Author: alpington-yelverton-admin

Below are the details of a bonus for referring a friend to the community oil purchase scheme. This website previously carried an article about the scheme, and further details can be seen on our page here. If you’re not in the scheme, contact us and we will put you in touch with someone who is, so that you can both take advantage of the offer.

From the thinking-fuel scheme:

This February we are asking you to Share The Love by referring a friend to the Thinkingfuel syndicate, and you both receive £10 off your orders!

Simply ask your friend to sign up at http://www.thinkingfuel.org.uk then drop us an email to thinkingfuel@af-affinity.co.uk copying your email address too. Please remember to include both your names and contact details. One of the team will then be in touch. Once your friend has joined, both receive £10 off your next order.

To qualify

· Minimum order is 500 litres

· Maximum order is 2000 litres

· Your friend must place an order in February to receive £10 off

· Orders are for Kerosene (heating oil) only

· Full payment must be received and delivered before a credit is applied

· The account application process must be completed for the new account

· Those being referred must be new to the syndicate, and not existing members.

· £10 is for each qualifying customer only and not transferable

This year, I think many of us will be relieved that our bitterly cold and wet January is drawing to a close, so let’s look forward to February knowing that we are edging ever-closer to the magical Springtime. 

As long as we don’t get another “Beast from the East” or a deluge of snow, a lot can be achieved in your garden during February on days when the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged. 

Planting

You can now plant bare-root trees and shrubs in their final positions. Similarly, you can move or plant ‘in-the-green’ snowdrops (snowdrops with just leaves) so they will give you a beautiful show of white flowers in a week or so. This is also a good month for planting shallots, raspberries and blackberry canes, if weather and soil conditions permit. 

Make sure the frosts haven’t lifted newly-planted trees and shrubs, firm the soil around them gently with your foot if required. 

Pruning

If you didn’t get a chance to prune your hedges last Autumn, February is a great time to do this.  Deciduous garden hedges can all be cut back fairly hard now. 

You can also cut back deciduous grasses, ideally down to 15-20cm before new shoots emerge and also deadhead any winter bedding plants for bushier displays later in the year.

Feeding

If you have cleared off the old growth from your perennials and your flowerbeds are quite tidy, you can apply a top dressing of blood fish and bone or other granular fertiliser around the plants and gently fork this into the soil. 

Sowing

Although it seems very early in the year, if the weather permits, you can plant your sweet pea seeds outside where you wish them to flower but they may need to be protected with cloches. Alternatively, plant some seeds in a few plant pots in the greenhouse or on the windowsill so they can be planted out later in the spring.

Seed catalogues

You can get a lot of ideas for your summer garden from gardening magazines or seed catalogues, maybe finding some new varieties of striking annuals for your pots or hanging baskets.  So, on any wet and cold February days, they may be worth a browse! 

These tips were kindly contributed by local resident Cara MacColl

A small bit of good news: we’ve noticed that a few of the older and damaged signs around the village have been replaced recently. If any villagers reported some of these to the council then thanks!

There were defective and worn out signs in Wheel Road, Burgate Lane and Reeders Lane. Some of them were reported late last year by the Parish Council, and we’re pleased that they’ve been selected to be fixed at this difficult time.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The author’s personal understanding is that these sorts of things are (perhaps understandably) usually low priority for the county council to fix, but they are currently only able to carry out certain works because of coronavirus restrictions, and it looks like this has allowed these items to come to the top of the list.

Please open the pdf file below for some comprehensive information from the NHS on the covid vaccination programme, dispelling some myths, and answering some common questions. Including religious beliefs, mild side effects, existing conditions, and if you’ve already had covid.

Yare Valley Farm Shop are trialling Surlingham’s first ever fish van down at the Farm Shop!

The lovely Tim from East Coast Fishmongers will be here every Thursday 12-4, from next Thursday 21st January.

This will be initially on a trial period for 4 weeks, so make sure you come and grab some wonderfully fresh fish direct from his van. The dates he’ll be here are:

• Thurs 21st Jan 12-4
• Thurs 28th Jan 12-4
• Thurs 4th Feb 12-4
• Thurs 11th Feb 12-4

Payments

Card payments accepted with minimum of £2 spend.

Directions

Just follow NR14 7GD to find us, when you’re on Mill Rd look for signs to Yare Valley Farm Shop or Teles Patisserie. Go down the drive and you won’t miss us!

Covid Measures

Please ensure to stand two metres apart if queuing for the fish van. Masks are required when purchasing your items and when queuing. If using the Farm Shop please be aware that only 2 people should be in the Shop at any one time and masks are to be worn at all times in the Farm Shop. There is a hand sanitiser dispenser located outside the Farm Shop.

Further info

Farm shop website

A free Compassionate Art online talk by Rev Dr Nick Garrard, Bishop’s Officer for Christian Spirituality through the Creative Arts in the Diocese of Norwich, will take place next week.

read more and sign up

Happy New Year!

January may seem like deep Winter, when staying warm by the logburner or fire holds more appeal that getting out in the garden however, weather permitting, there is a lot which can be done in your garden this month.

Protecting

Plants will need protection and maintenance at this time of year. Brush any snow from evergreens and conifers to stop the branches from being weighed down and breaking.

If wet weather has made ornamental grasses fall flat, start cutting these back to give them a fresh start. Check fleece and straw is still covering tender plants such as tree ferns.

