Manchester Gospel Choir visit Sedbergh
  On Saturday 7th October at 7pm in the People's Hall, all the Churches and young people in Sedbergh eagerly await the arrival of a very exciting group of young people from Manchester.
  'The Sing Out Project' is a Gospel Choir with people from a variety a cultural backgrounds from all over Manchester. The Churches in Sedbergh hope that many young people will come and meet the Choir and having seen how exciting it is to belong to a gospel choir, be receptive to the idea of joining a new gospel choir for Sedbergh - 'The Dales Youth Gospel Choir.'
  'The Sing Out Project' is led by talented musician Wayne Ellington. Wayne studied music at Brunel University, where he won the prestigious Sheridan Instrumental Prize. Wayne works as a vocal coach and conducts a number of youth and senior church choirs. He is also vocal tutor to the Brunel University Choir.
  Wayne has appeared live on television with numerous celebrities from the gospel and secular field, performing with Sir Elton John, Candy Staton, Ron Kenoly, Graham Kendrick, BBC Songs of Praise, Gloria Gaynor, Tom Jones and many more.
  During his collaboration with the 'London Community Gospel Choir' and the 'Kingdom Choir,' Wayne continued to develop his vocal skills in Jazz and Opera which has opened doors enabling him to travel around the world.
  The Churches in Sedbergh see the gospel choir idea as a way of reaching out to our young people and hope this event will launch a gospel choir for Sedbergh.
  The Dales Youth Gospel Choir will be open to any young person in the Sedbergh District aged 8 to 18. Stewards at the event will collect names of those interested in joining the choir or adults who might be willing to help.
  'The Sing Out Project' Concert is admission free, refreshments will be served.
  For further Details: Phone Rev'd Peter Boyles 015396 25226.
  As this is an event in which people will be attending, it should require an advert to accompany the text. As there is no admission and it is for the good of the community, I have waived an advert on this occasion. Ed

New Girls in the New House
  On Tuesday 5th September, the new Year 9 girls were the first to see the newly refurbished Robertson House at Sedbergh School, arriving a day before the rest of the school. Girls came to Sedbergh in 2001 when Lupton House took in 40 of them. Robertson House was established in 2002 and has now been expanded to house 60 of them from ages 13 to 18.
  The new intake of year 9 girls in Robertson have come from a number of prep and junior schools including Sedbergh Junior School at Bentham, Terrington Hall near York, Easingwold, Casterton, QES and St.Amsells in Derbyshire.
  There are another 11 girls who have joined Year 9 of Lupton House.
  The Sedbergh girls this year achieved some outstanding exam results with 75% A and B grades at A level and 69% A* and A grades at GCSE. It is up to the new girls to keep up the reputation of the School as a centre of sporting and academic excellence!
  The Girls pictured (not in the correct order) are Katie May, Charlotte Skelton, Francesca Harnby, Poppy Hilton, Gemma Munday, Chessie Brook, Harriet Head, Ruth Duffield and Hannah Webb.

Steadman's In The Running To Be Named "Britain's Best Butcher"
  Steadman's of Finkle Street could be set to add to its impressive list of achievements in November when the Meat Trades Journal Butcher's Shop of the Year 2006 is announced.
  Owner Garth Steadman, together with his wife, will be attending the exclusive Claridge's Hotel in Central London on Tuesday, November 06, for the awards ceremony.
  Steadman's, who is a member of the prestigious Guild of Q Butchers, has been nominated as a finalist in the Northern England Butcher's Shop of the Year category.
  If the shop were to win, it would then be in the running for the overall award for British Butcher's Shop of the Year 2006.
  Garth Steadman said: "This is fantastic news. To get through to the final enforces everything we work towards as a Guild of Q and independent butcher. We pride ourselves on quality. The quality of our produce and service provided so that our customers come back time and time again."

  The Club is looking for a children's swimming teacher.  No experience is necessary as training can be given.  If you are willing to give it a go, please contact Jacqueline Smith on Sedbergh 20760.
  A reminder about session times:
Tuesdays
8 - 8.30 pm Aquafit £2. 50
8.30 - 9.00 pm Adult recreation £1.50
Thursdays
7.30 - 8.30 pm Adult recreation £1.50
Saturday
10 - 11.00 am Recreational swimming for all. Adults £1.50
Children £1.00
  Please be reminded that at this session, non-swimmers and children under the age of 8, must be accompanied by an adult.  Thank you.
  Children's swimming lessons run on Tuesdays from 6.30 - 8.00 pm and Thursdays from 6.30 - 7.30 pm.
  Membership fees are:-
Adults £12 per year and Children £8 per year.

