1 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Chairman’s Report – Autumn 2017

I am not usually the type of person to write in comic

book style, but after my visit on Bank Holiday Monday

to the re-vamped, relocated and re-energised

Swallowfield Show, I cannot think of any better way to

express myself regarding the superhero efforts by all

concerned.

I have often said that events, and the people that bring

them about within our parish, regularly “punch above

their weight”, but that does not do justice to the

achievements of the Horticultural Society and the plethora of volunteers who help them out. I am sure

that, in time, we shall get a more detailed analysis of

the show, but just eaves-dropping and hearing things

like “never heard of Swallowfield before – it’s really

pretty”, “this is the second trip back to the car with

things from the food tent” and “we must go and watch

the Essex dogs again” are certainly signs that people

were enjoying themselves. I am sure that everyone who

visited had their favourites – I always love looking

around the vegetable show and invariably promise

myself that I will enter next year!

An enormous vote of thanks should go to all involved,

especially Lord and Lady Bearsted, for allowing the

show to return to its original site on Swallowfield Park

after much of the previous site was sold for

development.

The next event that will showcase what is being

achieved in our Parish is the Swallowfield 10+3

organised by 1st Swallowfield Scouts Group on Sunday

17th September 2017. The Scouts group have been

very diligent in letting local residents know about the

road closures but just to remind you that roads in and

around Swallowfield and Farley Hill will be closed to

through traffic from 9:30am on 17th September

reopening at 2:30pm. There will also be delays to local

traffic at Brookside Nursery in Swallowfield at

10:30am to allow the races to start safely; traffic will

be held for 10 minutes at Swallowfield Park.

The Fieldfayre project continues at a pace and John

Anderson has written an article on the progress to date.

It is certainly an exciting project and I think that we are

all learning a lot as we move forward. Progress is good

and I would encourage you to register for our regular

updates and pictures. Simply give your email address

to the Parish Clerk or look at the “Local News” section

on our website. The PC is very proud of this project

and it will ensure a valuable asset will be kept for many

years to come.

The most common theme that I have made comment

on over the past four or so years is the constant

discussions and, more often than not, frustrations with

planning applications within or near to our parish.

Jonathan Wheelwright took over as Chair of Planning

in April and it has certainly been a baptism of fire for

him! His report later in this newsletter goes into greater

detail regarding the current situation, but I would just

like to ask that, if you are not supportive of a particular

development, you make your opinion and reasons

known to the appropriate planning authority.

Where possible, the PC organises leaflet drops to

residents trying to explain the planning process for a

particular development which is often far from clear.

Quite understandably most people do not deal with

these matters on a day-to-day basis as developers do.

Invariably, this is a fact that developers try to leverage

and the submission of two very similar sounding

applications only serves to confuse. The objection

cont overleaf

Feature Articles in this Issue

Planning applications: see Planning Report, p.2

and WBC report, p.6

Parish Council Vacancy p.4

Shop and PO services: see Properties Report p.4 & 6

Autumn 2017

2 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Diary of Parish Events September to November 2017

Date Time Event Location

12 Sept

10 Oct

14 Nov

10am –

12 noon

Book Club and

Coffee Morning

Victory Hall,

Farley Hill

12 Sept 7.30pm Parish Council

Meeting

The Rose

Room

17 Sept 10.30am

start

Scouts 10K, 3K, &

Duathlon event

Swallowfield

Parish Hall,

then villages

23 Sept 2pm -

4pm

Pre-School jumble

sale

Swallowfield

Parish Hall

23 Sept 6pm Horticultural Soc.

Summer Show

Swallowfield

Parish Hall

23 Sept

7 Oct

8.30am -

12 noon

Flu Jabs Swallowfield

Medical

Practice

26 Sept

24 Oct

28 Nov

7.30pm Parish Council

Drop-in sessions

on Planning issues

The Rose

Room

10 Oct 7.30pm Parish Council

Meeting

The Rose

Room

13, 14,

15 Oct

7.30pm Russell Players

Music Hall

Swallowfield

Parish Hall

4 Nov 6pm Sparks in the Park Swallowfield

Park

12 Nov 10.15 Remembrance

Day Service

Swallowfield

War

Memorial

14 Nov 7.30pm Parish Council

Meeting

The Rose

Room

Every

Mon

7.30pm

–

8.30pm

FHVS Pilates Victory Hall,

Farley Hill

Every

Wed

10.30am

-

12.30pm

Swallowfield’s

Coffee Corner

Davies Room

Every

Friday

7pm –

11pm

FHVS Friday

Evening Socials

Victory Hall,

Farley Hill

Chairman’s Report continued from p.1

letters/emails that you send do make a difference and I

would urge you to continue to respond in both the

volume and content that has been done historically.

Finally, I would like to introduce you to a new member

of the Parish Council team. Derek Norris has joined us

as caretaker when Mike decided that it was time to

retire and, rumour has it, spend more time gardening.

Knowing Mike, there are going to be a lot more

activities than tending the herbaceous border and we

wish him well. It is always a concern that when you

lose a valuable member of the team, will you be able to

replace them? Again, fortune has smiled on us and, in

Derek, we have a friendly and very capable new

caretaker. Welcome, Derek, and on behalf of the PC I

hope you enjoy a long and happy time with us.

So, as we head towards the “season of mist and mellow

fruitfulness” (hopefully to be made into a winner at

next year’s Swallowfield Show), on behalf of the PC, I

hope that you enjoy what is left of our summer.

Peter Sampson

Councillor Jonathan Sant

It was with great regret that the Parish Council received

the resignation of Cllr Jonathan Sant, due to a change

in his work commitments following promotion.

Jonathan has made a significant contribution during his

time on the Council.

Jonathan headed up the Recreation portfolio on the PC.

He was very active in a number of initiatives, including

the design and fitting out of the new Multi-Purpose

Games Court (MPGC), and looking after play areas,

the skateboard park and the recreation grounds. He was

the PC representative to the Riseley Tennis Club and

the Football Club, and oversaw the setting up of the

Parish Council information gazebo at the Church Fete.

A man of great initiative - he will be sorely missed!

We now have a vacancy for another parish councillor

(see page 4)

Planning Report Autumn 2017

In planning, the summer has disappeared in a blur of

speculative applications and appeals across the whole

of the Wokingham borough. There has also been

plenty of development ongoing as those commuting

around the county will know, with roadworks

appearing and reappearing with regularity.

Wokingham

Borough Council

(WBC) has been

investing heavily in

local infrastructure

and has major

construction works

planned and

underway. The south Wokingham secondary school

run by Bohunt in Arborfield was handed over to WBC

by the developer Dawnus Construction in June. It is a

superb facility for 11 - 18 year-olds and will hold 1200

students when full. It boasts superb classroom

facilities, an open timber-framed main hall, great sports

facilities that include an impressive climbing wall and

there is even a mini-amphitheatre. There’s a superb

aerial video of the school buildings at

www.tinyurl.com/bohunt .

The slightly misleadingly named Nine Mile Ride

Extension opens in September. This road is primarily

3 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

to provide access to the new school from the

A327. Development of the southern connection is in a

later phase of development and will link this new road

to the existing Nine Mile Ride at the Park Lane junction

– hence the name.

The Arborfield Cross Relief Road planning application

consultation has just finished. This is designed on

route B from the original consultation on the four route

choices. The relief road links the A327 at a new

roundabout south of Arborfield Cross and then will

travel pretty much as the crow flies to a new

roundabout on the A327 near Bridge Farm. There will

also be a new staggered junction on Swallowfield road

near Henry Street garden centre. The design is

maturing with site investigations, ecology surveys and

environmental impacts all being submitted with the

application. Construction is expected to start in 2018.

There is still no completion date for the Shinfield

Eastern Relief road, which has been delayed by quality

issues with drainage. This development is being

undertaken by Hocktief UK on behalf of (surprisingly)

the University of Reading. The road was originally

planned to open in summer 2016. Not surprisingly the

developer has spray-painted over the completion date

signs. The last update we had was that there would be

an announcement on the go live date at the end of

August.

More widely, there are the busy plans for the

redevelopment of Wokingham’s town centre, plans for

a new South Wokingham Distributor Road (also

known as the Eastern Gateway) that will cross the train

tracks to the east of Wokingham and also the next

phase of the Carnival regeneration. Updates on these

and more are available on Wokingham’s website

http://news.wokingham.gov.uk/news.

Wokingham Borough Council has a statutory

obligation to ensure that it provides sufficient housing

approvals to meet the objectively assessed housing

needs. To this end it has developed the Strategic

Housing Land Availability Assessment which provides

a list of development sites for the next five years. For

WBC, this means that they must provide for around

850 new dwellings per year. This is a challenging

target, so they have created the four strategic

development locations at Arborfield Green, Shinfield,

North Wokingham and South Wokingham to deliver

new housing quickly and efficiently and to make these

developments sustainable with investment in new

infrastructure such as schools and transport links.

Now, take a deep breath and stay with me as I try to

explain why there have been so many applications for

significant new housing development in Swallowfield.

The assessment of the delivery against that 850

houses/year is made on the basis of housing completed,

not on the approvals given for housing development.

There is no obligation for builders to actually build the

houses once planning approval has been given,

provided the development is started within three years.

Some developers hold off completing development in

the hope of getting a better price. Local parishes have

engaged with Alok Sharma, Minister of State for

Housing and Planning, to urge for new measures to

stop this ‘land banking’. In theory, this could mean

that WBC fails to achieve their target even though they

have apparently met their obligations to find enough

suitable development sites. So what, you may ask?

This allows for approval of applications on the

‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’

even if those sites are not identified by WBC in their

list of approved sites. What this means in practice is

that new sites outside of the village boundaries and on

prime agricultural land just might be considered for

development.

Thus we come to the planning battleground of WBC’s

carefully selected site list vs the opportunities that

might exist if Wokingham can be shown to be under-

delivering against housing needs. This leads to the

Stanbury House development in Spencers Wood. This

was an application for 57 houses by Coopers Estates to

the west of the Basingstoke Road. In itself the decision

on the application was reasonably straightforward and

it was rightly refused by Wokingham. However, on

appeal, the independent inspectorate decided that

Wokingham’s supply of housing was not adequate and

overturned the original rejection and approved the

development. Cue speculative applications on land on

Wyvols field in Swallowfield, land north of Part Lane

in Riseley and land west of Trowes Lane, all green field

sites outside of the village boundaries – but with this as

their central argument for approval.

The great news is that Wokingham took the Stanbury

House appeal judgement to the High Court and won by

proving that their land supply for housing was

adequate. This judgement should dampen down some

of the application speculative buzz around the

borough. However, we still have a number of

applications running, hoping that there is still an

opportunity to bypass Wokingham’s planning policies.

This brings us onto the Wyvols Field application by

Richborough Estates for 65 houses, which was

originally rejected by Wokingham but is now going to

appeal. This will be decided through a quasi-judicial

inquiry by the independent planning

inspectorate. Inquiries are a long drawn out process

with up to 12 weeks to validate the appeal before an

inspector is assigned and then up to another 32 weeks

for the inquiry itself to run. The final decision will then

follow – and this can be another 11 weeks. All in all,

it can take up a while. The Wyvols Field inquiry will

take place in early October. We shall watch and hope

for the right outcome. Local residents and the Parish

Council strongly objected to the application based on

4 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

sustainability of development in our village with its

limited resources.

Cove Homes’ application for 20 houses west of Trowes

Lane was likewise rejected and has gone to

appeal. They have also submitted a new application

which is running in parallel. Our thanks go to all the

residents who took the time to provide comments on

both these applications. The Parish Council has

likewise strongly objected to this application. This

appeal inquiry will sit in early December.

There is also the application for development on land

north of Part Lane. At the time of writing there has

been no decision. The Parish Council are confident

this will be refused as once again it is outside the

village boundary, is on a green field site and is

unsustainable. The Council are particularly concerned

about the safety at the entrance to the site as well as the

urban spread it would generate.

Finally, The Riseley Objectors Action Group (ROAG)

are exploring innovative options to overturn Hart

District Council’s approval for Gleeson’s development

of 83 homes west of Odiham Road bordering Riseley

on the south side of the Devil’s Highway. More

information from ROAG can be found on the Keep

Riseley Beautiful Facebook page.

I hope that planning is quieter for the parish by the next

newsletter!

