Autumn is nearly over and winter taking it’s grip, it is, then, perhaps timely to think about the prospects for snow especially since some papers are already forecasting serious drops in temperature with increased prospects for snow, for example, on 3rd December the Daily Mail (online) was saying:
Get set for coldest day of the year: Arctic blast set to sweep across Britain by the weekend with temperatures plunging to -5C.
As ever our village Snow Patrol volunteers will be preparing for serious snowfalls, but all can do their part in helping clear paths & footways. The Government publishes guidance about clearing snow outside your property, pathways to your property or public spaces, this guidance (see link below) says that there is no law stopping you from doing this.
The advice confirms that despite some media reports to the contrary, it is extremely unlikely that someone who has attempted to clear snow in a careful manner will be sued or held legally responsible if someone slips or falls on ice or snow at their property. People should not be deterred from performing a socially responsible act, such as clearing a path of snow, by the fear that someone may subsequently get injured slipping on the path.
Though the person clearing the snow does have responsibilities when doing the job, mainly to ensure that they are not making the area more dangerous, it is important to note that those walking on snow and ice have responsibilities themselves. A common sense approach is encouraged as is community involvement.
Useful links
As well as HMG’s guidance on snow clearance, the Met Office also runs a useful website on behalf of the government that hosts a wealth of useful information:
Heybridge Basin – end of the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation is a local Inland Waterway
With the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation not that far away we have a real local model to add context and flavour to the WEA’s next course. Inland Waterways, starting on January 13th at 8pm in the Methodist Church Hal, is described by the WEA as follows:
Our next subject is Inland Waterways by Steven Worsley who will cover, over 10 weeks, the increasing leisure use of our inland waterways contrasting with their past as a transport medium during the industrial revolution. The legacy of this past will be studied on this course.
Ten interesting evenings cost £48 or for those on income under £15.276 net per annum or income based benefits/JSA free.
In doubt, then sample first evening for free
For further information please contact Gill on 01206 240512
The litter pick held on Saturday morning 18th October was successful. 15 black bags of rubbish were collected!!!
The turnout of volunteers was a bit disappointing, if more residents had come forward to help we could have had an even cleaner and tidier village. Many thanks to the following volunteers:-
Ros Stone,
Jill and Mike Poole,
Ron Birkin,
Dave and Louise Seager,
Diana Woodgate,
Gunter Klaphake,
Jenny Church,
Murray Harlow,
Rachel Howard and daughter Francesca aged 10, and
Sarah White, who lives in Turner Rise but works in the village.
Well done to all and many thanks for their support.
Advance purchase of programmes at just £3.50 offers great value and they are available from Heathlands Primary School, local businesses & other schools in Colchester from 22nd October 2014. Entry at the gate will cost £5.00.
The gates are opening at 5:30 pm and there will be plenty going on before the display including:
The latest Village News features a community litter pick being organized by the Parish Council. Starting at 10am on Saturday 18th October, the Parish Council are asking for volunteers of all ages to come along and meet at the Orpen Hall.
All necessary equipment will be available including plastic bags, litter pickers and gloves. Refreshments will also be provided.
Together we can help to make our village a cleaner and tidier environment.
For more information contact Rachel Howard. Tel. 240360
Operation Homeguard Initiative by the Community Safety Partnership
PC Michael Lee is attached to the Community Safety Partnership at Colchester and is keen to expand an already successful operation known as ‘Operation Homeguard‘ which has been active in and around Colchester since 2013, he writes as follows:
Operation Homeguard is a successful Essex Police project run in Colchester. The concept of the Operation sees members of the local community joining Police officers and staff in order to offer public reassurance in identified areas. Members of Operation Homeguard see themselves engaging with residents, informing them of crime issues in their area and giving crime prevention information. They are a high visibility deterrent.
The Operation gives volunteers the opportunity to work with Police and gain experience of working with the public. All members are issued with Police Volunteer Identification, Note Book and specially commissioned uniformed jackets. This is a non-confrontational role and Police are always on deployments.
To date, we have interacted with around 12,000 residents in Colchester, spread over 45 separate deployments since its implementation in April 2013.
Members of Operation Homeguard have used the experience they have gained to further their studies or go on to find full-time permanent employment.
We are always looking for professional and reliable people to join Operation Homeguard.
If you are interested or would like further information please contact PC 71833 Michael Lee or PCSO 73140 Hunter at [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”] for further information.
British soldiers in a captured German trench A German trench occupied by British Soldiers near the Albert-Bapaume road at Ovillers-la-Boisselle, July 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The men are from A Company, 11th Battalion, The Cheshire Regiment. Source : Wikipedia
How appropriate that in the centenary year of the beginning of the Great War, acclaimed at the time as the war to end all wars (or was it?), that the WEA have provided details of their next course:
The WEA (Workers Education Association) runs 2 courses each year the first beginning in September and the other in January. Our next course is The Great War: Fact, Myth and Memory by Roger Beckett and starts on 23rd September 2014 at 8 pm. This course attempts to consider the Great War as an historical event, to separate fact from myth and to place the events of 1914-1918 in the context of Europe in the 20th century. All are welcome and if in doubt to sample the first evening for free. It will take place at the Methodist Hall, Chapel Lane at a cost of £48 for 10 weeks (income based benefits/JSA free). For more details contact Gill on 240512 or email [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”]
The following update has been received from The Care Network:
For over twenty-five years The Care Network has operated in the village to help residents with transport to medical and other important appointments. Throughout this time we have relied on a system of telephone contacts, one for each day of the week, who arrange the transport. In some cases the same ladies have been involved for most of this time.
