1. home and garden

SPRING 2015
ISSUE 42
Chairman’s Message: from Cllr Pigott
PARISH COUNCILLORS
Spring is on the Way!
I am sure that everybody in the village is looking forward to the first
shoots of spring though, after a glorious display of snowdrops, others
seem to be very slow in appearing.
Spring will also see the Parish Council elections taking place in May
when all voters in the village will have chance to select the six councillors to represent them for the next four years. I, along with at least
two other councillors will not be standing for re-election so there is a
great opportunity for new people to put their names forward for election.
During my last eight years on the council I have taken great pleasure
in working with my colleagues to improve the facilities in the village
including the creation of the new play area, boules pitch and the installation of the new Bowling Clubhouse which is available for use by
all the community, not just the bowlers. We are very lucky in Bretherton to have the support to undertake such projects which are the envy
of many people from surrounding villages. On behalf of all the Parish
Councillors, I would like to thank everybody who has been involved in
all the projects and the continued use and maintenance of the facilities.
We are also very lucky to live in one of the most attractive villages in
west Lancashire which is reflected in our property prices. The village’s
roots are based on the agricultural use of the surrounding land though
many of us are “incomers” living in former agricultural properties, barn
conversions or properties built in former orchards or large gardens.
Whether we are commuters, have retired to the village or are members of long standing local families who work the land in the area, we
all have the opportunity to contribute to a very active local community
in our own way.
The Parish Councillors are in a position, not only to maintain and influence the development of the village infrastructure, but also to ensure that the rich mix of rural traditions and the modern world continue to develop side by side for the benefit of all, young and old, whatever your lifestyle or income.
I have very much enjoyed my time as a Parish Councillor and hope
that others will consider putting their name forward for election to the
Parish Council and take the opportunity to contribute to Bretherton’s
future development.
Chairman
Cllr John Pigott; Tel: 601455
Vice Chairman
Cllr Robert Booth; Tel; 600100
Cllr Wayne Jackson;Tel:600500
Cllr Gwyneth Lloyd; Tel: 600705
Cllr Simon Moulton;Tel: 601388
Cllr Tony Rigby; Tel: 600602
Clerk to the Parish Council:
Glenys Southworth
12 The Avenue
Penwortham
PR1 0SU
01772 746178
Email: [email protected]
The next meeting of the Parish Council will
be on Monday 13/4/15 at 8pm at Bretherton
Endowed C of E Primary School.
Press and Public are very welcome
The Annual Parish Meeting will be held
on the at 7.30pm in the Primary School
Parking on Pavements; On street parking within the more built up parts of the village is becoming a major issue
and a source of regular complaints from local residents, particularly when cars are parked on pavements.
The Parish Council requests that residents and their visitors do not park on pavements, since vehicles can cause an obstruction to pedestrians, particularly those in charge of children.
Persistent offenders will be reported to the Police and will be liable to prosecution. In the past the ability to take photographs of parking offences has been limited as there was no public address to send them to. One is now available and is
[email protected]
VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.bretherton.org.uk
.
Bretherton Primary School-news from the HeadteacherNick Ward
A belated ‘Happy New Year!’ to
you all! We once again celebrated
Christmas in style. Our production ‘Jesus’ Christmas
Party!’ was a triumph and Father Christmas was able
to take time out of his very busy schedule to come and
see our children and give them all a book! Our carol
service in church was a special time, our Y6 children
read beautifully and the carol singing was great too.
We ended the term with a super sing-a-long in the hall,
with mince pies and refreshments. Our Class 3 Brass
Band performed brilliantly too. Congratulations to Bill
Palmer-Davies, Beatrice Pendlebury and Charlotte
Hitchen who were awarded ‘Highly Commended’ by Lorraine Fullbrook MP in her annual Christmas Card competition!
We were absolutely delighted that once again the
Department for Education has recognised us as being
one of the top performing primary schools. For the last
two years now we have been in the Top 100 performing
schools in the country, being the only school in Lancashire to have achieved this and one of only 9 in the
country to do so. This is wonderful news for our lovely
school.
Y6 had a wonderful time on their school trip to Stockport, which involved a tour of the underground air-raid
shelters, to enhance their topic on World War 2. We
have also enjoyed a number of other additional experiences for our children this half-term, including Indian
cooking; ‘Wild About Things’ learning outdoors; Chorley
Magistrates; Fire Safety sessions and Balance Bike
Training. We are looking forward to planting our Marie
Cure ‘Pots of Care’ daffodils and also having a
‘Shakespeare Day’ to celebrate World Book Day!
