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January 2018
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jThe Fosdyke Magazine team(everyone involved in putting it together and posting it through your door)
Wish all our readersaVery MerryC hristmasand a
Happy New Yearfor2018
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The BeridgeEducational
TrustThe Beridge Educational Trust
was set up by The Reverend BBeridge in 1907 to promoteeducation (including religiouseducation in the doctrines of theChurch of England) of personsunder the age of 25 in the areacomprising the parishes of Fosdykeand Algarkirk.This trust now has three new
Trustees and invites applications forsmall educational related grantsfrom residents within the twoparishes stated above. Application forms are available
from the Diocesan Trustee. TheVicar of Kirton, Algarkirk andFosdyke, the Reverend Paul FBlanch at Kirton Vicarage, PennyGardens, Kirton, PE20 1HN. Tel01205 624128.
Christmas FayreThanks to one and all for your
support. The Christmas fayreraised around £1,000 to enable usto keep our work going for thebenefit of one and all – Thank you.
Messy ChurchIt sounds disgusting, but it isgrowing at our sister church in
Algarkirk. It’s a way foryoung people to
experience church, and locally. Ifyou would like more information,please ask Fr Paul or one of ourchurchwardens.
Pop-In LunchesResume in January 2018.
Provisional date booked isTuesday, 9 January.. Margaret andthe Pop-In team would like to thankeveryone who has helped byattending the lunches or workingwith the team to produce them. Agreat big thank you is due. We runthese lunches to promote a sense ofcommunity spirit in the localvillages and to provide muchneeded funds to keep our churchgoing for the benefit of thecommunity we serve.
Garden of RestAt this time of year, it is natural
to think of our departed lovedones, and to leave tributes atgravesides. Please consider thevolunteers who look after theGarden of Rest for us all in their
free time, and dispose of unwantedmaterials in the bins provided.THANK YOU.
ChurchCleaning
We like to keep our churchclean, neat and tidy - a fit and
proper place for worship. This is noeasy task, and we like to thank allthose who have cleaned thebrasses, maintained our linens etc.,and of course the wonderfulBelinda who has made such a greatjob of cleaning this lovely buildingon the very small pittance that wecan afford to pay. Thank youBelinda, on behalf of us all.
HappyNew Year
On behalf of Fr. Paul, Terry, Jonand the Church Council of All
Saints Church we would like tothank our very many supporters inthe parish and to wish one and all apeaceful, prosperous and fulfillingNew Year 2018.
Churchwardens:Jon 01205 260672
Terry 01205 260408
AllSaints
Fosdyke
2
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3
Inspired Equine Assisted Learning (IdEAL) was selected as one ofthe good causes for Boston Asda’s 'Green Token Giving' schemein the July-September period. Details of what Sunset Farm offeredappeared on the Asda community board alongside two other localgood causes. Customers and colleagues then vote for the charitythey would like to receive a donation from the Asda Foundation,with the winner receiving £500 and the two runners up eachreceiving £200.IdEAL didn’t manage to beat the
RSPB Boston Wildlife Explorers;however last month they werepresented with the runner upcheque in the Boston Store(Claire andMike Burrows pictured left and right)To make the best use of these
funds and to help promote EAL,IdEAL are planning to offer 2 freeEAL sessions to local individuals orfamilies who would like to exploreIdEAL’s unique learning experience
runners up ingood causes
that uses horses as activeparticipants. The sessions can betailored to focus on personaldevelopment, confidence buildingor increased self-awareness. If youwould like to be considered for afree sessions or to nominatesomebody who you think wouldbenefit, please email [email protected] and give Claire and Mikeas many details as possible beforethe end of January 2018. .
where to go onnew year’s eve
in Fosdyke
If you want to go out on NewYear’s Eve and don’t want tobook a cab you have twooptions.The social club will be open
though we’re unaware of anyspecial celebrations planned.They’ve been known to have partygames, but it’s pretty muchwhatever you fancy.The Ship will be having their
usual New Year’s Eve Quizfollowed by Karaoke.Maybe you’ll just prefer to curl
up on the sofa with a box set!
