Archive ......Swannie's Blog

April
Well about time!! 1st sign of sunshine we have had for too long..........
Everyone can just about come out of hibernation now. 8th April and the sun is out, hurray !!!! The cold weather has just been too much for lots of shrubs in the garden, and the roads .. Although the lambs are here and all the blossom seems to be showing. Lets just hope this warmer weather lasts and lasts and lasts and we can get out of the house and enjoy it.
Check out the daffs.(Spring has sprung!)
Wendy Swann, April 2010

February
The lull after the storm.... So all's calm in the little village of Scackleton, today anyway... We can now see the dry road again, what a luxury. Although there is more snow forecast it cant be as bad as last time, (can it)?
The Pantomime was a roaring success, thank goodness, we all managed to make a few locals and not so locals, laugh. Four nights, full houses is quite an achievment, thanks to all my helpers, especially the unseen help, most had a thankyou but may have missed the odd one like my husband who spent hours fixing up the lighting.. oops!not that he will ever let me forget that..... We raised £5000 which we intend to share between Gilling Village hall refurbishment and our own Hovingham Village Hall, so that both communities will benefit from our effort.
Check out the pictures. So all we need now is some warm weather and wait for our beautiful daffs to pop up, they are peeping now but still on the cold side out there. Roll on spring .
Wendy Swann, February 2010

December
What else can you do on a day like this...................... Well December is well and truly here. I’m stuck in, cant get out of my drive, stupid rear wheel cars...... I suppose I could wrap a few presents, or even do some housework, naaaaaaa, I’ll send a few lovely snowy pics to the blog.. Then get some chestnuts roasting on the open fire - May even go down to the Carol service and get into the mood, as we are having supper afterwards and I’m not sure what I have to eat, as Mr. Tesco WAS supposed to do my Christmas delivery tomorrow..? I’ll get my wellies on and see how far I get.
The snow is falling quite consistant outside. I really do like it at this time of the year (when I am ready) and not until. I’m not quite ready as we couldnt get to the shops last night as planned, as there hasn’t been any sign of grit. There’s one thing for certain; I’m going to change my car for a 4 wheel drive soon as possible! My car hasnt moved for 4 days. There is a foot of snow on the roof. Well enough of this.. Have a lovely Christmas everyone and a Happy new Year.
Byeeeeeee. See you at the Panto last week in January!
Wendy Swann. December 2009

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November. Well, I suppose you could say that winter has arrived... as its getting damp and misty and definately cooler. All the leaves have fallen and are scattered everywhere leaving the trees quite bare. Bonfire night was a huge success thanks to Sally organising us all at the last minute,we were well fed and entertained with a fantastic show of fireworks. ....... The Pantomime is in full swing, so I'm living dreaming talking panto non stop, but it will all be worth it I'm sure, when we entertain over 500 people at the end of January with OUR VERSION OF THE SOUND OF MUSIC?????... thinking of getting tickets ? hurry up because Saturday is sold out already. They are available now at Hovingham Stores.(going quickly). Well I think I'll go light the fire and close the curtains and get the TV on, as its Come dancing.. X.Factor... I'm a celeb get me out of here till Christmas (GREAT!!) only 6 weeks till Christmas.
Bye for now W
Wendy Swann November 2009

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October Talk about Indian Summers... It's been a glorious month. I spent an hour in Malton, sitting outside, (without my jacket).. it's really been quite warm, enjoying my coffee, and watching the world go by every Saturday, waiting for my grandaughter to do her thing... at Ballet.
The fields are all drilled and sewn all nice and tidy, ready for winter. The only exciting thing that I'm aware of this month, was when someones trampoline ended up in the middle of the road one windy day. But it didnt seem to alarm the Llamas..!! I have added a few Autumn pics to the photo gallery.
Wendy Swann October 2009