Our Christian Value this half-term is Thankfulness. I
asked the children in worship time what they were
thankful for. I was overwhelmed by their responses,
not one was materialistic.
It was lovely to meet Rev. Janet Taylor recently who is
looking after us whilst they appoint a new Rector to
replace Rev. David and will continue to work with us
afterwards. Rev. Stephen Foster, from Croston Methodist Church, has also started to come in on a regular
basis and Pastor Les from the Congregational Chapel
continues to do so. The children also love Brian
Whaite‘s worship and he continues to volunteer fortnightly. It was lovely that Mr. Neville Norcross, one of
our Governors, led worship last week too, which was
very much enjoyed by all.
Please visit our website www.brethertonschool.org.uk.
if you would like to know more about our school.
BRETHERTON FILM SOCIETY
The film society is coming to the end
of its 2014/15 Autumn and Spring
Seasons which have proved more
successful than ever with attendances continuing to grow. Our success
has enabled us to donate money to Bretherton
School to purchase a new 4.5 metre wide fixed
screen which we are able to use for our Film
Nights. We have also agreed to donate additional funds to the school to repair the curtain
rails and to purchase an additional dozen
chairs for the school hall.
We thank everybody for their support during
the last few months and we look forward to our
new season which will start in September.
The remaining film night in the Spring Season
is on Friday March 27th :
THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY - starring
Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Lebon, Rohan Chand, Juhi Chawla, Amit
Shah, Michel Blanc. Cert PG. (122 minutes).
The Kadam family clashes with Madame Mallory, proprietress of a celebrated French restaurant, after they open their own nearby eatery,
until undeniable chemistry causes the Madame
to take gifted young chef Hassan under her
wing.
All films will commence at 7.30 pm (doors open
7.00 pm) at Bretherton Endowed School. Refreshments available (including wine).
Contacts: Margaret & John Pigott – 01772
601455, Gwyneth Lloyd – 01772 600705
BIRDS IN BRETHERTON We did the RSPB garden birds survey at the end of January - this is
done by watching birds in your garden for one
hour and recording the maximum number of each
species you can see at the same time. Our results
were:8 Tree Sparrow 6 Blackbird 4 Chaffinch 2
House Sparrow 2 Goldfinch 2 Blue Tit 2 Pheasant
1 Greenfinch 1 Great Tit 1 Robin 1 Starling.
The birds seen are dependent on the time of day
(mid-morning) and the weather (cloudy) but we
were surprised there were no pigeons or collared
doves.
Elsewhere 2 jays have been seen on Bamfords
Fold - magpies are everywhere but jays which
have similar habits are less common. A single
fieldfare is a regular visitor to a North
Road garden - usually these thrushes
are seen in flocks feeding on berries
in hedgerows or trees.
If you have any comments or observations you would like to share please
contact me; John Jolley South View
600896 [email protected]
THE FRIENDS OF BANK HALL – UPDATE
At the time of writing , we have had our second Snowdrop Sunday and so far this year our visitor numbers have increased. The carpet of white is so lovely to see and those visiting will see
how much work has gone into preparing the paths for this time of the year.
After Snowdrops we will not be open again until Easter Sunday, 5th April, when visitors will be
able to see the Daffodils and we will be running our usual activities in the grounds.
We are not planning on opening in May but this is also the month of our Annual General Meeting which is of course open to the public. The date and venue has still to be arranged and will
be published on our website. www.bankhall.org We also issue a quarterly news sheet which is sent out by email
towards the end of March, June, September and December. If you are interested in receiving this please email
[email protected]
Bretherton War Memorial
The cross erected in memory of the twelve men of Bretherton, who gave their lives fighting for their country in the
Great War, was unveiled with great ceremony in April 1921 by Miss Clare of Bank Hall who had been a nurse at
Etaples in France. Her father Sir Harcourt Clare, Clerk of Lancashire Council from 1900 -1922, was chairman of
the committee responsible for the building of the memorial. The memorial was designed by Mr H Littler the County Architect and consisted of a Latin cross of Cornish granite with a Crusader’s sword carved on the shaft, placed
on a pedestal of Darley Dale stone. It was built by Messrs T Hodgkinson & Son of Preston.
