June 1998.

Editor - Colin Campbell.

Thank you to all who gave so generously to the Christian Aid collection. A total of £223.11 was raised in Rudston, so many thanks to everyone - and to the collectors for giving their time.

Margaret Reed

The next meeting is on 16th June at 7.30pm at the home of Mollie Gatenby, Speaker - Mr Gatenby, Leader - Margaret Reed, Vote of Thanks - Joan Corner, Hostesses - Mollie Gatenby and Alison Cope.

The next meeting is on June 2nd in the Village Hall at 7.15pm.

The Speaker will be John Goodwill (Magistrate) - A View From The Bench.

A reminder for members going to Harlow Carr Gardens with Wold Newton W.I. on the 4th June; Coach picks up at the Bosville Arms at 9.20am. Cost £7.50.

A new fund raising event, a Junior Triathlon, saw 35 determined children push themselves to the limit and complete a gruelling physical test. The event started at Driffield swimming pool, swimming 8,10 or 16 lengths, the 11 year olds and over then cycled to Rudston, the younger ones were transported to Kilham, cycling on to Rudston. Weary legs had to run 2 - 4 circuits of the playing field to finish the event.

First past the post in an amazing time of 1hour 4 minutes was Craig Lambert aged 13 years. Thomas Bateson was the fastest in the older age group and Lucy Wilson won the younger group in 28 minutes.

Many thanks to T. Phillips & Son of Driffield for donating the winners prizes. All other entrants were put in a draw for the final prize and the winner was Simon Crossley. After family picnics, Mums, Dads and competitors enjoyed an afternoon of sport - football, volley ball and tennis.

Many thanks to all those who helped - timekeeping, marshalling and encouraging. Sponsor money is still coming in - we will let you know the final total.

Last word must go to all the competitors - all who watched were full of admiration for the way they conducted themselves - a good advert for the youth of today!

The garden will be open on Sunday July 19th from 11am to 5pm. Adults £1.50, Children free. Dogs on leads please. There are fine old trees, lawns, clipped box hedges, a rose garden, an interesting potager with named vegetable varieties, a hosta bed, a short woodland walk with a pond. Plenty of seats and vegetable and plants for sale - DO COME!

The garden is also open on Sat & Sun July 25th & 26th with the other 9 gardens in aid of The Church, 1pm-6pm. We look forward to a good weekend. Angela Dawson, Rudston House.

The recent TV series "Neighbours From Hell" and the use of that fast growing conifer Chamaecyparis x Leylandii, has prompted me to come to the defence of this useful evergreen as a quick growing hedging species. It’s not the plants that are wrong, rather the lack of understanding as to how to treat the plants. All hedges of any species should be kept pruned, having a base wider than the tops, Leyandii hedges need annual trimming if they are to be kept in check, the same applies to Beech, Hornbeam, Privet, Thorn and dozens of other hedging species.

Glasshouse owners should be prepared to give plenty of top and side ventilation, the temperatures can become very high this month and plants, like us, need fresh air, they soon scorch and dry out and flowering plants bleach too. so don’t delay if it’s a hot day. Tomatoes are in full growth and taking water in large quantities, regular feeding with a good balanced mix is required, and to assist in pollination, the flower trusses should be shaken to move the pollen, a tickle with a rabbits tail does the trick.

For the best flavour no matter which variety is grown, only when ripe should the fruit be picked, a well ripened tomato straight from the plant beats all the shop ones. Finally, keep a watch out for the aphids on roses, a quick spray with one of the systemic insecticides soon clears up this pest. By Dick Robinson

Summer migrant birds have dribbled in over the last month but even now numbers are still very low. House martins followed the swallows which were reported last month and at the same time the first of the willow warblers arrived. All these were confronted by cold weather with few insects on the wing and since they are insect eaters they must have struggled to find food. Swifts which arrived after the cold spell had no such problems and within a day or so of arriving were diving in and out of their nesting sites. The cuckoo is here but he has not been heard very often or by very many people, while whitethroat and spotted flycatcher have only been reported once each. On the plus side dabchicks and coots have bred locally for the first time for a number of years simply because they are species which dive and need deep water to feed and this has not been available for some time. For the second year running a pair of long tailed tits are known to be raising young which they are at present feeding. The young should fledge in about ten days time and they will then enter a most dangerous period of their lives when they will have to run the gauntlet of domestic cats which have already proved this year just how ruthless and destructive they are with several ripped out nests and dead fledglings.

Two butterfly species have attracted attention this month. The holly blue has been seen consistently and in good numbers all over the village and this is quite a success story. Apart from one small colony in the west of the county no holly blues were seen in Yorkshire from 1952 until the immigration of the early 90’s. A few of these migrants managed to breed but in decreasing numbers over the next couple of years until it was believed that they had died out. Odd individuals were however spotted last year and the pupae resulting from them seem to have survived the mild winter. The second species is the brimstone butterfly, a bright yellow male specimen being seen in the village on the 15th May, which is the first local record for eighteen years.

