Despite a slightly disappointing turnout a band of hardy volunteers braved the chilly wind to scour the village for litter.
We collected a good (or bad, depending on your viewpoint) amount but veterans of previous years noted there was less to collect, which bodes well.
The next working party will be a couple of weekends before the village fete in June. 
While most of the country is doing this on March 3-5th, we chose a slightly later date in the hope that it will be a bit warmer. The idea is to blitz as much of the village as we can and do our bit to make it all a bit more pleasant.
Clearly not dropping litter in the first place would also help…
Join us from 9:30am at the Village Hall, wearing suitable clothing and footwear, high visibility if you have it and protective gloves. Bacon sarnies provided at the end.
Yes, we know its St Patrick’s day so come on down to the village hall on Friday 17th and celebrate with your friends and neighbours. All the usuals – food, drinks, games and chat. Green clothing/fancy dress optional…
Also we’re going to debut the community book swap and there will be more information about the village fete as well as the opportunity to sign up to help.
6:30-10:30pm, all welcome!
**New Date**
The planning goes on for this year’s (sure to be) epic fete on 24th June – get it in your diaries now! We’ll be at the Blue Ball in Asheridge from 8pm on 5th April to continue hammering out the details.
Any offers of help either on the day or before are always welcome – we’ll also be at the pub night on Friday 17th if you’d like to chat with one of the committee about how you can help.
There have now been a number of outbreaks of the H5N8 strain in the UK (found in both small back yard flocks as well as wild birds and commercial farms). Stay up to date on the NFU and DEFRA websites.
In summary: all domestic birds including ducks, geese, chickens, turkeys and quail must be kept indoors or completely separate in either a sufficiently covered run (with a solid roof) or polytunnel or similar and that biosecurity steps such as foot dips etc are put in place. DEFRA and the APHA are cracking down on those that are ignoring the requirements and are able to fine noncompliant keepers £5,000.