WagtailDecember 2019 • The parish magazine

of Whittington, Arkholme and Gressingham

Saturday 7 December 7pmArkholme Christmas PartyJoin us for a night of glamourbeginning with champagne

reception, followed by casino,hot buffet, and live music and

dancing � Tickets £25 fromSharron at 2 The Sheiling

‘Dress to impress’Bring your own drinks

(local ale £2/bottle)Arkholme Village Hall

Sunday 15 December 3pmDressing Whittington Christmas Tree

‘Bring a bauble to decorate our tree’Mince pies, mulled wine, activities for children

Whittington Village Hall

Friday 20 December 7.30pmGressingham Carols, Punch and Pies

with Neil on the keyboard and Charlie leadingthe singing � hot mulled wine and apple punch

provided � bring mince pies to shareGressingham Old School Room

Sunday 22 December 4pm

Whittington Carol ServiceReadings and carols for Christmas

plus putting the characters in the cribWhittington Parish Churcheverybody welcome

� O Come All Ye Faithful� O Little Town of Bethlehem� Hark The Herald Angels Sing� Silent Night � In the Bleak Midwinter� Child in the Manger� Ding Dong Merrily on High and more

followed by mulled wine and mince pies

Wednesday 18 December7.30pm Festival of

Nine Lessons and CarolsSaint Margaret’s Hornby

mince pies and mulled wine

Christmas EveTuesday 24 December

4pm Crib Service Arkholme6pm Crib Service Hornby

10pm ‘Midnight’ Mass Hornby

Christmas Day25 December

9am Gressingham10am Whittington10am Arkholme

Arkholme open-air carol singing Friday 13 December 6.30pm – see back cover

This edition sponsored by

Sunday Services in December1 December 9.30am Whittington 9.30am Gressingham 10.45am Hornby8 December 9.30am Arkholme 10.45am Hornby15 December 9.30am Whittington 9.30am Gressingham 10.45am Hornby22 December 9.30am Arkholme 10.45am Hornby 4pm Whittington Carols 6pm Gressingham Carols by Candlelight29 December 10.30am Gressingham Patronal Festival

Classified adsFinancial ServicesKieron Bassett Financial Services local specialists providing advice in relation to pensions, investments, equity release and more. Free consultation, based in Morecambe. 01524 832057

Health and wellbeingPhysiotherapy Marie Colyer MCSP HCPCBentham 62216 benthamphysio.co.ukLune Valley PhysiotherapyLeah Dalby MCSP HCPC – Maximise potential after surgery, accidents, illness including cancer – leahthephysio.co.uk now based in Whittington 07934 785797

Pre-school and out-of-schoolHornby Day Nursery – a family run nursery with a traditional friendly atmosphere. 30 hours free childcare foreligible 3 & 4 year olds, 15 hours free childcare for eligible 2 year olds. Holidayclub for ages 4 to 11 during all school holidays. Looking for childcare? 015242 22288 info@hornbydaynursery.co.uk

MiscellaneousFuneral Services B&W Funerals (J G Macdonald) – 24 hour Service, Private Chapel of Rest. Covering the LuneValley and the Dales. 39 Main Street, Ingleton LA6 3EH. Office 41293, Home 61390, Mobile 07758 002260, email jmfunerals@gmail.com

Home and GardenPainting and Decorating A Holloway Decorators, interior and exterior, based in Caton, established over 25 years tonyholloway@hms.me.uk 01524 771880Darren Jones Plumbing General plumbing and bathroom installations, Oil and Gas boilers installed and serviced, renewable energy options available – 07738 379328Logs Direct Ltd – local specialists in Winter Fuel. Kiln-dried logs, smokeless fuel, house coal, kindling, firelighters, briquettes and pellets. Also top soil, compost & bark. Collect from us or delivered to your door. www.logsdirect.co.uk 01524 812476Calluna Furnishings, Quernmore creating unique interior upholstery and soft furnishings, made-to-measure curtains, cushions, re-upholstery, Roman blinds, upholstery, alterations and many more. Free consultation and collection service. 01524 805504 www.callunafurnishings.co.uk info@callunafurnishings.co.uk

PetsBoarding Kennels and dog day-care Aughton Road, Gressingham LA2 8LShelen.burrow@hotmail.com 07766 446272 www.aughtonroadkennels.co.ukDocker Park Kennels & CatteryNo ordinary kennels – your dogs join us around the farm and house, and they love it! We also offer day care. John and Lisa Tamlin 07876 562380www.docker-park-kennels.co.uk

2

WagtailThis is the last edition of Wagtail in the current format.

Village news has been moving online. Arkholme and Gressingham both have active email lists, carrying information about events and other village news, and Whittington is in the process of setting one up.

