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After many years of excellent work, Alan Langley is standing down as the Footpath Warden for the East Farndon Parish. Huge thanks to Alan for giving his time to walk our large network of paths identifying issues that need to be rectified in order that everyone can enjoy our stunning rural community at all times of the year. We are pleased to announce that Jonny Dargie is taking over from Alan and will officially become our new Footpath Warden from September 1st 2023. If you have any questions or need to report any problems with our footpaths, please email our Parish Clerk, Caroline Burton and she will pass the details to Jonny. Thank you Alan and welcome Jonny!

Dr Mark Biggin

18th May 1935 to 14th August 2023

It is with great sadness that the family of Dr Mark Biggin announces his death at the age of 88. Moving to East Farndon in 1965, Mark was resident here for 58 years and made many friends in the village.

Born in Leeds in 1935, Mark trained at Guy’s Hospital as a Doctor later working in Burton-upon-Trent and various places in England. He moved to Market Harborough in 1964, working initially at Bowden House on the Northampton Road and then at Market Harborough Medical Centre on the Coventry Road.

Mark met Shirley at Guy’s when she was training as a Nurse. They went on to have 3 children: Andrew, Alison and Helen; and 6 grandchildren: Oliver, Duncan, Ashleigh, Ella, Oscar and Matias. As well as enjoying campervan holidays, Mark loved photography, woodturning and growing sweet peas.

A Service of Thanksgiving will be held on Friday, 1st September at 2.30pm at St John the Baptist’s Church, East Farndon. This will be followed by refreshments at the Village Hall. All are welcome.

Despite repeated requests and warnings, the issue of parking on pavements in East Farndon continues to be a problem. Our local Police are now going to keep a close watch and everyone should be aware that they will ticket vehices if they are found to be parking in a manner that obstructs pavements. The Police will follow a 2 step process,

Step 1 – a leaflet / letter will be left on the offending vehicle(s) warning drivers not to obstruct / park on pavement.

Step 2 – if no improvement – Fixed Penalty Notice by post AND removal of the vehicle (not one or the other).

The Parish Council has previously contacted the Police to resolve this issue which obstructs pedestrians, in particular buggies and mobility scooters. The Police advised that streets in East Farndon have no parking restrictions so vehicles can park on the road, but in any event, a space 1 METRE WIDE on the pavement should be left so people can get past safely. In addition, if a vehicle is parked on the road, especially on Main Street / Harborough Road, drivers must ensure that it is not parked on a blind bend so that traffic has good visibility in both directions. Thank you everyone!

If you have any questions, please email our Parish Clerk, Caroline Burton

There is now a new bench on the footpath in Hall Close, the field behind Redbrick Cottage. The bench was kindly donated to the Parish Council by Sue Ellis, in memory of her late husband, Mark, who lived in East Farndon and loved walking in the parish. The Parish Council extends its thanks to Sue, and Tom & Alice Joule for allowing the bench to be placed there. We hope residents will enjoy the views afforded from the bench.

Unfortunately, East Farndon suffers from people lighting bonfires on a regular basis, particularly on warm and sunny days, when residents look forward to enjoying their gardens and the surrounding countryside. The Parish Council is asking everyone to be aware of the following guidelines and act responsibly when considering whether or not to have a bonfire.

It is not illegal to light bonfires, and there are no official restrictions on when or how often they can be burned. The main concerns with bonfires in general however are safety, environmental damage, mainly from excessive smoke, any nuisance caused to neighbours or the public, and any danger to wildlife.

If you decide that lighting a bonfire is necessary then please follow these guidelines:

• When lighting a bonfire, only burn dry material. Damp vegetation does not burn well as it produces large volumes of smoke and smoulders for long periods of time. The burning of this type of waste causes the most complaints and so it should be disposed of in other ways.
• Before having a bonfire, let your neighbours know. This gives them an opportunity to shut their windows and bring any washing indoors.
• Never burn household rubbish, rubber tyres, anything containing plastic, painted materials, plywood and chipboard, foam or paint.
• Never use old engine oil, meths or petrol to light the fire or encourage it.
• Avoid lighting a fire in unsuitable weather conditions – smoke hangs in the air on damp, still days and in the evening. If it is windy, smoke may be blown into neighbours gardens and across roads.
• Never leave the fire unattended or leave it to smoulder – put it out.
• If a bonfire held on commercial or industrial premises gives rise to dark smoke an offence is committed. The occupier of the land and the person who caused or permitted the smoke can be taken to court and may be fined.

If a bonfire gets out of hand and becomes dangerous call 999 and ask for the Fire Service immediately.

