More information regarding Shalstone HERE
Since the last Link news, Shalstone has been busy with events; firstly, a successful charity quiz night at the end of May, followed by the regular village coffee morning in June which raised much needed funds to replace the Reading Room wiring. Both were well attended and enjoyable gatherings. More pets than ever met up at the special church service for them in June, and the weather even held for a late July Safari Supper, with some hosts able to offer dining al fresco. Many thanks to all those who generously gave up their time for this and opened their homes for the evening. Thank you too to everyone who has supported on these occasions, helping to raise funds for a variety of causes.
As the summer ends, we now look forward to the annual Harvest Supper, on 17 October in the Reading Room, and then more seasonal festivities as the year draws to a close. Please keep an eye on the village social media and noticeboard for additional social events to come.
Upcoming services and events
- Sunday 7 September – 9.00 Family Communion
- Sunday 5 October - 10.30 Village Harvest Worship
- Friday 17 October – Harvest Supper in the Reading Room
- Sunday 2 November – 9.00 Family Communion
- Sunday 9 November – 10.50 Remembrance Service
Church cleaning
September - Elspeth and Trisha
October - Amanda and Kathy
November – Fiona and Janet
Cogitations…The Old Codger aka GPP
Flushed!
During the late 60s I was nominated to be the Rural District Councillor for Biddlesden. I felt it better not to stand for Shalstone as I was already too involved. It so happened that my first “official” outing was to the opening of the new sewage works at Padbury. We hadn’t yet had a Council Meeting! First was a summer lunch at the Folly at Adstock – Melon, salad and chicken and ice cream for pudding then, after a few speeches, off to the sewage works.
The Council Chairman was Tom Mitchison, from Steeple Claydon – an ardent Labour supporter – born in a different bed, he would have done well in Westminster. Ironically, he was foreman for the Public Works Caretaker who had built the works. We arrived on sight and walked down to the filter beds with their now static sprinklers.
Tom came from Durham, with a voice to match – “It gives me great pride to open this sewage works public site but by heck it’s not the first time I’ve opened one private”. He lifted the ‘penstock’ – a sluice gate – the morning ‘supply’ for Padbury was put up. Down it came – the sprinkler rotors nearly took off!
A few years later, after much hassle, I was able to persuade the Council to ‘do’ three smaller villages rather than one bigger one – we were included. Initially the sewage works was to be in the Kiln Ground. Eventually they decided to have a pumping station near the Lucas bungalow and pump our sewage to Westbury – Westbury wasn’t very keen! As work progressed, I happened to meet the mayor and, out of the top of my head, without thought, asked where they were going to have the Grand Opening and Lunch.
I offered the chance of a buffet lunch (at their expense) at my home, and it was, surprisingly, accepted! I sourced some ancient photos of the drains here being dug by 22 men down to the cess pit in the park. These drains eventually coped with Garden Cottage, The Nook and Old Laundry as well as the Manor until mains drainage came in the early 70’s.
Silverstone – Curves and Straights
At the beginning of July, Silverstone celebrated its 75th anniversary of becoming a Grand Prix venue. It would be remiss not to record this because it is so significant in the local district. One has to remember that, during the war, there were lots of landing grounds all over this part of England from which the bombers took off and returned, God willing, during the second world war. When the airfields were no longer needed, there was some rufty tufty farmland at Silverstone which didn’t serve any great purpose agriculturally, in those days, so it was taken over to become the race track. It was eventually considered to be a possible place to hold a Grand Prix.
During the race on 6th July, I was reminded, by the commentator, of the curious names of the corners and straights. When the first commentary of a Silverstone Grand Prix was broadcast it became necessary to name many of the parts of the track to make sense of it all for the audience. Local places of interest were chosen – Stowe Corner, Village, Copse, Hangar and so on. One place that stood out for me was “Maggotts”. My recollection of this is that there was an old building nearby, in which wiggly larvae were bred as bate for fishermen. In those days you could buy a pint of maggots for not very much money! The area became knows as Maggots Moor and, eventually, Maggotts corner followed.
Another corner, known as Becketts, is named after the 15th Century Thomas a Becket’s chapel, the final ruins of which were demolished during the building of the race track. I like to think that it is a happy coincidence that a nearby farm has been in the Beckett family for generations.
I’ve greatly enjoyed the cogitation and how the names from the past sprang to the forefront of my memory.