When I wrote last month we were in the pre-election period and I remarked about the content of the electioneering literature coming through my letter box.  What surprised me over the following fortnight was the quantity of the stuff.  I thought the Lib-Dems were meant to be an ecologically friendly organisation.  However I think they must have felled a forest to produce all the leaflets I received from them.  I can only think they were trying to boost SLDC's recycling figures.  On the other hand the Conservatives seemed to be rather shy.  I had a letter from the Conservative candidate which didn't mention the Conservative Party once, even in the very small print at the bottom of the letter!  Prospective Parish councillors, except Hilary Hodge, relied on us knowing them when we were presented with that large voting slip.  Full marks to Hilary then for her "vote for me" letter which I'm sure many of us found helpful.
  Well the elections are history now and we have a new councillor on SLDC.  We have a new SLDC with the Lib Dems in control.  We have a new Parish Council with some new blood amongst its members.  Now let's see what they can do; whether they can keep all those promises they made.
  The Lib Dems promise us affordable housing, maintained hospital services, improved recycling, affordable residents parking, better bus travel for concessionary card holders, traffic calming, cleaner streets, better street lighting, less dog fouling, Council Tax reductions and rebates (even scrapping altogether), saving the Auction Mart, saving our police being merged with Lancashire, and faster processing of Single Farm Payments.  I'm sure we all look forward to all these improvements to our life style in Sedbergh.  It seems to me though that at the moment everything is going in the opposite direction and our new councillors will have their work cut out to stem the tide. The asking prices for houses, for instance, appear to have rocketed in just the last few weeks.  The cattle market closed with undue haste whilst farmers have had to wait patiently for their long overdue payments.  Joss Lane car park seems to have priced itself out of use resulting in cars being parked indiscriminately on footways and narrow roads reducing some traffic flows to
single line.  Road safety seems to be compromised and even pedestrians are forced into the road to get around parked vehicles.
  I know I quite possibly have obtained a reputation for criticising our local councils' inactivity and bad decisions but I do realise that they operate under great restraint from national government and that Parish Councils have few powers of their own.  In many instances they have little control over what goes on in our community and can only petition the powers that be.  So thanks to all who serve the community in this way and are prepared to put themselves forward to be shot down by the masses!
  The Book Town launch was a great affair and it was good to see the TV news coverage in the evening.  Clearly many people have worked hard to get Sedbergh to this stage.  Tourism has to be a big industry for Sedbergh to keep the town's economy going.  Congratulations not only to the Book Town committee and the Chamber of Trade for all their hard work but also to all the entrepreneurs who have opened bookshops and cafes in recent weeks and others who are planning to do so.  I wish them every success.
  Sadly as their work goes ahead their efforts suffer as a result of the Joss Lane car park debacle, the cattle market closure and now the impending closure of Main Street to dig up the existing Victorian gas pipes and replace with new.  One can imagine Main Street full of compressors, pneumatic drills, dumper trucks, spoil heaps, and lorries bringing pipe-work and stone to fill the trench,.  Deliveries to shops will be impeded and pedestrian access made difficult.  OK the work has to be done but whenever it is done the town and its economy will suffer once more.  It will be good if it is found possible to postpone the work until our summer visitors have gone and our local festivals finished.  Hopefully both this months Book Festival (2^nd-4^th) and Music Festival (10^th-25^th) and the Market Fayre (26^th August) will be allowed to take place without Main Street being in a mess.
  Sedbergh has a natural beauty and charm but I find it being spoilt more and more by indiscriminate fly posting.  There is hardly a street light post or traffic sign post which hasn't got an advert for an event hanging from it.  At the time of writing there are even some quite huge ones advertising a Persian carpet sale which appear to have been deliberately made to look like traffic signs.  Surely there must be a law against such things - but if there is, who is responsible for enforcing it?
  I hope you enjoy Sedbergh in June and we have some summer weather for the longest days of the year.
  Best wishes                                                                                                                                                                                                               N Hastle