Mince piesand musicLots of mince pies and lots of
music! A busy night at thesocial club’s Open Mic night onThursday, 14 December.Hosts Phatt Knappii opened the
evening with a few covers and thentheir own Christmas song. Paragon5 from Helpringham made theirsecond appearance and look set tobecome regulars, though theirdrummer on this occasion wasSean Searl from Stuck WithNothing, whose lead guitarist TonyNuccoll did a solo set before a massjam at the end of the evening thatalso featured Brian McDonald fromOpen Road, Karen Clare, KiyaBrown and Phatt Knappii leadsinger and keytarist Martyn Hayes.New to Fosdyke’s Open Mic
nights was Spalding based OldBoy(Of the Fens) whose self-pennedsongs have been labelled gothiccountry. The last song in their sethad the whole place singing along.
4
CHRISTMASPUZZLES
Solutions Page 17
MAKE A CROSSWORD
We’d love you to make us acrossword puzzle to be
published in Fosdyke Magazine.There’s a nifty little freecrossword maker that can bedownloaded ateclipsecrossword.com.
It’s easy to use. All you need toenter is twenty words and their cluesand the app does the rest. Save twopdfs (blank with questions, and fullwith answers) and send [email protected].
y h
5
SUDOKU
MUSICAL TWISTSAND PRESENTLISTS, PERHAPS
f
i
We’ve had a complaint that oursudoku puzzles can only be
solved by looking at the solution.Hopefully this one is easier!
6
January means one thing for me. It is time again for the Big GardenBirdwatch. Have you heard of it? It is the RSPB’s annual call toarms to discover what birds use our back gardens..
The idea started off in the1970’s, when we got together withchildren’s TV programme BluePeter. The aim was to get asnapshot of British garden birds,right across the country. Sochildren were encouraged to spenda little bit of time one weekend inJanuary, spotting their featheredfriends. Either in their own gardens,or in parks and other public places.
Well, it proved extremely popular,and requests came in to repeat it.Pretty soon it was an annual event,which later was opened out toadults as well as children. Thesedays over half a million peoplesettle down for a spot of gardenbirdwatching on the last weekendof January. Including over 11,000 inLincolnshire, which is fantastic.So what does it involve?
Camping out in a little tent, huddledup in warm clothing, staringthrough binoculars all day long?Well, no. For starters, you wouldn’thave much fun doing it, and we’dlike people to enjoy the experience.No, all you have to do is sit in anice comfy chair for an hour.Maybe with a nice cuppa and aslice of cake or some biscuits.During this time you watch and see
Making It Count
Family doing Birdwatch, rspb-images.com Blue Tit, rspb-images.com
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what birds arrive in your garden.You note down how many of eachtype of bird you see at any onetime. Then fill in either an onlineform on the RSPB website, or apaper version available from ourFrampton Marsh reserve. It is keythough that you only count themaximum number of each type ofbird you see at any one time, toavoid counting the same bird twice.So if you see three blue tits, then abit later you see two, you only
7
count that as three, rather than five.So what are the top Lincolnshire
birds? Well, as with the nationalresults the house sparrow is still topof the spots. Behind them comestarlings, blackbirds, wood pigeonsand blue tits. Possibly given howmuch countryside we have in thecounty, pheasant is relatively highplaced, compared to the rest of theUK. But each year is different, as iseach garden. You should have a goand see what you can see.
What if you are too busy tospare an hour? Well, you canalways break it up into smallersegments. What if you are away orbusy on the designated day? Youcan do it on a more suitable day forup to a week after. What if youdon’t have a garden? You can do itin the park, or pop round to afriend’s. Not sure what you arelooking at? The forms have picturesto help you. Not seeing manybirds? Don’t fret, low numbers arejust as important as high ones. Afterall, if no-one reported the lownumbers, we wouldn’t see whencommoner birds were declining.And that really is the point. With
so many people taking part, andwith data going back so manyyears, it allows us a glimpse into thefortunes of our garden birds. Whichones are doing well (collared dovesand goldfinches for example) andwhich ones aren’t. Numberedamongst these are two of ourcommonest birds, house sparrowsand starlings. There are still lotsaround, but since the eventsstarted, we’ve seen a massivedecline in their numbers. A drop ofnearly two thirds in the last 30years. Obviously something for usto be worried about and that theRSPB is doing a lot of scientificinvestigation into. But without theresults of things like the Big GardenBirdwatch we may not havenoticed as early that something wasamiss. This is ‘citizen science’ at itsbest. So do please lend a hand. Visitwww.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch toregister or for more information.And make your count, count.
