The Town Crier

www.stonystratford.gov.uk

The Town CrierThe Town CrierThe Town Crier

Stony Stratford Town Council . Issue 60 . Winter 2017

Fullers Slade . Galley Hill . Stony Stratford Town

Stony Stratford Lantern Parade

- find out more on page 4

Stony Stratford Apple Day Fun

- page 4

If you are interested in sponsoring an

edition of The Town Crier, please

contact the Information Officer on:

[email protected]

Photos courtesy of Derek Gibbons

and Cllr Pete Thornburgh

The Spectacular Lantern Parade!

2 www.stonystratford.gov.uk

Stony Stratford Town Council News

Knit and Natter Group

A newly formed

knit & natter group

has been set-up in

the Library and

takes place every

2nd and 4th

Wednesday

afternoon from

2:30-4pm. Please

come along

whether you’re a

beginner, novice or

highly skilled knitter! And share your

knowledge, hints & tips!

Stony Stratford

Library Advice

Service

The Citizens

Advice service

will continue to

be at Stony Stratford Library once a

fortnight on Fridays to help local residents

with their problems. This service is funded

by Stony Stratford Town Council and will

run until the end of March 2018.

The service runs between 10:00am -

2:00pm and is a mixture of pre booked

appointments and a drop in. To reserve an

appointment – phone: 01908 545183, or

e-mail: [email protected]. Please

include some brief details about your

problem and request to be seen at Stony

Stratford Library.

These are the advice session dates for the

next 3 months: 5th January, 19th January,

2nd February, 16th February, 2nd March,

16th March & 30th March 2018.

Call Out For Volunteers!

Did you enjoy the community events

staged by the Events Working Group of

Stony Stratford Town Council?

All three events, the Big Lunch in June,

the Town Fayre in August and Apple Day

in October have proved to be extremely

popular.

The group consists of just a few members

and volunteers and to continue to run

these events successfully really needs more

help, especially on the day. Even if you

are not a “committee person” and don’t

like attending meetings, if you could

volunteer even just half an hour to help on

the day, it would help enormously. The

more hands the fewer the minutes.

If you could help, or would like more

information please contact Sally Firth,

Deputy Town Clerk on:

[email protected].

Extended Opening

Hours at Stony

Stratford Library

Since May 2017

FOSSL (Friends of

Stony Stratford

Library) volunteers

have been active in opening the library

from 9am to 10am Tuesday to Saturday

and between 5pm and 7pm on Thursdays.

As a result there have been more than 500

extra visits a month to the library!

Volunteers do as few or as many slots a

month as they like and there is no

requirement for a regular weekly

commitment so if you would like to

become involved please enquire at the

library or contact Babs Dore 01908

561223.

Stony Stratford Christmas Farmers Market

The Christmas Farmers Market will be held

between 9am-2pm on Friday 22nd of

December in the Market Square. There

will be plenty going on this year with special

guests including the St Mary & St Giles

Band, John Page with his hand turned

street organ and Father Christmas has had

his invitation too!

We’ve lined up lots to keep the children

busy including Christingle making, face

painting and glitter tattoos, and there will be

a crafting activity in the library hosted by the

Friends of Stony Stratford Library. The

Wolverton Road Allotment Association will

be on hand to give out mince pies and

mulled wine. And if that wasn’t enough,

there will be stalls packed to the rafters with

mouth-watering treats for your Christmas

festivities including meals, meats, breads,

chutneys & jams, fruit & vegetables, pies,

quiches, coffee, beer, cakes & plants. Please

come along and let’s get Christmas started

with lots of community festive cheer!

For more information about the Market,

feedback or enquiries about having your

own stall there, please contact the Deputy

Town Clerk: [email protected] or

visit the Facebook page, search for ‘Stony

Stratford Farmers Market’.

The Farmers Market organisers and stall

holders would like to formally extend their

warm thanks to Georgia Bride for

generously and beautifully adapting the logo

for the Stony Stratford Farmers Market

seasonal events. The Farmers Market grows

in support each month and this will

hopefully continue into 2018. Thank you.

The Farmers Market is held between 9am-

1pm on the last Friday of each calendar

month in Market Square, behind the library

building. The dates for the next 3 months

are as follows; 26th January, 23rd February

and 30th March 2018.

Allotment Update: We currently have plots

available on both our Wolverton Road and

Boundary Crescent Allotments sites. So if

you feel the need to exercise your green

fingers or would like a new project for 2018

please go to our website for more

information or contact the Deputy Town

Clerk direct at [email protected].

MK50 Bench for Galley Hill

The MK50 Bench in the Galley Hill Play

Area is in its first phase of creation.

Funded by MK Community Foundation.

From left to right: Cllr Mick Allsopp, Nyomie

Flecknell - Galley Hill Residents Association (GHRA), Ian Freemantle - local artisan & Roy

Adams, GHRA

Poppy Appeal 2017

Many thanks to everyone in

Stony Stratford who helped

to make this year’s appeal so

successful. We are grateful to

the schools, shops, pubs, clubs and other

businesses for collecting for us and a

special thank you to the street collectors

who braved the cold and sometimes wet

weather to help us again this year. Our total

so far in the Stony Stratford area is £4,280.

We are always looking for new helpers and

if you would like to become involved in

2018 please call Liz Jackson 01908 566588

or volunteer online at

www.poppyappeal.org.uk.

mailto:[email protected]


Clerk’s Annual Review It’s been an extremely busy

year so far in the Council’s

calendar. We have been

continuing to work on the

possible redevelopment of 5

-7 Church Street to ensure

its sustainability for the next generation.

Consultations have been held with the

public plus current and potential users and

as a direct result of these initial

consultations, revised plans have been

drawn up. It is hoped that in the New Year,

we will have firm plans to show you and

consult further on. Should the project go

ahead, the Council will need to borrow the

funds, which will mean an increase in the

Precept, subject to a community

consultation. A few highlights of the year

follow:

Speeding and Traffic in Stony Stratford

A new Working Group has been set up to

look at the issues and identify possible

solutions, one of which could be the

purchase of a Speed Indicator Device. We

have recently received the data from speed

checks undertaken by the Police on

London and Wolverton Roads, which did

not show a specific speeding problem,

more isolated incidences of speeding. We

are requesting further data from the Police

which will be assessed, and a

recommendation made to the Full Council

Meeting in January on potential solutions.

Stony Stratford in Bloom Gold Award ‘17

Once again, Stony Stratford was awarded

the Gold Award. This fantastic

achievement, administratively and

financially supported by Stony Stratford

Town Council with our partners, the

Business Association, was due to the

amazing work of volunteers from the

community group, Stony Stratford in

Bloom, led by Judy Deveson. We thank

them very much for all their hard work and

commitment to the community

environment. The Stony Stratford Business

Assoc. led by Chairman, Ross Ellens, are

also to be thanked for all their hard work

which helped to ensure the Town looked

beautiful for all to enjoy! Not forgetting our

contractor, Alan Gasson (Thrush Land-

scapes), who did a super job watering all the

plants. We have already started working

with our community partners (SSBA and

SSIB) on next year’s floral features. In real

terms, because of the enormous amount of

volunteer input, the net cost of the 2017/18

floral features for SSTC is estimated to be:

£6333.98 (2016/17 was £7409.00) - a saving

of £1075 (14.5%) on the previous year.