During this period technology has moved on apace and we are now able to offer what it is hoped will be an improved service. We now have a single contact number which will hopefully be easier for users to retain. The same contacts will have the calls transferred to them on their respective days and will arrange the transport. One bonus is that if a particular contact is not available the call will transfer to the next day’s contact thus eliminating the need for the user to dial again.
If you live in the village and need help with transport for a medical or important appointment please contact us on
0300 777 3100
Calls are charged at local land line rates
If you feel able to volunteer and offer some time as a driver please contact Harry Stone on 241026.
Anthony Robin, local Speedwatch volunteer for West Bergholt & Eight Ash Green, is passionate about the need for drivers to cut speeding, but in making his regular report and call for volunteers, his thoughts wandered into some historic and other directions related to speed. The following is the result of this little distraction:
When I came to live in Eight Ash Green, over 30 years ago, the main road through the village was called the A604. The large green route signs labelled it as so, with the destination Cambridge marked, and if I remember correctly, the distance given was 49 miles. Originally the A604 had run all the way from Harwich to Kettering. In fact the 6 at the front suggests it does not belong to this sector of the country, but the sector between the A6 (London-Holyhead) and the A1 (London-Edinburgh). Our sector roads start with a one.
To try to reduce the through traffic the authorities, relabelled the road, and whilst the route still exists it has different numbers for different sections. Our local section, between Colchester and Halstead is labelled A1124, the next section to Haverhill is A1017, and the section between Haverhill and Cambridge is A1307. The through traffic is signposted either A12 & A14 via Ipswich, or A120 and M11 via Stanstead.
Nevertheless this route is a lot shorter, and so for slow traffic is quicker, so many lorries still use this route. In fact my SatNav suggests I use the ‘A604’ route to get to Addenbrookes Hospital, and the A120/M11 route to Cambridge centre. The authorities also changed the speed limit through all the villages on our route from 40 to 30 mph.
Despite these changes, a few months ago, I noticed that one sign on the “South Circular” between Kent Blaxill and the Leather Bottle was still directing traffic to Cambridge along this route (see picture above). It was misleading, because there are no follow on signs for Cambridge.
The A1307 section is in Cambridgeshire, and there are large notices saying that the route is dangerous, saying high speed collisions kill and asking motorists to slow down. There are also several “graves” on this section of the road. No one is actually buried there, of course, but there are flowers and gravestones and even pictures of people who have been killed nearby.
In France it is official policy to put signs up as shown right, although the actual style varies in the different Departments. This particular one shows where 5 teenagers were killed. It certainly pulls no punches! Should we be doing this in the UK? Does it make people realise the dangers of the roads, or does it even distract motorists making other accidents more likely?
To try to make local motorists obey the speed limit in our villages, both on the A 1124, B 1508 and elsewhere, a few of us regularly go out with a radar gun, and report offenders to the police. The project is called Speedwatch, and other groups go out in other parts of the County. Other Counties are involved with similar schemes.
If you would be interested in joining us, please contact me.
This news update was posted to our Facebook page where a reader provided this further insight into the politics of road naming:
At the time of the route re numbering I was a member of Castle Hedingham Parish Council. ECC proposed that the road from Braintree Corner, Sible Hedingham, and Halstead High Street be downgraded to B road status (in order to further reduce the chances of drivers seeing the old A604 as a viable through road). There were various objections (you can probably guess from whom) on the grounds that if Halstead were no longer a crossroads of two A roads it would lose some of it’s status. This from people who continue to campaign for measures to reduce traffic through Halstead…. Simon Daw
This is a plan which has been developed by the Parish Council with the help of Colchester Borough Council and the Emergency Services to help us in the village cope with an unforeseen situation which needs rapid and decisive action. Emergencies can occur with little or no warning and could be caused by many different factors including:
Natural disaster,
Severe weather,
Technological / industrial accidents,
Power failures,
Failure of communications (e.g. telephones or broadband),
Transport disruption and village cut off,
Terrorism.
The risk to the village from any of these events is small and difficult to assess. In the event of a situation deemed to be an emergency The Borough Council is the responsible body that will work with the Emergency Services. Our role is strictly to support these actions. The village plan focuses on how The Parish Council would assist in providing an emergency Reception Centre and how it could support vulnerable village residents. The document is deliberately short and hopefully of practical use, to view it click the link – West Bergholt Emergency Plan.
To carry out our role the Parish Council needs access to a team of volunteers who could carry out activities such as staffing a Reception Centre at the Orpen Hall. Various village groups do already have such volunteers and these will be contacted but should you be willing to assist in such activity please contact Harry Stone through the Parish Clerk [antibot mailto=”[email protected]”].
The Parish Council believes that in some emergency situations (e.g. prolonged power failure in severe weather) some vulnerable residents could be at risk. A list of such residents is to be compiled although it is appreciated that holding such information has to be handled sensitively and with the accepted protection. Again existing organisations such as the Care Network and Churches will be contacted but also if a possible resident who it is known has no regular contact from relatives or friends please inform the Parish Clerk. No name will be added without personal contact being made and their agreement.
As winter takes hold
