Churchyard Repairs

A few gravestones in the Churchyard have been overturned by a stonemason at the request of the church because they were loose and liable to fall. The graves in question are:
The Read family; - William died 1929, Bessie Shepherd d. 1928, Elizabeth, d. 1930 and Sarah Jane, d.1966.
John and Isabella  Howson of Cracalt House, died 1908 and 1909.
William and Margaret Harrison, died 1924 and 1913.
Charles Henry Wilson, Master and Huntsman of the Oxenholme hunt, died 1927, and his niece Frances Laura Wilson died 1949.
Charlotte and Isaac Nelson, died 1909 and 1926 with their daughter Ena who died in infancy.
Please contact the churchwarden, Marion Thornton, on 015395 61253, if you have an interest in restoring these graves.

Collapse of Treacle Mine?

Three strong Natlanders (Guy Weller, John Ritchie and Sarah Roberts) removed the collapsed old paving from under the bench outside the church yesterday, averting a possible sticky disaster.

Old paving slabs (7 - complete but each in at least 2 pieces!) are free to anyone who wishes to take them away.  Also some sharp sand (grit sand).   Anything still left there on Saturday will be removed and disposed of.

The bench on its new paving.

Report of September W.I. Meeting

     President Marion Thornton opened a well attended September meeting of Natland and Oxenholme W.I. and welcomed four visitors.  She congratulated all who had successfully entered craft or produce items in the Westmorland County show.

     Stella Howes thanked the Institute for her bursary to attend Denman College, where she had recently enjoyed an excellent course on water colour painting, reviving her interest in the craft.

     A chemistry workshop given by scientists from Bristol University had been a 'hands on' entertaining day discovering the properties of everyday substances, Midge Fairhusrt reported to the meeting.

     Guest speaker Chris Bibby entertained his audience with tales of the family business started by his grandfather as a local haulage business of fruit, vegetables and milk, to the holiday tourist coaches today travelling the U.K. and Europe. He told many amusing anecdotes encountered on his journeys, most especially on W.I.members outings. He also entertained us with nationwide tunes, played on his Euphonium. He was thanked on our behalf by Dawn Ridgeway. The competition, a holiday postcard, was won by Midge Fairhurst, second Marion Thornton.

     Our next meeting will be held in the Village Hall Natland on October 15th  at 7.30pm. Speaker  Brenda Austin's talk will be 'Collecting Tins'.

     Visitors always welcome.

Progress on the Parish Plan at September’s Parish Council

A few more small steps forward were taken at September’s parish council meeting on implementing the Parish Plan 2014. Councillors reported that the first meeting of the Traffic & Highways Working Group has been fixed for Tuesday 22 September and that our network of Neighbourhood Watch volunteers has agreed to help us with making sure that new people moving into the parish are all welcomed and given a copy of the Parish Directory. We have sadly had less success in getting those who volunteered for a Community Energy group together, despite several attempts, and are going to leave this parish plan action to one side for now, unless residents ask us to do otherwise.

We also heard from County Councillor Brenda Gray that the speed limit on the A65 is going to be lowered to 50mph from Oxenholme through to Endmoor, which is good news for residents and road safety, although we had hoped for a lower limit as far as Barrows Green and will continue to look for opportunities to pursue this. The plan to install a pedestrian crossing on the A65 across from Helmside Road has been abandoned on cost grounds but signage reminding drivers to slow down for crossing schoolchildren is to be renewed and reinforced.

Draft full minutes of the September parish council meeting can be read or downloaded here.

A fresh look to your village hall

Hall users will already have noticed the newly-installed front doors which will keep the rain and wind out and the warmth in during the winter. 

The eagle-eyed might also have been wondering why the hall’s nameboard, designed and crafted by Roger Pimblett a few years ago, had been taken down. The weather had taken its toll. It has now reappeared looking fresh and pristine thanks to the skills and time devoted by Don Davies, a recent newcomer to the village.  His efforts are very much appreciated by the management committee. Thank you, Don.

Houses on Natland Road selling well

There was a long queue of interested people when the new houses on Natland Road were put on sale, according to the Westmorland Gazette. Click here for more details.

Church Coffee Morning in aid of Boxes of Hope, Cumbria

There will be a Coffee Morning on Wednesday the 24th September from 10am to 12 noon in St. Mark's Church Vestry. There will be stalls and refreshments - £1.50 entrance, All proceeds will go to a local charity which sends Christmas boxes to children in Romania.

Corrected bus timetable now available

Users of the 552/552 bus service to Kendal may have seen notices at some stops about errors in the printed timetable that only came out in August. (The times on the Park Close bus stop in Natland, however, are correct.) The correct timetable is now available on the council website but you can also download a copy of it as a PDF here.

Sarah Roberts, KADBUS rep

200 Club Winners

The following members of the 200 Club supporting the Village Hall won prizes in the draw held at the Village Hall Committee meeting last week:

1st           37           C Payne
2nd          29           B Holmes
3rd           96           M Butterfield

Dog attack on Helm

Message sent by
Tom Robinson (Police, Community Support Officer, Kendal NPT)

Police are requesting information about an incident involving 3 dogs that happened on THE HELM, KENDAL, on the 31/08/2014 between 0700 and 0800 hours. A dog and a member of the public were both hurt in the incident. Police are appealing for any witnesses to the incident. The 2 suspect dogs are described as staffy type dogs, one is black and one is white with one of the dogs having lacerations to the ears, the suspect owner is described as male, plump and wearing a baseball cap with 2 young males aged 9 or 10 years.
If you have any information regarding the above or if you are a dog walker and have had a similar experience with 2 staffy type dogs, one black and one white please contact Cumbria constabulary one 101 and ask to speak to PC 1045 AUBREY regarding log number CP-20140831-0096.

Weather statistics for August

	2014		2013
Average temperatures
Temperature at 8am	11.5C		14.0C
Min temperature	10.3C		12.2C
Max temperature	15.8C		17.6C
Total rainfall	mm	in	mm	in
	169	6.8	185	7.4

After a couple of months of summery weather, August was disappointing. It was fairly wet, which is not unusual for the month, but cooler than normal. This was due to the wind direction being mainly north or north east. The aftermath of hurricane Bertha brought gales on the 10th/11th.

John Dobson