Increasingly, people who organise events, and people who attend events, find email both more convenient and more effective. It costs nothing, takes less time, and doesn’t have a monthly deadline. Wagtail has become ‘old technology’. Wagtail volunteers have also become fewer in number – it takes quite a team to get a paper magazine to every house in three parishes – so the committee responsible has sadly decided that it is no longer practical to produce a paper magazine every month.

There is still a place for putting something on paper through every door, so Wagtail hopes to publish on paper about four times next year, but not to a strict monthly deadline, probably for Easter, Remembrance, Christmas, and one other.

The history of the magazine has followed the history of the available technology, from the inky old stencil duplicator, to the bulk photocopier, to colour laser – and now moving online. Bridget Smith writes: The Parish Magazine was started in 1951 as a Parish newsletter for the residents of Arkholme, by the incumbent Rev Norman Cairns, whowas in charge of Arkholme and Gressingham, and priest in charge of Whittington. When Whittington became legally united with Arkholme and Gressingham churches, and after the death of Rev Cairns, Rev George Worthington took over, and there was a competition toname the church magazine. Mr Pearson of Poole House won, with the pun WAGtail (WAG meaning Whittington, Arkholme, Gressingham), and the logo of Wagtail was then also chosen as the school badge. May I take this opportunity to thank all of the editors and many helpers for their years of dedication to the magazine.

Wagtail OnlineArkholme has a well-established community email list on which non-commercial and community messages are circulated. If you are not on the list and would like to be, please email Christopher May (c.may@Lancaster.ac.uk) and he will add you to the list. If you have community news or a community announcement that you would like circulated, send it to the same address.

The ‘Gressingham News’ email newsletter has been running for around five years now with almost every household subscribed. If you’re a resident of Gressingham or Eskrigge who’s somehow missed the boat and would like to be added to the list, pleaseemail john@lunar.co.uk. The list is run using the Tinyletter platform which allows you to unsubscribe easily at any time.

The Whittington email list is currently being set up. Get online now and register at tinyletter.com/WhittingtonNews and let’s make it as useful and vibrant as the established Arkholme and Gressingham lists.

And the weekly church bulletin goes out by email every weekend with information about events across the four parishes. Sign up at tinyletter.com/these4parishes

Michael Hampsoneditor@wagtail.org.uk

3

Notices and eventsChristmas Lunch Club is on Wednesday 4 December, £12 per person, open to all retired residents in the three villages. Alison Thompson is cooking our Christmas Lunchthis year so it should be especially good, and the helpers will be able to join everyone for lunch. Please call Doreen 22023 or Carole 22202 as soon as possible to book.

Welcome to Bill and Sue Finch, newly arrived in The Maltings in Whittington. Bill hasa picture framing business at Newton Business Centre, having done framing previously for 25 years in Kirkby Lonsdale. Now doing all aspects of picture framing, oils, watercolours, swept guilded frames, and picture restoration. Phone to make an appointment, 015242 73272 or 07540 723359.

The Food Bank Collection Point is back in Whittington Church with the food bank’s Reverse Advent Calendar. The idea of the Reverse Advent Calendar is that you put something into a box each day instead of taking something out of a calendar. The full list would make up a Christmas parcel for someone in crisis in our area. Last day for items to make it into Christmas parcels is 14 December. All donations welcome no matter how large or small, Christmas items especially welcome. Leave items in the box in church or contact Phyllis and John to collect.

Whittington House to House collection for the Poppy appeal raised £273.Thankyou to Mike Redmond for his help and to everyone who donated – Phyllis

Sequence Dancing with live music begins at Hornby Institute in the new year, twice a month on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm beginning 7 and 28 January – 07814 261983

Hornby Pensioners programme for the new year begins at Hornby Institute with a coffee morning 10am to 12noon on Saturday 11 January then the AGM (followed by bring-and-share supper) at 7pm on Tuesday 11 February, all retired residents welcome.

