeting in the church. Come and join us for a look-see and chat-ter. Evening ringing will be at Byfield from 7 pm till 8.15 pm.

Geoff Pullin

ST MARY'S CHURCHAlthough we are now in “inter regnum” while we wait for a new Rector to be appointed, we are very much still open for business. St Mary’sis one of a group (benefice) of five parishes and we hold a united benefice service once a month in each parish in turn, as well as threeother services a month at Badby. Visiting clergy take the service of Holy Communion on the first Sunday of each month and the united benefice service, and the other services are lay-led.

We continue to be very grateful to the large group of volunteers who do so much to make sure that St Mary’s is an asset which continues to be enjoyed by all in the Badby community – those who clean the church, mow the churchyard, provide coffee after services, bake cakes for the monthly coffee morning, and so on. If you would like to join one of these teams, please get in touch.

The open space at the back of the church, especially now there is a step-free entrance to the building, has proved invaluable as a resource and is now used for many purposes. All villagers are welcome to the coffee mornings held at 10.30 am-12.00 pm on the third Tuesday of each month; there is a regular contingent who turn up to enjoy cake and gossip. If you are interested in booking

7

the Church for a community event, please contact one of the Churchwardens (see below). Our next priority is the necessary repairs to the roof, and the PCC are currently seeking quotations before starting the project. Once this is done the building will be in very good repair for the foreseeable future.

Susan Rose has done so much for St Mary’s as Churchwarden of many years’ standing that it would be hard to list it all. We are lucky that she will continue to lead our worship for many of our lay-led services. Her duties as Churchwarden have been taken over by Judy Jordan.

Churchwardens: Judy Jordan judyjordan27@gmail.com Tel. 07752 384969Frances Williams williamsf333@aol.com Tel. 07717 337048

THE LINKAfter years of organising volunteers to deliver a copy of the free monthly Knightley Parishes Link magazine to every house in Badby, Win and Alan Roddis are moving to pastures new! We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work. Distribution is now organised by Jo Hind and we have volunteers to deliver to all areas of the village except Park Close. If anyone has time to spare once a month to deliver to this small area, please contact me on 07763 896754.

Jo Hind

BADBY NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCHBadby Neighbourhood Watch (BNW) has become inactive due to a lack of interest. We held our last meeting some two years ago and only the usual four suspects turned up! However, as there has been an increase in crime locally this may be a good time for someone to start it up again. In the last month we have had:

cases of sheep being killed and butchered in their fields, their meat taken and carcasses left a garage in Staverton broken into and a bike and garden tools taken an outbuilding burgled in Lower Catesby and hired equipment stolen a property in Staverton broken into and a Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover stolen a caravan stolen from Catesby a local farm barn broken into and power tools and a ride-on mower stolen

BNW now needs some new blood. If anyone would like to take this up or simply learn more about it, then please contact Denis at djsandsewilson@btinternet.com

Our thanks go to Peter Johnson who has kindly inspected the condition of all the NHW signs around the village for us. We will shortly be replacing those that are past their best or missing.

Meanwhile, if you see any suspicious activity, including anything unusual happening to livestock in the countryside, then please contact the police on 101 or, if a crime is in progress or life is in danger, call 999.

Sue and Denis Wilson

VILLAGE CORRESPONDENT

8

Please send news of future events, the outcome and personal celebrations to me “in good time”. The same item reported twice is better than no report at all! “Good time” means:

Daventry Express: by Sunday evening for the following Thursday’s Neighbourhood News column. The Link: by 19th of the previous month.badbyvillage.com website: any time.

Geoff Pullin gcsspullin@yahoo.com 01327 871806 25 The Glebe.

VILLAGE HALLThe first half of 2019 has seen the Badby Village Hall kitchen completely re-fitted from floor to ceiling. We have also put additional kitchen facilities in the committee room, installed a catering dishwasher, with a cycle time of less than 5 minutes, and provided a wall mounted boiling water heater to minimise the use of kettles and urns; not to mention two new fridges and a cooker. Thanks to all who have attended our various fund raising efforts over the last couple of years, and to Daventry District Council, which made a generous grant towards the cost of the renovations.

Bluebell Day in May was our most successful ever with over £3,000 raised for our funds, and thanks are due to Barclays Bank for their contribution to that total. It’s always good to see so many visitors from elsewhere enjoying themselves in our beautiful village.

With its new kitchen, the Village Hall is again an ideal venue for club meetings, coffee mornings, parties and evening entertainment. The committee would like you to consider the Village Hall for your next event. As a Grade II listed building our village hall can be expensive to maintain and we rely on income from hiring to keep it in good condition. Current hire rates are on the village web site and you can also ring our caretaker Sue Blundell (tel. 01327 703612) for further details and availability.

Ken Morris

VILLAGE WEBSITEKeep up to date with everything that happens in Badby! To take advantage of the free publicity the village website has to offer, just e-mail badbyvillage2013@gmail.com or contact Geoff Pullin (see “Village Correspondent” above.

NEXT ISSUEThe next issue of Badby Parish News will be published in December 2019. If you would like to contribute an article, please email the Clerk on clerk@badby.org.uk

9

The views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily represent those of the Parish Council unless expressly stated. Edited and produced by the Clerk (Frances Williams, 25 Westhorpe Lane, Byfield, Daventry NN11 6XB) on behalf of Badby Parish Council.

10