Nora is 100 years Young

Parishioner Nora Hodgkinson celebrated her 100th birthday on Saturday 12th May at Alstonefield Village Hall amongst family, friends and neighbours. It was a wonderful occasion with a delicious lunch. After the toasts and cutting her cake, Nora gave a very memorable speech, bringing tears to many eyes. Well done, Nora.

Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Procession Route 3rd June

The route for the Procession of Floats is given on the map to the left (please click on it to enlarge). We will start on the Playing Field at 2.00 pm. on Sunday 3rd June and after a couple of circuits of the field, we will continue into the Village centre, doing a few circuits before returning to the Playing Field by 3.00 pm.  It’s not too late for Village groups to join the Float Procession!  Read more on the Jubilee page

Marshals Suffer for a Good Cause

The 5 walkers stop for refreshments at Slade House, with full catering support

Ten hours of hard walking ended in blisters, aches and pains for five hardy volunteers.  The “marshals’ walk”, scheduled for the 5th May, allowed those who are helping on the day of the Leaden Boot Challenge to experience (and enjoy!) the walk, as well as testing the route.  The 26.2 mile circuit, with 5800 feet of ascent was completed in just under 10 hours, although 3 stops along the route for refreshments meant the actual walking time was considerably less.  As organiser, Noel Peat was heard saying, “….not bad for a bunch of old codgers!”

The actual event, which will take place on Sunday 27th May, is now full.  300 participants each paying £15 a head will enjoy snacks at 6 checkpoints around the course and a pie supper in the village hall at the end.  Profit from the walk will be split between St Peter’s Church and the Memorial Hall building project.

Dalesmen in Full Voice at St. Peter’s

Led by Musical Director Richard Hayward, The Dalesmen Male Voice Choir treated us to a wonderfully varied programme of music ranging from numbers such as ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to ‘Sloop John B’ and ‘Non Nobis Domine’.  The Concert on Saturday 28th April was attended by Choir followers and local people alike, all of whom raised more than a smile at the skit on ‘The Messiah’, read by a member of the Choir. Thank you, Dalesmen, for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Gargoyles get off to Cold Start

Man of the Match, Richard Salt

Play cricket long enough and there are no surprises left. Alstonefield Cricket Club’s 2012 season started with a wicket from the very first ball. Unfortunately it was the wicket of Gargoyles captain John Salt and with John Gill falling in the next over, 1 for 2 against a strong Wootton outfit, was not in the plan.   READ MORE……..

SEE THIS YEAR’S FIXTURES….. SEE THE 2012 PHOTO ALBUM…….

Churchyard Headstone and Memorial Project

After nearly 2 years work by Susan Wilding and Cathy Reavy, the project to transcribe all the legible headstones and memorials in the churchyard has now been completed.

In total approximately 730 headstones and memorials, both in the churchyard and the church have been recorded. The oldest headstone is dated 3 April 1518, in memory of Anne Green. It is thought that this is one of the oldest, dated headstones in the country. The oldest known person buried here is Margaret Barclay, who died in 1731 aged 107!

The full database is now available to purchase, full details can be found on the family history pages.

Jubilee Tree Planting

As many of you will know, volunteers from the community successfully planted 105 trees next to Greenhill Meer, supplied by the Woodlands Trust to help celebrate the year of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.  Our contribution will be recorded in a document to be kept in the British Library and presented to the Queen. The Woodlands Trust have sent us a thank-you and further information about the project that can be viewed by clicking on the image on the left.

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Now, There’s Calm AFTER the Storm!

After the maelstrom of the 4th April, which saw temperatures plummet and more snow than even the snow-ploughs could deal with, a sunny calm descended over Alstonefield on Thursday morning.  Temperatures rocketed upwards once again, our power and telephone services were restored and smiles returned to everyones faces.  What an amazing and unique place we all live in!

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Open Adventure Comes to Alstonefield

There was much activity in Alstonefield on Sunday 1st April when a group of orienteering cyclists and runners came to visit.   But there was no fooling around for these adventurers as they charged off the playing field in search of as many checkpoints as they could find in just 5 hours.  Each entrant had to work out their best route around the course.  The winner is the person, or team that collects the most points from the checkpoints using their electronic gizmos.  The checkpoint device shown here was at the bottom of Sunny Bank in Hope Dale, but many are well hidden and others are in difficult to reach places, such as the trig point at the top of Dove Dale.  This event is the last in the series, which included the Lake District, the Shropshire Hills, the Pennines and the Quantocks.  The cost of an entry was priced at £28, but an additional £7 is charged for an entry on the day.  This does not include food or drinks and there are no facilities at the checkpoints.  The cost of an entry to our own Leaden Boot Challenge in May is looking very good value!

