Sedgwick Road Closed

Don't forget that Sedgwick Road is closed outside the Rowan Close building site for two weeks starting today.

Closure of Natland.info

Now that Natland News has been succesfully established, the old website, Natland.info, will be closed within the next few days, thereby saving Natland's ratepayers some £70 or so per year!

Some of the historic items have already been transferred across to Natland News. Others will in due course. Meanwhile, if there is anything on Natland.info that you wish to retain, you should visit it NOW to copy and save the relevant items. Once the site is closed, the only way to access the information will be via me and then only if I still have it saved on my PC.

Don Shore

Church Fete on the 11th June at 2pm

If anyone has spare Books, Toys and Games, bottles and jars (full) for the tombola, Gallimaufry (anything bright and beautiful), White Elephants (anything that has outstayed its welcome but is potentially useful to somebody else) or raffle prizes to donate,  then they would be very welcome. Just leave them in the appropriate crates at the back of church, come along to the fete to see them displayed in new surroundings, and buy something attractive and novel to fill the gap that they have left.

Bus service disruption

Sedgwick Road will be closed to traffic for two weeks starting on Tuesday 31st May.

The 552 Arnside-Kendal bus is expected to run during this period but will detour from Sedgwick to the A65, coming down Oxenholme Lane to pick up passengers at the Green.  This means that it may not be as punctual as usual, so please be patient!

The work to be carried out is in accordance with Cumbria Highways requirements.

Ann Parnham and Rhian Peters

Steam Train Coming Through

The Settle and Carlisle Flier, will be southbound through Oxenholme on Wednesday 1st of June at 17-13. It will be either The Scots Guardsman or 46115 Black Five.                     Pat Williams.

Women's Institute - report of last meeting

At the May meeting of Natland & Oxenholme  W.I. , President Marion

Thornton welcomed members, & special guest,County Federation Adviser, Mrs Doris Aldworth.

Doris outlined details of the two resolutions nominated for the National A.G.M. in Liverpool next month,  concerning the Closure of local Libraries,and the proposed building of 'Mega' Farms for cattle & pigs. A lively discussion on both emotive proposals ensued, the final votes going in favour of the motions, but some abstentions were noted for the farming issue.

A supper was provided by the Committee with 'taster 'samples from the 'Tray bake' competition, which was won by Pat Tetlow.

The evening ended on a lighter note with members enjoying a Beetle Drive!

Next meeting is on 15th June. The speaker Malcolm Pilling, talk entitled,

'Confessions of a Plumber'.

Visitors welcome.

Crime in Natland

At the Annual Parish Meeting held this week Sergeant Stephens of the Rural Policing Team spoke about the crimes that have been committed in Natland and nearby in the last year or so.

• Ten of these involved anti-social behaviour and five of these were youth related incidents. 
• There was a short spate of burglaries from sheds - 4 over 3 days - and the perpetrators of these were not detected. 
• There was just one burglary from a house. 
• The theft of scrap metals is an ongoing problem, particularly from building sites, and copper has been stolen in Natland. 
• There have been five incidents involving damage to property and where these have involved domestic disagreements arrests have been made. 
• There have been two thefts, one of a bicycle. 
• There have been seven assaults, all perpetrated by the same person, and he has been arrested. He was a motor cyclist who was making a habit of slapping people as he went past.

Sergeant Stephens emphasised that really these figures are remarkably low. Cumbria itself has a low crime rate, South Cumbria's is lower still and Natland's lower again. Nevertheless people should be alert to potential dangers and were encouraged to be wary of cold callers, phone and internet scams. There is danger that fuel might be stolen from tanks in rural areas, so people are encouraged to lock their tanks. The importance of the work of the Neighbourhood Watch Group was emphasised in preventing crime.

Hawkers in Natland

From John Fisher:

We recently had some young supposedly legitimate ‘young offenders’  hawking goods in Abbey Drive who became abusive when we were not interested in seeing their wares. I raised the matter with the police about how to deal with them and this is from the reply from Jessica Bullock at Cumbria Constabulary:

  We would need to check each group/individual to see whether they are ‘legitimate’.  We do get a lot of reports of ex offenders’ door step calling and they have all to my knowledge turned out to be who they say they are.  As regards to legitimate trade, again the ones we have had reported and checked have proved ok.

