Cropwell Bishop Village Parish Plan

Yet more new bus services (25-7-09)

While we await details of the new evening bus service to Cotgrave and Bingham, Councillor John Greenwood has revealed that two new bus services have just started up.

On Tuesdays you can travel to and from Melton Mowbray (Melton Market is on that day) and on Thursdays you can travel to and from Boundary Mill and Downtown near Grantham.

For those lucky enough to have a bus pass, the service is free.

Click on the Travel Page for more details.

Coffee Morning suits all tastes (25-7-09)

Last Saturday in the month - that means that it is Coffee Morning at the Old School.

This has quickly become a popular event on the village calendar; it is the place to be to catch up on all the latest news and meet people you haven't seen for a while. It is also a place to make new friends.

Cropwell Bishop wins award (23-7-09)

Cropwell Bishop is a safe and healthy place to live – and that’s official!

In the Calor Village of the Year competition for Nottinghamshire, we won the award for being: ‘Safer and Stronger – a healthier and secure place to live’. The presentation was made at Edwinstowe today. We were also presented with a cheque for £250.

In this photograph, Parish Councillors Alan Wilson (Chairman) on the right and Chris Keast, second from left, display the award alongside Rushcliffe Borough Councillor Debbie Mason and Rushcliffe Borough Council Chief Executive, Allen Graham.

Book Club Celebrates: Barbara Pugh reports (17-7-09)

It may not seem possible, but the book club is one year old. People have dropped out, and new people have slotted in.
The mix of literature has been diverse - from 'Cold Comfort Farm' to 'Kafka on the Shore'; from 'Under Milk Wood' to 'The Poisonwood Bible'; 'My Left Foot' to 'The Island' and 'The Ananci Boy', just to mention some of the titles read and discussed.
As you can see from the photograph, the deep and meaningful discussions need to be upheld by careful sustenance! The first year was rated a success, allowing the members to read books that they would normally pass by without a second glance.

Best flower displays (6-7-09)

This year's competition for the 'Best Flower Display in an Outside Container' organised by the Parish Council attracted a lot of entries and the judges had a hard time choosing prize winners. Even so, the efforts of some past winners once again caught their eye.
The winner was Freda Westmoreland on Hoe View Road (top left).
Second was Ray Kimpton on Brownhill Close (top right).
Third was Rosemary Hudson (right).
I must add that these picture do not do justice to the displays in their gardens: it would have needed several photos of each to do that.

Picnic in the Park with magic ending (4-7-09)

Picnic in the Park on the Memorial Hall Park has become an increasingly popular annual event. Following a warm day of glorious sunshine, memories of the heavy rain at last year’s Picnic were easily forgotten. Indeed, the evening turned out to be one of the best in memory.

As the sun set over the canal, the now familiar Cavalier Dance Band played popular tunes and their singer sang popular songs. It was a good start to the evening and the smell of barbecues drifted across the field accompanied by the popping of corks. When the music beckoned, people gathered in front of the stage to join in the dancing.

A passing dark cloud and a few drops of rain produced some worried looks but there was no need for concern. As the sky darkened the clouds disappeared and pace of the music increased as local band ‘KaoX’ took to the stage. The style of dancing changed and even more joined in the fun.

Before we had time to look at our watches, it was 10.15pm and time for the firework display. It was still warm enough to leave jumpers in bags and enjoy the flashes, whooshes and whizzers in the still darkness.

As ever, it was a great display. Then, just as people started to pack away, there followed a touch of magic. Someone had dared to gamble on fine weather and bought some ‘Thai Fire Sky Lanterns’. First one drifted above our heads - its glowing flames illuminating the paper ‘balloon’ and lifting it gradually higher. Then there was another and another. As about a dozen took to the air and drifted high over Cropwell Butler and way beyond, you could not help think that this may well become a feature of future Picnics: lets hope so.

Thanks must go to the Parish Council for organising another successful Party.

Celebration parade leads to School and elsewhere (4-7-09)

At just after 1.30pm the band marched from the Memorial Hall and stopped traffic as it travelled - with its followers - to the Primary School. There, in glorious warm sunshine stalls and activities sprang to life as people enjoyed being part of a village event.

Round the corner at the Old School, the Segways were still providing fun for anyone who wanted to have a go steering one of these amazing machines. Apparently some police forces in America use them: I wonder if their models have flashing lights and a siren?

Meanwhile, at St Giles, bell ringers sounded their skills and visitors admired the artwork of young artists from the Primary School.

Just up the road at the Methodist Church, there were more pictures and craft work on display as well as food and drink for those in need of a rest. What a lovely day it was turning out to be, and there was still the 'Picnic in the Park' in the evening to look forward to.

Youth forum starts Celebration weekend (4-7-09)

It was an opportunity for young people of Cropwell Bishop to let Parish Councillors know what kind of things they wanted in the village. It was also a chance to have some fun!

The Segways were in great demand - and not just by the younger people! I am sure that if they were available as a replacement for electric wheelchairs you would soon see dozens of them emerging each morning on their way to the Coop and Post Office. However, at a cost of nearly £5000, don't expect the council to make this an option in the foreseeable future.

Who looks at our website? (1-7-09)

The simple answer is, we don't know. However, the company that puts our site onto the Internet does provide a lot of data.

We do know how many people look at our website each day, how many pages they look at, the time of day they look, and what operating system and browser they are using. We also know what country they live in: amazingly, we get regular visits from people in New Zealand.

Ever since the site was launched the number of visitors has been continually rising. I can almost always say, "last week was a record week".

For the record, last week the average number of different people visiting the site each day was over 80 and the highest figure for one day was 133. For a village with around 800 households that would seem quite healthy. Then again, with our New Zealand visitors in mind, we can only guess how many actually live within hearing of the firework display at this coming weekend's Picnic in the Park (Saturday night: tickets from the Cabin).