1

MARCH

2013

VOLUME SIXTEEN

From Labi Siffre in 1987 to Tony Hadley

in 2012—the Cuddington Village

Fête lives on!

Looking Forward to EasterLooking Forward to EasterLooking Forward to EasterLooking Forward to Easter to know more of the mystery of the

Crucifixion ………...

………. to appreciate the wonder of the Resurrection

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever

believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3 v 16

Following last month’s call to arms in Village Voice from Mark

Lambert, a new Committee has been formed and the Fête will take

place on the second Saturday in July – Saturday 13th July.

The new Committee of nine members includes two from last year’s

Committee and the rest all new faces! They are: Jeremy Galpin

(Chair), Mark Lambert (Vice Chair), Kaley Potts (Honorary Treas-

urer), Mandy Spencer, Clare Foxell, Louise Powell, John Moore,

John Luckett and Karen Clayton.

As ever, we need your support………..

(Continued on page 5)

Easter Sunday Celebration 5.30 - 6.30p.m. in Methodist Church see page 2

A Passover-style Meal Tuesday, March 26th see page 5

A Good Friday Activity for all the Family see page 2

A Reflection on the Crucifixion Dramatic readings, songs, music in St. Nicholas 2-3 p.m. See page 2

Help decorate the church Saturday Morning March 30th contact Peggy Cattell (291313)

� Communion Service at 10 a.m. All-age Easter Worship in St. Nicholas

� �

� � �

2

Graham Carr writes:

I’m writing this at the beginning of February, as tomorrow we’ll be off to Cape Town to visit

family! The wind has been howling for a couple of days, making 6 degrees feel like zero and

walking against it doubles the energy levels needed. When you read this Village Voice, the

daffodils will be out and spring will be in the air. The seasons are amazing and spring always

makes one feel good just to be alive. Then, at the end of March, is...Easter, when we remem-

ber how good it is that Jesus is alive, to enhance our enjoyment of God’s World as we were thinking in Church the

other Sunday.

It seems strange that Easter is given far less prominence than Christmas, and yet it is more important. When someone

said that to me a few days ago, it set me thinking (still happens sometimes!). I suppose it’s something to do with dates

being variable – not so good commercially – and births are perhaps that aspect of life that we most celebrate. Yet the

most exciting and significant event in World History happened around Easter day: Jesus Christ was killed and then

gloriously rose from the dead! Not only are they arguably amongst the best attested facts in history, but every one of

us who has had the privilege of coming to Faith in Christ knows it day by day. We relate to a living God, not a dead

idol.

In order to celebrate all that happened on that first “Good Friday” and that first Easter Day, St Nicholas Church is put-

ting on a few extra events at which you and/or your young are very welcome indeed. On the Tuesday before, March

26th, The Rev Margot Hodson will be taking us through a “Passover” meal, as they would have eaten it in Jerusalem

around the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It will be in the Church and you’d better book early, or there’ll be no

room! A couple of years ago when it was first done here, we were full and it was hugely enjoyed and appreciated.

Then there’s the 29th morning: it’s not just for the Toddlers’ Singing Group as usual, but all young with lots of Dads –

please NOTE! – when a remarkable event will occur. You’ll need to come to experience it – be there by 10.00am!

Then very different: a quiet reflection from 2-3pm on Good Friday afternoon. Finally, come early for the Easter Sun-

day morning service, otherwise standing room only!

Have a really good month and enjoy all that our lovely village has to offer.

Thought for the Month

“HOT†NEWS!”

“Jesus is alive” Join us at Cuddington Methodist Church

as we

Celebrate on Easter Sunday

31st

March 2013

Items will include -

Music/song, real life stories and

experiences.

Share light refreshments with us

from 4.45pm,

Celebra*on 5.30 – 6.30 pm.

Everyone welcome

Village Voice is published by the Cuddington Parochial Church Council as a service to the community. Editorial Team: Peggy & Nan Cattell - 291313 or Cattelln@aol.com; Chris Blumer - 290647 or chrisblumer@blumer.co.uk ; Karen Clayton - 290404 or info@porkandginger.co.uk ; John Fortgang - 291880 or johnfortgang@googlemail.com

For advertising, please contact: Felicity Hilder - 290951 or Caroline Thompson - 291485

10.30 a.m. A Good Friday Pirate Panto Party!

This Easter we shall be having a BIG BIG BIG party to cele-

brate! Come along and enjoy the Easter story told as a pirate

pantomime, followed by a traditional Easter egg hunt, cakes,

refreshments and games. All ages are welcome from 0 to

really big.

