May 2023

16 Buckden Roundabout May 2023 Village News Bookings Update This month, alongside all our lovely regular hirers, we have several kid ’ s parties and also several new corporate bookings. ACTIVITIES TO JOIN Stay & Play Fridays 1pm – 2:30pm Stay & Play sessions are run by Cambs CC and are at the Hall every Friday. Please call 01480 372700 option 1 to book a space. Coronation Tea Party Monday 8 th May 3pm – 5pm We have a Coronation Tea Party on Monday 8 th May, 3pm – 5pm as part of the village Coronation celebrations during the bank holi- day weekend. Please see the separate article in this Roundabout for more information on all the village events that weekend. Chair - based exercise, Tea and Chat & Making Memories Group These sessions are proving to be very popular. Run by A1 PCN (NHS) the chair - based exercise group is for those with referrals from the surgery. This runs from 10am – 10:45am on Wednes- days. This is followed by Tea and Chat (no referrals necessary for this!) at 11am. On Thursdays at 1:30pm is the Making Memories Group which is a lovely social group with games/art and of course tea and cakes! NATURE & BIODIVER- SITY IMPROVEMENTS New hedging in Val- ley As mentioned last month, thanks to a generous grant from the Tree Council, we were able to plant 85m of native English mixed hedging down the far end of the Valley. This will help us continue to build resilience and biodiversi- ty in the Valley. Our group of Valley Volunteers has erected pro- tective netting to let the plants establish, and our contractors will water the plants over the dry summer months. We are hoping this will have the opportunity to establish itself. Fish The Environment Agency in cooperation with Offord and Buckden Angling Society have very kindly donated 2000 fish stock to in- crease further the wildlife in the Valley. A mixture of roach, perch, bream and rudd fingerlings have been released into the water. The floating island and established reeds should give them protection. There is absolutely no fishing al- lowed on the Valley. Swans in Valley We are delighted that a pair of swans has decided to call our Valley home. It ’ s been a while since we had a family of swans living on the Valley and we hope to see some cygnets soon! Please can everyone be mindful of the lovely area we have here for all kinds of wildlife, as well as us residents, and be mindful to use the litter bins for rub- bish. Plastic rubbish, foil wrappers and other rubbish can be fatal to wildlife. Vandalism If anyone witnesses vandalism taking place around the Valley, Hall building or playing field, please report it directly to 101 or online at www.cambs.police.uk. Please report any damage to the Hall Man- ager on admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk How you can help Buckden Village Hall when buying online 1. Go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/buckdenvillagehall 2. Sign up for free 3. Get shopping! It doesn ’ t cost you anything more the online shops make the donations and are collected by easyfundraising and automatically sent to us! There are no catches or hidden charges, and Buckden Village Hall Trust will be extremely grateful for your donations, especially at this difficult time. Jo Harvey, Hall Manager Email: admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Tel: 01480 811101 Please call or email to arrange any face - to - face appointments. Office hours: 9am – 2pm Burberry Road, Buckden, Cambridgeshire, PE19 5UY Tel: 01480 811101 www. buckdenvillagehall.co.uk email: admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Knot Garden News The first Tuesday of April and the garden- ers have enjoyed a warm and sunny day in the garden. The climbing plants are growing well, especially the hop which ties itself in knots before it can reach the sup- porting wires. The cowslips on the side of the viewing mound are in full flower, the primroses at the other side of the garden by the church wall seem to be having their own competition with the cowslips. The gardeners have been assessing the damage caused by the drought last summer and the cold winds during the winter. Some of the wall germander in the lamb bed has died and will need to be re- placed. In the same bed the santolinas have not thrived in the cold winter. These are Mediterranean style plants so the enjoy the hot summers. They are the original plants so cuttings have been taken in case they don ’ t grow well this Spring and replacements are needed. The refurbishment of the Bishop bed is nearly finished. The new marjoram plants are settling in well and the blue slate is due to arrive in the next few days. By the end of the month the whole bed should be completed. Now that the warmer weather is here the gardeners have been at work in their own gardens. They have been potting up surplus plants and taken them down to the Knot Garden. When you visit do have a look for these plants, they are on the opposite side of the laurel hedge to the gate. You are welcome to take a plant, we ’ re very grate- ful for your donations. All donations go towards new plants, feed for the existing plants as well as general maintenance costs in the garden.