News and Events

The Village Pond Restoration Project was kicked off in October 2017 when long-standing resident of Yelverton, the late Ted Cullum, applied for a grant from the Community Benefit Fund.

Ted was concerned that within a few years, if no action was taken, the Village Pond would become nothing more than “a soggy depression, devoid of water and covered in reeds, rushes, saplings and scrub”. Ted illustrated his application with watercolour sketches he had made of the Pond showing how it used to appear.

The Parish Council agreed that the Pond was an important amenity for the Villages, and took on the restoration project.

The intent is to restore the Pond to health and beauty by cutting back trees and scrub that have become overgrown, thus increasing light to the pond surface and cutting down on leaf litter accumulating below the surface.

In addition the bulk of the reeds and rushes will be removed, and the sludgy mud that has built up dug out to the original Pond bottom.

Following advice from the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, the Project was broken down into stages, dealing with the two halves of the pond in consecutive years during Autumn and Winter to reduce the impact on wildlife.

• Stage 1 October 2018 – the trees forming the field hedge line on the half of the Pond bordering Slade Lane were cut back to hedge height, saplings and reeds encroaching the banks were cleared, the willow tree pollarded and the ash tree removed as it was diseased. In addition, volunteers repainted the bollards and rails on the road edge.
• Stage 2 October 2019 – the trees bordering the other half of the Pond were cut back to just below hedge height. Dead and diseased trees were also removed. Some of the cut wood was placed on the banks to provide refuges for bugs.
• Stage 3 – the digging out of the sludge from the Pond is scheduled for September 2020. In addition the overgrown bull rushes will be removed. The Parish Council have a contractor appointed to carry out this work and the owners of Hill House have kindly agreed to allow this mud to be spread on the neighbouring field.
• Stage 4 – tidying up and stabilising the banks. Options to improve accessibility for visitors and sanctuary areas for the wildfowl are being considered.

Going forward we will regularly review the condition of the pond so that it does not get too overgrown with bull rushes and other vegetation in the future.

Would you like to help?

We’d like a team to plan, develop and look after the planting biodiversity around the pond, as we would like it to become a natural and attractive asset for the community to enjoy. If you are interested in volunteering please let a member of the Parish Council know. Contact us through the website, or email clerk.alpington@gmail.com

Got any good trips planned next month? Some of our birds have!

Swallows

By the end of September most of the swallows in Alpington and Yelverton will have begun their huge migration, all the way to the far south of Africa. So there’s only a few weeks left to see them in the village, before we lose them again for another year.

We’ve noticed them often on the telegraph wires and flying around above Cherrywood, but they also zip around above the church’s trees, and you might see a few above your head as you walk near the pond, as we think a few nested in the barn down dranes lane.

Typically they’ll start flocking together at this time of year in larger groups, perched on telegraph wires and branches before taking off together on their epic voyage.

They’re fast and powerful in flight, quite “flappy” as they’re flying, quick wing beats, and they change direction a lot, catching their food in mid air, hoovering up insects like mosquitos for example.

They’ve got long thin tail streamers trailing behind them, and a red chin that you’ll spot if they’re close enough.

They can drink in flight as well, quenching their thirst by skimming over the water and opening their beak. Not sure where they do this in our village though, I’ve not seen the technique in action over the pond or anywhere else. Have you?

House martins

Have you noticed the house martins flying around the village as well?

They’ve been nesting up under the eaves of a few lucky houses! We noticed one nest on the side of a house on church road this year for example. We’ve noticed them often in the skies around church meadow, and church road towards the school.

To me, compared to the swallows, they seem less “flappy” when they’re flying, but still fluttery with quick wing beats. They’re a bit more steady, more prone than a swallow to glide on straight wings for short periods, and they’ve got a shorter forked tail with no streamers.

If they turn their back to you in flight, you may notice they’ve got a distinctive white patch on their bum. And in contrast to the swallows’ red throat they have white instead.

Nesting

You can see from the pictures above, if you see a nest on the side of a house, it’ll likely be a house martin’s, a quarter-sphere shape with a closed top. Apparently swallows don’t nest in eaves, and their nests have an open top instead.