  It is difficult to prevent them calling unless there is a ‘no cold calling zone’ set up, and from a Police sense, they are not committing any offences by knocking on doors.

  The best way to deal with them is to just say no and ring us on the 0845 33 00 247 number at any time day or night and report them as being in your area – with as much description as possible etc and we will get an officer to check the area and their details.  For the more elderly/vulnerable residents, they need to remember that if they wanted/needed what the door step callers were selling then they would probably already have bought it themselves, and not be sat waiting for it to come to their door. 

  I know saying no is not always easy especially if they are persistent and even rude/abusive.  The abusive side of things we can obviously deal with as well.

  More often than not, Oxfam and similar organisations will notify us when they will be visiting an area, and this should be passed on via NHW.  There was a recent Kidney Research collection that we received information about and this was passed on.  They should also have identification on them.

  There is no harm in ringing things in to us and we will get it checked out, if people don’t want an officer to visit their address then they can receive a telephone update as to the outcome of their report.

  I have a small number of ‘no door step caller’ stickers you could display in your door or window if you would like me to send you and your neighbours some?

  Sorry if it seems a bit limited in what we can do.  I have crime prevention advice and leaflets I can utilise with members of the community in Natland if you think this would be beneficial, helping people with the security of their homes and how to avoid becoming a victim of burglary/crime which may make residents feel safer in their own homes, as it is not right that your neighbours feel threatened.

Summer Songs of Praise

St Mark’s Church Natland
Annual Summer Songs of Praise Sunday 

 June 12 @ 4.00pm
Kendal Concert Band
Natland Village Green

Please bring something to sit on if possible
Followed by refreshments in the Vicarage Garden

Retiring collection in aid of the Band
In Church if wet.

Agenda for next Parish Council Meeting

This is the annual meeting for members and includes the election of officers and planning matters It's on May 23rd at 7.30. The Agenda is now available.

Steam Train Not Coming Through

The Scots Guardsman due today has been postposed until August, due to line timing difficulties.

Little Treasures- bona fide or not?

We have received  a charity collection bag from the Little Treasures Childrens Trust. A quick search of the internet indicates that they are a charity but there are also numerous sites that suggest they may be a scam - a commercial company  which donates a very small part of their total proceeds to charity.  Can anyone shed  any more light on their bona fides? In the meantime I will be treating them with a degree of scepticism.

John Fisher

Home Field - Potential Development

I know that this has generated a lot of heat in recent weeks.

I raised the subject with a friend who is in a senior position in the Children's Society and it was suggested to me that any concerned residents with a better knowledge of the history of the field than I have, might wish to write to the Chief Executive at the address below.

Whilst there is no doubt that the correspondence will be given consideration, it will have to be very well argued and put in a historical context. The Children's Society exists to "create a world where all children are respected, valued and heard". They have a portfolio of land from which they are bound to extract the maximum income to benefit children. If children still used the Home field for recreation purposes, it would be easier to justify it remaining a field.  As a piece of agricultural land solely, the income is minimal.  As a building plot it can realise the charity lots of money to spend on their primary purpose.

Unless the community can come up with something creative/persuasive?

Mike Duff

The address to write to is:
Bob Reitemeier, Chief Executive
The Children's Society
Edward Rudolf House
Margery Street
London      WC1X 0JL

020 7841 4400

Sedgwick Road to Close

The builders developing the former Holmes of Natland site have advised that Sedgwick Road is to be closed to traffic for a period in the two weeks starting 31st May 2001.  In a letter from Robert Hughes Limited to local residents they say:

In the initial phase of the project we have erected the timber frames on seven of the twelve houses and the temporary frames for the remaining will be erected over the next few weeks. 

We are now programmed to commence works on the roads, footpaths and drainage which will involve construction work in Sedgwick Road.  We have had several meetings with Cumbria Highways and it will not be possible to operate a traffic lights system for health and safety reasons.  As a consequence the road will have to be closed to vehicles.