Everyone is invited to come to appreciate in a different way

the wonder of Easter.

2.00 p.m. For many years now we have had a Good Friday Meditation.

This has followed the last hours of Jesus up to his Crucifixion

consisting of readings, some from the Bible, others from po-

ems, all interspersed with appropriate music and hymns. For

all the readers as well as for the congregation it has always

been a very moving and thoughtful realisation of what Jesus

had to undergo for us on this day.

We hope that many people will come this year to share this

experience with us.

3

One of the month’s “birthday girls” was Rene Andrews who celebrated her nine-tieth birthday on February 13th . Our photograph shows Rene with the cake handed to her by Caroline Thompson along with the best wishes of all of us.

Our speaker for the afternoon, Mrs. Peggy Verrall, had as her subject

“Botanic Painting—A Personal Jour-ney”. This was a fascinating talk, made

even more so by the speaker’s lively personality which kept everyone en-

thralled throughout. Mrs. Verrall’s belief that anybody can do anything if they make the effort was certainly true of herself.

Over a period of only months, but with

the help of an absorbing course, she had begun to move from being a non-painter to the skilled Botanic artist whose work

(Continued on page 4)

No one could possibly complain that there isn’t enough to

do here. On Saturday the 9th February the Bernard Hall was

the venue for another village knees-up, this time the Parish

Supper.

In spite of a competing attraction down the road, a popular

Quiz night, and yet another cold and wintry night the Ber-

nard Hall was quite full of merry-makers come to eat, drink

and…….. be merry, and to listen to the guest speaker The

Ven. Gordon Kuhrt, pictured left.

Chris Blumer introduced the proceedings and grace was said by Mrs Olive Kuhrt. We were then served with Chilli con Carne (no horsemeat), baked potatoes and

green salad, all of which was a pleasure to eat. This was followed by mouth-

watering desserts and cheeses.

Gordon Kuhrt gave a very interesting and thought-provoking talk which he called “Shock, Scandal and Cover-up”, touching on such unpleasant aspects of modern

life as Stafford hospital, Jimmy Savile, Hilsboro’, Chris Huhne and so on, and in

doing so made a parallel with Jesus’ trial and the crucifixion. We were recommend-

ed to read the Gospels, starting with Mark, to gain the full impact of the Easter

story.

It was a pleasant and inspiring evening, a good balance of enjoyment and encour-agement.

Thanks, as always on such occasions, to everyone who played a part, how-ever small, in helping and making it a success.

After expenses had been taken out from the donations there was £240 left to be sent to Christian Aid. John Fortgang

The Annual Village Meeting will be held in the Bernard Hall on Wednesday

17th April at 7.30pm

Last year’s minutes will be on the Village Notice Boards and on the Website.

Items for the Agenda are invited and should be sent beforehand to the Clerk of Cud-

dington Parish Council at Prospect Cottage, The Green, Chearsley, HP18 0DJ or

to venetia.davies@talktalk.net

The AGM of the Parish Council will be held on Wednesday 1st May at 7.30 p.m. in

the School’s Infant site hall.

Play Around the Parishes, hosted

by Aylesbury Vale District Council

in partnership with SureStart Chil-

dren's Centres, will be on Tuesday 2nd April, Thursday

25th July and Monday 12th August, 2-4pm on the playing fields or if

wet in the Bernard Hall.

“A great 2 hours of fun for 1-11

year olds with crafts, toys, giant

games, face painting, a bouncy

castle and much more”. Parishioners socialising after a

previous meeting

Parishioners enjoying the supper and company.

On March 28th the Queen will be in

Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford to

give Maundy money to 87 men and 87

women from the area – 87 being the

Queen’s age this year.

The village should feel very proud that

both Peggy and Nan Cattell have been

invited there to receive Maundy money

from the Queen. The invitation is in

recognition of the many years’ service

and support that Peggy and Nan have

unflinchingly given to the church and

village here in Cuddington.

The act of the Queen giving money on

Maundy Thursday is a long established

tradition which derives from Jesus's

commandment at the Last Supper that

his followers should love one another.

Graham Carr

4

After Peter Wenham’s reference to this chapel in his article on George Green the

question was being asked “Where is this chapel?” but the question should have

been “Where was this chapel?” for on the night February 19-20th 1994 a wall of

the chapel fell down soon to be followed by another fall and so for safety’s sake the

building had to be demolished in April.