Landscaping Contract

The summer season is now complete. We

must thank our contractors, Marcus Young

Landscapes for another very successful year

of the contract and all their hard work in

ensuring that Stony Stratford, Fullers Slade

and Galley Hill were kept looking good.

Their contract is now coming to an end and

after undergoing a tender process, I am

pleased to inform you that the present

incumbent, Marcus Young Landscapes has

been awarded the contract to provide land-

scaping maintenance and other associated

services from 1st January 2018 to 31st

March 2020. It is unlikely this year that

there will be any additional winter works

between December 2017 and January 2018,

however, if there are any areas that you feel

need attention, please contact the Clerk.

Stony Stratford Neighbourhood Plan

This has been held up due to a lot of

additional work necessary by the Town

Council as a result of comments by

Heritage England, technical issues and lack

of resources at Milton Keynes Council.

Because of the changes to the Plan, a new 7

week consultation (28th November 2017 to

17th January 2018) has to be held. For

further details please see our website or

contact the Clerk. It is likely that the

Referendum on the adoption of the Plan

will be held in Spring 2018. One of the

objectives identified in the Neighbour-

hood Plan was to review the current

parking provision and use. We have started

work on this and have held meetings with

the Milton Keynes Council Highways and

Parking officers.

New Initiatives

Town Fayre: The Council received many

requests to revive the Annual Town Fayre

and as a result it was re-instated this year.

Feedback was that it was enjoyed by all. A

big thank you to the Stony Stratford Town

Council Events Working Group and the

team of volunteers for all their hard work in

putting this fantastic event on.

Advice Service: This service, run by MK

Citizens Advice and paid for by the Town

Council has gone from strength to strength

and is helping more people than ever. The

sessions are held in the small front office in

the Library. You can either drop in or

make an appointment. For more

information, please see our website or

contact MK Citizen’s Advice: 01908

545183.

Crafting for Change: Council are paying for

the provision of a free weekly (Tuesdays)

craft session with tuition in the Library.

Welcome.

For details, please see our website. All

Children’s Rugby Sessions: These sessions,

run by MK Dons SET and arranged by the

Town Council were a great success and it is

hoped they will be continued in the future.

Defibrillators

The Council now owns two defibrillators,

one held in the Library at 5-7 Church St.

and accessible during Library opening

hours and the other, donated by the Rotary

Club, which is at the BP Garage and

accessible 24/7.

Easter and summer children’s play sessions

These sessions, paid for by the Town

Council and run by MK Play Association

are currently offered free of charge to

residents. 20 sessions were held over the

Easter and summer holidays in three

locations; Wolverton Road Recreation

Ground, Calverton End Park and Spider

Park, Fullers Slade. Each week had a

different theme with activities ranging from

tree swings to a knights and royalty session.

These sessions were extremely popular with

a total of 1,352 attendees in the summer –

proving what an important part of the

summer they have become for families.

Farmers Market (last Friday of each month)

We have been working hard to develop the

market and widen its appeal by introducing

seasonal activities such as free pumpkin

decorating for children. Thanks very much

to Sally Firth, our Deputy Town Clerk for

all her hard work on this. Thanks also to

Debbie Grant our volunteer who takes

market stall enquiries, puts out the highway

notices and collects the stalls rent.

New Website

Our new improved website is up and

running! Our thanks to Interdirect (who

designed the site) and Melanie Hyde, the

SSTC Information Officer for all their hard

work on this. The functionality and ease of

navigation are a vast improvement on the

previous site. In addition, it is now suitable

for all platforms i.e. tablet, mobile phone

etc. and the annual maintenance costs have

decreased. The website is predominantly a

website for the community, containing

details of current and future events with a

handy calendar as well as providing

information about your Town Council. If

you would like to put a Stony event on the

website, please contact Melanie Hyde.

Hire of 5-7 Church Street

Do you need a venue for your organisation

or class? 5-7 Church St is available for hire

(outside of Library opening times). In

addition, we have a small office for hire.

One of the ways Council supports eligible

local organisations is provision of premises

free of charge for their meetings and some

events. For more details, please contact the

Clerk.

Grant funding for Organisations and Events

As you are aware, this year we had to

decrease the figure available to

organisations due to budgetary constraints.

This year we have supported local

organisations and events with grants

totalling over £3,000. If you are thinking of

organising an event in either financial year

2017/18 or 2018/19 and may need funding,

please give the Clerk details as soon as

possible in order for Council to try and

accommodate. Similarly, if you had funding

for an event this year that is able to self-fund

next year, please let the Clerk know as soon

as possible. Thank- you.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas

and a peaceful New Year!

Lynne Compton, Town Clerk


Stony Stratford Christmas Lights Lantern Parade - Another Fabulous Extravaganza!!

The Lantern-Makers turned out in full force on Saturday 02 December to take part in this year’s Lantern Parade, the culmination of

the month-long Stony Stratford Lantern Project which was another massive success with 270 lanterns made. Frame-making sessions

were held at 5 local schools plus 2 full weekends of public workshops at York House Centre saw the building packed to the rafters

with people of all ages. Their happy chatter made for a great community atmosphere and The Coffee Bean provided a fabulous café to

keep us all fed and watered with drinks, snacks and bacon sarnies.

This year’s theme was ‘Santa’s Workshop’ which inspired local families to create an AMAZING array of colourful lanterns. There

were presents galore, toy cars, boats and trains, yummy treats like candy canes, lollipops and gingerbread men (and a gingerbread

house too), My Little Pony, Rubik’s Cubes, Minions and Pokemon, Jack-in-the-boxes and rocking horses plus, of course, Father

Christmas himself and a host of elves, reindeer and even a monkey and a polar bear to help him on his way!

The Lantern Volunteers excelled themselves again this year by creating a special giant lantern for the back of the parade. ‘Elvis the Elf’

wowed the crowds and was great fun to make. Thank you to Festive Road in Kiln Farm for lending us some workshop space to make

him as he was far too big to fit in to York House!

The weather was a little damp but it didn’t deter the crowds who’d come along to watch. The streets of Stony Stratford were packed

with thousands of amazed onlookers all along the route to the Market Square. The procession was led by Stony’s own Town Crier and

the Bernese Carting Dogs and we had not 1, but 2 drumming groups this year - Pete Lockwood & the Samba Band from Bushfield

School and Nkiru Arts Drummers. Everything went to plan and we arrived in the Market Square in time to enjoy the festivities before

the switching-on of the beautiful Christmas lights. A magical event for everyone involved, creating Christmassy memories to treasure!

Many thanks, as always, to the unstoppable team of over 50 Lantern Volunteers who give hours of their time and a massive amount of

energy to make this spectacular community arts project possible, to Bob Adams and his team of stewards for keeping us all safe during

the parade and to the CLASS Committee for organising the Switch-On Fun Day.