We have been designated a road closure slot of two weeks starting on 31st May 2011 although we will endeavour to finish works ahead of programmed to minimise disruption.  Throughout this period we will maintain a footpath and route for dismounted cyclists. 

The letter goes on to apologise and says that they appreciate that this will cause significant inconvenience but they have no alternative but to carry out the works in accordance with Cumbria Highways requirements.

Christian Aid Week in Natland & Oxenholme

Thousands of volunteers will be pounding pavements this week distributing thirteen million red envelopes for Christian Aid Week, which started on Sunday. Eighteen of them will be in Natland and Oxenholme. Last year we raised £1648.20 in this parish for Christian Aid's innovative work in developing countries. With the generous help of the people of Natland and Oxenholme we hope to raise even more this year.

Low Sizergh Farm Anniversary Event.

Vintage tractors, strawberry teas, farm trails, food tastings and horticultural celebrations at Low Sizergh Farm on Sunday 12 June will mark 20 years of award winning food and faming by the Park family.

11am to 4pm. free event and all welcome.

For more info visit Low Sizergh Barn 

Steam Train Coming Through

The next steam train  will be on Thursday 19th May. 46115 The Scots Guardsmen will be southbound through Oxenholme at 17-16 or thereabouts.

Beware E-mail Fishing Trips!

Attempts to entrap people into giving away their internet security details continue unabated. 

One Natlander reports receiving the seemingly innocent e-mail shown below.  However had she hit the return button the email would not have gone to BT but to a totally different address at y7mail.com, wherever that is.  It was a fishing trip.

Rather than worry about trying to determine where such a message has really come from, the general rule is not to provide password or other sensitive information unless you have initiated the enquiry on a known website and certainly never provide it in an open e-mail to an unsolicited message, no matter how plausible.

Here is the suspect e-mail:

From: BT Yahoo! Mail Team <account_update@btinternet.com>
Sent: Saturday, 14 May, 2011 8:17:34
Subject: BT Yahoo! Mail Account Update

ATTN: BT Yahoo! Mail USERs,
We are contacting you to remind you that our Account Review Team identified
some unusual activity in your BT Yahoo! Mail Account. As a result,access to
your account has been limited in accordance with the BT Yahoo! Mail Online User
Agreement. Your account access will remain limited until this issue has been
resolved. You are therefore required to provide the information below;
° BT Yahoo! Mail E-mail (**********) and Password (********)

*Important*
Please provide all these information completely and correctly otherwise due to
security reasons we may have to close your BT Yahoo! Mail account temporarily.
We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that
this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your BT Yahoo! Mail
Account. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Thanks
The BT Yahoo! Mail Technical Team
©2011 BT Yahoo! Mail Internet. All Rights Reserved.

ANNUAL PARISH MEETING - 19th May 2011

All local government electors of the civil parish of Natland
are invited to attend

NATLAND ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

7.30pm on Thursday 19th May 2011

NATLAND VILLAGE HALL

AGENDA

  

The following have been invited to speak and answer questions:

• A representative of the Rural Policing Team 
• Brenda Gray – County Councillor for Kendal South Division and District, Councillor for Kendal - Oxenholme & Natland Ward

1. Welcome and any apologies
2. To approve the Minutes of the previous meeting on 20th May 2010 (copies at meeting, on website and in shop porch)
3. To hear Addresses from any invited speakers not covered by item 7 below.
4. To receive the Annual Report of the Parish Council (distributed to every household)
5. To receive a Statement of the Parish Council’s Accounts for the year to 31st March 2011 (copies at meeting, on website and in shop porch).
6. To receive the Council’s observations on its finances for the current year.
7. To receive the Observations of Natland’s District and County Councillor.
8. To receive the Statements and Reports of any Village Groups who wish to take part.
9. To deal with Any Other Business.

Kevin M Price.  Parish Clerk.
12th May 2011.

Helm Group Walk

This Saturday the people who go to church in the associated parishes of New Hutton, Old Hutton, Crosscrake, Natland and Kendal Holy Trinity will be walking between these parish churches starting at 10.30 from New Hutton. We'll be at Old Hutton at noon, then Crosscrake for packed lunch, Natland at. 2.30, finishing at Kendal Parish Church for tea and cakes. Everyone is welcome to join in the walk for all or part of the way.

