For more information please contact

Sunday 19th March following the 9.30 am service.

Please come along and find out what has been happening over the last year.

Fresh flowers are put in church every week on a rota basis.

If you would like to arrange the flowers one week, please add your name to the rota sheet on the table at the back of church or speak to Dolly Mullen.

Alternatively, if you would just like to donate the flowers in memory of a departed loved one, also speak to Dolly who can arrange this for you.

News from Bramham Primary School this month focuses on the new Key Stage 1 unit which has been developed over recent weeks. The younger children are eager and excited by the changes and are very much looking forward to accessing the areas which have all been carefully designed to support and motivate our children’s learning.

As spring approaches, and the weather improves our younger pupils learning environment will be extended into the great outdoors by the erection of a secure Key Stage 1 perimeter fence, providing beneficial, fun and stimulating activities in outdoor surroundings.

In celebrating the changes at Bramham Primary School, parents, children and residents of our local community are warmly invited to the launch of the Key Stage 1 Unit and formal opening of our Before and After School Club on Thursday the 9^th of March 2006 at 2.00 p.m. The Bramham Parents Association will be providing refreshments so please do come along!

To register your child/children for the Before and After School Club please contact Mrs. Jane Hussey on 01937 842198 or mobile 07711265004.

Many thanks for the Football kit donated by Bramham Village Stores which ensured that Thomas Wilson, Bradley Ketteridge, Liam Snape, Harry Wilson, Robert Thomas and Billy Foulkes looked like professional players when they participated in a B.T. Football Tournament that took place at Leeds United Training Ground on the 15^th February. Although they gave a fantastic championship performance, Woodlesford Primary School were the eventual winners.

Looking to the future, with the support of Boston Spa’s Sports College we will be providing after school Karate sessions for our children which will commence on Thursday 2^nd March for 6 weeks. Key Stage 2 children will also be participating in a coaching programme provided by Leeds United Football Club.

Finally, a date for you diary – Quiz Night April 7^th! Pie and peas supper and licensed bar for all to enjoy! This is bound to be a successful night, so watch this space for tickets on sale!

Phil Robinson

Our very grateful thanks to Martin Shenton for once again coming to our rescue and supplying a new vacuum cleaner for the Church. Many many thanks Martin.

We would be delighted if more parishioners joined us at this meeting to be held on Sunday 19th March after the 9.30 am service. All Saints’ Church is your village church and we can only improve things if we get feedback from the Village.

After the official APM Agenda, there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions. However if you have a specific question now, please contact the Churchwardens and we will endeavour to find an answer for you  and discuss this at the discussion point after the Annual Parish Meeting.

At the time of writing we were all very sorry to hear that Arthur Tindall was in Harrogate Hospital and we all send him our best wishes for a very speedy recovery.

Despite our many polite requests, rubbish is still being left outside the gate on Vicarage Lane. Please do not leave your rubbish there as the Refuse lorry does not go along Vicarage Lane . Please take it away with you or alternatively leave it by the dustbins near the main church door. Thank You.

Anne Palmer and Peggy Kitchen

We now seem to have established a good relationship with the Grass Cutting section of Leeds City Council and no doubt residents will be pleased to see that at long last the grass verge has been cut back from the path on Aberford Road.

There really does seem to be a determination by Leeds City Council to get it right and we have arranged a meeting with the Council and a representative of Glendale, the contractors, in April to try and ensure that we get a good service in 2006.

We will let you know the outcome of the meeting in due course, after which we hope to be able to explain in some detail exactly what service will be provided.

We have thought for some time that it would  be nice to have the two lanes identified, as they do have a name on the map, and after some prolonged correspondence Leeds City Council have agreed to put up some signs. We tried to get them made out of wood as we thought that they would be more in keeping with the rural location but unfortunately “wood” doesn’t feature in the LCC budget so they will be the normal road signs. Not a complete victory but at least a small success.

This book will be on sale in April and if we make anything above the printing cost, any profit will be used on environmental projects for the benefit of the Village.

See page 11 for more information about the new book.

Ernest Nichols

(for the Environmental Group)

The idea of a Book of Walks originated from the Village Plan and its production was passed to the Environmental Group (better known as Bramham in Bloom). When I said “what a good idea” everyone in the group stared at me so intently that I had no choice but to become a reluctant volunteer.

I am interested in walking and have often criticised walking books, so now was my chance to see how easy it was. It wasn’t !! The walking bit is easy, getting it down on paper ain't and I now fully sympathise with the writers of walking books. 

The problem is that you see what you want to see, which is not necessarily what your reader sees. I have agonised over the wording, and the number of changes nearly drove Gill mental. I also did the walks twice in 2005 and found that on two of the walks there had been changes already. In one the signs had been changed in the other the route altered. Yes, I am hedging my bets just in case I got the instructions wrong in the first place !

