15/10/2008 Wicken Recreation Ground

We need your views for improving the Recreation Ground. Please download the form here and return to any Parish Councillor (addresses are in Around and About) posted by:Marc Hawes

24/02/2006 Broadband for Wicken Outskirts

If you are struggling to get broadband and live on the Stretham side of Wicken, Padney or Upware then you now can! Avanti Broadband provide a secure wireless solution from £25 per month for those people. Register an interest at http://www.avantibroadband.com or contact me on marc.hawes@sheepwalk.co.uk for further information. posted by: Marc Hawes

25/08/2005 Information?

Greetings! I happened upon your web site today, and wanted to drop you a line. I am interested in my English roots - my great-great grandmother was Maria HUDSON, who was born on 8 Oct. 1826 in Wicken. Her parents were William HUDSON and Margaret Elizabeth FULLER. Maria married Charles MANN of Soham, and this family came to the US in the 1850s. I am wondering if I might have some distant cousins living in the Wicken area. Any suggestions on how I might find them? Best of wishes Gary Morgan Houston, Texas Email badger@hal-pc.org posted by: Marc Hawes

19/05/2005 Beer Festival Photos

Click here to see if you are in any of them! posted by: Marc Hawes

09/02/2005 Community Archives Network

Have you a story to tell? Remember the school, the pubs, funny occurrences, any characters in the village or war stories? Wicken now has a community archive at the village hall. We want to record your memories,  stories  and photographs, to make a record of Wicken for future generations to come. Make your memories part of Wicken’s history. Bring your knowledge, stories and photographs to an informal meeting at the Village Hall on 17th March  For more information, call Matthew (Archives Tutor) on 07766 510217 posted by: Marc Hawes

20/01/2005 Donation Update

It started on Sunday 2nd January with the early evening TV news. Two members of the village hall committee saw a report from Great Shelford, where a group of villagers had set up their village hall as a collection point for donations to the Tsunami relief effort in Sri Lanka. Within an hour, the organiser of the Great Shelford collection had been contacted for advice and calls were made to other village hall committee members and parish councillors. Without exception, everyone offered their support. In a week’s time Wicken would stage it’s own collection. A meeting on Tuesday 4th January confirmed arrangements. The collection would take place on Sunday 9th January. Donated items would be taken to Cambridge, where two Sri Lankan business men, Shemal and Sidath, working with the support of South Cambridgeshire District Council, were themselves providing funding for food and medical supplies to be flown to Sri Lanka and for clothes to be shipped from Felixstowe. There was much to be done in preparation for the collection day but the extraordinary willingness of everybody involved helped arrangements to slot easily into place. A local businessman donated not only all the boxes and parcel tape needed to package the items for shipping but agreed to provide transport to take donations to Cambridge. Volunteers leafleted the village with lists of the food, medicines and clothing which were required and local newspapers and radio stations were engaged to further publicise the collection. More donations of parcel tape, boxes and marker pens arrived, along with thoughtful gifts of food and drink to sustain the volunteers staffing the village hall on the collection day. On Thursday 6th news came from Cambridge. Overwhelmed with donations, Shemal made contact to say that he and Sidath would be unable to receive any further items – but a collection centre in Letchworth would be able to accept the donations from Wicken. The day of the collection arrived. Volunteers of all ages from Wicken, Soham and further afield descended on the village hall in readiness for a 10am start. Tasks were allocated so that donated items would be sorted and packed into boxes to be labelled and taped up ready for shipping. Whilst the majority of volunteers were involved in sorting and packaging, some were ready to receive cash donations whilst others kept food and drink available for volunteers and those delivering their donations. From 10am a steady stream of people from across the county and beyond arrived with their donations. Within an hour over 40 boxes had been filled. Staff from Radio Q103 arrived, not only to broadcast regular updates on the effort but also to lend help with sorting and packing. Lunchtime brought a short lull in the arrival of donations and a welcome opportunity for the volunteers to eat lunch, but the pace soon picked up again. The hard work, commitment and wonderfully good humour of the volunteers ensured that all tasks were completed with speed and efficiency. At 4pm the doors were closed. Cash donations totalled more than £700. 288 boxes of clothes and bedding, 52 boxes of food and 38 boxes of medical supplies were stacked the length of the village hall. In addition more than 30 volunteers and countless donating supporters had the privilege of knowing they had made a small contribution to ease the circumstances of ordinary Sri Lankan people, just like themselves, who had survived the horror of the Tsumani and were enduring its aftermath. Over the following two days the donated boxes were transported to the Letchworth Dhamma Nikethanaya to be stored in readiness for shipping. A week later one of the Wicken volunteers spent two days in Letchworth and helped load our donations onto shipping containers, due to arrive in Nugegoda in the Galle area of Sri Lanka on 29th January. A fantastic effort has been made worldwide to provide for the immediate relief of survivors of the tsunami and we can feel glad to have made our contribution. But the provision of food, clothing and medicines is only the very beginning. The reconstruction of devastated communities will take many years. Having so far given our support to the people of Nugegoda many of us hope to maintain our link to them so we can continue to offer support. Shemal and Sidath attended the most recent village hall committee meeting and outlined plans for a number of projects including the construction of schools and orphanages. We hope to be involved in at least one of these projects and will bring you more information on these as we have it. For more information on the wider support effort in Cambridgeshire visit www.i4ce.co.uk/tsunami_relief. Photos from the Tsunami Donation Day are available form the link on the left. posted by: Len Boothby

