I must apologise for the rain. Our canoe club keeps getting bigger and with it more people are wishing for rain. Throughout the summer we migrated to river estuaries, lakes, canals and the Cumbrian coast. An excellent trip paddling out to Walney Island to be surrounded by seals and birdlife, we returned via Piel Island and its castle and sadly closed pub, with an exciting return paddle back through the tidal races, I was pleased to see the novices show their skill and judgement getting through. As the days shorten we will change our Friday night from Killington Lake to Sedbergh school swimming pool, where we can practice in relatively warm water, ready for the prospect of paddling down some of our excellent local rivers. Most people are surprised to learn that in England and Wales you can't just jump on a river whenever you like, there is only agreed access for 4% of rivers, however on upland rivers canoeing is general accepted during the winter, out of fishing season. As a club we always try to keep our impact to an absolute minimum and respect our local environment.                                                                  M.H.

  On Sunday 26th August at Tebay, three football teams, Sedbergh, Tebay and Kendal XI, made up of lads who have been involved someway in the past 9 car/truck pulls, competed in a round robin football tournament with Bar and Barbecue on hand.
  We had the £50 prize for 'Guess the Time' the 3rd goal of the games would be scored which was 26 minutes 27 seconds and this was won by Sedbergh's Spinner Winn who kindly donated the £50 back into the Charity Fund towards next years Kendal to Sedbergh tractor pull.
  The football winners were Tebay, who remained unbeaten but thanks to everyone who guessed the time.  We raised approximately £300 and thanks to our star players, mascots and supporters.  Next years Charity Pull will be on Sunday 27th May where we will attempt to pull a 9 ton tractor from Morrison's supermarket past the Leisure Centre to the Station Inn and across to Sedbergh.  This will be followed by an afternoons activities for all the family and a planned evenings events with the popular tribute to Robbie Williams night and Disco.  Because of the popularity of the Charity Pull we are going to make next years the biggest yet.          Caspa

Back Row l to r    John O'Neil; Caspa; Fritz; Tom Moff; Frame; Gordon Sproul,
Front Row l to r    Dan Mase; Parky, Shnuck; Johnny Boner; Spinner
Mascots
Scarlet O'Neil & Connor Winn
Photo by Chez Bailey

Massively outsrip National figures
  Casterton's A Level girls are celebrating another outstanding set of results this year.  One hundred per cent of pupils passed in all of their subjects, up slightly on last year's record results.  Fifty-one per cent of them were at the top grade of A (well over twice this year's national average for that grade, even for girls), 78% at A/B (against a five-year average of 76%) and 96% at the A/B/C grades needed to go on to courses at the more demanding universities.
  Nearly a third of the girls attained straight As.  One of the outstanding performances amongst the many individual successes across all subject areas was from Percy Cheung (who is a boarder at the school and lives in Hong Kong).  As well as gaining five As, which included two of the top five marks in the country in Mathematics (out of 9,519 candidates) and in Information and Communication Technology (out of 10,479 candidates), Percy attained an Advanced Extension Award in Mathematics. Jennifer Woodburn (from Ingleton, N. Yorkshire) also achieved 5 As and has been offered places to read Veterinary Science at Cambridge and the University of London.  Eleanor Foster (Skipton, N. Yorkshire) gained straight As and has been offered a place to read Modern Languages at Cambridge. Caitlin Dent (Kendal, Cumbria), Sarah Morphet (whose family are with the forces in Germany), Yi Fan Chen (Manchester) and Kathy Kong (Hong Kong), all achieved four As.  Talented artists Ruth Davis (Kendal, Cumbria) and Sammie-Jo Coxon (Tyne and Wear) both scored perfect marks in Art and Design, which gave them two of the top five marks in the country out of 4,200 candidates. Other students who attained straight As were Damilola Jagun (Lagos), Connie Lo and Jolly Chan (both from Hong Kong). The AS results were similarly outstanding, with 97% of pupils passing, 62% with the top two grades.
  The Headmaster, Dr Peter McLaughlin, was extremely happy to be receiving results which firmly maintain Casterton's position in the top echelons of the academic league tables:  "What Head would not be delighted with wonderful news like this?  Year on year, Casterton girls perform at levels massively above the national norms.  Although these results suggest otherwise, we do in fact have a considerable range of ability amongst the girls in our school. Consequently, the absolute statistics not only place us very high up the league tables but also show why we top the national 'added value' tables published annually. Whatever criticisms have been levelled at the A Level system, these excellent results represent a huge amount of effort and ability on the part of both pupils and teachers. Our girls are so far ahead of national norms that any talk of 'dumbing down' becomes irrelevant.  By any standards, this is a fantastic achievement, especially given that so many of our girls are also active, high-achievers in music, sport, drama, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and myriad other time-consuming school activities."

