St Mary’s Fellowship  Monday’s meeting (2.15pm at St Mary’s Centre) takes the form of a tea and chat afternoon.

Darby and Joan  The club is holding a coffee morning next Wednesday to raise funds to subsidise its outings etc. Friends and supporters are welcome to attend from 10.30am until 12noon at the Youth and Community Centre, Woodways.

Simply Walk  Last week’s walk attracted a record-breaking 21 walkers, including several new people, (in addition to the two leaders) and the group enjoyed a cold but sunny walk to Cuddington and back. The next one is on Wednesday 15, leaving at 10.30am from the Banks Park car park by the village hall. Conditions u8nderfoot are still very muddy so please wear stout boots or wellies. Call 01494 475367 for details.

Women’s Institute  Michael Hodges will give a talk entitled ‘History beneath my Feet’ (finds using a metal detector) at Haddenham Witchert WI’s meeting next Wednesday (8pm) in the Walter Rose Room.

Thursday Club  February’s WEA Carry on Learning session is on the 3rd Thursday of the month (1.30pm, in the Village Hall lounge) when Chris Beattie will give an illustrated talk about Western Australia. Visitors are welcome.

Wine and Cheese  Puddleducks Pre-school fund-raisers are holding a wine and cheese evening at the Youth and Community Centre, Woodways, on Saturday 25th (8pm). They have booked the services of a Master of Wine and there will be a whole lot of cheese and wine, plus an amazing charity auction. Incredible auction prizes include: a signed GB team cycle suit worn by Chris Hoy at the 2011 Track cycling world championships, a Microlite flight, a wardrobe audit with a personal shopper, lunch at the Michelin starred Hand and Flowers in Marlow, a signed cricket bat from England captain Andrew Strauss, catering for a dinner party for four, a video golf lesson followed by playing lesson from the Oxfordshire Golf Club … plus lots more! Tickets are £15. Call 07979 852049 to secure your seat or to get your auction bids in early! All proceeds to Haddenham Puddleducks Pre-school.

Refuse freighter  The council had been informed by Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) that it is proposed to stop this service. If we wish to have a freighter we will have to pay between £170 and £200 per half day. Councillors agreed not to do so.

Speeding  A Complaint had been received from a resident regarding speeding vehicles along Stanbridge Road.  BCC has been asked if the 30 mph signs could be made more prominent but it has refused.

Garden refuse bags  AVDC had informed the council that this service will be discontinued from September 2012.  They will be introducing an opt-in garden bin service in April 2012.  Residents who are interested in the service can register their interest on AVDC’s website www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/binsaskus <http://www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/binsaskus>

Bike Rack  The Safe Walking and Cycling Group had requested that a cycle rack be installed by the Woodways entrance to the Playing Field. It was agreed that the parish council would support this but does not have funds available to purchase one at the present time. It was noted that there is already a cycle rack by the sports pavilion.

Planning  It was announced that the application to demolish the old Townsend Garage and replace it with a detached dwelling and carport had been approved. Work has now started on the site, which had been derelict for some years.

Vale of Aylesbury Plan  A questionnaire “Planning the Future of Haddenham” was delivered with the November issue of Haddenham Village News and responses were due to be submitted to AVDC by the end of  December. A résumé of responses is due to appear in the February issue of Haddenham Village News.

Communications Committee  Cllr Richard Moore reported that work has begun on putting coming events on the council’s website. He is also looking at refreshing the home page.

Parish-on-Line Mapping  Roger Hannaford (Streetlight co-ordinator) and David Rankin have reviewed this new service and endorsed it. The trial period was coming to an end and the package was to be purchased.

Jubilee  BCC is offering free bunting for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Cllr Margaret Aston has put in a request for Haddenham to have some.

School Request  Lord Williams’s School had asked if parish councillors would like to attend their Community Action Morning on January 31. Cllr Moore agreed to attend.

TRIBUTE  News has reached me of the death, at Shipton-under-Wychwood on 9 November 2011, of Sylvia Bradford (86).  She was a long-term supporter of the Haddenham Health Supporters Group, which began in 1987, and she and Sue Peck set up a Bereavement group in 1988.

Sylvia was a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, where she was deeply involved in the Oxford University Film Society, of which she was secretary. On leaving university, Sylvia went to work for the documentary filmmaker Paul Rotha at Films of Fact. There she worked as assistant to the director Peter Bradford, whom she married in September 1947. She left her promising film career to be a fulltime mother to their 3 children.

