You set off on a journey to the other side of the world to discover the tastes of humans there, and what do you find? Cropwell Bishop Blue Stilton Cheese!

That's what two of our villagers discovered yesterday in the fridge of the house they are renting in Queensland, Australia. Clearly, the owners have good taste.

So, if you find yourself letting your house to some visiting Australians maybe you could do something to make them feel at home. At the present time cricket bats and tennis rackets are out of the question: maybe a model kangaroo on the lawn?

Tony Jarrow

The clock on the tower of St Giles Church in Cropwell Bishop will be stopped on 31st July.

The 1906 Turret clock made by G. & F. Cope & Co of Holden Street, Nottingham, and was paid for by villagers. It has served the village well until recently, when mechanical wear made it unreliable.

The electrical auto-wind mechanism – designed by myself and the late Martin Day (Bingham) in 2003, continues to work well: it save's someone (originally the Walker family) having to climb the tower to rewind it every week!

The clock is to now be repaired – thanks to the Parish Council who are funding the work. Worn parts are to be removed for professional repair.

Three quotes for the work were considered by CBPC and it accepted the one submitted by John Reynolds, a Fellow of the BHI and a Senior Tutor at Upton Hall. He will also act as guide and mentor to myself and I will be assisted by Nick Brown, also of BHI Upton.

Looking to the future, if anyone is interested in helping looking after the clock, (ability to climb the circular steps essential) or it's history, please let me know.

Colin Bryan
Cropwell Bishop Parish Councillor
Tel: 07778 890139

Note:
The British Horological Institute (BHI) is based at Upton between Newark and Southwell. The BHI is the training and qualification authority for British Watch and Clockmakers. Now in our 161st year, we are one of the oldest UK professional bodies and enjoy a world-class reputation within the international horological industry.
Upton Hall is also the home of the Museum of Timekeeping which is the custodian of the BHI's horological collection of books, clocks, watches and horological machinery.
Much more information may be found at www.bhi.co.uk

On Friday, the flower displays by entrants to this year's "Best Flower Display in an Outside Container" competition were judged. The event has become a regular part of the Village Celebration Weekend.

The winners were announced at this evening's "Picnic in the Park", and they are:

1st Sue McNally 2 Stockwell Lane

2nd Sophie and Charlie Wainwright 27 Kendall Rd

3rd Pat Westmorland 43 Hoe View Rd

4th Shona Crawford 109 How View Road

Below, in the same order, are photographs of the displays.

Thank you to all entrants

Janice Towndrow
Parish Clerk

Recently, crops on the Allotments have been damaged and even dug up but early this morning, under cover of darkness, the culprit was caught on camera.

Unfortunately he got away but at least we now know who we are looking for.

Click on the Allotments page for more details.

Tony Jarrow

Yesterday, Sunday, the sun shone and the rain held off and so members of the "Cropwell Bishop Growers and Gardeners Club" were able to fully appreciate the several gardens on display to them in the village.

Afterwards, they were able to enjoy a cream tea at the Old School.

The gardens on display belonged to members of the club and there was great variety. The recent "variable weather" ensured that they were well watered and green.

Take a look for yourself ....

Tony Jarrow

A resident of Smiths Close in Cropwell Bishop returned from holiday yesterday to find that they their house had been broken into.

Apparently, the break-in occurred late last Friday evening. The thieves climbed over the fence between them and their neighbour, broke open the patio door and got into the kitchen. Once there, they found the car keys and then stole their car which was parked on the drive.

I understand that similar thefts have occurred in other nearby villages.

An ordinary car on the drive of an ordinary house in Cropwell Bishop! We all need to be extra vigilant at the present time and keep a look-out for suspicious happenings.

Tony Jarrow

The new 833 bus service to Bingham has made a good start. Malcolm Dabelll used it for the first time yesterday and this is what he had to say ....

"We used the the 833 bus to Bingham yesterday morning (Thursday) at 9-44am.
The bus arrived on time with only a few passengers already onboard: we found the drivers to be very pleasant & informative.
You do have to be careful to catch the correct bus to return to Bishop via Cropwell Butler otherwise you have an extended journey through Granby, Barnstone, Langar etc.
Both buses carry the 833 number but you have to read the destination also. This did seem to cause some confusion with passengers but I am certain it will become clear with use.
This 833 provides a much improved service to Bingham."

This morning, David Glyn-Jones also tried out the 833 service but he decided to take the longer scenic route to Bingham.

Being, for once, a passenger rather than a driver, he had the opportunity to concentrate on the scenery rather than the road and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

Langar, Barnstone, Granby, Elton, Orston, Aslockton — there were several intresting places worth a stop and maybe he will do so on another summer's day.

After 40 minutes he arrived in Bingham. On this occasion he decided not to linger and after a 9 minute driver-stop, he got on again and returned to Cropwell Bishop, getting off where he started, the old Co-op bus-stop on Church Street.

On the journey to Bingham he was the only passenger, and on his return there were just two.

