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PHOTO CALL
This has been a better month and I have had 3 replies regarding last month's photo. These came from Pamela Wilson, Jean Conchie and Betty Scarr. Thanks girls. Along with the names I had to start with, it is almost complete.
Top row l to r:
Edna Johnson, Jean Christian,xxxx Mabel Goss, Mary Conchie, xxx Betty Braithwaite, Dorothea Moss,Jenny Woof,Mary Atkinson, Betty Garnett, Kathleen Stoker
Middle Row:
Keith Harding,Peter Wilson,Leslie Dixon,Billy Woof,xxx, ? Sedgwick,Wilferd Parker,James Procter,xxx, Bernard Dixon,Billy Greenwood,xxx
Front Row:
xxx, Nipper Harrison,xxx,Jean Wood,Teresa Towler,Margaret Sedgwick,Violet Harper, Edith Harrison,Vera Milburn,Laura Burton,xxx,Billy Conchie,Tommy Baines.
And the photo was taken in the 1930s.
This month another National School one which was kindly given me by Ann Allen. I know quite a lot of these names but not all. Names to me, Shirley Tebay, Walnut Bungalow,Dent, LA10 5QT. Phone 01536 25001 or email
shirley.tebay@btinternet.com
UNITED REFORMED CHURCH
The idea of writing a brief piece for Lookaround to introduce myself was a great one over a coffee one Wednesday morning but now I'm sat looking at a nearly blank screen where to start.
Hello! (a good start I hope) my name is Carole Gotham and I have recently become the new minister serving Sedbergh United Reformed Church on Main Street. I've moved up from the Manchester area and am still amazed that I have ended up in such a beautiful part of the world. I'm a generation or so away from my family roots in Swaledale and Keld, but this part of the world is already feeling like home.
I am working for the Sedbergh Church part time and linking it to training job for the wider church in the North-West region. In order to return to local church work I left my most recent job which was as an instrumental and class music teacher in 6 schools in Manchester. 350 children a week, most of them bearing descant recorders, does little for the ears I assure you. I'll miss it though as I loved the job.
Music has always been a great love of mine and although it will no longer be my profession I hope I'll never stop playing something. I'm loving being in town band though the instrument and uniform may take me a while to get to grips with!
I will probably be most often seen wandering, whatever the weather, around Sedbergh and the surrounding fells with my rather lovely labradoodle, Kenzie, between us we are enjoying exploring and building up leg muscles.
Now I'm stuck, what else to say? I enjoy archaeology, conducting my choir (in Stockport), playing the oboe, I've been on page 3 of The Sun newspaper (clothed I assure you), I believe I am still the youngest female minister in the whole of the United Reformed Church and I have an unusually fanatical liking of Cadbury Chocolate!
On a more serious note, I am really excited about serving both the church in Sedbergh and the local community. I work from the church most mornings of the week and am always open to visitors so feel free to pop in and say hello.
All the best, and many thanks for such a warm welcome to the area. Carole Gotham (Revd)
CHAMBER OF TRADE MEMBERSHIP
Another year and another AGM passed. As the new committee sets about its tasks for the coming year and I volunteer to take on the role of Membership Officer for this year, can I just ask you (whether in business or not) to consider what the Sedbergh & District Chamber of Trade has done for the area over the last few years.
As a long established organisation in the Town, it has had it's ups and downs over the years with the inevitable swings of enthusiasm that such rural groups enjoy due to the limited number of people available and those people usually being active in more than one group at any one time.
I first became actively involved in the late 80's with the S&D Chamber of Trade and there was a genuine willingness to work together (as members and with other groups) for the betterment of the area. It was a memorable time for me personally and I think for some others as we outshone the likes of neighbouring Towns much bigger than Sedbergh with our growing membership of over 120 members and some extremely interesting Members social events.
Although I then took a back seat in this group during the last 10 years as I concentrated on some of my business interests, I have remained a member to support those who had the time to work on my behalf for the Town and it's business opportunities. And have they worked!!
A look at the success of the two most notable results of their efforts during these last few years shows what an outstanding success they have made of it. There are many more achievements of note of course but these two are the most widely known.
The Foot & Mouth crisis helped create the initiatives for economic regeneration for the area in partnership with other bodies. Two of those initiatives, Twin Town and Book Town, have most famously come about with outstanding success. The former with an unbelievable amount of National TV exposure already gained through the twice run 12 part BBC2 series "The Town that wanted a Twin" and the latter with the establishment of Sedbergh as a Book Town and now formerly recognised on the International scene as England's Book Town. Now that is success.
We are already seeing Sedbergh retail units reporting increased business this year against some National decline on Britain's High Street spending. Increasing numbers of people are registering with us looking for premises for storage and retail use for many purposes. In short, I believe the tide has been turned and Sedbergh is heading for an improving economic base for the business people and consequent employment opportunities for the people of the area thanks to the spearheading efforts of those groups of people who 'got active' in the post Foot & Mouth era.
To summarise, I want to now play my small part for our local 'Trade' group by asking all Traders and business people to sign up again promptly this year for their Sedbergh & District CoT membership by signing a Standing Order for the new fee of £50 per year (if paid before end of December). It's the least we can do to thank those who have worked tirelessly on behalf of the business community over these last few years
Nigel Close, Membership Officer for Sedbergh & District Chamber of Trade
SETTLEBECK HIGH SCHOOL
MacMillan Coffee Morning at Settlebeck
On Friday 29th September it was, 'The Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning' to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Care.