Grateful thanks to our funders – Milton Keynes Community Foundation, Stony Stratford Town Council and Stony Stratford Business

Association - for their continued support, helping us to keep the project affordable for all.

Shall we do it all again in 2018? Of course we will!! Make sure you pre-book your lanterns from 01/10/18. Join our Facebook Group –

Stony Stratford Lantern Project.

Stony Stratford Apple Day — 8th October 2017 Apple Day 2017 was more popular than ever and was a fantastic success. Thank you to the wonderful Events Working Group who

continue to bring local residents such fabulous free events! Photos courtesy of Cllr Pete Thornburgh.

The crowds poured in to Apple Day The immensely popular donkey rides

The Bard and Junior Bards entertaining the crowd

Stalls galore

Apple Pressing Rare apple display


As always Stony Stratford in Bloom (SSIB)

volunteers learned of their victory in the

Regional Britain in Bloom competition in

September just after the Town Crier had

gone to press. We were overjoyed that

SSIB had won the Small Town Trophy

once again, and with a gold award! Lots of

hard work had gone into achieving this 6th

golden victory and it was very morale-

boosting to have our achievements

acknowledged. We were also delighted that

the two Its Your Neighbourhood Groups

(North End Pond Project, and York House

Community Gardens) did spectacularly well

too, both gaining ‘Outstanding’

assessments; and St Mary and St Giles

School a Commended Certificate.

We were delighted by the judges’ comment

that ‘it is a testament to Stony in Bloom that

they have galvanised individuals,

organisations, business and the wider

community to embrace and benefit from

the ethos of the In Bloom project, thereby

creating a lovely environment in which to

live and work,’ because we feel ourselves

that it’s because the whole community

works together and takes pride in the town

that we do so well in this competition.

They singled out the planting schemes, the

hollyhocks on London Rd and the church

gardens (which are planted and maintained

by the church volunteers) for particular

praise. It was heartening that they consider

that: ‘SSIB can be considered a beacon for

other Bloom groups to aspire to.’

Since then SSIB volunteers have been

engaged in lots of work parties to keep the

town looking good. SSIB volunteers

combined with the Business Association

team in a very successful summer to

winter changeover of the planters in

October. Most of the plants for winter

come from our York House Community

Plot, as we save them from the previous

year.

We also give away the still blooming

geraniums in the High St, and this year

generous passers-by who took away these

gorgeous crimson blooms popped a record

£143 into our donations box!

More recently we’ve been taking out

pelargoniums from the beds and replacing

with polyanthus from our York House

Community Plot so Stony Stratford has a

colourful spring show.

Once again SSIB volunteers organised a

bulb planting activity for children at the

Town’s wonderful Apple Day – and the

children took great pleasure in filling their

pots with compost and bulbs and proudly

taking them home.

Artistic members of SSIB have turned their

attention to the shabby old tanning shop at

the North end of the High St, and having

gained permission from the National Grid

owners, have transformed the front with a

beautiful set of flower frescos, making a

huge difference here.

They’ve painted golden sunflowers and also

bright red poppies to mark the 100 years

since the end of the 1st World War. (Many

thanks to Brewers for the free paint!)

Once again we had a fabulously successful

fundraiser at Calcutta Brasserie. Delicious

food, and served at tables, which

provided an even

more enjoyable

evening for all.

And we made

over £1,000 from

tickets, raffle and

donations for

keeping Stony Stratford looking lovely!

Looking Ahead: Next year is SSIB’s 10th

anniversary and we have exciting ideas for

celebrating it! Switch-on Day we sold

attractive SSIB greetings cards designed by

Mason Edwards. We’re organising a

Fundraiser at The Crown in March.

As always – many thanks to sponsors and

all who contribute in different ways. More

volunteers warmly welcomed. Contact

[email protected] or phone

01908 562876. https://stonyinbloom.

wixsite.com/stonyinbloom.

Judith Deveson, Chair, SSIB

Stony Stratford In Bloom 2017: Golden Result for Stony in Bloom! Wins Regional Britain in

Bloom Small Town Trophy with Gold! Go to me3819.wix.com/stonyinbloom for the latest news

Autumn Harvesting and Bulb Planting with

Children

Pupils at St Mary and St Giles enjoyed

harvesting a bumper crop of carrots and

sweet corn this autumn, and also bowlfuls

of tomatoes to make healthy salads for

school lunches. The 50 sunflowers they

planted to mark 50 years of MK were a

beautiful blaze of gold when they returned

to school after the summer break. They

were also delighted to win the Junior Prize

at Stony Stratford Harvest

Show with their tomatoes,

onions and carrots.

At the Stony Stratford Apple Day once

again Stony in Bloom organised a

children’s bulb planting activity, and the

children were very proud of taking home

the pot they’d planted with little daffodil

bulbs. They’ll

enjoy

watching

them grow

and bursting

into colour in

spring.


Stony Stratford

Women’s Institute

Well I think summer

is over now, but what

a lovely autumn it has been, making up for

the strange weather we seem to have had

during the rest of the year. We were very

lucky for our trip to the Springfield

Shopping Outlet at the end of September,

the sun shone all day and, although it is

called a Shopping Outlet, it has, as well as a

host of outlet shops, beautiful gardens and

water features and a chance, if you have

time, to ride on a canal boat into the centre

of Spalding itself. We shall certainly be

paying it another visit in the future.

Meetings during the past few months have

included a hilarious one where members

told us “If you were to have lived in a

different era when would it be – and why”.

Amazing what secret thoughts can be

revealed! We enjoyed being entertained by

Saffron Summerfield singing with her

guitar and other musical instruments and

telling us about “Mediaeval to Mississippi”

and a lot in between.

After our September meeting with Colin

Oakes, members were intrigued enough to

ask for an outing to the Foundling Museum

in London. So we are organising a coach

trip in April 2018 with a guided tour

around the Museum. There should be

time to visit other attractions nearby and

plenty of places to enjoy lunch, so, some-

thing to look forward to next Spring.

We have not completed our Programme

for 2018 yet, January being just a social

event to see and talk to friends and to

welcome new members, with a quiz if

members want one. We also hold our

Christmas lunch in January because it is

nice to get together once the Christmas

festivities are over. Plans for the 2018

programme include topics on homeless-

ness, following the very moving

presentation and debate organised by the

county in November this year, gardening,

travel, writing books and possibly a talk

from the Yeomen of the Guard. Watch

this space!

An exciting event being organised by the

County Federation in the North of the

county is “Strictly Sequins" where we

should be able to see some of the dresses

worn on Strictly Come Dancing and find

out how they are designed and made.

There is also a Day of Discovery with the

female President of the Institution of

Science and Technology, a member of the

Royal Society and a Forensic Botanist from

the Natural History Museum.

Of course we shall continue to hold our

Craft & Chat Afternoons on the third

Tuesday in each month and our occasional

Ladies who Lunch outing to local eateries.

We look forward to another full and

interesting year.

Meetings are in York House, London

Road at 2.15pm on the first Tuesday of

every month. Visitors are welcome, give us

a ring or email, or just come along. Contact

Janet Baxter (01908 313677) or Gill

Williams (01908 563684) or e-mail

[email protected] for further details.