Ceilidh 2012

It was good to finally get hold of much sought after-tickets for the Alstonefield Ceilidh and very glad we were that we had persevered. My friends and I from the far-flung reaches of
Leek, Upper Hulme and Elkstones received a warm welcome at the village hall and had great fun dancing – or should I say staggering and galumphing around – to FCB (Festival Ceilidh Band)
whose enthusiasm and patience was heroic! In no time we found that we had made new friends, or reconnected with old ones, as we joked our way through hand-holding, toe-
treading and general swinging around in all directions but not necessarily as the band had planned!

An additional treat was the unexpected appearance of the Titanic Brewery singers, Nine Tenths Below,who entertained us with a spirited and harmonious rendition of sea shanties and enabled
us to get our breath back. Their powerful voices rang out across the room without microphone or accompaniment – apart from a pint of beer in hand which no doubt lubricated the
larynx and I think we can guess which brew it might have been!

But in spite of this wealth of talent and good fun, competition for the highlight of the evening must surely have come from the cooks who provided a vast array of casserole dishes and
sweets served with good humour and generosity. Our only disappointment was that we didn’t manage to sample them all as they all looked delicious and the ones we tasted were
superb.

So thank you to all for such an enjoyable night and I hope you’ll have us back again. A fun way to raise funds to keep a community facility going. Well done to Dave and all who helped
in the organisation.    (Jill Gregory)

Village Spring Clean – 24th March

Gearing up to clean the village signs

Benches are cleaner

Yarn Bombers Hit Milldale

The house of our well-known Leaden Boot chief  has just been “yarnbombed”.  A mysterious knitted boot with yellow ribbon appeared on his garden fence overnight.  The perpetrator is still at large.  The Alstonefield Craft Group are all considered prime suspects and are asked not to leave the country.

White Elephants to join Book Store!

Following on from the success of the Village Hall Book Store, it has now been decided that a bric-a-brac store will be added. So, if you have any unwanted saleable items that you would like to donate, please contact Dave OR Val on 310322. We can take ALMOST anything that is in good condition. Call us and we will take care of delivery/collection at your convenience. We are also still accepting books/CDs/DVDs.

Alstonefield Rocks (10th March in The Village Hall)

Forty Four people helped themselves to wine and rock cakes and then settled down to listen to some astounding facts. We now know that this area is very much like the Bahamas! Crashing waves, lagoons and reefs! That doesn’t sound much like our area, but that is how it all started. If you missed this talk and ever get the chance to hear it at another time, you should definitely make the effort.

The following day, with the sun shining, a group of us met up at Ecton. In the distance of a mile we discovered the rim of the reef where there had been ocean and, even more fascinating, where a land mass from the South West had collided into solid hills and tilted the layers of rock in a spectacular fashion. Impressive to such an extent that people come to view our rocks from all over the country. Many thanks to Albert Benghiat for making us view our area through different eyes!

(Val)

Sunny Lent Lunch

Many of us enjoyed a simple lent lunch of soup, bread & cheese served in a very sunny Village Hall on Monday 5th March. Thank you for your support and kind donations.   £108.10 was donated for the Bishop’s appeal.

Yoga Sessions in Alstonefield

All abilities are welcome at these new Yoga sessions in Alstonefield, meeting every Monday bar the 2nd Monday of the month, 7.30pm start, finish at 9pm. £35 for a 5 week course or £8 drop-in. Contact Tara on 01335 310037 for more details.

Bells Restoration Project 1989

Recently, we have come into the possession of personal correspondence, notes and photographs relating to the installation of the bells in St Peter’s Church.   Even if you have been living in Alstonefield for only a few years you will recognise many of the faces in the photographs and names on the paperwork.

Within the bundle of papers are “blueprints” for the project, together with original correspondence from the various companies and helpers involved and over 100 photographs recording the removal of the old bells, delivery and installation of the new.  All of this documentation will soon be put into safe archival storage, but can be made available to anyone with a keen interest.  Some of the more interesting paperwork and a selection of the photographs have been digitally scanned and can now be viewed on the Alstonefield website (CLICK HERE)

The Bell Ringers and PCC are grateful to the late Bill and Jean Rhodes for their dedication, skill and knowledge to see this project through and for recording it so well.  We would also like to thank their daughters, Lindsey and Paula who have entrusted this bundle to our safe keeping.

Folk Festival planned for Hulme End 14-16 September at Manifold Hotel.

Details to follow shortly.

Kitchen Facilities now in Church

The oak cupboard unit which houses the sink, draining board and shelves is now completely finished and looks fantastic! (Click on the photos to enlarge). This work completes Phase 1 of the Water Project, which has come in within budget. Thank you again to everyone who has helped and is still helping.  Enough monies are committed to at least start Phase 2 of the Project which involves changes to the boiler house that will ultimately allow us to build a toilet.

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Photo Printing Service

Any image that appears in the “gallery” can now be printed and supplied to local residents and others by arrangement. Proceeds to the Church Water Appeal. Contact Brian Ross direct with your orders, or e-mail the admin team using the “Contact Us” link.