The INFORMER

Todwick Parish Council
No. 80
December 2008

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS

VILLAGE HALL

Saturday 29th November was a special day in the Village Hall calendar when the Christmas Fayre was held, which despite a cold and foggy day, was very well attended. Father Christmas was kept very busy all afternoon and the Trustees and Management Committee would like to thank villagers for supporting the event by buying raffle tickets and/or attending on the day. The money raised will be such a bonus towards helping to meet ever soaring maintenance/utility costs. Thanks again.

The Village Hall has been working towards developing its own website which has now gone live and can be viewed by visiting www.todwickvillagehall.co.uk. Development of the website continues so as the saying goes "watch this space".
Do you surf the net using, for example, Google? If so you can help us raise monies for Todwick Village Hall by using an alternative search engine http://todwickvillagehall.easysearch.org.uk. Each time you use this search engine a small percentage of the proceeds are donated to Todwick Village Hall. If you decide to use this option then you could save the link as a 'favourite'. It's as easy as that so please give it a go.
If having read the above you are not a computer boffin but would like to learn, why not attend our informal computer classes in the Village Hall every Monday between 9.30am and 11.30am. You can work at your own speed and help is available if you need it. The classes, including access to the Internet, are suitable for everyone from beginners to more advanced users. Each class is only £2.00 per session and refreshments are available whilst you are there.

The Village Hall is thinking of providing a service to the community by selling unwanted items on e-bay. We'd be interested to hear from any volunteers who may be interested in helping us. If you wish to know more please contact Brian White on 07952880126.

Are you interested in Floral Art? If so, we are considering running a course at the Village Hall starting in January 2009. Please contact Barbara on 01909 561020.

A full timetable of Village Hall activities can be found on the Village Hall notice board inside the main entrance, also on the new Parish Council notice board in the window of the Post Office and can also be viewed on the Todwick web site - www.todwick.org.uk and the new Village Hall website www.todwickvillagehall.co.uk.

The hall is also available for private meetings and functions. Kay Pearson is the caretaker and bookings secretary and can be contacted on the Village Hall telephone number - 01909 774353.

TODWICK RECREATION GROUND TRUST

The Recreation Ground Trust was formed last year in order to better manage the recreation ground and to bring together the sports clubs that use/hire the ground throughout the year. The Trust is made up of three parish councillors along with representatives of the sports teams that use the reaction ground.

The current issues are as follows:

There is some maintenance work required to rectify weather damage to the bowling pavilion. A quote has been submitted and agreed.
Disabled access to the bowling club. Discussions are taking place with the bowling club.
The cricket pavilion is in a poor state of repair. Various options are being discussed regarding its future.

ROADS & FOOTWAYS

A department within RMBC called Streetpride has the responsibility for maintaining/improving roads and footpaths throughout the borough. We keep in close contact with Streetpride during the year and always report your concerns. They are currently re-surfacing some of the footpaths on Osborne Drive. If you have particular issues with the state of our roads or footpaths you can call the Streetpride hotline on 01709 336003 or contact any of the parish councillors.

VILLAGE FLOWER BEDS & ALLOTMENTS

There are 18 flower beds in the village. These require planting and maintaining predominantly during the growing season. If anyone is able to sponsor or maintain a flower bed please contact John Palmer on 01909 771257.

We enter 2009 with a full uptake of all the available allotments. Several new faces have been introduced to replace plot holders who in the past year have not been able to adequately manage their plot for various reasons. We wish all our plot holders happy and successful gardening in 2009. We are confident that the current improvement in quality standards at the allotments will continue throughout the coming year. If you are interested in renting a plot or have any questions regarding the allotments please contact Ken Mathieson on 01909 515023.

TODWICK RAMBLERS CLUB

The Club's walking programme continues to provide the popular, traditional, second Sunday in the month local ramble. These are now complimented by an additional ramble, usually on the third Monday of each month, whereby the club explores other areas such as the Peak District, Clumber Park etc.

Attendance numbers on the rambles are generally in double figures and the membership of the club continues to grow.

The club's concerns regarding the Rights of Way network has resulted in 18 footpath reports, relating to rights of way problems, during the year. These have been passed to the Rights of Way team at RMBC.

Support for village activities has been an extension of the club's interest over the past year. We had a presence at the Fun Day, the Garden Trails Weekend and the Village Hall Christmas Fayre.

The club's latest venture is to arrange public lectures in conjunction with Todwick Historical Society at the village hall. They have proved very popular and will continue throughout 2009. On Tuesday 20th January, Birding in South Yorkshire will be the theme of an illustrated talk given by Alan and Susan Parker.