Your Community News

Stony Stratford Croquet Club

Stony Stratford Croquet Club retained the

East Anglian Croquet Association League

Trophy with an exciting win over Ipswich

CC. With a final

score of nine

games apiece the

match was

decided on

“hoops scored”

with Stony

coming out on

top 100 – 93.

The winning team were Pauline Field, Liz

Bulbeck, Robert Chipperfield and Alfred

Sawbridge.

If you would like to try your hand at

croquet, please come along to the Ancell

Trust Sports Ground as we play all through

the year. Details can be found on our

website.

Stony Stratford Art Society

Although this is being written in November

2017 we are already planning our 2018

activities. At our AGM in October we

reviewed our 2017 activities; both regular

group meetings, and the exhibition events in

which we had taken part during the year.

We have already begun planning our

involvement in the local activities during

2018 and although specific dates are not yet

in place we hope to include exhibitions at

Passenham, Castlethorpe and Hanslope

fêtes. Also, of course, we shall be exhibiting

at the excellent Odell’s Markets; Stony

Apple Day; and several other fetes locally

later in the year.

We always look forward to seeing you at

these events where you can enjoy, and, (we

hope purchase!), a variety of work

produced by local talent, of which there is a

gratifyingly surprising amount.

Our 2018 membership fee will remain £28

per annum and we continue to think that

this, plus the £1 attendance fee per session,

still represents good value for money by

comparison with other activities – and

indeed many other local art societies.

You may be one of the many people who

have recently moved onto one of the new

housing developments in the area and are

looking for an opportunity to meet new

people with similar interests. You may be

someone who has been given a set of paints

or pencils for Christmas and are wondering

where to go next. If so, please pay us a visit.

We would love to meet you and we might

be just what you are looking for. Further

information available from the Secretary,

Brian Marshall (Tel: 01908-378454). In 2018 our pattern of meetings at York House

continues on the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month (1400-1600). The relevant dates will be

shown on our Facebook page, but our first meeting will be on 13 February 2018.

Stony Stratford Friday Social Club

We meet every Friday afternoon from 2—

4pm at the Methodist Church in Silver

Street. We are a group of 30 members

over 55 years old, and are always happy to

welcome new members. We charge £2

entry fee which includes tea with biscuits

or cake. A small raffle is included too.

Each week we either have a speaker with

slides, or social meetings which include

games of Beetle, chair exercises, flower

arranging demos and visiting choirs and

singers - singing all the old favourites that

we know and can join in with. We also

have card and jewellery making

demonstrations by our members, and a

book swap stall and jigsaw stall. We try to

have an outing each year too.

The Club has been going now 10 years.

We have an anniversary party every

September (this was our 10th Anniversary

Tea at The Bull Hotel), and a Christmas

party in December. We try to put out a

programme every two months.

If you are interested in joining us you can

get in touch by phone to Dot Clarke:

01908 565752, or just come along to one

of our meetings.

D.E. Clarke, Chairperson


BoSS 007 - The Bard of Stony Stratford

(7th)

On Tuesday 24th January 2017 I was

appointed Bard of Stony Stratford. The

following day I put a red “001” in my diary.

This was to remind me that I only had “A

Year and a Day” as Bard and that I had

better make the most of it. Contractually I

was obliged to fulfil eight Bardic

requirements, but I was determined to go

with whatever presented itself.

Not every town has a Bard, so Stony

Stratford is a bit special. The other

Stratford in Warwickshire also has one I

believe; some bloke called Will-I-am

Shakespeare. He’s on YouTube but has

been a bit quiet recently. Northampton-

shire, of course, (we copied from them) and

way to the east Cambridge (who copied

from us). So I took the opportunity as Bard

to perform in: Kettering, Wellingborough,

Northampton, Oxford, Peterborough,

Kenilworth, Milton Keynes, North

Marston, Bedford, Olney, Buckingham,

Wolverton and Cambridge. In amongst that

lot I also did 32 performances in Stony

Stratford. At the time of writing (Sat 18th

Nov) I have done 71 Bardic gigs with at

least four more to go before the Bardic

cloak is passed on to Bard 008.

Each of these performances has been

special to me. Four of them have involved

fundraising for the Milton Keynes Food

Bank. Audiences have ranged from 2 to

200 – really. I was also on Radio

Northampton telling a 3 minute story

during National Storytelling Week, so

thousands may have been listening! It was

also great fun working with Matt Ireland

(the Town Crier of Stony) who was able to

project my poetry a greater distance.

The highlight of Stony’s summer calendar

in undoubtedly “Stony Live!” and it’s an

especially busy time for the Bardic Council:

Vanessa Horton, Terrie Howie and myself.

Between us we performed at the “Bucks

Festival”, “The Day of Dance”, “The Big

Lunch” and “An Evening with the Bard and

Friends”. We also held the “Youth Trials”

at “The Big Lunch” so we now have two

extra Bards: Dylan Piper (Junior Bard) and

Isabelle Chapman (Youth Bard). There was

a performance from the Bardic Posse at the

Stony Lights Switch-on on Saturday 2nd

December. This follows a successful Posse

performance at “The Apple Day” in

October.

I was pleased to write a poem for the Stony

Live! 2017 brochure where I secretly hid an

acrostic message “Covers Covers Covers

etc.” amongst the first letters of each line of

my poem. This was because I felt that

covers bands were swamping the Stony

Live! Programme and taking audiences

away from original musicians and artists. If

you value original artists please support

“Scribal Gathering” (second Tuesday of the

month at The Crown) and Vaultage”

(alternate Thursdays at The Vaults) and

“Bar Bar Black Sheep” (last Thursday of

the month at The Bar Bar Café in

Wolverton). Without such venues where

will prospective Bards, musicians, and

storytellers learn their craft?

In June 2017 I was commissioned to do a

poem for “Stony Open Gardens” which I

decided to personally deliver to 17 of the

garden owners who generously prepared

and opened their private gardens for the

fundraising benefit of Willen Hospice. So

on Saturday 24th June I gave 24

performances of my poem. Later, enjoying

a cup of tea in the community gardens at

York House I bumped into a friend who

asked “What’s this about some poem

you’ve written?”. That made 25

performances of the same poem. Should

that be a +24 for my Bardic gig tally?

The main activity of the Bardic Council is

now preparing the ground for appointing

the next Bard of Stony Stratford. On

Saturday 2nd December 2017 (the Stony

Lights Switch-on Day) we started with “The

Bardic Launch” at Stony Library, and we

also ran a Santa’s Grotto in the Children’s

Library. The Launch was a presentation of

music and spoken word performers and the

official opening of the Bardic website

(www.bardofstony.weebly.com) for Bardic

applications for the next Bard. We were

especially pleased to have a performance

from Glynis Newton, Bard of Cambridge.

