Sunday Email: Issue 97

We know that our two Parish Councils support the celebrations and in the case of Topcliffe Parish Council, might be able to assist with funding of appropriate events and projects. We also know that the Village Hall Committee has agreed to give free use of the Village Hall for any jubilee events over the four-day celebration.

Some events will come together fairy easily, such as services at St Columba’s Church because there is a group of people that make the church work well and they will simply add on celebratory services, but most other ideas will only materialise if someone in the community – an individual or group – steps forward to organise them.

As a reminder, the list of possibilities is as follows:

• 11 March – Formal tree planting (this is the 70th day of the 70th year of the Queen’s reign, and coincides with the right time to plant trees). Plaque erected and time capsule buried.
• 30 April to 2 May – Scarecrow competition with a royal theme – to coincide with a similar event in Carlton Miniott.
• May – Village tidy-ups and litter picks (dates to be agreed).
• Village beacons.
• Street and house decoration – throughout weekend celebrations
• Evening Meal and Disco in the Village Hall – bring your own drinks.
• Saturday 4 June – Party in the Park on the playing field. Bring your own picnic and drinks. Possibly with a band and dancing, games, races etc.
• Children’s crown-making competition.
• Children’s Jubilee art competition.
• Jubilee Photographic competition.
• Fancy royal dress competition.
• Vehicle display – any vehicles 70 years of age and over.
• Flat Green bowling knock out competition – teams of four (including children accompanied by adults).
• Jubilee walk – a short stroll between Topcliffe and Asenby and back for families and people of all ages.
• Sunday 5 June – Brunch in the Village Hall.

Larger-scale and longer-term opportunities;

• Improvements to Jubilee Gardens.
• Creation of a Platinum Jubilee Walkway on the trail between Topcliffe Bridge and Asenby, with new path surfaces, more benches, picnic tables on the grassy area near the bridge, waste bins, more tree planting and jubilee signage. Hambleton Brewery, based in Melmerby, has expressed a willingness to give financial support to this proposal.
• Tree planting to improve the nation’s tree canopy.

So, lots of ideas that have the potential to make up a great programme for the Platinum Jubilee, with fun events and some great opportunities for long-term memories and improvement. But have our two communities got the willingness and commitment to make at least some of these ideas a reality? Please look through the list and consider how you might help. The plain fact is that these exciting proposals will only take place if residents are prepared to make them happen. The next public meeting is at The Angel at 7.30pm on Sunday 6 March. Everyone will be welcome.

Yet Topcliffe Bridge is looking remarkably neglected on its western side due to damage caused by motorists crashing through the fencing and red & white safety barriers erected in its place. These conditions have persisted for as long as three years, maybe longer, and it is time that something was done about it. At a public meeting to discuss how the two villages of Topcliffe and Asenby might celebrate the Platinum Jubilee it was suggested that the one thing that the county council could do to play its part is to fix the bridge, and the suggestion received unanimous support from all present.

I am taking the liberty of expressing the collective views of those at the meeting and would welcome an official response in order that I can report back at the next meeting on 6 March. I look forward to hearing back.

Initial Response from the County Council
Please treat this email as acknowledgement of your communication. Whilst our standard timescale for responses to correspondence is 20 working days, I will speak with colleagues and come back to you as soon as possible on this matter.

Last Wednesday’s lunch raised £56 for The Herriot Hospice.

• TODAY – Sunday, 20 February at 10.45am – Choral Matins.
• Sunday – 27 February at 10.45am – Holy Communion.
• Sunday – 6 March at 6.30pm – Choral Evensong
• Sunday – 13 March at 10.45am – Holy Communion (traditional language)
• Sunday – 20 March at 10.45am – Sung Matins
• Sunday – 27 March, Mothering Sunday, at 10.45am – Holy Communion (modern language).

• Tuesday 1 March – Hilarity Bites Comedy Night – doors open at 7.30pm and show starts at 8pm. Tickets £10 in advance or £12 on the night.
• Sunday 27 March – Mother’s Day – one of the busiest days at The Angel, so book early.
• Friday nights – 5 to 9pm – Land & Sea – steak or fish for two with a bottle of wine for £35.95
• Sunday roast – 12noon to 8pm – traditional Sunday Lunch.

Check the website at https://theangelattopcliffe.co.uk/ or call 01845 578000.

• February – Closed.
• Fancy home-reared lamb at Easter? Orders now being taken.
• March – Thursday 3 and Friday 4, 9am to 2pm; Saturday 5, 10am to 2pm; Sunday 6,10am to 2pm.
• Thursday 17 March – Pizza Night.

• Topcliffe Parish Council – the February meeting has been cancelled, so the next meeting will be at 7pm on Thursday 3 March –  www.topcliffe.org.uk
• Asenby Parish Council will meet at 7.30pm on Wednesday 16 March – www.asenby.net

Village Hall Committee meeting

• The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on Tuesday 5 April.
• The AGM and an Ordinary Meeting of the Committee will be held consecutively starting  at 7.30pm on Tuesday 7 June.
• www.topcliffe.org.uk/village-hall/

Both parish councils and the Village Hall Committee meet at Topcliffe & Asenby Village Hall.

• To Thursday 24 February – Sing 2.
• Friday 25 to Thursday 3 March – Belfast – a young boy and his working-class Belfast family experience the tumultuous late 1960s.
• Friday 4 to Thursday 10 March – Nightmare Alley – an ambitious conman with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.
• Friday 11 to Thursday 17 March – Death on the Nile – while on vacation on the Nile, Hercule Poirot must investigate the murder of a young heiress.

