Community, Parish Council & Village
Steve Hallam will be leading the ever popular ‘Dawn Chorus’ walk offering a chance to see nightingales and many other brilliant dawn choristers. The walk will be through Hillhouse Wood and will start from the Old Church.
At the start of a new summer season the Parish Council is keen to see that its recreation facilities are used as fully as possible. The Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) beside the Orpen Hall is available mainly for tennis but can also be used for other sports such as football. This can be booked on a casual hourly basis through the booking system at the Co-op.
For families a more economical way of ensuring access is through membership of the West Bergholt Sports Club costing just £45 for a family for a year from 1st June. Membership details are available from Gill Sims at [email protected] or full information can be found on this website (see link above) and on the noticeboard beside the courts.
All we need is a good summer to ensure a season of sporting pleasure at a bargain price from facilities on your doorstep.
Under 8Our Under 8s were away to Rowhedge having had their confidence seriously battered in the last couple of weeks. However they put up a good show this week, only conceding a couple of goals. Hopefully these experiences will enable them to become stronger next season.
By contrast, our Under 10s are sitting quite happily in mid-table and were away to the league leaders Clare Town Lions today. Although it was a fairly even match, especially in the first half, Clare eventually got on top and ran out 3-0 winners.
The Under 14s played the second of their two Cup semi-finals, this time in the league cup, against Notley Youth at Halstead TownFC under the floodlights on Friday night.
Bergholt started this semi-final with a quick tempo, but looked quite nervous in possession at times. Both sides were working hard in midfield, and it took a while for either side to really settle. Bergholt’s first chance came when a cross from left broke to Ciaran 20 yards out who looked to place a curling shot, but it didn’t curl enough to threaten the goal, however generally Bergholt lacked a bit of communication and struggled with some balls played in to our penalty area. A Notley free kick from the left was missed by everyone and was turned goalwards by an attacker, but ‘keeper Connor blocked well with his legs. A minute later another deep cross again evaded everyone but the Notley frontman sliced his shot wide at the back post.
Midway through the half Bergholt won a throw in down the left of the Notley area and Ollie got the ball to Jake who put a perfect cross to heart of the area. Ben timed his run in to perfection and with a free header found the bottom left corner, where the tall Notleykeeper could not reach. Soon after Ollie looked to have put Bergholt 2 up with a great shot into the bottom left corner, only for the keeper to get down and at full stretch turn it round the post. An outstanding save. James Holden had a powerful volley that went narrowly wide and Sam was unlucky to see his header from Ollie’s free kick drift narrowly wide. Bergholt couldn’t increase the lead and 2 minutes before half time a cheap corner was conceded and when it wasn’t cleared a bit of a goalmouth scrabble led to Notley poking the ball in to send the teams into the interval at 1 all.
At the start of the 2nd half Bergholt shuffled the formation to 4-4-2, and tried to use the width more. It did create a little joy but failed to create a clear chance as Notley’s back line defended really well. The Bergholt back 4 also looked solid when they were together as a unit, but when they were drawn out and failed to win the first tackle Notley looked as though they might get in behind with their speedy frontmen. Bergholt coped with them though and looked to counter quickly and but for a few wayward through balls might have made some really good chances.
One of the Notley boys went over a challenge from Sam and landed awkwardly on his shoulder, causing what seemed to be a broken collar bone. He was having a good game in the midfield so it was a bit of a blow for Notley and everyone at Bergholt Heath wishes him a speedy recovery.
Bergholt switched back to 433 for the last 17 minutes to regain the midfield security and that seemed to help win more challenges there and gave the team extra cover when they broke forward. It worked out well as soon after the changes Mickey and James Hirstcombined to set James Holden away down the left. He beat a man and cut along the byline jinking past 2 more defenders. With 2 strikers looking for a square pass James only had eyes for goal and fired past the Notley keeper, despite the narrow angle, to put Bergholt back in front.
From here in, Notley gave everything to find another equaliser, but the work the lads put in to keep them at bay was terrific. Despite a couple of edgy moments Bergholt stopped them getting a clear shot and Connor comfortably mopped up most balls that came into his area (one was a real heart in the mouth moment but the boys got away with it).
Thankfully the last few minutes flew by, and the final whistle blew – much to everyone connected with Bergholt’s relief. Bergholt Heath Under 14’s now find themselves in the final of both cup competitions, to be played 12th and 19th May.
Man of the Match was James Holden, but again, every player worked hard and contributed to the win.
On Sunday 9th June 2013, farms across the country are opening their gates to the public for LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday.
The Taylor family of Lower Dairy Farm in Little Horkesley, are inviting you to come and discover life on their farm. Explore the farm on a self-guided walk with views across the Stour Valley. Along the way learn more about the crops, animals, and history of this very special area. Then join us in the barn and treat yourself to a slice of homemade cake!
Open Farm Sunday is a national event to allow people to visit farms of all shapes and sizes and learn about what it means to be a farmer. We had people visiting from West Bergholt last year and really hope they will visit again!Jenny Taylor
The farm is open between 11am – 4pm and entry is free, the address is:
For more details visit www.lowerdairyfarm.co.uk
The residents of West Bergholt will soon have 24 hour access to a defibrillator unit, thanks to the East of England Co-op.
Working in partnership with the East of England Ambulance Service, the Co-op is funding 100 defibrillators to be placed in communities across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex, as part of the Every Minute Counts Campaign.
A defibrillator is a potentially life-saving machine that gives the heart an electric shock in some instances of Cardiac Arrest.
If you suspect somebody to be in Cardiac Arrest you should dial 999 so that an ambulance can be sent to you. If there is more than one person with the casualty, you will be directed to the defibrillator whilst the other person performs CPR.