RECEIPTS £ p PAYMENTS £ p.

Balance B/Fwd. 1,909.51 Street Lighting 877.28

Rent 20.00 Insurance 110.97

Precept 1,800.00 Admin./Expenses 179.50

Grant (Parish Paths) 560.00 Repairs / Renewals 259.02

V.A.T. Refund 361.34 Parish Paths Partnership 504.30

Insurance contribution 76.33 Clerk’s Salary 350.00

Bank Interest 31.84 V.A.T. (To reclaim) 240.28

Rates Refund 68.61 Balance C/Fwd. 2,286.28

4,827.63 4,827.63

NOTES: Change of Insurer and consequently date, will result in another insurance payment in May, expected to be £353.27. The actual total spent on Parish Partnership was £560.16 - the difference being V.A.T.

Our Chairman and Vice-Chairman were re-elected at the May meeting - that is Revd. S.V. Cope and Mr R.D. Corner respectively.

The Accounts for Audit were approved - a copy of which you will find above. The note about insurance may be changed, however, as we expect now to have to take out extra cover on street lights.

While on street lights, you may like to know that there is now a telephone line at East Riding of Yorkshire Council on which anyone can report street lighting faults at anytime. The number is; 01482 885789 and it is an answering machine so you will need lamp-post number (1,2,3 etc.) and location. Thankfully, we don’t get many in Rudston, so if unsure of this, just tell any member of Parish Council or myself and we’ll do the rest.

I’m afraid some of our young people have been "at it" again - graffiti in the bus shelter this time. Chalk in my day came off easily enough, but this spray paint is a very different matter. Much better if they didn’t do it in the first place - can we remind them that they live in a lovely village in the country, not a concrete jungle in the city. However, it looked as if someone was trying to scrape off a bit on the other shelter opposite Ivy Cottage, the night before I prepared this, so we shall see.

On a happier note, it had been noticed that the section of Gypsey Race behind Donna Fields had been cleared. Many thanks for that, it is appreciated. Also to our friend who keeps the section from the playing - field bridge to the road tidy.

Posters "last" a bit longer in summer, but in case it has disappeared by the time you read this, I should mention the one for Radio Humberside. They are seeking volunteers to inform them of local events etc. But they don’t give a telephone number - just the address; 9 Chapel street, Hull. Anyway, I expect our organisers already inform them of main events like Open Gardens. As regards Parish Council News, I hope that’s sufficiently covered here and in the Free Press.

Things are progressing on all fronts regarding Millennium projects. The sub-committee will have met by the time you read this, so they or me might have some news next time.

While mentioning East Riding Council, I should have also said that they are now promising immediate action on a whole range of other things, including road and footpath repairs. Parish Council members have details.

The next meeting will be in July.

So that’s that until then, unless Robin Cook wants a hand with the Middle East - I heard he thought Sierra Leone was a new car from Ford!

P. Crossland (Clerk).

ON TUESDAY 5TH MAY, 1998 I RECEIVED INFORMATION TO THE EFFECT THAT TWO MEN HAD BEEN VISITING HOUSES IN LANGTOFT. THEY WERE TRYING TO GAIN ENTRY ON THE PRETEXT THAT THEY WERE WATER BOARD OFFICIALS AND THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO SUPPLY ALARM SYSTEMS.

OBVIOUSLY TWO VERY DODGY CHARACTERS. UNFORTUNATELY, I WAS UNABLE TO GET A DESCRIPTION OF THEM OR ANY VEHICLE THEY COULD HAVE BEEN USING.

AS YOU WILL APPRECIATE, WHEN I GET INFORMATION OF DODGY PEOPLE IN THE AREA, OR FOR THAT MATTER, ANYONE WHO IS ACTING SUSPICIOUSLY, I CANNOT GET AROUND WARNING EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE INDIVIDUALLY.

I DO HAVE A SYSTEM WHEREBY I CAN PASS INFORMATION TO THE CO-ORDINATORS WHEN THERE IS SOMETHING URGENT AND CONCRETE TO GO ON. IN THE MEANTIME I RELY ON THE NEWSLETTER FOR PASSING ON INFORMATION.

ONE OF MY MAIN CONCERNS IS FOR OLDER PEOPLE AND FOR PEOPLE LIVING ALONE NOT TO LET ANYONE INTO THEIR HOME WHATEVER TIME OF DAY OR NO MATTER HOW HONEST THEY LOOK. DO NOT FORGET, THE BEST CON MEN AND WOMEN ARE THOSE THAT LOOK ANYTHING BUT.

IF A STRANGER COMES TO YOUR DOOR WITH AN EXCUSE TO GAIN ACCESS AND WAVES A CARD IN FRONT OF YOU, TAKE THE TIME TO READ IT AND IF IN THE SLIGHTEST DOUBT TURN THEM AWAY AND OR REFER THEM TO ME. PLEASE DO NOT BE TAKEN IN BY THESE UNSCRUPULOUS PEOPLE.