Please keep checking the website for the latest details – https://www.ritzcinema.co.uk/

• 22 – 24 February, 10.30am – 12 noon – Children’s half-term workshops – From £4.50. Run away to the circus for the morning, making your own miniature acts with paper, ceramics and more!
• Friday 25 and Saturday 26 February, 10am-3pm – Print Sprint – From £12.50. Two days of live demonstrations and workshops inclusive of all abilities. Try out different techniques with our friendly and professional printmakers.
• Wednesdays from 2 March, 6.30pm – 8pm – Life Drawing – £8 per session. Take part in brand-new fortnightly sessions to hone your observational drawing skills as part of a friendly, peer-led group.
• Thursday 3 March at 7.30pm – Katie Spencer –  Full: £10, Concessions: £8. Katie Spencer is a progressive folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Yorkshire who writes songs imbued with the northern landscapes of her home. “Intensely captivating” – Folk Radio.
• Thursday 10 March at 7pm – National Theatre – Live performance – Book of Dust – Full: £10, Concessions: £8. Philip Pullman’s prequel to the epic His Dark Materials trilogy. Two young people and their demons find themselves at the centre of a terrifying manhunt. In their care is a tiny child called Lyra, and in that child lies the fate of the future.

For more information and to book places, go tohttps://www.ruralarts.org/: 

• Wednesday 23 February at 8pm – Ahir Shah – featuring his signature blend of philosophical inquiry, personal examination and sweet gags.
• Friday 25 February at 6pm – Pop Divas Live – the UK’s number 1 Pop Tribute.
• Friday 4 March at 7.30pm – Bulsara & His Queens – this internationally recognised Queen tribute band returns for an exciting new show.
• Monday 7 March at 7.30pm – An Evening with John Pilkington – the award-winning author and photographer is one of Britain’s most experienced adventurers and public speakers. 
• Tuesday 8 March at 8pm – Andy Zaltzman: Satarist for Hire – the chair of The News Quiz (Radio 4), host of the global hit satirical podcast The Bugle, and Test Match Special statistician, returns with his unparalleled interactive stand-up show.
• Thursday 10 March at 7.15pm – Rigoletto live-streamed from The Royal Opera House – this special anniversary screening of Verdi’s Rigoletto celebrates 171 years since its premiere in 1851.
• Friday 11 March at 8pm – Bobby Mair: Cockroach – an hour of dark, gut-wrenching stand-up from one of the best comedians in the country.
• Saturday 12 March at 8pm – Lore – captivating harmonies and finely crafted songs, providing an evening of soulful songs with stunning musical arrangements.

Enquiries 01609 776230. Tickets online at http://www.forumnorthallerton.org.uk

• The Angel at Topcliffe – http://www.theangelattopcliffe.co.uk
• Asenbee Honey – http://www.asenbeehoney.co.uk
• John Aston Flooring Ltd – info@johnastonflooring.co.uk – 01845 421111.
• The Catton Kitchen – http://www.cattonkitchen.co.uk – 07747 083155.
• Chip ‘n Dales – Closed until 28 January 2022.
• The Elm Gallery – http://www.the-elm-gallery.co.uk – 01845 577316 or 07709 223920.
• Fotiá Candles – http://www.fotiacandles.co.uk – 07879 447953. 
• Joanna’s Touch Photography – 07732 941758. Also on Facebook and Instagram.
• The Little Yorkshire Hamper Company – http://www.thelittleyorkshirehampercompany.co.uk 07793 775987.
• The Milk Churn Farm Shop & Cafe – https://www.milkchurnfarmshop.co.uk/ – 01845 400446.
• Studio 18 Hairstylist – Nicola James, 18 Long Street (opposite the surgery). 07851 034815.
• The Swan – http://www.theswantopcliffe.co.uk – 01845 595185.
• The Thirsk Food Bank – collection point at the Milk Churn Farm Shop. 
• Topcliffe Post Office – 01845 577517.

Hambleton (Topcliffe):

• Recycling – Thursdays 24 February. and 10 March
• Refuse – Mondays 28 February and 14 March. Garden waste – resume 24 February for those who have subscribed to 2021/22 service. 
• Subscriptions for 2022/23 are now open. The cost is £40. New and existing customers can now sign up at http://hambleton.gov.uk or call 01609 779977.

Harrogate (Asenby)

• Refuse – Mondays 21 February and 7 March.
• Recycling – Mondays 28 February and 14 March.
• Green Waste – Subscriptions for 2022/23 are now open and the cost is £41. Sign up at http://www.harrogate.gov.uk

Five to 11 year olds offered Covid jab
Children aged five to 11 are to be offered the Covid vaccine in a bid to protect them from future waves of coronavirus. The decision came after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said children should be offered a low-dose Covid jab on a “non-urgent” basis. The dose of vaccine offered to children aged five to 11 will be much lower than that offered to adults or children aged 12 and over. It will be a 10 micrograms dose compared with 30 micrograms.

There are an estimated 5.8 million five to 11-year-olds in the UK and they’ll all be able to get the jab from April onwards. Those in vulnerable groups have already been offered a chance to have a vaccine.

Covid test kits won’t be free for ever
The government has said that its policy of giving the public free PCR and lateral flow tests is constantly under review and the free provision can not last for ever. Some reports suggest the free supply will stop fairly soon under the ‘Living With Covid’ strategy that will soon be published. Health Secretary Sajid Javid refused to confirm the plans when speaking to the media last week but said measures to protect the UK from Covid are “not all forever”.