May 2015

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The Five Parishes News

Serving the villages of Catthorpe, Misterton/Walcote, Shawell,

Stanford-on-Avon, and Swinford

The copy deadline for the June issue is Thursday 21st May

Please send news items, by the copy date, to: news@avonswift.org.uk

Copies of the current and previous newsletters are also available to view online at: www.avonswift.org.uk

ALL FIRED-UP FOR MAY

‘This spring as it comes bursts up in bonfires green,

Wild puffing of emerald trees, and flame-filled bushes,

Thorn-blossom lifting in wreaths of smoke between

Where the wood fumes up and the watery, flickering rushes.’

I love the month of May. Every year my breath is taken away and my spirits lifted as the whole world around bursts into life.

Plants that seemed dead all winter suddenly become green again. Birds that were absent now fill the air with song. Every-

where there is the scent and sight of buds becoming flowers, each spare patch of earth crammed with growth and colour. The lines above are by D.H. Lawrence from his poem The Enkindled Spring where he uses the image of fire to describe the burst-

ing into life all around him. He is not the only poet to be inspired in this way – Gerard Manley Hopkins in his poem God’s

Grandeur begins:

‘The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil’

There is something unstoppable, like spreading fire, in the way nature springs up and out, filling every available space. Fire

was associated with the beginning of May in ancient Celtic tradition – bonfires were lit to announce the beginning of the sea-

son of Summer, and some say the Irish Gaelic word for May, Bealtaine, means ‘bright fire’.

The image of a burning flame for many symbolises new life, brings warmth and hope. For Christians it is a familiar symbol, used in baptism, representing the light of Christ in the world. In the early hours of Easter Day in many churches, a fire is lit to

symbolise the resurrected Christ, bursting into life and providing God’s life for us all. We begin May still in Eastertide and

the Paschal Candle will burn in each of our churches during services as a reminder of the presence of Christ with us.

Then, on May 24th this year we shall celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and again we shall be reminded of

fire, as we hear of tongues of flame settling on the apostles’ heads. God’s life for us and within us, burning like fire, lighting

us up from within to shine out into the world, inviting us to spread the fire of God’s love to everyone we can. Life may not be

easy sometimes, as we know from personal experience as well as from the news. Both D. H. Lawrence and Gerard Manley

Hopkins wrote these poems during the First World War when days were dark indeed. But May’s flaming natural beauty is a

reminder of God’s fire which God longs to light within each one of

us and which will never be extinguished in this world or beyond. I leave the last word to Hopkins who expresses it so well:

‘And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.’

Emma Davies

What’s On - May

7th Polling Day

8th Swinford Skirts

14th Swinford WI

16th Higgs Family Reunion

16th FOSS Swinford School May Fete

22nd Manor Farm Pie Night

30th Soup and Pud Lunch

May 2015

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MANOR FARM SHOP

Pie Night at Manor Farm! Join us on Friday 22nd May at 7pm for our first open

night of the year. This event is going to be all about our

delicious home made pies. There will be a choice of

four savoury pies on the night along with a selection of home made puddings. Dowbridge beers, wine and soft

drinks will be available too. Tickets are £20 per person

(includes main meal, pudding and two drinks) and will be available from Friday 1st May in the shop.

Open Farm Sunday

We will be holding our annual Open Farm Sunday event on Sunday 7th June (11am - 3pm). We will open up the

farm gates for everyone to meet the rare breed animals

and learn more about them. There will be lots of activi-ties for the whole family too.

Caroline England Manor Farm Shop

01788 869002

TRIATHLON PLUS!

A huge thank you to everyone around the village who

sponsored Grace Mold who undertook a mini triathlon

to raise money for the local asthma and allergy clinic. It

was a real challenge as it also included a tae kwon do

warm up and ballet cool down. Over £300 was raised which is a significant contribution to this local research

facility.

Nina and Graham Mold

CHRISTIAN AID

The Lenten Hunger lunches at Swinford Rectory raised

£400.00 for Christian Aid to send to support Christian

refugees from Syria and Iraq. This includes £33.50 from

the children of Gilmorton Primary School.

HIGGS FAMILY

The Higgs Family, (Swinford residents 1934 … 1998,)

are having a reunion in the Village Hall on Saturday

16th May and would be very pleased to see any former friends who would like to drop in any time between

1.00pm and 5.00pm for a cup of tea or anything else

that is going. Please feel free to just call in, we would

love to meet you again.

