EDITORIAL
UPTON BISHOP NEWS
MILLENNIUM HALL
At the Annual General Meeting of the Upton Bishop Village Hall Trust a new committee was elected: Polly Bushell, George Pendlebury, Elaine Powell, Katie Wallace, Clive Wilson and Phil Wood with representatives of the Parish Council (Mike Tyers), the Parochial Church Council (Olivia Boon) and the Women’s Institute (Angela Walker). Many thanks to the outgoing members of the Hall Committee for all their hard work and commitment over the years.
WHAT’S ON AT THE MILLENNIUM HALL
For all information on events and classes, dates, times etc see the Chimes Directory. All subject to current government guidelines. To book the hall ring Jane Pendlebury on click here to contact
NEW WEBSITE ADDRESS: www.uptonbishop.gov.uk
200 CLUB
DRAW FOR November:
£20 Ann Sharland - £10 H & J Fields - £5 Sally Clive
WEDDING
Congratulations to Maurice Harper and Gill Eckley who recently got married.
WELCOME
A very warm welcome to Moira Pease who has recently moved into the area. Also, a belated welcome to Mr and Mrs Whittaker who are living at Hilltop.
W.I.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 9th November at 7.30 in the Millennium Hall starting at 7.30 p.m. This will be a social evening with a bring and buy stall and Viv’s preserves. For further information contact Clare Bell the secretary on click here to contact
NEWS FROM UPTON BISHOP CHURCH
Vicar - David Howell, Church Warden - Jane Ayres click here to contact. The church is now open for all services. You no longer need to wear a mask unless you would like to, but please gel your hands as you enter the church. All are very welcome.
1st Sunday 10.30 Family Service
2nd Sunday 10.30 All age service
3rd Sunday 10.30 Parish Communion
4th Sunday 10.30 Mattins
Evensong is said every Tuesday at 5.30pm. A quiet and peaceful way to end your day.
THE SUNDAY, FUNDAY GROUP
The Sunday Funday group meets on the first Saturday of the month and all children are welcome. A session of crafts and games linked to the theme of that month’s Family Service.
Times and venues vary so if you’d like to join us, ring Jane for more info on click here to contact
PRAYER GROUP
Meets at the church on the first Wednesday in the month at 2pm. Just turn up. All welcome.
BIBLE STUDY GROUP
This is held on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 4pm. All welcome. Venue varies so please ring Graham click here to contact for more details.
BAPTISM
We welcome Sonny Young, into the family of Upton Bishop Church, and send our best wishes to his Martha and Luke, his Mum and Dad.
HAVE YOUR SAY ABOUT UPTON BISHOP CHURCH
There are essential repairs to be done at the church. While we carry them out, there is an opportunity to change other things too. The building belongs to the whole village, and we value your opinions. What do YOU think about the removal of some (not all) pews at the back to create a social space for all to use? How could we make the church building better for YOU?
Better, greener heating and lighting? Improving disabled access? Adding kitchen facilities?
Improving signage and information? Email Jane with your thoughts and ideas click here to contact
St Cecilia Singers, ‘The Sanders Effect’ on 9th October was a sell-out. A member of the audience wrote: ‘thank you to all those who made the concert so memorable. Apart from the glorious music I appreciate the terrific amount of work which goes into the organisation of such an event. The car marshals were a blessing, the tea and cakes etc, were absolutely delicious. A great team effort. Thank you all very much.’ We raised £1,000 for the church and the Air Ambulance.
WHAT’S COMING UP?
Sunday November 14th at 10.45am - Remembrance Service
With collection for the Royal British legion
Sunday November 28th at 6.30pm - Benefice Advent Carol Service
Saturday December 4th at 10.30 am - UB Christmas Fair
Meet father Christmas, fancy dress competition, stalls, games and refreshments. Look out for Grand Hamper Draw tickets which go on sale this month. If you’d like to help, please contact Olivia click here to contact
Saturday December 11th at 4pm - UB Talent show and Nativity Play
No poem too short, no joke too old. Come and join in or just sit back and watch the fun. Call Jane to book a slot for your act click here to contact
No charge but donations welcome. Refreshments available.
Sunday December 19th at 4pm – Carol Service
Christmas Eve, Friday December 24th at 11.30pm – Midnight Communion
SPEEDING- A HEARTFELT PLEA!