He was very positive about his experienc and is already encouraging others to try out this new service.

Will you give it a try?

Tony Jarrow

Cropwell Bishop Police Beat Surgeries are a drop-in opportunity to meet local police and discuss local community issues. They are held at The Old School.

Beat Surgery dates are:-

Wednesday 19th June 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Wednesday 10th July 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Thursday 1st August 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Thursday 29th August 2.00pm – 3.00pm
Thursday 26th September 2.00pm – 3.00pm

Janice Towndrow
Parish Clerk

The new 33 bus service appears to have made a good start.

David Glyn-Jones travelled from Cropwell Bishop to Nottingham this morning. It arrived on time and was already half full.

The route proved an interesting one and people were waiting to jump on board as the bus passed through Cropwell Butler, Cotgrave and Tollerton.

There was a short stop at Morrisons where there was a driver changeover and then it was onwards to Friar Lane, Nottingham. By then the bus was full.

The return journey was just as efficient and the bus arrived at Cropwell Bishop on time.

Has anyone tried out the 833 bus to Bingham?

Tony Jarrow

From tomorrow, we will have two new bus routes serving Cropwell Bishop.

The Yourbus 822 service no longer runs and has been replaced as follows:

The 833, operated by Vectare on contract to Nottinghamshire County Council, provides a good daytime link directly to Bingham via Cropwell Butler (14 minute journey time).

It runs every hour from Church St with the first bus at 0744 and the last at 1644. Return from Bingham (Newgate Street) is at 38 minutes past the hour with the last bus at 1738.

The return fare to Bingham is £4.40 for adults and £2.20 for children.

In the other direction the 833 travels eventually to Bingham through the Vale villages as the 822 used to do.

The 33 service, operated commercially by CT4N, provides a service through to Friar Lane every hour. During the daytime it loops around Hoe View Road (at 42 minutes past the hour), and Church St (at 47 minutes past the hour) before travelling to town via Cropwell Butler, Hollygate Estate, Cotgrave Ringleas and Daleside, Tollerton, Morrisons and West Bridgford. The return fare to town is £6 and the journey time is about 60 minutes.

At peak times the timetable changes and the route through Cropwell Bishop changes slightly as the bus travels to and from Langar, Granby and Sutton.

The existing 850/852 will continue to run and offers us a limited service to and from Radcliffe.

The new services should enable us to leave our cars at home more often. Please give them a try.

If you have any problems or concerns please report them to the Clerk, Janice Towndrow (0115 989 4656 or email: clerk@cropwellbishop-pc.gov.uk )

Cllr John Greenwood

Find out what has been occupying the Police in the Rushcliffe area during recent weeks.

There have been thefts and attempted thefts but there are things we can all do to avoid being a victim of crime.

Be aware of the tricks that can be played on you and what you can do to protect yourself.

Sadly, there was a fatal accident at Cropwell Butler 10 days ago.

Download the latest Rushcliffe Stakeholder update by clicking on: "Stakeholder Update"

Tony Jarrow

There is a defibrillator in Cropwell Bishop for anyone to use in an emergency. Instructions on how you can access it are given on the Contacts page (orange tab on right).

You will also find a link to a 2 minute video on how to use the defibrillator.

Might be a good idea to have a look at it now rather than when you face a life or death situation.

Tony Jarrow

I don’t know where Richard Turner gets his ideas from but every year he manages to come up with a range of new, demanding and exciting ways to ask questions about Pop music.

Back in 2014, when Richard first put on the Pop Quiz, it seemed that all you had to do was be able to remember the sound and title of past hit records — which was more that I could do even then.

As a result of his apparently endless quest for new ways of testing our knowledge and memories, last night's event included categories that: asked you to recognise song titles written in Latin, the genre of a music clip, the bass guitarist or drummer in a music clip 50 years old, the colour missing in a song tile, and so on.

In comparison, recognising the tile of a song after hearing just the first few bars was child’s play (for some).

For the first time, the Quiz was an all Cropwell Bishop affair so the winning team came from the village.

Throughout the evening, the seven teams battled for points and were evenly matched. The final round saw the team centred on the Springfield/Maltings region of Cropwell Bishop emerge as worthy winners.

Was it Doctor Macdonald’s knowledge of prescriptions that gave them the edge (for song titles in Latin)? We shall never know, but fear not; next year we may well have to recognise titles in Welsh!

A great night and many thanks to Richard Turner for all the effort he puts into making this a fun event.

Tony Jarrow

The Trophies for this year's Village Show have been engraved and are now in safe keeping ready for the Show on Sunday 1st September.

This year, instead of one category for all children, Category 9 is for Key Stage 1 children and Category 10 for Key Stage 2. All children who enter will be awarded a medal.

Printed copies of the leaflet and entry-form are not yet available from shops, but you can view (and then download) them by clicking on the links below.

Show Leaflet

Entry Form

There is a poster on the Events page.

Tony Jarrow