The full minutes will be available in a bit, but in the meantime here are a few of the things that were talked about.
First Henry Hornyold-Strickland described how his family succeeded the Daincourts in 1239, though he himself has lived in London mostly, and has just moved back up here to live at Sizergh Castle. The plots of inherited land he owns in Natland are Helm and the Village Green. While the Green is not a problem, the meeting discussed several problems relating to how the west side of the Helm is managed now that stock cannot be grazed there because of problems of harassment from dogs. Vehicles driving over it and parking off road, and bikes of all descriptions are all causing problems. Interestingly, it was pointed out that the road on Helm is actually older than Helmside Road, and that there is a spring which used to fill two tanks before supplying Oxenholme with water until 1920 when a public water supply was set up. The people in the parish who own the grazing rights (commoners) are interested in maintaining Helm as a asset to the community, but since they have no money from letting out the grazing anymore, they are limited in what they can do. A committee, working parties and a grant were suggested. Do contact the Parish Council or this website if you have ideas on how to help, and they will be publicised or forwarded to any committee that might form.
St. Mark's Primary School will be expanding from 165 to an estimated 210 shortly, and a new classroom is going to be built. The school has a new website.
The many other thriving village groups described their activities; table tennis now has a Facebook page.
There were many opinions expressed as to the viability or otherwise of a part-time advisory one-way system through the village, but in the end the people present voted 28 against the proposal and 13 in favour.
News and information for Natland residents and visitors