August and September.
September seems to have been a nice warm dry month, which is good for the harvest. Our Fayre in August was well attended, and we managed to pass £500 raised by our hard working residents of the village on their stalls, BBQ, Teas, Tombola, Quiz etc.. There could have been more car boots there as it was a lovely fine day. But, hey ho, its improving every year. The fancy dress was won AGAIN...by our champion Master John in his zulu outfit, must have taken days for Sue to get all the war paint off! Second prize went to Molly Hicks dressed as a beaurtiful butterfly. Also attending were 2 x Hawaii dancers, Mr. Bump. Lightening god, Beautician, Cricketer.
Mr.Wainwright and his wife Susan did a great job of judging. Once again a lot of catching up was done over a scrummy cream tea. There has been a lot of change with residents in the village lately, lots of children running around and livening the place up, thank goodness for our speed limit. The goats went and Llamas arrived..? (what next).. The great North Run was conquered by Sally Mathews again. All these fit people running by and cycling, making me feel very lazy, (but I do have a Pantomime to write). Watch out for tickets for the end of January. Photos included..
Wendy Swann September 2009

July. Scackleton can now be recognised by the new wall that leads into the village, re-built by A.O.N.B. how smart is that? .....With our grass cut to such high standards, things are really looking up.... Great excitement last Saturday as the Village people all enjoyed a Safari Supper, 30 tickets were sold, everyone met at the Church and had instructions where they would eat their different courses, and ended up all together at Mr, Firbys house for the Finale~ ..Well done to Sue John for organising it and hopefully it will be an Annual event. Our Village Fayre will be held on Sunday 23rd August combined with a Lazy Car Boot, because it starts at 1pm to give you chance to empty the attics/garages and leisurely come along and sell your treasures ..Cream teas, stalls, BBQ, Fancy dress for the children all help it to be a Family afternoon out. All Welcome ..Lets hope this nice warm weather we have had over the last month will continue. I have added a few summer views of Scackleton to the photo album. Thankyou
Wendy Swann July 2009

April.... April just came and went, along with our beautiful show of daffodills. Now its time for the bluebells, if you're fortunate to walk through the nearby woods. Everything is very dry at the moment, as we havnt had any rain hardly for a month. We have a new contractor cutting the verges, who seems to be making a great job, soon we will look as smart as Hovingham! as we are having more cuts this year. Hurray!! the 30 mph signs have been installed, now the traffic should slow down a bit through the village. Check out the pictures...thankyou. W.
Thats all for now. Thank you.
Wendy Swann 26 April 2009

...March....What happened to February? must have been under a blanket of snow!! Which leads me nicely to this little spring poem:
Spring is the time when we look for the sun.
To romp and scramble and have lots of fun.
The lambs are all leaping,
The birds are all cheeping,
Busy making a nest for their young.
Out pops the snowdrop, its pearly white head to show,
A after being kept warm all winter by a blanket of snow.
There we are I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. Fits in well with this time of year I thought.
Back to Scackleton ..Hurray,the roads have dried up after all that mucky weather. But, the road is left with pot holes like never before ..In fact the roads and the pavements are really in need of some T.L.C. shame we are the forgotten village? but at least our lovely daffs are all ready to bloom, that will brighten us all up..
Bye
Wendy Swann 13th March 2009

January............ The last few months have been a little busy for me and haven’t had the time to continue the Blog, but, now that the pantomime is over, I get my life back again. Abbaladdin was staged in Hovingham Village hall four nights, 7th to 10th January, with a mixture of people from villages near by in the Cast and in the Crew. Would not like to pay the wage bill for the amount of hours spent on rehearsals, painting, building the set etc. I wanted to do aladdin this year but the cast wanted Abba, so.........Abbaladdin was born - with sanddancers belly dancers, people (trying )to sing Abba tunes with the story of Aladdin vaguely running through it. I really thought a riot had started when Sultan and Sultanna started to sing the audience participating song. People were stomping on the floor and booing the opposite side of the hall, while trying to sing along to the words on the flip chart! Don’t really know if its a childrens night out, but I think all ages seem to find something funny in it, ranging from Sir Marcus Worsley to Jessica, my 6 year old granddaughter. Wine was served after the show and icecreams in the interval, a great way to cheer up everyone in the gloomy month of January! Back to Scackleton, no sign of footpaths, peed limits, or grit? The village nearly came to a standstill last month in the cold snap - if you havnt got a 4x4 car you didnt want to risk the ice. Telephone kiosk is hopefully going to stay after one of our residents offered to buy it for £1 from BT. We shall carry on hibernating for a while until our daffs make their appearance. Roll on spring!
Bye
Wendy Swann 22nd January 2009

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October. Scackleton Fayre, in September, was a huge success, raising £500 for the church and over 60s. The weather was kind, cold, but at least it was dry. Fancy dress was won by the John family AGAIN... Well done Sue. Lots of car boots arrived and lots of bargains were there to be had. We had a tombola instead of the raffle that usually takes forever..Mr. White did his usual BBQ..Yummy burgers and hot dogs. The treasure hunt was won by Mr. Mathews and the Quiz was won by Michaela Pope. Everyone sat and ate Mrs Edwards scones and a cuppa, and had chance to catch up with all the news. This month has been very sunny and bright, a real bonus for the end of the year.
Word has it there is going to be a 30 mph limit in Scackleton! That's the best news we have had for a long time, with all the children that are now running around the village. No sign of the new noticeboard but I'm sure it will
just arrive one day soon.