09/01/2005 Tsunami Disaster Fund Update

+ + + + STOP PRESS + + + +   Tsunami Disaster Fund   Together we have collected 280 boxes of resources for Sri Lanka and £865 in donations.   Track progress of the relief effort here   Many many thanks for all your help and support. posted by: Len Boothby

20/05/2004 You there!

Tickets are now on sale at the Maid's Head and Tylers Farm shop for a party at Maid's Head, 6.30pm onwards, 4th June 2004, to remember the 60th Annniversary of .... D-DAY Period style dress required, 1940s music in bar, piano in lounge, buffet supper. Tickets in the form of authentic WW2 identity cards cost £5.00 and refunds of up to 50% are available at the door for OAPs and those in period uniform. Ticket only entry to pub! posted by: Marc Hawes

19/05/2004 Football

Over 31 v Under 31 Football match Sunday 16th May Result Over 31: 2 goals    Under 31: 3 goals Under 31 team Over 31 team posted by: Marc Hawes

04/03/2004 Wicken Recreation Ground

Thank you to all those that supported our efforts with the car boot sale at the end of the summer; we raised £69 towards the All Weather Surface. The new “Supernova” roundabout was installed before Christmas along with a new gate and our thanks are extended to the Parish Council volunteers who supplied labour and equipment to quicken the job.  The All Weather Surface project progresses, albeit slowly. Our thanks are extended to the Fete Committee for their generous donation of £500 and we have further events planned. Grant appeals are being finalised for submission and if anyone has had the delight of completing such forms, you will know what a painstaking and arduous process this can be! As well as another car boot sale planned for the spring – date to be confirmed - we are investigating the possibility of an Antiques Valuation afternoon. This will be similar to the concept of the Antiques Roadshow so watch this space for further details. Our major fund raising event of this year is the Wicken Beer Festival. This will take place on the recreation ground under cover of the Parish marquees on Saturday 15th May 2004 from 6pm until Midnight – the old Wicken Feast weekend. Please ensure you have this date clearly noted in your diaries! It is intended that a barbeque and soft refreshments will be available for picnicking, as well as an area set aside for those who do not wish, or are incapable of, getting themselves home. Pitches at £5 a time will be available for sleeping over in tents. Volunteers will be keenly sought so anyone wanting to take an active part (other than the drinking) should contact one of the Management Committee as listed below – you will be gratefully employed! Sue Woodroffe 722613 Liz Houghton 723157 Marc Hawes 624895 Richard Abbott 727828 Rory Woodroffe 722613 posted by: Liz Houghton

14/12/2003 Internet Cafe

Starting on January 18th an Internet Cafe will be running every Sunday evening (during school term-time) between 7 and 8.30pm. Although aimed at 12 to 18 year olds all are welcome. Admission is £1 with food and drink available at additonal cost. For more information please contact Simon Rowe on 723497 or srowe@mose.org.uk posted by: Simon Rowe

13/08/2003 Fete and Horticultural Society Pictures

Click on the links on the left for the Fete and the Horticultural Society to see this year's pictures. There is also now a Photo Archive link for older pictures. Thanks once again to Roland Stringer for taking them. posted by: Marc Hawes

16/07/2003 Car Boot Sale

Monday 23rd August 9am – 12pm CAR BOOT SALE At Wicken Recreation Ground Admittance free £5 per car in advance, £6 on the day Telephone 01353 723157 to book Refreshments available All proceeds will go to improvements at the Recreation Ground Sorry – no dogs allowed posted by: Marc Hawes