Giant leap for Girls at GCSE
  Casterton girls were celebrating a giant leap of 13% on the school's previous record in its GCSE results.  Eighty-one per cent of their grades were at A* and A (against a national figure of 19%), results which place them in the highest reaches of the national league tables.  As the results poured off the computer, normally calm Examinations Officer Pat Hayward was heard exclaiming:  'They're everywhere!  The A*s are rampant…I've never seen anything like it!' Nearly one in two grades was an A* (48%).
  Outstanding amongst the many individual successes were Esther-Rose Bartholomew (Isle of Mull, Argyll), who gained straight A*s, including the statistically improbable feat of scoring two of the "top five" marks in the country for English (out of 362,438 candidates) and French (114,455 candidates); Caroline Morphet (whose family are with the British forces in Germany), who gained straight A*s and two 'top five' marks in German (44,475 candidates) and Physical Education (28,762 candidates); and Holly Story (Low Bentham, Lancaster), who has straight A*s and another 'national top five' mark in French.  Amy Cheung (Hong Kong) also attained straight A*s and other 'top five' marks were gained by Rachel Lee ( Newcastle) in ICT (22,985 candidates) and by Madeline Williams (Kendal) in Geography (7,119). Overall, fifty-four per cent of the girls attained straight A*s and A's.
  Casterton's Headmaster, Dr Peter McLaughlin, saw these record results and the exceptional number of national 'top five' marks as evidence of the continued value of single-sex schools.  He said: 'Casterton is a relatively small school but in academic terms we punch massively above our weight. Recently there has been a great deal of debate in the national press about the place of single-sex schools in our education system.  Casterton's public examination results and those at local, regional and national level show that schools such as ours consistently produce the academic goods.  Attempts have been made to discredit our sector by claiming that girls' schools are highly selective and pupils come from advantaged backgrounds.  In fact, our girls are of a much wider range of ability than many people imagine and come from many different backgrounds.  Their results are impressive by any standards but they also represent considerable sacrifices made by the parents who send their daughters here, as well as a huge amount of hard work by pupils and teachers.'

  Here we are  - back in business again! By the time you are reading this we will be well into autumn. Our outing to Holker Hall in July was very much enjoyed by those who went.  A really interesting tour of the Hall and garden was followed by a splendid tea (doggy bags definitely needed).  Alas! At the time I was snuffling and sneezing and decided not to share my germs, so I still have to discover the delights of the Hall. I have been to the Garden Festival several times but never yet ventured to the house.
  On the other hand I have ventured to the home of our revered president, Shirley Richardson many times but never with more enjoyment than this August's Tea Party. Shirley, as always, provided a magnificent spread for us all, and we caught up with all the chit-chat of the summer.  Weddings, grandchildren, holidays, gardens, ailments, local happenings, all featured large in our conversation. It was lovely to be together again. Thank you yet again Shirley!
  Our regular meetings started again in the afternoon of the second Tuesday in September in the committee room of the People's Hall. As usual an excellent turnout listened with bated breath as the business of the day was completed. You will be spared the details because as I was late, I missed it and accordingly so must you! However I was just in time to read out the report of the WI  AGM which had been held in Cardiff in June. Anne Petyt, President of Frostrow WI, had attended as our delegate and as she was unable to be at our meeting provided us with an excellent written report. Thank you Anne.
  Throughout the summer, problems about the increase subscription and imposition of a "magazine for every member" have continued to rumble on. At times the issue has featured in local and national news. We were interested to hear that Cliburn W I have decided to do what we considered doing, namely they have left the organisation 'en masse'. We wish them well but are sad to lose them. Anne made the point very clearly that she had really felt the bond that exists between members of the W I throughout the country.
  However onto cheerier matters! Our meeting this month was one of our brilliant DIY occasions - Killington's famous "Taste and Try",  when the committee try to produce something fit to taste!! The room was arranged with everybody sitting round one long table while the minions (committee!) brought their offerings to the board. Roast swan? Roast peacock? Suckling pig? Fat chance! In actual fact the delicacies on offer included:
Smoked Oysters; Spiced Salmon Mousse; Hot American Chicken Salad; Honey & Nut Chocolate Fondue; Milk Chocolate Fondue served with Luscious Fruits; Marshmallows and Featherlight Sponge Fingers.
  Now if that doesn't have you all rushing to join us then I give up! We were happy to welcome a guest and hopefully a prospective member but here I offer a sincere apology to her as I don't know her name. Regular readers will know that my muse does not strike until the very last minute. This means that as I write all good Christians (and heathens as well) are fast asleep in bed. If I were to call on higher authority to jog my memory I might receive a rude answer! Things have become much worse since I learnt to e-mail as my deadline is now midnight on the 19^th and I can't fool the Editor as the time is automatically printed on the wretched thing.
  You might presume that after such a feast we would forgo our usual tea and so forth but you must realise that we of Killington WI are made of sterner stuff! Tea was accompanied by cake, -- birthday cake, --a  90^th BIRTHDAY CAKE for Nora Capstick. We send her our very best wishes. Unfortunately at the very last minute she was unable to be with us, having been taken to Lancaster Infirmary after suffering "a nasty turn", but we did manage to rush a piece of cake to her. Happily Nora is now home again and feeling much better.
  Now as to the competition and raffle, sorry, I can't remember those either. However I can remember that our next meeting will be at 2 o'clock, on Tuesday 10^th October, in the committee room of the People's Hall.                                             W.F.U.