Bryan Higgs

May 2015

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GOOD NEWS!

PLANS FOR INSTALLING MAINS WATER,

A TOILET & KITCHEN FACILITY IN

ST LEONARD'S, MISTERTON

Work will start about the middle of May. Cost (at least) £37,545 - but this includes VAT some of which we can

reclaim. We have so far a bequest of £10,000, grants

totalling £15,000 (£5,000 from Windfarm, £2,500 from Gazeley, Magna Park, and £7,500 from the Diocesan

Capital Growth Fund) and generous donations of

£9,000, all making a total of £34,000. Two individuals

have offered loans to cover any shortfall. The chosen contractor is Martyn Taylor of Fenny Drayton, Nunea-

ton.

SPONSORSHIPS: We are looking for people who

would like to sponsor part of the improvements in mem-

ory of a loved one - a small brass plaque will be fixed to the sponsored door etc. The kitchen unit doors & the

bell chamber trap door : £250 each; two new doors &

stairs to ringing chamber: £500 each. Please contact

Brian Davis is you are interested.

Brian Davis

ALL SAINTS SHAWELL : A BUSY DAY

Two events took place at All Saints Shawell on 12th April. At 12.00 noon there was a special service of

thanksgiving for the life of John Bastock, who was born

in Shawell but spent most of his life in the USA where

he died. His ashes were interred in the family grave. The church was filled with superb arrangements of flowers

which were also enjoyed by those who came to the eve-

ning concert given by Tim Taylorson, a resident of Shawell, and his friends. Tim is a professional flautist,

and together with friends playing violin, viola and cello

they gave us a superb hour of music, including Mozart,

Beethoven and Debussy. We discovered that All Saints has excellent acoustics for this combination of instru-

ments. This feast of music was enjoyed by about sixty

adults and six children, and was followed by another feast: food and wine.

A New Guide Book All Saints has a new illustrated Guide Book which was

on sale for the first time at the concert. It costs £2.50

and was written by Jan Zientek. It is a 'walk-round the

church' guide with lots of excellent photographs taken by Jan.

Brian Davis

May 2015

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SWINFORD WI

On a warm Spring evening, 9th April, we met in the small hall to the rear of the Village Hall. Mary McCul-

louch presided, assisted by Hazel Gardner. The Minutes

from last month were read and approved and a few

events for our diaries were announced:- in June there is to be a visit to the Hindu Temple in Gypsy Lane,

Leicester and there is to be a Home Economics event,

£8.00, at the Leicester Botanic Gardens - precise dates were not available so for anyone interested please con-

tact Mary McCulloch on Tel: 01788 869195.

The Rose Bowl Quiz team was confirmed. Members to meet in the Village Hall car park at 7.10 pm on Wednes-

day, 15th April to travel to the South Kilworth venue. It

was also confirmed that the 2015 Avon Group WI Meet-ing would be hosted by Swinford on the 24th Septem-

ber.

Our Speaker for the evening was Mr Roy Wood on the

‘Secrets of the Rich’. He was a very good speaker and

introduced us to the Rules of Money. He gave us some

very interesting facts, such as the average UK pension pot at age 65 is just £27,000 and that none of the very

wealthy ever pay for Care Home fees or Inheritance

Tax. He divulged ways to protect assets and discussed

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the advantages of having two pots - one for Savings (easy access) and one for Investments. And the value of

the 6 year rule.

He explained the four challenges in retirement: 1) Di-

vorce, 2) Inflation, 3) Care (a couple in London would

be paying in excess of £2000 per week) and 4) Inheri-tance Tax. He went on to explain that paying Care

Home fees and Inheritance Tax were both voluntary

taxes and he explained how these could be avoided and

how investments spread equally over the 6 key areas and held for a minimum of 6 years, yield a return of 7%.

Roy Wood DipPFS is a local man (01455 550257) and is Snr Partner in St. James's Place Wealth Management.

Everyone was most forthcoming and the Questions and Answering session was most lively. A very interesting,

informative and enjoyable evening. Mary McCulloch

gave the vote of thanks.

We ended with social time, a lovely assortment of

chocolate biscuits with tea and coffee, and with the raf-

fle.

Our next meeting is at 7.30 pm on the 14th May when

Lindsey Manton will be talking to us about her Travels

in Europe. Also at this meeting the Resolution to be dis-cussed at the WI AGM in the Albert Hall will be dis-

cussed. This year's AGM will celebrate 100 years of the

WI.

