Welcome to Ravensthorpe
Ravensthorpe is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire in England. The village lies approximately midway between Northampton and Rugby.
The M1 motorway is six miles west and the nearest railway station is at Long Buckby. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 656 people.
Services within the village include a shop, a pub named 'The Chequers', a playing field, a pocket park and a woodland maintained by the Woodland Trust.
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM THE REVD. MARK BATTISON
Our
Churches have, for many years and centuries, held a special place in our
communities, but for a whole variety of reasons are currently only used
by a small number in each village.
We are trying over the next few months to review and introduce a new pattern of worship, which may include new service times and even new liturgy (the words we use and the music we sing). Please do not be afraid that we will, in some way, throw “the baby out with the bath water”, as we are sensitive to all our parishioners needs and will ensure our traditions are maintained – but we are looking to bring new ideas into our Church to encourage more people from our wonderful communities to come and share the great joy of worship – this is the great joy of having God in our lives and the fantastic feeling of Hope you get when coming together to sing and share stories.
With this in mind we would like to invite any member of our 8 communities to come to an Open Meeting at 7.30pm on Wednesday 15th December at Guilsborough Parish Church to discuss the outline of what is being considered. All are welcome and the meeting will finish with Mince Pies and Festive Drinks.
Have a wonderful, peaceful and joyful Christmas time and a New Year full
of hope for the year ahead.
WINTER OLYMPICS – CHEQUERS’ CHALLENGE
– Wednesday 29th December at 7pm in The Chequers.
A Fund Raising event on behalf of The Memorial Playing Field is being hosted by Gordon and Gill Walker.
Whilst entry is free, for teams of four athletes, a donation of £25 per team is expected with £20 to the cause and £5 for food and prizes. To enter just pop your name down on the list which is behind the bar at the Chequers.
The Challenge:- WII 100pin Bowling – Darts – Skittles – Pool.
The Prizes: Winners, Trophy and a case of wine – Runners Up, half case
of wine – Last Place, chocolates
Salt
Thief!
The yellow salt bins are provided for residents to use for salting the roadways and pavements but should not be used for salting private driveways.
People have been spotted driving up to the bins to fill bags and buckets but there is no evidence of them using the salt on public roads and paths.
In these chilly times please only use this limited resource for its intended use.
Slow Broadband
You
will all be aware just how slow our broadband connections are at present,
the maximum speed is 512mb (if you’re lucky!) and the restriction is the
feed through the East Haddon exchange. Just now BT are installing fibre
optic cables in some parts of the country – the information superhighway
that we heard so much about 15 or so years ago – but it’s on a priority
basis and at the moment East Haddon is a very low priority, mainly due
to the small population in its catchment area.
There are 852 households and BT need positive interest from 75% of these to consider extending the fibre optic cabling to our area. You can register your vote for this by following the following link http://www.racetoinfinity.bt.com/ and then the on-screen instructions.
Can you also please spread the word to as many local folk as you can. It is possible as this was the process we had to use to get ADSL introduced via the East Haddon exchange in the first place and if we hadn’t done it we might still all be using ‘steam driven’ internet.
Did you Know about the Ravensthorpe Dances?
The Ravensthorpe Hobby Horse dance performed by the Prince of Wales Rattlers
Ravensthorpe Shepherds Hey performed by the Moulton Morris Men
Access to Top Ardle’s Wood
The Parish Council is pleased to report that pedestrians will continue to be able to reach Top Ardle’s Wood from Coton Road through the adjoining field.
The owner of the field has confirmed that he is happy for the permissive right of access for walkers to continue, and the PC have installed a “squeeze post” next to the gate near the 30mph sign.
Walkers are requested to keep to the path near the top of the field.
Parking on pavements
The Parish Council has recently received a number of complaints from residents about vehicles being parked on pavements.
This practice often forces pedestrians, particularly those with buggies, and users of mobility scooters into the road, which may be extremely dangerous.
It also damages the pavement, necessitating repairs which, in the current economic climate, are increasingly difficult to have carried out.
If vehicles park correctly on the road, this can have the advantage of reducing traffic speed through the village.
Where pavement parking occurs regularly, the Parish Council will continue to approach vehicle owners.
However, it seems that many instances of inconsiderate parking are due
to contractors, delivery vehicles and other visitors to the village, and
it would be to everyone’s benefit if we could all remind drivers visiting
us of the need to park properly on the road.
10 Years Old!
The Playing Fields Committee teamed up with the Woodland Trust to celebrate 10 years since the pavilion was built and Top Ardles Wood was planted.
The festivities included face painting, music by "Naseby Crossing" and "Anyone Out There", BBQ, story telling in the wood and loads more. Those who came had a great day - see photos from the Ravensthorpe 10th Anniversary Event
>>more about the 10th Anniversary Celebrations
Village Hall
At
the recent open meeting to discuss the way forward for the Village Hall,
the plans were shown and the costs revealed as £34,00 for the porch and
stage removal.
The photos show the hall as it is now (left) and how it will look after Stage 1 is completed (right).
The total cost including the rear extension will be £90 to £100,000.
The village Hall from the rear as it looks today
The Village Hall after the rear extension and car park works are completed.
So far something over £30,000 has been raised but at least £50,000 is
needed
before we can expect support from grants etc. which are largely based
on matched funding.
The Hall is an essential village asset and the village voted for a modernised hall for the future.
Villagers are requested to complete their pledge forms which were distributed to every household with the May edition of the Village Newsletter.
Deepening Problem of Potholes - Report Them Now
According
to Endsleigh Insurance a survey has found that one in two motorists have
met with an accident or near-miss while trying to avoid a pothole.
Ravensthorpe Open Village Day - Sunday 21st June 2009
A
great day was had by all at the Ravensthorpe
Open Day. 14 gardens were on display along with loads of stalls and side
shows dotted throughout the village. The quality of the gardens was superb
- the village really does have some stunning displays.
The scrap sculptures were a favourite with the Spider just beating the Audi Car by three votes. However, it was Ken Hickmans Lady walking a dog which caught peoples attention.
A slideshow of photos from the day can be viewed here >>Ravensthorpe Open Day
Speedwatch
Speeding vehicles continue to be a concern on our village roads especially as traffic increases as drivers use their satellite navigation systems to find shorter routes.
Cameras are to be deployed at sites in Ravensthorpe over the coming weeks.
More infomation about Speed
Watch
Dog Fouling
This is still a problem throughout the village despite an increased campaign to encourage dog owners to clean up.
Daventry District Council have now deployed their Dog Warden who is now making regular patrols around the village and who has the power to issue on-the-spot fines to any offenders.
Whilst the footpaths appear to be better, It seems that our grass verges and worryingly the well used playing field and Top Ardles Wood are still as messy as ever.
More information about Dog Fouling