Jonathan Wheelwright

Properties Report Autumn 2017

Fieldfayre The construction phase of the Fieldfayre

redevelopment project started on 19th June 2017 and is

currently progressing to

schedule. The initial work

consisted of stripping out the

two flats in the main house

and demolishing the single

storey rear extensions. This

was followed by ground

clearance, site levelling and

excavations for the

foundations and drainage

associated with the two

bungalows and new rear

extension. Foundations have been laid and the concrete

floor beams installed. Work is now proceeding on the

brickwork and blockwork

of the main structures.

Parts of the drainage

solution have also been

put in. The foul waste

pumped storage tank has

been installed. This allows

foul waste to be stored up in flood conditions and

discharged slowly to the

main sewer when

conditions allow. Surface

water is a problem in

Swallowfield because our

clay soils mean that

soakaways are by and large

ineffective, so this water

has to go somewhere else. The surface water drainage

solution at Fieldfayre consists of an extensive granular

drainage blanket (looks like rubble sandwiched

between permeable membranes) located beneath the

paving surface. This granular drainage blanket does

two things. The first is to act as a filter to improve the

water quality of the surface water passing through it.

More importantly, the second is to provide a storage

facility as the granular blanket has approximately 30

percent voids which can store surface water run-off.

Then there is a facility that restricts the rate of

discharge.

Meanwhile, the two flats are being reconfigured to the

new design and to become the temporary home for the

shop / PO to enable construction work to proceed in the

current shop / PO area.

As with any redevelopment work, there is potential to

hit upon unforeseen problems hidden underground or

in the internal fabric of the original building, which has

been modified many times over the years. This project

is no exception and in our case the excavation work

5 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

revealed a disused cesspit in the line of one of the

footings trenches, and the stripping out of the flats

revealed structural differences from that which had

been anticipated. Both problems were easily overcome

by simple engineering design changes and as you

would expect the project budget contains contingency

to cover additional costs of this sort. Another “known

unknown” is the rendered sidewall of the existing shop

extension which may have to be rebuilt, but we won’t

find out until later in the project after the shop / PO has

relocated.

The relocation of the shop / PO into its temporary

location in the left- hand half of the building is likely

to occur in mid-October, provided all parties can

maintain their schedules. This will present a significant

logistical challenge as it involves coordination with the

Post Office and their subcontractors, who are

responsible for doing much of the work relating to the

PO facilities: Camelot for the lotto facilities, a shop

fitting company, the builder and of course our

postmaster, Mr Kumar. All the shop fittings, freezers,

chillers, stock and “what have you” will have to be

moved in tandem with the PO facilities. All this

activity must come together over a period of just a few

days! We have now just received information that it is

planned that the Post Office will be closed from 12

October to 14 October to allow all these activities to

take place.

I must remind everybody that the shop is heavily reliant

on custom continuing at near normal levels in order to

make ends meet, so it is incumbent on us to continue

using the shop despite any potential inconvenience.

Currently there are quite a few contractor vehicles

parking in the road despite encouragement to use the

hall car park, and this is mainly because they need easy

access to all their tools and equipment. This is likely to

continue until the shells of the buildings and

groundworks are complete. After this it is hoped that at

least a proportion of these will be able to park within

the site compound. The Council recognises that this

causes problems with visibility when parking in front

of the shop, and in the interests of road safety it is

advisable for anyone doing so to reverse into the space

so that they have better visibility when leaving.

On the financial front, Edwards Irish LLP, our

architects, check that the work is completed to the

specified standard and certify the associated progress

payments in accordance with the agreed pricing

schedule and standard practice. Now that the project is

in full swing, the Parish Council has to make quite

substantial progress payments each month. It is

keeping a close eye on the rate of spend and cash-flow

to ensure that funds are drawn down from the Public

Works Loans Board at the right time to meet expected

payment obligations. An application has already been

made to draw down the first tranche of the loan

(£350,000) since the funds allocated to this project

from the sale of The Marshes house will soon have

been spent.

The Parish Council is keen to ensure that residents are

kept as well informed as possible and had prepared a

communications plan with this in mind. As a part of

this plan and publicised in the update bulletins and on

the website and Facebook, I have been available in the

Rose Room at a set time each month so that residents

can come along to discuss Fieldfayre matters with a

Councillor. However, I have had a rather lonely time

since no-one turned up to either of the two sessions

held to date. I can only assume that the unpredictable

summer weather has been keeping you all away! These

sessions were intended to supplement the update

bulletins published on the website, Facebook and sent

out by email to those that have registered their interest.

Pragmatically, I hope the lack of attendance is an

indication that residents are by and large happy with

the level of information they are getting and the way

the project is being run. In view of this, it has been

decided to stop holding my monthly sessions in future.

In its place, anyone who has a project-related matter

that they would like to discuss should contact the

Parish Clerk (clerk@swallowfieldpc.gov.uk) in the

first instance, and this will be followed up with the

relevant parties as appropriate. Also, the current phase

of work will last for a number of weeks and so future

update bulletins will only be issued when there is

something new to report.

Any project of this sort is bound to give rise to

occasional minor incidents despite all the best

intentions, and the few that have arisen to date have

been raised with the Parish Clerk and dealt with

appropriately. Happily, none of these relate to health or

safety. Please remember that the Parish Council is the

customer and is not responsible for the actions of the

builder, subcontractors or delivery drivers. As you

would expect, the Council undertook “due diligence”

to establish the suitability of the main contractor and

has ensured that it is compliant with its health and

safety obligations by registering the project with the

Health & Safety Executive and meeting the

requirements of what the industry knows as the

Construction (Design and Management) Regulations,

which cover allocation of responsibilities, appointment

of key roles and safety matters.

As a reminder, contractor working hours are Mon – Fri

07:30 to 18:00, Sat 07:30 – 13:00, with no work on

Sundays or Bank Holidays. There may however be

occasions when an exception has to be made and

permission is granted to extend these hours to complete

a specific task to meet a critical deadline. Please be

aware that there will need to be work undertaken by

utility companies in The Street. The timing of such

work is determined by the utility companies and is not

6 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

under the control of the construction company or the

Parish Council.

The Parish Council once again thanks you in advance

for your forbearance during the construction works.

We can now look forward to project completion in

about 9-10 months’ time and will then be able to enjoy

a more attractive building that will enhance the village

centre, a larger and better-appointed shop and Post

Office, and a site that is no longer the eyesore that it

once was.

The photos in this article were taken on 22nd August.

John Anderson

Temporary relocation of Shop and

Closure of Post Office

The shop and Post Office will be closed from Thursday

12 October until Saturday 14 October while they are

temporarily being relocated to the left-hand side of the

building. However, we are working out the logistics of

keeping essential services going during this period with

Mr Kumar, such as newspaper sales and deliveries. As

usual, up-to-date information will be posted on

Facebook and on the web site, together with

appropriate notices at the shop. The shop and Post

Office will reopen for business as usual on Monday 16

October.

Please support our shop while the work is continuing.

Local Member Update Wokingham Borough Council

Striving for success - Wokingham means

business Entrepreneurs

have graduated

from the most

successful Strive

start-up business

training pro-

gramme so far in

Wokingham.

Wokingham Borough Council has joined forces with

local housing associations to hold the course over the

past three months with funding from the Scape

Reinvest programme.

Enterprise Cube, a social enterprise that aims to fill a

gap between disadvantaged people and business,

delivered the fourth annual Strive programme. The

course has been more successful than ever before with

more graduates, and a waiting list for online business

training that Wokingham Borough Council will be

running later this year.

Entrepreneurs graduated at a ceremony with

Wokingham MP John Redwood after rigorous training

on the skills needed to create a business, ranging from

market research to marketing and managing risk.

During the event, 17 entrepreneurs delivered a

presentation on their business to a panel of business

experts for feedback: Colin Willman from the

Federation of Small Businesses, Cllr Philip Mirfin, the

deputy executive member for business and economic

development and regeneration at WBC, Jill Caress

from Housing Solutions and Justine Thompson from

Bracknell Forest Homes. Business ideas were diverse

and wide ranging from video gaming to drone

photography and burlesque dancing.

All graduates were awarded a certificate of

achievement from Mr Redwood and constructive

feedback from the panel of business experts. The top

three entrepreneurs, decided by the panel, were given a

small bursary in order to help them set up their future

business.

It’s great to see local residents really realise their

potential and take control of their lives to use their

skills and passion to start their own business. As a

Council, we believe strongly in helping people to help

themselves and the Strive programme does this.

Andy Nicholls, economic development officer, said

that that this year’s programme has been the most

successful so far and we have a waiting list for online

business training later in the year.

Anyone interested in taking part in any future ‘Strive’

training programmes, can contact Andy Nicholls on

(0118) 974 6018.

Civil Parking Enforcement update

Wokingham Borough Council is currently completing

the transfer powers from the Department for Transport

to enable the Council to deliver Civil Parking

Enforcement (CPE) with its newly appointed parking

contractors, NSL, from early October 2017.

CPE powers will enable the Borough Council to take

over the police’s role to legally enforce parking

breaches. This covers double and single yellow lines,

loading restrictions, double parking or parking across

dropped kerbs, parking in a residents’ parking zone

without a permit, and overstaying in time-limited

bays.

Later in September local Councillors will be given a

fuller briefing before the go-live date.

Borough Council acting to protect strategic

planning process Wokingham Borough is

under constant pressure

from developers wanting

to build more and more

houses, no matter whether

or not the land is suitable

and allocated for housing,

and recent planning appeal decisions are forcing the

7 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Council to consider how it can defend its policy of

ensuring that development is coordinated and directed

to the right places.

Despite having allocated a lot of land available for new

homes (as it has to do to meet central government

requirements) and providing massive infrastructure

investment under its current planning strategy, the

Borough Council is still continually fighting appeals

against avaricious applications for developments that

are outside these allocated areas.

Most of these are applications are refused and most

appeals are successfully defended by the Borough

Council, but a number of disappointing decisions by

planning inspectors have led to the Council to review

what additional short term actions it can take to put it

in the best place to defend its decisions.

In some cases, inspectors have ruled that Wokingham

Borough does not have enough land on which housing

is either currently being built, or where housing will be

built on during the next five years. This is technically

known as having a ‘Five Year Housing Land Supply’,

which is a central government requirement for all local

authorities under the National Planning Policy

Framework (please see the government's Web Pages

for more details).

The council’s current planning strategy allocated a

small number of sites as a reserve supply to be used

should the supply of available land fall. Although the

Borough Council’s assessments show that it has a Five-

Year Housing Land Supply, it will continue to be

challenged at appeal by developers desperate to

undermine the Council’s defence. Therefore, the

Council’s decision-making executive released the

reserve sites and an additional site which forms part of

another allocation to boost supply when it met in July.

The extra housing land that could be released has

already been assessed as being suitable when originally

allocated.

Wokingham Borough Council’s deputy leader Cllr

David Lee is the lead on this and said recently in a press

release: “We have been extremely disappointed by

some Inspectors’ decisions and I am sure local people

would agree with us that enough land has been

allocated for housing at the moment and that houses are

certainly being built fast enough in the Borough. But

the national planning system is stacked massively in

favour of development and planning inspectors have

the power to make these rulings.

“If we bury our heads in the sand and ignore this issue

and just carry on with the allocated land as it is now –

which is the easy option – we would end up with

something close to a planning free-for-all. Instead we

have considered the difficult, but correct, route of

releasing our reserve sites to boost the land supply in

the short terms, helping our defence against unplanned,

unsustainable development.

“We are also lobbying Central Government to draw

attention to the fact that we are being penalised for

doing the right thing.”

In additional to releasing the reserved sites for housing,

WBC is in the process of producing a new Local Plan

that will set locations for where development can and

cannot take place up to 2036.

We shall continue to cooperate on the combined

initiative to persuade central government to force the

developers who are not building the approved

applications and slowing down supply.

The previous local plan allocated land for about 13,000

new homes in the Borough for the period up to 2026.

The majority of these are being built in the four major

development areas know as Strategic Development

Location at Arborfield Garrison, Shinfield area, North

Wokingham and South Wokingham.

And more on planning: Planning consultation

- Arborfield Cross Relief Road Wokingham Borough

Council is urging people

to have their say on its

newly submitted

planning application for

the Arborfield Cross

Relief Road.