Linda O'Reardon

SWINFORD SKIRTS

The next meeting of Swinford Skirts will be at Warner

Edwards at Harrington for Gin Tasting and nibbles on Friday 8th May.

Julie Morris 07765 128335

SWINFORD PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS

The following candidates are standing for election to

Swinford Parish Council. 5 Councillors will be elected

and the Poll takes place on Thursday 7th May.

May 2015

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Avon-Swift Group Services

every week…..

Tuesdays at 12 noon…Midday Prayer (20 mins) at North Kilworth

Wednesdays at 9am …simple said Holy Communion (approx. half an hour) at South Kilworth

Thursdays at 5pm Evening Prayer (20 mins) –at Gilmorton

Sunday 3rd May 5th Sunday of Easter [White] Acts 8: 26-end; 1 John 4: 7-end; John 15: 1-8

Sunday 10th May 6th Sunday of Easter [White]

Acts 10: 44-end; 1 John 5: 1-6; John 15: 9-17

Thursday 14th May

The Ascension of Our Lord

Deanery Eucharist at 7.30 pm at Broughton Astley

Friday 15th May

Ascension-tide service in South Kilworth church at 9.15 am

Sunday 17th May 7th Sunday of Easter [White] Acts 1: 15-17, 21-end; 1 John 5: 9-13; John 17: 6-19

8.30 am North Kilworth Holy Communion (BCP) The Rev’d Jane Kennedy

9.30 am Kimcote Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Emma Davies

9.30 am Stanford on Avon Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

11.00 am Misterton Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Jane Kennedy

11.00 am Gilmorton Family Service The Rev’d Emma Davies

6.00 pm Swinford Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

8.30 am Kimcote Holy Communion (BCP) The Rev’d Emma Davies

9.30 am Ashby Magna Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Paula Oxley

9.30 am Catthorpe Holy Communion ( half-hour CW

–said) Canon Chris Oxley

9.30 am Please note

slightly

earlier start!

South Kilworth Family Service Beth Rogers

11.00 am Swinford All-age worship Canon Chris Oxley

11.00 am Gilmorton Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Emma Davies

4 pm Misterton All-age worship Canon Chris Oxley

8.30 am Gilmorton Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Emma Davies

9.30 am North Kilworth Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

9.30 am Ashby Magna All-Age Service The Rev’d Emma Davies

9.45 am South Kilworth Holy Communion (BCP) The Rev’d Jane Kennedy

11 am Shawell Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Emma Davies

11.00 am Peatling Parva Holy Communion (BCP) Canon Chris Oxley

6.00 pm Swinford Evensong Canon Chris Oxley

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Sunday 24th May The Feast of Pentecost [Red]

Acts 2: 1-21; Rom.8: 22-27; John 15; 26-27; 16: 4b-15

Sunday 31st May Trinity Sunday [White]

Isaiah 6: 1-8; Romans 8: 12-17; John 3: 1-17

Sunday 7 June 1st Sunday after Trinity [Green]

Gen.3: 8-15; 2 Cor. 4:13 – 5:1; Mark 3: 20-end

BCP = Book of Common Prayer (1662) - traditional language

CW = Common Worship (2000) - contemporary language

All enquiries regarding Church matters should be directed to:-

The Revd Canon Chris Oxley, The Rectory, Kilworth Road, Swinford.

Telephone: 01788 860445; email chrisandpaula@canonoxley.co.uk

The Revd Emma Davies, The Vicarage, 5 Church Lane, Gilmorton.

Telephone: 01455 556573; emma.davies1@sky.com

The Revd Jane Kennedy, 17 Cromwell Close, Walcote.

Telephone: 01455 554065; jane@kennedy47.orangehome.co.uk

For Misterton and Shawell:

The Revd Canon Brian Davis, Telephone: 01858 431843; email Revbdavis@aol.com

From the Parish Registers

Funerals - we say farewell and commit to Almighty God:

John Mourant 78 years 26th March Funeral at Countesthorpe crematorium with thanksgiving service in

All Saints Swinford.