Please be very careful about lighting fires after prolonged perios of warm, dry weather (when surrounding foliage is dry) – fires can spread extremely quickly in those conditions and quickly get out of control.

If the fire is going to be large and a ‘controlled’ burn, fire control should be notified as a courtesy on 01604 797123. Farmers, as a rule, generally do this as it means that a well intended 999 call from someone a mile away will not be responded to. (Fun Fact. If the fire service are called out by anyone to an unattended fire, they must extinguish it.)

West Northamptonshire Council have powers to deal with smoke nuisance from any bonfire and for dark smoke offences on commercial and industrial premises.

For a bonfire to be a legal nuisance WNC would consider the following:

• how much smoke is being created and does it affect nearby properties?
• what is being burnt? – the type of material being burned affects how much smoke is being produced / how noxious the fumes from the smoke are
• how often do the bonfires occur? A single bonfire is unlikely to be a nuisance even though it may cause annoyance to one or more neighbours

You can read more and also raise a compliant to WNC by clicking this link, https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/environmental-health/smoke-pollution

What an achievement! On Sunday 14th May 2023, the East Farndon Racers completed their 100 miles cycle challenge from the Centotaph in London to the East Farndon War Memorial. The team left London at 7am and arrived in East Farndon just before 5pm, a massive 10 hours in the saddle, navigating a pretty countryside 100 mile route, with a 4,592 foot elevation gain.

Huge thanks and congratulations to the team. The riders were Scott Harrison, Tom Oakden, Paul Hodgetts, John Parker and David Hancock. The team was supported en-route by Neil Beesley and Mervyn Curtis.

Also, a big shout out to Philip Prew and Jonanthan Crifo Garton who both trained hard to ride in the event, but unfortunately they could not take part due to recent surgery and injury.

Many thanks to everyone who turned out to welcome the team home in style and to the Village Hall Committee for laying on refreshments. Please see below some photos that help to tell the story of the challenge on the day.

Scott has been interviewed by HFM News. Click this link to hear Scott and see photos and a video of the team arriving back into East Farndon, https://harboroughfm.co.uk/cyclists-raise-thousands-for-east-farndon-war-memorial-refurbishment/

Also John Parker has put togther a must watch, special ride video, taken from his GoPro camera and set to his own fantastic music mix! Click this link to view on YouTube, https://youtu.be/p7i-LqMNe-g

As most will know, the challenge was organised to raise much needed funds to repair, refurbish and improve our East Farndon War Memorial. Huge thanks to everyone who has supported us with a donation, it is very much appreciated. Even though the cycle challenge is now complete, there is still time to recognise the massive effort put in by the team.

If you would like to support the team and the restoration fund, please make a donation using this link: https://gofund.me/daea418d

Thank you,

Scott Harrison

Early Start at the Cenotaph in London

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First Stop at Studham

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On The Road

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Lunch at Turvey

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On the Road – keeping it going!

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Last Stop at the Tolley

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Big Finish at the East Farndon War Memorial

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If you would like to support the team and the restoration fund, please make a donation using this link: https://gofund.me/daea418d

East Farndon Parish Council (EFPC) announced in early February 2023 the completion of the upgrade to all 16 of our streetlights to run on modern, warm LED lamps. This change is generating major cost and environmental benefits.

At the same time as the LED upgrade, EFPC launched a trial of a partial dark skies initiative. This involves all streetlights being operated with part night sensors that switch the lights off between the hours of midnight and 5.30am. This allows all residents to enjoy the benefits of a dark sky as well as generating further energy usage savings.

It was agreed to seek feedback from residents in relation to the dark skies trial and formally review the results at the May 2023 EFPC meeting.

A total of fourteen East Farndon households have given their comments on the trial; thirteen of the responses were in support of the partial dark skies initiative with one against. Councillor Fallon reported that the Speed Indication Device (SID) statistics showed that the partial dark skies initiative had no impact on vehicle speeds at night.

In addition to the feedback from residents, EFPC has also considered the potential impacts of the adoption of a dark skies approach and has taken advice from a number of sources in terms of the reasoning for or against such a change.

From this analysis and taking into account the resident feedback, at the May 2023 meeting, EFPC unanimously agreed to continue with the current partial dark skies approach and formally mark the EFPC streetlighting upgrade project as complete.

Summary of Advice Received

EFPC are pleased to share the advice received in relation to part night streetlighting and its impact on road safety, crime and the environment.