The consultation period for residents and businesses to

give feedback and make comments about the scheme

is open until Friday 15 September. The Council has

submitted full plans for the 2.3km road following a

public exhibition in June which was attended by more

than 100 people. I urge people to get involved once

again to see the exact details and have their say about

the scheme.

The proposed new road will help ease congestion in

Arborfield as well as offset traffic from the new 3,500

homes being built at the former Arborfield Garrison.

The planning application is for the construction of the

road, including a shared-use pathway, linking the A327

Reading Road in the north and the A327 Eversley Road

in the south east. It also includes two new roundabouts

linking to the existing road network on the A327, a new

staggered priority junction at Swallowfield Road and a

new shared-use green bridge.

Public consultation in 2013 attracted more than 1,300

responses – one of the Council’s biggest consultations

to date – with 70 per cent of respondents expressing a

preference for an Option B route.

Wokingham Borough Council agreed the Option B

route in 2014 following this consultation. Council

officers then carried out site investigations, ecology

surveys, and design and analysis for the environmental

statement and environmental impact assessment to

accompany the planning application.

8 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Please visit the Council’s planning portal on its

website to see the application and comment by entering

reference number 172209.

Superfast Broadband Coverage Set to reach

more than 99% High-speed broad

band coverage in

Wokingham is set

to pass the 99%

mark in the final

phase of a £40m

project. Superfast

Berkshire was

launched in 2011

under the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK

(BDUK) programme to roll out a high-speed service to

areas not covered by commercial plans of the private

sector.

Over the past five years the programme has driven up

superfast broadband capacity across the county of

Berkshire from 87% to 95% in two phases. Now a third

and final phase is underway after contracts were

awarded to BT and broadband provider Gigaclear. This

will extend superfast coverage to more than 99.5% of

properties in Berkshire by 2019 – making it one of the

best served counties for superfast broadband across the

UK, benefiting residents and businesses alike.

In Wokingham coverage will reach 99.53% - well up

on 90.4% in 2013 and 91.8% by the end of the third

phase of the project.

Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor, one of our residents and

the Wokingham Borough Council leader, said in a

recent press release: “Superfast broadband can

transform lives and deliver major benefits to the local

economy. We have worked very closely with our

partners in Superfast Berkshire and the programme has

been a great success. Its third phase will mean nearly

all homes and businesses in Wokingham will have the

opportunity to benefit from this vital service.”

Under the third phase BT Openreach will extend

coverage to 7,400 more urban premises and Gigaclear

will expand the network to 6,100 more rural premises.

Each of the six Berkshire Authorities will achieve

coverage of over 99%, providing much more equitable

access for all areas of the county.

However, the work doesn’t stop there as Superfast

Berkshire working with BT, Gigaclear and other

suppliers under their commercial plans strive to hit the

magic 100% target of total coverage for Berkshire, let’s

hope Swallowfield will soon have all the benefits.

In total, more than £40m will have been invested in the

Superfast Berkshire programme by both the private and

public sector to deliver superfast broadband.

Berkshire has seen the demand for faster and faster

broadband speeds with more and more businesses,

people working from home and normal family activity;

all with increasing numbers of applications relying on

fast internet access.

To find out more about the Superfast Berkshire

programme visit http://www.superfastberkshire.org.uk As I write this brief update, much warmer brighter days

and summer has returned just in time for the fantastic

Swallowfield Show. A big thank you to the whole team

of organisers and it’s so good to see the show “in”

Swallowfield village.

Stuart Munro

Member for Swallowfield

Wokingham Borough Council

Remembrance Sunday

12th November 2017

Remembrance Sunday will be marked by a service at

Swallowfield War Memorial on Sunday 12 November

at 10.15am.

This will be followed by a procession to All Saints

Church, where a Remembrance Service will take place

at 10.45am. Please note that the roads around the War

Memorial will be closed again this year for the duration

of the service.

All Saints’ Church

Autumn 2017

Travelling Days

I suspect that many of you will have taken the

opportunity to have a well-earned break over the past

few months, and done your fair share of travelling to

destinations around UK and the globe. Travel by any

combination of air, sea, rail, or road is so easy, if not a

little congested! Perhaps your preferred mode of travel

is foot or bicycle. Whatever it is, the world is your

oyster!

Since the distant days of the Grand Tour, when young

men and women were encouraged to visit Europe to

broaden their minds, and since the passing of important

employment legislation in the 20th C, we have become

a nation of holiday travellers.

We now enjoy the incredible ease with which

travelling to foreign shores has developed, especially

with the expansion of the EU over the past 40 years.

Travel writers say that Europe has become the most

popular destination of choice for hoards of travelling

bands of tourists from around the world.

Interestingly, we hear through the media, that for some

of the great cities of the world, the year on year increase

in tourist numbers has become a burden rather than a

joy, despite the positive economic benefits. Indeed, the

sheer weight of numbers, along with some of the

accompanying behaviours, has had such an impact on

the fabric of city environments, and on the way of life

9 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

of residents, that tourism has become incredibly

intrusive and undesirable. The upsurge in popularity of

Stag and Hen parties abroad, with their accompanying

strange behaviours, are but one example. Fortunately,

not all tourists behave in the same way!

Continuing with the travelling theme, I’d be surprised

if you hadn’t heard that we’ve recently had a visit from

a group of Gypsy travellers camping out at All Saints

car park. However, this isn’t the first time that

travellers have spent time in the neighbourhood.

According to the 1841 Census there was a small group

of “Gipsies in tents” somewhere in the parish, and the

1911 Census figures show that a larger group were

camping “In a field at Riseley”, seemingly involved

with labouring and agricultural work.

There is inevitably some concern these days when this

happens, as the travelling community has developed a

general reputation as being intrusive and undesirable.

They damage the fabric of the environment and impact

on our way of life. As it happens, by comparison with

other groups, our recent visitors were well behaved and

kept to their word about moving on.

I was interested to find out that these days this group

only travel during the school holidays, and have more

permanent accommodation in term time so that their

children can access the schooling that the adults among

them never had.

On leaving they bagged up the bulk of their rubbish, as

promised, and during their stay, although some of their

behaviours may have seemed unusual, and culturally

different, they were respectful of the church and

churchyard.

I had the opportunity to converse with them on a couple

of occasions, and as they were leaving for London,

gave them the following blessing:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the gentle night to you.

Moon and stars pour their healing light on you.

Deep peace of Christ,

of Christ the light of the world to you.

Deep peace of Christ to you.

I offer the same blessing to you… and invite you to

travel to join us at All Saints’ whenever you’re able.

Rev’d Paul Willis

Rectory: 0118 988 3799

Mobile: 07857 309018

Email: Rev.Paul.Willis@LoddonReach.org.uk

Benefice office: 0118 988 5923

Email: Office@LoddonReach.org.uk

http://www.loddonreach.org.uk/

Swallowfield Church Fête June 2017

Looking at the weather forecast is often a rather

depressing pastime and, as we were about to begin

setting-up for this year’s fête, I was seriously

wondering if we should cut our losses and try to move

to an indoor location. I am so glad we didn’t, as in the

end we had a beautifully sunny afternoon, which no

doubt contributed to a record breaking fête – we topped

£5000 for the first time! Once again, THANK YOU

VERY MUCH to everyone for their contribution as

volunteers, visitors or both. It is very much appreciated

and I hope you enjoyed the community atmosphere

which is what makes it so special.

It was a pleasure to invite Dr Zilla Fraser to cut the

ribbon and open this year’s event – a moment captured

on the front cover of the July/August Loddon Reach

magazine. As a long-standing member of the Fête

Committee, organiser of the plant stall and sometimes

of the whole event, this was a fitting ‘thank you’ to her

for all her efforts over many years. The Morris Men

then led us all into the gardens with their cheerful

music and dance, before delighted us with ‘busking’

and arena demonstrations during the afternoon.

All the usual stalls were there again. A highlight, as

always, was the tea tent with its delicious cakes baked

by local ladies and appreciated by all. There was plenty

for children to do, with Punch & Judy, the magic show,

traditional sideshows (to which we welcomed a

number of new volunteers this year), the toy stall and

children’s races. Those of us in the local Tai Chi class

did not expect as good an audience reaction as we got

for our demonstration aimed at showing that anyone

can attempt this Chinese art – though not all can

undertake the masterful moves of the experts in their

fan and sword routines. Thank you, Eva, for leading

us so well.

Farley Hill School choir stole the show with their

excellent singing, which I am sure gets better every

year. Congratulations to them and to Miss Victoria

Howard, their teacher, who once again gave up her

Saturday afternoon to be there. The choir sang excerpts

from the musicals, and deservedly gathered quite a

crowd around them.

As the new houses are completed and we welcome

newcomers to the village, we are looking forward to

you joining us next year as volunteers and/or visitors. I

think you will enjoy the traditional nature of this event:

an English country parish fete with traditional activities

in beautiful and spacious gardens.

Thank you very much to Jean Clark Maxwell and her

family for their hospitality and we are looking forward

to next year’s fête already.

Barbara Stanley

Stanleyba01@gmail.com

10 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Swallowfield’s Coffee Corner

We continue to welcome friends and

neighbours from across the parish and

beyond for Coffee Corner at Swallowfield

Parish Hall (Davies Room) every

Wednesday morning from 10.30 to 12.30. We offer

freshly made ground coffee, tea, and home-made cake,

in return for a small donation towards running costs.

Sometimes our visitors need help with making the

journey to the Hall - if you feel you would like to try

us out, but can't manage to get there on your own, let

us know - we will work out a way! Call 988 5989 for

information. We would also love to see you if you're

using any of the other services at the hall. Perhaps

you're picking up a child from pre-School - why not

come a little earlier and meet your friends for a coffee?

The Coffee Corner Team

Riseley Village Tea Room

It's been a lovely long weekend and the tea room is now

closed on a Sunday evening after hosting a glorious tea

party. All ages from tinies in high chairs to Grandmas

and Grandpas have had a lovely time. The weather was

kind, so the recreation ground was just the ticket and

the children took full advantage of it. One tiny toddled

into the kitchen, gave us all a huge grin, waved and

exited by the fire door. I can honestly say that in our

four years at the tea room each and every child has been

well-behaved, well-mannered and has done full justice

to a Riseley tea room tea.

The Christmas event is being planned and this year we

celebrate the swinging 60s. I am sourcing

entertainment, we have planned the menu and spent

many an afternoon reminiscing over the washing up.

December 10th is our last tearoom day, then we clear

the decks and set up for the event:

The swinging 60s

December 16th 7pm-11pm

Tickets will be available from the tearoom on a first

come first served basis - £25 per head

A little mention to our treasurer Paula Martin, a Riseley

resident for many years, is long overdue. Every

Monday Paula and I get together to discuss the tearoom

week and sign cheques, pay suppliers etc, but it doesn't

stop there. Paula oversees every aspect of the financial

side of the tea room: taxes, licensing, wages etc, all

done from her home in her own time. A knowledgeable

savvy accountant with a big heart and a huge support

to Riseley Village tearoom - we couldn't do it without

her and a big thank you is very overdue. So, thank you

to our dear Paula, especially when I call asking if she

could cover at the tearoom as we have a busy day and

not enough staff.

This month we lose two of our long serving ladies,

Emily Eagles off to York Uni and Debbie Graham back

to her native Australia. We thank them for their hard

work; we shall miss them but wish them well for the

future.

September should see us more or less back to normal

with our ladies back to good health after a very testing

Spring and Summer. These things are sent to try us, but

determination and sheer bloody mindedness will

triumph in the end.

Pam Wright

Manager 0118 988 7028,

Riseley Village Tea Room 0118 996 7375

Russell Players – a Photograph Display

A spectacular display of various photographs taken

over our 40-year history has been created by Mags

Broadhurst and can be viewed in the Rose Room at the

Parish Hall. If you are in the Hall for any event, it is

well worth taking a few moments to go and see this

myriad of memories.

A successful Cheese and Wine social evening on 12th

July provided members with the opportunity to admire

the display; which evoked reminiscences and

recollections of the plays, music halls, youth

productions and pantomimes of days gone by.