From the time when the chapel was built, of the local wichert, in 1829 and through-

out the nineteenth century it was a great force in the life of the village thanks to

groups of devout worshippers, including George Green, and over the century con-

gregations were large even reaching over 100 for special occasions. However

somewhere in the twentieth century numbers started to dwindle until in 1994 it was

decided the chapel would have to closed and a Service of Thanksgiving for its great

part in village life was planned for Saturday, February 26th, just six days after the

first fall took place.

However in spite of the fall it was decided to hold the service, but in the Methodist

Chapel in Lower Church Street. This was truly a thanksgiving service and well at-

tended by members of the village Anglican and Methodist churches as well as Bap-

tists from neighbouring villages and, of course, the remaining members of Cudding-

ton Baptist Chapel.

And now back to the question “Where was the Baptist Chapel?” The answer can be

found along Dadbrook where its remaining gateway leads into the chapel’s burial

ground. Perhaps a plaque could be placed here before all memory of the chapel

disappears. Trustees would this be possible? What about it?

Cuddington Youth Drama’s next event

is a performance of two short plays ex-

ploring the relationships between young

people.

Young, Wild and Free was devised and

scripted by the younger members of

CYD themselves. Following a ship-

wreck, two groups of young orphans –

one of boys, one of girls – become ma-

rooned on separate tropical islands. The

play explores the two groups’ different

approaches to survival, and the drama of

their eventual, emotional reunion.

Shut Up! is a play by Andrew Payne,

author of several episodes of Midsomer

Murders, Minder and many other TV

dramas. It’s a gripping story about a

teenage boy who stops talking for no

apparent reason. No amount of persua-

sion, nagging or therapy can get him

talking again. Why did he ‘shut up’,

and what is the secret he’s afraid to talk

about? Shut Up is a powerful explora-

tion of peer-pressure, bullying and con-

flict, full of quirky humour and surprise.

The performance starts at 7.00 pm on

Saturday 23rd March, in the Bernard

Hall. Tickets are £5 per person on the

door. Refreshments will be available

during the interval.

The Bernard Hall AGM will be held on

Monday, 18th March at 8pm in the Ber-

nard Hall.

Everyone is welcome. Come and find

out what is happening in your village

hall!

Above left, the chapel being demolished and, right, the gateway in Dadbrook

Volunteers are needed to keep the

Club going, either serving behind

the bar or helping out in other

ways.

Without more help the Club will be

forced to close.

Please speak to any Committee

member or call Kevin on 291593.

she had brought us to see.

The second part of Mrs. Verrall’s talk became more of a teaching session

with us as the pupils (did she think she would be putting our feet on the first rung of the ladder towards Botan-

ic artists??) She showed us the sim-

plest way to draw a flower and then to illustrate the importance of looking she handed round two flowers of the

same species, and told us to notice the subtle differences in their design. Per-haps this wouldn’t lead on to our fu-

tures in the art world but at least if we continue to look at things as she in-

structed we will find much to admire in the subtle beauties of the world

around us.

In thanking our speaker Rosemary Bradbury expressed the pleasure we had all obtained from her talk.

WI (Continuedfrompage3)

5

Calling all children of whatever age!

The Family service on March 10th is a

special Mothering Sunday Service to

which all children are particularly invit-

ed to come along with their mothers

(and don’t forget fathers).

In addition to the usual fun for small

children and thought for older ones and

adults there will be posies for children

of all ages to give to their mothers.

We hope to see a large congregation at

this very special service.

………...and this is what we need:

Donations: We are taking donations now! If you are having a spring clean, you can

drop donations at Denise’s or speak to John Moore at the shop if you would like

a Committee member to collect. Items to donate: books, toys, nearly new cloth-

ing, crockery, bric a brac, food and drink in sealed packaging (within date

code!) and baskets for the tombola.

Helpers: We will be asking those who took part in last year’s event to help us again

but we’d welcome new volunteers just to spread the work load – help is needed

with collecting and sorting donations, setting up on the day, manning stalls and

clearing up afterwards.

Prizes: We need prizes! If you can offer a high-value or unique prize for the Grand

Auction either personally or through influencing family, friends or even a busi-

ness, please do let us know. We also need new prizes for the general and basket

tombolas – these can also be vouchers from local businesses.

We will be keeping you updated in future editions of Village Voice and through

Cuddington’s website www.cuddingtonvillage.com

Thank you for your continued support.