10.30 am Shawell Avon Swift Group Service Holy Communion (CW) Collection point for Lutterworth

Foodbank

The Rev’d Emma Davies The Rev’d Jane Kennedy

9.30 am North Kilworth Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

10.30 am Kimcote Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Emma Davies

11.00 am Ashby Magna Holy Communion (BCP) The Rev’d Jane Kennedy

11.15 am Catthorpe All-age worship Canon Chris Oxley

6.00 pm Swinford Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

6.00 pm Gilmorton Evensong The Rev’d Emma Davies

8.30 am North Kilworth Holy Communion (BCP) Canon Chris Oxley

9.30 am Kimcote Holy Communion (CW) The Rev’d Emma Davies

9.30 am Stanford on Avon Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

11.00 am Misterton Holy Communion (CW) Canon Brian Davis

11.00 am Gilmorton Family Service The Rev’d Emma Davies

4.00 pm Peatling Parva Songs of Praise The Rev’d Emma Davies

6.00 pm Swinford Holy Communion (CW) Canon Chris Oxley

May 2015

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FRIENDS OF SWINFORD SCHOOL

We are looking forward to welcoming you all once again to our annual May Fete on Saturday 16th May

from 2-5 at the school. We are hoping that the weather

will be kind to us again this year! Please come along

and sample the refreshments (Teas and cakes, beer, BBQ, summer punch cocktails). There will be a raffle,

tombola, craft and artisan food stalls, and for the chil-

dren the mini go-karts and a huge inflatable pirate run. See you there! If you can kindly help us with a donation

for our raffle or tombola then please get in touch, it

would be much appreciated.

Thank you to anybody who donated unwanted clothes

or bedding to our Rags 2 Riches collection; we raised

£215. Our next collection will be on June 11th. We are also doing really well with the printer ink cartridge re-

cycling scheme. Since December, we have raised £449!

If you have any used printer ink or laser copier toners then please drop them into the school reception, thank

you.

Louisa Beighton friendsofswinfordschool@ymail.com

01788 860716 / 07980 629666

M1 JUNCTION 19 IMPROVEMENT SCHEME UPDATE

Major site activities

• The redundant M6-M1 southbound bridge was demol-

ished on the night of 21st March. At 80 metres long and

weighing more than 220 double-decker buses, it took more than 500 explosives for our team to demolish the

imposing 2800 tonne bridge which was originally con-

structed back in 1971. A total of 560 holes were made in the supporting columns of the bridge and were then

filled with 140 kilograms of explosives. We then deto-

nated the explosives, dropping the bridge deck onto a

protective mat made up of 1000 tonnes of recycled crushed concrete. All demolition material will be

crushed on site and re-used for constructing the new

junction. The structure was supported by 28 large con-crete columns and two concrete abutments, and had to

be demolished to allow construction of a new road di-

rectly linking the M6 with the A14. The work was com-pleted to plan during an 18 hour closure of the A14 to

M6 link road.

• Works have progressed well on the bridge structure which will carry the M1 over the new M6 to A14 link.

The two halves of the bridge structure have now been

successfully ‘stitched’ together and waterproofing works have been completed. Deck drainage units, lighting and

May 2015

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communications ducts have also been installed.

• The first bridge beams have been delivered for the new A14-M1 northbound link ahead of planned installation

throughout April.

• Work on the deck of the new M6-M1 southbound via-duct continues with installation of omnia planks on top

of the bridge beams which were lifted into place during

March.

• The A14 westbound was successfully realigned and

opened to traffic during two overnight closures on 31

March and 1 April. Excavation to the east of the new M1 bridge structure continues to enable construction of

the new A14-M6 link.

• Drier weather has also allowed excavation of Pond 7

to recommence. These drainage ponds will reduce the

risk of pollution and flooding in the future.

M1 Junction 19 in the community

• It was announced that the scheme will receive a ‘Gold’

award from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Ac-cidents (RoSPA) as part of the 2015 RoSPA Occupa-

tional Health & Safety Awards.

• The project team will be accommodating a short pe-

riod of work experience for a couple of local students

during the summer, in order to provide a greater under-standing of some of the day-to-day duties of a civil en-

gineer working on a major roads improvement scheme.

• The project intends to get involved in the Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) ‘This is Civil Engineering’

campaign later in the year. This campaign has been

launched to enhance public awareness of civil engineer-

ing, with the intention of bringing about a greater under-standing of what civil engineering is, how important it is

and how much we rely on it in our daily lives. It is an-

ticipated that this will also inspire people to pursue a career within the industry and help everyone understand

the work taking place at M1 Junction 19 and how it will

have positive impact it will have on the community and

quality of life.

Environmental Commitments

• The project team is actively seeking to get involved with the Supply Chain Sustainability School (SCSS).

