Top story

Village mourns
passing of
Eve Skaife



THE FUNERAL of Eve Skaife, a well known
and loved member of our community,
took place at the Parish Church
on Monday, January 16.
Go to NEWS/people in the news
for a tribute to Eve.

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The first signs
of spring?


SOMETHING TO CHEER US UP:   Early daffodils make
their appearance beside the beck in Boroughbridge Road
near to the newly-completed road works.

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No more closures
- just give priority



THE THREEE MONTHS of road closures are now
behind us - and the Boroughbridge Road is
open again with a new priority scheme which
means traffic leaving the village has priority over
that entering it!

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NEW STORIES INSIDE (click on photo for more)
  • Joint top of the table

    Bishop Monkton Football Club have moved into joint top of the table and are enjoying their best ever season. In their next match they hope to make progress is the League Cup. 


  • It's party time!

    Members of village organsiations have been enjoying themselves at Christmas parties. Click on Santa picture left to see pictures of The Stitchers, the Keep Fit Group and the Over 55s Group enjoying themselves.


  • Fayre raises over £1,000

    A Christmas Fayre organised by Friends of Bishop Monkton School raised over £1,000 which will go towards planned playground improvements at the School. The Mayor of Harrogate opened the event. Click on headline or photo above to read more.


  • Plans for Queen's Jubilee

    Exciting plans are being laid for next year's Queen's Jubilee during the first week of June. Click on picture above to find out what's
    in store.


  • Take me to the moon

    The wonderful picture of the moon was taken by Chris Higgins from his back garden.  The surface shows various moonmarks including
    Apollo landing sites. The picture is our latest Photo of the Month.


  • To be Olympic judge

    Barbara Birchall has been invited to Fence Judge  at the 2012 Olympics three-day event. The invitation came after she attended the practice event  earlier in the summer at Greenwich Park  which clearly confirmed her as an experienced and competent judge.


  • New Chairman appointed

    RICHARD HOUSEMAN welcomed Gerald Shervington as his successor as Chairman of the Village Hall and Playing Fields Committee at the annual meeting held at the Village Hall. For full report go to NEWS/Village Hall AGM.


  • 'The Other Wise Man'

    Xplorers Christmas service at Bishop Monkton Methodist Church, “ The Other Wise Man” was a tremendous occasion enjoyed by a full Church congregation.


VILLAGE NOTICEBOARD

ROAD WORK DELAYED
Plans to close the Burton Leonard to Copgrove to Minskip road for bridge repairs, which were due to start on January 9, have now been postponed until a new start date of February 27.
The road is widely used by Bishop Monkton motorists wanting to get to Knaresborough, York and other communities, and users were surpised to find the road closed on or around January 9 and then re-opened without explanation.
A North Yorkshire Highways Department spokesman was unable to give a reason for the postponement.

VILLAGE LIBRARY OPENS
Good news for village book lovers.  We now have a new library here to fill the gap created when the mobile library was discontinued.
The new library is at the Masons Arms and is the brainchild of Niki, who is mine host.
She has obtained a supply of books from the Library Service and these are now available to borrow from the pub.
Anyone interested can drop in to the Masons during opening hours and browse through the selection on offer and sign them out. There is no charge, just a requirement that books should be returned by an agreed date.
A bit of real local enterprise!

CARD RAISES £100
The giant Christmas card, which was produced by children at our School and placed in the shop for villagers to sign, raised over £100 for Macmillan Nurses. Thanks to the children and to everyone who signed it to help this good cause.

WELCOME HOME!
We are delighted to report the safe arrival home of Stuart Hague, son of John and Judy, after a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
Stuart, who is a Squadron Leader, headed the British Chinook contingent over there. Welcome home, Stuart!

ANYONE LOST A HIP JOINT?
On Wednesday a working party of villagers cleaned the beck and its banks starting at the St John's Church and ending near Norbridge.
In addition to clipping back foliage and removing unwanted plant growth a number of foreign objects were found including paint trays and tins as well as a hip joint (anyone having had a recent replacement can claim from Roger Baker). In addition, the contractors finishing the new flood alleviation construction have removed silt from the beck. 
Roger Baker, the organiser,  thanks the team of Ken Barker, Ken Needham, Ron Wilkinson, Bob Upton, Chris Procter, Dan Wright, Peter Taplin, David Ralphs and David Arundel for doing a great job. A big thank you also goes to Niki at the Masons Arms for providing welcome coffee and mince pies at the end of the project.

PLAY TABLE TENNIS
IN THE NEW YEAR
How's this for a New Year resolution - to exercise more in the nicest possible way - by playing table tennis!
Bishop Monkton Table Tennis Club will have a few vacancies in two of the three groups it runs at the Village Hall each week.
These are the Thursday morning group (playing from 10am until 12 noon) and the Sunday evening group (7pm to 9pm).  Both groups have about four vacancies and applicants will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.
Anyone interested should contact Richard Field. e-mail: BMtabletennis@aol.com  OR tel. (01765) 677795.

 

ROAD WORKS:
YOUR QUESTIONS
Everyone has questions to ask about the road works currently under way.  We have asked the contractors to provide answers to what are probably the most frequently asked questions.
To read their answers go to NEWS/Road works: Q and A.

TEDDY IS SO
ADORABLE!

Meet Teddy, the cute four month old Golden Retriever puppy, who has joined the Kinnear family for a year.
During this time Maureen will give him basic training so that he is ready to go on and become a guide dog for the blind.  Read Maureen's story about how they have been getting to know each other and what lies ahead.
Go to NEWS/Teddy's story - part 1.

TODAY'S CHUCKLE  

BREAKING NEWS ....

 To save the economy, on November 28th, 2011 the PM will announce that he is ordering the immigration department to start deporting old people (instead of illegals) in order to lower Social Security and NHS costs.

Old people are easier to catch, and most will not
remember how to get back home!

       
  (supplied by Mr Chuckles)
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CONTACTING US

Editor: Richard Field
Website:
www.bishopmonktontoday.btck.co.uk
E-mail:EditorBMToday@aol.com

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Site last updated: January 2012
Visitors to site since launch in 2005: 
118,148
Target: 100,000 passed on 6 April 2011
End of 2011: 117,082
Target for end of 2012: 137,500
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