NCALC – Legal and Process Advisers to Northamptonshire Parish Councils

NCALC have confirmed that the Parish Council is the Lighting Authority and thus the Parish Council is free to make its own decisions in relation to how streetlighting is delivered. They also confirmed that there is no legal duty to perform a formal safety audit prior to any changes being made. EFPC have of course considered the streetlighting changes very carefully, this including undertaking research, performing a simplified local risk assessment and taking advice from our local suppliers, Police and road safety contacts.

Northamptonshire Police Safer Roads Team

“Following our conversation, I can confirm that we are not aware of any safety implications with your plan to turn off the street lights. There are many villages throughout the county who do not have street lights and their roads are restricted by speed limit repeater signs. The only thing that would need to remain lit is if you had any physical traffic calming such as a priority working or chicane. I found an old study on the switching off of lights and the effect on safety Switching off street lights does not affect safety (roadsafetygb.org.uk)“

The study mentioned above concluded that “Switching off street lights at night has had no adverse effect on road casualties, public health or crime levels” You can read the full report published in the British Medical Journal by clicking the link below.

BMJ Streetlight Study

Views of Local Police Contacts

“There is always a small risk of residents being a victim of crime, when an area is completely dark, especially a small rural location like East Farndon My advice would be to try and retain some of the street lighting at night. I take it, the reason for turning lights off is a financial reason? If need be, we would be more than happy to hold a residents crime prevention evening in the village.”

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) – Dark Skies

The CPRE has published a survey of local authority approaches to lighting in England. This report can be read using the links below. It details the relationship between streetlights and light pollution and references the impacts on road safety and crime.

CPRE Shedding Light – Summary

CRPRE Shedding Light – Full Report

You can use this link to access the CPRE website directly.

The Natural History Museum – Dark Skies Impact on Wildlife

The Natural History Museum has published an article entitled ‘Bye-bye dark sky: is light pollution costing us more than just the night-time?’ Please click the link below to read.

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/light-pollution.html

East Farndon Streetlight Locations

1. Harborough Road / Lubenham Lane Corner – Steel Column
2. Lealand Corner – Sleeved Concrete Column
3. Lealand outside No. 8 – Steel Column
4. Top of Lealand – Steel Column
5. Harborough Road – Steel Column
6. Main Street by Spring – Steel Column
7. Main Street on Beauchamp House – Wall Bracket
8. Main Street by Village Hall – Steel Column
9. Main Street on Hillside Farm – Wall Bracket
10. Back Lane by Home Farm Close – Steel Column
11. Back Lane on Hillview – Wall Bracket
12. Back Lane by Farndon Hall – Steel Column
13. Main Street on Horseshoe Cottage – Wall Bracket
14. Main Street on Greywalls – Wall Bracket
15. Main Street by Farrer Cottages – Steel Column
16. Main Street by Church Cottage – Sleeved Concrete Column

Jean Westwood

September 1931 – March 2023

The village is sad to announce the passing of Jean Westwood on March 29^th, aged 91. 

Jean hailed from Birmingham and she and her husband Eric moved to East Farndon from the West Midlands in January 1982 during heavy snow. Later that same evening, they battled their way up Marston Lane to attend the pantomime in the village hall!

As soon as Jean moved to the village she joined East Farndon Women’s Institute, volunteering to stand on the committee in September 1983. She took over as President on 4^th November 1986, switching to Treasurer for several years, then she took over as President again until the group folded in 2021.

She is remembered by W I members as being strong, capable, kind and immensely considerate. She always put others’ needs before her own and had the tact and diplomacy of a politician! She kept a sensible head when those around her were losing theirs and she had a thirst and appreciation of history that surprised you!

She was an exceptional cook and baker; her shortbread was to die for and she frequently used these skills to produce a token of thanks for others or as a donation to the local hospice. In the photograph above, Jean is receiving an embroidery of W I members’ names on behalf of East Farndon W I. This is on permanent display in the village hall.

Jean worked tirelessly for the village, cleaning the church and the village hall amongst many other things. She also worked hard to raise money for good causes through her baking, organising of rummage sales and volunteering for Age Concern. 

Jean supported every village event, and she will be sadly missed, not only for all her hard work but also for the twinkle in her eye!

The village sends its condolences to her husband Eric.   

We are very fortunate to have a number of beautiful walks on our doorsteps within East Farndon and the broader Northamptonshire and Leicestershire countryside. Once again, the Parish Council has received complaints from landowners in relation to dogs which are running free and out of control on our footpaths that cross their land. Please can all dog owners read again the guidance in the NFU / Kennel Club poster above and be aware of our walking safely guidance on this website.