FÊTE COMMITTEE 2013

Cuddington Fête—2013 (Continued from page 1)

On Sunday March 10th from 6.0.- 7.0 p.m. a concert will be given by a unique and

versatile ensemble...Duo Armande which was formed in 2000 by the two profes-

sionals Claire Hawkes clarinet ( well known in Cuddington) and Shulah Oliver

viola/violin. They will be playing "Musical Mosaics" - from Mozart, Ragtime and

Blues and a Mystery Medley.

Tickets £10 (children £5) are obtainable from Myles Saker, Rose Cottage, Spurt

Street tel.291825

There will be canopies and drinks. The proceeds will go to the Kampala Music

School Appeal.

On Tuesday, March 26th we will have a Fellowship Meal together in the style of the

Passover in order to understand more fully the meaning of the Last Supper—see

below for photographs of last year’s meal.

This will be in St. Nicholas Church from 7 to 9.30 p.m.

Everyone is welcome, but numbers will be limited. Tickets are available from

Myles and Carolin Saker and a donation of £5 is suggested to cover costs.

Scenes from Fêtes down the years!

6

The February meeting began with its 20th AGM and our Chair-

man Elsie Frost outlined the Club’s activities of speakers and

outings which took place during the Diamond Jubilee Year.

There were four village gardens opened for the Jubilee weekend

with planting round the Best Kept Village sign in red, white and

blue. The amazing sum of £634 was taken at the Plant Stall on

Fête Day.

Elsie thanked the Committee for their hard work and in particular David Jones

who is retiring from the Committee after twelve years. His valued help behind the

bar and with the Murphy competition was particularly appreciated. She also

thanked Rose Crowdy for preparing the accounts and keeping the books in good

order. Yvette Digby had been co-opted onto the Committee and was welcomed; the

committee was re-elected en-bloc.

The AGM was followed by a talk

“Spetchley Park Gardens Revisit-

ed” by Tony Clear who worked

there for many years as Assistant

Head Gardener. He took us on a

tour of the 30 acre Victorian par-

adise which is full of surprises

and contrasts. There are herba-

ceous borders, magnolias sur-

rounding the Horse Pool which

has a slope so horses could drink

and the carriages could be

washed, rose beds, a huge collec-

tion of narcissi (including modern ones), a 5 acre lake stocking rainbow trout and

carp with 3 duck houses in the centre. There is the Melon Yard and Grape House

with 200 year old vines still producing grapes. With its 2,000 acres of parkland

with red and fallow deer Spetchley Park would certainly be worth a visit if one was

near Worcester.

The next meeting of the Gardening Club is on Monday 4th March when a talk enti-

tled “Spring in South Africa” will be given by amateur botanist and photographer

Peter Sheasby.

A Bed, a Roof and a Meal

What a difference

these small things

make

Do come to a slide show about the

recent trip to the Utugi Children’s

Centre in Kenya

At St Nicholas Church Cuddington

on Thursday 7th March at 8.00pm

Presented by Tim Armitt

Followed by Dessert and Coffee

This is Tim’s view of the work we support in Kenya, why we go back and whether we make a difference.

January was a cold month with an aver-

age temperature of 3.5 deg C (38F)

compared with the average of 4.4 deg C

(40F).Snow initially fell on the 14th

which was followed by further snow fall

over the period (18th-24th). It was our

coldest January since 2010 (1.4 deg C,

35F).

Daytime maximum air temperatures in

January averaged 5.7 deg Celsius (42F);

the long term average is 7.3 deg Celsius

(45F). Night time air minimum tem-

peratures averaged 1.2 deg Celsius

(34F); the long term average is 1.6 deg

Celsius (35F). The actual highest day

time air maxima occurred on the 29th

( 13.2 deg C, 56F) and the lowest on

(Continued on page 8)

Cuddington in the snow, taken by Doug Kennedy and reproduced from the

village website

The Utugi Children’s Centre is a home for Street children in Central Kenya. It was

started by a group in Haddenham in 1998 and the money to build and run it has

been raised by The Utugi Street Children Kenya Project, which is still based in

Haddenham. The money comes from a

sponsorship scheme, individual and

group donations, churches, including St

Nicholas Cuddington, and fund raising

events in several parts of the country.

Since 2006 groups have been going out

to visit and work at the home, doing

general maintenance and painting, and

meeting the staff, management commit-

tee and of course the now 57 boys liv-

ing in the home.

With only one dormitory there are no girls as yet, though this may change in time.