The most important day of the Bardic year

is “The Bardic Trials” which sees the

official de-cloaking and de-staffing of the

current Bard, and the appointment of the

new Bard. This takes place at York House

Centre on Tuesday 23rd January 2018

from 7.30pm to 11pm. The annual Bardic

Trials is an open contest to appoint the

next Bard of Stony Stratford (Bard 8). The

Bard serves for a Year and a Day in

representing the voice of the people of

Stony Stratford. The Bardic candidates will

compete over three knock out rounds

before a voting audience and an expert

panel. There will also be a headline set

from professional comedian/musician

James Sherwood. Additional entertainment

will be provided by local performing artists.

Join the Mayor of Milton Keynes (Cllr

David Hopkins) in voting for the next Bard

of Stony Stratford. The choice of the

people is the voice of the people!

So now, as I face the final Bardic curtain, I

must say that my time has flashed by. In my

Bardic year I became even more aware of

the selfless individuals who contribute so

much to Stony life, and I would like to pay

tribute to my own list of Stony stalwarts who

are: Andy Powell, Ken Daniels, Rob & Liz

Gifford, Bob Adams, Caz Tricks, Jonathan

& Jill Taylor, Pat Nicholson, Terrie Howie,

Vanessa Horton, Judy Deveson, and

Andrew & Julia Metcalfe. All of the events

we value in Stony take a ferocious amount

of organising; and if that is not evident to

everyone it’s because of the dedication and

professionalism of the above people. They

do not seek or receive any reward beyond

the satisfaction of serving the community of

Stony Stratford. In the past “Year and a

Day” it has been an honour to play a small

part in the civic life of Stony Stratford.

Please come to my final gig on the 23rd

January 2018!

Stephen Hobbs BoSS 007

Stony Stratford Lions Club

Shoe Boxes For Romania

Stony Stratford Lions Club

are proud to have collected

and filled 67 shoeboxes for orphans and

sick children in Romania. All the boxes

contain items suitable for children from

ages 2 to 16, and include toys, clothes,

books, toiletries and sweets. They will be

sent shortly, with other collected items, in a

container lorry for the long journey across

Europe.

A very busy last few months for Stony

Stratford Lions Club with the successful

culmination of several fund raising events

and projects. Shoe boxes filled with

essentials for the Romanian orphans, the

penny cards distributed among local

schools to commemorate MK’s 50th

anniversary, rucksacks for the Grenfell

Tower children, a pledge to the Air Cadets

to help them fund the purchase of a flight

simulator and last, but by no means least, a

contribution to the Ypsilon engineering

project run by five girls from Denbigh

School who will represent our country at an

engineering event to be held in Abu Dhabi.

All these, and other causes, need funding

and we are always so grateful for your

support. Our last fundraising event for this

year takes place at Tescos Wolverton store

on Saturday 23rd December, all loose

change will be most welcome!


News from Russell Street School

Christopher Columbus

In KS1 we have been learning all about

explorers. We even had a visit from Chris-

topher Columbus! The children enjoyed

meeting him, took part in exciting activities

and found out lots of interesting facts.

International School’s Award

We have successfully applied for and

achieved International Schools Award.

This has meant that we have been able to

continue our work with schools across

Europe including our partner school

Strandskolan in Karlsborg, Sweden. Two

teachers recently visited Sweden as part of

our Erasmus project. Teachers across our

schools are sharing ideas on creative

approaches to teaching and learning in

Mathematics.

Autumn in the park

At Russell Street School we take all of the

children on a termly seasonal walk around

the local area. For our ‘Autumn in the

Park’ week children learnt about animals

that hibernate and looked for signs of

autumn.

ICT mark

We have also

successfully

regained our

ICT mark.

This reflects

the school’s

commitment

to embedding computing across the

curriculum.

Cold Hands, Warm

Hearts!

On Remembrance

Sunday, 40 Beaver

Scouts, Cub Scouts,

Scouts and Explorer

Scouts gathered

together with their

leaders and District

Commissioner as

well as parent

helpers to lead the

parade down Stony Stratford High Street to

the war memorial on Horsefair Green.

Also parading were Stony Stratford

Brownies, Guides, Rainbows and children

from St Mary and St Giles C of E School.

All of the uniformed children behaved

superbly well despite the cold and this

year’s service was

again, expertly

organised by the

MK Lions,

officiated by

Father Ross and

attended by Stony

Stratford/

Wolverton Police

Service, Stony Stratford Town Council,

MK Council, Rotary, Lions Clubs, the

Greek Orthodox Church, the RAOB and

ex-servicemen’s organisations.

Hot drinks and hot dogs were served in the

Scout Hall afterwards. Two Stony Stratford

Explorer Scouts have been selected from

Stony Stratford Scout Group to attend a

trip to the Amazon with the British

Explorer Society and a cake sale at the

event kick-started their fundraising

campaign to raise an initial £52 towards

their overall target of £5,000 each by 2019.

Scouting provides over 200 activities and is

open to boys and girls aged 6 to 18. If you

are interested in joining Scouting please

visit www.scouts.org.uk/get-involved or

telephone Alby Wilson on 01908 563398.

Find 1st Stony Stratford Scout Group on

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/1stStonyStratford.

Stony Stratford Fairy Trail

The Fairy Trail event was brought to the

town by the ‘Crafting for Change’ group,

supporting the library.

Running

throughout

the

autumn half

term, it was

very well

attended,

with 130

prize draw

entries. On the Friday, hundreds of people

came in through the library doors! There

were 8 different locations around the town,

and the businesses involved were all very

pleased to report increased visits to their

shops that week.

The prize draw offered up a total of 6

prizes, all donated by the businesses

involved and ranging from fairy doors to

jigsaw puzzles and sweets. On the subject of

sweets, they seemed to be a very popular

part of the event with many testimonials

from children who had “the best time of

my life” and another who said “it was really

fun because we got sweets on the way”...

Another testimonial was “what a wonderful

way to bring the community together”.

Perhaps the very best testimonials of all

were: “my daughter now thinks she is a

fairy”, and coming from a little boy who

wasn’t so keen because “fairies are for girls”

actually “really enjoyed it. More please!”

The back story is that fairies migrate to

warmer climes during the winter, so who

knows - perhaps they will stop off in Stony

Stratford again in the future...”

Children delighting in finding the fairies...


Artists of all Ages ‘Go Wild in the

Rainforest’ at York House Centre!

Another fantastic Stony Stratford Big Draw!

A busy day with hundreds of families

joining us at York House Centre for an

art-tastic experience…

Local artists, Michelle Buckland and

Angela Carel, transformed York House

into a rainforest wonderland with its own

treetop hideaway! There were a wide range

of arty activities based around the theme –

loads of animals, birds and insects to colour

and paint; printed leaves and butterflies to

hang up on vines around the hall; make

your own rainstick; masks to decorate with

feathers and sequins; icing beautiful butter-

fly biscuits; face-painting and printing the

extremely popular ‘Groovy Gecko’ t-shirts.

The creativity flowed from people of all

ages - from tiny tots to those more

advancing in years - and a fabulous time

was had by all. We were delighted to

welcome the Deputy-Mayor of Milton

Keynes, Martin Petchey, and we thank him

for his interest in the event and for taking

the time to chat with everyone; we hope he

had as much fun as we did.