Well all's quiet (the way we like it ) so that's all for now. Thank you.
Wendy Swann 28th October 2008

August: Well its official, the dullest wetest month ever... So not a lot
of harvest done. Everyone too busy hibernating.
September; the weather isnt much better, but the noticeboard has been ordered and District Council have personally inspected our footpaths, so watch this space.
Unfortunately we lost our eldest resident, Robert Sanderson, after living all his life in Scackleton, farming at Townend, he died at the age of 92. He was greatly respected and will be sadly missed. On a lighter note, the annual Fayre will be held on the 28th Sept., including a lazy car boot sale, all starting at 1pm. The village has a chance to catch up and raise a bit of money for the over 60s and Church funds. The children have a fancy dress competition and we just hope for a day without rain.

That's all for now. Thank you.
Wendy Swann 16 September 2008

What happened to July? Oh, thats it,it rained and rained and rained ..Some Summer !!! Pictures enclosed are of 1. The village pump, an old relic, preserved ..although it does need a little T.L.C. or weed killer .. No.2 The phone box. An old relic soon to be removed,(unfortunately.) ....Our grass verges have had 2 of the 6 cuts,not that we could ever compete with Hovingham. But we do try to keep up appearances. A Council meeting was held in the church, our annual Scackleton meeting, although it wasnt well represented by our own villagers. There was more talk on our footpaths, and a mention of buying a new noticeboard to be re-sighted on the wall at Manor Farm next to the Post box, so thats something to look forward to,not having to stand on a box to see it, and use a screwdriver to get into it .. Heres looking forward to August and some nice warm sunny weather

Thats all for now. Thank you.
Wendy Swann 4 August 2008

Swannie's Blog

What a glorious beginning to the month of May. It has been so warm and dry, although the farmers won't agree, the land is in need of rain. Everything looks so lush and green. The blossom has been beautiful. All we need now are the verges cut, but that doesn’t happen until June, as we have to wait for our daffodils to die off.
One of our fitter residents, Sally Mathews completed the London Marathon this month, in 4 hours 24 minutes, raising money for Heart UK. What a fantastic achievement! A sponsored walk to raise money for St. Georges Church was well attended and supported by the locals, making over £200.
A Farm sale was held at Townend, an end to an era, attracting farmers from far and wide to chance on bidding for a bargain.
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Thats all for now. Thank you.
Wendy Swann May 2008

Swannie's Blog - April 2008
They call it the forgotten village "Scackleton." Blink and you are through it. Not a lot happens here,and we like it that way. I moved here with my husband Paul, over 30 years ago, and just about regarded as a local..
A lot has changed in that time. A quiet farming comunity, with a few houses on one street. No shop, Pub, school, noise, except tractors, sheep, birds, horses clip clopping by, and cars taking a short cut through..
We do have a Church, hanging on by a thread, with regular services shared with Hovingham and "The Street."
Scackleton is growing steadily. The last major development was Roundhill Farm. The pig farm was replaced by 6 large dwellings in the late 80s(some thatched). Things smell a lot sweeter now and starting to look a lot prettier too, after the villagers planted 1,000s of daffs a few years ago, and they are getting well established now, all the way up the village. We also had a project, in 2000, to refurbish two old water pumps which are both looking more cared for now. There is a bench half way down the street, on which the occasional walkers rest to eat their sandwiches and gaze at our sheep and goats opposite.
April has been a very sad month for our village. We have lost three of the elder farmers all in a couple of weeks. Mrs E. Sanderson of Townend Farm and Mr. and Mrs Tom Ramsey from Grange Farm. All who were well known and respected by the locals.
Thats all for now. Thank you.
Wendy Swann 17 April 2008

Pictures from the Panto

 

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