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

Although Todwick Neighbourhood Watch continues to grow, we are aware that many village households have still not signed on to the scheme. It takes less than a minute to become a member AND it is completely free of charge. There are no meetings to attend. You get free quarterly newsletters about a variety of issues including the village crime statistics. For further details please contact Norman Anderson to find out more. Together we can help to reduce crime in the village.

CHRISTMAS 2008 ANTI DRINK-DRIVE CAMPAIGN

Once again the Government has launched its annual anti drink-drive campaign and are especially keen that workers and their families are vigilant when driving the morning after a boozy night out. It takes hours for alcohol; to leave the body and drivers can unwittingly be over the limit as they drive to school or work the next day. In fact, research suggests that nearly one in five drink-drive offences in the UK are committed by employees driving to work still over the legal limit the day after! Just a few facts for you to contemplate:

More than one in four of all road deaths involve drivers over the legal alcohol limit
Drinking and driving is more prevalent in young men between the ages of 17 and 29 in both casualties and positive breath tests following a collision
Figures from 2005 suggest that 560 people in the UK were killed in crashes involving a driver over the legal limit, 2,100 were seriously injured and 12,740 were slightly injured
Over half a million breath tests are carried out each year and on average 100,000 are found to be positive

Our safe travelling tips for the festive season include:

If you're going to or organising a Christmas party, think about how you and your invitees will travel. If you plan to drink alcohol, make arrangements in advance for a non-drinking 'designated driver', hire a minibus for the end of the night or take a taxi.
Try to speak to each of your guests before they leave the party. Trust your instincts - if you think someone is not fit to drive then call them a cab or make other arrangements.
Don't get behind the steering wheel if you've had any alcohol. Call a taxi or get a lift with someone who has not been drinking.
Ensure that anyone travelling to work the next day is aware of the 'morning after effect'.

Our message - Drinking at Christmas is not compulsory

VILLAGE MAP

A map of the village illustrating rights of way, bridleways and places of interest has been produced in consultation with RMBC and will be displayed adjacent to the main notice board outside the village hall some time in the new year.

PARISH COUNCIL MATTERS

Stephen Hill has been elected as the new Chairman due to the resignation from the parish council of Paul Langford. Our special thanks to Paul who has been a dedicated parish councillor for over 12 years. He was an active member of the Building Works Committee that oversaw the refurbishment and rebuild of the Village Hall and was involved recently in our application for Village of the Year Award. He was also our chairman for the last 2 years, a busy and responsible position. We know he will continue to play a part in village life and we wish him the very best for the future. Paul has been replaced on the council by Eileen Northall. Eileen has lived in the village for nearly 10 years during which time she has been involved with both the Mothers Union and Todwick WI for whom she was president for a short while. We already know she has a lot to offer the village and we are delighted she has joined the parish council.

For those who are not aware, a parish councillor receives no remuneration whatsoever for performing his/her duties. They are allowed to claim back expenses for costs incurred. The only paid member of the parish council is the clerk who is a part time employee.

Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month, except August, in the Village Hall commencing at 7pm. The open session, where parishioners can attend and raise local issues or ask questions, commences at 8pm.

PARISH COUNCILLORS

Mr Stephen Hill (Chairman)	4 Mill Close, Todwick	01909 772001
Mr David Gregory	49 The Meadows, Todwick	01909 771307
Mr Philip Kettell	5 Furnival Close, Todwick	01909 771161
Mrs Jean Leah	91 The Meadows, Todwick	01909 771082
Mr Ken Mathieson	26 The Pastures, Todwick	01909 515023
Mrs Eileen Northall	30 The Pastures, Todwick	01909 770050
Mr John Palmer	78 The Meadows, Todwick	01909 771257
Mr Clive Pantry	85 The Meadows, Todwick	01909 771024
Mr Brian White	18 Mill Fields, Todwick	01909 770817
Mr Rod Walker (Clerk)	10 High Street, South Anston	01909 566639

TODWICK WEBSITE

The website which has been in existence for a number of years is constantly updated with Information on Local news, Modern Todwick, History of Todwick, The Church, Parish Council, The Informer, Organisations and Groups, Village Hall, Shops and Businesses, Local Services and Diary of Events. If you have any items of news that can be shared with others please contact Sheila Pantry on 01909 771024 or email: sp@sheilapantry.com.

www.todwick.org.uk

The Informer is published four times per year by Todwick Parish Council. It is funded by the parish council, we don't use sponsors or offer advertising space and as a result we publish news and only news. If you have any items of particular interest you wish to have published please contact Phil Kettell on 01909 771161 or e-mail to philkettell@googlemail.com.

Parish Council