May 2024

16 Buckden Roundabout May 2024 Village News Bookings This month we have several corporate bookings, a christening and a wedding reception alongside all our lovely regular hirers. Buckden Village Hall Trust needs you! Trustees The Village Hall and Recreation Ground has a central position in village life and trustees contribute a great deal to the village in managing the facility. We have some vacancies for new Trustees. The Trust meets 11 times per year so it ’ s not an arduous task. If you, or anyone you know, would like to help to run this amazing facility and the land we are very fortunate to have, or would simply like to find out more information, please email me (address at the end of this article). Caretaker We are looking for a part - time caretaker to predominantly help to lock and unlock the Hall and also set up rooms ready for our hirers. It is an ideal job for a retiree living in the village as it ’ s only a few hours each week. Playing field footpath upgrade For several years residents have complained about the poor state of the main footpath along playing fields and the sports pavilion. Lifting the path and replacing the entire 76m path with a mobility compliant path that is 1.6m wide is very costly, and not something the Village Hall is able to fund on its own. Over the past two years, the Trustees have submitted several ap- plications for grant funding for the path with no success. We are therefore delighted that in December, our recent application for funding was approved by FCC Communities Foundation. FCC Com- munities Foundation awards grants to community projects from funds donated the Landfill Communities Fund and Scottish Landfill Communities Fund. A formal tender document has been drawn up and sent to various local companies with a request to supply quotes. Work should begin in the summer once the ground dries out. FUNDRAISING TO SUPPORT THE VILLAGE HALL BY SIMPLY SHOP- PING ONLINE!! The Village Hall is a completely self - funding charity. We are totally reliant on our room hire and fundraising to support our operations. Every little amount helps us to keep the doors open and finance the constant improvements and maintenance required to keep the Hall and the grounds safe and pleasant to use. If you would like to help, without donating anything at all, please think of BVHT as your charity of choice while doing your online shopping … How all of 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! Jo Harvey, Hall Manager Email: admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Tel: 01480 811101 Please call or email to arrange any appointments Office hours: 9am – 2pm Burberry Road, Buckden, Cambridgeshire, PE19 5UY Tel: 01480 811101 www. buckdenvillagehall.co.uk email: admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Diddington News Here ’ s a riddle—Where is Oliver Cromwell ’ s head? Well, when he died in 1658, it was buried attached to the rest of his body, as is the custom. After the Restoration, his body was ex- humed and it was “ executed ” by beheading. “ That ’ ll teach him ”, they said, “ the warty regicide ”. His head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall for 24 years. That was to teach the others. Once it was taken down it was owned by a number of people, and displayed several times in public, until it was buried beneath the floor of the antechapel of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1960. The exact location is not known, so don ’ t go digging.