Romanian Ballerina in Natland

Irina Payne is starting ballet lessons for children in Natland Village Hall on Mondays from 3.15 onwards. On Thursday, starting this Thursday 12th May, she will be running two Pilates classes. One is for beginners, from 6.15 to 7.15pm, with intermediates from 7.15 to 8.15pm. Phone 077 691 57 303 for details.

Vagabonds in Natland

It was a cold wet afternooon when the two vagabonders came to Natland from over the rickety rackety bridge in Sedgwick, under the old canal, and finally found respite from the rain in our own Village Hall. By some kind chance they found a Romanian ballerina there who let them in and gave them the number for the chairman of the hall committee. Ray Richardson, for it was he, said 'Yes, dry off there, eat your sandwiches, and stage your show indoors, we won't ask for a fee.'

By evening they were dry and happy and they told us true stories about Peil Island and how it comes to have a king, of  how Tommy, a local pigeon, had become war time hero, of love in the dockyards of Barrow and of how the bubonic plague came to Dalton in Furness.
They were really good. If you missed them, you may catch up with them as they progress, wheeling their trusty trunk around the Lakes. Try www.vagabonding.biz to track them down.

Councillor Brenda Gray responds to Natlanders concerns about development

 The responses to this consultation by the residents and interested bodies will be evaluated over the next six months or so and then the final document for the actual allocation of sites will be consulted upon to ensure the correct procedures have been followed....as yet no land has been allocated other than that which was already identified under the previous Local Plan. The call for sites to be offered and the subsequent consultation on these are steps towards the allocation of land that is suitable for development, for both housing and employment, looking forward to 2025. All land that is eventually identified will be subject to the usual planning applicaton process and will require infrastructure to be (put) in place. The Localism Bill that is emerging will give more say to local people about what is built. This does not give the power of veto. Should there be no allocation of land and planning in advance of applications then there is likely to be a free-for-all for developers.

 SLDC would be negligent if it did not follow the route to planned development within South Lakeland.

 Hope this is helpful.

 Regards Brenda Gray.

A French Day Out. 

A Workshop sponsored by Sedbergh Community Development Centre
 Course Tutors: Helene Shovlar & Florence Tourne. 

In Natland Village Hall, Saturday 14th May 2011 from 10:00 - 16:00
Costs: £30 full fee; £25 over 60s; £11 benefit rate.
Includes a French lunch.
Sedbergh CDC tel: 015396 21031 email: admin@sedberghcdc.org.uk
  web: www.sedberghcdc.org.uk

Natland Parish Council Response

David Peters - Chair of Natland Parish Council has requested that the following post is published in response to post supplied by Simon Catnach on 5 May: 

There is an allegation involving the Parish Council in Simon Catnach's letter which I must refute.  He pleads a late change in the Parish Council's position and subsequent lack of time as the excuse for focusing almost exclusively on plot R679M (the field behind the Charnley Fold and Hawes Lane houses).

Broad information about the Land Allocations 'Emerging Options' consultation was in the public domain from 1 December 2010 and full information, including the 'settlement fact files', was published by 21 January.  The official consultation period extended from 21 January to 15 April 2011 but responses are apparently still being accepted.

How the Parish Council moved to its current viewpoint is briefly summarised in its Annual Report, recently delivered to every household in the parish, as follows:  "In December 2005 the Council had agreed to support an option in a ‘Core Strategy’ consultation document which identified Natland as a 'local service centre' that would: "provide a more limited range of services [than the 'key service centres'] to the local community, where small scale development will be permitted to help sustain local services, meet local needs, or support local businesses".  There was a full debate at the 2008 Annual Parish Meeting which carried a motion accepting reasonable development that respected the character of the village and its setting.  During 2008-09 the Council responded to another ‘Core Strategy’ discussion paper by opposing all ‘directions of growth’ except for west of Natland and south of Oxenholme (but within Natland civil parish).  The ‘Core Strategy’ document was finally adopted by SLDC in October 2010."