The weather was kind to us as we celebrated our annual

barbeque hosted by John and Angela King in their

delightful garden. The cooks, John King and Nigel

Adams, proved themselves to be first class barbecue

chefs and the variety of salad, dessert and wine

completed the menu. The relaxing atmosphere, tranquil

surroundings,

good food and

wine provided

the perfect

setting to

while away a

summer

afternoon with

friends.

Roland Digital Piano

We are delighted to have been appointed guardians of

a gift donated by Peter Sampson in memory of his

Father. The Roland Digital Piano is in situ and we have

11 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

it on good authority that it “plays beautifully”. It is

currently being enjoyed by everyone rehearsing for the

Russell Players Music Hall, which will be performed

in October and is being directed by Mags Broadhurst.

On 15thSeptember an official Presentation evening will

be held and the Russell Players will formally thank

Peter for his wonderful donation. We will be good

custodians of his bequest and are mindful that he is

keen for it to be made available to other Hall users.

October Production – Music Hall

Rehearsals are well underway for the Russell Players

Music Hall. A comprehensive programme is planned

with a view to bringing you an enjoyable evening of

songs, sketches and laughter. So, take a step back in

time and enjoy a repertoire of traditional music hall

entertainment performed with great enthusiasm by the

Russell Players.

The performance dates are 13th, 14th and 15th October

and tickets can be purchased in advance from the

Russell Players Box Office number 07555 073 597.

The release dates of the tickets will be announced

shortly.

Pantomime

The Russell Players are excited to announce their next

pantomime will be the much-loved children’s classic

The Wizard of Oz. Under the imaginative direction of

Maggie Uttley, this promises to be another fun filled

production for all the family.

The performance dates are Friday 2nd February,

Saturday 3rd February, Friday 9th February and

Saturday 10th February. Look out for further

information regarding the pantomime.

We are always looking for new members, so if you

would like to join the Russell Players please contact:

Mitch Mitchell (Chairman) 07710 500 491

mitch.mitchelll@btinternet.com

Do visit our Web Site www.russellplayers.co.uk for up

to date information about our activities.

Juliet

S.P.E.G. news

S.P.E.G. (Swallowfield Parish Events Group) has been

taking a sabbatical for most of 2017, but we are making

plans for 2018 now. These are still to be finalised, but

we are looking at two shows for the Spring season. The

first, a world première, is a play with live music by Neil

Salvage. Titled "Oysters", it is based on the passionate

and often violent character of the great composer

Johannes Brahms. If all you know of Brahms' music is

his famous "Lullaby", think again! A lively evening is

in prospect, and following the success of the "Medals"

concert held in All Saints' Church last January, we are

delighted to have the opportunity of using this beautiful

building once again for this prestigious event.

Later in Spring we bring you a show co-written by the

best-selling author of "Mortal Engines", Philip Reeve.

Some of you may know that that book is being turned

into a major movie, on release next year. Here's your

chance to see an earlier work by Reeve and co-writer

Brian Mitchell, a musical comedy entitled "The

Ministry of Biscuits", which will be coming to

Swallowfield following a run of performances in

Brighton.

These two shows give us the opportunity to see top-

class professional theatre in our own village, at a very

reasonable price! Given the astronomical cost of going

to the theatre nowadays, we think these events offer

fantastic value for money, and a brilliant night out too.

Full details of dates, ticket prices and all other

arrangements will appear in the next Parish newsletter

and around the area in the Autumn, so look out for our

publicity.

Hilary Fraser and Mags Broadhurst

Swallowfield Local History Society

Our project to gather and save the Childhood

Memories of Living in our Parish of Swallowfield,

Riseley and Farley Hill started with great success on a

lovely sunny afternoon in June, having tea and cake

together while our guests reminisced, talked, laughed

and remembered. We were surrounded by memorabilia

which had been found in boxes kept in cupboards,

under the stairs, in lofts and almost forgotten until we

asked them to tell us about their childhood memories

of living or visiting family who lived in Swallowfield.

They evoked so many thoughts and stories that we

know we have a wonderful archive on which to take

our project forward.

The photograph

shows our Guests

and Members

absorbing the

various hidden

treasurers brought

along by people

who had so many

tales to tell. How

to save this rich

bank of recollections before it is lost in the mist of

time? We plan to visit some of our guests and gather

their stories on a one to one basis - easier to record -

and make sure the anecdotes and tales are correctly

noted.

Our walk on a very hot day in July with Sally Ballard

started in All Saints Church. It was interesting to start

with the origins of the church and to see the grave of

Mary Russell Mitford. Our route took us over Pitt

bridge and down Part Lane; we paused under an oak

tree where they turned in the past when beating the

bounds - hence the name Bound Oak - down to the

Devils Highway with talk about the Roman route to

Bath via Silchester. Along to the ford, historically we

12 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

were unusual in having two Roman fords. Past the

confluence of the Whitewater and Blackwater, then

various interesting buildings in Nutbeam Lane.

People agreed they had learned something they didn't

know before about the village of Swallowfield.

August 27th and 28th took us once again to the

Swallowfield show, where we mounted an exhibition

of the history of the Swallowfield Horticultural Show.

This created lots of interest and discussion.

On 21stSeptember we are so pleased to have

persuaded one of our members to speak to us again.

Barbara Stanley will talk about some aspects of the

tumultuous last hundred years of Irish history through

the experiences of her extended family. The 1916

Easter Rising, the recent Troubles, the EU and the

signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement all feature, with

a walk-on part for George Bernard Shaw, an elopement

and a cautionary tale of a George Brown-like

microphone problem. Her presentation is called

‘Personal experience of growing up during the

Troubles in Ireland’.

Mike Round, our Treasurer, has been researching and

collating information about the two cemeteries in

Swallowfield connected to All Saints Church. On 19th

October he is going to tell us about some interesting

and surprising facts found during his research.

We are delighted to welcome Hazel Gillingwater on

16th November, who will tell us how she gathered her

collection of Historical Costumes. Her wealth of

experience in the world of ‘costumes’ knows no

bounds and we are so lucky to have her in the village,

using her expertise to costume our pantomimes and

plays. She is fun and we know we shall have an

entertaining evening.

We meet on the third Thursday of the month in the

Rose Room at the Swallowfield Parish Hall. Visitors

are always welcome. Any queries please contact Ken

Hussey (Chairman) on 0118 988 3650 or Maggie

Uttley (Secretary) email kcuttley@aol.com. Visit our

Web Site for the full programme for the year.

www.slhsoc.org.uk

Maggie U

Swallowfield Art Group

We have just survived putting on our Exhibition at the

Swallowfield Show – nearly 400 people voted for their

‘Favourite Picture’– a young lad from Tilehurst won

£10 for taking part; everyone got votes, which is a great

boost to our confidence, and Jane Pratt won £10 for the

most votes in the competition.

Some of us sold a few pictures too – which means we

can buy yet more art materials to add to a growing

collection. Several of us were lucky enough to win

prizes with our pictures in the Horticultural Show show

tent too.

If you missed us at the Swallowfield Show we shall

also be taking part in the Shinfield Parish Crafts

Festival on Saturday 21st October – our pictures will be

exhibited at Spencers Wood Village Hall from 10am

till 4pm.

Autumn term starts on 18th September, with back to

basics drawing for two weeks followed by autumnal

themes, mostly in watercolour.

There are spaces in the tutored group - please call the

number in Reach for further details. We meet at the

Parish Hall on Mondays from 2pm to 4pm.

Jenny Boddington

Swallowfield Badminton Club at Swallowfield Parish Hall

Mondays from 8.00 to 10.00pm

We are a friendly group based around the

Swallowfield, Riseley, Spencers Wood and Shinfield

region, who would warmly welcome new members to

our Club. Our playing standards are varied and we are

a non-league club.

Joining a badminton club is an ideal way to keep fit

safely through low impact exercise and make new

friends

We hope to see you soon.

Please contact Martin:

Tel: 0118 988 2671

e-mail: martin.griffin47@gmail.com

PS: Ask about our first free ‘taster’ evening!

By the time you read this our club will have ended our

season of over 50 friendly inter-club matches and have

finished all our club competitions.

I am very pleased that nearly all the eight new bowlers

that joined our club this year have been playing in our

friendly matches as well the club competitions.

Our green closes on 18th September. However, if you

would like to pop in to have a look at the clubhouse and

our green, with a view to possibly taking up bowls next

year, and maybe coming along to one of our monthly

winter social activities, please contact Bill Dowling,

Club Secretary, on 01344 772130 or e-mail

billdowling@farleyhillbowlsclub.org.uk

Farley Hill Bowls Club is at the Victory Hall, Church

Road, Farley Hill RG7 1TR

For more information please see our website:

www.farleyhillbowlsclub.org.uk

Bill Dowling

13 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Farley Hill Cricket Club

With the season fast approaching its end, there remains

only a handful of games left to play. The Saturday side,

having found some form only to have it interrupted by

the weather, is still pushing on and eying a midtable

finish. The end in sight, a home fixture on Saturday 2nd

against IBIS Mapledurham, and with Thomas Hale

posting the best figure in the Division, 7 wickets for 37

against Emmbrook and Bearwood, Farley Hill are

hoping that a home advantage will help them end the

season on a high note.

The Sunday side has been

in recent form with a

winning spell, at the time

of writing, of 10 wins in

12! Some excellent

performances include a

club first five-for achieved

by Kieran Thorne and an

impressive 10,000 club

runs knocked up by Ali

Jalil. The team continue

with a full month of fixtures through September

including two home games on Sunday 3rd, vs. Egham

Roses, and Sunday 10th, vs. Waltham St. Lawrence.

The previous month saw Farley Hill notch a second

win against representatives of the Thames Valley

Police in a T20, after a final ball win in the 40-over

match earlier in the season.

The final match of the season will be the annual Oldies

vs. Youngies on Saturday 30th September. The Oldies

have been pertinacious in their defence of the title,

which they have held for four years. The Youngies will

be hoping that this year they can turn the tide and

secure a much overdue win.

Andy Marr

www.farleyhill.play-cricket.com

Farleyhillcc@gmail.com

Farley Hill Village Society

Now that Love Island is a distant memory and

MasterChef and The Great British Bake Off have

returned to our screens I took a look through our

updates to this fine publication and noticed that food

and the sharing thereof seems to keep the members of

the FHVS quite busy. Well let me tell you dear reader,

that most certainly is the case.

The Great Get Together (a bring and share food event)

celebrating community in memory of Jo Cox was

fantastic. Fantastic in attendance, weather (we sat

outside!) and the food… oh the food! The food was

amazing and it just kept coming and coming. It has

been quite a while since I have eaten until it hurts in an

Augustus Gloop fashion, but I am ashamed to say I did.

Whilst others rubbed my bloated tummy, I reminded

myself that A.A. Milne once said: “What I say is that,

if a man really likes potatoes, he must be a pretty decent

sort of fellow.” So I guess I must be a decent sort of

fellow as I quite liked the potatoes.

On a whim, my daughter decided to judge the food on

offer that evening. The winners were all well

deserving. My efforts, however, must’ve fallen short of

the mark. Instead of praising her father’s mini toad in

the holes, with wholegrain mustard batter no less, as a

dutiful daughter should, she quoted Abraham Lincoln

when he quipped “If this is coffee, please bring me

some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some

coffee.”. Oh, I do love being a parent.

OK already, we had another food event and this time

following what seems like a great method of bringing

and sharing, we enjoyed an evening of street food from

around the world.

The hall was decked out in a casbah style, evoking

memories of sultry summer evenings in the tropics

when the Empire was a thing. All the attendees also

came with home-made treats inspired by travels.

Phileas Fogg could have circumnavigated the globe in

food in just 80 minutes.

Now we are looking forward to First Friday Food

and Sunday Lunches as the autumn takes hold. I love

food! For details of all regular events, please see Diary

or email events@fhvs.org.uk)

Christiaan

Swallowfield Parish Orchard

As we enter September and head towards Autumn, the

younger generation start another year of education and

harvest time is upon us across the country. Closer to

home, the Swallowfield Parish Community Orchard is

less than giving in this regard and instead, receiving

some TLC.

After a few years of flood, draught, moles,

waterlogging, and ‘letting nature take its course’, many

of the yearling trees have had branches and even their

slender trunk broken by the wind, deer and simple

mindlessness. A small amount of money remains from

the original lottery grant, so with the use of this and

help from the local community and businesses, we

have a plan to give our orchard a mini make-over.