Blackbird rspb-images.com Starlin, rspb-images.com
8
football roundup
9
fosdyrectoryfosdyrectoryfosdyrectoryfosdyrectoryfosdyrectory
Neighbourhood Policing Team01205 722002
PC Appleby - 07500 [email protected]
PCSO [email protected]
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PCSO [email protected]
BHSAI (Reg’d) Freelance RidingInstructor Teaching all levelsArena Hire. Horse Owner Certificate Courses.
Claire Burrow, BHSAI(Reg’d)07711642247 01205 260232
[email protected] www.sunsetsql.com/riding
A Complete Coaching forConfidence Service
Life Coaching, NLP, Hypnosis Creating Your Future TechniquesTM
Claire & Mike Burrow, BHSAI(Reg’d)07711642247 01205 260232
[email protected] www.sunsetsql.com/nlp
Just £12 a year will get you anadvert in the Fosdyrectory.
Ring Terry on 01205 260275 formore details.
Saturday, 18 NovemberColsterworth Sports & Social Club4 - 5 FosdykeFosdyke Reserves 1 - 2 WoodhallSpa United ReservesSunday, 19 NovemberMulberry 5 - 2 Fosdyke Sunday Saturday, 25 NovemberJ.F.C. Boston Seniors 6 - 1FosdykeFosdyke Reserves 1 - 5 BostonCollege ReservesSaturday, 2 DecemberWyberton "A" A - W FosdykeFosdyke Reserves 3 - 0 SpaldingHarriersSunday, 3 DecemberFosdyke Sunday FC 3 - 3Mulberry FCSaturday, 9 DecemberFosdyke Reserves 6 - 0 MarehamUnited
Christmastree lightsswitch-onWe’d like to thank Fosdyke
Parish Council, with theinvaluable help of John and PeteUlyatt, for lighting up the treeoutside the village hall.It’s something the parish council
do every year. We’re a small village,but even so it’s a cheering gesturethat shows a little community spirit.Let that continue into the new yearand beyond.And, for those interested in
parish council matters the Octoberminutes, presumable approved atthe November meeting are nowavailable at the council websiteaccessible through thefosdyke.org.uk site.
Phantomsign cleanerWe offer another thank you
to the person, or personswho have taken it uponthemselves to clean the villagesign outside the village hall.It had become rather grubby and
green. We know at least one otherperson who had it on their list ofjobs to do around the village, so abig slap on the back to whoeverbeat them to it.It’s that kind of action that
creates positive vibes in the village.
Liz Martin, who produced theFosdyke calendar, would like
to thank everyone who boughtone and is pleased to have raised£150 for All Saints Church.If you would like Liz to produce
another calendar next year pleaselet her know. [email protected]
Calendarsold out
While it was a shock to hearof Gary Johnson’s tragic
motorcycle accident it wasequally sad to hear that CharlieBarton had also passed away.Our thoughts are with both
families. Gary’s funeral took placeon Monday, 11 December, with thewake at Fosdyke Social Club.
Anotherloss to the
village
Terry Martin has been takingpart in the filming of the
fourth series of the popularCBBC show Art Ninja staring hisson Ricky (pictured right) andfriends Gavin and Sarah (left).The series usually starts in
February.
the 18th century it had becomewidely incorporated into Christmascelebrations. Just how it made thejump from sacred herb to Christmasdecoration remains up for debate.As part of the early custom, menwere allowed to steal a kiss fromany woman caught standing underthe mistletoe, and refusing wasviewed as bad luck. Yet anothertradition instructed the
merrymakersto pluck a singleberry from themistletoe witheach kiss, andto stopsmoochingonce they wereall gone.
A partiallyparasitic plant,
mistletoe, Viscumalbum, grows on the
bark of trees. Viscumcomes from the same root
as viscous, meaning sticky, whilealbum, of course, means white -which describes the ripe berriesvery well.
Kissing under sprigs of mistletoe is a well-knownChristmas tradition, but this little plant’s history
as a symbolic herb dates back thousands of years.