The talk and slide show on 7th March is about the latest visit by a group, including

Tim Armitt and Sarah Wood, for the two weeks after Christmas 2012. We do hope

that many of you will come and see what we saw and marvel at what has been

achieved by a very small charity to change the lives of many young people.

Sarah Wood

7

Signs of Spring in Hollytree Lane

Paul Chamberlain gave an excellent

illustrated talk to the History Society on

the almost forgotten Prisoner of War

camp at Norman Cross near Peterbor-

ough, which held up to 7,000 men dur-

ing the Napoleonic wars. The site of the

prison became the subject of national

attention in 2009 when Channel 4’s

Time Team excavated the remains of the

prison. The three day dig revealed a

fascinating glimpse into life on this site

200 years ago, including the remains of

straw, bone and wood artefacts fash-

ioned by the prisoners to sell at the pris-

on market to villagers.

The causes of death were studied from

death certificates. Most were a result of

dysentery, typhoid and consumption.

The wet seasons caused flooding and

contamination from seepage.

This camp had been set up because the

hulks (derelict ships) at sea had become

overcrowded. There were, apparently,

few escapes – the prisoners wore a dis-

tinctive yellow jacket. After Napoleon

had been beaten and consigned to St

Helena, the surviving prisoners were

repatriated and the camp was closed.

The next History Society talk is sched-

uled for Tuesday 19 March at 7.30pm in

the Playing Fields Clubhouse. Tom

Farrell, who competed in the Olympic

Games at Melbourne and Rome and was

chaplain to the British team at the Mu-

nich Games, will speak on “The Olym-

pics, Past, Present and Future”.

Lighthouse Thame 29th July – 2nd August

This year the 6th Thame Lighthouse Holiday Club is being

held at Thame Showground. More than 400 volunteers,

from churches in and around Thame, prepare for this amaz-

ing annual event, which attracts over 900 children every day

for a variety of fun-packed activities. The daily programme

is full of music, singing, dance, sport, craft and lots more.

There’s high volume and high energy when we’re all to-

gether in the Big Top sessions, and lots of different ways to

hear all about God’s love for us. It’s not surprising that no-

body wants to go home!

With even more children expected this year, helpers are

needed for all areas. If you can spare a few days or just a

few hours, we can guarantee you are going to have a good

time. Having been a volunteer last year, and already having

March

Monday 4th 7.30 p.m. Gardening Club Talk by Peter Sheasby, “Spring in

South Africa”

Wednesday 6th 7.30 p.m. Parish Council Meeting

Sunday 10th 6-7 p.m. Concert in St Nicholas “Musical Mosaics” (see page 5)

Tuesday12th 2.30 p.m. W.I. Birthday Party and talk by April Benson on

“Women’s Aid”

Thursday 14th 2.30 p.m. Gardening Club Outing “A Daffodil Walk at

Hartwell House”

Monday18th 8.00 p.m. Bernard Hall A.G.M.

Tuesday 19th 7.30 p.m. History Society The Revd. Tom Farrell speaking on

“Olympic Games: Past, Present and Future”

Saturday 23rd 7.00 p.m. Cuddington Youth Drama presents 2 Plays

(see page 4)

Friday 29th 10.30 a.m. Good Friday Family Activity (see page 2)

Friday 29th 2-3 p.m. Good Friday Meditation (see page 2)

Saturday 30th 8.00 p.m. Bingo in Cuddington Social Club

Sunday 31st 10.00 a.m. Easter Communion Service in St Nicholas

Sunday 31st 5.30 p.m. Easter Celebration in Methodist Church

April Tuesday 2nd 2-4.00 p.m. Play around the Parishes on the Playing Field

(see page 3)

Wednesday 3rd 7.30 p.m. Parish Council Meeting

Monday 8th 7.30 p.m. Gardening Club “Hanging Baskets and Containers for

the Summer”

Tuesday 9th 2.30 p.m. W.I. Talk by Mrs Frances Benton on “A Passion

for Pearls”

Saturday 13th 2.00 p.m. Sunshine Club Spring Bazaar

Sunday 14th 11.15 a.m. Annual Parochial Church Meeting in St Nicholas

Wednesday 17th 7.30 p.m. Annual Village Meeting in Bernard Hall (see page 3)

Tuesday 23rd 2.00 p.m. Gardening Club visit to Chenies Manor

Tuesday 23rd 7.30 p.m. History Society “The Restoration of Historic Buildings

in Our Area - a Practical Guide”, Chris Bowler.

registered for this year I know what fun it can be.

