Shoe Box Appeal
  A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this year's Shoe Box Appeal.  We collected 45 boxes for the Samaritan's Christmas Appeal - a real achievement.                                                                                                                                                          A Brown

  We have been promised, by those experts in the Weather Centre, that as far as statistics go, we are due a very hard winter this year So far the few days of cold weather in December and January don't add up to one of those and the early spring flowers are already beginning to show their welcome blooms. Snowdrops (Galanthus) and Winter Aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) are coming in to flower along with the earliest of the Pulmonarias - (Pulmonaria rubra always comes into bloom way ahead of all the other species in my garden) - and one or two mad primulas. You may have noticed that in previous cold spells, the true winter flowers weather the knocks and recover remarkably well. Snowdrops and Daffodils sometimes start the day drooping on the ground, looking as though they have been lightly steamed, but as soon as the air temperature rises they perk up and quite quickly go back to normal. The same process can be seen at work in some shrubs particularly evergreens such as Rhododendrons. In frosty weather their leaves droop and they look as though they are suffering from drought. This is not so far from the truth - the leaves are short of water - but this is a process brought about by the plant itself. The removal of water from the cell turns the remaining sap into a form of anti-freeze which stops the cell walls from rupturing. As the frost thaws water is allowed to flow back into stems and leaves, and they resume their normal shape.
  Sometimes the most striking winter plants are those which have a bold shape, rather than those with flowers. My winner of the most stylish plant of the winter competition this year is "Black Grass" (Ophipogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens'), which actually belongs to the Lily rather than the grass family. It has clumps of black, strap shaped evergreen leaves which, when edged with sparkling white hoar frost, look simply stunning.                Elaine Horne

The Cross Keys Temperance Inn at Cautley.
  As many of you know, the couple that were to look after the Cross Keys during our three-year absence in Africa have decided to leave.
  This left us with a major problem as we are working as volunteers with a disadvantaged community in South Africa and the one thing we must give these people is continuity and the situation would not be helped by our leaving.
  Fortunately we have superb staff at the Cross Keys and when they knew what was happening they rallied round, even the ones that had left have come back and those that were about to leave have now stayed.
  Barbara Pickles a local farmer/vets wife is taking over as manager. Barbara has worked with us for nearly 4 years and knows the Cross Keys as well as we do. She is a superb cook and many of our special dishes come from Barbara.
  We would like to reassure everyone who has visited the Cross Keys that our staff are as committed as we are to offering a warm, friendly welcome with good, home cooked food at reasonable prices.
  On a personal note thanks to all the staff for their loyalty and understanding and a big thank you to our customers for their continued support.
Alan & Chris Clowes

  On 9th December, at Farfield Mill, David Hartnup spoke to us about World War Artists. During WWI, the Government published a booklet, and commissioned writers and artists to contribute. Although intended to show the life and conditions of British soldiers, no drawings of dead ones were allowed. David showed how several interesting facts could be gleaned from the drawings, e.g. there were no tin helmets until 1916; one society artist went taking his chauffeur, his mistress, etc. and copied photos, never going anywhere near the action; there was never much happening during the day, everything went on at night. Inspite of censorship, each artist developed his own style and emphasis.
  A very interesting evening, which reinforced the horrors of war.
  On January 13th, we watched a video of artist John Hammond "Capturing light in Acrylic". He uses a medium to mix with the paint, rather than water, which enabled him to control the drying time, and to work at the speed that suited him. He laid on a very rough background - "getting rid of all the white background" - before getting down to details, and producing landscapes in a very short time. Something for our Wednesday morning informal group to try.
  Our next meeting is the A.G..M. and Members Night on February 10th. We look forward to seeing you then.                                         Valerie Finch

  A cheque for £200.00 was sent to Dogs for the Hard of Hearing, thank you to all those who contributed.
  For the December meeting Mr T Hughes gave an interesting talk and showed slides on Kendal as it is now and as it used to be. January meeting Mrs Elspeth Griffiths gave us an interesting talk about her work as an archivist from land ownership to her present day work at Sedbergh School and how the documents needed to be kept in the right conditions with humidity and light being the worst.
  We meet on the third Tuesday of the month at 7.30pm in the Peoples Hall Committee Rooms. Our next meeting will be on 21st February with guest speaker Mr Lowe showing slides on Wrestlers Crucks & Mullions. New members always welcome.

