This month’s Newsletter is kindly sponsored by

Welcome to anyone new to the village and special Get Well wishes to anyone in hospital or feeling under the weather. The weather, such as it is, is starting to feel more spring-like and things are starting to come into bud with fresh growth appearing in abundance. In my garden this is mostly weeds at the moment – but I’m working on it! It’s also nice to see the Window Appeal is starting to look more promising with donations and entries coming in steadily. For more details – contact Chris Gatenby or June Sellars.

All articles for the April Newsletter to be in before 22nd March please.

Would like to thank their family, neighbours and friends for the kindness shown to them, following the death of loving husband Eric, dad and grand-dad. After 59 years and 10 months of marriage, Eric and Grace would have celebrated 60 years on February 17th 2000.

Thank you,

Grace Martin

Also thanks to the Rev Kidd and Max for their service.

I would like to thank all my friends at the Craft Club for the lovely Tea Party, Cards and Flowers on my Birthday. Also, many thanks to Shirley Mellor for the birthday cake – it was super!

Many thanks again,

Further on from last month’s Newsletter item, a copy of an outline plan, showing the proposed location of the building is attached (see back page).

By the time this Newsletter is distributed, the Annual General Meeting will have been held, and details of the proceedings will be included in the April issue.

The Committee has met with a representative of the Humber and Wolds Rural Community Council and obtained valuable assistance as to the formulation of a village appraisal schem which is the first step towards applying for grant aid.

Anna Cowton Hon. Secretary, Rudston Village Hall Committee. Tel 420709

Wishes to convey her thanks and appreciation to all her friends who helped her so much, to make her 80th Birthday Party such a happy one. Thank you to everyone who so kindly sent the beautiful cards, presents and flowers – it was all rather overwhelming!

Hoping they all enjoyed it at the Bosville Arms.

Thanks, and God Bless You All

Thank you once more to everyone who has supported my appeal. 100 jumpers have now gone to be taken to the Centre where there are 175 very sick children. I know the target of 120 jumpers will be reached and I want to especially thank Craft Group Friends, who have knitted some really beautiful garments. The appeal closes at the end of March.

Audrey Forbes

When I said I hadn’t much to report last month, I missed something! Don’t get too excited though! It is just that we have a Draft Local Strategy for the East Riding Community Advice and Legal Service Partnership. This involved the analysis and assessment of local experience of the Legal Aid Board as against national findings. The Parish Council was invited to make any comments to the Steering Group. As none of the members had experienced these things, it was felt that if anyone in the village had had cause to deal with these bodies, they would be in a better position to make any comments. So, if anyone is interested, or maybe a budding law student, I have the report.

Something that was mentioned was rural post offices, and just after the Parish Council Meeting (and therefore to raise at the next one) was a letter from Humber and Wolds Rural Community Council. They are particularly concerned, and Parish Councils are being asked to assess possible consequences if the local post office should close. There are numerous questions to consider in that event and anyone with any thoughts on the subject is invited to speak to any member of the Parish Council before our next meeting on 29th March. We all hope it doesn’t happen, of course, but we do need to have thought about it at least.

Now you may have seen the poster, but anyone who would like to work with children with disabilities might be interested in this. It is the "East Riding Play and Leisure Project" of the Hull Family Centre. This is a new project to support school-age children with disabilities and the co-ordinator in the Bridlington and Driffield Area is seeking to recruit volunteers to accompany these children on leisure activities. The Co-ordinator is Mrs Jane Startup, The East Riding Play & Leisure Project, 8 Prospect Street, Bridlington. Telephone 01262 401972. There are eleven children involved in the project in this area. I have leaflets for anyone interested.

The Special Annual General Meeting of the Bowls Club will be held in the Village Hall on Monday 3rd April at 7.00p.m. for the purpose of electing Team Captains and to decide other matters for this year’s Season. Prospective new members are invited to this meeting.

Indoor Bowls The finals of the Individual and Mixed Pairs Competitions were played on 20 February. The results were:

Collis Cup (Individual Winner)

Dawson Shield Cup

(Individual Runner-up)

Crossland Trophy (Mixed Pairs)

Congratulations to all.

A reminder that subscriptions are due on 1st April please.

P. Warters

Hon. Secretary, Rudston Bowls Club

Tel. 420410

Rudston Church are holding a Light Lent Lunch at Lady Mary’s, Westcroft, Long Street on Friday 14th April from 11.30a.m to 2.00p.m.

Tickets £3.50 – available from Lady Mary (420614) or June Sellers (420237).

There will be a raffle and a Bring and Buy / Cake Stall, donations also welcome.

The next meeting is on March 7th in the Village Hall at 7.15p.m. Mr & Mrs Horner will be speaking about the organisation that helps to make wishes come true for terminally ill children.

They are asking for foreign coins so if anyone in the village has any that they would like to contribute – would they kindly give them to a W.I. Member.

The competition is a Royal Souvenir.

Its rose pruning time again, so a few words may be of help to those who are growing roses for the first time. It’s a safe bet that most bushes in our gardens will be either the large flowered hybrid tea types, or the free flowering floribunda kinds. I will first of all describe pruning to produce those blooms that win prizes at our summer shows. For these bushes its hard pruning – cutting the shoots well down, just leaving a couple of dormant buds on the short one year old growths – the idea being quality blooms rather than quantity. For general garden decoration, less severe cutting is usual, the main rules are firstly – to cut away any dead and diseased pieces, then to cut back last summers growth, leaving approximately six inches of stem – this is a general guide only. Some years ago the Rose Society tried cutting back their HT and Floribunda bushes using a flail, the same as farmers use when hedge trimming. The result was just as good as the same types that were pruned using secateurs, so one wonders if the old ways taught to all young gardeners are now out of date?