In the 1960s Sylvia trained as a teacher, with a particular interest in local history, and in preparing her pupils for life after school. After a few years she moved into the National Health Service, where she coordinated voluntary services at Amersham Hospital. She found this job, which involved matching the right person to the right task, immensely rewarding, and in particular enjoyed working with young people doing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

In retirement, Sylvia experienced a remarkable creative flowering. She took up painting and sculpture, exhibiting twice in Buckinghamshire Art Weeks, but the best of her energy went on writing, mostly poetry but also plays. She was a member of the Haddenham Art group and she and her husband each had a painting selected for the Haddenham Millennium calendar (Peter’s for the cover and Sylvia’s for December). As before, she also gave a great deal of time to charitable work, both locally and further afield.

Following a devastating stroke in December 2007, Sylvia’s life became hard, despite Peter’s devoted support and her own brave and positive attitude. Deprived of the power to speak or to write, she sometimes managed to find a word or phrase, and one of these, spoken from a hospital bed, sums up the world in which she was always most at home: “the sea of ideas…”

At a service in December to celebrate her life, four of Sylvia’s poems were read along with ones written by people she knew.

After the service a collection was taken for the Nurse Marjorie Bott Memorial Fund, a local Buckinghamshire charity for the sick and needy set up by Sylvia and friends in the 1960s in memory of the Chalfont-St-Giles district nurse and midwife who delivered two of the Bradfords’ children in the early 1950s.

NEW BABY  Acting Head teacher at Haddenham Community Infant School, Mrs Pippa Brand-Benee has announced that head teacher Mrs Justine Mitchener had a baby girl on January 16 and she and her husband have called her Hebe.

CHARITY NEWS  Haddenham Garden Centre has sent the following report on their charity fund-raising in the run up to Christmas. “The centre opens a grotto on weekends in November/December every year that is very kindly staffed by Haddenham and district Rotary Club. This winter we had our opening on November 26 and following Santa’s arrival, by horse and cart at 11am, he then saw 97 children! We arranged for a balloon modeler and face painter to keep the children entertained (and Haddenham Hand Bell Ringers for mums and dads) during the wait to see Santa. In total [over 4 weekends] we had 649 children coming to see Santa from both at the Grotto and on our two ‘supper with Santa’ evenings that we ran just before Christmas. Every child gets a present (which we donated ourselves at the centre). With monies taken at the grotto, at the Supper with Santa and collected at the door, we raised a total of £4300 (compared with £2640 the previous Christmas), which we have topped up to £4500. This goes with many thanks to all the people who visited us and have helped us to raise this money for the local community through Haddenham Rotary.

In addition to Santa’s Grotto etc, the Garden Centre very generously donated 4 Christmas trees to the village: one at Church End near the lych-gate, one inside St Mary’s Church. one near the Village Hall and one at Haddenham Community Junior School. They also gave one to the Autism Unit at Lord Williams’s Lower School. All the trees were recycled at the Garden Centre after Christmas – in their chipper.

Christian Aid  The Burns Night Ceilidh on January 27 was a great success enjoyed by all and it raised £775.  Thanks go to everyone who supported the event, to Andy Hardy for his reading of ‘Ode to a Haggis’ and Elizabeth Law for her wonderful harp playing.  Also a special thanks to the Haddenham Beer Festival Trust, Oakdene Hollins Ltd and local folk band Broadband for their generous donations.

Den’s beard  Den Taylor, who had his beard shaved off recently for the first time in 32 years, has announced that the final amount raised through sponsorship was £455, which has been sent to Cancer Research UK. He had anticipated raising about £100-200 but everyone was very generous and he thanks them all for their donations.

HADDENHAM WEBSITE  June Jones, who founded the Haddenham website in the late 1990s and has continued to run it ever since, is now looking for a volunteer to take it over. She writes: ‘I have loads of ideas for it but no time ~ the village needs someone who can give it the time it deserves. I am happy to hand it over with or without my input to a suitable villager. Email the owner on june@core-business.co.uk <mailto:june@haddenham.net> and tell me what you would like to do.

WEA DAY SCHOOLS  Bookings are now being taken (call Annette on 01865 768289)  for two forthcoming day schools: on Friday March 9 (10am-4pm) Rosalind Janssen will lead a study on ‘From Flax to Fashion  in Ancient Egypt’ and on May 18 there’s a last chance to attend one of Prof Bill Prescott’s sessions, before he takes a break from teaching. He will be looking at ‘The Power of the Poster – a history of poster art’.

MEDICAL CENTRE  Haddenham Medical Centre will be closed for the afternoon (from 12.30pm) next Thursday (16) to allow time for staff training. Emergency cover will be provided.
You are reminded that if you are unable to get to the surgery during the week you can now attend on certain Saturdays, providing you book an appointment (to see a doctor or practice nurse) during the week. Saturday Clinics for February are on the 11th and the 25th.