At the end of the day I cannot say that I didn’t enjoy the challenge and even Gill, who put it all together in book form for me and isn't a walker, has enjoyed the journey. I think !! Gill and I have read the script over and over but finally we said enough’s enough if there are mistakes we will have to live with them.  So hopefully when you do read the book please bear in mind that I am very much an amateur trying to operate in a professional world. I have no doubt that there will be spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and heaven forbid an incorrect direction !!!

Hopefully my Epitaph will read “He tried his best”.

Every thing is now with the printers and the book will be on sale in April as promised at a cost of £3. Although we will probably come around the Village selling the book, if you want to order one you can phone Ernest or Gill. (Villagers who ordered a copy at the exhibition are already in our records) or there will be a supply in the Village Post Office.

The walks range from 3 to 11 miles and cover the area of Bramham, Thorner, Newton Kyme, Boston Spa and Wetherby. There is also a 10 mile bike ride to Compton.

Ernest Nicholls - Tel 841195

The 1x1 have turned in some of their best performances of the season in the last month. We are now heading to a very busy and important part of the season.

March brings cup games, quarter finals of the Intermediate and League Challenge Cups, semi-final of the League Medal Competition and if all goes well in the Intermediate Quarter the semi –final is also scheduled.

The League will become a mad dash through April, we currently sit in 3rd place with games in hand so its each game as it comes and hopefully we'll have an enjoyable March and April.

The Reserves are still well placed in their Division to gain promotion. They are still in one cup but unfortunately lost in the semi-final of the Supplementary Cup in February (some very dodgy refereeing didn't help us at all).

I'm sure that by the end of the season several of the Reserves will have tasted 1x1 football. As the season draws to a close, there are so many games to be played in such a short time that we see the true benefits of the support that a Reserve Team offers to its 1 X 1.

Harehills Place U10s - 0

Bramham U10s - 4.

Goals from Harry Wilson (2) Dan Martin and Tom Wilson saw us record our 1st league win of the season. The win was made even better by the fact that we kept a clean sheet. This was a true team effort and we are looking forward to many many more.

The U12s have had a quiet month with only one game. It was against one of the top teams in our Division so the performance was more important than the result. All the effort and hard work that has been put in is now starting to show as we are now making the better teams work harder.

We are all very proud of our Girls Team. We are now competitive in all the games we play. We've been unfortunate to go down 4 - 2 in both of our last two games.

Once again it is the performances rather than the results that matter and in both games the results could have gone the other way. I feel sure that I'll soon be telling you of good wins, as long as we all keep putting the effort in.

Mick

You don't need an appointment and you'll receive on the spot advice and treatment from a pharmacist to help you feel better fast. What's more, if you don't pay for your prescription, you don't pay for any treatment you receive from the pharmacist.

Your nearest Pharmacy is: Charles Fox, Boston Spa; Moss Pharmacy, Wetherby;

Village Pharmacy Collingham; Boots the Chemist, Wetherby; Selles Chemists, Wetherby.

The Committee is pleased to see that the hall is rapidly filling its weekend bookings.

So far this year we have had two fundraising events. The first was the Ceilidh and Burns Supper. Although attended by only 60 people it was a super evening and everyone (well almost) got up to join in the dancing. The supper was very tasty, with a vegetarian option and sausages for those not partaking of the haggis. Many thanks to the Wetherby Accordionists for donating their time. We have booked them again for a return next year and hope to see many more of you.

The second fund raising event was kindly provided by Keith Robinson at his birthday bash. It was a fantastic evening with live music provided by Loserville from Sweden.

The next fundraiser will be the bar at Boccigalupe and the Bad Boys on 4^th March.

Other events planned for the year so far are the return of the Boston Spa School Soul band (though not until the autumn), and we are hoping to see a new venture, that as a venue for a live comedian, who tours  Yorkshire village halls each year when he is not appearing on TV or at the Edinburgh Festival – watch this space for more details.

In terms of the building the heating is almost finished – just snagging to be done, and we are waiting for the completion of the electrical work, hopefully during the school half term. The Committee is now seeking comprehensive tenders for all the planned remaining work – a new toilet block, refurbished kitchen and bar and better access and storage in the hall. Anyone who wishes to tender for the work should apply to the Committee for more information.

Finally a note for your diary – the AGM will be held on Tuesday 2 May at 8.00 pm in the Supper room. If you have any comments about the running of the hall or would like to be involved in any aspect, please attend.

Thank you to all our generous supporters! This year has been phenomenal, we have never made so much money!!