March is the usual month to to prune our national flower but be guided by weather, no point in pruning if we are deep in snow or having a lot of frost. Climbing roses have their side growths cut back too – at the same time – but the ramblers should have some old stems cut down , and last years new ones tied in, as replacements. The old species roses are left to grow naturally and only thinned out when they get too large. Most of this group only bloom once each year, but most have that true rose scent and are well worth having in a large garden. Don’t forget our own white Yorkshire roses, Rosa Alba – a bush used to grow in the garden at the Forge. I read that moves are afoot to scrap our Yorkshire rose emblems, a bit of treachery – so be watchful and fight for our county emblem – those who want to do away with it should be sent to "The Tower" !

Have you a large tree in your garden or trees on the hedge sides of your fields? And – are they close to property or a public path or road? If so, did you know that you have a responsibility to try and make sure such trees are in a safe condition? We do not need reminding of the tragedy that occurred last December in the gales when three unfortunate folk lost their lives when a large tree came down. As I travel on our East Riding roads, I take particular notice of trees and I have to say I note a number that are either dead or in a poor condition, that are situated on hedge rows next tot he public highway. Owner and tenants where such trees occur, should be aware of their liabilities if such trees fall and cause injury or death. The law does not look kindly on such situations. It may be that a tree appears healthy and the owner or tenant knows nothing about tree management, but is negligent in not obtaining an experts opinion. This is no excuse. Where there is likely to be problems if a tree or branches fall it is prudent to get expert advice before anything happens; it can be very costly in money and life, and no tree is worth the value of life or limb. I write this as a help to all those who have trees – a stick in time saves more than nine in this case! I like trees in the proper place, but like other crops, good culture and management is required so have a close look at that tree!!

Bark ringing the apple and pear trees is one way of helping to bring shy bearers into cropping. There is nothing more annoying to the fruit grower than having trees that year after year fail to produce blossoms: one man I met recently said, that if his apple tree didn’t crop this year – it was for the axe! To bark ring, one simply removes a ring of bark, quarter of an inch thick, from completely round the trunk. At this time of year the bark removes easily, once done, the ring is then covered with tape to keep disease from entering the open wound. Bark re-grows and seals the ring in a season, and the tree is not affected except that the flower buds are encouraged by the extra carbohydrates formed in the twigs and next year the tree should blossom – followed, if pollinated, by a crop. After this operation all should be well in future years and no more bark ringing should be required. Do not ring stone fruits such as plums, gages, damsons, peaches, nectarines and apricots. To make these flower, chop down and cut a few roots. This is known as root pruning. It’s noticeable that, after gales that rock fruit trees and often break the roots, the trees start to bear a crop. This is nature carrying out its own root pruning!

Dick Robinson

A kingfisher has been regularly seen around Rudston since well before Christmas. As well as patrolling the Gypsey Race it has taken a fancy to hanging around many of the garden ponds in the village and has on one occasion been seen attempting to catch small goldfish. The attempt was unsuccessful but very small fish may be vulnerable. Both male and female greater spotted woodpeckers have been visiting garden feeders and a siskin, a bird we only see at this time of year,has also been attracted. Barn owls have been seen hunting along roadside verges on a regular basis and a large unidentified bird of prey is around the Rudston House area. Among the less common garden birds, bullfinches have been reported by a couple of people and unusually there has been a little grebe (dabchick) near Eastgate bridge. This bird normally makes it's living diving in rather deeper water and was probably just wandering from the fish ponds at Thorpe.

During last year a number of red kites were released at a stately home in the county and have been seen within five miles of Rudston. They are quite distinctive being large, having a deeply forked tail and the ones which were released have a prominent tag on their wings.

In the last few days a Leylandii hedge was being severely cut back and the owner was amazed to find that a collared dove already had young in a nest.

Few things are stirring at the moment but a hedgehog was found freshly squashed on the main road and the first moths of the year appeared in the early part of February.

The first thing to remember is that Lent isn’t an end in itself; it’s a time of preparation for Holy Week and Easter. So if our churches are going to be full of flowers and glory on Easter Day, the only way to make a contrast is to ensure they are bare beforehand.

If we are preparing for Holy Week and Easter, how do we do it? Not (necessarily) by buying eggs and chocolate, but by looking at what the Crucifixion and Resurrection mean for us. If Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, that means that we must have some sins to be saved from. It means we must do wrong (and if we’re honest, we’d admit that too). So Lent is there for us to look at ourselves and see how we can improve, do less wrong – as well as to help us recognise that the Crucifixion was for us, and that we in some way are responsible inasmuch as we do wrong. If Jesus rose from the dead to open the kingdom of heaven to all believers, that means it is there for us as well – and if we’re going to that perfect kingdom, we do well to try and practice a little bit at trying to be better, to work towards perfection.

And that’s what Lent is about. Recognising our own failings, recognising Jesus’s forgiveness of those failings, and trying, with God’s help, to do better. ‘Fasting and self-denial’ simply means putting others before ourselves, and not being as self-indulgent as (let’s face it) we usually are. And, incidentally, it’s perfectly possible to be happy doing this; long faces and Lent don’t necessarily go together! STEPHEN

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I cannot accept,

And wisdom to hide the bodies of those I had to kill today –

Because they got on my nerves.

And also, help me to be careful of the toes I step on today,

As they may be connected to the feet I have to kiss tomorrow.

Help me always give 100% at work ……

12% on Monday

23% on Tuesday

40% on Wednesday

20% on Thursday

and 5% on Friday

And help me to remember …..

When I’m having a bad day and it seems that people are trying to wind me up,

It takes 42 muscles to frown, 28 to smile, but only 4 to extend my arm – and smack someone in the mouth!