Ceilidh  Bampton Traditional Morris will be doing the dance displays. In concert, in the Walter Rose Room, will be Jackie Oates  (singer and fiddle player) with Karen Tweed on accordion. Details from www.haddenhamceilidhs.co.uk or call 01296 415333.

CaféPlus+  At this month’s CaféPlus+ on Sunday morning Feb 5, in the Village Hall, John and Vivienne Holloway’s son Peter and his wife Tanja will be speaking during the ‘Food for Thought’ session from 10.30am. They are in Haddenham very briefly before leaving for Jordan on February 7 to start language studies in Arabic. Tanja has her final GP exams in Finland on  February 3, then flies to the UK that evening ready to leave for Jordan the following Tuesday. In addition there will be the usual choice of breakfast, activities for 3-11 year olds and a chance to read the Sunday newspapers.

U3A  Haddenham University of the 3rd Age has its monthly meeting on Monday, February 6, at 2.15 for 2.30pm at the Youth and Community Centre, Woodways. The talk this time will be “The BBC World Service; Travels with Auntie”, with Alastair Lack He will draw on his experience of nearly 30 years working for the BBC, presenting, producing and editing a wide range of programmes, particularly on the World Service. This promises to be a very interesting afternoon.

Parish Council  The February meeting is on Monday Feb 6 (7.30pm) in the Walter Rose Room and villagers are welcome to attend. There is an opportunity to speak on matters of concern after the formal meeting ends.

Tea Dance  The next tea dance is on Tuesday Feb 7 (2-4pm) in the Village Hall. Entry is £3 and includes tea, a free raffle and free spot prizes. Enjoy ballroom, Latin and sequence dancing to live music – good company, good exercise and good fun. Call Mary Pritchard on 01844 291324 with any queries.

Finance  At the December meeting, the precept for 2012/13 was agreed at £91,961. This is a 12.5% increase on the current year’s precept and it was explained that it will enable services which are ‘dear to our hearts’ to continue. The sum includes a £5000 capital asset fund and is at the same level as last year’s precept, with the addition of £5000 for the Library (from which Bucks County Council will be withdrawing some of its funding this summer) and £5000 to help with the continuation of the Youth Club (which has already lost county council funding).

Grants. Application for annual grants had been received and the following agreed: Haddenham Darby & Joan Club (£300), Dial-a-Ride (£300), Haddenham and District Age Concern (£300), Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance (£300) and Haddenham Parochial Charities (£300).

Airfield  Information had been received that Booker Airfield must shut their operations completely during the Olympics. They had approached Lands Holdings and The Upward Bound Trust for permission to use Haddenham for gliders (about 100 flights a week, towed by planes) and had been informed they must also receive permission from the Parish Council. Lands Holdings had agreed and the parish council agreed in principle, subject to clarification of the following points: parking; whether a risk assessment has been undertaken; whether planning permission would be required. In addition, Booker Airfield would be asked to make a financial contribution to the village.

The parish council’s application to register their lease of part of the airfield for use for additional sports facilities has now been completed. Jon Pawsey had obtained 2 quotes for drainage and fencing and AVDC’s Joe Houston has advised the parish council that S106 money (paid by developers) will be paid direct to them.

Playing Field  A quote had been received for refurbishment of the BMX track at a cost of  £2020 plus VAT. It was agreed this should be undertaken and should be an annual occurrence. An application for a grant of up to £1000 had been submitted to AVDC.

A request had been made from the Tennis Club for funding towards the provision of additional netting to protect the tennis courts from footballs landing on the courts.  The Playing Field Management Committee are funding half and councillors agreed to contribute £500 Banks Park Trust funds.

District Council  AVDC Cllr Judy Brandis reported that there is concern that the front doors of the development on the Spicer Hallfield site are only a few feet away from Banks Road. Mr. Truesdale declared an interest. Cllr Margaret Aston agreed to discuss with Bucks County Council (BCC) the possibility of installing railings for safety purposes. Stop press: a road narrowing was constructed last week on Banks Road to the west of its junction with Stokes Croft and the entrance to the new development. Vehicles coming from the Aylesbury direction take precedence at this narrowing and at the nearby one, by the pond.

Youth Centre  Cllr David Truesdale, the parish council’s representative on the Youth Centre’s committee, reported that an extraordinary meeting had been held, at which it was agreed in principle to proceed to run the project ‘Youth for Christ’ on one evening a week. The 2 sessions (5-6pm and 6-7pm) are very well attended by young people of the village at the moment. A constitution was agreed and a business plan was adopted. In addition, an application had been submitted to BCC for funding of £25,000, and various other applications for funding had been made to local organisations.  Thanks were given to chairman David Palmer for all the work he has put into this project.