Clearing, Weeding & Mulching

Remove any remaining dead top foliage from non-shrubby plants, fork over the soil between plants, burying any weeds. If feasible, continue digging heavy soils to be broken down by frost.
After plenty of rain, start mulching beds and borders with leaf mould, manure, compost or shredded bark – a layer 5-10cm deep is ideal.

Pruning

Thin out dead and diseased branches from established trees and shrubs. Winter prune Wisteria by cutting back – to within 3inches of the old wood – all young shoots not required. This will increase the size of your plant.

Feeding

Feed new plantings in late January with slow-release fertiliser such as Blood, Fish and Bone, but leave the application of faster-acting fertilisers such as Growmore until early March.

Wildlife also will benefit from your help at the beginning of the year. Put out various foods and water in your garden for hungry and thirsty birds. Stop ponds and bird baths freezing over by leaving a tennis ball to bob on top of the water.

Tidying up

January is also an appropriate time for tidying your garden and maintaining and repairing your garden furniture and decking. Tidy up the garden shed, cleaning, sharpening and oiling your gardening tools ready for action.

Recycle cut trees by shredding them for mulch or compost. Repair and stain or paint fences, pergolas and wooden furniture if weather conditions permit. Scrub slippery garden decking and paving with hot soapy water, or apply path and patio cleaner. On dry sunny days ventilate greenhouses and conservatories and wash the greenhouse glass to let in more light.

These tips were kindly contributed by local resident Cara MacColl

A post for anyone in the village who buys home heating oil.

Many residents may not be aware, but the village is a part of a wider oil purchasing scheme, where many people ordering at the same time can receive a better price. You order individually, without needing to time your order with others. It takes the hassle out of ordering, as the scheme negotiates the price on behalf of you and the others ordering near that time.

You can read more information with the button below, and then click through to the scheme’s website if you’re still interested. But basically there are two order dates per month, on each date you can send them an email with your order, and then within a couple of weeks you receive your oil. The price advantage comes from the fact that many other people will order at the same time, and the scheme can then negotiate a better price for the very large order.

oil purchase scheme details

Originally the parish council paid a lifetime membership for the village, so that all residents can take advantage. Since then the scheme has evolved so that there are now no collective or individual membership fees, and no need to quote any village scheme membership.

It’s worth looking into if you don’t enjoy ringing round to get the best price at the time. We are not sure of the exact size of the discount that is achieved by the scheme, but the idea is that you’ll get a better price for less effort.

Most dog walkers are responsible and clean up after their dogs.  However, there are some who don’t do this and we all know how unpleasant it is to step into dog poop on a footpath or playing field.

South Norfolk District Council has recently passed a public space protection order that requires people in control of dogs to clean up after them and to restrict dogs from enclosed children’s play areas.  There is a fixed penalty of £100 for breaching this public space protection order.

Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council has always taken the issue of dog fouling seriously and provides plenty of dog waste bins around the Parish.  This costs a good deal of money, as not only does the Parish Council have to buy the bins, it also has to pay for the emptying of them. The cost for emptying and the dog waste bins this year was over £760.

The Parish Council has also erected numerous signs encouraging dog walkers to “bag it and bin it”, including some colourful ones designed last year by children from Alpington and Bergh Apton C of E VA Primary School.

So, as the signs say, if your dog pooped please pick it up, bag it and most importantly bin it either in one of the dog waste bins or your own waste bin at home.

As 2020 draws to a close it’s a good time to reflect on what has been achieved in Alpington and Yelverton during the year.   

Much of 2020 has been dominated by the Coronavirus pandemic – something that we couldn’t have envisaged in January and February when we were planning for the Annual Parish Meeting due to be held on 16th March.  That meeting had to be cancelled, but thanks to having our Community Emergency Plan already in place we were quickly able to activate the Plan and coordinate volunteers in the villages to assist residents who were self-isolating or shielding during lockdown with shopping and collection of prescriptions.

Despite the pandemic a number of projects sponsored by the Parish Council were completed.  The Village Play Area behind the Village Hall was refurbished and expanded and reopened in time for the summer holidays and is now able to be safely enjoyed by children in the villages.

Last month we reported on the progress with the Village Pond restoration project and since then a small group of volunteers cleared some dead trees from the central island and tidied up the vegetation on the banks.  

Thanks to all the rain we had in October the Pond is now almost completely full of water and looking good. 

Both these projects were managed by parish councillors and made possible with grants from the Community Benefit Fund which receives annual payments from the local Solar Farm.  

The Community Benefit Fund is administered by the Parish Council and local groups can apply for grants for projects and activities that benefit the community.  We will be letting this year’s applicants know whether they have been successful by the beginning of December.

If you have driven or walked by the Pond recently you would doubtless have seen the restored Yelverton Village Sign.  

The old sign was in a very poor condition and the Parish Council approached the local Men’s Shed to ask if they would help restore it.  In the end the sign had to be completely replaced and the gentlemen at the Men’s Shed did a fantastic job.

The Parish Council would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped out this year.  We wouldn’t be able to achieve our goals without them.

The Parish Council meets every two months and meetings are open to the public.  Due to coronavirus restrictions we have been holding virtual meetings via Zoom since July but the public are welcome to join in.

Agendas and meeting details are posted on the Community website and Village Noticeboards.  The next meeting will be on 4 January 2021 at 7.30pm.

We would like to wish you all a happy and safe Christmas and best wishes for 2021.

Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council 

https://alpingtonwithyelverton.com/about/parish-council/