Rubbish/Waste collections

The Isle of Wight Council have amended rubbish collections for the Christmas and New Year Period.

The next collection in Havenstreet will be Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

In Ashey, the next collection will be on the usual day of the week beginning 2nd January 2012.

Further information can be found on the Isle of Wight Council website

Christmas Tree Festival at St Peters Church, Havenstreet

St. Peter’s Church in Havenstreet will be open for four days for people to come and visit the Church and look at the Christmas Trees that the local community have dressed.

This year’s theme is ‘For All the Saints’

And is from 22nd December, 27th December, 28th December and 29th December from 10.30.a.m. – 4.00.p.m

December Parish Surgery

The Parish Surgery for December will be held at Havenstreet Community Centre on Saturday 17th December from 10am to 12 midday.

Wootton Bridge Christmas Festival – 16 & 17 December 2011

Wootton Christmas Festival Details

Friday 16th December 6.00 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.
Roving nativity play
(starts at Brannon Way Village Square at 6.00 p.m.)
followed by:-
Singing around the Christmas Tree
Village Choirs
Guith Morris Dancers
Raffle
Hot & cold drinks, mince pies & biscuits will be provided
***
Saturday 17th December 10.30a.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Stalls, Traidcraft
Crafts for the children to make
Follow the Trail
Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Community Education Unit
Roving Magician
Lucky Dip
Raffle to be drawn at 3.00p.m.
Hot & cold drinks, mince pies & biscuits will be provided

Havenstreet and Ashey remember War Dead

Services of remembrance were held at the Willis Fleming memorial and at Ashey Cemetery on Sunday 13 November 2011.

Cllr Veronica Hattersley laid a wreath at the Willis Fleming memorial on behalf of the Parish Council and parishioners of Havenstreet and Ashey. The wreath at Ashey was laid by Cllr Bob Blezzard.

Boys Brigade Buglers were present at both services.

Clerk Appointed

A new Clerk has been appointed to the Parish Council.

Rachel Brown took over from locum clerk Bob Blezzard last week.

The Isle of Wight Grand National and Ashey Scurry

The Isle of Wight Grand National Scurry is a series of amateur horse races over cross country, post and rail and natural hedges.  The event takes place each year in late Winter or early Spring at West Ashey Farm, near Ryde by kind permission of Alan Aylett.

The course can be reached by car or by steam train from Havenstreet Station.

www.iw-scurry.co.uk

Have you seen the rare Scarlet malachite beetle

Help us find the Scarlet malachite beetle

Having once been widespread across southern England, the Scarlet malachite beetle has declined so much it’s now threatened with extinction. We are asking people who live in areas where this beetle used to be found to look out for it this spring, so we can assess the current status of this beetle in Britain.

This colourful beetle clings on in just a small portion of its former range and is now so rare it has been declared a government priority for conservation action. A similar survey carried out in 2006 had positive results; adding four new populations to the four we already knew about. We believe the beetle may still be hanging on in other areas and with the help of the public we hope to discover more populations.

Surviving beetle populations tend to occur in or near villages with thatched cottages.  We think the beetle larvae may live in the thatch, feeding on other small invertebrates that are found there.  We ask people to look out for the adult beetles on greens, commons and road verges near villages and report any sightings to the Buglife website, where more information and an identification guide can be found:

http://www.buglife.org.uk/News/Get+involved+in+the+Scarlet+malachite+beetle+survey

Dr. Duncan Sivell