Once again I am having to report just before a meeting. It will have been and gone by the time this is read, but I don’t anticipate any "fireworks"! (Those come a few days later.)

Your clerk isn’t terribly keen on his annual visit to the Auditor. He has no reason for this – apart from a couple of minor points , everything was alright with the accounts again. Anyway, the Auditor must have sensed my unease, because when he had finished he said "There, that didn’t take long, did it?" - rather as a nurse may do after giving you an injection!

We keep getting Dog Fouling posters to stick up, as you may have noticed. At least your Parish Council declined the offer of Stencil Kits with which to mark footpaths where mess occurred. Those who have seen the little yellow "pictures" on the pavements of Driffield & Nafferton will know that they last much longer than the dog doings they are meant to draw attention to. The idea was that the same dog owner would come that way again and be shamed into cleaning up after their pet.

Among literature received by the Parish Council there is often something about the saving of village shops and schemes that can be operated in the event of closure. This would seem to be quite complicated and must be another good reason for supporting the one we have. Large companies don’t help, of course. Like offering discounts to pay your electricity bill by direct debit instead of via your local post office. It DOES make a difference, however small, to them, if you can continue paying locally. Unfortunately, in the Parish Council’s case, a substantial amount was involved, and they reluctantly made the decision to pay Yorkshire Electricity bills yearly from this year.

Finally, I expect National peotery Day passed most people by, as it did me, but I must share one snippet to come from it:

"Money talks – that I can’t deny,

I heard it last week – it said ‘goodbye’!"

P. Crossland (Clerk)

The Autumn opening of Children’s Society boxes resulted in £172 being sent to the Society. Many thanks to box holders for this wonderful effort. Chris Gatenby

It is with great sadness that I report the death of Kit Scuffham. Mr Scuffham passed away on the 1st October 1998. He is remembered by many villagers as the landlord of the Bosville Arms from 1964 – 1987. Originally from Cleveland, he served in The Green Howards during World War 2 and was shot and captured, spending three years in a POW camp.

Mr Scuffham married Vera in 1945 which brought him to Rudston, where he lived in Eastgate and worked for the council until 1964.

Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

Well here we are in November, heading rapidly for the silly season – time flies! Welcome to any newcomers to the village & I hope you like living in Rudston.

Have you prepared your vehicle for winter? Lights, Anti-Freeze, screen wash, decent tyres, etc…. Now’s the time to check. Note that you must not use anti-freeze in your screen wash, unless you want to have your car repainted!

Out on the road, I have already been dazzled by badly adjusted headlamps & noticed lots of vehicles with 1 headlamp not working.

As the frost bites, you notice your car’s battery becoming weaker, they usually start to "go off" after about 3 years old, but often the causes of poor charging are: being topped up with tap water instead of distilled water, loose battery connections and slack/worn generator drive belt. Happy Motoring! Colin Campbell.

Articles & Adverts for the December & January Newsletter to the Editor by the 22nd November please.

Have you any Christmas recipes or seasonal items?

Also - with your article or advert - please include your phone number / address, so that I can contact you if there is a query about the contents.

As we are now into the best period to plant a wide range of tress & shrubs, I thought a few lines about the modern way to grow apples may be of interest to our readers. To be able to pick apples nine months after planting is now possible by planting selected 1 year old grafted plants six feet tall each with a balanced framework of short branches and fat flower buds on the main stem. These super trees are planted 2 feet apart in rows also 2 feet apart; this encourages flower bud production and makes work easy among the trees. It’s essential that each tree is well staked all it’s life and that it was grafted onto the dwarfing rootstock known as Malling 27. Also the Dutch grower who showed me his orchard said that the trees are never allowed to be dry at the roots, not a difficult thing in most parts of the Netherlands! But in this country when we have hosepipe bans, it can affect the cropping. The two varieties that seem to be grown more than any others are Cox & Egremont Russet, but there are lots to choose from; Jonagold, Gala, Elstar and Fiesta are some of the newer sorts, the great thing about this newer growing system is that even in a small area a good collection of varieties can be grown and let’s be honest, one cannot beat a good English grown apple, even if some of the varieties were raised abroad. Senior gardeners will recall Kewicks, Burrknots and Cockpit apples growing in Rudston gardens.

Garden hygiene is just as important as personal hygiene, the standards one sees these days in the modern holdings and nurseries would really surprise our fathers and grandfathers. The glasshouse industry adopt what can only be described as "operating theatre" surgical cleanliness; a far cry from the days when a bit of weed growth among the crop was allowed, and when the old plant remains were put on a heap on some spare ground near the nursery or glasshouses: No wonder pests & diseases were an annual event. Growers of tomatoes may remember leaf mould disease, mosaic viruses, white fly, tomato moth, etc. Today it’s a completely different story and one that home gardeners should follow, so good folk out with the hosepipe & brush, give that glasshouse a thorough clean inside & out, get rid of old stems, leaves, pots and boxes, all that weed in the corner and muck under the bench. Let’s prepare for 1999 with the best growing conditions we can, and include that dirty green slimy tank of water, that’s where a lot of damping off disease comes from!

Tennis Club – End of Season Report.

Three teams competed in local leagues: Two Junior Under 16 teams competed in the Driffield Junior League and one Adult team in the Scarborough League. The Under 16 A team finished runners – up in the top division – an unexpected, but thoroughly deserved result – they were effectively promoted up two divisions this season! The U16 B team finished mid-table in Division 2 – their first season at U16 level. Well done to all 13 players who took part in junior matches.

The adult team enjoyed the revised, shorter format of their matches and finished 3rd in Division 3, with 17 players taking part. With such interest, it is hoped also to have a men’s team in the Driffield league next season.

The extremely successful fund raising Junior Triathlon held in May made £346.16 for club funds.

A new venture this year was the parent & child tournament, which had to be postponed due to bad weather, but was eventually held as the end of season tournament. An amazing entry of 26 players meant that we could have done with another 2 courts! Jane Crossley.

The Annual General Meeting of the Bowls Club was held on 12th October, when the following elections were made:-

Hon. Life President: D.E. Corner

Chairman: R.Warters

V/Chairman: W. Laws

Secretary/Treasurer: P. Warters

Committee: President, Chairman, V/Chairman, Secretary/Treasurer, Team Captains (3), Greenkeepers (2), L.Moore & J.Ward.

Team Captains:

The following were elected Team Captains for 1999:

"A" Team; M.J. Corner

"B" Team; P.Scruton

"C" Team; J.Ward.

Three teams will be entered in the Driffield League; and one team in the Wednesday Triples League.

Subscriptions

The subscription for 1999 will remain at £15.00 per player member.

Philip Proctor Memorial Cup

Final round completed in late September.

Winners: M.J. Corner

R.D. Corner

T. Sheldrick

Runners up: A. Moore

P. Scruton

P. Crossland

Indoor Bowls

Practice sessions started on Wednesday afternoons from 21 October.

Stevenson Cup Competition – Organiser - Maurice Cocker.

Collis Cup Competition – Organiser – Philip Crossland.

Special Annual General Meetings:

The Special Annual General Meetings held in April each year will be discontinued.

P. Warters Hon.Secretary.