Sheldon Jottings for October 2015

Most of the hay and silage is now in after such a dismal summer of showery weather – what a nightmare for our farmers…Talking of showers, did you view the night sky around the 13th August to watch the annual Perseid meteor showers?  We saw 4 – not exactly a shower but still an incredible sight!

The last Cream Tea afternoon of the year was on Bank Holiday Sunday 30th August. It was very busy and thus a great success, raising a profit of £280 for Village Hall funds – the best yet. We seem to have many regulars and not just locals so thank you to all who support in this way and to all those who help on the day and to those who put up the all-important advertising on the roadsides.

The Parish Meeting on August 19th discussed our very poor broadband service. Well we now have exciting news about getting faster broadband in the village. After being told by Derbyshire County Council broadband team at the meeting that it was unlikely that BT would be improving the village infrastructure before 2017 (at the earliest), and the ongoing broadband interference problems being experienced by everyone, we have decided to look for help elsewhere. Thankfully, a local company has come to the rescue, W3Z based in Ripley, who can provide a superfast wireless broadband solution to many villages in the Peak District. W3Z does not rely on dodgy BT cables and it can provide your telephone service (keeping your existing number). If everything goes according to plan, W3Z engineers will be installing the necessary equipment on those houses that have signed up just as these jottings drop through your letter box!

Other items included at the Parish Meeting were the proposed defibrillator – more monies are coming in and another big thank you to the Masonic Padley Lodge for helping us.

The new seat is now in situ and should last a long lifetime. Details of the monies raised from Sheldon Day to facilitate our village life and its amenities will be discussed at the next meeting on Wednesday 14th October.

We have some very sad news to report this month – Nigel died on the 28th August. We send our sincere condolences to all the family. Nigel had been poorly for some time but only latterly was he diagnosed having a liver disease and also Crohn’s disease. He took an active part in our village life but largely behind the scenes – he was a stalwart of the Planning Committee who so often needed his wise counsel. We will miss you greatly Nigel. Mickey would like to thank John who was a big help in the family’s hour of need. Also Mickey says thank you for cracking the safe!  Regrettably, Nigel’s funeral is to be just after the deadline for these jottings.

The winner of The 100 Club Draw for September was Emma Mosley from Buxton with no.23.

Last but not least we welcome Ben Everet who has moved into Clover Cottage. We hope you will be very happy here.

Dates for the Diary

Wednesday 14th October 7.30pm
Parish Meeting in the Village Hall

Wednesday 21st October 7.30pm
Sheldon History Group in the Village Hall