Once the grass has been cut, we will be moving several

of the smaller trees which are clearly not quite happy

with their current position across the site, and have a

further 13 trees arriving from the original supplier,

Bernwode Fruit Trees www.bernwodeplants.co.uk. A

couple of the new trees are to replace some original

varieties lost to the elements with several being more

hardy to cope with the extremes of the ground (6x apple

Cornish Gilliflower, Golden Pippin, Breedon Pippin,

Tom Putt, Grand Duke Constantine and Winston, 1x

quince Vranja, 3x cherry Smoky Dun, Honey Cherry

and Crooked Billet, 2x plum Warwickshire Drooper

14 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

and Marjories Seedling and 1x pear William Bon

Chretien) most being local Berkshire varieties. As the

current footpath is an unsightly, straight, mown path

dissecting the left of the site in the driest part, we will,

courtesy of local waste recycling company R Collard

Ltd, be applying approx. 12 tonnes of recycled wood &

bark

(www.rcollard.com/content/recycled_aggregate_prod

ucts.php) to create a new footpath towards the right of

the orchard which will bend through the plot making a

more appealing walk. In addition to this, we have

different wild flower and seed varieties including a

Bird, Beed & Butterfly Mix and a Wet Meadow Mix

being sown across the orchard in order for them to take

root and hopefully spread their seed next year. A few

of the apple varieties are bearing fruit this year, but

time will tell if our organic orchard will mature into

an idyllic place from which we can make our own

cherry pies, Perry or cider!! Look out for the info labels

on each tree once we get ourselves back in order.

Chris Morrissey

Swallowfield Horticultural Society

Swallowfield Show is

over and life can return

to normal. The relief is

enormous and we can

move forward knowing

that we can afford to run

again in 2018. The

weather can only be

described as a little miracle that ensured we could set

up the Show and we could all enjoy it thoroughly. Over

9,000 people turned up and we thank them all. It was a

new site, so some things were not quite perfect; but we

have a list and we learn quickly.

Now, we gardeners can pick a courgette without

wondering whether it measures approximately 150 mm

or not. We can love our roses without fretting about

whether they will keep all their petals for three more

days. Once again, we can observe sunshine and

showers without calculating how wet it leaves the field.

Instead, we can turn our attention to the next event

which will be the autumn Show, to be held in

Swallowfield Parish Hall on Saturday 23rd September.

This is a surprisingly good time for a horticultural

show. Everything in the garden seems to come back to

life again after the trials of an English summer. Added

to this are all the berries and seed heads that are at their

best now. The tables are brimming with ripe fruit all

red and golden, the squashes strut their stuff, quite

outclassing the other vegetables with their glamorous

colouring. Tall purple and blue Michaelmas daisies and

impressively deep coloured dahlias dominate

everything.

This event will be followed on 21st October by the

Three Society evening, the three being Shinfield,

Arborfield and ourselves. There will be a table

competition, food and some sort of short entertainment.

This year we are hosting which does mean that we have

to do the cooking. We do hope that some of our new

neighbours in the Parish will join in with these events.

Tickets are available from Val on 9883594. You do not

have to be a gardener, you just need to like stuff

relating to gardens and plants generally.

The first talk for autumn is ‘The scented Garden’ by

Anthony Powell. These talks are held with SAHGA,

the Shinfield group, in Shinfield Parish Hall on the

second Thursday of the month at 7.30 pm. It costs a

pound to get in, and everyone is welcome.

For further information on anything above, please ring

Val on 9883594 or me on 9882736.

Roberta Stewart www.swallowfieldshow.co.uk

Swallowfield Pre-School 07771 184982

info@swallowfieldpreschool.org.uk

www.swallowfieldpreschool.org.uk

We said a fond

farewell to the

children who left the

Pre-School at the end

of July to embark on

their new adventures

in primary school

and have started the

Autumn Term by

welcoming back familiar faces and new friends.

Highlights of

the Summer

Term

included a

visit from

local

firefighters,

Sports Day

and our

Leaver’s

Ceremony. The firefighters of Whitley Wood Fire

Brigade spent time showing us around their fire

appliance explaining what each piece of equipment is

used for in an

emergency and then

helping us aim water

from a fire hose. Our

Sports Day included a

mix of running and

novelty races for the

children and the now

customary Mums and

15 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Dads races which seem ever more competitive! As we

handed out medals to all the young athletes, we sang

farewell to the children moving on and presented them

with Certificates as a memento of their time at

Swallowfield Pre-School. The Event concluded with

delicious refreshments, side stall games for the

children and an incredible Silent Auction; all of which

helped raise funds to support the Pre-School.

The Autumn

Term has begun

with us all

getting to know

each other; we

have shared

stories of our

Summer break,

made colourful

rainbows with

each colour representing something about ourselves

and our families, and investigated the toys and learning

resources within the Pre-School. We have measured

ourselves and have made hand prints – we will see just

how much we have grown when we repeat the exercise

in the Summer Term! We have continued learning new

rhymes which incorporate phonics sounds, practising

our counting skills and using maths as we play; we

have experimented with paints and colours and have

made the most of our outside spaces with ride-ons on

the patio, digging in the mud pit and ball games on the

multi-purpose games court.

Our Autumn Jumble Sale will take place on Saturday

23rd September, 2pm in Swallowfield Parish Hall.

Good quality jumble may be dropped off on the

morning of the sale between 8.30am and 11am only

(sorry - not in the days preceding please due to storage

limitations, and not after 11am as we are unable to

process the items prior to the start!). We look forward

to seeing you there!

Swallowfield Pre-School offers morning sessions,

Monday-Friday at Swallowfield Parish Hall 9.15 -

12.30. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage

curriculum, are a fully inclusive setting and have been

rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted. For more information or to

arrange a visit, please contact us at

info@swallowfieldpreschool.org.uk or call 07771

184982.

Helen Coulter, Swallowfield Pre-School

Registered Charity No: 1025250

Swallowfield Parish Allotment

Association (SPAA)

At the time of writing the allotment crops are in full

swing, and we’re enjoying delicious, flavoursome,

fresh fruit and vegetables either consumed right away,

or dried, pickled, or frozen for the winter months. Not

only is there great satisfaction in harvesting your own

fruit and veg, but you can’t beat the wonderful taste.

Every day is a learning day, and this is especially true

with allotments. Learning what to grow and when and

where to grow it can make a big difference. We’re

already planning what crops to grow next year, and

how early we’re going to start it off. Our Open Day in

May was a great success where we sold young plants,

such as runner beans, tomatoes, and some unusual

crops, such as tomatillos, and inca berries. For our

Open Day next year, we will be growing many more

plants of certain types as we sold out quickly. Please

let us know if you have any suggestions of seedlings

you’d like to buy at the spring open day.

If you’d like an allotment or a half plot, now is a great

time to get started, and if you’d like to find out about

getting an allotment, get in touch through

secretary@swallowfieldpaa.org.uk

Bev Marshall-Smith 0118 988 6946

Secretary@swallowfieldpaa.org.uk

www.swallowfieldpaa.org.uk

The Swallowfield Calico Trust

The Calico Trust is a longstanding charity that is

specifically and solely for people living in

Swallowfield Parish who are in conditions of need,

hardship or distress. Subject to some minor restrictions

the Trust can make grants of money or can provide or

pay for items, services or facilities calculated to reduce

such need, hardship or distress.

History: In 1993 the Charity Commission oversaw the

amalgamation of three local charities, two of which had

been founded before 1785 and one from 1817 that had

been a fuel allotment. The two older charities had

originally distributed sheets and pillowslips, but when

they were amalgamated it was agreed they would all

have a more modern relief-in-need charitable status.

Two of the charities still owned small parcels of land

which were passed on to the Trust and the income it

receives from renting this land is today used to carry

out its functions.

The Board of Trustees comprises the Vicar, two

nominated trustees appointed by Swallowfield Parish

Council every four years and two further co-opted

trustees. Marina Goldsmith, who has worked tirelessly

for the Trust, has recently taken more of a back seat

and we would like to take this opportunity of thanking

her for all her hard work over the last 24 years, which

has been much appreciated.

If you, or someone you know, feel the Trust could be

of assistance please let us know.

Contacts:

Celia Adams 988 4661 (email: celia8844@gmail.com)

Ros Riddell 988 2014 (email: ros.riddell@btinternet.com)

16 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Farley Hill Horse Trials

The third Farley Hall Horse Trials took place in

Swallowfield Park on 24-25th June 2017. The event

saw bumper entries having to turn away 400 extra

entries that could not be accommodated, leaving 600

competitors for the

two days. The

competition was

moved into the

main Hundred

Acre Field,

meaning you could

see almost the

entire course from

one vantage.

The new Intermediate course attracted a high standard

of entry from international athletes including the

Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Tindall, who ran her

Olympic horse High Kingdom round the Open

Intermediate. Other Olympians from many countries

also took part, using the event as a warm-up run for

their advanced horses and a qualifying run for younger

horses. Winners included Andrew Nicholson, a New

Zealand international athlete, who won both Open

Intermediate sections, and the top prize of the weekend

went to British Olympic team member Kitty King, who

won the Advanced Intermediate with her horse

Vendredi Biats.

The Tally Ho Farm Amateur Novice section was also

popular.

Eventing is

normally a

sport where

amateurs and

professionals

compete as

equals,

because the

qualifications

are based on the horse, not rider. However, it does

make it hard for amateur working riders to be

competitive, so this section gave these riders a chance

to compete against their peers. The amateur prize was

taken by Melissa Vernon.

The Farley Estate team worked tirelessly in a near-

drought to produce superb going across the Park, which

was praised by riders. The move of the dressage to

beside the entrance road from the village made this

phase more accessible and gave a nice atmosphere.

Future plans for the event include expansion of the

trade-stands, more family entertainment and possibly a

second show-jumping arena, which may enable the

event to run over three days.

Natalie Gaibani

Swallowfield 10+3 & Duathlon 2017

Sunday 17th September

Presented by 1st Swallowfield Scout Group

Preparations for the eighth consecutive Swallowfield

10+3 & Duathlon event are well underway; local

residents are stepping forward with offers of help, road

closure notices have been issued to residents in receipt

of the Parish Newsletter and entries are rolling in! This

annual community event is organised by 1st

Swallowfield Scouts with a focus on local community,

fun and licensed measured routes, to raise funds for the

Group and its activities.

We have a race to suit all abilities - running club pros,

fitness fanatics, those embarking on first events and

children out to set personal best times – with finisher’s

medals for all those past the post; we hope to receive

your entry soon!

New for 2017 is individual chip timing for the 10K and

Duathlon races; with both Gun and Net Times

available in a live feed, progress can be tracked along

the way!

Please join us as an athlete, helper or spectator; enjoy

the live commentary, spot familiar faces, cheer on

friends, and sample the freshly prepared refreshments.

Please visit our website to discover more about the

event, to find out how you can get involved and to

make contact with our sponsors who include David

Cliff Estate Agents, Henry Street Garden Centre,

Colas, Farley Farm Estates and One Pension

Consultancy - www.swallowfield10plus3.com

We are again hoping for a record turnout for the races

which comprise a 10K road race around the parish, the

Duathlon consisting of a 6.7K run through Farley Hill,

followed by a 18.4K cycle across rural West Berkshire

and finishing with a flat 3.7K run around Swallowfield,

and a 3K off road race through Swallowfield Park for

those aged eight and over.

As usual, the roads will be closed to traffic during the

road races, making a safe environment for runners and

spectators. Please help us by not parking on the route

during the duration of the races, and please be patient

and courteous to the marshals who will be positioned

along the course and at road closure points.

Please contact us at info@swallowfield10plus3.com if

you are able to help during the weekend of the races or

require any further information. Online booking for

runners and riders is now open – we look forward to

receiving your entry.

www.swallowfield10plus3.com

Registered Charity 306101

Group Scout Leader: Paul Cobbold

Race Director: Angela Morgan

17 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Swallowfield Community

Responders

The Parish Council would like to

congratulate Swallowfield

Community Responders, who

have been awarded the very

prestigious Queen’s Award for

Voluntary Service. This well-

deserved recognition has been

awarded for numerous reasons:

• for the team’s hard work in providing extensive

999 medical emergency cover

• for attending many local fetes and fairs to promote

awareness and demonstrate CPR training

• for delivering the Heartstart Training, and

• for placing so many AED’s into the local

community.

