Ivinghoe Ball ticket reservations.

There are still tickets left . If you missed the ticket sale on 06-Mar that, please could you contact Penny directly on 01296 668017.

Please also see the Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=259976769861&ref=mf

The band is InDefinately …”take being a covers band to a whole new level.”
To reserve a table or tickets, please bring your deposit with you of £20 per ticket (Cheques or cash only, please) on the 6th March.
The balance must be paid by 1st May or your table/seats will be offered for resale.
Alternatively you may pay in full and your tickets will be handed to you immediately.

Themed Night – Saturday 26th June

We have decided to follow the success if the last two years for the Saturday night event which this year will be based on the theme of the 80s

We have booked “An 80s Affair” to entertain us on the night and guests will have the option of dressing up in 1980s style clothes.
Various items will be provided free on the tables to enhance the experience. ‘Meals Matter’ will provide the food for the evening again.

www.indefinately.com

On Wednesday, March 17, (9pm) InDefinately play at the Slug & Lettuce for St Patrick's Day - Exchange Street, Aylesbury

Ball Booking Weekend.



Summer Ball – Friday 25th June

We are holding the price for the Ball on Friday 25th at £55, the same as last year, and have already engaged the services of a band by the name of InDefinately to provide the music.

Catering will be prepared and served to us by the professional ‘Cuisine Excellence’. The doors open at 7.00pm, with a fully licensed bar including real ales, and of course dancing until 1.00am. The Committee will once again be selling an excellent selection of quality wines at reasonable prices with a wine waiter service to your table. Join us for what will be another fantastic night.

Work has been carried out on local potholes - in Bucks and nearby Herts.

But with temperature changes, and rain, they are likely to reopen at any time. Best advice - be aware.

Post youir own sightings on www.fixmystreet.com

A vacancy has arisen for a parish councillor within the village. Please find attached the application details.

You may not know what your parish council does, or ever considered getting involved in the running of your village. We asked a couple of parish councillors to tell us how they got involved and what being on the parish council means for them. You can see their comments in the attached document.

Please feel free to contact me with any queries.

Laurie Eagling
Clerk to Pitstone parish council

Cold weather info:

Here are some web sites to help you.

For road and traffic news - http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/local/buckinghamshire.shtml

For schools closed in Bucks - http://apps.buckscc.gov.uk/eforms/schools/closure_list.aspx

You may also want to look at the two council web sites -

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/bcc
See also www.avdc.co.uk

For more on school closures and traffic look at (or listen) to www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties.

And www.mix96.co.uk/news

Local people will be well aware of the danger of colliding with deer on local roads.

This is a big problem, at a number of different levels.

Firstly it is a serious road safety issue. About 12 people are killed annually in the UK in vehicle-deer collisions. Secondly it is distressing for deer which are struck and not immediately killed, and for the occupants of the vehicles involved.

The deer have been here - on the National Trust Ashridge estate, which extends now to the edge of Pitstone and Ivinghoe. -- since the 1500s, when this was royal hunting land. They have no predators and their population is controlled by trained marksmen culling deer to achieve the correct population balance.

The only other control, and one nobody wants, is on the roads, with several dozen deer killed in accidents throughout the estate every year.

In recent months (Nov and Dec 2009) 2 deer at least have been killed around the villages - on the B488 near the Silver Birch café, and on Northfield road just after the roundabout on the way to Tring Station. We are not aware of which vehicles were involved, and possible injuries and damage sustained.

There has been work to research the problem, and possible mitigation measures have been tested – read about the National Deer-Vehicle Collisions Projecton www.deercollisions.co.uk. Ashridge has been involved in this.

However measures taken, which include flashing lights activated by crossing deer, and measures to deter the deer from crossing, have not proved very successful. (Cutting back bushes and scrub at the sides of roads has some promise, to improve visibility.)

The best solution still seems to be for drivers to reduce their speed. And be aware that the deer could dart out from anywhere, at any time of day.

The deer problem is not going to go away. They will continue to be abundant locally (and the sight of them in the woods brings pleasure to many), and technology to control them, and make roads safer, may not work.

The best you can do to stay safe is be very aware - particularly at night - and expect the unexpected. And slow down if you can.

Problem areas are the whole of Northfield Rd, between Tring Station and the roundabout at the top of Castlemead on the B488 (particularly the "corridor" with dense tree cover on both sides just after the roundabout) . Then much of Vicarage Rd, Pitstone.
And the B488 itself, from the roundabout all the way to the Windmill car park. And anywhere in Ashridge.

Elaine Thorogood , known to her fledglings as Brown Owl, was the inaugural winner of Pitstone's 'Volunteer of the Year' for 2009.

Nominations are now invited for next year's award. The only rule is that nominees are or have worked on a voluntary basis with an organisation within the village of Pitstone. Entries are also invited from members of organisations based in Ivinghoe which serve both villages.

The closing date for entries will be the 15th January 2010. The successful candidate will be chosen, from a list of nominees, by Pitstone Parish Council prior to the Parish Council's Annual Assembly for 2010, where an award of £50.00, will be presented to the person chosen.

Nominations can be made by anyone living in the village, age is no barrier, so please post your nominations to our Parish Clerk, Laurie Eagling, along with your name, address and telephone number, with similar details for the person you wish to nominate together with the organisation they represent and the reason why you think they should be considered for special recognition. The Parish Council would like to encourage under-14's to write in with the name of someone they feel makes life better for the youth of the village.

Please feel free to put a name forward

The intention of this award is to recognise the hard work of all volunteers that support and run the various clubs and societies in the village. Thank you for all your effort.

The Rose and Crown re-opened on Friday evening, 31st July, with music from The Beacon Community Choir, and an opening speech from the Speaker of the House of Commons.

The famous old pub had been closed for some time and there were very real fears for its future, until Alistair and Tracella bought it.

The inside has been totally made over, with a new bar, lots of mirrors, pine, leather armchairs and smart white walls and a slab floor. Everything in the upstairs restaurant area is new too. The builders have done a magnificent jobs and rejuvenated old pub deserves to be seen.

Mr Speaker Bercow, the local MP, gave a short speech in which he praised local facilities like this pub and the enthusiasm of local people to make it happen. The first pint was then drawn and long queues built up of people waiting to be served.

The Rose and Crown is now firmly back in the fabric of our villages serving real ale, a wide selection of wines and food. It is now up to us all to support this magnificent new asset to. www.roseandcrownivinghoe.com

And let’s remember that the villages have two other pubs, the Bell (opposite Brookmead School) and the Duke of Wellington at Cooks’ Wharf – just beyond the railway bridge on Cheddington Rd.

They both try very hard to make people welcome, serve good beers and food and deserve our support.

Election results for Ivinghoe Division
County Council - Thursday 4th June 2009

Avril Davies was elected
%
Avril Davies Liberal Democrat 1637 47.9%
Christopher Poll Conservative 1392 40.7%
Martin Norris UK Independence 389 11.4%

More results - http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/mgElectionElectionAreaResults.aspx?Page=1&EID=6&RPID=31055341

Despite all entreaties, the latest edition of News Central, the newsletter of Central Beds Council has been landing on doormats in Pitstone and Ivinghoe from today (Monday, June 1.)

This comes despite the Leighton Buzzard Observer publishing a very prominently displayed letter from us pointing this out a few weeks ago.

If, like us, you consider this a stupid waste of resources, and postman's time, all we can suggest you do is return the publication to sender. Whether you put a stamp on your letter, of course is entirely up to you.

Gareth Davies