The local Women's Running Club has free ‘have a go’ sessions in the new year on Fridays 17 and 24 January, 9.30am to 10.30am starting at Bull Beck Picnic Site, “using games and fun to bring women of all exercise abilities together, come and experience our supportive community and take your first steps to an active life with us”. Just turn up or email 261fearlesslv@gmail.com with any questions – Juliet McGrattan (coach)

Arkholme Parish Council asks for all requests from local charity groups for S137 donations to be made by Monday 2 December to arkholmepc@gmail.com. Arkholme Parish Council met on Monday 4 November. It was hoped that a trial would begin soon of A-boards to dissuade people from parking at the top of Main Street at thebeginning and end of the school day. Mowing, weed-spraying, and hedge-cutting schedules would be discussed with Environmental Services. The Highways Departmenthas given permission for the grit bin to be moved to a new location between the schoolgate and the pavement, but the request for an additional bin did not meet the HighwaysDepartment criteria. The combined Hopewell Cup and Apple Pressing event was the best-supported Hopewell cup event ever with over 20 entries. Sections included preserves and chutney, cakes, and drinks. Danielle Barker won the cup overall with herdamson vodka. The cup will be valued when it is engraved this year. It was proposed that the same categories are kept next year and that the Parish Council continues to offer support. The 500 words competition and the Christmas Lantern Procession will both be collaborations between the school and the parish council.

Gressingham Parish Council met on 11 November. It received an informal progress report on the work of the Pearson Trust Working Group, and discussed weed clearance and planned tree work, planning applications, village amenities and road safety – including road repairs and traffic-calming measures. The Parish Council noted that several villagers had again expressed concerns about the speed and volume of traffic. Lancashire Constabulary’s Rural, Wildlife and Heritage Crime Coordinator attended the

4

meeting, accompanied by one of the Constabulary’s local Community Beat Officers. They briefed the Parish Council on how Lancashire Constabulary is currently organised to tackle rural crime, and how they operate. It seems that crimes are often not reported to the police, because of a feeling that no action will result! They stressed the vital importance of good incident reporting, and of intelligence about any suspicious activities. The Parish Council agreed to discuss at its next meeting how the Parish Council and villagers can support the police by disseminating information about the various ways we can all help. Lesley Wareing, clerk - gressinghampc@gmail.com

There’s an invitation to have a go at Bell Ringing at Whittington Church. The Tower Captain is looking for some extra ringers. Make new friends and open up a network of fellow enthusiasts around the world, begin an enjoyable a lifelong learning experience (free tuition for beginners and beyond), help to maintain a traditional skill, provide a service to the church and the community, be part of a supportive and encouraging teamactivity, enjoy a great workout for the mind and the body, get the opportunity to visit amazing places and see old buildings from a new angle. You do not have to be musicalor particularly strong. If you have enough co-ordination to ride a bike or drive a car youshould be able to learn to handle a bell. If you are interested, and are between 8 and 80+, call Anne on 07973 869475 or email anne.pettifor@btinternet.com

Village Hall Draws Whittington October £20 John Woodend, £10 Janet and Pete, £5 Marie Blackburn, November £20 Poppy Williams, £10 Margaret and Ken Harrison, £5 Tony Metcalfe. Arkholme October £20 Mr and Mrs Ireland, £10 Mr Webb, £10 Mr and Mrs Clifton; November £20 Mr and Mrs Sinclair, £10 Mr and Mrs Smith, £10 Mr and MrsMcPhail; December £20 Mr and Mrs Wilson, £10 A. Heynes, £10 Mr and Mrs Acott.

An Advent Manifesto!All through November and December, the bible readings

in church are prophecies about the future. Some speak of futureglory, others of impending disaster. What they all have in

common is that they remind us there is no point trying to find ourultimate happiness in material wealth or victory in some battle,

because wealth and power can be here today and gone tomorrow – and in any case,any happiness they bring is fleeting and insubstantial. What matters in the end is our

relationship with God, and our relationships with one another.

Neither ‘Leave’ nor ‘Remain’ will achieve utopia on earth – and neither will economicgrowth, or private wealth, or an army to protect them, or any schemes, plans,

structures, or earthly empires, of any kind – of left or right or centre. What makes adifference is our relationship with God, and our relationships with one another.

Jesus’s Manifesto is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5.And Saint Matthew’s Gospel is the gospel for the whole of the year ahead,

starting on Advent Sunday 1 December, through to the end of November 2020.

You can pick up a free copy of Lectionary 2020 at theback of church, containing all three readings for every Sunday

of the year ahead, including, every Sunday, a reading fromSaint Matthew’s gospel, an Old Testament passage chosen togo with it, and an ‘Epistle’ - another New Testament reading,

usually from Saint Paul. It’s the Jesus Manifesto for 2020,worldwide – because this same programme of readings is used

by the vast majority of Christian churches right across theworld, both catholic and protestant. You can follow it in the

free Lectionary Sunday by Sunday in the year ahead.