10
As the story goes, when the godOdin’s son Baldur was prophesiedto die, his mother Frigg, thegoddess of love, went to all theanimals and plants of the naturalworld to secure an oath that theywould not harm him. But Friggneglected to consult with theunassuming mistletoe, so thescheming god Loki made an arrowfrom the plant and saw that it wasused to kill the otherwise invincibleBaldur. According to one sunnierversion of the myth, the gods were
Mistletoeand howto grow
able to resurrectBaldur fromthe dead.Delighted,Frigg thendeclaredmistletoe asymbol of loveand vowed to planta kiss on all those whopassed beneath it. Mistletoe’s associations with
fertility and vitality continuedthrough the Middle Ages, and by
11
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The common name is alsoilluminating: the mistletoe isderived from the Anglo-Saxonmistel, meaning dung, and tan,meaning twig. So, literally, it's thedung-on-a-twig plant. Which prettymuch describes what happens alittle while after a bird eats theberries.Mistletoe is a partial parasite,
which means that although its smallgreen leaves provide the host plantwith energy throughphotosynthesis, it also sends a rootunder the bark into its host andgathers nutrients there. And this iswhere those sticky berries come in.It doesn’t harm the host tree, andinstead grows in a big evergreenball high up in the canopy. I think itlooks fantastic against the bare barkand branches of its host in winter. After the bird, usually a mistle
thrush, eats the berries, they'reexcreted with much of their stickycoating still attached. So as soon asthey land on a branch they stick,through all weathers, and are readyto germinate in February and Marchin exactly the right place.
First, they attach themselves anddevelop their connection with thehost plant, then the following yearthey produce leaves and start togrow into a recognisable youngplant. Each year, individual shootsproduce just two new brancheswith one pair of leaves at the tip ofeach; so progress is slow.The main host plants are apple,
hawthorn, lime and poplar trees,although mistletoe is occasionallyseen on maple, sycamore, willow,crab apples, false acacia, ash, oak,plum, rowan and even cotoneaster.Mistletoe is much more common ingardens, orchards and parks than inwild areas, which is encouraging tothose wanting to grow their own. So choose your tree but keep in
mind that a few clumps of mistletoecan severely debilitate a thrivingapple tree. There are so manyclumps of mistletoe in the appletree in one of my gardens that thetree seems green in mid-winter -but it produces few apples.
How to grow Avoid berries that have done
their seasonal duty hanging under alight in the living room for twoweeks. They will probably havedried out. They can be revived bysoaking overnight in water, butpicking fresh berries - pure white,not unripe green or yellow - in latewinter is more likely to lead tosuccess.
Alternatively, keep some sprigsfrom the holiday season in a jar ofwater in the window of a cold butfrost-free room until February.Branches about 20cm (8in) in
diameter make ideal hosts as thebark is thin enough for thegerminating seeds to penetrate, butsubstantial enough to support thenew plant, in terms of bothnutrients and weight. Using theberries' own "glue", attach them tothe side or underside of the branch,then tie a piece of wool or twinearound the branch to mark the site. As some berries may fall off or
be eaten, apply a couple of dozenat a time. Not much will seem tohappen until the following springwhen the first leaves should appear.It is sometimes recommended
that a cut be made in the branch, orthat the bark be lifted toaccommodate the berries. Whilethis brings the seed into moreimmediate contact with the tree,the wound may provide a startingplace for disease to becomeestablished. So, it is better to leavethe plants to get started naturally.Then, you wait. It usually takes
four years from sowing until berriesare produced and, as male andfemale flowers are formed ondifferent plants, you will need oneto carry the berries and another toprovide the pollen if you want todevelop a colony.
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Liz Wallder’sBook Review
Beyond Lies The Hubby
Philip K Dick
This is volume one of a five-book set of science fiction
short stories by Philip k Dickwith all of the stories beingwritten between 1951 and 52when Dick was in his earlytwenties and just starting out as awriter. None of the stories werethose featured in the recentchannel 4 series though.As is often the way with short
story books they can differ in styleand quality but overall, I absolutelyloved the book.Some stories were slightly
disappointing such as “Roog”where a dog barks most of the waythrough at the binmen, who may besome kind of alien, and not muchelse happened. Other stories had a surprise
ending, such as “Colony” wherehumans are trying to colonise anew planet where there seems tobe no kind of harmful life at all- nodisease, no germs, no lice, no flies,no anything, except beautiful trees
and plants and greenery and seemsto be a kind of Eden, but you’reonly a page in until it all goeswrong.Some stories made me laugh out
loud; in “The Short Happy Life ofthe Brown Oxford” there’s amachine that brings inanimateobjects to life and it finishes with aman’s shoe and a lady’s high heelfrolicking in the shrubbery.The wub of the title is a strange
beast, like a very talkative cow,who gets quite upset wheneveryone talks about eating him.