A procession marched from the school to the site, which had been presented to the committee by Lord Lilford,
where a foundation had been laid surrounded by a hedge planted by estate workers. An impressive service was
conducted, accompanied by music from village choirs, and the memorial dedicated by the Bishop of Whalley.
The memorial was handed over by Sir Harcourt Clare, to the care of the Parish Council represented by its Chairman Mr W Rawcliffe.
(Information gleaned from a report in the Chorley Guardian and Bretherton in Past Times by G Coxhead.)
OPEN GARDENS IN BRETHERTON. Five gardens are opening their gates again this season to raise funds for the
National Gardens Scheme Charities and St Catherine's Hospice. They are;
Terry & Sue Riding, Glynwood House
John & Kris Jolley, Hazel Cottage
Thompson Dagnall & Jacqueline Iddon, Hazelwood
Richard & Barbara Farbon, Owl Barn
John & Gwenifer Jackson, Pear Tree Cottage
The dates are: 24 May, 14 June, 12 July, 06 September (four gardens only)
All the open days are Sundays, from 12 noon until 5 pm. Combined entry to all five gardens is
£5 per adult (accompanied children go free) except on the 6th September when the charge will
be £4. During the Open Garden visits you will be able to; buy Home-made teas in the Congregational Schoolroom, hear live music at Hazelwood and Glynwood House, buy preserves at Pear Tree Cottage,
buy plants and see sculpture demonstrations at Hazelwood
For more information phone 01772 600896, or for photos and garden descriptions, visit www.ngs.org.uk and search
for Bretherton Gardens by entering a local postcode.
Marguerite our Gardening Correspondent is running Gardening Course again after Easter.
For more information please contact her on 01772 601376
Carol singers
A big well done to Tom and Daisy Dagnall and Lindsey Cardie who raised
£200 for Derian House by entertaining the residents with their singing before Christmas.
Gardening News from Marguerite
Spring is here with the promise of plenty to do in the garden. Unfortunately garden pests can also become active in
spring.
Whilst slugs can cause damage at any time of the year, they are a particular problem when there is a large amount
of soft succulent & tasty new growth emerging. It is vital to take action now to keep the number of these pests down
& keep them away from your plants..
Prevention & Combating slugs
Water over plants with a garlic solution using one bulb of garlic boiled in a pint of water to make a concentrate. Use
one tablespoon of concentrate per gallon of water in a watering can and water over vulnerable plants. Repeat once a
fortnight.
Biological control – nematodes
Traps – e.g. beer
Barriers – pine needles, holly & mahonia leaves, sharp grit, copper wire
Encourage wildlife into your garden, they are the natural predators of slugs
Good housekeeping in the garden – avoid leaving empty compost bags, leaves, plant pots etc. lying about
Plant out young plants & seedlings when they have grown bigger & tougher & they are better able to withstand attack
Select slug hardy plants & plant vulnerable plants in containers
Hoe the slime trails as they are a sign post to your most delicious plants
It is probable that you will need to use several if not all of these measures
Essential jobs for spring
Trees, Shrubs & Climbers
Make sure that you keep anything planted in the last six months moist during dry weather
Prune roses & shrubs as necessary. Then apply a general fertiliser
Plant out newly purchased container grown trees, shrubs & climbers
Prune shrubs that have just finished flowering
Tie in fast growing climbers
Flowers
Get supports for herbaceous perennials in place
Lift & divide & replant congested herbaceous perennials
Sow hardy annual flowers including sweet peas
Plant out new herbaceous perennials
Feed spring bulbs when they have finished flowering
Lawns
Mow the lawn, setting the blades on the mower high for the first few cuts
Lay any new turf needed, having first thoroughly prepared the site
Apply a spring lawn fertiliser
Herbs & Vegetables
Plant new potatoes
Ponds & Water Features
Plant new pond and marginal plants & oxygenators
It may appear that there are lots of jobs to be done but take your time, don't over exert yourself or cause yourself an
injury. Remember that a little bit of an effort now will reap rewards for a magnificent summer display.
Trading Standards have asked us to remind people to avoid giving work to ‘cold callers’ They have many examples of
people, particularly those in the older age group, being ‘ripped off’ by bogus traders, often handing over many thousands of pounds for shoddy or unnecessary work on their homes. Roofs seem to be a particular favourite,
Trading Standards advice is never do business with doorstep traders. If you need help finding a reputable trader for
home improvements or property repairs why not try their Safe Trader Scheme. For more information visit
www.safetrader.org.uk or call Help Direct on 0303 333 1111.