People who help organise the morning were William Richardson, Callum Hopps, Keirhan Hoyes, Sophie Schools, Charlotte Orr, Elizabeth Thexton, Mr Jermy, Mrs Hopps and myself. We did a raffle and Toby Richardson won the star prize of a DVD player. Cakes were kindly donated by the kitchen staff. The morning went very successfully and we managed to raise £230. Natalie Iveson, Year 10.
DECEMBER LOOKAROUND
Well, it is almost here. One of the most celebrated events in the world. The birth of Christ 2006 years ago. We must never lose sight of that occurrence and we hope to celebrate this in Lookaround in December as usual.
Father Christmas tells me that he is busy in his Grotto and is available for public and private functions. He can be contacted via the Lookaround Office! He also informs me that he has a distant relative who is a Town Crier and is also available for public and private events.
The December issue will be a double issue (No January edition) in Full Colour so ensure you get your articles, events and adverts in sooner rather than later. Closing dates are still 15th for adverts and 19th for articles and Personals. Last year, we had a record number of Personals for Christmas Messages. Will it increase this year?
Computers? They are great while they are working properly. On my system, I have various 'Protections' against viruses and occasionally, just occasionally, a genuine e-mail is discarded into the 'Bin'. I do check the 'Bin' every day but I am sure that some get deleted never to be seen again. If you feel that this has happened to you, send me another e-mail with nothing attached and hopefully I can avoid any disasters.
I have received some cracking black & white photo's of Sedbergh from about 1957 from Mr Philip Hutchins who has penned to Lookaround in the past. I intend to do a "Past & Present" every month which I hope you will enjoy.
Finally, I was recently interviewed by "Cumbria Life" magazine who will be making reference to Village Newsletters in Cumbria in their next issue in which Lookaround gets some good press. D J Whicker
FROSTROW W.I.
Frostrow W.I. enjoyed an interesting and amusing talk by Tony Hannon who had recently . been on a Coast to Coast Walk lasting 13 days with five friends who have been doing these walks on different routes for some years. He and his friends started the walk at Almouth and followed the route for 170 miles to Ravenglass via the Langdales, Eskdale and the Duddon Valley. Accompanied by many wonderful slides of the group on many stages of their walk, Tony told us about the various good, bad and indifferent places they had stayed at in different small towns and villages on their walk. The journey took them via Annech the Rothbury area where the Jacobean rebellion had begun, to Hexham, Allendale and Nenthead and Wark (owned now by the Duke of Northumberland) through Elsden where cup and ring stones were found from the Bronze Age towards the West via Bampton Common before reaching their destination.
The group, still apparently best friends, were blessed with good weather for their walk which raised £4,000 in sponsorship money to be donated to a project in the Sudan.
After the talk Jean Mitchell gave a report on a meeting she had attended. Various members will be attending different social evenings during the next few weeks and a team will once again be entering the WI Quiz at The Bull. The AGM will be held on 6th November.
POLICE REPORT
This month, I have received information from the Trading Standards who are making people aware of the following scam: A card is posted through your door from a company called PDS (Parcel Delivery Service) suggesting that they were unable to deliver a parcel and that you need to contact them on 0906 6611911 (a premium rate number). DO NOT call this number as this is a mail scam originating from Belize. If you call the number and you start to hear a recorded message you will already have been billed £15 for the phone call. If you do receive a card with these details, then please contact Royal Mail Fraud on 02072396655 or ICSTIS (the premium rate service regulator) at www.icstis.org.uk or your local trading standards office. This is a genuine scam and is under investigation by ICSTIS.
Once again, thank you to all residents for making this a unique (almost) crime-free community in Britain. There is nothing to report this month, apart from ….. the still selfish drivers who will exceed speed limits, especially overtaking on Station Road by the Ambulance Station. One day, there will be a serious accident, and as statistics show, the innocent victims will come off worse and the offender will walk away!
Another topic that I want to relate to is litter. The majority of litter in our town is generated by our youngsters and I say this with good authority. I see them congregate outside The Spar, in the Bus Shelter and elsewhere and every time that the area is vacated, there are crisp packets, sweet papers, drink containers and more, especially near to waste bins. I feel that this is disrespectful of our town, doesn't look good and certainly does nothing for the environment. Maybe a few being reported and going to Court might make a difference but why should we have to do this to otherwise very good children. Children, please make the effort and parents, please remind them.
Anyway, off my 'Soap Box' (again). By the time that you read this report, you will probably never see me in uniform or in a big yellow and blue van again. I am proud to have been a resident of Sedbergh and a serving Officer here for many years. Can I thank most sincerely everyone for their kind words and best wishes received. I will miss serving the community as an Officer of Her Majesties Constabulary, but life must carry on. My 28 year Chapter will close on 28th November and another will start. Now, what was that phrase on TV many years ago? Oh yes. "Giz a Job!" All offers considered. I am also still able to sign Passports and other documentations if required.
If in the future I can be of any assistance to anyone, I will, BUT, if there is any incident that needs the attention of the Police, you must ring 0845 33 00 247.
My last report next month! Dennis J Whicker
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