Issue 32 March 2010
Stanton on the Wolds Parish Council
Parish Council Members:
Jim Goodman , Chairman 937 3076 Michael Sheriston Vice-chairman 937 5652
Bryan Baines, 937 2197 Angela Benney 937 6369 Roy Butler 937 2508
Margaret Healy, 914 8654 and Alex McKee, 937 5068
Clerk:
Mike Elliott, 19/21 Mains Street, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5AA, phone 937 6506
or Email elliottnews@btconnect.com
A message from the Chairman
Now we are well into 2010 it is time to bring you up to date with the Parish Council's activities and some more historical information from Alan Hunt.
It may be too late to wish you a Happy New Year on the Gregorian calendar but the Chinese New Year started on the 14th February and this is the year of the TIGER. 2009 was the year of the OX.
The snow has hopefully finally gone but winter is not over yet. Councillor Jim Goodman
PARISH COUNCIL PRECEPT-AGAIN NO INCREASE
The Parish council has decided to keep the amount required for the 2010/11 financial year the same as in the last two years and will be seeking an income of £4,632 for the 12 month period.
The actual levy on each household varies dependant on how many houses are occupied so in a small area line Stanton the percentage seen on your statement may vary slightly.
The amount of council tax being levied by the council is actually lower than it was in 2002-3 when the figure was £5,337. At that time the council was having to make provision for higher audit costs. The precept dropped back to £4,410 in 2003-4 and has increased slightly since then, but not since 2008.
The Council Tax Base for Stanton on the Wolds for the coming year is 202, this being the amount of money that would be raised by a £1 precept on a Band D property in the parish this year.
A brighter Stanton
The parish council has received a grant of £75 from Rushcliffe towards the planting of daffodils in various places in the village.
By making a late purchase Alex McKee has obtained around 1,000 bulbs most of which were planted before the snow set in so they should give a good display in 3 months time.
Speedwatch scheme continues
Stanton's Speedwatch scheme began in June last year and has carried out checks with the Police speed gun on twenty-four separate occasions. The number of motorists reported has risen to over 80. When this is considered with the fact that all these were at least 15% over the limit it is obvious that many are speeding and that trying to reduce the possibility of accidents is well worth the efforts of the 10 strong team of volunteers.
The gun itself only gives an accurate speed check so that reading the vehicle registration mark and identifying the type and make of vehicle is done manually, so we are all sharpening our awareness of manufacturer's badges.
Most of the observations have been done on the Melton Road with a few on Browns Lane. It has not been possible to do much as yet on Stanton Lane but there will be monitoring there as soon as the bad weather which caused cancellations has disappeared.
The Police have also been active in the area. On Tuesday 3rd November 2009 speed checks were conducted in Stanton by an armed response vehicle. Three drivers were issued with fixed penalty tickets at this time. Between 10am and 11am on Tuesday 1st December 2009, PC Thacker conducted speed checks on Stanton Lane. Two motorists were issued with fixed penalty notices and several were verbally warned. Between 11am and 12pm on Saturday 9th January 2010 PC Thacker conducted speed checks on Browns Lane. No motorists were given fixed penalty notices but several were verbally warned.
Update on footpaths
Generally speaking all footpaths are in good condition due to regular monitoring by members of the parish council and others, together with the support from Rushcliffe, but be aware that in some places they are very slippery.
Paths which would normally cross the Fosse Way (A46 trunk road) are closed at the point of contact with the road works and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
A reminder here that the footpath that crosses Willow Brook School playing field skirts the edge of the field. It does NOT go straight across so as to not interfere with school functions or children playing. In particular dogs should NOT foul this area.
Bits and Bobs
Minutes of meetings of the parish council are now appearing on the village website as soon as they have been produced.
A new street name plate has been erected by Rushcliffe Borough Council on Browns Lane following a request from the parish council for this.
Thomas Ousley Trust
The original holding in 1721 was a house and land in Gedling. This was sold in 1882 and ultimately invested in Treasury stock which matured in 2008 realising only £555. The current value of the Trust is £804. The trustees continue to review it and report to the charity commissioners each year at this time. They are John Stockbridge (chairman), Margaret Healy (secretary), Alwyn Bradshaw and Jim Goodman.
The parish council have given thought to what celebration can be arranged for the village in 2012 to mark the Diamond Jubilee of HM the Queen.
No objection was made by the parish council to plan by McArtneys Catering to extend the oak framed barn at Foxcote, Melton Road and to change its use to a farm catering production facility.
Forthcoming parish council meetings
The next meeting of the parish council is on 10th March 2010 and then on May 12th the annual parish meeting will be held followed by a parish council meeting. At any time Planning Meetings may be called and are advertised on the notice boards.
