Miles – Page 9 – Fulking.net

Bobservation No. 59: Fair Play

At about 2pm on Sunday 28th July I stood in the middle of the North Town Field and realised that the Fulking Social Committee together with Allsorts Dog Rescue and quite a few helpers had created as near to a perfect village fair as you will find.

Perfect weather, exotic dancing, lovely dog show, a great selection of stalls, tombola and model steam engine, really enjoyable teas and food, exciting tug of war, fun kids games, wonderful music and a highly professional bar were all enjoyed by the many visitors. It was truly memorable.

Too early to announce the financial details but sufficient evidence to tell you that it was profitable and improves our reserves for village hall and North Town Field requirements. And I nearly forgot! Call my Bluff on the Friday was just as successful.

What a wonderful Fulking weekend! It will be quite a challenge to follow this up with a repeat performance next year.

Bobservation No. 58: Wildlife Gardening

Gardening for Wildlife

The global decline in wildlife should encourage us to try to redress this trend in our gardens. Accordingly we should break away from ‘tidy’ gardening and now do whatever we can to encourage wildlife . Our garden flower beds should be almost entirely stocked with shrubs and flowers that are bird, bee and butterfly friendly, and the number of bees of various types will improve a great deal and butterfly numbers will increase. Vegetable areas should incorporate wild flowers extensively to encourage bees. Wildlife can be helped by leaving unkempt areas wherever possible, for instance small piles of fallen wood, and we can introduce an insect ‘hotel’ perhaps based on unwanted pallets. All garden waste should be composted and bonfires should be unnecessary. Our efforts should include lawn mowing as little as possible and by trying to let clover, daisies, buttercups etc. increase on either side of paths. Carbon footprints can be reduced by allowing saplings to flourish into mature trees.

The point I am making is that it is not terribly difficult to join the ecological revolution in an attempt, however small, to protect the world we are passing on to our children and grandchildren.

Fulking Fair

Just another reminder that Fulking Fair and Allsorts Fun Dog Show will be on Sunday 28 July. Please make every effort to encourage friends and family to come along. We have some great stalls, many in the Street, music, food, drink and games for everyone. The Social Committee have put a lot of hard work into making this a really enjoyable event and need your support. It would help if villagers could avoid driving in the Street from 12 till 5pm if at all possible.

Planning Meeting — Tuesday 25th June 2019

You are cordially invited to attend an extraordinary meeting of Fulking Parish Council on Tuesday 25th June 2019 at 7:30pm, at The Village Hall, Fulking for the transaction of the business on the Agenda below.
Miles Firth — Chairman

AGENDA
Public Participation: There will be a period of 15 minutes set aside at the beginning of the meeting for the public to ask questions or make comments on items on the Agenda. Comments on items not appearing on the agenda can be made at the chairman’s discretion.

Apologies for absence.
Declaration of members’ interests.
Approve the minutes of the extraordinary meeting of 23rd April, 2019.
Planning Matters: To comment on planning application received from South Downs National Park being SDNP/19/02644/HOUS, Single storey kitchen extension to rear of the house, with roof lantern, additional window and raised patio extending from the kitchen at 35 Clappers Lane Fulking BN5 9ND.

Date of the next Ordinary Meeting: Thursday 11th july 2019 to be held at Fulking Village Hall at 7:30pm.

Kind regards

Trevor Parsons
Clerk – Fulking Parish Council
parishclerk@fulking.net
07767 422733

Bobservation No. 56: Elections

Elections
Local elections are upon us and on the Parish level the stepping down of Michael Trist created a vacancy which has been filled by the only villager to put their name forward, Samantha Leader. Many thanks to him for his ‘stint’ and best wishes to her. At the District Council election, being held on Next Thursday the 2nd of May, politics, fortunately absent from Parish elections, come into play but I would ask you in considering your choice of three district councillors to support the nomination of Councillor Colin Trumble who has been a very good friend to Fulking and attends our parish council meetings whenever he possibly can. Rest assured I am not recommending this because I agree with his politics, I don’t, but because I believe it is in the best interests of Fulking.