The defibrillator will be in a yellow cabinet situated at the Co.op Store, West Bergholt . The operator will provide you with an access code to get into the cabinet. The defibrillator should be taken out and taken back to the casualty and the operator will provide guidance over the phone.
If someone is able to administer CPR or use a defibrillator in the first four minutes, whilst the ambulance is en route, there is a significantly higher survival rate. Once the ambulance has arrived the paramedics will take over.
The East of England Co-op and East of England Ambulance Service will be holding defibrillator demonstrations across the region, so you can see how it works and ask any questions you may have. Visit the Co-op website, www.eastofengland.coop/everyminutecounts.
Bergholt Heath YFC Under 14’s are in League Cup semi final action verses Notley Youth this coming Friday evening (26th April), at Halstead Town FC, Broton Industrial Estate, Halstead, CO9 1HR. Kick off is 7.30pm.
The Friends of Hillhouse Wood’s popular Bluebell Oen day and Spring Walk is taking place on Saturday 4th May, a week later than originally intended, due to the wet winter and early spring.
The guided walk will be lead by Steve Hallam, starting outside St. Mary’s Old Church, Hall Road, at 2pm. The Friends’ Information Point, there from 2pm, will also have a supply of maps, nature trails and family quizzes.
Within the church, refreshments will be provided by the Friends of St Mary’s Old Church during the afternoon. In addition, there will also be an art exhibition there.
Bluebell walks at Hillhouse Wood were recently recognized by The Times as one of the top walks through woods in their Weekend Spring Special on 13th April.
Don’t forget to dress appropriately to the weather!
Our Under 8’s were at home to Rowhedge but unfortunately lost their way a little, losing 6-0 after a 7-0 defeat last week. The boys are lacking a little confidence at the moment.
Our Under 10’s played both Saturday and Sunday this week to play ‘catch up’ on all the games postponed due to the weather this season. The first game on Saturday was away to Layer Colts, where they won 3-1.
The second game, also away, was on Sunday when they drew 2-2 with Bures United. In fact they nearly made it two wins in a row but Bures scored with almost the last kick of the game.
The Under 14’s were playing the first of their two cup semi final dates vs Stanway Villa in the Open Cup at Wivenhoe Town FC.
It was a warm sunny afternoon and when the match got underway both sides started with a fast tempo, although neither side could string many passes together as the pitch was a little bumpy and it caused lots of passes to be miss-controlled. There were not too many clear chances, but it was nice to see our boys have a shot at goal from distance when the opportunity arose. Max hit one shot a few feet wide of the right post, and Ollie’s effort from 20 yards was straight at the keeper.
Both sides were working hard to close the other down and Villa often had 2 or 3 players snapping at our heels when we had possession, but midway through the half we found a breakthrough. Mickey stole the ball just inside their half and played a 1-2 with Ollie, then another with James and found himself in the Villa penalty area and then he guided the ball past the keeper and into the far corner. There were 3 teammates all waiting for the square pass and I’m sure he was trying to set them up, but he tells me he meant to shoot. Either way it was brilliant play and we were glad to have taken the lead.
We continued to mount some pressure on the Villa defence with James dominating the aerial challenges and causing the Villa defence all sorts of problems, but we couldn’t make a clear opening. Ben caused their keeper a moment of concern though when the ball was cleared to him about 25 yards out and he had a lofted shot that almost bounced up and over the Villa ‘keeper.
It wasn’t all one way though and Villa often counter-attacked with pace, but our defence held firm and stopped the forwards getting any shots at Connor. Their best chance actually came due to ‘keeper Connor taking a drop kick over the 18 yard line before releasing it so a free kick was awarded. The referee should have awarded an indirect free kick for hand ball, but allowed the Villa forward to step up and have the shot, but thankfully it went over.
In the last few minutes of the half a cross-come-shot from the right corner of our 18yard line looked destined to sneak into the far top corner, but Connor was alert and turned the ball away to send us into the half time break with the slender lead.
The start of the second half saw us very disjointed, quiet and really sluggish. Villa were on top for a good 10 minutes before we got going again, with our back 4 again standing fast. There was one good effort of note though when a clearance fell to a Villa forward who hit a 1st time lob that had Connor beaten, but landed on the roof of the net.
We got ourselves back on track with Mickey, Leo and James working hard together to keep the ball and ease the pressure on our defence and when they could bring the midfield into the game too we looked very good in possession.
Ollie made another great chance for Mickey with a perfect pass and although it was well struck, Mickeys shot was well saved by the keeper. Not long after that Mickey and Leo combined well to set up James, but his shot was wide and we wondered if we would rue those chances being missed.
The last 10 minutes saw Villa give it a good go to find an equaliser, but each of our players dug in and worked so hard to close them down and try to stop them playing that Villa couldn’t get a sight of goal.
So the match finished 1-0 and we can look forward to the Open Cup Final next month.
Man of the Match was Ollie Sanderson who worked tirelessly in the middle of the pitch and was the main player that looked to get us passing, but every player deserves a lot of credit.
The Under 18’s have finished their time in youth football, so no more reports from them!
The Annual Parish Meeting takes place on 24th April starting at 7pm in the John Lampon Hall. As well as affording an opportunity for informal discussions with your local Parish & Borough Councillors this is an ideal opportunity to join them in celebrating our many local volunteers who help make West Bergholt as good a place to live as it is.
Other items for the event include:
Last weekend The Times published an article on “30 wild days out for Spring” including within it recommendations for beach, meadow & wood walks. Featured amongst the wood walks (with a near full-page picture) was Hillhouse Wood about which they said:
A superb springtime wood with a flood of bluebells enhanced by the light created by coppicing of hazels. If you’re lucky, you’ll hear blackbirds and nightingales.
The Times – 13th April 2013