  Do you read the cartoon type picture story in one of the daily papers about Calvin and Hobbes? Calvin is a small boy with a vivid imagination and Hobbes is a stuffed toy Tiger, except to Calvin Hobbes is his best friend. One day he lost him and was in a terrible state, meanwhile a little girl found Hobbes all flat after being run over and sorted him out taking him home with her. She invited Calvin to a tea party 'to meet her new friend but he was much to busy looking for Hobbes and as I read it I found myself willing him to go to the party! So often solutions to our problems are right under our noses but we are too upset or busy to see. Slow down, take time ... stop. LD

  I mentioned in my column last month that the state of the Stonehouse Bridge at Cowgill was a disgrace and that many people had drawn my attention to it when I did my mobile surgery in August. Poor communication between Cumbria County Council, the Environment Agency and Capita seemed to be at the bottom of the issues. Well it now appears that absence of any communication at all is at the heart of the issue.
  While drivers face what is a very dangerous bridge crossing - a bit of orange plastic is not going to prevent any car from driving into the river in the dark as the nights draw in - the Council appears to have been doing very little at all about putting repairs in place.
  To this issue we can now add the increasingly parlous state of the Lea Yeat Bridge also at Cowgill, without some rapid action this will very soon descend into a similar state to that of Stonehouse Bridge. Dent Parish Council have been very active in getting the County Council to do something and I have been doing all that I can to support them, we have been in contact the parties involved. In fact I have also contacted the Minister responsible for these issues to ask whether there were any powers to statutorily force the Council to act when a road was in a dangerous state. At the time of writing I have yet to receive a reply.
  In fact whilst I was driving around Sedbergh, Dent and Garsdale during my summer tour of the constituency I was struck by the generally poor state of many of the roads; potholes are much more noticeable when you are driving a fairly unresponsive and large van as it is so much harder and more dangerous to swerve around them. It is frankly unacceptable for the Council to reduce investment in repairs to a road simply because it is used infrequently. Minor roads up some of the dales are even more important to the people who use them than many major roads as there are frequently no alternatives. In addition many of the people using these roads are tourists who have no experience of using then and so can be easily be taken by surprise. The County Council needs to take this into account and be much more proactive in keeping the roads in a safe and usable condition. Rest assured I will make this point the next time I meet the County Council.
  Finally, I need to apologise to Councillor Craig Stephenson for misspelling his name in my last column, thanks to those people who drew the mistake to my attention. I am continually impressed by how thoroughly people read Lookaround.
  Anyway if I can help you with any issues be they traffic related or otherwise then you can contact me by writing to Tim Farron MP, Yard 2, Stricklandgate, Kendal LA9 4ND or emailing me at tim@timfarron.co.uk

Tim Farron MP

Grants for post-secondary school education
  Sedbergh United Charities makes grants to young people to help them financially after they have left school and are training for a career. This includes those studying at universities, etc. and those serving apprenticeships.  To qualify applicants must be under 25 years old and reside in the parish of Sedbergh.  The closing date for applications is 16th October.  Please apply giving your details, including address and date of birth, to:
The Clerk to the Trustees,  Sedbergh United Charities, 31 Loftus Hill, Sedbergh, Cumbria, LAID 5RX

  A warmish month on the whole with temperatures reaching the 70s F with a maximum just reaching 81F. During the wet periods the maxima dropped into the 60s F. The lowest maximum temperature recorded being 61.5F on one rainy day. The minimum temperature recorded was 44.2F with 5 other nights dropping into the 40s F. We had a period of 11 days without measurable rainfall followed by 4 wet days ending with 1.34 inches falling in one 24 hour period. Most of this rain fell in a 2 hour period one morning. It is the first time I've actually seen sheep run for cover. It was bouncing up 6 inches from our drive. During the 11 day dry period the winds on 9 days were not from the north west. In fact we had 15 days again when the winds were not from that quarter. The maximum wind speed recorded was 24.8 mph from the south west. (Did you spot my typing error last month when I put a wind speed at 42 mph instead of  24 mph!)
  How has the weather affected the wildlife? Well at last we had some butterflies. In fact we had clouds of Peacocks on the buddleia. There also some Red Admirals, Small Tortoiseshells plus a few small whites and a single Comma and a lonely Painted lady. Where they all went when the rain came was a mystery as most did not reappear. The second clutch of swallows let the nest on 25^th but continued to come back to roost for a few days. The hen was the first to disappear followed by 2 of the youngsters. The cock and 2 youngsters hung around for several more days before he went. The robins have obviously had another nest somewhere but I've only seen one speckly youngster again. Again I wonder if the dry weather has made it difficult to find enough food to rear a full clutch. Bats have again been obvious by their absence as have hedgehogs. I've only seen 2 road casualties all year so far and no live ones. The heavy rain brought a few salmon and sea trout up the Lune I understand. The badgers continue to visit most night except when its very wet and rabbits abound. I haven't seen any signs of myxomatosis so far this summer.