Fulking Fair Update
This year’s fair will be held without the sponsoring of the marquee by the Shepherd & Dog, because the business is up for sale and sadly we shall be losing David and Emily who have put so much work into creating such a splendid village pub. However, these things happen, and the fair will continue to be the best village fair in Sussex! Preliminary details are already on the village website. Big news is that Toby Peirce and his excellent Quaff Wine outfit will be rejoining us for the Call my Bluff on Friday 26 July.

Bobservation No. 55: Twinning

I understand that, as a result of all the Brexit negotiations, West Sussex County Council have been approached by the head (Oberstgruppenstatsfuehrer) of the Bavarian (Bayern) local government (Landesschiffelhaus) enquiring about the possibility of twinning (zweimenschalldupples) Fulking with the Bavarian village of Fahrting.

Of course this would have to be agreed by the residents of both villages, probably by means of a referendum, which of course has proved remarkably successful in the UK recently. Assuming that such a vote was in favour of twinning the benefits could be exciting. October feast (Ocktoberfest) Leather shorts ( lederhosen) to be worn by Fulking men and blazers and cricket boots by their Fahrting counterparts on the anniversary of the twinning. Village ladies could take part wearing dirndl (dirndl) outfits and with guttural singing of local folkloric songs, dancing in clogs and permanent waving.

Fahrting is a village of some 250 residents and is best known for the local exceptional weather. The combination of the excessive rainfall brought about by the proximity of the Danube (Donau) and the extreme winds from the Alps (Alpen) are possibly the origin of the village’s name. Recent history has been unkind to Fahrting inasmuch as Adolf Hitler (der Fuehrer) thought the name vulgar (vuellengartengesellschaft) and treated the villagers as ethnically Romany (Romanicheren) with the most unpleasant results (resultenshaffelgesalt). Lastly, I hope that the villagers get as much pleasure out of Fahrting as they have done out of Fulking! 1.4.19

Fulking Fair and Allsorts fun dog show
The Social Committee will be meeting in the village hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 24 April to get this event (Sunday 28 July) off the ground. We need helpers so, if you are interested, please come and join us.

Bluebells
Usual annual invitation at Furzefield. All villagers welcome. Children under strict control and sorry, no dogs. Probably best around 20 April. Please give us a ring (271) before coming .

Notice of Parish Council Elections 2019

Bobservation 53: Winter Thoughts

Fulking Village from Downs in Snow Neighbours and Hedges
Now I know most of us have, at some time, fallen out with the next door neighbours over the hedge between two properties. In the 26 years we have been at Furzefield only one family of neighbours have reacted sympathetically and been prepared to see our point of view. These are our current neighbours Simon and Laurence who arrived, with their sons from London, not two years ago. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the way they have handled the matter. Curious that it takes an arrival from London to behave so well. Maybe we could all learn something from this. I have!!

John Ruskin
Friday February 8 will be the 200th anniversary of the art critic, writer and reformer John Ruskin’s birth. His memorial in Fulking is the fountain which graces the entrance to the North Town Field and the anniversary will be celebrated in London by an evening of readings and music at the Royal Academy. John Ruskin was instrumental in creating an efficient system of running water in Fulking in the 19th century which is now unfortunately defunct and only a facade. I imagine current Health and Safety regulations make any refurbishment of the system impossible. What a pity!.

Rampion Trench
Thanks for the manner in which the contractors have hidden the Rampion Trench and landscaped where it has crossed the highway. Rampion itself is, of course, a major local player in the fight against global warming, a battle that is probably the most important international problem of all.

Hopefully useful information
The recent death of my brother in law has, once again, reminded me how essential it is for the remaining partner to have all the useful information regarding finances, insurance, pensions, investments and other household details in an easily available place. It is quite simple to create a sheet of facts which can be regularly updated and prove a great help. Many widows (and widowers) find themselves at a complete loss to know how they stand financially and where to access details of all the contacts that are required when the unfortunate event occurs.