I absolutely loved the majorityof the stories and the few tales thatwent nowhere were only a fewpages long and were soon passedby and forgotten.The stories bound along with
some only being two or three pageslong. It shows how talented Dick isas a story teller to make thesestrange worlds full of bizarrecreatures come alive in so fewwords. The good guys are notalways picked out until the storyends and some stories twist andturn so much I had to reread them.A lot of the tales were about the
futility of war with some storiesbeing set in post-apocalypticworlds. The book is full of robotsand war machines and star shipsand man-eating butterflies and if,like me, you enjoy that sort of thingthen I’d recommend this book.
After 14 days of intensivetraining in Manchester,
Claire and Mike Burrowsgraduated as NLP Master CoachPractitioners! They are nowboth certified MasterPractitioners of NLP, Coaching,Hypnosis and Time LineTherapy ®.They are currently in the process
of launching a coaching and well-being centre at Sunset Farm, whichwill run alongside Inspired EquineAssisted Learning CIC and offerPositive Mindset Coaching, CareerCoaching and Goal SettingCoaching. They will also be providing
solutions for many of life’schallenges, including:• Stopping Smoking• Weight Management• Phobia Removal• Removing Stress, Anxiety
and Depression• Building Confidence• Relationship CoachingThe tailor-made sessions will
use a unique combination of:• Hypnotherapy• NLP Coaching• Creating your Future ™
Techniques• Equine Assisted Learning• ReikiTo arrange a FREE half hour
consultation, call or email Claire orMike:Claire: [email protected] or
mobile: 07711 642247. Mike:[email protected] ormobile: 07729 909186.
graduated
13
Having been in post for somefour months now, and having
had some time to hear the concernsand joys of many people who areinvolved in our three Churches, Iam becoming acutely aware thatsome change of focus is requiredon how we act on our variousChristian responsibilities.The last few months in Kirton,
Fosdyke and Algarkirk haveallowed me some time to reflect,talk with, and hear some of thecomments from individuals andgroups within all threecommunities. The true story behindthe ministry within all threeChurches is that we often get toofocused on the unimportant things.Which is why at a recent joint PCCmeeting I introduced all the parishlay leaders to the Seven Marks of aHealthy Church.1. Energized by faith2. Outward-looking focus3. Seeks to find out what God
wants4. Faces the cost of change and
growth rather thanresisting change andavoiding failure.5. Operates as a
community rather thanfunctioning as a club orreligious organisation6. Makes room for
all, being inclusiverather than exclusive.
7. Does a fewthings and do themwell, focused ratherthan frenetic.My hope is that
we can begin verysoon ascongregations to
put inplace aprocessof
evaluating all our present ministriesin the light of the Five Marks ofMission.The Mission of the Church Is the
Mission of Christ.•To proclaim the Good News of
the Kingdom•To teach, baptize and nurture
new believers•To respond to human need by
loving service•To seek to transform unjust
structures of society•To strive to safeguard the
integrity of creation and sustain andrenew the life of the earthWe recognize with gratitude that
the Five Marks (“Five Marks ofMission” as developed by theAnglican Consultative Councilbetween 1984 and 1990) have wonwide acceptance among Anglicansacross the world, and have givenparishes and dioceses around theworld a practical and memorable“checklist” for mission activities.In the months and years that lie
ahead I hope that we can worktogether in our parishes to assess,evaluate and re-vision the way
14
TheViewFromThe
Vicarage
Sunday, 24 DecemberCandlelit
Service of theNativity
9pm(aka midnight mass for earlysleepers and partygoers)
Thursday, 28 DecemberNoontide Prayers
12 noon
Sunday, 31 DecemberGroup
CommunionService
at Kirton10.30pm
Thursday, 4 JanuaryNoontide Prayers
12 noon
Tuesday, 9 JanuaryPop-In Lunch
at the village hall12.30pm
Thursday, 11 JanuaryNoontide Prayers
12 noon
Sunday, 14 JanuaryHoly
Communion9.30am
Thursday, 18 JanuaryNoontide Prayers
12 noon
Thursday, 25 JanuaryNoontide Prayers
12 noon
Sunday, 28 JanuaryHoly
Communion8.30am
15
Fosdyke 12 61 20RMC A 11 58 17Draymans A 11 54 16Holbeach USC 11 50 14Draymans B 12 46 11Fishermans 11 34 7RMC B 10 37 6Black Swan 12 31 4Horse & Groom 10 22 3
Hart MarlerSunday Pool
Leaguestandings as of 5 December
Every MondayDoors open 6 pm for eyes
down at 7 pmStrip of six books £5
Alan (260654) will findyou a seat!