5

The weather in ArkholmeRobin McIlveen

October Weather in Arkholme15 Slightly Wet Days (less than 5mm) together adding up to 16.7mm 9 Decidedly Wet Days (from 5mm to just under 25mm) adding a further 109.3mm 1 Extremely Wet Day (25mm and over) adding 28.9 mm25 Rain Days altogether adding up to 154.9mm (6.1 inches) – leaving 6 dry daysWettest Day 10th-11th with 28.9mm

October carried on September’s wet weather with nearly 100mm of rainfall in the first 10 days. Fortunately the third week was much drier, and most of the rest of October’s rain fell on one really wet day (20mm on 25/26th). The monthly total was a hefty 155mm, but mercifully well short of September’s deluvial 207mm. The cloudy skies kept dawn temperatures well above freezing, so that the frosts came very late in the month, and triggered heavy falls of leaves, as fragile stems thawed in morning sunshine. November has continued moist and unsettled, but sporadic light frosts have continued their work and hurried autumn on its course.

The North West has missed some of the really heavy recent rainfalls (from spectacular spirals of cloud in slow moving lows), though our weather has continued unsettled and wet. So far there is no way of pinning all this definitively on man-made climate change, but the suspicion is certainly not going away. However, do beware of popular discussions of unusual flooding which do not include mention of the effects of increasing upland drainage, and river channelling. Journalists churning out copy against on-rushing deadlines will inevitably focus on climate change, but over the decades and longer, we have been taming our rivers in some ways, but bottling them in others, with unwelcome unintended consequences.

If you are sometimes bemused by the rather hectic media coverage of the topic of man-made climate change, you could do worse than look at the very compact LadybirdExpert volume entitled simply Climate Change. It presents a brief colourful outline of thefacts and probabilities as they are understood by the scientific community. It has been peer-reviewed by 8 British experts in the field, under the auspices of the Royal Meteorological Society, which has been one of the most eminent bodies in the field globally for over 150 years.

Robin McIlveen

By the end of October, there have been 98 dry days in the 304 days of 2019, 132 Slightly Wet Days giving 171mm of rain, 69 Decidedly Wet Days giving 819mm, and 5 Extremely Wet Days giving 159mm, a total of 206 Rain Days, giving 1149mm of rain (45.2 inches). If rainfall were to continue at this rate for the full year, the total for 2019 would be a wet 1380mm.

6

Arkholme and District WIPresident Nicole Davison welcomed members, two visitors from Hearts ofHalton WI and Jo and Hannah Ashton. She then presented Jo and Hannahwith a cheque for £600.00, the proceeds of last month’s Fashion Show, for their charity LASAR. As founder members of this charity specialising in flood rescue, it was not surprising to hear that they were on call and that LASAR is in close touch with our neighbours in Yorkshire who are so badly affected right now.

In January LFWI invites members to visit and meet staff and trustees. In February you can enjoy a Brass Band concert, a Games Afternoon, learn Silhouette Applique or lunchwith Karan Lee and hear her journey from PC to Divisional Commander.

We then moved to the Annual Meeting. Nicole announced a committee of 7 to take us forward in 2020 and thanked retiring members Judith Greenwood and Helen Mackerethfor their input over the past year. The treasurer reported a slightly lower final balance than last year but there is Gift Aid to be claimed.

The secretary gave a brief account of a busy year – what a lot goes on beyond the monthly meetings! In her President’s address Nicole thanked both her committee and members for their support.

After nominations, conducted by our visitors from Halton, Nicole Davison was confirmed as president for a further year. Business complete, members tucked in to a Jacob’s Join supper and enjoyed a chat and social time. The evening finished with a quick quiz.

On 9th December we shall meet at 7.30 in Arkholme Village Hall. Joan Bentley will show us ‘Flowers for the Festive Season’ and there will be a ‘Secret Santa’ exchange of gifts. New members and visitors are always welcome.

Gerald writes...What a lovely sunny day Remembrance Day was. It was quite pleasant standing around the War Memorial during the minute’s silence and the reading of the names of the fallen. It reminds us of the debt we owe to those brave men who left our village andnever returned.

Best wishes to Alan Airey of Gressingham who was involved in an accident at Carnforth and is recovering from his injuries in Preston Hospital, we hope to see you back home soon Alan.

Have you walked up Hosticle Lane recently? The condition of it is disgusting. It mustbe the most neglected road in Lancashire. Great lengths of the road surface have disappeared, large stones have fallen out of the retaining walls into the road, and the few drains there are are level full with soil. A lot of the hedges are untrimmed, making the lane even narrower. The state of it must be similar to what it was when it was the main drovers road from Scotland 150 years ago.

There are dances in the Village Hall on December 21st, and on January 4th which is a supper dance (you need tickets for that one), and January 18th which is the annual cancer charity dance, and finally February 1st when the Bon Accords Scottish band are playing.

A happy Christmas to everyone, best wishes.

Gerald Hodgson

7

This edition of Wagtail is sponsored by Logs Direct

8