Library  Cllr Steve Sharp reported that the group he heads were still in negotiations with BCC regarding support and funding. It is proposed that a Friends of Haddenham Library charity be established and applications were being made for funding from the Buckinghamshire Foundation and Community Impact Bucks as well as local organisations. BCC has increased its funding from £15,000 to £19,500. Contact is being made with those people who have volunteered to help run the Library to see what commitment they can give and a business plan was due to be completed in a few weeks time.

Among the cheques approved for payment were: £562.34 to E-On for street lighting energy; £1,281.00 to Printshop for the November newsletter and a questionnaire; £240.00 to Complete Tree Services for stump grinding trees next to the library; £65 to ACE Pest Control for its work at the village ponds and allotments; £156 to Ian Parkinson for mowing and baling the meadow at Snakemoor; £1,176 to Wooldridge & Simpson for the repair of the dentist’s and Mabel Parkinson Room roofs; and £162 to Digley Association for playground inspections.  To be continued.

Haddenham Streetlights  Roger Hannaford, streetlight coordinator for Haddenham Parish Council, has sent this report direct to me: “Haddenham is about to test a new type of street light, which uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of conventional bulbs. The lantern is energy efficient and should produce a cool white light. However, the main advantage would be that the LEDs should have a life of at least 15 years.  This would lead to fewer failures and reduced maintenance costs, the majority of faults being bulb failures. In addition, the lantern has multiple LEDs, so a failure of one or more would not lead to complete failure but ‘graceful degradation’.

“The lantern will be fitted to an existing column on Marriotts Lane, near the junction with Wykeham Way. The present lantern is damaged but the parts are no longer available, so a new lantern would be needed anyway. Eldridges Electrical Ltd of High Wycombe, the lighting contractors for Haddenham Parish Council, have arranged the loan of the lantern for a trial period.  After that, the lantern would be retained if the higher cost is justified or replaced with a conventional lantern if not.

“Residents are invited to let the Parish Council know whether or not they like the LED light, either by e-mail to the Streetlight Warden through the website or by a note to the Parish Clerk.”

‘SNOW SAVIOURS’ Recent forecasts have predicted bad weather for February so this seems a good time to remind readers about Bucks County Council’s search for this year’s ‘snow saviours’ – volunteers with four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles who can help reach vulnerable people during heavy snowfalls or volunteers to help clear paths at the homes of vulnerable people.

“During last year’s heavy snow, despite superhuman effort by the County Council’s home carers, some had difficultly reaching vulnerable people”, said Trevor Boyd, Head of Commissioning for Adult Social Care.

“Our staff thought nothing of walking, when driving wasn’t possible, to provide much-needed care and support to vulnerable people,” said Trevor. “But we could do so much more, and much more quickly, if we had the help of volunteers with 4WD vehicles.”

Martin Phillips, Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, said: “We’re looking for the ‘snow saviours’ of Buckinghamshire! It’s a Big Society ask, and we know our county has many community-spirited people who’d be willing to help our vulnerable people during the winter.”

Chief Inspector Colin Seaton, Wycombe’s Deputy Area Commander, said: “Last year the county was affected badly by the snow and we want to make sure that we are as prepared as we can be this year. It is important for us to ensure that the more vulnerable people in our community are looked after during these times and I hope that anyone who is in a position to help comes forward.”

If you can help please call the County Council’s Localities Team on 01296 383409 or email locality-services@buckscc.gov.uk <mailto:locality-services@buckscc.gov.uk>  with your name, where you live, contact details and whether you can help with snow clearance or have a 4WD vehicle.

RUBBISH & RECYCLING  Glass will be collected on Tuesday, February 7, as well as paper, cans and plastics.

We raised £860 from the raffle which was a great contribution to the overall surplus for the event of just over £5,000.

To reach Haddenham Beer Festival simply catch one of our fast, frequent services to Haddenham & Thame Parkway station for the 10-15 minute walk to Haddenham Village Hall. For train times and ticket visit www.chilternrailways.co.uk 

Don’t forget to use the 280 to visit it the Winterfest on the 10th December.

Arriva UK Bus is part of the Arriva group, which in turn is owned by Deutsche Bahn. Arriva is a leading European public transport operator with around 38,500 employees and operations across 11 European countries.

Arriva do not just run buses but also  trains, coaches, waterbuses and airport-related transport services. They are also involved in bus and coach distribution.