Please check out the website for details of the roles available

and for lots of other information. Children and Helpers can

register online at www.lighthousethame.org.uk Helpers Regis-

tration is now open. Children’s registration opens in April.

If you have any queries phone me on 291635

See you in the summer!

Helen Keeping

8

The “story telling” chair and benches.

Even though we had a very positive

“Good” accreditation in the Ofsted inspec-

tion of last term, we have as a school been

implementing a programme of activities

and processes in order to further improve

the school by focusing on specific areas

identified by the inspectors. We have a

strategy of involving parents in our plans and progress and to this end held a Par-

ents’ open evening on the Infant site on 7th February in order to enable them to

hear about what we are doing and to question us. It was a very constructive and

helpful session.

The “story telling” chair and benches mentioned last month are pictured right—

thank you again to the Fête Committee!

We announced last month that we were about to put new equipment into the Foun-

dation play area; this has now happened and is already a big improvement with

more to come over the next few weeks. Those of you who might have seen it in

passing will I’m sure have noticed the improvement!

Our photograph left shows a picture of a card-

board train project which is described by Rosa

and Charles in Year 2:

“On Friday year 2 built a train out of cardboard

boxes and gum strip. Mr Tomson came over from

the Junior site to help us. Rosa and Charles were

the train experts and explained how trains

worked. When the train is finished we will give it

to Little Owls and they will be able to play in it. It was good fun. We would like to

say thank you to Mrs Place, Mrs Anthem and Mr Tomson.”

Well done and thank you to Year 2!

We are very much on count down to the next phase of hand over of the rebuilt

Junior site – most exciting! We hope to have the “Library of Inspiration”, entrance

area, rear lobby and Headteacher’s office ready in the next few weeks, with just

the new hall awaiting final finishes and completion.

Mrs Kim Price, Headteacher

Services at St. Nicholas (Churchwardens: David Benson 01296 433757 and Graham Carr 290000)

March

3rd 10.00 am HOLY COMMUNION A modern Communion Service with hymns. The children go to “Sunday Special” for part of the service

10th 10.00 am SPECIAL FAMILY SERVICE for MOTHERING SUNDAY A service for all ages, including lively hymns, with the involvement of young musicians and occasional drama.

17th 10.00 am HOLY COMMUNION A less formal modern Communion Service with hymns. The children go to Sunday Special for part of the Service 24th 10.00 am MORNING WORSHIP A service of worship and the word, with a mixture of traditional and modern hymns. The children go straight to Chattabox and the Grid in the Bernard Hall at 9.50 a.m.

11.15 am HOLY COMMUNION A communion service with hymns, according to the Book of Common Prayer.

31st 10.00 am EASTER SUNDAY HOLY COMMUNION A service for all ages.

There is a service at 5.30 pm every Sunday evening at Cuddington Methodist Chapel.

the 16th (minus 1.6 deg C, 29F). The

actual highest night time air minima

occurred on the 4th ( 8.5 deg C, 47F)

and the lowest on the 22nd (minus 5.9

deg C, 21F). The lowest temperature

just above the grass occurred at this

time (minus 11.1 deg C, 12F).

There were a total of 15 air frosts and

22 ground frosts.

January received 43.57 hours of bright

sunshine compared with the normal of

hours 58.0 hours.

Total rainfall for January amounted to

48.8 mm (1.92 in), the long term aver-

age is 56.5 mm (2.22 in). The ground

was snow covered, either totally or par-

tially for a total of 11 days. The greatest

average depth recorded was 10.3 cm

(4.1 in), as measured at 3pm on the

18th.

Sky Notes:

March gives us an opportunity to see

Comet PanSTARRS, but unfortunately

earlier predictions of it being a bright

comet have failed to materialise, adding

to this, it will be rather low down in the

west-north-west in fading twilight.

However, if you are up for the chal-

lenge of seeing it and you can obtain a

pair of binoculars then your best chance

will be over the period 13th-21st March

when it will be near its brightest.

Providing you have a clear view of the

western sky, which is not obscured by

houses or trees etc and importantly

cloud, from about 7.15 pm, with your

binoculars slowly scan along the west-

north-west horizon and keeping them

quite low in elevation, about 10 degrees

in altitude. With luck you will see the

comet with its short tail stretching up-

wards, away from the horizon. If you

miss out on PanSTARRS we still have

Comet ISON to look forward to at the

end of the year, which hopefully will

put on a good show.

Sean Clarke

Weather

(Continued from page 6)