BINGO
for hire for a
FamilyCelebration
or a
Children’sParty
with room for a bouncy castleRing for price
Yvonne on 01205 260781
gh
For bookings and inquiries contactJane Bristow 01205 260455
Thursday, 11 January
Open MicOpens 8pm - music 8.30-11pm
FosdykeSocial Club
Saturday, 27 January
quiz8 pm
Chicken/fish/scampi andchips supper.
Members £5.50, guests £6
gh
Saturday, 6 January
whist drive8 pm
gh
forward that God has in mind forAll Saints’ in Fosdyke to grow,consolidate and reflect theKingdom and its values withoutsome dear folk being worn to afrazzle, others feeling left out, andstill others feeling how can theycontinue to serve in a usefulcapacity.Recently a good priest friend I
know put it like this to me….“When trains leave stations andplanes depart runways, they do soon the basis of clear signals. Oursignals must also contain someclarity when we contemplateleaving behind a particular ministryof the church. I have found threequestions that help sort throughconfusing and mixed signals duringthese pivotal decisions. They are:How is my relationship with God?How well am I personally, and mychurch watching for the signalsfrom God? How well am Ianswering the really toughquestions about Christian life andministry that is vital?Our ministry train does not need
to derail as we let go of worn outways that no longer serve themission of the Church, ministriesthat have done the job well in thepast, but now need renewing. Weenter the depot of a new area ofservice. Knowing when to leave theold and how to enter the new willresult in pleasant memories fromthe past but realistic anticipation forthe future. These are twoministerial train rides we can takewith forward expectations.Watch this space!Yours,Fr Paul
December’s Whist Drivewinners at the social club
where Barbara and MichaelSpinks with 114 points, closelyfollowed by Dave Bristow andNorman Rayner with 111.
Sunday, 31 December
New year’seve8 pm
gh
whistwinners
wood chip/fuel. Our standardBiomass boiler has been recentlyconverted from wood pellets as fuelwhich we needed to buy in, towood chip. This boiler produces199kw of thermal energy per hourand is used to heat the propagationroom, one of the glasshouses andthe offices and packing rooms. Wethen have two CHP (combined heatand power) units that need highquality wood chip graded to reducethe number of fines and oversizeand needs a moisture contentbelow 10%. These provide 49kw ofenergy per hour, however thesealso provide 109kwH of thermal
16
We do have a couple of crops inthe glasshouses which will overwinter along with a seed crop of redvein sorrel outdoors, but these arejust lying dormant with little interms of husbandry required.Glasshouses are being washed,disinfected, repaired and sterilised.The machinery is being maintainedand serviced and I am spendingmore time in the office where it iswarm. It has also been a goodopportunity to take some well-deserved holiday recently and I amalso looking forward to my time offover Christmas with the family.Although I enjoy these relaxedtimes I do find it difficult to switchfrom hectic mode to chill outmode. We are however busy on the
wood chip side of the business aswe now have four boilers to keeprunning for our own use along withstarting to sell more wood chip toother businesses. This keeps theguys on the farm occupied for thewinter period having one personfull time on boiler maintenance andtwo people grading and chippingwood. We have three differenttypes of boiler on site which allrequire different specifications for
REFLECTIONSAs we approach Christmas at break neck speed it is time to
reflect on 2017. For me it has been a challenging year withbeing in a new job since February. I have had to learn and take ina lot of information quickly, but I now feel settled and confident itwas the right move for both me and my family. It is now a quieterperiod for me at work, so we are spending the time getting thingsin place for next year.