Arriva provides more than a billion passenger journeys every year from their operations in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

You can find out more about the Arriva group by visiting the group website.

The group website also provides ‘Local bus and train information’ links to local Arriva websites across the UK and mainland Europe.

Arriva are pleased to sponsor the Haddenham Beer Festivals Trust and wish everyone a great time at the Festivals.

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You can also check out our Real Ales and Bottled & World Beers

The Winterfest is on December 10th at the Village Hall, Banks Road, Haddenham between the hours of 12noon and 5pm. See you there!

	Brewery	Name	ABV	Colour	Location	Tasting Notes
	Schneider	Mein Alkoholfreies	0.0%	Reddish Brown	Germany, Kelheim	A Reddish-brown non-alcoholic wheat beer. Sparkling and malty-aromatic, a sweet fragrance is paired with thoughts of ripe corn fields. A great tasting Alcohol Free wheat beer specialty.
	Vale	VPA	4.2%	Golden	Bucks.	Hops from across the Atlantic and Kent’s finest produce an assertive dry hoppy Golden ale combined with a pronounced malt background.
	Goose Island	Honkers Ale	4.3%	Golden	USA, Chicago	A fruity hop aroma with a rich malt middle create an immensely drinkable, perfectly balanced, Golden beer.
	Vale	Grumpling	4.6%	Ruby Brown	Bucks.	An Award Winning Ruby Brown Premium ale with complex malt and hop flavours and a moorish smack.
	Chiltern	Glad Tidings Winter Stout	4.6%	Stout	Bucks.	A complex and beautifully balanced warming stout with biscuity, dark chocolaty flavours overlaid with winter spices and fresh oranges and a velvety smooth finish.
	Vale	Gravitas	4.8%	Pale	Bucks.	A strong, Pale ale packed with hop and Citrus flavours, rounded off by a dry malty biscuit finish. A pronounced hop aroma throughout.
	Bacchus	Framboise	5.0%	Raspberry	Belgium, Ingelmuster	Bacchus Framboise is a light and refreshing fruit beer with a spritzy tartness. Raspberry fruit is added to give an intensely fruity beer.
	Vale	Good King Senseless	5.2%	Mahogany	Bucks.	A classic Mahogany coloured Christmas Ale and Festival favourite. Dark, Meaty and Strong! Traditionally brewed with Pale, Crystal and Chocolate malt and choicest whole cone hops. Also available draught at the Festival.
	Bacchus	Kriek	5.8%	Cherry	Belgium, Ingelmuster	Bacchus Kriek is a light and refreshing fruit beer with a spritzy tartness. Cherry fruit is added to give an intensely fruity beer.
	Savanna	Savanna Dry Cider	6.0%	Cider	South Africa	Savanna is premium cider all the way from sunny South Africa. It's dry. But you can drink it!
	Chiltern	Lord Lieutenant's Porter	6.0%	Ruby Porter	Bucks.	A generous charge of Fuggles & Goldings hop sgives a wonderfully balanced aroma with hints of dark and chocolate malts.
	Achouffe	La Chouffe	8.0%	Golden	Belgium, Achouffe	A Golden ale, strong, spicy and lightly hoppy with a developing taste. This is a pure bottle conditioned beer unfiltered, unpasteurised and without any additives.
	Guinness	John Martin Special Export	8.0%	Stout	Ireland, Dublin	Come over to the Dark side, Luke. Originally commissioned in 1912 this is the special Belgian export version of paddy fuel. Strong and delicious.
	Bosteels	Kwak	8.4%	Deep Amber	Belgium, Buggenhout	A Deep Amber mellow, fruity strong Belgian beer. It has a malty aroma with very little hops smell and hints of fruit in the taste and aroma such as creamy banana and liquorice. A beer to savour.
	Chiltern	Bodgers Barley Wine	8.5%	Golden Chestnut	Bucks.	A strong creamy beer with citrus fruits, juicy malt and spicy hops. Delicious!
	Flying Dog	Gonzo Imperial Porter	8.7%	Porter	USA, Maryland	A Dark Porter with roasted chocolate, coffee and vanilla malt flavours balanced by a unique hop bite. Big, bold & beautiful.
	Westmalle	Tripel	9.5%	Golden	Belgium, Westmalle Abbey	A clear, Golden yellow Trappist beer that undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. A complex beer with a fruity aroma and a nice nuanced hop scent. Soft and creamy in the mouth, with a bitter touch carried by the fruity aroma and a splendid long aftertaste.

You can also see our Real Ale selection and Cider selection for the day

The festival starts at 12noon and finishes at 5pm and is being held at the Village Hall Complex. To read more visit our Winterfest 2011 page.