This is an online learning environment founded by

seven major contractors, including Skanska. The School now has 25 partners, and is growing. In just three years

the School has grown to over 7,000 members, and over

3,500 unique companies. It’s an award-winning initia-

tive, and represents a common collaborative approach to addressing sustainability within the supply chain. The

aim is to help construction suppliers and subcontractors

develop their sustainability knowledge and competence. By developing the skills of the supply chain it is hoped

May 2015

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that the industry will be better able to meet increasing

client and legislative sustainability demands. The School promotes sustainable business through long-term

thinking, environmental consciousness and social re-

sponsibility as a means to improve the level of compli-

ance and initiative in the industry.

• We are now well into nesting season which triggers

specific constraints in the ways of working with respect to vegetation clearance on site. All vegetation clearance

must now have the requisite ecological checks before

proceeding in order to ensure that we do not breach our

duty of care. It is illegal to intentionally harm or destroy a wild bird and its nest or cause a disturbance whilst

birds are nesting.

Planned Road Closures

Please note, this schedule is subject to occasional

changes depending upon the weather and other factors. If you require more regular updates please email

oliver.beech@skanska.co.uk.

Friday 24th April (9pm-8am) Monday 27th April (9pm-6am)

Tuesday 5th May (9pm-6am)

Wednesday 6th May (9pm-6am) Friday 8th May (9pm-8am)

Monday 11th May (9pm-6am)

Friday 15th May (9pm-8am)

All M1 northbound and M1 southbound.

The M1 northbound carriageway will be closed between

the junction 19 off slip to the M6, and junction 19 on

slip from the A14. At the same time the M1 southbound carriageway will be closed between the M1 to A14 off

slip, and the M6 on slip at junction 19. These road clo-

sures are necessary to allow the bridge beams for the new A14 to M1 northbound viaduct to be safely lifted

into place.

M1 northbound traffic will be diverted off the M1 at junction 19 onto the M6. Traffic will exit the M6 at

junction 1 and head north on the A426 to the A5. Traffic

will turn left and head north on the A5 to the roundabout with the A4303. Traffic will turn right onto the A4303

where it will re-join the M1 at junction 20.

M1 south bound traffic will be diverted off the M1 at

junction 19. Traffic will head right, through the junction,

onto the M6. Traffic will travel west on the M6 and exit

at junction 1 where it will join the M6 southbound and re-join the M1.

The M1 southbound off slip will remain open and M1 to

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A14 traffic will be unaffected. A14 to M1 northbound

traffic will also be unaffected.

Works near the River Avon during May

As part of the on-going M1 Junction 19 Improvement

works, we are preparing to recommence work on the

River Avon bridleway in May. Because we must not store the necessary construction materials in the river’s

floodplain area, we are considering the transport options

available to us. By exception, we might need to use the village road for which, of course, we need the County

Council’s permission. If this becomes the option we use,

we will advise you of the terms of this use, minimise

our impact on Swinford villagers, and take as little time as possible to complete the work.

The intention is to start in May but work might be de-

layed while we resolve the access issues. Please expect and be aware of construction activity on the bridleway

in the coming weeks. We will erect notices at the bridle-

way entrances announcing the work, and ask that visi-tors stay away from the bridleway area while the work

is under way.

If the County Council agrees to our temporary use of

Rugby Road, we will avoid busy periods before 9am and after 2.30pm, and over the mid-day period when the

nursery children go home. We expect the work to take

up to two working weeks, requiring approximately five vehicular movements through the village per day, al-

though timing is weather-dependent.

If you have any questions at this stage, please contact us via the Highways England information line by phoning

0300 123 5000 or sending an email to

m1junction19@highwaysengland.co.uk.

Remember, if you wish to be added to our distribution list or would like an electronic copy of one of our aerial

photographs, your email address will remain confiden-

tial and will only be used to provide information on the M1J19 Improvement Scheme. If you have any questions

about the construction work as it progresses, please do

not hesitate to contact the project team.

Environmental & Communities Advisor

Email: Oliver.Beech@skanska.co.uk

Phone: 07826665211

All Saints Swinford

Our next Soup And Pud lunch will take place on

Saturday 30th May. The homemade soups and pud-

dings will be served from noon until 2pm in the village hall in Swinford. The cost is £5 per person payable on

the door. Come along and meet your friends and

neighbours.

Proceeds are towards our church tower and bell fund.

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