The recent Garden Open Day was considered to be a great success despite the quite appalling weather which moved in during the afternoon. Those who visited the gardens were impressed not only by what they saw but also with the warm welcome they received and there have been good reports from their hosts who actually enjoyed the experience! The Parish Council would like to thank its Amenities Committee for promoting the event, in particular its Chairman, Julia Sewell, for her hard work in organising it.

The sum of £90.00 was raised for the VHPFF through the sale of the location maps and considerably more was generated for cancer charities through sales of refreshments on site. The Amenities Committee consider that it would be well worth repeating next year so watch this space for further information!

The Parish Council has purchased a copy of the ITV documentary on the Village made nearly 30 years ago as it believes it to be an important part of its recent history. The film will at first be lodged in the Parish Office but it must be pointed out that the showing of the film in public is strictly limited under the purchase agreement and will be shown in parts on suitable occasions.

This has, however, prompted consideration of the whole question of Parish Archives, that is what exists and where could it be safely housed. The Parish Council would like to hear of any archive which is held in private hands and also hear of any suggestions for an archive location - if you can help on either of these issues, please contact the Parish Clerk or any Parish Councillor.

At the time of writing this, it looks as though at last the work has started on the new play area. As reported in the last issue of the Newsletter, the delay was caused by the estimate for the final plan having grown from the original budget of £40,000 two years ago to £52,000. This is to achieve the complete first phase plan approved both by the "Friends of the Playground Group" and by the Parish Council.

As the Borough Council refused to fund the increase and in order to get things moving, the Parish Council decided to use the mandate given to them by Residents through the Village Appraisal and Parish Plan to contribute the difference in order to develop activities for the younger members of the Village and trust that this decision will be supported by all.

If you have not yet got your copy of the Parish Plan, there are still some available under the Parish Council notice board in the lobby of the Village Hall.