The Stanton website
What's new on the web? Visitors to the site can see the latest set of Minutes for the January 2010PC meeting. There are three more names of Stanton men who fought in WW1 in the "In Memoriam" section. "Latest News" contains a bit about disappearing BT phone boxes and the discovery of a third Neolithic stone axe. There are 5 grouped pages about the "Archaeology" of the parish in different ages with pictures of various 'finds'. If you have not yet checked the web site for our local war heroes, click on "In Memoriam" which has been modified to allow quicker access. Minutes of the Stanton on the Wolds Parish Council Planning Committee may now been downloaded from the "Planning" tab at the top of the site.
The number of 'hits' since the web sites inception in March 2007 to the 31st January 2010 is 290,668 and for the week beginning the 23rd August last year, the busiest week so far, the average daily hits were 440. Figures for this July the busiest ever month show 390 hits a day.
The site continues to attract interest both home and abroad. One young lady, "Tricia" from Doncaster, following her family tree, has found 22 relatives by the name of Wilcox in the village censuses. Her story begins in 1821 with the marriage of Thomas Wilcox and Mary Attewell at Keyworth. Their 11 children were all born and christened at Stanton. The parish registers revealed 6 christenings, 5 marriages and 6 deaths.
A second enquiry came from a "Denise" in Winnipeg, Canada, who is following the story of her grandparents Albert and Florence Walker and their two children Edna and Marjorie. They lived in Rose Cottage on Stanton Lane during the war and up to 1948. Albert Walker was a sweet manufacturer and owned several shops in Nottingham before retiring at 50 years of age. Denise tells us she recalls her mother telling her that her father was very good friends with William Green, Lord Mayor of Nottingham in the 1930s. It was his car that her mother left Rose Cottage in for her wedding. The reception was held on the lawn and tennis court at the cottage. During their time at Rose Cottage they kept several pigs as part of the 'feed your family' war effort and also had a Canadian pine summer house built on what was then a tennis court. They built a second house in the gardens of Rose Cottage for their daughter Edna and her husband Harry Taylor.
A third genealogist, "Barbara" from Underwood in Nottinghamshire, is researching the surnames "Goddard" and "Carter". Her family connections with Stanton begin in 1823 with the marriage of John Carter and Elizabeth Foster, which produced five children. One of the girls, Mary Carter, married John Goddard in 1845 and this union produced twelve children, five of whom married and had families of their own, including Ebenezer Goddard and his family who lived in Goddard's Cottage on Stanton Lane. So far Barbara has uncovered 24 christenings, 6 marriages and 9 deaths in Stanton.
A ‘lucky strike’ by Tamsin Chambers, Iain McMillan and Alan Hunt
A small worked black flint from a flintlock pistol/musket was recently found in a Stanton field alongside a public footpath. The flint measures 25 x 31mm and is 9mm thick with a central raised tabular area. According to E.J Blackley & Sons of Suffolk who specialise in antique firearm supplies, it was for use in a musket. Gun flints are still made at Brandon in Suffolk in five sizes: 11mm, 14mm, 19mm, 23mm and 25mm. (Note a picture of the gun flint may be found by clicking on the "Archaeology" tab at the top of the page and then clicking on "Post medieval archaeology")
For many hundreds of years before the match was invented, fire had been made from sparks created using a flint, a steel and dry tinder. Gunsmiths began using a similar system when the flintlock was invented to fire pistols and muskets early in the 16th century. The flintlock was loaded with a measured charge of black powder (gunpowder) and a lead ball was pushed firmly down the barrel with a ramrod. A shaped piece of flint gripped in the two jaws of a sprung cock is activated by the trigger. As the trigger is pulled the spring hurls the cock with its flint against a steel showering sparks onto the pan. The pan contained a small amount of black powder which ignited, the flame passed through the touch hole in the side of the barrel to the main charge which then fired.
Unless a good flint was used, the sparks might be sparse and thus misfires were frequent. Black flint gave the best result but could only be used for about thirty strikes before a new flint was required. Whilst the weapons themselves were robust and reliable, the pan priming system was susceptible to damp conditions and there was often a variable and appreciable delay, known as ‘the hang fire’, after the trigger had been squeezed before the charge went off. These problems were to ultimately lead to the invention of the percussion cap system and the flintlock had almost disappeared from use by the 1830s.
Lead balls are not uncommon finds in fields. As far as your authors are aware, two lead balls have been found within the parish; the first has a diameter of 0.45” and was probably from a pistol and the second a diameter of 0.75”and probably came from a musket. Early pistols commonly had fairly short barrels with a large bore of up to 0.7” but by the 17th century barrels had become longer and had smaller bores of 0.3 to 0.5”
YOUR LOCAL CHURCHES
Stanton on the Wolds Parish Church: Rev. Jim Wellington, tel 0115 937 2017.
Catholic Church, Willowbrook: Fr Peter Vellacott, tel 01509 852147.
Methodists: Rev Mike Lees, tel 0115 921 2146.
Baptists: Mrs Barbara Lister tel 0115 937 3565.
United Reformed: Rev Chris Ford, tel 0115 937 5086.