Cropwell Bishop Village Parish Plan

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Saturday Cafe has lots to offer (30-1-10)

Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010

Last Saturday in the month: that must mean it is Saturday Cafe. A bright sunny morning brought lots of people down to the Old School at 10am.

This month, organisers of Cropwell Care were there to explain the work they do in the village. Do you sometimes find that you are stuck for transport or maybe need help with your shopping? Well that's where Cropwell Care (ie. Cropwell Bishop Voluntary Care Group) can help out.

It is an organisation in Cropwell Bishop set up to help the residents of the village - particularly those who do not have family or freinds living nearby. It is supported by the Parish Council, Belvoir Health Group, St Giles Church, The Methodist Church, Notts Rural Community Council, Rushcliffe CVS and other local groups and invividuals. As a result, many of the services they offer are free of charge. To find out more, or to get help, phone the coordinator on 989-3183.

Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010 Upstairs was a very different display: carpet bowls. You may have already seen the advert for carpet bowls in recent issues of Cropwell Bishop News, and here was a chance to see - and try - the game for real.

It is much easier than you might think. Even a bad back cannot spoil the fun: you could play it sitting on a chair! Think of it as a cross between playing marbles and playing snooker! You roll the ball (which is nothing like the heavy ball used in ten-pin bowling) gently along a mat. It can be played between individuals or between teams.

During the winter months you can play carpet bowls at Cropwell Butler Village Hall every Tuesday and Wednesday evening (7.15pm-9.30pm). For more details, see Cropwell Bishop News (new issue comming to you this week) or phone Jim on 933-4735.

All profits from the Saturday Cafe today are going to be donated to the Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

Tony Jarrow

Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010 Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010 Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010 Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010 Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010 Saturday Cafe 30-1-2010

Lots of movement by young people at Old School (30-1-10)

Groundhog work

The GroundHogs Dance Company were at the Old School last night.

They offer youngsters the chance to learn a basic understanding of hip hop dance and music.

Photos taken by Jo suggest that the Company was a big hit with our own young people.

For more action photos, click on the Youth page.

Cropwell Cinema: Two films in one day in February (24-1-10)

audience 22-1-10 Just as the 'Saturday Cafe' on the last Saturday of the month has become a venue for sales and displays - as well as a place to catch up on village news, so Cropwell Cinema has become more than just a film show.

It has become a friendly and convenient night out where you can enjoy a drink, watch a continuous slide show of village photos, and chat to others - and all this even before the film begins!

In February, Cropwell Cinema will be showing two films on Friday 19th. See the posters below: you will also find details on the Diary Page and on posters around the village and in the Post Office.

Cloudy poster Soloist poster

Cloudy picture It will be the school half-term holiday and the afternoon film will no doubt appeal to children accompanied by their parents. This is what critics have said:

“This animated comedy has a lot of super-sized fun. Films this whizzy and funny often skimp on the heart, but not this one – there's a lovely role for James Caan as Flint's dad, a beetle-browed workhorse who can relate to him only in fishing metaphors. What an unexpected treat this turns out to be – as messy and riotous as a kindergarten food- fight, with teacher tied up in the corner”

The evening film, 'The Soloist' is more likely to appeal to teenagers and adults (12 certificate). This is what the critics have said:

Soloist picture Soloist picture Soloist picture “It begins quite intriguingly with Lopez (Robert Downey Jnr) falling off his bicycle, being rushed to hospital and returned home with his face bashed in. Too bad nobody has called him to check how he is. He seems slightly adrift, estranged from his editor ex-wife (Catherine Keener) and despondent about the crisis in the newspaper business.

Out hunting for a story one day Lopez overhears a homeless man, Nathaniel (Jamie Foxx), playing on a violin, and engages him in conversation – or rather, listens to his burbling stream-of-consciousness, much of it about his beloved Beethoven. Lopez rummages a little and discovers that this trolley-trundling vagrant was once a cellist of great promise. He puts Nathaniel's story in his column, and decides that he'll try, somehow, to rescue him from destitution – regardless of whether Nathaniel wants to be rescued or not.

The Soloist finds dramatic texture in this uncertain friendship: are they just writer and subject, or is Lopez a Good Samaritan to Nathaniel's lost soul? The way we would expect the story to go – the Hollywood way – is for the journalist to redeem the musician by putting him back on stage and so letting the world hear his genius.

That the film-makers resist this route is honourable, though it perhaps has to do with the fact that the lives on which it's based are still unresolved. The direction it does take is more sobering than you'd imagine”

Entertainment for all - here in your own village. Buy your tickets from the Post Office.

Tony Jarrow

Local support for Bridge Demo (23-1-10)

Joshua Mann bridge demo

Joshua Mann bridge demo There was no chanting, no violence and no arrests – not quite what you expect to happen at demonstrations in the 21st Century. But then it was never planned as that kind of demonstration. It was a ‘photo shoot’ to publicise the view of the Grantham Canal Society and others, that a bridge that allows boats to pass under should be part of the current road building work (see article below for more details).