We are grateful to Stony

Stratford Town Council and

the York House Centre Local-

Giving.Com Fund – for their

generous funding, added to

money raised via the cafe, paid

activities and bucket donations,

allows this event to be FREE

for everyone (including materials), giving

the opportunity to all families to play and

create together.

A massive thank you to all our volunteers

(the Big Draw Crew) who give so freely of

their time to help everyone enjoy the day

and to everyone who baked cakes and ran

the Volunteer Cafe to keep the masses fed

and watered!

Join us on Facebook at ‘Stony Stratford Big

Draw’ and for more information about all

our events and activities visit www.york-

house.org.uk.

Stony Stratford Rainbows,

Brownies & Guides

Stony Stratford and

Wolverton Rainbows, Brownies and

Guides had a fun packed start to the

autumn! This is just a snapshot of what our

units have been doing this term.

In September, all units took part in a

District get together at Gullivers Land,

Milton Keynes. A fabulous day and the girls

had so much fun – even the rain didn’t

dampen their spirits. The log flume seemed

to be a favourite!

1st Stony Stratford Brownies have been

working towards the Seasons badge. They

have made chocolate hedgehogs, collages

out of natural resources such as leaves,

twigs and conkers, bark rubbings; squirrels

made out of pine cones and rabbit book

marks. There was a walk looking at the

stars and an evening in the Stony Stratford

Nature Reserve run by The Parks Trust.

This included a scavenger hunt, den

building and using detectors to find bats.

2nd Stony Stratford Brownies planned and

held a Macmillan coffee evening and raised

£158. Family and friends of the Brownies

were invited and the girls worked towards

their hostess badge. An overnight

sleepover at the Caldecotte Experience

proved a great favourite – sleeping in the

yurts, crafting and going on the climbing

wall.

Stony Stratford Guides had an eventful

summer - going to Wellies & Wristbands,

which is the Girlguiding festival style camp

at Foxlease in the New Forest. The Guides

planned and ran a fundraising evening

towards the hurricane appeal and raised

£108. Two of the Guides also attended a

County International Selection and have

been successful in obtaining places

at a Guide camp in Italy next year.

All Rainbow, Brownie and Guide

units took part in the Remembrance Day

service in Stony Stratford where wreaths

were laid.

If you would like to know further

information on Rainbows, Brownies and

Guides or would like to volunteer to help,

please contact [email protected]

or go our website www.girlguiding.org.uk

where you can get more information about

each section and also register your interest.

Stony Stratford Harvest Show 2017

This year the 22nd Stony Stratford Harvest

Show was held on the 2nd September in

York House. We had a record number of

top quality exhibits in all classes and also a

record number of attendances by members

of the public at both the show and the

auction of exhibits that followed. The

number of people attending was, no doubt,

swelled by the efforts of the Town Crier

and the presence of the Bard who

declaimed a poem written specially for the

show.

This year the record £450 surplus (after the

amount we need to run next years show)

raised by the auction of exhibits, the teas

and the raffle run during the day has been

donated to Branch-out MK, a not-for-profit

social enterprise that provides a supportive

working environment for adults with

learning difficulties and autism through

growing produce and we welcomed Teresa

Wedderburn to speak about it.

Our prizes were then presented to the

winners by the Bard before all of the

produce was auctioned by our resident

auctioneer, Bob Adams. We are fortunate

to have generous gifts from the local

community in the form of raffle prizes and

prizes for exhibits. This year those were

donated by; H Green and Son, Jessie

(the Electrical Shop),

The Abundance

Griffiths and Dorothy and John Williams.We also present Trophies that have been given in the

past by: Pat York, The Business Association,

Odell & Co Ltd, Mr & Mrs Bandy

Florists, Stony

Stratford Floral Club,

The Ancell Trust, D

W Roberts

Optometrists, The

Family of the late Jack

Wilson, The

Conservative Club Gardening Club, The Fox and

Hounds, The Cock, The Bull, Haseldines, Hubbards

and York House.

Next years show will be held on 1st

September in York House Centre.

http://www.york-house.org.uk

http://www.york-house.org.uk


What’s On. Many more events at www.stonystratford.gov.uk/Whats On

Events at York House

Centre, London Road, Stony

Stratford MK11 1JQ

The friendly volunteer York

House bar staff will be pleased to serve you

real ale, wines, and soft drinks at the events

– the proceeds from which go to York

House.

The Fegan’s Building: A Pictorial History

20 January 2018, 2-3.25pm & 3.30-4.45pm

Video footage, photos and tales of the

iconic Stony Stratford building, from St

Paul’s

College,

through

Fegan’s

Orphanage,

to the

Calcutta

Brasserie.

Tickets £3: from York House Centre or

take your chance on the door. Two sittings:

2.00–3.25pm and 3.30–4.45pm.

Stony MusicHall! 4

3rd February 2018, 8.15 - 11.00pm

Fourth return of the popular event evoking

those nice-but-occasionally-naughty Music

Hall and Variety days of yesteryear. We will

have sentimental sing-along songs,

recitations involving a lion called Albert,

bizarre optical-illusion dancing, and a

performance by the eccentric and colourful

Prince of Wales Rattlers. Tickets £6. More

information from Ken at

[email protected].

The Elizabethan Winter’s Tale

4th February 2018, 3.30 – 5.00pm

This is a candlelit performance with mulled

cider and Elizabethan sweetmeats.

Readings about the Elizabethan winter and

Christmastide celebrations are framed with

the sublime music of William Byrd,

William Cobbold and Anthony Holborne.

Our audience are invited to bring a rug for

warmth and a be-ribboned cup to share the

Wassail for the crowning of the King or

Queen of the Bean!

Mr Simpson’s Little Consort are based in

Buckingham and are a Buxton Festival

award winning historic performance group.

More information from: www.mrsimpsons

littleconsort.wordpress.com. Tickets £10 on

the door (incl. mulled wine & sweetmeats).

Kent Duchaine – Welcome Back to Stony!

10th February 2018, 8.30 - 11.00pm

Bringing back lots of happy Stony Stratford

memories, we heartily welcome Kent

DuChaine’s long-awaited return to our

town. Kent DuChaine has listened to, hung

out with,

opened up

for,

travelled

and played

with most

of the great

Blues men

and women his whole adult life. The list is

too long to name them all. Tickets £6:

on-line at www.wegottickets.com/event/

420560 or at York House Centre. For

more information visit:

www.kentduchaine.com.

Liz Simcock @ The Songloft

16th February 2018, 8.00 – 11.00pm

This will be Liz Simcock’s third visit to the

“Loft” and she always draws a large

audience with her growing reputation as a

performer and songwriter. Book early to

avoid missing out on

what will be a great

evening. Tickets £9.00

(on the door). For more

information contact

01908 611074 or email

[email protected] or

visit thesongloft.co.uk or

Friends of the Song Loft

on Facebook.