Please make sure that you stick to our footpaths. You can view all of our local footpath maps by visiting our dedicated footpath page: https://eastfarndon.org/parish-council-footpaths/

In addition, our recent village spring clean revealed multiple locations where owners have left their dog poo for others to clean up. This is unacceptable and is a danger to farm animals, children and the environment. Please bag it, pick it up and take it home or deposit in the village bins.

East Farndon Parish Council has a dedicated page on this website for our footpaths, https://eastfarndon.org/parish-council-footpaths/ From this page you can access our special Jubilee walks booklet that can be downloaded and printed for free. This page also contains really important guidance on how to walk safely on East Farndon footpaths and in the broader countryside. This safety guidance is also repeated below.

Walking Safely on East Farndon Footpaths

Many of the fields around East Farndon have ‘right of way’ footpaths that allow walkers and ramblers to pass through without damaging crops or disturbing grazing animals. This creates a relative harmony that for most of the year causes very few problems. It is important to remember however that this is a working environment for farm staff, and visitors should remain vigilant of animals, machinery and vehicles. These footpaths are signposted and clearly marked as official routes, so to avoid unnecessary upset, it is best to keep to the marked walkways.

Be vigilant, especially on entering a field or where you cannot see the whole field, and try to stay away from animals and to be aware of their movements. In the spring, it is especially important to be sympathetic to farm animals rearing their young and give them space.

Cows are naturally very protective of their young and have been known, on occasions, to charge at walkers. On very rare instances this has led to serious or fatal injuries to those involved. Although right of way footpaths may exist through fields with grazing cattle, sometimes it’s better to take the longer route and admire the herd from a distance rather than risk potential conflict. 

Dogs are recommended to be on a lead at all times even if their temperament is good. Cows will do whatever they feel necessary to protect their young and as calves are playful and inquisitive, they will often wander away from their mothers to explore their surroundings. The arrival of a dog nearby may be cause for alarm.

When walking with dogs in fields with cattle, the advice from the NFU is to “avoid getting between cows and their calves; to keep your dog under close and effective control on a lead around cows and sheep, but not to hang onto your dog if you are threatened by cattle – let it go and allow the dog to run to safety. This offers the best chance of a safe outcome to both you and your dog. If you feel threatened by animals protecting their territory or young, do not run. Move to the edge of the field and, if possible, find another way round.”

East Farndon Parish Council has a dedicated Footpath Warden, who, in partnership with the farm landowners, keep an eye on the upkeep and maintenance of our footpaths, including those through farmland. If you spot a problem – maybe an obstruction on the path or damage to a stile – please contact East Farndon Parish Council. They will then investigate, and if necessary, notify the relevant landowner and / or West Northamptonshire Council (who have responsibility for footpaths). To do this, please email the Parish Clerk at: parishclerk.eastfarndon@gmail.com

The Countryside is there for us all to enjoy and admire throughout the year, but it comes with a responsibility that we all share to make it accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

For more information about livestock and rights of way visit: https://www.nfuonline.com/cross-sector/rural-affairs/access/access-news/livestock-and-rights-of-way-reducing-the-risk/

The Countryside code: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/985422/Summary-Countryside-Code-A5.pdf

Guide to farming Calendar: https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/farming-calendar-a-year-in-the-life-of-a-british-farmer/

Did you know it is now an offence to fell trees without a licence if an exemption does not apply? The government recently introduced unlimited fines to deter illegal tree felling in England, following concern over possible rising levels of illegal felling, particularly ahead of development proposals being submitted.

Felling is legally controlled and generally requires a licence to be issued before work starts. There is an exemption allowing landowners to fell up to 5 cubic metres of growing trees in any calendar quarter on a property without a licence, as long as no more than 2 cubic metres of this is sold. For example, a tree 10m in height with a diameter of 30cm around the midpoint of the trunk is estimated to equate to just over 0.7 cubic metres.

Other exemptions apply, including allowing for lopping and topping, and for small trees of less than 8cm in diameter – measured at 1.3m from the ground – to be removed. Nuisance or dangerous trees can also be felled without a licence, as can fruit trees. If relying on one of the exemptions, it is the landowner’s responsibility to prove that it applies.

Everyone involved in the felling of trees (the owner, agent and timber merchant or contractor) must ensure that a licence has been issued before any felling is carried out, unless they are certain that one of the exemptions apply. If there’s no licence or other valid permission, or if the wrong trees are felled, anyone involved can be prosecuted.

You’re advised to engage with neighbours to make them aware of your tree felling plans. For more information about felling licences, why you need one, and how to get one, read the attached booklet by clicking the link below.

The Government advice on this can be accessed by clicking ths link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tree-felling-overview#tree-felling-licence