Martin’sFarm
energy which can be re-used toheat glasshouses, run the humiditycontrolled warehouse and to dryseed. And finally, we have themega boiler which can produce999kw of thermal energy per hour.The benefit of this boiler is it willrun on relatively poor quality fuelso we can use the fines graded outof the other fuels and also usearboriculture waste which is verylow cost compared to wood. Theother benefit for having theseboilers on site is of course the RHI
payments and tariffs for theelectricity produced. As I enjoy my quieter time veg
farmers in the area are all gunsblazing harvesting all the winter vegready for Christmas. Staples havebeen busy clearing the sproutsbehind our house over the pastcouple of weeks and the harvestteam have earnt their money. They
17
puzzle solutions
Tractor and wood chipper
are already in the field harvestingwhen I wake up in the morningsand have been still on the movewhen I have been getting ready forbed and this will soon turn to atwenty-four-hour operation as we
get closer to Christmas. And its notjust the traditional sprouts beingharvested, kale, cabbages, broccoli,carrots, cauliflower and parsnips areall being harvested for theChristmas dinners plate. The sugar beet harvest is still in
full swing with small stock pilespopping up everywhere waiting forthe beet cleaner to load them intotrailers and taken direct to thefactory. As the fields are cleared themajority are ploughed to bury allthe trash from the veg crops and leftover the winter. This will be left tothe elements which will slowlybreak the soil down as is freezesand thaws out and as it gets wetand dries out. This will makeworking the soil much easier in thespring as the weather has done themajority of the work. As I have mentioned in previous
articles about the potential loss ofglyphosate I am pleased that the EUhas seen sense and re-licensed theproduct for a five year period. Itwas good news for farmers andgardeners although it wasdisappointing that it didn’t get thefull fifteen-year approval. The next fight will be for the ban
on neonicotinoid pesticides. Thesehave been shown to have potentialaffects on bees. Neonicotinoids areused to control aphids in a majorityof crops and are vital to growers asno aphid resistance has been seenin neonicotinoids to date and theycontrol the aphids which harm thecrops by direct feeding causingyield and quality losses but mostimportantly stop many diseaseswhich the aphids carry. They are
currently banned on all floweringcrops such as oilseed rape andsunflowers which makes sense. However the EU plans to ban
them on all crops including seedtreatments which would have amajor impact on farmers andgrowers. For instance sugar beetyields could be reduced by up to40% as neonicotinoids are used tocontrol the aphids that spread beetvirus yellows disease which has amassive effect on yield. This wouldmake it unviable to grow sugar beetin the UK as no other products areavailable in controlling the aphids. I can fully understand banning
products that are unsafe to humanhealth or cause damage to theenvironment but banning productsthat are safe if used in the correctway is just frustrating and wrong. Itis a continuing battle to keep theproducts we use to enable us togrow the food we eat. As farmerswe generally don’t like usingpesticides as they are costly andcause us a lot of work but we needthem and without them wewouldn’t be able to produce manyof the crops we are so used tohaving on the supermarket shelves.
Copy DeadlineIf something has happened to youor a friend, or is going to happen,we want to hear about it. So,contact Terry - preferably via email: [email protected] phone: 01205 260275or knock on the door or post yourinfo through the letter box6 Whitecross Gate
no later than 14 January
Fosdyke Village Hall Lottery 250 Draw - Latest Winners188 Mrs E M King Waplode Drove £1074 Mr G Wright Heckington £10159 Mrs M Atkinson Great Hale £10198 Mr M Peak Kirton £1012 Mrs Y Crawford Sutterton £15157 Mrs J Hardy Boston £2550 Mrs J Hill Kirton £50
Next draw: Monday 8 January at the Village Hall Bingo Night
FOSDYKE PARISH COUNCIL http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Fosdyke/
Clerk to the Council, Mrs. W. DePear FerryHouse, Old Inn Lane, Fosdyke Bridge,
Boston, Lincs PE20 2DE 01205 260609
[email protected] Martin Pitt Tel. 01205 260378
Councillor Denis Glenn Tel. 01205 260615 Councillor John Cropley (Chairman)
Councillor Chris Cropley Tel. 01205 260226Councillor Terri Wright Tel. 01205 260497
BOSTON BOROUGHCOUNCILLORS for FOSDYKE
Councillor Aaron Spencer Tel. 01205 460394 Councillor Mike Cooper
LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTYCOUNCILLOR for FOSDYKE
Councillor Mike Brookes Tel. 01205 820616
Reading The View From TheVicarage (Page 14) I note
that Fr Paul believes in beinginclusive. If the local parochialchurch council held the sameview then they may have founda new vicar earlier.I suppose the patriarchal roots of
modern Christianity still linger in asociety that has seen the strugglefor women’s equality hampered bybigoted men, and sometimes bymisinformed women. There has been a lot of
controversy in the Church overfemale vicars and, while I’m morehumanist than Christian, I believewomen have as much right to bevicars as men. Scriptures (writtenby men, after all) are there to guidenot to be followed withoutquestion. Maybe Fr Paul’s apparentliberal attitude will brush off on thePCC. Time will tell.
Editor’s Comment