Henry Priestman in Concert

24th February 2018, 8.00 - 11.00pm

A welcome return of the master of mid-life

angst. Accompanied by fellow song-smith

Les Glover you are guaranteed an evening

of aural pleasure. After over 38 years in the

music business – and with a credit list

longer than both your arms – in 2009

Henry Priestman (having not sung since

1981!!) reinvented himself as a singer-

songwriter and released his debut solo CD

“The Chronicles of Modern Life”. He

followed that up in 2014 with “The Last

Mad Surge of Youth” and in 2015 put out

his first live 20 track “Settle Down”, which

contains 20 songs from a long and varied

career. Email jukeofstony@gmail for local

details.

Eat Street MK

2nd March 2018, 5.00 - 10.00pm

The new season of the immensely popular

Pop-Up Street Food Event. Following a

triumphant year of sell-out events, EatStreet

returns to York House to bring you

restaurant-quality

street-food. From

the gourmet toasted

cheese sandwich to

authentic paella,

from oven-fired

pizza to Punjabi delights, from Urban

Grilla’s to Clucking Oinks, and from

Mexican goodies to Caribbean classics, and

more! Food Vendors change each month,

so watch out for details. More details at:

www.facebook.com/EatStreetMK.

Richard Grainger @ The Songloft

2nd March 2018, 8.00 – 11.00pm

Richard Grainger is a prolific and diverse

artist, performing on the British Folk

scene. 'Widely respected songwriter and

guitarist with a clear and 'captivating' vocal

style'. His songs are performed widely by

artists including The Wilson Family,

Flossie Malavialle, Derek Gifford and many

more… Tickets £9.00 (on the door).

A Spring Guitar Concert with Don Perera

- 10.00pm 3rd March 2018, 8.15

The welcome return of a master of the

guitar, Don Perera. His repertoire focuses

on enchanting South American music, but

embraces many other composers. Don

lived in Argentina and Uruguay for two

years before returning to complete his

Masters Degree at Trinity College of

Music. We can expect to hear pieces from

the likes of Barrios-Mangore, Isaac

Albeniz, Astor Piazzola, and many others

exquisitely played.

MKBiergarten’s Springbierfestival

10th March 2018, noon to 10.00pm

Following the success of two Oktoberfests

and last year’s Springbierfestival those

lovely people from MKBiergarten are

doing it again. Once again, there’ll be

German lager, craft beers, English real ale,

street-food and musical accompaniment,

and sheer atmosphere. For information

visit http://www.mkbiergarten.co.uk.

For further details of events see the York

House website: www.york-house.org.uk.

Vintage Stony 2018

All are again

invited to

join us on

'New Year's

Day' in the

heart of our

wonderful

town for the 9th running of 'Vintage Stony'

from 9am to 2pm. Usual format, maybe

one or two surprises for the motoring

enthusiast! For further info or if you would

like to help, please visit

www.vintagestony.co.uk. Free to all, but

donations are suggested, which will 'all'

again be donated towards the running of

our local Hospice at Willen.

A big 'thank you' to the residents it may

effect for their understanding and

co-operation, it is truly appreciated. Join us

to support a great cause, partake of some

hot refreshment, and enjoy the first day of

the New Year.


'An Evening with Tessa

Hadley': Tuesday 23

January, 7pm

Tessa Hadley is the author of

six highly regarded novels,

the most recent of which, The Past, won

the Hawthornden Prize for 2016. Her

latest publication is the collection of short

stories Bad Dreams (Jonathan Cape). Her

work appears regularly in the New

Yorker and other magazines and she

reviews regularly for the Guardian. For

FoSSL she will read from her recent work

and discuss her writing. This will form part

of StonyWords 2018. Tickets will be

available from Wednesday 3 January.

Music For All at St Mary & St Giles

Saturday, 6th January: Sweet

Treat Saturday: start the new year

with a break for coffee, yummy

cakes and pleasant company!

10am-12pm in the Parish Hall - a warm

welcome awaits you.

Thursday, 18th January - TT@TT - Third

Thursday at Twelve-Thirty free lunchtime

drop-in Concert. This month we will be

entertained by MKulele. You are sure to

enjoy the fun tunes of this local ukulele

group, so bring your sandwiches and let us

provide the tea, coffee and small treats.

Saturday, 27th January: ‘Words and

Music’ Gala Concert at 3pm. Free concert

bringing together words and music by a

variety of local singers/instrumentalists.

Featuring local school children and adult

performers. If you enjoyed last year’s

MK:50 Concert, then this is for you!

Friday, 2nd February at 12:30pm - The

5th in the series of our bimonthly First

Friday Organ Recitals. The members of

the Buckinghamshire Organists’

Association will provide a varied

programme for our delight on the restored

Fr Willis Organ. Come at 12 noon to

enjoy a bowl of soup and a roll for £3.

Free concert, but donations are always

welcome for the maintenance of the organ!

Saturday, 3rd February - Sweet Treat

Coffee Morning. Another of our monthly

gatherings, Parish Hall - 10am-12noon.

Thursday, 15th February - TT@TT -

Third Thursday at Twelve-Thirty free

lunchtime drop-in Concert by local young

violinist and pianist Rosie Page and friends

to raise money for her International Girl

Guide trip.

Saturday, 3rd March - Sweet Treat Coffee

Morning in the Parish Hall 10am-12noon.

Some savoury treats too.

Saturday, 10th March -Wolverton Light

Orchestra, 7.30pm. We welcome back

WLO after their fantastic concert last year.

An evening not to be missed! Tickets

available on the door.

See updates on the website what's on

listing: www.musicforallsmsg.org/whats-on

Stony Stratford Floral Club

2018 sees Stony Stratford Floral Club

celebrating their Diamond Jubilee having

been formed in May 1958. We will be

having a very special demonstration at

Stantonbury Theatre on Tuesday 15 May

at 7.30pm: “A Sparkling Affair” with Alan

Smith and Lee Berrill. Tickets will be on

sale from our February meeting - £12 or

£10 in advance.

9 January : Annual Meal (The Crown)

6 February: AGM with a talk by Thames

Valley Air Ambulance

6 March: Demonstration “The Sound of

Bow Bells” by Kathy Stangaard

3 April: Demonstration “Celebrations” by

Linda Seabrook

20 April: Annual Charity Quiz

Meetings are held at 7.30pm at Russell

Street School Hall (unless stated other-

wise). Visitors welcome to meetings £8 per

visit. For more information contact Sue on

01908 564453, Judy on 01908 569429 or

Rose on 01908 564481.

14th Annual Festival

23 January to 4

February 2018

Programme of Events

For details of all the events

and how to get tickets,

please visit: www.stonywords.org.uk.