Quiz Evening ………………….....£2,353.04

A Calendar for Bramham ………..£1,311.25

Bob Gibson's run in the New York Marathon…………......£2,584.84

If there is anyone who would like to join our committee or help in any way, please would they contact Margaret Morgan on 844688.

This will follow the same format as last year, with a competition to be judged in September. Interesting photographs of Bramham past and present will be selected and we would especially like to encourage entries from the youth of Bramham. Remember there was only one entry from the under 18 age group last time.

Please GET SNAPPING or dig out your OLD SNAPS. Your photos cannot be included if you don't enter.

Lin Tritschler

in Bramham Village Hall

New Members Welcome

We have Volley Ball, Basket Ball, Table

Tennis, Snooker/Pool, Badminton, Football, Air Hockey, Play Stations and X Boxes.

If you are over 12 years of age come along and join in the fun

for further information contact

Bramham Brownies continues to go from strength to strength. As you will know, we now have a waiting list.

We are going on pack holiday in July. Fiona has very kindly offered to take us which we are most grateful for. As you may know I do not have a Pack Holiday Licence so without help we would not be able to go. A big thank you again to Fiona.

Brownie Thinking day is on the 28th February and this year we are having the celebration at Clifford Village Hall. The Brownies will be doing their World Culture Badge.

We are going to have a stall at the Bramham Carnival so we will be round to collect things later on in the year. Please look out for our letters and lots of Brownies knocking on your door. Any money made from the stall will go towards our pack holiday and a new flag..

Our Brownies turned out in force for the Senior Citizens afternoon tea party and did great,. They achieved their Entertainers Badge for all their hard work.

Once again we thank Jo Ogden for her continuous support, but as always if anybody would like to help with Brownies please contact me, as an extra pair of hands is always good.

If any one would like to put their daughter's name on our list please contact me or call to see us. We meet at Bramham School on Tuesday evenings 6 pm till 7.15 pm.

We all really enjoy being at such a wonderful School and in the summer being able to play on the fields. We thank Bramham School for letting us use their premises.

Hope to see you all soon

Brown Owl and Jo

x x

Pruning the Wisteria in mid February was a little late but as they say ‘better late than never’. You can prune sub-laterals to 2/3 buds and laterals by a third of their length tying in where necessary. The Wisteria in Fairburn was in a large artificial stone box and needed watering with the dry weather and this large plant against the house was full of dead wood; I suspect caused by lack of water in the past. This container could have done with a mulch of mushroom compost and a good helping of general fertilizer (Growmore) to pep it up.

In situations where shrub borders have become overgrown, lawns easily build up moss over winter periods and will require removal. The competition for water, nutrient and space is detrimental to the grass. Moss is really a symptom of unsocial soil conditions which affect grass quality. Reducing the lower branches of trees gives a more open aspect and lets in light and the rain.

On small areas you can use a springbok rake to lift out moss. Large areas need a powered machine to scarify and remove most of the moss (you will wonder where it all came from). Then treat with Lawn Sand (Ferrous Sulphate and sand as the spreader) obtained from the local garden centre.

Moss just loves compacted soil. This can be relieved by “forking” and lifting the turf (fork in upright 4/6 inches and then pull back 45 degrees). This helps the fertilizer you have spread to penetrate down into the soil and also allows in the rain water. The scarification action removes what is called thatch; that moss and dead litter layer at the base of the grass plant. It is also impervious to water, so that the ground remains dry underneath.

Regular mowing is essential. Letting the grass grow to 3 or 4 inches and then scalping with the mower only encourages moss and weakens the grass. Aim to cut when 1½ inches long taking away a ⅓ to ½ it’s growth.

This removes the least fibre and conserves nutrient. So the motto is ‘Cut before it needs it’!. A good lawn is something to be proud of but it needs a little effort and thought. Remember the rotary mower will never replace a good cylinder mower which has a clean cut and causes grass least damage.

On the vegetable front early  March is the time to get going with the vegetables. Sow your Broad Beans into their pots to get them started in a cold frame or greenhouse. You can then plant out end of the month or early April when the soil is warmer. Onion setts can also go in and you can chit your main crop potatoes. There seems plenty about in the garden centres at present.

Prune the last of the roses and with the Dogwoods (Cornus) and Willow (Salix) shoots pushing up cut back hard to strong shoots to encourage good coloured fresh stems over the summer to give next winter’s display.

As I write I have seen two plants of Clematis cirrhosa on a wall in Pontefract. What a great display either side of a window and at a time of year when there is little colour about. This a worthwhile plant to buy.

At the other end of the season will be Clematis tangutica ‘Bill Mackenzie’, yellow and holding its fluffy balls of ‘old mans beard’ through the winter months.

Dave Mitchell

Yorkshire Landscape Gardens