WELCOME TO NORDELPH: JUNE 2006
If you click on BACK NUMBERS in the index, you can retrieve any home page since this version of the site was launched in April 2005.
New residents for Nordelph
We concluded our last update by taking seriously our task of representing village life to the rest of the world -- we documented the nesting Mute Swans on Well Creek, close to the bridge. So it is with delight that we open this edition with a shot of the first three cygnets on what might well have been their maiden voyage. Subsequent inspection suggests that this year's brood amounts to some five newcomers.
On the subject of swans, we were intrigued to spot a Bewick Swan at the Welney reserve -- also apparently nesting, and rather out of time and place, normally visiting only in Winter, and spending the summer in Siberia. One positive consequence of this is that, without the more boisterous Whooper Swans, the Bewick felt able to approach the observatory -- in recent years, the Bewicks have been harder to spot!
Village Fun Day
We are now into the realms of asking for help of various sorts - don't panic it won't cost a thing (well maybe a little). We are in desperate need of raffle prizes, all sorts large or small will be gratefully received.
Offers of help for the day, even if only for short time - nothing too onerous, maybe stewarding for the raft race, or helping to make a few cups of tea, lots of little things to do.
Does anyone out there have life jackets we could borrow? We are insisting that U14s will have to be 'jacketed' so need to have a few for those who do not have their own.
Now to the most important bit. HAVE YOU STARTED TO BUILD YOUR RAFT YET?
There are one or two under way already that we know about and some people feel the superb new trophy is as good as theirs!. There are several rafts lying around the village looking sad, overgrown with weeds and needing general spruce up so come on - dig 'em out, test for 'floatability' and who knows perhaps the trophy will have your name on it instead! Rumour has it that one or two of the 'professionals' from the Heron might be turning up to show us how its done so let's get to it Nordelph, and keep the trophy where it belongs!
324102, 324129, 324321: These are the numbers to contact if you have any ideas, requests, offers etc.
And if you'd like to help us advertise the event, you can download our poster to print out and display.
Railway restrictions
You may be very glad indeed of this item on the website! From June 11th, when the rail timetables moved into the summer version, First Capital Connect, our current franchise holders, brought in new restrictions on the use of Travelcards of most types. This bans their use for leaving London between 16.30 and 19.30 on weekday evenings. Read this next bit carefully! This restriction does not apply to tickets purchased from stations North of Waterbeach, on the grounds that these travellers enjoy too poor a service to be penalised further. Yes, we know that Waterbeach makes no sense -- Waterbeach actually gets a poorer service than Ely, but we'll be parochial and concentrate on Downham Market.
You may be glad of this news, because it doesn't seem to have filtered through to the FCC staff! We experienced an acrimonious altercation at Kings Cross recently, which did at least have the positive outcome that the 'jobsworth'
in attendance couldn't make his portable ticket machine issue the requisite upgrade -- presumably because the machine at least knew that this was unnecessary.
Service from Rob at the Downham ticket office remains as punctilious and friendly as ever, and he took the time to dig out the relevant instructions -- we have seen the words! Mind you, a better train service might not be a bad idea -- and neither would the re-instatement of the on-board catering! We are contemplating relegating our Travel FAQ, which waxes lyrical about gins-and-tonics on a Fenward journey, to the 'Nordelph Past' section!
... More of Nordelph's Past
A recurring delight in running this web site comes from the correspondence we get via e-mail. Back in March this year, we first heard from Tom Boltz in Virginia, USA.
"You have a very interesting web site with its pictures of Nordelph. I enjoyed looking at them as well as reading about the village since one of my ancestors emigrated with his family from Nordelph to the United States in 1852."
Tom went on to speculate that his forbears chose their destination because it reminded them of the Fens. You can make up your own mind from the photo below, and read about how William Lyon went to America in our 'Nordelph Past' section.
And if you haven't already read it, remember that last month we mounted our comprehensive history of the Nordelph before photography, also in 'Nordelph Past'
... and more on travel!
Our self-imposed task of documenting useful applications of modern technology in the 'Nordelph Future' section gets another contribution this month, in the shape of an article on RDS (Radio Data System) -- the technology that allows you to be interrupted in your car by the latest travel updates. You may be especially interested in the 'league table' of which local radio stations use the technology thoughtfullly -- and which don't!
Regulars ...
We're pretty late in the month this time -- apologies, but 'real life' intruded! As a consequence, our what's in season listing
covers both June and July. As last month, clicking that link takes you directly to the June/July entry on the page; using 'Fen Food' in the index takes you to the top of the page. And the vegetable of the month (only one -- sorry!) is asparagus, a choice backed up by our long-standing pot roast asparagus recipe.
Also in this update, you'll find a wealth of Parish Council material: there's a report of the May meeting, The minutes of the March meeting and the 2005-6 Accounts. The next Council meeting is on Wednesday July 19th at 7.00pm in the Village Hall.
Summer layover
You will recall that we take time off from updating the website during summer. The argument is that if the weather is good, you won't want to be reading it, and we shan't want to be writing it! With the Village Fun Day scheduled for August, we intend to take the break slightly earlier than last year, and come back to you in August with two editions -- one just before the event, and the traditional photo-packed one soon after.
Meanwhile, we have renistated our raditional banner heading with its friendly flip-over village sign. Happy summer!