January 23

An Evening with Tessa Hadley, 7pm

The Annual Bardic Trials, 7.30pm

January 24

Translating The Little Prince, Joe Laredo,

7pm

January 25

Burns’ Night Supper

January 26

Dick Whittington in StonyLand, Evening

Shakespeare - A Musical Celebration, 7pm

January 27

The Silk Road, 10.30am

Dick Whittington in StonyLand, (matinee

and evening)

Andree’s War - talk by Francelle White,

3pm

January 28

Dick Whittington in StonyLand, (matinee)

Pop-up performances by Stony Stratford

Theatre Society - The Dark Programme,

5pm

Scala Cinema: Ethel and Ernest , 7pm

January 29

F Scott Fitzgerald and the Great Gatsby -

talk by Sarah Churchwell, 7pm

January 30

Encore Masterclass by Danni Kushner,

7pm

January 31

100 Years Fighting for Social Justice in

North Bucks: Talk by Living Archive MK

7pm

January 31

The Psalms: their place in English

Literature - talk by Keith Plant, 7.30pm

February 1

Death and Mr Pickwick - talk by Stephen

Jarvis, 7pm

February 2

Roger McGough Poetry Reading (sold out)

February 3


Theatre Society - The Light Programme,

11am


Theatre Society - The Dark Programme,

4pm

February 3

Stony Music Hall, 7.30pm

February 4

The Elizabethan Winter’s Tale -

performance by Mr Simpson’s Little

Consort, 3pm

Workers’ Educational Association, Milton

Keynes Branch, Spring 2018

Brushstrokes of History: Shows how

paintings, from the Arnolfini Portrait to

Guernica, can be used to study historical

events or reveal aspects of contemporary

society.

Tutor: David Price

Stony Stratford Library, Mondays, 29

January–12 March 2018, 2.30pm - 4.30pm.

Cost £60.20. To enrol for this course, call

0300 303 3464, quoting C3741221 or go to

enrolonline.wea.org.uk.

Literary Responses to War and Revolution

1910-1924: Works by Lawrence, Yeats,

Woolf, Bulgakov and Grassic Gibbon.

Tutor: Karen Hewitt

Methodist Church Hall, Silver Street, Stony

Stratford, Thursdays, 11 January – 15

March 2018, 10.15am - 12.15pm

Run in cooperation with The University of

Oxford Dept. of Continuing Education

Cost: £173. For further information, please

contact Jeannine Golding, 7 Latimer, Stony

Stratford, MK11 1HP. Tel: 01908 567869

Email: [email protected]


Forest logo here

Town Council meetings for your diary Come along and have your say

Full Council When: 16th January, 20th March & 15th May 2018 Who goes: All councillors - Joan Walker MBE (Chair), Lynne Compton (Town Clerk) & MK Councillors Planning When: 23rd January, 27th February, 27th March, 24th April & 22nd May 2018 Who goes: Mick Allsopp, Paul Bartlett, Simon Cherrill, Anne Cryer-Whitehead, June Payne, Pete Thornburgh, Joan Walker MBE & Town Clerk Lynne Compton Projects When: 9th January, 6th March & 1st May 2018 Who goes: Paul Bartlett, Cliff Brett, Anne Cryer-Whitehead, Pete Thornburgh, Keith Tilley, Joan Walker MBE & Deputy Town Clerk Sally Firth

Finance & General Purposes When: 20th February & 17th April 2018 Who goes: Mick Allsopp, Cliff Brett, Robert Gifford, Keith Tilley, Joan Walker MBE & Town Clerk Lynne Compton Property Development When: 14th March 2018 Who goes: Mick Allsopp, Cliff Brett, Simon Cherrill, Robert Gifford, Joan Walker MBE & 3 outside representatives & Town Clerk Lynne Compton

The Town Council and its committees use different meeting venues in the parish. Always check the venue on the Meeting Notice. This can be found on the noticeboards: in front of Budgens, outside SMSG School in Galley Hill, on Slade Lane in Fullers Slade and the office. You can also go to www.stonystratford.gov.uk/Town Council Meetings to view the Meeting Notice and download papers.

If you have any ideas, comments or concerns please contact us at: Stony Stratford Town Council 5-7 Church Street, Stony Stratford, MK11 1BD Open: Monday – Friday 10am - 3pm Please use our Church Mews entrance on Mondays. tel: 01908 566726, email: [email protected] website: www.stonystratford.gov.uk Facebook: www.facebook.com/StonyStratfordTownCouncil

Please contact Melanie Hyde at the address above or email [email protected] for Town Crier and website news. Spring 2018 Issue 61 - Distributed by end March 2018. Copy deadline: 20 February - covers news and forthcoming events from 1 April - 30 June 2018.

The Living Streets Community Project An exciting new project is being offered to residents of Milton Keynes and it would be great to see it happen in Stony Stratford or surrounding area. A Living Street is a creation of a community space where road traffic is limited. The project will be in place for one or two months and needs to take place before the end of April 2018. The project will be designed and managed by residents, for residents and we are looking for volunteers to help make this happen. If you have any questions after reading this article, contact Christine on 01908 254791 or email: [email protected]. This project has funding from the European Commission’s LIFE programme. Please read on for more details of the project and how we can get the party started by working together. A Living Street is a car free area where communities can meet. There are five aims of this pilot project: - Reclaim at least one car parking space for a month - Create a community area - Encourage people to use transport other than their car - Keep the Living Street operating for at least one month - Bring in the idea of Living Streets to future MK planning There are many examples of Living Streets in Europe but the idea is new to Milton Keynes. Living Streets provide play areas for children and adults that are safe from road traffic. The street furniture will be made by residents from recycled timber and plants and shrubs will identify the area as community space.

Here is an example from Ghent:

There are two ideas for a Living Street in Stony Stratford: the Community Orchard in Calverton Road and the High Street, but we are open to your ideas. The project will need to take up at least one parking space and the funding could be used to make or buy some picnic tables and astro turf. It would be good to use recycled materials as plant and shrub containers and pallets for street furniture. We could also ask for donations from local organisations who like the idea of creating a community space. Next steps are to create a team of Stony Stratford residents to decide where the project will happen and how it will look. Living Streets Community Project is funded by the European Commission LIFE programme and managed in Milton Keynes by the Sustainability Team at the Council. Contact Christine for more information. Christine Ballard, Sustainability Team, Milton Keynes Council [email protected], 01908 254791.

Fullers Slade Regeneration This December YourMK took a look back over 2017 with residents of Fullers Slade. The regeneration programme for Fullers Slade was launched on June 24th 2017. Since then

YourMK has engaged with 51% of individual residents living in the regeneration area (correct as of November 17th 2017). Through this YourMK has gathered valuable feedback from residents and began a series of Co-Design sessions. This is a process where the community works together with the Architects, Shepheard Epstein Hunter, to create a design for the estate which reflects the resident’s first-hand knowledge. The aim of this is to create a place that responds to the needs and wants of those living there. Regeneration isn’t just about bricks and mortar. It’s about making positive and long lasting changes that will improve the lives of the people and families of Milton Keynes. For more information and how you can get involved please visit www.yourmk.co.uk. Thank you to everyone who has engaged with us so far, we would like to encourage all to get involved in the future! From all at YourMK we wish you a Happy New Year!

- Traffic restricted - Planting flowers in tubs - Growing food - Socialising - Picnic benches where people can share meals - (Beer not eligible for funding !)

Printed onenvironmentally

friendly paper

Date post:	09-Jan-2022
Category:	Documents
Upload:	others
View:	5 times
Download:	0 times

The Town Crier

Documents