Tell us where to go …..
  At Sedbergh CDC we regularly get requests from local residents (and businesses) to organise new courses of one kind and another.  In response, since September, we have started classes in Woodwork, Web Page Design, English Literature from WW1, Dressmaking, Maths, and English as a Second Language.
  On 28^th February we have a workshop all about protecting your PC from viruses, spyware and other nasties. Find out what they are and how to get rid of them!
  We are currently taking bookings for the Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene and Welcome Host (see ad elsewhere in this edition).  These courses were requested by local people who visited our B&B Advice Day in November.
  Recently we were asked to start a Bridge class.  We can do this but first we need 4 more people who'd like to learn.  If you, or a group of friends, are interested please let us know.
  We are also very keen to re-start our Basic Skills class in Reading and Writing but we need 1 or 2 new students to make the class viable.  These classes are FREE and are tailored to the needs of individual students.
  Please give us a ring on 21031 if you would like to know more about classes or if you have any ideas for new classes.

  At the conclusion of our twinning competition in autumn 2004, we all agreed that we would maintain "Friendship Links" with our other contestants. Some Sedbergh residents have already been warmly welcomed by their twins in Cyprus and Athienou tourism supremo Eleni has now suggested that a party from Sedbergh should come on a bargain holiday in spring this year. (Provisional dates 29^th March to 12^th April).  It would be a flexible package with the option of one or two weeks including air fares and accommodation with a choice of excursions as extras (including a 3 day cruise to Egypt!). An approximate basic cost would be £250 (one week) to £350 (two weeks) depending on times of booking the flights (Manchester - Larnaka). Food, drink and car hire are all very cheap and Cypriots drive on the left. The accommodation would be twin or double self-catering apartments in Larnaka. Transfers from Larnaka airport to the apartments cost £10.00 and the price from Sedbergh to Manchester would depend on the size of the party. This special deal is open to card-carrying members of the Twinning Club only. (Telephone Susan Garnett (21138) for details and a membership form). Please let Garth Steadman know as soon as possible if you are interested  (20431 or garthsteadman@yahoo.co.uk) The early birds get the best deals!

  The Dentdale Grumpy Old Men will meet again at 7.30 pm on the 9th February at The Sportsman's Inn, Cowgill.  Come along for a laugh and a moan.  Supper available.

  The amount raised from Carol Singing in Garsdale came to £270.  This has been forwarded to N.C.H. (Action for Children).
  A big thank you to all who sang and all who gave so generously.  Special thanks to Auntie Agnes for the welcome refreshments.

Thanks to all local shopkeepers and businesses
  I would like to say thank you all for the lovely raffle prizes you gave to Settlebeck for our annual Senior Citizens Concert in December.  There was a fantastic range of donations, all gratefully received by those (many) with winning tickets!
  Thank you also for supporting the students who asked for and collected donations; they were helpful and well-organised at school and earned certificates for their Citizenship files.  The team this year were: Lavender Carrick, Sian Benson, Toby Reynolds, Phil Metcalfe, Adam Littlewood, Nick Game, Matthew Burrow and Michael Griffin.                                                                                                                                                  Judith Walsh

  I had just one answer for last month's issue but that was enough. It was an e mail from Terry Garnett who had enlisted the help of Richard Brooks, Brian Garnett and Willy Haygarth so thanks to them all.
First picture
Back Row l-r. Ken Allen, Michael Durham, Henry Staveley, Charlie Williams, Barry Garnett.
Middle Row: John Thwaite, Mike Thompson, Wayne Taylor, Clifford Baines.
Front Row: Sheila Todd, Winifred Harper, Mr Kevan, Dorothy Harper, Margaret Brooks.
The Football Team consists of
Back Row: Brian Bannister, Jimmy Turnbull, Brian Garnett, Harry Sutcliffe,, Michael Crow, Norman Garnett.
Front Row: John Brooks, Tommy Capstick, Richard Brooks, Bill Metcalfe, David Woof, Alfred Handley, David Dodd.
This month's photo is from about 1957. I know some of them ..... but who are the others?
  Answers to Shirley Tebay Walnut Bungalow, Dent, LA105QT. Tel: 015396 25001, email: shirley.tebay@btinternet.com