Gary Clark, coordinator of the Community

Responders, commented: “I am today a very proud

person and on behalf of the team I would like to thank

the person who nominated us and the people who gave

letters of support for the nomination, I am sure that they

really did make a difference. And, of course, I would

like to thank you – our supporters - as without the

support of the community we would not be here”.

News from Swallowfield

Medical Practice

Autumn 2017

Welcome to Autumn news from Swallowfield

Medical Practice, provided jointly by the Practice and

the Patient Participation Group.

Flu Clinics – it’s that time of year again!

Saturday 23rd September & Saturday 7th October

8.30am until 12 noon.

A vaccine is available every year to protect those

people who are at most risk of complications or who

aren’t able to fight off flu as easily as others.

If you are in one of the following at-risk groups: Heart

disease; Stroke; TIA; MS; Asthma; COPD; Diabetes;

Kidney disease; Liver disease; Immunosuppressed;

aged 65 years or over; a Carer or are Pregnant, then

please come along to one of our Flu Clinics to get your

free vaccination - no need to book

Staff Update

In August we said a sad farewell to Dr Julia Lyons and

one of our practice nurses, Meryl Peckham. Dr Lyons

has been with the Practice for 12 years and has seen

many changes along the way, not least of which is the

arrival of her two boys! Meryl has been here for 3 years

and has been the backbone of the respiratory team. Ali

Henderson also left us in July. We wish Julia, Meryl

and Ali well in their new ventures. They will both be

missed by all. Recruitment for a new nurse is underway

and we are fortunate to be able to retain our current

locum, Dr Choudry now that Dr Dugmore has returned

from her maternity leave.

Extension At long last - the building work is scheduled to start on

Monday 2nd October!! We envisage the work will take

at least nine months. We shall try and keep disruption

to a minimum, but apologise in advance for any

disturbance caused whilst our extension is being built.

The patient car park will still be available for your use

Shinfield Relocation

Our proposal to relocate our Shinfield branch surgery

was submitted to Berkshire West CCG in June.

Negotiations are still ongoing but we are hopeful of a

positive outcome. We shall, of course, keep you all

posted if we hear any news.

Travel Vaccinations

Please be aware that you need to book your travel

vaccinations at least six weeks in advance of your

travel date. This is to ensure that a) we have the correct

vaccines in for you and b) to allow enough time for the

vaccine to work prior to your departure.

There is currently a global shortage of both Hepatitis A

& B vaccine. We are unable to source any for travel

purposes and would advise any patients to contact the

local travel clinics as they may have larger residual

supplies:

Boots, Broad Street, Reading 0118 957 1135;

Superdrug, Broad Street, Reading 0333 311 1007;

MASTA, Reading 0330 100 4292

Booking an appointment to see a GP at

Swallowfield Medical Practice

We recently conducted a survey to discover how

patients felt about our appointment system and how

quickly they would like to be seen by a GP. Analysis

of the results indicated that generally patients would

like to be seen within seven days and for more urgent

conditions would like an appointment the same day or

the following day.

At Swallowfield Medical Practice we have always

offered patients the convenience of booking

appointments up to four weeks ahead. Following the

outcome of our survey we introduced an additional

system enabling patients to book seven days ahead.

Missed Appointments

Between April and June this year 368 patients

failed to attend their appointments. This wasted

over 61 hours of clinical time. If you really do not

need your appointment please, please let us know

so that your appointment can be given to someone

who really does need it.

18 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

These appointments are released just after midnight the

week before and can be booked in the same way as our

normal, routine and ‘on the day’ appointments. Our ‘on

the day’ appointments are also routine 10 minutes

appointments available for all patients to book.

All GP appointments can either be booked online or

via our automated telephone booking system Patient

Partner. Patients need to be registered for the Online

service. Please come in to Reception at Swallowfield

to complete a registration form, bringing along two

forms of identification, including a photo ID i.e.

Passport or Driving Licence and also proof of your

address, eg utility bill or bank statement. You can book

appointments via Patient Partner on 0118 976 9606.

No registration is necessary for this service.

New routine ‘on the day’ appointments are released

just after midnight. If you are not able to use the

systems at this time you can try as soon as you are able

the following day. All available appointments stay on

these systems until they are booked.

If you feel you need to be seen on the day for urgent

care medical matters, we have an Acute Illness Team

in our surgery. Please phone and speak to reception.

When booking this type of appointment, the

receptionist will ask you a few questions about your

symptoms, so that you can be directed to the most

appropriate member of the Acute Illness team. You

will be allocated a time to come to the surgery to sit

and wait. A clinician will see you as soon as possible.

If you are not able to use any of the above systems,

please call the reception team on 0118 988 3134 and

they will be happy to help you with booking

appointments and answering your questions or queries.

Repeat Medication

We have over 5000 patients who are on regular repeat

medication, 2000 of these have four or more repeat

medications each month. This, along with our acute

dispensing, means that we dispense over 7000 items

each month. It is especially important that you order

your repeat medications in plenty of time to allow time

for the processing of the request, sorting out queries,

raising of the prescription, getting a GP signature and

dispensing the medication itself or transmitting the

prescription to your nominated surgery via the EPS

system. Thank you to everyone who does this in good

time. However, in July alone we had 500 patients who

phoned to say they had now run out of medication and

needed their prescription immediately. This adds to the

already considerable workload. We would therefore

please recommend that you order your repeat

medication at least three full working days prior to

running out – ideally it would be better to give seven

days’ notice. Thank you for your cooperation.

Is this you?

‘Is this you?’ is a series of articles focusing on

the most common acute and chronic clinical

conditions that affect our patients.

This is the first article, written by Dr Prabhakar, whose

specialist area of interest is cardiology.

Each doctor will be giving you their SMP experiences,

opinion and advice about one of these conditions

within their specialist area. We are confident you will

find this series of articles both informative and

beneficial and a basis for discussion.

Is this You? - HEART

FAILURE.

Heart failure is one of the most

wide-spread medical problems

encountered by most GPs -

SMP is no exception to this.

The NHS Choices website

defines Heart Failure like this:

“Heart failure means that the heart is unable to pump

blood around the body properly. It usually occurs

because the heart has become too weak or stiff. Heart

failure doesn't mean your heart has stopped working –

it just needs some support to help it work better. It can

occur at any age, but is most common in older people”.

The main symptoms of heart failure are:

• breathlessness after activity or at rest

• feeling tired most of the time and finding exercise

exhausting

• swollen ankles and legs

Some people also experience other symptoms, such as

a persistent cough, a fast heart rate, and dizziness.

Symptoms can develop quickly (acute heart failure) or

gradually over weeks or months (chronic heart failure).

Heart failure is a long-term condition that tends to get

gradually worse over time. It can't usually be cured, but

the symptoms can often be controlled for many years.

We have approximately 11,760 SMP patients, of whom

77 have some kind of ongoing ‘heart failure’, so it is a

subject that I am dealing with and discussing with my

patients every day of the week.

The common drugs taken for heart failure are:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)

inhibitors. A drug that widens blood vessels

to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow

and decrease the workload on the heart.

Examples include Ramipril, Lisinopril,

Perindopril

• Angiotensin II receptor blockers. These

drugs, which include Losartan and Valsartan,

have many of the same benefits as ACE

inhibitors. They may be an alternative for

people who cannot tolerate ACE inhibitors.

19 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

• Beta blockers. This class of drugs not only

slows your heart rate and reduces blood

pressure but also limits or reverses some of the

damage to your heart if you have systolic heart

failure. Examples include Bisoprolol,

Atenolol.

• Diuretics. Often called water pills, diuretics

make you urinate more frequently and keep

fluid from collecting in your body. Diuretics,

such as furosemide, also decrease fluid in your

lungs so you can breathe more easily.

• Aldosterone antagonists. These drugs include

Spironolactone. These are potassium-sparing

diuretics, which also have additional

properties that may help people with severe

heart failure live longer.

ACE inhibitors and diuretics are started on diagnosis.

Kidney functions are monitored closely.

Here is some useful advice for patients with heart

disease:

a) Any patient with heart disease who feels short of

breath or develops leg swelling should seek advice

from a doctor to rule out heart failure.

b) During summer if you feel dehydrated and you are

not short of breath you could leave water tablets on

and off for few days.

c) If you feel very dizzy you should get your BP

checked as all these medications drop your BP.

d) We also have access to community heart failure

nurses who are highly trained to start medications

and monitor patients at home. Patients are usually

referred to them if they need close monitoring.

“Treatment for heart failure usually aims to control the

symptoms for as long as possible and slow down the

progression of the condition”. So, you must often be

ready for a long haul which needs your calm

commitment on a continuous basis. As patients, you

can help to manage your condition by managing your

medication properly; ie. taking the directed dose

accurately, consistently and if necessary adjusting it

yourself to optimise how your body and mind feel.

It’s interesting to note that the top treatments for heart

diseases usually include lifestyle changes – including

eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and stopping

smoking. So, there is an important long-term, self-help

or DIY element for each of us to manage and stick to

because experience tells me that treatment will usually

be needed for life.

£136 per year – what can you buy?

• 11 months’ pet insurance (it costs £151 to insure a

rabbit)

• 6 months’ mobile phone use

• 5 months’ Sky TV family bundle

• Less than 3 tanks of fuel for a car

• Coffee on your way to work for 3 months Or…

…one year of funding per patient for the average

general practice.

Yes. £136. Less than the cost of pet insurance, or a

mobile phone, or Sky TV, or 3 tanks of fuel. And many

practices get far less than this.

And what do you get for your £136?

• As many consultations with your GP or other

practice staff as you need

• Prescriptions organised and signed

• Blood tests and other tests e.g. ECGs

• Hospital referrals

• Pre-hospital and post-hospital care

• Home visits if required

GPs use this money to:

• Pay for their premises

• Pay doctors and nurses

• Pay their reception and admin staff

• Pay for electricity, gas, phone bills

• Buy/maintain surgery equipment and drugs

• Pay for CQC inspections

• Pay for accountancy, legal advice

• Pay for professional insurance

It’s not much, is it?

GP funding has fallen by nearly 1/3 in the last five

years. General practice is in crisis – without better

funding, we cannot continue.

What can you do to help?

• Please don’t waste appointments. If you can’t

make your appointment, cancel in good time

• Think about if you really need an appointment

– could the pharmacist help?

• Order your repeat prescriptions in good time

rather than at the last minute

• Only request a home visit if you are genuinely

housebound

• Contact your MP. Tell them how much you

value your GP surgery

Flood Resilience Group

The Flood Resilience Group has been active over the

summer clearing village balancing ponds and culling

Himalayan Balsam infestations along local water

courses. A work

party of

volunteers

including Parish

Council members

and the Parish

Warden spent a

busy Sunday

morning digging

out silt and root

systems from the Curly’s Way and Foxborough

balancing ponds. Further groups of volunteers spent

20 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

two evenings in July clearing Himalayan Balsam to

prevent it spreading further and faster next year.

Looking like a giant Busy Lizzie, this is the largest

annual plant in Britain. It grows to 2.5m and spreads

rapidly, smothering surrounding vegetation as it goes

and leaving banks vulnerable to erosion when it dies

back. Because it

flowers, sets seed,

then dies within a

year, the best

method of control

is to destroy the

flowers in July

before they go to

seed. Volunteers

for next summer

are welcome!

Despite some seriously heavy thunderstorms and

rainfall in the area over July and August, there have

been no reported incidences of flooding in the

Parish. This is a tribute to all those who have worked

to improve the drainage infrastructure across the Parish

since the 2007 flood event, also to those who continue

to monitor and maintain the ditches and drains to

ensure they work whenever they are needed.

The FRG has produced an Advice Sheet that gives

some historical background, explains how the flood

plain works and provides advice on how avoid or

reduce the potential impact of flood events. Copies of

the leaflet are available from the Parish Council office

at Swallowfield Parish Hall.