  It is now nine months since we arrived in South Africa and started work with the Thandi Project.
  In the orchards we saw the spring pruning and now we are just finishing gathering the last of the autumn apples. The weather is turning cool and the rains have started. Everyone hopes for a wet winter to fill the reservoirs. All the vineyards and orchards have to be irrigated during the spring and summer so water impacts on all aspects of life in this region. This area is called The Elgin Valley and is so like the Scottish highlands with huge lochs in the valleys and pine forests high into the mountains whose peaks reach 7000 feet and at this time of year are, sometimes, topped with snow.
  Perhaps I could get money from the South African Tourist board for waxing so lyrical!
  The Thandi farm has had a good year with more fruit being produced by the maturing trees and I am told the grape harvest will produce a good vintage of wine.
  The Farm Kitchen is going from strength to strength with a doubling of turnover in the past few months and more people being employed as a result. Training is going well on site with maths, bookkeeping, budgeting, ordering and health and hygiene instruction and off site we have courses in tourism, management and HIV/AIDS awareness.  Maintaining these standards, level of business and training takes a lot of our time but as repetition makes it second nature we will have more time to spend with our Community Projects which is our main reason for being here.
  One of the items that arrived in the shipping container from Sedbergh was a full rugby strip donated by Kendal RUFC. Our Community lives in a little village called Lebanon and there they have a rugby field. It hasn't been used much in recent years and is in a poor state of repair. However, after having been presented with the rugby strip and a ball some of the young men decided to have a practice night and after a couple of weeks a game with a neighbouring farm team was organized. That game was won and more practices were arranged - only this time a lot more lads turned up and soon there were two teams playing. After a couple of months neither the first or second team had lost a game. Practices are now two nights a week and the teams now have a good crowd of supporters following each match. Community spirit is returned along with pride in themselves.
  Our next project will be the bicycle workshop where we will train young people from the community basic mechanics. We applied to Comic Relief for funding the building of a mechanical workshop but this was turned down as they don't provide funding for building projects - so we are back again looking for funding  - if anyone has any ideas on that front please get in touch.  We do have some redundant farm buildings which we can use so the cost of refurbishment will be much less that a new build.
  We are opening two mountain bike trails on the farm. An 8Km trail and a 27Km trail so we can use our refurbished bikes for hiring out.
  We should be home around the 16th June for about three weeks and will have lots of photographs about the Thandi Friends Project so if any one is interested they will be at The Cross Keys.
  Once again may we thank all those who keep us up to date with Sedbergh news and who have supported the project so far.
  See us at   www.thandifriends.org.uk                                                                                                                                                   Alan & Chris Clowes

  There will be a Sedbergh School Local Boy's Fund Committee Meeting on Friday June 16th.  Any application is welcome for grants for educational tuition and/or educational facilities from boys resident in the parishes of Sedbergh, Garsdale and Dent.
  Please contact Joyce Priestley, Havera Bank, Sedbergh, (Tel: 015396-20104), for any further details.

Dear People of Sedbergh,
  While the member's of the Parish Council were so concerned about me being at New Bridge, not one of them approached me to find out my circumstances.
  But, I am pleased to say, I have now got a flat in Sedbergh.  I had been looking for a while but it was very difficult with a dog.
  As for the toilet's at the cemetery I, like the council, was disgusted at the state they were in, so on two occasion's I cleaned them out.
  So please council members, next time you have a concern about anything please try to find out more about it.
  Never judge a book by its cover.                                                                                                                                                                           Dave Gent

Dear Editors,
  I was amazed to learn from the May Lookaround that the Parish Council had decided to spend £900 of Sedbergh Resident's Council Tax revenue to fund the Mayor of Zrece and his group's stay at Thorns Hall.
  I am certain that we were all assured in the early stages of the Twinning 'Jolly' that all expenses would be met by the individuals in favour of the scheme.
  Whilst personally not in favour of any twinning schemes, particularly for a place that I cannot pronounce and am never likely to visit - I have no objection to those people who do approve - provided they pay the costs themselves and please do not use my Tax contributions.

Peter Snow

  Thank you to all those who supported the Christian Aid Shop during Christian Aid Week. £2078.41p was raised - a wonderful total and over £400 more than last year. At the point of writing the total for the door to door collection is not yet known.

  Many people suffer from this disease and a few people in Sedbergh are looking at creating a Support Group to give support and help in the area when needed. Any assistance in helping the Group, including Fund Raising, should be directed initially to The Lookaround Office.
  Further details and any developments next month.                                                                                                                                                            Ed

  The Speed Sensor has not been in position lately as the Battery Charger has packed up and is away for repair. Meantime, if anyone would like to loan me one for a short time, please contact me.
  Seat belts are there for your protection and it is an offence under traffic law not to wear them. It is also an offence to not carry a child in accordance with the regulations. It is mostly 'Mature' drivers and not youngsters that flout this law.
  When should you display lights on a vehicle? During periods of poor visibility. It is amazing as to how many 'mature' drivers who fail to do this, especially when it is raining. Just think, if you have to put your windscreen wipers on, there is reduced visibility. PUT YOUR LIGHTS ON!          DJW