14/07/2003 WWII air crash

A researcher from Soham has been investigating air crashes that happened during the 2nd World War in the Parish. A plane from 107 squadron crashed in Padney on 10th October 1940 from RAF Walsham on a low level flying mission for instance. It had hit a tree. If you would like to know more about any other incidents then please email me here and I will pass on your details. posted by: Marc Hawes

10/05/2003 Wicken Coronation Band News

The Wicken Coronation Band have a visit to Germany planned for June. We are departing from Wicken on Friday 13th June and travelling to Minheim in the Mosel Valley. The Band will be hosted by families in and around Minheim. On Saturday 14th June the Band will visit the famous Formula 1 raceway `nuerburgring` followed by a visit to a leisure park. The band will return to Minheim in the evening to participate in a joint concert with the Lahr and Minheim bands in the festival tent. On Sunday 15th June a festival is taking place in Minheim for a biker called `Happy Mosel`on this day no cars are allowed on the bank of the Mosel. The Band will perform the `Fruehschoppen`concert on this day. The Band will travel back to Wicken on Monday 16th June. The Band have arranged two concerts to raise funds for this trip: Wednesday 14th May at the Mission Hall, Wicken Concert starts at 7.30pm Tickets £3.00 each on the door Saturday 31st May at Victoria Hall, Fordham Concert starts at 7.30pm Tickets £3.00 available from Band Members or by phoning 01638 508048 after 4pm or alternatively email the Secretary at Abass1609@aol.com posted by: Amanda Bassett

05/04/2003 Wicken Recreation Ground

Towards the end of last year Wicken Recreation Ground Management Committee was created to provide focus in managing and developing the Recreation Ground for the parishioners of Wicken and to ensure that the facility becomes less of a drain on the Parish’s coffers! The Committee consists of three Parish Council members and a representative of each of the sports clubs currently using the ground. The Committee is, therefore, made up of myself, Sue Woodroffe, Jayne Martin, Richard Abbott and Rory Woodroffe, with Jack White acting as Clerk to keep us in control! This Committee is responsible for its actions to the Parish via the Parish Council and regular reports are presented at the monthly Parish Council meetings. Initial changes brought into force have been: • the banning of dogs from the Playing Field – this follows increasing instances of dog fouling specifically on the playing pitches • hire charges for the use of the changing rooms by individuals or groups other than the sports teams, and • the formalisation of Agreements and rent reviews with those clubs. We have also submitted a business rate relief claim in to ECDC for the changing rooms as this is currently costing £500 per annum. Our attention is now focusing on how to better enhance the Recreation Ground with a longer-term aim of it becoming self-financing. Having spoken to various other Management Committees in the District, we are considering the provision of an All Weather Sports Facility. This would be a major project and will require fund raising. Obviously any hint or possibility of a grant will be taken up and applied for but, as with any major project, a proportion of the funds required needs to be provided by the responsible party. To ensure that our objective is correct and that this facility is one which the residents of the Parish want and will use, we require your feedback and endorsement. Your support is crucial in ensuring this is worth working for. We would be grateful if you could complete the following questionnaire Thanks in advance for your contributions. posted by: Liz Houghton

17/10/2002 Businesses & Ball At The Hall photos

Have a look at the local business services in Wicken. Click on the link on the left hand side. Thank you also to Roland Stringer and Jilly Rogers for the Ball At the Hall photos! posted by: Marc Hawes

11/07/2002 Mobile Police Station

The mobile police station will visit Wicken on Wed 17 July between 1400 and 1600. It will be parked outside the Mission Hall, and our Community Policeman PC Mark Hobson will be in attendance. PC Kevin Humble the newly appointed second Community Policeman may also be able to get along. posted by:Jack White

01/07/2002 Beer Festival and Fete Photos

Click on the Beer Festival and Fete links on the left hand side for photos and see if you are in them! Photos courtesy of Roland Stringer posted by:Marc Hawes

06/06/2002 Paving The Way

Click on the new link to Paving The Way on the left hand side of this page. posted by:Marc Hawes

04/06/2002 Jubilee Tea Party Photos

See if you can spot yourself in the Jubilee Tea party photos. Photos courtesy of Roland Stringer posted by:Marc Hawes

17/10/2001 More links

We have just added an Events calendar where you can post events that are going to happen, a Classifieds Ads section and an on line chat facility! Have a look too at the exciting events that are going on for the Golden Jubilee celebrations. Click on the links on the left hand side posted by:Marc Hawes