A View from the Hill - August 2017

All is Safely Gathered in, ere the winter storms

begin…………

A line from one of my favourite hymns. However, I

think for this Summer the words were written the

wrong way around; we seem to have had the winter

storms first and now the harvest is complete. Reading

through my last contribution to the Newsletter, I did

mention the weather quite a lot then, so apologies for

the repetition, but the mixed bag of rain, hail, wind and

sun since then has provided much fodder (pun intended

– see below) for discussion within the farming

fraternity. The South of England as a whole has shown

a general pattern of too little rain when cereal crops

needed the water to plump up the grains and too much

water when the sun should have been shining to enable

harvest to proceed. With an almost obsessive checking

on my part of the BBC and Met Office websites, I have

been willing the screen to show me if one of them was

in fact wrong and there was going to be a break in the

downpours to enable harvest to progress smoothly. We

got to the finishing line in the end and as I write this

article, I can report that the combine harvester has

completed the final field of wheat. Our contractor,

Steve Thompson, brought over from Wokingham a

rubber tracked combine to ensure the ground wasn’t

damaged too much on the wetter clay land of Farley

Hill. Soil is a very important and valuable asset and

must be treated with care to reduce problems growing

crops the following year.

Delays in harvest have seen wheat grains in the ears

starting to sprout, dramatically reducing the quality of

the wheat, making a lot of it only suitable for livestock

feed and not bread making quality. Sorry, Mr.

Warburton!

It is easy to think that now the grain is safely in the

store, it can look after itself. Wrong! A sentence my

wife dreads at the moment is ‘I am just popping to the

grainstore, back soon’, as I am usually gone for hours

ensuring the moisture content and temperature of the

grain are correct for safe storage at least up until Easter

next year, by which time most of it will hopefully have

been sold and taken to its final destination. If the

conditions are not correct then sprouting, mould and

unwanted creepy crawlies will be the result and the

grain rejected by the grain merchant. It’s a real science

and very interesting; well for me anyway.

The celebration of harvest is traditionally associated

with wheat, barley and other cereals. However, for

Farley, harvest of our forage crops to feed the dairy

cows is as equally important. As I have indicated in

earlier ‘View from the Hill’, a wide variety of forages

are grown, with Lucerne being the latest addition to the

repertoire. We have been very pleased with the results

so far and I am planning on growing a further two fields

for 2018, giving a total area of around 32 hectares (78

acres). Each field has a productive life of four years

and we aim for five cuts per year at its peak production.

The yield from the pea and barley whole-crop silage

was very good and the smell of the fresh peas when

harvested was simply exquisite. We will be growing

an increased area also next year, but the clover-rich

grass leys remain the core of the cows’ diet, both in

terms of grazing and for silage production. Harvest of

third cut silage has just finished with six hundred black

plastic neatly wrapped bales stacked at the dairy farm

ready for winter feeding. If the Autumn proves to be

mild, we may be able to take a fourth cut from some

fields. The partridges on the Estate will be pleased

with this, as they are not keen on long wet clover as

their winter habitat. Maize will be the last to be

harvested, but probably not until towards the end of

September and the indications at the moment show that

this should produce a very good crop.

For the past three years the fields adjacent to the

George and Dragon pub have been growing a mix of

red clover and grass. Clover is a ‘legume’, so as well

as producing high protein silage for the cows, it also

fixes nitrogen into the soil. This should mean that the

wheat being planted over the next few weeks should

21 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

grow very well, helped not only by the nutrient boost,

but also by the clover root system having improved the

soil structure. Can’t wait to see the results!

The UK imports around 3 million tonnes of Soya each

year, the majority being processed and going into

livestock feeds. There is an increasing volume being

used within the human food chain, but it is not very

eco-friendly, having a high carbon footprint and it is

often grown in areas of the world where deforestation

has taken place. Every soya bean has to be boiled or

go through a high-pressure steam processing to allow

it to be edible (like kidney beans), which is quite an

undertaking given the volume imported. Over the last

few years a company called Soya UK Ltd has been

pioneering the development of soya varieties that can

cope with the UK climate and produce respectable

yields. Having been to a couple of very interesting

field visits, I am intending to grow about 25 hectares

(60 acres) next year, planting the crop at the end of

April/beginning of May for an end of September

harvest and then going to a processing plant in

Oxfordshire for ‘cooking’.

The dairy cows have also been sensitive to the recent

fluctuating weather pattern. A couple of weekends ago

we had a thunder storm and the milk produced went

from a total of 8,000 litres per day down to 7,000 litres

overnight. Thankfully, the milk yield is now

recovering. We have also very recently purchased a

further 36 cows from a farm dispersal in Shropshire.

Our Dairy Farm Manager, John, hand-picked the cows

from this very good herd which was another

unfortunate casualty of the poor state of UK dairy

farming I have previously mentioned. John reported

that the famer was in tears seeing his life’s work

disappearing. A very sad situation, but his cows have

a good home here at Farley and they will help to

introduce a new line of genetics into our existing herd.

I am sure there will be a separate report within this

Parish Newsletter regarding the Swallowfield Show,

but I would just like to convey Farley’s congratulations

to the organisers for a such great event. There was a

superb atmosphere around the showground; the Park is

an ideal location and the weather (despite my earlier

comments) was definitely a bonus!

September is upon us, signifying it is time to brush off

the tweeds for the start of the shooting season. We

have a very busy season ahead and as it progresses the

next thing we know it’s Christmas. How many

shopping days…………?

Andrew Haslock

Estate Manager, the Farley Estate

www.farleyestate.co.uk

Come join our team

Local charity the

Community Council for

Berkshire (CCB) is looking to recruit new Trustees

onto our Board

CCB is an independent charity with over 40 years’

experience in community development work. CCB is

the Rural Community Council for Berkshire and works

to strengthen and support local communities

throughout Berkshire. Our core mission is to inspire

communities in Berkshire to thrive. Our vision is for

all communities in Berkshire to be strong, sustainable

and able to take control of their own futures.

Your skills and experience will be put to use to make a

lasting difference in the communities in which you

work or live. Perhaps you have some time on your

hands due to retirement or other circumstances, or have

ideas and skills that would bring benefits to local

communities. We are seeking a range of Trustee skills

and experience to fulfil roles on our Board so whether

you have plenty of time and energy to commit or you

have other obligations but can attend an evening

meeting once a quarter and help make key decisions we

would love to hear from you.

This is an opportunity to enhance your CV, expand

your network, meet new people and open doors to

possible new career paths!

Honorary Treasurer

Are you a number cruncher? Do you have a head for

figures and a heart open to volunteering for a local

independent charity?

CCB is seeking to appoint an Honorary Treasurer,

following the retirement of the current post holder.

This is a key voluntary position and the post holder will

also sit as a Trustee/Director (see below) on CCB’s

Board. Ideally the post holder will have a professional

qualification in accountancy or finance, but a sound

financial knowledge and experience would suffice.

The Hon Treasurer will be a point of contact for expert

financial guidance for our other Trustees and Chief

Operations Officer. You will need to be available for

occasional discussions via telephone or face-to-face.

For a full job description, please e-mail

admin@ccberks.org.uk

Trustee

A non-remunerated post, however, out of pocket

expenses are payable. Appointment initially for three

years and up to a maximum of six years.

CCB is seeking to recruit new Trustees to our Board.

We are looking for people who have an interest in our

work and, ideally, particular experience or knowledge

in one or more of the following fields:

Governance/Trustee Responsibilities, Campaigning,

Charity Law, Health & Safety knowledge, Marketing

& Sales experience.

22 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Trustees need to have an interest and enthusiasm for

working to improve community life in Berkshire and

the ideal person will also have strong networks or

alliances within the County. Post holders will be

expected to attend 4 (mostly evening) Board Meetings

per year. In addition, there may be a small number of

other meetings to attend, including the Annual General

Meeting and a Board/Staff Away Day.

For further details, please e-mail

admin@ccberks.org.uk or to find out more about us

please visit our website: www.ccberks.org.uk.

Thames Valley Police Garden Shed Security

After recent incidents of theft from garden sheds, one

Low cost effect solution is a PIR “Shed alarm”. These

could be used within the shed space; the alarm is a

battery-operated Passive Infrared (PIR) alarms which

sound an 110dB siren when movement within the

space is detected. The aim of the alarm is to repel the

offender whilst alerting the property owner. They are

easy to install; you literally hook them on to a suitable

wall and switch them on. Key pad operated to disarm

the alarm. Manufacturers and suppliers of these alarms

can be found by searching the internet for PIR Shed

alarms.

You can also get a PIR shed alarm which has a keyring

RF key fob, which makes it easy and quick to arm and

disarm your alarm. It has an even more powerful

130dB siren along with an entry/exit delay.

What’s On in Spencers Wood Library September - November 2017

What’s On for Adults

Knit & Natter: Drop in for knitting and a chat.

Thursdays 7 Sep, 5 Oct, 2 Nov 3pm to 4pm

Litwits Book Group

Mondays 11 Sep, 9 Oct, 13 Nov 6pm to 7pm

Crafts and Laughs Thursdays 21 Sep, 19 Oct, 16 Nov 3pm to 4pm

Pages in the Wood - Book Group

Mondays 25 Sep, 23 Oct, 27 Nov 6pm to 7pm

What’s on for Children and Families

Rhymetime: Rhymes and songs for children aged 5

and under: Thursdays 7 Sep, 5 Oct, 2 Nov, 10.15 to

10.45am

Storytime: Stories and rhymes for parents and

children to enjoy together. For children aged 3 to 5.

Just drop in!

Monday 4 Sep, 2 Oct, 6 Nov 4pm – 4.30pm.

Please call the Library on 0118 988 4771 to book a

place on the events: Spencers Wood Library,

Basingstoke Road, Spencers Wood, Reading, Berks,

RG7 1AJ

Email: libraries@wokingham.gov.uk

Website: www.wokingham.gov.uk/libraries

Opening hours: Mon 2.30pm-7pm, Tue 2.30pm-5pm

Thurs 10am-12.30pm/2.30pm-5pm, Sat 10am-

12.30pm

Recycle your batteries: Place your used batteries in

the red box located in the kitchen at Swallowfield

Parish Hall. Most types of batteries can be collected.

Waste disposal:

• Weekly blue bag collections: WBC has a weekly

collection for waste and recycling. Residents who

are elderly or infirm can apply for an assisted

collection.

• All waste types: Take to the household waste

recycling centres at Smallmead, Island Road,

Reading, RG2 0RP or Longshot Lane, Bracknell,

RG12 1RL where up to 80% of waste can be reused

or recycled

• Garden waste: This can be home composted or

residents can opt into the kerbside garden waste

collection scheme.

• Bulky household items: You can organise a

collection for as little as £28 for up to five items by

calling Veolia on: (0118) 909 9360, or email

wokingham.enquiries@veolia.co.uk.

USEFUL LOCAL INFORMATION

23 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Halls for Hire and Hall Fees

Swallowfield Parish Hall: Capacity: Main hall - 200, Davies Room – 20,

Rose Room – max 30

Riseley Clubhouse – 60 Victory Hall, Farley Hill (licenced premises) – maximum 200

Booking information:

• Sue Howorth, Bookings Clerk, on 0118 988 5444

for Swallowfield Parish Hall and The Rose Room

bookings

• Lax Mayani on 0118 988 8336/0777 0275344 for

Riseley Clubhouse bookings

• Emma Tweed on 07774 703416 and at

vht1919@gmail.com for Victory Hall bookings

The following fees apply from 1st September 2017:

Local Users rates are only available to residents of

Swallowfield Parish, which encompasses

Swallowfield, Riseley, Farley Hill and Stanford

End. If you do not live in the Parish, the Outside User

rate applies. If you are unsure about whether you

qualify for the Local User rate, please contact the

Parish Office. Local Local Outside &

regular users users commercial users

£/hr £/hr £/hr

Weekdays up to 6pm

Swallowfield 9.20 13.80 24.40

Parish Hall

Davies Room 6.40 8.10 10.70

Rose Room* 17.80 17.80 17.80

Sun to Thurs after 6pm &

Saturday, Sunday up to 6pm

Swallowfield 12.10 18.45 37.80

Parish Hall

Davies Room 7.85 9.20 13.10

Rose Room* 11.35 13.35 18.45

Friday and Saturday after 6pm

Swallowfield 18.45 28.10 46.15

Parish Hall

Davies Room 10.30 12.15 19.00

Rose Room* 11.70 13.80 20.90

The Rose Room

Half day all users * £61.50

Full day all users * £95.50 NB: *Fees for the Rose Room are exclusive of VAT

Victory Hall, Farley Hill

Weekdays up to 6pm: £8.00 per hour

Weekdays from 6pm-11pm and

Weekends up to 6pm: £11.00 per hour

Fri/Sat evening from 6pm-11pm: flat rate of £110.00

Minimum hire period two hours. Farley Hill residents

receive a 10% discount. For commercial rates see the

website: victoryhalltrust.com/hire

Parish Council and Planning Meetings

2017

With the exception of the Annual Parish Meeting, all

meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month in

the Rose Room, Swallowfield Parish Hall, starting at

7.30pm.