You may have a nest on your property, and depending on your point of view you’ll think that’s lucky or unlucky! Did you know that these birds like to reuse nests that they’ve built? They’ll often find the same nest they built in our village after returning all the way from Africa. And empty nests get reused by different birds. It makes sense, it takes an awful lot of energy to construct one, about a 1000 trips back and forth carrying material.

I guess if I spent each winter abroad and then had to rebuild my house each time I came back home, I’d also try to find the house I built last year!

Aug/Sep edition of Eleven Says, the Newspaper of the Bramerton Group of Churches covering 11 Parishes.

August is the first month of harvesting your hard work. It is also the time to begin tidying up your garden as the early-summer-growing plants finish flowering. 

Harvesting

If you have grown vegetables, you may already be picking your sweetcorn, tomatoes, peas, beans, courgettes and other greenhouse crops.

As pumpkins and butternut squashes come on, you can put straw or old tiles under the ripening vegetables to stop them rotting on the soil surface.

Pick sweet peas regularly to encourage new flowers to form.

Supporting

Tie in or support tall late-summer perennials to stop them leaning or falling over.

Pruning back

Lavender and rosemary will have finished flowering by now, so lightly trim them by cutting off the new soft growth, but try not to cut into the older brown wood.  Trim off excess foliage from strawberries once they’ve finished fruiting.

Prune back shrubs that have finished flowering. Cut back established Wisterias, trimming new long growth back to between 4 and 7prs of leaves and pinching out the tips of very young shoots.

Continue trimming fast growing hedges to keep them in check.

Watering

Water all pots, baskets and flower beds well in dry spells, ideally from collected rain water or with used bathwater. Dark coloured patio pots will out more quickly, so may need watering twice a day in very hot weather.

Mowing

Mow the lawn weekly but raise the blades if the weather is hot and dry to prevent the grass turning brown.

Relaxing!

Although there are always things to do in your garden, remember to find time to relax and enjoy it whenever you can.

The Potato Pod at the Wheel of Fortune

5.00pm – 8.30pm

The Potato Pod serves freshly cooked jacket potatoes loaded with delicious toppings, they also serve a Nacho box & Sweet pepper wraps

Eat in or take away. Social distancing rules apply

Click for the Potato Pod’s Facebook post with menu

From plan coordinators Louise Taylor and Sue Stacey:

Since the middle of March Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council has been coordinating a band of local residents who had volunteered to help in the villages in the case of an emergency situation. The situation was, as everyone is now aware, the Corona virus pandemic.

The volunteers were allocated an area to cover and made introductions to residents through a card dropped through letter boxes, letting them know how we could help. This resulted in anyone who was shielding or vulnerable and wanted some support having shopping or prescriptions collected and delivered to them.

From the feedback Sue and I have received I’m aware how much this support was appreciated.

Following government advice around people shielding we have brought this activity under the emergency plan to a close. If there is anyone who still feels they need support please call either myself or Sue, contact details below.

One of the most pleasing things through this difficult time was the way the community has come together and we hope that this will continue.

A suggestion has been made that a small team of volunteers, independent of the parish council, will continue to offer support but how this would be taken forward has to be decided.

Sue and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers who offered to help and we hope
that we will all be able to meet together to celebrate our achievements.

Louise Taylor, coordinator, 01508 492599
Sue Stacey, deputy coordinator, 01508 491185

The Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council will be opening the play area by the Village Hall on Saturday 1st August 2020, but to enable us to keep it open we have to ensure that it is being used sensibly.

Parents/carers should ensure that children are maintaining good personal hygiene and understanding social distancing.

The following information will be put up on signs around the play area:

Photos of the new play area

Please help us to let everyone know, by sharing this post with other residents!

Poringland library is due to reopen on Monday 3rd August, with measures in place to keep everyone safe.

Also the fleet of mobile libraries are being adapted to allow the safe return of rural mobile library services, which is due to take place in mid-August.

Full details on the Norfolk County Council libraries page.