Category: News

Robin reports” I have it on good authority that Cranes (long legged birds) were heard on the marsh near Maltkiln recently and towards the A30. Any other sightings?”

Yes – I saw what appeared to be a very young one on the road to Compton Pauncefoot on Monday June 15th. I thought at first it was a heron, but it was clearly very young and a new flyer, and was much too large  to be a heron. Keep your reports coming in. – Ed

Since 2010 , the Great Crane Project on the Somerset levels has focused on the reintroduction of cranes into the Somerset Levels and Moors – 60,000 hectares of floodplain dominated by extensive mixed pastures, meadows and wetlands. Could it be that these sightings indicate they are spreading?
Luckily they don’t live in hedgerows! -Ed

More about the Great Crane project here
Listen to cranes

Chris Bailward’s epic jouney through France continues successfully, and adventurously. Read his Blog!

He is now only a few days from home, but there is still time to donate to his chosen charity, the Disasters Emergency Commitee via Just giving.

We are not sure exactly when Chris will arrive home – Thursday or Friday -, but we hope many will turn out to welcome him home to Horsington  with a decent pint of beer. So watch the blog for the latest update.

 

The White Horse, South Cheriton, is holding its  first Beer Festival on the weekend of June 27th and 28th.
There will be live music on both evenings, a bbq, charity skittle tournament, Face Painting, craft lagers, ciders and of course lots and lots of Beer!

Sounds like a winner.

 

 

 

 

Chris Bailward is battling on. He has now descended from the Alps, turned right and is on his way to the Med.  After 12 days, he has cycled  689 miles in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee. You can follow his triumphs, mishaps, and adventures on his Blog.

The Blog has finally caught up with technology, and is now on Facebook. It has taken us 4 years to realise the potential. So how long before we discover Twitter?

Just click on the Facebook logo, then “like” the page, and you will get your blog sent to your Facebook page whenever there is a new post.

There will inevitably be teething problems while we master the art properly.

 

The Cabinet has been installed. All they have to do is connect it up, and Horsington will have superfast Broadband from January 2016. The box is at the junction with Stowell Lane and the A 357.

If you live within 1 kilometre of this location you will get exceptionally fast speeds, but even if you are 2 km away you should experience a much  better service than you do now.

You will need to evaluate the various offers from the broadband suppliers, who will do as much as they can to confuse you with bundled offers. Our advice: shop around, and don’t commit before you’re ready.

Previous articles

We are a musical lot! There’s the Wincanton Choral Society, the MPO, Spectra Music, and now the Pilgrim Singers – all with members in Horsington or South Cheriton.

The Pilgrim Singers will be performing their summer concert in aid of ME (chronic fatigue syndrome) on Saturday 27 June at North Cadbury Village Hall, starting at 7.30.

The programme will feature a wide variety of songs from  many different genres.

Tickets are £10. There will be a licensed bar.

Tickets: pilgrimsingers@mail.com, or from Divine Wines in Wincanton, tel 01963 33317.

Chris Bailward is now 6 days into his 1800 mile trip round France in aid of the Disasters Emergency Committee. It is tough work, with plenty of trials and  tribulation. He is now climbing the mountains south of Geneva. His resolve is holding, but you can encourage him by donating via his “Just Giving page”.

You can follow his exciting, and at times harrowing account of his journey on his Blog.

We wish him luck!

 

At the parish Council meeting on Thursday 4^th June the new Chair, Jackie Pyne, read out a statement concerning the recent drastic hedge cutting. The full version will be published in the council minutes in due course, but the gist of it is this:

In March the parish council warned the highways authority (Somerset County Council) that certain hedges would need cutting in Lower Road, near the school, as they were becoming a safety hazard. The Council said they would write to the landowner, Philip Colebatch.  That was the last they heard of it until the recent controversy blew up.

The  County Council visited, made an assessment and notified the landowner of the work needed to be done, supplying a plan and precise locations near the school, and warning about the birdlife. He was given a month to carry out the work. This was in April, so the work had to be done by the end of May.

Mr Colebatch ordered  work to be carried out, not just in Lower Road, but also Batchpool Lane and Marsh Lane, with the result that everyone can see.

The Parish Council  have informed the police wildlife crime unit that a potential offence against the  Wildlife Acts had been committed and asked them to investigate. Two other Horsington residents, acting independently, have also contacted the police.

Mrs Pyne emphasised that at no time had the parish Council requested  Mr Colebatch to cut any hedges.

A statement  by Mrs Colebatch was read out. In summary, it claimed that they did not wish to cut the hedges at this time, as they had a three-year cycle of hedge maintenance and management in place, and the hedge was due to be cut in September. However, they felt obliged to follow the instructions of the highways authority. They included Batchpool Lane on safety grounds, and Marsh Lane following several complaints.

The statement also claimed that the hedge had been inspected before trimming and that no nesting activity had been detected. It did not say by whom, although Mrs Colebatch is on record with  a reporter from ITV news that the inspection was carried out by an employee.

We leave readers to draw their own conclusions as to the likelihood of nesting not taking place in a hedgerow in May and whether the severe cutting was justified on safety grounds, and will not comment further until the results of the wildlife crimes unit investigation is known.

ITV Newsclip