Therefore the Parish Council's response to 'Emerging Options', in not rejecting outright the possible development of sites on the western fringe of Natland, is entirely consistent with its previous responses and did not "become apparent at a relatively late stage" as Simon alleges.

Storm Over Natland

Storm Over Natland

Martyn Hill took this photo of the electric storm that passed just to the west of Natland last Friday evening.  He says there's a slight shake due to the 2 second exposure and the fact that it was taken through double glazing but thought the viewers might be interested.

Thanks Martyn stunning bit of pohotograpy please send us more - Editor Stephen

Natland.info To Close

Now that the Natland News Blog has been successfully established, the decision has been taken to close down the previous website, Natland.info, with effect from its renewal date at the end of this month.

There is a vast amount of material on the old website and it is not planned to migrate much more of it over to the new one.  However if there are any items that you would particularly like to see transferred across, or alternatively made available as a downloadable file, please let me know.

Click on Natland.info to see the index of pages on the old website and then follow your interests to see what you will be missing unless you speak now!

Once you have decided, to let me know which items you would like to see transferred across click here and send me an e-mail.

Don Shore

Garden Plant Bring and Buy Sale

Building on the success of last year's "pre-fete" plant sale, Collin Mansfield is collecting together even more plants for the "Bring and Buy Sale" to be held in Pam and Collin's garden (garage if wet) on Sunday 22nd May from 11.30am - 1.00pm at 2 Abbey Gardens, Natland. (Please park outside Abbey Gardens).
Please bring along any garden plants you have in the week before the sale or on the day, and come along on the day for a pleasant time and a chance to buy something new for your garden.
All proceeds to church funds. Surplus stock will be sold at the summer fete.

St.Mark's Church Parish Magazine

The May edition of the magazine is now for sale at the back of church for 60p. It encourages us to go on Easter walks, describes all the changes that are happening in the choir and includes a 'Holy e-mail'. There is news of the three Push Youth Group meetings in May, the Singalong Sunday and all the items that are being requested for the Church Fete.

Vagabonding in Natland

Street performers Gary Bridgens and Phill Gregg are on tour in South Cumbria on foot with their puppet show and tents in a handcart. Catch them on Monday 9th May on Natland Village Green at 6.30pm. Free family show with songs, stories and puppets. Lakes Alive event, no booking or tickets.

Come and Join in a Spring Sing

BE CREATIVE!

On Sunday afternoon 22nd May 2011 at 2.30pm

St. Mark’s Church Natland is hosting

a Spring Sing

“ The Heavens are telling ”

A Chorus from “Creation” by Haydn

This will be led by St. Mark’s organist Clive Walkley,

and it will give everyone who has ever had a yearning to

singalonga Haydn the opportunity to do just that! Copies will be provided, and there will be a £3.00 charge per voice, to cover expenses.

There will be a performance at 4.30pm after well earned refreshments, and we hope there will be a good audience for this.

We hope you will come, and tell your friends.

For further details please contact

Mike Bagnall 01539-739285

mikebag@waitrose.com

Local History Society for Natland & Sedgwick.

There are a number of villages in South Lakes and North Lancashire that have thriving Local History Societies.  It would also seem that in the past there has also been a similar interest in Natland.

  

It has occurred to me that there might be sufficient interest in Natland & Sedgwick to attempt to establish a Local History Society for Natland & Sedgwick. 

I would envisaged that such a society might have three objectives:

Ø               To arrange a series of lectures of local history topics each year.

Ø               To research the history of the two villages in the context of the times and events of the surrounding area.

Ø               Offer help and encouragement to anyone who is researching any aspects of local history.

Should anyone be interested in such a project, I would be more than happy to discuss how we might take this idea forward.