Dates for the remainder of 2017 are:

12 September 10 October

14 November 12 December

When it is necessary to hold a separate Planning

Committee Meeting, this will usually held on the

fourth Tuesday of the month.

AGENDAS AND MINUTES OF MEETINGS

Agendas are posted on the notice boards three days

before the meetings. Copies of the minutes are

available from the Parish Office (adjacent to

Swallowfield Parish Hall), the Parish Stores, on the

website or they can be emailed to you by request.

CONTACTING THE PARISH COUNCIL

Members can be contacted through Liz Halson, the

Parish Clerk. Telephone the Parish Office 0118 988

5929, or email clerk@swallowfieldpc.gov.uk or check

the PC’s website: www. swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Transport Information

Copies of Wokingham Borough Council’s Transport

Map and Guide are available from the parish office.

All Travel Enquiries: 0871 200 2233 Calls cost 10p per minute 7am-10pm 7 days a week

Local Buses Detailed timetables are available from the Parish Stores

and the Parish Council Office.

7 & 8: Monday to Saturday operated by Stagecoach,

tel: 0845 1210190, enquiries 0871 2002233,

www.stagecoachbus.com/south.

7 (Aldershot/Reading/Aldershot) & 8 (Farnborough/

Reading/Farnborough, both via Riseley and

Swallowfield to Reading.

Monday to Friday: departs The Bull Riseley at:

06.19, 06.49, 07.25, 09.20, 10.03, 11.03, 12.03, 13.03,

14.03, 15.03, 16.40, 18.05; departs The Crown

Swallowfield 4 minutes later, plus an extra service at

08.00.

Saturday: Departs The Bull Riseley at:

08.03, then 3 minutes past each hour from 09.13 to

18.03, depart The Crown, Swallowfield 4 minutes

later. Journey time to Reading St Mary Butts: 34

minutes from Riseley and 30 minutes from

Swallowfield.

Sundays & Public Holidays: Reading Buses operate

no. 7 service departing Riseley 10.30, 12.30, 16.30 and

18.30 arriving Reading station 26 minutes later

24 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

82: this evening service operates from Reading

Station to Riseley via Swallowfield at 19.25 Monday

to Friday, and also at 21.45 and 22.45 Thursday and

Friday (all subject to change).

112 Operated by Reading Buses tel: 0118 959 4000

Spencers Wood/Reading/Spencers Wood via

Shinfield, Whitley Wood.

154 Thursday and Saturday only Operated by Horseman Coaches tel: 0118 975 3811

Stratfield Saye/Reading/Stratfield Saye via Beech

Hill, Loddon Court Farm, Grazeley, Morrisons

Park and Ride Information: tel: 0118 951 1412

Mereoak Lane/Reading Station

Operates on average five times an hour from Mereoak

Lane, Grazeley on Monday to Saturday. Last

admission for parking at 6.15pm; car exit available at

all times. Some journeys travel direct to Reading town

centre, and others stop at Reading International

Business Park, Madejski Stadium or Kennet Island.

Fares: Adult £2 single/£3.50 return. Solo (age 5-18)

£1.20 single/£1.70 return, plus 50p per day parking

charge. The WBC concessionary bus pass can be used

on this service, so that only the 50p parking is payable.

For further information 0118 9594000, or

www.reading-buses.co.uk.

Madejski Stadium/Central Reading

Operates every 7/15 minutes

Concessionary Bus Passes can be used on this service.

There are also concessionary fare options - contact the

Fares Information Line on 0118 974 6807/0118 974

6813.

The Loddon Bridge/Central Reading Park and

Ride: for full details see their website:

wokingham.gov.uk/transport/parking/park-and-ride.

The service operates every 15 minutes commencing

6.45am weekdays and 8.02am Saturdays (no service on

Sundays or public holidays). Saver fares and season

tickets are available.

Trains Information: tel: 0845 748 4950 www.nationalrail.co.uk or

www.southwesttrains.co.uk.

Two trains an hour run each way between Reading and

Basingstoke, stopping at Mortimer station. Some

parking at the station. Journey time from Reading to

Mortimer 10 minutes approx. and to Basingstoke 24

minutes approx.

Keep Mobile (leaflets available at the Parish Office)

Information: tel: 0845 544 0850 Keep Mobile offers to provide transport for all your

needs that is accessible for people who find ordinary

buses or trains difficult. The service offers:

• Dial a ride up to 15 miles from home - fixed fares

• Day excursions

• Shopping trips

• Community Group hire, Disabled access

Useful Contact Details

Parish Office (phone and fax) 0118 988 5929

Parish Stores: 0118 988 5138

All Saints’ Church, Swallowfield:

Team Rector, Loddon Reach Benefice:

Rev’d Paul Willis: Rectory 0118 988 3799

email: Rev.Paul.Willis@loddonreach.org.uk

Benefice secretary Mrs Karen Eaves: 0118 988 5923

email: office@loddonreach.org.uk

Nutbean Cemetery: all enquiries to the above

Swallowfield Medical Centre: 0118 988 3134

Appointments: 0118 988 3473

(www.swallowfieldmedicalpractice.co.uk)

Swallowfield Community Responders 0118 988 4384

Citizens Advice Bureau: appointments 0118 988 3134

Royal Berkshire and Battle 0118 987 5111

Hospital Trust: or 0118 322 5111

Wokingham Hospital: 0118 949 5000

Police general non-emergency: 101*

*for non-emergency calls, dial 999 for emergencies

Thames Water emergency: 0800 714 614

24hr Floodline Service 0845 988 1188

Southern Electricity emergency: 0845 770 8090

Gas Emergency: 0800 111 999

Swallowfield Flood Resilience Group:

swallowfieldfrg@gmail.com

Farley Hill Primary School: 0118 973 2148

Lambs Lane Primary School: 0118 988 3820

Spencers Wood Public Library: 0118 988 4771

Local cinema, Winnersh Triangle: 0118 974 7711

Readi-Bus: 0118 931 0000

Reading Buses: 0118 959 4000

Train enquiries: 0845 748 4950

Heathrow Airport: 08700 000 123

Gatwick Airport: 01293 535 353

25 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Art Group: Jenny Boddington 988 5804 email: jenny.swallowfield@btinternet.com

Badminton Club – Mixed: Martin Griffin 0118 9882671

Ladies: Val Payne 988 3594

Bell Ringing: Tower Stephen Jenkins 01189 885312

Captain and Secretary: s-jenkins@live.co.uk

Calico Trust: Celia Adams 988 4661

Ros Riddell 988 2014

Farley Hill Bowls Club: Bill Dowling 01344 772130

email: billdowling@farleyhillbowlsclub.org.uk

Farley Hill Cricket Club: Simon Longfield 973 4056

www.farleyhill.play-cricket.com

Farley Hill Village Society:

web: www.victoryhalltrust.com

email: farleyhillsoc@yahoo.co.uk

Fishing Club: Russ Hatchett 07766355989

History Society: Maggie Uttley 988 2954

web: slhsoc@yahoo.co.uk

Horticultural Society: Val Payne 988 3594

Pilates: Hazel Boxall 0788 1951296

Riseley & Swallowfield

Women’s Institute: Freda Poole 976 0444

Riseley Village Tea Room: Pam Wright 988 7028

Tea Room 996 7375

Russell Players: Mitch Mitchell 07710 500491

www.russellplayers.co.uk

RSF Tennis Club: www.rsftennisclub.co.uk

- membership Chrissie Myhill

email: membership@rsftennisclub.co.uk

- bookings Lax Mayani 988 8336/0777 0275344

Swallowfield Church Choir: Judy Gillis 988 2437

Swallowfield Parish Allotment Association -

SPAA: Bev Marshall-Smith, secretary 988 6946

Swallowfield Scout Group:

Beavers Kate Arnott 976 0110

Cubs Paul Harrington 976 0506

Scouts Paul Cobbold 988 3369

Waiting list Tanja Maskell 988 6582

Swallowfield Sewing Bee: Sue Hames 988 6875

Email: susan.hames137@gmail.com

Swallowfield Baby and Toddler

Group: Gemma Hinze 07780 615200

Swallowfield Pre-School: Mon-Friday 09.15–12.30

Helen Coulter 0777 1184982

swfpreschool@googlemail.com

Table Tennis: Lorraine Fraser 988 5208

Victory Hall Book Club: farleyhillsoc@yahoo.co.uk

Zen Kyo Shin Taijutsu: Jim Hey 01494 525403

Zumba Dancing: Dayana Sanchez 07411 827772

Please refer to the Parish Council web site for more

information on when and where the clubs and societies

meet and for links to their web sites where available:

www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Contact details for Clubs and

Societies

26 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Parish Council

Peter Sampson - Chairman

John Anderson - Vice Chairman

Gordon Collender, Bill Dance, Chris Morrissey,

Margaret McDonald, Roger Norris,

Jonathan Wheelwright

Planning Applications, borough planning, core strategy, design statements

Jonathan Wheelwright – Chairman

All members of the PC are on this committee

Working Groups and Areas of responsibilities:

Area Members

Finance Budgets, investments, sinking fund, grants

Asset management, H/S

Risk Assessment, Insurance

Peter Sampson - Lead

John Anderson, Gordon Collender,

Recreation Recreation Grounds and Play Areas: Swallowfield & Riseley;

Skateboard Park; Allotments; Football Pitches

Lead - TBA

Bill Dance

Peter Sampson

Environment & Rural Affairs The Marshes, Van Demans, Swallowfield Meadow, Community

Orchard

Links with WBC, Biodiversity Plan,

Footpaths, Waste, NAG, RCAG

Peter Sampson – Lead

Bill Dance

Margaret McDonald

Chris Morrissey

Human Resources

Four members of staff

Appraisal, recruitment, staff training

Gordon Collender - Lead

Margaret McDonald, Peter Sampson

Health and Well-Being Local health and well-being issues

WBC – Health and Social Care, SCAS, Responders, Heartstart, Clinical

Commissioning Group, CAB, Calico Trust

John Anderson – Lead

Roger Norris

Transport Road issues, speeding traffic, public and private transport

Roger Norris – Lead

Jonathan Wheelwright

Communication Newsletter, Website, Annual Report

Media communication – press, television, radio

How do we communicate face-to-face

Gordon Collender – Lead

Jonathan Wheelwright

Resilience Flooding issues, ditches, rivers, sewerage

Wider involvement with issues relating to public safety.

A working group of residents with PC representation

Margaret McDonald – Lead

Bill Dance

Roger Norris

Peter Sampson

Halls General maintenance

Marketing group, Website design, Involvement with Users

Margaret McDonald - Lead

Property Fieldfayre

John Anderson – Lead

Peter Sampson, Jonathan Wheelwright

Parish Council Members and Areas of Responsibility

27 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Advertisements

Advertisements

Advertising

If you are a small local business and would

like to place an advertisement in the Parish

Council newsletter, please contact the editor,

Gordon Collender,

gordon.collender@btinternet.com or phone

the Parish Clerk on 0118 988 5929.

The newsletter is published four times a

year.

The price for placing an advertisement in

four issues with effect from the Spring 2017

issue is £84.00 including VAT.

Copy deadline dates for the next four issues

are:

Winter 2017 issue: 30 November 2017

Spring 2018 issue: 28 February 2018

Summer 2018 issue: 31 May 2018

Autumn Issue: 31 August 2018

28 www.swallowfieldpc.gov.uk

Newsletter Contributions

Contributions for the Winter 2017 newsletter should be sent to gordon.collender@btinternet.com, or to the

Parish Council Clerk, Parish Office, Swallowfield Street, tel: 0118 988 5929 by 30 November 2017

Disclaimer: articles that have been signed and submitted to Swallowfield Parish Council for inclusion in this newsletter

do not necessarily reflect the views of the Parish Council. Any parishioner wishing to comment on such articles should contact the author directly