There were reporters taking notes and recording interviews and photographers taking pictures. The ‘demonstrators’ themselves played their part for the event and then enjoyed the opportunity to chat with friends in the early morning sunshine. In the photos below you may well recognise some faces from Cropwell Bishop.

Tony Jarrow

Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo Joshua Mann bridge demo

Canal boats in Cropwell? Your help needed on Saturday! (21-1-10)

Grantham Canal This needs a bit of explaining: please give me a few minutes of your time. You have a chance to affect the future of the Grantham Canal in Cropwell Bishop: future generations may thank you.

The Village Plan revealed that people wanted to see the Grantham Canal here full of water again and operational. This will probably only happen if boats are able to travel from the River Trent to here. One of the biggest challenges will be to build new bridges where necessary. Everyone connected with the Canal was relieved to find that the new A46 road will include an acceptable canal bridge under it. Don’t be deceived by current appearances; the short stretch that has been filled in will eventually be cleared and replaced by a tunnel suitable for boats.

Grantham Canal So that’s good news then: Government planners are taking a long term view of the Grantham Canal and, at the very least, are not putting obstacles in its way. Well, only with regard to the A46 tunnel. They are in danger of making a mess of their own plans! Maybe it is the result of oversight or red-tape but the fact is that the current work on the A46 road junction at Cropwell Bishop could well result in preventing the Canal being reopened to boats!

Grantham Canal The focus of the problem lies on the other side of the A46 from Cropwell Bishop. About 200 metres beyond the road crosses the Canal. You would hardly know it does because the original bridge no longer exists. The original bridge was known as ‘Joshua Mann’s Bridge’ and in fact this crossing point is still referred to by this name (or sometimes just bridge number 16). Obviously this bridge will have to be rebuilt at some time in the future if boats are to pass along the Canal at this point. This stretch of road is like many others that cross the Canal; narrow, well worn and so likely to be improved in the not too distant future – at which point the necessary bridge could be incorporated at relatively little extra cost.

Grantham Canal Now here lies the problem – and it is not apparent as you drive by the road works there. You can clearly see the new road bridge being built for the A46 traffic: vehicles from Cropwell Bishop will drive under it.

There would appear to be ample distance for this new stretch of road heading towards Stragglethorpe to rejoin the existing road before it reaches the site of the Joshua Mann Bridge. It seems that most people were of this opinion and so unconcerned – until very recently when they discovered that they were wrong!

Grantham Canal The builders of this junction will in fact have to rebuild the road some way beyond Joshua Mann Bridge. The plans they are working too provide a road as flat as the existing one. If boats are ever going to reach Cropwell Bishop from the Trent, this new stretch of road will have to be ripped up and a new bridge built. Wouldn’t it make economic sense to incorporate a new Joshua Mann Bridge now? Modifying the proposed plans would surely be far more cost effective than building a bridge in the future. The Government Planners had the foresight to ensure that a tunnel was built under the A46 but that effort will prove worthless if a new Joshua Mann Bridge is not built.

The Grantham Canal Society is making a big effort to bring this issue to the attention of the general public – and all the action will take place this Saturday, 23rd January 2010. This is what John Brydon, Vice Chairman of the Grantham Canal Society, says:

“We have arranged a photo shoot at Joshua Mann’s Bridge [Number 16] for: Saturday, 23rd January 2010 at 9.30am.

Grantham Canal There will be "3 men in a boat" being obstructed from going any further than Mann’s Bridge due to the existing lowered bridge/culvert. Unless the Highways Agency and The Under Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Moles MP and his boss, Lord Andrew Adonis, come to their senses, then this is where the navigation of the Grantham Canal will be firmly halted for ever.

We need as many GCS members, friends and supporters to be there to show the world our frustration. We hope to make this into a national press release early next week

BBC East Midlands Today are proposing to be there, as are the Nottingham Evening Post and The Grantham Journal.

Please show your support and turn up to the photo shoot.”

To show your support for their efforts, you need to be there for only about 40 mins, between 9.20am and 10.00am approx.

Tony Jarrow

Grantham Canal

Bridge Club: First meeting arranged (17-1-10)

Bridge If you are interested in playing bridge in the village – at any level, please come along to the inaugural meeting.

This will be held in the Friendship Centre on Nottingham Road on Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 7.30pm.

At this first meeting we hope to decide how we will run the club.

We already have an instructor to teach novices so can get started straight away.

If you are coming along, please call Hilary Hawkins on 989-9243 or email hilary.j.hawkins@btinternet.com so we can get an idea of numbers.

Hilary Hawkins

The personal struggle behind 'The Origin of Species' (6-1-10)

Creation Poster Creation