If you live in any of the villages in the Chimes area, then I am sure you will have noticed speeding traffic. For Aston Ingham where I live, we have statistics collected over several years now to show how bad the problem is, I won't bore you with numbers, but a high percentage of car drivers chose to ignore the limits. This is not a minor issue, it blights the lives of people who live along the road trying to get out from drives and side roads, it increases traffic noise, it is very dangerous for pedestrians walking in many cases without pavements, there are blind bends and narrowing of roads, all situations where drivers need to take extra care. Traffic calming initiatives may have been put in; SIDs and signs and white lines, but this all takes time, effort and money and even then, many drivers ignore these initiatives. The biggest change needed is in people's attitude when they are driving and as this magazine goes to everyone in our area, this is a heartfelt plea to all of you to check your speed as you enter villages and roads with speed limits, and even on those with the national limit, going faster than 30 or 40 may not be appropriate. It is so easy to forget to slow down at the change of speed limit. If we, the locals support each other and our communities and stick to the limits it would be a great move in the right direction, increase road safety for all users and have the added bonus of slowing down other traffic behind us. Travelling half a mile through a village at 30mph takes 1 minute and at 40mph it takes 45 seconds. Is it worth saving 15 seconds of time for all of the impacts mentioned? For all our sakes, let's please slow down and enjoy the views. And if you never speed, then a big Thank You! It is appreciated. Julia Askew
UPTON BISHOP PARISH COUNCIL NEWS
Temporary Clerk Alison Feist click here to contact
Chairman:- Keith Cornwall click here to contact
Vice-Chairman:- Brian Spencer
PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE: http://uptonbishop.org/parish-council
Notes from the Parish Council Meeting, Tuesday 5th October:
Six councillors and 12 members of the public attended the Parish Council meeting. Government guidelines state that members of the public who ask questions in the open session should not be named in the minutes.
Councillor Chris Taylor has resigned due to increased work commitments. The vacancy notice will be published soon.
Barry Durkin, ward councillor’s report: the council should consider applying for any appropriate Government grants that are available. Any parishioner having difficulty with energy bills should contact Herefordshire’s Energy Advocacy service.
Old Gore traffic lights: work should start on Monday 18th October. All village households should have received the schedule and diversion routes from the Highways agency. Should the lights be sensor-controlled or four-way timed? The new lighting at the crossroads will be dimmed at 2am every night.
Public session: attention was drawn to everyone who has contributed to the building and running of the Millennium Hall over the last 25 years. The new council representative on the Millennium Hall committee intends to build a positive relationship between the council and the hall.
Lengthsman: farmers have been clearing ditches. From November ditches will be cleared on C roads; B roads are the responsibility of Herefordshire Council. Everyone should cut their hedges back and report any highways issues to Herefordshire Council and via www.fixmystreet.com. Is there a need for a village liaison with Balfour Beatty? In the past this had forged a good working relationship with the locality steward. There will be a meeting with the chief executive of Herefordshire Council later this month. Highways issues will be discussed. A Government grant to provide traffic calming measures to reduce pollution will be investigated.
Planning applications: Hillington Barn no objection. 18 storage containers in Rudhall strong objections. Two planning applications had arrived too late to be discussed. The clerk had negotiated an extension to the date for comments by the Parish Council; Herefordshire Council’s website shows closing dates for residents’ comments.
Parish maintenance contract: approved, the lengthsman was appointed for two years.
NDP open meeting: attended by more than 30 people. Residents need to submit their comments. The returned comment form box has been stolen from the telephone box.
Upton Bishop village emergency plan: currently with Herefordshire Council for comment; to be discussed at the November Parish Council meeting in.
Date for next meeting: on Tuesday, November 2nd.
HOME AND LANDOWNERS WITH HEDGES ALONGSIDE THE ROAD
A number of the roads around the Parish have issues regarding road safety due the excessive growth of the hedges this year. We would ask anyone with hedges along the roadside, could you please arrange for them to be cut to safe level at your earliest opportunity. We would kindly ask that you ensure that ditches and drains and grips are left clear after hedge cutting to reduce flooding when it rains.
Any issues, please contact either the PC Chairman, Keith Cornwall or email PC Clerk