Larry Walters

3 Smithy Close

Natland

Tel: 015395 61811

Email: Bleawater@aol.com

Natland Parish Council Response

Following the posting on behalf of Simon Catnach below, I am re posting the original response from Natland Parish Council that appeared on 10th April - follow the link - Natland Parish Council Response

Stephen - Editor

SOUTH LAKELAND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: THE RESPONSE

Simon Catnach has written to Natland News Blog

'You may be aware of my earlier open letter on the web site in which I highlighted the serious concerns that many people in the village had over the parish councils attitude towards the ongoing planning consultations regarding potential plans to build 60 plus new residences in the village. I indicated in that letter that we would seek to construct an alternative response to that of the parish council and that response has now been completed and submitted along with a covering letter'. 

Simon has given a copy of the report to Natland News Blog - Follow this Link - SOUTH LAKELAND LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK: THE RESPONSE OF THE PEOPLE OF NATLAND

The following is Simon's letter to SLDC on behalf of the residents of Charnley Fold and Hawes Lane

'Dear Sir, Madam

With reference to the planning options in South Lakes, we are writing to you in relation to the consultation period as it impacts upon Natland village.

We were very pleased with your response to our requests to hold a drop in meeting at the village hall. The fact that so many people attended undoubtedly reflects the strength of feeling in the village. You will be aware however, of how disappointed the majority of Natland residents felt with the position the parish council have taken in this matter in which early drafts of the parish response wholly failed to reflect public feeling. This is reflected in the number of residents who have written to you on the subject, possibly 200 households out of about 350. You should also be aware of our  intention to prepare a separate  response.

That response is enclosed. We believe it represents a detailed account of the position in Natland. The parishioners here feel very strongly that the village has suffered from a disproportionately high level of residential development in recent years; that this has impacted badly on what infrastructure there is and that the result has been a spoiling of the village atmosphere. Further development with continue to impact adversely on the quality of life we value very dearly.

The response has been written by residents of Charnley Fold and

Hawes Lane and you will see that there is an emphasis on objections to site R679M. Given more time we would have ideally liked to have considered in more detail the issues relating to the other sites, however the unfortunate position taken by the parish council only became apparent at a relatively late stage. Residents of Natland have been invited to contribute matters relating to any of the sites in the village and you will find some of their comments included in the report.

We believe there are serious environmental, transport, infrastructure and wildlife issues appertaining to site  R679M, some of which have legal implications which will need to be considered.  We understand that this options process is going to take a significant period and we look forward to being involved. We regard our response as a living document and will look to develop points included as and when appropriate.

We look forward to hearing from you

Yours truly,'

On 10th April Natland Parish Council posted a response to SLDC - follow this link - Parish Council Reponse

Towering Crane on Natland Skyline

The biggest crane to be seen in years did not herald the start of a massive new construction site.  The Punch Bowl at Barrows Green arranged a Bungee Jump to take place as part of their Easter Eggstream Extravaganza, unfortunately it broke down on route.  Dave the ever resourceful landlord arranged for it to come back on May Day Bank Holiday instead.  Hundreds turned out on yet another sunny day.

Village Hall - 200 Club and Craft Fair

200 Club

This month’s lucky winners are:

1st     31

2^nd       4

3^rd     53

Midge Fairhurst also wants to remind us of the 12th Annual Craft Fair that takes place on Saturday, 5^th November.  Please contact Midge

Rural Business Support

Mark Raine from CREA (Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency) has contacted Natland News Blog. 

Thinking of starting a business…

Or need help with your existing one? Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency can help you succeed.

Visit www.crea.co.uk for details, or call 01768 891 555.

Steam train Coming Through

70000 Brittania will arrive southbound at Oxenhome station at 21-34 (9-34 pm) on Tuesday May 10th. It is part of an 8 day tour called the Cathedrals Explorer. It is unclear as to when it will depart for Carnforth . The time it is due to arrive there is 22.20 and it may remain in the loop at Bolefoot until it is time to depart.  

Thanks to Pat Williams for this information.

Weather Statistics April 2011

John Dobsons latest weather Statistics:

                                                            2011                2010

Temperature at 8am                             9.2c                 5.9c

Minimum Temperature                          7.8c                 N/A

Maximum Temperature                       15.2c                 N/A

Rainfall                                            88mm/3.5in      42mm/1.7in

We have had the warmest April since I started recording in 2004.

Rainfall in April is usually low but of the 88mm recorded, 62mm

fell between April 4 & 8